Guild Wars 2

Ok, so probably this has been discussed waaaaay back but i’ll post my thoughts anyway since I haven’t personally seen any threads like this one. So I have a problem with 9 Elite specs every expansion because that would require the new elite specs to be really good so people don’t say new content is useless but that would also make the old stuff (even more) useless as we have seen this expansion. So my suggestion is: just add a few skills to existing skill categories, redesign or simply change the numbers on old skills so they are more useful, add some new options in existing trait trees and give new weapons to classes that need them (so maybe not all). That seems like it would make more players happy, be easier for anet and considerably slow down the power creep that comes with constantly adding new skills. Any thoughts?

All that you’re asking for is also asked by many players here, but more as a “skill overhaul” patch than an X-Pac.
There’s been rants about HoT being a half-baked expansion, that’s why an X-Pac without elite specs would get an even worse reception, should it only include the overhaul you’re asking for.

Anyway, I agree about the issue you’re raising : new elite specs will have to be really potent so that people see the expansion as useful from the skills point of view. I also think the next elite specs may become the new standard, which would fail bringing diversity as the elite specs claimed.

The only solution I can see in that is have a much much higher frequency of elite specs releases, and also skills overhauls as you’re asking for (those ones free of charge of course). But that’s not what ANet’s gonna do, unfortunately

ThomasC.1056:

All that you’re asking for is also asked by many players here, but more as a “skill overhaul” patch than an X-Pac.
There’s been rants about HoT being a half-baked expansion, that’s why an X-Pac without elite specs would get an even worse reception, should it only include the overhaul you’re asking for.

Anyway, I agree about the issue you’re raising : new elite specs will have to be really potent so that people see the expansion as useful from the skills point of view. I also think the next elite specs may become the new standard, which would fail bringing diversity as the elite specs claimed.

The only solution I can see in that is have a much much higher frequency of elite specs releases, and also skills overhauls as you’re asking for (those ones free of charge of course). But that’s not what ANet’s gonna do, unfortunately

Thanks for the response, I would personally value an expansion with more varied content and quality campaign than another batch of elite specs. A skill overhaul would also be a nice addition to the expansion, of course everyone would get it whether they bought the expansion or not. Finally, my point is that it’s time for a new expansion soon, the living story is nice but not for more than 2-3 days and I would like to see in the expansion that skill overhaul and a more quality campaign, not new elite specs.

To make my point a little bit more clear on new skills, I want new skills in the existing skill categories, not new skill categories with new skills in them.

I definitely want new Elite Specializations, but they should be made more versatile so that they don’t replace the existing ones but instead provide an option which type of build the player chooses to play.

Scorze.1056:

To make my point a little bit more clear on new skills, I want new skills in the existing skill categories, not new skill categories with new skills in them.

I’d rather they just updates the existing skills and traits and made them all viable and useful and add new Elite specs for newer skills and traits.

With your way you can use ‘new survival skill x’ (which boosts your tankiness) with, say, the Druid Elite spec (which is already pretty tanky), that could get pretty out of hand balance-wise.

On the other hand, they could add ‘new survival skill x’ to a new Elite spec, preventing it from use with the already tanky Druid spec, making it easier to balance and less likely to become broken.

I’d rather they continue with where their going with the Elites… Yes, having more content and story should be the main focus for the X-Pacs, but the elites should be adding diversity to the profession while sticking to the overall theme of the class, play the role of secondary professions from guild war 1 days, and complimenting core specializations in some way.

So far the current formula has been 5 core specializations that geared towards Damage, Conditions, Defense, Healing, and Profession Mech. They could come up with five elites to re-enforce the core while, filling in the gaps that the profession is lacking a role in.

I think putting more work into existing skills and traits is a waste of time, especially for an X-Pac. Even if the current system, professions may be too this or that, adding more diversity to a class will make each build feel special. every one won’t have the same build when all the builds are so good, and each player brings something you’d least expect.

I had come up with more elites per profession hoping these ideas help shape the future of the professions.

Warrior:
1) Berserker- Torch weapon and Rage(Physical) skills
2) Slayer- Off Hand Daggers w/ (Tricks) skills
3) Mercenary – Off Hand Pistol w/ Recruits (Phantasms) skills
4) Warlord- Staff (melee Halberd) w/ Zones(Consecration) skills
5) Raider- Short Bow w/ Survival skills

Guardian:
1) Dragon Hunter- Long Bow w/ Traps
2) Purifier- Off Hand Scepter w/ Tomes skills
3) Vanguard- Off Hand Sword w/Stances skills
4) Sentential-Off Hand Mace w/ Physical skills
5) Summoner- War Horn w/ Mystical Animals (Spirit)

Revenant:
1) Herald- Shield w/Dragon (Signets)
2) Ritualist- Focus w/ Rift magic skills
3)Avenger- Short Bow / Rift Spirits
4) Hierophant- Main Hand Axe w/ Titan skills
5) Legionnaire -Great Sword / The Destroyer skills

Ranger:
1) Druid- Staff w/ Glyphs
2) Strider- Off Hand Sword w/ Kits skills
3) Shaman- Focus w/ Totems skills
4) Pact Master- Scepter (Whip) w/ Minions
5) Warden- Shield w/ Physical skills

Thief:
1) Daredevil- Staff w/Physical skills
2) Rouge- Off Hand Sword w/ Pets
3) Stalker- Rifle w/ Glyphs skills
4) Mystic- Focus w/ Scrolls (Mantras) skills
5) Bandit- Mace (Dual Weld) w/ Stances skills

Engineer:
1) Scrapper- Hammer w/ Gyros
2) Artificer- Staff w/ Survival skills
3) Saboteur- Focus w/ Traps
4) Forge- Main Hand Mace, w/ Minion
5) Technomancer- Great Sword w/ Arcane skills

Elementalist:
1) Tempest- War Horn w/ Shouts
2) Battle Mage- Great Sword w/ Stances
3) Arcane Archer- Long Bow w/ Mantras
4) Warlock- Off Hand Scepter w/Minions
5) Rune Master- Shield w/Traps

Mesmer:
1) Chronomancer- Shield w/ Wells
2) Enchanter- War Horn w/ Shouts
3) Psion- Off Hand Dagger w/ Arcane skills
4) Conjurer- Off Hand Scepter w/ Minions
5) Mirage- Rifle w/Cantrips

Necromancer:
1) Reaper- Great Sword w/ Shouts
2) Spectre- Off Hand Scepter w/ Arcane
3) Soul Weaver- Short Bow w/Traps
4) Scourge- Torch w/ Spirits
5) Reaver- Off Hand Axe w/ Physical skills

Dear god, please beware us of some of these terrible E-Spec Names. ( :P)
Putting right now more ressources into more Skill Patches is just a waste of time.
GW2 needs more impactful changes now, that approach the Class Balancing in more unconventional ways, beginning first with completely rebalancing and reducing all Boons and Conditions in this Game.
That would the the first big right step to improve GW2.
You won’t prepare GW2 for more Elite Specializations to get implemented, by just making only Skill and Trait Changes and ignoring meanwhile for all the years all other important Combat System Mechanics.
What does it need, until people realize this, that Skill Changes are no solution for outdated gameplay systems which don’t harmonize currently with the latest made changes on Conditions and the too early added Elite Specs from HoT?

First should come improving the Combat Systems of GW2, then can add Anet more Elite Specializations, because then will be the game prepared for more Specs to come in the future. If they add only more and more Specs to the Game, without making needed changes to the Combat System Mechanics – all of them, not only Skills and Traits will ANet inevitably crash this game in the future only royally against the wall.
There needs to be NOW a good balanced and designed new Combat System Foundation, onto which theCore Classes and all of their future to be Elite Specs can be build on.

Elite Specs should be used also more to add also new interesting Weapon Types to the Game. I’d make these changes to that suggested list:

Warrior

• Berserker = Greataxe + Rage Skills
• Partizan = Polearm + Traps
• Legionnaire = Tower Shield (MH) + Minions (Servants)
• Raider = Staff + Survival Skills
• Corsair = Torch + Kits (Pistol Kit, Grapple Hook Kit (Chain Sickle), Throwing Knive Kit/ Daggers)

Elementalist

• Warlock = Warhorn + Shouts
• Arcanist = Sword + Mantras
• Summoner = Chakrams + Avatar Transforms
• Sage = Cestus + Wells (Terramancy) Environmental Changes
• Runologist = Rune Orbs + Marks/Symbols

Thief

• Rogue = Longbow + Disarmaments (DD merged into Core Thief)
• Saboteur = Torch + Manipulations
• Infiltrator = Whip/Chain Sickle + Kits (Espionage Kit, Assassination Kit, Escape Kit)
• Brawler = Cestus + Physicals
• Mercenary = Greatsword + Stances

Mesmer

• Chronomancer = Shield + Wells
• Bard = Warhorn + Songs (Shouts)
• Oracle = Rune Orbs + Consecrations
• Psion = Chakrams + Conjures (Mental Weapons)
• Mystic = Whip/Chain Sicle + Dances (Stances)

Guardian

• Seeker = Longbow + Traps
• Zealot = Greataxe + Mantras (Oaths)
• Cleric = Mace + Tomes
• Inquisitioner = Tower Shield + Wells
• Phalanx = Polearm + Stances

Ranger

• Druid = Staff + Glyphs
• Hunter = Rifle/Crossbow + Preparations (Stances)
• Warden = Shield + Physicals
• Beastlord = Whip/Chain Sickle + Shape Shifts
• Shaman = Scepter + Wells

Necromancer

• Reaper = Greatsword + Shouts
• Ritualist = Cestus + Ritual Artefacts (Banners)
• Witcher = Swords + Elixiers (or Glyphs) (as a big homage and if copyright problems exist with Witcher, then name it “Exorcist”)
• Occultist = Torch + Tomes/Scrolls (Forbidden Spells)
• Torturer = Whip/Chain Sickle + Tormented Souls (GW1 ritualist spirits)

Engineer

• Scrapper = Hammer + Gyros
• Alchemist = Axe/Chain Sickle + Shouts
• Technomancer = Polearm + Seals (Glyph imbued Traps)
• Forger = Mace + Physicals
• Scout = Shortbow + Survival Skills

Herald (Herald merged into Rev)

• Theurgist = Cestus + Spirits (Master Togo)
• Slayer = Greatsword + Glyphs (Vekk)
• Gunslinger = Pistols + Tricks (M.O.X)
• Vanguard = Scepter + Mantras (Gwen Thackeray)
• Poacher = Longbow + Pets (Rift Creatures) (Pyre Fierceshot)

There is a pretty massive thread somewhere full of ideas for elite specs. This thread, though, seems aimed more at asking to limit the impact of new ones.

So … no, please? I mean I’m not asking for OP power creeps. But since the initial impression was that they would release new elites during HoT, which they then corrected to “elites go with expansions,” I was very pumped to see new varieties of professions showing up. I would feel profound disappointment if after all the time spent on an expansion, all the time ANet’s had to be aware of player allegations that HoT wasn’t “big enough,” if they then decided “nah, we will just scale back, only add a few things that would barely count as a regular balance patch.”

I agree that I am not a balance advocate. I don’t PvP and I don’t care if other people are more powerful than me so long as I’m having fun. I understand that the more options players have, the harder it gets to keep a level playing field. Nonetheless, I have so enjoyed collecting all the elites and using them as I play that if I had one real complaint about HoT lacking in content it was that we only got one per profession.

“Elites come with expansions.” Well, then, I would like actual elites with the next expansion, not just a minor correction to some flaws in the ones we have, and would be super happy if there were two per profession.

- Phalanx/Paragon

- Priest/Monk

-Scribe/Adept

- Seer

- Oppressor

- Zealot/Dervish

- Ritualist/Enchanter

- Assassin

Just some concepts:

Ranger-Sniper(rifle/stances)
Engineer-Technician(scepter/glyphs)
Thief-Agent(focus/gadgets)
Mesmer-Spy(mh dagger/gagdets)
Elementalist-Battlemage(sword/physical)
Warrior-Tactician(staff/traps)