Guild Wars 2

This is mostly just a mashup of random fun ideas I had regarding the masteries of the upcomming second expansion most likely comming in the not-too-distant future in announcement terms.

Where this Expansion could and may be going?

This Mastery Suggestion list covers a potential Crystal Desert themed Expansion list of content and includes possible features and ideas.

Without further adoo, lets go straight into the list of potential ideas we could have for upcomming future masteries:

Mount Mastery
A popular speculation is that expansion 2 will come with mounts, this leads me to believe that a mount mastery would naturally come with this path much like Gliders had.

With that in mind, I propose this as my idea for Mount Mastery and its paths:

Basic Saddle: You are able to ride a mount on horizontal terrain, the mount has a limited duration while riding, you will be dismounted when engaging in combat, land based movement increased by 50%.
Hedge Training: Your mount is now able to jump as are you, doing so will consume some of the mounts remaining duration but allow you to remain mounted while jumping around.
Crop Adjustment: Your mount now lasts longer, increasing its movement speed by a further 25%, while mounted you are also able to evade forwards consuming a large portion of your mount time for a quick boost of 100% speed (this speed stacks ontop of current mount speed).
War Steed: Your mount is now trained for war, as such you will no longer be dismounted when engaging in combat unless you choose to manually dismount yourself (note this does not apply for world vs world which permanently fixes mounts to tier 1 mastery).
Advanced Riding: You no longer have a duriation of mount time and can ride indefinatley as long as you wish, in addition, your movement speed is increased to 100% while mounted. (Note, you will be dismounted if you enter water, or leap too far from a high perch regardless of this benefit).

Arms Mastery
Lets assume that the next expansion does not feature something as game changing as a new class, or a new race, with that in mind it will need something new to really shake things up. This is where arms mastery comes into play. Arms mastery will enable you to gain new weapons, use underwater weapons overland, and overland weapons underwater over time.

On Land Or Sea: You are now able to use spears, tridents and harpoon guns overland, their abilities will reflect overland variables of their underwater abilities. You do not need a specialization to unlock these weapons or use them.
Lumberjack: Gain Access to the Greataxe weapon, this weapon is available to Warriors, Rangers and Necromancer.
Kama, not Karma: Gain Access to the Kama’s, two single weapons wielded by Elementalists, Thieves and Revenants.
Nuts and Bolts: Gain Access to the twohanded crossbow, used by Guardians, Engineers and Mesmers.
On Sea Or Land: All land based weapons are now useable underwater, aquatic weapon slots are permanently removed and the player can now wield underwater equivilents of overland weapon abilities.
Master Armsman: Gain Access to the ability to craft “Tiered” Ascended weapons, from Tier 1 to Tier 5, aswell as crafting Tiered Legendary weapons, from Tier 1 to Tier 3.

More to come in an additional post below:

Glints Prophecy

This mastery entails following the influence of the avian dragon glint and learning how to fly, by fly, one means jump, alot, and by alot I mean, double, triple, quadroople jump.

Glints Wings: Gain Access to double jump by tapping the spacebar a second time, tapping it a third time will activate your glider.
Heavenly Dive: You gain a permanent reduction to damage from falling, fall damage now deals 25% less total damage to you (This effect does not stack with superior quality talents that reduce fall damage, it also cannot be used in pvp or wvw).
Glints Spirit: Gain access to triple jump, using the evade key while leaping a second time enables you to leap a third time even higher still.
Gleaming Soul: You will now be launched twice as high by zephyrs and jumping mushrooms, in addition, you can hold the evade key to launch yourself into the air consuming all of your evade charges.
Zephyrites Prophecy: You are now able to jump four times at once, using the evade key twice will allow you to jump an additional time, allowing you to soar to unreachable heights!

Forgotten Lore

Much like a generic mastery, this one has its role in a very specific function of giving you access to new crafting materials and some new interesting challenges.

Forgotten Language: Enables you to understand the language of the ancient forgotten race.
Unveiling The Unseen: The Forgotten’s lore will teach you how to see through mirages in the desert, enabling you to fight challenging enemies, or discover mysterious treasure once per day.
To Be Unseen: With the Forgotten’s teaching, you can now approach nearly all non-veteran or champion mobs as if they were neutral to you, note getting point blank will still cause them to attack you.
Mist Mirror: Enables you to use the mysterious mirrors of the mist scattered throughout the crystal desert, taking you to the forgotten webway, a mysterious region of the mists that will allow you to transport between certain areas of zones easily.
Dune Rider: The Forgotten’s serpentine teachings will allow you to enter the inaccessably ruthless sand-storm regions of the desert, enabling you to travel further into them before suffering fatigue and defeat, uncovering secrets further away.

And finally, my last idea:

Margonite Lore
The Margonites did have a presence in the crystal desert, and though im lead to believe Joko does too, which could lead to interesting Mordent Cresent Mastery or Lich Mastery or Undead Mastery… the Margonites were tied to the desert in other interesting ways.

Arcane Greatness: Discover rogue leyline nodes and activate them to awaken a powerful evil from the mists. Defeating this evil will grant the area a temporary passage of Leyline Gliding trails to use across the map.
Abbadons Gift: Uncover the Lore of the Margonites, by discovering secret hints and imprinting yourself with their power, allowing you to open secret Margonite temples and ruins, filled with risk, and riches.
Unstoppable Power: Harness the energy of the Leylines by gliding all the way through one, the longer you do, you gain a passive benefit that increases all stats by 1% up to ten times in the world map (does not apply to raids, dungeons or pvp).
Overwhelming Force: Wield the magic of the Branded against them by exploiting crystalised magic, by drawing from this magic you are able to regenerate your abilities 50% faster for 10 seconds (can only be used once every 10 minuates).
Secrets Unleashed: With the power of Abbadon, you are able to ressist a fatal blow every hour, this ability will prevent you from being downed and instead unleash a terrible power that destroys all non veteran or above mobs around you instantly.

Well, thats what i got.

My advice for the future is don’t include a lot of numbers and specifics in this kind of thing because it allows people to shoot down your ideas based on minutae instead of discussing the general intent. It also lets you cut down on word count so the idea is easier for others to read and consider.

For example I love the idea of Margonite Lore because I played GW1. However when you get into the nitty gritty of recharging skills 50% faster for 10 seconds, but putting a 10 minute cooldown… how is the cooldown displayed? Like how do I know when the 10 minutes are up? Is there an icon or do I need to set my stopwatch? Is 50% too weak or too strong? And 10% to all stats? How long does that last? Now the discussion isn’t about how cool Margonites are, but whether the mechanics will work. Besides that, I think Margonite Lore should have more… lore and less combat buffs.

I think it’s more important to discuss the general intent of these things before they exist and let the devs worry about the nitty gritty details later.

I think we will see mounts, but I’m personally more inclined to believe that the differet mastery levels will affect which mounts you are able to use, with the mounts that require higher levels of mastery being “better” by offering new utility.

Arms Mastery sounds kittening awful. Gating new weapons behind a mastery? And its not even consistent. I main a mesmer currently. Assuming that doesn’t change, why should I have to train the 4th tier of this mastery line to unlock my new weapon, while warriors, rangers, and necromancers get their new weapon at the second level of this mastery? That is fundamentally unfair to 6 of the 9 classes (and if you thought people already complained about lacking MP, wait until you gate new weapons behind masteries). Not to mention, the 6th bonus is 100% gear treadmill, which is something ANet has worked extremely hard to avoid in this game. It wouldn’t fit in with the rest of GW2 and would be downright awful to have. Also, On Sea or Land wouldn’t work without redoing underwater content as a whole. The reason that a lot of skills are not available underwater is because they are ground targetted, and that really isn’t possible with how underwater combat is currently setup. A few of them were tweaked to be allowed to work underwater, but not all of them. It would be way too much work to implement this just for the sake of a mastery.

Similarly, Glint’s Prophecy sounds awful as well, from a logistics standpoint. For one, the 4th tier, gleaming soul, would break bouncing mushrooms. They send you on a fixed path for a reason. Either this would break and they would no longer send you to where you needed to go, or it would be pointless. But more generally, the entire concept is beyond broken. Having a constant jump height is the best resources the devs have to gate where we can and cannot go in the world. Being able to double jump would already break that, but being able to jump 4 times in a row would be awful logistically. Everything would either have to be flat-ish, or have massive walls everywhere to gate where we can and can’t go solely due to this mastery. Plus, it would make jumping puzzles trivial (though to some extent leap skills already do that).

Forgotten Lore looks alright. Standard mastery line that opens new vendors and ways to travel. Only thing is that To Be Unseen would have to be the last tier, and should only affect regular enemies. Why on earth would Anet want to make the champions ignore you, but not regular mobs? If this got implemented it would surely be so that standard trash mobs ignore you, but veterans and champions still hunt you down.

Margonite Lore also looks promising. I like the idea of using the power of the branded against themselves, but not a fan of the CD reduction on a 10 min CD. Instead, I would like to see this extended to all dragon minions (if possible and applicable), wherein you would gain some benefit versus them, depending on which dragon minion it was. It could be something as simple as being able to burn destroyers, or something more unique and distinct (for example, when fighting risen thralls and they use frenzy you would turn it against them and make them take 50% increased damage [instead of the standard 25%] and it would slow their attacks instead of applying the effects of quickness. Or for fighting branded, if they use “branded magic” against you instead of simple auto attacks the damage is reflected back at them, 6 sec ICD. Or something). Secrets Unleashed also looks ripe for exploits. It would have to be disabled in PvP and WvW obviously, as well as fractals (to prevent you from cheesing something like the automatic KO attack that Siax has in CM if you don’t kill the 4 adds fast enough) and raids. So already it would be heavily limited, but also due to Rezzing and the whole downed state the entire concept feels weak and not original. It also feels useless on a 1hr CD.

Here’s how I think these things are going to go…

Mount Mastery

At best we will get Junundu Wurms which will be required to travel through burning desert sands (just like GW1). The mastery will focus on riding your wurm better and unlocking wurm skills. The wurms will only be usable in certain areas (just like GW1) because the core game doesn’t need and really has no room for mounts…

Arms Mastery

This is probably never going to be a thing. Anet already showed us the way we will unlock new weapons is through elite specializations. The skills on every weapon have to be carefully balanced which is why we only get elite specs from expansions.

Glint’s Prophecy

Double, triple, and quadruple jumping sounds fun on paper, but is pretty ridiculous if you really think about it. Being able to do that anywhere at any time is going to make a lot of core game areas silly and allow people to break out of maps too easily. Not to mention jumping puzzle issues. The closes I think we might get is a new type of bouncing mushroom that lets you trigger the bounce 2 or 3 times in the air, but it only works in new areas where the map is specifically designed for it.

Forgotten Lore / Margonite Lore

Like I said earlier, this one is pretty cool if you focus more on the lore and less on combat buffs. Make it so that you need to level this up in order to speak the same language as Margonites and Forgotten and be able to learn about the story from them. Make it a study of the language and culture so you can read their books and open magically sealed doors or whatever.

I’m going to preface this by saying it’s pretty clear we aren’t going into the Crystal Desert this expansion. The theme of Season 3 is Primordus vs Jormag, just as Season 2 was all about that Mordremoth, so we’re either going up north to the Far Shiverpeaks, or Primordus’s homebase, whether that be the Ring of Fire or Tyrian Depths. That said, we WILL go to the Crystal Desert eventually, so I’ll respond to that.

Xenon.4537:

Mount Mastery

At best we will get Junundu Wurms which will be required to travel through burning desert sands (just like GW1). The mastery will focus on riding your wurm better and unlocking wurm skills. The wurms will only be usable in certain areas (just like GW1) because the core game doesn’t need and really has no room for mounts…
Agreed that the mounts would be restricted to certain areas, but with a bit of creativity, there could be more mounts than just the Wurms. Maybe there are some giant vultures in the desert to give another way to move around, with one possible mastery being able to jump from the bird midflight and gliding to certain areas.

Arms Mastery

This is probably never going to be a thing. Anet already showed us the way we will unlock new weapons is through elite specializations. The skills on every weapon have to be carefully balanced which is why we only get elite specs from expansions.
Unless there are very specific weapons being used in the desert, I agree with this completely.

Glint’s Prophecy

Double, triple, and quadruple jumping sounds fun on paper, but is pretty ridiculous if you really think about it. Being able to do that anywhere at any time is going to make a lot of core game areas silly and allow people to break out of maps too easily. Not to mention jumping puzzle issues. The closes I think we might get is a new type of bouncing mushroom that lets you trigger the bounce 2 or 3 times in the air, but it only works in new areas where the map is specifically designed for it.
Unless the staff plan on going back through the game and adding No Jumping zones just like the No Fly zones, this also sums up my thoughts. Plus, with the glider already defaulting to the jump button, how would you activate the second jump?

Forgotten Lore / Margonite Lore

Like I said earlier, this one is pretty cool if you focus more on the lore and less on combat buffs. Make it so that you need to level this up in order to speak the same language as Margonites and Forgotten and be able to learn about the story from them. Make it a study of the language and culture so you can read their books and open magically sealed doors or whatever.
_Just to call back some of the examples from the Maguuma, you learned how to use the mushrooms, hunt better, enter the wallows, etc. That’s how the new Lore masteries should work as well. Maybe one skill is how to find water in the desert, and it reduces heat stroke in certain areas. Or the magical seals as Xenon suggested. It should teach you how to do something else on top of what you know, not something new.

Now for my suggestion of what I expect, assuming a Jormag-centered expansion:
Cold Mastery
Learn how to better survive in bitter temperatures. Levels could include Heat Conservation, so that you can survive in certain hostile areas (like the one in Bitterfrost Gorge); Snow Foraging, so you can find farming nodes under the snow; and Frost Fire, where you use the snowy environment to launch certain attacks at foes.

Underground Mastery
On the off chance that Primordus is set up in the north and still underground. This mastery makes it easier to navigate in subterranean environments, including Phosphorous Collecting, to see in the dark areas; Spelunking, to climb certain types of rock outcrops; and a skill that lets you deal damage to a certain type of enemy, similar to the Nuhoch mastery that allows you to better survive chak attacks.

Ancient Asura/Dwarven Mastery
This one is a bit tricky. The asura used to live mostly under the Far Shiverpeak mountains, and had to leave a lot of their knowledge and research behind when chased to the surface. The dwarves were similarly subterranean, but also lived on the surface a bit. Depending on various factors, there are things both of these cultures could have left behind to be relearned as we return to these abandoned areas.

I think we will go to Crystal Dessert. There were leaks of it from the same source that leaked Eureka, the Eternal Colisseum PvP map and several other things that turned out to be correct. Plus that SS of Amnoon Oasis.

If the second Expansion leads us into the Crystal Desert, I think masteries like these might be working:

Desert Survival

Heat Resistance
You lose slower over time Health in very hot regions, while being in Crystal Desert Maps

Cactus Juice
You know now where to find the right juicy Cacti from which you can find Juices to drink from, which will refresh your Health and make you temporary immune for some time vs. Desert Delirium Effects you may suffer on in the Crystal Desert.

Junundu Taming
You know now how to tame Junundu Wurms which will help you to transport you to areas of the Crystal Desert, which were unreachable for you cause of deathly sulfurous fogs

Desert Strider
Deep Sands won’t slow your Movements and Actions anymore by 50% and Dodges cost now again the normal amount of Endurance instead of double as much and you can jump again, while sticking with your feet in deep sands.

Sand Glider
You have now access to Sand Gliders, special Desert Vehincles, that allow you to travel quickly around in the Crystal Desert to reach quicker certain areas of the Maps, where Junundu Wurms can’t bring you to. With owning a Sand Glider you can for example return always quickly to the Amnoon Oasis to refill there your Water Bags that will prevent you from suffering on Desert Deliriums after having lost too much Health from Desert Heat. Desert Deliriums won’t kill you, if you run out of Water, but if you suffer to long on it, before you get to drink some Water or Cactus Juice, then you will suffer on Fatigue, which will half your maximum Health and reduces your Stats permanently, until you get something to drink by either returnign to Amnoon Oasis or drinking Cactus Juice from a found and cut Cactus that has enough Juice to refresh you. Without this Mastery, there won’t be a way with that you can quickly return to Amnoon Oasis as you have to travel by foot back. You can’t use also Waypoints while being under Desert Delirium! which makes this Mastery further essential

Forgotten Lore

Forgotten Language
Enables you to read the Language of the Forgotten, which unlocks access to new areas for you, giving you access to the Domain of Anguish, the Realm of the Forgotten where you find Forgotten, that will teach you more of their past, where you can trade with them and can master their language to become able to read ancient relics of them, so more letters you learn over time, as learnign their language is alot more difficult, than learning for exampl the Itzel Language in HoT (Think of Al’Bhed in FFX, you need to learn slowly each single letter to read, not by just learning this mastery, but by travelign through the desert, talking with Forgotten, doing all kinds of various things to learn and find new letters just everywhere hidden in the maps…)

Seer of the Truth
Reduces for you the Effectiveness of Fata Morghanas you suffer on. By fullfilling in the Crystal Desert multiple Trials of Truth, Courage, Might and finally Ascension so that you will strenthen the Effect of this Mastery, until you become immune to Fata Morghanas in Crystal Desert Maps

Visions of the Seer
Allows you to use Vision Altars. Vision Altars show you Visions of Time, which enables you in combat to use a powerful Mastery Utility Skill in Crystal Desert Maps – Sands of Time which allows you based on if you turned the hourglass to Past or Future to use two different Skills.
Past = Heals you, Removes all your Conditions, grants Alacrity and Resistance for some time and when used on an Ally, can revive the Ally to full Health instantly.
Future = Grants you several Stacks Stability, lets you auto evade x incoming Attacks, grants you a long Quickness and refills completely your Endurance, while your attacks are in that time that you have the Quickness all 100% critical with 50% increased Critical Damage. Used on an Ally will this Skill instantly recharge all Skills and grant Stacks of Might (Homage Skill to Prince of Persia: Sands of Time)

Facettes of the Forgotten
Unlocks based on your Class special new Utility Skills that are only useable in Crystal Desert which enable you to fight more effectively against Demons from the Realm of Torment, like Hydras, Margonites, Dryders, Stygians or Titans which are all enemies you will find everywhere in the Crystal Desert and the Realm of Torment that is connected to it.

Glint’s Prophecy
Learning this Mastery, unlocks Glint’s Legacy for you, a special power, which significantly improves all your Gliding and Movement Abilities while being in Crystal Desert Maps by unlocking Glints Skills for you, while you glide with that you can fly fast, jump much higher. Legacy Orbs in the air allow you to soar like a dragon much higher into the air, so that you can reach places that were unreachable otherwise, you learn new Dragon Skills that you can perform while gliding to evade or reflect their ranged attacks back, like Somersaults or Barrel Rolls and Dragon Breath to be able to attack foes while gliding with an by Glint’s Spirit empowerecspiritual Breath Attack that purifies even the most evil demons and vaporizes them to ashes

Warden of Torment
Lets you gain access to the Realm of Torment’s most dangerous area, the Domain of Anguish and its 4 Elite Endgame Maps – City of Tor’Qua, Stygian Veil, Ravenheart Gloom & Foundry of Failed Creations. To gain this Mastery you must prove, that you are strong enough to survive the dangers that the maps will have, by fullfilling all Trials first and the Trial of Ascension by overcoming yourself, like your ancestors did hundreds over hundreds of years ago before you. Then you need to defeat solo the Warden of Torment, they keykeeper of the Domain of Anguish, which keeps it sealed and protected, to prove you worthy in this final test so that you earn that way the last mastery point needed to have enough for this Mastery.

I want every expansion’s masteries to be unique, not just the way it functions also the way it looks on our characters, HoT masteries is a golden-colored number and icon replacing our character levels, my idea for next masteries looks is a crest in our character portrait, just like veteran, elite, champion or legendary crest of npc. that way we dont have to see masteries number above 200 in our character lvl. as for the masteries function i still cant think the good one.