Guild Wars 2

My request is that Anet takes their time this next expansion to make sure the elite specs have a source. How they currently appeared out of nowhere.. it doesn’t just feel odd, some e-specs are so counterintuitive on their class they feel wrong without a proper source. A guardian picking up a longbow. Thats fine, but why? Is the only source that Braham (a guardian) picked up Eir’s longbow in ActII, but only to not use it at all. Or Marjory picking up Belinda Jane’s Greatsword?

I mean, I would like for the next e-specs to require an unlock (only on the first time, to stop the whiny people who hate repeating content) that tells a short story (~2 instances and some outside dialogue) on how the e-spec comes to be.

Suggestion/Example:
Say the next Mesmer becomes a Chaophant, who uses nightmares and terrors.
Dialogue 1: there’s trouble in kessex hills
Instance 1: Toxic Remnants are active. Defend the locals
Dialogue 2: You become accustomed to the nightmares
Instance 2: You get afflicted by the spores, but decide to use the terrors against the Toxic Remnants. During this Instance you have the trait-line and all skills unlocked. This helps you see what abilities you will have after fully unlocking it. Consider it a preview-stage for an E-Spec.
Dialogue 3: You can master the terrors and nightmares. The E-Spec Chaophant is now unlocked.

Reward: Acountwide unlock of the Chaophant on Mesmers, and 15 skill points for that particular character. other mesmers have enough skill points available, but can optionally repeat the story for the 15. (15 is not that much for an e-spec, just a start-up reward)

Pro: It gives a sense of purpose
Con: it takes a little development, but only in writing script. You can use exisiting areas for instances, no need to make new areas.

Sounds a lot like the original secondary profession quests in gw1.

Sounds a lot like players would have to actually do something to unlock the Elite Spec. We all know what the majority of the playerbase thinks about that.

“ANet how dare you lock my elite spec away behind a quest wall” It’d be like the whole 400 Hero-Point Fiasco all over again.

I’d be happy with a more thematic way to earn an Elite Spec though; for example completing a ‘quest chain’ to unlock the Elite Spec, which is progressed with Hero Points as usual.

Sarie.1630:

Sounds a lot like players would have to actually do something to unlock the Elite Spec. We all know what the majority of the playerbase thinks about that.

“ANet how dare you lock my elite spec away behind a quest wall” It’d be like the whole 400 Hero-Point Fiasco all over again.

I’d be happy with a more thematic way to earn an Elite Spec though; for example completing a ‘quest chain’ to unlock the Elite Spec, which is progressed with Hero Points as usual.

Naturally, the amount of time consumed should be similar. Now you get 10 points per skill challenge, while it costs variably 10-35 points per mark. In this case, you’re given a small headstart into the first skill or 2 traits by completing the quest, and the rest should maybe cost less to compensate, making it take about as much time as before.
And we’re not locking the e-spec behind a quest wall, we’re using game content to get to game content. I mean.. where in time did we go so wrong that unlocking content by playing the game is something frowned upon? I remember in Rayman I got power-ups as I progressed through the story. I didn’t complain at the time “why couldn’t rayman fly in the first level”

Amaimon.7823:

Or Marjory picking up Belinda Jane’s Greatsword?

I’m sorry if I’m being pedantic, but Treherne was a necromancer who used the greatsword a lot.

As a side note, I rather like the AB event that leads to the discovery of the druid spirit…. it’s story that can be voluntarily participated in w/o putting the elite behind any wall.

~EW

EphemeralWallaby.7643:

Amaimon.7823:

Or Marjory picking up Belinda Jane’s Greatsword?

I’m sorry if I’m being pedantic, but Treherne was a necromancer who used the greatsword a lot.

As a side note, I rather like the AB event that leads to the discovery of the druid spirit…. it’s story that can be voluntarily participated in w/o putting the elite behind any wall.

~EW

Ah, you’re right. Tbh i already forgot about him, technicalwise.

I’d personally love to have actual lore and quests behind the elite specs. Would make them feel so much more thematic, and finally add some profession-specific lore and content to the game which its previously lacked.

But as said, I can’t see it turning out well on the whole. While some people like myself would enjoy it, plenty of others would hate the fact that they have to go through some elaborate quest chain on every single one of their characters just to get access to something they paid for by buying the expansion.

This would be a lot of fun to do, as long as it wasn’t too long of course. Could even be tied into the expansion’s story. The first chapter is determined by your class, and completing it is your quest to unlock your new elite spec

OriOri.8724:

This would be a lot of fun to do, as long as it wasn’t too long of course. Could even be tied into the expansion’s story. The first chapter is determined by your class, and completing it is your quest to unlock your new elite spec

Yea, thats why I said 2 instances, that shouldn’t take longer than 20-30 minutes to run through. And you only need to do it once.

Your idea is also pretty good. Having a class specific intro. But that might be even more work since a whole Journal Chapter is a lot more work than 2 small instances

I wish we had more quests. For anything.

I enjoy the Current Events and things like Cat Collecting.

Amaimon.7823:

OriOri.8724:

This would be a lot of fun to do, as long as it wasn’t too long of course. Could even be tied into the expansion’s story. The first chapter is determined by your class, and completing it is your quest to unlock your new elite spec

Yea, thats why I said 2 instances, that shouldn’t take longer than 20-30 minutes to run through. And you only need to do it once.

Your idea is also pretty good. Having a class specific intro. But that might be even more work since a whole Journal Chapter is a lot more work than 2 small instances

Ideally it would be a short, 1-2 instance chapter. I just want it tied to the story, gives the story more “customization” (even though its picked for you), and also ties in lore to the new elite specs. If possible resource wise, about halfway through the expansion story there would be a chapter that would be unique to each race as well. Would be so kittening amazing to have that level of interaction in there, those chapters could be heavily customized, bringing in players from that race’s personal story etc….

As long as it’s optional, I’m okay with it. I don’t like gating content or functionality behind stories or stories behind functionality. If someone wants to try the story without gliding, let them try (with appropriate warnings). If someone doesn’t care about how mesmers can be chronomancers, let them proceed anyhow.

I don’t have a problem gating it behind the story as long as its the first part of the story and isn’t strung along, being unlocked in parts after each chapter.

Plus, it has the added benefit of slowing people down on unlocking their specs without requiring either a new form of HP or a massive amount (think original HoT levels, 400+) HP to fully unlock the spec. Doesn’t slow them down much from unlocking it instantly, but just enough.

Yeah, no. PvE in this game is flipping mind numbingly boring.

Maybe instead of instances, there could be achievements tied to the Elite Specs. There’s already a collection quest to earn an ascended weapon for the new class by doing content in the expansion that is character-specific yet account-wide.

So, let’s take the Druid example. To unlock, you’d have to take a ranger into Auric Basin and meet a druid. Perhaps by being present there, the druid will uncover a cave with an object only druids could read. Or the charr that leads the expedition could give the character a copy of his notes on druids that, when used, unlocks the class. Several different options there.

The other classes might be a bit difficult. I wouldn’t want some classes unlocked merely by story progression and others unlocked by events. Options could have been that Marjory was somewhere in the open world, and she talks about how she is mastering her new magic. Or Braham discusses a new desire he has after picking up his mother’s bow. Meanwhile, perhaps the Nuhoch are masters of Berserking, or the Itzel vendor sells a book on Chronomancy. Clearly there’s still some unbalance, but I’m just spitballing possible ideas.

Plus, if it’s an achievemenkittens back to being account-bound without really punishing a player for wanting this elite or that. I briefly considered the idea of needing to complete a mastery to unlock Zone Q’s elites, but that seemed like a bad idea all around.

Reverence.6915:

Yeah, no. PvE in this game is flipping mind numbingly boring.

Everyone’s bringing in arguments for their opinions, whats yours?

Inculpatus cedo.9234:

I wish we had more quests. For anything.

I enjoy the Current Events and things like Cat Collecting.

I wish we would have quests at all, stuff that takes us over multiple different maps, not like these boring heart “quests” which are all only local to specific maps and are there to activate just some repetitive “events”

Amaimon.7823:

Reverence.6915:

Yeah, no. PvE in this game is flipping mind numbingly boring.

Everyone’s bringing in arguments for their opinions, whats yours?

Evidence: PvP elites are automatically unlocked.
Evidence: Suspect derides PvE.

Conclusion: Must be Walk v Walker ironically complaining about boredom.

As far as the actual suggestion, it might be nice to have a storyline that leads the character through instances which can still trigger Hero Challenges as communes instead of boss fights.
If you didn’t want to do the story-led path, the HC points would still be available in open world as boss fights. That would be a great alternative without nerfing the group-up nature of the current ones. (I still consider them inappropriate for personal/character rewards, but the attempt to compromise is there.)