It would seem this candid, yet obvious, information was meant to hit the internet come Wednesday. There isn’t much surprise at the final profession being the Mesmer, however, the community grows hungry for the nitty-gritty bits about how the Mesmer will function in GW2. There is a video out and it exists out of context. That will be remedied in 2 days time.
As someone who has never really played GW1, I know practically nil about the Mesmer profession. I understand the basic ideas of it being a master illusionist of sorts, but more than that. From what I can gather in the video the professions seems able to replicate itself in the forms of other professions for a short while. Also, the array of weapons available to the profession is very intriguing. Caster with a greatsword? Neat-o. Maybe I’ll post something to follow this up when Anet condones the juicy details. Maybe…
I had a post a while back about a skill simulator that a GW2Guru community member had whipped up. These are later revised versions in two flavors.
The Revgaming.net painterly themed version (giving tribute to the GW2 style).
The thing I like about this one is the inclusion of a trait simulator alongside the skill sim, so you can view everything in one window.
The French site Luna-atra took the updated version of the original skill sim.
This one is great because of it’s simplicity and quick to use layout. I usually head to this one when I want to just goof around with what is known about the profession skills. Also has the traits and downed/drowned state skills.
I felt like experimenting with today’s post. I’ll call it “The Red Light”, because it’s my opinion shining the light on the subject at hand. Let’s see if I enjoy writing like this. :)
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We finally have the opportunity to look into another GW2 profession. It’s been a few months since the last debut, PAX East I think it was. This makes the final “adventurer” profession, leaving a single “scholar” profession to be revealed. Everyone’s money is on Mesmer.
Initially I had to look at this profession through my scope of experience. Of course I’m talking about WAR’s Dwarven Engineer. There are, without a doubt, going to be several similarities present in GW2′s Engineer, but I’ll try to leave these at the door and see what the new profession has to offer.
Masters of mechanical mayhem, engineers tinker with explosives, gadgets, elixirs, and all manner of deployable devices. They can take control of an area by placing turrets, support their allies with alchemic weaponry, or lay waste to foes with a wide array of mines, bombs, and grenades.
The shear amount of equipment available to the Engineer is definitely interesting. Giving the profession many tools to overcome different situations. Yet, their actual weapons are quite limited in the scope of other professions:
Main Hand: Pistol
Off Hand: Pistol, Shield
Two-Handed: Rifle
Primarily pistol(s) or rifle. A ranged only class in terms of weapons. The shield is an interesting addition and from the skill example provided seems quite handy.
[Absorb]
Like elementalists, engineers use a single weapon set at a time, but they complement this weapon set by equipping special utility and healing kits. These kits provide the engineer with special weapons and backpacks loaded with a full set of skills to replace their current weapon skills.
Ok, so I haven’t really said anything about weapon sets in GW2. Basically you have multiple sets of weapons (2 sets) you can switch between during combat. Currently the Elementalist and the Engineer are the only professions excluded from this. They make up for it in different areas. In the Engineer’s case, with kits. Kits provide temporary weapons that replace the skills of whatever weapons you have equipped. The kits are easily toggled off, giving you access to your weapons and putting your kit on a cooldown.
This may take some getting used to at first and I could see the Engineer proving to be more difficult to play than other professions. Losing the use of your weapons in exchange for something that may not have as much range could be risky and will require proper assessment of your current situation.
Weapon Kits—These are utility skills that equip a new weapon in the engineer’s hands when activated. For example, the flamethrower kit creates a short-range AOE weapon the engineer can use to overwhelm foes. The flamethrower has skills like Immolate to damage nearby enemies, Air Blast to defend from ranged attacks, and Backdraft to suck enemies into range of the weapon’s powerful attacks.
One of the specific type of kits available and quite the group oriented assailant. I get the impression that Engineer will be one of the “KoS” professions. There are only two weapon kits.
Weapon Kits
Flamethrower
Elixir Gun
There were no flamethrower specific abilities demonstrated, but this is a concept piece of what I would basically assume it to look like.
Backpack Kits—When activated, these special utility kits equip a backpack that replaces the engineer’s current weapon skills with a set of more specialized skills. For example, a bomb kit puts a backpack on engineers that allows them to deploy bombs with a variety of effects including smoke, concussion, and fire.
Another type of kit available to the Engineer. These also replace your current weapon skills with a larger assortment of choices.
Backpack Kits
Tool Kit
Grenade Kit
Bomb Kit
Mine Kit
Med Kit
Definitely the utility class that is provided with many ways to prepare for, counter, or control your enemies. You could also fulfill more of a healer role by having a med kit. Again, these kits can be toggled off and then go on cooldown. I don’t know if the Backpack kits share the cooldown of the Weapon kits. If so, this would make Engineer gameplay too slow. Let’s hope not. :)
Now, obviously a player wouldn’t be able to switch between all of these kits at any given time. You only have 10 skill slots available to your player and the first 5 are always your weapon skills and slot 6 is your dedicated heal slot. This leaves the next 3 skills to manage various profession specific functions, because the very last slot is taken up by your elite skill.
I would assume that each type of kit will take up one of the 3 skills available. There will be a large variety of specialization in the game.
Turrets—An engineer can deploy turrets: immobile allied devices that help defend and control an area. When a turret is deployed, the skill in that slot is replaced with its overcharged version. For example, an engineer can deploy a Thumper Turret to cause AOE damage, and then activate the overcharge version of that skill for a big thump attack that knocks down nearby enemies. An engineer can interact with deployed turrets, packing them up and moving them around. This removes the turret—and the option to overcharge it—triggering a short recharge before that turret can be deployed again. Only one of each type of turret can exist at a time.
What’s an Engineer without turrets? Nothing. I was rather surprised at how many turrets are available.
Turrets
Rifle Turret
Thumper Turret
Net Turret
Flame Turret
Healing Turret
[Rifle Turret + Mine]
I’m really wanting to know how these skills will situate themselves on your skill bar. Could I play as an all turret Engineer with no kits? And vice versa?
Limiting how many abilities you can have on your bar at any given time does hinder the player to a certain degree. Creating a need for preemptive setup of your abilities, aka tactical thinking.
Tool Belt—An engineer tool belt is a set of special skills above the weapon skill bar. It enhances the effectiveness and functionality of the engineer’s utility and heal skills. The tool belt can add a self-destruct skill to turrets or a detonation option to all mines. When paired with the grenade kit, the tool belt allows a grenade barrage; with the med kit, it adds a self-healing skill.
The final utility available to the Engineer. Appearing to be an enhancement to the previous functions of the profession. More choices, more diversity… too much? We’ll see.
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To finish up The Red Light, the Engineer will most definitely be at PAX Prime (unless it isn’t) and we’ll all get the chance to see it in combat. This profession is the most skill dependent I’ve seen so far and will probably be one of the more difficult to master. Since it wears medium armor it will require attentive positioning in closer combat. Engineers with flamethrowers will definitely need to be focus fired in order to limit their destructive capabilities.
This was larger than my usual profession posts, but It was nice to go over more of the information presented. I’ll try this again when the Mesmer is released. x]
With the addition of the final Heavy profession, the Guardian, I became increasingly curious about the mechanics behind threat for Guild Wars 2. The MMOs that I have had the pleasure of tanking all use similar styles, but Arenanet has gone and thrown those styles out the window to make room for their own creativity.
Q: Is there any taunting mechanism, similarly to what other MMOs have? Will there be “tanks” in GW2?
Eric: No, there is no taunting mechanism. There will be “tanks” in the same way that there were tanks in Guild Wars. That is to say, a tank in Guild Wars 2 is a character that can take a lot of damage and has some way to protect allies. A warrior fits that description since he has high health, heavy armor, and several defensive skills that can protect allies from harm.
This is from a Q&A session back in June (of 2010 if you hadn’t guessed). Translation: having lots of health and thick armor will be an incentive for you to get in there and soak up the damage for the rest of your team. This leads me to ponder about other professions. What about characters that have very low health? Or those that wear leather and cloth?
Tanks will be in the game, but not in the ways we’ve previously experienced. I did some research on Guild Wars tanking (since I have practically zero Guild Wars experience) and came to this conclusion: Most, if not all, classes will be able to tank to varying degrees if they come prepared and know how to handle/adapt to the situation. Players familiar with and privy to traditional styles of tanking will gravitate towards the Warrior.
[patrickvp] Can you talk about the agro mechanic? Is it DPS based, armor based, random, or something else?
[IsaiahCartwright] Currently its a combination of DPS, Positional, and a bunch of other factors. Currently how close you are to the enemy is the biggest factor.
Another quote from a Q&A session held by GW2Guru. I underlined the mystery bits to elicit your own speculative wonder.
The forums at GuildWars2Guru have had several discussions/debates on the subject of tanking. By most accounts players feel that positioning and conditions (or control) will be the main factors that influence threat. Conditions include (GW2Wiki):
There is much more to this style of tanking than previously expected. Compared to traditional methods, which are becoming bland and repetitious, the GW2 “tank” (or GW 2ank, “twank”?… I am still working on it) brings a new level of complexity to player-mob interaction.
The abilities available to the Guardian allow for a unique and versatile class. Using spirit weapons to stun or quickly aid in dispatching an enemy. Marking areas with symbols to boost your allies or hinder your foe. Setting up wards to stop your pursuers in their tracks and bolster your teams defenses. Blessing your companions with an Aegis that will block the coming blow. These are but a taste of what the Guardian is capable of. Though, a player who isn’t aware of his surroundings can be overtaken with a few well placed attacks.
One of the main differences between all our professions are their base stats.The guardian has way less health than a warrior, but he has a fast hit point regeneration. So deciding when to grant the “Resolve” virtue to your allies becomes a very tactical decision.
You need to take hitpoints into account, not just armour – The guardian actually dies way faster than a warrior if played the wrong way.
These are snippets from a thread Martin Kerstein (German Community Manager) participated in shortly after the unveiling of the Guardian. Even though the Guardian is a Heavy profession it is noted to have weaknesses. Tanking as a Guardian would involve strategic hit and run tactics in order to persevere. Honestly, I’m not sure how I would play a Guardian at this given moment. There is still more to be detailed. We’ll probably see something this year at PAX and other expos.
The Guardian design has great appeal and I anticipate mastering the profession… and getting my butt handed to me by mob and player alike in the process.
First Impression: I really enjoy the fighting style. It is very melee based, but if I think of it more like I’m playing an “alchemist” instead of a mage then I don’t mind all that much. You have your spells slotted up where your quick items would be, leading me to believe that you will carry a limited number of items. They make up for this by giving Evie abilities like revive among other things. Beside all of this, I love swinging around a staff… It just has a nice feel to it.
After a few hours I’m moving along nicely. Evie is incredibly fun to play. The health shield helps a great deal when fighting the normal mobs, but you won’t want to rely on it during boss battles. Coming from a character who can block attacks I find myself trying to do the same. I need to get used to timing my dodges better. x]
