Guild Wars 2

With every new content release, the imagination from the development team for the Staff seems to be dwindling by the minute. I am pretty upset with the latest patch (Queen’s). My suggestion is that the Staff needs to have more better looking/animated skins.

From the last few patches, here is a Critical Path Analysis of Staff Creation that i am beginning to see;

1. Add Wooden Handle
2. Insert random color on top
3. Done

There are a very sparse amount of creative staff designs for gw2 in my opinion. In gw1, there were an abundance of creative staff designs, and even if people disagree with this statement, they will agree in that there was a certain level of equality on the weapon skin front.

Looking from a design point of view of the new Sovereign weapons, many of the skins, such as Shield, Longbow and Sword all have a radiant glow that to me; defines the weapon set and the way the design team wanted to go with in terms of contrast of the stone/glow. Looking at other weapons, Staff being included, there is just no glow. This immediately puts me off the weapon because i feel that it got “rushed” and the design team did not follow the main brief.

Swiftly onto the Champion Skins, what a contrast.

Greatswords looks majestic; Crystal Guardian actually looks immense and fits the design brief intended for it. A rocky core for the strength of the Guardian and crystals displaying toughness. Rapier looks excellent, simple and like a rapier. Entropy looks like it was crafted by Abaddon himself.

Then i move onto the Staff; Monsoon and i don’t really have anything positive to say about it. Looks like a piece of wood with icing on the top. No magic, No monsoon, No alchemy, No vision.

No-one will probably read this or consider points above. However, i needed to get this off my chest because it’s getting to a point where i am just frustrated. I have time off University, give me a brief and i can almost certainly guarantee an improvement of staff design compared to current trends. Add another “Create a weapon” competition like in Guild Wars 1. Just please get out of this cycle of releasing content for the sake of it.

I’m sorry if this has turned into a rant, and not a suggestion, but i suggest that the design team re-evaluates its approach and methods in order to sympathize and restore an aesthetically pleasing game back to its full glory, in all aspects of the game. Thank you.

Yeah, you’re right. I just went on the TP and looked at them. The difference is extreme. While the hammer, sword and greatsword are very nice, the staff is just another run of the mill staff. And the prices reflect it. The hammer is currently 300 gold and the staff is 2 gold 57 silver.

What amazes me most is that staves (staffs?) are even bigger than greatswords and can be just as beautiful. Yet we have only a few skins with particle effects, one of which is legendary. And even the Bifrost is basically a kitten on a stick, just more shiny.

The jade staff looked amazing and made me kind of upset that I don’t play any character right now that uses a staff. I considered creating a new character just so I had an excuse to get one and look pretty.

I actually like many of the existing staff designs and don’t get at all why people are complaining. Pistols, on the other hand? There are a preciously few that I find acceptable, and none of them beautiful (jade pistols, so far, were the best).

I guess beauty is in the eye of the beholder.

IMO axes, pistols, warhorns, staff and focuses are most poorly done.
Especially dull are axes – they are small, not amazing, they remind me of wood hatchets.

Warhorns, pistols and focues are too small and not interesting.

Agreed and if you look at the ‘new’ staff head you realize it is in fact the top of the scepter Tsunami.