This wonderful fellow was drawn by Tigerfeet on her blog.
I think this picture is really funny, because of the wide-mouth grin the Asura has. It’s very cool, and also holds the warrior feel to it. I wonder what downed skills it has.
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Hey guys! I’m here, after a a couple days of not posting. I’m gonna review the Part 2 of the combat overview. First up to bat, are weapons!
So we have a total of 16 weapons. They are classified mainly in 3 groups. One-handed, Two-handed, and Off-hand.
For one-handed weapons we have: Axe, Dagger, Mace, Pistol, Scepter, and Sword.
For two-handed weapons we have: Hammer, Greatsword, Longbow, Rifle, Shortbow, and Staff.
For off-hand weapons we have: Shield, Focus, Torch, Warhorn.
Now, some professions can dual-wield weapons, not all though I may add. But because of this, I’ll guess a list of combination that can be made with these weapons. So, all the two-handed weapons are 1 combo each, so that’s six. Then multiply the number of one-handed weapons by itself, which is 6 times 6. We get 36. Then with 6 times the off-hand weapons, which is 4, so we have 24 combos there. So 24+36= 60+6= 66 combos. But that number is highly unlikely to actually happen, as I see no reason to carry a shield with a scepter. But, we’ll see as professions are released.
Now! Onto the environment! Well, environmental weapons to be more precise. Now we all know the weapons we have in our hands will effect our first 5 skills. But what I didn’t mention was that there are also just things lying around in the field for you to pick up depending what’s going on in the world. For example, if your fighting some centaurs, and they knock down a wooden gate, you can pick up a plank and use it to smack the centaur ‘upside the head. Take that fool! If your in a bar brawl activity you can pick up a bar stool, break it over the head of another patron, and use the remaining piece of it you have as a club. Sam thing with a bottle, if you hit someone with the bottle, and you break it, you get a new set of skills to “shank” people. These are only a few of the environmental weapons though. Some people are disappointed with the fact that Guild Wars 2 won’t have scythes or spears. In my opinion, I find it likely that these could return as environmental weapons. The scythe as a farming scythe to cut overgrown grass, and spears as basic soldier weaponry. I completely love this environmental weapons feature. Because I always hate it when I have to carry an object in the original game and I can’t fight at all. It sounds like here I actually be able to do something though.
Okay, onto the professions! In Guild Wars 2, professions will have a huge impact on how the game plays for you. Professions are now organized by their armor type in this game. And instead of armor being restricted to profession, it’s now restricted to type. For example, an elementalist will be able to wear any armor that is in the “Scholar” category, even if it looks like necromancer armor. So, the groups are “Scholars”, “Adventurers”, and “Soldiers”. There are 3 scholars, and they wear light armor. There are 3 adventurers, and they wear medium armor. There are 2 soldiers, and they wear heavy armor. The professions are designed to be extremely unique now, as in the sense that even though some professions can use the same weapons, they may use them in different ways. For example, the warrior can use axes, but there may be another profession that throws axes. Which is amazing, that kind of diversity is amazing. It seems as if you can create your own “archetype” within your character with the two professions revealed so far.
However, the secondary professions have been removed. Some see that as a great disappointment. I think they replaced what they were used for with racial skills and the great diversity that professions provide. The racial skills are said to provide skills that have attributes from all the professions except they are weaker. They also seem to have race-specific skills like norn shape-shifting, which are probably elites. All great things, as if there were secondary professions, there would be major balancing issues.
Something that can replace secondary professions too is cross-profession combos. You can team up with an elementalist as a warrior, and you can do a number of combos. The elementalist can set down a fire wall, and the warrior can use cyclone axe in the flames to send them out to a number of places. It’s amazing, as it again helps to make up for the loss of the secondary professions, and supports group play and tactics. I like it, it’s a good game mechanic. I just wanna see a video of it in action.
Okay, so I talked a little bit about racial skills so far, and I’ll go over them a little bit more now. The normal racial skills are pretty much weaker versions of all the professions skills, but that’s good, as it gives racial flavor to professional skills, and yet they give back some of what was lost in the removal of the secondary professions. But the racial elites are a different thing all together. They supply racial uniqueness. For an example, if the norn were a profession, they would most likely be a shape-shifting type of profession. The charr would probably what most MMO’s call the “bezerker”, the humans would be the noble warrior types, the asura would be an alchemist techy type, and the sylvari would most likely fit as a nature-mage. They all have unique racial skills. The norn have their animal totems, the humans their god-like skills, the asura have their golems, the charr have their pure ferocity, the sylvari have their nature abilities.
If you want to read the full article, even though I practically covered it all here, I’ll give the link to you. http://www.guildwars2.com/en/the-game/combat/part-two/
Personal Fact about me: I’m currently at a friend’s house where I was for some Airsoft fun.
Jexx, off to find some people to make cross profession combos with!
I noticed that we have had a lack of Guild Wars 2 info this week, which in my opinion would be a very likely week for info due to the pattern we have had for a while.
The schedule for the guildwars2.com pretty much is..
A new article every 2 weeks on Wednesday.
A new profession + article every 6 weeks, again on a wednesday.
The schedule for the blog is pretty much a Link round up a day or two after the article release, and a Q&A on the next wednesday between article releases. Anything else is random.
But due to the lack of and article on the main GW2 website this past week.. It got me thinking that it’s possible that sometime this week, they’ll release another profession and another article. It’s either than or that VoiceActing video they have been talking about and a new article. I’m not completely sure and this is just speculation. Well it’s mostly just high hopes really.
But I’m predicting that we’ll get something big soon. Either this week or next week. But don’t take my word for it, because I have no idea if they really will.
Random Fact about me: I like honey mustard and lite mayonnaise mixed on my Subway hoagies.
Jexx, off to create the best Subway hoagie ever! ..wow, deja vu.
Hey guys, it’s Jexx again. If you can’t tell, I’m doing blog entry’s on the main info we got so far from the main site and blog (not including things we got from link roundups, I need to get through this quickly enough). So, today, I’m giving out an entry on the first article they had on combat, including the skills. To the blogging mobile! (NOTE: I edited the last entry to include a bit I forgot. Elementalist’s only have one weapon set)
So Eric began the entry with “the basics”. So, we’re able to jump and swim. That sounds cool, because in GW1 you couldn’t jump, and it annoyed me so much how I couldn’t just jump off of a small ledge, or jump onto a small ledge. We also learned that placement really matters in combat. Now, placement mattered in GW1 too, though that was something I never really fully understood until a recent Relics of Orr podcast. You see, aside from the occasional F2P mmo (in which I never really played bow-users), GW1 was my first MMO. So, in GW1, I recently started up a ranger, and really like playing one. I like the way placement matters as a ranger. However it turns out that in other MMOs placement doesn’t count. But in GW2, it sounds like placement will matter even more than it did before, which is really cool.
Apparently skills will also be visually appealing, and you’ll be able to tell what type of skill someone else is using on a glance. You’ll be able to look at the skill being used, and tell whether it is an AoE spell, if it inflicts damage or not, etc. Now, that also sounds cool. But I’m a little afraid that it may make the game a little easy. Being able to tell what type of skill is being used and what to do. But then I realize that you can do that in GW1 too, you just need to have a good eye. I’m taking that the combat will still be challenging though. But we’ll have to see when the game is released.
This comic is pretty funny, as it sort of takes a jab at “traditional” MMOs. Where everything you wear matters a lot, and you need to take 20 minutes preparing to do something just so you can actually have fun. As ArenaNet said before, they want you to be having fun, not preparing to have fun.
Now, onto the Skill system. The skill system will be practically the same that is in GW1. You have to obtain skills to use in your builds, and you can buy them off of Skill Traders and get them as loot from monsters. You have a great number of skills to choose from, and can implement them in the last 5 slots of your skill bar. I’m glad they kept the system from GW1, because actual skill trees annoy me. With upgrade-able skills and requiring you to be certain levels… ugh.
GW1’s skill bar set-up was that you had 8, completely free skill slots. GW2’s skill bar set-up will be a bit different. The first 5 skills will be determined by the items you have in your hands at the time. Your first 3 skills will be determined by what you have in your main hand, and your last 2 skills will be determined by what you have in the off hand. If you have a two-handed weapon in your hands, it will determine all 5 of the skills. Now, on this note, the skills are also determined by profession. For example, a Warrior wielding a mace and shield will have different skills than another profession wielding a mace and shield. Certain professions can also have two weapon sets to choose from in combat.
The last 5 skills are slotted directly by the player. You click on the skill slots, and a list is brought up with a number of skills for you to choose from. One skill slot has to be a healing skill, that increased the health of the character or his allies, this implies that there may not be a dedicated healer to heal you if you get in trouble, like in other MMO’s. Another slot has to be an elite skill, which are designed to be very powerful and infrequently used. Some question if you’ll actually want to use these elites, because of they’re supposed to be used infrequently. But ArenaNet gave the example of an elementalist turning into a tornado. Tornadoes usually inflict major damage to an area in real life, so imagine what it can do in a fantasy world. Yea. They’ll be used a lot, don’t worry.
So, that’s the 10-slot skill bar. Many think it’s restricting. Well, it’s designed this way so that people can make, at minimum, average builds. No one wants to be the poor newb who has the lamest build in the game, so ArenaNet fixed that so the players can have more fun, and not “prepare to have fun.” But, I honestly don’t think this set up is as restricting as one thinks. Sure, half our skill-bar is slotted for us, but think about it this way..
You choose 2 weapon sets to take with you, and you choose 5 skills. That’s 7 choices. 1 less than in GW1. Now, you may be thinking.. “The elementalist only has one weapon set..” Well, they have the choice of attunements too. So technically, in combat as an Elementalist you have 10 choices. So this new skill bar set up really isn’t that restricting in choice at all. You have 5 choices of weapon combo’s as an elementalist, and 19 combos as a Warrior. Ele’s get attunement to make up for it. So, GW2’s skill bar set-up is a bit more constricting than GW1, but not enough to make a big deal of it in my opinion.
This comic shows that each profession can fend for it’s self when they are out in the wild alone. Unlike, where in other MMO’s, you might need a dedicated healer to take care of you, while in GW2, you have enough proficiency in taking care of yourself to not be in danger all of the time. This is great, because now that you can heal yourself without potions, you won’t need to run around looking for a monk for your party, or just to take care of you on your journeys.
My favorite GW1 professions were the Assassin and Ranger.
Jexx, off to form the greatist GW2 build eva!!
Hey guys, it’s Jexx again. Here to bring news about the elementalist, and what I think about it. Now, the elementalist has a special ability. One would call them attunements, and the attunements include the 4 elements. Fire, which when attuned to causes anyone attempting to attack them with melee abilities to catch on fire. Air, which when attuned to causes one’s enemies to be pelted with lightning strikes. Water, which when attuned to causes any ally close by to be continuously healed. Earth, which when attuned to causes the user to be protected by magic.
Now, because of the element factor, it reminds me a lot of Avatar. Bending the elements to your will, to do your bidding. Here’s churning earth, a skill that reminds me greatly of something someone could do with earth bending.
Now, I left you something with my latest entry saying that my favorite elements are air and water. You may be wondering why they are my favorite elements, and that’s okay. Air is one of my favorite elements because, well, I always wanted to fly. And being able to control wind and lightning is just plain cool. You see a monster running towards you? That’s okay, put a static field around it.
Of course, I AM stunning? Right, right? …Tough crowd. Anyway, That is just such a cool thing to do. On the note of why water is one of my favorite elements, I love swimming. It’s one of the closest ways to experience ‘flying’ in a sense. And being able to cause floods is always something I think would be cool. Plus, in GW2, water would be my support element, while Air would be my offensive element. Here’s a great example of the water element’s supporting qualities.
Now it’s time to discuss the elementalist’s skill types. We have glyphs, which enhance or modify the elementalist’s natural power. These sound pretty cool, including the given example on the official site. The Glyph of Elemental Power will increase damage, range, and duration of spells. Overall it makes them much, much better. In my opinion they sound a lot like they are temporary traits.
Then there are the signets, which give an effect to the elementalist. Now, the official site describes these as on-going, and I’m not exactly sure what this means. I think it might mean that as long as you have it equipped it gives the effect. As the site also describes them as having an “activation” which when activated causes a greater effect, so in essence it’s like as long as you have the signet equipped you have an on-going effect, but when you click on it in your skill bar, it gives a greater effect for a certain amount of time. The official site gives an example of “An elementalist equipped with the Signet of Earth has increased damage resistance, but activating the Signet sends out a wave of stone, stunning nearby enemies.” Now that sounds pretty cool. I can’t wait to play an elementalist.
Next up to bat, we have the conjure spells! These are something I consider amazing, as you can conjure up elemental weapons to use, and for others to use. Essentially you can use these spells to summon items or weapons that normally have a certain elemental quality to them. As I said before, you yourself can use them, and others can use them. That makes it quite amazing, as then others that aren’t an elementalist can get a feel of the elemental powers. As a warrior you may be able to pick up a fiery greatsword and you will get a set of weapon skills with a fire-quality to them. Quite amazing, I wonder if an asura designed these skills.
Last but not least, we have the area spells! These are used to inflict mayhem and damage all around the battlefield. A great example of an area spell, in my opinion, is Meteor Shower. Now, I’m not absolutely sure it actually is an area spell, but it certainly looks like one.
Now that we have the skill types covered, it’s onto more Elementalist things.
We have more info about the attunements under the videos. It turns out the attunements are actually separate skills, and they are on a 4-slot skill bar above the normal skill bar. They change the first 5 skills of an elememtalist’s skill bar, just like the weapons do. They also provide an on-going effect when attuned to an element, sort of like a signet in a way. So when carrying a staff while attuned to fire, you’ll have different skills than when your carrying a sceptre and focus while attuned to fire. Now, it also turns out the elementalist can only use one weapon set in combat, and can’t carry around a second one to use. But, you have the elements to even that out.
On the note of weapons, we also have a list of weapons the elementalists will use.
On the one-handed side, we have
*Sceptre – focuses on close ranged spells
*Dagger – focuses on medium ranged spells, they also cast spells quickly
On the off-hand side, we have
*Dagger – focuses on medium-ranged abilities
*Focus – focuses on close-ranged abilities
On the two-handed side, we have
*Staff – focuses on long-ranged spells, also casts slowly
Now, I’m confused at something. Why are daggers medium-ranged and sceptres and focii are close-ranged? I’m thinking either ArenaNet made a typo, or daggers are just thrown by an elementalist. It would actually be very cool if the elementalist threw the daggers normally. That means that the role for each weapon, could be different for each profession that has a certain weapon. Now, to show an example of how the sceptre isn’t exactly close ranged..
That isn’t exactly close-ranged. Unless you consider that the phoenix is attacking the skritt in melee form. But still… it’s not really close-ranged in my opinion.
On the bolded part, which is abilities. Now, what exactly are abilities? Are they like glyphs and signets? I’m not sure to be honest. I guess we’ll just have to speculate and wait for ArenaNet to release the game.
Onto the random fact of the day. My favorite colors are green, blue, black, and white.
Jexx, off to learn how to bend air and water!
Hey guys, what’s up? I’m Jexx, and this is my first blog entry.
Now, you may be wondering, “Jexx, what exactly is this blog going to be about?”
Well, I have the answer for you, as you probably expect. It’s mainly going to be about Guild Wars 2. I’ll probably update randomly, whenever new information comes out and when I feel like sharing with you guys. However, this blog will also be about other things in my life. As I’m only 15, when I get back into the times of high school, I’ll probably mention some things about my life in some entries. Your free to comment on them, but you don’t have to.
Now that I have my main intro over with, and you now know what the blog is going to be about, you may be wondering why my name is Jexx. Or maybe even why this blog is called Jexx’s sightings. Well, the reason my name is Jexx is elementary my dear Watson. I am in good-standing of the College of Statics, studying the Eternal Alchemy full-time bookah, and whoopin’ charr butt part-time. (I’m sorry Tigerfeet, I couldn’t resist) Anyway, yes, Jexx is going to be my asura’s name. And, the asura are my favorite race after all. The sylvari follow close behind though. On the note of sylvari and names though, my sylvari’s name is Jaeden. Now, how did I come up with those two fine names you ask? Well, the traditional naming system for the asura is that it contains mostly of one short name. Asura names normally end in a sharp pronunciation. Like Vekk or Gadd for instance. The sharpness is normally shone with two consonants, except in the case of female asura, whose names normally end with a vowel. Jexx is a name that sounds very asura in my opinion. Now, the naming of the sylvari seem to follow a style of gaelic or fae-natured names. Now, I completely made up the name Jaeden, but it sounds gaelic and fae in my opinion, if you disagree just leave a comment.
Now, to why my blog is named Jexx’s Sightings. Well, I’m Jexx and I see things. I guess I could get all metaphorical and stuff and say it’s because I see things for the way the really are in terms of Guild Wars 2 news, but I can’t be sure of that. I really just called this blog Jexx’s Sightings because I honestly had no idea what to name it.
Now in the future of this blog, I’ll probably end up posting a ton of speculation. Tomorrow, I’ll release an article on what I think about the Elementalist. Just to give you something..
My favorite elements are Air and Water.
Jexx, off to study the eternal alchemy!
Jexx's Sightings 