Guild Wars 2

While I don’t have a set name for the specific profession, I’ve nailed down the names to either Invoker, Dragoon or Lancer, but to save you the confuse, I’ll refer to it as the Dragoon. The naming stems from the weapon that occasionally makes it’s way into the database called the Polearm, a two-handed weapon with an axe or spear head atop the end of a pole/staff. I’ve seen threads since launch requesting a third soldier, usually along the lines that it needs to be an “evil” profession (warrior is neutral and guardian is good), but that doesn’t make sense when you consider the other two; either necromancer or mesmer can carry the label of evil and the engineer or thief can both be classified as neutral and on top of that depending on the player, any class can be any of the nine classic archetypes.

Playstyle
The dragoon is a medium to melee ranged profession that’s a mix of the dervish and ritualist with a hint of paragon (explanation of why in the lore section) with medium health, high armor and very limited means of boon/condition stripping. They can wield a polearm, hammer, scepter, torch or warhorn and do not have the ability to swap weapons. Instead, they swap stances with the tilde key, which looks like ~ if you don’t know it’s name. I do not have a clever name for the stances, but the first of the two is ranged and swapping with the tilde key enters you into a melee stance. Damage and condition duration lose effectiveness at range when you’re close to the target and melee suffers from what melee normally suffers from; targets moving around, running away and having to dodge telegraphs.

Polearm- Ranged single target weapon and short pbaoe cone scythe-like attacks in melee.
Hammer- Ranged channeling single target aoe+nearby enemy damage weapon and heavy hitting caster centric aoe damage.
Scepter- Ranged single target condition damage and boon applying pbaoe damage.
Torch- Ranged beacon for boons and melee condition amplifier.
Warhorn- Boon centric weapon, applying aegis/swiftness/protection/regeneration at range and might/vigor/fury/retaliation in melee.

Note- F-keys abilities center around F1-F3 based on weapons and can be swapped out specifically or altered through traits. F1 and F2 are based on main hand and F3 based on offhand if two weapons are equipped. They also alter depending on the current stance.

Skills, to include F-Keys and 7-0 will revolve around spiritual guidance from past Dragoons who’ve marshaled their ways in philosophy and combat prowess. The downside is that many of them are stationary and simply maneuvering out of sight will make them weak or powerless. For example, one of elite skills is Ascension which creates a field in which the caster becomes powerful (allies in the field gain boons for being within the region), however the caster is tethered to the field by spiritual chains. They can exit the field but doing so slows them down dramatically and if the chain breaks, the power is broken and they Dragoon suffers for it. Also keeping in tone with the lore, many of their abilities adhere to the three air-based magics (wind, lightning and sun) also coupled with Ancestral Guidance (Invoker, the style of long ranged combat) and Lancer (Dervish, the style of close quarters fighting).

Lore
Adding a profession out of nowhere will cause lore fanatics to scream heresy, even my personal thoughts won’t resonate with everyone. For the Dragoon, the profession originates from the Zephyrites, as protectors of the their heritage and knowledge as well as enforcers. Hailing from a gathering of canthans and elonians, the collective over time mixed with the blessings of glint and their natural affinity of air magics gave birth to a new form of soldier, one’s charged with protecting the Zephyrites from outside influences and corruption from within. They are spiritual, honoring their past and considering it the greatest honor to uphold the traditions of their zen-like collective.

Until recently, the Zephyrites have been keen to preserving their knowledge and remaining isolated in their sanctum from the rest of the world. With the increasing threat of the elder dragons, Ellen Kiel requested additional provisions from the Zephyrites, anything their willing to part with for the sake of Tyria. To this end, they once again give her a challenge, to study with them abroad for a time and if they see the potential of an outsider to honestly and purely accept their ways, they’ll be willing to allow scholars and warriors to teach those willing to learn how to be a Dragoon.

Several months later, after countless sleepless days and nights delving into the Zephyrite’s teachings, Ellen Kiel’s air ship Havoc’s Heir returns to Vigil Keep. Triumphantly striding off the gangplank is Ellen, a newly adored Dragoon shining in full splendor, flanked by a regiment of Dragoons to aid in the fight as well as a small group of Zephyrite scholars ready to disembark to the major capital cities to teach.

Legendary Polearm
Of course we need another legendary to sanction the new class and give players striving to add a new weapon to their collection, I don’t know who exactly should also get a polearm. To start things off, the Precursor is called Lament, built partially from a scale of glint. Going down the standard line, you also need a Gift of the Sanctum (involving quartz and such) and a Gift of Music. Dropping these into the Mystic Toilet will give you Requiem. The special effects are tuned to the Zephyrite theme, with swirling aerial auras left in the wielder’s footsteps (day being yellow to blue and night being blue to purple) with the colors changing slowly before fading depending on the time of day as well as a slight trail off the player with the respective colors. The weapon will have an aura that transcends up the arms of the caster in a swirling miasma of yellow, blue and purple. On top of that, instead of the traditional swinging sounds, each swing will play a note of a sad lullaby (the lament to glint’s death).

Conclusion
I’m bored, this has been rattling in my head since the Bazaar of the Four Winds and I needed to get it out of my head before it combusted.

Thank you for taking the time to read this, leave any comment you wish below and have a wonderful day. Edit Found some flavor text, Ellen Kiel’s ship does have a name after all.

Might as well add this is considering they decide to add an additional class without an expansion and utilize the living story as a method of introduction. Example, the next Bazaar happens, Ellen requests their add as apart of their trade agreement to see if she can obtain provisions as a cost, the Zephyrites provide an answer similar to the election and a few months of real time later as well as in-game, she returns with the new profession.