I’m bringing up this topic because at the moment there’s really two main gimmicks we’re hearing about in terms of mastering survival in the Maguuma Jungle; mushrooms and gliders. While they may provide an improved sense of maneuvering around the location it’s not really what comes to mind when I think of jungle warfare or even mastering survival in the jungle. I think of jungle warfare relying on utilizing your environment to capitalize on your opponent; using the brush for ambushes, laying traps, using the plants or animals to make you stronger and the enemy weaker. However because the focus has been on mostly those two things and working in specializations (which has been hit and miss but we’ll see when it’s implemented) I don’t have a feeling that I should expect much in terms of extra mechanics in the game involving the world and how we interact with it. I’d like to use this topic to bring up some suggestions, other things I would’ve LIKED to hear about to build my excitement for the game.
Camouflage: Time spent fighting in the thick brush of the jungle gives you the ability to find different ways to hide your presence from hostile creatures. Depending on your level of mastery your capabilities at it will change.
Level 1: You notice places in the jungle that will help provide you concealment. They will show up as plants or rocks with ‘Shadow Refuge’ type rings. As long as you’re in these rings you’ll be treated as stealthed until you take some aggressive action. Your movement in this cover is slowed.
Level 2: You know how to move through the underbrush with greater ease and are able to spot opportunities to stage ambushes. More places that provide cover will appear to you. You’re able to move through cover at normal speed and while in cover several different traps will appear on your action bar. You can only place one, but triggering it doesn’t break your concealment.
-Level 3:_ You stalk through the jungles with the ease of a jaguar. As long as you’re not on a main road or open ground you’ll have concealment.
Pathfinder : You’re able to breach thick cover and find paths through the jungle others miss. Depending on your level of mastery paths you find will change.
Level 1: Skritt tunnels, large insect burrows, there’s a lot of underground passages that will let you get around the jungle quickly and unnoticed. You are now able to use different tunnels, much like the skritt tunnels in Silverwastes, to move around sections of the jungle in an instant.
Level 2: The understory is a rich tangle of vines and branches that many different animals use to move through the wilderness unhindered; now you can use them too. You now have the ability to ascend certain trees and reach an ‘understory’ layer, made up of branches and vines. Someone with a glider and a good position could reach this layer as well, however without this skill the footing is treacherous and they’re able to fall far easier.
Level 3: Paths that aren’t for the faint of heart. Mordrem may be an anomaly in the jungle but you know how to use the paths they make yourself to get behind enemy lines. Combined with other movement powers you can strike the dragon’s minions where they’re weakest.
I have more ideas that I’d like to add into the suggestions too and may throw them up later. If anyone else has ideas they’d like to share on what they wish they’d hear about in the game please add on. Keep in mind currently I’m only suggesting these for PVE situations in the jungle, if anyone has ideas on mechanics for other regions of Tyria you’re welcome to add those too.