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How about an underwater specialization?


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I actually really like underwater content and some classes have really cool underwater abilities that sadly are so seldom used because lack of uw content. And some classes / specs just don't function underwater at all.

I don't really see the benefit of underwater specialization. First because there's hardly any content. And secondly because you don't fix something by just adding more stuff on broken foundations. Fix the foundations first. What could be good in my opinion is to just have completely separate trait choices for underwater. We already have separate weapons and utilities. So they might as well give us option to choose separate traits so we can build a full uw build that synergises with uw weapons and utilities of choice. It probably wouldn't fix all the classes and specs but you could at least choose to not take the ones that are completely broken while still use them on land.

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On 3/27/2024 at 12:04 AM, andreiblue.8231 said:

That was the consensus when I suggested colored titles and alacrity for scourge and look where we are now

Just because you had a couple of ideas that got through, doesn't mean that this one will. You will also have to admit that colored titles and alacrity for scourge are tiny changes in comparison to having 9 elite specs for extremely limited content. So on top of all that work they'd have to do vastly expand the underwater content as well.

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52 minutes ago, Gehenna.3625 said:

Just because you had a couple of ideas that got through, doesn't mean that this one will. You will also have to admit that colored titles and alacrity for scourge are tiny changes in comparison to having 9 elite specs for extremely limited content. So on top of all that work they'd have to do vastly expand the underwater content as well.

Why? They dont have to make super complex specializations, just give them traits relevant to underwater combat .

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1 minute ago, andreiblue.8231 said:

Why? They dont have to make super complex specializations, just give them traits relevant to underwater combat .

Except they would because people expect a lot of elite specs and currently Anet has abandoned elite specs as it is. So if they would announce underwater elite specs, just imagine the rage that would cause. I mean how many players do you even think you represent? Ifyou're talking about getting just a few more skills for underwater usage they could just add those to the core professions and be done with it.

And just think of the logistics of it. You spend a bit of time underwater and then when you get above water you'd have to change elite specs?

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13 hours ago, Gehenna.3625 said:

Except they would because people expect a lot of elite specs and currently Anet has abandoned elite specs as it is. So if they would announce underwater elite specs, just imagine the rage that would cause. I mean how many players do you even think you represent? Ifyou're talking about getting just a few more skills for underwater usage they could just add those to the core professions and be done with it.

And just think of the logistics of it. You spend a bit of time underwater and then when you get above water you'd have to change elite specs?

You change utility skills when you go underwater, why shouldnt you be able to change traits too?

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On 3/29/2024 at 11:33 AM, andreiblue.8231 said:

Why? They dont have to make super complex specializations, just give them traits relevant to underwater combat .

What "traits relevant to underwater combat" are supposed to be?

Edited by Sobx.1758
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8 hours ago, Sobx.1758 said:

What "traits relevant to underwater combat" are supposed to be?

The same as any other spec: a variety of traits that do different things. You know, like conditional effects to damage output by type, boon duration, underwater mobility, self-sustain, skill cooldowns. The only difference is that these traits would only be in effect while underwater.

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14 hours ago, Zera.9435 said:

The same as any other spec: a variety of traits that do different things. You know, like conditional effects to damage output by type, boon duration, underwater mobility, self-sustain, skill cooldowns. The only difference is that these traits would only be in effect while underwater.

Then how is it worth being called "an underwater specialization" when it's just like the other ones except artificially limited to being usable uw? I don't see the point.

 

...and yet again OP pops in to show his confusion while explaining nothing. That only reinforces me in thinking he didn't thought this through at all, so: bad idea.

Edited by Sobx.1758
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On 3/30/2024 at 12:54 AM, andreiblue.8231 said:

You change utility skills when you go underwater, why shouldnt you be able to change traits too?

Because it's not that simple. Can it be done? I'm sure it can but what it takes to do that is just not worth the end result. Most people don't care one bit about underwater combat. So tell me, why should Anet put a lot of work into something that only serves a very niche population in very limited content?

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1 hour ago, Gehenna.3625 said:

Because it's not that simple. Can it be done? I'm sure it can but what it takes to do that is just not worth the end result. Most people don't care one bit about underwater combat. So tell me, why should Anet put a lot of work into something that only serves a very niche population in very limited content?

Why do you think it would be a lot of work?

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I like the idea of rebooting rarely-used content.

Perhaps if you kept your land-based elite spec at all times above water and that flipped to an underwater-only elite spec when under the surface that would alleviate concerns of losing your normal spec for most content. Seeing as most classes have two underwater weapons already, it would only be fair to give the remaining classes  a second underwater weapon too.

Something which could be handy to address the third axis every class would get a themed sonar to alert us to the distance and height of nearby enemies. Something like a reskinned Heart of the Obscure which we could ping at will; enemies around our level would appear as red dots, turning green if above and blue if beneath. Enemies that we've aggro'd would be on the sonar until we kill them or run out of aggro range (so we would know whether to go up, down, or just away from them).

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On 3/25/2024 at 3:33 PM, Xelqypla.6817 said:

People struggle with height.

I like the underwater stuff, but people really struggle with that extra dimension.

They do?? It's really not that difficult lol and UW combat is so much fun. Some of my most memorable moments are PVP underwater combat and underwater fractal. Come anet! Do something with it!!!

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1 hour ago, eXistence.3876 said:

They do?? It's really not that difficult lol and UW combat is so much fun.

Other people think otherwise of it.

And the third dimension not being a popular addition to combat is not exclusive to GW2 or MMOs.

Monster Hunter only featured aquatic combat in 3 and 3U (as far as I'm aware). Because it was really unpopular, it didn't happen again.

It doesn't matter if you, I and a handful of other people adore it, when the majority (and sometimes developers themselves) dislike it.

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2 minutes ago, Sobx.1758 said:

So closely 5 years ago?

Isn't the date on the opening post 25th march so just 6 days ago? It's not showing a year for me. Maybe cause on mobile. And it was on top in general discussions in recent days.

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3 minutes ago, Chyro.1462 said:

Isn't the date on the opening post 25th march so just 6 days ago? It's not showing a year for me. Maybe cause on mobile. And it was on top in general discussions in recent days.

https://www.reddit.com/r/Guildwars2/comments/b8m1o8/fansite_guild_wars_2_wave_of_shadow_underwater/

https://en-forum.guildwars2.com/topic/51236-guild-wars-2-wave-of-shadow-fansite/ 

I'm not talking about this thread being made 5 years ago, I'm talking about the site you "wonder if it was inspired by this thread" being from 5 years ago.

Edited by Sobx.1758
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1 minute ago, Chyro.1462 said:

Isn't the date on the opening post 25th march so just 6 days ago? It's not showing a year for me. Maybe cause on mobile. And it was on top in general discussions in recent days.

Maybe you should remember what today's date means.

I remember having seen that fake expansion for multiple years on the same date.

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This only seems really useful for WvW water fights. 

Beyond that, its over-building a solution which would necessitate changing UW content to match. Rebuilding content, making new for a not very popular environment. 

Would like to see spears and tridents on land, harpoon gun would be somewhat less effective

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22 hours ago, andreiblue.8231 said:

Why do you think it would be a lot of work?

Swapping skill sets between land and underwater content was implemented from the start and is already built into the UI. Swapping specializations is something that is not. Think of it. What happens if you dive underwater while running away from an enemy that you're in combat with? Now you can only swap specs from the specs screen and while out of combat. So what happens if you're in combat and go underwater? What I'm saying is that it's a lot trickier than you think and it will take more work than you think.

However, most of the work will be in designing and balancing the 9 elite classes, because people won't accept stripped down versions of an elite spec. Anet will get inundated with  complaints about that, so they will have to put work into designing the underwater elite classes. 

Then there's very limited underwater content, so to warrant underwater elite specs they will have to add more underwater content. You may not require that but you're not alone in this game.

And all this for how many people? How many people will use these underwater specs? I doubt there's even remotely enough for a business case to warrant this investment.

In the end, a lot of people also will get upset if they did this either because the specs and content are below expectations and/or because Anet put a lot of work into something that most people don't even see as relevant content. All in all what you have in your mind may be limited but Anet cannot do things like that. They have to make it appeal to as many people as possible or for a specific target audience, like WvW, PvP, Raid/Strike players etc. And I'm going to out on a limb here and assume that even the vast majority of OW people wouldn't care about underwater elite specs.  

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On 3/27/2024 at 4:10 PM, Charall.4710 said:

I disagree, it's an absolute blast in my opinion. Should have more underwater content and legendaries.

Totally agree. It's a real shame underwater combat isn't expanded upon.

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