Guild Wars 2

Guardians seem to be pretty unique in the sense that they aren’t exactly paladins following a god just warriors with special powers that allow them to fight evil.

I never played guild wars 1 so I cant really apply the lore from that game. I’m just really curious.

For me guardians are just people with huge amounts of courage and faith and this allows them to use guardian abilities.

Your thoughts community?

There is some speculation that the Guardian (and the Paragon and Monk classes that are it’s GW1 predecessors) draws power from the preservation blood stone.

Other than that, there’s this quote:

With the turmoil in Elona and the spread of the Order of Whispers into other lands, more Paragon teaching showed elsewhere in Tyria. These teachings melded with other traditions, and over time, the guardians and their abilities can be found throughout the world and among all the races. They are not tied to a particular race, philosophy, or group of gods but rather to a larger concept of proactive defense, of taking the fight to a foe and protecting those you fight alongside while appealing equally to humanity’s defensive nature and the charr’s desire to rule the battlefield.

They draw their power from faith: faith in their allies, their Gods, their warband, their Mother Tree, their Spirits… etc. The only prerequisites seems to be that a) you need to have faith and b) you must want to protect.

Would that mean that Mesmer magic is based in will? How does this tie into the bloodstones?

As far as we know, guardians are post-bloodstone era, meaning they don’t have to map to any one in particular. That said, a lot of their stuff, right up to the faith-based power source, comes straight from monks, who at a very safe guess were hooked to Preservation.

We don’t have anything specific on any other current class, including mesmer, but my educated guess is they’re powered by a mindset of “I reject your reality and substitute my own.”

Aaron Ansari.1604:

As far as we know, guardians are post-bloodstone era, meaning they don’t have to map to any one in particular. That said, a lot of their stuff, right up to the faith-based power source, comes straight from monks, who at a very safe guess were hooked to Preservation.

We don’t have anything specific on any other current class, including mesmer, but my educated guess is they’re powered by a mindset of “I reject your reality and substitute my own.”

Well the bloodstones still exist, so any magic post should map. It was the previous eras magic that didn’t map. Like Ranger or Ritualist.

They still exist, but most of the magic is now outside of them, so using their limitations isn’t necessary. To quote a dev interview:

Esprits d’Orr : We heard that a link exists between the ancient times’ four schools of magic (Preservation, Destruction, Denial, and Aggression) and the classes of the game. However, we haven’t found any reference in game about these schools. Do they still exist, are they known to the races, and if so, to which kind of current magic are each of them related to ?

Angel McCoy : These schools aren’t as important in modern magic as they were even 250 years ago. They have fallen out of style as people have realized that magic doesn’t need these kinds of limiting factors. Only the most ancient magic users, those who based their magical constructs on this dogma, continue to pursue their knowledge in this way. Thus, you’re only likely to find reference to them in the back-most shelves at the Durmand Priory and in jokes made by young people about old people.

Aaron Ansari.1604:

They still exist, but most of the magic is now outside of them, so using their limitations isn’t necessary. To quote a dev interview:

Esprits d’Orr : We heard that a link exists between the ancient times’ four schools of magic (Preservation, Destruction, Denial, and Aggression) and the classes of the game. However, we haven’t found any reference in game about these schools. Do they still exist, are they known to the races, and if so, to which kind of current magic are each of them related to ?

Angel McCoy : These schools aren’t as important in modern magic as they were even 250 years ago. They have fallen out of style as people have realized that magic doesn’t need these kinds of limiting factors. Only the most ancient magic users, those who based their magical constructs on this dogma, continue to pursue their knowledge in this way. Thus, you’re only likely to find reference to them in the back-most shelves at the Durmand Priory and in jokes made by young people about old people.

I think the limit exists. But only for simultaneous nature.

Esprits d’Orr : For gameplay considerations, each class can cast only a specific type of magic. However, in terms of roleplay, would it be possible for wizards to have a wider magical knowledge or potential, and therefore be able to cast spells from a variety of branches (such as an elementalist fireball coupled with a mesmer illusion) ?

Angel McCoy : I love that idea, as do many people living in Tyria. The reality, however, is that only the most powerful have the time and energy to do this. It’s like getting two doctorate degrees, one in medicine and one in engineering. Few have the time to do this, and usually, an individual doesn’t want to turn her back on everything she’s already learned to start a new magical discipline. She’d much rather continue advancing her knowledge in the discipline she’s invested decades in. Some, however, may dabble and experiment with specific spells. If a master elementalist can find a mesmer to teach her to produce an illusion, then she may explore ways to combine them. Most professions keep their secrets close to their chests though. And, the danger of a conflict between magical energies and thus, an explosion, is very real..

From this I draw that the bloodstones are a somehow limiting factor. Perhaps the magic to create an illusion, and the magic to create a fireball were once the same. And one could shatter the reality of permanent objects. Or perhaps all the bloodstones did was separate magic from its pure form into magical energies? Notice there are no fields that are fire AND ethereal.