Guild Wars 2

So, we now know that Anet are redoing most of the rune sets to bring them all in line with each other, so I think we can expect quite a few buffs in that regard.

The question I’d like to discuss is: What kind of rune set bonus would you like to see, and why?

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For example: I’d love to see a rune set give AOE Protection, preferably on heal so that I can control it. Say, 3-4 seconds on heal with a 20 second cooldown.
That would be sweet.

Reason being is that I’d love to give Protection to my Phantasmal Defender, in conjunction with Retaliation (via Chaos Storm and Vengeful Images) with some Confusion on my target.
So that if a zerker is trying to burst me down, their going to have a very bad day.

I just love the idea of turning my enemies power against them, and punish someone who is just facerolling the keyboard.
(I know you can kinda already sort of do this, but aoe protection would put it over the top for me, and make it something worth building around.)

So what are you looking forward to?

I’d love to have more runes that have build defining #6 effects like perplexity runes.
You try to interrupt the enemy as much as possible in order to get the confusion stacks.
(I know this rune is slightly op but I am just giving an example.)

Having more such runes and sigils that create unique effects would give each class more build diversity.

Just a few examples:

1. Apply 5 seconds of weakness after stunning an enemy. (Build-specific sigil)
2. Call your thieves guild for help when below 25% hp. (Class-specific runes)

and so on….

I know many traits cover such effects but it would be great to have more of these with the runes, so runes feel like an actual “set”.

I hope you know what I mean, english is not my native language.

I would like see more visuel effects comming from runes.
Lets say transform me when the bonus proc. Make me be shiny or transform me into a bear or something other cool.

The rune effects could be like sayed more aoe effects or even giving me a special skill which i can activate myself.

This upcoming stuff about changign Runes is something I personally wished to happen from the begin on of the game. I haven’t said so much about this, because I just wanted to see, how the game develops over time and make not directly a posting, how bad the Rune System is, when I had clearly other priorities first (namely enjoying first the game and playing it through, after that is enough time to complain ect. ^^)

First off, I find the upcoming changes what I heard so far about what Anet wants to change on runes good, but I personally think, they should go farer and completely remove all stats from Runes!!!

Runes should be about Stats!! Accessoires with Gemstones are about Stats and the Stats that should get removed from Runes, thosem issing stats should be put better onto the Gemstones to make them more impactful Stat Boosters.

GW2 should have clear 3 different types of defensive Upgrades:

Runes, Gemstones and Infusions.

Runes should be all about Effects only – 0 Stats
Accessoires should be all about Stats only – 0 Effects
Infusions should be the Hybrid between Runes and Accessoires – Stats and Effects, but weaker in both, than Runes and Gemstones with some unique Effectsm that you can get only via Infusions, so that there will be also an intention to use Infusions over the other two Upgrades.

Currently the game has alot of Rune Sets.
Many of them where I think they are either way too boring, way too weak, totally obsolete or just useless compared to other more effective Runes.

First off ANet should change Rune,s in making Minor and Major Runes more useful and upgradeable in a direct way, that doesn’t lead into stupid RNG mechanics, like the Mystic Forge.
If you put 4 Minor Runes of 1 Type into the Forge, the result should always be an upgraded version of the same type of Rune.

So 1x Minor Rune of Fire + 3 Rare Items (lvl80) = 1 Major Rune of Fire
So 1x Major Rune of Fire + 3 Superior Items (Lvl 80) = 1 Superior Rune of Fire
So 1x Superior Rune of Fire + 3 Gifts of Ascension = 1 Ascended Rune of Fire
So 4x Ascended Rune of Fire = 1 Legendary Rune of Fire

Where I come to the next point, Upgrades should receive like all other items in the game also maximum Quality and get to Legendary Quality also too.

We have currently 67 Runes in this Game.
Really alot of work to make changes onto them to make all of them equally interesting and balanced.

So before I go there and wish me any new Rune Sets, I’d wish for it firs,t that the current 67 Runes get reworked, rebalanced and simply made alot bette,r that they they become more impactful and “build defining” with nice side effects that can be very helpful to have in the overall game.

1 Example:

Lets take the Rune of the Elementalist.
How should this Rune be designed from Minor to Legendary?
This is my answer:

Minor: 3 Slots
Major: 4 Slots
Superior: 5 Slots
Ascended: 6 Slots
Legendary: 6 Slots + Materia Slot

Minor Rune of the Elementalist:

1) Attunements recharge 1 second faster
2) Elemental Bursts of Sigils are 3% stronger
3) Fall Damage is reduced by 5%, if attuned to Air.

Major Rune of the Elementalist:

1) Attunements recharge 2 Seconds faster
2) Elemental Bursts of Sigils are 5% stronger
3) Fall Damage is reduced by 10% if attuned to Air
4) Reduced Damage and increased Movement Speed by 5%, when in Water and attuned to Water

Superior Rune of the Elementalist:

1) Attunements recharge 3 seconds faster
2) Elemental Bursts of Sigils are 7,5% stronger
3) Fall Damage is reduced by 17,5% if attuned to Air
4) Reduced Damage and increased Movement Speed by 10% when in Water and attuned to Water
5) Knockdowns and Stuns will last 1 second lesser, when attuned to Earth

Ascended Rune of the Elementalist

1) Attunements recharge 3 seconds faster
2) Elemental Bursts of Sigils are 10% stronger
3) Fall Damage is reduced by 25% if attuned to Air
4) Reduced Damage and increased Movement Speed by 10%, when in Water and attuned to Water
5) Knockdowns and Stuns last 2 seconds lesser, when attuned to Earth
6) Burnings and Regenerations are 20% stronger. Certain Air/Earth Skills have now a 5% Chance to trigger Blind/Petrification on to your foes also.

Thats how I’d like for example to get to see that Rune getting changed.
That way would be Runes build defining and impactful.
ANd if you want just strong high stats, that you have to miss out on effects, but Gemstones would then definetely raise more significantly the Stats, if you decide to lose on some Rune Set Effects for more Stat Points as a impactful boosting in that case with only Gemstones having Boosts for higher Boon Durations and higher Condition Durations and higher Critical Damage Boosts (“Ferocity”)

I would quite like a Bleed variant of the Runes of Torment, with Bleed Duration, Condition Damage and on the 6th rank, AOE Bleed on Heal. If AN doesn’t want us “Mix-matching” runes, then make bleed duration viable by giving it back all in 1 rune set.

Or a rune that centers around Stun, Interruption, all that stuff.

Superior rune of Get Out of My House
1) +25 Power
2) +5% Stun Duration
3) +50 Power
4) +5% Stun Duration
5) +90 Power
6) +5% Stun Duration and +10% damage to stunned opponents

I’d like to see a rune set like this:

Superior Rune of Whatnot
1. +28 Condition Damage
2. +15 Vitality
3. 20% Chance on Condition Damage Tick to add another stack of said condition.
4. +55 Condition damage
5. +35 Vitality
6. Upon hitting 25 stacks of a condition on your target, gain 5 stacks of might for 7 seconds. (ICD of 20 seconds)

Part 2: Ending

Legendary Rune of the Elementalist:

Same as powerful as the Ascended Rune of the Elementalist, but every Legendary rune comes with a Materia Slot

Whats a Materia Slot you might ask now??
First off, yeah, that stuff is inspired by FF7, so what !! Its an awesome system, easy understandable, but complex and offers a nice way for more visual customization options htat will feell like rewards that you, the player can work for.

With Maximum 6 Materia Slots beign possible, that means, a Character that has 6 Legendary Runes equipped, whereas those effects work only together, if you wear a complete set (no mixing of runes for game balance’s sake!!) it would give the player the opportunity to customize your character with 6 special visual effects based on your SKILLS or your CHARACTER TALENTS, be they of active or passive kind of way.

How to get Materias

Materias could be received in many different ways:

- Dungeon Rewards for Tokens to exchange
- WvW for Badges of Honor + Gold
- As Rewards from Achievement Chests
- As Meta Event Rewards from Living Story
- Buyable for Karma
- As Reward from Fractal End Chests or as Exchange for Fractal Relics
- Craftable by Cooks/Jewelers Level 500
ect.

How do Materias exactly work?

Materias are the first and only visual Upgrade Items, which come by with “Tiers” and their own Levels as also Quality Grades, which define, how many Levels a Materia can raise up, before its developed to its maximum possible state.

Materias of Masterwork Quality can reach Maximum Refinement Level 5.
Means, such Materias can unlock maximum 5 visual Effects for your Character.

Rare has max Refinement Level 10
Superior has max R-Lvl 15
Ascended has max R-Lvl 20
Legendary has max R-Lvl25

Materias of lower Quality can get upgraded to higher Quality through either Mystic Forge with the help of Mystic Coins and some new Item you get for Laurels, Skill Points and Fractal Relics
Or through Crafting!

What kind of visual Effects could we expect to unlock with Materias?

Stuff like new different Color Schemes for your Weapon Skills
Stuff like different Boon Visual Effects that look more impressive than normal
Stuff like different Condition Visual Effects, that look more impressive, than normal
Stuff like unique Finishing Moves gainable only through Materias
Stuff like new Dancing Animations gainable only through Materias
Stuff like unlocking new Emotes for your Character
Stuff like unlocking new Hair Styles for your Character
Stuff like unlocking new Face Styles for your Character
Stuff like unlocking new Tatoos, Furpatterns, Horns ect. for your Character
Stuff like new Racial Armor Sets that become aviable for you from the Achievement Skin Locker

and so on and so forth.

How do I raise the Refinement Level of my Materias?
Simply slot the Materias that you own into one of the Materia Slots of your Legendary Rune.
Once you have put a Materia of any kind into your Legendary Rune’s Materia Slot, and you play with your character doing Dynamic Events, you will start to see, that they will give you a new type of reward now. “Essence of Dexterity

Essences of Dexterity will work like Essences of Luck. Consumeable Items, than once you use then, will give you Dexterity Points that you will collect.
However, heres a little difference. The collected Dexterity Points won’t be put automatically onto a steadily raising Number Bar, like how it works with Essences of Luck.
The Essences of Dexterity will be put into a collective pool that raises, until you manually put those Dexterity Points just into the Materia you like to develop further to refine it with your dexterity.
So you go talk with a NPC “Materia Refiner”, that will ask you, which of your Materias that you have equipped currently you want to refine with your Dexterity Points that you have collected so far.
Then you can choose your slotted Materia out, that you want to refine and deplete as much Dexterity Points into your chosen Materias, as you like, until it reaches a next Refinement Level and thus you unlock a new visual thign for your character.

And if you reach the Max Refinement Level of your Materia, the Materia will clone and split itself into a new Materia of itself that is unrefined.
That way will receive the player a max refinec Item, that the player could decide to sell in the Trading Post for example, whikle using the new fresh Materia to refine it again back to Max R-Level to rinse and repeat this to get that way a nice way to make some money from people, that aren’t willing to go through the process of refining materias and just want to get their visuals unlocked quickly and are therefore willing to pay other players good

God, I’d find that awesome, if Runes could work someday like that ^^

Superior Rune of the Trapper
Icon resembles a bear trap

(1/6) +28 Condition Damage
(2/6) +10% Condition Duration
(3/6) +55 Condition Damage
(4/6) When an opponent triggers one of your Traps they are Tormented (2 stacks, 8 seconds duration)
(5/6) +100 Condition Damage
(6/6) When you set a Trap you also remove 1 condition.

I’d like to see Ranger and Thief both get a little more out of those families of Utilities and have a new approach to condition removal that still has a substantial opportunity cost.

I would like to see a condition healing rune set mix. I would also like to see more of If Then rune set like if target is burning you do 5% more dmg but a bit more then just dmg say if the target is chilled you apply torment or something (i realty want torment on ele!).

So like this:
(1/6) +28 Condition Damage
(2/6) +10% Chill Duration
(3/6) +55 Condition Damage
(4/6) 15% Chill duration, when your hit apply Chill 30 sec cd
(5/6) +100 Condition Damage
(6/6) 20% Chill duration, If your target is chilled apply 5 sec of torment (2) 10 sec cd

Keep in mind they are making most if not all have more duration so if its a pure duration say for chill its going to be something like 10 , 15 , 20 same with boons but there talk that the non pure duration are going to be less but no one knows.

Also used your format Nike.2631 thank you.

Jski.6180:

I would like to see a condition healing rune set mix. I would also like to see more of If Then rune set like if target is burning you do 5% more dmg but a bit more then just dmg say if the target is chilled you apply torment or something (i realty want torment on ele!).

I thought about that too before I made my post, I eventually went with vitality instead of healing power because I feel like most classes would get more use out of vit than healing.

Nike.2631:

Superior Rune of the Trapper
Icon resembles a bear trap

(1/6) +28 Condition Damage
(2/6) +10% Condition Duration
(3/6) +55 Condition Damage
(4/6) When an opponent triggers one of your Traps they are Tormented (2 stacks, 8 seconds duration)
(5/6) +100 Condition Damage
(6/6) When you set a Trap you also remove 1 condition.

I’d like to see Ranger and Thief both get a little more out of those families of Utilities and have a new approach to condition removal that still has a substantial opportunity cost.

That one sounds pretty cool actually.
I like traps on my ranger, but I don’t have a compelling enough reason to use them, at least not over signets.