Guild Wars 2

A thought occurred to me today: it would be cool if we could get ascended quality runes and sigils. Ascended sigil of -insert your favorite sigil here- or ascended rune of -insert your favorite rune here- We have ascended everything else, so naturally runes and sigils would be next on the list to have an ascended option (maybe that is what Xunlai Electrum and Crystalline Ingots would be for?)

I would like to see something like this in the future. Thoughts?

If it would make some of the exotic ones cheaper, I would be all for it. One thing I really want to see is more stat diversity in gear that isn’t gated behind stupid crafting time gates. I think sinister and celestial suffer from that? But also add in more gems or crests or whatever with more stat variety.

Stat variety is cool and all, but most players are like me in that they just want to do as much damage as possible because big numbers are awesome and those filthy quaggans need to die yesterday. As much damage as possible. It’s obvious which stat gives you that.

But we’re getting off track here. Let’s keep it to sigils and runes that offer better play modifiers than the current exotic versions.

Imagine an ascended sigil of bloodlust that gives you +12 or +15 power per stack (still max 25 stacks). Alternatively, still +10 per stack but increase the stack limit to, say, 30. Does that seem OP?

How about the runes? Currently Superior rune of the scholar (just using the most popular rune as an example) gives you a total of +175 power, +100 ferocity, and +10% damage while health is above 90. What if the ascended version were to boost you to +200 power, +125 ferocity, and +10% damage while health is above 75%. Does that seem OP?

Obviously this is all purely speculative if something like this were to come about, but the idea intrigues me. What about an ascended sigil of bursting that gives +10% to current condition damage, or an ascended rune that gives an inherent +5 to AR for having a full set of 6 of the same rune in addition to the default bonuses?

Just no, it’s not needed and would bring nothing to the game except another grind for BIS.

That doesn’t seem too bad Zera, but a lot of these sigils and runes are insanely OP already, relatively speaking, and making another tier of the same ones would make it really strange. The only thing I wouldn’t be against would be if, like the ascended equipment, you could only craft these ascended, account-bound runes and sigils, or at least all found would be account-bound. It would bring them right in line with ascended equipment as it is right now.

ANet is introducing Elite specs, the Mastery system and revisions to the Legendary system as forms of horizontal/cosmetic progression. They’re doing so because of the backlash against vertical progression that resulted when the Ascended tier was released. As one of those who lashed back, I’m not in favor of this suggestion to add more VP to the game. Sorry, no thanks.

If Anet stands true to their word there will not be any ascended runes/sigils.

Timelord.8190:

If Anet stands true to their word there will not be any ascended runes/sigils.

Where did they say this?

I know they said they hope they never have to implement a new gear tier, but i haven’t heard anything about ascended runes and sigils.

I say let’s skip Ascended Runes/Sigils and go directly to Legendary ones, allowing us to choose the stats we want. So you can pick which rune/sigil to use, running CM you get Sigil of Justice, then when you go to Arah you change it to Undead Slaying.

When you want to Stack might for your team, you switch to Strength Runes, when you want to do more damage and can stay above 90% health, you switch to Scholar Runes, when you want more mobility you switch to Traveler runes, etc etc

The possibilities are endless and there is no need to increase the stat boosts, just allow players to “morph” their runes/sigils to the one they want.

Lambent.6375:

Timelord.8190:

If Anet stands true to their word there will not be any ascended runes/sigils.

Where did they say this?

I know they said they hope they never have to implement a new gear tier, but i haven’t heard anything about ascended runes and sigils.

at 16:05.

Power creep.

No.

If you want more gear diversity it would be better if some of the crappy runes were improved (a lot of them were, but tons of them still need work). Also some of the sigils that are impossible to get (lol generosity at 175g) should be made craftable or something, so people can actually use them.

If anything “ascended” happens to runes I hope it involves having multiple runes on the same gear and being able to swap between them while out of combat, but not runes with higher stats.

maddoctor.2738:

I say let’s skip Ascended Runes/Sigils and go directly to Legendary ones, allowing us to choose the stats we want. So you can pick which rune/sigil to use, running CM you get Sigil of Justice, then when you go to Arah you change it to Undead Slaying.

When you want to Stack might for your team, you switch to Strength Runes, when you want to do more damage and can stay above 90% health, you switch to Scholar Runes, when you want more mobility you switch to Traveler runes, etc etc

The possibilities are endless and there is no need to increase the stat boosts, just allow players to “morph” their runes/sigils to the one they want.

Add legendary armor to that (as long as stats don’t increase) and it would be something worth working for.

No more grinding, thanks.

For ascended/legendary runes specifically (I like the idea of ascended/legendary sigils too, but for now I’m more focused on the rune aspect), I would like to see the ability to combine certain runes, like for example, the superior rune of speed and the superior rune of infiltration. As an example below:

Superior/Legendary rune of the Assassin

1): +25 Vitality, +2% damage against foes with less than 50% health.
2): +10% Swiftness Duration, +35 Precision
3): +50 Vitality, +4% damage against foes with less than 50% health
4): 25% chance when struck to gain Swiftness for 15 seconds. (Cooldown: 30s), +65 Precision
5): +100 Vitality, +6% damage against targets with less than 50% health
6): +20% Swiftness Duration; +25% Movement Speed, When struck below 20% health, cloak for 4 seconds. (Cooldown: 60s)

I LOVE the rune of infiltration, but for quite a few of my characters, they don’t have access to a 25% increased movement signet skill, so I am therefore literally FORCED to use runes that give me a permanent run speed, like the superior rune of speed, or the superior rune of the traveller (though the latter is way more expensive, so I always run with runes of speed instead of traveller).

We shouldn’t have to buy runes for such a basic necessity like a 25% increase in movement speed, but the reality is we do (mesmers for example). So my idea is to combine certain runes that not only give us something basic, like speed, but a good bonus as well.

Heck, it could even be simplified to not be as OP, by cutting out the bonuses of one rune set, but keeping the 6th rune as the one where something from the other rune set’s bonuses that weren’t included, is combined. For example, for the rune of the assassin, it would be just like the infiltration rune, but the 6th rune bonus also provides +25% movement. For example:

1): +2% damage against foes with less than 50% health.
2): +35 Precision
3): +4% damage against foes with less than 50% health
4): +65 Precision
5): +6% damage against targets with less than 50% health
6): When struck below 20% health, cloak for 4 seconds. (Cooldown: 60s), +25% Movement Speed

This way it’s just like a set of infiltration runes, but you have the 6th rune bonus also providing +25% movement speed. Not OP, and everyone’s happy :-P

I agree that ultimately we need ascended or even legendary runes and sigils. It would be awesome to unlock them and be able to switch them out whenever (though this should be available only with legendary armor).

Edit: Finished editing my post, lol :-P

Oh wow, combining the stats of two rune sets to make on ascended (with some caveats, likely) is an interesting idea.

Oh wow, combining the stats of two rune sets to make on ascended (with some caveats, likely) is an interesting idea.

And Mike O’Brien said that they would not introduce another tier of equipment that is higher than ascended in terms of stats. He never said anything about not creating ascended versions of currently exotic equipment. So it is possible that in the future they might add ascended versions of runes and sigils. This whole thread is purely speculative, please keep that in mind. I just felt like throwing ideas around with people.

No thank you to power creep and vertical progression. You can play pretty much any other game in the genre if you want that.

Well as far as ascended runes/sigils go, I kinda like the idea. maybe if the runes were a bit different say than their exotic versions perhaps.

shimmershine.3156:

Well as far as ascended runes/sigils go, I kinda like the idea. maybe if the runes were a bit different say than their exotic versions perhaps.

If they’re just different then they don’t need to be ascended. Ascended would mean objectively better in some way (like bigger numbers). That would be terrible.

Here’s an idea, (mostly because this is kind of how I’d like runes to have worked in the first place)

We get a new tier of runes like the OP suggested, but… they don’t work in sets. No set bonus for these new ascended runes, but each rune just has one flat-out effect.

So an ascended rune of speed that gives you the 25% run bonus from traveler’s flat out. No stats. An ascended rune of might that gives you the chance of might when hit and 20% to your might duration. A rune that summons a rock dog when you’re hit. A rune that causes you to deal extra damage from behind your target, etc. A rune that causes a parrot to attack your target when you hit them. Etc. Basically, most of the “interesting” effects that tend to come as the 6 rune set bonus, but with the ability to mix&Match them at the expense of extra stats.

As it is, there’s never a reason to mix&match runes, (making the need for a set of 6 just an inconvenient expense) and that sort of system might open up the door to some unique build possibilities.

Arioso.8519:

Here’s an idea, (mostly because this is kind of how I’d like runes to have worked in the first place)

We get a new tier of runes like the OP suggested, but… they don’t work in sets. No set bonus for these new ascended runes, but each rune just has one flat-out effect.

So an ascended rune of speed that gives you the 25% run bonus from traveler’s flat out. No stats. An ascended rune of might that gives you the chance of might when hit and 20% to your might duration. A rune that summons a rock dog when you’re hit. A rune that causes you to deal extra damage from behind your target, etc. A rune that causes a parrot to attack your target when you hit them. Etc. Basically, most of the “interesting” effects that tend to come as the 6 rune set bonus, but with the ability to mix&Match them at the expense of extra stats.

As it is, there’s never a reason to mix&match runes, (making the need for a set of 6 just an inconvenient expense) and that sort of system might open up the door to some unique build possibilities.

They probably set up the system as-is to reduce complexity. I would be surprised if they turned around and undid that.

aliksyian.7642:

shimmershine.3156:

Well as far as ascended runes/sigils go, I kinda like the idea. maybe if the runes were a bit different say than their exotic versions perhaps.

If they’re just different then they don’t need to be ascended. Ascended would mean objectively better in some way (like bigger numbers). That would be terrible.

Well when I said different, I guess what I meant was that perhaps the runes/sigils would have something ?unique?. ok like ascended stuff is always account bound, even if you equip it, unlike exotic armor. and legendary weapons have footprints when equipped.
Maybe the sigils/runes would have a unique effect or something like that.

Zera Allimatti.2541:

A thought occurred to me today: it would be cool if we could get ascended quality runes and sigils. Ascended sigil of -insert your favorite sigil here- or ascended rune of -insert your favorite rune here- We have ascended everything else, so naturally runes and sigils would be next on the list to have an ascended option (maybe that is what Xunlai Electrum and Crystalline Ingots would be for?)

I would like to see something like this in the future. Thoughts?

Please no. This is a horrible idea. Downvoted x 1 million…..

Considering the recent nerf to might and the earlier nerf to critical damage, an ascended version of Rune of the Scholar (from my earlier example) giving you a total of +25 power and +25 ferocity (compared to the current exotic version) would be a very small increase. That would still be less of a power increase than fully outfitting your armor with mighty infusions. It would be just like the paltry increase between exotic and ascended weapons and armor. I don’t see how this power creep would be a bad idea. It wouldn’t even negate the changes to might and critical damage. The increase would still be small enough to not ‘break’ the game, but enough to give some incentive to work for it.

Many people do not like the grind, but there are many (like me) who want to maximize their damage output. It’s the reason some people bother making mighty infusions or any ascended equipment. And, as with ascended, you don’t HAVE to get it. Exotic equipment is totally fine for playing the game, but for those of us who want ascended/best in slot, it’s there.

Zera Allimatti.2541:

Many people do not like the grind, but there are many (like me) who want to maximize their damage output.

You want to maximize you damage output? No, you actually don’t. That’s too simple, that’s more of a symptom of the greater intent. You actually want to maximize your performance, which can be measured only relative to what you are performing against. If you increase your damage or any other statistical number, then in order to maintain the difficulty the content is designed and intended for, the content must be scaled to match the new statistical increases. In other words, the difficulty remains the same, your performance remains the same, all you’ve done is made the content harder for people with worse gear and increased the barrier for entry for other players. You’ve probably also contributed to power creep, trivializing earlier content even further with these new gains in character power.

What you want is character progression, and you want this in the form of acquiring superior gear. That’s not the kind of game GW is, we don’t need these little creeping trickles of stat bumps. If you want vertical increases in power, you can go gear grind in WoW or literally any other MMO on the market.

To be clear, this specific change would not upset the game in a meaningful way. The problem is in the design philosophy. Small, seemingly irrelevant changes like ascended runes, sigils, infusions, food or stones even, are not noticeable in the short term. Then, years down the road, the “oh just one more” thought process leads to a progressively higher and higher barrier just to play the game at the same level you could have at launch. This already exists for WvW, from Ascended weapons/armor and guard stacks. A new player with only exotic gear is at an enormous and significant statistical disadvantage to someone who has played longer.

Really dislike the idea of adding another tier of the same sigils and runes.

I would vastly prefer a way to unlock sigils and runes on the account with some mystic forge recipe or w/e and have ascended armor and weapons (legendary too) have swappable rune/sigil slots (like stats on a legendary) so you can have all the sigils on each weapon or armor set and freely change between them. It would save enormous amounts of space and be very very cool plus convenient.

No more vertical progression thanks. Some runes/sigils are already very powerful – a superior" version of them could have a huge negative impact on the game. I’m thinking energy, fire, air, doom, stacking, and so on for sigils. And imagine if perplexity or tormenting runes had a better version? Would be horrible in wvw.

I think a better option is to introduce limited stat selection for ascended weapons and armour (ie you have to buy new stats but can merge them into one item), and ability to “store” runes/sigils and swap them in armour.

Zera Allimatti.2541:

Considering the recent nerf to might and the earlier nerf to critical damage, an ascended version of Rune of the Scholar (from my earlier example) giving you a total of +25 power and +25 ferocity (compared to the current exotic version) would be a very small increase. That would still be less of a power increase than fully outfitting your armor with mighty infusions. It would be just like the paltry increase between exotic and ascended weapons and armor. I don’t see how this power creep would be a bad idea. It wouldn’t even negate the changes to might and critical damage. The increase would still be small enough to not ‘break’ the game, but enough to give some incentive to work for it.

Many people do not like the grind, but there are many (like me) who want to maximize their damage output. It’s the reason some people bother making mighty infusions or any ascended equipment. And, as with ascended, you don’t HAVE to get it. Exotic equipment is totally fine for playing the game, but for those of us who want ascended/best in slot, it’s there.

Then you do not understand what power creep is, and what it does to games. The game is too easy already, according to a high percentage of those who post. If there is no accompanying mob power creep, why make the game even easier, even by a little bit? If mob power does increase, at what point does Ascended become needed?

You also don’t understand human psychology. The desire for “more power” (note: not Power with a capital P) will never end. If catered to, those who have that desire will continue to demand more until what’s available is capped by an outside force. Of that latter point, this thread provides a fine example.