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Could you guys please for once stop pretending you know more about this than the kittening devs do… They’re doing an AMA tomorrow to clarify questions, for kitten’s sake!
Actually it is crystal clear that we will lose diversity in the way the OP describes, the medi guardian build will be impossible, yes builds will be adapted but there will be inherently less build diversity and less choice.
At the same time, it makes new builds possible.
As for medi guard, 20 traits per profession are getting merged with others or are becoming part of the original skills. It’s very possible that something like Justice is Blind will become part of Virtue of Justice, thus freeing you from having to spend that 1 point in Radiance.
There are some traitlines with traits I consider vital in the adept and master tiers. Traitlines that I have no use or desire to go further into. Being able to spend those points going partially into another traitline is a huge part of the flexibility we have now.
You realize this is contradictory? If you consider some traits vital, staples or whatever, they only limit build diversity, not add to it. It means you are, to a degree, forced to choose them.
The new system will force you to make more meaningful choices, instead of augmenting your strengths and covering your weaknesses in the same build. Specialization is what leads to build diversity, not cookie-cutter builds.
I don’t think changing the nature of a skill through your settings is a good idea.
They could make a key bind that does that for all ground targeted skills, though, like Alt+key to automatically cast under your feet.
There are already waaaaaay to many types of currency in this game. It’s friggin ridiculous. For the sake of full disclosure here are a “few”:
Copper
Silver
Gold
Skill Points
WvW Badges
Guild Merits
Guild Influence
Laurels
Karma
Fractal Relics
Guild Commendations
Council Commendations
EIGHT different kinds of dungeon tokens
Bandit Crests
Geodes
WvW Claim Tickets
Candy Corn
Cobbs
Sprockets
Ugly Clothing (three different kinds)
Jorbreakers
Fortune Scarps
Several gear claim tickets
Ecto
Black Lion Scraps and Tickets
soon: Hero PointsWhat did I miss?
Copper/Silver/Gold are pretty much the same currency.
Skill Points will be replaced by Hero Point for the sake of unlocking skills/traits. The only addition is the new currency that will replace the excess skill points we now get.
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ArenaNet a few year ago: “Here’s all these rewards in boxes etc. They contain skill points and leveling tomes for your account so you can pvp and level up or just use them on alts. It’s super flexible and amazing!”
Me a few years ago: “Cool! If they ever release a new profession or race or both I can use these to level up to 80 and play all new content instead of content I have played over and over. This is awesome we don’t have to traditionally level up. We can just play new classes in new areas as they come out! Thanks ArenaNet! I think I’ll head to PvP and farm these up for future races and professions!”
ArenaNet today: "Now we are changing what you have spent thousands of hours getting into something totally different and we are going to be vague about it but keep the current reward structure in place. We don’t want you skipping that content you rightfully have no desire to play anymore. Instead of letting you have a fresh level 80 Revenant so you can just play the expansion with it, you need to go through all that content you are tired of. Sorry to those of who have spent the last few months since we announced the expansion who have spent countless hours farming skill points and leveling tomes in advance. We should have been more clear on how it was going to work to save you all a bunch of wasted time. "
Nobody said leveling tomes don’t work. Instead, we have confirmation that you can level your Revenant to 80 through Tomes alone.
Leveling to 80 alone gives you access to most skills/traits. Also, the utilities are grouped in categories like Signets, Shouts, etc, so you can prioritize the ones you need for your build, like full-Medi Guard, or full-Cantrip Ele.
Old skill points in excess of those earned by leveling and skill challenges will be converted into crafting materials for the Mystic Forge. Items and activities that were previously repeatable sources of skill points will now also provide that same crafting material.
In other words, complete garbage. Convert everything now guys because if you thought you had a lot of pointless Mystic Forge Stones sitting around in your bank, you ain’t seen nothing yet!
They are making a new currency. Don’t you think it’s better to wait until you know what you can use for first?
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I’ll be sorely disappointed if the necromancer got all those shouts. I mean, yes, we lack support, but we are not Trahearne. We aren’t meant to lead/give commands… It’d be the REALLY cheap way out.
They talked about an elite spec full of shouts and another full of traps, then continued to say that they chose to add skills with pre-exisiting types (like Traps or Shouts) that are supported by the current traits.
Basically, that confirms that these elite specs are for professions that already have access to Shouts and Traps.
“Hero Points will be limited, and they’ll be earned strictly through what are currently called skill challenges (these will become known as hero challenges) and leveling up. A level 80 character that’s done none of the hero challenges should be able to unlock more than enough skills, specializations, and traits to make several unique full builds. A single character who’s done a fair amount of the hero challenges should be able to unlock all of the core specializations, skills, and traits. PvP players won’t have to worry about unlocking anything, as all skills and traits will be automatically unlocked upon entering the Heart of the Mists.”
So, this doesn’t mention level 80 characters with 100% world completion. Will those characters get all of the hero points they’d have? I know Anet is usually really good about retroactive rewards, but the wording here leaves something to be desired. :s
I’m looking forward to see how this is implemented and plays out over all, though.
If you have 100% completion, then that means you’ve finished all challenges, and I doubt Anet will go out of their way to lock them again.
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They are definitely deleting traits from the game, I presume every character class is going to lose a whole bunch of traits. The say it here, quote:-
’ By locking traits to tiers and reducing the overall number of traits, we’ve made each choice much more compelling.’
Also, present lvl 80’s will lose some traits they have now and after unlock them again. Again this quote:-
‘A level 80 character that’s done none of the hero challenges should be able to unlock more than enough skills, specializations, and traits to make several unique full builds.’
So well you may be able to run some builds, those builds could be awful ones or ones you personally don’t like/hate.
They are merging/deleting 20 traits per profession.
We currently have (15+65)=80 traits total. With the new system we get 3 minor and 9 major per trait line, for a total of 60.
However, we get access to more active traits.
Don't you do it anet! (spec blog feedback)
in Guild Wars 2: Heart of Thorns
Posted by: RabbitUp.8294
I for one don’t see this as a good call, I’d much rather have the real specializations restrained to a ui where i choose if its on/off and which spec it is rather then get my traits restricted to 3 lines and then be told i can’t use my spec unless I throw away one of those lines to access it.
Then why would you ever turn it off? In that case, Anet would unlock the weapon as part of the regular profession and be done with it.
An elite customization doesn’t just give you a new weapon to bash skulls with. It directly adds to your weapon skills, heal spell, utilities, elite spell and traits. It’s a meaningful choice you need to make when building your character.
So, yes, it replaces a trait line because you choose to build your character like that. And it’s for the better. For example, someone brought up a good point in the engi forums that wielding a hammer as an Engineer means you lose ranged pressure. The new bonuses that come with the specialization can help alleviate that.
You see you’re looking at this all wrong. Forcing people into 3 lines instead of allowing people to spread their points around actually leads to more diversity between builds.
In the current system people spend their points in order to overcome as many weaknesses in their build as possible. This leads people taking very similar builds as to minimize their short comings.
This is true. Champions Online, for example, let you mix and match skills from different power trees (a rough equivalent of other MMOs’ classes) to make a build, with only minor restrictions for stronger skills, like picking 2 skills for the same tree as a prerequisite.
While it seems like it would enable build diversity, it only led to cookie-cutter “tankmage” builds. Similarly:
Players also tend to spread out trait points, for the express purpose of maxing DPS, survivability or both, usually ending up with builds that max one line at 6, have another (or two) at 4, and a couple with 2. Sometimes going 1, 3 or 5 points is also acceptable, and even optimal based on what traits are selected.
It’s this mentality that creates min-max builds, and makes specialized build unattractive.
Found Mardi Grass available while trying to name my Sylvari Engineer
It would be nice for a Sylvari Mesmer
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Is there a way through transmutation to hide certain pieces of armor?
I can’t stand the look of charr boots. It’s like their nails grew long and pierced through their boots. If it’s not possible to hide the boots completely, are there any boot models that have a different look?