Backstory
About 250 years ago, Paragons were a staple of Elona’s military, often put into leadership positions for their naturally inspiring presence and motivational songs and shouts. Brought to Tyria by the Order of Whispers, traders, tourists, and immigrants, the organization has had to gradually rethink their philosophies from those of god-serving Paragons (which only appeal to humans) to a new train of thought that will motivate all races. They are now Skaalds who, rather than draw on divine power to influence others, motivate their brothers-and-sisters-in-arms with songs of valor and tales of glory. They are a proud, adventurous group that seeks to tell the tales of themselves and others and have gained quite a following among the Norn.
Profession Mechanic – Anthems
Skaalds cannot weapon swap, but their weapon set of choice has lower cooldowns than those of other (non-Thief) classes to make up for only having 5 weapon skills.
Additionally, Skaald weapon skills generate Notes upon usage. Notes do nothing until 3 notes are chained together, forming an Anthem. Anthems grant allies all 3 boons associated with the notes used to form them, while also producing a passive effect.
For example, Anthem of Courage is formed from a Mighty Note, Furious Note, and Retaliatory Note – granting Might, Fury, and Retaliation to yourself and nearby allies upon completion, as well as a special bonus – in Anthem of Courage’s case, it buffs the Power of all allies affected by x for the duration).
The order of notes does matter, however. More specifically, the first note chosen dictates the passive benefit of the song. Courage is started with the Might note, for example, whereas Ferocity (which grants extra crit chance) is started with Furious Note, and Vengeance is started with the Retaliatory Note.
The same note can be applied 3 times to grant that boon to allies for a long duration through a simple Anthem. Anthem of Might, for example, is exactly as the name implies. It grants 4 stacks of might (3 for the notes, 1 for the passive).
Details
Armor
Heavy
HP at 80
15,082 (same as Ranger, Engineer, and Mesmer)
Capable of Weapon Swap?
No
Initial Weapon Selection
(Each Two-handed weapon has 3 notes, which are of the same type. Main-hands contribute one note. Off-hands have 2 notes which are of different types. Types are offensive (Might, Fury, Retaliation), defensive (Protection, Regeneration, Aegis), and utility (Swiftness, Vigor, Stability). Thus, your choice of weapon set dictates which songs you can play. Greatsword has the offensive anthems set (Courage, Fury, and Vengeance), while Hammer has the defensive anthems, Longbow has the utility anthems, and main-hand/off-hand sets have more quirky, mixed-type anthems.)
Greatsword
Hammer
Longbow
(MH/OH) Sword
(MH/OH) Dagger (Thrown)
(MH/OH) Mace
OH Warhorn
OH Shield
OH Torch
Spear (Underwater)
Trident (Underwater)
Utilities
Chords –
These produce two related notes at once while buffing allies with a contrasting boon that is completely unrelated to the notes produced.
- Example – Chord of Courage produces notes of Might and Fury while granting Protection to allies.
Shouts –
Skaald Shouts debuff foes, rounding out their support and offensive capabilities.
Tales –
Speeches (think Mantras from Mesmers) that produce effects (either beneficial for allies or harmful for foes) over the duration. These are not boons or conditions, but rather unique effects. They are not channeled and do not interrupt your actions. Instead, they occur as passive auras. Fittingly, they can be stopped by Silence. Only one Tale can be told at any given time.
Example – (Elite) Epic Tale – Nearby allies are motivated to gain +x to all stats for the duration of this Tale. You delight in telling it, recovering hp each second.
Instruments -
Give you an alternate weapon for the duration. These instruments have their own abilities and notes. Use them to add additional Anthem options to your weapon set of choice.
Example – Harp – Produces soothing notes (Regeneration, Vigor, and Stability) while boring foes to death through Cripple, Weakness, and Torment.