Guild Wars 2

Yeah, I’ve always thought about how much more immersive the world could be if people interacted with you differently based on your race. Think Skyrim and how some people make unique ‘passing by’ comments based on your race and such.

To extend things further, it would be cool if your personal story was affected by your profession as well. Imagine you’re a Charr elementalist and your story starts off by everyone around you making comments that question your use of magic instead of steel, as would be canon. As you progress, the leaders begin to realise that hey, you aren’t just a weakling and begin to acknowledge you as a hero for your actions rather than your fighting style.

So one of the things that’s been bugging me about GW2 is the amount of skills available per weapon for a given class. 5 for two-handed, 3 for main hand and 2 for off hand (excluding elementalists).

Now yes, most classes have ‘weapon switch’ capabilities and therefore have access to 10 weapon skills at any given time, and that’s great. But what if I want a warrior power build with the mobility and playstyle that I get by using a sword? That’ll never happen with the current system, which is a shame because the sword has always been my favourite weapon to use but I prefer burst power stats.

My suggestion is to add a new mastery system that pertains specifically to a class’ weapons. For example, by progressing the ‘tree’ for swords, I can unlock abilities to replace the standard ones (for example, higher direct damage attacks which apply vulnerability), so that one is then able to use the sword for a power build. Likewise, this could apply to all other weapons.

My motivation for this is three-fold:
- More build variation: I don’t want to be forced to use a scepter for 100hrs+ just because I like playing condi necromancer. Slot skills have huge customisation potential because there are many of them. Weapons, not so much.
- Aesthetics: Greatswords are cool, but what if I want to roam around like a knight in shining armour with a sword and shield, without compromising on my warrior’s damage potential?
- Fun: Weapon skills get dry, plain and simple. The elite spec mastery system introduced in HoT is a breath of fresh air to classes, but I feel like the weapon system has been somewhat left behind in that regard (excluding the addition of new weapons, but again they fulfil very niche purposes). Similar to the first point, I don’t want to have to use a weapon I don’t find as fun to play just because it’s the only viable weapon for a given build.

I hope this doesn’t come across as too complain-y, because I absolutely love the dynamic, active combat system that GW2 has. It’s one of those things that keeps me drawn to this MMO in comparison to others. I just feel like the weapons could be given a bit of a touch-up to make them more interesting to experiment with.

Inculpatus cedo.9234:

Maybe, maybe not. The reason purchases were refunded last time was due to miscommunication in the FAQ pages, which seemed to indicate one would need to purchase the Core game in order to access HoT.

That issue is unlikely to happen this time around. I would not count on a refund, unless the purchase of HoT is within days of Expansion 2’s pre-purchase release, and one then pre-purchases Expansion 2 immediately.

Hmm, that would make sense.

I suppose in that case the options left are either buying from a cheap 3rd party, waiting for a sale or waiting a few months for the new expansion. As RupertAndi mentioned, they might have a sale soon so I’ll keep an eye out for that.

If pre-purchasing does not allow access to HoT content immediately, I guess I’ll buy HoT in the next month because I don’t want to go through the cycle of running out of content, quitting the game and then missing another expansion pack again haha.

Thanks for the help, everyone

Healix.5819:

Back when HoT was announced, they revealed that they would bundle all expansions together and only offer the latest one, just as the core game was bundled into HoT.

If you want to assume that’ll still happen, do not buy HoT from 3rd parties, as it’ll essentially be a waste of money unless you want to gamble on what the bonuses will be. For example, owning the core game granted you an outfit and a free character slot for pre-purchasing the expansion. The expansion should be revealed shortly after the final episode, which should be released within the next month. Although the expansion certainly won’t be out for several months at the very least, pre-purchasing will likely be made available within the next 2 months. If ArenaNet repeats how they handled HoT, anyone purchasing HoT directly from the store at this time will be refunded upon purchasing the next expansion. This is why 3rd parties are a waste of money, as they’ll receive the potential bonuses instead of a refund.

If you just want to buy HoT right now and don’t care about the refund, it can currently be found for $15.

So if I purchase the HoT expansion pack AFTER pre-purchases for the new expansion begin, I will receive a full refund for it as well as the bonuses? And a 3rd party would still provide the bonuses, only it won’t provide the refund?

I’ve recently come back to GW2 after a long hiatus, and as a result I haven’t bought the HoT expansion yet.

I’ve leveled up a new Necro to 63, and once I hit 80 I’ll max crafting professions and get full exotic before considering to purchase HoT – I reckon that’ll take me about a month from now.

I’ve heard people mention that pre-ordering the expansion when it is released would give me instant access to HoT between then and the actual release of the new expansion, is that the case?

My motivation for potentially buying HoT now before the new expansion is that, by the time I played LS2, the maps were fairly dead and I don’t want my HoT experience to be ruined by lack of players (especially since I hear it is full of group content) – something which I fear might happen when the new expansion comes out.

… also, I wanna glide

Anyway, what would you suggest is the best option, given that I’d be purchasing HoT in about a month if I decided to do so? Finances aren’t a major issue, but at the same time I don’t want to spend money when I don’t need to.

Thanks in advance peeps

(Side note – I’ve been there got the t-shirt when it comes to a lot of core content. Aside from dungeons and fractals, there’s not much left to do so HoT would keep me satisfied until the new expansion)

Hmm, maybe I’ll have to give HoT a go as soon as possible then… Thanks for the advice.

Regarding deleting characters, are birthday gifts that valuable though? I mean the lvl 20/30 boosters I have received thus far are quite useful especially in cases like these when I’m creating new toons, but I’m not sure whether they are worth the £8.50 that a new character slot costs. That’s the only reason I haven’t bought any more slots yet really.

Hey all

So I’m wanting to start a new character (I’m a bit of an altaholic at the moment) and I have one character slot left – not buying a new one for the time being. I don’t currently own HoT, but I’m planning to buy it in the near future.

I have a Warrior, Ranger, Elementalist and Necromancer.
- Warrior bores me a bit because it’s just a bit cookie-cutter I guess, but it’s always a useful class to have for group content and when when I’m not feeling the ranged caster life.
- Ranger same as warrior, but I definitely want to spec her as a druid when I get HoT to have a healer character.
- Elementalist is my DPS caster and I enjoy the mechanics when I’m in the mood for an active playstyle.
- Necromancer is my overall favourite because I love the skillset and I just find it the most fun to play.

I’m stuck between starting a Guardian or a Mesmer, because I want to level a support character of some sort that can still handle their own in PvE. As said above, the playstyle of warrior and ranger bores me a bit, and elementalist is sometimes a bit too complex, so I’m looking for something in between mechanics-wise.

Really I just want to cover all the bases, so I guess the main aspects I’m looking for is:
- Fits well into the character composition I currently have (i.e. adds something new)
- Provides a good amount of utility to a team, but also does well for solo PvE content
- Is fun to play, but not overly complex, but not too plain either (my preferred playstyle is somewhere in between)

I guess another option would be to have both of them and get rid of one of my current characters (except for Necro, he’s my baby) if they would do a better job. Recommendations for that setup are also welcome.

Based on these bits of info, which would you recommend I pick up? Thanks in advance!