Guild Wars 2

WHAT?!?!? tell me this isnt true, i loved underwater combat i dont want it to go away!

I hope not, i would be happy if they remove all of it.

Please let this be true!

THERE’S NO UNDER WATER CONTENT IN HOT.

Well, there’s the occasional small puddle I’m sure. You can lie down in it and try to fight that way.

I’m sure there will be a pond or two somewhere

I hope there will be, but probably not because of the fact that there has been almost no water added in maguuma already (dry top only had the diving spot and a tiny bit in the oasis and silverwastes only has a tiny pool in the skritt cave for the diving spot). I really like underwater scenery and the combat is not bad like many people believe. Also, frostgorge sound is my favourite zone because of the massively deep water and the little quaggan villages on the bottom, which just add to the already amazing scenery. If something similar was to be added in HoT I would be very happy although if most people are against it I understand why it may not be added.

I accidentally posted twice, I am sorry about this post.

The irony is people don’t want to go in the water because its broken. In return people are not drawn to that content, and it gets pushed to the back of the table by the devs.

Water combat is pretty much dead and just a small side part of the game now. Which is why they’d just make spears land weapons instead of wasting the best legendary weapon.

I’d like to have more underwater content, but as it is right now it isn’t fun.
It’s broken and inconvenient. So aslong as they don’t change that, they shouldn’t make new under water content.

The problem with underwater combat is that as it stands right now, its a simpler form of normal combat with no real unique features. Sure, you fight in 3D space but it is not really a change from the 2D. There is limited weapon choices (3 different ones) and half the utilities you have access to are unusable underwater.

Honestly, underwater combat would need a big overhaul. It would need its own utilities and a few more weapon types to choose from.

The thing is, as much as Anet wants to get rid of it, the problem becomes is there is an underwater based elder dragon. If we are going to ever kill all the elder dragons in the life of GW2, then we will eventually have to deal with it. So in the future, there technically could be a lot of content with underwater based combat which I welcome. So unless we are going to be sitting on ships or beaches the whole time for Bubbles, they are going to have some sea based zones for that elder dragon I would hope.

Or at the rate this game is developing, we will probably never get there before this game stops getting content updates or we go to GW3.

I am quite annoyed by this, too.

I mean people keep saying “But underwater would need a huge overhaul”, but honestly, no. It doesn’t. It’s a relatively small set of issues which doesn’t even have a big impact:

• Not all skills available. Now, not all of them would conceptually make sense (Flamethrower), but that’s a minor issue in the end. There are some crucial class skills not available but really, rather than seeing all land-skills work underwater I’d rather have some of them work, some not work, and some skills which are underwater-only, giving classes more unique identity.
• Weapons being different is something which is good about underwater, IMO. I mean it adds a unique flavor, classes aren’t just carbon copies of what they are above water.
• 360° movement being a problem, well, if you dislike this then fair enough but it is the central component of the combat. It’s what makes it awesome.

Honestly, I think even across all classes underwater right now is “ok”. Certainly enough to feature plenty underwater content, though I’d abstain from fully-underwater zones until some things are changed.
And while I’d love to see those change, I absolutely hate the removal of underwater we have right now. It’s one of the most atmospheric parts of GW2, and plenty underwater areas hold interesting surprises. Yet due to the PvP-rage about it (I suppose) we’re seeing it removed instead. Bleh.

Things I’d change:

• More skills available, as above, but not all land skills rather I’d want classes to have some underwater-only skills.
• Remove the current drowning mechanic which is a carbon copy of the land one. Instead add that you can only revive by hitting the surface, making skills which float or sink you or targets very crucial to underwater combat and making depth both an opportunity and a problem.
• Long-term, introduce underwater-only content in PvE, making the revival via surface-only a very very real problem to PvE difficulty.

DarkWasp.7291:

The irony is people don’t want to go in the water because its broken. In return people are not drawn to that content, and it gets pushed to the back of the table by the devs.

I like the underwater content just as much as the land content.

Doesn’t seem broken to me, so what is broken about underwater content?

Azala Yar.7693:

DarkWasp.7291:

The irony is people don’t want to go in the water because its broken. In return people are not drawn to that content, and it gets pushed to the back of the table by the devs.

I like the underwater content just as much as the land content.

Doesn’t seem broken to me, so what is broken about underwater content?

• Half of your traits do not work UW. Depending on your profession, some mechanics can be entirely shut down (stealth for thieves, conjures for ele).
• Mobs also lack visible telegraphs (like the boss of HotW P2) and one shot anyone who tries to melee him.
• Cross class combos are unreliable at best.

Do I need to continue ?

Don’t get me wrong, UW content is fun from time to time when I’m bored of my daily dungeon routine. However, in its actual state it is not something I can see myself play for an extended period of time.

Azala Yar.7693:

I like the underwater content just as much as the land content.

Doesn’t seem broken to me, so what is broken about underwater content?

some classes are more than awful at it. The weapon skills that they get are no good and their class mechanics don’t work properly.

VodCom.6924:

Azala Yar.7693:

DarkWasp.7291:

The irony is people don’t want to go in the water because its broken. In return people are not drawn to that content, and it gets pushed to the back of the table by the devs.

I like the underwater content just as much as the land content.

Doesn’t seem broken to me, so what is broken about underwater content?

• Half of your traits do not work UW. Depending on your profession, some mechanics can be entirely shut down (stealth for thieves, conjures for ele).
• Mobs also lack visible telegraphs (like the boss of HotW P2) and one shot anyone who tries to melee him.
• Cross class combos are unreliable at best.

Do I need to continue ?

Don’t get me wrong, UW content is fun from time to time when I’m bored of my daily dungeon routine. However, in its actual state it is not something I can see myself play for an extended period of time.

I’ve got all classes, 7 of those different classes are at 80, only one that isn’t is a necromancer which is a work in progress with another 3 characters.

I’ve not had any issues, sure some are stronger underwater than others, but that’s no different on land. That’s not to say that one class being weaker in the water is also weak on land.

If anything it’s more a class balance issue than an underwater is broken issue.

Carighan.6758:

I am quite annoyed by this, too.

I mean people keep saying “But underwater would need a huge overhaul”, but honestly, no. It doesn’t. It’s a relatively small set of issues which doesn’t even have a big impact:

• Not all skills available. Now, not all of them would conceptually make sense (Flamethrower), but that’s a minor issue in the end. There are some crucial class skills not available but really, rather than seeing all land-skills work underwater I’d rather have some of them work, some not work, and some skills which are underwater-only, giving classes more unique identity.
• Weapons being different is something which is good about underwater, IMO. I mean it adds a unique flavor, classes aren’t just carbon copies of what they are above water.
• 360° movement being a problem, well, if you dislike this then fair enough but it is the central component of the combat. It’s what makes it awesome.

Honestly, I think even across all classes underwater right now is “ok”. Certainly enough to feature plenty underwater content, though I’d abstain from fully-underwater zones until some things are changed.
And while I’d love to see those change, I absolutely hate the removal of underwater we have right now. It’s one of the most atmospheric parts of GW2, and plenty underwater areas hold interesting surprises. Yet due to the PvP-rage about it (I suppose) we’re seeing it removed instead. Bleh.

Things I’d change:

• More skills available, as above, but not all land skills rather I’d want classes to have some underwater-only skills.
• Remove the current drowning mechanic which is a carbon copy of the land one. Instead add that you can only revive by hitting the surface, making skills which float or sink you or targets very crucial to underwater combat and making depth both an opportunity and a problem.
• Long-term, introduce underwater-only content in PvE, making the revival via surface-only a very very real problem to PvE difficulty.

Different skills would make sense if and only if it doesn’t require an entirely different gear set to be effective. In other words, if I’m using a power trait set and gear, my underwater skills shouldn’t switch to something based on condition damage. Right now it’s a crap shoot whether or not your gear and underwater skills line up at all.

As for the drowning mechanic you propose, I am 100% against that. It would basically be instant death in places like Frostgorge Sound, and it’s way too gimmicky. There’s no reason to have it be any different than how it is on land. Anyway, it makes no sense that my crappy masterwork graveborn breather would stop working just because I got knocked out.

Rhialto.8423:

Different skills would make sense if and only if it doesn’t require an entirely different gear set to be effective. In other words, if I’m using a power trait set and gear, my underwater skills shouldn’t switch to something based on condition damage. Right now it’s a crap shoot whether or not your gear and underwater skills line up at all.

Yeah there’d still need to be enough skills so that you can have a set of power skills, for example (I mean, you configure the bar yourself).

Likewise for weapons, need a power and a condi weapon in the current setup, which for Mesmer works out fine.

Rhialto.8423:

As for the drowning mechanic you propose, I am 100% against that. It would basically be instant death in places like Frostgorge Sound, and it’s way too gimmicky. There’s no reason to have it be any different than how it is on land. Anyway, it makes no sense that my crappy masterwork graveborn breather would stop working just because I got knocked out.

Understandable, though I like it for atmospheric purposes. I mean it’d be a very unlikely change anyhow as it’s too late in the game for it. And probably for underwater as a whole, especially after they removed it from WvW .

Azala Yar.7693:

VodCom.6924:

Azala Yar.7693:

DarkWasp.7291:

The irony is people don’t want to go in the water because its broken. In return people are not drawn to that content, and it gets pushed to the back of the table by the devs.

I like the underwater content just as much as the land content.

Doesn’t seem broken to me, so what is broken about underwater content?

• Half of your traits do not work UW. Depending on your profession, some mechanics can be entirely shut down (stealth for thieves, conjures for ele).
• Mobs also lack visible telegraphs (like the boss of HotW P2) and one shot anyone who tries to melee him.
• Cross class combos are unreliable at best.

Do I need to continue ?

Don’t get me wrong, UW content is fun from time to time when I’m bored of my daily dungeon routine. However, in its actual state it is not something I can see myself play for an extended period of time.

I’ve got all classes, 7 of those different classes are at 80, only one that isn’t is a necromancer which is a work in progress with another 3 characters.

I’ve not had any issues, sure some are stronger underwater than others, but that’s no different on land. That’s not to say that one class being weaker in the water is also weak on land.

If anything it’s more a class balance issue than an underwater is broken issue.

It’s not about “having problems with UW content”. I CAN complete UW dungeons just like everyone. However, gameplay in these areas feel clunky at best. Part of this clunky-ness come from being forced to change a lots of traits when going from land to UW. Most builds do not survive the transition from land to water. Necromancer, warriors and engineers are the ones that transition the best.

Also, it’s hard to stack might UW unless you have a phalanx strenght warrior with you.

And you missed my part where I said that combos are difficult to perform reliably underwater.

Finally, what you call a problem of balance just like land based combat is a delicious understatement. Not being able to finish a ranger underwater was a game breaking balance issue in PvP.

suffish.4150:

I really like underwater scenery and the combat is not bad like many people believe. Also, frostgorge sound is my favourite zone because of the massively deep water and the little quaggan villages on the bottom, which just add to the already amazing scenery.

The scenery is nice often .. i especially liked Bloodtide Coast .. but the combat was
simply terrible especially at the beginning, and since then i avoided it like a plague.

If somebody remembers maybe the time when underwater maobs were invincible
all the time, and when you just saw 1 mob and pulled him, and suddenly out of
nowhere you had 5-6 mobs around you .. and if you managed to bring 1 down
to 5% suddenly he was again invincible .. and that all as a guardian .. -shudder-

Or that personal story instance in Straits of Devastation .. where the mobs were
in the walls all the time ..

Azala Yar.7693:

If anything it’s more a class balance issue than an underwater is broken issue.

You’re right that it’s a class issue in that almost every single class would need some form of overhaul to really integrate water combat into something that makes sense for at least the majority of builds for each class… but the difference seems pretty academic to me.

It seems to me that the devs couldn’t decide if water combat should be entirely it’s own thing with it’s own weapons/traits/spec or just smaller part of the character’s “main” spec, and they just did an awkward hybrid of the two.

If the devs had made water combat the same as overland combat except with another axis, water combat would not be broken.

If the devs had made an entire set of traits/gear/ect exclusively for water combat and they took the time to properly introduce these features, water combat would not be broken (but there would be more stuff for a player to figure out).

I’m a big fan of water combat and I hate to see it go. I feel that it’s getting a bad rap due to the inconsistent implementation. Hopefully, they can revisit water combat in the future and give it the attention it needs in order to thrive.

Silentsins.3726:

I’m a big fan of water combat and I hate to see it go. I feel that it’s getting a bad rap due to the inconsistent implementation. Hopefully, they can revisit water combat in the future and give it the attention it needs in order to thrive.

Do you know any MMO with good underwater combat ? I remember in EQ2 it
was horrible especially as thief classes wo needed to use stuns and then get
behind mobs .. what simply didn’t work under water.

In Champions Online, that had maybe the best underwater combat imho, since it
was exactly like fighting when flying on land, even there most players totally hated
the underwater zone Lemuria.

And in GW2 i think the whole slow movement problem underwater will always
be a problem .. much as the problem with thieves in EQ2.

An MMO without underwater content?!?! Even World of Warcraft has it. lol

Some people are just clueless.

Valento.9852:

An MMO without underwater content?!?! Even World of Warcraft has it. lol

Some people are just clueless.

They need underwater sections, gets to boring if it’s all land based.

Quaggan is sad. Foo.

Beldin.5498:

Silentsins.3726:

I’m a big fan of water combat and I hate to see it go. I feel that it’s getting a bad rap due to the inconsistent implementation. Hopefully, they can revisit water combat in the future and give it the attention it needs in order to thrive.

Do you know any MMO with good underwater combat ? I remember in EQ2 it
was horrible especially as thief classes wo needed to use stuns and then get
behind mobs .. what simply didn’t work under water.

In Champions Online, that had maybe the best underwater combat imho, since it
was exactly like fighting when flying on land, even there most players totally hated
the underwater zone Lemuria.

And in GW2 i think the whole slow movement problem underwater will always
be a problem .. much as the problem with thieves in EQ2.

This game had the best underwater combat so far imo, since most MMOs I played had it as an afterthought if you could even get underwater at all.

The slow pace of water combat IS something that a lot of people didn’t like, but it’s also something that they could do away with, if they chose to. If my character has access to a molten jetpack and a mechanical rebreather then a personal propulsion system is not farfetched.

One thing that seems like one real problem is getting combo fields to work in 3d, because positional requirements.

Your question caught me off guard It got me thinking though: Isn’t it strange that flight is highly requested across MMOs and underwater is almost equally hated, yet they’re so mechanically similar in a lot of games?

Silentsins.3726:

Your question caught me off guard It got me thinking though: Isn’t it strange that flight is highly requested across MMOs and underwater is almost equally hated, yet they’re so mechanically similar in a lot of games?

Mostly flight is only requested for travelling. I remember the aerial combat in
Perfect World International was also totally annoying .. and in Champions Online
there was also not really much aerial combat on land .. so Lemuria was in the end
the only zone with 3D fights.

Also there are always people asking for underwater zones in MMOs .. however
i never really understand them after all i have experienced with that.

Steel Courage.1250:

WHAT?!?!? tell me this isnt true, i loved underwater combat i dont want it to go away!

This would suck. It was one of the things I thought Arenanet did great…

Azala Yar.7693:

Valento.9852:

An MMO without underwater content?!?! Even World of Warcraft has it. lol

Some people are just clueless.

They need underwater sections, gets to boring if it’s all land based.

I didn’t mean to sound sarcastic. I too think it gets boring if it’s all land based.

Carighan.6758:

Rhialto.8423:

Different skills would make sense if and only if it doesn’t require an entirely different gear set to be effective. In other words, if I’m using a power trait set and gear, my underwater skills shouldn’t switch to something based on condition damage. Right now it’s a crap shoot whether or not your gear and underwater skills line up at all.

Yeah there’d still need to be enough skills so that you can have a set of power skills, for example (I mean, you configure the bar yourself).

Likewise for weapons, need a power and a condi weapon in the current setup, which for Mesmer works out fine.

Rhialto.8423:

As for the drowning mechanic you propose, I am 100% against that. It would basically be instant death in places like Frostgorge Sound, and it’s way too gimmicky. There’s no reason to have it be any different than how it is on land. Anyway, it makes no sense that my crappy masterwork graveborn breather would stop working just because I got knocked out.

Understandable, though I like it for atmospheric purposes. I mean it’d be a very unlikely change anyhow as it’s too late in the game for it. And probably for underwater as a whole, especially after they removed it from WvW .

Yup, it just feels like underwater skills are too much of an afterthought at this point. And let me summon my elementals down there! Make the fire elemental boil the water around it for effect or something. I know it isn’t a weight issue, because my guardian swims around in thick plate armor like he’s a freaking dolphin.

As for drowning, I just can’t do it, not since playing the chemical plant in Sonic 2 as a kid. I actually love scuba in real life but just thinking about that drowning music is giving me heart palpitations! I am a wimp. Best part about being underwater in GW2 is being able to survive no matter how far down I go.

I love the idea of underwater content, I just hate the balancing. Alot of the skills are cool, and fun to use, just not with the amount of HP and slow fighting that tends to come with underwater.

Honestly I was becoming afraid it was getting phased out entirely… Underwater removed from the S-PVP rotation in unranked/ranked, no new underwater content since… Uhh has there ever been any new underwater content released? All in all it things look bleak for underwater.

I’d say the best shot we have at getting more is when and if A-net ever decides to have us take care of the ominous threat known only as BUBBLES.

Carighan.6758:

Rhialto.8423:

Different skills would make sense if and only if it doesn’t require an entirely different gear set to be effective. In other words, if I’m using a power trait set and gear, my underwater skills shouldn’t switch to something based on condition damage. Right now it’s a crap shoot whether or not your gear and underwater skills line up at all.

Yeah there’d still need to be enough skills so that you can have a set of power skills, for example (I mean, you configure the bar yourself).

Likewise for weapons, need a power and a condi weapon in the current setup, which for Mesmer works out fine.

Rhialto.8423:

As for the drowning mechanic you propose, I am 100% against that. It would basically be instant death in places like Frostgorge Sound, and it’s way too gimmicky. There’s no reason to have it be any different than how it is on land. Anyway, it makes no sense that my crappy masterwork graveborn breather would stop working just because I got knocked out.

Understandable, though I like it for atmospheric purposes. I mean it’d be a very unlikely change anyhow as it’s too late in the game for it. And probably for underwater as a whole, especially after they removed it from WvW .

Yup, it just feels like underwater skills are too much of an afterthought at this point. And let me summon my elementals down there! Make the fire elemental boil the water around it for effect or something. I know it isn’t a weight issue, because my guardian swims around in thick plate armor like he’s a freaking dolphin.

As for drowning, I just can’t do it, not since playing the chemical plant in Sonic 2 as a kid. I actually love scuba in real life but just thinking about that drowning music is giving me heart palpitations! I am a wimp. Best part about being underwater in GW2 is being able to survive no matter how far down I go.

I’ve not actually seen any mention of this. Can someone link me?

Anyway, I hope it’s not true. I’ve always enjoyed water combat/environments in this game. Just thought they had a cool feeling to them. I’ve been an advocate for more of it in the game since its release. Here’s hoping…

They have too many strange restrictions on the skills you can use. My necro’s shadow and bone fiends can be summoned underwater but not my flesh golem. My ele can have an AOE field that boils the water but my necro can’t have an AOE skill that makes the water at a spot poisonous. My necro can become a virulent cloud but not a Lich underwater. The ele is even worse off with their elites. Out of their 4 elites, only one can be used underwater. My necro can summon minions, but the ele can’t summon elementals. My guardian can summon spirit weapons but my ele can’t summon weapons.

It’s these strange and inconsistent restrictions on the skills you can use that, imo cause people to dislike water combat. If I’m used to using a set of skill on land and those are denied me in water and I have to use a much smaller set of skills, then underwater combat will not be as fun.

Rhialto.8423:

Carighan.6758:

Rhialto.8423:

Different skills would make sense if and only if it doesn’t require an entirely different gear set to be effective. In other words, if I’m using a power trait set and gear, my underwater skills shouldn’t switch to something based on condition damage. Right now it’s a crap shoot whether or not your gear and underwater skills line up at all.

Yeah there’d still need to be enough skills so that you can have a set of power skills, for example (I mean, you configure the bar yourself).

Likewise for weapons, need a power and a condi weapon in the current setup, which for Mesmer works out fine.

Rhialto.8423:

As for the drowning mechanic you propose, I am 100% against that. It would basically be instant death in places like Frostgorge Sound, and it’s way too gimmicky. There’s no reason to have it be any different than how it is on land. Anyway, it makes no sense that my crappy masterwork graveborn breather would stop working just because I got knocked out.

Understandable, though I like it for atmospheric purposes. I mean it’d be a very unlikely change anyhow as it’s too late in the game for it. And probably for underwater as a whole, especially after they removed it from WvW .

Yup, it just feels like underwater skills are too much of an afterthought at this point. And let me summon my elementals down there! Make the fire elemental boil the water around it for effect or something. I know it isn’t a weight issue, because my guardian swims around in thick plate armor like he’s a freaking dolphin.

As for drowning, I just can’t do it, not since playing the chemical plant in Sonic 2 as a kid. I actually love scuba in real life but just thinking about that drowning music is giving me heart palpitations! I am a wimp. Best part about being underwater in GW2 is being able to survive no matter how far down I go.

AWWWWWW YEAH Sonic chemical plant was crazy!

Just a flesh wound.3589:

They have too many strange restrictions on the skills you can use. My necro’s shadow and bone fiends can be summoned underwater but not my flesh golem. My ele can have an AOE field that boils the water but my necro can’t have an AOE skill that makes the water at a spot poisonous. My necro can become a virulent cloud but not a Lich underwater. The ele is even worse off with their elites. Out of their 4 elites, only one can be used underwater. My necro can summon minions, but the ele can’t summon elementals. My guardian can summon spirit weapons but my ele can’t summon weapons.

It’s these strange and inconsistent restrictions on the skills you can use that, imo cause people to dislike water combat. If I’m used to using a set of skill on land and those are denied me in water and I have to use a much smaller set of skills, then underwater combat will not be as fun.

Pretty much all my problems with underwater content!

Just a flesh wound.3589:

They have too many strange restrictions on the skills you can use. My necro’s shadow and bone fiends can be summoned underwater but not my flesh golem. My ele can have an AOE field that boils the water but my necro can’t have an AOE skill that makes the water at a spot poisonous. My necro can become a virulent cloud but not a Lich underwater. The ele is even worse off with their elites. Out of their 4 elites, only one can be used underwater. My necro can summon minions, but the ele can’t summon elementals. My guardian can summon spirit weapons but my ele can’t summon weapons.

It’s these strange and inconsistent restrictions on the skills you can use that, imo cause people to dislike water combat. If I’m used to using a set of skill on land and those are denied me in water and I have to use a much smaller set of skills, then underwater combat will not be as fun.

Two words are especially true in my eyes in what you said :

1. strange
2. inconsistent

Strange we can deal with it. Inconsistent UW mechanics however are what make it broken.

All signs say no.

It’s too HoT for water.

Underwater content is great for GW2 and should not be abandoned. The aesthetics alone is just superb. Seriously, go underwater and swim in first person with max field of view. Beautiful.

But this said, having little underwater content makes sense when we’re in a dense jungle or an arid wasteland. It’d be awesome to have some underwater caves or the like but like Ascalon, underwater content is bound to be rare by theme alone.

I do think underwater content needs an overhaul (traits, the still up/down focused movement, lack of skill options, etc.) to enjoy it’s maximum potential, but it works as it is all the same.

I hope there is some underwater content, but overall I would expect it to be akin to Ascalon. Some lakes or underwater caves/ruins and nothing more.

I can understand why ele summoned weapons do not work. They create interactive objects that change your primary attacks with land based attacks. They would have to have different summoned weapons for under water, and the you would have to figure out how to target the second weapon spawn under water too. The guardian summoned weapons are AI controlled summons. The Ele summons do not go into the water because I do not think any elementals go in the water. Why? I do not know.

3D combat works more point-to-point. I expect the combo fields work by checking to see where on the x-axis other objects are and triggering if they overlap. In underwater/midair situations the code now would have to check to make sure its in the right z axis. While some attack animations may have a z axis element like ele staff fire 5, I do not think the combo/hit check looks for them on the z axis.

I think that combos underwater should trigger if hitting a target being affected by a “combo”-condition. The powers should target a mob and then stay on a target, creating an aura of effect that extends from the original target and creates a combo-condition on mobs around it. Hitting a target with the combo-condition would trigger combo effects. Example: Ele sets up boiling water field tied to a mob. All mobs within 5 meters of the mob pick up the burning-Combo condition. Thief then shoots a projectile finisher into mob picking up burning damage combo on the shot. Warrior does a Tsunami Slash on mob with burning-combo and completes the whirl combo finisher.

Other things I would like to see. Underwater have a separate trait line, that only works underwater, so that my surface build and underwater build are both decent. I run an engi flamethrower build and feel cheated underwater as my traits support flamethrower. The trait line should just allow you to choose underwater traits, your stats boost can stay tied to the main surface lines.

Dagger should also work as an under water weapon. It should have different powers underwater.

Norn Koda Form (Bear form for underwater)
Ausran Submersible Power Suit

A mechanic for running across water (Sylvari Lily pads, Norn Ice path, Ausran flotation shoes), maybe tie it to swiftness, if you stop you would fall in.

Maybe a whole different set of gear for underwater, not needed, but like the breather gives extra boons while in the water. Armored Dive suit, Standard dive suit, Light dive suit. maybe let it move you faster underwater. It would allow a different set of runes if you wanted them. Have check boxes to display. that way you can show off your tattoos if you have them.

Underwater combat is probably being looked at or will be looked at. As for the lack of underwater content, there needs to be improvements over the current system for new content to be made.

For the moment, I would say pretend that the verticality of the HoT maps are what we can expect if there were more underwater zones.

I suspect that the sheer amount of verticality in the HoT maps are actually part of the base game maps by default. Specifically, maps such as Frostgorge Sound with its crazy deep underwater trench-like areas prove that the artists can create some really deep maps.

Beldin.5498:

Also there are always people asking for underwater zones in MMOs .. however i never really understand them after all i have experienced with that.

well, it adds flavour, gives you a different scenery, the slower pace should allow for a less gimmicky and reflex based combat with more strategy involved, the skills could and should be different. There is a lot of potential for underwater to be honest, it just needs to be done right. And that’s the problem. Guild Wars 2 was in the right direction but still not fully developed. Dev wise it’s a huge risk. many people are negatively pre disposed against underwater. so i guess bubbles will keep on sleeping for ever and ever…

but just for a second imagine a huge underwater lake in the roots of the jungle. with bio-luminescent flora and fauna providing illumination and creatures similar to those of the abyss… swimming in smallish corridors amongst the roots of the jungle with sunken treasures and lore for us to discover… swimming puzzles would be awesome too … sigh.. time to wake up… we’ll be getting jumping mushrooms instead, i’ll go cry in a corner now if you’ll excuse me…

I just pretend I’m flying and I like underwater combat again.

Azala Yar.7693:

I’ve got all classes, 7 of those different classes are at 80, only one that isn’t is a necromancer which is a work in progress with another 3 characters.

I’ve not had any issues, sure some are stronger underwater than others, but that’s no different on land. That’s not to say that one class being weaker in the water is also weak on land.

If anything it’s more a class balance issue than an underwater is broken issue.

Still, balance aside we’re dealing with:

1. Very little customization (stat or appearance) when it comes to Aquabreathers and no steady way to get them.

2. Enemies and pets swimming through walls.

3. Players rezzing downed players contributing very little to the regen.

And to take the point back to class balance, they removed the water map from PvP and closed up the underwater training area in HotM. WvW used to have a huge lake in the middle of every borderland, and that was later covered by the new ruins.

So it seems like rather than look into underwater combat, the current policy is to lock it away until they are ready to look at it again.

I really hope we have actually MORE undewater content. I find the UW system of the gw2 the most awesome UW system I’ve ever seen in a rpg. It is a lof of fun, either with a ele trident, or with a war spear.

I can’t even imagine how will it be the bubbles fight if anet moves to follow the people complaining about UW combat.

It was already too much annoying that they removed raid of the capricorn (Was my favorite map).

I’d like more underwater content. I miss the old pvp map too – but the class balance underwater is so bad I can see why they yanked it (as opposed to fixing the balance)

Thank the six gods for no Underwater Combat. I think anet is stepping away from it. If you look at all the current black lion weapons, none of them have underwater weapons.

Nadeen.6371:

Thank the six gods for no Underwater Combat. I think anet is stepping away from it. If you look at all the current black lion weapons, none of them have underwater weapons.

And im curious if they planning to make underwater legendaries at this point.

I’d like more underwater area too. Hoping the lower levels of the new zones have water. Seriously, it’s a jungle! To have such large plant life requires a large volume of water. Hence, there would be rivers, streams, lakes, and ponds.