Guild Wars 2

Seeing as how magic is supposedly one of the last few “ace in the holes” for the humans living on the Tyrian continent, I was surprised that more open, grand displays weren’t used in the war against Zhaitan. Queen Jennah for instance was capable of illusions on a massive scale, as was Koro Sagewind during the defense of Ebonhawke. Human Necromancers such as Galrath have enormous magical reserves and can literally create whole armies. And human undead spirits seem to be amongst the most virulent in Tyria, though their power seems to come from different sources (The Vizer, Shiro, Palawa Joko and Mad King Thom).

It’s easy to see in the Pact for instance Charr technology, Asuran weapons and power generation, and Slyvari undead resilience. Humans however seem suspiciously absent from making a grand impression other than contributing soldiers and supplies, large though they are.

I don’t believe for a second the absence of the Six Gods, or even their Treachery should Anet go the cliche story route, would deprive humans of magic. If the Charr can scrounge together Effigies and firestorms out of Titan scraps, surely humans can do the same.

Now that the first campaign, is out and the other races have had their chance to make their mark, what can we expect next from humans as the war against the Elder Dragons escalates? The best I can think of at this point is the reforging of Magdaer, a human crafted weapon, and possibly using Foefire against one of the Elder Dragons.

Humans I think are often portrayed, at least in this game, as the Wild Card race. It seems if we put effort towards it, we can become a force to be seriously reckoned with. This doesn’t just go for Magic Mind you, because it should be remembered that even Palawo Joko when he was on the brink of conquoring all of Elona for the first time was laid low by a mere mortal soldier named Turai Ossa. When pushed into Corners, humans seem capable of pulling off some of the most terrifying feats. This is seen with the Vizier Kilbron who upon seeing the Charr horde at the doors to Orr took it upon himself to read the forbidden scrolls to try and stop the assault.

So while I agree that human efforts seem to be on the surface underplayed, I think the fact that at the time of the story the Humans are fighting multiple wars on different fronts. From the Risen among other Dragonspawn (destroyers are afterall appearing in Human territory), to Centaurs, to having up until now also been holding back the Charr from taking Ebonhawke.

Also I’m not entirely sure if Magdaer and Sohothin are human crafted weapons. They are relics of the Ascalon Kingdom to be sure, but truth be to told they could have been found similarly to how Rytlock somehow managed to stumble upon Sohothin. I don’t think any lore has been released concerning the origins of those Fiery Dragon Swords.

Ratphink.4751:

Humans I think are often portrayed, at least in this game, as the Wild Card race. It seems if we put effort towards it, we can become a force to be seriously reckoned with. This doesn’t just go for Magic Mind you, because it should be remembered that even Palawo Joko when he was on the brink of conquoring all of Elona for the first time was laid low by a mere mortal soldier named Turai Ossa. When pushed into Corners, humans seem capable of pulling off some of the most terrifying feats. This is seen with the Vizier Kilbron who upon seeing the Charr horde at the doors to Orr took it upon himself to read the forbidden scrolls to try and stop the assault.

So while I agree that human efforts seem to be on the surface underplayed, I think the fact that at the time of the story the Humans are fighting multiple wars on different fronts. From the Risen among other Dragonspawn (destroyers are afterall appearing in Human territory), to Centaurs, to having up until now also been holding back the Charr from taking Ebonhawke.

Also I’m not entirely sure if Magdaer and Sohothin are human crafted weapons. They are relics of the Ascalon Kingdom to be sure, but truth be to told they could have been found similarly to how Rytlock somehow managed to stumble upon Sohothin. I don’t think any lore has been released concerning the origins of those Fiery Dragon Swords.

The swords were were crafted in Orr before the Exodus, and given to the Ascalonian royalty as a symbol of good faith and continued peace. The fact that a certain myth exists—that if a descendant of King Doric returns to Ascalon with either blade, the ghosts will be put to rest—might mean they’re as close to god-like/blessed as you can get.

As for humanity, there’s a lot of theories on how powerful they can truly become. My personal theory? The current pantheon started off as mortals, too, and usurped their positions from former gods from a distant world that’s now lost between the pathways of the Mists.

I mean, if Kormir could do it… and the past does have a way of repeating itself.

Shevek.2691:

Ratphink.4751:

Humans I think are often portrayed, at least in this game, as the Wild Card race. It seems if we put effort towards it, we can become a force to be seriously reckoned with. This doesn’t just go for Magic Mind you, because it should be remembered that even Palawo Joko when he was on the brink of conquoring all of Elona for the first time was laid low by a mere mortal soldier named Turai Ossa. When pushed into Corners, humans seem capable of pulling off some of the most terrifying feats. This is seen with the Vizier Kilbron who upon seeing the Charr horde at the doors to Orr took it upon himself to read the forbidden scrolls to try and stop the assault.

So while I agree that human efforts seem to be on the surface underplayed, I think the fact that at the time of the story the Humans are fighting multiple wars on different fronts. From the Risen among other Dragonspawn (destroyers are afterall appearing in Human territory), to Centaurs, to having up until now also been holding back the Charr from taking Ebonhawke.

Also I’m not entirely sure if Magdaer and Sohothin are human crafted weapons. They are relics of the Ascalon Kingdom to be sure, but truth be to told they could have been found similarly to how Rytlock somehow managed to stumble upon Sohothin. I don’t think any lore has been released concerning the origins of those Fiery Dragon Swords.

The swords were were crafted in Orr before the Exodus, and given to the Ascalonian royalty as a symbol of good faith and continued peace. The fact that a certain myth exists—that if a descendant of King Doric returns to Ascalon with either blade, the ghosts will be put to rest—might mean they’re as close to god-like/blessed as you can get.

As for humanity, there’s a lot of theories on how powerful they can truly become. My personal theory? The current pantheon started off as mortals, too, and usurped their positions from former gods from a distant world that’s now lost between the pathways of the Mists.

I mean, if Kormir could do it… and the past does have a way of repeating itself.

While I do have personal agreement in part with your ‘Gods were once mortals’ theory I do take issue with one of your statements.

History does not have a tendency to repeat itself. Instead people have innate desire to rationalize and fit things into patterns. While we can use the past to help lay out our future, a literal repeat of events is not likely to occur.

I like the wildcard theory. I’m looking forward to some powerful use of magic that doesn’t result in self destruction of a Kingdom though. :p

Stuff like the Hounds of Balthazar, Avatar of Melandru and Reaper of Grenth are all awesome. I just wish we got to see more magic usage of that kind from some of the game’s elite NPCs. Protecting a group of necromancers while they summon a giant undead ally, or using Storm Caller again or another artifact from the Pre Searing would all make for really fun events I think.

Well, Pari, doesn’t that just support what I said? No, the past doesn’t repeat itself explicitly—but those patterns do tend to crop up, over and over, due to conscious choice. So that was the implication of the statement; Kormir chose to follow the possible path of her predecessors—history repeated, in this instance.

There’s nothing now saying more mortals won’t eventually follow Kormir, that they won’t “follow history.”

While it isn’t impossible that the gods were other creatures before becoming gods, we do know that the gods came to Tyria as gods. They are explicitly stated to have arrived on Tyria as gods bringing humanity with them.

I think human powers (and historical successes) are quite strongly tied to the Six Gods. It looks like ArenaNet have planted a fair few seeds in GW2 regarding the origins, nature and real powers of the gods as entities, so I am kind of expecting more development in that direction in future. Now that the humans are just one race among many, it makes sense to use the gods as powers in their own right who have a history closely linked to humans (for whatever reasons). It’s no longer sufficient to just say “the gods.” At the very least, they’re specifically the human gods, and they’re also very real.

So I won’t be surprised to see the human race wrangling with the idea of their gods as real, foreign powers who were once present in Tyria, rather than distant, idealised figures who can be interpreted kind of metaphorically. Especially the dilemma of how to reconcile worship of the Six Gods with a later recognition of their flaws and weaknesses (if that’s the direction ArenaNet take with it). Then I’d expect to see some feats of human awesomeness. The norn have the Spirits of the Wild, the sylvari have the Pale Tree… and humans have gods, as they always have.

As for humanity, there’s a lot of theories on how powerful they can truly become. My personal theory? The current pantheon started off as mortals, too, and usurped their positions from former gods from a distant world that’s now lost between the pathways of the Mists.

Grenth for sure is at least a second generation God as he forced out Dhuum. I am led to believe that Balthazar too is not the first God of War due to the struggle between him and his brother Menzies, and the story we get in the Fissure of Woe in GW1.

Grenth is half god/half human, Abaddon had a predecessor (stated in GW1) though we do not know who this is, Kormir obviously took her powers once Abaddon was slain, and Balthazar came to Tyria carrying his father’s head (though in victory or remorse is not known).

Narcemus.1348:

Grenth is half god/half human, Abaddon had a predecessor (stated in GW1) though we do not know who this is, Kormir obviously took her powers once Abaddon was slain, and Balthazar came to Tyria carrying his father’s head (though in victory or remorse is not known).

Its worth noting that Kormir was blessed by the other 5 gods so that she could take on Abaddon’s power. It wasnt just her running in that granted her godhood. I suspect its alot harder than that. The ‘vessel’ for the god power has to be up to the task.

Also we know that Balthazar turned up on Tyria, carrying his father’s head, though if he had killed his father or if someone else had is hard to say. Considering the god qualities of his half-brother, Im guessing Balthazar’s dad used to hold the war gods role.

Its worth noting we do see humans harness the power of the gods a little in GW2. Priestess Rhea calls a soul back from the underworld in one quest and summons a Reaper in another. Also there is a Dermond Priory quest where a Avatar of Balthazar is summoned and the ritualists summoning it are all humans.

The only other hint Ive seen is in the fighting between Rytlock and Logan when you first walk into the story mode of CoF, Logan has a buff called favor of the gods or something like that which is regenerating him.

The avatar of Balthazar is explained to have been from a powerful artifact though, so it’s hard to say you are actually wielding the power of Balthazar.

I’d say that the power did initially come from Balthazar, but it was invested into the artifact sometime in the past rather than directly calling upon the god at the time of its use (which is why it was drained afterwards).