Guild Wars 2

This doesn’t go into major detail in terms of weapon skills, its more a flavour of a heavy class adaptation of the ritualist. Constructive criticism is very much welcome, I would love for this idea to develop into a community discussion of incorporating an amazing class into Guild Wars 2, without majorly trampling over the current class mechanics. If your comment is along the lines of ‘wtf don’t bother’ etc. please be aware that this is an idea that is aimed at starting what can be an interesting discussion.


The Ritualist


Casting aside the magic of the human gods and returning to the old magic that the first Ritualists called upon became set in stone during the winds of change. They wield very few weapons, preferring to enhance their weapons with spirits of the past to help cleave through their enemies.


Weapons: Staff, Greatsword, Sword, Scepter, Focus and Torch. Weapon Swapping is not available on the Ritualist.


They base themselves on the 5 different schools, each emphasising a specific aspect, Communing, Spawning, Martial, Spirit and Channeling. They wear heavy armor as the new schools promote active battlefield involvement and will not tolerate being side-lined, believing the spirits to be more beneficial to their allies in the thick of battle. As of their new more aggressive style, they cast away their restoration discipline in favour of stronger offenses.


Below are some of the different types of spells to utilise when fighting;


Summon: Summon a Spirit to aid you with specialised boons or hamper your enemy with conditions that trigger on hit, critical strike or periodically. Can be targeted by enemies. Durations vary. Traits can cause spirits to phase out for a specific short period of time (also deactivating their buff) to avoid damage on command or a larger health pool.


Signet: for Passive buffs and temporary active buffs.

Channeling: Spells that are chargeable for increased effects, the longer they are charged (up to a limit) the more effective the effect.

Void: Spells that boost the player and allies at the cost of an opponent.

Weapon: Equip void weapons for special move sets for a specific duration of time.


Special Function: Possession


On activation you are possessed by an ancient spirit, taking on the benefits of the spirit, giving you access to improved abilities. Passive or deactivated spirits grant minor benefits.


Active spirits grant additional benefits.


You may only equip two possessions at a time, only one possession can be active at any time.


Starter Possession Spirits:


Vekk:


Passive: Grants the chance to blind enemies (20% chance on crit).


Activated: Critical strikes can grant 2 seconds of quickness (50% chance on crit).

Koss:


Passive: Grants Movement Boost (25%)


Activated: Grant allies within earshot 3 seconds of swiftness on hit (10% chance).

Nika:


Passive: Grants 3 Seconds of vigor on hit (20% chance).


Activated: You deal 5% extra damage.


Alesia:


Passive: Being healed grants you 5 seconds of retaliation.


Activated: Convert conditions to boons on hit (20% chance).

Extra spirits can be acquired via pilgrimage to historical parts of Tyria and communing with the spirits.


Other Attainable spirits include:


Kalla Scorchrazor, Captain Langmar, Jora, Razah, Talon Silverwing, Keiran Thackery, Pyre Fierceshot and Zinn.


Elite Skills:


Strong was Togo: Blind yourself and gain stability while casting this spell to mass summon spirits (4). 3 Second Cast.


Medium of the Mists: For 20 seconds, both your equipped possessions are activated simultaneously.


Call of the Void: Create a large field for 12 seconds that blind your opponents and allowing friendly targets to life steal on hit.


Weapon of Dominance: Equip allies with spirit weapons that grant 10 seconds of regen, swiftness, fury and life steal.

Sounds like a mixture between Ranger and Engineer (which is pretty much what happened to the GW1 Rit)

Heavy Armor, Spears/Javelins/X, Weapon Enchants from the first game, Four Ghosts (damage, healing/support, debuff, sacrafice for Y) as a mechanic, Tengu, Mix of Aztec/Vodoo/feudal Japanese theme.

Here, the recipe for success without any mechanic overwriting.

Dedlaw.9130:

Sounds like a mixture between Ranger and Engineer (which is pretty much what happened to the GW1 Rit)

Yeh I tried to see what the typical mechanics are for the 3 adventurer and scholar professions.

With the Elementalist and Engineer, there are small weapon sets while using class mechanics to influence diversity of the profession, such as attunements and kits. So a heavy ritualist could use its spirits and summoned weapons in that sense, influencing skills available to diversify a small weapon set. Maybe even taking a little from the Dervish’s avatars in terms of ‘Possessions’.

Also with the guardian and warrior there is a lot of dps or support role with not much of a control condition role that you see with other classes like the mesmer or engineer.

As much as I like the idea of of a ritualist (thematically), I just don’t see what it would bring to the table that the guardian and engineer don’t already (mechanically) bring.

darkace.8925:

As much as I like the idea of of a ritualist (thematically), I just don’t see what it would bring to the table that the guardian and engineer don’t already (mechanically) bring.

Maybe a mix between Dervish and Ritualist? Dervish will have problems communing with the human gods, also the human gods are quite restrictive in terms of races. Maybe the Ritualist can be tweaked in the sense that the Dervish now commune with Ritualist spirits as a replacement, so maybe allowing for a Dervish style fighter with Ritualist magic?

Though I guess people would rather those two professions kept separate in terms of the Dervish and Ritualist being from two different continents and strongly defined in Lore/Gameplay so mixing them would seem a waste in terms of intellectual resource for new professions.

While the avatars were a signature feature of the dervish, they weren’t really part of the playstyle of the dervish. Playstyle-wise, they were essentially just long-duration enchantments that couldn’t be removed. The dervish playstyle was one of getting into a middle of a pack of enemies and devastating them with close-range area attacks, while managing enchantments as a resource.

That said, there are actually some similarities between the ritualist and the dervish in style, in that both have a bit of a ‘ramp up’ phase before they truly come into their own (dervishes in building up their enchantments, ritualists by setting up all of their synergies: skills which do better with spirits out, with ashes, when used on someone with a weapon spell, and so on). Considering that the main lore of the dervish is human-centric, and most of the style of the ritualist is in the engineer, I could see a merger of the two working – draw on the dervish for a unique playstyle and on the ritualist for less culturally specific lore.

Regarding “Possessions” – I would probably be inclined to have them be spirits that represent particular ideals – things like courage, loyalty, and resilience – rather than representing any specific individuals. This allows them to remain culture-neutral, and for the player to be able to define just who each spirit is rather than being stuck to a fixed list of canon characters. It also avoids the risk of having a whole bunch of players all channeling, say, Keiran at once (just how many places can Keiran’s spirit be in at once?)

The possession could then be visually represented by the character being overlaid with a glowing figure of the character’s race and gender.

draxynnic.3719:

While the avatars were a signature feature of the dervish, they weren’t really part of the playstyle of the dervish. Playstyle-wise, they were essentially just long-duration enchantments that couldn’t be removed. The dervish playstyle was one of getting into a middle of a pack of enemies and devastating them with close-range area attacks, while managing enchantments as a resource.

That said, there are actually some similarities between the ritualist and the dervish in style, in that both have a bit of a ‘ramp up’ phase before they truly come into their own (dervishes in building up their enchantments, ritualists by setting up all of their synergies: skills which do better with spirits out, with ashes, when used on someone with a weapon spell, and so on). Considering that the main lore of the dervish is human-centric, and most of the style of the ritualist is in the engineer, I could see a merger of the two working – draw on the dervish for a unique playstyle and on the ritualist for less culturally specific lore.

Regarding “Possessions” – I would probably be inclined to have them be spirits that represent particular ideals – things like courage, loyalty, and resilience – rather than representing any specific individuals. This allows them to remain culture-neutral, and for the player to be able to define just who each spirit is rather than being stuck to a fixed list of canon characters. It also avoids the risk of having a whole bunch of players all channeling, say, Keiran at once (just how many places can Keiran’s spirit be in at once?)

The possession could then be visually represented by the character being overlaid with a glowing figure of the character’s race and gender.

The possessions thing is a very good point, never thought of that, suppose I was yearning for fan service xD

If there was a merger I would hope to see spirits return as they would be good as a mechanic. Engis have turrets sure, but necros also have minions, mesmers have illusions, elementalists have summons, rangers have pets, warriors have banners and guards have spirit weapons. There would be a unique way to deal with spirits, though I am wary of how they could come too close to turrets and/or illusions.

Somebody noted in a similar thread that there aren’t really any minions that focus on debuffing enemies or protecting allies in an area. They exist, but things like the Shelter and Union spirits have few equivalents, particularly equivalents that you can put in a strategic location and leave there rather than being tied to a target. So it might be possible to do something with that.

(I may be more compos mentis later – it’s getting pretty late locally.)

Pyriel.4370:

[…]
Alesia:

Passive: Being healed grants you 5 seconds of retaliation.

Activated: Convert conditions to boons on hit (20% chance).
[…]

Needs to be changed to
Passive: drains 25% of your maximum endurance per second
Active: Using your healing skill or aplying regenration to allies will instantly kill you

scnr

Nash.2681:

Pyriel.4370:

[…]
Alesia:

Passive: Being healed grants you 5 seconds of retaliation.

Activated: Convert conditions to boons on hit (20% chance).
[…]

Needs to be changed to
Passive: drains 25% of your maximum endurance per second
Active: Using your healing skill or aplying regenration to allies will instantly kill you

scnr

LOL

There was ritualist in gw1 and if it will appear in gw2 it should appear with campaign in cantha that’s mine opinion.

Pitrex.7954:

There was ritualist in gw1 and if it will appear in gw2 it should appear with campaign in cantha that’s mine opinion.

I am perfectly aware that there was a ritualist profession in GW1, that is why I put this up, to try and bring it up to date and see how it could be implemented in GW2.

I didn’t specify which campaign, expansion or update it should appear in, this is about how it could appear.

As another alternative to being possessed by the spirits of specific individuals, perhaps ritualists could – as they did in GW1 – wield relics of those people, each of which would have specific boons or boosts.

joe.7684:

As another alternative to being possessed by the spirits of specific individuals, perhaps ritualists could – as they did in GW1 – wield relics of those people, each of which would have specific boons or boosts.

Could be a good precedent for solo scavenger hunt class skills.

So, on the concept of summons that are distinct from other professions (particularly engineer turrets):

A lot of ritualist spirits in GW1 had the property that they would take damage as they applied their effects. In GW2, the only summon that gradually sacrifices its health for the greater good is Phantasmal Defender, which obviously uses illusion (phantasm) mechanics. I think there’s room, then, for spirits that are tied to a location rather then to an enemy that have similar mechanics. Further distinguishing them from mesmer illusions, these spirits could have activated skills that cost additional health.

For example, we could have:

Rejuvenation, which slowly grants its health to nearby allies. When active, the ritualist(-esque profession) can Consume Soul, which sucks a large amount of health out of the spirit to heal the ritualist.

Agony, which drains health from nearby enemies at the cost of its own. When active, the ritualist can Rupture Soul, causing the spirit to explode doing AoE damage proportional to Agony’s current health – this burst damage, however, is not as efficient as letting the spirit continue naturally.

Union, which takes some of the damage received by nearby allies. While active, the ritualist can invoke Spirit Shield at a cost of the spirit’s health, which generates a projectile absorption bubble and grants Protection to allies within the bubble (this protection lasts for the duration of the bubble).

Such a system would make the spirits potentially quite powerful if left undisturbed, but offers a simple counter: attacking the spirit. While most summons are basically unaffected by damage until killed, every packet of damage dealt to one of these spirits means that the overall effect from that spirit is reduced.

joe.7684:

As another alternative to being possessed by the spirits of specific individuals, perhaps ritualists could – as they did in GW1 – wield relics of those people, each of which would have specific boons or boosts.

…or effects. I like this idea.

Only if Staff has some physical skills. For example, I’ve always ask for my Staff Ele to have a knock back that’s a twirl into a golf club swing. Pretty much like Punt is for Hammer Guardian. It’s basically a Bo Staff and should have some physicality to it too.

I really dislike the idea of heavy armor ritualist. Ritualists are scholars so keep them in light armor please.
I see that everyone is expecting a new class to be heavy armor just based on the 2-3-3 proportion we have now, but keep in mind that gw1 had 1 heavy, 1 medium and 4 light to start with and at the end it was 2 heavy, 3 medium, 5 light …

On the one hand, I agree – the obsession that a lot of people have that any new profession would have to be heavy strikes me as a bit silly. Yes, the apparent gap means that if in doubt ArenaNet might make it heavy rather than medium, but they’ve never made any statement to the effect that equal numbers of each armour class is an objective for them. The armour of any new class will likely be chosen according to what is aesthetically appropriate.

On the other hand, I don’t think we’re likely to see anything like a direct translation of the ritualist – many of the ritualist mechanics simply don’t work with the GW2 game structure, and a lot of what does work has been taken by the engineer. At the least, I’d expect it to be like the translation of the mesmer into GW2 – thematically it’s obviously the same profession, but the way it’s implemented is very different. However, it could also be like the conversion of the monk into the guardian – a completely new profession that happens to be a descendent of the GW1 original.

On the gripping hand, any new or returning profession will have to bring a distinct playstyle to the table, and its characteristics will support that.

I do think that profession evolution would be better in the long term, otherwise GW2 could end up with professions that are no more than fan service and eventually get old really quick.

With how the storyline is going, Rytlock seems to have new armor and also has spent considerable time in the mists so the chance is there for the introduction of a heavy based Ritualist (being that he has the blindfold and we don’t know why yet). If the tengu are introduced as well (speculatively) that would open up more avenues for Canthan culture and thereby a Canthan profession eventually.

However as long as there is a unique mechanic, the armor class wouldn’t matter so much, as there is plenty of light armor that would suit a Ritualist, not so much heavy armor, but that is more down to how the Ritualist could be put across aesthetically.

I could see Ritualist abilities mixed with the Dervish playstyle of ramping up enchantments then wading into battle, this would solve a lore problem for the Dervish as the human gods are race limiting and also absent at this moment, or at least a lot less involved in the affairs of Humans than in GW1, so allowing the Dervish to commune with spirits could solve that. Especially also since the Dervish wear hoods to mark humility, some of the hoods completely covered the eyes, and Ritualists cover their eyes to better commune with the spirits, so the aesthetic match can be there too.

This is where spirits can take the place of the Dervish’s Avatar Forms, in a more mechanic based way. Maybe even spirits possessing their weapons, which would make sense lore wise as we have already seen Belinda possess Marjory’s Sword to increase its effectiveness.

So really if you mix the Dervish and the Ritualist you end up with at least three potentially confirmed aspects of how the class could play;

Likely to be heavy/medium armor (Dervish/Possibly Rytlock after returning from the Mists)

Spirit possessions of weapons (Ritualist)

Communing with Spirits instead of Gods for Avatar forms or general Boost to weapon skills/maybe a new set of weapon skills, similar to the weapon kits and conjured weapons (Dervish/Ritualist).

Not sure why you would give them heavy armor… other than just because you want it… but i love the Ritualist! They need to bring this back so much! I want to do that weird twisty dance when I cast!

I would love to play as a ritualist in gw2, as it was my second favorite profession from the first game. But there are more then a few identity issues now: the weapon spells are a part of the elementalist, the ashes and spirits are a part of the engineer and mesmer to a degree (kits, turrets and illusions).
It would probably be better if the class were completely different from gw1 so that it doesn’t just fill the role of others
(thematically it can stay the same with the connection to the afterlife and whatnot).

They could also pull the assassin to thief move if there is any problems lore vise and rename the class to something like channeler or invoker to give it a reason for appearing outside of Cantha.

Also is anyone aware that Razah, the kitten ritualist (who could even shift his primary profesion) from gw: nightfall, is probably still alive in the current timeline of gw2?

Just sayin about the channeling older characters for changing mechanics on moves……called it :P