Guild Wars 2

So while the Specializations for most classes look cool, I was curious not having seen much Beta footage myself and the Specialization videos themselves not being very clear; are Specializations going to be required to be competitive, or will base classes still be powerful enough to compete and be viable?

Like, for example, the Thief and Daredevil. I made a Thief to be stealthy and stab people in the back, not flip around and wap people with a pole and essentially be a Monk. Will I be made to be a Daredevil, or will staying a Thief still be viable? Or the same for say, Rangers and Druids?

the short answer is No

the long answer is that its too soon to tell how builds will shake out.

the caveat is that you can mix the new elite specs into existing builds for some hybrid results

Anet’s stated goal is that elite specializations should not be stronger than core specializations. However, it could of course be the case that it will take a few months before that goal is reached.

It only seems like many of the elite specializations are stronger because they provide some kind of new or missing utility that the class needs. I.E. Daredevil gives the thief more dodges and a block. Depending on the situation, an elite spec won’t always be better.

Blood Red Arachnid.2493:

It only seems like many of the elite specializations are stronger because they provide some kind of new or missing utility that the class needs. I.E. Daredevil gives the thief more dodges and a block. Depending on the situation, an elite spec won’t always be better.

Ya the additional mechanic do attract more attention than without the Elite Spec mechanics.

On topic:

No you don’t since Elite spec are just extensions of the profession and not actual upgrades. There is also more Elite Specializations to arrive in the future so it is not manditory to take up due to the Elite Spec designed as additional ways to play a profession.

Heavies:

Guardian – The old traits/specs will still be better than Dragonhunter, some people might enjoy the DH for a changed but it’s nothing in comparison with what Guardians bring already.
Warrior – Hard to say with this one, I don’t think you will be forced either way, both new and old traits/specs are optimal.
Revenant – I think the Herald will definitely be better, the entire class is new so the effects won’t be felt as much as others but, you would be silly not to grab the Herald line.

Mediums:

Engineer – We haven’t had a chance to test it but on paper it looks like Scrapper will be a much better Trait line and Spec than the older traits and specs. Time will tell.
Ranger – This one depends on the person, Rangers are sub-par, this is no secret, but that doesn’t mean unplayable. People who don’t like healing will play Ranger, those who don’t mind being Support will gravitate to Druid because it is (imo) the superior spec/traits.
Thief – I don’t play it enough to have a good opinion but I think this one will be a personal preference more than anything, I don’t have a very good opinion on this one, need some Thieves to chime in.

Clothies:

Mesmer – yes, Chronomancer has to much good to not be superior, I think this will be the go to trait line and spec.
Necro – I really think this one depends on the mode you play and how you play that mode. In Pve I think Reaper will be dominant over its older self the Necro. In WvW larger organized battles the old Necro will be dominant over Reaper simply because the reaper won’t live through the several engagements on the front line. In Small scale WvW it will be a player preference. PvP I think you will see Reaper become more dominant.
Ele – nope, maybe in smaller scale WvW and what not you will see Tempest shine but I don’t see how it will trump the old Ele, the old traits and specs are just to good and the Tempest is just to poorly thought out.

Summary of which new Specs will be dominant:

Gaurdian – no
Warrior – no, both new and old are viable.
Revenant – yes
Engi – yes
Ranger – yes
Thief – no familiar enough to give an honest opinion.
Mesmer – yes
Necro – depends on game mode
Ele – no

I am speccing Daredevil traits and leaving the staff in inventory.

Do what you want, nothing is absolute.

ANet has said that they are balancing the game so that elite specs are competitive with other specs. In the past (and in the future), people have always gravitated towards specific builds emphasizing just a very few of the possible permutations, i.e. there’s always a meta. The future meta might include the elite specs, which still won’t mean that they are “required,” only that a lot of people prefer them so strongly that they don’t consider other options.

tl;dr no, they won’t be required by the game; some players might act as if they are required (but that’s already true today).

Alright.

I was just worried it was going to wind up being “You must use the Elite Specializations because they totally outclass the base ones, even if they go against why you play that class.”

Only reason I see to spec into zerker for warrior is the new rage skills, looks fun headbutting ppl and a 10secs cd stunbreaker

I sure hope not. I for one did not sign on to play a druid, but a ranger. Suppose I could give GS necro a whirl, that at least looks like fun.

Been playing the daredevil today and it feels really bad the staff is terrible and the new
utility skills feel equally bad and useless most of the time the extra dodge and new dodges are kinda good but not good enough to make me change my thief build when the expansion comes out.
The reaper on the other hand is great the great sword has good skills and the new utility skills are also good i will be changing my necro when the expansion comes out.
Haven’t played any of the others yet to comment on those.