The new elite specs are extremely underwhelming and uninspired

[Crackmonster.2790]

These elite speccs lol, can someone explain to me what is going on??

They are just soo far off making sense, they need a lot of more love and in some cases complete redesign. It's falling short on so many levels to be honest. The abilties feel uninspiring to use and boring, the mechanics are meh. A lot of the weapon choices are just totally off for theme like wtf, there are only a 2-3 weapons that could get me excited from a potential perspective, mesmer dagger, rev greatsword, and thief scepter. The rest are just nothing i would have ever wanted. Hammer on ele and Ranger? xDDDD rip dreams for new cool speccs.

The whole speccs we were shown were lacking severely in development - they need a LOT more work also to bring a good feeling and idea into the speccs to make sense in the first place. There wasnt a single of the speccs that got me excited so far mechanically/visually(maybe mesmer looked cool), and like half of them i don't even remember what they can do, they made such insignificant impression. And support skills were generally quite pointless from some of those i rememberer. There are so many cool powerful archetypes of fantasy that c ould have been executed and all the ones we get are just like what, weapon with abilties and things and damages and sometimes conditions like. I don't feel it.

I feel like the devs had a list of "stuff to do" and just been plowing through it without time to put thought and love, speccs -check, new legendary weapons - check. And just like the legendary weapons were just turned into an expanded black lion set, thereby loosing a lot of originality and thought and care, so i feel like these elite speccs are mega lackluster.

At this point, i'd rather have them redo a lot of put proper thought into things and delay the expansion. Am not in a rush, quality over quantity errday.

I can't be the only one who feels this way?

Oh yea, i have a bonus rant. You need to abandon this design philosophy of we cant make animation changes to weapons and skills, only numbers changes and thats it. That's a really bad way to approach and keep stuff locked into bad mechanic function and failures spring forth from such limited ideas so much. Many many weapons in this game could use a big rework to make them work better, be much cooler and more well though out and viable.

Edited September 25, 2021 by Crackmonster.2790

[Linken.6345]

Necro have had greatsword since heart of thorns mate, they get main hand pistol now.

Edit

You meant revenant greatsword maybe?

Edited September 25, 2021 by Linken.6345

[Veka.8710]

I actually thought Mesmer was the most underwhelming one. Visually they look cool, but aside from that? They're whatever and that's me speaking as a mesmer main. Everything else was fine to me.

 

Rev was really fun to use and I like that they used Ritualist special skills from GW1.

 

War is actually extremely fun, I never liked any of the other Warrior elite spec but this one actually got me to enjoy it.

 

This Ele spec was more my taste then tempest.

 

Necro is interesting...can't say I played it enough to form an opinion on it.

 

Guardian was really fun, but I'm probably sticking to Dragon hunter.

 

The fact that weapon skills are what makes you go "omg" is hilarious to me. The elite specs are giving you what the class never had before. Idk how it's any different from the old elite specs. Chrono uses Necro wells. DH uses Rangers trap, the list goes on.

[fenriswolfman.5486]

Ranger hammer is an og GW reference. Next one needs to get no weapon and just touch you to death.

[wickedkae.4980]

Yes and it is really sad to see an absolute lack of imagination and engineering by Anet in this regard.  The new necro is not even close to having anything to do with a necro.  No new pets, no AI, no new death control abilities.  Nothing.  Just a pistol and now we throw elixirs. wow can't wait to play that when I roll a necro.  Makes total sense.

[Super Hayes.6890]

So because you don't like them, they are uninspired. Got it.

[Crackmonster.2790]

2 hours ago, Linken.6345 said:

Necro have had greatsword since heart of thorns mate, they get main hand pistol now.

Edit

You meant revenant greatsword maybe?

Sorry, yes you are right i will correct that.

 

  

59 minutes ago, Super Hayes.6890 said:

So because you don't like them, they are uninspired. Got it.

Nah, because they aren't expressing a realization of fantasy very well. They are generic.

There are some good ideas here and there, but they need a lot more work to really bring out a unique feeling.

Edited September 25, 2021 by Crackmonster.2790

[Rogue.8235]

2 hours ago, Crackmonster.2790 said:

Sorry, yes you are right i will correct that.

Nah, because they aren't expressing a realization of fantasy very well. They are generic.

There are some good ideas here and there, but they need a lot more work to really bring out a unique feeling.

 

I think they actually do express themselves very well and have great thematic playstyles.

Granted, they are not copies of classes from 3rd edition D&D, you are right.

So back to the greater concepts of fantasy and fiction than what exists in D&D,

Warrior was really fun and had  a great sense of late-medieval / early-renaissance technology.  The biggest thing for me is that I love the sound of explosings in-game, especially if I'm the one sploding things.

Revenant has a complexity that I thoroughly enjoy.  Still messing around with it.

Hadn't gotten to elementalist yet.

 

Also:

There are more things in heaven and earth, Horatio, Than are dreamt of in your philosophy."  - Hamlet

 

[Game of Bones.8975]

How many Elites actually end up using the weapon that is unlocked as it's primary?  I'm just asking ... 

 

It would be different if the weapon unlocked were the only one that could be used with that specific Elite profession.

[Rogue.8235]

8 minutes ago, Game of Bones.8975 said:

How many Elites actually end up using the weapon that is unlocked as it's primary?  I'm just asking ... 

 

It would be different if the weapon unlocked were the only one that could be used with that specific Elite profession.

 

For me, Reaper and um... yep Reaper.  I still usually use the core weapons in conjunction with the elite tratis and skills.  

While I do use the elite specialization weapons, it is not the primary weapon set I use.  Usually it's back-up or for specific situations.  Except reaper.  But that's just because I enjoy the flavor of a greatsword wielding embodiment of death.

 

[QueenKeriti.5176]

13 minutes ago, Game of Bones.8975 said:

How many Elites actually end up using the weapon that is unlocked as it's primary?  I'm just asking ...

(Sorry if I'm not understanding and missing something like sarcasm)

 

Soulbeast dagger is part of the meta builds for I think both power and condi in PvE

Druid staff is part of the meta for heal builds in PvE

Scourge torch is meta for some builds

Tempest warhorn is meta for several builds

Weaver sword is meta for several builds

 

Those are the ones I can think of off the top of my head because those are the elites I've played.

[Crackmonster.2790]

13 hours ago, Rogue.8235 said:

 

I think they actually do express themselves very well and have great thematic playstyles.

Granted, they are not copies of classes from 3rd edition D&D, you are right.

So back to the greater concepts of fantasy and fiction than what exists in D&D,

Warrior was really fun and had  a great sense of late-medieval / early-renaissance technology.  The biggest thing for me is that I love the sound of explosings in-game, especially if I'm the one sploding things.

Revenant has a complexity that I thoroughly enjoy.  Still messing around with it.

Hadn't gotten to elementalist yet.

 

Also:

There are more things in heaven and earth, Horatio, Than are dreamt of in your philosophy."  - Hamlet

 

Listen now. Think bigger.

Someone else said it best on ele forum about catalyst:

"When the weapons got leaked, I was hoping it was not true" ... "but i told myself "Ok, well at least with a hammer we'll be able to go all Thor-mode and create some crazy thunderstorms/earthquakes/tsunamis/volcanoes", that idea faded away as soon as we actually saw hammer skills..."

Instead of what cool he described we get what? Hammer can do things and drop stuffs and its all what? No realization of higher fantasy - not connecting to great ideas just being it can do stuff and thats it. And that's a common theme among most of the released.

You are only shooting yourself in the foot by defending and accepting mediocrity. Through honest and when needed harsh feedback there is oppertunity to grow.

You have much to learn, young padawan.

Edited September 26, 2021 by Crackmonster.2790

[Kalocin.5982]

This is the first time we've gotten to test specs so far from release. I'm guessing they're a lot more "beta" than the previous ones that were tested one month before launch. The ideas are there but some of the execution needs work. Quite a lot of time left to review feedback and change things

Edited September 26, 2021 by Kalocin.5982
Mobile fat fingers

[Ferret.3087]

17 hours ago, Crackmonster.2790 said:

Sorry, yes you are right i will correct that.

 

  

Nah, because they aren't expressing a realization of fantasy very well. They are generic.

There are some good ideas here and there, but they need a lot more work to really bring out a unique feeling.

 

So you are saying these specs don't follow your usual idea of fantasy classes but they are generic at the same time? That makes no sense. I would say a lot of these classes are the complete opposite of generic which is typical of Arena Net, they don't like to typically create traditional roles/classes. Which could be part of the problem - these themes and roles are built from the ground up sometimes for some of these specs which we could see sometimes doesn't create the most coherent playstyle. I think thematically the classes are fine and creative they just need actual gameplay and balance changes 

I agree with you in terms of animations and weapons/skill changes - For some reason Arena Net has so many defenders who come out of the woodwork parroting the line of  "Arena net has no time or resources to make these changes" - or "This can't changed because of X Y Z" We need to stop defending Arena Net when it comes to things like this - Arena net is a big enough development company to develop GW2 with plenty of content in a timely manner. They have plenty of developers to work on the game.  Everything can be done, Arena net is just horrible at managing their development resources and we should hold them accountable for that. 

Edited September 26, 2021 by Ferret.3087

[hatozeni.5721]

I'm so happy and satisfied with the deadeye that (believe it or not) I don't even care about the new specs. Including the new elite spe thief. (samurai?)

[JekthAvid.1408]

Underwhelming? *glances at bladesworn 51k benchmark* *looks at vindicator's flexibility in open world/pvp* *looks at harbinger's condi dps*

Uninspired? *glances at utility swap on use which we've never seen before* *also glances at a weapon unique to an elite spec* *also glances at an hp reduction for dps mechanic* 

 

Not every espec is perfect, but we've got some pretty kitten good ones

[DracoAlva.3846]

If feel like the developers did well. However if feel loved they failed to offer the professions some of the abilities and skills the classes needed in accordance with the direction story was going.  Honestly, revenant was exilerating with greatsword and its Skill combinations as well as the story involved. However, elementalist lacked the luster it deserved with getting hammer. Jade orbs are a great ideal on paper but of your wanting to go with history of element magic workers, why not arcane magic more or something slightly more from the direction we were told they were good and with canthan story.

 

Warrior was interesting to say the least, a gun-saber?!? Definitely an interesting idea. It played decently. The ammo/flow system was something unique the Class had to experience. I am curious though why no warrior staff. I mean pistol off hand seems cool, and gun-saber played differently then I expected but I did feel a staff might have been a lost feature to be added. 

 

I feel like mesmer was interesting in the way it played from the previous beta. It definitely gave us a different perspective, and something new to look at. Not sure if it's completely the right direction but it did play different for sure. I feel like tweaking needs to happen there.

 

Necromancer I was definitely a new way to go and pulled from lore. It is an intriguing idea and seems like it gave necromancer a new direction to look. I played it for a bit only to find that it needs some tweaking in playthrough but other then that it did give Necro some new prospective and mobility it needed. Definitely excited to see more how it plays out.

 

Guardian was definitely a new experience. I feel like it definitely we the direction of a nobility rogue assassin. It definitely was taken a food direction with double sword. I feel like more work could have been done to the skills as far as damage output from a condition stand point but it definitely got some mobility it needed.

 

Honestly, in close none of them went exactly the direction the entire player base wanted. Whether it be jade orbs (lmfao), or pistols on necros there are still minor quality of life changes and tweaks to make things better even ossibly some bigger changes. I did feel they were rush to market faster then they should have been,like they didn't focus, envision and create, that they could of used more time and that they could have had more inspired vision on some of it. To say the least. I hope we will see more changes for the better before expansion release, and that they surprise us all with the next beta, BETA 3 that will blow us out of the water with Ranger, Engineer, and I their. Hopefully the shenanigans of their scepter, are just that and that bunny thumper shines threw as expected. Hopefully engineer is something special too.

 

 

[Gibson.4036]

15 hours ago, CheesecakeChiari.7154 said:

(Sorry if I'm not understanding and missing something like sarcasm)

 

Soulbeast dagger is part of the meta builds for I think both power and condi in PvE

Druid staff is part of the meta for heal builds in PvE

Scourge torch is meta for some builds

Tempest warhorn is meta for several builds

Weaver sword is meta for several builds

 

Those are the ones I can think of off the top of my head because those are the elites I've played.

Holosmith sword

Daredevil staff

Scrapper hammer

Firebrand axe

Mirage axe

Maybe better to ask which especs have no meta builds using their unlocked weapon? Or maybe I’m missing the sarcasm too?

[IndigoSundown.5419]

So far, for me:

 

Virtuoso: I found this spec to be quite enjoyable to play in PvE, but lacking defensive options in WvW.  As much as I get frustrated fighting a Mesmer in WvW due to the clone spam, the profession mechanic removal of clones etc. for "daggers" leaves the spec without its most potent defense v. other players.

 

Harbinger: I found Harbinger to be both potent and fun.

 

Willbender: I found this spec to be weak, the mechanics to be lacking (for instance, a 450 range gap closer seems a bit short); and the spec's performance to be considerably less than either Dragonhunter or Firebrand (or some core-only options for that matter).

 

Bladesworn: I confess that I only played this spec for about five minutes, having little fun during that time.  That is much too short a time to get any real insights into the spec, but for me the lack of fun with it was the reason play-time got channeled into other things.

 

Vindicator: I was gratified to see that this spec's greatsword skills seems to lack the kitten-awful spin-like-a-top animations that plague the other two heavy classes' GS skills.  Since I like greatswords conceptually, the option to play a heavy armored GS wielder appeals.  I did find the Legend switching mechanic to be too opaque for my taste.  As is, I cannot tell which legend I'm using without a mouse-over on the skills and reading.  What would be wrong with the legend-switch toggle being fully blue or red rather than half/half?

 

Catalyst: While I was disappointed with the choice of hammer, I have been more disappointed with the playability and enjoyment factor of both the weapon and the spec mechanics.  This is hybrid spec in two respects.  1) it has both melee and ranged aspects, but the unique profession mechanic involves a short range field; and 2) it seems to be designed as a power/conditions hybrid.  My opinion is that GW2 as a game is not kind to hybrid specs.  I will try Catalyst with Viper gear if I have time, but the default Celestial left the spec too weak to be really effective while not providing much in the way of survivability.  Also, the #3 skill seems designed to entice players to rapidly switch attunements to get the most out of it.  This is a bit too close, for me, to the Weaver mechanic where the #3 skill is thee centerpiece of the spec.

[Trise.2865]

"Nothing that happens can ever compare to what I can imagine, because everything I imagine has t*ts and is on fire!" - Yahtzee Croshaw
You see the problem?

You made assumptions. Your assumptions were wrong. Does that make them *less* "creative" than you? or *more*?
Neither.

Edited September 26, 2021 by Trise.2865

[Linken.6345]

2 hours ago, hatozeni.5721 said:

I'm so happy and satisfied with the deadeye that (believe it or not) I don't even care about the new specs. Including the new elite spe thief. (samurai?)

Probabely not samurais did not run around with scepters.

[kharmin.7683]

1 hour ago, IndigoSundown.5419 said:

Catalyst: [snip] Also, the #3 skill seems designed to entice players to rapidly switch attunements to get the most out of it.  This is a bit too close, for me, to the Weaver mechanic where the #3 skill is thee centerpiece of the spec.

I felt the same as well.  Also, it seemed to encourage attunement swapping through the jade orb field.  I can see some appeal to some players but for me it required too much focus on key smashing and hoping I hit things in the right sequence to have any effectiveness.

[Ashantara.8731]

I would have loved to see the Vindicator's concept (attack/healing combo based on Canthan historic figures) for Guardian instead, in a cool Monk style. Willbender is so underwhelming, almost as bad as Virtuoso (which is plain booooring).

Harbinger lacked an identity altogether, while Bladesworn is pointless in most scenarios (who's gonna just sit there and wait for the blast to become fully charged?).

Only Catalyst seems to have a somewhat interesting concept that also suits the profession.

Edited September 26, 2021 by Ashantara.8731

[Angel Hunter D.5037]

They all seem to have issues with being clunky, weak, or just not being what a decent chunk of the playerbase wanted. I really hope there's time to fix them.

[Obtena.7952]

Some are, some aren't .. but that's not new either. To be fair, look at how many especs they have reworked since the time they were released. It's not insignificant.