Guild Wars 2

Hey, I’ve been playing GW1 quite a lot in the past few months and loving it. The way skills are laid out in GW2 is so much more strict and I know that is so because of balance. However, the acquisition of skills and the creativity in GW2 skill systems are so much shallow that it is completely impossible to attribute it better than GW1, no matter how you put it. So I’d like to ask from the community: what systems (either GW1-inspired or not) could expand the way we acquire, manage, and use skills in this game? What skill properties could be improved/redesigned/elaborated to make for more interesting gameplay? Are there any particular skill behaviors you would like to see in the game?

Tl;dr I think current skills system is fine, we just need more weapon sets.

Look at the Possible Combinations for each class at the bottom, and you’ll see the issue. Rev and thief suffer the most due to fewest combinations. And underwater weapons add 1-2 combinations that aren’t actually relevant most of the time.

So one possible solution would be to add more weapon sets to increase total possible combinations. I don’t think we need to return to GW1 skill system, keep in mind that 3 of your skills are completely free on GW2, you’d normally have a healing skill in GW1 anyways and you get great variety in GW2, and of course everybody brought an elite in GW1. So realistically you’re 3 skill slots short of the 8-slot free-for-all GW1 skill system. Given that I have another 5 weapon skills, including an auto-attack that’s much more interesting than GW1’s generic auto-attack, I think we have it pretty good. Just 1 more 2-handed weapon and 2 more 1-handed weapon per profession and I’d be happy.

I’d like traits that affect skills more interestingly than -20% recharge.

They did try improving skill aquisition but ended up scrapping it cause it was weak.

To add to my previous post

· Fists/gauntlets/brass knuckles – Could be like boxing, or maybe involve martial arts, but only if done right (doesn’t descend to making itself look stupid). Would be usable by thief, warr, guard, rev, and maybe a spellcaster prof because that would be funny.
· Rings – like rings of power, works for spellcasters
· A retracting weapon – like Ivy’s sword from Soul Calibur. Don’t have a name for it atm.
· Chakrams – like in Kingdoms of Amalur
· Slingshot (don’t like this but could be cool)
· Thrown spear – like Paragons from GW1
· Halberd – is basically a held spear tbh

We have enough weapons in the game right now. Adding in more weapon sets, especially the amount you propose, would be a huge waste of development time.

OT – I think it would be really cool to be able to “upgrade” certain skills by completing short collections (nothing like a legendary collection, should be shortish), gives us a more powerful version of the skill. Applied only in PvE, possibly to all skills possibly not. It would be like a true elite spec for the base classes, adventuring to be able to become more powerful, and you would get to choose which skills you wanted to power up, so you could specialize your builds around those powered up skills.

Ori I wasn’t suggesting all of them, just potential ideas. Read my previous post, I didn’t say 6 new weapons. I like your idea though. But the area most strongly affected by lack of build diversity is sPvP, you can do many different builds in PvE. We need a solution that works for all areas, not just one.

I’ll leave this here.
https://wiki.guildwars2.com/wiki/Polearm

Oh haha I guess that’s pretty much the same as a halberd. Hopefully they’ll use it.

It was enjoyable to me to do quests to acquire a new skill and continue the quest to upgrade that skill and make it a bit more powerful or to have a new effect.

Even new cosmetic effects to skills would be cool, I think.

There are simple ways to make the Combat System more intersting, many things that ANet ignored since game release that are neccessary for game and Class Balancing, but also wasted potentials with that the Combat System in generally could be made more fun, more interestign, more interactive and give the game at the same time more Build Diversity:

1) Redesign the Attibute System to provide Dual Effects, this would significantly improve the whole Combat System of GW2, because then would be finally offensive anddefensive gameplay Mechanics equal and both sides would be able to provide significant gameplay Synergies, not only the offensive side!!
The Game needs

Power = Damage Up + Condition Duration Up
Vitality = Max Health Up + Healing Efficiency Up
Toughness = Defense Up + Received Condition Duration Down
Precision = Critical Chance Up + Weapon Change Time Down
Agility = Endurance Regeneration Up + Attack Speed Up
Courage = Critical Damage Up + Received Critical Damage Down
Wisdom = Received Condition Damage Down + Boon Durations Up

Attributes removed from Equipment, Attribute Points get distrubuted by the Player again like in GW1 between these Stats.
Max Stat for all Attributes now is 1500, can be raised higher only via Upgrades in your Equipment then. Armor just raises now only the Total Defense Value and is mainly together with Toughness, Courage and Wisdom responsible for how much Damage you receive and how effective attacks and conditions are on you, so that not anymore just only 1 Stat is responsible for the defense, but now then 3.

This will nerf Direct Damage, Conditions in return won’t ignore Defense anymore by 100%, but now only by 50% and players gain finally also a way through the Attribute System to protect themself better against Critical Attacks, so that Weakness isn’t anymore the only way to protect yourself from them.

2) Add Combat Styles (Stances) to the Weapons

Through Combat Styles could Anet add to the Weapon Skisl different Skill Sets, while keeping the Balance around the given settign of having pregiven 5 Skills that are given to you based on your choice of which weapon and which Combat Style you use with it. This would significantly increase the Build Diversity for all Classes.
Yes, it would significantly increase also the amount of Skills, but in a very limited and overviewable way. anet could begin simply first with just adding 1 new Combat Style for everyone, and then add slowly similar like with Elite Specializations more, until the point is reached, where it is enough.

We could divide Combat Styles between for example:

Basic Style = What we have now
Offense = Weapon Skills change their effects to a more offensive pattern
Defense = Weapon Skills change their effects to a more defensive pattern
Support = Weapon Skills change their effects to a more supportive pattern
Survival = Weapon Skills change their effects to a more self centered/heal pattern

This or maybe lesser would be optimal I think.
The only problem with Combat Styles are the super skill heavy Classes Elementalist and Engineer, but eventually somethign that could be solved by redesignign them by limiting their access to Skills and givign them therefore an additional Weapon Slot instead by changing Elementalists Attunements System to let them have only 1 Element per Weapon that gets attuned to an Element instead for example.

Part 2:

3) Skill Progression

All Skills could receive “Mastery Levels” with that we could improve the Skils, so more we use them, so more we progress with the Skill’s Mastery, ranging from “Beginner to Grandmaster”

Through raising the mastery with a Skill, we could learn new “Talents”, which would be innate passive “Traits” practically, which change how a Skill works, with that we can manually change how a Skill should work for us.

Example:

Fireball on Beginner Level is like Fireball of an Elementalist right now is.
Range 1200, xxx Damage and so on…

Fireball on Adept Level could unlock for us the following Talents to play around with:

- Pyromaniac: Changes your Fireball into 3 smaller homing in fireballs, that deal each lesser damage than before, but now you can hit multiple targets or hit one target multiple times instead. Adds a chance, that Fireball causes Burning per Hit.
- Big Fire: Increases the Size of the Fireball, lettign it cause a bigger explosion, that deals in a bigger area of effect damage to all nearby targets. Fireball drains on hit now also some Endurance from the Target.

One of that Adept Talent can you activate now.

On Master Level, you unlock for exampel then these 2 Talents for Fireball.

- Sun Flare = Your Fireball(s) cause on impact now large bright explosions, which blind foes.

- Infernal Destruction = Your Fireball(s) becomes more powerful and causes now massive fire trails on the scorched ground, that cause burnings on touch, while they hit now all foes in line of sight, before they explode on impact with your target enemy.

and lastly on Grandmaster Level you unlock these two Talents wherefrom you can activate one.

- Dragonfire If you cause with your Fireball(s) burning, then the Burning Effect can’t be cured and ends only, if its duration runs out. Burning Durations increased by 20%

- Massive Explosions Your Fireballs(s) cause now explosions with again increased range, that cause also Vulnerability Stacks and have a very low chance of 5% to daze foes as well.

4) Naturally adding more new Weapon Types

- Polearms
- Whips/Chain Sickles
- Claws/Gauntlets
- Crossbows
- Greataxes
- Flails (Morning Stars)
- Boomerangs/Throwing Stars

If Anet would add these great weapon types to the game, GW2 would benefit so much from them, not only Build Diversity but also with havign unique Classes through Elite Specializations which could add these missign Weapon Types to the Game to improve the Games Combat System, especially through missing Midrange Weapons like Polearms and Whips(Chain Sickles)

5) Trait Expansion

Underwater Gameplay needs to receive finally its very own Traits.
But also all Classes could easily receive 1-2 more Trait Lines.

Example the Thief:
Currently he has only Shadow Arts, Deadly Arts, Trickery, Acrobatics and Critical Strikes and through his E-Spec “Daredevil” another one.

But the Basic Thief could receive easily new Trait Lines like:

“Infiltration Arts”, (Focuses on Trap Control & Boon Control)
“Thievery Arts”, (Focuses on Boon Stealing & Disarming)
“Escape Techniques” (Focuses on Shadow Steps & Self Defense)

More Trait Lines per Class means more Build Diversity, means more fun and interesting combats.

An Elementalist could receive new naturally Elements for his Spells with Light & Darkness as new Trait Lines with new fittign elemental Spells.
So
“Light”, “Darkness” and as third new trait line for them “Ether Flow”, which focuses on Attunement Efficiency & Spell Fusions to allow elementalists to dual cast spells to create this way elemental fusions maybe

6) Adding Skill Skins

So that we can change finally cosmetically how our Skilsl should look like, especialyl interestign for all the Summons in the game, like Necromancer Minions, Elementalist’s Elementals, Turrets, Spiritual Weapons ect. pp
you want a blue ghostly fireball, instead of a red one. Skill Skins would enable you this.

7) Skill Hunting

I miss the old GW1 days, were we could hunt Skilsl from killed enemies (Bosses for Elite Skills) I’d find it cool, if they coudl brign this somehow back and not only for Skills, but for all other stuff like Traits, Talents ect. as well too, that the game should provide some exotic stuff, that isn#t really neccessary to be successfull in the game, but that you can hunt if you want just to increase your build diversity this way by hunting specific enemies to observe them to learn from them things, be it racial skils, be it traits, be it elite skills, utilitys skills, whatever , but thigns liek that are it, which give people somethign to do in a game.

Orpheal I like a lot of this. Most of this applies only to pve so that’s something to keep in mind, but it’s very cool.

I think that balancing what already exist in the game would do a big impact without all the developpement time need to make the current system more complexe.

- Not all existing weapons are equal currently and some have such similar role that only one can be on top at the same time. Take the Guardian’s Sword, the Ele’s scepter, the warrior main hand mace, etc.

- Same with trait. Trait like Zealous Scepter, Wrathful Spirit, Binding Jeopardy for the Guardian. Of course the choice are limited when half of your traits are highly situationnel at best.

- How many utilities and elite skill are completely gabage? The ranger is probably the best exemple of that. About half of them are completely useless unless you create a specific build for them.

- And finally the runes. Think like the rune of the Engineer could be awesome for engineer direct damage build, but it give condition damage and toughness. For a good portion of the runes you either have a bad 6th bonus, or it’s pair with completely useless stats.

- There is also the stats thing that limit the build diversity, but that’s a more complex problem that not everybody agree. Nobody is against make more skills, trait and runes viable so they should start with that imo.

How about adding the gliding skills which we had to purchase in Bloodstone Fen into new maps, such as Ember Bay and whatever else comes after that? Doesn’t even need to be retroactively added to Tyria/HoT maps.

CedarDog.9723:

How about adding the gliding skills which we had to purchase in Bloodstone Fen into new maps, such as Ember Bay and whatever else comes after that? Doesn’t even need to be retroactively added to Tyria/HoT maps.

I agree, I hoped the glider combat skills would be usable wherever it is possible to glide. I hope that is what happens eventually.

I’d rather they balance current skills and traits and make them better and more relevant than adding new ones.