Elite Speculation for Expac 4

[Dadnir.5038]

19 hours ago, Arheundel.6451 said:

......You can literally see what class each player likes and main by looking at their idea: "necro= a 50% dmg reduction shroud supplied by endurance...which can be given free by 50% by a sigil ..

 

Is it very different from a profession that have access to protection on dodge for example? Let me be clearer, do you mean that ranger's wilderness survival is OP thanks to a sigil because it give you protection on dodge (I mean, it's not like ranger have a hard time getting access to vigor on to of that right?)? Do you think professions that can easily keep up "40% damage reduction protection" alongside other source of damage reduction are OP? Or, I don't know, maybe you think that damage reduction when affected by a buff/debuff that can be easily keep up is somehting OP... Ah, let me see if there is an example... Hummm... Oh! Don't thiefs have 33% damage reduction when revealed? Must be OP.

Imagine how OP is would be for a profession without vigor to use his endurance to access it's main mechanism. Initiative is boring and underpowered, let's make thief weaponskills have an endurance cost instead, Ah but that would be OP with a sigil right? Imagine if thiefs could gain back ressource by switching weapons. Why not having elementalist needing endurance to switch attunment and remove the individual CDs, it would be so OP, I mean, you could switch all 4 attunments thanks to the sigil and you'd just need a bit of endurance to do that... Revolutionary! Afterall who spend endurance to evade things nowaday? Who ever need endurance for anything. Nobody ever felt short of endurance in this game, right?

 

Also it's not like the suggestion was specifying "a shroud that don't shield it's health pool", ain't I right?

[Dawanarth.4601]

Guardian Sheriff

Sheriff change their Virtues into Bounties, turning them into offensive debuff and buff

Like one that would heal allies when you attack the target

Weapon: Pistol or Rifle

Warrior Gladiator

Lose 3rd level of adrenalin but get a secondary Burst ability that is support oriented (tied to the weapon)

Skill

Weapon: Trident on Land

Revenant Breacher

Legendary Breacher: Scarlet Briar

Weapon: Rifle

Thief Swindler

Gain access to a second special attack (other than the Sneak attack) that work as chain attack when in Revealed state

Weapon: Axe/axe or Shield

Elem. Runesmith

Mechanic: Runes are made by associating elements and storing their remanent power which then can be unleashed by selecting an already full rune (Making you rotate element more often)

Skill Type: Preparation, where you lock the element of the preparation when you use it (If you use it in water and then switch to fire it's still going to be Water form)

Weapon: Rifle

Mesmer Maestro (I would have used the Virtuoso name but it's already used now)

Maestro change their shatter's effect to fuel ghostly melodies:

F1 to F4: Fuel different Melodies energy pools which offer either Buff aura or debuff aura when actives

F5: Turn Melodies to either active or passive

Weapon: Shortbow

[Dawanarth.4601]

Necro currently has:

Grim Reaper (England ? Europe)

Mummy (Egypt)

And now Witch Doctor (Africa/Caribbean)

So I'd say:

Summoner/Frankenstein: Shroud become a pet/homunculus/Eidolon... that heal the Necro by taking damage and act as a distraction (England/Europe)

Alchemist: Too close to Witch Doctors ? (Iran iirc)

 

[Thornwolf.9721]

On 4/12/2022 at 5:18 AM, LuckyThirteen.4576 said:

 

 

Revenant: Savant

Weapon: Rifle

The rifle would function in a similar vein to the engineer's rifle: a mid-range, aoe type of affair with a mix of CC and mobility options.

Profession Mechanic: Legendary Golemancer Stance - Snaff (Demonstrated to be active in the mists during LWS4)

Golemancer stance, in addition to providing its bevy of skills, the golemancer provides access to the F2 skill Overdrive, which instantly resets cooldowns, and provides maximum energy at the cost of disabling energy regeneration for a period of time.

Profession Skills: Backups

By temporarily summoning Snaff's golem (or parts thereof) through mist-portals, the revenant gains access to a variety of instant, percussive effects, like extra damage, defensive bubbles, or an AoE launch.

 

 

 

Ranger: Hunter

Weapon: Rifle

The rifle would offer a mix of ranged damage, mobility while attacking at range, and baked in unblockable attacks.

Profession Mechanic: Stalk

By activating a new F5 skill, you mark a target for your pet to stalk. Your pet vanishes into stealth, becoming untargetable. For the duration of this ability your pet will be focused on this target, and gain access to a new set of skills which will hit that target as long as they are within range regardless of line of sight. If a target dies while under this effect, Stalk's cooldown is reduced.

Profession Skills: Venoms

Ranger gets access to its own set of venoms which last for only one attack, but offer various effects that last over a period of time.

 

 

Ew to both of these.

[Infinity.2876]

 

for rev I'm really wanting a 2 legend Jormag and
Primordus holoforge(temperature) type elite spec where you can get lost in your legend if you spend too much time in it/use too many skills.

axe weapon(for mobility) Jormag for sustain and cc and Primordus for squishy condition/power dps.

 

also really need guardian dagger/dagger  uncomplicated sustain through evades(aegis is difficult but I could get used to it. I just prefer good old barrier and protection/resolution. It would have trait that makes it so you can use aegis twice for you aegis lovers so don't get a heart attack and say 'aegis is a core implement in the way guardian works') and power elite spec. 

On 4/12/2022 at 11:43 AM, SeTect.5918 said:

Why do so many players want minions or pets?

pets equal sustain in most circumstances  I personally think elementalist needs a whole lot of that

 

Edited April 21, 2022 by Infinity.2876

[Dawanarth.4601]

9 hours ago, Infinity.2876 said:

for rev I'm really wanting a 2 legend Jormag and
Primordus holoforge(temperature) type elite spec where you can get lost in your legend if you spend too much time in it/use too many skills.

axe weapon(for mobility) Jormag for sustain and cc and Primordus for squishy condition/power dps.

I'm not sure I would want a second try at a double Legend Elite Espec. not after the somewhat failed Vindicator

[Dadnir.5038]

On 4/21/2022 at 8:37 AM, Dawanarth.4601 said:

Necro currently has:

Grim Reaper (England ? Europe)

Mummy (Egypt)

And now Witch Doctor (Africa/Caribbean)

So I'd say:

Summoner/Frankenstein: Shroud become a pet/homunculus/Eidolon... that heal the Necro by taking damage and act as a distraction (England/Europe)

Alchemist: Too close to Witch Doctors ? (Iran iirc)

I would say:

- Reaper: Jason in Friday the 13th. (Slasher)

- Scourge: The egyptian priest in The mummy. (Monster)

- Harbinger: Green gobelin in Spiderman. (Marvel)

As to what it's going to be next... It's up to the devs. Seeing as they gave us the Green gobelin as 3rd e-spec, I think there isn't many limit to what we can expect. In fact, expecting classic horror/undead thing seem to be already out of the window. Maybe we will have a reference to x-men next or some Disney anime. Who know, we could end up with a captain Hook spec for the necromancer...

[Infinity.2876]

9 hours ago, Dawanarth.4601 said:

I'm not sure I would want a second try at a double Legend Elite Espec. not after the somewhat failed Vindicator

I was thinking of having two separate legends instead of two halves of one.

Or you could cut Primordus.

[Tails.9372]

I know many people have asked for Golemancer to be an engi spec but thinking about it it doesn't actually fit the theme of that profession all that well. Thematically a golem is more of a magical construct then a product of pure mechanical ingenuity so if we ever get an Asuran themed expansion (which would actually make sense given what storylines are still on the table) then I can see elementalist getting Golemancer as a pet / transformation (power suit) based e-spec with something like a rifle as the profession weapon.

Another thing that would fit such an expension would be a Holomancer e-spec for thief giving it access to a "tool belt"-esque class mechanic (at the cost of the steal mechanic) and a hardlight version of Kit (and preferably initiative) based weapon sets (at the cost of regular in-combat weapon swapping) with focus as the actual profession weapon.

Edited April 26, 2022 by Tails.9372

[Dawanarth.4601]

3 hours ago, Tails.9372 said:

I know many people have asked for Golemancer to be an engi spec but thinking about it it doesn't actually fit the theme of that profession all that well.

Mechanist ? Did I miss something with the Mechanist, because anyone that want a Golemancer Engineer must be fulfilled with the Mechanist right ?

 

 

[MrForz.1953]

2 hours ago, Dawanarth.4601 said:

Mechanist ? Did I miss something with the Mechanist, because anyone that want a Golemancer Engineer must be fulfilled with the Mechanist right ?

Well, people don't delve into what Golemancy is. To most it's "They make robots", so yes, it's likely been fulfilled.

Mechanist is the closest you'll get to that concept while still making a sliver of sense since the connection between Golemancer and Engineer is the same as Jeweler and Thief. For the rest... ah you can just play pretend, people already do anyways.

Edited April 26, 2022 by MrForz.1953

[Lily.1935]

On 4/12/2022 at 11:43 AM, SeTect.5918 said:

Why do so many players want minions or pets?

Because its a form of gameplay that people love. People love having a fuzzy friend or an army at their back. You can't fight it, people will love what they love.

[Lily.1935]

On 4/21/2022 at 2:37 AM, Dawanarth.4601 said:

Necro currently has:

Grim Reaper (England ? Europe)

Mummy (Egypt)

And now Witch Doctor (Africa/Caribbean)

So I'd say:

Summoner/Frankenstein: Shroud become a pet/homunculus/Eidolon... that heal the Necro by taking damage and act as a distraction (England/Europe)

Alchemist: Too close to Witch Doctors ? (Iran iirc)

 

Its hard to speculate on necromancer. I've been trying to guess their next elite spec for years and got basically everything wrong except the third spec being a glass cannon. They don't really sacrifice health, they're not a vampirism spec, they have nothing to do with demons.

We could speculate until we're blue in the face so I'm currently looking at other options which they could get and putting them into a hat.

MY GUESS is the third spec will be shroudless like scourge is, but i'm like 50.5% sure on that and 49.5% sure I'm wrong so like, I'm not super sure.

It also depends on where we go. Are we going to be uncovering an ancient civilization, exploring abandoned lost kingdoms? Sailing on the open sea, hopping from islands to island? Going underground to the homeland of the Asura? Are the gods going to return to Tyria to broker peace with Aurean?

I think what fits best in those settings is quite different. Sailing would be swashbuckling specs or explorer focused specs. An abandon Kingdom could be anything. Homeland of the Asura could be weird subterranean that take advantage of the weird environment of being underground in mostly darkness. The Gods would likely offer a more traditional direction for elite specs so perhaps more old style of the professions.

My guesses. Necromancer has had one 2H weapon and a OH and MH weapon, so I think it would be a safe guess to say a 2H weapon would make sense. Necromancer also has two ranged specs so a melee spec isn't out of the question. So Hammer. BUT necromancer is primarily a ranged class so getting another ranged weapon isn't that strange.

As for Utility skills I'm actually not ruling out any utility skill that hasn't been used outside of specific professions just yet. So I think Spirit weapons could be on the table and would actually be fairly unique on a necromancer as a sort of "Demon arms" style of gameplay.

The last question is, are we getting a power spec or condi spec or support? And my guess is Condi. Necromancer is the condi class, more so than any other so I do strongly believe it'll be another primary or secondary condi focus elite spec.

[Mik.3401]

To me the most probable combination considering their previous choices is something like this:

 

Warrior - melee staff

Guardian - warhorn

revenant - MH axe

Ranger - shield

thief - OH sword

engineer - greatsword

elementalist - mace

necromancer - OH axe

Mesmer - mace

[SeTect.5918]

Tbh I would like to see e specs with focus, rifle or other weapons that are not in any e spec currently.

Rifle class/build choices are terrible atm.

[Dawanarth.4601]

Focus is the only one missing atm (Rifle was used for the Thief PoF Deadeye)

Possible candidate: Revenant; Warrior; Engineer; Ranger; Thief

Engineer using it as a Remote Control, or a Ranger using it to grow vines and such could work for me

[Lily.1935]

13 hours ago, Mik.3401 said:

To me the most probable combination considering their previous choices is something like this:

 

Warrior - melee staff

Guardian - warhorn

revenant - MH axe

Ranger - shield

thief - OH sword

engineer - greatsword

elementalist - mace

necromancer - OH axe

Mesmer - mace

I'm curious as to how you came to this conclusion.

For me, what I suspect is something else. My reasoning is is based on gaps in their existing elite spec kits. Although not every class needs to have a spec that fills every missing gap, for me its the best assumption I could make.

Warrior - Shortbow
Warrior doesn't have a ranged elite spec yet, they have 3 melee specs so a ranged elite spec isn't out of the question.

Guardian - Warhorn
I actually don't disagree here, but my reasoning might not be the same as yours. I see guardian as a martial caster so swapping between more martial focused specs and caster focus specs makes sense. And since the current new hotness is martial, warhorn would work great with scepter as a more support caster type weapon.

Revenant - Pistol/Rifle?
My main reason for this guess, and it could be completely wrong, is because of Scarlet. I think its not unlikely she becomes a legendary spirit, its also possible we get a legendary asura. But we're sorely lacking in villains to channel with every elite spec being heroes thus far.
Thief - OH Sword
Here I think you're right since Thief hasn't gotten a offhand weapon yet and it actually would be pretty hype for the thief community to get 4 new duel skills. This could only be community fantasy, but it would make a lot of people happy.

Engineer - Shortbow/Longbow
Engineer is missing a ranged elite spec. Which is odd considering they were considered one of the long ranged professions at launch and they've since stuck in melee. I wouldn't be surprised if we got a strange bow with explosions and elixir skills attached to it.
Elementalist - Longbow/Greatsword
The elementalist community from what I've seen has a strong desire for one of these two weapons and both could be ranged on elementalist. Elementalist. Greatswords always seem to be excellent additions to any class so I would hope this is the case.
Necromancer - Hammer/MH Sword
I have the most opinions on necromancer, and it really depends on the direction they're taken with the next elite spec. If we get a Minion master spec, Hammer seems like it would be the prime candidate for that. But if we get a more vampiric spec which is also highly requested sword is overwhelmingly popular. Necromancer is also missing a melee condi weapon, although I don't necessarily think they'll get one this soon.
Mesmer - Warhorn/Shortbow
The bard spec has been requested for ages and honestly, it does actually make a lot of sense for the mesmer to get a sound based elite spec that buffs and heals allies. A Healer seems like it would make sense. Although Warhorn might be the better fit Arena net have a sense of humor so a Shortbow to allow Mesmers to shoot rainbow unicorns at people could motivate them to give mesmer a shortbow.

 

[Dawanarth.4601]

6 hours ago, Lily.1935 said:

Thief - OH Sword
Here I think you're right since Thief hasn't gotten a offhand weapon yet and it actually would be pretty hype for the thief community to get 4 new duel skills. This could only be community fantasy, but it would make a lot of people happy.

For an Ofhand thief I would prefer the Torch or an Axe, they could even do Axe/Axe to give us 5+6 weapon skills (5 from Axe/Axe, 1 from Axe/none and 5 from Axe/other+Other/axe)

 

And honestly I would have loved a Scarlet Legend  but since the EoD story line I see as less than likely

[Dadnir.5038]

20 hours ago, Mik.3401 said:

thief - OH sword

I'd expect thief to get mace before OH sword. After all, stealthily sneaking around to hit peoples on the back of their head with a stick to rob them is totally into thief's thematic.

[Dadnir.5038]

6 hours ago, Lily.1935 said:

Revenant - Pistol/Rifle?
My main reason for this guess, and it could be completely wrong, is because of Scarlet. I think its not unlikely she becomes a legendary spirit, its also possible we get a legendary asura. But we're sorely lacking in villains to channel with every elite spec being heroes thus far.

We could have a legendary skriit... Neither hero nor villain, just an idiot.

6 hours ago, Lily.1935 said:

But if we get a more vampiric spec which is also highly requested sword is overwhelmingly popular.

The necromancer and it's e-specs are already as vampiric as they can be. There is little to no hope for a "vampiric spec" as such spec wouldn't bring anything new to the picture. (Life leech on hit? Check! Minion leeching life? Check! Weapon skills and utility skills leeching life? Check! Leeching life through %age conditions damage? Check! AoE leech? Check and even double check! Leeching life as %age of strike damage? Check!) If anything reaper is as close of a "vampiric spec" as the necromancer will ever get.

[Mik.3401]

12 hours ago, Lily.1935 said:

I'm curious as to how you came to this conclusion.

For me, what I suspect is something else. My reasoning is is based on gaps in their existing elite spec kits. Although not every class needs to have a spec that fills every missing gap, for me its the best assumption I could make.

Warrior - Shortbow
Warrior doesn't have a ranged elite spec yet, they have 3 melee specs so a ranged elite spec isn't out of the question.

Guardian - Warhorn
I actually don't disagree here, but my reasoning might not be the same as yours. I see guardian as a martial caster so swapping between more martial focused specs and caster focus specs makes sense. And since the current new hotness is martial, warhorn would work great with scepter as a more support caster type weapon.

Revenant - Pistol/Rifle?
My main reason for this guess, and it could be completely wrong, is because of Scarlet. I think its not unlikely she becomes a legendary spirit, its also possible we get a legendary asura. But we're sorely lacking in villains to channel with every elite spec being heroes thus far.
Thief - OH Sword
Here I think you're right since Thief hasn't gotten a offhand weapon yet and it actually would be pretty hype for the thief community to get 4 new duel skills. This could only be community fantasy, but it would make a lot of people happy.

Engineer - Shortbow/Longbow
Engineer is missing a ranged elite spec. Which is odd considering they were considered one of the long ranged professions at launch and they've since stuck in melee. I wouldn't be surprised if we got a strange bow with explosions and elixir skills attached to it.
Elementalist - Longbow/Greatsword
The elementalist community from what I've seen has a strong desire for one of these two weapons and both could be ranged on elementalist. Elementalist. Greatswords always seem to be excellent additions to any class so I would hope this is the case.
Necromancer - Hammer/MH Sword
I have the most opinions on necromancer, and it really depends on the direction they're taken with the next elite spec. If we get a Minion master spec, Hammer seems like it would be the prime candidate for that. But if we get a more vampiric spec which is also highly requested sword is overwhelmingly popular. Necromancer is also missing a melee condi weapon, although I don't necessarily think they'll get one this soon.
Mesmer - Warhorn/Shortbow
The bard spec has been requested for ages and honestly, it does actually make a lot of sense for the mesmer to get a sound based elite spec that buffs and heals allies. A Healer seems like it would make sense. Although Warhorn might be the better fit Arena net have a sense of humor so a Shortbow to allow Mesmers to shoot rainbow unicorns at people could motivate them to give mesmer a shortbow.

 

I came to this rough conclusion by looking at their previous choices.

 
For warrior staff looks like a safe option, there’s not many weapons left anyway and for some reason I cannot see them getting another ranged weapon given bladesworn is marketed as a class with melee/ranged  mixabilities.

For Mesmer I don’t see another ranged weapon after we got the dagger. Also it seems like they are aiming to populate the scarce MH weapon choice Mesmer given how many OH ones it can use.

In case of Ele, they didn’t listen to community begging for a ranged weapon and they consistently push the melee gameplay for it, so that’s why mace could be the thing.

And so on, would take long to write it all

Edited April 28, 2022 by Mik.3401

[Dawanarth.4601]

Honestly Staff Warrior really doesn't catch my attention, if they do a real ranged Espec->Shortbow; otherwise->Trident on land (Gladiator)

[Infinity.2876]

On 4/27/2022 at 5:40 AM, Mik.3401 said:

To me the most probable combination considering their previous choices is something like this:

 

Warrior - melee staff

Guardian - warhorn

revenant - MH axe

Ranger - shield

thief - OH sword

engineer - greatsword

elementalist - mace

necromancer - OH axe

Mesmer - mace

Seems surprisingly accurate, unfortunately, elementalist mace will kill a bout 75% of the elementalist population just from protests

Edited April 28, 2022 by Infinity.2876

[Infinity.2876]

11 hours ago, Dadnir.5038 said:

I'd expect thief to get mace before OH sword. After all, stealthily sneaking around to hit peoples on the back of their head with a stick to rob them is totally into thief's thematic.

Hammer would be better in my book theme wise

[Tails.9372]

On 4/28/2022 at 2:03 AM, Lily.1935 said:

Thief - OH Sword
Here I think you're right since Thief hasn't gotten a offhand weapon yet and it actually would be pretty hype for the thief community to get 4 new duel skills. This could only be community fantasy, but it would make a lot of people happy.

OH sword would pretty much be one of the worst choices for a thief OH weapon as it (with the dual wielding class mechanic in its current state) doesn't really add anything of major value to the MH weapon options. All four of the "OH only" weapon types would be significantly better choices here.