Guild Wars 2

I just wanted to make a post for damage types discussion.
At the moment in GW2 there are no damage types, and no damage resistences, whereas in GW1 every skill had a specific damage type rather than doing some blanket damage.
(a list can be see here )

I realise that there would be a massive flaw in bringing damage types into GW2, and it would be the fear of making one class have more advantages than another.
My response to that is a little off topic but it basically comes down to: Every class can do everything all the time but none can do anything well. This makes it feel that while every class has a different playstyle, none of them are individual. I feel, each class needs a set of strengths and weaknesses that allows it to have its time to shine.

Starting with Damage types and resistences!
I basically wanted to suggest the idea of giving classes damage resistences, Warriors and guardians might have good physical resistence, Necromancers might have dark and shadow resistence maybe becoming immune when in Death Shroud, The elementalists resistenc might depend on what attunement he’s in….etc.

Skills should have damage types to, hammers are blunt, daggers are piercing or slashing, mesmer’s scepters have chaos damage.

Enemies should also have damage types, resistences and weaknesses. For example it is entirely illogical that you can travel to the depths of Frostgorge and kill ice elementals with frost damage. It’s pretty cold there so surely they should take basically no damage from freezing but take extra damage from fire? Something that’s armored should take less blunt damage but more piercing or slashing damage.

As long as class has a variety of damage types, no one class would be at a disadvantage entirely, but each class would have a place where it was weaker and a palce where it was stronger.
I also think damage types might add a bit of thoughtfulness when playing, deciding which weapons and skills are best for a situation rather than just running in doing damage and not thinking about it.

Good idea bad idea? Discuss?

It’s a bad idea, the interaction between condition/damage/vitality/toughness is complex enough. Remember anet changed the system because it was a nightmare for them to try and balance gw1’s system.

Half Tooth.1867:

My response to that is a little off topic but it basically comes down to: Every class can do everything all the time but none can do anything well. This makes it feel that while every class has a different playstyle, none of them are individual. I feel, each class needs a set of strengths and weaknesses that allows it to have its time to shine.

Please consider that in a game environment, this inevitably leads to players being discriminated against because of their choice of class.
Feeling great about your class choice because it can do something special also means everyone else feels like they got shafted.

If you want an example of what this can lead to, look up the discussions about class choice for Sunwell progression raiding in WoW’s Burning Crusade expansion. During that time, this design problem was brought to it’s ugly, but logical conclusion, rendering some classes completely useless. I’m not as familiar with GW1s history, but I’d wager there are similar examples.

If you design a class so it can do one thing better than any other, players WILL find a way to exploit that, and will discriminate agains other classes that can’t provide it.

If you look for that reward of being recognized for doing something really good, you’ll have to learn how to earn it by playing that good, with out relying on a built-in advantage.

Currently, the game caters to the lowest common denominator in every way possible. Anet have made it abundantly clear that they want to restrict any kind of complexity in the game as much as possible, so while I can see the merits to such a system, it just won’t happen.

wintermute.4096:

Currently, the game caters to the lowest common denominator in every way possible. Anet have made it abundantly clear that they want to restrict any kind of complexity in the game as much as possible, so while I can see the merits to such a system, it just won’t happen.

There is plenty of space for complexity within the existing system, it doesn’t need unnecessary obfuscation.
I love that gw2 has no stats that are worthless to a class – one of the things that most annoys me about other games.
Adding in damage types like that would require stats that boost only that damage type on that class, being useless for other classes.

Naqaj.6219:

If you look for that reward of being recognized for doing something really good, you’ll have to learn how to earn it by playing that good, with out relying on a built-in advantage.

This has to be one of the greatest statements that I’ve read on this board in a very long time and it holds true for so many different aspects of the game, not just this one. I know that it sounds like LTP but honestly…LTP.