Guild Wars 2

So we have a whole list of cryptic blog posts that explain the features we will be getting in the upcoming patch…

https://www.guildwars2.com/en/the-game/releases/feature-packs/

So what does everyone think those titles mean?

Here they are with my guesses:

The Art of Combat: New legendary weapons? New weapon combos for classes
Critical!: Pretty sure this is the ferocity changes
A New Way to Explore the Looks of Guild Wars 2: PvE skin Locker is my guess
A Colorful Outlook: Changes to dyes?
Looking For Group?: I’m stumped on this one
Removing Restrictions: Stumped on this one too
Account-Bound: Wxp? Account bound legendary weapons? not sure what else it could be
A Solid Foundation: This one has me stumped at the moment
Facilitating Friendly Play: 3 parts… it must be huge… but I have nothing…
Facilitating Friendly Play 2
Facilitating Friendly Play 3

A Solid Foundation is almost assuredly carrying over the early game tutorial stuff from the Chinese betas to the NA/EU client.

Removing Restrictions: all weapons for all classes

Perhaps removing restrictions means no more soul binding?

Or as Grevender said, maybe weapons.

The Art of Combat: New BLTC feature: You can buy different skins for your skills
Critical!: Yep, ferocity changes
A New Way to Explore the Looks of Guild Wars 2: Skin locker
A Colorful Outlook: Account-wide dyes, possibly weapon dyes
Looking For Group?: Random daily dungeons, I’m betting, with rewards etc to encourage people to do them
Removing Restrictions: I’m guessing they’re cutting the level requirement on gear for scaling gear, IDK
Account-Bound: WXP and PVP/PVE lockers
A Solid Foundation: Player/guild housing COMPLETE SHOT IN THE DARK
Facilitating Friendly Play: Changes to guild missions/guild structure/general social stuff.

Looking for Group – Improvements to the LFG thingy?
Removing Restrictions – Either opening up weapons / armour for all classes OR making Ascended have selectable stats?
A Solid Foundation – Player / Guild Housing? Or maybe changes to levelling / tutorial?

Art of combat: I’d like to believe this will include a load of WvW changes/balances/upgrades!

Removing Restrictions: I don’t think something so big as unlocking all weapons for all classes. Possibly something more like letting you transmute the look of any armor to any other type of armor class.

Account-bound: HAS TO BE account bound wxp. Really really HAS TO BE since it’s the day before S2 :P

And I’m looking forward to what the friendly play could be!

Hmmmm let’s see:

The Art of Combat – I would say the balances to classes that were advertised ages ago.
Critical! – Bound to be Zerker gear/Ferocity
A new way to explore – Camera changes, maybe 1st person view finally?
A colourful Outlook – Dyes maybe or weapons being able to be dyed?
Looking For Groups? – LFG finally being out of Beta.
Removing restrictions – More info for the trait changes.
Account Bound – more things account bound, perhaps legendaries etc.
A Solid Foundation – Guild Halls maybe or a major story to LS.
Facilitating Friendly – I would say a big chance this is all Guild related, again possibly to do with halls.

Well that was all off the top of my head, probably miles off the mark. :P

Ohhhhh new weapon types for classes would be pretty darn exciting.

Moopy.7908:

Removing Restrictions: I don’t think something so big as unlocking all weapons for all classes. Possibly something more like letting you transmute the look of any armor to any other type of armor class.

I would adore this.

art of combat —> more clear animations, clearer combo-fields?

Better camera functions overall hopefully…

art of combat,
I think that this is related with the runes and sigil changes, which I can not fit them in the other titles.

https://www.guildwars2.com/en/news/traits-unleashed-forty-new-traits-and-more/ ?

“Power Block will be introduced to the Domination line and will change the recharge of an interrupted skill from 5 seconds to 10 seconds.”

is this the return of the gw1 mesmer? :O

Gywem.1738:

art of combat,
I think that this is related with the runes and sigil changes, which I can not fit them in the other titles.

I completely forgot about those… Yeah art of combat will probably be balance changes and rune/sigil changes then.

Aeolus.3615:

https://www.guildwars2.com/en/news/traits-unleashed-forty-new-traits-and-more/ ?

“Power Block will be introduced to the Domination line and will change the recharge of an interrupted skill from 5 seconds to 10 seconds.”

is this the return of the gw1 mesmer? :O

I really hope so.

Now if only that included the return of Panic as an elite………………that would be like Satan for WvW zergs.

Removing Restrictions: Fractals 50+ ? i doubt it tho :/

here are my guesses:

The Art of Combat: more weapons per profession
Critical!: ferocity
A New Way to Explore the Looks of Guild Wars: PvE locker is a good one.
A Colorful Outlook: changes in Commander Tags, possible color function
Looking For Group?: option to do Personal Story with others while in them across servers
Removing Restrictions: any armor can be transmuted to any other, regardless of weight class.
Account-Bound: Wxp, Dyes, weapons/Armor will be Account Bound instead of Soul Bound

these two…idk, I will just throw out the first thought out of my head

A Solid Foundation: better way to direct players to events so they don’t go around aimlessly
Facilitating Friendly Play:1 dealing with AFK’er and grievers in events
Facilitating Friendly Play 2 dealing with the conflict of Event completer and those who want to Farm them
Facilitating Friendly Play 3 Higher lvl players getting rewarded from Help lower players in Personal Story, like in fractals (idk, used up my 2 best guesses on the first 2 parts of this)

these tired me out, still excited tho about the new changes

I think “facilitating friendly play” will involve addressing the issues with overflows for large events and friends getting separated in the process. My hope is a change to the server architecture system – possibly implementing a system where you choose the version of the zone you want to play in and can move freely between them (with friends) rather than dealing with random overflows.

re:The Art of Combat – I hope they will be adding floating markers for combo fields, so that people will know where to use finishers, and to prevent people from overlapping combo fields.

• The Art of Combat: Class balances, runes/sigils and skills rework
• Critical!: Introduction to ferocity
• A New Way to Explore the Looks of Guild Wars 2: (possibly) Gem store skin locker, camera fix/rework and maybe more visual enhancement to the game
• A Colorful Outlook: Account-bound dyes/ dye acquirement rework
• Looking For Group?: Fixing numerous bug/griefing issues related to the LFG tool
• Removing Restrictions: Instance ownership, AoE restriction? (hehe, wishful thinking), exotic-level Mystic Forge flushing
• Account-Bound: Wxp, Legendary weapons, dungeon runes
• A Solid Foundation: New technology and infrastructure to support the heavy-duty areas
• Facilitating Friendly Play: Tutorials and starting areas

The Art of Combat: Class balance discussion. New sigils and runes discussed
Critical!: Crit changes, and talks about gear stats.
A New Way to Explore the Looks of Guild Wars 2: Discussion on using existing world content to acquire new skills and traits!!
A Colorful Outlook: Please be new dye system! I want account bound dye, and the ability to dye more things, like hair pieces and maybe to a controlled extent, weapons
Looking For Group?: I’m stumped on this one
Removing Restrictions: All classes get all weapons!! Who doesn’t want this??
Account-Bound: The removal of soul bound equipment. Your exotics will now be able to be swapped to other characters in one account!! No more wasted gear =P
A Solid Foundation: Talks about the future of gw2 and how to open up room for expansions ^.^ This is wishful thinking =)
Facilitating Friendly Play: Talks about how to make helping people more rewarding. Maybe lowering total loot requirements on mobs, better tutorial systems for new players, and training zones for pvp? idk.

Art of Combat — reducing particle effects spam.

account bound is hopefully removing soulbound items and making them all account bound. Since you could already kind of make everything account bound anyway, including soul bound items, they’ll remove the silly soulbound items.

A PvE skin locker and all weapons for all classes has already been confirmed before I believe so i’m sure those are in here.

A solid foundation… hmm… maybe redesigning and balancing classes so they’re balanced and/or engaging to play/

27 march: Removing Restrictions: All weapons for all classes.
27 march: Account Bound: Soulbound will be replaced by Account Bound entirely

/hope

The Art of Combat: Probably the changes to sigils/runes. And the second sigil for 2handed.
Critical!: Definitely the ferocity changes
A New Way to Explore the Looks of Guild Wars 2: Wardrobe of some kind? Maybe allow us to get infinitely copies of LS/Meta awards (skins/minis)? (really hoping this gets done)
A Colorful Outlook: Probably changes to dyes to be like new Asian version. Maybe weapon/backpiece dyeing? (one can hope)
Looking For Group?: More features to it? (maybe removing the beta text?)
Removing Restrictions: Could be anything. Maybe new weapons for each class? (can’t be all, since they just added more restrictions to stuff, like gift of battle (again))
Account-Bound: Most likely wvw levels/wxp. Maybe changes to ascended stuff to be account instead of soulbound (like how non ascended spinal backpieces were before the one patch)?
A Solid Foundation: Probably the changes in Asian one for the starting stuff?
Facilitating Friendly Play 1/2/3: New guild stuff/missions/options? New grouping options? Ideas on zerg content? Maybe changes to teq/wurm (or adding in districts like Gw1 had?)?

I can dream:

“Removing Restrictions:” Anyone can guest on any server, no matter what “region” you’re home world is in…. like I said… I can dream

Ashabhi.1365:

I can dream:

“Removing Restrictions:” Anyone can guest on any server, no matter what “region” you’re home world is in…. like I said… I can dream

That would be a dream for you but a nightmare for anet!

Question for all you feature guessers.

I was just about to start crafting ascended berserker armor (for my memser). Would you advise to hold off doing this or do you guys think nothing in this feature pack will change either: mesmer’s using berserker as BiS for pve content or change the way ascended crafting is done (I was planning on buying all the armor padding/linings etc)

I’m quite eager to craft it so I’d only hold off if people are sure it would be the best choice..

Grevender.9235:

Removing Restrictions: all weapons for all classes

Yes! Finally! I’ve always wanted my warrior to use staff and s/f.

Verificus.4320:

Question for all you feature guessers.

I was just about to start crafting ascended berserker armor (for my memser). Would you advise to hold off doing this or do you guys think nothing in this feature pack will change either: mesmer’s using berserker as BiS for pve content or change the way ascended crafting is done (I was planning on buying all the armor padding/linings etc)

I’m quite eager to craft it so I’d only hold off if people are sure it would be the best choice..

There is talk about a possible level cap increase. I would hold off.

The Art of Combat: sigil/rune. a little chance for new weapon skills /less effects in combat, so i can actually see my target
Critical!: ferocity ofc
A New Way to Explore the Looks of Guild Wars 2: wardrobe, pve<->pvp, little chance all LS skins works like AP skins
A Colorful Outlook: account bound dyes, new ways to obtain dyes
Looking For Group?: lfg now has own icon in left corner, more options for lfg, oh yeah and now if instance owner leaves it no one will be kicked
Removing Restrictions: no idea, maybe transmuting heavy<->light armor, but there is no logic to do this. thief in t3 heavy /o\ add/remove runes from gear without destoying gear/rune. no idea
Account-Bound: crafting proffesions,, wvw ranks merged. no more ideas
A Solid Foundation: no idea

Verificus.4320:

Question for all you feature guessers.

I was just about to start crafting ascended berserker armor (for my memser). Would you advise to hold off doing this or do you guys think nothing in this feature pack will change either: mesmer’s using berserker as BiS for pve content or change the way ascended crafting is done (I was planning on buying all the armor padding/linings etc)

I’m quite eager to craft it so I’d only hold off if people are sure it would be the best choice..

While it’s likely zerker will remain best in slot, you lose nothing by holding off as far as I can tell. Really though it’s far to early to really make a prediction on that till more is revealed. A lot of those teasers are very vague and thus extreme wild cards at the moment.

Smart money is wait for all the reveals to go through with the crafting. Maybe craft some of it, but don’t complete the process.

EpicBanHammer.7521:

Grevender.9235:

Removing Restrictions: all weapons for all classes

Yes! Finally! I’ve always wanted my warrior to use staff and s/f.

I melee version of staff would actually be pretty cool….not sure how s/f would work.

EpicBanHammer.7521:

Grevender.9235:

Removing Restrictions: all weapons for all classes

Yes! Finally! I’ve always wanted my warrior to use staff and s/f.

magical professions can use melee weapons by imbuing them with magic.
Warriors should be able to use magical weapons by using them as melee weapons.
Ever heard of a Quarterstaff?
Scepter can be used as a stick.
Focus as a boomerang.

A Solid Foundation: so simple of a guess I missed it 2 hours ago(not saying its right, total guess)….

Profession Updates: New Skills, improved Profession specific Mechanics & a lot of fixes. Allow each profession to Control, Support and do Damage to a greater degree than before.

My predictions

The Art of Combat: Changes to the graphical appearance of fights (maybe we’ll finally be able to see the boss in the middle of the zerg?)
Critical!: details the introduction of ferocity
A new way to explore the looks: Armor gallery
A colorful outlook: implementation of gems for dye assessment
Looking for Group?: more changes to the LFG tool
Removing restrictions: No clue on this. It seems contrary to Anet’s methods
Account bound: Not even going to dream that this is about Legendary weapons
A solid foundation: new noob zone tutorials to help players learn to dodge, etc. (it would be a plus)
Facilitating Friendly Play: Implementation of game changes to force people to not play solo

Ok fellas, I will now proceed to destroy some dreams:

The Art of Combat: This won’t allow all classes to use all weapons, because we would need a lot more than 40 traits for this. It’s the Sigils and MAYBEEEE some other changes.

Critical! – This one is pretty obvious.

A new way to explore – Camera changes are unlikely. More like a much requested wardrobe.

A colourful Outlook – I think they once stated weapon dye was impossible ATM because of engine restricctions. Very unlikely. But I don’t think they would introduce account bound dyes when they already have a section for Account Bound stuff. Mhmm…

Looking For Groups?: Has to do with the LFG tool, but I can’t imagine this to be groundshaking.

Removing restrictions – This one I’m pretty excited about. Could be a lot of stuff. Maybe stat selection on Ascended. But I won’t ride the Hype Train again. DO YOU HEAR ME?!

A Solid Foundation – Server side improvements.

Facilitating Friendly – iExpect.

Oh, y’know what’d be nice for “facilitating friendly play”? Underflows. So we have people to play with, whether friendly or unfriendly.

Facilitating Friendly Play: Could be ways to direct players to events better, and like a chance to you go to one champ alone, need more people, you can click a button that can alert people around the map to help you, this would be very very useful to complete champs and group events that are mostly empty.

New thought on either Art of War or Facilitating Friendly Play.
Aren’t they supposed to be putting the rest of the PvP rewards changes into the Feature Build? (I don’t really pay attention to pvp stuff, since I don’t play that format)
That could mean Art of War article will be the changes for the PvP rewards, or possibly one of the three Facilitating Friendly Play articles might be about that.

A colorful outlook: maybe player housing
Removing restrictions: maybe increasing level cap

thebadblackcat.2904:

Removing restrictions: maybe increasing level cap

That would be terrible. I would have to regrind to gear for all my alts and buy tons of transmutation crystals…

A colorful Outlook: Hopefully a update to the kittenty graphic engine… Render the stuff finally complety on the GPU and not on the CPU and GPU, we live in 2014 kitten!

Also Dynamic Lighting and Shadows and a real Day/Night Cycle.

Windu The Forbidden One.6045:

thebadblackcat.2904:

Removing restrictions: maybe increasing level cap

That would be terrible. I would have to regrind to gear for all my alts and buy tons of transmutation crystals…

they said before “it might be possible in future” so who knows

thebadblackcat.2904:

A colorful outlook: maybe player housing
Removing restrictions: maybe increasing level cap

I’m curious on how you think increasing level cap removes restrictions? o0. Thats just moving them from 80 to 90 or whatever and would make no difference to endgame part from adding grind.

thebadblackcat.2904:

Windu The Forbidden One.6045:

thebadblackcat.2904:

Removing restrictions: maybe increasing level cap

That would be terrible. I would have to regrind to gear for all my alts and buy tons of transmutation crystals…

they said before “it might be possible in future” so who knows

“Might be possible in the future” is not a confirmation. Anet promised/said many things that never made it into the game.

thebadblackcat.2904:

Windu The Forbidden One.6045:

thebadblackcat.2904:

Removing restrictions: maybe increasing level cap

That would be terrible. I would have to regrind to gear for all my alts and buy tons of transmutation crystals…

they said before “it might be possible in future” so who knows

I’m really hoping that IF they do (which would be contrary to the idea of not having a gear treadmill and getting away from the traditional level grinds) that it will only be in a full expansion. With all of the gear people have grinded and infused it would be a nightmare to have to repeat that

Removing restrictions sounds intriguing. If it’s all weapons for all classes that’s cool. If it’s all armors too..who would ever wear light armor? Unless they balance it out by heavy armor = more armor, slightly lower stats. Light = less armor but slightly higher stats. Medium armor = balance between the two. Or it’s just using the appearance of any armor you want

The Art of Combat – No idea. Maybe some changes to combat but I can’t imagine how.

Critical! – Nerf/changes to critical hits.

A New Way to Explore the Looks of Guild Wars 2 – No idea.

A Colorful Outlook – Chinese Dye system (prepare you gems).

Looking For Group? – Improves to the LFG tool I hope.

Removing Restrictions – Free-for-all Weapons (Yay! Finally I can start working on Eternity for my necro).

Account-Bound – WvW Exp

A Solid Foundation – Start of the new LS maybe?

Facilitating Friendly Play – More nerfs?

Facilitating Friendly Play: Part Two – Even more nerfs? Maybe more time-gated content?

Facilitating Friendly Play: Part Three – OK, Seriously I have no idea.

Removing Restrictions: Cultural Armor. You heard it here first.