Guild Wars 2

I’m not sure how people who were here for the other profession elite spec reveals can think this is Druids. Each of those showcased the profession with their new equipped weapon.

It’s either showcasing the 2nd part of Revenant or as somebody else mentioned, the challenging group content.

I’m doubtful it’s a lore bit of some kind because they didn’t preview the new hyleks at the beginning of the week. Those blogposts just happened without much hype beforehand.

Yup I agree with Foefaller. I was able to see that there’s traits for when you want your Reaper to handle mobs and traits for when you’re expecting to be 1v1ing a lot.

Reaper seems pretty fleshed out but they did say they’ve been working on this one for a long while and I’m sure there’s still going to be iterations between now and when the expansion is released.

@funkyfuzz: That’s fine, I’m not talking to those people that just don’t like the name. I’m only meaning people who are literally taking Dragonhunter to mean = person who hunts dragons.

Sometimes names are given just to condense an idea. Witchhunters/Demonhunters, both of these trops are relentless in bringinig down the creature in their titles, wayyy more so than others.

For instance, in Diablo 3, Demons are the main threat to humanity so you could say “Wizards, Monks, Barbarians, etc are all Demonhunters, why is there a specific class called Demonhunter?”

It’s because it carries these tropes: usually zealous, uses traps/devices, ranged combat usually, sometimes even uses creatures own magic against it (Blade is a vampirehunter but is also a vampire himself, just one ex)

Those are just tropes of Witchhunters/Demonhunters, etc. and since Dragons are the major threat to humanity in Tyria, it seems Anet just decided to replace Witch with Dragon.

Again I have no issue with those who just wish it was a different name, I’m just more trying to explain to those who are disliking it just because they don’t understand. There’s a difference, I mean at the end of the day it doesn’t really matter. But I don’t mind doing this in my spare time.

@Black Box: phys explained it really well, so just refer to his reply.

Arrk.4102:

Mar.4839:

Actually I believe the main issue is that people are viewing Specializations as something that is supposed to be as the OP states “logical extension of the flavor and theme of the Guardian.”

That’s the biggest mistake I think everyone is making.

Elite Specializations are designed to be horizontal progression, not vertical. We’re taking a piece of our main profession and specializing further into that aspect.

Chronomancers -> Mesmers who decided to focus more on the time aspect of their profession (which admittedly was pretty sparse to begin with).

Reapers -> Necromancers who decided to focus more on being as powerful as Death itself.

Dragonhunters -> Guardians who decided to focus more on zealous justice.

These are all just one piece of each profession that is being extended, the 2nd Elite specializations for these professions will then delve into another facet of the base profession.

A future elite spec for each could be:

Mesmer -> Some kind of mage-thief that focuses more on its stealth aspects.

Necromancer -> A Demonologist-ish kind of summoner with more focus on minions.

Guardian -> Cleric-ish boon giver/supporter with more focus on tomes.

OP is clearly one of the many that think Elite specs are supposted to be vertical progression but they aren’t. They’re just another choice to play the profession in a different way, a more focused (specialized) role.

We can even use the Druid as an example. It is not the total encompassing progression of what a Ranger is, it is just an extension of the Nature Magic part of the Ranger.

Yes but those focus their whole theme on one thing. Guardians by themselves have nothing to do with hunting, dragons or hunting dragons.
Mesmers have time magic thus Chronomancer.
Rangers have nature magic thus Druid.
Guardians have 0 relation to hunting or dragons which is why it makes no sense.

As phys has pointed out, the playstyle of the DH is to switch back and forth between melee and range, heck they even show this on the Ready-Up with the build from Tirzah.

It’s not supposed to be staying at range like a Ranger with a longbow, that’s the entire point of introducing a new playstyle but having a different flavor to it.

Reapers become melee fighters like Warriors/Guardians but the Reaper’s playstyle is different enough from both as well.

Guardians have zeal and/or can be zealous. Thus some focus on that and turn into Dragonhunters.

Remember, Dragonhunters are basically Witchhunters, everything makes a lot more sense if people stop being so literal with the name which is where most of the issue is coming from.

Actually I believe the main issue is that people are viewing Specializations as something that is supposed to be as the OP states “logical extension of the flavor and theme of the Guardian.”

That’s the biggest mistake I think everyone is making.

Elite Specializations are designed to be horizontal progression, not vertical. We’re taking a piece of our main profession and specializing further into that aspect.

Chronomancers -> Mesmers who decided to focus more on the time aspect of their profession (which admittedly was pretty sparse to begin with).

Reapers -> Necromancers who decided to focus more on being as powerful as Death itself.

Dragonhunters -> Guardians who decided to focus more on zealous justice.

These are all just one piece of each profession that is being extended, the 2nd Elite specializations for these professions will then delve into another facet of the base profession.

A future elite spec for each could be:

Mesmer -> Some kind of mage-thief that focuses more on its stealth aspects.

Necromancer -> A Demonologist-ish kind of summoner with more focus on minions.

Guardian -> Cleric-ish boon giver/supporter with more focus on tomes.

OP is clearly one of the many that think Elite specs are supposted to be vertical progression but they aren’t. They’re just another choice to play the profession in a different way, a more focused (specialized) role.

We can even use the Druid as an example. It is not the total encompassing progression of what a Ranger is, it is just an extension of the Nature Magic part of the Ranger.

Ralanost.8913:

Mar.4839:

Well I don’t know if this means anything or if I’m reading too much into it but from the Spec Part Two Primer

Last paragraph says “As long as you’ve purchased Guild Wars 2: Heart of Thorns, you’ll automatically unlock access to all elite specializations in PvP.”

What if this means those who have not purchased HoT will have to unlock them in Spvp first? Just a tidbit I noticed.

No, if you haven’t purchased HoT, you don’t get access. Period.

Seems strange to point that out then, is all I meant.

Also I’m sure the players who really pay attention to the meta will be the ones purchasing the expansion regardless. Top tier raiders from WoW always buy the expansions to keep competitive with each other. I don’t follow the MOBA scene so I’m not sure how it works there but I bet the same thing happens with top tier competitive players in those games too, they probably purchase the heroes that fit the meta.

I feel the people who will be affected by this are so minute that much wouldn’t change in the long run. Besides, barring recent purchasers of the game at discounts, if you had enough disposable income to buy GW2 in the beginning then I’m sure you’ve had enough time to come up with enough for the expansion.

I’m surprised (well I shouldn’t be) at how quickly people seem to think “Rise” is its only shout. It’s best to wait for the PoI tomorrow, hopefully they show the traits as well like they did with Dragonhunter.

I’m just glad there’s an actual dark hood in the game finally that lets you cover your whole face! They delivered on the vibe I was hoping for!

lordkrall.7241:

And yet Dragonhunter makes sense for a Guardian as well, seeing as one of the parts of being a hunter is hunting down dangerous beasts that threatens the people/community. Which is exactly what the Guardian is all about.

It’s alright, just let it go. Seems like majority of players expect all elite specializations to be a natural progression of the base class.

It will happen again when the next round of elite specs come and another profession gets a spec that isn’t a progression of the last elite spec.

I bet a lot of arguments would be something like “This doesn’t make sense, a Ranger goes from a Druid to a Swordsman!? Rangers are already Swordsman!” Even though the spec would be focused on a more melee Ranger.

Well I don’t know if this means anything or if I’m reading too much into it but from the Spec Part Two Primer

Last paragraph says “As long as you’ve purchased Guild Wars 2: Heart of Thorns, you’ll automatically unlock access to all elite specializations in PvP.”

What if this means those who have not purchased HoT will have to unlock them in Spvp first? Just a tidbit I noticed.

That’s almost slowly turning it into how skills worked in GW1. It would definitely add a lot more complexity and variety but would probably be a balancing nightmare. The addition of these elite specializations already increase the variety in an exponential but tame way.

Maybe they will do it in the far future but I would be surprised to see it show up so soon, as fun as it sounds.

Ah ok, that sounds like the Revenant’s orbs in its Invocation trait line almost. Except more than just being an hp bubble.

It certainly doesn’t fit into any skill type currently, but I do like your idea of infusing our weapons.

I highly doubt Necromancer will get another set of minion-like gameplay when it already has one.

These Elite specs seem to be introducing capabilities the profession never had access to before (Rangers getting to wield magic, Mesmers wielding time, Guardians becoming more physical than magical)

Necromancers will probably also become more fighter-like, I’m hoping like a hexblade of some sort. Weapon attacks that synergize physical/condition damage well (like how they did with Dragonhunter) with more shifted toward debuffing enemies as a way to provide support to keep with dark magic themes.

dietzero.3514:

The cafe Tyria? How is that a pun?

Cafe Tyria
CafeTyria
cafetyria
cafeteria

Never said it was good, but was an example I found through Google. :P

Gandalf.3516:

Mar.4839:

Because it’s a pun or play on words, it should stop being taken so literally.

It’s just like this pun for gw2: what’s Queen Jennah’s favorite lunch spot? The Cafe Tyria.

Dragonhunter is just a play on words from Witchhunters and Demonhunters.

Names like Chronomancer, Druid weren’t argued over because they’re literal definitions.

Just replace Dragonhunter with Witchhunter and you can see the idea/concept of the profession makes sense.

It isn’t even remotely a pun or play on words. That would suggest it’s meant to be amusing and not taken literally. From the mouth of a developer, “Guardians consider themselves protectors of the innocent…Guardians fight for justice and the Dragonhunter faction believes justice is the eradication of dragons and their minions.”

They are very much in a literal way, a faction of guardians who have tasked themselves with the annihilation of all dragons.

There isn’t necessarily anything wrong with that, but that’s exactly what they are.

But they have a different ideal than Guardians do, that’s the point the quote is trying to make “Guardians fight for justice” while “Dragonhunter faction believes justice is the eradication of dragons and their minions”.

Just because the “and” is there doesn’t mean the two are one in the same. ArenaNet has been wanting Elite Specializations to feel like their own thing or almost a subclass if you will.

A Mesmer who becomes a Chronomancer doesn’t fight the same way a Mesmer does. A Mesmer relies on tricks and deception, manipulating the mind of its enemy. A Chronomancer backs off from that to focus more on manipulation of time instead both in its ideals and how the profession fights.

The same thing is happening with the Guardian and Dragonhunter. A Guardians main idea is to protect but the Dragonhunters main idea is to be the hunter, the one that becomes relentless in its pursuit. It shows in its gameplay as well as we saw on the Ready Up how aggressive and powerful the Dragonhunter is compared to a Guardian.

So we’re seeing the same thing again, just like the style of Mesmer -> Chronomancer changes, so does the style of the Guardian -> Dragonhunter.

And seriously the only reason it isn’t called a Witchhunter or Demonhunter is because of the fact that Dragons in GW2 lore are considered the Malefic threats to the world. Whereas Demons are considered the malefic threats in Diablo 3 and thus include Demonhunters. Same as Mages/Necromancers usually being the cause of great disasters in the Elder Scrolls Universe allowing Witchhunters to be a selectable theme.

The name is just there to fit with the universe. This is what I mean by people are taking it too literally because they are whenever someone says “we all hunt dragons” it shows.

Because it’s a pun or play on words, it should stop being taken so literally.

It’s just like this pun for gw2: what’s Queen Jennah’s favorite lunch spot? The Cafe Tyria.

Dragonhunter is just a play on words from Witchhunters and Demonhunters.

Names like Chronomancer, Druid weren’t argued over because they’re literal definitions.

Just replace Dragonhunter with Witchhunter and you can see the idea/concept of the profession makes sense.

A lot of people are taking this name too literally, even the big game hunter aspect too.

A Witchhunter doesn’t just hunt witches.

Another example is from the Witcher series. Witchers hunt monsters. If you take that literally then you’d believe they leave humans alone. But this isn’t true as Witchers will sometimes hunt humans too because humans can be monsters as well.

In Hearthstone there is a card called Big Game Hunter, the card’s effect is to instantly destroy high atk (7+) cards. It is most commonly used against a card called Dr. Boom who is a goblin (short and green) with 7 atk.

I hope these examples can help others see that Dragonhunter is supposed to be more conceptual than literal. The Chronomancer is more literal.

Dragonhunters are just intended to be the Witchhunters of Tyria, that’s all.

And not every individual is the same, so just because the idea of a Witchhunter/Dragonhunter is to be one way doesn’t make it necessarily so.

I like the previous posted idea that you are taking on a fighting style, not a literal identity like being a human vs being a charr. This actually makes more sense as we see Rytlock having gone from a Warrior to a Revenant.

DevilLordLaser.8619:

Mar.4839:

Auras would actually be pretty sweet. I know a “Banshee” is favored but honestly the idea of getting shouts just feels lame. THEN AGAIN Guardians got traps and usually I’m not a fan of those utilities either but the way they work and their flavor actually makes me happy with how they’re implemented.

Hoping ArenaNet can do the same for shouts with Necro because just pushing a button to buff feels….idk just seems too simplistic for the Necro.

On the topic of its Death Shroud and Life Force: Arena Net has teased us with using our life force in a different way right? We also know that we’re still going to have to be able to enter Death Shroud because of its existing traitlines and traits that affect Shroud.

So what if Elite Specced Necros get to use Life Force in a similar way Revenants have an Energy Bar? What if our utilities, whatever they are, can utilize Life Force to have an empowered effect vs a normal one? This would introduce having to balance between using Life Force for Shroud or using it to empower whatever utilities are introduced with the elite spec.

I don’t think Life Force being at specific thresholds will be the main function because Arena Net has stated they’d like us to use Life Force in a different way and also they’re trying to move all the professions away from “don’t use your abilities to get benefits” like how Phantasm Mesmers couldn’t shatter, or Warrior’s wouldn’t use their Adrenaline for certain builds even though they also acknowledged Necro should still have some passive gains. It seems they are trimming those kinds of abilities down a lot.

The issue with using life force to fuel utilities a’la the Rev’s energy bar – beyond further blending of the Rev and Necromancer, anyways – is that it then directly competes with Death Shroud and basically forces people to use one or the other. It’s an interesting idea and one favored by a lot of players – Death-powered weapon attacks, or Death-powered utils – but I’m not sure it wouldn’t cause more problems than it solves. PvP Necromancers have enough trouble building life force as it is, do we need to make their lives any harder?

Not that I PvP, mind, but from what I hear the PvP necromancer basically doesn’t get a profession mechanic. I don’t think we need to exacerbate that by giving them more things to spend the life force they don’t have on.

Also, pushing a button to screech madness and devastation at your enemies instead of ladling out a few boons a’la Warrs/Guards sounds much more appealing to me, and is what most of the Banshee folks are hoping for instead.

That is the purpose though of having any mechanic based around a resource. It goes the same way for Thieves and Initiative too. I understand that you may mean F skills are completely untouched for the most part but this method does not change Death Shroud’s functionality nor its skills, it only opens another option for the Necro, do they power up their attacks/utilities or do they save the Life Force to enter Death Shroud.

The main thing we have to figure out is how are we going to utilize Life Force in a different way other than Death Shroud. I cannot see another way myself, but I am not as creative as others may be.

In terms of PvP, I have not done much of it on my Necro so I cannot comment on that. Though I do know that the general perception of the Necromancer is currently what’s needed most from the profession is some way to offer group support and mobility (or more frequent access to snares).

We see this pattern with the Chronomancer and Dragonhunter too. Chronomancer makes up in mobility and frequency of attacks the Mesmer lacks while the Dragonhunter introduces long-range support for the Guardian.

It looks like these round of Elite Specs are poised to give core professions something they either are lacking or isn’t “up to snuff.”

Auras would actually be pretty sweet. I know a “Banshee” is favored but honestly the idea of getting shouts just feels lame. THEN AGAIN Guardians got traps and usually I’m not a fan of those utilities either but the way they work and their flavor actually makes me happy with how they’re implemented.

Hoping ArenaNet can do the same for shouts with Necro because just pushing a button to buff feels….idk just seems too simplistic for the Necro.

On the topic of its Death Shroud and Life Force: Arena Net has teased us with using our life force in a different way right? We also know that we’re still going to have to be able to enter Death Shroud because of its existing traitlines and traits that affect Shroud.

So what if Elite Specced Necros get to use Life Force in a similar way Revenants have an Energy Bar? What if our utilities, whatever they are, can utilize Life Force to have an empowered effect vs a normal one? This would introduce having to balance between using Life Force for Shroud or using it to empower whatever utilities are introduced with the elite spec.

I don’t think Life Force being at specific thresholds will be the main function because Arena Net has stated they’d like us to use Life Force in a different way and also they’re trying to move all the professions away from “don’t use your abilities to get benefits” like how Phantasm Mesmers couldn’t shatter, or Warrior’s wouldn’t use their Adrenaline for certain builds even though they also acknowledged Necro should still have some passive gains. It seems they are trimming those kinds of abilities down a lot.

EDIT: Added link of Necro Trait Revamp others can see Death Shroud and its associated skills will most likely stay the same because of associated traits.

Ojyh.9842:

OK, then there is no point to use those terms yourself.

I personnaly didn’t really like Thief as a name exactly for that reason. But the fact that this concept is something commonly admitted in fantasy worlds and that it is still pretty consistent I accepted it after a while.
But the thief is a profession, not a spec, so we don’t really need to find a coherent link with any larger concept he’s supposed to descend from. Actually I think I could ALMOST accept a Dragonhunter as a profession…

Ok but here’s the thing, choosing that elite spec changes our class icon and redefines how the class plays. Arena Net themselves even say that when you don’t use the elite spec then they expect you to tell people you’re a Ranger speccing into a,b,c. But if you choose the elite spec then you are a Druid who specs into c and d. We can even reduce that down into telling people you’re either a Ranger or a Druid. With the icon change you won’t even have to ask in most cases because you’ll just visually see it.

This is another reason why everyone is getting so confused on elite specs in general. Yes there is a base class you have to be in order to play one but once you choose to be that elite specialization you sort of have to see it as a stand-alone. That’s why they’re trying to drive that point home by changing the profession’s icon along with the choice.

Also the part that Dragonhunter theme takes from Guardian is being zealous in their pursuit of justice, they use the Light to do what they believe needs to be done. It’s basically a Guardian devoting themselves to a singular cause.

That’s the theme anyway, I really want to stress this point, it is just a theme. It does not mean you have to play your Dragonhunter as “hurr duur sylvari dragon minion, kill kill kill.”

A guardian is basically a paladin. Another “classical and unavoidable archetype found in any RPG”. There will also always be fantacial hunters in any RPG, whether they be Witchhunters, Demonhunters, VampireHunters, Vigilante of Stendarr. Etc etc.

Guardian is nothing new, It is basically a Paladin but with a name ArenaNet decided works better for their world.

Same with Elementalist, it is basically a Mage/Wizard but ArenaNet decided to choose Elementalist instead.

The Dragonhunter is basically a Witchhunter. ArenaNet just chose to change the first part because GW universe has Dragons being the biggest threat of the overall world.

I mean seriously just look at it is a Witchhunter then change the first part of the name to Dragon. That’s it.

And for people saying it’s too specific. Thief is also very specific of a name and archetype. Does that mean all of us Thieves go around stealing and killing whoever/whatever we feel like and just look out for ourselves? Hell no cuz if you play Personal Story as your Thief you do some pretty Unthiefy things like being a Commander and leading an army and just overall being unselfish. Necromancer would fit here too.

ArenaNet has said that the personal story and living world never focuses on your profession, that’s why Revenants aren’t gonna get some special tie-in to lore available only for them.

Look at all this controversy and discussion over the name, this is why Jon said that Dragonhunter is more of a high concept than something like a Chronomancer. Chronomancer barely requires thought, it’s a time mage, that’s it.

But Dragonhunter is basically a Witchhunter or aka Demonhunter but something more fitting for Tyria’s lore where most of the major world-affecting threats comes from dragons, hence Dragonhunter.

Witchhunters are usually hell bent on the eradication of witches/mages/spellcasters of any kind, does that mean in all the universes they exist all spellcasters are evil? No! It is just how the witchhunter perceives them. Same applies to demonhunters and demons.

They are zealous in their pursuit. Sometimes to the point of even utilizing the very magic their enemies use in order to bring them down. An example of this is Demonhunters from Diablo series having access to demonic magic themselves, or witchhunters in Elder Scrolls series utilizing conjuration magic to hunt down mages themselves.

So the Dragonhunter is the same way, a fanatical hunter that believes in eradicating all things to do with dragons. You cannot say this is true for every one in Tyria because since Sylvari are dragon minions then that would mean everyone would be killing all Sylvari, but we aren’t. Thus Dragonhunter, like witchhunter etc. has a special meaning in this context.

Requiring the explanation Jon and others, as well as I, have given is why Jon meant this elite specialization name is more subtle, nuanced, and high concept.

Chronomancer = time mage
Druid = nature magic

Those require little if any thought.

To understand Dragonhunter =/= anyone who hunts dragons requires more thought than the other two.

Whether you feel like all specialization names should require little or no thought, or enjoy them, is a different sentiment entirely. But there’s a lot basis for why ArenaNet decided on this name.

I’m just hoping the Necromancer Elite Specialization gives off this vibe!

But frankly I would be disappointed to get shouts <_<

Critwrench.8432:

Zaklex.6308:

Do you really give a rats butt what the name is?

After they showed us a teaser image prominently featuring Paragon-styled wings, and most people spent the last three days excited for Paragon, yes. There’s also a great many people who played Paragon in GW1 that now play Guardian in GW2. Adding to this, Guardian already has a great many elements of Paragon stuff in them (One of their PVP titles is even ‘Champion Paragon’), so when you show off the paragon wings in your teaser image, what are most people going to be looking forward to?

I’m at least willing to give the class a try, but EVERY player hunts the dragons, the pact hunts the dragons, the biconics hunt the dragons. Paragon is at least a unique name, Dragonhunter is hopelessly generic in this setting.

I’m not sure if you were here before the release of GW2. But it was said from before the release of GW2 that Guardians were what Paragons and Monks dissolved into (I use dissolve because of people who just wanted a Paragon or a Monk). This means Paragons could never be a profession or even subprofession because it’s already a core of what the Guardian is overall by design.

Also “Paragon Wings”: Whoever said they were Paragon Wings? In a lot of Fantasy RPG most “Warriors of the Light” are depicted as almost angels/angelic and those usually have feathery wings associated with them, this is a pretty generic thing by itself.

I can understand people who came into GW2 later than release hoping for Paragon. But if anyone was here in the beginning it was pretty obvious that Paragons would never become a thing, unless your only experience with Fantasy RPGs is solely GW1 and nothing else ever (which is very highly unlikely but still possible).

Also Dragonhunter isn’t any more generic than “Warrior” or “Ranger” or even “Necromancer”.

Well I thought if Thief would be getting Rifles then they’d be getting Trap Utilities, but with the Dragonhunter utilizing them I’m left wondering what utilities could work with a Rifle Thief?

This back and forth is strange. We only have to wait a couple more days to find out whether it will be longbow or shortbow. Although if what others have suggested before, I’ll take my chances with the longbow side. :P

Knighthonor.4061:

Shadow Knights had Scream skills so i dont see why Necromancer elite specialization cant have that as well.

It’s not that they can’t have it. It’s just a small amount of people wish it could be something else lol. Elixirs could be pretty cool. What necromancer doesn’t also dabble in alchemy for the most part :P

Wow I came to post about this too. As much as I dislike the idea of Necromancer’s getting shouts, only because it just sounds uninteresting. I have to agree that, barring the Revenant obtaining them, Necromancers seem the most likely candidate. Especially if “one specialization getting a defiance bar” is what the Necromancer’s Elite specialization allows them to do with lifeforce.

If we look at it right now, almost all really tanky professions have shouts (Warriors, Guardians, and Rangers), Necromancer is also tanky and is lacking shouts. Again it could go to the Revenant too but Roy said they are a dark knight-ish archetypal profession and usually those guys are lone wolves.

EDIT: Elementalists are a possible choice too as @DevilLordLaser discusses above. Plus if it is true Elementalists are receiving swords and they go a battle-mage route then it’s really possible they’ll be tanky enough to have shouts work for them too.

Weyrd.2794:

since there WILL be a reward track for the Elite specialization there is a strong likely hood that is what that reward track is for.

Gotta remember that ^

These aren’t just categories to put the skills in, they will be reward tracks, it makes very little sense that Ether Renewal and Tornado will be the only two things in the Tempest Reward Track (if they are not categorized as anything else).

Necros getting Greatsword and now Eles potentially getting Sword. I love how melee the casters in gw2 can become.

Neox.3497:

Mar.4839:

Every Skill is categorized into a Skill Type (even our Elite Skills).

Actually not.

https://wiki.guildwars2.com/wiki/List_of_elementalist_skills#Slot_skills

Ether Renewal and Tornado both have no category and both have even some “tempest” style to it.

Actually only Ether Renewal has no Type. Tornado is listed as a Transform, look again.

I highly doubt one line is going to just have one skill, that’s super illogical if you’re putting things into Categories. Since Fiery Greatsword is considered a Conjure and Glyph of Elementals is a Glyph it even makes less sense saving Tempest only for Tornado.

Also I don’t see how Ether Renewal feels Tempest-y at all.

Elementalist ELITE Specialization is “Tempest”!!

Evidence for why I believe so:

“Profession reward tracks are packages of skills, traits, specializations, and items that will make up the new unlock system. " (First paragraph under Profession Reward Tracks)

“There will be three categories of profession reward tracks, covering core specializations, core skills, and elite specializations.” (Third paragraph under Profession Reward Tracks)

So the 3 categories are:

- Core Specializations (Current Traits)
– Core Skills
– Elite Specializations

If we look back to the picture posted by OP it lists these categories in order from top to bottom.

Core Specializations (Current Traits)
– Fire Magic
– Water Magic
– Air Magic
– Earth Magic
– Arcane Magic

Core Skills (Right Side of Hot-bar)
– Signets
– Conjuration
– Cantrips
– Glyphs
– Arcana (Arcane)

The Core Skills are everything that has to do with the right side of the hot-bar. Healing Skills, Utilities, and Elite Skills.

Every Skill is categorized into a Skill Type (even our Elite Skills).

This means the last category shown therefore must be a part of Elite Specializations.

Elite Specialization
– Tempest

So there we have it, evidence-based post showing that Tempest is the name of the Elementalist Specialization (barring any name change from Arena Net from now until HoT release).

Ohh finally!!!! All this info definitely revitalizes looking forward to the expansion for me.

Zaklex.6308:

A few comments here, first in regards to the Revenant, though they said there would be more info coming, DO NOT expect to be told all of the Legends, Trait Lines and Skills that the Revenant will have. Just like the reveal of the original profession(classes) information, there will be some things you will only find out once in game and you’ve rolled that class.

You’ll most likely get an announcement saying that coming up in "x’ weeks we’ll begin talking about specializations, and that once they start each professions specialization will receive a broad overview of what it does, what weapon in might use, and a few of the skills. Keep in mind if you tell everything there is to know about every new thing, then there’s nothing to learn in game, and you have to save some of that for release.

Guild Halls, expect a very broad overview, with perhaps some details on acquisition, cost, etc.. We already know that we’ll have to discover them in the maps once HoT goes live, but we don’t know the how or when of that discovery.

Mastery information is pretty much complete as far as I’m concerned. I highly doubt they’d tell you ahead of time how many points it will take to complete all Masteries and what every Mastery is, they have to leave some mystery to these systems.

What’s everyone’s hurry, we know there’s an expansion coming, that should be enough if you’re really into the game, other wise, you’re just an information junkie.

No one is asking for every single detail of everything that’s coming in the expansion. It’s mainly just the three big features that have had very little or such a small snippet of information that they’re virtually unknown: Specializations, Guild Halls, “Challenging Group Content”.

For Specializations: The main thing I’m presuming a lot of people want to know is just – How much of a difference to gameplay and existing professions do they really make?

For Guild Halls: The main thing people would like is a very broad overview because we know nothing at all about them other than we’re getting them.

For “Challenging Group Content”: Again, same as Guild Halls, no nothing other than it will exist in the expansion.

I agree that Mastery information is basically complete, people are just asking for some low-level details <- most would consider this to be low priority compared to the big three above but discussion happens nonetheless.

For the Revenant, people just want to know the remaining weapons and legends. I’ll agree that we won’t get to know all the legends until in-game but each Profession page lists all the weapons that a Profession may use, I would think it’s not too much to hope for Revenant to get this same treatment.

Also it’s not that people are rushed, it’s more that we would like some more details because then we won’t have to wonder as much. Of course there’s always gonna be people who are disappointed by whatever information is released but I like to think those people are such a small minority.

This is so amazing, words can’t even describe!! It would be so nice if this was implemented into the game as a real adventure and the NPCs you talk to begin this is named after you and Blatoy xD

Great work!

Hello everyone I made a similar thread in the Warrior forum and it had a great turn out (aside from the little bit of arguing that occurred). I’m hoping for a similar effect here.

I will be making topics in the other profession forums as well because I want to aggregate all the comments and the best way to do so would be to post in each profession’s individual forum instead of just placing it in Players Helping Players because the professions’ forums get more traffic and are filled with players most knowledgeable about that particular profession!

Anyways, now with that out of the way I would like to know: What makes the Thief appealing to you?

Why do you enjoy playing the profession? It could be based on its theme or for other gameplay reasons, perhaps you enjoy the diverse amount of options available to the profession? Tell me anything and everything!

I’ve always been drawn to Rogue-like classes in RPGs, I enjoy being sneaky and agile. The thief delivers really well on this and I also love how you can also play one without having to rely on stealth. Thieves have such great movement capabilities in combat and I enjoy that they get to wield a sword and bow as well as daggers.

Hello everyone I made a similar thread in the Warrior forum and it had a great turn out (aside from the little bit of arguing that occurred). I’m hoping for a similar effect here.

I will be making topics in the other profession forums as well because I want to aggregate all the comments and the best way to do so would be to post in each profession’s individual forum instead of just placing it in Players Helping Players because the professions’ forums get more traffic and are filled with players most knowledgeable about that particular profession!

Anyways, now with that out of the way I would like to know: What makes the Ranger appealing to you?

Why do you enjoy playing the profession? It could be based on its theme or for other gameplay reasons, perhaps you enjoy the diverse amount of options available to the profession? Tell me anything and everything!

To me, the Ranger is the kind of hunter I’ve always envisioned in an RPG. While I don’t necessarily agree with having to be tied to pets, there’s a lot I love about the Ranger. Wielding bows on a Ranger is the most satisfying compared to other bow-wielding professions. I also enjoy how they do have a slight theme of utilizing potions and greatly enjoy the finesse they demonstrate when using sword/dagger. It really makes me feel adaptable when I’m playing one and I just really enjoy that theme on the Ranger.

Hello everyone I made a similar thread in the Warrior forum and it had a great turn out (aside from the little bit of arguing that occurred). I’m hoping for a similar effect here.

I will be making topics in the other profession forums as well because I want to aggregate all the comments and the best way to do so would be to post in each profession’s individual forum instead of just placing it in Players Helping Players because the professions’ forums get more traffic and are filled with players most knowledgeable about that particular profession!

Anyways, now with that out of the way I would like to know: What makes the Necromancer appealing to you?

Why do you enjoy playing the profession? It could be based on its theme or for other gameplay reasons, perhaps you enjoy the diverse amount of options available to the profession? Tell me anything and everything!

I love vampires and dark magic and themes related to souls and death and the Necromancer touches on aspects of all of these. Death Shroud makes me feel as unkillable as Death itself and I really enjoy their corruption utilities with the dynamic of harming the enemy with the cost of harming yourself in the process.

Hello everyone I made a similar thread in the Warrior forum and it had a great turn out (aside from the little bit of arguing that occurred). I’m hoping for a similar effect here.

I will be making topics in the other profession forums as well because I want to aggregate all the comments and the best way to do so would be to post in each profession’s individual forum instead of just placing it in Players Helping Players because the professions’ forums get more traffic and are filled with players most knowledgeable about that particular profession!

Anyways, now with that out of the way I would like to know: What makes the Mesmer appealing to you?

Why do you enjoy playing the profession? It could be based on its theme or for other gameplay reasons, perhaps you enjoy the diverse amount of options available to the profession? Tell me anything and everything!

Mesmer was actually my first main profession when the game began and I have just always wanted a spellsword class that could be well represented in an RPG AND that didn’t have to wear heavy armor. Arena Net pretty much nailed the vision I had except for the heavy use of illusions. While I no longer play it (for the time being) it is the profession I was instantly drawn to even before GW2 released when I was introduced to it in GW1 and will always be near and dear to my heart.

Hello everyone I made a similar thread in the Warrior forum and it had a great turn out (aside from the little bit of arguing that occurred). I’m hoping for a similar effect here.

I will be making topics in the other profession forums as well because I want to aggregate all the comments and the best way to do so would be to post in each profession’s individual forum instead of just placing it in Players Helping Players because the professions’ forums get more traffic and are filled with players most knowledgeable about that particular profession!

Anyways, now with that out of the way I would like to know: What makes the Guardian appealing to you?

Why do you enjoy playing the profession? It could be based on its theme or for other gameplay reasons, perhaps you enjoy the diverse amount of options available to the profession? Tell me anything and everything!

To me the Guardian has always reminded me of a Paladin, but what makes the Guardian more appealing to me than a traditional Paladin is that their power comes not from a particular oath or god but just having a strong faith in something. Also I love all the blue :P and feeling like such a protector with all the aegis and protection buffs.

Hello everyone I made a similar thread in the Warrior forum and it had a great turn out (aside from the little bit of arguing that occurred). I’m hoping for a similar effect here.

I will be making topics in the other profession forums as well because I want to aggregate all the comments and the best way to do so would be to post in each profession’s individual forum instead of just placing it in Players Helping Players because the professions’ forums get more traffic and are filled with players most knowledgeable about that particular profession!

Anyways, now with that out of the way I would like to know: What makes the Engineer appealing to you?

Why do you enjoy playing the profession? It could be based on its theme or for other gameplay reasons, perhaps you enjoy the diverse amount of options available to the profession? Tell me anything and everything!

The Engineer for me is actually the least appealing profession but only because I’ve never really enjoyed many of its themes except for one: Alchemy. I love that Engineers have access to so many different elixirs and how their effects play out because utilizing potions/elixirs has always appealed to me in RPGs.

Hello everyone I made a similar thread in the Warrior forum and it had a great turn out (aside from the little bit of arguing that occurred). I’m hoping for a similar effect here.

I will be making topics in the other profession forums as well because I want to aggregate all the comments and the best way to do so would be to post in each profession’s individual forum instead of just placing it in Players Helping Players because the professions’ forums get more traffic and are filled with players most knowledgeable about that particular profession!

Anyways, now with that out of the way I would like to know: What makes the Elementalist appealing to you?

Why do you enjoy playing the profession? It could be based on its theme or for other gameplay reasons, perhaps you enjoy the diverse amount of options available to the profession? Tell me anything and everything!

For instance, the Elementalist is appealing to me because of all the different types of magic it can wield, makes it seem very mage-y. By this I mean other than the fact that it has access to four elements but just the idea of utilizing glyphs, conjuring, and summoning really gives me that traditional wizard feeling of having a bunch of utility available for whatever situation you’re in.

Palador.2170:

To be fair, a recap on the PoI was expected, and this week they’re going on about PvP and another tournament. While I don’t give a rat’s buttocks about the PvP tournaments, they do have to be advertised in real time for the events. And when advertised, you don’t want them overshadowed by something else.

I do want more information about specializations guild halls, but … ::sigh:: But to be fair, I personally can’t fault them for no new information this week. I’m sure the PvP tournament will take the focus for a couple more weeks as well, here and there. I think ANet’s PvP fixation is unhealthy for the game, but it doesn’t surprise me.

Nah I feel it’s gonna be focused for next month too because all of May, every Sunday will be a tourney cup to qualify for the World Tournament Series in August.

I don’t think we’re gonna get any “meaty new information” in regards to PvE until an upcoming Beta or Convention. Big reveals seem to be reserved for those moments.

Zaklex.6308:

I snipped the other BS because it’s irrelevant, as for the above, your and numbers are wrong. There’s 9 specializations(Revenant gets 1 too), and it will be 1 per week, so that’s 9 weeks. Guild Halls will also most likely be 1 week, and another week for the additional Revenant information they said that would be coming. That’s a total of 11 weeks, practically one third of your count and a more realistic schedule. What you also have to add to that though are the Beta’s and then the tweaking from what ever feed back is given after those…there’s your additional time that could be anywhere from 2 weeks to 3 months, all depending on player feedback and what we break.

As for other topics like new weapons, armors, etc….well we already know there aren’t going to be any new weapons, as for new skins, that’s something you don’t even have to talk about before release. These blog posts and in depth looks are only for the major features in HoT, those they’ve already talked about, I highly doubt they would talk about again(except for Revenant). Why because then there’s nothing for the players to discover when you actually start playing the game.

The reason people are being generous about the weeks they spend discussing a particular topic is because lately they’ve been shown to do lots of recaps for information given prior to the current week. Then recaps for the recaps.

Regardless of whether they do recaps or not. At the pace of information they are deciding to share with us, they do seem to have enough to talk about between now and the release of the expansion without it having to feel like we’re starved for information (we being the very minority who check on the game weekly).

They are probably also holding back reveals for particular summer conventions and moments coming up, and I was correct in them doing covert interviews! (Like the one they had with the Hylek and then a previous one that included Colin, I can’t recall the topic but I think it was a Lewis B interview).

EDIT: Arena Net has a plan for sure, with contingencies of course, they’re just being hush hush about it. I’m only trying to take my mind off the game as a whole in the meanwhile until some specialization information pops up.

Most of us here aren’t clamoring for tons of content. We just mainly want to know about specializations and other features of the expansion that are going to be game-changers.

Arena Net doesn’t have to reveal anything that isn’t concrete yet but just like their blog post last week that looked into their idea design about masteries, something similar for specializations would be very welcomed.

Especially since we have no measurement of how different specializations will actually be since Arena Net has said one thing (that the specializations will change how you play a profession) but has revealed another (Rangers still utilize pets). People just want to get a general idea of just how much change in gameplay does a specialization bring to the table.

Of course you’re right on almost all accounts webtoehobbit. Their first iterations of things do tend to suck, and maybe that’s why they’re not happy enough with it to show to us yet.

Although I feel like player feedback could be very helpful in terms of identifying and pushing certain specializations to the vision Arena Net wants.

Palador.2170:

Mar.4839:

Think of it like how Elder Scrolls games tell their lore. They do it through in-game books. Why other games, especially MMOs, have not capitalized on this idea perplexes me, it’s such a good way to keep your players playing the game. Of course I’m not sure how they would do certain parts of the lore like Scarlet’s background, unless she kept a diary or something. But something I think Arena Net should look into for sure.

Actually, she did and they used that idea for a bit. It was great, save for the fact that so many hated Scarlet already. If it had been for another important character, I think it would have been much better received.

Mar.4839:

Also the bit about looking forward to hearing our constructive feedback when we get to try the Mastery system…….. sneaky way of letting us know another Beta is looming soon..? (By soon I mean a minimum of 4 weeks away)

<< C’mon Arena Net >>

They also said they were listening to our feedback on the NPE and the Trait system changes. Look where that got us. What they say and what they do are two different things.

One final thought: Let’s all remember that any lore that appears OUTSIDE of the game is not considered canon. This was stated by ANet themselves, as I recall. So, anything we read in a blog is entirely open to change before or after the expansion launches. Keep that in mind.

But they have plans for changing the NPE and Trait system, it’s just not here yet and they never said it was coming anytime soon. Imo I think we’ll get them either really close to HoT release or with HoT’s release.

Just like the Personal Story revamp, they have already talked about what they are going to change and what they fixed and etc but Bobby said the earliest it would come, if it does, is in 2 months from when he made that post. So even though they’ve done a lot of work on it already it seems like they take their time on their “polishing phase” of whatever game system they’re working on unless it’s pretty critical (like the pet passive bug that plagued us for a while).

Honestly for a lot of core changes to the game, like the condition cap and revisiting existing class skills/traits/etc. seem to be coming but wayyyyyyyyyy down the line. I wish I could still enjoy the game in the meantime but I can’t. So i’ll just log for log-in rewards and go do something else in the meantime until some major news pops up again.

But as for people saying that if they show everything now then we’ll have nothing for months on end, I highly doubt it. Just look at how many new (but relatively small) things they’re making blog posts about. They easily have enough information to tide us over for 4 straight months of new, relatively big, reveals. Especially if what was said at the fan meet is true and they want to dedicate 1 week per specialization. That’s 9 weeks right there, and 18 if they decide to spread them out by an extra week, and that’s just specializations.

It doesn’t even touch on:
Guild Halls <- can be separated into several (2-4) weeks discussing certain aspects, just like Revenant being split up
Challenging Group content <- can be seperated into several (2-4) weeks too if they’re going to look at dungeons, fractals, and possibly “raids” -gasp-

These three major features can easily quell those of us wanting news that is relatively big (compared to lore about NPC races), stuff that affects a wide variety of gameplay systems within the GW2 world from 4-8 months.

Especially if they decide to do as much recapping as they are clearly doing right now with Stronghold, Masteries, and HoT Story.

This isn’t even touching on Closed Betas and Beta Weekends which were held 1-2 months apart. It’s also not touching on weeks about the other NPC races and creatures that they said they will talk more about.

Honestly I feel they have a year’s worth of information to give if we were to get relatively big news every other week. There’s clearly a lot of topics they still haven’t gotten to yet.

That is why many people here on the forums, including me, are just wondering why so much fluff lately. I believe they’ve worked a lot on HoT content, but with the way they’re spacing out the information they’re giving us so far, they can easily extend an extra year of working on the expansion before running out of information to blog post about.

bigbobpataki.4796:

So let me get this straight, you want them to release more information, but just about certain aspects of the game? But not only that, but that anet should avoid certain topics? Pretty hard to please. And I doubt the small previews they have given are “spoilers”.

I think they just mean they’d like to be able to uncover all the lore within the game. I don’t believe that’s too much to ask for and actually I think most people prefer lore to be available in-game most of the time anyway.

Think of it like how Elder Scrolls games tell their lore. They do it through in-game books. Why other games, especially MMOs, have not capitalized on this idea perplexes me, it’s such a good way to keep your players playing the game. Of course I’m not sure how they would do certain parts of the lore like Scarlet’s background, unless she kept a diary or something. But something I think Arena Net should look into for sure.

I’m still disappointed there’s nothing on Specializations yet but my disappointment is a little bit curbed from these blog posts. The way they’re delving into all these facets of the HoT content actually feels like before GW2 originally released. I’m starting to believe HoT will be worthy of being called an “expansion.”

Also the bit about looking forward to hearing our constructive feedback when we get to try the Mastery system…….. sneaky way of letting us know another Beta is looming soon..? (By soon I mean a minimum of 4 weeks away)

<< C’mon Arena Net >>

PorceleinEve.2973:

Andred.1087:

As if they won’t all come running back when the expansion drops.

Seriously you people need to chill. I don’t know what you’ve got in your heads that makes you think you deserve more information ASAP. Your knowledge of the expansion has no bearing on when it will be released or what content will be in it. It is purely selfish to desire that information, as the only purpose served in knowing it is self-satisfaction. And even then, you’ll get annoyed in 2 weeks if they don’t give more info that you specifically want to see.

ANet has a plan for releasing the info. They’ve probably worked out the entire thing by now, up to the last blog post. But there is no sense in talking about it. You’ll just have to exercise some patience. Is that too much to ask?

No, no we won’t. It all depends on the relation of cost of the expansion, content of the expansion and what else i have to play at that time. I get it, you think we ‘re all lemmings here, but we’re not. Not all of us.

In my head there’s the notion that I am a consumer. And as a consumer, I need to know what is going to be in this expansion to make the informed decision I need to make. Do I continue playing gw2 now, so I can dive into the expansion when it lands, or, do i drop gw2 now, go play pillars of eternity, and come back much later, since i won’t buy the expansion till it is on sale. See? I can’t make that decision based on the info I’ve got, cause I haven’t got much. Others want to know if it’s smart to start lvling up this or that class, lvl up that or the other crafting profession, work on their ascended, or fractals, or gather the mats for a legendary. They can’t make those decisions cause they haven’t got the info.

Our knowledge of the content of the expansion is very important. We need it, so we can provide feedback. After all the expansion is aimed at pleasing us, the consumers, who will spend money and consume it. And it is in their best interests, and ours, to let them know that feature X is a really stupid idea or feature Y is a really great one. If they have no clue what we like, how on earth they gonna produce something that most folks will enjoy? The game is 3 years old already. They only got this one chance. If this expansion tanks, or is too small, or too boring, or too grindy and fails, the game will probably get in trouble. And since everyone in here loves the game enough to come post about it, it’s us that will get hurt if the game tanks. The casuals and the mmo tourists will move to another mmo.

So, plenty of reasons to give us more info. Best one of all, is to ease everyone’s mind that they really know what they’re doing. Cause the biggest fear imo in here is that they don’t.

Couldn’t have said it better myself, really. I’m glad for the delve into these new hylek creatures we received today and the blog post and gameplay tomorrow but as of continuing to log into GW2 I’m just gonna finish my week of log-in dailies and that’s it.

There’s no desire within to play the game anymore, I may be just one player but what is outlined above is exactly how I feel. I want to know if there’s things in the expansion I’d like to be working towards.

I have such a hard time sticking to a class right now, maybe the specializations will be enough to sway me one way and finally be able to decide, but as of right now with that information unavailable it makes playing the game very dull. I need to have one main class to identify with in order to enjoy my time with the game.

Of course we will be back come the expansion but that’s not the point. The point is they’re not doing a whole lot to keep players retained to the game currently and steady new information about the expansion would’ve been one swell way to do it.

From introducing these lore bits and the fact that they will have more to talk about the other creatures that will be introduced in HoT it really seems this expansion is much further away from being released than how they made it originally sound.

I cannot imagine Arena Net bombarding us with substantially information every week as the expansion gets closer based off of how they’re currently disseminating their information right now. To me this shows that the expansion probably not going to release until next year. I suppose I will just have to do something else to keep myself occupied and come back months later to check on their progress.

^ Exactly, it isn’t that we want just any news. We want more details on things that haven’t been explored yet. Even if that information itself is spread out like they are doing with the Revenant where we did not get all of its information at once. If they did the same thing with say Guild Halls and talk about a certain part of it now but another part of it later, I’m sure most of us would enjoy that. This way Arena Net is able to give information at a steady pace and people won’t feel like there are “dry spells” of new information (which is honestly what has been happening recently).

At first I was surprised to see an Open Beta for Stronghold but then I remembered that it will be available to everyone regardless of if they purchase HoT or not so maybe it could also be something they release before HoT.

I would just feel much better if they spaced out their reveals better. I understand we’re getting a 24 hour Stronghold beta this coming Tuesday but that reveals nothing new at all.

If anything it just seems to be stalling for more time in order to not reveal new information. Just seems strange to have such a long lull, it’s been almost a month without any substantially new information. All we’ve had are tidbits for PvP (which we still seem to continue having) and recaps/spotlights and gem store releases.

Precursor Crafting, which was just one blog post a couple weeks ago, is probably the biggest info we have for PvE.

I feel this coming week will be all about the Stronghold Open Beta and then next week a recap, so effectively it gives them another two weeks of not having to give any new information. So sad, I don’t even do dailies anymore, just log-in for the reward and that’s it. I gotta know what I’ll be working towards in order to start working on it.

@OP: I don’t think I’ve ever seen any MMORPG introduce a re-class option unless it was in the game or planned to be in the game from the get-go. The technical reason is really the only reason needed and you already acknowledge that yourself.

I understand your wish though, I do think it would be cool to be able to have a character switch classes, but only through some long or hard journey. But again I think the game needs to be designed before launch with this in mind, just like FF11 and FF14 to name a few MMORPGs that do have this option.