Guild Wars 2

Rin.1046:

I really like the sounds of this specialization, but it does raise one question in my mind. With the benefits of the elite spec being so strong, will anyone ever create a build without it? Of course when other elite specs come along that might change, but it seems too strong to only use core specs. But maybe that’s the plan?

Its going to come down to two elements – how the shatter change actually works (PLEASE ANET, get the blog post up and tell us these things ) and buildcrafting. If there are strong builds that rely on three of the existing trait lines in specific content, then that should encourage people to still play mesmers rather than Chronomancers.

We really need to see the new traits, skills and specifics of how the core mechanic (shattering) changes what we can do to make the determination.

The beta portals are available via PvE events because it will be a beta event designed to test and evaluate PvE portions of the game. It only makes sense that they want players passionate about PvE to do that.

Remember – it isnt about rewarding any group of players – its about making sure the people who are testing the content are the people who care alot about – and will have the most valuable feedback regarding – that content.

I think the confusion is coming because people that were in the first stress test still have a beta character sitting on their log in screen and clicking on it gives you a message saying you cannot log in on that character because “no beta test is currently in progress.” Additionally, the website copy is very unclear on the issue and never once makes a definitive statement related to HOT betas.

While the likely scenario is that previous beta testers do not gain automatic entry into the next test and will need to find a portal even if they see a beta slot on their log in screen now, the wording is very ambiguous and could use clarification. It would avoid some headaches later on from those assuming they do have access but do not.

Conncept.7638:

Blaeys.3102:

Regarding elixir infused bombs – yes, maybe that exact build is gone (I run it too), but the trait that causes all blast finishers to heal should more than make up for it, especially when paired with the “all heals are blast finishers” and evasive powder keg = finisher (blast finisher every time you dodge) traits. Add to that the very long range heal from the mortar (which we havent really been able to use much in the past). I can see a brand new – and probably stronger – cleric engi emerging.

It won’t replace it to any degree. Even if the new trait does put out the same amount of healing, it won’t provide that point blank maniacal ‘gotta go fast’ PBAoE playstyle that rewarded you for crazily getting up in your enemies face and just repeatedly blowing up in every fashion and form imaginable, all while sustaining yourself a hairsbreadth above death.

The new trait will probably be just as viable for sustain bunkers, heck most likely even more so, but it won’t provide the playstyle that is being lost.

But if your goal is to be a cleric engineer – a true healing engineer – what we’re getting is a step in that direction. If your goal is to stand toe to toe in the boss’s face and help your party while blowing up the enemy, that looks like it will be possible as well. The key, if the traits they have stay (and they said engi is the farthest from being polished), will be cycling blast finishers with your (and your party’s – very important) combo fields. Shield 4, big ol bomb, dodge rolls, your heal, overcharging turrets, detonate mine, flame blast, acid bomb, supply crate – you have a lot of choices (again, with dodge rolls and your actual heals probably being the primary source). The great thing is most of the kits we have that have blast finishers also have the ability to drop combo fields (including the bomb kit).

It will probably take a little more thought than blindly dropping bombs at your feet, but it will also, most likely be rewarded with more powerful and consistent heals.

Im not saying this is how it will absolutely be (it’s too early to do that) – Im saying the crazy exploding healing cleric frontline dungoneer should be just as viable (more so, most likely) than it is now. It may not look EXACTLY the same – it sounds like it will be even more fun.

It’s hard to think of a build/playstyle that exists now that will not exist after this change – with many of those gaining new utility. I know the builds I play most often should all see bumps in efficiency.

It will be interesting to see if any new ways to play mesmer emerge.

Given that most traits are still there – just either merged or now baseline – I doubt any actual viable playstyles will be lost (we may actually be gaining some, but it’s too early to tell).

Regarding elixir infused bombs – yes, maybe that exact build is gone (I run it too), but the trait that causes all blast finishers to heal should more than make up for it, especially when paired with the “all heals are blast finishers” and evasive powder keg = finisher (blast finisher every time you dodge) traits. Add to that the very long range heal from the mortar (which we havent really been able to use much in the past). I can see a brand new – and probably stronger – cleric engi emerging.

You may want to move this thread to somewhere other than the PvP section to get a wider range of questions.

My questions (which I posted in another thread as well):

1. Will the specializations have six lines from which to choose three to activate or will their new trait line replace one of the options available to the base class (meaning they would have five to choose from just as the base class does)? If the former, will there still be incentive to play the base classes or are they intended to offer less choice than a specialized player?

2. Please give us even one example (from the druid maybe, since we know that profession is coming) of how you are changing the profession mechanic, which in the case of the ranger/druid would be pet management and interaction. This would give us an idea of how much new flavor/gameplay the specializations will have compared to the base classes.

1. Will the specializations have six lines from which to choose three to activate or will their new trait line replace one of the options available to the base class (meaning they would have five to choose from just as the base class does)? If the former, will there still be incentive to play the base classes or are they intended to offer less choice than a specialized player?

2. Please give us even one example (from the druid maybe, since we know that profession is coming) of how you are changing the profession mechanic, which in the case of the ranger/druid would be pet management and interaction. This would give us an idea of how much new flavor/gameplay the specializations will have compared to the base classes.

These changes seem huge and look like a step in a very good direction.

The real challenge that Anet will face is making sure some of the most popular and fun builds that currently exist in the game remain viable. When looking at a single trait line, were going from 13 choices in the grandmaster slot down to just 3. That is a pretty big jump. Those three choices at grandmaster will have to be role defining.

I think they will make it work and make it fun, but, in the back of my mind, I cant help but worry a little about over-simplifying the game – the way similar design choices cut player customization in other games. Playing around with new builds is a huge part of the game for me.

Again, though, I think they can pull it off – especially as they add in new abilities, weapons, core mechanics and future specialization choices.

Vargamonth.2047:

Blaeys.3102:

I think at least some of the challenging content will come toward the end of the mastery lines. Things like this -

“You’ve become honored among the Exalted. You can now challenge their champion each day and unlock their finest treasures within the Forgotten City.”

I suspect we will see similar mechanics/encounters associated with the guild progression system they mentioned.

I do believe these things will be open world, but will be soft gated in ways that make sense and discourage zerging. At least that is my hope. I also hope people give them a chance and dont just go with the shortsighted “its not instance so it must suck” attitude.

And, it does look like fractals are in for some real love.

Since access is unlocked individually, I’m expecting those mastery champion challenges to be more like Queen Gauntlet fights, where you face a somewhat complex enemy on your own.

Most likely. However, they’ve also mentioned that they plan to discuss guild progression at some point – and that it will be a major feature in HOT.

My hope is the guild progression looks a lot like the mastery system and includes difficult encounters that guilds can unlock similar to the example above.

A lot of speculation right now, but that really is all we can do at this point.

I think at least some of the challenging content will come toward the end of the mastery lines. Things like this -

“You’ve become honored among the Exalted. You can now challenge their champion each day and unlock their finest treasures within the Forgotten City.”

I suspect we will see similar mechanics/encounters associated with the guild progression system they mentioned.

I do believe these things will be open world, but will be soft gated in ways that make sense and discourage zerging. At least that is my hope. I also hope people give them a chance and dont just go with the shortsighted “its not instance so it must suck” attitude.

And, it does look like fractals are in for some real love.

guywithcrabs.7890:

Well judging by the fact that I would consider GW2 a MMORPG, i’m just really surprised at the sheer amount of people actually upset about lore being put in this weeks blog post instead of the other features. If you think about it they did bring up one of the masteries in this blog since interacting with the Itzel will be part of Master Lore. As was said before, to each their own but dang this blog was really interesting if you ask me.

It’s not really a large number of people. Always find it amazing how much noise a very small group can make on game forums.

rotten.9753:

Blaeys.3102:

Just a word of well-intended advice – you might be taken more seriously (or taken seriously at all) if you spent a little less time raging at/insulting other players and more actually making your case.

To the point, the piece was about lore, which is as much a part of the game to many as mechanics are to the more competitive players. Yes – we want to know about specializations/guild halls/difficult content (and I suspect they could give us more information about these if they really wanted to, but are “saving” it to stretch out the publicity cycle) – but some are actually interested in things like this as well. Nothing silly about it.

And who says no one takes him seriously? Because I do and probably a majority of people reading this forum (see, I can claim bs as well as you do).

This week is simply yet another wasted week of filler content which isn’t interesting at all. Who cares about lore? Roleplayers? Normal players (a majority) care about gameplay.

The way the argument is made (using insults and hyperbole rather than actually arguing the merits of his concerns) isn’t going to elucidate a real discussion – it’s just going to inflame and choke the forum with antagonistic back and forth (which is exactly what it did).

I’m not saying he didnt have a point – I’m saying make the argument for your case – don’t just simply argue for the sake of arguing.

Finally, I know you probably didnt mean it in a disparaging manner – but realize that roleplayers are normal players. We all need to get out of the mindset that just because people don’t play the same as we do, that doesnt make their perspective or needs in the game any less important than anyone else’s.

My guild and I grouped in teamspeak after playing most of the night last night to gather feedback and discuss. The following is based on our conversation -

First off, we all loved the new map/mode for the most part. It was fun and seems like a great addition to the game. Like Nike mentioned above, the best part is it actually opens the door to more diverse play styles.

We did see a few minor issues/things we think could be improved however.

1. First, this game mode simply CANNOT share a queue with conquest. This is primarily because of the build diversity that is involved. My mesmer will run very different traits, runes and gems between the two modes – and Im sure that is true of most classes.

2. We believe the map would be more fun and dynamic if it were 8v8 rather than 5v5. There is a lot to do on this map. 8v8 would be closer to a guild vs guild playstyle and would mean more player v player fights.

3. We did start to see a zerg-lane meta starting to form toward the end of the night. Offense seems to be the way to go in organized matches – with no thought toward defense. This could potentially lead to a very boring meta in which both teams are simply racing down their lanes with pure zerker/damage builds and ignoring the other side. We arent sure how to fix this (but suspect 8v8 might alleviate the concerns some) – maybe adding in some better defensive capabilities or making the doorbreakers less powerful/easier to kill than they are now.

Again, we loved the new game mode – just our general thoughts after only a few hours of play (which we admit isnt much).

Early on, while doing missions, members of my guild started making fun of me because I seemed to aggro every deer in the game – every time. The guild would be killing some bounty target and I’d be busy fending off the crazed pack of bambis trying to kill me.

So now, we assume they made the “Deer Commander” title just for me.

My favorite titles (and minis) are the ones that have nothing to do with how we got them, but that remind us (however indirectly) of things we’ve done together in game.

That said, I do like my mini Clockheart because it did require at least some effort to acquire.

Given that the new precursors may (probably will) involve customized collections and quest-style mechanics to acquire, I have no problem with a staggered roll out of the new legendaries post-launch.

I would rather they take the time and put effort into making the path to getting each of them as epic and unique as possible. If that means they aren’t all ready by launch, I’m fine with that.

That said, it’s always amazing to see people freak out because of a poorly-worded ambiguous sentence in a blog. “First handful” could very easily mean one of each with even more to come in the future. We just don’t know – ergo the sky-is-falling reactions from the less patient forum posters.

I think it all depends on how far they are willing to deviate from the original professions and their core mechanics.

For example, if they were to replace the phantasm or clone abilities for the mesmer with something else, that would require changes to every weapon the mesmer uses (as well as many traits). Likewise, if they changed thief initiative or ele attunements, that would require tweaking every weapon ability for those professions in some way.

Like others have said, though – we wont know until they tell us.

It really does seem to be the biggest piece of the picture still missing. Hopefully we can get a better idea soon.

This is just a simple – and, for many of us – enjoyable April Fools Day joke. For posters on this forum to try and associate it in any way with the recent tragedy is insulting and inflammatory, at minimum.

It is really easy to draw lines between things that, in reality, have nothing to do with each other. For example, different races fight against each other every day in GW2 pvp, but I don’t think anyone sees that as a statement about, or allusion to, racial strife in the real world.

I think we are seeing a lot of these posts because people don’t like the joke (which is okay) but realize simply stating that wouldn’t have the same impact as trying to incite moral outrage (which is ridiculous in this case – its just a simple April Fool’s Day joke).

Having players stick their arms out to the side and giving the screen a 1950s aviation film feel isn’t a social statement or allusion to anything – it’s just a fun little joke (which will be gone later today anyway).

Same. This event was a huge home run. The guild had a lot of fun and a lot of laughs tonight.

Great job, Anet.

Sold Out Again.4129:

Blaeys.3102:

Rightfully so, this is not something that should hold up the launch of the expansion.

I don’t really understand this definition of ‘holding up the expansion’. An expansion is supposed to be a finished product, not half of one, the second half to be patched in later when they feel like it. Or is this something among the lines of…

If a few weapon skins make up a full half of the expansion, then there are bigger issues at hand (might consider toning down the hyperbole).

What I meant by this is that there are things I expect day one and things I think can wait just a little longer so we can actually get the game faster. Putting the groundwork to get these things into the game in place is what matters.

I expect a full expansion when it launches. However, I also expect periodic additions post launch as well, including new fractals, ongoing living story steps, new maps (ala Dryptop and Silverwastes) additional mastery lines, new pvp maps and, yes, additional legendary weapons. Just as importantly, I expect Anet to use good judgement about what constitutes a full expansion and when that is ready (and which elements might take just a little longer to get to us).

I see the expansion as adding two VERY important things day one – a significant amount of new things to do in the game and (just as important), the foundation needed to more quickly add content via free updates in the short term future. Give us that, and the expansion will be a success.

KOPPER.1458:

Warlords seen 7 new dungeons and 2 raids. No new race, No new class. So it would seem that Zudets numbers are slightly off. Not by much mind you.

I did a video on this but lets compare for fun.

5: Level cap +10 — Zero and that is a good thing in my opinion.

I would cite masteries with this bullet point, as they specifically talked about that being their progression model moving forward.

Compared to WOD, in terms of pure features, it seems like HOT will measure up quite well – probably exceeding that game’s expansion in content and playable time (and, just as important, replayability).

Of course, we wont know until we see the scope of each feature they’ve listed.

You wont see an official response on this because, most likely, they simply don’t know themselves.

It is logical to assume they are working on all of them (and the associated mastery paths for each) and will include the ones that are ready when the game launches.

Rightfully so, this is not something that should hold up the launch of the expansion.

I am fine with this. It looks like they are tailoring the path we take to each precursor based on the nature of that precursor (eg, partying and hunting for Moot). I would rather they take their time and develop legendary paths in the game for each and every legendary. And, at the same time, I would rather they not delay the launch of HOT to do so.

For me, the path to a legendary should be something memorable – something you’re reminded of every time you look at that legendary – even going so far as to add in unique instanced encounters associated with certain weapons (For example, fighting a massive air elemental at the end of the Zap sword chain).

As much as some people want the devs to have a magic button that spits out instant content a few seconds after they announce it, the reality is doing something like this right should take time – and if, in the mean time, they feel that the expansion is ready, it shouldnt be held up by that progress.

I would rather they abandon the idea of rambling dungeons that pull people out of the main game for extended periods of time and, instead, focus on smaller, more challenging instanced content (single fights instanced for 5 players).

Not only would it be more fun, but it would a more sustainable model – allowing them to add in challenging 5 person content quicker thank the dungeon model does now.

As for whether dungeons will be a part of HOT, it is pure speculation, but I believe the focus for 5 person parties will be heavily on Fractals rather than dungeons. I dont think we will see new dungeons, but I do think major additions to fractals may be a reality.

I think you have a valid discussion here, but you’re burying it in hyperbole, supposition and name calling.

If HOT were released and it was roughly equivalent to a living story season, is that something we should be expected to pay for when the modus operandi to date has been to provide that level of content for free?

I don’t think there is anything to worry about for two reasons – 1. HOT should be considerably more content than we saw with either of the two living story seasons and 2. The living story should continue to expand the world post HOT (whether it should be expanding it now as we wait for the expansion is another topic addressed in MANY other threads).

Specifically to the first point, let’s look at what we received in season two:

• 38 living story chapters
• Dry top and Silverwastes
• Minor gameplay changes through the September Feature Pack

I dont see the expansion being anywhere near that small. I fully expect the story they are adding with the expansion to be significantly longer than 38 episodes, in addition to multiple new (multi level) maps, wvw additions and the pvp growth. The fractal mastery line makes me thing big things are coming there as well. Add to that continued living story post HOT and we should have a lot to look forward to.

I also believe much of this expansion is about setting the groundwork for easier addition of content through living story. Things like specializations and masteries just scream flexible design and fast addition.

TL;DR – I don’t think there is anything to worry about. The expansion should be considerably more content than we’ve seen with either living story chapter.

As a stress test, I think – at least on my computer and in the instances I was in – the game passed with flying colors.

Of the little gameplay we were able to see (and keeping in mind this is an early stress test), I was sufficiently impressed.

The things I would point to specifically that could use improvements at this time -

1. The mastery screen is not very intuitive. Was never sure how many mastery points I had invested or how it was advancing. This seemed to be the case with many, given how many tried to use the mushrooms and couldnt.

2. The Wyvern could be a little tougher – even as an early encounter (most just a balance issue though).

3. I interacted with a tendril and found myself in the adventure without really knowing why. I then jumped off the edge and couldn’t glide (because I was in the adventure). Could be more intuitive.

I also would worry about the validity of how much stress you actually put on the condi stacking. Since everyone was on a revenant, and people werent experienced with how that profession stacks torment, there were never many condi stacks on any target that I saw.

Overall, the stress test was an enjoyable experience and leaves me hoping the data they’ve collected means they are ready to take the next step.

The mastery system just doesn’t make sense for pvp. Masteries are meant to provide a kind of abilities-based progression for players at max level. Adding progression (other than reward tracks and finishers, which we have) to pvp would segment the people who can be paired against one another in matches and makes wins dependent more upon your masteries than actual skill.

TL;DR – it makes sense that masteries should be pve only.

I don’t think a rollback is warranted or necessary, but I do think they should consider reverting the changes they made with Monday’s patch until they fix the guild chat issues.

As much as I like first person view, the new stability, etc, I would rather everyone be able to talk in guild chat.

Guild: Contemporary Heroes (CH) on Henge of Denravi

Having same issues as others above. Build queues only allow one at a time, and guild chat is completely messed up – severely hindering guild group activities we had planned this week.

Guild chat bugs range from people unable to talk in chat, people getting messages they aren’t in a guild and people seeing guild chat from other or multiple guilds instead of ours.

This is gamebreaking and, if it can’t be fixed quickly, warrants reverting Monday’s patch. We have to be able to talk to our guilds/friends in a game we play with our guilds/friends.

Were going on the third day with this bug in the game. If they can’t get a fix in for it today, they really need to revert Monday’s patch until they have a solution.

Going this long without functional communication within guilds is very much a gamebreaking bug. This really needs to be fixed.

This is the single biggest bug in the patch, imo. It is holding up pretty much all organized guild activities, which, to many of us, are the core of why we play gw2.

This really needs to be treated as a SEVERE game breaking bug and should take priority over everything else. Fix this and then they can start working on the other bugs.

If they dont have a quick fix, then they need to roll back Monday’s changes until they have a fix for it. It is that serious to many of us.

I wouldn’t mind if they scrapped the idea of dungeons entirely and replaced it with multiple smaller instanced 5-player challenges (one boss or encounter) throughout the game world – with fractals serving as the more organized dungeon experience.

As many have said, I think the lack of information today is simply because of travel back from Rezzed and the info dump we received yesterday about the new WvW maps.

In addition to the nine specialization announcements (which we are all looking forward to), there are only a couple of other deep dives we know they have planned, specifically guild enhancements (guild halls, guild progression, etc) and difficult group content.

Im sure they plan to be a little stingy with these blog posts/deep dives until they have a better idea regarding the launch date (or they risk running out of things to talk about between now and then).

The best course of action right now is to be patient, as hard as that is to do.

I would like to see the Mordremoth battle end up being its own open world map similar to Silverwastes, except this time the zone wide event is just the fight against the dragon.

It could be broken into phases, including (as just an example) clearing our way to the dragon (20 minutes), freeing packs of mobs (Sylvari) from corruption, forcing the elder dragon to the surface (taking about 30 minutes), climbing the dragon/positioning teams to take him out (10 minutes), an epic zone wide fight against the dragon itself (10-20 minutes) and, finally, a short celebration period (20 minutes) during which there are loot-heavy fun events (giving people a reason to continually work the map).

I would actually prefer that (most) loot be tied to successfully completing events rather than killing mobs. Not only does it help counter the zerg/blob mentality, it allows Anet to design more interesting encounters and events.

VodCom makes a good point about dungeons, however.

johnno.7543:

pmargeti.7680:

I wouldn’t mind addition of this map at all, as long as we get to keep old borderlands map alongside it. No rotations, no tournaments, just let us have what we already have.

+1 this would be fine. You could even make the old BL maps not count towards ppt or somthing, just leave them so guilds that are in wvw purely for open field fights can go have their fun as well. [/quote]

Issue is more than half of the servers can’t sustain any kind of coverage on three borderlands maps, much less six (regardless of ppt).

I think these changes look great and can’t wait to play these new maps.

However, what WvW really needs (and has for a long time) is something to address the huge disparities between server populations. Otherwise, the experience is fun some weeks and just plain frustrating and boring the rest.

It makes sense that a druid would have an animal companion. It really depends on how different the mechanic is from the one currently used by the ranger.

My hope is the mechanic involves some kind of spirit bonding or linking between the druid and its companion – and that the nature of that bond differs based on the class of animal you have slotted (bird, canine, feline, spider, bear, etc).

This would be so much fun.

Since we know dinos are coming, I could see a triggered adventure where you have to fend off waves of small raptors leaping onto your raft, with the goal being how many you can kill before you die or reach the end. Not sure if their open world tech would support this, but it would be fun.

And rivers do make sense in jungles.

Youre at a bit of a disadvantage as most of the questions people have were asked at PAX East, so we know that ANET isnt ready to respond to most of what people want to know right now.

I would say if you can get any new information (however little) about any of the following topics, it would be a major win -

1. The nature of specializations. My top question here – How different will specializations be from their parent classes?

2. Challenging group content. Top question – Will there be any instanced group content shipped with Heart of Thorns?

3. Map size. Top question – Using the original game as a benchmark (and realizing this is an expansion – not a new game), how much new content (measured in any way they wish) will be shipping with Heart of Thorns?

4. Deeper information on Masteries. Top question – Can they give us a possible example of a fractal mastery?

Those would be the main questions I would ask – realizing they probably can’t tell us much on any of them (but, again, anything new would be a win for an interviewer).

NoTrigger.8396:

fadeaway.2807:

Yes but not as you know it. Megaserver was the foundation. Challenging group content simply means open world bosses and events tweaked to be done by a specific number of players on a zone map private to them.

anet basically stated, that open world isnt the challenging group content.

Actually, what they said (unless there was a different note or article that I missed) was that the Wyvern example press saw last week wasn’t what they meant by challenging group content.

My guess is that the phrase “challenging group content” is in reference to the encounters locked behind higher level masteries or deep into outpost event chains, but that they will still be in the open world. Whether or not they can make that work and still provide a meaningful challenge is yet to be seen.

I think there is an eventual place for a form of raiding in GW2 (meaning instanced large groups), but again, not yet – and definitely (hopefully) not in the format we see in other games.

I am one of those people strongly against the idea of traditional instanced set-number raids we see from other games making its way in GW2. In those games, they only serve to split the community and act as a cornerstone for most of the elitist behavior.

That said, I think they could make raids work in GW2. They just need to take a strong look at all of the elements from those other games that encourage inter-community strife and hate and address them in their design.

So, yes, I would love to see raids, but not in the form we currently see in other games. They need to be Guild Wars 2 raids, with the emphasis on fun and friendly cooperative gameplay that brings the community together rather than tears it apart.

Again, however, I don’t expect to see raids in HOT nor do I think it would be a good use of developer time right now.

I don’t think this particular Wyvern fight is meant to be complex or even tough. It’s the first mini boss in the first outpost in the first zone of the expansion. It’s meant to introduce us to concepts like the break bar and basic Wyvern flight/fire attacks.

One thing ArenaNet is getting really good at is teaching the community as a whole. We saw this in both Drytop and Silverwastes where, during the first week of each, we struggled a little and, now, groups rarely have issues with either (granted the map gets the numbers). We also saw the same thing with Tequatl and Triple Threat.

I see this fight in the same light. It is just the beginning – meant to ease us into the new zone and let us practice against the more simplistic mechanics before engaging the Mecha-Wyvern with even more ways to kill us.

I fully expect fights deeper into the jungle to be more complex and engaging (even other Wyverns).

I think we will see 3 – at most 4 – new maps as part of Heart of Thorns, but that doesnt really bother me.

I see Heart of Thorns as a foundational expansion. The focus is on implementing extremely flexible systems into the game that make it easier for them to add in free living story and feature content (hopefully bi-weekly) moving forward.

Examples include pretty much everything we’ve seen, including specializations (making it easier for them to add in new skills and traits without breaking balance), masteries (to add new progression when the gameplay starts to feel dated/repetitive), wvw map rotations (making it easier to add new maps to wvw) and activities (giving them a stage for new minigame styple content).

Finally, since the start of Season Two, weve seen two mid sized maps added to the game (drytop and silverwastes). I expect them to keep that pace post expansion, meaning that what we see when the expansion actually drops is just part of the playable area picture.

TL;DR – yes, we will get fun things to do day one, but I see HOT as more of a foundation allowing for faster implementation of future (and potentially free) content.

No. I don’t think raids are coming in the form people from other games are used to.

They have said multiple times that they announced ALL of the major new features coming with Heart of Thorns at their unveiling event. If instanced group content at the raid level was planned, I think they would have included that.

That doesnt mean they cannot bring large group challenges into the game in other ways, however – even content that requires a high level of coordination. I really think it will come through the content structures they have in place now (and I think they can make that work)

I think the key things to keep an eye on are guild functionality and masteries. Either could provide mechanics for accessing or triggering highly challenging group (5+ people) content.

Or it could simply be a faction within the Mursaat – maybe explaining why they are open to working with the players.

Lendruil.9061:

I would like them to remove the randomness out of fractals. This means randomness in rewards as well as randomness which fractals you get.
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This sounds like something that would work perfectly with the new fractal masteries progression system they will be introducing – you get to a certain mastery level in the fractal line and you get the ability to choose the fractal map(s) you play on.

Same with rewards like fractal skins – reaching certain levels gives you the ability to choose a specific skin.

Just a thought.

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Outstanding information and agree that they seem to be going out of their way to show us what they are building under the surface – which will be important as the game grows through living story and other updates.

There is, however, one thing I would like to see a developer add or expound upon and that is particle effects from player cast abilities. Fire building up in an enemy’s belly wont be of much value if players can’t see it through all of the player attacks/effects.

That said, I am extremely excited about this kind of content. This kind of stuff is what I most want from the expansion.

Foefaller.1082:

Gyler.8150:

I predict warrior greatsword / mace/mace meta for defiance stripping!

Na, Axe/Mace <> Hammer

CCs are actually pretty well spread out among professions with a few that need a little love (hopefully coming in HOT).

Hammer warriors are good at AOE ccs (thus why they are so desired in wvw), but when dealing with single targets, I usually think of thieves, mesmers and engineers first. Mesmers in particular have some strong ranged ccs on short(ish) cooldowns that will make them ideal for fights like the one described.

As the professions stand now (of course, alot is getting ready to change), necromancers and elementalists probably have the lowest number of ccs, even though a good terrormancer may end up being useful in pve now ((I dont play an ele much so not sure about that one).

spoj.9672:

I was primarily talking about its implementation in old content. I have no doubt it will be a better system for new encounters which are designed with it in mind and have unique break bar mechanics.

But for old content its going to be a big step back unless we can at least still decide what CC gets applied.

I do see your point about the cc always being a stun (even though Im not convinced that will always be the case). I only see it being an issue with ccs that involve deliberately wanting to move the target (pulls, taunts, fears, knockbacks and launches). They probably do need to make sure we have some way of controlling target position through ccs. To me, the obvious solution is to apply the affect of the last actual cc, followed by the stun – so if the boss is launched, it will be moved then stunned (this shouldnt apply to large legendary bosses where launches would be illogical, of course).

For the most part, however, I dont think this will be a big issue. Most champion fights are already fairly simplistic, so ccs really don’t play a big role (and I dont see that changing).

There are a few existing fights where this could – and I think will – make the fights a little more dynamic. The first that comes to mind is the Risen Priest of Melandru. As it stands, it is very unclear what causes him to stop casting his transformation skill on players. It is a well designed open world boss that suffers from a lack of communicated information. This change will fix that.

To use a more recent example, take the champion beetle in Dry Top (sandstorm phase). Most people dont realize that if you get enough interrupts onto that boss, it will flip over and take (I believe) double damage as you attack its underbelly. I actually think this fight was a soft test (along with Three Toed Tootsie) of new interrupt mechanics in preparation for HOT. Adding the break bar to that fight will make the mechanics more obvious, adding more depth to the fight.