Guild Wars 2

Thanks for the suggestion, but for some reason it’s now deleted.

I would love to see an article previewing the art for Heart of Thrones (e.g. concept art, equipment designs, etc.) and not just game stills. Nothing whets my appetite for a game quite like seeing the artwork. It fuels a tremendous amount of speculation for a variety of players. That was one of the greatest things about the previews we received for Guild Wars 2 back during the alpha and beta stages. Bring on the Heart of Thrones art preview!

Considering how the blog post claims that post-80 your mastery point total replaces your level, it seems that masteries are essentially the new raised “level cap.”

It turns out that you receive less content when you don’t buy the expansion.

That would be neat.

I’m sure Silverwastes will also eventually be added to some of the options for dailies too.

If dangerous Mordrem come out during the night cycle, then I definitely see the case for Sigils of the Night becoming even more widely used.

A Massive Headache.1879:

Again i want to mention, if the thief specialization does get rifle, they might wholly remove stealth outside of smoke field+ leap or blast finisher, and might not use initiative.

Thank you! We don’t know how the thief specialization will play in comparison with the base thief.

Take a step back and consider something with me. Why are we talking as if “Thief + Rifle = Sniper”? There are several problems with this framing.

Talking as if “Ranger + Staff = Druid” is erroneous for the druid specialization. The druid specialization of ranger will gain access to staff weapon skills, but use of the staff does not make the ranger a druid. The druid specialization can make use of the staff, while a base ranger cannot. And some of the 6-10 skills will also change as result. We don’t know how a druid will play differently from a ranger.

Right now, people are multiplying assumptions by assuming that the thief specialization unlocks the rifle and will be a sniper. While it’s possible that the thief specialization will be able to use a rifle, we don’t know the capacity in which it will. We don’t even know how a druid will use a staff yet.

DevilLordLaser.8619:

The issue, I suppose, is that some players are looking at what the specializations have to offer and realizing that their favorite class/playstyle is receiving nothing.

If this is indeed the underlying issue, then I fail to see how adding further specializations alleviates these fundamental concerns, because further specializations would only propagate this core issue.

I know what your response is – that player is already content with his class, why should he feel any need to change it if he’s already enjoying what he is doing? This is true, and a valid point – but does it really strike you as fair that half of the Ranger’s archetypal players (the marksmen, the archers, the survivalists and rugged wilderness men) get absolutely nothing while the natural magic players, the elven protectors of the glade, and the beast-souled magicians of the woods get an entirely new advanced profession to play with?

No, here’s my response. That’s great and all, but I have not seen anyone apart from you raise this concern. People have been complaining in this thread about a) how one specialization is not a choice and b) that there should be more specializations per profession at launch. You also seem to be under the assumption that further ranger specializations would expand this archery archetype you describe when that’s not necessarily the case. There may be a second ranger specialization that gives them a warhammer and turns them into magical green wardens (aka green knights) or a scepter that turns them into shamans.

That doesn’t strike me as fair, and I’m actually quite interested in how the Druid will work.

That’s nice, but I do not think that this is an issue of archetypal fairness. You can already see this with people speculating on specializations and these new archetypes. There are many tangentially related-archetypes to the professions that people see. Not everyone will be satisfied, because these specializations will not necessarily match with their conception of those archetypes. (I already anticipate people complaining should it turn out that the druid cannot shapeshift, because that’s their conception of a druid from either D&D or WoW.)

Also, all rangers can get the druid specialization. This expands the entire profession. Furthermore, these specializations will exist as something potentially available to all players. It’s not just about the ranger player. It’s also about the player hesitant to play a ranger but who are now interested in becoming a druid.

DevilLordLaser.8619:

Horrible. Just horrible.

‘Mastery’ should mean more than “I spend this point to do this one extremely narrow, specific thing that has one use in one fight and does me absolutely zero good anywhere else so that I’m forced to find thirty-nine other guys and spend an hour coordinating who takes what 98% pointless skill to clear this one boss.”

I’m already put out with how many boss encounters we have that boil down to “the weapons you’ve trained with for the entire game are useless against this boss’ armor/shield, but here! Take these SPECIAL ROCKS something drops and huck them at his face and that shield will come down in no time!” The point of the Mastery system and this hardcore challenging content should be mastery - learning how to use your tools, earning powerful new tools, and actually developing the talent and ability to cope with hard, unforgiving enemies.

The concept of “Pull Lever A to activate Environmental Weapon B so as to disengage Boss Shield C, while ensuring that Field D is in place to stop Boss Wipe Attack E” is not challenging or masterful. It’s insulting.

I agree with your assessment, but I think that the basic kernel of the OP’s idea has potential, though it would need to be designed with your point in bold. One of the examples we have already been given for masteries is being able to tear off the bark of powerful Mordrem. As long as the mastery mechanics are broad enough to what people are doing anyway (e.g. hang-gliding, mushroom hopping, bark-ripping, etc.), then there’s room to turn these into interesting dungeon mechanics that diversify combat roles in unique ways. This is not necessarily something that I want, but I could see how . My major critique to the OP is the assumption that this should become a new trinity, as if three was the magic number. Why a trinity? Why not just two combat roles? Why not four, five, or six? Or how about just one person who is capable of performing this mastery?

Lazaar.9123:

Iv’e found it funny that people think there is confirmed thief sniper, even though the character in the trailer could have very easily just been an Engineer. Incoming thief mace!

I certainly don’t think it’s confirmed, and a thief with a mace is more than possible. Many people are probably presuming the rifle as the new weapon due to the old concept art from what was speculated to be a gunner profession.

https://celestialkitsune.files.wordpress.com/2010/03/guild-wars-2-concept-art_00041.jpg

It would be nice if language masteries extended beyond the Maguuma jungle civilizations, but also in the rest of Tyria.

DevilLordLaser.8619:

What bothers me about this is that many people are being quite terribly rude to folks disappointed that we’re only getting one specialization, much of it founded on the assumption of “well they said we’ll get more later so quit being such a whiny little snot and man up, you Grinch!”

What bothers me are people who think that having only one specialization per profession means that there’s no choice.

Have these people ever played a table top RPG? D&D 3rd Edition and Pathfinder have prestige classes, which are similar to GW2 specializations. You meet the prerequisites and you take these sub-class levels in lieu of your regular class levels. Prestige classes are not necessarily stronger than the regular class, but they do expand your character options at the cost of abilities you would have gained from your primary class. Mutliclassing and prestige classes always come with the choice of losing out on abilities from the base class, which can be potent high level abilities.

Egg Shennn.6240:

Quells.2498:

I still think the answer is simple. You DO have two specializations, example being a Ranger OR a Druid.

No, that’s incorrect.

Ranger is the base class, not a specialization.

Druid is a specialization, and if what they said is true;
1 specialization per class in HoT.
“you’ll be able to swap from one specialization to another outside of combat”

How do you swap from one specialization to another when there is only one?

Please stop saying the base class is a specialization, because it isn’t.

Are you trolling? Don’t be obtuse. You’re nitpicking what was said against the spirit in which it was said. They clearly meant switching between a ranger and a druid (or subsequent specializations they may add).

The thief specialization will likely replace initiative with another profession mechanic. Even if the new weapon is a rifle, the new profession mechanic will say more about the specialization’s playstyle than the weapon will.

Furthermore, if it’s not a choice worth making – presumably because you view the specialization as what should be the superior choice – then why are you playing this base profession anyway?

Konig Des Todes.2086:

Hidden Arcana*

Arcana Obscura is part of Episode 8, which doesn’t feature this. Either way, all of this is well known and had been commented upon a lot during Episode 5’s release. Pretty much we’re seeing a lot of hints pointing to “killing the Elder Dragons without replacement will destroy the world” – the “without replacement” comes from Ogden in the same episode who states the Brotherhood of the Dragon believed Glint could become an Elder Dragon given time and magic. This leads folks to think that’s the purpose of Glint’s egg, and why Tequatl got a power boost. Given that the Pale Tree is indeed a minion of Mordremoth, she and the sylvari could also – theoretically – function as such (even Malyck could).

And the possibility of the Pale Tree becoming an Elder Dragon makes the struggles with the Nightmare Court all the more potent.

There’s Coca-Cola on the shelf. If I want a drink, I have the choice to drink it or not, but that choice does not really apply to our situation. Now the Powers-that-Be introduce a variant Coke on the shelf: Diet Coke. It’s a variant Coke, and now I have the choice between Coke and Diet Coke. Should I really be complaining that the Powers-that-Be did not introduce another Coke variant (e.g. Vanilla Coke or Coke Zero) in addition to Diet Coke? Would I only have a real choice if there were three varieties of Coke on the shelf instead of two when your previous option was Coke or Coke? That sounds like entitled whining.

People complaining that the introduction of only one new specialization per profession is not a choice do not recognize that that they are being faced with a choice. Playing the ranger is still a choice, even if it does not get any new bells or whistles. People may like playing the ranger better than the druid. People who disliked the ranger play style may like the new play style fostered by the druid.

But even then, it seems pointless to complain about the “lack” of choices because specializations are not permanent, but something, as we have been told, that you can switch out of as easily as changing traits. Either way, your options for playing a profession are expanding.

Apolus.3157:

No specializations for them.
Logan, Eir and Zojja will die and return as buffs for Rytlock.

I can’t say that I see that happening.

So Destiny’s Edge is mostly missing in action, between Rytlock in the Mists, Caithe going AWOL, and Logan, Eir, and Zojja missing in the Pact’s battle. We know Rytlock is coming back as a Revenant. Caithe will be in the story, and the MIA crew (Logan, Eir, Zojja) will in all likelihood come back as well.

Do you think that Destiny’s Edge may come back in the form of their respective specialized professions?

I believe we will begin to hear stuff on January 24th.

Then they will.

Presumably, apart from maybe the classes that can’t weapon swap: elementalist and engineer.

You don’t have a single choice. You have two: do you want to play as a pure ranger or as a druid? That’s a choice. It’s not between Specialization A or Specialization B.

Within those choices are further choices that you will have to make: weapons, skills, traits, equipment, etc. How will I build my ranger? How will I build my druid? What skills do I get with druid that I don’t get with the ranger? What skills do I get with the ranger that I don’t get with the druid? Yes, this entails “all sorts of options” for you to choose.

In some regards, I’m beginning to think that “specialization” is a poor word choice for ArenaNet’s new system.

From what has been revealed so far, “specializations” are less about specializing in “one path” and more about unlocking (account wide) and choosing an alternative path for your profession. It’s not really a single path to try. That’s what they mean by second profession and not that your specialization is your second profession in addition to your original.

The option, for example, is between playing a Ranger and a Druid. If there were two specializations, then the choice would be between a Ranger, a Druid, and a third sub-class. Given that specializations unlock new elites, heals, utilities, and other skills, then it seems like a bit much to expect two specializations per profession at the outset. That is a lot to balance.

Yes. This was confirmed in an interview.

Charr are far from spiritual as well, yet Rytlock is the first Revenant.

Asura works given Tessa, the asura who studies the fractals of the Mists.

That’s disappointing. You would think that ANet would at least find new ways to charge us for customizing our home instances apart from harvesting nodes. It would be nice if some achievements unlocked home instance options.

Hopefully a longbow that provides the Guardian with actual condition options.

Will there be any improvements in Heart of Thrones made to the character’s home instance, particularly in terms of customization? It seems that that this feature – which was once a selling point for ArenaNet – has been mostly abandoned.

Gaile Gray.6029:

I’ll see if we can give more than a wink and a nudge about this sometime soon.

I was thinking last night when I did one of the vistas — yes, I can’t get enough of vistas! — that I’m so looking forward to LA returning to its former beauty. On the other hand, I know how much the devs have on their respective plates, so I’m trying to be real patient.

I hope it is not restored to how it was, but actually reflects its prior destruction.

What do you suspect will be the color scheme for the Revenant profession? For example, guardians use light blue; mesmers use magenta; rangers use light green; necromancers use a darker teal green, etc. Based on the Revenant snippet on GuildWars2.com, then it seems that it may be a brighter red, though that may overlap too much with the elementalist’s red scheme.

Clearly this is not the most pressing issue of Heart of Thorns, but I thought it may be fun to kick the ball around on this matter.

Trehearne and Marjory are the two most prominent necromancers in Guild Wars 2, but they both use greatswords. I would vote for greatswords over hammers for necromancers, though great axes would also be welcomed.

Ronin.7381:

That is incorrect. Being “voted” in doesn’t make you “rightful” when it comes to nobility. Ascalonians simply saw Adelbern as the more comfortable choice as a reward for his strength. Barradin was the rightful king by blood, hence the whole marriage between Rurik and Althea in order to circumvent the blood dispute. He simply wasn’t confident in his own capability to lead himself so he supported the citizens of Ascalon and their decision, using his daughter in an attempt to appease everything. Blood doesn’t care about decisions, one had the stronger connection to the throne than the other. The lesser of the two, Adelbern, was simply given “Pass Go”-card.

No, true kingship requires a moistened bint to lob a scimitar at you.

And Ascalon belonged to other races before the charr violently claimed it. How long does it take for land seized to become the legitimate land of the claimants?

I wish that these characters brought back could actually remember our characters. If we have human nobles, then Lord Faren’s quest text should be different for us.

NICKEZ.3671:

Fair-weathers are killin’ the queues right now for TC

What’s worse is number of fair-weathers who are just standing around in the EB and TCBL fortresses and not actively participating.

Perhaps having a legendary equipped should inherently provide engineers with a “legendary kit aesthetic” for each kit?

Oh, yes. “Leg Mods” was updated.

Does “Leg Mods” work since both the FT and EG are considered “weapon kits.”

Dustfinger.9510:

Some of the playable races have no need of clerics or priests. But they are equally able to be guardians and not just able but the class is just as fitting as those with priests.

castlemanic.3198:

Really the simple fact that charr can be guardians ruins that, due to the charr wholly dedicating themselves to remove religion from their society, and focusing more on the physical world that they inhabit.

You two misunderstand me. I’m talking more as a playstyle archetype within the braoder spectrum of roleplaying games. Regardless of whether or not “clerics” and “warpriests” are religious and charr are not, the guardian’s abilities and playstyle are very much similar to that found with clerics and warpriests. If you removed the religious flavor of clerics from the cleric, you would be left with – lo, and behold! – a guardian. Defensive and support magic cased within heavy armor. A lot of “fire from heaven” abilities? Check. Abilities named after virtues and judgment type aesthetics? Check. And the list goes on. There’s even an ability called “Hallowed Ground” and a trait called “Monk’s Focus.” The tome elites are clearly meant to evoke a religious aesthetic. You can call a guardian a “battlemage,” but that’s how a cleric plays. Clerics in D&D even had the option of not worshiping a god, but following higher ideals, whether humanistic or broader.

Bomb/Bunker builds can be great zerg-breakers. These builds typically are capable of running through zergs – either offensively or defensively – and survive running back to safety while dropping bombs with conditions (especially Big Ol’ Bomb) and controlling effects, which can cause undisciplined zergs to scatter. Just make sure to have plenty of your own anti-CC skills.

AND… Did you see this change?

Ascalonian Catacombs
The ghost transformation no longer locks out utility and elite skills for some medium armor characters.

The little things in life can be so satisfying.

Points for a creative use of these new skills.

Perhaps they should operate more like engineer turrets? If you pick them up before their duration ends, then there is a reduced cooldown.

Guardians are not so much paladins as they are clerics or warpriests.

But we get a healing symbol and a knockback, which can help if we get around to it. Believe me, it’s much better than the engineer’s abilities, and the necromancer has less downed state HP than they are supposed to.

vinceftw.5086:

I prefer the pistol as well because I feel like I need the offense with blowtorch. I have used shield though, in builds where I had more offense via kits and it’s really good. For pve, probably don’t bother, it’s a pvp weapon. Interrupts, knockbacks, reflections,… It’s all in there. One thing that’s annoying though are the long cooldowns.

Are you kidding me? Shield is a fantastic pairing even in PvE with bombs. Fire field + two blast finishers (i.e., B.O.B. and Magnetic Inversion) = 6x stacks of Might. (You can even get an additional 3x stacks if you have Superior Sigil of Battle, because the order of operations for stacking is generally B.O.B. → Fire Bomb → swap to pistol/shield for additional Magnetic Inversion blast finisher, which procs Battle.) It’s great on mobs, since the shield throw goes through multiple foes (i.e. plural). The shield has a lot of options can stripping down the defiant stacks of tougher PvE bosses.

In short, as Linguistically lists (with modification in bold):

utility:
blast finisher
reflect
knockback
block
stun
ranged stun*2
daze

You get a tremendously greater range of control and combo-creation through the shield. True, the cooldowns are longer than the off-hand pistol or even similar skills on the rifle; however, the shield’s two skills are effectively four skills rolled up into two skill slots.

One of my private wishes with the engineer is that they would be capable of repairing WvW siege equipment outside of combat.

Penguin.5197:

Genesis.8572:

MrForz.1953:

The problem is that Sorrow’s Embrace medium armors are utter crap compared to their heavy and light variants. Very difficult to do anything steampunkish. Only thing close I could ever do was a royal guard variant of it on a Dishonored style.

The best piece of the Sorrow’s Embrace set, IMHO, is the shoulders.

Maybe on humans but on charr I thought it was the worst piece, its actually the only se piece I dont use lol Its not even symetrical

Since when is “steampunk” about symmetrical aesthetics? If anything, steampunk tends to the asymmetrical. It looks great on asura too and not just humans.