Genesis.8572

You think Tertullian was just naming two different Mediterranean cities just because or that Tertullian's point would be the same if he named Ankara or Cairo? This is personally the weirdest rebuttle I have ever seen to Tertullian's quote.

And so the goal posts move...

In general, but not always. The elemental magic WoW Shaman, for example, can be either a ranged spellcaster or a melee dual-wielder, similar to how the dagger/dagger elementalist is in GW2. In fact, Dagger/Dagger Ele was incredibly common at the "release of Guild Wars 2," especially for WvW roamers and duelists. I can understand the emotional disappointment of wanting a ranged Elementalist weapon, but the appeal to D&D feels more like grasping at straws to make a post hoc justification for that disappointment rather than a solid critique.

(1) To quote Tertullian, "What does Athens have to do with Jerusalem?" or in thise case "What does D&D have to do with Guild Wars 2?" D&D is its own brand of fantasy as is GW2 its own brand of fantasy. The D&D perspective is kind of irrelevant to the GW2 perspective. (2) While hammers in D&D 5e would use Strength for most melee attacks (there are rules exceptions: e.g., Hexblade), there are not Strength requirements for hammers as martial weapons, only proficiency requirements. A Warhammer is versatile, which just means it can be used one-handed or two-handed for different weapon damage dies. A Maul is heavy, which only means that it imposes Disadvantage to attack rolls for characters who are Small, which would also apply to small Fighters or Barbarians. (3) There are so many ways for spellcasters to get martial weapon proficiency in D&D 5e that this objection is a complete non-issue. (4) Whether an Elementalist would be a 5e Sorcerer or Wizard is a silly frame of reference because magic and classes in GW2 are not the same as in D&D. They don't necessarily operate in terms of D&D's own idiomatic frame of references. (5) We are playing a game where the Mesmer and Necromancer can use a greatsword. Elementalists using hammers is not that big of a deal aesthetically.

The main benefit of that "blob of people" is buff stacking. When you're ranged and not in the thick of things, then you're not getting those buffs. It's also more difficult for people to rez you when you play isolated.

From a casual perspective, it is difficult to distinguish between the Elixir icons. They basically all look the same, especially when contrasted with the different icons for Engineer Elixirs. Also, the Blight mechanic visual (-X in Green below the health) is not as visually intuitive about the base mechanic of the specialization. It may be better to show it more like Barrier, but possibly on the bottom of the health orb to distinguish Blight from Barrier.

Ecclesiastes 4:4

With a bit of thought, I would potentially go with the name Vanguard with the idea of this being the first in and out of battle, but also incorporating the name "guard," which doubles with the guards of the throne, but also the Guardian profession.

My Guardian's name really is 'Will.'

I like the spec. Hate the name.

Willbender sounds like it was the first name created from a random Guardian e-spec name generator. It's pretty bad IMHO.

I'm not following you at all. Elixirs are a skill type rather than a core specialization of the Engineer. Alchemy is the name of the specialization. The Harbinger Necro is getting Elixirs, and the e-spec will likely be called the Harbinger. This is par for the course for other e-specs getting a variety of core skill-types from other professions (e.g., stances, wells, cantrips, glyphs, meditations, deceptions, etc.).

I don't mind Aurene, but I would like to move on from Dragon's Watch and its associated cast.

That was also true for Monks, but then they basically became armored Guardians with Paragon training.

Players asked for a lot of things on the forums.

How about a hammer?

A lot of the content this season feels like grindy, busy work (or at least more than the usual fair of past content).

This entire season has killed a LOT of my enthusiasm for this game. The map mechanics are not particularly fun, a lot of repetitive grind, and neither has the lore direction been particularly great.

Tips. Marauder gear. It's acceptable, if not preferred, for a lot of low to mid health professions in PVE. No shame in using it. Rune sets that provide 10 percent bonus health (e.g., Vampirism, Durability, Dwayna, Flock, Balthazar, etc.). Vampirism, in particular, is great for Open World because you are constantly being topped back to health after killing mobs.

It's worth pointing out that both Elexus and Yahuk were both Blood legion before being recruited by the Blood and Ash PCs, respectively. Do they have more reason to believe the PC over Bangar? Potentially. But there may also be some strong deeply-embedded loyalties and ideologies surrounding Blood Legion, the Treat of Ebonhawke, and other issues as well.

I would like to hold up one tiny detail that is quite nicely done on the part of ArenaNet. Most of the prior existing Cache guards were Blood Legion (at one point or another), with the exception of Lucia Wildeye. Yahuk Fellstrike is recruited into the Ash player's warband, but when encountered in the Flame Legion cell, his captors reveal that he was previously Blood Legion.