Guild Wars 2

My main is a Guardian, but absolutely not the ranged type, I like my knightly swords and shields. :p

But! I’m leveling another Guardian who will be a support DH with as many shouts as I can cram into the action bar (maybe a trap too), like a modern take on the…Paragon! I mean, shooting holy arrows instead of javelins and you can throw that Virtue of Justice! He looks like he stepped straight out of Elona, I have the fashion all planned out haha. Yes, I love themed characters.

Tasao.4623:

Depending on how Dragonhunter changes Virtue of Justice, I might not bother with it on my Guardian. I like my current burn build a lot but Dragonhunter seems very poor for condi builds, especially since removing bleeds from traps.
Condi Guards desperately need another condition, preferably one fire elementals and destroyers aren’t immune to.

I don’t get that. Isn’t the fire we wield more “holy” or something than just regular fire? Fire elementals and the like shouldn’t be immune to it. You know…as it’s a different kind of fire…sort of thing.

Conncept.7638:

The entire elementalist community.

Basically this. I however will be using an elite specialization, because Reaper is amazing.

yeah, on my ele, i probably would stick to fire-water-arcana trait for my dungeon setup. tried tempest. not impressed.

Not going to bother with Berserker. I’m not much of a condition fan, and I don’t feel it brings enough to the Warrior class as a whole.

I’ve tried out Guardian, Revenant, Necro and Mesmer specializations. Guardian is a definite no, Revenant I will use, Necro I will use and Mesmer is possibly use but not sure yet.

There are plenty of people who won’t be using elite specs.

As for me personally…

Chronomancer will probably be permanently-on for my Mesmer. Not only is the alacrity mechanic interesting, but I like to play a phantasm build, and Chronomancer is far and away the best spec for that sort of build. I won’t always be using Wells / Shield, as I’m a player who loves variety far too much to ever commit to one weapon / set of utilities (I use basically everything on basically every profession I play, with a few exceptions) but the traitline is basically going to be on all the time even if I’m not using that stuff. The only exception to that might be in the future when we have multiple elite specs to use, in which case I’ll probably swap the other elite spec on for variety (or maybe even switch to it permanently if its even more phantasm-based).

Reaper will probably be on my Necro 70% of the time. I absolutely love Reaper Shroud, so much fun. That said, I do also like Death Shroud as well, so I don’t want to go all Reaper all the time.

Tempest will probably be on a decent majority of the time. I know I’m an outlier, but I actually really like the Overload mechanic. Mind you, I do still want the overloads themselves improved, but in general I like sticking to one attunement for a bit longer and getting a nice power attack out of it. Might switch it off on occasion when I feel like running 3 core traitlines instead, though. Especially since outside of an aura-share build (which I enjoyed thoroughly during beta, but don’t usually run on my normal Elementalist) the traits aren’t all that impressive.

Dragonhunter… eh. In its current form, it doesn’t really “click” for me. You aren’t rewarded enough for using the new virtues, and the traits are meh (especially since Guardian has a lot of good traitlines), so aside from the weapon / utilities there’s not much to really hold me. And as I said above, I like variety, so its not like I’d ever use traps / longbow exclusively. I made a lengthy post in the Guardian forum suggesting some improvements, and on the off-chance they actually agree with them and implement some of them I’d probably like it a lot more (well obviously, they’re my suggestions). But as it is now, I’ll probably only put it on when I want to use traps / longbow.

Herald I’ll probably be using quite a lot. I find the Legendary Dragon utilities by far the most enjoyable out of the lot of them, and its also the most adaptable Legend of the bunch. So I’ll probably be running Dragon / rotating 2nd legend most of the time. And even if I’m not using Legendary Dragon stance, its going to be tough not to keep Herald active just for the F2 alone (Herald really gives you a whole lot with that F2 without costing anything at all in return, which I don’t really like, but can’t deny its effectiveness).

Don’t have a Warrior or a Thief, so I can’t really comment on them. Though Daredevil seems like a ton of fun.

I will use Forge because I’ve always wanted to use a Melee weapon on my Engineer.

As Anet said there are more Elite Specialization arriving in the future and certain people will certainly find it better to stick with basic Specializations until one of the future Elite Specializations catch their eye.

Not to mention Elite Specializations are not meant to replace basic Specialization but to provide new gameplay style to the Profession.

I have a lot of character slots so some of my characters will switch to primarily running in an Espec and some wont.

• I don’t really enjoy Elementalist and I don’t see Tempest changing that.
• I only have 1 Engineer. Waiting to know more before deciding what to do there.
• I have a bunch of Guardians and they’ll split about evenly between sticking with Guard and various DH-based specs (both a melee trapper and ranged zerg-leader for sure).
• Half my Mesmers were created to be chronomancers (Time Warp elite FTW). Now they are able to do that more than ever. The other two will happily stick with Mesmer builds as their thematic focus is more on clones/phantasms and sword-duelist.
• My “well-mancer” Necromancer will probably go Reaper while my Healing and Plague necros won’t.
• I don’t see either of my Rangers switching to Druid. We’ll see where we stand when the next wave of Elite specs hit.
• My Super Unicorn condi-bunker Thief is going to go Daredevil sooo hard . My Vemons thief wont.
• My Charr warrior may go Beserker. My Norn Warrior is happy with banners.
• Making 2 Revenants when HoT drops. Don’t know where I stand with Herald yet.

You couldn’t pay me to run Daredevil on my Thief main in its current state. Will need to see if they can turn it something worth taking before 10/23.

All we can do now is hope to god Karl isn’t working on Druid and Forge.

Conncept.7638:

The entire elementalist community.

With the exception of those of us who like Tempest a lot. So no, not the entire elementalist community.

Out of all announced, the only ones I would use are the Reaper and the Beserker. DH/Tempest just don’t do much for me, their utility skills are lackluster to me (traps and shouts? two kinds I don’t like using) and the mechanics (at least tempest) just don’t really make it a new play style. DH longbow is ok, but warhorn still is/was a bad choice for tempest. Can’t comment on Chronomancer or Daredevil, cause I don’t like playing mesmer or thief. Still have a little hope left for the engi spec, but doubt I’m gonna be surprised with it when its announced.

Arlee.7038:

Conncept.7638:

The entire elementalist community.

With the exception of those of us who like Tempest a lot. So no, not the entire elementalist community.

Not all, but probably most. I know I dislike it, and ele is my main.

Reaper yes
Chronomancer yes
DragNO
Berserker maybe
Druid TBD
Forge TBD
Tempest no
Daredevil not in its current incarnation
Herald maybe

Reaper: Yes
Chrono: Yes
DH: No
Zerker: Yes
Druid: TBD
Forge: TBD
Tempest: No, I don’t like Ele anyways.
Daredevil: No
Herald: Im not even sure I like Rev.

I wonder if Anet is seeing the pattern, it seems many are very disappointed with Dragonhunter and Tempest.

Random.4691:

I wonder if Anet is seeing the pattern, it seems many are very disappointed with Dragonhunter and Tempest.

It’s not like guardian and ele need any help. They’re by far the supreme classes of this game, being the backbone of any group in EVERY SINGLE GAME FORMAT.

If power creep is gonna come to these specializations, they’ll need to nerf the base classes.

skullmount.1758:

Out of all announced, the only ones I would use are the Reaper and the Beserker. DH/Tempest just don’t do much for me, their utility skills are lackluster to me (traps and shouts? two kinds I don’t like using) and the mechanics (at least tempest) just don’t really make it a new play style. DH longbow is ok, but warhorn still is/was a bad choice for tempest. Can’t comment on Chronomancer or Daredevil, cause I don’t like playing mesmer or thief. Still have a little hope left for the engi spec, but doubt I’m gonna be surprised with it when its announced.

Arlee.7038:

Conncept.7638:

The entire elementalist community.

With the exception of those of us who like Tempest a lot. So no, not the entire elementalist community.

Not all, but probably most. I know I dislike it, and ele is my main.

And that’s cool I just get annoyed when people make absolutest statements. I know Tempest is disliked by a lot of people, but for me it fits into my current build perfectly and makes it better. Which is really all I wanted from it

I won’t be using the Engineer Elite because I will not likely know what it is till Oct 23rd the way things are going.

Zenith.7301:

Random.4691:

I wonder if Anet is seeing the pattern, it seems many are very disappointed with Dragonhunter and Tempest.

It’s not like guardian and ele need any help. They’re by far the supreme classes of this game, being the backbone of any group in EVERY SINGLE GAME FORMAT.

If power creep is gonna come to these specializations, they’ll need to nerf the base classes.

So classes in a good position should have a terrible elite spec? Sorry but that is an awful idea.

Avador.8934:

Zenith.7301:

Random.4691:

I wonder if Anet is seeing the pattern, it seems many are very disappointed with Dragonhunter and Tempest.

It’s not like guardian and ele need any help. They’re by far the supreme classes of this game, being the backbone of any group in EVERY SINGLE GAME FORMAT.

If power creep is gonna come to these specializations, they’ll need to nerf the base classes.

So classes in a good position should have a terrible elite spec? Sorry but that is an awful idea.

I think he meant more that classes which were already in a really good spot are harder to add things to without making them OP. Also if most people are already happy any change is more likely to upset them than making a change to something most people don’t like.

PlatinumMember.5274:

Ok I Did It.2854:

I will not be using the Necro spec, I truly cannot see where it has any place, the GS attack is to slow, you will be burst down before you can hit anyone, my current necro build does a lot of damage and sustain, ill stick to my current build.

If you cannot see the purpose of the reaper than I will have to question your knowledge of the class. DH and Tempest sucks for sure. Reaper significantly adds a lot to the necromancer and improves in in cleave damage in PvE.

In PvP there are multiple builds.

It adds cleave to PvE, the attack speed is to slow for cleave, compared to other classes it still lacks behind, and if builds in the game push for speed and damage the reaper will be left behind, as other classes still outshine it here,

For PvP im sure there are plenty of builds, but compared to the new Mesmer Elite spec its not even close, you will be dead all day long before you get the new ultra slow necro skills off,

But to each there own, if you enjoy it, happy days, play away, I will not be.

Ok I Did It.2854:

PlatinumMember.5274:

Ok I Did It.2854:

I will not be using the Necro spec, I truly cannot see where it has any place, the GS attack is to slow, you will be burst down before you can hit anyone, my current necro build does a lot of damage and sustain, ill stick to my current build.

If you cannot see the purpose of the reaper than I will have to question your knowledge of the class. DH and Tempest sucks for sure. Reaper significantly adds a lot to the necromancer and improves in in cleave damage in PvE.

In PvP there are multiple builds.

It adds cleave to PvE, the attack speed is to slow for cleave, compared to other classes it still lacks behind, and if builds in the game push for speed and damage the reaper will be left behind, as other classes still outshine it here,

For PvP im sure there are plenty of builds, but compared to the new Mesmer Elite spec its not even close, you will be dead all day long before you get the new ultra slow necro skills off,

But to each there own, if you enjoy it, happy days, play away, I will not be.

Wut? Reaper bad for pvp? Did you try it there? I was able to 1v2 d/d ele + ranger, while killing ranger (ele unfortunately runned away). Either those players were bad or reaper just really good. RS is the best thing to ever happen for necro in pvp. (gs of course not, so slow for pvp, but that’s just 1 part of this elite spec).

Geogaddie.8193:

All we can do now is hope to god Karl isn’t working on Druid and Forge.

That’s bald calling out…be more proper with it like “he who knows his name” depending on topic.

for my part:

Chronomancer: Yes
Dragonhunter: No
Reaper: Yes
Tempest: No
Herald: No
Berserker: No
Daredevil: Probably*

*need to see what changes we get in the meantime.

Arlee.7038:

Avador.8934:

Zenith.7301:

Random.4691:

I wonder if Anet is seeing the pattern, it seems many are very disappointed with Dragonhunter and Tempest.

It’s not like guardian and ele need any help. They’re by far the supreme classes of this game, being the backbone of any group in EVERY SINGLE GAME FORMAT.

If power creep is gonna come to these specializations, they’ll need to nerf the base classes.

So classes in a good position should have a terrible elite spec? Sorry but that is an awful idea.

I think he meant more that classes which were already in a really good spot are harder to add things to without making them OP. Also if most people are already happy any change is more likely to upset them than making a change to something most people don’t like.

Look at mesmer. Mesmer is currently great in pvp, wvw, and good in pve. Mesmer got Chrono, one of the best elite specs. Most of mesmers are happy now. When it’s working with mesmer, why should not with ele/guard?
Anyway I know it’s probably harder to give them elite spec while trying to not make it OP, but it’s not impossible, it just needs a creativity and need to know that class well. Devs probably tried so hard to not make them OP so it resulted in the opposite.
Check my idea here, it’s not making ele op, but it can be pretty strong and fun too.

The tempest specialization doesn’t bring anything new, it’s just another d/d cele support build with 4 easy to interrupt channeling skills.
So sad to see my main’s specialization suck compared to the rest.

At this point, it’s a mixed bag.

Tempest: Yes (D/D+)
Dragon Hunter: No (no interest in Ranger spec)
Reaper: Yes (So fun)
Berserker: Maybe, not likely (Berserk state is too hard to get into for what it’s worth)
Chronomancer: Maybe (very complicated)
Daredevil: Maybe (played clunkier and less useful than I thought)
Herald: Definitely (vital to the class)
Forge: Probably? (Hammer and drones, try screwing this up ANet, I dare you!)
Druid: Who knows (no clue)

Reaper: Probably about 50% of the time. Been playing chill power necro since forever but giving up a trait line for it will be difficult.
Chrono: I don’t have any mesmer skills, and chronomancer seems even more complex, so probably not for a while.
DH: Yes, it really suits my guardian.
Zerker: Maybe, depends. As a condi warrior it makes sense but as a nightmare courtier it might not.
Druid: Probably, have always loved druids in all iterations.
Forge: Probably, those drones are cute.
Tempest: My Ele is level 50 so it’s unlikely. In terms of flavour it really suits but my ele skills aren’t exactly good.
Daredevil: Haven’t tried it yet. Probably not though.
Herald: I loved it. Big yes.

Avador.8934:

Arlee.7038:

Avador.8934:

Zenith.7301:

Random.4691:

I wonder if Anet is seeing the pattern, it seems many are very disappointed with Dragonhunter and Tempest.

It’s not like guardian and ele need any help. They’re by far the supreme classes of this game, being the backbone of any group in EVERY SINGLE GAME FORMAT.

If power creep is gonna come to these specializations, they’ll need to nerf the base classes.

So classes in a good position should have a terrible elite spec? Sorry but that is an awful idea.

I think he meant more that classes which were already in a really good spot are harder to add things to without making them OP. Also if most people are already happy any change is more likely to upset them than making a change to something most people don’t like.

Look at mesmer. Mesmer is currently great in pvp, wvw, and good in pve. Mesmer got Chrono, one of the best elite specs. Most of mesmers are happy now. When it’s working with mesmer, why should not with ele/guard?
Anyway I know it’s probably harder to give them elite spec while trying to not make it OP, but it’s not impossible, it just needs a creativity and need to know that class well. Devs probably tried so hard to not make them OP so it resulted in the opposite.
Check my idea here, it’s not making ele op, but it can be pretty strong and fun too.

I wasn’t saying it’s impossible, just more likely to not be what most people want because the deck is stacked against. It happens. They went with ideas they thought would work well and that’s about all you can really demand from designers (unless you want to be completely ridiculous). Maybe for the next go around they’ll be able to incorporate some of the better ideas the community has had.

Most Elite Specs are probably passed their general “how does it feel” feedback stage and will be more focused on things like numbers moving forward (we are just barely over a month away from launch). Daredevil and Beserker probably will have a bunch of feedback on how it feels still since they are newer.

Yes, a lot of people don’t like Dragonhunter and Tempest, guess what else; a lot of people also like them. The people who are unhappy are more noticeable because unhappy people are always more noticeable. That’s just how it goes.

Hmm…well, I was looking forward to Daredevil, but unless they make any really significant changes to the mechanics/animations/cast times, I may end up still playing D/P.

Engineer is the big question mark for me right now since Engi and Thief are my main interests at the moment. I may mess around with the other specializations, but it’s hard to see me seriously playing any of them yet.

The new existing class specialties available so far I will not be using on my mains.

I will certainly use Glint on my Revenant main.

Of the ones available so far, I will certainly use the Chronomancer, Reaper, and Daredevil on my alts.

I love a challenge so I will probably find a way to use Tempest and Berzerker on my alts.

Dragonhunter is a no.

Reavan.8753:

I am mainly a wvw player with a tiny bit of wpve on the side and will probably try raids if my guild is interested though i really dont care much for them.

My main is a mesmer and i am currently playing domi/duel/inspiration. Chrono if i took it only nerfs my build, it adds the gimmick of the conti split but i feel its not worth sacrificing one of my current specs for it.
Shield seems lame and id prefer the on demand stealth of torch any day.

I used to also play thief but do not like its current state of hope you gank some one or be killed by a light breeze.
Daredevil not only plays boring (evades while i was dd) the aesthetics of it simply don’t appeal to me… Infact its a huge turn off and my thief is currently benched.

Guardian bow sounds interesting yet the way its currently implemented i dont see why id ever play it long term.

That is all my 80 chars i have and the rest of the new specs dont appeal to me or make me think OMG I MUST LVL THAT! (sooo disappointed with warhorn ele)
Sooo atm i still haven’t bought Hot… my plan was to wait to get hyped by something new i could play.
Gs or Rifle thief… Dual pistol or lb mesmer, sword/dagger ele, halberd warrior.

None of that came and the hype never started for me.

I am just wondering if any others feel like i do and are still contemplating whether to upgrade hot?
If so ehat is your thoughts on that.

Tldr; specs are kinda lame for me personally and as a wvwer im not sure what the point of hot is.

I’m a WvW focused PVX player and have not purchased HoT yet and I am not sure I will. The thing that will make the final determination will be Arena nets handling of the population imbalance / nightcapping issues in WvW or the lack thereof. Specs, while its nice fluff, is just fluff for me.

Also, so far, based on playing against them in SPVP as well as WvW I do not see anything that would make me want to purchase HoT. I fought plenty of chronos and didnt have any easier or harder time with them then most players, same for revenants, reapers, etc.

Spec wise in general, the things that would make me purchase HoT, would be if I could run my mes (other then veilbot / portal bot) or my Engi, in frontline instead of GWEN. And I haven’t seen anything that would make that possible or wanted by commanders just yet.

So unless these specs considerably shake up the GWEN meta or replace it or its components, they are of zero consideration to me.

I intend to try them, and see if I can make anything better than what I have, but to avoid trying new things just because you think what you have is the best ever, is just hurting yourself.
At least until someone puts up a build on Meta and everyone is like “OMG Such OP”
Or, someone else is able to destroy you with something from the new specs.
Not saying it will happen, but anything is possible.

If nothing from the specs improves upon, or gives me other options as to how to run my characters, then I’ll probably stick to what I have.

Guard – No. Doesn’t improve my current fractal build
Thief – Sometimes, yes. Depends on the fractal.
Necro – Yup. All the time because I prefer power melee build.
Ele – No. Current D/D and Staff ele for my fractals are great and Tempest doesn’t bring anything that the D/D and Staff eles can’t do.
Warrior – No. I use mine for EA PS in fractals and Berserker didn’t compliment it.
Mesmer – Probably, again it will depend on the fractal.
Ranger – Depends on if they get rid of the pet or not
Engie – Granade power or condi build is strong in fractals (along with lots of tricks) so really depends on if the Forger is stronger than those builds. If not, then no, it won’t see play by me in fractals.
Rev – Dunno. Need more time with the class to get a good feel for Glint.

Zenith.7301:

Random.4691:

I wonder if Anet is seeing the pattern, it seems many are very disappointed with Dragonhunter and Tempest.

It’s not like guardian and ele need any help. They’re by far the supreme classes of this game, being the backbone of any group in EVERY SINGLE GAME FORMAT.

If power creep is gonna come to these specializations, they’ll need to nerf the base classes.

The reason they are the backbone is because of what they bring to the group. Its not that they are OP (maybe cele ele in pvp) its their utility and how well rounded they are. Anet should take note of this for future elites. Just because they are in a good spot does not mean their elites should be sub par. There is plenty they could have done for both classes that wouldn’t have made them OP.

I don’t think there are any that I am dead set against using so far. I’m ambiguous about the Herald, the Dragonhunter, and the ‘zerker mostly because they don’t fit how I tend to play, but that’s about it.

I think its perfectly fine if the specialisations aren’t better in every aspect of the game.

I play every class but ranger ( might start one if the druid drops the pet)
Here is what i will be using:

Dragon hunter- Not in a million years
Berserker- Nope
Daredevil- Maybe
Tempest- Yep
Chrono- Yesh
Reaper- Hell Yea
Engi- Oh plx no minions

I don’t think a lot of elementalists plan on using tempest since the damage is so low and overloads are almost impossible to pull off in a competitive context. It needs serious fixes/improvements.

I don’t see enough value in the majority of the elite specializations for PvE. I was originally going to spec my mesmer into chronomancer, but it seems to have been nerfed to the point where my current base build is better (dom/duel/insp). I’m definitely not changing my guardian into a dragon hunter…range spam is just bad for group/instanced PvE. I have two professions that I don’t really have a choice but to do the elite specs….necromancer and engineer. I prefer melee and their current melee options are terribad. My necro and engi are just sitting on the shelf at 80, fully geared, waiting on the expansion. I’m still disappointed in the state of the reaper, but at least its better than the current option. I have no idea if the alleged melee engi elite spec will be decent as they have yet to do a reveal…much less let it get any bwe time. I’ve got an open character slot waiting on the revenant…pretty much guaranteed to spec into the glint elite along with shiro and an undetermined other.

I might start exploring the new region on my Guardian without using the specialisation but I suspect we’ll need what the specs bring to not continuously die in the jungle!

The only elite I’ll likely be playing on a regular basis is the Heralt. I really like the Heralt and I feel it really adds to the Revenant, especially in teams.

For all my other classes? Likely not.

I hoped elites would fill up some gabs in the classes (because some classes do have gabs, such as thief who really needs a proper ranged weapon) but sadly that is not the case.

Right now, the elites feel like a gimmick and nothing more. The only elite that really adds something to the class ON PAPER is the Dragon Hunter. Guardians really did need a proper ranged weapon so longbow is a welcome addition to the Guardian. Sadly, everything about Dragon Hunter sucks except for the longbow. I don’t like the traps, I don’t like the traits and I don’t like the overhauled Virtues.

I really wish I could play a regular Guardian with a longbow, without all the other Dragon Hunter fluff that I don’t want nor need.

ODB.6891:

I don’t see enough value in the majority of the elite specializations for PvE. I was originally going to spec my mesmer into chronomancer, but it seems to have been nerfed to the point where my current base build is better (dom/duel/insp). I’m definitely not changing my guardian into a dragon hunter…range spam is just bad for group/instanced PvE. I have two professions that I don’t really have a choice but to do the elite specs….necromancer and engineer. I prefer melee and their current melee options are terribad. My necro and engi are just sitting on the shelf at 80, fully geared, waiting on the expansion. I’m still disappointed in the state of the reaper, but at least its better than the current option. I have no idea if the alleged melee engi elite spec will be decent as they have yet to do a reveal…much less let it get any bwe time. I’ve got an open character slot waiting on the revenant…pretty much guaranteed to spec into the glint elite along with shiro and an undetermined other.

nerfed?

chrono can do high damage, maintain 12 stacks of might, protection, and aoe 30 second quickness….

when base mesmer can come close to chrono let me know

For raids they likely designed around.

Raids usually have strong trash mobs, which likely wont function as trash mobs in current dungeons behave in which they reset their aggro when players move too far.

these trash mobs will need toughness builds to round them up to be AoEed down.

Guardian Dragon Hunter is perfect for this since they provide a nice block and a nice AoE damage heal, and can apply some major AoE CC/Damage traps for keeping trash mobs in a certain location and using Wards to keep them there longer to be burned down.

Tempest can keep this trash tank squad alive with their powerful Shout heal which heals allies just as much as it self heal. So that basically gives the team, two heals to tank a strong hit.

Revenant healing from Tablet and Herald will also make great heals as well as off tank for reviving downed tanks and also doing some passive protection as well. Also Dwarf can provide taunts for drop in mobs to be picked up by the three tanks in the group.

warrior Berserker provides great fire fields as well as strong CC for defiance bar break downs.

Reapers are great for facetank AoE dpsing down trash mobs safely while tanks keep them at bay.

Chronomancer provides great support from the back field to the tanks and melee dps in the front line.

Daredevil is another dps that can defiance break down when the group needs a shut down for incoming major blows from bosses. Also they provide good CC for tanks to stay alive.

Druid hopefully will be another major support spec on par or greater in healing and support than Ele, while providing great CC tanking as well.

Also Forge could be another tank that has great sustainable abilities to shut down enemies and defiance bar while also holding enemies away from the group.

I main warrior and so far I’m not planning on using the berserk. It’s a bit early and they could probably turn it around in the next few weeks.

I doubt it, Knighthonour, because of what they said during the PAX reveal… Needless to say I hope you’re wrong because I won’t play raids if I’m forced into a spec like healer or tanks… nor will I if we have to wait for someone who wants to spec into those roles.

ODB.6891:

I don’t see enough value in the majority of the elite specializations for PvE.

The reason why you don’t see that value is because the elite specs were designed with 5v5 capture point pvp in mind.

Depends on the class:

Mesmer: Yes I’m going Chronomancer, it’s fun. The new playstyle options make it worthwhile, even if I find shield to be only half decent (tides of time is good, the other skill is lame)
Necromancer: Reaper makes necromancer actually worth playing. Default Necro is not.
Ele: No. While some of the interactions with auras are cool, Tempest just isn’t at all worth it and warhorn is garbage and needs an overhaul to be even remotely worth using. It doesn’t help that for PVE and WvW, Scepter and Dagger are underwhelming as main hand weapons. The overcharges do less damage for more risk than well, just going through a normal staff rotation
Warrior: Absolutely. Berserker is a direct upgrade over default warrior and the new burst skills are fun to use and berserking is fun and the new rage skills are fun and gosh, even headbutt is fun. I love that Daredevil and Berserker have elites that are more in line with GW1 elites with their shorter cooldowns and being more of a cornerstone of your build, rather than league of legends ultimates that inspire most GW2 elite skills. Even torch was actually surprisingly good. at first I thought “oh, lame, a 2 skill offhand” but.. a mobile fire field is amazing.
Guardian: On the fence. it felt a little underwhelming to play but I did like some of the virtue changes and the jesus beam trap that gives vuln.
Revenant: Absolutely. The Glint mechanics are great. I always felt Revenant was an incomplete class until we got Shiro, and Glint. Now it’s a great class.
Thief: On the fence. I love the elite skill and utilities, but the dodges feel janky (delay) and staff skillset doesn’t do anything for me except staff 2 makes me run THROUGH a mob I’m attacking which is dumb.

The last 2 we haven’t seen in action yet.

The Tempest is getting a lot of flak and rightly so, but in terms of WvW? The Tempest actually looks pretty good for front-lining. Throw some soldier armor on with Runes of the Soldier (5-ally AoE condi-cleanse on shout), full shout build, and X/Warhorn (taking the 5-ally AoE stunbreak trait) and you have something interesting.

It usually means, of course, you lose your staff, which is what most Elementalists run in WvW, but it is a new way to play and could make for a good commander.

Wouldn’t the fact that a lot of people choose not to go the new specialization be a sign of a complete success with the system?

Did anyone want the new specializations to be guaranteed “must have” for each class?

I’m sure down the road someone will create a really useful meta for each of the “bad specializations” and they’ll be more popular…but I don’t thin anet wanted the new specializations to trump the old class system, just add another layer of variety if you want it…..and that’s how it should be.

I’m more worried about the very popular “omg awesome” specializations for certain classes more so than the “this sucks” specializations….as being too good means no one will play anything but it when on that class, and that to me is a failure of the specialization system…more so than DH (though the lore/flavor of DH sucks its nothing guardian) being not so great looking thus far…because only some will be DH and there will still be lots of guardians out there…

You make it too powerful and awesome and it just becomes a linear “we didn’t extend level cap but now you need to farm mastery to upgrade your class from average to awesome to compete”

DH and tempest are very balanced specs which give good damage or support with obvious strengths and weaknesses.

Thus they will never be taken or liked. Why would you want a balanced spec with strengths and weaknesses when you can have a spec that does 40% more damage then every other class while also having awesome defense, party support and utility?

As long as ele and guard are 100% better than every other class in the game their balanced elite specs will look like crap.