KnightEd.4965

"We're working on some larger adjustments for the next update in June, including the goal of significantly improving specter support builds" Dog it's literally in the next sentence.

Simply put, while corporations love to plaster rainbows over literally everything under the sun while still funding bills and politicians to hurt LGBTQ+ people anyways, there's still meaning behind the flag. And as someone who's attended this event at least three years now, I've only ever met around one straight person, who was nervous about attended but ultimately encouraged to come along by some friends of mine. While running around in-game dressed in ugly as sin flag colors may not seem like it's much, it can be the world to some people. Many people who play GW2 come from the US, where exposing yourself as gay to your family has a solid chance of getting you disowned or excluded from your family, if not your community. And even if people do accept you as gay, there's a sizable crowd of people who have the sentiment of "you can be gay, but not when I'm around". This isn't even mentioning specifics parts of the US or overseas where you can expect violence for being outwardly gay, even if you do your best to "look straight". Infact I've actually come to know some people who used Rainbow Railroad to escape countries like that. Now do I have a carnal urge on a daily basis to go parading around in rainbows and colors? No. I dress pretty plain normally and plenty of other gay people are the same. But just having one day, regardless of borders or even your physical ability, where you can just march around being whatever you'd like with an army of people you know will accept you, can feel really good. And even if the charity work doesn't help a single person, just knowing there's this many people on GW2 who are LGBTQ+ friendly goes miles for some, especially given how capital g Gamers tend towards not liking them.

My name is Ed, and I am someone who is very big on using all of the different skills a class has to offer. And over my years of roleplay I've noticed that some skills don't see as much use in RP for one reason or another. Either they're too hard to explain, too vague, or just seem too game mechanic-y. So every few days from here on I'll be publishing my new series Flavortext, where I try and explain different skills in-game and give people ideas so that they can use them for their RP. I'll essentially be providing ways that you can RP your skills and describe them as functioning so you can try using them in-game. For our first edition, we'll be covering: Ranger Traps! Traps are a very universal idea in real life that have appeared in almost every culture around the world. The idea is to lay a structure of some kind on the ground and then wait for either game or an enemy to walk into it to either kill them or leave them vulnerable. It's a pretty simple concept and can be as simple as a rope and counterweight to an entire pit filled with toxic spikes. Ranger's traps tend to throw this out of the window because the way we use them in-game is typically by placing them down in a matter of seconds and then watching them instantly explode into fire, ice, water, and sometimes literal snakes. Worse, we never get to see how these traps look- they exist as grey circles on the ground when placed. So how does one use them in RP? My first and last step would be to think about the material. What we know between all traps is that they're ground placed skills that trigger when stepped on. So all we really need to do is decide what the other person is stepping on to cause a burst of flames or a ton of snakes to pop out. So here are some ideas that you can use for each of the five Ranger Traps. Healing Spring "Heals you and your pet. Place a trap that grants regeneration and cures conditions on allies." In-game, this skill creates a trap that heals you when you step in it with low health. It then summons a shallow spring filled with water lilies and roots that seem to grow out of the ground from the center. It essentially summons a bunch of water that heals you and washes away conditions/toxins. So you have a few options. It can be: A water lily that you grow from the ground up that detects when someone is hurt and summons healing waters A seed planted in the ground that spawns a spring around it when it comes into contact with blood A tiny water spirit that can sense when someone is hurt and creates a spring around itself Or even a shell from a freshwater mollusk that releases cleansing waters and springs when cracked Flame Trap "Set a trap that burns foes." This is where problems arise. In-game, all it does is create a burning field of fire after it's triggered. Doesn't give us a lot to work with, but it does mean we get to be creative. Picture: A fire blossom planted into the ground that spews burning hot pollen when approached A red hot chili pepper that releases juice that combusts when it comes into contact with air A fragile pot of highly flammable sap that creates a field of flames when cracked or broken Or a charred branch filled with a vengeful nature spirit that lights things on fire when stepped on Frost Trap "Set a trap that chills foes." More of the same issue we had with Flame Trap- not very indicative of what it does outside of exploding outwards in a burst of ice. But it is notably the only trap that focuses on dealing high strike damage. So this does indicate that it not only chills you, but also has some kind of punch behind it. So let's see what we can come up with: An ice rose that violently explodes outwards into shards of ice at the slightest damage A shard of eternal ice that expands and strikes foes around it when cracked A branch of winter-berries filled with juice that freezes and expands in contact with air Or, if you want to get really childish, a tiny snowman inhabited by a grumpy Frost Spirit Spike Trap "Set a trap that bleeds and launches foes." So this trap is the closest thing we have to a conventional trap. When stepped on, incredibly large spikes shoot up out of the ground to knock someone off of their feet and leave them bleeding. You can very easily say this entire process is mechanical and that the Ranger is carrying a complicated metal trap on them at all times to throw at people. But, this doesn't particularly line up with Ranger's overall aesthetic, and it isn't very easy to excuse your character always lugging one around, much less using it in the middle of a fight. And yes, you can argue traps shouldn't be used in the middle of a fight anyways. But if you want something less heavy than a big spike trap, here are some fun options: A pinecone that grows massive pine needles out from itself when cracked to impale people A tiny ball cactus that extends out all of it's spines to stab enemies when they get close A yucca seed or root that grows into a mature razor sharp tree when stepped on Or, a nature spirit shaped like a porcupine that lies in wait for enemies Viper's Nest (if you have a phobia of snakes skip this part) "Set a trap that pulses poison on foes when triggered." With all of that said, we've covered all of the various in-game traps. But don't be afraid to apply this same logic to other kinds of Ranger Traps that don't exist in-game. Maybe your Ranger can summon a trap that turns the ground into slippery mud. Or your Ranger places down a trap that summons thousands of bees. It's all up to you and your style of RP. I'll be making another edition of Flavortext whenever I find the time. In the meanwhile, feel free to let me know what else you'd like to see me cover!

Honestly, some part of me kind of enjoys that freedom. While I'd definitely like more examples of how magic in GW2 works for certain, ESPECIALLY for Engineer and Revenant, I feel like the overall openness to magic really lets you get creative and work with less restrictions than other settings. After all, with how magic is present in GW2, as this all-existing thing that is literally everywhere and used by almost everyone, it'd be impossible to narrow down any one way it is used or operates. Again, I'd like more clarification into how it functions and how it is classified, but not so much that it removes that ability to do as you'd like.

You've asked the right forum- I'm your resident one-stop shop to Revenant lore and headcanons. Keep in mind that everything I say on this thread is going to be a mix of observations from in-game, the wiki, Guild Wars 1, and my own personal headcanons based on all of those above things. And while I consider myself sort-of knowledgable, I am not the be-all end-all for lore, so what I say could either be proven wrong by the real writers of Guild Wars 2. So without further interruption, let's get into it: So a very common headcanon between a lot of people based on an old lore post from a while back is that you're channeling an Echo, which is essentially a snapshot of that person that was imprinted across the Mists due to how much of an impact they had on a world. This means that basically anyone can be considered a Legend so long as they had an impact on the world at large. You could've created a race of people, lead a revolution, destroyed a country, ruled as a king, been a very influential chef - anything. So long as they were very important in the scheme of the world, they could've imprinted on the Mists and left an Echo for Revenants to channel. The Legend is, presumably, around the person like an invisible spirit, able to see things but not interact with the world otherwise. They're essentially an invisible observer that only you can hear. A very common headcanon is that when a Revenant is wearing a blindfold, they're borrowing the ability to see from the legend in the way you might borrow Shiro's skill or Ventari's benevolence, for the sake of training. Yes, which lends more credibility to the idea of it being an Echo and not the literal person. Multiple Revenants exist in-lore and it would thus make more sense if you were communing with the legend of the person and not the literal person themselves. Yes to the Mist Step part. It's heavily implied that skills like Sword 3 have the Revenant enter the Mists and then exit them at another location. The second part is up for debate, because the Mists aren't necessarily just a 1:1 recreation of Tyria- it's a massive proto-reality containing tons of different realms and Tyrias. That being said, a Revenant could probably have an easier time locating fractals for the sake of revisiting historical events. It's stated that Rytlock ended up training a bunch of other Revenants when he left the Mists, so the people he originally trained could've then trained other people, and then those people could've trained others, and then the list goes on. So while you could've been taught by Rytlock, you could've also been taught by one of Rytlock's students, or that student's student. However, while he's the first we've ever seen, it stands to reason that you could become a Revenant without a formal education by traveling the Mists and finding these Echoes yourself. Think of it like becoming a Ranger by traveling the wilderness, or becoming an Elementalist by living on the water or near a volcano. And if you really want to claim that they've been at this for a while, you can claim they've been practicing Ritualist stuff all of this time and transitioned over to Revenant when it became more popular. Ritualist lorewise is a predecessor to Revenant, and while it's very different in function and purpose they still have a lot in common if you want to research it. All in all, Revenants are just a magic profession that happens to channel the Mists. It's ultimately up to you how you want to use them, but in practice they're a heavily armored magic practitioner that channels the legends of dead people. If you'd like my full thoughts, I've got a big document I made a while back here. [Ed's Revenant Google Doc]

In-Game Name: Dylan FletcherPronouns: He/himSpecies: Human Position in the Pact: Vigil CrusaderYears of Service: Vigil from 1333 - Present Brief Rumors: "Fletcher again. What is this- his fifth lap? What's he training so much for?" "Just another farm boy out from the middle of nowhere thinking he can save everyone if you ask me." "He's one of those kids from Drake, right? Bunch of Recruits who all called themselves Tide? Remember those days- made a squad like that with my old buddies too." "Apparently he came here chasing his dad- some special forces member. Honestly just sounds like he's making it up." "I wouldn't underestimate him. He's pretty young but I've seen him fight- like watching a bolt of lightning." Additional Info: Has served in the Primordus and Jormag campaigns Member of Drake Company- the scout of a group of Crusaders unofficially nicknamed Tide Squad The son of [REDACTED], currently serving [REDACTED]

Name: Dylan Fletcher Pronouns: he/him Species: Human Profession: Ranger Appearance: Fairly on-model appearance, but has an almost comical amount of muscle definition that doesn't extend to his face. Frequently Visited Locations: The Divinity's Reach Vigil Chapterhouse The Vigil Keep The Township of Claypool, The Township of Pierbush in the forests outside of Divinity's Reach Rumors: "There's that Fletcher boy again- swear I saw him running a hundred miles a minute just for 'fun'. Country folk these past few years..." "Heard he has an entire zoo's worth of animals with him at all times. Apparently found a jaguar too, but I ain't seen it yet." "Oh hey, that's that eh- Crusader Fletcher! Knew I recognized him- great kid. Helped clear out my basement of these Unchained chickens." "Dylan? Oh- you mean Flora's son? Ooooh, yeah that's him alright. Got a lot taller since the last market I saw him at. His family still sell jam?" "I'm telling you it's true! All of those Fletchers are some weirdos. Caught one of them just lifting up a wagon- by themselves!" Additional Info: Vigil Crusader currently serving with Drake Company since the Scion of 1333 One of several other young human Crusaders that enlisted during that years Festival of the Four Winds From a village named Pierbush located somewhere in central Kryta- known for it's berry farms Member of the Fletcher family- a family known for having incredible physical strength Has a bad habit of referring to most people as sir/ma'am but usually when asked A Ranger that specializes in wind and lightning magic in his archery and swordsmanship