First, I do realize that there are probably other topics than this already (I posted in one already) but seeing as, how I would say, more important issues and ACTUAL proposals are being pushed down the pages by the neverending sea of topics such as “MOUNTS!” or “DUELLING NOW” and the likes, I reserve my right to bring this to your attention again.
First, I made a video about this, for those who are to lazy to read, you can listen to my argument here (YouTube)
Now for the ones eager to read:
The Aqua Breather served one great purpose in this game. It is the stylistic underlining of the missing breath meter which makes the underwater experience in this game much better than in most other games, not just MMO’s.
There are however several problems with the breather that I feel should be adressed ASAP. These are the following:
1) The style aspects:
Not the most important, certainly, but I feel that something can easily be done about it. Make them dyeable! It has the dye slots on it – you can see it in the preview, but why then doesn’t it carry over into the game world?
It’s understandable that you can’t hide the breather from display, as it makes no logical sense NOT to wear one, but why then can you unequip it?
2) Not enough stat variation:
There’s only 1 type of level 80 aqua gear, depending of course on you armor type (which I would argue makes no sense, but hey…).
Please bring in more variation in statistics. If I wear full berserker gear, I can’t underwater. I’m stuck with the default stats on the ONE Aq.B. I can get.
3) Aquiration
This game has so many cool currencies and possibilities to aquire gear, why then is the only way you can get a lvl 80 Aq.B. through Karma?
Coin, Crafting, Battle Tokens, Dungeon Tokens… Do any of these sound familiar?
Which brings me to…
4) No Rares or Exotics
This really doesn’t need to be elaborated on.
Why isn’t there any higher rarity Aq.B.?
Proposal for a solution:
REMOVE the item. I’m not necessarily talking about removing the visual Aq.B. from the game, but just get rid of the item slot. This solves all problems above (except maybe the dye option):
1 – You don’t have to worry about stats, as you’re helmet/mask stats are carried over to underwater combat.
2 – With no item to buy, aquiration is no issue -also the rarity will carry over from your helmet.
3 – You don’t have to buy an additional Rune just to function optimally underwater.
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@Arenanet: Should you NOT go with that proposal and maybe in the future expand on the Aqua Breather variety, please put in a message that let’s people know, that they loose all statistics from their helmet gear underwater. I feel a lot of people are not familiar with this.
Especially if you wan’t to expand the underwater experience, maybe open up the Sea of Sorrows or add new Fractals with underwater parts, the playerbase deserves the get the possibility to equip themselves optimally!
Thank you for your consideration.