Guild Wars 2

Fjaeldmark.9043:

The arc would vary as a continuum I just used discrete values as an example.

Well that would be better, thanks for clearing that up. Still not on board with 1200 range, though. We already have scepter and longbow for that purpose, even if they have their issues. I’d much rather like them to do something about those issues than plaster staff with 1200 range.

I don’t think staff is ment to have 1200 range but 900 range I can get on board with, although I think variable arc is not the answer. Why not have it just hit a single target within 600-900 range, and 4 additional targets within 600 range? That wouldn’t change any of the current mechanics but would bring more versatile range. Having a varying arc would mean 3 basically different AA skills which change according to where your target is. That would just bring a whole set of new problems.

I don’t mean to put you down or anything, I just don’t think this would work.

Having some other way of improving guard mobility and QoL might even warrant some positive changes into the staff. The symbol might give superspeed rather than swiftness, which would give it much better combat utility.

If it isn’t tied to a useful spec, the +25% movement speed should be tied to a signet, imo, wasting a utility slot for mobility is a much better tradeoff than wasting an entire line of unwanted traits. And yeah, I want this option to be in a guardian spec-line or utility, not DH specifically.

Personally, I don’t think any of the old gw1 classes(ones that are not in the game yet) are going to make a comeback. What I think could happen is they make classes that can bear their mantle. Some of these mantlebearers are already in the game, such as thieves(assassin), revenants(ritualist) and guardians, that already bear monks and dervishes abilities.

I think there should be a mantlebearer for paragon as well, but that warriors are more suited to that end. I know that thematically paragons are supposed to be the holy warrior type, but the emphasis is clearly on the warrior-part of the theme. Paragons used to have adrenaline, for example. Leadership is also something that fits military types extremely well.

About the elite spec I’m designing, it is going to be melee for now, with a few ranged skills as well. Dragonhunters already have down the ranged part of being a guardian. If you don’t like it, too bad. And when I think polearm, I’m not thinking of a spear exactly, rather than a glaive, poleaxe or halberd. Glaive is a spearlike weapon that has a blade 1/3 the length of the weapon, and that’s what I’m focusing on.

Furthermore, I’m not going to incorporate a speed boost trait, since I feel that should be fixed in the core class rather than in an elite spec.

@Nero Adding a ranged #3 skill was totally my intention, but I’ve yet to decide how it should work thought. For the #4, I was thinking of a party buff(maybe swiftness, unless #4 staff skill is reworked at some point). Some other added benefits as well.

Some very interesting suggestions you have there, I’ll definitely give them some thought. Especially for healing and elite utilities, there was some very good ideas there.

Ragnar the Rock.3174:

Instead of having bleeds tied to a specific weapon ability they would likely be better tied to a proc.
Something like “Whenever you burn an enemy you also apply X seconds of bleeding”
or “Whenever you critically strike you apply a Y second bleed”

That way they would not be tied to a single weapon (albeit some might be better for it then others)
This keeps the class from going to absolute crap once an enemy is outside of melee range because you can still reliably apply bleeds/burns albeit at a possibly reduced amount. (better then none)

That is a very good idea, I’m leaning towards the “whenever you burn”-kind of mechanic. That way you can still proc bleeds during the #5 skill. But why couldn’t we have it both ways? Bleeds are not a very high-DoT condi, so stacking bleeds would probably be a good idea. I mean, condi revs can easily do 15-20 stacks of torment and have decent burns as well. Not to mention that torment does a lot more dmg than bleed.

For the tomes part, I was thinking of converting virtues into a tome. Rather than having a lot different tomes, why not just have one but just turn the pages for different spells used from it? I had an idea, not sure how popular this will be but here goes, that it would kind of turn them into something similar to elementalist attunements in a way that they could only be used one at a time. Still have the same passive effects, slightly boosted to account for only having one, and give it an active part that is also strong. The spells could be called blessings, and they would be used for utilities as well.

@bearshaman, @darknicrofia and @Ragnar the Rock, please stop this now. While your concerns and points are legit, this is off-topic. This is a topic for musings about future elite specs, which is way way into the future, I’m sure there is going to be major patches and updates before any of this comes to be. There are already plenty of topics about the current guardian issues.

@Ragnar the Rock I’ve been putting together an elite spec that thematically focuses on polearms and tomes. Practically, I’ve given bleeds to the AA chain for now, #2 skill is a gap closer with a short knockdown, #5 skill is 3-5s block which inflicts burns on blocks and it can be released for an AoE burn+dmg. Rather than going with the javelins that paragons had, I feel like a melee polearm is more fitting. (not to mention I always hated that paragons were a ranged class)

I’ll make a more comprehensive post about this later, but my initial design seems to be getting very good synergy out of zeal and virtues. To make things clear, my design IS condi oriented.

@Finalfreefall Love the name, “Lorekeeper”, can I use it? Not so excited about the off-hand dagger, I strongly associate that with necromancers.

@Rodzynald It came across to me like that, guess I may have misinterpreted.

Getting excited about this idea of polearms and tomes. Coming up with a plan for this elite spec, posting some of my ideas soon, so everybody gets to contribute.

Ghotistyx.6942:

Charr can’t exactly shun magic in anyway when it’s infused in the lives of everyone. Even warriors use magic with many of their skills.

I really want to comment on this but we are going too much off-topic here, so I’ll just say that magic may be more rare than you seem to think. Magical weapons and items are not the same as using magic.

Rodzynald.5897:

Oh boi, oh boi if we got tomes and this beauty: https://wiki.guildwars2.com/wiki/Polearm
Then I would pre-order the xpack right away.

Polearms are my favorite as well, because they fit both mechanically and as a concept. Traditionally polearms are a defensive weapon, relying on reach to out-maneuver your opponent. The current twohanded weapons in the game are missing such a variety. So naturally it could fit that slot.

I won’t speculate on the specific skills, since having polearms would have wider impact than it will on just guardians. It would become open to other classes as well, and that creates wider balance concerns than I’m equipped to handle.

I don’t think Darknicrofia was referring to your comment specifically, btw. No need to get worked up.

Quozex.9430:

In regards to Yannir (forgive me I have no clue how to quote) I’m not sure crossbows have any niche to fill that the game doesn’t already have. Shortbow/Pistol I feel already would fill the “melee ranged” weapon if it was condi or power. Hell scepter already fills the power/control aspect of the guardian for that type of weapon. I would love to see better main hand weapons on the guardian that are more condition focused.

I hadn’t really thought about it from a mechanical point of view, was more focused on the flavor of the class. That in mind, I cannot imagine guardians ever using pistols or shortbows, but who knows, maybe Anet will surprise me. Maybe they’ll spin a John Constantine theme into a guard with pistols.

Ghotistyx.6942:

Yannir.4132:

Lack of crossbows in the current game is a crime btw, they are one of the two links that eventually led to the development of guns. It’s like inventing a car without inventing the wheel first.

Tyrian history is not medieval history. In addition, magic.

What does magic have to do with guns and crossbows? But you’re a bit right, too. I got carried away there. Just saying magic is not an automatic solution to everything.

Btw, guns/gunpowder are a charr invention, and charr shun magic generally, because magic is a Flame Legion thing.

bearshaman.3421:

Just looked through the GW1 professions. I know someone mentioned a Ritualist type elite spec, but I feel like the revenant is already the gw2 ritualist. Now a monk spec I could see. Utility skills that mimic martial arts, not sure what weapon they would go with since we already have staff (maybe dagger?), something like that perhaps?

I have to point out that monks in gw1 had nothing to do with martial arts but I do see a good point here. I mean, guardians are basically a heavily armored melee class(or atleast it’s one aspect of the class), so “physical skills” wouldn’t be out of place even if there isn’t anything to back that up currently, since all of the utility-skills are spellcaster flavored.

On a totally separate note, I think Anet has to start bringing out new weapon types for the next expansion. Guardians specifically may have room to expand within the current weaponry but many classes have hit a wall in that respect. I would like to see polearms, crossbows, or even 2-handed axes introduced into the game, for example. There’s plenty to choose from.

Lack of crossbows in the current game is a crime btw, they are one of the two links that eventually led to the development of guns. It’s like inventing a car without inventing the wheel first.

Don’t buy costumes. They are silly. Problem solved. Armor looks way better anyway. Nothing looks more silly than a charr warrior/any heavy in a tophat and a scarf.

It might be a few years old but I think there are more players now than ever. HoT activated many of the old players as well as brought in new players via f2p. So that shouldn’t be the reason why your maps feel empty. As the previous poster said, try changing to a higher population server. My maps atleast always feel full.

Well, if you really mean pvp, you won’t have to change a thing. That’s what the pvp amulets are for. Berserker rarely works in pvp btw, because any CC will drop you basically defenseless and eventually, dead. Many classes can drop several hard and soft CCs in a row, and strip the defenses you do have.

If we are talking about pve open world, anything goes really, just as long as you enjoy it. In high-end fractals and raiding I hear condi engi works best but can’t say I have any experience in the matter, my engi is mostly for doing pvp.

Skyhammer here, also stuck. Are they all stuck atm?