Guild Wars 2

There’s one thing we can’t at all anticipate: mercenaries. We know they are a reality in Tyria, and it seems probable that Charr would not trust them. If the humans or Asuras (the races known to employ mercenaries the most, I think) were to spend part of their vast wealth on armies of adventurers and renegades, it might tip the balance to their side. The problem being, we do not know exactly how powerful an army they would be, or even if the humans could unite separatists and bandits if there was a war…

One obvious point: the armies are only as strong as the political systems supporting them. Should queen Jennah die, a new king or queen would likely be found (I think the Order of Whispers has the name of the heir already). But the Charr legions are only held by Smodur’s indomitable will and leadership, even with the support of the blood and ash legions: should he fall, the unity of the Charr would crumble away until a new Imperator is found. And we know it can’t be Rytlock, he isn’t of the blood of the Khan-Urr, so no obvious candidate here. Without Smodur, the Charr are in chaos, and are thus far less powerful.

The same logic applies to the Sylvari: if the Pale Tree dies away (fire usually does the trick for big-kitten trees), the Sylvari fall in disarray and are unable to reproduce, the Nightmare wages war against the uncorrupted and away goes the Sylvari army.

The Asura and the Norn are a far more complicated lot: the original Asura inhabitants of Rata Sum were a motley group of golemancers and arcanists, and they still managed to contribute significantly to the fight against the Great Destroyer. Snaff and Zojja produced powerful golems to fight dragon champions. An Asuran krewe could theoretically, given the proper ressources, create powerful devices to wage war; the Arcane Council can oversee this, but so can any structured military organisation (with less efficiency, but also less bickering around). Make no mistake, the power of the Asura resides not in the Peacemakers, but in the krewes and their inventions.

The Norn operate in small bands or alone; their experience in fighting makes them formidable foes, and their pride would turn the loss of their leaders into a source of anger and strength. One musn’t forget that, although the Norn are not united, not structured except perhaps in Hoelbrak, they are a deeply magical race capable of drawing on the power of spirits, and they have proven capable of accomplishing great feats during the Eye of the North campain. Even with the Animal Spirits destroyed by Jormag, they retain sufficient magic to shapeshift; given great cause or a fight worthy of them, they would join forces and attack with the full might of the greatest warriors in Tyria. Their clanic brand of theocracy may not look like much, but it can produce a warband powerful enough to present a serious threat to any army, in my mind.

Omadd’s machine suggested that there were not only consequences, but a chain reaction, since the departure of one orb causes all the others to go haywire. In that case, maybe part of the draconic magic flows within a cycle, making the dragons more powerful with each elder dragon dying. In that case, I wonder what will happen once the last dragon dies…

Aaron Ansari.1604:

It created that civilization, supposedly, after 10,000 years of leaking, we still don’t know if the Orrians magical know-how is attributable to Zhaitan or the Gods or some other factor, and even if it was Zhaitan, it only affected Orr. His corpse at this point has only been leaking for three years, and no one’s in Orr except any Pact that didn’t get moved over to Mordremoth and maybe some Inquest.

You’re absolutely right, although the death of a such a powerful creature has consequences that are difficult to fathom. Zhaitan was one of the great magical beings of Tyria, after all, and his passing should have repercussions on the fabric of magic itself worldwide.

Half french only^^ but thanks! Actually, I read an interview with one of the developpers on the topic of magic, and she said that the schools of magic such as Preservation or Agression were largely irrelevant in modern Tyria (without explaining how classes were maintained per say). I played GW1 for about a year, and as far as I can see, many such changes have occurred in the old classes, I don’t remember illusions for mesmers or banners for warriors, the lore provided in the first Guild Wars, while useful to understand the history of classes, is becoming a little too obsolete.

Tuomir.1830:

Well, if you look at it at a certain way, with the latest major patch, player characters did get a power up across the board…

Yeah, but it’d be cool if this power up had some kind of dragon-related background other than the dragonhunter idea of “adapting to the fight against Mordremoth”

I agree for the most part, but the Glint appearing in Edge of Destiny is but a child compared to Kralkatorrik, who is more of a raw maelström of power. Besides, we know that when power was oozing from Zhaitan sleeping under Arah, it spawned the most advanced arcane civilization in Tyria, except perhaps for the Asura prior to Primordus’s awakening. Wether it bursts or it trickles, Zhaitan’s magic is still capable of creating a massive energy surge throughout the entire world in the months or maybe years following his demise.

Oh sorry about that, it’s how it’s written in the french version (else it would be pronounced Zheta :p ), my bad. Anyways, I hope Anet will bring the new legendaries with some lore behind. But I think classes are lacking a bit of distinct background in this game, since the magic-users have no specific laws, academies or lore explaining how the previous schools of magic became the ones we know and use/love. The only real background I found for gardians is that they use Elonan protection magic. Warriors are self-explanatory, but still, they don’t have this special element that puts them aside from mere fighters, for instance a military history or even ingame books on strategy or how banners came to be created. The shadow arts are clouded in mystery, and the techniques allowing rangers to bind pets aren’t particularly developped… I think it’s a shame that a game that would create such diverse mechanics for classes would fail to give them a proper history and a distinct flavour in lore.

There are exceptions, though, for example the mesmers who have a foothold in human aristocracy and royalty, and their own secret organization. A secret cult of necromancers or an academy for elementalists wouldn’t be too much to ask, I think.

Regarding your comment on Zhaitan’s energies, I agree there is no official link with necromancers, yet a number of orrian minions were necromancers or undead, and would provide exciting research opportunities for masters of the dark arts, one can only imagine the wealth of tomes and corrupted artifacts found in Arah. Whatever his nature, Zhaitan’s demise would have provided necromancers with great opportunities, and I feel like this has not been underlined enough in the story.

Hi,

I don’t know if this topic has already been discussed, but it struck me as odd that Zhaïtan’s death had little impact over necromancy as a whole. We know the death of an Elder Dragon releases tremendous amounts of energy, some of which has been devoured by others such as Mordremoth or Tequatl. Yet, this is an event of great magnitude, which could be to some extent compared to the unlocking of the bloodstone’s magic (though clearly not as potent). Then, given that Zhaïtan is the dragon of death and corruption, how come we haven’t seen necromancers and their equipement significantly altered? I’m not talking about cosmetics, but about runes, sigils, changed spell effects or even a storyline featuring necromancers seizing this newfound magic…

Now, Arenanet jumped straight ahead with stories featuring Scarlet Briar, which is an interesting story arc in and of itself, but the aftermath of Zhaïtan’s defeat should have been tremendous (the fight, too). Orr itself remains unchanged although it was Zhaïtan who raised it from the depths of the Ocean!

Sorry, I’m ranting. Although I would like to point out that, in a larger perspective, advancements in magic and technology brought by the Inquest, the Durmand Priory and the Pact have only marginally affected players, instead focusing on great machines or artifacts which ultimately became mere plot devices. For instance, the ascended and legendary weapons are not new, they are mostly ancient, forged as likenesses of old Vabbian, Elonian or Ascalonian masterworks, or inspired from the works of talented individuals like Zojja. Eternity is wielded by the Sorcerer Lord garding Arah, which seems to indicate it predates the Searing. In a world were old magics, new technologies and untamed power coincide, arcane research should have a great impact on endgame content: for example, new spells could be unlocked after finishing the personal story, rare gemstones could have effects exceeding mere stats, specific class-based artifacts could change spell effects (as a necro, I’d like to see new models for minions, for instance). There is a plethora of lore elements that could be put into the game through a few specific additions that could ultimately benefit class diversity and background. So, do you think it is at all possible?

But apart from skin or name-related hypothesis, are there no dev quotes or document that may shed some light on more obscure weapons? Take Genesis or Entropy, for instance, these are quite popular skins, it’s a shame they don’t seem to have appropriate background (well, it can’t be worse than the legendaries anyway^^).

Well, speaking in raw achievements, Snaff’s inventions caused the destruction of several dragon champions, he managed to find a way of making people immune to the dragons’ mind control and nearly brought down Kralkatorrik with his sheed willpower. That seems to make him intellectually superior to any being in activity, but still, Taimi may prove her own intelligence in the expansion, so we can’t rule her out yet.

The reason I write this post is because I haven’t found a page or blogpost truly explaining where named weapons come from. Maybe there are some forum topics I missed, since the search engine doesn’t seem to be working.

I’m aware that some are rather evident given their name, their skins and the people who use them: Cobalt is an enchanted ebon vangard’s greatsword (for an officer or a person operating at night), Firebringer is an ancient human gladius, Volcanus is a high-end Flame Legion weapon, Deathwish is an orrian staff wielded by Mazdak the Accursed, Adamis a relic from the necromancer Eve… but some are more obscure: the Beacon of Light, Arcanus Obscurus, Final Rest and the Occultist’s Flame, for instance.

So I would like to know if anyone has other info about their background, lore, origins etc…

http://gw2skills.net/editor/?fFAQFAWhcM6bW2wnBf0AEACxkFDGIy4d3CC-TJhAwAoLDA4CAM4BAQb/BA

I’ve tried this, it can provide support while making sure your don’t die too quickly, but I’m still working on it