Guild Wars 2

Are they completely seperate, or simply activated when using the new weapon?

i.e. can I keep playing a normal Guardian and just switch to a longbow?

There are no Elite Classes, only Elite Specializations.

So yes, you can play your guardian and have a Longbow IF and only IF you take Dragonhunter specialization as one of your 3 specs.

They are an elite spec… specs are sort of what we used to refer to as trait lines. You get up to 3 specs in a build, only one can be an elite spec, but you do not have to pick an elite spec.

The longbow is an exclusive weapon choice for the Dragonhunter Elite Spec. One of your specs (your elite spec) must be Dragonhunter in order to use longbow at this time.

I hope they keep it this way because it would be easier for devs to balance skills and traits.

So no… you can’t play a normal guardian with longbow. But you CAN take 2 of normal guardians specs and the elite spec to use 2/3 of what you are currently using.

The only thing you won’t have control over is that if you slot Dragonhunter as your elite spec, your virtues will change and you will only be able to pick 2 of the current specs that your guard has access to instead of 3.

I see! Both helpful answers, thank you!