Guild Wars 2

The theme of the Revenant might be new (to GW2) and it’s class mechanic might be unique (to GW2) but it doesn’t really fill a new role in terms of gameplay.

Like gamerinachair said, we now have 3 professions of each armor class. In addition, Anet has said that elite specs are the way in which our character options will be expanded in the future. So not only is there little room for more professions, there is also little reason for more professions (thanks to elite specs). Also, each new profession would need the same amount of elite specs as the other professions, this becomes increasingly difficult as more elite specs are introduced. And that’s without even considering the amount of resources and balance problems entirely new professions are likely to introduce (which is a lot more than elite specs).

OlliX.1705:

We don’t need a cap.

These minions are weak anyway, and we can’t realistically expect to be keeping up a huge amount of them. In any big fight they will be cleaved down fast (WvW zerg), and in any small fight (PvP, WvW roaming) we won’t be able to generate enough for it to become a problem.

In terms of power I agree.

In terms of visual clutter and performance issues… I don’t know. We’ll have to see.

Arlee.7038:

Diovid.9506:

Arlee.7038:

One thing I didn’t see listed is for PvP only people who own HoT will be able to participate in Leagues.

Leagues are game-wide, not HoT-only.

Nope. They are HoT only. It’s something I specifically talked to John Corpening about at PAX.

Alright, I believe you. Seems like an odd choice though.

Arlee.7038:

One thing I didn’t see listed is for PvP only people who own HoT will be able to participate in Leagues.

Leagues are game-wide, not HoT-only.

Just a flesh wound.3589:

Diovid.9506:

mazut.4296:

Wait a sec, aren’t Elite specks for everybody? If not this will be PvP disaster…

No, they are not for everybody.

As for balance, elite specs are not meant to be more powerful than core specs (though some of them might become meta of course).

The way they have it phrased, it looks like for PvP, HoT owners will have an automatic unlock and non owners will have reward tracks to unlock the elite specializations.

Elite Specialization Reward Tracks
Finally, these reward tracks unlock everything for an elite specialization: weapon, unique mechanics, skills, and traits. They’ll also reward items, including new runes and sigils, a fancy weapon skin for your new weapon type, and an armor skin for a single matching piece of armor (usually headgear or shoulders). As long as you’ve purchased Guild Wars 2: Heart of Thorns, you’ll automatically unlock access to all elite specializations in PvP.

Those ‘reward tracks’ are not PvP reward tracks, they are the ‘training wheels’ you need to go through in PvE. This is saying that those with HoT in PvE have to go through the reward track, while those with HoT in PvP get the skills and traits without having to do anything.

Now that Anet knows what it wants to do for the future (i.e. expansions combined with living story instead of just living story) and since Anet has designed several systems which were aimed at being expanded (i.e. masteries, elite specializations, raids, the new fractal system etc) I expect expansions should come in somewhat less time than the 3 years it took between launch and HoT. How much less time is anyone’s guess.

Buy Some Apples.6390:

AdaephonDelat.3890:

That’s not what they meant. People listing Living Story are not talking about season 2 and whether you get it but are talking about 3 and 4 and 5 and so on. They stated that future LS releases (season 3 etc.) would be accessible via HoT as it carries on from the end of the HoT story.

Yeas, and S1 and 2 follow on from the core game, yet you only get them for free if you log in, miss it and you have to buy on gem store.

You are not guaranteed LS S3+ just by buying HoT, just like you were not guaranteed S1/2 from buying the core game!

If you are, then S1 and 2 should not be on the gem store at all, they should be automatically added to your account!

Season 1 is not on the gem store and cannot be on the gem store.

Furthermore, season 2 can be free even if you did not unlock it when it was active. Gems can be bought via in-game gold. Even if you don’t buy it, you can play season 2 with someone who has unlocked it.

mazut.4296:

Wait a sec, aren’t Elite specks for everybody? If not this will be PvP disaster…

No, they are not for everybody.

As for balance, elite specs are not meant to be more powerful than core specs (though some of them might become meta of course).

Things you only get with the expansion: New areas, new story, living story updates coming after HoT’s release, raids, elite specializations, masteries, revenant, adventures, any new item skins that are coming, any new runes or sigils coming etc.

Things all players will get: The new pvp mode, the new wvw borderlands, the various wvw changes, pvp leagues, cross-guild chat, guild leaderboards for pvp, updated fractals, the new map reward bonuses.

Things people without the expansion get limited access to: Guild halls. To unlock a guild hall, at least 5 members need to go the guild hall to liberate it from modrem. Those players need to have HoT. After it is liberated, all players (even those without HoT) can go to the guild hall. However, I think the features you can use as a non-HoT player in the guild hall are limited.

Sarif.1827:

1: Nope, Guild Halls are for HoT players only.

As said multiple times above, this is sort of wrong.

3: Maybe, you might have access to Pact Masteries, but the Jungle ones are for HoT players only.

Nope, even Pact Tyria masteries are HoT-only.

I think it would be interesting if some of the hylek see Modremoth as Ameyalli or at least as a herald of Ameyalli.

Other than that, I think it is likely that there will be mordrem hylek (especially since the jungle hylek tend to burn their fallen dead, probably to keep Modremoth from using the bodies).

Linken.6345:

And no lore about daredevil, tempest, berserker, herald, reaper and chronomancer.

Reaper: Marjory took up her sister’s sword and started training with Rox on how to use it. Then she presumably teaches her abilities to other necromancers.

Herald: As we’ve seen Rytlock is a herald (he channels Glint). We know Rytlock actually met Glint while she was still alive and I think it is likely that he met her again while in the mists.

Shoe.5821:

Same goes for PvP guilds also.

stronghold.

Everybody gets access to stronghold, not just those with HoT.

Airwolf.7382:

You can’t as far as I know.
You can get to the open one based in LA though, that one becomes automatically available to all guilds at the start of HoT.

You’re wrong. You can go to guild halls but only after your guild has claimed a guild hall. The claiming can only be done by players who own HoT.

Hirosama Nadasaki.6792:

SamTheGuardian.2938:

It’s been said to unlock the elite specialization you’ll need 170 hero points, then another huge stack of hero points to unlock the unique skins associated with the elite spec. You can prepare by doing Hero Challenges or saving Hero Points on new characters you level up with Tomes of Knowledge

Can you give a source on this? Cuz I’ve heard several different theories about this and 170 hero points is a mighty big stack.

It was datamined, not said.

I was thinking of running something like this: http://gw2skills.net/editor/?vRAQJARWnM0AdbiN1Ae1As3glpBbqldBqASDgCQAI+DWCXhA-TxRDABOcJAMUJ4lq/klyPAeCA6pLQl9HAA-e

Things that you might want to change:
- Use Chilling Victory instead of Soul Eater as your Reaper master trait.
- Use Reaper’s Unslaught instead of Blighter’s Boon as your Reaper grandmaster trait.
- Use Lich Form (for Mark of Horror) instead of Flesh Golem as your elite skill.
- Use Magi’s stats or Zealot’s stats instead of Cleric’s stats.

C E P H U S.4102:

Q: Will I be able to go inside my guilds Guild Hall, interact with and contribute to buildings?

Yes. However, you can not help liberate it from the modrem. In addition, the features you can use inside the guild hall are limited.

C E P H U S.4102:

Q: Will I get Elite Specializations on characters if I don’t have HoT?

No.

C E P H U S.4102:

Q: Will I see new “locked” content (like Elite Specializations, Mastery’s, Skills, etc.) in my Hero Panel, on the core game?

Probably not but unknown.

C E P H U S.4102:

Q: My Group is in Verdant Brink and I just double-clicked a Teleport to Friend. Is the group subdued and not selectable?

Unknown. However, the Teleport to Friend will not work.

C E P H U S.4102:

Q: Dulfy.net quotes Arenanet developer Crystal Reid with the following: Is this a miss-quote? Will we be required to obtain Ascended Gear?
<a href=“http://dulfy.net/2015/09/30/gw2-ascended-gear-will-be-needed-in-raids/”>"Guild Wars WikiArenanet developer Crystal Reid has tweeted out in response to some questions revealing that Ascended gear will be required for some raid bosses

The tweet states that early wing bosses can be killed with a mix of Ascended/Exotic but last boss will require full ascended. There is no agony mechanic like in fractals."</a>

Raids will be balanced around having ascended gear, yes, but that doesn’t mean Ascended gear is required.

C E P H U S.4102:

Q: Will I face players in PvP and WvW, that have abilities unavailable to me in the core game?

Yes but those abilities are not intended to be stronger.

C E P H U S.4102:

Q: Will consumables that are unique in attributes to HoT be sell-able on the Trade Post and Purchasable by core gamers?

Unknown.

C E P H U S.4102:

Q: If HoT has Jumping puzzles, will they be on future Leaderboards, and how will that effect the status of core game players.

They will only be on leaderboards if they are adventures and if so then those leaderboards will probably only be visible by HoT players.

C E P H U S.4102:

Q: Are there any new Guild Bounties, Trek Locations, or Rushes in HoT maps that I cannot access?

I don’t think so but not sure.

C E P H U S.4102:

Q: I have 10 players, we do not own HoT, can we Raid? If yes, will obstacles that put the new Elite Specializations and Mastery’s to use (as mentioned), be impassable?

Raids are HoT-only (at least, the ones that are located inside HoT areas which currently is all of them).

C E P H U S.4102:

Q: In the core game I enjoy a Variety of Dungeons, Fractals, World Bosses, Temples, Jumping Puzzles, etc. Will HoT players have an advantage over me by gliding over obstacles or using newer skills in such ways?

Most masteries are only usable inside HoT areas (including the ability to glide).

C E P H U S.4102:

Q: Will the Flesh Golem finally be able to swim?

Don’t hold your breath (pun intended).

Agreed, the reaper is quite chill.

Note that with the recent changes to Lich Form, you can now combine “Rise!” and Mark of Horror

People fear that in some content groups will require healers. This means that at least a few players in that group are forced to play a healer. This also means that creating groups takes more time because groups have to wait for a healer.

On the other hand, if content does not require healers then people who play healers will probably have no place in that content and thus be shunned or be forced to play something else.

It’s not quite as simple as you make it out to be.

Even in PvP I can’t imagine direct damage scrappers coming close to rabid engi’s.

Lupanic.6502:

With HoT Engineer goes into direct damage direction. Condi engi is fading.

So that’s why condi engi’s were doing so well in raids. Condi engi’s appear to be much stronger than direct damage scrappers.

nacario.9417:

If I make a rev through tomes till 80, can i use the HP to instantly purchase the elite spec Herald? I could then just buy herald and shiro straight up and leave ventari and jalis in the dust, at least for a good while

I don’t think we have any official information on that. That said, I’m going to guess that that will be possible, yes.

Existencex.9712:

does anyone have a certain way to go about farming hero points quickly?

There are groups that do a hero points gathering train once every week or so.

Only 17 days until launch. Hang in there!

Spurnshadow.3678:

The warrior does not have a condi mainhand weapon. Yes, the sword adds 1 stack of bleeding with 2 out of 3 auto attacks. The other attacks do not add condi damage. I would hardly call that a condi weapon. Compare that to a scepter on the necro wich does condi damage with every attack. Other condi weapons behave the same way.

Not only is the autoattack a condi skill, the burst skill (and primal burst skill) is as well so yes, the sword is a condi weapon.

When specced into condi damage, this also means that your direct damage will be very low with no condi damage to compensate. If a warrior is to spec into condi main stat, they need a condi mainhand weapon that does condi damage on every attack to compensate.

Partially, yes. Though condi builds often use Sinister (at least in PvE) which uses condition damage/power/precision stats so you still have some direct damage going thanks to power and precision.

Some of you have replied that things don’t fit in thematically. That’s BS. It’s a matter of time and resources.

Partially, sure, it is time and resources (and balance) but theme/role/lore/aesthetics are not totally insignificant.

What do you mean with ‘legacy characters’? Do you mean ‘existing characters’? If so, then yes to all questions.

Alga.6498:

My bad, I didn’t mean at the FIRST day of it’s release.
I was meaning, let’s say 3-6 months after the release, it would not be the same price, am I right?

After some time HoT will probably get cheaper. We have no clue how long you have to wait and how much cheaper it will be though.

Alga.6498:

So you’re saying that GW2 pre-purchase should be still the same price as today’s price?
No? I thought so.
See, that’s my point!!!

That’s 3 years after release though. GW2 was the same price at release as it was before release.

Alga.6498:

Soo.. I for once did not pre-purchase the HoT expansion, and I think most of us know why.

Not really. Most of us probably pre-purchased. Only the vocal nee-sayers didn’t.

I was wondering, at it’s official release, will it be cheaper or will the price still be standing in stone as for those who were not pre-purchased the exp pack?

I wouldn’t count on the price being any different.

It would be really unfair if the price is still the same as it were at it first pre-release price. Or am I just wrong?

How would it be unfair? I would be unfair towards all the people who pre-ordered and pre-puchased if the price was suddenly lower.

Espers.7346:

So I am curious was the druid made a pure healer for PVP? or hearth of the thorns actually have dungeons and group content (Non-PVP) where a healer is actually useful? I would love to see the game go more towards a team focus and less of a zerker focus.

Anet claims HoT will have PvE content that gives more of a place to support characters (both in the open world and in raids).

I just answered this in a similar thread: https://forum-en.gw2archive.eu/forum/game/hot/new-skills-weps-needing-elite-specialization/first#post5575203

It has to do with the expandability of the system (which was a key element in the development of both the elite spec system and the mastery system). If the weapons and skills would be usable without the spec itself then the amount of builds you can make would increase exponentially with each new wave of elite specs which in turn makes balance exponentially harder.

Konig Des Todes.2086:

Diovid.9506:

You misunderstood me. I did not mean: “each profession should always have 1 skill that heals at all times”. I meant: “each profession should have a number of skill options for their healing skill slot equal to the number of utility skill types they have”.

Professions typically have about 20 utilities.

Do you really want Anet to balance 20 heals and 20 elites per profession too?

I’ll stick with 5 of each, as opposed to current averaged 4 heals/3 elites (+1 each with elite specs) that we have.

Would also like Anet to create an even amount of racial skills. Currently it’s 6 skills split, with asura/charr being 3 utility+3 elites, human/sylvari being 1 heal, 2 utility, 3 elites, and norn being 2 utility, 4 elites. Would love to see it changed to all being 1 heal, 4 utility, 2 elite. Revenants could then get a “Legendary Racial Stance” which gives 1 heal, 3 utility, 1 elite. They’d get the short end but it’d be better than… what we have.

20 heals and 20 elites? Where are you getting that from? I said 1 healing skill and 1 elite skill per utility skill type so that means about 5 healing skills and 5 elite skills per core profession.

Chronomancer is probably the single strongest and most useful elite spec of the bunch and you still think they are treated unfairly?

Of what I read, that an extra Ele is still more useful in a party than a Chrono)

Even if that’s true, do note that core eles are the single strongest and most useful profession. That will probably remain to be the case even after the introduction of the elite specs.

Sarie.1630:

Diovid.9506:

In my book grinding is repeating content just for the extrinsic reward (such as xp or gear) instead of the intrinsic reward (e.g. fun/challenge), whether that means repeating one specific type of content or repeating different types of content. Though repeating a variety of things tends to give more of an intrinsic reward and thus tends to be less grindy than repeating one specific type of content.

It is possible to play through the game for the stories (personal, open world, or otherwise) without doing it solely for the XP for masteries.

It is also possible to enjoy grind.

Just saying.

Nothing I said contradicts the fact that you can play through the game without doing it solely for Mastery XP.

I disagree on the point that it is possible to enjoy grind however. Once you enjoy something it is no longer a grind (at least according to my definition which I gave in my previous post).

Serious.7083:

Diovid.9506:

I believe all professions should have 1 healing skill and 1 elite skill of each utility skill type they have access to.

With a little tweaking guardians can have many heal skills, even at present. My normal build has 5 shouts, all of which have self healing and team wide condi removal. Every time I crit I give all team members close to me might, and that heals me too. I gain even more self heal using greatsword.

Warriors can be traited so shouts do a party wide heal.

Eles have multiple heal options with water skills

The Druid is going to have a huge range of options for healing.

One heal skill? How quaint

You misunderstood me. I did not mean: “each profession should always have 1 skill that heals at all times”. I meant: “each profession should have a number of skill options for their healing skill slot equal to the number of utility skill types they have”.

Leo G.4501:

Wouldn’t it be cool to go out with a bang before the release of HoT with a whole week of testing and tweeking?

They’ve stated this weekend would be the last beta. Although of course they might’ve changed their minds due to the problems with raid testing. In either case, a week-long beta seems highly unlikely.

There are ways to get gems for free you know: For example through contests (sponsered by Arenanet) or through achievement chests.

Ice.5162:

Do people even know what “grinding” means? Gosh people got so kittening spoiled with this game…

If they provide you with MULTIPLE ways to gain MEANINGFUL progress, IT IS NOT GRINDING.

The kitten do you want, for them to change how the game works every week? OF COURSE there will be repetition, repetition is INEVITABLE

Seriously, from the old WoW days killing mobs in a certain area over and over and over again for mats, was considered grinding, today? Apparently everything you do is grinding. Jesus

In my book grinding is repeating content just for the extrinsic reward (such as xp or gear) instead of the intrinsic reward (e.g. fun/challenge), whether that means repeating one specific type of content or repeating different types of content. Though repeating a variety of things tends to give more of an intrinsic reward and thus tends to be less grindy than repeating one specific type of content.

It was probably a combination of balance decisions and decisions about what fits the aesthetics/lore/theme of the profession and the elite spec.

Anet has said they want to limit an exponential increase in build options. By making it so that new skills come with elite specs and by making it so that you can only have one elite spec at the same time, the increase in build options is limited which helps a lot with balancing.

Even though I agree with their philosophy, this is something I also agree with:

Anet should at least try to fill in the missing heal and elite skill types in future patches. It just feels wrong to not have them, because it makes some skill traits a bit less useful. Also, why is warrior mending still not a physical skill?

I believe all professions should have 1 healing skill and 1 elite skill of each utility skill type they have access to.

Can we get a dev response on this?

Agreed. Aura-builds are iffy due to how they currently work.

DresdenAllblack.1249:

The engineer gets compared because turrets and spirits were ground locked. Mesmer plays nothing like anything that’s come before, Mesmer included. I think the Ritualist got torn into pieces and split into multiple classes, virtually assuring that we will never see the Rit again.

The only thing we were told about that was that lorewise the Guardian combined various things including ritualist magic.

Mechanically you’re no doubt right. Especially since the ritualist in GW1 was literally conceived to be similar to an engineer in other games but then made to fit the GW1 world.

Tipper.6973:

Maybe one day there will be a Ritualist elite spec for the Revenant. I think it’d be sweet. Summon a bunch of chained up spirits, cast some lightning magic…

I’m actually wishing for a ritualist spec for the necromancer. Even in GW1 I thought the ritualist could’ve been added by giving the necromancer a new attribute instead of introducing a new profession (but then I felt that way about all GW1’s non-core professions).

Astralporing.1957:

Al Shamari.7234:

But isn’t that the point? Raids are the one content type in the entire game that exclude a portion of players who aren’t ‘hardcore’ enough to earn their way to completing them – what would be the point if they were easy enough that Ascended gear wasn’t required, what would be the point if every casual player could walk in and have gear handed to them while breezing through the raid?

Then they would be gated by what they were supposed to be gated – skill. Grind gates are the worst kinds of gates there are.

Al Shamari.7234:

That’s not high-end, challenging PvE content – that’s a casual cake walk.

Ah, i see, so for you the challenge lies in having the right gear set.

If raids were balanced around Exotic gear instead of Ascended gear then those people with Ascended gear would have an edge over other people and thus they would have an easier time. In that scenario raids would arguably be more about gear, not less.

GuzziHero.2467:

Well, in that case, thanks to Anet for excluding more players. Looks like I’ll never see a raid then.

How is making raids any different from making adventures (which some people like and others dislike) or making jumping puzzles (which some people like and others dislike) or stronghold (which some people like and others dislike) or elite specializations (which some people like and others dislike). Anet makes content and features for all kinds of different players and no content or feature will be of interest to everyone. What’s wrong with that?

Since you need hero points to unlock them and since the core specializations are character-based unlocks I’m assuming it will be character-based.

Just tested it and the self-destruct is not an explosion.