Guild Wars 2

There is an interesting thread on reddit about some data-mined images. It looks like it might be a shapeshifter? Perhaps using the staff as melee, like the thief and revenant seem to be.

Edit: Should clarify this is all 100% speculation, before someone goes insane.

I can’t find it after searching a dozen pages related to druid, hot, datamine etc, any link mate?

It’s called “elite specialization images” or something. Does Anet care about datamined links being posted?

http://i.imgur.com/mxeqJcc.png

Just found a new desktop background….

http://www.reddit.com/r/Guildwars2/comments/3avbrp/current_images_for_all_elite_specializations/

I really…really hope this is not a shapeshifter. Leave that to Revenants.

Just make us CC monsters and / or give us some way to rip boons and I’d be happy.

Could be:

• Shapeshifter
• Pet focused
• Just a generic image for something intangibly ranger (i.e. how do you draw CC?)

I can maybe see the shapeshifting angle based on the image if it is indeed Druid related, since there’s conspicuously human character present in the image, so it could stand to reason the character is one of the animals.

But how does that image in any way imply that Staff would be another melee weapon? Especially when we’ve seen it using a ranged attack in the trailer?

We only saw a single staff skill, we don’t really know anything about it. Presumably if it is a shapeshifter, you wouldn’t be shooting lightning bolts out of your wolf eyes or something. Think D2 druid shapeshifters that often used staves for melee weapons.

That said, I have 0 confidence this is a melee staff shapeshifter.

Fluffball.8307:

We only saw a single staff skill, we don’t really know anything about it. Presumably if it is a shapeshifter, you wouldn’t be shooting lightning bolts out of your wolf eyes or something. Think D2 druid shapeshifters that often used staves for melee weapons.

That said, I have 0 confidence this is a melee staff shapeshifter.

Staff and shapeshifting could easily be unrelated to one another. Shifting itself could be tied to either the profession mechanic or the new utilities, which would leave staff and shifting separate and allow staff to fill a more traditional ranged role.

And yes, we’ve only seen one skill, BUT that one skill is clearly magical in nature, rather than martial. If the weapon was going to be another martial based melee weapon, giving our first glimpse of it as a magical ranged attack would be rather odd.

Not to say it most definitely couldn’t be melee, just saying that I don’t really see much evidence to support that conclusion.

I just mean if you turn into an animal you’re not going to be using ranged staff attacks. Keep in mind all 5 utility skills are unique to druid.

So for example — just making kitten up — 1-5 staff are normal human skills, utilities 7, 8, and 9 are mantras that let you temporarily channel animal spirits pictured.

Did anybody else notice that of all of the existing pictures (so excluding the Warrior and Engineer and I guess I need to lump Tempest in here too), Ranger was the only picture with the weapon not being shown somewhere?

shapeshifting utilites would be dope. brings me back to DA:O where i beat the game as a shapeshifting mage.

been playing a lot of ranger lately, it’s looking like it might take third place in my favourite classes. although nothing will ever trump engineer, especially with the new mortar and incoming hammer.

Looks more like we’re getting an animal army rather than shapeshifting. Nice art, though.

I’ve personally always loved the idea of shape-shifting. Then again I have like five druids in WoW but druids in WoW feel way too spec-bound. I mean if you choose one spec that spec has a specific shape-shift linked to it and you never leave that shape-shift. And that kinda took away all the fun for me, I really wanted to continuously switch between bear-form, cat-form etc in the right situation but it seems that my dream did not come true.

So please guild wars… Let me live my dream… xD

Ehecatl.9172:

Looks more like we’re getting an animal army rather than shapeshifting. Nice art, though.

I didn’t think of Shapeshifting when I saw the three pets, I thought of Alpha Strike.

jcbroe.4329:

Did anybody else notice that of all of the existing pictures (so excluding the Warrior and Engineer and I guess I need to lump Tempest in here too), Ranger was the only picture with the weapon not being shown somewhere?

Actually if you look at the ele one you can see what looks like a sword thrust into the ground on the guys left, that goes what has previously been said about an ele sword.

Like wise the rangers image seems cut off, or incomplete due to the dimensions of the image, being that the ranger image seems square rather then rectangular, I assume our weapon is in that portion.

Heimskarl Ashfiend.9582:

Ehecatl.9172:

Looks more like we’re getting an animal army rather than shapeshifting. Nice art, though.

I didn’t think of Shapeshifting when I saw the three pets, I thought of Alpha Strike.

It would be pretty epic if that was the druid elite. I can just imagine sending out both bird pets for a single burst. That target would be quite dead.

Ehecatl.9172:

Heimskarl Ashfiend.9582:

Ehecatl.9172:

Looks more like we’re getting an animal army rather than shapeshifting. Nice art, though.

I didn’t think of Shapeshifting when I saw the three pets, I thought of Alpha Strike.

It would be pretty epic if that was the druid elite. I can just imagine sending out both bird pets for a single burst. That target would be quite dead.

Yeah, would be pretty sweet imo. The more the merrier!

I’m curious how these come into play, if at all. Spirit form and kit?

it’s gonna be Aspects dudes.

I’m not sure how i like idea of transforming into anything, given how badly norn transforms are and rampage isn’t all that great with pathing either (thankfully it has huge aoe so it makes up for it though).. From a pvp perspective it could be very bad, but they could recode it for druids , IF that is indeed what they’re getting but we’ll have to see. I hope it’s good!

I’d think that image is for beastmastery line. I know it has an image right now but maybe they’ll change it. Plus druids are supposed to deal more with plants.

There’s a few things to keep in mind regarding Druids in GW2.

The first and, in my opinion, most important is that druids are jungle mages. They work with the plants of Maguuma and specialize in growth and protection. There has never once been any indication that they are shapeshifters beyond their becoming spirits, and that’s less transforming their body and more shedding it. The datamined medium armor shoulder skin that is almost guaranteed to be the druid armor piece, which is basically moss growing on your shoulders, supports this.

Second is that Anet have classically been adamant about not giving an option to perma-stow pets, and I don’t see them changing that concept now. Changing the class mechanic into changing into an animal doesn’t jive with that.

Third, Arenanet has done its best to distance itself from its competitors in the past – thieves and assassins instead of rogues, rangers instead of hunters. That sort of thing. WoW has no way of playing the druid class without being a shapeshifter, and therefore Arenanet will probably attempt to do something completely different.

Fourth, What rangers perennially lack is support, and arenanet have gone on the record saying that they’re trying to give classes the combat styles they’re missing, as can be seen with cleave on the Reaper. Druid casting support is an excellent way to do this.

Finally, we’ve been begging for pets to be made useful since launch.

With all this in mind, I’ve come to the conclusion that Druids will be a beast master style of play, with the pet(s) acting as a powerful bruiser while the druid stands back and keeps everybody alive, while applying CC to different enemies in the meantime. Possibly buffs and debuffs as well.