Guild Wars 2

TL:DR VIDEO EDITION: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IDYj4s0s8AQ

So after being disappointed by both the Scourge and the Holosmith’s trait design (and the new Explosives line /sigh), I decided to take a look at what I liked about the other specializations from HoT and from PoF. What I found is this; there are two questions that are always answered in the good Elite specs (with flying colours) whilst in the not-so-good ones, these questions are answered sparingly.

So what are these two questions? Well the first one is; Does the Elite spec give you new interactions with old mechanics?

Think the Daredevil and how dodges are now seen as active weapons that can be used for burst instead of being saved to actually evade damage or the Reaper allowing you to use chill to apply bleeds.
This type of interaction excites players because they can see new builds from mechanics they were never used to focusing on.

The second question is; Can the Old mechanics enhance the new specialization in cool ways?

An example of this can be seen on the Chronomancer’s Bountiful Disillusionment trait allowing you to gain resistance when you activate the Continuum split F5 skill or how Absolute Resolution still changes how the Wings of Resolve function for the Dragonhunter.

Now let’s note that just because these questions are answered does not mean it’s a guaranteed surefire win for the Elite spec. For example the Scrapper has some traits that interact with old mechanics but it still has only 1 up to par spec. But so far there are more wins than losses when looking at things from this perspective.

I found that the specializations that don’t have various distinct playstyles that can interact with new and old mechanics, tend to fall by the wayside. And right now, I’m predicting that the Holosmith and Scourge are going to be in that list. I hope I’m wrong.
The only way to fix this problem is to repeat what was successful on the Reaper and the Tempest.

This is what I believe makes a successful Elite Spec, but let me know your thoughts on these ideas. Obviously, I concede that there may be an aspect that I’m not paying attention to or I may be wrong entirely.

Let’s discuss!