Guild Wars 2

So, from two different Datamined bits over on Reddit ( can’t find one of them, but we have the other here where you can see all the Glyph icons) we have a pretty good idea that Druids get glyphs as their Heal/utility/elite skill type. Glyphs are an elementalist skill type and interact directly with the way the elementalist profession works – specifically, they change in some way based on which element the ele is currently attuned to.

What’s interesting about this is that rangers already have a pet swap, but it’s unfeasible to expect that our “swap” mechanic will be based on what pets we can currently swap between. The reason for this is because there’s ten different pet families (including fish) and that means that just for the glyphs, they’d have to design and balance 50 different skill effects, which is quite a bit beyond what should be there. The datamined skill icons, though, show three variations of every glyph; that suggests three different aspects.

I’d like to draw your attention to this image. It’s the datamined druid background, and interestingly it has three different animals on it, which I’m thinking are the druid’s aspects. Taking from their pet family counterparts, the Bear aspect would be about defensive abilities, being able to take damage and keep fighting, possibly with some healing in the mix; this’d potentially allow you to create defensive areas with your glyphs, providing protection, stability, a healing area, that sort of thing. Canines (and thus wolves) are control focused; we’d be looking at dazes, stuns, maybe a fenced in area similar to what guardians get with their Hammer #5. And finally, what appears to be a hawk or eagle. The bird pet family is all about pure damage and blinds, suggesting that the bird aspect would rely on, maybe with some condition damage mixed in.

As many have pointed out, though, we can’t really get rid of pets, even as part of an elite spec. Every weapon except torch has some level of interaction with the pet, there’s a trait-line devoted to pets, there’s many traits outside of beast mastery that deal with the pet… for good or ill, we rangers are bound to an animal friend. This doesn’t mean we can’t change the way the profession mechanic works however, and to that end I propose eliminating the second pet slot.

The Idea here is simple, once you get past the preamble. If you only have one pet to run with, you can make it so that instead of swapping pets, F4 cycles through the aspects. Bear -> Wolf -> Bird -> Bear -> Wolf and so on. I have said before, though, that they can’t remove the second pet without providing a buff to the pet, and aspects actually solve that rather nicely; specifically, when you swap to an aspect it heals your pet applies an aspect based buff to it, same as above – bear for tanking, wolf for control, bird for damage. It’d go a long way to making every pet type viable in more situations.

My only problem with your theory is the idea that we’d have to cycle through the aspects. It’s not efficient, and would be aggravating if we have to mash F4 multiple times before cycling to the aspect we need at the time. Furthermore attaching pet survival to aspect cycling would mean we have to choose between a living pet and using the correct aspect, which would be another level of frustration. While I do not disagree with your conclusion that we’ll be using aspects and glyphs I do not think they will work the way you describe.

Here are some ideas I would find more enjoyable mechanically and thematically.

Seasonal Aspects: If we are to keep the F4 cycle process the Aspects would need to be designed to be used in that order. Starting in Spring and moving into Summer, then Fall, then Winter. Spring could provide boons like Fury, Swiftness, and root based immobilizes with poison applications to allow a strong burst, Summer could focus on sustain with Might stacks and burn applications, Fall could be another burst season with lightning strikes, vulnerability applications, more Swiftness, and knock downs, and Winter could apply high chill and vulnerability stacks while increasing damage output to finish a foe off. In this way the cycle would go from intro burst to sustained damage to secondary burst to debuffing sustain. Then after a full “year” is completed you go back to a Spring burst to hopefully finish the enemy off.

That is if you keep the cycling Aspects mechanic.

Animal Aspects: Perhaps instead of behaving like elementalist attunements the aspects will instead be more similar to the revanant legends. We choose two aspects for our F4 and swap between them on command. You could choose Bear and Eagle, with Bear giving more defensive skills and Eagle being more burst. Or Wolf and Eagle with Wolf offering more control effects to set up Eagle’s burst. Or even Bear and Wolf to swap between defensive abilities and control abilities to work as a bunker.

The problem I hold with “Seasons” is that it follows the same issue that you yourself pointed out; cycling is extremely clunky in a twitch gameplay setting like we have here. We’ve also had no indication that the Maguuma druids, who we’d be learning this from, even have much concept of season – the saurians in the jungle suggest that the place is hot (and possibly wet) all year round, so it wouldn’t fit traditional concepts. Otherwise, I agree, that could be cool.

I find the idea of choosing between two of the three aspects much more agreeable, though. working it much like Revenant legends would probably be for the best. Either way though, I just don’t see seasonal cycling as likely.

I dont see how Pet cant be replaced by the main elements of Aspects.

All pet skills would go into Aspect enhancements.

All pet controls replaced with aspect passives and actives.

Weapon Skills replace F2. Each weapon’s 5 skill is the new F2 skill.

Knighthonor.4061:

I dont see how Pet cant be replaced by the main elements of Aspects.

All pet skills would go into Aspect enhancements.

All pet controls replaced with aspect passives and actives.

Weapon Skills replace F2. Each weapon’s 5 skill is the new F2 skill.

What would Empathic Bond do? Or Expertise Training, or Companion’s Might, or Natural Healing, or Beastly Warden or Pack Alpha or Pet’s Prowess?

Harnel.6810:

The problem I hold with “Seasons” is that it follows the same issue that you yourself pointed out; cycling is extremely clunky in a twitch gameplay setting like we have here. We’ve also had no indication that the Maguuma druids, who we’d be learning this from, even have much concept of season – the saurians in the jungle suggest that the place is hot (and possibly wet) all year round, so it wouldn’t fit traditional concepts. Otherwise, I agree, that could be cool.

I find the idea of choosing between two of the three aspects much more agreeable, though. working it much like Revenant legends would probably be for the best. Either way though, I just don’t see seasonal cycling as likely.

I really like the revenant-esque aspect swapping idea. It makes sense not just mechanically but pragmatically too-they probably prefer reusing existing systems rather than making something brand new.

My big question in all of this is what exactly will these aspects DO? I’d love it if they allowed a DS like access to a new bar of skills but I just don’t see that happening given the amount of effort that would take. Yet I have a hard time also seeing them just basically being reskinned signets or(worse) simply providing basic passive effects. Neither quite strikes me as being a fully fleshed out or satisfying idea, even with glyph skills in addition.

There is the possibility that the Aspects will provide boons or area effects around the ranger when activated. What I would find more interesting, however, is if Aspects enhanced our pet as well as us. Maybe adding new effects to the pet F2 along with passive effects for the pet.

For example activating Bear aspect could give a bear-like aura around the druid and it’s pet. Both of them gain a Toughness boost and pulse regeneration. The pet’s F2 now conjures a spirit bear that roars and empowers allies with retaliation to those nearby, including the pet itself, in addition to normal F2 skills.

Wolf might boost condition damage and duration and pulse vigor to allies. The pet’s F2 now conjures a pair of spirit wolves that will lead with a knock down on the target and apply chill on attack.

Eagle might boost precision and ferocity and pulse fury. The pet’s F2 now summons a bird spirit that flies to the target and does burst damage.

You’d basically sacrifice a second pet and the utility that comes with it for a more powerful F2 skill.

There are 4 datamined icons that are tied to a seasonal theme like and more than 3 color scheme glyphs (like 3 “animal” aspect), atcually 4 that obviously work with the seasonal ones. The druid’s apect won’t be simple animals. The problem is that numbers doesn’t match with eachother : 4 aspects, 18 glyphs, heal, (4 or 3 utilities), elite.

I don’t see neither how it could work with the actual pet mechanic, even if we would have to choose 2 aspects from 4, it would end with a class that got 3 swap skills and tied glyphs based on the aspect you’re currently using ? It looks a bit complex. The good news is probably that we would have a lots of utlities.