Guild Wars 2

Original post found here: http://www.guildwars2guru.com/topic/39829-new-profession-idea-demon-hunter/page__hl__demon%20hunter

When I decided I wanted to come up with a new class I first looked at what we had, and what about those professions could be changed into the missing archetypes and playstyles. I soon realized that we were missing a few pretty major archetypes that I will list below.

Adventuring mage. By this I mean a mid-armor profession with a focus on magic. It could be argued that we have this already in the ranger, but the ranger is only a secondary mage, and more of a shaman or druid, not an overtly magic focused profession.

Micromanager. We have a few options when it comes to pet classes, the ranger being the primary one due to the common usage of pet, but technically speaking the necromancer, engineer, elementalist, Mesmer, and even guardian all of pet mechanics. However what we lack in the pet department is a profession for those who really like the nitty-gritty of micromanaging a pet. Sure most professions have some sort of “post summon” effect they can trigger and a ranger can have their pet take different stances, but ultimately there is no place for a pet player who want massive amounts of control over pet behavior.

The final counter tactic. It is no secret that GW2 gives us loads of options for control and area denial across several professions, however with this new-ish combat system that has such a massive emphases on movement and positioning we find ourselves in need of a new form of counter; the positional counter. We have movement denial in the form of cripples and snare, and some degree of positional denial in the form of knocks, but with such a strong focus on being in the right place at the right time we really need, in my opinion, a profession heavily based around forcing opponents to move, one way or another.

When I noted these three factors I decided to come up with a profession that would fill all three missing pieces. For inspiration I took a look at GW lore, but also other games, and I won’t lie; a lot of inspiration for this came from the recent fighter Soul Calibur 5, and a specific character therein.

When it came to the theme I decided to go with something that seemed would logically spring from the game world. And to this end I turned to the Orders. We already have classes that seemed tailor made for the Vigil and Priory in the form of the warrior, guardian, thief, and the three of “scholar” professions, but what of the Order of Whispers? Where was their quintessential profession? Then it hit me; demon hunter. Anyone that knows GW lore can tell you that while the Master of Whispers was a necromancer, it was said numerous times that the Order of Whispers itself was a clan of secret demon hunters. It seemed perfect.

Stylistically speaking these guys and girls would be rugged and stoic, the hardened hunters of evil. But the look of the profession would come almost exclusively through their armor, so I need not worry about that. Instead there are things like weapons, themes, and of course the all-important profession mechanic. I’ll start with the simple stuff, list the weapon, the get down to the overall profession philosophy, skills, and then explain the profession mechanic.

Main-hand weapons: Axe, Sword, pistol.
Off-hand weapons: Torch, focus, dagger.
Two-handed weapons: Great sword, rifle.

I chose these weapons because they seemed to fit the theme. A living demon hunter would mix classical arms like swords with more modern tech like pistols and rifles. The axe seemed a natural choice because of the inherent efficiency of its brutality, and daggers seemed a natural off hand. The torch is a most for lighting the dark places where demons dwell, and the great sword is a symbol of knightly honor and crusading for justice and righteousness. I opted to keep pistols as a main hand weapon because we all know that as soon as they can be dual wielded everyone will do that, at least initially, and I don’t want any weapon set to be preferred over another even if only because of the “rule of cool.” Finally the focus offhand, in addition to showing the more magical nature, harkens back to classical slayers and hunters marching into battle with crucifixes and vials of holywater.

Special Utility skill types.

Chants and echoes: A return of the system used by GW1’s paragon, chants initially behave like supportive shouts, providing a boon to the chanter and surrounding allies that lasts a few moments. However instead of instantly going on cooldown, once used a chant is replaced on the hunter’s skill by a corresponding echo for the duration of the chant. Once triggered an echo removes the chant, but in its place creates a powerful effect, similar to a mesmer’s mantras that must be charged and then activated. For example a hunter could use the chant “Song of Restoration” to provide himself and his allies regeneration, but then end this chant by using “Final of Restoration” for a quick burst heal to themselves and extended duration of the regeneration effect on allies.

Bindings and exorcisms: A thematic return of a ritualist’s spirits, bindings are not dead human souls as they were in GW1, but rather spiritual version of demons from GW lore such as The Margonites. Opting to fight fire with fire, hunters bind defeated demons to act as immobile, ground targeted, AoE debuffs. These bound creatures do not attack directly like a turret, but rather at as persistent condition fields, spreading debuffs like poison or cripple to any nearby enemies. This is another “replacer” skill type, in that post summoning a binding ritual is replaced by a corresponding exorcism. Bound demons can be safely defeated and destroyed, and will soon expire on their own, however if exorcised by the hunter they create one of two types of “rifts.” A rift does not persist, but instead acts as a single magical shockwave, delivering its effect to all surrounding foes. The two types of rifts are repulsive rifts, and attractive rifts. As their names imply these do not spread or apply conditions, but rather act as knock effects. A repulsive rift is a type of remote, ground targeted, knock back bomb, throwing foes away from its center, while an attractive rift is an area pull, yanking all surrounding foes into its center. These can be used to clear capture points in PvP, grant breathing room in PvP or PvE, force foes out of beneficial AoEs, and bunch them into harmful AoEs.

Combat philosophy:

Unlike other professions who sprinkle control and support into their weapon lines, the demon hunter’s sole source of support comes from their chants, while their sole source of debuffing control comes from bindings. Their weapons skill provide neither boons nor conditions, instead supplementing damage with position altering and forcing effects. By this I mean knockdown, knockback, pull, and launch. The hunter’s combat philosophy is not one of direct damage, nor of stacking degenerating conditions, instead the focus is on deliberately forcing or altering enemy positions. I do not mean that they prevent movement with conditions like immobilize and cripple, no, their focus is not on keeping you still, it is on moving you where they want you. It is the “wrong place at the wrong time” profession, the anti-positioning profession. The last remaining hard counter.

The profession mechanic:
Okay, now for the big one. demon hunters do not fight alone. They, like rangers, are followed by a persistent, controllable, pet. However a ranger pet and a demon hunter pet could not be more different. Instead of taming animals, demon hunters commune with lesser demons, known as sprites, whom follow them. These sprites, male and female, are elemental spirits similar to classical fairies or pixies, small humanoid creatures with wings and insect like features. As said they are elemental, and there are the expected four types, fire, air, water, and earth, with a male and female model for each. They do not attack on their own like a ranger pet however, instead acting as buffers and debuffers depending on their stance.

A sprite can be place in one of two stances (F4 to toggle between them), in their aggressive stance they stack a debuff on the hunter’s target, burning if a fire sprite, chill if a water sprite, confusion if a wind sprite, and bleed if an earth sprite. When in their passive stance they instead apply boons to the hunter, fury if fire, regeneration if water, swiftness if wind, and protection if earth. Unlike ranger pets, sprites have two manually triggered special attacks (F2 and F3). These attacks are universal to all four types of sprite, so the choice of element is based solely on what boons or conditions the hunter wants randomly applied.
The F2 attack is a powerful ranged pull, grabbing and yanking a single target to the sprite’s location. Conversely the F3 attack is a rapid charge/dash attack with a knockback component, the sprite darting directly forward from its current position and slamming into the first foe in its flight path, knocking it directly away. This is not a targeted attack, it is a single direction dash that always moves forward in the direction the sprite is facing when the key is pressed.

Finally we have the F1 command. This is the most important one. It is an area targeted move command, (compatible with quick casting) that instructs the sprite to quickly move to the target location. However if pressed and held the sprite enters follow mode, following not the hunter, but the player’s mouse pointer. Using this ability the hunter/player is able to direct the sprite into exactly the position s/he desires even to the point of being able to direct the desired or most optimum flight path in real time. This is, in my opinion, the ultimate in pet micro-management. In a game where positioning is arguably the most important aspect of combat, and with a profession who’s abilities are based so heavily on positioning, the power to move your NPC helper exactly where you want them, exactly when you want them, is extremely desirable.

This, of course, leads to some rather interesting synergy between pet and player. Imagine being able to position your pet directly behind a distant foe and knock them to you, yourself able to knock it back, in essence playing a game of catch with your foe’s body. Imagine being able to slam a foe off a capture point from a distance, perhaps even from a hidden or highly defended position. Imagine being able to drag a foe not to you, but to the side and off a cliff. Imagine being able to knock two foes in two different, yet very specific, directions at the same time. Imagine the chaos you can create with such control not over damage or conditions, but instead by being able to directly affect the positioning of your targets.

Well that is my idea anyway. I’ll leave you with a video that had a part in inspiring this, and welcome any (polite) criticism and discussion.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=52ZC3wd-Aa4

I dunno.

Are there really any demons out there to hunt? Van Helsing-esque classes don’t really fit within GW2 lore. Compare it to the Warhammer (both Fantasy and 40K) where daemons and other nasties make up a big part of the lore and Demon Hunters not only make sense, but are also an integral part of the lore.

Oglaf.1074:

I dunno.

Are there really any demons out there to hunt? Van Helsing-esque classes don’t really fit within GW2 lore. Compare it to the Warhammer (both Fantasy and 40K) where daemons and other nasties make up a big part of the lore and Demon Hunters not only make sense, but are also an integral part of the lore.

I’m going to hazard a guess that you neither read my idea (how could you have had time? I just put it up) nor played the original Guild Wars. Demons and demon hunters are in fact a known part of the lore, and played a huge role in Guild Wars: Nightfall. I’ll quote the relevant part of my idea below so you can read it.

When it came to the theme I decided to go with something that seemed would logically spring from the game world. And to this end I turned to the Orders. We already have classes that seemed tailor made for the Vigil and Priory in the form of the warrior, guardian, thief, and the three of “scholar” professions, but what of the Order of Whispers? Where was their quintessential profession? Then it hit me; demon hunter. Anyone that knows GW lore can tell you that while the Master of Whispers was a necromancer, it was said numerous times that the Order of Whispers itself was a clan of secret demon hunters. It seemed perfect.

Obviously they were highly successful because I don’t see any demons around in GW2.

At least not in the quantities to cause a sudden rise in specialized Demon Hunters.

Oglaf.1074:

Obviously they were highly successful because I don’t see any demons around in GW2.

At least not in the quantities to cause a sudden rise in specialized Demon Hunters.

There is such a thing as expansions. And if there are no demons, I question the need for this item. http://wiki.guildwars2.com/wiki/Potion_of_Demon_Slaying

I question it, too. I’ve never seen it before, online or in-game…I wonder what it affects….

I’d guess Imps?

Then again, I always thought Imps were Elemental in nature, not demonic…

as stated in my thread, i very much like the idea of demon hunter, a very good lore driven profession, and lores are something i very much enjoy

I wouldn’t mind another pet class. That the profession would rely on the pet for support/control rather than damage is a plus as well. Not that the control rangers are capable of with their pet is anything to slouch at, but part of the class’s damage is locked in the pet, making the class a bit weaker on its own (and in PvP, one can outsmart pet AI and pathing).

That said, I sort of feel sprites are kind of…not demon-y. What about ‘masks’? I kind of frown how the Mesmer’s theme tends involve ‘masquerade’ and what not (take a look at their skill graphics!) and yet there aren’t any good looking masks to wear!

Well, this class wouldn’t be wearing them, they could be binding demons to them to manifest their power. Aesthetically, that would be a lot cooler than having a Link fairy ball of light with wings or something floating around you.

And perhaps some of their other utilities could bind their weapons or armor with these demons to gain their power themselves, for those players (or those situations) that don’t feel guiding a pet is optimal.

Just my 2 c.

No special mechanics, that a Guardian couldn’t do to, especially Bindings/ Exocism stuff, as Guardians are basically already in that “paladin/ holy knight/ light magic based role”

So this could be easily somethign to improve guardians. No need for this extra class.
And please, for the sale of trustworthyness, give stuff like chants and echoes to some kind of Bard/Minstrel/Troubador Class, because thats the only concept, where such skills DO FIT!!
With any other class in combination, it always makes the result lookk like some kitten wannabe bards, just like the dumb Paragon were it.

This is perhaps a worthy new profession for the Elona Expansion. That will take a long time to arrive though. You have my support, I’ve played the whole Guild Wars 1 story, including the part where you got to fight the demons in Nightfall (for example “The Hunger”). Was quite an amazing part of the story.

no

wait…

no

Demon hunter…thats just makes me think Devil may cry all over…Nah wouldn’t like to see demons roaming around gw2….Dwarves, now that would fit….

Dwarves are extinct.. for the most part.

Sam Magicman.1395:

Dwarves are extinct.. for the most part.

Actually they gave up on life, transforming themselves in stone, but that wasn’t the topic at hand. Why would you name it Demon Hunter in the first place? Is it a class that can solely hunt demons? It seems rather restrictive.

Risen Hunter maybe, since you have job security for the moment.
Then as each new Elder Dragon Fight comes, maybe he can go back to school and get a degree in fighting whatever minion that particular Dragon uses. For Example Kralkatorrik you would need to take up study in Branded and Twisted Crystalline Corruptions.
Jokes aside, I don’t think its something that would really benefit the game….I am really looking forward to maybe them bringing back the professions that are missing from the other expansion in gw1, which might turn up as expansions in this game as well but maybe not in the order that they came out in the original.