First let me say thief is not my main. I created a Daredevil thief to roam Verdant Brink and explore. Here are some of my observations using the testing format in the sticky thread.
Specializations – Daredevil and Berserker warrior builds
•Were they fun? – Yes and no. Yes it was fun to test out a new build, but no they were not exciting and really fun to play with at first. The Staff thief I found tedious and swapped weapons back to pistol pistol. Berserker got way better and more fun when I changed the build from meta zerker to condi, and got more survival.
•Did they Change how you play your profession in a meaningful way? – Only the Warrior, when I swapped builds to conditions.
•How were the improvements to the previous Specializations? (Dragon Hunter, Tempest, Chronomancer, Reaper) Sorry I did not attempt to play these builds again
•Feedback on new specializations, as well as any changes to the old – My main complaint is the heals on all professions just don’t seem to be working well. Bare in mind I am not one of those dodge here dodge there jump here evade there players. Even if I were I would run out of endurance long before I could get away. So I really rely on heals.
Creatures
•How is the difficulty of the new hostile mobs, and are they fun and exciting? – Hmmm…unlike many players I have read on the forums pleading not to nerf the op mobs, I do not enjoy dying or being knocked around like a ping pong ball only to die. If you are going to leave the mobs like they are then you need to add a few more waypoints in so you don’t have to run so far back to where you just were. As for the new creatures they are fine, but after nearly 2 years of fighting these hard to kill jungle vines I am exhausted.
World
•With the Opening of two new outposts, we are adding in a bunch of new events. Are they fun? – The events were ok as far as the plot of them, it’s the zergs and fighting that gets a bit cramped and hard to tell whats going on.
•Do the new events bring you more into the world? – Yes.
•Are the new events challenging, meaningful, and interesting? – I think so. But there is so much going on at once it’s a bit confusing and could be overwhelming if I was not use to zerg fights. You definitely do not want to attempt an event alone!
Mastery System
•How is the progression? Ugh!… I have 8 points and still trying to get enough exp to open the next level on gliding.
•How is it using the mastery abilities in the current area? After two days of running around Verdant I am getting better at gliding.
•Is the mastery system providing a meaningful area of progression? It’s sorta slow to open, get enough experience points to open.
•Do you care about experience and mastery points? Only to the point that I am hoping it makes it easier for me to play the game.
•Does it provide a good framework to add more masteries in the future? Too soon to really tell at this stage.
•Do you want to learn as many masteries over time to overcome challenges later in the future? Yes I would like that.
Finally I would like to say that at first the map and mobs and events in the expansion were overwhelming and confusing and not fun. But since I am spending more time exploring and trying new things and just not worrying about dying ( and you will die in this map easily), I have been enjoying it more. The map is still confusing and a little to busy with foliage and vines and vegetation that is difficult to see over.
After seeing so many posts with an agenda, I’m glad to see some level responses.