Guild Wars 2

…alll the way to level 80 using the same 5-7 skills??? I’m only at level 8 but I filled my main weapon skill slots already. Is that it now all the way to lvl 80? :/

Yep, that’s basically how it is until 80, now take a different weapon and start filling its slots..

Basically you get 5 weapon skills (keys 1-5), they depend on weapon, so if you have a greatsword, for example, and switch to swords, they’ll be different (and need to be filled if you haven’t done it yet). 2 hand weapons use all 5 skills, if you’re using 1 hand weapons then 1-3 will come from the main hand, and 2-5 from the off hand.

BTW, at level 7 you get weapon swap, meaning you can have a second set of weapons and swap them at anytime (10 secs cooldown while in combat), unless your character is an elementalist (elementalists get 4 attunements for each weapon, F1-F4, each attunement has different skills, so it’s equivalent to have 4 weapon for each one) or an engineer (engineers can’t weapon swap, but get kits, like grenade, flamethrower, bombs and so on, that act as weapons since they override your 1-5 skills)

The skills are the same for the weapon regardless of what level you are. If you use a 2h weapon the 1-5 skills are affected by it, but if you use 2 1h weapons. The 1st 3 are from the mainhand and last 2 are from the offhand ( except for thief they’re a little different). You have the option of selecting your utilities (7-9) at your choosing and your heal as well (6) along with the elite(10). Also at level 10 you get traits that you can put points into that may change your skills effects (weapon healing utilities and elites). So even though there might not seem be as big of a variety there’s plenty of customization options.

Edit: Ninja’d by locoman * shakes fist *

locoman.1974:

Yep, that’s basically how it is until 80, now take a different weapon and start filling its slots..

Basically you get 5 weapon skills (keys 1-5), they depend on weapon, so if you have a greatsword, for example, and switch to swords, they’ll be different (and need to be filled if you haven’t done it yet). 2 hand weapons use all 5 skills, if you’re using 1 hand weapons then 1-3 will come from the main hand, and 2-5 from the off hand.

BTW, at level 7 you get weapon swap, meaning you can have a second set of weapons and swap them at anytime (10 secs cooldown while in combat), unless your character is an elementalist (elementalists get 4 attunements for each weapon, F1-F4, each attunement has different skills, so it’s equivalent to have 4 weapon for each one) or an engineer (engineers can’t weapon swap, but get kits, like grenade, flamethrower, bombs and so on, that act as weapons since they override your 1-5 skills)

Phew! Hehe. I thought I’d missed something (nothing new there!). Thank you for the heads up – I really appreciate it.

well, depending on profession you get weapon/or sumthin else swap, granting different 10 or more weapon skills
most classes can swap 2 weapon sets, so they have access to 10 weapon skills while in combat (can change weapons for more skills out of combat when needed)
elementalists cannot swap weapons, but they have 4 attunements that is 4×5 => 20 weapon skills
engineers got weapon kits (utility slot skills that change weapon skills while active)

each class got distinct F1-F4 skills (some only F1)

also you get 3 utility slots(5,10,20 lvl) and ulti slot(30 lvl)

your traits can slightly modify your weapon skill effects too

so:

alll the way to level 80 using the same 5-7 skills?

no

And beyond.

Welcome to the world of GW2, where most your skills are decided by your weapons.

Most classes have the ability to swap weapons, so you get double the number of skills. Eles have 4 attunements, so 20 skills. Engineers have the utility belt which is rather nice. You can also change your utility skills how you like and they add a certain variety. At level 8 you don’t have enough skill points to unlock them all, but you will, eventually.

You will also get an elite skill slot at level 30 which you can fill with any of the WIDE VARIETY of elite skills. 3, to be exact. You also get 3 more elite skills which are race-dependant. So a total of 6. But wait! If you bought the Digital Deluxe or Collector’s Edition, you get a…

drumroll

SEVENTH ELITE SKILL!! A 16% increase in the number of elite skills you have! WOW!!

Sorry about the negativity, but it was a big let-down for me to go from the hundreds of skills from GW1 to… this.

There are lots of skills in this game, you just have to pick a selection and work with it.

Plus some classes have plenty of skills to play with, consider a staff ele. Thats 20 skills on the weapon, 4 attunments,a heal, 3 utility slots and an elite.

OR a warrior that can use almost every weapon in the game (you need not stick to one set, swap them out as you see fit)

On my thief I have a shortbow, and in the other set I have a sword a dagger and a pistol, and I swap them around all the time depending on what I am doing. Plus I am forever altering my skills about.

Whilst I loved gw1 as well, and gw2 isnt without its issues, but I think the number of skill points is enough that more would just make things messy (pvp balance is wild as it is, more things added would only make the issue worse haha).

Coming from WoW (3 years on that time vampire), its nice not having to install addons so I can have even more macros (my hunter was something to behold, nearly 50 skills/macros that were in active slots whilst I would have a “hidden” bar with lots of out of combat stuff (water, food mounts etc). I honestly dont mind the lower number of skills, makes it a little more personal.

I play as an Elementalist and an Engineer.

On my Elementalist I have about 29 skills that I can use and on my Engi I have about 23. Then there’s a ton of stuff to keep track of from the Traits, and Combos, sigils etc.
It’s bloody engaging, and the most fun I’ve had playing PvE content in any MMO before.

I’ve played many MMOs before, but I’ve never had so many options during combat as I do in this game while playing these profession. In the other MMOs I usually had about ~25 skills, but I only really used ~8 of them as I do in this game.

Minimalism in action; Less is more.

10. plus you got 5 side skills so 15ish for most classes some have more.

If you want more skills play an elementalist. I’ve 33 at my disposal in that mode- 20 weapon, 1 heal, 2 utility, 1 elite, 5 from lightning hammer and one skill per element type when dodging.

Most other classes other than Ele and Engi are more or less stuck with 15.

SkyFallsInThunder.8257:

Sorry about the negativity, but it was a big let-down for me to go from the hundreds of skills from GW1 to… this.

You might not have more skills but I think you actually have more options in GW2 than you did in GW1 at launch.

For example in GW1 rangers had 75 skills (Core + Prophecies only), a grand total of 1 weapon choice (the different bow types only changed how far the arrow went) and all the pets were functionally identical.

In GW2 you also have 75 skills (counting chained skills like the sword auto-attack) spread across a choice of 10 weapons, heal, utility and elite slots. But you also have pets which each have 4 abilities that in GW1 would have each required a skill slot and up to 14 traits that also would have required a skill slot (a lot of them are very similar to the effects of preparations and signets).

I haven’t counted for the other professions but I imagine it’s a similar situation.

Danikat.8537:

You might not have more skills but I think you actually have more options in GW2 than you did in GW1 at launch.

For example in GW1 rangers had 75 skills (Core + Prophecies only), a grand total of 1 weapon choice (the different bow types only changed how far the arrow went) and all the pets were functionally identical.

You could also have a secondary class which brought you a new set of skills. And you could change your secondary class with no problems.

Also, when it comes to character progression, you have a lot more then described here.

At level 10 you can buy your first traitbook (10s). With traits you put specific stats (like power or touchness) up, but also unlock so called traitskills. These traitskills are passive skills that are always active or trigger at specific situations.
a few examples:
- 2 handed weapons deal 5% more damage
- If you dodge you create a clone of yourself
- If you are downed you summon a lavapool
- you take less falling damage
- you run 5% faster

On top of that you can upgrade your weapons and armor with sigils and runes. These can have specific effect as well. like stacking up power, or a change to summon a flock of birds when you make a critical hit.

5 weapon skills.
5 alternative weapon skills if you swap (i changed the swap button to the key “º” to make it easier).
5 proffesion/racial skills

At lvl 80 you will always have 15 skills to use in-combat, and if you add the combos that you can trigger between your 2 weapons, you won’t be bored. Nevertheless, the trick to fully enjoy GW2 is to think that your 2 weapons complement each other.

As a matter of fact, you should be counting with the skills of another weapon even if you don’t see it in the screen. As example: I know that my warrior bow skill 5 immobilize targets, but i’m using my greatsword to fight melee enemies. Then I noticed another enemy will attack my friend with really low morale, so i swap to bow quickly and immobilize the target that was going to hit my friend, then i continue shotting arrows or trying to kill the enemies with my bow skills until i can swap to greatsword again.

Swapping is one of the most important things in gw2.