Guild Wars 2

General design: two-handed weapon which deal no (or very little) direct damage, but applies two conditions on hit via basic attacks: damaging condition and non-damaging condition.

Conditions applied would be chosen by class of what they would aim with these conditions.
Other abilities would depend on class itself, raging from boons to CC to AOE.

Classes:
Warrior: burning and vulnerability via basic attacks. Other abilities might grant quickness, swiftness, might or fury, while also have some sort of knock-backs, knock-downs or stuns.
Necromancer: torment and weakness via basic attacks. Other abilities might work around evades, stealth and life-drains.
Thief: poison and cripple. Other abilities might work around adding and spreading conditions.
Mesmer: confusion and chill via basic attacks. Other abilities might work around reflects, defense, blocks and AOE damage.

I love the idea of fist-based weapons—Katar, Nekodes, et al. It would be really cool to see something like this implemented.

I think it might make more sense with thief but I think it should move away from the poison/thief aspect and be a little tanker and Monk like with a martial arts playstyle.

Ryou.2398:

I think it might make more sense with thief but I think it should move away from the poison/thief aspect and be a little tanker and Monk like with a martial arts playstyle.

I was thinking about monk-type play style for guardian, but conditions would’t fit a monk-type character.

Wouldn’t make much sense for them to be two-handed, but…

I’d love me some claws!

I could see introducing a new weapon type with elite specs.
Warrior: Claw skills focus on fast attacks and a wider range of short-term self-buffs. Warrior is Generous execution of combo finishers. Open up Mantras from Mesmer (and finally a way to inflict Taunt reliably).
Ranger: So much potential for a more primal hunter kind of character. Really draw out the beast-like kinship with their animal companions. I could see Claw skills having a focus of coordinated attacks with a pet (skill does one thing, pet attacks simultaneously). Throw in a Physical skill set to drive the combat style.
Thief: Full-bore condition attacker. Poison, torment, bleeding, along with a stick-and-move style. Add a mystic bent with Glamour or Manipulation skills.
Necromancer: Thinking another long range option, since staff is slow and ground-focused. Hybrid damage, a little less condi focused, perhaps more control in interrupts/cripple/immobilize. Almost tempted to pair it with Facets that drain Life Force, and using Claw skills helps sustain it. Necro does need some kind better support option.
Mesmer: A second mid-range option that doesn’t pop clones all over the place would be grand. It’s phantasm could chase around and nick its target with torment. Hybrid damage with short-duration torment and confusion. Toss in some Spirit Weapons, because one can’t have enough minions.

And if any of those ideas suck, meh, I’m sleepy. :P

Rauderi.8706:

Wouldn’t make much sense for them to be two-handed, but…

The usual idea is that you have to equip a pair of them, because it makes it easier to have good animations with them.

Take a warrior with two swords and play it a bit. Notice how they use either the main hand or off hand sword to do something, but never really use both? That’s because the game had to be made so that it works if you only have one paired with something else. There is no true “two swords” style in GW2.

For the hand to hand animations to look convincing, it would be best to not have that limitation. Thus, needing to use a pair of them.

Giving Warriors Claws makes so much sense (it’s absolute nonsense) as like giving a Necromancer a Rifle or Pistols…

Or makes as much sense as like giving a Thief a Hammer or a Greatsword

Warriors are SOLDIERS and thus trained to fight with war weapons, not with small weapons for swift melee full contact combat for that they armors are way too heavy and impractical for.

The only Classes that should be able to use Claws are Thieves, Rangers and eventually one the Scholar Classes also.

Thief > Rogue Elite Specialization with Claws with high focus im Steal, Shadow Step Gameplay Improvementss and Stealth

Ranger > Beastlord Elite Specialization with Claws with high focus on Multiple Pets Gameplay, improved overrall Pet Gameplay (Pet Combos) and eventually the unique ability to transmutate temporarely into Feral Beasts "Animorph turning into big wild beasts with unique combat skills while being in their form that can be used together with your pets to perform Triple Pet Skills together as their Alpha

Necromancer = Torturer Elite Specialization with Claws with high focus on Curses and Blood Magic/ vampiric leechings and the like with a faster paced direct condition gamepaly style that is lesser based on AoE spam like the staff, but therefore more powerful towards single targets and sustain to survive longer battles whiel also improving the mobility

Elementalist = Arcanist Elite Specilitation with Claws, the so called “Battle Mage” whoes focused highly on elemental Melee Combat, alot more specialized on Conjures and Auras offensively as like also especially defensively.

Mesmer = Dancer Elite Specialization with Claws, an alternative new form of the Dervish which has swapped over from Scythes to Claws to go over with their dances into deadly illusionary full contact combat dances martial arts style (Mix of Capoeira with Claws attached to hands and feets where their clone gameplay changes over into a Rhythm System, fitting for a class that works with “disguises” to use martial arts that try to disguise their deadly hits in a “dance” (of death) with hidden claws together with more focus on Mantras to perform quickly melee orientated skills and enchantments to receive boons ect that fit to a melee orientated gameplay like protection, aegis, retaliation, vigor and quickness.

PS. and Claws are 1H weapons that you wield in both hands, exactly like Daggers!!

Orpheal.8263:

Giving Warriors Claws makes so much sense (it’s absolute nonsense)

http://www.swordsandarmor.com/images/GAU-GN008.JPG
So, you meant to tell, that these can’t be used to knock someone out?

Example Skills

Rogue

1: Fox Fangs > Golden Fox Strike > Fox’s Promise
AA Chain which causes on first hit Torment, blinds and burns on second hit and dazes briefly on last hit and removes the enemies torments if it still had Torment, or causes 2 Stacks of Torment, if the enemy had no torment anymore, but therefore causes no daze.
2: Horns of the Ox
Dash towards your enemy to ram your Claws like the horns of an Ox into your enemy, causing Bleedigns and knocking the enemy down if the health was under 50%
3: Mantis Touch
Deal Damage, cripple your hit foe and the dealt damage will heal you and you lose a condition if the foe already had a condition.
4: Palm Strike
Put all your Power into a Palm Strike with your flat clawless hand to launch your foe away from you. Recharges slightly Steal when used and causes high Vulnerability Stacks (5), while stealing also a Boon from your Target. This Attack is Unblockable.
5: Shadow Fang
Shadow Step to your Target Location to deal damage to all foes that are standing at your locations small scale mini AoE that creates at that spot a Dark Field for a while.

Stealth
Shadow Form
An Buff Skill useable when in Stealth, that allows Claw Wielders to attack quickly twice from Stealth, before the Stealth Effect vanishes and they get revealed.
While the effect of Shadow Form is active, is the received damage reduced by 25% and The Rogue receives Resistance and Stability for 3 seconds

Dual Dagger 3 Skill
Malicious Strike
Strike the foe, causing Bleedings and a long lasting Weakness and shadow step then away from the target. You convert also one of your conditions to the target, if your health is below 50%

Dual Pistol 3 Skill
Shadow Walk
Turn temporarely into a permanent Shadow Step form, that lets you automatically avoid incoming damage. You lose initiative over time every 3 seconds while the natural Initiative Regain stops (not including regains from Utility skills/traits).
While being in this form do you gain Regeneration and Vigor. Your Body is physically still there, conditions will still damage, but you can for example safely trigger traps this way without getting damaged. However, Movement impending Conditions won’t work on this and will get removed when using this Skill. Works also as Stun Breaker

Dual Sword
Unsuspecting Strike
Deals more damage, so more Health the enemy has including Bonus Damage for the lesser health you have making this the most powerful when going all out kamikaze with low health searchign for a healthy target for when you are about to die anyways to make that way your enemy for your allies easier to kill as return.
Or use it mainly against healthy targets to effectively brign them down, before you change over to using skills that dont lose effectiveness when the health of the target is low..so this is basically the opposite of Heartseeker, just without gap closer mechanic and would work the same as the GW1 parallel skill does.
Basically are the claws the perfect weapon to brign over some old GW1 Assassin SKilsl for the Thief, as the name skills are all old GW1 Skills, but all with new effects, except this one here.

Beastlord

1: Bestial Pounce
Strike your foe with your Claws like a wild beast, causing Bleedings the first time you do and Poison from that point on if you hit already bleeding foes with this attack.
2: Dryder’s Defenses
Go into a defensive stance with your Claws, that lets you gain Protection and Retaliation and converting a condition over to your enemy, that runs next into your counterattack that comes after blocking the next melee attack.
3: Disrupting Lunge
Leap to your foe with your Claw(s) and knock the foe down. When wielding with two Claws, will be the damage higher and you cause aditionally 2 Bleeding. Stacks
4: Call of Haste
You, your allies and your Pets gain Super Speed and Quickness for 3 seconds
5: Animorph Recharge 2 Minutes 30 Seconds
Transforms you for 60 seconds into a Feral Beast to gain Beast Skills while also becoming in that form able to perform Triple Pet Skills and Pet Combos with your Pets.

Torturer

1: Awaken the Blood > Barbs > Soul Barbs
A Skill, which turns Bleeding Stacks on you into damage to your foe, so more bleeding stacks on you are, so more damage does this skill deal extra and lets you gain more Boons (Stacks>3 = Regeneration, Stacks >5 = Retaliation, Stack >8 = Protection, Stacks >10 = Might, Stacks > 12 = Vigor, Stacks > 15 = Resistance, Stacks >20 and higher = Stability), Barbs deals damahe and causes Bleedings to your foe. Soul Barbs causes damage and chills for a second.
2: Vampiric Touch
Deal Damage and 80% of the dealt damage will be returned as leeched healing.
3: Vampiric Swarm
Send out a swarm of giant mosquitos which attackes up to five nearby targets, dealing damage and letting 15% of the damage return as leeched healings. If the targets were killed through this kill, will the mosquitos transfer to you also the boons the enemy had at their death active.
4: Reckless Haste
Curse your foe with Reckless Haste, granting them Swiftness and in return for this also Torment, which will stay as long the Swiftness is there on the foe. These cursed foes under Reckless Hastes’s effect have also a 10% chance, that their attacks will miss (Periodic on chance Blindness)
5: Insidious Parasite
You curse a foe with an Insidious Parasite, that will cause a small part of all the damage that your cursed enemy will do to become healings for you.
Its a passive effect with a long duration and long recharge time, but if you curse with this a fast hitting aggressive foe, whiel dong meanwhile somewhere else something, this will grant you good sustain for that time as long your cursed foe is very active.

Dancer
1: Disguised Kick > Somersault Strike > Whirl Kick
A fast paced martial artistic attack string that deals various effects based on your Rhythm Bar. Disguised Kick removes Boons when it hits targets with over 50% health
2: Rhythmic Beat
Punch your foes with increased damage based on your Rhythm Bar, letting you gain more Boons, so higher your Rhythm Bar was at the moment of the Punch
3: Dance of Blades
Perform a dance of blades with your claws that lets you evade incoming attacks, while reflecting projectiles back, enemies hit by theis attack will get crippled and weakened.
4: Moves Like Jagged (.r) (lulz)
Create a Clone of yourself that will repeat the very last used skill of you that was no AA Skill and shatters then automatically at your targets location
5: Can’t Touch This
Create a clone, which causes for you and nearby allies Aegis when it shatters.

Regon Phoenix.8215:

Orpheal.8263:

Giving Warriors Claws makes so much sense (it’s absolute nonsense)

http://www.swordsandarmor.com/images/GAU-GN008.JPG
So, you meant to tell, that these can’t be used to knock someone out?

Those are just gauntlets, though. Not claws or dedicated wrist/hand weaponry.

I’d rather see the crossbow or some kind of big axe implemented if we’d ever see more weapons, though. A lot of professions could use either, while the claw and katar concepts are a little more specific in respect to who may use them.

Regon Phoenix.8215:

Orpheal.8263:

Giving Warriors Claws makes so much sense (it’s absolute nonsense)

http://www.swordsandarmor.com/images/GAU-GN008.JPG
So, you meant to tell, that these can’t be used to knock someone out?

oh, ninjaed by Deceiver as I see right there …
But exactly what he says, this are Gauntlets.. not Claws, thats a piece of armor, that you used for defense, to receive lesser damage.. thats not something you use in combat to deal damage with it, you use it to protect your hands just from getting damaged >.>

Here, this is a Claw, that is used in fast paced full contact combat by classes like Thieves in general

http://vignette2.wikia.nocookie.net/warframe/images/e/e5/TennoClaws.png/revision/latest?cb=20140626182008

Small, filigrane hand weapons, not somethign what warriors would EVER use…
Somethign liek Claws are considered also “hidden weapons,”, as many assassins did use them in the past or other similar weapons, like Katars like the arabic origin versions of the assassins, the so called “hashashins” used them, which were more claw like, rather than dagger like how the japanese version changed them.

http://www.vajramutthi.org/img/picture/707/scissor20katar1.jpg