Guild Wars 2

I would like your thoughts on Asura lore for which college is best suited for each profession. For example sturdy Statics seems suited for Guardian while dreamers in Synergistics could be mesmers.

Statics – anyone… maybe Warrior because those are so anti-magic and Statics is so conservative
Synergetics – yep, Mesmer
Dynamics – Engineer

The Statics Snaff Prize invention is a device for investigating the past. Their focus is architecture… but that’s asuran architecture, so it requires a certain amount of technomagic. I’d probably guess necromancers, engineers, elementalists, and possibly revs post-HoT.

The Synergetics Snaff Prize is a teleporter. Their focus is the most ‘pure research’ of the colleges, going deep into how magic works and how the various components of the Eternal Alchemy fit together. Probably all the spellcasting professions can fit here, with mesmer in particular being a callout. They may also have the most rangers, as ecology feels to me like it would be a Synergetics thing, although I might be wrong there. Post-HoT, revs would probably also be relatively common in Synergetics asura looking to investigate the Mists.

Dynamics are basically the ‘miltiary engineers’ to the ‘civic engineers’ of Statics, and their Snaff Prize invention was a golem interface. Engineer is obvious, but again, given the nature of asuran magitech, high-power magic professions such as elementalist and mesmer are likely.

Yeah, this puts elementalists into all three. One problem with analysing by college is that to a certain extent it largely highlights what’s going to be popular with asura in general (and from observation of NPCs, that’s elementalists, mesmers, and engineers). I’ll think about an itemised list per profession and post one when I have a bit more time.

On further thoughts, in most cases it probably depends a lot on the aspect of the profession that the individual focuses on:

Guardian: Asura guardians seem to be rare – off the top of my head, I don’t recall an NPC asura guardian, named or unnamed. Some golems have guardian-like abilities, so it’s possible guardians in Dynamics may have played a part in developing them, although it’s equally likely that it’s just magitech that is coincidentally similar. A guardian who focuses on the defensive aspect might be part of Statics with an interest in building better fortifications, possibly, again, incorporating guardian forcefields into their work. Finally, a guardian whose faith is in the Eternal Alchemy may have developed that faith from within Synergetics.

Revenant: The revenant is a very Mists-oriented profession, so as it disseminates, Synergetics members may gravitate to it as a means of better understanding the Mists. History-oriented Statics members might also take up the profession as a means of interrogating the legends about their times.

Warrior: According to words from ArenaNet’s lore team, asura warriors are just as interested in invention as any other asura. My gut feeling would actually tend to put them in Dynamics – an asura warrior would be interested in building better golems (as soldiers), golem suits (as a weapon for their own use) and golem components that can be incorporated into armour for personal augmentation. A warrior interested in fortifications might join Statics, while Synergetics probably has little to offer.

Engineer: Engineers that are members of the adventuring profession are probably more interested in weapons design than other forms of engineering, which would put them squarely in Dynamics. Some might maintain an interest in architecture, however, putting them in Statics, and any college will probably want engineers to help keep the more mechanical aspects of inventions running.

Ranger: Asura rangers are probably most likely to be scouts and ecologists. None of the colleges really seem like a great fit, but Synergetics, with its focus on understanding how things fit together, would probably be the most interested in this field.

Thief: Asuran thieves have been described as ‘acquisition specialists’ – more involved in stealing technology from other krewes than direct research, although a Synergetics thief might cooperate with mesmers to better understand teleportation magic. Otherwise, thieves probably focus on areas where inventions and discoveries are relatively portable – and therefore more easily stolen.

Elementalist: One of the most popular professions among asura, elementalists seem as if they would be pretty universal – creating new weapons in Dynamics, shifting water and rock for construction and using air magic to lift things into the air for Statics, and studying the interactions between the elements in Dynamics.

Mesmer: Also a popular asura profession, the mesmer focus on direct application of magical forces would probably make them a shoe-in for Synergetics. Mesmers would probably also be in high demand in Dynamics for developing golem AIs and control systems, however, and if asura gates come under the Statics purview (which I think I read somewhere that they do, but don’t quote me on that) then mesmers might also be gate specialists.

Necromancer: I realised when it was too late to go back and change it that I’d forgotten Oola’s connection between golemancy and necromancy in my previous post, which puts them in Dynamics. However, a Statics researcher interested in archaeology or palaeontology might study necromancy as a matter of convenience (so much easier when the specimens can transport themselves…) and a Synergetics researcher studying the nature of death and the spirit world might also be a necromancer.