Guild Wars 2

The leaker said the tomes were like the old tomes before they got turned into a shout and a signet. So I think it’s safe to assume that the resolve tome is a healing tome, and that the courage tome is a protective tome. If that assumption is true, this spec will probably play a lot like a monk from GW1 (which were highly sought out on every team in every game mode).

From the look of things, the spec will add a layer of complexity to the class akin to Ele and Engi. And I am looking forward to it.

Then there’s the flavour. My favourite aspect of guardian was that it was a heavy armour spellcaster. Not a lot of games have such a class. In practise, this didn’t work out that well, scepter was a bad weapon until the symbol update, staff is too niche, tomes were removed, spirit weapons are bad.

So, I really have high hopes for this spec.

Same. I was drawn to the guardian because of the whole light spellcaster thing (not so much the heavy armor part though). I’m ecstatic that tomes are coming back; I just hope they didn’t ruin them and that the rest of the spec is as cool as the tomes are.

Hmm, based from what I know now, I reworked my concept in what I belief this spec may end up like:
I’ll try to make changes based on the Icons and now knowing, that it will use Mantras.

Tome Skills

Tome of Courage (thats the 2015er removed version)
Increases Max Health on Activation and grants Stability periodically while its used.
1) Heal Area
2) Purifying Ribbon
3) Protective Spirit
4) Pacifism
5) Light of Deliverance

Tome of Wrath (Justice) (basically the 2015er old version in regard of Skills)
Grants periodically Quickness to nearby Allies and raises your Max Health on Activation
1) Conflagrate
2) Affliction
3) Smiter’s Boon
4) Zealot’s Fervor
5) Judgment

New) Tome of Resolve
Grants Resistance periodically and increases your Max Health on Activation
1) Vigorous Spirit – Grants Vigor to nearby Allies and you get healed when the affected allies cast spells or attack a target.
2) Essense Bond – Bond yourself with a nearby ally to split received damage upon you and your bonded ally. Gain might each other, when your bonded parnter hits a target.
3) Defenders Zeal – Stunbreaks nearby Allies and creates a barrier line that enemies can’t cross for a few seconds
4) Gift of Health – Grants Regeneration and grants for some time Extra Max Health to nearby allies while the effect of this skill works.
5) Martyr – Convert all negative Conditions from nearby allies to you gain for each converted condition stacks of Might
—

Mantras

Heal:
Mantra of Purification > Reversal of Fortune
Heal yourself. Gain 2 Charges of Reversal of Fortune which activate themself automatically on the next 2 incoming hits and reverse the incoming damage and remove a Condition that way as well.

Utility:

Mantra of Zeal > Zealous Benediction
Gain two charges.
Cast Zealot’s Fire on activation upon your armor to enhance it this way, to burn foes that hit you for the next few hits

Mantra of Protection > Shielding Hands
Gain two charges. Grants Protection to you and nearby allies on Activation and temporarely increases your Healing Power making you more effective at reviving allies, lettign downed targets loose slower health while you are revivign them while Shielding Hands is active.

Mantra of Truth > Holy Veil
Gain 2 charges. Send out a revealing magical circular light wave from your position, which makes also Traps visible. Foes affected by this light will be weakened and vulnerable for some time.

Mantra of Life > Rebirth
Gain two charges.
Revive a fallen Ally instantly with 25% of its Health (works only on players, not NPCs)

Elite:

Mantra of Chains > Scourge Sacrifice
Gain two charges.
You lose health, but all nearby foes will get immobilized and will gain damage based on your lost health

Reminder: Effects are just speculated based on Leak Skill Icons.

“THIS IS MY WRATH! THIS IS MY WRATH! THIS IS MY WRATH!”

Sorry…. Excited. I admit I liked Dragonhunter but it really wasn’t what I was looking for when playing Guardian. HYPE! sorry….

I haven’t been keeping up with the leaks past the images. Will this be a true support like Druid/Tempest or is it more of a way to give Guard condi with some support? If not, what class is getting a support spec?

Ohh great, a Guardian spec that has kits in the form of tomes, making weapon choice redundant, we’ll be like Engineers, totally dependent on these tomes and not making any real use of your weapons.

I’de rather they take out Spirit weapons, replace them with tomes now, and then with the elite spec, put spirit weapons back in, but make the weapons stronger and a lot more useful.

Odokuro.5049:

Ohh great, a Guardian spec that has kits in the form of tomes, making weapon choice redundant, we’ll be like Engineers, totally dependent on these tomes and not making any real use of your weapons.

I’de rather they take out Spirit weapons, replace them with tomes now, and then with the elite spec, put spirit weapons back in, but make the weapons stronger and a lot more useful.

How exactly does that make weapon choice redundant? Just because you have more skills to choose from doesn’t make your base weapon any less important. For one thing this spec doesn’t cause guardians to lose weapon swapping (afaik), and almost nothing is known about how tomes now function. Additionally, if kits made weapons pointless, then you wouldn’t see engineers constantly using hammers, they’d just use any weapon.

So you think tomes should replace spirit weapons (ie. you think tomes should be in the core profession), but then at the same time you think kits/tomes make base weapons pointless? Kind of sounds to me like you just don’t like tomes and want spirit weapons ala power creep.

Aylpse.6280:

I haven’t been keeping up with the leaks past the images. Will this be a true support like Druid/Tempest or is it more of a way to give Guard condi with some support? If not, what class is getting a support spec?

Most likely yes. The tomes are an old Skill type that the Guardian had and was taken out of the game due to their clunky use. They were fan favorites, but they just didn’t work very well at the time. The skills they had though were extremely good for support. Though Tome of Wrath was focused more on Party Buffs and Burning and Tome of Courage would provide Regen and protection while having a massive AOE healing cone that could heal for an extremely sizable amount.

In another leaked Image I’ve seen the Guardian has 8 Diamonds next to the tomes on their bar (Aka, tomes are replacing Virtues) on the right side of it. They were grey in the image, however My speculation is that they will have a slight glow to them and turn blue when they are filled, similar to Thief’s initiative. However, how they are filled isn’t yet know. My speculation is its going to be linked to boon application and those diamonds will be charges that can be spent on the tome’s skills. This is just speculation on how it works though.

Although I find it extremely funny that Anet is jumping through all these hoops to try and make different professions into healers by using the same mechanical philosophy that a certain light armored profession already has built into her…. Hmmm……

Lily.1935:

Aylpse.6280:

(zaap)

(snip)
Although I find it extremely funny that Anet is jumping through all these hoops to try and make different professions into healers by using the same mechanical philosophy that a certain light armored profession already has built into her…. Hmmm……

well i do remmember some one stating that they would bring every weapons (core) and class role to every class before starting something else.

So every class will have eventuallyh trapper, healers, condis, whatever.
It just feels slooooow process XD, and the balance…. if continues to be doubtfull like HoT was…

Odokuro.5049:

Ohh great, a Guardian spec that has kits in the form of tomes, making weapon choice redundant, we’ll be like Engineers, totally dependent on these tomes and not making any real use of your weapons.

If it’s done right, we shouldn’t worry about that. As far as i’m concern Guardians in general needs to have higher skill maintenance like Engi so I’m 100% for kits.

Odokuro.5049:

I’de rather they take out Spirit weapons, replace them with tomes now, and then with the elite spec, put spirit weapons back in, but make the weapons stronger and a lot more useful.

You missed the most important reasons why spirit weapons are bad.

• They can’t hit anyone unless people stand still.
• They are Controlled by A.I – they’re dumb in terms of movement and goes easily off course when kiting.

If we get any type of A.I skill where these issues still exist then the spec will fail. But I agree with 1 thing, Spirit Weapons needs to be deleted and replaced with something else.

Lily.1935:

Aylpse.6280:

-snip-

Most likely yes. The tomes are an old Skill type that the Guardian had and was taken out of the game due to their clunky use. They were fan favorites, but they just didn’t work very well at the time. The skills they had though were extremely good for support. Though Tome of Wrath was focused more on Party Buffs and Burning and Tome of Courage would provide Regen and protection while having a massive AOE healing cone that could heal for an extremely sizable amount.

In another leaked Image I’ve seen the Guardian has 8 Diamonds next to the tomes on their bar (Aka, tomes are replacing Virtues) on the right side of it. They were grey in the image, however My speculation is that they will have a slight glow to them and turn blue when they are filled, similar to Thief’s initiative. However, how they are filled isn’t yet know. My speculation is its going to be linked to boon application and those diamonds will be charges that can be spent on the tome’s skills. This is just speculation on how it works though.

Although I find it extremely funny that Anet is jumping through all these hoops to try and make different professions into healers by using the same mechanical philosophy that a certain light armored profession already has built into her…. Hmmm……

I remember the tomes. They were hilarious in PvP. Gonna make a Guardian then, really hope it ends up support paladin/cleric like with Firebrand.

I doubt they will function exactly like kits tbh. It doesn’t make sense to have no CD on them as it would generally make the entire virtues line pointless. If they do function exactly like kits it’s pretty meh. I love having a more intricate rotation compared to the braindead spam we have now but if I wanted keyboard piano I’d just play my engi.

cranos.5913:

I doubt they will function exactly like kits tbh. It doesn’t make sense to have no CD on them as it would generally make the entire virtues line pointless. If they do function exactly like kits it’s pretty meh. I love having a more intricate rotation compared to the braindead spam we have now but if I wanted keyboard piano I’d just play my engi.

They could take a leaf out of Revenant’s book, considering the pictures suggest they have some sort of energy/initiative system. So lower cooldowns but not something you can mindlessly spam.

Lahmia.2193:

cranos.5913:

I doubt they will function exactly like kits tbh. It doesn’t make sense to have no CD on them as it would generally make the entire virtues line pointless. If they do function exactly like kits it’s pretty meh. I love having a more intricate rotation compared to the braindead spam we have now but if I wanted keyboard piano I’d just play my engi.

They could take a leaf out of Revenant’s book, considering the pictures suggest they have some sort of energy/initiative system. So lower cooldowns but not something you can mindlessly spam.

If they are giving us Mantras, does that mean Guardian Lore would be mimicking Mesmers much like how DH mimicked Rangers?

If that’s the case, we likely won’t be getting any rage, energy, or initiative type bars.

We already do have some sort of bar based on the leaked image.

This spec doesn’t really scream “mesmer-wannabe” as much as DH screams “ranger-wannabe”. Tomes and axes don’t really have much to do with mesmers for one thing.

Saiyan.1704:

Lahmia.2193:

cranos.5913:

I doubt they will function exactly like kits tbh. It doesn’t make sense to have no CD on them as it would generally make the entire virtues line pointless. If they do function exactly like kits it’s pretty meh. I love having a more intricate rotation compared to the braindead spam we have now but if I wanted keyboard piano I’d just play my engi.

They could take a leaf out of Revenant’s book, considering the pictures suggest they have some sort of energy/initiative system. So lower cooldowns but not something you can mindlessly spam.

If they are giving us Mantras, does that mean Guardian Lore would be mimicking Mesmers much like how DH mimicked Rangers?

If that’s the case, we likely won’t be getting any rage, energy, or initiative type bars.

Wasnt that the point that (i think it was MO or Colling ) sayd that every class will have what other classes have.

So i assume the use of tomes by initiative, mantras will allow us to recover initiative by X mantras activated, and possible a traits to boost the gain, gain initiative hitting targets on fire etc :\.
If its innitiative i bet it will work like this :|

I would love a trait if hit target with a stance that stance will terminate and set target on fire. (if i recall this was a gw1 skill form axe)
(edit: just remminded that PVE mobs had to had stances for the class to have this kind of skill….. ) sadly a pve only game Ç_Ç

That is thet rade of being kits,and have no CD.

Aeolus.3615:

So i assume the use of tomes by initiative, mantras will allow us to recover initiative by X mantras activated, and possible a traits to boost the gain, gain initiative hitting targets on fire etc :\.
If its innitiative i bet it will work like this :|

I’d say it’s rather unlikely that the resource is linked to the utility group. Solely based on the argument that this would harshly limit build diversity when picking the e-spec.

If the resource doesn’t fill up on its own I can however easily see it being recharged by ‘on hit with burn’ or ‘on heal’ or ‘on boon application’ or whatever like you described.

Different approach: It fills up when activating a Virtue/Tome and each skill requires X resource. The Tome would then dissipate when you’re out of resource. This would prevent people from staying within a Tome-kit too long. It also prevents Tomes from being a too great benefit when compared to classic/DH Virtues.

Initiative is gained over time, why introduce these convoluted methods of gaining it?

Especially Mantras, they wouldn’t force the use of the new utilities to enable Tomes. Otherwise, not using Mantras means I have no profession mechanic.

The use of the initiative mechanic is simple, it adds a shared cooldown to tomes. Having an extra set of skills doesn’t break the game, other classes have that already. But when it’s 3 extra sets, along with 2 weapons, it becomes too much. Even if Tomes had cooldowns, you could still use all of them at a short amount of time.

But with the Initiative, if you use one tome, then you have less ini to spent on your second and third tomes, so in the end you can cast a limited number of skills in a given amount of time, no matter how tomes you use.

Developers have said that Especs will be a way to gain access to new weapons that the class in question didn’t have before.

The developers haven’t said that Especs will for sure grant other class’s profession mechanics. DH is not necessarily Guardian/Ranger despite the Longbow and Traps. Druid’s Celestial Avatar, likewise, looks pretty similar to Necro’s Shroud, but that doesn’t mean Druid is Ranger/Necro. Just look at Berserker and Scrapper. Berserker is just Warrior+ and Scrapper is completely different than anything. Herald and Tempest too.

Especs alter profession mechanics and add weapon access. Anything beyond that is conjecture until otherwise stated by Anet.

With that relatively pointless thing out of the way, I’m pretty interested in what the best leaks have shown so far. I’m not a huge fan of the Mantra skill type, but they could be pretty interesting, even moreso if that skill type has an functionality overhaul. Initiative based Tomes are legit though. One of the best solutions to Kit-like virtue use. That’s the most appealing aspect of what the unconfirmed leaks imo.

There was a follow-up leak post on reddit. It said there’s no healer like druid this time around, but there’s support. Now, I will be really surprised if F2 doesn’t have healing abilities, so maybe the leaker meant no dedicater healer, not no healing at all, since Firebrand should be quite flexible with the Tomes.

But, they did say this spec has “a lot of support”, so at least we can be sure it won’t be pure condi.

RabbitUp.8294:

There was a follow-up leak post on reddit. It said there’s no healer like druid this time around, but there’s support. Now, I will be really surprised if F2 doesn’t have healing abilities, so maybe the leaker meant no dedicater healer, not no healing at all, since Firebrand should be quite flexible with the Tomes.

But, they did say this spec has “a lot of support”, so at least we can be sure it won’t be pure condi.

DPS aoe support…. convert condis to damage, convert condis to healing and direct damage, guardian fire spec is based on smmiting prayers and divefavour mostly.
Maybe controlling allies conditions like we do with aegis, i dont think i will like the next expac classes.

RabbitUp.8294:

There was a follow-up leak post on reddit. It said there’s no healer like druid this time around, but there’s support. Now, I will be really surprised if F2 doesn’t have healing abilities, so maybe the leaker meant no dedicater healer, not no healing at all, since Firebrand should be quite flexible with the Tomes.

But, they did say this spec has “a lot of support”, so at least we can be sure it won’t be pure condi.

I’d be surprised and disappointed if the F2 tome doesn’t have healing; especially since the new tomes are supposedly like the old tomes in terms of skills, and Tome of Courage was very focused on healing. If the resolve tome has none then I’m going to assume tomes have been perverted somehow.

I also have my doubts about nothing new being added that can contend against the druid in terms of healing. If this new spec offers additional options for healing, I’m sure guardians will be considered as viable healers.

Personally, I’d be disappointed myself if the new set doesn’t bring viable alternatives to druid. Partially because the game isn’t supposed to rely heavily on one healing profession, and partially because, entirely subjectively, I don’t like druid but would like the opportunity to be a healer.

On the other hand, a guardian elite spec wouldn’t need to be as healing-focused as druid is to become a similarly effective healer. Druid was taking a profession that had fairly little party healing and making it a primary healer. Guardian, on the other hand, has a moderate amount baseline, albeit not to the levels introduced in HoT – it’s just that dragonhunter is a relatively selfish specialisation. A guardian specialisation probably wouldn’t need to be as healing-focused as the druid to be something that can compete with the druid when added to core guardian.

I’ll be extremely disappointed and angry if F2 doesn’t heal. Tome of Courage was part of the original profession, support was Guardian’s thing. Druid was an effort to turn the old selfish Ranger into a group class, but it stepped on a bit too many toes in the process. At the same time, though, I don’t see what else F2 could do, so I don’t worry much.

Dragonhunter being a selfish spec when there’s only 1 to choose from effectivelly turned the whole class into nothing but selfish dps. Guardian’s utility hasn’t aged well, apart from AoE stability in wvw, so I really want this to be a support/healer spec, so that the devs take another look at the base class. I mean, just compare Merciful Intervention to Druid’s Staff 3.

Anyway, base Guardian has deceptively potent healing, but it has some problems. First, it’s healing over time, lacking burst healing. And second, it has limited range as you need to be at melee range and drop symbols, so you can only heal those around you.

If F2 is close to Tome of Courage, then we can expect a 1200 ranged AoE healing autoattack, and another more potent burst healing spell, solving the above problems.

Druid is actually not an amazing healer, Guardian can outheal them in ideal conditions and Tempest aurashare can do so, too, easily. Druid is good because of the offensive buffs, so hopefully, that’s where the other 2 tomes and the mantras can make a difference.

hmmm we could see the return of bunk guard to pvp

I hope firebrand brings some good healing defensives and dps and not all condi.

I understand that some people want their condition cancer, but I really hope this spec is at least evenly split between healing, protection, and conditions (and preferably a bit of offensive support).

RabbitUp.8294:

Anyway, base Guardian has deceptively potent healing, but it has some problems. First, it’s healing over time, lacking burst healing. And second, it has limited range as you need to be at melee range and drop symbols, so you can only heal those around you.

If F2 is close to Tome of Courage, then we can expect a 1200 ranged AoE healing autoattack, and another more potent burst healing spell, solving the above problems.

I really loved Heal Area from Tome of Courage (much more than the full heal even). It’ll be a shame if something like that doesn’t make a return on the F2 tome. Constantly throwing out long-ranged healing AoEs made it really feel like you were playing a proper healer.

I always thought that guardians had really good burst healing, but bad sustained healing. Like Receive the Light and Signet of Courage (after the buffs) are probably the best burst heals in the game, and the staff also has a few decent heals, but in between that they have no spammable healing like Water Blast from the ele’s staff. Symbol healing doesn’t really heal for much, and if one is playing a healing build they’d take Force of Will over that anyway.

In terms of PvP, the problem with healer guardians for me is that a large part of their healing is mid-range at most, so they can be focused fairly easily, and healer guardians aren’t exactly tanky either. They’re infinitely better at keeping their allies alive than druids are though.

choovanski.5462:

hmmm we could see the return of bunk guard to pvp

The reason bunker guardians aren’t a thing in PvP anymore is because it needs toughness and healing power, and with the removal of the cleric amulet, magi’s doesn’t suffice. The DH’s Shield of Courage alone already makes it pretty good for bunkering, but bunker DH’s aren’t commonly used because they lack appropriate stats. I doubt a spec focused on support and conditions will bring back bunker guardians.

Fashion Mage.3712:

I understand that some people want their condition cancer, but I really hope this spec is at least evenly split between healing, protection, and conditions (and preferably a bit of offensive support).

The ideal spec for me would be:
900-range Axe with cleave that can bleed
F1 focused on condi, AoE burn, provides a fire field, offensive boons
F2 focused on healing and condi removal or resistance, provides a water field, defensive boons
F3 focused on CC and protection

And like you said, Heal Area was amazing, and I will be really kittened if we don’t get it back, especially when Druid got a copied version.

With a name like Firebrand, I don’t see Bunker guard returning to meta. Especially when we’re getting a melee weapon.

I’m hoping for a new way to deal dps, whether that be Condi or Power.

The name is still in dispute, it’s either Firebrand or Purifier.

And if all we get is a new way to deal DPS, I’m legit deleting my Guardian right then and there, with all the gear and a couple of legendaries, because I’m not going to wait another 2 years and buy another expansion hoping they eventually pull the class out of the garbage can.

RabbitUp.8294:

The name is still in dispute, it’s either Firebrand or Purifier.

And if all we get is a new way to deal DPS, I’m legit deleting my Guardian right then and there, with all the gear and a couple of legendaries, because I’m not going to wait another 2 years and buy another expansion hoping they eventually pull the class out of the garbage can.

This is a typical response but can I haz your items when that day comes? Adding you in game.

RabbitUp.8294:

The name is still in dispute, it’s either Firebrand or Purifier.

iirc the leak with the Purifier on was a complete fake, just made to make a quick buck off the Sawgrill Mushroom spike.

Lahmia.2193:

RabbitUp.8294:

The name is still in dispute, it’s either Firebrand or Purifier.

iirc the leak with the Purifier on was a complete fake, just made to make a quick buck off the Sawgrill Mushroom spike.

Purifier was from the first leak we got 8 or so months ago, when we learned that guardian getting an axe. The sawgil guy used info from that thread and another leak thread that devs actually disputed.

The leaker in the recent threads kept referring to the spec as Purifier. Actually, the only time the Firebrand name was used is in the leaked trait unlock screen. Purifier must have been the working title, because it sounds more basic, and thus the leaker was more used to it, but it’s still not certain what the current name is.

Purifier seems to be the name that all of the leakers use (so far), and it was the name the original leak used. I suppose its possible that Firebrand is just the name they use in coding or something, but there’s really only one way to find out, so we’ll just have to wait.

Saiyan.1704:

With a name like Firebrand, I don’t see Bunker guard returning to meta. Especially when we’re getting a melee weapon.

Assuming it’s a melee weapon, and it’s very possible that it isn’t. Axes are typically 900-range weapons.

RabbitUp.8294:

And if all we get is a new way to deal DPS, I’m legit deleting my Guardian right then and there, with all the gear and a couple of legendaries, because I’m not going to wait another 2 years and buy another expansion hoping they eventually pull the class out of the garbage can.

I’d probably quit the game; it’d be insulting. I’ve waited for far too long for tomes to be a thing only for the devs to kitten them up when they finally come back.

While my interest in playing a support spec (or anything related) is close to zero, I fully support you. We already have a proper dps spec (DH), so there’s no need for another one. ANet should bring life to the other facets of our class.

It’s more than just the playstyle for me. If I cared about support, I would have jumped to druid and never looked back.

They destroyed the class with HoT, removed the core identity, gave support to other classes while removing it from guardian, ignored the base class completely, turned them into a blue warrior.

And what did Guardian get with HoT? Unwanted in pve, as welcomed as ebola in fractals. They eventually became the dps they were supposed to be after buffs 1 year into HoT, and of course, they require the DH spec to do it. Meanwhile, base Ranger are top dps and Druid is everything Guardian should be support-wise. Tempest got a healing/support and a dps spec at the same time. Berserker was once the best condi dps and base Warrior is still a must-have offensive support.

The OG party player is hanging from “Stand your Ground” to pretent they are a support class in exactly one game mode. Until a future spec gets good AoE stability sharing, then it’s over. Their profession mechanic is burning and they don’t have a condi build. Druid took their healing, revenant took their boon spam.

When HoT was launched, Sanctuary had a 120-sec cooldown, that’s how much they cared about base guardian. They are the spiritual successors of GW1 Monk, and they have the worst rez skill in the game. But Ranger? No, ranger gets the best one.

Guardian dared come close to Mesmer at quickness stacking, and Feel My Wrath’s cooldown was increased by 50%. Mesmer has both quickness and alacrity and is not sharing. But at the same time, they invalidate Guardian’s defensive support with their AoE distort and to rub it in, they are the designated tank of the meta. Oh, and the leaker said mirage is currently doing about 80k dps in test, so don’t forget to bow down to your butterfly overlords.

Firebrand/Purifier is the make-or-break spec for me. But to work, they first have to take a fine comb through all the garbage of the base class. Hearing from the leaker that there’s no healer in xpac 2 is not good news. And knowing their track history, they will load the tomes with condi removal and defensive crap that is useless in pve, so they can avoid nerfing Epidemic.

Quite an impressive amount of QQ.

Saiyan.1704:

With a name like Firebrand, I don’t see Bunker guard returning to meta. Especially when we’re getting a melee weapon.

I’m hoping for a new way to deal dps, whether that be Condi or Power.

yeah and the support were getting is to purge condis and probably use them as source of damage, arorund that gameplay.

Its like a fusion of a Axe warrior main and Monk with smitting prayers as second class, if we can make an analogy with the gw1 classes system.

It will be necessary since they will be pushing the conditions spam even more.

CptAurellian.9537:

Quite an impressive amount of QQ.

but he’s completely right. XD

RabbitUp.8294:

And knowing their track history, they will load the tomes with condi removal and defensive crap that is useless in pve, so they can avoid nerfing Epidemic.

I’d cringe if it was just a cleanse bot. Tome of Courage was so much more than that.

CptAurellian.9537:

Quite an impressive amount of QQ.

You are right, it’s quite a rant. Sorry about that, but it’s the pent-up frustration of the past 2+ years.

Anyway, let’s hope for the best, whatever each of us defines that as. I’ll try to stay hopeful, afterall, at least I’ll get to wield Astralaria with my guardian.

I don’t know which picture did you all see but from the leaked one I can see a single icon that remind me of a tome and it is a minor trait icon. From the skills icons, I bet they are wells like chrono or necro.

The leakers seem convinced that they’re mantras. I suppose they could be wrong though.

Edit: It’s also worth mentioning that one of the traits for the Purifier/Firebrand looks pretty similar to: https://wiki.guildwars2.com/wiki/Restorative_Mantras

Sinchronia.3219:

I don’t know which picture did you all see but from the leaked one I can see a single icon that remind me of a tome and it is a minor trait icon. From the skills icons, I bet they are wells like chrono or necro.

We say the the skills are mantras, because the icons are based on gw1 mantras, and the leaker confirmed it.

As for Tomes, the unlock page shows the dude holding a book, the second icon, which is the new profession mechanic, shows a hand holding a book and there are 2 grandmaster traits towards the end of the ring, one that shows a book lying upside-down and the other 2 pages. And we have a screenshot in-game showing a Guardian with the new spec, and the virtues are changed into icons showing books. And last, but not least, the leaker confirmed it.

Fashion Mage.3712:

CptAurellian.9537:

Quite an impressive amount of QQ.

but he’s completely right. XD

That’s, at best, debatable.

I would love to see Firebrand get access to Righteous Indignation.

CptAurellian.9537:

Fashion Mage.3712:

CptAurellian.9537:

Quite an impressive amount of QQ.

but he’s completely right. XD

That’s, at best, debatable.

You are welcome to debate it, then.

Shall I? So I’ll take just the stuff that appears to be the most glaring nonsense, since I’m not in the mood for a giant wall of text.

Mesmer QQ – how exactly was the guard coming close to mesmers with regard to quickness stacking? With the old CD, we could provide a bit more than 50% quickness uptime in the most optimal case, i.e. with 100% boon duration, the shout trait and with a mesmer for alacrity. That’s not even close, that’s a joke. With regard to tanking, mesmers got that role for one simple reason: if you don’t deal damage anyway, you don’t lose damage by tanking. Even worse than druids outshining all other healers mainly due to one single buff, this flaw in mesmer design hurts all other potential tanks and mesmers themselves.

It leads to the third point, which mirage will hopefully address. Mesmers always have desperately needed a build that allows them to be a proper dps class. The current class and illusion mechanics are massively flawed with regard to most situations. Mirage filling the dps niche would finally open up the potential for huge balance improvements for all classes.

Speaking of balance, if you think that the current “80k dps in test” are relevant in any way, I dare question why you are still around in this game. Maybe you think that the devs are totally incompetent (which is a valid point of view), but then the consequences should be obvious.

If we dont get 25% movement trait with firebrand/purifier will switch to another class probably.

Ragnarox.9601:

If we dont get 25% movement trait with firebrand/purifier will switch to another class probably.

Grass is always greener…

Ragnarox.9601:

If we dont get 25% movement trait with firebrand/purifier will switch to another class probably.

Seems like a fairly trivial reason to switch to a different class.