Guild Wars 2

I am wondering how this is going to work. So will it work like a giant grenade launcher in that you can still move around with mortar in hand and only stand still when firing?

It’s a regular kit. No cooldown, no immob, you run around with a missile launcher.

You can watch some of it in action in GW twitch page. It’s still a WIP, though, and uses the Flamethrower model.

its the mortar we need and the mortar we deserve!

It’s currently got all the skills of the basic mortar, but those will get some heavy changes. They aren’t even 100% sure between their two possible grandmaster trait ideas.

We don’t know if the minimum range will stay, but by all means it shouldn’t – it is a tedium that can be efficiently avoided by aiming further back and has got no gameplay advantage or balancing to it, since explosion radii go to your own feet. Heck, that limiation was only added thanks to the old mortar being stationary in the first place.

The toolbelt will be an orbital ducking laser. Oh god, I hope this stays.

It will get its own skin, too!

It looks like they are working to make it more like a grenade launcher. I wouldn’t be surprised if they change the name to that as well. I will be very disappointed if they do not remove the minimum range crap.

Gern.2978:

It looks like they are working to make it more like a grenade launcher. I wouldn’t be surprised if they change the name to that as well. I will be very disappointed if they do not remove the minimum range crap.

I was thinking something along these lines. I suspect it may have to do with grenades gettinga range reduction

https://dviw3bl0enbyw.cloudfront.net/uploads/forum_attachment/file/126473/horrik.jpg

Horrik

i think id rather hold it like stallone holds a minigun…

oh wait maybe rambo never did that, but the rock has in .. more than 1 recent movie

I’d actually be fine with Mortar Kit retaining its minimum range, simply as a balancing element. Make the kits a little more defined in their strengths, as opposed to the old (current) grenade kit being the siege AND melee kit, essentially.
Of course, if they don’t amp up Mortar Kit’s power a bit, the minimum range will just be more of a downside on top of that, but having a blast finisher on an autoattack – if they do let us have that – I could see them balancing that out by keeping the minimum range. (it should still be a short enough range that you can get the benefits of the fields you blast, but can you imagine sitting in a Heal Turret water field and point-blank blasting it multiple times with your auto + dealing heavy AoE damage to everyone around you at the same time? Seems like it could become abusive quickly, especially with the Inventions line.)

We’ll see! I’d rather see a super-strong mortar with a defined weakness than an all-round kit that takes damage/utility losses as a result – we’ll still have our ’nades and bombs for anyone who gets in our face – but it all depends on what changes they make to the mortar.

I don’t belive they will remove minimal range. First of all it would even more encourage “kit juggling” (never was big fan of this) to get even higher dmg.
I am all about to make it super powerful, tactical, very long ranged weapon (even adding 1-2seconds delay before first attack after moving to set up your set, and getting 1 stability every 3 secs).

As an elite kit, I think I’d like to see the damage buffed, in exchange for longer cooldowns. Our skills are really spammy, with very few single “power hit” sorts of attacks.

So being able to slap on the mortar kit and deal a solid 4000 damage or (whatever number is balanced) would be really nice against objects or targets with retaliation. But then that skill would have a very long cooldown, so the mortar kit isn’t something you could keep on constantly. If you could always have the mortar kit on it doesn’t feel very “elite” Even it’s #1 skill should have a long cooldown if you can freely switch it on and off like other kits.

I also like the idea of it pulsing stability, (maybe as a trait?) since we’re losing the perma stability from the stationary mortar. Just one stack is fine. Plus, that might give us a reason to throw on the kit even when all the skills are on cooldown as a counter-play to CC-heavy opponents.

I’m okay with the minimum attack range (It’s artillery, you know) but the max range needs to go up too, like to maybe 1800. An artillery cannon SHOULD be able to fire just as far as a ranger’s longbow can, but for balance I think rangers should be allowed to have the longest range attacks still. But the mortar should at least come close, because it’s a mortar for cryin’ out loud…

Rangers’ longbow is 1200, or 1500 with trait (1500 baseline after the changes)

I don’t like the idea of long cooldowns on mortar, simply because it fills a specific niche. It’s going to be our only long range option, so it needs some spammable skills, at least, even if just a couple and has to fill Grenades’ shoes in that regard. It’ll probably not be practical enough to be used as part of a standard rotation, either.

Yes, it’s an elite, but we have 2 other elite-feeling options already, so a standard kit can work. Plus, we get a very impressive looking toolbelt skill.

Hmmm so basically a bazooka? If so, I wouldn’t mind it taking the form of the Charrzooka that you use in the fight against Claw or the cannon Horrik uses.

Jio Derako.7638:

I’d actually be fine with Mortar Kit retaining its minimum range, simply as a balancing element. Make the kits a little more defined in their strengths, as opposed to the old (current) grenade kit being the siege AND melee kit, essentially.
Of course, if they don’t amp up Mortar Kit’s power a bit, the minimum range will just be more of a downside on top of that, but having a blast finisher on an autoattack – if they do let us have that – I could see them balancing that out by keeping the minimum range. (it should still be a short enough range that you can get the benefits of the fields you blast, but can you imagine sitting in a Heal Turret water field and point-blank blasting it multiple times with your auto + dealing heavy AoE damage to everyone around you at the same time? Seems like it could become abusive quickly, especially with the Inventions line.)

We’ll see! I’d rather see a super-strong mortar with a defined weakness than an all-round kit that takes damage/utility losses as a result – we’ll still have our ’nades and bombs for anyone who gets in our face – but it all depends on what changes they make to the mortar.

The minimum range would in -no- way give us a defined weakness. In -no- way.

Blast finishers? You can still spam them and take four steps back.

1500 range? Only an option if anet -really- improve that thing’s projectile speed a lot.

The main way they will incentivize people using grenades instead of mortar up close will simply be that grenades are superior up close.

If you do a minimum range attack ( a mechanic added -exclusively- because of the old mortar being static, and extremely badly designed!), the explosion radius reaches all the way to your feet, so it’s just a tedium rather than a smart system. Only balancing aspect of it that could ever be is that engineer can’t get his own heal.

And the water field blasting? I honestly have my doubts about them adding in that trait; consider though that the firing rate on the mortar is very slow, which is meant to be a major downside of it. Ya could blast that once even -with- minimum range, you’d just have to fiddle around annoyingly.

I see this in my future !!!

It would be cool to see it hoisted over a shoulder, but it would make the player a big target if it was oversized.

The way the mortar model is now seems a perfect size for humans or sylvari to use. It would need to be scaled a bit larger for norn and charr and of course smaller for asura.

I want to say it can be held like a mini-gun, but then the feel would be more like a regular grenade launcher. If it’s on the shoulder it’s more or less rocket powered like a true bazooka and you don’t want the back end anywhere near your parts.

About the pulsing stability mentioned above…what if they made Juggernaut work with the mortar kit as well?
In a sense, it is like the perfect antithesis of the flamethrower -a slow and hard-hitting ranged weapon.
Could provide a sort-of counter to retaliation-using enemies when using said trait, since two out of three offensive flamethrower skills are massive retaliation proccers.

Stability on mobile mortar would be nice. However, it is a long range weapon and from wvw/pvp perspective I don’t Think it will be needing stability since it’s a long range weapon, whereas the flame thorwer is a mid-range to melee weapon. :/