Taril.8619

Probably. But it's unlikely that ANet have the funds to make a new game. EQ2 wasn't so bad. Heck, it's even still going with new content. Everquest Next however... Oh boy was that a dumpster fire... They are however, working on an Everquest 3 so there's that. They have enough money to fund a new MMORPG title. WoW Classic is WoW2 because the 15 year old title was more enjoyable than the garbage they've been pumping out the last few years on WoW Retail... There's also talk about releasing WoW TBC and WoW WotLK down the line (I mean, it's getting people to pay you for the work you've already done... It's simply a matter of getting the servers for it and waiting for a time when that boost of income is necessary) Runescape has been going for a while and was made by indie developers. I'd call that successful. Oh boy, yet another Open World PvP thread. I haven't seen one of them for at least 5 minutes, so I guess it was due...

It is very unlikely that weapons, back items and skills will become dyable. For weapons and back items, they would need to be re-created from scratch with the dye channels in place. Which is a lot of work and they've already stated they won't go back to add dye channels to the small pool of existing back items that lack dye channels. Future back items are coming with dye channels, but from what I can tell there seems to be no indication of them putting out new weapons with dye channels (Instead, they keep putting out new weapons that come in a number of colours that you have to obtain individually) Dyable skills would probably be a similar fare, only now it's going against the constant complaints about fights being hard to see because every character is hosting their very own disco light show. In addition, there's also the aspect of visual clarity to allow people to know what abilities are being used (Though, it would be possible to add settings to disable dyed skills from other players, it would again come back to the additional workload to do so)

1) Overworld PvE doesn't require particularly high standards of character capacity, thus "Sub-optimal" builds play just fine there and more weapons means more interesting ways for people to play there. 2) The "Benefits of an E-Spec" in regards to weapons, has only very minor impact on the actual performance of a weapon. There are few E-Spec weapons that are wholly dependent on the E-Spec in order to make them function (Deadeye Rifle and arguably Holosmith Sword) the rest of the questionable ones simply lack a good build to use along with them (Something that can be addressed by new E-Specs, updates to Core Specs and overall balance changes) 3) Core Builds are viable in certain areas of the game (Notably, PvP/WvW where going full glass cannon with 3 DPS specs is often a terrible idea) which can be improved by having better weapons to utilize. 4) Having the option to use E-Spec weapons outside of their E-Spec, isn't limited to just Core builds. It lets you use E-Specs, with the weapon from a different E-Spec. This means you're not "Removing all benefits from an E-Spec", you're still getting the full E-Spec benefits you're just utilizing it with an alternate weapon, like every E-Spec currently does when they use Core weapons.

Head - Wreath of CooperationChest - Phoenix ArmourGloves - Phoenix ArmourLegs - Requiem ArmourBoots - Triumphant ArmourInfusion - Celestial Infusion (Blue)Infusion - Polysaturating Reverberating Infusion (Purple)

It is. It means that Death Magic is completely and totally useless for literally every Necro build that isn't occupying the singular Tank role within end game PvE. Thus it causes the entire specialization to be non-existent aside from this one role, which is not actually doable by Necro in its current state due to the inability to tank further exacerbated by the obscene lack of party support in Necro as a whole which further pushes the idea of "Necro Tank" out of viability. (I.e. The reason why Chrono and Druid are the common Tanks in end game, is due to them not needing to pump out top tier DPS in order to be useful to the party. Chrono provides Alacrity/Quickness boons to the party and Druid heals like a champ) A significant portion of Death Magic's traits are focused on DPS too, which suggests that it's trying to be a boost for damage dealing roles rather than supplementing a supportive role (I.e. Healer/Boonbot/Tank) Nah, it sucks. When top tier supports are known to provide AoE Stability and AoE Condi Cleanses (If not putting out AoE Resistance to counter specific mechanics) and providing AoE Protection, then Dark Defiance becomes useless. In addition, such a skill is again, highly niche for specifically the role of Tank, which Necro is in no way, shape or form close to being competitive in (Again, due to no ability to properly tank damage combined with no builds that provide support that can allow for providing something to the team beyond damage In this scenario I'd rather have a Firebrand. Firebrand can put out Stability to ignore CC's at 0 cost to effectiveness (Transferring CC's to minions means less damage output from the minions, less condi transfer from the minions which means higher chance the minions will die to the conditions)Firebrand can put out Resistance so no-one takes damage from this period of condi application.Firebrand poops out Light Fields so all the random Projectile, Blast and Whirl finishers that people spam will be cleansing all these conditions passively too (It's literally the reason why Condi Necro's self-conditioning is a complete joke because while it theoretically can provide significant extra damage, in reality they get cleansed before they can transfer them to the enemy) But wait, none of this is exclusive to the Firebrand itself and can be applied to other characters. Meaning you can have your Firebrand still just running as Quickbrand and instead have your tank be Alachrono, or Healdruid or Bannerbot Warrior/Breaker or Alacrigade or Healbrand or HealTempest or HealScrapper (Which would also provide more Condi Cleanse and infact would turn all that Bleed into powerful Regen) In the end it comes down to the following: For DPS, Core Necro doesn't have 3 viable Specializations for DPS which neuters its damage outputCore Necro Shroud is absolutely horrible for DPS while most of Necro's traits are focused on providing boosts while in ShroudCore Necro cannot function in any other role because their 2 non-DPS specializations provide very little on top of their mostly selfish utilitiesScourge support is hampered by the overall lack of party support on the class due to heavy focus on non-damaging Conditions (Which don't work against Defiant foes) and Boon Corruption (Which is useless versus 99.99% of PvE enemies and even if it was, it would only provide DPS since non-damaging conditions don't work against Defiant foes)Carapace providing Toughness makes it a completely non-viable specialization outside of a scenario where the Necromancer is playing Tank (With maybe fringe usage if playing in a static alongside a Necro Tank)

When it comes to PvE and Core Necromancer... One of the major issues faced, is that builds are needed to be focused towards a role. But, for Core Necro, they cannot do this because they only have 2 DPS specializations and 1 "Support" specialization (Which doesn't offer much actual support) Power builds have Spite and Soul Reaping.Condi builds have Curses and Soul Reaping (Though, SR is entirely for Dhuumfire and Sinister Shroud only, the other traits are meaningless for condi damage with Soul Barbs being the go-to because of Condi builds hybrid damage thanks to Viper/Grieving statline) Death Magic can provide some additional Condi damage through Putrid Defence and Death Nova but is wholly unusable thanks to Carapace giving Toughness and minions being unwieldy (Notably, Bone Minions which could theoretically be a good source of Death Nova if they weren't clunky to use with a long cast time) Solutions to this would be to have Curses also offer some traits that are useful to Power builds instead of one-tricking so hard into Conditions, with Spite also getting some Condi support instead of one-tricking so hard into Power (With random utility traits like Spiteful Renewal and Signets of Spite) While Death Magic really, really, really needs a rework so that Carapace isn't entirely linked to a detrimental stat in PvE. With other changes to reduce its reliance on terrible minions (Such as buffing Bone Minions to be not trash, combining Necromantic Corruption and Flesh of the Master so only 1 trait is being used for boosting minions) and better support for builds in its traits (I.e. Take out the trash that is Shrouded Removal, Soul Comprehension, Dark Defiance and Unholy Sanctuary and replace them with traits that actually do something useful)

Honestly, they should bring these back. Not in the all or nothing way that Core PS is entirely cutscenes and HoT+ is completely void of them. But use them when it is relevant. (I.e. When characters are just standing around talking) This was changed because no small number of players, where just doing the story quests and getting severely outleveled and thus glomped when they attempted things. This made them get upset and complain. Now, the personal story has each arc given out at what was previously the highest level for the arc. Beyond that, there's nothing stopping you from simply divvying out participation in the personal story yourself. Do the level 10 arc at levels 10, 12, 14, 16 and 18. Do the level 20 arc at levels 20, 22, 24, 26 and 28 etc. You'd have very little difference from the old way of doing things. Those ranks are reserved for people whom have the ability to lead a group. Given that the mission you do before this is to befriend a beast tribe and protect them from a Risen invasion, it shows that you're sufficiently qualified to lead a group. Also, it's worth noting that Tybalt is a Lightbringer despite his the first mission being literally his first field assignment. So it's not as if the orders seem to be stingy about giving out these ranks... Finally, the entirety of the Order arc only has 20 levels worth of content (10 quests total) dedicated to it. Due to the original layout of the Personal Story being a new step every other level. This means that there's not really much time at all to actually progress through ranks in a reasonable pace. Almorra shows up a TON. She is leading many fights during LW4 and is featured in the IBS too. Riel and the Master of Whispers as a whole, has this entire thing about having their identity kept secret, even from other members of the order (Besides Preceptors and of course, you). So her showing up randomly wouldn't make sense (Even more so for Order of Whispers members whom like subterfuge and intel gathering over fighting) Gixx is most likely busy researching things to waste time with whatever matters the Vigil deem worthy to bash their heads into... Though it often does seem like his role as leader of the Durmand Priory gets superceeded by Ogden, whom ends up showing up frequently throughout the later story.

The major issue with this suggestion (Besides the added workload for the Devs, creating new skills for all the new weapons) would be Warrior. There are only 6 weapons that Warrior cannot currently use: Scepter, Staff, Pistol (MH), Pistol (OH), Focus and Shortbow. If adding an additional weapon to each E-Spec and 2 for EoD, that is 5/6 weapons utilized (6/6 if Pistol/Pistol gets bundled together like with Dagger/Dagger for Spellbreaker) So... What happens next? As mentioned, EoD isn't the last expansion. Thus is likely not the last E-Spec. What weapons would Warrior get afterwards? Beyond that, honestly, I'd only really want secondary weapons added to E-Specs that have only a one handed weapon (Be it a MH or an OH one) so they get 5 total skills with the E-Spec like the ones that get a two handed weapon. Though, the issue here would be how such a thing would work with the E-Spec gear, since Spellbreaker is the only E-Spec that has received 2 weapons, but they're both Dagger, so they still just get the 1 dagger upon unlocking the E-Spec and from doing the E-Spec related collection. Meanwhile, not all E-Specs with a single one handed weapon can get gain the option to wield a second one (Due to things like Torch, Warhorn and Shield being off-hand only, Ranger can already use offhand Dagger etc) Personally, I'd like to see more weapons added to Core. Since Core weapons add more diversity to builds because they can be used in ANY build, rather than just builds with the specific E-Spec. Also, many current Core weapons are OmegaTrash which makes some classes awful to play pre-80.

So, from what I can tell, you want essentially "Cosmetic Loadout"? Which would function similarly to Gear Loadouts, but only change cosmetics (Skins/Dyes/Outfits) Sure why not. As far as Transmutation Orbs go, I'm really not sure if literally anyone does in fact purchase them given they're given away constantly (Especially for WvW players whom get them by the bucketfull)... They could honestly just get rid of them, which should be possible given that the Radiant/Hellfire/Zenith/Pinnacle skins from Achievement rewards can be applied to items without a TOrb cost.

Correction reaper has a trait for gs the mid top trait affects greatsword The trait doesn't specifically require nor benefit Greatsword.

They could still put the weapon inside the E-Spec. Heck they could even make the fully unlocked weapon usage be tied to completely obtaining all traits within the E-Spec (So you get access to the weapon with the E-Spec upon spending the 30 points to obtain the E-Spec, but won't get to use the weapon in Core/other E-Specs until you've spent the 250 points to get the entire E-Spec) Thus, E-Spec weapons are still a part of "End-game" (Which, more and more feels like "The beginning of the game" with so much stuff locked behind being level 80) and are still locked behind purchasing the relevant expansion to access said E-Spec (So F2P players aren't able to run around with E-Spec weapons) Actually, the greatsword you get from being Reaper is bind on equip. Meaning that you can send it to another character that is a different class and equip it (I've actually done that with some of the E-Spec gear. For example, I geared out my Warrior with some Dragonhunter gloves and Herald shoulders. While sending the Dragonhunter Longbow to my Ranger) Then of course, once you play the E-Spec a bit and unlock the Ascended version of the E-Spec weapon, it is bind to account, so you can swap it between any class even after equipping it. The alternate way it could work would be: You unlock the Reaper specialization and gain the knowledge on how to wield a Greatsword (Not withstanding the numerous "Bundles" that are greatswords that your character can use just fine) Swapping to Scourge or Core, means your character doesn't forget how to use a Greatsword. And thus can continue using a Greatsword with these builds. Unlocking Scourge will give the knowledge on how to wield a Torch. Which you'd remember how to do after swapping to Core/Reaper. Weapons being intrinically tied to E-Specs, really only makes much sense if multiple E-Specs on a class were using the same weapons and providing different skills.I.e. If both Druid and Soulbeast used Staff. But while Druid got supportive magic skills for its Staff, Soulbeast got physical damage skills that provided pet synergies (Which apply to self while Merged) Outside of issues such as balance (Which, to be honest, is more about the balance of a particular E-Spec itself, rather than the weapon)

Actually, it depends on your point of view. Either the total damage done is too low, or the cast time is too long. In the current state, the damage dealt isn't worth the cast time (Being barely stronger than simply auto attacking, which also provides Vuln stacks and allows movement during) Increasing the total damage done or decreasing the cast time can both alleviate this concern. More total damage means it's more worthwhile to pull off, especially if you can get the full cast off. Less cast time means it's easier and more efficient to pull off, providing the current throughput but over a shorter period of time. Both methods increase its DPS to being more significantly better than simply auto attacking for the same period of time. Strictly correct but buffing the damage numbers would result in forum QQs that get Warrior nerfed whereas reducing the cast time allows it to better perform at its full potential in a way that is overall better for the warrior namely by reducing the time self rooted and increasing the might generation rate from FGS.Both buffs would result in forum QQ's that get Warrior nerfed. Buffing the damage numbers will make people look at the raw power coefficient of the entire skill and cry OP. Buffing the cast time will make people in PvP take a full HB more often and get chunked down and cry OP (As well as cry about how Warrior doesn't have to self-root as much to perform this action) Cast time change would likely get nerfed harder, due to people in PvP being super salty about Warriors being able to do anything. Which would be exacerbated by the effect that Quickness would have on cast times (2.5s cast > 1.25s cast = Heckin' bursty af)

Actually, it depends on your point of view. Either the total damage done is too low, or the cast time is too long. In the current state, the damage dealt isn't worth the cast time (Being barely stronger than simply auto attacking, which also provides Vuln stacks and allows movement during) Increasing the total damage done or decreasing the cast time can both alleviate this concern. More total damage means it's more worthwhile to pull off, especially if you can get the full cast off. Less cast time means it's easier and more efficient to pull off, providing the current throughput but over a shorter period of time. Both methods increase its DPS to being more significantly better than simply auto attacking for the same period of time.

Are people really arguing about coding affecting weapon availability? Base class determines what skills are obtained from a weapon type. The initial trait for an E-Spec determines what additional weapon types are able to be equipped. Just like the first trait changes class mechanics where relevant (Allowing for such oddities as say, "Scourge" using a Torch but having Death Shroud by only putting the 30 points to unlock the Scourge trait line but not unlocking any traits from it and equipping it) There are cases such as Deadeye, where core weapons are altered (I.e. Gaining "Malicious" variants of their stealth attacks) but it's not as if E-Specs are so different that they're using completely unique versions of "Core" weapons. Even IF there was such spaghetti code where each E-Spec is made as an entirely unique class... Then it's still literally a case of just copy/pasting the code that enables use of the new weapon type, with the code for the skills relevant to that E-Spec and putting it into the code for the Core class and other E-Spec(s). Unless you're implying that existing code cannot be altered or added to at all (Which I guess the lack of updates for Core weapons and Utilities could suggest...) and thus such a thing is impossible to do?

I'm not sure if there are any in-game sources that actually detail the next steps... Since they rely on recipe-less Mystic Forge crafts (Hence "Visit Myani")... If the final craft had a recipe... Then you'd actually be able to see what to do, since the description of the items you need to make tell you what you need to do... As it is right now, you get to see the description that tells you what you need to do, AFTER you do it and make the item...

...which is inequality. Point proven. Engineer being treated the same as other classes = inequality? Wut. You clearly showed examples of Engineer NOT being treated the same as other classes. But hey, people see what they want to see.I clearly showed examples of Engineer being treated equally to other classes. There are examples, like ones I've shown, where several classes are in a worse situation. With other classes being in a better situation. Which is remarkably similar to how existing class balance is set out. Either way, Engineer is neither treated worse nor better than other classes in terms of "How useful both their E-Spec weapons are to builds that don't consist of the E-Spec that grants use of said weapon" It has one weapon that could see use in some meta builds (Hammer) and has another weapon that is a little more niche but could be decent in specific game modes. Which can be said about ALL classes besides Dragonhunter because DH LB is trash. But hey, people see what they want to see right?

Try waiting until Crystal Oasis Bounty is a Daily Achievement. Usually on those days, you get people doing Bounties all day so it's easier to find a party. Also, try looking at the Party Finder occasionally, to see if anyone is putting up Bounty Trains in the area as they'll end up doing the Legendary Facet eventually.

Explosives is a pretty good DPS traitline. The only DPS related aspect of Explosives that actually specifically requires use of Explosives are the Ferocity stacks you gain from Explosive Temper (Of course there's also Steel-Packed Powder, but in PvE where DPS matters Vuln stacks are irrelevant due to so many people passively applying Vuln with various skills) Since Grenade Kit uses multiple grenades per skill, it builds the stacks very quickly. For PvE, you'll auto attack with Bomb Kit as filler as is is the strongest auto attack available. For PvP/WvW, you don't really use Explosive Temper and instead favour the extra survivability from Blast Shield. Meaning that Explosives specialization consists of 7% raw damage increase from Glass Cannon, 200 Ferocity from (Easily maintained even when cycling kits) Explosive Temper, 12.5% raw damage increase from Shaped Charge (Given 25 stacks of Vuln is guaranteed in PvE with multiple people present) and 10% raw damage increase from Big Boomer (As the negligable healing is the only aspect tied to Explosive usage)

...which is inequality. Point proven. Engineer being treated the same as other classes = inequality? Wut.

Shield provides Protection with Overshield traitShield provides a 2.5s Block (Which stuns attackers) and 3s Proj Reflect (Vs Hammer's 2s block and 1s Proj Reflect)Shield provides a knockback that is also a Blast finisherShield provides a double Daze There's a reason why literally every Heal Scrapper is running Pistol/Shield and it's not because Pistol MH is worth anything. Beyond this... This is a single case where in specifically a min/max PvE Power DPS build, Sword on Engie is sub-optimal (Disregarding the fact that non-Holosmith builds are already sub-optimal for DPS on Engie). Not bad, not unplayable, just sub-optimal like 99.9999% of players in the game. This doesn't necessarily provide a meaningful argument against unlocked E-Spec weapons. Where even the weapon that is literally linked to an E-Spec mechanic with further synergy provided in an E-Spec trait, still isn't that bad when used in other builds and would actually see some play in various builds. There are of course other weapons that would be "Suboptimal" when used outside of their designated E-Spec, but that's also not an issue. People will have fun playing with the builds they make just like always, because not everyone is a META player. Relevant issues would be cases where things would be broken (Like, what if Firebrand with a Longbow is secretly OP) or cause additional work to implement (Such as the additional skills required for Weaver) rather than "It wouldn't be META" Since, if things that aren't META are reasons against them being in game, then we'd need to remove like 90% of Core weapons, Utilities, Dragonhunter's Longbow and Necromancer as a whole... Yes, there is a reason heal scrapper is using shield and pistol.And having access to sword would also be meaningless for heal scrapper, since that spec is camping med it most of the time to do it's job, which is healing and just swaps out to get the utility from the shield. The mainhand weapon doesn't matter for that build, sword will just be as irrelevant on it as pistol. Can you provide a single example of a build where someone would want to run sword as a mainhand weapon without access to healing? I can't come up with a single build that would want that, since there are better options available, especially if you also unlock hammer on all builds at the same time.You literally just said it. Heal Scrapper uses Shield for utility. What if, god forbid, someone wanted that same utility but in their power build? They wouldn't just use Hammer, because like for Heal Scrapper, there's utility from Shield that transcends that of Hammer. They wouldn't use Pistol, because Pistol is ultra-garbage for Power builds. So they'd use sword, which is at worst (With no heat synergy), on par with other E-Spec weapons and the only reason it "Sucks" is because it's not as good as Engie's ridiculously powerful kits which overshadow literally all of their weapons in all of their builds. Engineer is not treated any different to any other class. Druid's staff wouldn't be utilized in any non-meme build outside of Druid (Even IN Druid, it's kind of meme-y)Spellbreaker's MH dagger isn't and won't be used in any non-meme build unless it gets a crazy good burst skill in 'zerker.Dragonhunter's Longbow is a meme.Deadeye's rifle wouldn't be utilized in any non-meme build outside of Deadeye (Given that is entire existence revolves around spamming Death's Judgment with full Malice stacks. Both the Malice mechanic and also frequent Stealth access is in Deadeye) Engie's sword is better than all of those because it does have a niche where it is useful, in Power builds that want to use Shield. As well as in PvP/WvW builds that want the extra mobility from Sword 3.

Shield provides Protection with Overshield traitShield provides a 2.5s Block (Which stuns attackers) and 3s Proj Reflect (Vs Hammer's 2s block and 1s Proj Reflect)Shield provides a knockback that is also a Blast finisherShield provides a double Daze There's a reason why literally every Heal Scrapper is running Pistol/Shield and it's not because Pistol MH is worth anything. Beyond this... This is a single case where in specifically a min/max PvE Power DPS build, Sword on Engie is sub-optimal (Disregarding the fact that non-Holosmith builds are already sub-optimal for DPS on Engie). Not bad, not unplayable, just sub-optimal like 99.9999% of players in the game. This doesn't necessarily provide a meaningful argument against unlocked E-Spec weapons. Where even the weapon that is literally linked to an E-Spec mechanic with further synergy provided in an E-Spec trait, still isn't that bad when used in other builds and would actually see some play in various builds. There are of course other weapons that would be "Suboptimal" when used outside of their designated E-Spec, but that's also not an issue. People will have fun playing with the builds they make just like always, because not everyone is a META player. Relevant issues would be cases where things would be broken (Like, what if Firebrand with a Longbow is secretly OP) or cause additional work to implement (Such as the additional skills required for Weaver) rather than "It wouldn't be META" Since, if things that aren't META are reasons against them being in game, then we'd need to remove like 90% of Core weapons, Utilities, Dragonhunter's Longbow and Necromancer as a whole...

Power - Increases the damage your attacks doPrecision - Increases your chance to deal a critical hit (Up to a maximum of 100% chance)Ferocity - Increases the damage your critical hits doCondition Damage - Increases the damage dealt by Conditions (Bleeding, Burning, Poison, Confusion, Torment)Expertise - Increases the duration of Conditions you inflict (Up to a maximum of 100% additional duration)Concentration - Increases the duration of Boons you apply (Up to a maximum of 100% additional duration)Healing Power - Increases the healing that your skills and Regeneration boons doVitality - Increases your health pool (Also Life Force for Necromancers)Toughness - Decreases the damage you take from attacks (No affect on conditions) As such, for optimal damage there are two main stat distributions: Berserker - Power, Precision, FerocityViper - Power, Condition Damage, Precision, Expertise Of course, the ideal scenario requires trying to obtain certain stat breakpoints, which would be 100% crit chance for power builds and 100% condition duration for condition builds so you can sometimes see people substitute some alternate gear: Assassin - Precision, Power, FerocityGrieving - Power, Condition Damage, Precision, Ferocity In this case, Assassin gear with a primary stat of Precision helps increase Crit chance to hit the 100% crit chance cap. While Grieving gear is used when a build has already reached 100% condition duration cap so Expertise is no longer desired. For alternative gear types, there are options for players whom aren't so good at avoiding damage and find themselves losing DPS because of dying: Marauder - Power, Precision, Vitality, FerocityCarrion - Condition Damage, Power, VitalityTrailblazer - Toughness, Condition Damage, Vitality, Expertise It however is not recommended to use Trailblazer in instanced content due to Toughness affecting enemy targetting. For Supportive builds, there are 3 gear types that are commonly used: Harrier - Power, Concentration, Healing Power (PvE Healer)Minstrel - Toughness, Healing Power, Vitality, Concentration (WvW Healer)Diviner - Power, Concentration, Precision, Ferocity (Boonbot) For instanced PvE, it's important to remember to not use gear with Toughness on, due to how it interacts with enemy targetting (Unless you're specifically playing as the Tank in the party in which case things like Minstrel geared Druid/Tempest/Guardian can work). It is also important to keep an eye on breakpoints, some classes do not need full Diviner gear to reach 100% duration on their relevant boons, due to having other sources of duration increases (Such as traits or Runes) and can substitute pieces out for better damage (Berserker/Assassin) or more survivability (Marauder)

That single achievement is the only one directly requiring a specific race in the expansions. Outside of that, there are some slight dialogue changes you might find interesting during the story, but nothing drastic.

This here. While some of OP's examples might work well, like a core necro using greatsword, there are some classes which would end up with the weapon being a useless addition for the other specs.Imagine, for example, sword on core engi/scrapper. While it might sound awesome to have a one handed power weapon for these to pair with a shield, it really isn't, since alot of swords power is locked behind holosmith's heat system. Without heat, you don't get the extra damage on the autos, you don't get the extra blades on 2 (so: again extra damage missing) and also not the additional quickness uptime from skill 3. Ehh... Not really. The only reason there'd be "Useless additions" is due to certain weapons being focused onto a single build type, which at the very least the other E-Spec of a class has no synergy with (With the E-Spec that has the weapon simply outperforming a Core build in the same role) I.e. Spellbreaker has no synergy at all with a Condi build. Therefore it wouldn't have a use for Berserker's Torch. With Condi Zerker outperforming Condi Core (Except maybe in PvP where Zerker's downsides can be exploited and a Condi Core with Torch could probably outpeform Condi Zerker) Even in the case of Engie's sword, while the heat system provides significant boosts to Sword (Especially with Enhanced Capacity Storage Unit trait) baseline sword is still infinitely better than the current power build option of Pistol (Which even sucks for Condi builds...) Engie's baseline sword is actually comparable to Soulbeast's Dagger. The Sword does more damage on autos skills 2 and 3, while the dagger provides slightly more quickness on skill 3 which also has charges for more burst potential and provides much stronger conditions with skill 2. The only thing that's missing from Engie's sword outside of Holosmith is the 1 high power skill to use between kit swapping for each kits 1 high powered skill as without Heat, skill 2 isn't doing insano levels of damage (I suppose Radiant Arc hits pretty hard and could be used)

The issue here is that there's the Marauder stat line for armour and there's a set of armour skins which is called Marauder. As such, that wiki link is referring to the Marauder armour skin rather than gear with the Marauder stat line. As far as acquiring gear with Marauder stats, the Personal Story will provide a couple of low level boots with selectable stats and that's it. The rest of the gear will not use any of the HoT stat lines (I.e. The 4 stat ones) For obtaining Marauder statted armour, at level 80, the easiest way is to participate in Verdant Brink metas to get Crowbars to open up the Airship Supplies found throughout the zone to get Airship Parts. You can then trade these Airship Parts for boxes of armour at the Itzel Vendor, these armour pieces have selectable stats so you can choose Marauder's. The only caveat is that the chest piece only comes from random drops from the bosses in the Night meta event in the zone, or you can get a box from participating in a meta that reaches Tier 4 which allows you to pick any armour piece, including chest pieces.