Guild Wars 2

Has it been made public yet how elite specializations will unlock? Considering how the trait systems was revamped, it seems logical skill points (fingers crossed ArenaNet will agree). I really hope the elite specs aren’t something we have to work until mid-game to acquire. The more I think about it, the more I feel being denied the elite spec very early on is going to really impact the experience. For my time in the beta weekends, I can say the Elite specs + beautiful new environments + gliding mechanic all come together to make the expansion feel like something exciting and new. I think the elite spec are the biggest part of that feel.

From the Specializations Part 2 news article.

“These are the brand-new level-80 specializations that will begin to introduce new weapons, mechanics, skills, and traits to existing professions in Heart of Thorns.”

https://www.guildwars2.com/en/news/specializations-part-two-reward-tracks-and-elite-specializations/

It’s been datamined it will cost 175 hero points. Datamining truly means nothing though at this point.

I hope for a class side quest plus a reasonable amount of hero points like 50 to 75. 100 at the very max.

I think 175 is fair

175 seems a bit much, especially for that large amount of players that do not like or want to have to PvE, we’re already forced to raid if we want Legendary armor (not complaining just stating a fact) I don’t think we should be forced to PvE to get the Hero points for our new specs as well.

Random.4691:

175 seems a bit much, especially for that large amount of players that do not like or want to have to PvE, we’re already forced to raid if we want Legendary armor (not complaining just stating a fact) I don’t think we should be forced to PvE to get the Hero points for our new specs as well.

I believe they said something about having a way for WvWers to get hero points without PvEing, but they weren’t ready to talk about it yet,

You can only select an elite specialization in the third slot, which unlocks at lvl 71.
So as long as you are lvl 71+ and have 175 hero points you are good to go.

Random.4691:

175 seems a bit much, especially for that large amount of players that do not like or want to have to PvE, we’re already forced to raid if we want Legendary armor (not complaining just stating a fact) I don’t think we should be forced to PvE to get the Hero points for our new specs as well.

I assume you’re talking about WvW, because PvP players get everything unlocked without Hero Points. But Elite specs are no different than “core” specs in this regard.

I really hope they think about how people will be unlocking specializations.

First of all, despite reality, these are suppose to be horizontal upgrades, as in a different way to play your class, not a linear upgrade, so I don’t see a reason to make anyone put in a ton of effort to access the specializations, really any effort to be frank.

Second of all, I feel like there is really no reason to do all the hero challenges other than completion, however I don’t want to be forced to hunt down every challenge, or even most, just to use a spec. I get their point, they are sort of fun things to do when I want to do map pve, I just don’t see their overall point given the multiple paths you can take to level a character up, hero challenges seem to be the only required reason to do map pve (not that I hate map pve just seems out of place as a requirement)

So I know they might add WvW hero points, that’s fine, I feel its needed for people who just don’t want to do map pve (I’m not sure I will after a few characters and don’t want to be hampered for that choice)

I feel like having a hero merchant selling hero skins for hero challenge points would be more in tune with how this game works.

StrangerDanger.3496:

I really hope they think about how people will be unlocking specializations.

First of all, despite reality, these are suppose to be horizontal upgrades, as in a different way to play your class, not a linear upgrade, so I don’t see a reason to make anyone put in a ton of effort to access the specializations, really any effort to be frank.

Thinking about it more, I really agree with you. I see the play mechanics they offer as something core to the expansion. Something that I would like to have access to from the very first new story chapter or shortly after.

Some hero points are fine, as it just follows the basic process of leveling. However, as others have mentioned, I don’t really care for it requiring a lot of hero points. I would rather have the specialization require a quest series. This way we get to learn more about the class and specialization, while at the same time appreciating it more.

umm. Quite new to this expansion so:

At the moment, elite spec doesn’t even appear in the training menu. (just the 5 core)
Elite will be in that menu..after HoT is live?
And it will cost…hero points to unlock?

Kevan.8912:

umm. Quite new to this expansion so:

At the moment, elite spec doesn’t even appear in the training menu. (just the 5 core)
Elite will be in that menu..after HoT is live?
And it will cost…hero points to unlock?

From what we know right now, yes.

It will be one big track with both traits and skills on it, and a couple of item skins (one armor, one weapon) at the end.

First, don’t take the datamining seriously. Word has it that unlocking all the required stuff will only cost 85. Don’t take that seriously either.

The last bits? You know, the uniqueish skins? Yeah, those might cost more, much like how bloodstone shards were a skill point dump.

Either way, we will see soon enough.

I hope the 175 point requirement is wrong myself. Mostly because this introduces a new problem:

The elite specs we’re getting aren’t going to be the only elite specs ever. As we get new elite specs, we’ll have to continue to get hero points to unlock them. Now I’ve already read a handful of things, but last I checked hero points are finite. My 100% world exploration toon has 190+ hero points left over, which is only enough for a single elite specialization.

Unless new content is going to introduce ways to farm hero points, you’ll be spending 800 gems and a new gear set for each specialization.

I would be fine with something similar to how you unlocked advanced jobs in FFXI and FFXIV, i.e. a more or less challenging (and engaging) quest line with the elite specialization unlock in the end. That would fulfill a much stronger feeling of accomplishment than just farming Hero points, and also we’d get the context of the elite spec lore wise.

Although these types of unlock quests could be quite tedious and long in the aforementioned games, they’d probably have to be a bit shorter and soloable in GW2.

But ehh, it’s late in development so it probably won’t happen, but stranger things have happened before. I just hope we don’t have to HP-farm. That would really put me off at first, but i’d probably do it for all my 6 80’s (and Rev) anyway, lol.

Windu The Forbidden One.6045:

You can only select an elite specialization in the third slot, which unlocks at lvl 71.
So as long as you are lvl 71+ and have 175 hero points you are good to go.

Although if you spent all your skill points before the HP/skills/traits/spirit shards mess that nobody was too communicative about you are puppied. My 80s average about 40 HP.

I rly dont like to grind those points if i want to enjoy a new specialisation. i play mostly pvp but i want to give pve a try again. But its just not fun to run over old maps to be able to play essential of HoT in Pve. 175 Points are huge. I spent all my Points on my lvl80 characters. I believe my Necro has the most with 55 available now.

Yes, going through some of my characters the highest anyone had was 64. Most were in the 30 or 40 range. Why they have such a high HP requirement and why you need HPs to buy skins are two things I hope are wrong.

If you unlocked all of your traits by doing stuff before the change of course you will have plenty of HPs … you never needed skill points. If you spent skill points to catch up you are hosed, especially since they turned all your scrolls to spirit shards and removed them from the game, rather than replace them.

For example, I used to get a 3 pt scroll from Teq often. I do it almost every day. If they had not taken them out it would ‘only’ take me, what, a year and a half of grinding teq?

If I do old content it is in the normal course of events. I do not seek it out to grind my characters.

Menadena.7482:

Yes, going through some of my characters the highest anyone had was 64. Most were in the 30 or 40 range. Why they have such a high HP requirement and why you need HPs to buy skins are two things I hope are wrong.

If you unlocked all of your traits by doing stuff before the change of course you will have plenty of HPs … you never needed skill points. If you spent skill points to catch up you are hosed, especially since they turned all your scrolls to spirit shards and removed them from the game, rather than replace them.

For example, I used to get a 3 pt scroll from Teq often. I do it almost every day. If they had not taken them out it would ‘only’ take me, what, a year and a half of grinding teq?

If I do old content it is in the normal course of events. I do not seek it out to grind my characters.

Hero points have nothing to do with the skill points you used to have. Hero points are unlocked by doing hero challenges, which are the old skill challenges. If you find that you don’t have any hero points now, it’s probably because you never bothered to do any world exploration, not because you spent your old skill points. Your old skill points were converted to spirit shards.

So I am supposed to do the skill point challenges again? Strange, last I looked at the map they were shaded as already done. Yes, I spent all my old skill points before the hero point conversion: there was a lot of confusion going on and at one point it sounded like it was ‘use them or lose them’. I have tried doing some of the old things to unlock traits (defeat a certain monster, etc) again with new characters and it did nothing. Outside of advancing a level how am I supposed to get HP now?

As I said, you get HPs by doing the hero challenges, defeating a certain monster etc. If you only have 60+ HPs that means you probably only completed half of the world map; don’t forget that your core specialisations consumed some HPs too.

Hero points are tied to your character by the way, in the same way that map exploration is and skill points were tied to your character. So doing these challenges with new characters will not earn your old characters any HPs.

Skill points became Spirit Shards if I recall correctly. Also remember that the whole Hero Point cost unlocks new runes, sigils and the unique gear.

My Sweet Lily.1952:

Skill points became Spirit Shards if I recall correctly. Also remember that the whole Hero Point cost unlocks new runes, sigils and the unique gear.

Isn’t that a bit problematic since the unique gear is ascended therefore account bound? Meaning I could litterally create a revenant lvl to 80 with scrolls and then spend the hero points to get another character an ascended piece of gear for free. If those things are stat swappable through the mystic forge I will never see the need to ever craft an ascended greatsword, hammer, warhorn, shield,longbow, torch and staff.

SPNKr.6208:

As I said, you get HPs by doing the hero challenges, defeating a certain monster etc. If you only have 60+ HPs that means you probably only completed half of the world map; don’t forget that your core specialisations consumed some HPs too.

The other traits and skills used HPs we get from leveling and doing skill challenges, why should that not be the same for hero points?

No, I did not complete the world map. There is always something in a zone (vista, etc) that is a pain to get. I would rather be out there having fun then spending all my time repeatedly trying to do that one thing so I can be a snob with a star next to my name.

If world map completion is the only way to get HPs I may as well delete my characters, find another game, and give no more money to anet.

Menadena.7482:

Windu The Forbidden One.6045:

You can only select an elite specialization in the third slot, which unlocks at lvl 71.
So as long as you are lvl 71+ and have 175 hero points you are good to go.

Although if you spent all your skill points before the HP/skills/traits/spirit shards mess that nobody was too communicative about you are puppied. My 80s average about 40 HP.

My older 80s characters had so many skill points and still all their traits/skills. No problem for me :P

Okay you’re a little confused, perhaps I could have chosen my words better. You get hero points from hero/skill challenges and levelling up to 80, period. There are no other sources of hero points. All specialisations consume hero points.

When I said you’ve completed half the world map, I meant you’ve gone and done half of the skill challenges available on the world map, of which there are 214 in total. So you’ve actually only done about 1/3 with 60, not half. You get 398 from levelling which is just enough to unlock all your core specialisations. Any more you need to unlock the elite specialisations will require you to do more skill challenges: 175 challenges for 175 points. No vistas, no POIs, no hearts, just hero/skill challenges.

Looks like I need to look through the zones with my different characters. Typically I do a few in each zone if I am around them then eventually move on to explore the next zone.