EoD elite spec ideas - [Merged]

Kharrus.6015 · February 5, 2021

Much of the focus for these elite spec ideas is for giving them specific niches to fill, or giving them roles for their class that aren't redundant. I have included descriptions for weapon, class, and skill abilities to give a better idea of what they're supposed to do.

Thief - Bladedancer (Offhand Sword)New skill type: StancesEschewing steal for a melee block that charges their next attack, and focusing on honing their dueling skills, the Bladedancer thief is a dedicated anti-brawler that focuses on superiority of the blade above all else. Stance abilities grant different effects for attacks during the stance duration, allowing the Bladedancer to adapt to any situation they find themselves in.Sword skills:-Reflect (with pistol)Similar to Repost from warrior, but recharges Initiative if not hit by melee, and reflects ranged projectiles.-Execute (with dagger) large burst damage skill with high cost; does additional damage for foes under 50% health-Blade Dance (with sword) 8x fast chain attack, with each attack teleporting to the target, similar to Revenant's Unrelenting assault, but without the evade. Deals 8 stacks of vulnerability and bleeding.-Jab (offhand 4) leap forward 300 distance to inflict damage, activate in a short window again for additional initiative to evade backwards.-Parry (offhand 5) block briefly for 1.5 seconds; if a block is successful, you can attack with a heavy stab dealing 5 stacks of bleeding and heavy burst damage.Stances:-Duellist's renewal: heal yourself over 5 seconds for 33% of damage you deal. 25s cd-Fencer's agility:: Gain 20s of vigor, 20s of swiftness, and evade all attacks for for 3s. 20s cd (stunbreak)-Malicious footwork: For 10 seconds, every attack you do deals 2s of torment. 30s cd-Silent footfalls: Gain delayed stealth after 10 seconds. Every attack you deal within that timeframe gains you one extra second of stealth after shadowstepping back 600 distance from your target in stealth. 35s cd-Superiority: Gain Gain 10 seconds of quickness. Every melee attack you deal removes a boon, heals you, and gives you a stack of stability for 5 seconds. 90s cd

Warrior - Dragoon (Offhand Pistol)New skill type: CommandDragoons have the unique distinction of being trained to use firearms during mounted combat, giving them unparalleled mobility in battle. A dragoon charge can rally or terrify depending on which side of the battlefield it's coming from. Commands are slotted skills able to be used while mounted, taking the form of coordinated attacks with their mounts(command abilities and animations are universal across all mounts. Possibly add ability to use Shouts while mounted).Offhand Pistol skills:-Suppressive fire: 6x burst attack, dealing moderate damage and 6 stacks of bleeding, 10s cd-Rider's Aim: single true damage shot, 2s cdCommands:-Healing charge: Your mount rushes with you at your target, healing and consuming up to 5 conditions for additional health.-Search and rescue (same as ranger skill): Your mount teleports to a downed ally, reviving them every pulse. Your mount becomes immobile during the revival. 30s cd-Feint: within 600 range, your mount rushes your enemy then evades back, taunting them. 20s cd-Rally: Gain 2 stacks of might for 20s per allied mount within 1200 range of you (stunbreak) 25s cd-Rider's Path: gain 5 stacks of stability, and rush an enemy from up to 2000 distance away, knocking aside and damaging enemies without defiance bars along the way. Deal heavy damage to your target, dealing 25% more damage if your mount's health is above 90% when you reach the target 60s cd

Guardian - Monk (Unarmed, all weapon abilities removed)New skill type: PhysicalAbandoning force of arms, the Monk replaces a Guardian's virtues with four martial arts forms: Diving Sparrow, Rending Skelk, Enduring Mountain, and Cleaving Swordfish for underwater. Form swapping shares cooldown with virtues, and act similarly to kits by granting unique 'weapon' skills when activated.Physical skills:-Zen Renewal: gain 5 stacks of stability, and heal for a large amount. Consume stacks of might on you for additional healing.-Crane Kick: rush your enemy and strike them with a vicious upward kick. 10s cd-Monkey Paw: 6x flurry attack, stealing up to 6 boons from your enemy. 20s cd-Mantis Grasp: Latch onto your target for 5 seconds on their back, moving with them. Deal damage at the beginning, and 5 stacks of confusion with additional damage at the end.-Tiger's Ambush: Stealth for 20s. While stalking your foe, you can activate Tiger's Leap to jump from the shadows and knock them down, dealing 10 stacks of bleeding and heavy damage.

Diving Sparrow Skills:-Diving spike: short range leap and chain skill, allows for good target tracking as long as they're in close range. 0.5s cd-Chakra block: short fist flurry at melee range, deals cripple and vulnerability. 8s cd-Swoop: Long range leap, evades, but has minimum range limitation. 6s cd-Eye Slash: Deal blind and two stacks of bleed at melee range. 3s cd-Birds of a Feather: You and nearby allies gain 8 seconds of fury, swiftness, and quickness. 25s cd.

Rending Skelk Skills:-Tooth and Nail: Melee attack two stacks of bleeding if attacking from the front, one stack of torment from the side or behind. 1s cd-Bite: Summons spectral skelk around your head as you bite at the enemy, leeching health from them. 5s cd-Tail whip: Rapidly spin, dealing damage to foes around you: 3s cd-Tail smack: Rapidly spin, knocking foes back. 12s cd-Regenerate: Pulse heal over time. Additional pulses for every stack of Bite in the last 30s. 30s cd

Enduring Mountain Skills:-Boulder punch: Slow, heavy damage punch dealing long-lasting vulnerability. 1.5s cd-Blunt attack: Strike with your palm to deal weakness; gain protection briefly if attacked during cast. 3s cd-Avalanche: Rush forward, successively knocking back multiple targets. Gain extra stability stacks per additional target. Similar to Surge of the Mists. 35s cd-Crush: Launch yourself, dealing area of affect damage where you land. 15s cd-Cliff face: Raise your fits, blocking attacks for the duration. 20s cd

Cleaving Swordfish Skills:-Impale: thrust the tip of your hand forward, dealing damage. 0.5s cd-Slice: Cut in front of you, dealing vulnerability and bleeding damage to ever target not behind you. 8s cd-From the Depths: Surge forward with both hands into a point, knocking your foe back and dealing 5 stacks of vulnerability. 10s cd-Breach: Rise upwards, then down again to strike your target from above, stunning them briefly. 20s cd-Blinding scales: Twist in the water, avoiding attacks and inflicting blind on foes around you. 12s cd

Revenant - Tidecaller (Harpoon Gun)New Legend: Arabella CroweCommanding the seas, the Tidecaller is an underwater specialist, focusing on mobility and ranged damage. Legend abilities can be used on land as well, but are enhanced underwater. This would take the form of an effectiveness penalty while on land, that can be removed with a grandmaster spec ability, akin to "eternal champion" removing the toughness penalty Berserkers gain for going Berserk.Class (F1/F2) abilities:-All for One: Copy the boons from every player or npc you kill in the last 5 seconds. 15s cd, 30 energy-One for All: Copy all boons on you to up to 5 allies within a 300 distance radius. 20s cd, 40 energyPirate Stance skills:-Down the Grog: heal for a small amount, dealing confusion to yourself and up to 10 enemies around you. Additional enemies deal additional stacks of confusion. 10s cd, 5 energy-Batten down the Hatches: Drop a protective field, blocking attacks for 5s. 20s cd, 40 energy-Walk the Plank: Fear your target for 5s. If the fear is not removed after 5s, deal 20s of chill and a large amount of damage. 15s cd, 30 energy-Arabella's Rage: Upkeep skill. Pulse retaliation to you and your allies, and deal burning damage to enemies that attack you, and that you attack. -7 energy upkeep-Broadside: Summon The Kraken's Pride from the mists, dealing a a devastating broadside of cannonfire that deals a massive amount of damage, with an additional 10 stacks of vulnerability and confusion. Costs 50 energy.Harpoon Gun skills:-Deadshot: Fire a ghostly harpoon, dealing poison damage for 4s. 1s cd-Mistfire Volley: 6x burst attack, dealing 1s burning each. 6s cd, 20 energy-Gold-Driven: Fire a golden harpoon that deals 4s of taunt with 4 stacks of torment. 8s cd, 10 energy-Fishing line: Shoots out a hook that deals successive stacks of bleeding every 2s, and can be activated again to reel your target back in towards you.-Drop the Anchor: Summons a ghostly anchor that drags your enemy downwards for 10 seconds, dealing a stack of torment for 10s for every second the anchor is active.

Engineer - Golemancer (Staff)New skill type: MinionThe creation, research, and wielding of golems has long been the purview of the Asura, who with the creation of the Pact and greater cooperation between races have been more willing to share their technology and expertise, leading to the study and mastery of Golems by Tyria's more erudite individuals outside of their original makers.Staff Skills:-Zap: chain-damage skill, attacking up to 4 targets.-Overshield: Moderate barrier to protect up to 10 allies and golems. 20s cd-Repair: Small AoE heal for up to 10 allies and golems. 20s cd-Gamma Pulse: Deal Poison and Torment in a cone in front of you. 30s cd-Power cage: Refresh Golem skills in a large area. Shock enemies that attempt to cross in or out of the field., and briefly daze targets inside of it. 35s cd

Golem Skills:-M-Series Golem: This medical golem burst heals targets near it every few seconds, dealing additional healing per unique boon on it.-T2-Series Golem: This Golem pulls conditions from allies to itself every few seconds, and can rush a nearby enemy to self-destruct, dealing conditions on it to enemies within the blast radius.-7B-Series Golem: Summon an attack Golem to follow you, doing a whirl attack against enemies, knocking them back and dealing damage.-K-Series Golem: Summon a large bomb golem that periodically fires projectiles at enemies. Detonate it to deal a large blast that knocks enemies backwards, dealing more damage per boon on it prior to its destruction.-Omega Golem: Summon a massive siege golem with an a vast amount of health, taunting nearby enemies. Active ability taunts again after firing a rocket fist at the target. Will successively attack targets in melee range, dealing slow but heavy damage, with a stack of vulnerability and weakness being applied.

Toolbelt skills:-M-Series self-repair: Your golem repairs itself for 3s, putting its healing ability on cooldown.-T2-Series Radiation Leak: Apply 5 stacks of poison, torment, blind, and weakness to the your golem for 5 seconds, reducing the cooldown of summoning another one after it explodes.-7B-Series Terms of Service: Your 7B reiterates the terms of service of its original asura designer, taunting up to 5 foes within 600 distance of it and gaining protection for itself and you for 10s.-K-Series bluff: Your golem acts as if to arm itself to explode, fearing enemies for 1s in a distance of 600 around it.-Omega Reinforcement: You and up to 10 nearby allies (or golems) gain protection for 20s.

Elementalist - Sage (Conjures)New skill type: MeditationThe sage is an elementalist that has devoted themselves to the wielding of the elements, not simply their study or mastery over them. Sages can use conjures indefinitely akin to kits, but are penalized with greater attunement cooldowns when swapping off of them, and always swap off to the same type of element as their conjure, gaining related abilities and bonuses to this transition.Sage Meditation Skills:-Meditate on Water: Give yourself regeneration for 5s. Heal yourself and up to 10 targets around you affected by regeneration an additional amount, pulsing for up to 10 seconds. 25s cd.-Meditate on Air: Knock up to 10 targets back from you, dealing an additional 2 stacks of vulnerability to your enemies per target affected by this skill. 60s cd-Meditate on Earth: Cause an earthquake around you, affecting up to 10 targets with cripple and 5 stacks of bleeding. Give yourself and allies up to 10 stacks of stability for every enemy hit. 40s cd-Meditate on Fire:: Burn up to 10 targets around you, dealing up to 10 stacks of burning for every enemy affected. Give yourself and allies up to 10 stacks of might for every enemy hit. 50s cd-Meditation on Chakras: Convert up to 7 conditions on you into boons for 7 seconds. Convert conditions on up to 6 allies into boons as well, reducing the cooldown of this skill by 7 seconds per ally affected. Convert up to 7 boons on nearby enemies into 7 conditions each. 2m cd

Mesmer - Dreamwalker (Dagger)New skill type: SpectralDreamwalkers are wizards who study the sleeping mind and the power of the subconscious. Bringing dreams to reality has long been the purview of visionaries and eccentrics, but the Dreamwalker can quite literally pull their enemy's worst nightmares and greatest fantasies from the recesses of their mind, giving them terrible power over friend and foe alike.Dagger Skills (Mainhand only)-Rend Mind: 2s of confusion, light damage. 0.25s cd-Dredge Memory: 1s fear, does additional damage per condition on foe. 20s cd-Mental Leap: 1200 range leap ability, daze foe, and deal 1 stack of torment per 100 distance traveled. 20s cd

Spectral skills:-Lucid Dream: Heal yourself. For 8 seconds, any conditions applied to you are removed and converted into additional healing. 30s cd-Invasive Thoughts: Confuse your enemy, and convert up to 5 of their boons into confusion. If their confusion stacks are over 20, deal an additional 2.5 seconds of fear. 20s cd-Wakefulness: Remove all boons and conditions on yourself and your target. You gain a stack of stability for every condition removed from them (breaks stun). 15s cd-Dream Eater: Consume boons on your target. Every unique boon consumed reduces the cooldown of your phantasm skills by 1s. 12s cd.-Waking Nightmare: Tear open the veil between reality and the dream realm for 20s; Every enemy inside of the affected area gets its boons converted into torment every 2 seconds, and receives 1 stack of vulnerability every second. Targets with no boons get afflicted with 3 seconds of fear and get dealt damage for every pulse of Waking Nightmare. The Dreamwalker cannot move, cast skills, or be affected by damage, becoming invulnerable but removed from combat for the duration of this cast. 4m cd

Ranger - Huntsman (Rifle)New skill type: VenomsThe Huntsman is the master tracker, possessed of a keen eye for running down their quarry as well for dispatching it at range. Unique marking abilities allow them to tag both friend and foe alike for persistent benefit or malediction, allowing them to track and support allies at extreme ranges, and tail their enemies across vast distances, or inflict them with deadly venoms to increase their susceptibility to certain conditions.Rifle Skills:Huntsmen have a magazine for their rifle special skills, with up to 10 charges before forcing a weapon swap.-Legshot: deal 4 stacks of bleeding and cripple your enemy for 8 seconds, dealing heavy damage. Does not auto-attack. 5s cd-Mark Prey: Homing dart that deals 2 stacks of poison, and keeps your target in combat for 60s, with an additional 10s per unique condition on them. 25s cd-Flare: Clear yourself and nearby allies of up to 5 conditions, but deal 2s of taunt for up to 10 targets within 1200 range of you. Enemies within 300 meters take 3 stacks of burning. 20s cd-Headshot: knockdown target for 6 seconds at up to 2400 range after channeling for 8 seconds as you crouch, remaining immobile. Deal significant damage and 10 stacks of confusion. 40s cd-Reload: Refill your rifle's magazine early, putting your weapon skills on a shortened 33% cd.

Venom Skills:-Kirin Venom: Heal yourself, and an addition 5 times with every attack you deal, consuming stacks of Kirin Venom.-Nian Venom: Gain Fury and 8 charges of venom. Gain 1 stack of might per attack under this venom., 3 if the target has no boons.-Mantis Venom: 10 charges. Immobilize your target and deal bleeding damage each time.-Kappa Venom: 5 charges. Gain protection, and deal 2 stacks of vulnerability to your target,-Leviathan Venom: 12 charges: Gain stability, with each attack having a follow-up strike that deals weakness.

Necromancer - Wraith (Hammer)New skill type: Spirit WeaponsWraiths are necromancers who can shed their material form, roaming the world as invisible ghosts for a period of time, feeding on the life force of their enemies to sustain their ghostly form. Centering around stealth and retaliatory abilities, the Wraith punishes the living for attempts to banish or reveal them, gaining follow up abilities for stunbreaks, and augmenting their Spectral skills even further. Accessing Wraith Shroud means the Necromancer leaves their body behind on the ground, appearing to die as their spirit leaves them, but always snap back to where their body was after running out of life force to sustain wraith shroud. Necromancers stay in stealth while in Wraith Shroud, only becoming visible when attacking or revealed, but have a 0.5-2s cast time where they are visible and vulnerable to targeted skills.Wraith shroud skills:-Haunt: 3 part chain attack, first dealing vulnerability and leeching health, second leeching life force and additional vulnerability, and the third dealing 3 stacks of torment with 1 second of fear, dealing damage but not leeching anything. Goes on 3s cd after 3rd attack.-Shriek: Deal significant amounts of sonic damage, pulsing immobility and confusion for 5 seconds. 25s cd-Spiritwalk: Use 5% of your total life force to teleport up to 1200 distance away. 10s cd-Harrow: Mark your target, and gain 5 seconds of superspeed, dealing an additional second of superspeed per condition on your target. Activate again to deal 10% more damage per second of superspeed left on you. 30s cd-Cross Over: Convert 10% of your own health into life force, extending the duration of Wraith Shroud.

Spirit Weapons:-Seeking daggers. Summon a pair of daggers that float around you, and can be launched twice at a target from 1200 range.-Sundering Mace: Summon a mace to follow you, attacking nearby enemies. Activate it to deal a high-damage knockdown that inflicts 5 seconds of chill and 5 stacks of vulnerability.-Guiding Torch: Summon a ghostly torch to burn your foes, and can drop a large fire field when needed.-Reaping Scythe: Summon a scythe that relentlessly attacks your foes. Activate it to remove boons from the enemy, dealing additional damage to them, and healing you for every boon removed.

Hammer Skills:-Crush Spirit: 4-part chain attack, dealing basic true damage on the first swing, damage and vulnerability on the second, damage, two stacks of vulnerability and one stack of torment on the third, and heavy damage, 2 stacks of vulnerability and 2 stacks of torment on the fourth swing. Each swing is 1 second long, with the 4th taking 1.5 seconds to channel.-Hateful Maul: Deal heavy damage, increased by a percentage of your missing health. 8s cd.-Spirit Fissure: Briefly tear open a rift into the netherworld, chilling and damaging foes near it before inflicting 1s of fear. Affects up to 10 targets, giving 5% life force per target struck. 25s cd-Bell Toll: Summon a spectral bell to ring with your hammer, turning up to 3 boons into confusion. 12s cd-Death Knell: Can only be used at under 25% health. Summon another spectral bell down on your enemy, downing you but dealing your missing health in damage. Affected by ferocity. 60s cd.

Lithium.7904 · February 6, 2021

For the mesmer, i do like the idea of the spectral skills, and dagger mainhand but i think it should be more of a power spec. Power mesmer is kinda lacking right now and i think this could fix it. But mesmer is very dangerous since Anet does not know how to balance it. So if its good, it will be broken, if its bad it will be useless. Note, this is for a pvp/wvw mindset, i know little to nothing about pve.

Smoosh.2718 · February 7, 2021

Just a little hint, you may want to relook at warrior and check what weapons they can use. You will notice a trend, warrior can use every weapon that has a mainhand option in the offhand as well.This is the only flavour text that stands true for warrior being a 'weapons master'. Since Pistol has a mainhand version of it, you can bet it will recieve both main and offhand. Other classes do not run by this rule.

Kharrus.6015 · February 7, 2021

@Smoosh.2718 said:Just a little hint, you may want to relook at warrior and check what weapons they can use. You will notice a trend, warrior can use every weapon that has a mainhand option in the offhand as well.This is the only flavour text that stands true for warrior being a 'weapons master'. Since Pistol has a mainhand version of it, you can bet it will recieve both main and offhand. Other classes do not run by this rule.

Dragoons use only an offhand pistol because you need one hand on the reins to ride your mount, both IRL and in-game. ;)

Kharrus.6015 · February 7, 2021

@sikk demon.2598 said:For the mesmer, i do like the idea of the spectral skills, and dagger mainhand but i think it should be more of a power spec. Power mesmer is kinda lacking right now and i think this could fix it. But mesmer is very dangerous since Anet does not know how to balance it. So if its good, it will be broken, if its bad it will be useless. Note, this is for a pvp/wvw mindset, i know little to nothing about pve.

I think power mesmer being lacking is more the fault of Chrono balance being where it is than anything else tbh. In any case, I don't have very much in mind as a central theme for the dreamwalker class, but condi seemed to make a bit more sense than power. Point taken, either way.

Lithium.7904 · February 7, 2021

@Kharrus.6015 said:
@sikk demon.2598 said:For the mesmer, i do like the idea of the spectral skills, and dagger mainhand but i think it should be more of a power spec. Power mesmer is kinda lacking right now and i think this could fix it. But mesmer is very dangerous since Anet does not know how to balance it. So if its good, it will be broken, if its bad it will be useless. Note, this is for a pvp/wvw mindset, i know little to nothing about pve.

I think power mesmer being lacking is more the fault of Chrono balance being where it is than anything else tbh. In any case, I don't have very much in mind as a central theme for the dreamwalker class, but condi seemed to make a bit more sense than power. Point taken, either way.

I can see it working, or atleast the dagger main hand. You have some cool ideas that i liked very much!

bambi.6214 · February 7, 2021

@Kharrus.6015 said:Engineer - Golemancer (Staff)New skill type: MinionWhen will people get the hint.

Nobody. Wants. AI. Specs.

Smoosh.2718 · February 7, 2021

@Kharrus.6015 said:
@Smoosh.2718 said:Just a little hint, you may want to relook at warrior and check what weapons they can use. You will notice a trend, warrior can use every weapon that has a mainhand option in the offhand as well.This is the only flavour text that stands true for warrior being a 'weapons master'. Since Pistol has a mainhand version of it, you can bet it will recieve both main and offhand. Other classes do not run by this rule.

Dragoons use only an offhand pistol because you need one hand on the reins to ride your mount, both IRL and in-game. ;)

You'll need some serious citation for that, as dragoons were known to have used rifles from horseback along side pistols which were holstered with a right hand draw. Rifles and pistols would historically be used by the main hand for combat, none of this Hollywood stuff with offhand shooting, good luck hitting anything.

Being that Anet is unlikely to use a mounted combat system, I would stand by my 'weapon master' comment, it will be both off hand and mainhand.

This being said... I'm actually glad that you're not another 'staff warrior' speculator! haha. Warrior needs pistol, its going to provide it with the things its been missing for years.

Dadnir.5038 · February 7, 2021

All those skills on these e-specs are nice but...

What do the bladedancer steal?
What about the Dragoon in sPvP where there is no mount?
Don't you think that 4 kits to replace guardian's virtue after the 3 tome of FB are a bit to much "favoritism"?
Tidecaller lack at least a F2.
Golemancer lack it's belt skills. A golemancer should probably replace all it's toolbelt skills by a golem, not have a whole lot of different golems as utility skills.
Sage shouldn't modify conjure weapon, they are core skills, it would set a precedent that's just... wrong.
Do dreamwalker have new shatter? Or is it just a set of optional utility and an off-hand?
Huntsman make sense.
Wraith feel dangerously OP due to stealth and the basically free movement when leaving shroud. A question worth asking: can you stomp and damage the body that the wraith left?

Kharrus.6015 · February 8, 2021

@"Dadnir.5038" said:All those skills on these e-specs are nice but...
What do the bladedancer steal?
What about the Dragoon in sPvP where there is no mount?
Don't you think that 4 kits to replace guardian's virtue after the 3 tome of FB are a bit to much "favoritism"?
Tidecaller lack at least a F2.
Golemancer lack it's belt skills. A golemancer should probably replace all it's toolbelt skills by a golem, not have a whole lot of different golems as utility skills.
Sage shouldn't modify conjure weapon, they are core skills, it would set a precedent that's just... wrong.
Do dreamwalker have new shatter? Or is it just a set of optional utility and an off-hand?
Huntsman make sense.
Wraith feel dangerously OP due to stealth and the basically free movement when leaving shroud. A question worth asking: can you stomp and damage the body that the wraith left?

-Bladedancer doesn't steal at all; the class mechanic gets changed to a block that increases the damage of its next attack based on how much gets blocked.-sPvP doesn't even have need you to wear gear, and is essentially non-functional in the game anyway. Regardless, the pistol abilities are able to be used without a mount, so there would likely still be some combination of spec skills with the offhand weapon that make it viable.-Using the term "kits" for the monk was a loose analogy that I should have been more clear with, as the spec itself removes the ability for the guardian to use ANY weapon, including underwater weapons. That's a fair trade-off in my mind.-Good point, I'll update that. Couldn't place what it was missing.-Couldn't settle on viable belt skills for golem minions. Got any ideas?-Why not? Having them share their skill slots with conjure abilities is optional, and helps curb the power meditation skills would have for them. They could be further tuned by reducing or eliminating the stat bonuses you get from picking up conjure weapons. There's no good reason things should be off the table as long as they're reasonably balanced.-Dreamwalkers do not have a new shatter, although I wouldn't be opposed to it. Mes is flexible enough a different spec and ability set for their elite spec would be viable IMO, but any ideas would be welcome. They're the least clear spec idea here tbh.-TY; had Jhin from league in mind with the idea of making bullet economy central to their playstyle.-Wraiths don't have any free movement when leaving shroud; they ALWAYS have to return to the location of their body when they entered it, but the body itself acts like it's already "dead", so it can't be damaged. They are still vulnerable to reveals, and people can put traps on the body as a counter to it for pvp. Being mindful of your body location plays to the same mentality of being mindful to the teammates you're trying to heal as a support, so encouraging that mentality with environmental awareness is a major goal with this. With that said though, if it did actually come up as a significant issue for pvp, I could see allowing people to finish the body in pvp or wvw being allowed, since it's essentially a sitting duck.

Kharrus.6015 · February 8, 2021

@Smoosh.2718 said:
@Kharrus.6015 said:
@Smoosh.2718 said:Just a little hint, you may want to relook at warrior and check what weapons they can use. You will notice a trend, warrior can use every weapon that has a mainhand option in the offhand as well.This is the only flavour text that stands true for warrior being a 'weapons master'. Since Pistol has a mainhand version of it, you can bet it will recieve both main and offhand. Other classes do not run by this rule.

Dragoons use only an offhand pistol because you need one hand on the reins to ride your mount, both IRL and in-game. ;)

You'll need some serious citation for that, as dragoons were known to have used rifles from horseback along side pistols which were holstered with a right hand draw. Rifles and pistols would historically be used by the main hand for combat, none of this Hollywood stuff with offhand shooting, good luck hitting anything.

Being that Anet is unlikely to use a mounted combat system, I would stand by my 'weapon master' comment, it will be both off hand and mainhand.

This being said... I'm actually glad that you're not another 'staff warrior' speculator! haha. Warrior needs pistol, its going to provide it with the things its been missing for years.

ah good points; i could see it going that route. To be honest, I didn't see them needing another ranged weapon for mainhand pistol since they already have rifle for regular damage and longbow for condi damage, and zerker got the torch offhand. It seemed redundant to add a mainhand pistol in that context.

Smoosh.2718 · February 8, 2021

@Kharrus.6015 said:
@Smoosh.2718 said:
@Kharrus.6015 said:
@Smoosh.2718 said:Just a little hint, you may want to relook at warrior and check what weapons they can use. You will notice a trend, warrior can use every weapon that has a mainhand option in the offhand as well.This is the only flavour text that stands true for warrior being a 'weapons master'. Since Pistol has a mainhand version of it, you can bet it will recieve both main and offhand. Other classes do not run by this rule.

Dragoons use only an offhand pistol because you need one hand on the reins to ride your mount, both IRL and in-game. ;)

You'll need some serious citation for that, as dragoons were known to have used rifles from horseback along side pistols which were holstered with a right hand draw. Rifles and pistols would historically be used by the main hand for combat, none of this Hollywood stuff with offhand shooting, good luck hitting anything.

Being that Anet is unlikely to use a mounted combat system, I would stand by my 'weapon master' comment, it will be both off hand and mainhand.

This being said... I'm actually glad that you're not another 'staff warrior' speculator! haha. Warrior needs pistol, its going to provide it with the things its been missing for years.

ah good points; i could see it going that route. To be honest, I didn't see them needing another ranged weapon for mainhand pistol since they already have rifle for regular damage and longbow for condi damage, and zerker got the torch offhand. It seemed redundant to add a mainhand pistol in that context.

What the warrior lacks and is the only core class that never got, is a 1 handed ranged weapon. This will bridge that gap, both mainhand and offhand. Whit hits the weapon master mark and the missing weapon type. It will also allow a vast number of builds to come about as a result, offhand only would be tricky as it would need to offer a lot more than Torch, Shield and Axe for people to even consider it.

If say offhand pistol is trash, you still have mainhand pistol to play with. (Better have two options than just one).

Kharrus.6015 · February 8, 2021

@Smoosh.2718 said:
@Kharrus.6015 said:
@Smoosh.2718 said:
@Kharrus.6015 said:
@Smoosh.2718 said:Just a little hint, you may want to relook at warrior and check what weapons they can use. You will notice a trend, warrior can use every weapon that has a mainhand option in the offhand as well.This is the only flavour text that stands true for warrior being a 'weapons master'. Since Pistol has a mainhand version of it, you can bet it will recieve both main and offhand. Other classes do not run by this rule.

Dragoons use only an offhand pistol because you need one hand on the reins to ride your mount, both IRL and in-game. ;)

You'll need some serious citation for that, as dragoons were known to have used rifles from horseback along side pistols which were holstered with a right hand draw. Rifles and pistols would historically be used by the main hand for combat, none of this Hollywood stuff with offhand shooting, good luck hitting anything.

Being that Anet is unlikely to use a mounted combat system, I would stand by my 'weapon master' comment, it will be both off hand and mainhand.

This being said... I'm actually glad that you're not another 'staff warrior' speculator! haha. Warrior needs pistol, its going to provide it with the things its been missing for years.

ah good points; i could see it going that route. To be honest, I didn't see them needing another ranged weapon for mainhand pistol since they already have rifle for regular damage and longbow for condi damage, and zerker got the torch offhand. It seemed redundant to add a mainhand pistol in that context.

What the warrior lacks and is the only core class that never got, is a 1 handed ranged weapon. This will bridge that gap, both mainhand and offhand. Whit hits the weapon master mark and the missing weapon type. It will also allow a vast number of builds to come about as a result, offhand only would be tricky as it would need to offer a lot more than Torch, Shield and Axe for people to even consider it.

If say offhand pistol is trash, you still have mainhand pistol to play with. (Better have two options than just one).

Good point, but i was seeing it in terms of how much better it would pair with mainhand skills. I wouldn't be against the pistol itself being the mainhand weapon, but dual pistols always rub me the wrong way because of how impractical IRL they are, plus it just feeling...off...for warrior in general, since soldiers would be using a sidearm regardless, with dual-wielding pistols as more of a rogue/thief purview. As for what it offers, it's a good hybrid damage burst for the 4, and what basically amounts to a second attack skill for the 5 ability, raising their dps up a good margin. I could see it pairing with all the mainhand skills well. I think part of the reason why they limit warriors from 1 handed range weapons is because of how powerful their 1-handed weapon abilities are; proposing it as an offhand weapon keeps the potential power curve of the weapon down a bit, since running dual pistols or mainhand pistol seems like it could get out of hand pretty quickly IMO.

And I do like what you have to say; it makes sense, but I'm mostly just being cautious about power creep concerns given how OP many of the elite specs have been on release day, and the subsequent nerf hell they go through before coming out to being better balanced. Best to try to avoid that at the start.

Smoosh.2718 · February 9, 2021

@Kharrus.6015 said:
@Smoosh.2718 said:
@Kharrus.6015 said:
@Smoosh.2718 said:
@Kharrus.6015 said:
@Smoosh.2718 said:Just a little hint, you may want to relook at warrior and check what weapons they can use. You will notice a trend, warrior can use every weapon that has a mainhand option in the offhand as well.This is the only flavour text that stands true for warrior being a 'weapons master'. Since Pistol has a mainhand version of it, you can bet it will recieve both main and offhand. Other classes do not run by this rule.