An idea for future profession mechanics

[Maax.1089]

So I had this idea for a mechanic they could maybe implement in a future expansion, which would bring back something from Guild Wars 1 which I know everyone enjoyed.

It would be a way to get a second profession, like we used to be able to do in Guild Wars 1.
My idea was basically that you could select a secondary profession, which would give you access to some (or all) of the core abilities from that profession (maybe excluding elite skills, and nothing from the Elite Specs).
The players could only select one secondary profession at a time (like in GW1), and will have to train to use them with hero points (maybe at a higher hero point cost than if it was your main class, so its not as easy to earn).

there might be a way to make it somewhat limited, so that it is not overpowered, but I feel like that would be a great callback to the original game, while also being plausible in Guild Wars 2, both lore-wise and mechanic-wise

[Beddo.1907]

No thanks.
I can already see a meta where class X skills are a must for Power builds, Y for Support and Z for Condi and any other combination makes you not a good in a role.
As a result, your character is now only capable of performing well on one role only and balance would take even bigger hit than anything we got in the past.

[Jedrik.3109]

No. Look how many complaints this community has balance and power creep. And you want to add secondary profession?

[Batalix.2873]

Lol.

Initially I was going to deconstruct why this would only narrow the meta down further.

But you know what? Why not. The devs have already been ruining the carefully compartmentalized balance of the profession/espec system, removing meaningful differences between classes and homogenizing buildcraft into oblivion. If they won't walk back powercreep and reintroduce specialization, if aesthetic is all there is anymore and all we are doing is choosing colors...

why not let us MIX the colors?

Edited November 26, 2023 by Batalix.2873

[Jobber.6348]

I used to think Gw2 should have secondary professions but all it does is allow the main profession to access and use the weapons of the secondary. 

These days... idk. I think eventually all classes will have their own full set of weapons. 

[Knighthonor.4061]

What you described is pretty much what Elite specs are. They are class hybrids of another just by a new name and with all new skill types they same.

[ShadowKatt.6740]

7 minutes ago, Knighthonor.4061 said:

What you described is pretty much what Elite specs are. They are class hybrids of another just by a new name and with all new skill types they same.

THANK YOU. Finally someone who gets it. Outside of a few niche cases almost all the especs are just Class Mechanic from X given to Y. Rangers and Warriors get Death Shroud (CA and DT respectively), Mesmers and Engis get Wells (Chrono and Scrapper respectively) and so on. We've been doing it a long time.

[Voyant.1327]

I've thought about this one a few times and I think there's merit for it. 

As others have noted elite specs have that feel to a degree so I'd piggy bank off of it.

Have a 4th "minor" traitline that is simply a choice of two passives and an inherit "minor" passive. 

It would be a great way to address boon disparity between support builds + add utility w/ keeping class identity a little more. Shift Quickness and Alacrity generation to this slot + frees up balancing.

Example:

Adept Class Traitline:

Chronomancer's Apprentice

2 Step Time Warp: Leap/Burst Finishers apply 1 stack of Alacrity (4s), duration increases by 33% if finisher results in combo field. Duration lowered to (1s) for PvP/WvW. 8 Second Internal Cooldown. 

Imagine having one concise way to have the support boons NOT attached to class balancing and just opening it up thru a couple of choices like this. 

 

 

[Panda.1967]

On 11/28/2023 at 8:47 AM, ShadowKatt.6740 said:

THANK YOU. Finally someone who gets it. Outside of a few niche cases almost all the especs are just Class Mechanic from X given to Y. Rangers and Warriors get Death Shroud (CA and DT respectively), Mesmers and Engis get Wells (Chrono and Scrapper respectively) and so on. We've been doing it a long time.

Dragon Trigger is NOT shroud, it is Weapon Kit. Bladesworn is Warrior/Engineer not Warrior/Necro. Holosmith on the otherhand gets Shroud via Photon Forge, Holosmith is Engineer/Necro. Why is it so hard for people to get the elite spec class combos right?

Reaper = Necro/Warrior or Necro/Guardian (design is unclear, may even just be expanded core Necro)
Scourge = Necro/Mesmer (sand shades = clones)
Harbinger = Necro/Engineer (alchemist)
Mirage = Mesmer/Thief (Ambush skills)
Virtuoso = Mesmer/Thief or Mesmer/Warrior (design isn’t clear, may be expanded core mesmer)
Tempest = Elementalist/Guardian (Overloads = Virtues)
Weaver = Elementalist/Thief (Dual skills)
Catalyst = Elementalist/Engineer (Augments = Gadgets)
Druid = Ranger/Necro (Celestial Avatar = Shroud)
Soul Beast = Ranger/Warrior (Stances, Beast Mode = Bursts)
Untamed = Ranger/Thief (fixed - I forgot about ambush)
Holosmith = Engineer/Necro (Photon forge = Shroud)
Mechanist = Engineer/Ranger (Golem = Pet)
Daredevil = Thief/Warrior (Physical skills)
Specter = Thief/Necro (Shroud)
Spellbreaker = Warrior/Mesmer (Because ANet says so - I disagree)
Bladesworn = Warrior/Engineer (Gunsabre = Weapon Kit)
DragonHunter = Guardian/Ranger (Traps)
Willbender = Guardian/Warrior (Physical Skills)

All Revenant eSpecs are just extensions of core Revenant.
Chronomancer, Scrapper, Berserker, & Firebrand are also all just extensions of their core classes.

Edited June 7 by Panda.1967

[Batalix.2873]

On 12/4/2023 at 11:23 PM, Panda.1967 said:

Dragon Trigger is NOT shroud, it is Weapon Kit. Bladesworn is Warrior/Engineer not Warrior/Necro. Holosmith on the otherhand gets Shroud via Photon Forge, Holosmith is Engineer/Necro. Why is it so hard for people to get the elite spec class combos right?

Reaper = Necro/Warrior or Necro/Guardian (design is unclear)
Scourge = Necro/Mesmer
Harbinger = Necro/Engineer
Mirage & Virtuoso = Mesmer/Thief
Tempest = Elementalist/Guardian
Weaver = Elementalist/Thief
Vatalyst = Elementalist/Engineer
Druid = Ranger/Necro
Soul Beast & Untamed = Ranger/Warrior
Holosmith = Engineer/Necro
Mechanist = Engineer/Ranger
Daredevil = Thief/Warrior
Specter = Thief/Necro
Spellbreaker = Warrior/Mesmer
Bladesworn = Warrior/Engineer
DragonHunter = Guardian/Ranger
Willbender = Guardian/Thief or Guardian/Warrior (design is unclear)

All Revenant eSpecs are just extensions of core Revenant.
Chronomancer, Scrapper, Berserker, & Firebrand are also all just extensions of their core classes.

I would argue some of the especs take from two classes, especially when you account for aesthetics.

Virtuoso is just Mesmer/Warrior. Other than the aesthetic it has virtually nothing thief-like and plays far too straightforward, ala Warrior.

Tempest I would argue is more Ele/Warrior than Ele/Guardian, given that the overloads function a lot like bursts, but I do see Guardian in the aesthetics.

Catalyst feels more...Ranger or Warrior or even Guardian more than Engi? It doesn't really have kits, but it does have "pets" and energy management. Iunno, it's a garbo design.

Spellbreaker is more Warrior/Guardian than Warrior/Mesmer, both functionally and aesthetically.

Untamed is more Thief, Ele, or even Mesmer than it is Warrior. The weapon swapping skills based on stances and the pet skills acting almost like another attunement push me toward Ele.

And if I were to characterize Chrono it would be Guardian (shields, support, and a skill that allows more "virtue" use), Scrapper would be Ele (combo fields), Berserker would be Ele (at least aesthetically), and Firebrand would be Engi or Ele (kit/attunement swapping).

Otherwise, I agree with all of the other characterizations. I never thought about Scourge being Mesmer-Necro but it totally is, probably explains why I like the playstyle.

[Burnfall.9573]

On 11/9/2023 at 10:43 AM, Maax.1089 said:

So I had this idea for a mechanic they could maybe implement in a future expansion, which would bring back something from Guild Wars 1 which I know everyone enjoyed.

It would be a way to get a second profession, like we used to be able to do in Guild Wars 1.
My idea was basically that you could select a secondary profession, which would give you access to some (or all) of the core abilities from that profession (maybe excluding elite skills, and nothing from the Elite Specs).
The players could only select one secondary profession at a time (like in GW1), and will have to train to use them with hero points (maybe at a higher hero point cost than if it was your main class, so its not as easy to earn).

there might be a way to make it somewhat limited, so that it is not overpowered, but I feel like that would be a great callback to the original game, while also being plausible in Guild Wars 2, both lore-wise and mechanic-wise

Great Topic

I was hoping that Anet would follow  Guild Wars (1) Vision of  Hormonizing The Community and the playerbase together to experience each other Professions instead of committing Profession Identtiy Theft and Hijack like Thief Profession-Spectar from Necromancer Profession.

I Respectfuly Adore and Admire Guild Wars (1) Vision of bringing everyone together and for not stealing, taking away each other Professions Roles and their Identities.  

This is why I conclude that Guild Wars (1) is the last Guild Wars whose Vision, Goals and Cornerstone is in the Foundation of the player experience  and whose Mutual Respect and Genuine Harmony is in Preserving and Honoring Professions to their  Roles and to their Identities

Edited December 7, 2023 by Burnfall.9573

[Panda.1967]

14 hours ago, Batalix.2873 said:

Untamed is more Thief,

This… is actually correct… I completely forgot that Untamed has access to ambush skills, which that fact alone actually makes it solidly Ranger/Thief rather than Ranger/Warrior.

14 hours ago, Batalix.2873 said:

Spellbreaker is more Warrior/Guardian than Warrior/Mesmer, both functionally and aesthetically.

I would agree with you on this if it wasn’t for the fact that ANet devs have directly stated a few times that Spellbreaker is Warrior/Mesmer… for the most accurate secondary class pairing though, Spellbreaker is really Warrior/Dervish… several of its abilities were taken from the GW1 Dervish class both in name and general function.

[Batalix.2873]

8 hours ago, Panda.1967 said:

This… is actually correct… I completely forgot that Untamed has access to ambush skills, which that fact alone actually makes it solidly Ranger/Thief rather than Ranger/Warrior.

I would agree with you on this if it wasn’t for the fact that ANet devs have directly stated a few times that Spellbreaker is Warrior/Mesmer… for the most accurate secondary class pairing though, Spellbreaker is really Warrior/Dervish… several of its abilities were taken from the GW1 Dervish class both in name and general function.

Lol I don't see any Mesmer in Spellbreaker, so no idea why they thought that way. What I see is a "defensive" counterpart to Berserker's "all offense", i.e. Warrior with a Warrior's version of shields. Shields are more Guardian than anything else. I could even see the daggers and "counter" idea as being more Thief-like, but not Mesmer.

[Gaiawolf.8261]

On 12/8/2023 at 11:44 AM, Batalix.2873 said:

Lol I don't see any Mesmer in Spellbreaker, so no idea why they thought that way. What I see is a "defensive" counterpart to Berserker's "all offense", i.e. Warrior with a Warrior's version of shields. Shields are more Guardian than anything else. I could even see the daggers and "counter" idea as being more Thief-like, but not Mesmer.

Spellbreaker's themes of disenchantment and counter magic are core themes of mesmers, especially mesmers from the original GW. Some of that carried over to GW2 mesmers. In fact, Winds of Disenchantment is remarkably similar to Air of Disenchantment. It's clearly inspiration, if not a direct pull from GW mesmers. It is a bit odd mesmers don't have meditations in GW2, although guardians do, as well as shields, so there is something to you seeing a bit of guardian in spellbreakers too.