Vision for Guild Wars 3

[RiyazGuerra.9203]

PLEASE READ: This post is a lengthy read.  If you do not want to engage in a detailed discussion about premise and gameplay, please skip this post.

 

Vision for Guild Wars 3

This August 2024, GW2 will be 12 years old and we can expect Guild Wars 3 within 3 to 6 years.  During the pandemic and the ample downtime during our quasi-lockdowns, I decided to make a detailed suggestion on what Guild Wars 3 could look like.  In the first post, I will detail game modes, protagonists, antagonists etc.  In the second post I will give profession, elite specialization, skill and itemization ideas.  A warning, story spoilers are necessary in this discussion so if you want to avoid spoilers, do not continue.

A broad outline of the gameplay follows. There will be the same open world maps as found in GW2 (Open World Maps), but reduced implementation of prescheduled meta events, and more map driven meta climax events.  The participation levels of the latter will take care of itself because it will be fueled by event completion by the map's inhabitants plus will be supported by a new 'Emergency Dispatch System' to be described later.   There will be a personal story mode, one which can be mostly be completed with solo play.  Both the Open World Maps and Personal Story instances will offer rewards only after initial completion.  As in GW2, Open World Maps will have player number caps which, when exceeded, triggers the creation of a new instance of the same map for newly joining players. 

For each map there will be a new group completion mode that turns the existing maps into an instance that allows a maximum of 10 players, let's call this a 'Group Map'.  The Group Map will have unique, valuable rewards and bosses that will encourage participation and these rewards will be repeatable.  The Group Map will be a subtle means to encourage players to engage in group play, with the end goal of fostering greater player population participation in Raids.  Group Maps will often allow access onto areas of the map not accessible in Open World Maps. Additionally, Group Maps can have multiple iterations, the first having a story theme related to the main storyline of the game upon release, and potentially additional iterations related to the main storylines of successive expansions.  Entrance to the Group Maps will be at towns or outposts in between explorable maps, an organization similar to Guild Wars 1 (GW1).  A way to offer an intuitive way to distinguish which Group Map belongs to which expansion may be create a recognizable NPC relevant to a particular expansion which will offer dialogue options that will initiate the appropriate Group Map at the town/outpost exit.  Group Maps will offer opportunities for you to hire NPC henchmen to fill out your group, much like GW1.  I would strongly encourage Anet to implement a 'Mercenary' system as found in GW1 and allow players to turn their alternate account characters into henchmen you can potentially hire in order to complete Group Maps. The ability to choose complementary professions, customize traits, gear and cosmetics of your Mercenary companions can provide a lot of content for many players who enjoy such endeavors.  The location to pick Mercenaries could be what initially appears to be an empty, multistory building near the town/outpost exit.  As you accumulate Mercenaries, they will populate this building and you can speak with them and recruit them into your party.  If you decide to enter a Group Map with another player, then each of the players can choose Mercenaries to round out the party.

Entrance to competitive game modes will be via game menus and NPCs in all major towns.  Additionally, player Guild Halls will have purchasable assets that will also offer entry points to competitive game modes.

The Emergency Dispatch System will be a new system designed to support the event-driven climax metas in Open World Maps.  This system can be accessed via a location marked explicitly on maps and will appear as an area with a collection of Canthan-Asuran tech consoles, each with updated information on the progress of meta events, or climax meta event chains, which need participants to assist in their conclusion.  These consoles are a faction area specific, and will list all the ongoing Open World Map metas in the relevant faction territory which need participants, not those which have adequate levels of participants.  To view the progress of metas in another faction's Open World Maps, you must go to a town/outpost located in the territory of that specific faction.  Once you select to participate in one, you can then step onto the teleporting pad and be taken directly to the relevant area.  Group Map parties that are 'open invite' will also be advertised here.  The Emergency Dispatch System will be a convenient way to monitor specific events, which like in GW2, can reward specific items or whose completion are necessary for achievements.

The three primary regions, Tyria, Cantha and Elona, and their native cultures have flourished during a period of relative peace since GW2.  Tyrian races have expanded their territory and built new cities.  The Brand has nearly completely retreated and wild life and other creatures have moved into the cleansed lands.  Charr are no longer engaged in a conflict between the Branded, as the latter have been vanquished.  The war between the Centaurs and Humans is over, the Asura have established a grand civilization in the skies, the Svanir have been relegated to a minor cult exiled to the Far Shiverpeaks, and the Nightmare Court have lost legitimacy and influence, a small contingent have isolated themselves in the densest jungles of the Heart of Maguuma.
Guild Wars 3 should have maps with distinct areas populated by the races of Tyria, as well as areas devoid of the former and remain untouched wilderness.  Too many maps of Tyria were filled with humanoid activity and were missed opportunities to showcase untainted natural beauty of Tyrian landscapes.  Population centers should be dense, yet have a limited presence across a map, OR be a whole map onto themselves.  Additionally, future expansions can utilize these open spaces for events without maps feeling too cluttered.

Regarding the two other landmasses, Cantha and Elona, societies there have also evolved.  In Cantha, a mutually beneficial research colaboration between Cantha and Asura have allowed the Empire to wean itself off draconic energy that once powered their Jade Tech.  Unchecked technological development has created a new threat, the Jade Collective, which poses a tremendous threat to a civilization overly reliant on technology.  The Unchained Risen has been mostly vanquished from Canthan lands on the surface, but hordes of Unchained Risen lurk beneath cities in Canthan Sewers.  Cantha has grand cities all over the continent, with an underwater city located in the Unending Ocean off the western coast of Cantha, and a city high in the canopy of the western edge of the Echovald Wilds.

Elona is a region of rich, untapped story potential.  Palawa Joko and Kralkatorrik are long gone and Elona has entered a golden age of development.  All remnants of the vain and ghastly architecture imposed on Elona by Joko has been demolished.  Outside of desolate areas within the Desolation, the macabre bone architecture characteristic of Joko's rule is nowhere to be found...all that is left are the beautiful architectures of the people of Elona, often standing alongside restored ancient structures that dotted the landscape during the reign of the Primeval Kings.

The return of magnificent, vibrantly colored cities and grand plazas now are found across the three main provinces of Istan, Kourna and Vabbi.  Think of a modern spin of GW1's Kodash Bazaar.  The four great cities which are the crown jewels of Elona are Crystal Oasis, Palawadan, Gandara, and New Kodash Bazaar.  Masterful engineering has produced a complex network of canals which bring water to all reaches of the continent.  Kourna has successfully flooded a below sea-level desert region to create an artificial lake which spurred the growth of a fertile plain now home to widespread agricultural development and abundant pasture land for great herds of cattle.  Istan is a great trading port city that is a shipping hub for all of Tyria as well as a city known for its abundant, world renown fisheries.  Vabbi is the commercial hub of Elona as well as a center for expert craftsman of all trades.

 

I. Primary Antagonists by Continent
These are the central foes of a story campaign.  I would recommend they be a permanent antagonist faction in the Guild Wars franchise and never be fully vanquished, but can lose leaders and or territory.

A. Tyria (continent)
After End of Dragons (EoD), Aurene and all other dragons exited the story.  In their place a new race should be introduced, Dragonkin, a race of humanoids and lesser dragon beasts.  While not as powerful as an Aurene or Jourmag, they are superior physically and magically to the other races of Tyria (world).  The Dragonkin humanoids should be diverse in appearance and generally larger than humans with some varieties larger than Norn.  The Dragonkin will serve as the central Tyrian (continent) antagonists in a fourth expansion or in a sequel.  
While found in a few isolated, heavily fortified outposts throughout isolated regions in the Tyrian continent, they have a large presence on the islands of the Ring of Fire.  Dragonkin are highly resistant to all Elemental Damage.

B. Cantha
Wild residual dragon magic has developed a form of nascent, parasitic consciousness that has given rise to a new life form which heavily incorporates jade along with subjugated Tyrian hosts. Think of them as the 'Borg' (Star Trek nerds will understand) of Guild Wars.  This new life form calls itself 'The Jade Collective' and they absorb all manner of life forms and technology to forge a highly aggressive and invasive threat to the entire planet.  The Jade Collective's primary base of operations is located under the ruins of the Harvest Temple and the remnants of the Jade Sea.  Members of the Jade Collective are heavily armored and highly resistant to physical damage.

C. Elona
The primary antagonists for the Elonian continent will be a newly reconstituted Margonites.  An agent belonging to the Awakened Varesh manipulated the Order of Whispers and secured the means to restore the gateway to the Realm of Torment.  I encourage Anet to go full Diablo / Hellraiser with the design of this newest iteration of Margonites and their tamed beasts, the GW1 models having an ethereal form should be relegated to the minority of unit models and they should heavily favor solid, conventional meshes.   If done right they could easily be the most kitten foes in the franchise.   Margonites originate from another dimension, access to these lands is achieved via hidden portals throughout Elona.  The aesthetic of Margonite lands range to islands floating in the black of space with various interstellar objects in the background (ie black holes, various colored nebulae, stars, planets, asteroids etc) to floating tile surfaces akin to a chessboard (against backdrop of space or course).  Margonites are highly resistant to all forms of magic.

 

II. Secondary Antagonists by Continent
These foes are encountered periodically throughout map exploration and play supporting roles in parts of the campaign.  They differ from primary antagonists in that they are not as deadly or powerful.  Secondary antagonists differ from tertiary antagonists (antagonists you encounter in maps that are not primary or seconday) in that the former possesses complex, organized societies, maintain large settlements and when encountered, are groups comprised of individuals with unique skillsets which complement those of their group mates.  Primary antagonists possess the same attributes of a secondary antagonist, but on a grander scale.

A. Tyria (continent)
A1. Krait
The Krait in GW2 was a simple implementation of the race and not as varied and deadly as the Eye of the North GW1 version.  This newest iteration of the Krait should feature a more organized, evolved version of the Krait with units that are more specialized in a form of combat reminiscent to GW1.  Krait forces include disaffected members of the hylek species, including the default heket, Nuhock and Itzel variants.  Generally found all over Tyria (continent) wherever there is a body of water nearby, but their capital city is found at the Straits of Devastation.

A2. Titan Horde
Giants, Jotun, Ogres and Ettins have banded together to stave off hostile denizens of Tyria and work collectively to better their odds of survival.  Their partnership has been greatly advantageous to the member races and has benefitted their technology and battle tactics.  They are adept at taming all manner of Tyrian beasts, and such beasts swell their ranks.
While found at camps all over Tyria (continent), a massive encampment is found at the Hrathi Hinterlands, and their expansive capital city is found at the Far Shiverpeaks, where the Titan Council (represented by members from each of the allied races) resides.

A3. Shadow Legion
The remnants of forces which once belonged to Menzies, the Shadow Legion now serve (insert name of a former Lieutenant of Menzies) and work to find their long lost leader and free him from wherever he has been imprisoned by Balthazar.  This faction is filled with familar foes such as Shadow Monk, Shadow Elementalist, Shadow Warrior, Shadow Beast, Shadow Abyssal.  In this newest iteration they are now joined by Shadow Necromancer, Shadow Mesmer, Shadow Paragon, Shadow Ritualist, Shadow Assassin, Shadow Dervish.  Their ranks also include more bestial units that belong to the Nightmares class of creatures.  Shadow Legion are usually found near ruins, sites of great battles, and tombs.  There is a large contingent at Cursed Shore.  After the Ascalonian ghosts have been set free from the Foefire curse via a ritual performed by the current Ascalonian ruler from King Doric's lineage (who wields King Adelbern's crown and either Magdaer or its sister sword Sohothin - from GW2 wiki), the Shadow Legion oftentimes took their place in Ascolonian ruins.

A4. Destroyers
GW2 opted for a simpler implementation of Destroyers compared to GW1.  This newest iteration will return to the more diverse units found in GW1 with the return of the Destroyer of Bones, Destroyer of Compassion, Destroyer of Deeds, Destroyer of Flesh, Destroyer of Hope, Destroyer of Hordes, Destroyer of Lives, Destroyer of Sinew, Destroyer of Souls and additional new variants.  The challenge will stem from the unique combination of units and overall unit numbers.  Since the death of the Primordus, Destroyer Queens have taken command of Destroyer Armies.  Destroyer Queens and their colonies are called 'nests' and can be found often near active volcanoes and in caves.

B. Cantha
B1. Oni Legion
Oni are a form of demon and they differ from Margonites in that they are less intelligent, generally less humanoid in morphology, and do not use complex forms of magic.  Oni often favor bladed appendages or martial weapons, phyical projectiles, acid, and a few elite units are able to breathe fire, crudely wield elemental damage.  What they lack in magical mastery they more than make up for in their fighting skiil, use of stealth, and diverse cohesive units. Elite units of Oni wear armor and are equipped with magical weapons, often culled from powerful foes they have fell.  They can be encountered all over Cantha and have a particular attachment to ruined temples.  Their principal domain is a dark twisted dimension located right on top of existing Cantha, and they effortlessly travel between the two realities.  Their capital is a dark reflection of Raisu Palace.  If Guild Wars 2 does not do something prohibitive to Shiro Tagachi, his twisted Oni incarnation can be this faction's ruler.

B2. The Cult of Balthazar
Former members of the Zaishen as well as previous zealous disciples of the fallen god tirelessly work to revive the Balthazar and rule Tyria unopposed.  
Members of this faction have culled artifacts from Balthazar's incursion into Elona and have studied and successfully reproduced and incorporated the artifacts into their units.  This is seen visually in the form of their weapons, armor, gliding devices and mobile artillery.  They can be found at various locations of interest all over Cantha, but their main base of operations is located E of Kaineng City.

B3. Mythical Horde
The Mythical Horde is a collection of denizens of the Echovald Wilds.  They are led by Wardens (mostly Rangers, Paragons and Guardians), goatlike humanoids called Gaki (mostly Ritualists, Necromancers, and Monks), a new foxlike humanoid race called Kitsune (Asian mythology - mostly Mesmers, Assassins, and Elementalists), and a new monstrous ox-like brutish humanoid race called Aoyin (Asian mythology - only Warriors, can be found wielding melee weapons, or grapplers without melee weapons, or tanks with shields).  The aforementioned races are often accompanied by tamed wildlife found in the forest, such as Kirin, Dragonmoss, Wallows, Mantis, etc.  The Mythical Horde have been so successful in reclaiming the Echovald Wilds, nearly all human settlements have been abandoned in the region.  There is a human contingent, descended from the Speakers movement, which secretly operate within Canthan society; they engage in subversive acts in order to aid the Mythical Horde, in a belief that moden Cantha has corroded the natural coexistance of society and nature and destroyed cultural tradition.  The Mythical Horde have settlements all over the Echovald Wilds: on the ground level, high in the tree canopy, and in underground caverns.

B4.  Oceanic Union
The Oceanic Union is an alliance between Nagas, Kappa, a new crocodile humanoid, brutish race called the Buwaya (Philippine mythology), and a new diverse crustacean humanoid race called Nkala (Zambian mythology).  Both the Buwaya and the Nkala come from a vast underground ocean beneath the Tyrian surface.  While the capital of the Oceanic Union lays in a massive underground cavern beneath the Unending Ocean, they possess many ocean floor settlements near the shores of Cantha.

 

C. Elona
With the departures of Balthazar, Joko and the Brand, old tensions between Istan, Kourna and Vabbi flare up as well as native species once hunted by Joko makes a comeback.
C1. Mordant Crescent
Awakened seperatists which refuse to integrate with Elonian society and engage in rituals which will transform average Awakened into Joko-type liches.  They seek to conquer all Tyria through the creation of a rigid caste system serving several powerful warlords which will rule over vast regions of Tyria.   As a result of their practice of unholy magic they have developed a physical appearance distinct from typical Awakened and are usually much taller.  Unlike Elonian Awakened, the Mordant Crescent has maintained the practice of conjuring and taming large beasts units akin to the Awakened Abomination of GW2.  These beast units can be drawn from ancient Egyptian, Persian, Mesopotamian (Scorpionking based off a Mesopotamian mythical creature - Agrabuamelu) and Sumerian mythology.  The Mordant Crescent capital can be found in southern Desolation, built on the site Joko's Bone Palace once stood.

C2. The Djinn Collective
Djinn alliance that are hostile to outsiders.  Members of the race include the existing, spirit-like forms as well as bipedal, quadrapedal, and multipedal variants.  They are also accompanied by various elementals and sprites.  There are 4 categories of djinn, Fire, Earth, Air and Water.  Each of the respective kingdoms are grand cities found in the relevant environment.  The fire kingdom is found underground, beneath the Desolation, surrounded by pools of magma.  The earth kingdom is found at the bottom of a deep, dry canyon range in Kourna.  The air kingdom is a city floating in the sky high above Vabbi. The water kingdom is found on the ocean floor north of Istan.

C3. Centaur Kingdom
No longer hunted by Joko and defeated by the humans on the Tyrian continent, the centaur race retreated to Elona and established a sprawling kingdom in the arid desert.  The harsh desert provided the centaurs sanctuary and over time allowed them to further develop their society and exponentially increase their numbers.  While they have encampments all over Elona their capital city is located at Jahai Bluffs.

C4. The Insectoids
What they lack in technology the Insectoid race more than makes up for it with their highly organized, disciplined, and specialized units who seem to communicate with eachother seemlessly as though their minds are linked.  Their sizes vary, with some brutes the size of Nuhoch and others as small as imps, appearance more beastlike than humanoid. The race is really a collective of dozens of subspecies all who have evolved from various species of insects found all over Tyria (world).  Each 'hive' is led by an enormous queen defended by dozens of the hive's best warriors.  While small hives are found all over Elona, the largest hive is found far SE Elona, within the mountains E of Kourna.

 

III.  The Organization of PvP, Introducing Faction Versus Faction, and Abandoning WvW

Because GW2 implementation of WvW often leads to many of the following undesirable outcomes
A. boring static gameplay playing defense at captured real estate or repetitive capturing of the same locations over and over.
B. the two stronger servers actively avoiding combat with eachother and lazily preying on the weak server in the name of maximizing points.
C. players actively migrating to stronger servers and reducing the number of competitive servers.
D. unscrupulous players creating spy accounts on a frequent competitor's server and relaying enemy player movements to their primary server
E. mismatch of prime game participation schedules of server members that is a natural outcome of a persistent map (at least for the week) and a limited supply of commanders.
F. players devising ways to maximizing reward gain by doing the least possible to the detriment of the rest of the server.

I won't even get into the dumb mechanics of Waypoint availability and griefers tapping gates.
For these reasons and many others, I would recommend abandoning WvW and focus on more transitory type of pvp implementation where there are goals that must be achieved and then the match is over.  I would also minimize 'point capture and holding' gameplay and create maps that require your group to be progressively moving, completing objectives, and points of convergence with opposing players to encourage skirmishes.  One last note, spawn camping should be extremely discouraged and gameplay mechanics should be implemented so as to fatally  punish those attempting to do so, such as:

a. at a range far greater than any skills can reach a spawning player, a warning will be explicitly broadcast to the approaching enemy player and a death timer initiates and their health will drain.
b. if the enemy player continues to approach the spawn point or does not back away in time, they will die.
c. because obviously some people will reflexively learn the range at which the aforementioned mechanic will trigger and stay just out of reach and camp respawned players rushing to join their team, a secondary mechanic will be introduced.  A respawned player will be accompanied by a host of powerful npcs that follow them 60% of the way to their team.  These npcs will be armed with several dogs which can sniff out and reveal any stealthed players, and can one shot any enemy player.  The size of this escort contingent is calcated by the number of enemy players that are near the respawned player so any group of enemies will be easily overwhelmed by the escort.

Extreme?  Yes, it needs to be, so stop spawn camping and do something else.

In one type of pvp, the matchmaking system would pool 10 random players.  These maps would feature a non-faction, neutral AI opponent which will be the default obstacle to securing objectives.  This AI opponent can inform the aesthetics of the map. In a second type of pvp, the matchmaking system will pool random members or allow entry of guild groups, with a max participant cap of 20 per side (2 sides per match).  In a third type of pvp the matchmaking system would pool 40 total players per side (random or guild groups) that belong to the same faction (more on that later).  We can call these Faction versus Faction (FvF) matches.  Whatever the number of factions allowed to compete against eachother in a given match, the match map will be specifically designed to host that number of factions...with factions starting in separate locations of course.  One of the factions participating will determine the match map.  In other words, if you are the North Tyria faction (Charr, Norn and Kodan) the match map could either be a locale consistent with any one of those races.

 

IV. The Factions, Playable Races and Guilds

Factions are a way to divide the Tyrian world map into alliances of races.  This division serves a PvE campaign purpose in the sense that since the Tyrian gods have left Tyria, and the dragons are no more (my assumption after EoD), then different regions will begin to compete with eachother for dominance.  Regional alliances are a natural outcome.  This division serves a PvP purpose as already been described.  The following are the races I feel should be playable, organized by their faction.

A. North Tyrian Alliance:  Norn, Kodan and Charr
B. South Tyrian Alliance:  Human, Asura and Sylvari
C. Elonian Alliance:  Elonian Human, Awakened (undead), Cani (new race)
D. Canthan Alliance: Canthan Human, Tengu, Phanin (new race of snake humanoids)

The races should be familiar with you with the exception of the Cani and the Phanin.  Cani are a new  jackal / dog species.  I figured this makes sense since we already have Awakened Canid which are mummy jackals, so theoretically there should be non-undead versions walking around.  We could call them Canids but I think Cani (pronounced Cane-eye) sounds better.
Phanin (snake people in Indian mythology) are snake humanoids in Cantha, mostly living underground, and are a close relative to Canthan Nagas.  Unlike Nagas, Phanin are bipedal but retain a tail.

Humans are in the Elonian and Canthan factions as well as the South Tyrian because I assumed the expansions will be region-based as it was the previous two games AND since most people roll humans anyway we might as well include them in the faction in order to better guarantee there will be adequate participants come FvF matchmaking in PvP.  To further encourage players to roll Elonian or Canthan humans I would recommend these humans have a useful cantrip or exclusive skills that differ them from Tyrian (continent) humans (my recommendations later).  

My only concern would be North Tyrian Alliance populations, Anet needs to focus on enhancing these races's appeal.  If I am not mistaken, an Anet developer once said Charr is the least populated race (confusing to me since I mostly play Charr), some advice to enhance their appeal would be to change their settlement architectural aesthetic to be one where technology is more seamlessly integrated into nature, lore wise it can be said this was due to the influence of the Omalkhan.  Next is allow more freedom with the body sizes so smaller Charr options are available.  Next, I know some of you are not going to like this but allow players the flexibility to create a more 'cuddly' Charr; this means no horn options, asymmetric fur patterns on face options (yes you can have a calico house cat Charr warrior), less fierce face options, more varied fur-stripe options and maybe even longhair fur options.

Factions should be in a constant state of tension in the story modes, obviously the North and South Tyrian alliances should be so to a lesser degree because of their long history of cooperation...the story could include instances where the Order of Secrets, through acts of subterfuge, keeps the Tyrian continent divided in order to control the continent's power.
Within each faction there will be internecine tensions that can be central to the early personal story and throughout.  But I feel strongly this tension should be greatly reduced further in the story so as to highlight the tension between factions.  

a. Within the North and South Tyrian alliances, the tensions will be among the participant races with each other.  
b. Within the Elonian Alliance the tensions will be more regional with Istan, Kourna, Vabbi and the Cani homeland (East of Crystal Desert) vying for domination.
c. Within the Canthan Alliance the tensions will be regional and between Kaineng City, Luxon, Kurzick, and Tengu territories.

With the establishment of factions we can now incorporate guilds into the story.  Each faction will have many guilds, but three dominant guild archtypes will comprise the 3 most powerful guilds within each faction (the primary guilds).  Anet can give them any appropriate name but these are the three archtypes:

1. The ruthless, shamelessly nationalist guild.  This faction guild is consumed with an agenda to elevate their faction above all other factions.  Laws and social norms be damned.  They seek power and resources and do not want to share with the other factions.  They are highly transactional and cooperate only when it serves their interests, which once met, end cooperation.

2. The most popular mainstream guild.  This guild enjoys the widest support from powerful individuals and groups within a faction.  They are more political and are more willing to compete with other guilds under the rubric of law and established treaties.  The goals of this guild are often contradictory because they are products of initiatives propelled by the powerful interests which reside within the faction, who often have competing goals with other interest groups.  This guild routinely seeks cooperation with other guilds, but cannot be trusted with ensuring equitable gains among all partner guilds...often misleading others in the pursuit of self interest.

3. The 'big picture' idealist guild.  This guild is consumed about the well-being of all of Tyria's (world) inhabitants and the defeat of global threats.  In order to meet the urgency of threats, this guild is willing to break laws and norms if necessary.  This guild is unconcerned with petty factional rivalries or wealth and power.  As a result of this perspective, they are often the least popular guild within each faction but the one turned to in moments of crisis.  At some point in the game's expansions, this guild's counterparts from each faction will unite and form a global response guild to global threats...akin to an updated version of The Pact.  This unity guild can also serve a gameplay function as the vanguards of contracts which players can secure in order to access the most difficult PvE content of the game - Raids.

Each of the primary guilds within each faction have a distinct character than can drive how a story unfolds when they are the protagonists driving the narrative.  Each of three primary guilds within each faction have their own weaknesses which antagonists can exploit.  Assumptions about any one of the primary guilds and their divergence from expectation can be common plot points.  The three primary guilds from each faction should drive the larger stories of the game, while smaller, dynamic faction guilds drive events and stories which are not the central storyline.  Lastly, it should be no surprise that the three primary guilds within each faction are constantly in conflict with eachother...each trying to promote a distinct vision for the faction they share.

 

V. Two Games in One - Presenting the 'Squire Races'

While you can create characters using GW2 conventions and customizations, with traits etc, there are a secondary tier of characters you can create populated by the emerging races of Tyria. Examples of such races are Quaggan, Skritt, Choya, Asuran Golems etc.  These races do not have traits, no elite specializations to choose from; they only have their skills and gear.  They often excel at some ability beyond a standard character (ie Human, Sylvari, Norn, Charr etc) possesses, yet are generally weaker defensively or offensively.  In other words, squire races can become the 'tactical dark horse' of any confrontation, throwing many-a-wrench into carefully planned engagements.  They offer players simpler game mechanics yet heavily driven by found gear, much like a Diablo, this will appeal to players who seek simpler gameplay and are intrigued by playing the loot system to gain powerful gear with consequential impact on gameplay.

How will squire races be implemented into the game?  In PvE, there will be nodes throughout a map that requires the participation of a particular squire race.  These nodes will often feature a few npcs of the relevant race gathered at a location, along with appropriate environmental clutter.  Interacting with the node will activate a menu that will allow you to choose the squire avatar (you can have several per race) you wish to use for the minigame.  Because of the diversity of the squire races, and their native habitats, these can potentially provide many opportunities for developers to add minigames to their maps.

With respect to the implementation of squire races into Faction vs Faction (FvF), this is more of an open question.  Some ideas would be to have three categories of FvF, 
1. FvF games that have no squire races allowed, you queue up and no one can use squire races.  You are selected for a match, a character window pops up (with a 10 second timer to make your choice) which allows you to choose any character from your account to use to enter the match; of course the character you are currently on is pre-highlighted. 

2. FvF games where the possibility for you to use your squires is present.  Once your game is ready, half of the participants are randomly chosen to use their main characters, half their squire characters.  If you don't want to use a squire character, do not choose this game mode.  This game mode has the potential to be the most chaotic (usually equals fun in competition) of all the game modes.

3. FvF games where only squire characters are allowed.  This is the only FvF game mode where the maps are different squire race locales.

Of course the fourth option in the FvF menu will be 'instant action' where you are taken to a running match that needs players to balance teams.

 

VI. Squire Races

The squire races are the 'lesser races' of Tyria that often function as auxiliary units alongside the 'greater races' during conflict in defense of a region.  I recommend these races be given a greater role in GW3's PvP and PvE. For example, instead of constantly making region specific skills needed to complete objectives in that same region (ie mushroom jumping), you can have an area where a bunch of squires from a particular race are hanging around and interaction with one of them causes you to transform into the squire race and complete a task, event etc.  
Regarding player versus player (PvP) and faction versus faction (FvF), because squire races have wildly different skill sets, gear customization, I strongly discourage 1 vs 1 or 2 vs 2, PvP matches should  probably be 10 vs 10.  With FvF, the large number of participants can better mitigate an individual squire race's deficits.

Squire itemization could be a key feature with respect to competing in pvp etc.  With some rewards being pieces of equipment and the most valued rewards being alternate skills that can be swapped out of the squire's skill bar (1, 2, 3,....0).  It is assumed that the skill bar mechanics found in GW2 will be replicated, meaning skills 1-5 are for equipped weapons, skill 6 is a heal skill, skill 7-9 are player choice, and skill 0 is the elite skill.

Here are a brief description of the races and their distinguishing features.  This is incomplete, but some idea about the envisioned gameplay will be fleshed out.

A. Tyria (continent)
1. Quaggan
Of all the squire races, Quaggans are the strongest, most durable and social with the primary races; this last point enabled them to learn a lot since GW2.  A quaggan training under a Charr taskmaster can produce a decent fighting unit.  Their hand morphology allows for dexterous manipulation and their overall strength allows the most option of martial weapons to wield.  
Quaggans can swap between 3 weapon sets (F2, F3, F4), a conventional loadout would be one set a heavy crossbow, a one-handed melee weapon plus shield, and a two-handed melee weapon.  If you acquired a very good light crossbow, conceivably you could go axe plus light crossbow, one-handed melee weapon plus shield, and two-handed melee weapon.  As in GW2, the first three skills is typically the main hand weapon, and the last two skills is the offhand.  Two handed weapons determine all 5 of the skills 1-5 (this is true for all squire races with the exception of the harekin).
Quaggans benefit from an effect (cannot be removed by boonstrip) called Combat Veteran.  This effect grants quaggans -15% chance to be critted, -15% condition duration, and +20% health healed from all sources.
Quaggan also have a ‘Quaggan Frenzy’ mode (remember the quaggan transformations you saw in GW2?) that by default activates when they are at less than or equal to 25% of their total health.  In this mode their weapon attack speed and power is increased, +20% attack speed and +25% power for Two-handed weapons, and +25% attack speed and +20% power for one handed weapons (dual-wielding Quaggan Frenzy builds here we come).  Duration should be 20-30 seconds, with a not so  prohibitive cooldown.  

Key Race Features
a. Due to hand strength and dexterity, quaggans can wield the most weapons of all squire races.  They can wield greatswords, greataxes, axes, swords,  shields, maces, hammers, spears, daggers, light crossbows (one-handed), and heavy crossbow (two-handed)..  These weapons are a smaller version a human would use, weighted for a quaggans.  Elemental versions of these weapons can be earned via match wins.  In addition, the loot table would drop versions of the existing weapons that can have a completely different skill in place of the standard skills 1-5 for that weapon.
b. Quaggan elite skill is a banner, Banner of Fellowship, which pulses aegis and reduces revive times by 50% for all allies.  In addition, it prevents the next fatal damage on only squire races, heals them by 1/3 their total hp (buffed included) and grants protection to those squires who were saved.  In addition, any detonated choya within effective radius of the Banner of Fellowship receives an effect, Choya Fertilizer, which speeds the choya's respawn cooldown by 100% (the effect is removed upon respawn).  A Quaggan elite skill is one which has very little cooldown, and can be nearly always active as long as the quaggan remembers to drop it.
c. Quaggan have average run speed, average evade speed, average jump height and the best swim speed and underwater maneuverability. Their full endurance bar allows for 2 dodges.
d. Quaggan have the second highest hitpoints after Tortoisoids, the second highest armor level (if equipped with best armor) after Tortoisoids, the most number of skills available for them (though they have to be earned via match wins).
e. Quaggans do not wield magic spells, and their magic use is limited to whatever enchantments is on their armor or weapons.
f. Itemization: Quaggans have the following equipment slots: Armor (whole body), necklace, earrings (2), rings (2), cape, belt, and their weapons.  Rare necklaces can be acquired via match wins that can significantly impact Quaggan Frenzy, ie  Chain of the Short Tempered which activates Quaggan Frenzy when Quaggan health is less than or equal to 75% (the default is 25%), or Chain of the Belligerent which activates Quaggan Frenzy when you crit for three consecutive hits.

Choose a quaggan squire for a more conventional battle option with good durability and a useful elite that can be a difference-maker for the team.

 

2. Skritt
Skritt are the 'engineers' of the squire races.  They can dispatch multiple turrets around the battlefield, lay traps while also providing some healing and steath detection (both of aforementioned via traps).  Skrit are also the only race, greater or lesser, that can repair siege deployed by players.

Key Race Features
a. Due to their poor strength they cannot wield many weapon types and are restricted to rifle, pistols and daggers.
b. Skritt elite skill, Portable Cannon, is a cannon they can control for a short period of time.  While the skritt is controlling the cannon, the cannon soaks all the damage.
c. Skritt have average run speed, average evade speed, average jump height, average swim speed and underwater maneuverabity. They have a teleportation turret that acts like a mesmer teleportation spell.  Their full endurance bar allows for 2 dodges.
d. Despite skritt having the 7th highest hitpoints and armor of all squire races, they have more options for healing than all races except the fairy.
e. Skritt do not wield magic, but possess a wide array of tools available in the form of many turret and trap options.
f. Itemization: Armor (body), necklace, earrings (2), rings (2), backpack, belt, and their weapons.

Skritt traps and turrets planted protecting your backline or guarding corridors that are potential ambush routes is practically a necessity on any team.  Skritt can also deploy turrets that generate large sophisticated holograms mimicking an enemy zerg. These hologram turrets are specialized and particular 'scenarios' are tied to a particular turret...all of which must be earned via PvP and FvF.  For example, the 'ram turret' has several prerecorded holograms depicting an enemy party using several rams on a door.  This hologram includes enemy players attacking the door as well as mulling about.  There are several variations of the hologram that are available prior to deployment.  These variations include different enemy team size, different number of rams deployed, and different level of race participation the enemy hologram.  In FvF, the turret automatically checks for opposing team makeup and generates the appropriate enemy zerg hologram.  Another example of a hologram turret is the catapult turret, the skirmish turret (depicts a few of your allies getting attacked by the enemy team), the 'idle foe' turret (depicts enemy team loitering, hologram players are moving, buffing) etc.  Couple that with some basic team heals and buffs, and the skritt are a very useful asset...just be careful, they are not the most durable.

 

3. Golem
Golems are the easiest, most familiar squire to use.  Their 1-5 skills?  Pretty much the same as the GW2 siege golem except skill 2 Whirling Inferno initiates instantly, skill 3 Shield Bubble can be launched to bind to an ally of your choosing, skill 4 launches and travels much faster, and skill 5 is a new skill Jumping Stomp, where the golem jumps to a targetted area, stuns foes in his landing zone and applies slow to foes, quickness, protection and stability to self.  Skill 6 is a new skill, Repair Protocol, where the golem powers down and heals over time.  Skills 7, 8, and 8 are swappable and new skills can be acquired by winning matches.  

Key Race Features
a. Golems do not wield martial weapons like other squire races, but their itemization includes armor plating, a shoulder turret (you can have 2, one on each shoulder) and a backpack.  There are default skills that are swappable to slots 7, 8 and 9 that use the shoulder turret(s) and backpack.  Shoulder turret skill is determined by equipment, and backpack as well.  Some shoulder turrets you can acquire are flamethrower, freeze ray, grenade launcher, homing rockets, ultrasonic gun ( stun and reveal stealth) etc.  Some backpack skills include jetpacks which allow brief flight, and speed boost packs that enables a temporary speed boost + pushback to any foes in range of the initial boost.
b. Elite skill is Minigun, where the golem can equip a toolkit akin to an engineer's mortar gun, and fires a rapid stream of bullets that interrupts if you crit.  You start out with a hefty 500 bullets to spray the enemy with, and the ammo recharges over time. Different miniguns can be earned vis match wins.
c. Without considering backpacks, golems have average run speed, average evade speed, average jump height, average swim speed and underwater maneuverabity. Backpacks provide novel movement options.  Their full endurance bar allows for 2 dodges.
d. Golems have the third highest hitpoints and armor levels of all squire races.  
e. Golems do not wield magic but possess a wide array of tools available in the form of many shoulder turret and backpack options.
f. Itemization: Armor plating (body), head socket, hand sockets (2), chest socket and backpack.

Golems are a useful asset in the field, with many offensive options, shield bubbles that can be bound to weaker allies and an oppressive minigun elite that recharges quickly.

 

B. Cantha
1. Fairies - add later

2. Harekin
Harekin is a new race and are little bunny humanoids found in the Echovald Forest.  They look more bunny than humanoid, do not stand fully upright, torso is angled like charr and quaggan so as to more easily get on all-fours when running.  They do not wield the same martial weapons other races use and instead use double-edged kama, blowguns, boomerangs, slingshots and herbalist horns (a horn used to disperse herbal dust).  There is also an extremely rare weapon that can be acquired through match wins...the kusarigama (kama with chain attached)!  
Harekin weapons are different from other races in that you cannot mix and match weapons as you can with a quaggan.  In other words, all weapon options are two-handed with the exception of kama, which automatically equips a duplicate of the weapon in each hand.  While harekin can switch between 3 weapon sets (F1, F2, F3), F1 can be either kama, boomerang, slingshot or kusarigama.  F2 can only be a blowgun.  F3 can only be an herbalist horn.  Another oddity to harekin weapons is that there are a total of 4 variable weapon skills (skills 1, 2, 3, 4) for each weapon; the fifth skill (skill 5) is always 'Prey Paranoia'.  

Prey Paranoia is a tracking, scouting skill where the rabbit goes into a search mode, ears pointing in all directions and nose twitches.  While under Prey Paranoia the harekin can see nearby stealthed foes.  Note this harekin alone can see the foes, if the harekin hits the stealthed foes, they are destealthed.  The harekin does not need to actually come near stealthed foes, evidence of foes that have passed the area up to 60 seconds ago leave footprints made visible during this mode.  The harekin can tell if enemies were stealthed by the color of the footprints. These footprints disappear when Prey Paranoia ends.  Another tracking feature of this mode is that even if no foes passed by the harekin's location thus leaving no footprint evidence to reveal, there is a second way they can be located audibly;  if the enemy team is fighting NPCs down one end of a long hallway of the harekin, the harekin will hear muffled battle sounds while facing the relevant direction!  An important note is the harekin can still move for the duration of this skill.  A secondary feature of this skill is that during its 30 seconds of active duration an optional transition skill appears at the skill 5 slot, Bunny Vision.  Hitting Bunny Vision interrupts the search mode and the game enters a binoculars view mode that can see far into the distance.  Bunny Vision lasts for the remaining duration of Prey Paranoia.  How this likely plays out gameplay-wise is as follows:  harekin decides to use skill 5 Prey Paranoia, enters search mode, as soon as footsteps heading a certain direction are seen or muffled battle sounds are heard, the player hits skill 5 again to go into Bunny Vision mode and tries to look ahead to see if the enemy team is some distance away.

Some general notes on the functionality of the harekin's unique set of weapons.  
Kama/Kama
Skill 1: Alternating slashes. 4 hit skill chain.  If crits, causes Bleeding.

Skill 2: Crosscut. Hits all nearby enemies.  

Skill 3: Spinning Somersault Strike. Evade attack that slashes all those in the harekin's path.

Skill 4: Kama Countertrike.  Parry an attack and immediately counterattack.

Skill 5: Prey Paranoia

 

Kusarigama
Skill 1: Figure 8 Kama Slash, a 4 hit skill chain.  If crits, causes Bleeding.

Skill 2: Kusarigama Swing, a 3 hit chain, hold chain end and spin kama end around in a circular motion for two revolutions, third hit extends kama end directly at foe.  Excellent reach.

Skill 3: Pulling Strike, Throw chain to wrap around foe's waist and quickly leap and pull yourself towards foe to deliver a deadly strike with kama end.  Close the distance quickly.

Skill 4: Chain Disarm, launch chain to wrap around foe's weapon, interrupting their attack and counterstriking with kama end.  Interrupted for weapon skill has increased cooldown.

Skill 5: Prey Paranoia

 

Boomerang (midrange projectile weapon)
Skill 1: Boomerang Hurl.  Toss boomerang and hit up to 4 additional adjacent foes with bludgeoning damage.  If foes are in the middle of casting or an action, inflict an additional 25% damage.

Skill 2: Forceful Boomerang Hurl.  Toss boomerang with increased force (will travel faster and do more damage than skill 1: Boomerang Hurl) and hit up to 2 additional adjacent foes with bludgeoning damage.  Increases chance to crit by 25%.  Interrupts actions.

Skill 3: Brute Crusher.  Toss boomerang at foe's head, inflicting Weakened and Slow and bludgeoning damage, hit up to 2 additional foes.

Skill 4: Mage Crusher.  Toss boomerang at foe's head, inflicting Weak Mind and causing all spells to double their casting time.  Inflicts bludgeoning damage and hits up to 2 additional adjacent foes.

Skill 5: Prey Paranoia

 

Slingshot: This weapon’s range is greater than boomerang but less than blowgun.  It fires an arcing projectile so conceivably it can get behind cover.  The first skill fire a projectile, a rock by default, but can be altered via itemization rewards.  The second and third skills fire whatever Herbal Packet (more on this later) is currently equipped, whether it is a beneficial or harmful Herbal Packet.  A beneficial packet thrown at foes produces no effect.  A harmful packet thrown at allies produces no effect.  This ability to engage in the long-range dissemination of Herbal Packets (herbalist horn can only disseminate at close range, albeit to a greater number of targets compared to the slingshot) is best for harekin players looking to fully embrace their role as herbalists no matter the battlefield situation.

Skill 1: Slingshot Tri-shot.  Fires 3 projectiles rapidly and hits foes with bludgeoning damage.  If projectiles do not hit foes directly, it ricochets against a maximum of 2 surfaces before it disappears.  Note, some slingshots acquired via match wins transforms this projectile into one that can shatter and produce AoE bleeding damage.

Skill 2: Beneficial Herbal Packet Launch.  Fire your equipped beneficial Herbal Packet to the target area.  Affects a maximum of 5 targets (note: some slingshots via reward system can boost the number of targets affected).  Note, beneficial Herbal Packets only affect allies.

Skill 3: Harmful Herbal Packet Launch.  Fire your equipped harmful Herbal Packet to the target area.  Affects a maximum of 5 targets (note: some slingshots via reward system can boost the number of targets affected).  Note, harmful Herbal Packets only affect foes.

Skill 4: Bop and Scurry. (Designed for when a foe gets too close to the harekin equipped with a weapon poorly suited for close range melee combat) Melee attack, smash your slingshot on foe's head, hop and kick them in the gut with both feet, and leap off to a safe distance while knocking them back.  Applies Swiftness.  Note, in the last part of this skill where you are leaping off the kicked foe, the harekin can fire their slingshot as they are in the air moving away from the opponent.

Skill 5: Prey Paranoia

 

Blowgun: This weapon has the greatest range of all the harekin’s weapons.  The darts it uses is preselected from the loaded darts from the dart pouch of the harekin’s herbalist belt (this is described more fully in the elite skill section).
Skill 1: Blowgun Tri-shot.  Fire three rapid fire shots of darts.  In addition to the dart’s effects, causes bleeding.

Skill 2: Blowgun Missile.  Take a deep breath and fire a single dart that goes 25% farther (in comparison to Blowgun Tri-shot), travels 25% faster, hits for 50% harder and has 25% increased chance to crit.  In addition to the dart’s effects, causes Profuse Bleeding (a more damaging version of bleeding).

Skill 3: Dart to the Knee.  Fires a dart to the knee of a foe, in addition to inflicting the dart’s effects, also inflicts cripple and purges all stacks of stability.  If foe is already crippled, inflicts immobilize.  Note, if the preselected dart inflicts cripple, this will satisfy the skill check and the target will get immobilized.

Skill 4: Blowgun Club.  Melee attack, smash your blowgun on an opponent’s head, knocking them down.

Skill 5: Prey Paranoia

 

Herbalist Horn: This weapon looks like a warhorn with a large horn section.  Different skills produce different tones.  When the herbalist horn is loaded with a harmful Herbal Packet, it has a red aura.  When the herbalist horn is loaded with a beneficial Herbal Packet, is has a blue aura.  As an additional aid, I would recommend that even the skills on the skillbar are noticeably tinted either red or blue depending on the active herbal packet.

Skill 1: Blow Herbalist Horn Overhead.  Blow your herbalist horn directly above your current location in order to spread the Herbal Packet cloud in a radius around you.

Skill 2: Blow Herbalist Horn Forward.  Blow your herbalist horn in a forward direction.  A cloud resulting from the Herbal Packet from slowly moves in the direction you are facing, affecting foes or allies in its path.  Cloud travels a short distance before dispersing.

Skill 3: Herbal Packet Swap.  Switch to the alternate preselected Herbal Packet.  If a beneficial Herbal Packet is currently equipped, it switches out to the harmful Herbal Packet, and vice versa. Equipped Herbal Packet is reflected by the Herbalist Horn aura; blue is beneficial, red is harmful.  Note, this skill has very little cooldown (2 seconds) and the harekin can easily swap Herbal Packets several times in a battle.

Skill 4: Blowback.  Blow your herbalist horn, no Herbal Packet is disseminated but an enemy harekin’s Herbal Packet cloud is dispersed.  This skill can also disperse any gas clouds produced by other skills.

Skill 5: Prey Paranoia

 

Key Race Features
As explained, Harekin use a different set of weapons from other races.  Some weapons acquired via match wins can completely change one of the skills (1-4).  For example, while you normally acquire Kama/Kama, there is a chance to get Kama/Tonfa or Kusarigama.  Kama/Kama and Kusarigama has been already explained in the above sections…but Kama/Tonfa changes skill 4 of Kama/Kama into

Skill 4: Tonfa Block.  Blocks attacks for a period of time.  

A drawback of Kama/Tonfa is that the damage for Skills 1-3 is slightly reduced in comparison to Kama/Kama, but Kama/Tonfa does provide a very useful blocking skill for the more defensive minded Harekin.  

Blowguns acquired via match wins can add conditions or debuffs in addition to whatever dart is preselected in the herbalist belt.  

Herbalist horns acquired via match wins can also add enchantments or conditions  in addition to the preselected beneficial or harmful Herbal Packets. 

Elite skill is Herbalist Belt.  This is not really a conventional elite skill with a long cooldown but a key race feature that has little to no cooldown.  When pressed, a window pops up depicting three rows of slots found in the harekin’s herbalist belt (this is the harekin’s belt, but looks more like a bunny fanny pack).  At the far left of each row is the preselected item that will be equipped in the relevant weapon, let’s call it the ‘preselection pouch’.  To the right of the preselection pouch are a number of slots that are filled with different items that can be selected to be in the preselection pouch.  Top row of slots is the Beneficial Herb Packets, second row is  Harmful Herb Packets, and third row is Darts (all darts produce harmful effects).  As mentioned, Herb Packets are loaded into herbalist horns and slingshots while darts are loaded into blowguns.  During battle, a harekin can switch out their loaded Herb Packets and darts by pressing the elite skill and quickly selecting a new packets to go into the preselection pouch.  Herbalist belts acquired via match wins can have varying numbers of slots.  As a rule, there are an equal number of slots for each row in the herbalist belt…so a Herbalist Belt+5 has five slots for each of the rows for Beneficial Herb Packets, Harmful Herb Packets and Darts…for a total of 15 slots.

Harekin have slightly above average run speed, slightly above average evade speed, the best jump height of all squire races, average swim speed and underwater maneuverability.  Their full endurance bar allows for 2 dodges.
d. Harekin have the 6th highest hitpoints and 5th highest armor levels of all squire races.
e. Harekin do not wield magic but through their knowledge of herbal concoctions and plant life are able to replicate many of the effects of magic.
f. Itemization: Armor (body), necklace, bracelets (2), herbalist pouch and their weapons.
Harekin are a unique squire race that can provide buffs to allies, debuffs to foes and can serve as the primary scouts for your team.  There is a large collection of Herb Packets to acquire via match wins, and their equipment options give them significant gameplay flexibility.

3. Tortoisoid
Tortoisoids are a new race, they appear more tortoise than humanoid, are hunched over so as to more easily get on all fours when running, and call the coasts of Cantha their home. Tortoisoids have long lifespans and it is more common for the more senior members participate in combat.  While their offensive tools are relatively limited, they are the ultimate tanks, second to none, and are designed to taunt foes, absorb massive amounts of physical and elemental damage, and protect allies.  Additionally, they are a shamanic race and use magic to provide protection spells mitigating physical and elemental damage, as well as mitigating and disrupting all forms of magic that do not fit the aforementiomed damage types.
Tortoisoid loudout weapons cannot be mixed and matched, and mainhand and offhand sets are fixed to pair with specific weapons.  Tortoisoid loadouts include Escrima (F1),  Protection Shaman (F2) and  Spirit Shaman (F3).  The weapons options for Escrima are double baston, sword + dagger, and staff.  The weapon options for Protection Shaman are shaman's rattle cane + gemstone totem or drum mallet cane + drum.  The weapon options for Spirit Shaman are crook rod + windcatcher totem or seed rattle cane + effigy.  Due to the weight of their shells tortoisoids are most comfortable using canes as both a weapon and to assist them while moving.

Tortoisoids have a 'necklace' equipment slot called its 'Charm Slot'.  The charms a tortoisoid can equip can significantly alter a baseline gameplay mechanic, allowing for some surprising builds. 

Unique race characteristics include an elite (skill 0), Shell Mode, which initially immobilizes the tortoisoid and enters a mode which makes them invulnerable to all forms of damage: physical, elemental or magical.  Shell Mode lasts up to 30 seconds (or more providing you have the right Charm equipped).  The visual animation for Shell Mode is the tortoisoid retracts its head, arms and legs into its shell.  You can still see its eyes darting left and right in the darkness of the head opening.  The tortoisoid gains a breakbar, which if broken, the tortoisoid loses invulnerability and begins to take damage.  While in Shell Mode, the tortoisoid is uninterruptable.

When in Shell Mode, all of the tortoisoid's skills on the skillbar change as follows:
Shell Mode Skills
Skill 1: Turtle Toss.  The tortoisoid's hand emerges from its shell and frantically waves its hand to signal allies to toss it.  The tortoisoid becomes a bundle which can be picked up, carried, and tossed by an ally.  This hand signal is not visible to enemy players in PvP or FvF.  The purpose of this signal is for a teammate to toss the tortoisoid in the middle of a crowd of enemies so the tortoisoid can taunt. Another reason could be the tortoisoid is signalling his teammates to give it cover or toss it to safety because Shell Mode is about to expire (it lasts 30 seconds or more with itemzation but it is not indefinite).  

Skill 2: Shell Taunt.  Taunt foes in an area around you.  Enemies's target is shifted to the tortoisoid for 10 seconds.

Skill 3: Kinetic Carapace.  A channelling skill where the tortoisoid absorbs all incoming damage and at the end emits an AoE shockwave that damages all nearby foes.  The damage emitted is proportional to the damage absorbed.  The visual cue for entering this channel is the appearance of an mischievous smile in the darkness of the shell's head opening (remember the eyes are also visible) and the eyes and toothy grin are vertically motioning so as to give the impression the tortoisoid is laughing. Just before the tortoisoid releases the shockwave, only teammates hear the following vocal cue, 'Heeeeeerrrreeee iiiittttt ccccooooooommmmessss!'  The tortoisoid then bounces and releases the shockwave.  The purpose of this teammate-only vocal cue it to signal to teammates to coordinate their dps to maximize the opportunity created by the shockwave.  Note: if an allied choya is standing in the effective range of Kinetic Carapace's shockwave, the choya receives a 3 second effect called 'Atomic Choya', where any choya detonation occurring during the effect is 15% more damaging.  Kinetic Carapace shares a skill cooldown with Shielding Carapace.

Skill 4: Shielding Carapace.  A channelling skill where the tortoisoid absorbs all incoming damage and at the end casts barrier to all nearby allies proportional to the damage absorbed.  The visual cue for entering this channel are squinting eyes in the shell's head opening as well as a hand peeking out of one of the shell's arm holes, giving a 'thumbs up' gesture.  Just before the tortoisoid dispenses the barrier, only teammates hear the following vocal cue, 'You're welcome!'.  Shielding Carapace shares a skill cooldown with Kinetic Carapace.

Skill 5: Rapid Extinguish. This skill takes all conditions away from nearby allies and applies it to the tortoisoid.  It then rapidly extinguishes all conditions within 1-3 seconds, depending on the number of stacks.  The visual cue is the tortoisoid bounces up, spins, and ejects smoke from all shell openings.

Skill 6: Fortify.  This skill generously heals the tortoisoid and regenerates a portion of its breakbar.

Skill 7: Shock Absorber.  Redirects all phyical damage from nearby allies to the tortoisoid for a brief period of time.  Visual cue, shell bouncing up and down and shaking.  Arm comes out of one of the shell arm holes, holding a small shield. Teammate-only vocal cue, 'Taking one for the team!'.  Shock Absorber shares a skill cooldown with Eye of the Storm.

Skill 8: Eye of the Storm.  Redirects all elemental damage from nearby allies to the tortoisoid for a brief period of time.  Shell bouncing up and down and shaking.  Arm comes out of one of the shell arm holes, holding a small umbrella.  Teammate-only vocal cue, 'Eye of the storm!'.  Eye of the Storm shares a skill cooldown with Shock Absorber.

Skill 9: Turtle Stomp.  The tortoisoid in shell mode jumps a few feet off the ground and when it lands, it causes a tremor and all nearby foes are knocked down.  Turtle Stomp shares a skill cooldown with Terrifying Turtle.

Skill 0: Terrifying Turtle.  Casts fear to all nearby enemies.  The visual cue is the tortoisoid head pops out of the shell's head opening and makes a scary face.  The vocal cue is 'Boo!'.  Terrifying Turtle shares a skill cooldown withTurtle Stomp.

The '~' key, used to swap between weapon loadout, when pressed during Shell mode prematurely ends Shell mode, with any remaining time credited towards cooldown.

Shell mode gameplay and the mode's skill cooldowns will result in the following gameplay sequence:  
Tortoisoid enters Shell Mode.  
Shell Mode duration and skill cooldowns will force the player to choose between using Kinetic Carapace OR Shielding Carapace,...there will not be enough time in Shell Mode to use both (remember these two skill share a cooldown).  
The player is forced to choose between using Shock Absorber or Eye of the Storm...there will not be enough time in Shell Mode to use both (remember these two skills share a cooldown). 
The player is forced to choose between using Turtle Stomp or Terrifying Turtle, there will not be enough time in Shell Mode to use both (remember those two skills share a cooldown).
The player will have enough time to use Turtle Toss or Fortify twice within the timespan of a single Shell Mode.
The player will have enough time to use Shell Taunt or Rapid Extinguish only once within the timespan of a single Shell Mode.
The player can use Exit Shell Mode at any point, with any remaining time unspent credited towards reducing the cooldown.

Some general notes on the functionality on the Tortoisoid's unique set of weapons.
Double Baston
Skill 1: Baston Combo.  4 hit chain.  Last hit is a critical hit and applies Mght.

Skill 2: Precision Parry.  Parry an attack.  Short cooldown.

Skill 3: Pressure Point Strike.  2 hits, mainhand baston interrupts a skill and offhand baston strikes foe.

Skill 4: Baston Hurl.  Projectile attacks.  Toss your bastons, one after the other, at a target foe.  If any of the attacks crit, the target foe is dazed.

Skill 5: Baston Twirl. AoE melee attack.  Extend your two bastons outward and spin, hitting all nearby foes.

Sword and Dagger
Skill 1: Sword Combo. 3 hit chain. Pierce with sword 3 times.  20% chance to inflict 'Exposed Wound' condition.  Exposed Wound causes the victim to receive +50% crit damage if critted by the same person who applied condition. Exposed Wound duration is 2 seconds.

Skill 2: add later

 

C. Elona

1. Iguanids
Iguanids are a new race and is among the few races that can tolerate the Sulfurous Wastes region of Elona which they call home.  Physically the race is diverse in appearance and members can look like iguanas, chameleons, gila monsters, geckos, frilled lizards etc.  Posture is similar to charr and quaggan, and upper body leans forward.  They look more lizard than humanoid.  
Iguanids are a stealth-focused squire race that can offer limited scouting services to your team or be an assassin.  Their stealth is based on the ability of the race to camouflage itself by changing the color and patterns of their skin to blend in with their surroundings.  Since there are certain mechanics that differ from GW2 stealth, it is better to call what iguanids do ‘camouflage’ and not stealth.  They have excellent overall dexterity, they can climb surfaces (even vertical walls), possess a far reaching tongue attack that poisons, and several attack skills that exploit opponent position. 

Igaunids have limited weapon choices.  They have three loadouts, and can switch between them using F1, F2 and F3.  ‘Melee’, the first loadout (F1) can be either dagger, sais, or bagh nakh (a fist weapon with claws).  ‘Thrown’ the second loadout (F2) is either kunai, throwing stars or bugs (the weapon category is called ‘Creepy Crawlies’ and is unique to iguanids), and ‘Bestial’ the third loadout (F3) consists of no weapons but relies on attacks using the igaunid’s jaws, horns, tongue, tail etc.  Like harekin, iguanids cannot mix and match their one-handed weapons, ie if dagger is selected then both the main and offhand is equipped with daggers.  An important race feature is iguanids can switch between loadouts very quickly, faster than any other race.  
Igaunids have a final unique race characteristic, Reptilian Movement, represented by a bar above the endurance bar in the GUI.  If you are familiar with DnD action points, it is a similar concept but one rooted on the actions following an iguanid at rest, which replenishes the Reptilian Movement Bar.  The Reptilian Movement Bar allows for a combination of skill usage (expend bar faster than movement) and/or movement (expends bar slower than skill usage), each of which incur an expenditure of the Reptilian Movement Bar.  Actions or movement undertaken using Reptilian Movement Bar are 50% faster than normal.  To give you an idea how this plays out gameplay wise, an iguanid is camouflaged, comes approximately 5 steps away from an unmoving, unsuspecting foe.  The iguanid stays completely still in order to replenish Reptilian Movement Bar.  When the bar is full, he is able to close the distance and perform a single attack on the foe all of which were 50% faster due to expending the full Reptilian Movement Bar.  In a slightly different scenario, if the unmoving unsuspecting foe all of a sudden was joined by a large contingent of allies,  then the iguanid would expend the Reptilian Movement Bar by running away very fast (50% faster than normal) all while still in camouflage mode.  The concept for this mechanic is rooted in the ability of snakes and other reptiles to perform quick strikes at rest.

Some of the race’s unique mechanics are tied to the weapon skills, so here they are in some detail:
Daggers (best damage option in the Melee category of loadouts, daggers are held reverse grip)
Skill 1: Blade Dance, 5 hit chain, 
Attack 1: Slash horizontally with main hand.  Inflicts Bleeding.
Attack 2: Stab with main hand.  Inflicts Bleeding.  If crits, inflicts Profuse Bleeding instead.
Attack 3: Slash horizontally with off hand.  Inflicts Bleeding.  Inflicts Vulnerability.
Attack 4: Stab with off hand.  Inflicts Bleeding.  If crits, inflicts Profuse Bleeding instead.  Grants Might.
Attack 5: Spin with daggers outstretched, slashing all nearby foes.  Inflicts Bleeding.

Skill 2: Sever Vital Nerve.  Stab strategically with dagger, if foe is using a skill, disrupts the skill and increase cooldown of skill by 100%.  Inflicts Bleeding.

Skill 3: Lunging Flurry.  Jump toward foe, land on their chest and deliver four rapid, brutal stabs with dagger.  Chance to crit is +20%.  Inflicts Bleeding.  Leaps far, good for closing the distance.

Skill 4: Twist the Blade.  Take your dagger, stab with full force and twist blade for maximum damage.   If this attack lands on an enemy out of combat, +10% damage, if this attack is performed from camouflage, +15% damage.  Inflicts Profuse Bleeding (a more damaging version of Bleeding).

Skill 5: Dagger Backstabber, jump on your opponent’s back and repeatedly stab their back with your dagger.  Iguanid will repeatedly stab until foe performs an evade and knocks the igaunid off.  While attached to the foe’s back, the iguanid cannot take damage from the target foe (cannot reach) but the foe’s allies can damage the iguanid.  (Destined to be one of the most annoying attacks in the game)

 

Sai: Defensive melee weapon
Skill 1: Sai Combo.  4 hit chain.
Attack 1: Stab with main hand sai.  Inflict Bleeding.
Attack 2: Stab with offhand sai.  Inflict Bleeding.
Attack 3: Stab with both sais simultaneously.  Inflict Profuse Bleeding.
Attack 4: Outward slash with both sais simultaneously.  Chance to crit +25%.  If attack hits, Reptillian Movement Bar instantly is filled +25%.

Skill 2: Parry Strike.  Parry an enemy attack, gain and deliver a flurry of three quick blows.  If a melee attack was successfully parried, enemy is Slowed and each of the three attacks chance to crit is +25%.

Skill 3: Vicious Lunge.  Jump toward foe and plunge both sais into their chest.  Inlicts Weakness and Profuse Bleeding.  Bite enemy target, inflict Poisoned condition on foe.   Good for closing the distance.

Skill 4: Brutal Parry.  Parry an enemy's melee attack and deliver a highly damaging counterattack.  If enemy has Weakness then damage is increased by 20% and target is knocked down. Parried enemy skill has increased cooldown.

Skill 5: Sai Backstabber.  Melee attack.  Just like Dagger Backstabber but using sais instead.

 

Thrown Stars: Ideal projectile for damaging many foes simultaneously.  Has the potential to hit targets around corners.
Skill 1: Star Toss.  Thrown weapon.  Toss 3 throwing stars to a targeted enemy.  Throwing stars have the ability to curve their trajectory and can potentially hit targets behind corners.  Hits target and 2 additional adjacent targets.  Causes piercing and slashing damage.  If crits, inflicts Bleeding.

Skill 2: Horizontal Star Spread: Thrown weapon.  Throw a 5 star spread parallel to ground hitting a maximum of 5 foes in front of you.  Causes piercing and slashing damage.  If crits, inflicts Bleeding.

Skill 3: Somersault Spread.  Thrown weapon.  Perform a spinning somersault in the air and throw 5 stars vertically toward your target.  Hits a maximum of 5 foes.  Causes piercing and slashing damage.  If crits, inflicts Bleeding.

Skill 4: Star Storm: Stance (5-8 seconds).  Grants Quickness, refreshes the skills Star Toss, Horizontal Star Spread, and Somersault Spread, reduces their activation time, increases their travel speed, and reduces their cooldown by 75%.  

Skill 5: Strategic Retreat: Thrown weapon.  Toss a smoke bomb behind you, rapidly toss 3 stars at a target foe as you jump backward toward the smoke cloud.  When you pass the smoke cloud you enter camouflage mode.

 

Kunai: Projectile with high single target damage and can be used in close range combat.
Skill 1: Kunai Toss.  Thrown weapon.  Toss a kunai at a target foe.  If skill is held down, the kunai travels up to 25% faster and does up to 25% more damage.  Does piercing damage.  If attack crits, inflicts Bleeding with a 20% chance to instead inflict Profuse Bleeding.

Skill 2: Kunai Headshot.  Thrown weapon.  Toss a kunai directly at the target foe's head.  Does piercing damage. Inflicts Confusion.  If attack crits, inflicts Bleeding with a 20% chance to instead inflict Profuse Bleeding.

Skill 3: Kunai Trigger Bomb.  Thrown weapon.  Toss a bomb-equipped kunai to the target area.  Once thrown, the skill changes to a trigger to detonate the bomb, damaging up to 5 targets in its radius.  Explosion does fire damage, and if it crits, inflicts Burning.

Skill 4: Explosive Escape.  Melee attack.  Jump on the chest of target foe and stab them with two kunai equipped with bombs which detonate right away.  Somersault over their heads to safety.  If target foe is weakened, the explosion will cause knockdown.  Initial kunai attack is piercing damage that causes bleeding and has a 20% chance to cause Profuse Bleeding instead. Bomb explosion is fire damage, if crits has a chance to cause burning.  The somersault is an evade.

Skill 5: Kunai Backstabber.  Melee attack.  Just like Dagger Backstabber but with kunai instead.

 

Bugs
Skill 1: Hammerhead Dragonflies: Thrown weapon.  Toss a single, highspeed hammerhead dragonfly at your target foe.  Flies in a straight line and does bludgeoning damage.  If target foe is weakened or slowed, crits and does +20 crit damage.  Chance for dragonfly to hit target foe's eyes causing a condition called Eye Trauma, which impairs target foe's close range vision.  Close range targets will periodically disappear for stretches of time.

Skill 2: Giant Mosquitos: Thrown weapon.  Toss a handful of giant mosquitoes at target foe.  Causes piercing damage and Bleeding.  After initial collision, the giant mosquitoes become an autonomous entities and sucks the blood of target foe.  The bloodsucking causes Drain Health on target foe.  If iguanid thows more giant mosquitoes on target foe, and there still are giant mosquitoes orbiting the target foe, the health drain effect is cumulative.  Target foe can kill off giant mosquitoes with a melee attack (the giant mosquito must be targeted), use some form of AoE attack, dodge roll, or go into stealth or camouflage.

Skill 3: Tarantulas: Thrown weapon.  Toss a tarantula at target foe.  Initially causes piercing damage, and inflicts poison.  Tarantula becomes an autonomous entity and sticks to target foe and crawls all over them, spinning a web that inflicts a condition called Spiderweb Bind, which acts like Slow but increases in its slowing speed the longer the tarantula spins its web.  Periodically, a bound, crawling tarantula will bite target foe refreshing the poison.  Can be killed with targeted melee or spell attacks, aura detonation, certain AoE melee or spells, dodge roll, or by stealth or camouflage.

Skill 4: Fireflies:  Thrown weapon.  Toss a handful of fireflies at your target foe.  Fireflies glow brightly, stick to target, rapidly orbits them and cannot be shaken off or attacked with melee (unless the melee attack is a true AoE attack.  Fireflies can also be killed by certain magic spells such as detonated auras or AoE elemental spells.  Ideal to track foes who may stealth as the fireflies will still orbit them when stealthed or camouflaged.

Skill 5: Giant Hornets:  Thrown weapon.  Toss a handful of giant hornets at target foe.  Initially the giant hornets do some piercing and slashing damage.  After initial collision, giant hornets become autonomous entities, orbit and periodically sting target foe.  If stung, target foe is interrupted, suffers piercing damage, and gains a condition called Severe Allergic Reaction.  Each time target foe is stung, the percentage to Severe Allergic Reaction increases until it reaches 100% which will cause target foe to be inflicted with Slow, Weakened, and a condition called Hornet Fever, where max health is lowered by 15%, healing effectiveness on you is 20% weaker, your Concentration is 20% lower and your Endurance recovers 20% slower.  Once target foe is inflicted with Hornet's fever, Severe Allergic reaction goes back to 0% and could be increased if stung again by Giant Hornets.  Getting rid of orbiting Giant Hornets requires targeting them, and any of the following: several melee attacks or spells, powerful melee attack or spell, a dodge roll, or going into stealth or camouflage.

 

Bestial: This attack skill loadout uses the iguanid own body as a weapon.  These are the only attack skills that can be used when the iguanid is vertically climbing.
Skill 1: Reptilian Bite.  Melee attack.  Viciously bite target foe causing piercing and slashing damage. Inflicts Iguanid's Blight condition where afflicted target suffers 15% additional damage from piercing and poison attacks.  Endurance recovers 25% slower.

Skill 2: Venomous Tongue.  Long range melee attack.  Bludgeon target foe with your long, elastic tongue.  Inflicts Poison.  If crits, inflicts Confusion.

Skill 3: Caustic Bile.  Ranged projectile attack.  You spit out a volume of acid that hits targeted foe and leaves a pool of acid in an area directly surrounding their feet.  Inflicts Acid Burn condition that does damage over time, and does increasing damage per tick upon continued exposure.

Skill 4: Primal Frenzy: Stance.  For a brief period, gain Might, Fury, Alacrity, Vigor, Regeneration and Swiftness.

Skill 5:  Tail Sweep.  Melee attack.  Use you tail to quickly sweep foes in the area in front of you, foes are knocked down.  Affects a maximum of 3 foes.  Note, this skill changes when iguanid is scaling a surface.

a.  While Igaunids appear to have limited weapon options, they can acquire jars of bugs which provide a variety of different skills for the Bugs thrown weapon loadout.  Igauanid's Beastial loadout also presents a set of skills to complement the thrown weapon and melee loadout, providing a wealth of combat options to pair with their ability to camouflage and scale surfaces other races are not capable.  As a result of the aforementioned, Iguanids lack item upgrades that dramatically alter its gameplay as found with quaggan, harekin or choya.  Iguanids are able to quickly switch between loadouts with minimal cooldowns.

b. Elite skill is Camouflage.  Camouflage is the Iguanid's stealthing skill.  It functions different from stealth in that the Iguanid moves at a 25% slower speed from its uncamouflaged running speed.  While an Iguanid cannot be targeted while in camouflage, if they are hit by an attack or AoE spell they are forced out of camouflage.  Any attacks on a camouflaged Iguanid has a 50% chance to be a glancing blow.  If an Iguanid uses any skill they exit camouflage.  While in camouflage an Iguanid recovers Reptilian Movement Bar 50% faster.  Entering camouflage when Reptilian Movement Bar is full increases duration of camouflage by 50%.

c. Iguanids have average run speed, slightly above average evade speed, average jump height, slightly above average swim speed and underwater maneuverability.  Their full endurance bar allows for 3 dodges.

d. Iguanids have the 5th highest hitpoints and 4th highest armor of all the squire races.

e. Iguanids do no wield magic aside from the enchantments on their weapons and armor.

f.  Itemization: Armor (body), necklace, rings (2), belt, bug jars and weapons.
Iguanids offer a lot of offensive and defensive options.  They can be scouts, assassins or solid dps unit in a squad.  Their multitude of options and ability to quickly switch between loadouts allows for very reactive, twitchy gameplay or strategic ambushes.

2. Choya
Choya are the 'wtf' units of the squire races.  Enemy teams will often find choya responsible for the most painful battlefield surprises that ruin their carefully organized plans.  While limited in their options, choya have the potential to put out the most AOE burst damage.  Unlike sprites, choya cannot dish out their damage as consistently or often, but a well placed Choya Bomb can down multiple weakened foes.
The skills are as follows
Skill 1: Refuse Toss.  The choya tosses a projectile that does bludgeoning damage.  Hold down key for higher damage.

Skill 2: Spike Shot.  The choya leans over and fires spikes from its back hitting all foes in its radius.  This reaches foes above as well.

Skill 3: Toxic Pollen.  The choya emits (animation: cloud of gas emitted via pores around choya's body) a cloud of pollen that causes enemies to be blinded and applies the effect 'Irritated Eyes', which causes the afflicted player to periodically lose sight of a random number of enemies (they temporarily vanish).  This disengages targeting and if you make contact with a vanished foe using melee, it will be a glancing blow.

Skill 4: Choya Roll. You roll on the ground and while this is not an evade, you gain protection and  vigor and the overall movement speed is faster that your running speed.  Note, when using Choya Roll on a descending slope your speed increases (think rollerbeetle).  Once pressed, you are in rolling mode and maintain the buffs of the skill until you activate another skill.

Skill 5: Choya Determination.  You beat your chest and enter a frenzy where you gain a defiance bar (this implies that unless the bar is broken, no CC can stop you), gain swiftness, and your next few hits crit and damage is increased 25%.

Skill 0 (Elite): Choya Bomb:  You detonate yourself causing high damage in a large area around the point of detonation.

Skill F2: Choya Patch: Place a Choya Patch at the target location.  If you use Choya Bomb, you will respawn at the Choya Patch after a brief period.  

 

Key race features

a. Choya do not wield martial weapons and have the least equipment slots of all squire races, BUT, the enhancements on their equipment slots are the weirdest and can significantly impact their gameplay.  For examples, the Baseball Cap (hat slot) causes Refuse Toss (skill 1) to turn into a baseball and travels at twice the speed, range increases by 25% and when you hold down the key for higher damage, the channeling speed is twice as fast.  The Cap of the Fool (a court jester hat,  hat slot) adds a random second attack to Toxic Pollen (skill 3), either a burp which causes a cone of fire to emit out of the choya's mouth,...or a fart which releases a travelling poison cloud behind the choya.  Firefighter's Coat (chest) causes Choya Bomb to cause fire damage and burning. The Totem of Bad Luck (necklace slot) causes Choya Bomb (skill 0, elite) to detonate twice!  The Totem of Necromancy (necklace slot) causes the Choya to turn into a zombie (picture a shambling Choya with a third of his head missing) after using Choya Bomb.  In zombie mode the Choya's movement speed is decreased by 50% but gains a large defiance bar, skill 1 changes from Refuse Toss to Zombie Bite (every time he bites an opponent he regains health) and all his skills recharge twice as fast.  Zombie mode ends when the Choya Patch becomes available (for respawn) or he gets killed.

b. Elite skill is Choya Bomb (see description above).  After detonating Choya Bomb, you must wait 60 seconds before you can respawn at the Choya Patch.  This can be decreased by certain necklaces, such as The Totem of Masochism, which reduces the respawn time to 30 seconds.

c. Choya have average run speed, average evade speed, average jump height, average swim speed and underwater maneuverabity.  Skill 4 Choya Roll speed is dictated by the angle of terrain, with downward slopes increasing speed.  Their full endurance bar allows for 2 dodges.

d. Choya have the 4th highest pool of hitpoints and 6th highest armor level of all squire races.

e. Choya do not wield magic, they are too busy trying to get in the middle of enemy teams so they can go boom.

f. Itemization: Hat (head), chestpiece (body), necklace.  A rare chestpiece acquired via match wins is called the Tuxedo, and it has an extra slot (flower in your lapel) that can add an additional slot for customization.  Collect flowers that give stat boosts or adds a unique gameplay mechanic.

Choose the Choya when you are looking to go leeroy jenkins on the enemy team.  While it's itemization is low, It's a fun, simple squire race. 

 

3. Sprites - add later

 

VII. General Squire Race Comparisons

Squire hitpoint rankings (highest to lowest)
1. Tortoisoid
2. Quaggan
3. Golem
4. Choya
5. Igaunid
6. Harekin
7. Skritt
8. Fairy
9. Sprite

Squire armor level rankings (highest to lowest), this includes max gear potential
1. Tortoisoid
2. Quaggan
3. Golem
4. Iguanid
5. Hairkin
6. Choya
7. Skritt
8. Fairy
9. Sprite

Edited April 15 by RiyazGuerra.9203

[RiyazGuerra.9203]

I. GUILD WARS 3 PROFESSIONS

A. General Features
The number of professions are reduced, with the Engineer and Revenant discontinued and their profession mechanics shifted to the remaining professions.  This is done due to the redundancies the professions presented via skills and Boon contribution.  Guild Wars 3 professions will be Assassin (pretty much the thief), Elementalist, Guardian, Mesmer, Necromancer, Ranger, and Warrior.  I would discourage the compulsion to add additional professions and if you wish to expand the existing professions via expansion, focus on adding new traitlines, weapons, and alternate weapon skills to promote the unique realization of each class as envisioned by the player.

 

B. The Mage, Hybrid and Melee Fighter
These three categories distinguish profession playstyle in important ways.  The mage professions are Elementalist, Mesmer and Necromancer.  The hybrid professions are Guardian and Ranger.  The melee fighters are the Assassin and Warrior.  

Mages are unparalleled spellcasters, have the most expansive toolkit to effect gameplay, the ability to impose the most damage as a result of a single skill/spell, the ability to induce the most potent defensive capability as a result of a single skill/spell, have several potent skill/spells to facilitate movement and positioning on the battlefield in order to strike foes or escape danger.  Mages are also the best summoners, able to summon the most powerful summons, the most number of active summons at any given time, and possess the ability to summon most frequently.  Conversely, mage professions are restricted to light armor, only have a maximum of two weapon sets they can swap between, have the lowest total hitpoints (max level base HP is 15,000), get the lowest gain of HP via added Vitality, have the slowest base run speed, shortest dodge range, do not have the ability to Sprint, do not have the ability to Side-step (another type of evade explained next paragraph), cannot wield the heaviest weapons, have the slowest swing speed of a given weapon, have the slowest rate of Endurance regeneration, and a full Endurance bar yields a maximum of two dodges.

Melee fighters are the near opposite of mages.  What melee fighters lack in options in their toolkit they compensate with their phyical excellence.  They can equip heavier armors (Assassins - medium armor, Warriors - heavy armor), wield heavier weapons, swap between more weapon sets (3 base and a 4th with traits), have the highest base HP (20,000), gain the highest amount of HP via added Vitality, have the fastest base run speed, longest dodge range, have the ability to execute a Sprint, whereby they can expend Endurance for a burst of even greater running speed, if they dodge while Sprinting their dodge speed is also increased, have the fastest weapon swing speed for a given weapon, have the fastest rate of Endurance regeneration, and a full Endurance bar yields three dodges.  Assassins (not available to Warriors) have access to the Side-step evade, where they perform a very fast lateral sidestep evade, ideal for avoiding harm and quickly continuing offense.  Side-step still consumes 1 of the 3 available Endurance bars, but it covers half the distance of a standard  evade but moves at twice the speed.  Melee Fighters are limited by their limited options for offense and defense, their relative predictability, the need to be in melee range for extended periods of time to exact their offense, and are more gear-dependent in order to attain optimal defensive or offensive capabilities.  Melee Fighters, due to their need to be in close proximity to foes, naturally generate the most amount of threat and will be the first to be targeted by the opposition, often drawing the ire of multiple foes.

The Hybrid professions are Ranger and Guardian, the profession itself possesses a narrow range of spellcasting and some proficiency in melee fighting.  As you would expect, the Hybrid's spellcasting is not as varied as the Mage professions, and their melee and physical combat is not as potent as the Melee Fighters.  The Hybrid's strength lies in the useful spells they do possess in addition to being competant in melee combat.  

 

C. Professions and the return of the primary resource
As in Guild Wars 1, professions will once again acquire a primary resource to manage in order use most skills.  This feature will be necessary to provide an alternate means to balance the professions as well as another avenue to attack the profession in combat.

Assassins have Initiative, a resource which self-replenishes as well as some of the Assassin's skills replenish a few points of Initiative.  Assassins also have an attribute which determines the size of their Initiative pool as well as an armor enchantment which boost Initiative regeneration.  Assassins have a skill found on their Medkit or Survival Kit which converts Endurance into Initiative.

Elementalists have a resource called Mana, which self-replenishes over time.  Elementalists have a channeling Utility skill, Mana Surge, which provides a fixed quantity of Mana. Mana Surge provides an even larger quantity of Mana when performed in an environment exemplifying the power of the elements, such as during a lightning storm, near volcano, lava, large fire, waterfall, or a large body of water.  Elementalists also have  access to an armor enchantment which boosts Mana regeneration rate.  Another way to boost Mana is through a skill unique to a Ranger Spirit, Spellcaster's Renewal, which increases Mana and Energy regeneration by 20%.  

Guardians have a resource called Divine Favor, which self-replenishes over time and can be gained when meeting specific criteria such as: a healing spell cast that saves the life of an fellow player character (HP would have reached 0 within the next 1 second if not for the added health from the healing spell) or granting a needed Boon to a focused fellow player character (focused fellow player character has received some combination of four Conditions, Hexes, or Diseases).  Guardians also have a channeling Utility skill called Divine Supplication, which grants a fixed amount of Divine Favor.  Guardians have an armor enchantment which boosts Divine Favor regeneration rate.  

Mesmers have a resource called Energy, which self-replenishes over time, or boosted by a small quantity when you shatter a clone.  Mesmers also have a channeling Utility skill, Inspiration, which provides a fixed quantity of Energy.  Mesmers have access to an armor enchantment which boosts Energy regeneration rate.  Another way to boost Energy is through a skill unique to a Ranger Spirit, Spellcaster's Renewal, which increases Mana and Energy regeneration by 20%.

Necromancers have a resource called Life Force, which is fueled from nearby deaths (foes or allies, 1200 units range) or from nearby corpses (died in the past and not in the Necromancer's presence).  Life Force can also be gained by the Necromancer sacrificing one of their own minions.  Unlike Guild Wars 2, Life Force is not tied to Vitality.  There is a default pool for Life Force that can be boosted with traits.  Necromancers have access to an armor enchantment that boosts the amount gained from fallen foes and allies.

Rangers have a resource called Energy, which self-replenishes over time, or siphoned off from a pet or native wildlife (only once per creature and depending on the creature's disposition, may cause them to become aggressive).  Rangers have access to an armor enchantment which boosts Energy regeneration rate.  Another way to boost Energy is through a skill unique to a Ranger Spirit, Spellcaster's Renewal, which increases Mana and Energy regeneration by 20%.

Warriors have Adrenaline, a resource generally acquired as the warrior attacks their target as well as when damage is received.  With a trait, Warriors may also acquire Adrenaline as nearby members of their party or squad acquire HP pools below 50% and 25%.  Warriors have a skill found on their Medkit or Survival Kit which converts one bar of Endurance into a quantity of Adrenaline.  Warriors can boost Adrenaline generation through weapon and armor enchantments.

D. Collision detection and the player
Collision detection will be in place for projectiles (physical or magical) as well as player bodies.  No longer will the strategy of balling up players around corners to lure and quickly burn dimwitted NPCs be viable.  No longer will the WvW meta of invincible Boon-balls be the strategy of choice for large zerg battles.  I would argue that allowing such strategies to be viable hurts the development of the individual player to improve their skills, a development that is needed in order to create fertile ground for an endgame-content-community.  The requisite space limit body collision detection (BCD) imposes will make for a natural barrier to overloading Boons on as many teammates as possible from a single source.  If you wish to pursue such a strategy you will need additional sources of Boons and careful positioning...something which can prove to be difficult to maintain in the heat of battle...causing a healthy chaos in prolonged engagements.  In such scenarios careful prioritization of allies must be made, and contingency strategies employed by those who will not be given priority.  If any given party or squad heavily invests in lightly armored Boon providers, they will pay a price for their team composition with respect to damage output and team survivabiity, as they should.

BCD also prevents the inherent problem of target overloading currently found in PvP and WvW game modes where a large number of players of an opposing team stand on the exact same spot focusing all their damage on a single target on the opposing team.  Such a lopsided strategy necessitates the availability of invulnerability skills, which on the flip side, creates an imbalance on one-on-one encounters.  BCD would prevent such imbalance-inducing scenarios by requiring space to be exclusively occupied.

In order to prevent the kind of trolling BCD enables, such as door blocking etc, developers could disable collision detection at doorways, have multiple entrances, a trigger that if an individual loiters too long at a chokepoint they lose their BCD allowing other players to walk through them, or a trigger at doorways that automatically detects traffic at a chokepoint and if sensed there is no movement, propels everyone through the doorway.
Collision detection adds an important element to tanking, and elevates its importance.  The more roles to fill, the greater the desirability of different professions to fill those roles.  It is not helpful for profession diversity if all encounters are reduced to Boon givers, condition-spam and ranged dps, I would argue it makes encounters less interesting.

 

E. Profession Attributes
Profession attributes for Elementalist, Guardian, Mesmer, Necromancer and Ranger are: Power, Precision, Ferocity, Healing Power, Toughness, Vitality, Concentration and Condition Damage.  By default, Assassins do not cast magic Boons (Technologist elite spec provides some boons) so they do not use Concentration, Assassin attributes are: Power, Precision, Ferocity, Healing Power, Toughness, Vitality, Condition Damage and Aggression.  Warriors do not cast magic so their attributes are: Power, Precision, Ferocity, Healing Power, Toughness, Vitality, Durability and Stamina.  

Power: increases outgoing strike damage.
Precision: increases Critical Chance.
Ferocity: Increases Critical Damage.
Healing Power: Increases all outgoing healing your character does, including self heals.
Toughness: Reduces incoming Strike Damage.
Vitality: Increases health points.
Concentration: Increases Boon Duration.  Not used by Assassins or Warriors.
Condition Damage: Increases the damage done by inflicting conditions.  Not used by Warriors.
Aggression: Increases the amount of Initiative.  Assassin only.
Durability: Decreases the chance of being critically hit from all damage sources and reduces the amount of added damage from critical hits received.  Warrior only.
Stamina: Increases the rate of endurance regeneration.  Warrior only.

As you level up, there is a preset attribute increase for your profession.  Outside of leveling the only way to obtain bonus attribute points is via infusions slots on your armor, jewelry and weapons.  Armor no longer come in a multitude of attribute point variations, the player can now control the attribute distribution on the armor better by adding whatever infusions they want.  There should be ample infusion slots across all armor pieces and jewelry

Headpiece: 2 infusion slots
Shoulder: 2 infusion slots
Chestpiece: 6 infusion slots
Gauntlets/Gloves: 2 infusion slots
Belt: 1 infusion slot
Leg armor: 4 infusion slots
Footwear: 2 infusion slots
Necklace: 1 infusion slot
Earring (left): 1 infusion slot
Earring (right): 1 infusion slot
Ring (left): 1 infusion slot
Ring (right): 1 infusion slot
Backpiece/Cape: 1 infusion slot

 

F. Weapons
Here are the weapons available to each profession (LGT = light,    HVY = heavy).  Note, weapons only have a damage value, physical damage type, and slots for upgrades.  Weapons no longer have bonus attribute points, the only way to add bonus attribute points is through the 1 or 2 infusion slots found on each weapon.

Assassin: Bo-staves (2H), daggers (1H), maces (1H), naginatas (2H), pistols (1H), shortbows (2H), spears (2H), spiked arm shields (LGT-shield, offhand), swords (1H), and thrown-weapons (offhand).

Elementalist: Daggers (1H), foci (offhand), scepters (1H), staves (2H).

Guardian: Greatswords (2H), hammers (2H), maces (1H), scepters (offhand), shields (offhand), staves (2H), and tower shields (HVY-shield).
Mesmer: Bucklers (LGT-shield, offhand), clawed gauntlets (1H), daggers (1H), flute (offhand), foci (offhand), swords (1H), staves (2H), and thrown-weapons (offhand).

Necromancers: Daggers (1H), foci (offhand), scepters (main hand), scythes (2H), staves (2H), warhorn (offhand).

Ranger: Axes (1H), halberds (2H), longbows (2H), mortars (2H), pistols (1H), rifles (2H), swords (1H), and warhorns (offhand).

Warrior: Axes (1H), parrying axes (LGT-axe, 1H, reduced damage output but extended guard enables weapon to parry physical attacks via a new keybind), heavy axes (HVY-axe, 1H), greataxes (2H), maces (1H), parrying mace (LGT-mace, 1H, reduced damage output but extended guard enables weapon to parry physical attacks via a new keybind), spiked-mace (LGT-mace, 1H, less blunt physical damage but adds piercing damage and a bleeding-type Ailment), heavy maces (HVY-mace, 1H), hammers (2H), sword (1H), parrying sword (LGT-sword, 1H, reduced damage output but extended guard enables weapon to parry physical attacks via a new keybind), longswords (HVY-sword, 1H), greatswords (2H), pistols (offhand), shields (offhand), tower shields (HVY-shield, offhand), throwing-spears (HVY-throwing weapon, offhand), and warhorns (offhand).

Here is the order of melee weapon base damage, from highest to lowest
1. Greataxe
2. Greatsword
3. Hammer
4. Halberd
5. Naginata
6. Spear
7. Scythe
8. Bo/Staff
9. Heavy Axe
10. Longsword
11. Heavy Mace
12. Axe
13. Sword
14. Mace
15. Parrying Axe
16. Parrying Sword
17. Parrying Mace
18. Spiked Mace
19. Dagger
20. Clawed Gauntlets
21. Spiked Arm Shield
22. Scepter

Here is the order of ranged weapon base damage, from highest to lowest
1. Mortar
2. Rifle
3. Longbow
4. Shortbow
5. Throwing Spear
6. Pistol
7. Thrown Weapons
Thrown weapons may have the lowest base damage but certain professions have skills which can modify its final damage, ie Assassins can poison theirs, and Mesmers can infuse theirs with Arcane magic (think Gambit of XMen).

Here is the order of ranged weapon range, from farthest to closest
1. Mortar: better range than rifle but slower rate of fire.  Area of Effect on contact.  Medium speed projectile.
2. Rifle: fires in a straight line, no arcing shot to target past obstacles. Very fast projectile.
3. Longbow: fires in an arcing shot, can hit targets behind obstacles.  Medium speed projectile.
4. Shortbow: fires in an arcing shot, can hit targets behind obstacles.  Medium speed projectile.
5. Pistol: fires in a straight line, no arcing shot to target past obstacles.  Very fast projectile.
6. Throwing Spear: thrown in an arcing shot, can hit targets behind obstacles.  Slow speed projectile.  
7. Thrown Weapon: thrown in an arcing shot, can hit targets behind obstacles.  Slow speed projectile.

The following weapons have no base damage (except Spiked Arm Shield) but add something else to the wielder
1. Tower Shield: adds the highest Armor value to wielder out of all shields.
2. Shield: adds the second highest Armor value to wielder out of all shield.
3. Buckler: adds the third highest Armor value to wielder out of all shields.
4. Spiked Arm Shield: adds the fourth highest Armor value to wielder out of all shields.
5. Warhorn: adds no AC but has a 20% chance to rally fallen allies when using warhorn skills.  Player controlled allies have priority over pets and other npcs.
6. Focus: adds no AC but has a 20% chance to resist interruption when channelling focus spells.  Has a 10% chance to resist interruption when channelling non-focus spells.
7. Flute: adds no AC but has a 20% chance to apply 5 seconds of 'Rapt Audience' on all allies in radius and 'Captured Audience' on all foes in radius when using flute skills.  Rapt Audience is an effect that increases the duration of all incoming Shouts and Songs by 20%.  Captured Audience increases the CC duration of any CC inducing skills a foe receives by 20%.

 

G. Weapon Physical Damage Types
The total damage output of a weapon is dependent on any additional conditions the weapons apply (ie, all bladed and piercing weapons may apply bleeding and add dps to the base damage type) and the native defenses of the target.   Base physical damage types for weapons are blunt, slashing, and piercing.

There are certain types of armor which are more vulnerable to a damage type versus another, for example:
I. Blunt weapon damage versus armors: 
A. Excellent versus metal (heavy) and cloth (light).
B. Above average versus bone (heavy), scale (heavy, medium) and chitin (heavy, medium).
C. Average versus fur (heavy, medium) and leather (medium).

II. Piercing weapon damage versus armors:
A. Average versus metal (heavy).
B. Above average versus bone (heavy), scale (heavy, medium) and chitin (heavy, medium).
C. Above average versus fur (heavy, medium), leather (medium), and cloth (light).

III. Slashing weapon damage versus armors:
A. Below average versus metal (heavy)
B. Above average versus bone (heavy), scale (heavy, medium) and chitin (heavy, medium).
C. Excellent versus fur (heavy, medium), leather (medium), and cloth (light).
Scale: Excellent > above average > average > below average

 

H. Weapon Elemental Damage Types
Some weapons have an elemental enchantment on the weapon which reduces a portion of the physical damage in exchange for one of four types of elemental damage: Fire, Ice, Lightning, and Acid. Some armors have innate resistances and vulnerabilities to certain elements.
1. Fire elemental damage
a. Metal is weakly resistant to fire.
b. Bone is vulnerable to fire.
c. Scale is resistant to fire.
d. Chitin is vulnerable to fire.
e. Fur is vulnerable to fire.
f. Leather is vulnerable to fire.
g. Cloth is very vulnerable to fire.

2. Ice elemental damage
a. Metal is weakly resistant to Ice.
b. Bone is vulnerable to Ice.
c. Scale is vulnerable to Ice.
d. Chitin is vulnerable to Ice.
e. Fur is resistant to Ice.
f. Leather is weakly resistant to Ice.
g. Cloth is very vulnerable to Ice.

3. Lightning elemental damage
a. Metal is very vulnerable to lightning.
b. Bone is vulnerable to lightning.
c. Scale is weakly resistant to lightning.
d. Chitin is resistant to lightning.
e. Fur is resistant to lightning.
f. Leather is very resistant to lightning.
g. Cloth is very vulnerable to lightning.

4. Acid elemental damage
a. Metal is resistant to acid.
b. Bone is vulnerable to acid.
c. Scale is weakly resistant to acid.
d. Chitin is resistant to acid.
e. Fur is vulnerable to acid.
f. Leather is vulnerable to acid.
g. Cloth is very vulnerable to acid.

5. Arcane damage 
Arcane damage is not really an elemental damage type.  Arcane is not a damage type that can be enchanted on any weapon but one found from spells cast by mesmers.  It is very powerful not because of the raw damage it can dish out but because nearly all armors do not have an innate resistance to it.
a. Metal is vulnerable to arcane.
b. Bone is very resistant to arcane.
c. Scale is vulnerable to arcane.
d. Chitin is vulnerable to arcane.
e. Fur is vulnerable to arcane.
f. Leather is vulnerable to arcane.
g. Cloth is vulnerable to arcane.

A glaring exception to the rule is bone armor, since the raw material of bone armor was intimately associated to a living creature, a remnant of its spiritual essence provides protection from arcane magic.  Bone armors provide high AC and decent physical damage protection relative to other armor types in a weight class, as well as the arcane resistance.  Some bone armors are crafted from the remains of powerful creatures which have a chance of providing an additional enchantment or Boon versus an armor made of another material.

6. Plasma damage
Plasma damage is a novel damage type created by Automatons, sentient machine beings found in Cantha and are part of the Jade Collective.  This type of damage is not magical or physical, and there is no armor with an innate defense to it, the only way to acquire a defense to it is to equip armor with the specific Cursed enchantment (see following section).

 

I. Holy Light and Oppression damage types, Sacred and Cursed enchantment types
Holy Light and Oppression are two new damage types to Guild Wars.  They are special types of damage whose added damage is dependent on three factors, your profession's base defense or weakness, the quantity or presence of Sacred and Cursed weapons equipped, the quantity or presence of Sacred and Cursed armor equipped.  No trait options or standard enchantments can give you defense or weakness to either of these damage types.  

Assaasin: Slightly resistant to Oppression, slightly vulnerable to Holy Light.
Elementalist: No resistance or vulnerability.
Guardian: Moderate resistance to Holy Light, moderate vulnerability to Oppression.
Mesmer: No resistance or vulnerability.
Necromancer: Moderate resistance to Oppression, moderate vulnerability to Holy Light.
Ranger: Slightly resistant to Holy Light, slightly vulnerable to Oppression.
Warrior: No resistance or vulnerability.

Note: some elite specializations modify the resistances and vulnerabilities to Holy Light and Oppression, for example, the Warrior elite specialization, Ascetic, gives you moderate resistance to Holy Light, moderate vulnerability to Oppression.

Sacred or Cursed enchantments on weapons or armor are an extra enchantment that can appear on the item in addition to standard armor or weapon enchantments (detailed later).  Only one Sacred or Cursed enchantment can appear on an item, and each will increase your vulnerability to Oppression or Holy Light damage respectively.  Conversely, the more Sacred enchanted items you equip the higher your Holy Light damage resistance, and the more Cursed enchanted items you equip the higher your Oppression damage resistance. You can opt to play it safe and not equip any Sacred or Cursed armor in order to avoid a significant vulnerability to Holy Light or Oppression damage but you will still take damage from both damage types.  The appeal of the benefits of Sacred or Cursed gear will predictably lead to players seeking such gear at every available slot and potentially open up a new variable that can be used against them in the accumulated vulnerability to either Holy Light or Oppression damage.  

If, through profession resistances and equipped gear of the compatible damage type, the player reaches 'Extremely Resistant' to a particular damage type, their ability to damage foes with the same damage type will be increased by 50%, making such a feature a double-edged sword where while you are highly vulnerable to the opposing damage type you wield your chosen damage type with lethal skill.

Since Holy Light damage can only be gained via a Sacred enchantment, and Oppression Damage only through Cursed enchantment, it is feasible to also wield another elemental damage type at the same time via Gemstone.  Holy Light and Oppression does not suppress whatever other damage imparted by Gemstones, it just adds another source of damage in addition to.  So if you are fighting a creature who is both vulnerable to Fire damage and Holy Light, then you can attain maximal damage versus such a creature if you wield a Sacred weapon with both the Holy Light Sacred enchantment and Fire damage Gemstone equipped.

Sacred or Cursed armor enchantments stack, with few exceptions.  Sacred or Cursed weapon enchantments only affect the weapon skills hosting the enchantment.

Sacred and Cursed enchantments are very rarely found in loot, are only found in Exotic rarity or higher.  They have a higher chance of being found at the successful completion of world bosses.  Any such enchantment can be removed from its item of origin (by an Enchanter) and placed on another item of the same category.  Removing the Sacred or Cursed enchantment destroys the item.  Finding a Sacred or Cursed item automatically unlocks its application for your Legendary gear.  Sacred and Cursed items are automatically Account Bound, so everyone will need to acquire them through their own looting.  Since a lot of values on the enchantment are variable (as depicted by the ranges in their descriptions), many players will be motivated to seek to obtain optimal enchantments.

Sacred Weapon enchantment possibilities (only 1 found per weapon)
A. Chance to hit (1-4%).

B. Chance to crit (1-3%).

C. Reduced chance of glancing blow (2-6%)

D. Add Holy Light damage to your weapon's attacks.

E. Add Holy Light AoE to your weapon's critical hits.  Internal cooldown: 4-6 seconds.

F. On critical hit, you have a 10-20% chance to cast a Sacred Mark on the ground, at the site of your target.  The Sacred Mark deals Holy Light damage over time to all foes who stand over it.  Duration: 5-10 seconds.  Internal cooldown: 30-60 seconds.

G. Every time you use a weapon skill you gain 200 Toughness for 3 seconds.  Internal cooldown: 2-4 seconds (offhand weapons only).

H. Transfiguration.  If your health <= 33%, the next time you use a weapon skill you briefly enter the 'Transfiguration' state, where you are enveloped in bright light.  All nearby foes are Blinded for one second, lose all aggro on you (NPCs only), for 4 seconds, you cannot be targeted, and if you hold a direction, will teleport you away some distance in that direction (offhand weapons only).  Internal cooldown: 20-30 seconds.

I. When a projectile, physical or magical approaches you, a shield made of light bursts forth from you and consumes the projectile.  If the projectile detonates or has some secondary effect, it is suppressed (offhand weapons only).  Does not trigger if your are in stealth or hiding.  Internal cooldown: 20-30 seconds.

J. When a foe's Mark is laid near you or you approach one, a spirit made of light travels to the Mark and randomly turns the Mark into a Sacred Well that provides one of the following to your allies: Regeneration, Vigor, or adds a quantity of primary resource when you make contact with the well (offhand weapons only).  Duration of Sacred Well: 3-6 seconds.  Does not trigger if your are in stealth or hiding.  Internal cooldown: 20-30 seconds.

 

Sacred Armor enchantment possibilities (only 1 found per piece of armor)
A. Random attribute boost (10-30 points).

B. Resistance to a one specific element: Acid, Fire, Ice or Lightning (2-5%).

C. Resistance to one specific physical damage type: Bludgeoning, Piercing or Slashing (2-5%).

D. Resistance to Arcane damage (2-5%)

E. Reduction of the duration time for a specific Control Effect (1-3%).

F. Reduction of the duration time for a specific Condition (1-3%).

G. Any Barrier or Mage Barrier you receive is 15-20% more durable in the damage it can absorb.  This enchantment does not stack.

H. Any Barrier or Mage Barrier you receive has a 20-25% increased duration.  This enchantment does not stack.

I. All healing you receive is 1-3% more potent.

 

Cursed Weapon enchantment possibilities (only 1 found per weapon)
A. Adds a 10-25% chance on hit to inflict the 'Clumsy' Effect, which is a reduced chance to hit (1-5%).  Duration: 2-3 seconds.

B. Adds a 10-25% chance on crit to inflict the 'Unfocused' Effect, which is a reduced chance to crit (1-4%).  Duration: 2-3 seconds.

C. Adds a 5-20% chance on crit to inflict the 'Uncloaked' Effect, which prevents the target from entering stealth. Duration: 1-3 seconds.  Once one stealth skill has been negated, the Effect is expended.

D. Adds a 5-20% chance on crit to summon a Shadow Being which will only attack the target.  Duration: 2-5 seconds.  The Shadow Being attacks only using Oppression damage.  They are a semitransparent dark figure, arms, head, torso, tail no legs, that float around their victim periodically striking them.  They have a high defense to all elemental and physical damage, but are vulnerable to Arcane damage and very vulnerable to Holy Light damage.

E. Adds a 5-10% chance on crit to inflict the 'Unlucky' Effect, which will copy all the Curses on nearby allies and foes onto the target.  The Curses copied will have the duration of the Unlucky Effect.  Duration: 2-5 seconds.

F. Adds a 5-10% chance on crit to inflict the 'Tragedy' Effect, which will copy all the Hexes on nearby allies and foes onto the target.  The Hexes copied will have the duration of the Tragedy Effect.  Duration: 2-5 seconds.

G. Adds a 5-10% chance on crit to inflict the 'Smothering' Effect, which will copy all the Conditions on nearby allies and foes onto the target.  The Conditions copied will have the duration of the Tragedy Effect.  Duration: 2-5 seconds.

H. If you land the killing blow on a target you summon a Shadow Army entity of the same profession you just felled.  Summon duration: 20-30 seconds.  Internal cooldown: 60-120 seconds.

I. Add Oppression damage to your weapon's attacks.

J. Adds a unique Condition on critical hit, 'Gloom', which is an Oppression damage-over-time. Duration: 3-5 seconds.  Internal cooldown: 4-6 seconds.  Damage is dependant on your personal resistance or vulnerability to Oppression.

K. On critical hit, you have a 10-20% chance to cast a Cursed Mark on the ground, at the site of your target.  The Cursed Mark deals Oppression damage over time to all foes who stand over it.  Duration: 5-10 seconds.  Internal cooldown: 30-60 seconds.

L. Using a weapon skill has a 10-20% chance to cast the 'Shadow Jaunt' Effect, where you turn into a Shadow version of yourself and are immune to all Control Effects.  Duration: 2-4 seconds.  Internal cooldown: 60-120 seconds (offhand weapons only).

 

Cursed Armor enchantment possibilities (only 1 found per piece of armor)
A. You gain a unique Effect, 'Wretched Feast', which grants health whenever a nearby ally or foe dies.  Internal cooldown: 2-5 seconds.  This enchantment does not stack.

B. Physical damage inflicted by Demons reduced by 1-3%.

C. Physical damage inflicted by Margonites reduced by 1-3%.

D. Physical damage inflicted by Undead (this excludes Awakened) reduced by 1-3%.

E. Physical damage inflicted by Mordant Crescent reduced by 1-3%.

F. Physical damage inflicted by Dragons reduced by 1-3%.

G. Physical damage inflicted by Dragonkin reduced by 1-3%.

H. Physical damage inflicted by Constructs reduced by 1-3%.

I. Physical damage inflicted by Automatons reduced by 1-3%.

J. Magical damage inflicted by Demons reduced by 1-3%.

K. Magical damage inflicted by Margonites reduced by 1-3%.

L. Magical damage inflicted by Undead (this excludes Awakened) reduced by 1-3%.

M. Magical damage inflicted by Mordant Crescent reduced by 1-3%.

N. Magical damage inflicted by Dragons reduced by 1-3%.

O. Magical damage inflicted by Dragonkin reduced by 1-3%.

P. Magical damage inflicted by Constructs reduced by 1-3%.

Q. Plasma damage inflicted by Automatons reduced by 1-3%.

R. Random attribute boost (40-50 points) but you lose 1% of your total HP.

S. Random attribute boost (40-50 points) but you lose 1% of your total primary resource.

T. Increase Armor Level of the armor piece by 10-20% but you lose 1% of your total HP.

U. Increase Armor Level of the armor piece by 10-20% but you lose 1% of your total primary resource.

V. You gain a unique Effect, 'Resource Scavenger', which grants you a quantity of Profession primary resource whenever a nearby foe or ally, of the same profession, dies.  Internal cooldown: 2-5 seconds.  This enchantment does not stack.  

W. You gain a unique Effect, 'Dark Motivation', which grants you a quantity of Endurance whenever a nearby foe or ally dies.  Internal cooldown: 2-5 seconds.  This enchantment does not stack.

X. You gain a Shadow Guard. They are a semitransparent dark figure, arms, head, torso, tail no legs, that float around their master.  Shadow Guards are able to detect any nearby traps and will automatically approach a trap to trigger it, sacrificing itself in order to protect its master. After losing a Shadow Guard, a new one will spawn after 90-120 seconds.  If you enter stealth or hide, any active Shadow Guard is unsummoned.  Does not trigger if your are in stealth or hiding.  This enchantment does not stack.

 

J. Armor class (AC) comparison by material and weight - AC from highest to lowest.
A. Heavy armor:  metal - bone - scale - chitin - fur
B. Medium armor: scale - chitin - fur - leather
C. Light armor: cloth

 

K. Armor Enchantments
Instead of rune sets, Exotic and Ascended armor pieces have a chance to carry one enchantment on the following pieces: head, shoulders, hands, chest, legs, feet.  On the other hand, as opposed to the aforementioned armor pieces whose enchantment slots are automatically unlocked for all players, it is recommended a player must complete a difficult dungeon in order to enchant a specific type of jewelry, ie necklace, rings, or earrings.  This difficult dungeon should allow for the enchantment of a specific piece of jewelry, not one where you can enchant any type of jewelry because players will simply find the easiest dungeon to use to enchant all their jewelry.  Legendary jewelry should not automatically unlock this enchantment slot on jewelry.

Once you unlock an armor enchantment, you can go to an Enchanter NPC and you can add the unlocked enchantment to an unenchanted piece of armor or replace another armor's enchantment.  Armor enchantments do not boost Attribute points, but provide other benefits.  Armor enchantments do not stack, so you cannot add a specific type of enchantment on more than 1 piece of armor.

Lesser Aegis: 10% chance to block an incoming attack, 5 second internal cooldown.

Persistent Minor Aegis: 5% chance to block an incoming attack.  No internal cooldown.

Lesser Alacrity: When you use any attack skill, your skills recharge 10% faster for 5 seconds.  5 second internal cooldown.

Persistent Minor Alacrity: Your skills recharge 5% faster.  No internal cooldown.

Lesser Barrier: When your total health drops below 15%, you gain a Barrier that is 20% of your total health for 5 seconds.  20 second internal cooldown.

Persistent Minor Barrier: You gain a persistent Barrier that is 10% of your total health.  If an enemy breaks your Barrier, you will regenerate a new one after 10 seconds.  

Lesser Fury: When you successfully hit a target, your chance to critically strike increases by 10% for 5 seconds.  5 second internal cooldown.

Persistent Minor Fury: Your chance to critically hit is increased by 5%.  No internal cooldown.

Lesser Might: When you successfully hit a target, your Power and Condition damage is increased by 10% for 5 seconds.  5 second internal cooldown.

Persistent Minor Might: Your Power and Condition damage is increased by 5%.  No internal cooldown.

Lesser Protection: When you take damage, you take 10% reduced damage from all sources for 5 seconds.  5 second internal cooldown.

Persistent Minor Protection: You take 5% less damage from all sources.  No internal cooldown.

Lesser Quickness: When you successfully hit a target, your attack and action speeds are increased by 25% for 5 seconds.  10 second internal cooldown.

Persistent Minor Quickness: Your attack and action speeds are increased by 10%.  No internal cooldown.

Lesser Regeneration: When you take damage, you gain 2% of your total health, every second, for 5 seconds.  5 second internal cooldown.

Persistent Minor Regeneration: You gain 1% of your total health back every second.  No internal cooldown.

Lesser Resistance: When you are afflicted by any of the following: Blind, Cripple, Chill, Fear, Immobilize, Slow, or Weakness, you have a 50% chance to be immune to the aforementioned control conditions for 5 seconds.  10 second internal cooldown.

Persistent Minor Resistance: You have a 10% chance to instantly cleanse Blind, Cripple, Chill, Fear, Immobilize, Slow, or Weakness control conditions.  No internal cooldown.

Lesser Resolution: When you receive a damaging condition, for 5 seconds damaging conditions are 15% less damaging.  10 second internal cooldown.

Minor Persistent Resolution: Damaging conditions are 7% less damaging.  No internal cooldown.

Lesser Stability: When you are knocked down, knocked back, pulled, launched, stunned, dazed, floated, sunk, or feared, you have a 50% chance to ignore the aforementioned control effects, but you still take any damage incurred.  10 second internal cooldown.

Persistent Minor Stability: When you are knocked down, knocked back, pulled, launched, stunned, dazed, floated, sunk, or feared, you have a 10% chance to ignore the aforementioned control effects, but you still take any damage incurred.  No internal cooldown.

Lesser Swiftness: When you dodge, your movement speed is increased by 20% for 5 seconds, 10 second internal cooldown.  When your total health drops below 10%, your movement speed is increased by 100% for 3 seconds, 20 second internal cooldown.

Persistent Minor Swiftness: Your movement speed, and that of your Pets and summons, are increased by 15%.  No internal cooldown.

Lesser Vigor: When you dodge, your Endurance regeneration is increased by 25% for 5 seconds, 10 second internal cooldown.  When your total health drops below 10%, you instantly gain 50 Endurance (a dodge requires 50 Endurance), 30 second internal cooldown.

Persistent Minor Vigor: Your Endurance regeneration is increased by 15%.  No internal cooldown.

Protection from Extreme Weather: Negates any Effects imposed on you from the climate of the location you are currently adventuring in.  If an extremely hot environment imposes an Endurance penalty on you, or an exremely cold environment imposes a movement or skill activation penalty, it no longer does so with this enchatment.  

Assassin's Bounty: Initiative regeneration is increased by 10%.

Elementalists's Bounty: Mana regeneration is increased by 10%.

Guardian's Bounty: Divine Favor regeneration is increased by 10%.

Mesmer's Bounty: Energy regeneration is increased by 10%.

Necromancer's Bounty: You gain 10% additional Life Force from fallen foes and allies.

Ranger's Bounty: Energy regeneration is increased by 10%.

Warrior's Bounty: 10% additional Adrenaline is gained with each successful strike.

Bludgeon Guard: The total Bludgeoning damage you would take is reduced by 10%.

Pierce Guard: The total Piercing damage you would take is reduced by 10%.

Slash Guard: The total Slashing damage you would take is reduced by 10%.

Acid Guard: The total Acid damage you would take is reduced by 10%.

Arcane Guard: The total Arcane damage you would take is reduced by 10%.

Fire Guard: The total Fire damage you would take is reduced by 10%.

Ice Guard: The total Ice damage you would take is reduced by 10%.

Lightning Guard: The total Lightning damage you would take is reduced by 10%.

Melee Guard: The total melee attack damage you would take is reduced by 5%.

Projectile Guard: The total ranged weapon projectile damage you would take is reduced by 5%.

Spell Guard: The total magic spell damage you would take is reduced by 5%.

Control Guard: The total time you are subject to control effects is reduced by 10%.

Critical Hit Guard: The total critical hit damage you would take is reduced by 10%.

Condition Guard: Damaging Conditions inflicted on you have their durations reduced by 10%.

The following armor enchantments are found on specific pieces of armor.
Silent Stride: Foot armor only.  You make no sound when you walk or run, escaping the detection of foes who rely on hearing for detection.  Jumping, sprinting, or actions such as spellcasting are not protected by this enchantment.  (Good for Assassins moving in stealth to avoid feline detection, etc).

Feather Foot: Foot armor only.  You have a 20% chance to not trigger any traps, hidden or visible, that you travel over.  This includes environmental, non-player character, and player character laid traps.

Lucky Foot: Foot armor only.  You have a 10% chance to not trigger damage or conditions from ground based Marks, Wells, or elemental spells.

Expert Leaper: Foot armor only.  You jump 20% farther and 20% faster.

Practiced Sprinter: Foot armor only.  Warrior and Assassin only.  Your sprint consumes 20% less Endurance.

Evasive Maneuvers: Leg armor only.  Your superior combat movement impedes your foe's ability to land a critical hit.  Foes have a 5% reduced chance to critically hit you.

Resolute Determination: Leg armor only.  The Cripple condition reduces your speed by only 25% instead of 50%.  The Immobilize condition duration on you is reduced by 50%.

Running Buddies: Leg armor only.  Your party's running speed is 5% faster.  Includes Pets and summons.  If a Swiftness spell is cast, you and all party members affected have 25% increased Swiftness duration.  If a Superspeed spell is cast, you and all party members affected have 25% increased Superspeed duration.  If a Shout increases movement speed, you and all party members affected have a 25% increased duration of that Shout.

Strong Foundation: Leg armor only.  You spend 20% less time incapacitated when you are knocked down.

Expert Evader: Leg armor only.  Your dodge animation speed is increased by 25%.

Quick Reactions: Shoulder armor only.  You have a 25% chance to automatically evade environmental hazards that would have otherwise hit you.

Veteren Dungeoneer: Shoulder armor only.  All environmental hazard damage you take is reduced by 20%.

Controlled Falling: Shoulder armor only.  Your falling damage is reduced by 25%.

Seasoned Rider: Shoulder armor only.  Your mount summoning cooldown is reduced by 50%.

Cautious Rider: Shoulder armor only.  Your mount has a 10% chance to obstruct incoming damage.

Elemental Guard: Chest armor only.  You take 5% reduced damage from all elemental (Acid, Fire, Ice, Lightning) damage types (note, do not include Arcane damage protection in this enchantment).

Weapon Guard: Chest armor only.  All conditions, Ailments, Poisons that result from melee or ranged weapons have a 5% chance to have their durations reduced by 50%.

Pain-eater: Chest armor only.  All strike damage you take has 50% chance to heal you for 5% of the total inbound damage.
Condition-eater: Chest armor only.  For every tick of condition damage you take there is a 25% chance for you to be healed for 10% of the total tick damage.

Pain-feast: Chest armor only.  All critical hits on you have a 5% chance to heal you for 100% of the total inbound damage.

Willpower: Head armor only.  All magic spells cast on you have a 5% chance to have their durations reduced by 50%.

Revelation: Head armor only.  You have a 10% chance to see through illusions.  One of the benefits is for the chance to distinguish the illusion from the Mesmer.

Cat Vision: Head armor only.  Your vision in the dark is greatly improved.  When in darkness, you can also detect hidden traps and hidden doors.  At night or in darkness, you have a 10% chance to detect a stealthed foe when they enter your radius of detection.

Fearless: Head armor only.  All Fear and Taunt condition have a 50% reduced duration on you.  You have a 10% chance to instantly dispell Fear from yourself. 

Steadfast Soul: Head armor only.  You are highly resistant to Possession.  You have a 90% chance to instantly shake off Possession, and a 10% chance to have Possession duration reduced by 80%.

Steel Spine: Back item only.  All knockbacks or pushes send you back at a 50% less distance.

Expert Glider: Back item only.  You can glide 20% farther.

Hide Scent: Back item only.  This enchantment gives you a 25% chance to avoid being detected by scent.  Keep in mind that this does not prevent you from being detected visually.

Virtual Weight: Back item only.  All pulls performed on you draw you in 50% less distance.  All lifts or sinks performed on you have 50% decreased duration.

Back Guard: Back item only.  Blocking or parrying now protects you a full 360° instead of 225°.

Steady Hands: Hand armor only.  10% reduced chance to land a glancing blow.

Thievish Dexterity: Hand armor only.  Assassin only.  Your lockpicking attempt has a 25% increased chance to succeed.  Your trap disarming attempt has a 25% increased chance to be successful.

Quick Reflexes: Hand armor only.  Your shield blocks and parry weapon parries are 50% quicker.

Rejuvenating Weapon: Hand armor only.  You gain 10 Endurance every time you swap weapons.

Magnetic Grip: Hand armor only.  You have a 50% chance to resist a weapon disarm.

 

L. Armor Class, Toughness and Threat
In GW2, having a high Toughness attribute score was one of the ways to generate threat, gain and hold PvE aggro.  This is longer the case in GW3, high Toughness is a tool to personally mitigate damage and not a factor with respect to generating threat, gaining and holding aggro.  

A combination of factors generate threat, a formula taking 4 factors into consideration generate a threat value.  Damage ouput, healing output, CC, and proximity.  Different manifestations of the aforementioned generate different levels of threat.  Taunts by Warrior, Assassin, Ranger Pets, and undead minions summoned by a Necromancer are considered a high threat value form of CC.  Warriors have several utility skills with a taunt and several banners which pulse a taunt, and in every weapon at least 1 weapon skill that adds increased threat.

 

M. Belt armor and itemization
You've probably noticed belt armor has been completely ignored in all the previous discussion about armor enchantments.  While initially mentioned to carry one slot for 1 infusion, belts do not carry enchantments like other pieces of armor.  Belts are designed to hold an X number of passive buffs acquired through completing difficult content or at the end of completing an expansion.  Let us call these passive buffs, Account Passives, because they are unlocked for all your characters and they cannot be dispelled or ripped as a typical Boon can.  It is important to emphasize that no belts or Account Passives be able to be obtained via a collection, it must be through participating in difficult game content.  I would also minimize the number obtained via PvP or FvF game modes as well.

Belts initially acquired hold 2 slots for Account Passives and 1 infusion slot.  Through completion of difficult dungeons, you can unlock belts with 3, 4, 5, or 6 slots for Account Passives.  The number of infusion slots should remain the same, just one, with one exception mentioned later.  It is assumed there will dozens of Account Passives you can unlock so players will set up a desired combination of Account Passives across several belts, instead of manually changing Account Passives in and out for different scenarios.

A legendary crafted belt should automatically provide the max number of Account Passive slots you have unlocked, it should not let you skip through the process of acquiring additional Account Passive slots.  The clear benefit of crafting a legendary belt will be that only the legendary belt has 2 infusion slots.  The legendary belt must not also offer all Account Passives ingame without you doing any work to unlock them, NO, you must earn those Account Passives.

 

N. Two-handed weapons versus one-handed weapons versus dualwielding
In Guild Wars 2, skill 1 of a two-handed greatsword dealt a little over 10% more damage than a one-handed sword's skill 1.  Maybe the attempt to enforce parity in damage output was done to enable the individual with a one-handed weapon be able to compete with the two-handed weapon wielding individual, but I think this greatly diminishes the two-handed weapon and what its natural advantage over the one-hander should be.  In Guild Wars 3, the two-handed weapon will deal approximately double the damage of a one-handed weapon.  The following example will use arbitrary values for skill 1 to demonstrate the new system

Greatsword (two-handed sword): 1000 Slashing damage.
Sword (one-handed sword): 500 Slashing damage.
Longsword (a heavy one-handed sword): 550 Slashing damage.
Parrying-sword (a light one-handed sword): 450 Slashing damage.

Skill one is no longer a chain-attack.  It is the base autoattack for your equipped weapon(s).  There will only be two animations for skill 1, a swing to the right, a swing to the left.  Repeatedly hitting skill 1 will yield a logical sequence of animation of you swinging you weapon right and left over and over.  If you are equipped with a greatsword, it will be 1000 Slashing damage.  If you are equipped with a sword and shield, it will be 500 Slashing damage.  If you are equipped with a sword in a mainhand and a sword in the offhand, it will be 500 + 500 = 1000 total Slashing damage.  If you are dualwielding swords, your skill 1 will be an autoattack which takes the damage of both one-handed weapons you are wielding and combines the damage value if they are the same damage type (Slashing in our example).  The animation for skill 1 will also change if you are dualwielding, with each weapon swinging the opposite direction, both weapons swing inward (crossing eachother), then if you hit skill 1 again, both weapons swing outward.  Regarding dual-wielding swing speed, that will be determined by the slowest weapon you have equipped.

An important aspect to consider in the above scenario is when you wield a two-hander, a die is rolled and you either perform a:
A. Critical hit
B. Regular hit
C. Glancing blow
D. Miss your target

The above four possibilities are also applied to each weapon when you autoattack while dualwielding, a die is rolled for each weapon, resulting in a higher variability when you dualwield.  

Another important new feature in Guild Wars 3 will be the ability to hold down a weapon skill, thus 'charging' the skill (only needs to be held down for 2 seconds) and then unleashing a higher damaging version (33% more damage than the non-charging version of the skill).  At a minimum, this will happen with skill 1 (the autoattack skill) for all melee weapons an Assassin, Ranger or Warrior (no other profession can charge melee attacks) equips.  Some melee weapons may have a second charging attack, most will not.  You can charge an attack while completing another attack, therefore not exposing yourself to your charging animation.  Charged weapon attacks have an animation that is 50% faster than the noncharged variant, but the final frame of the attack animation is held for one second leaving you vulnerable.  You cannot spam charging attacks, there is a 5 second internal cooldown for reuse.

Here is a list of the type of skills that may be found on a melee weapon.
1. Autoattack (can be made into a charging attack by Assassins, Rangers and Warriors).

2. Chain attack - often 3 different attacks in a sequence with one of the attacks inflicting a Condition (Assassin, Elementalist, Guardian, Mesmer, Necromancer and Ranger) or Ailment (Warrior).

3. Multi-hit attack.  A flurry of quick strikes that does not apply a Condition or Ailment but is a good source of DPS.

4. An attack that imposes a Control Effect.

5. An attack which interrupts a target's actions or attack.

6. An AoE attack that hits an unlimited number of targets (only two-handers).

7. Riposte.  You negate one incoming attack and quickly couterattack your attacker.

8. Disarming attack.  If the attacks connects with its target, you Disarm your target for a period.

9. Rushing attack.  Rush a target and deliver a powerful blow.  This can also be a leap.

10. Evasion attack.  This attack has several evasion frames in its animation. May also reposition you to the side, behind, or away from target.

11. Conditional attack.  If one or more variables are present on your target (ie is stunned, health < 50%, is Bleeding etc), you hit for either: extra damage, apply a Condition (Assassin and Ranger only), apply a Control Effect, apply an Ailment (Warrior only), enter a Stance (Warrior), or go into stealth (Assassin only).

12. Summoning attack.  If the attack connects with its target, either a Clone is summoned (Mesmer), an Undead Minion is summoned (Necromancer), a Nature Spirit is summoned (Ranger), or an Elemental is summoned (Elementalist).

13. Healing or Boon attack.  If the attack connects with its target, either a Boon is applied to allies or an AoE heal is dispensed (Guardian, Ranger).

14. Warding attack.  If the attack connects you place a Ward at either your feet or at the target (Guardian).

15. Spell attack.  If the attack connects, a spell is cast to the target foe or an area (Elementalist, Guardian, Necromancer, Mesmer).

16. Life leech attack.  If the attack connects, you leech health from your target (Necromancer).

17. Shout attack.  If the attack connects, you use a Shout (Warrior).

18. Absorption attack.  There is a physical attack but there is a secondary feature to the attack, if any magical or elemental projectile (not a physical projectile like a bullet, arrow, rock etc.) make contact with you while you are swinging your weapon, you absorb it and can redirect it to the target of your next attack (Guardian, Mesmer).

19. Boon-ripping attack.  If the atack connects, you remove one of your target's Boons.  If your target has no Boons but has Barrier, you rip the Barrier off your target.  Your target's Barrier has the highest priority to be retained.  If your target has no Boons or Barrier, you deal 10% extra damage on your target (Warrior).

20. Boon-stealing attack.  If the attack connects, you steal one of your target's Boons.  If your target has no Boons but has Barrier, you steal a portion of their Barrier with the remaining duration (Mesmer).

21. Boon-corrupting attack.  If the attack connects, you corrupt one of your target's Boons into a Condition.

22. Resource extinguishing attack.  If the attack connects, you extinguish a portion of the target's primary resource (Adrenaline, Divine Favor, Energy, Initiative, Life Force, Mana).  If no primary resource is available, then a portion of Endurance is extinguished (Necromancer, Mesmer).

23. Combo field attack.  If the attack connects, you conjure a combo field at either your location or that of the target (Elementalist, Guardian, Necromancer, Mesmer).

24. Impairment attack.  If the dagger attack connects while your target is also using a weapon skill, that skill's recharge time increases 100% (Assassin - Dagger Mastery only).

 

O. Secondary effects from weapons
Professions such as the Assassin, Elementalist, Guardian, Mesmer, Necromancer, and Ranger have the potential for applying standard conditions on victims via weapon skills 1 - 5.  These standard conditions are specified in the tool tip and are Bleeding, Burning, Confusion, Chilled, Crippled, Immobilized, Slow, Weakness, Vulnerability and Charged (victim is overloaded with electrical charge that periodically discharges when near their allies.  The discharge deals damage as well has a small chance to interrupt skills.).  These conditions can be cleansed by skills which remove conditions.

Assassins have access to various Poisons which apply a unique Poisoned effect on their weapon attacks that a standard condition cleanse cannot remove, and requires a skill which specifically neutralizes poisons.

Warriors are not magic casters so they do not apply magical damaging conditions, but have a chance to apply effects called Ailments that do similar things to some magical conditions but are much shorter in duration and not dependent on any Condition Damage or Expertise attribute.  Instead, if a damage is being dealt by a Hemorrhage Ailment (like Bleeding but much shorter duration and frontloaded damage), the damage dealt is dependent on the weapon damage, any attributes that affect weapon damage, and the mitigating traits and armor (ie, the target's metal armor is resistant to the attacker's slashing damage so the bleeding damage dealt will be reduced) of the victim.  Larger slashing weapons such as greatswords and greataxes will produce larger frontloaded damage than one-handed variants.  To differentiate, greatswords have a faster rate of attack than greataxes and will produce Hemorrhage more often; greataxes have a higher base damage so the frontloaded damage will be higher than greatsword.

Warrior slashing (swords and axes) and piercing (throwing-spear, spiked-mace, and pistol) weapons produce the Hemorrhage Ailment. The combined physical damage and Ailment damage will make them generally higher DPS weapons than hammers and maces.

Warrior hammers produce the Blunt Force Trauma Ailment (for a short duration, all victim's melee attacks are 15% weaker and 15% slower, spellcasting is 15% slower).  The higher the physical damage triggering the effect, the longer the duration.

Warrior maces produce the Concussion Ailment (for a short duration, all non-instant skills become channeling skills and can be interrupted if an attack lands during channeling).

Both hammers and maces have at least one skill which slams the ground in front of them, all nearby foes have a chance to be afflicted with the Unsure Footing Ailment, which causes the stripping of stability (one stack of stability for mace, two stacks of stability for hammer), 10% reduced movement speed, and a 10% increased chance for the victim to deliver a glancing melee attack.

Two handed melee weapons, when wielded by Assassins, Rangers and Warriors, have a chance to Stagger a foe on melee hit.  Stagger is a new element added to combat which causes a target foe to reset any action being performed, so the activation time or channeling begins anew.  This is not an interrupt where the victim's action is lost and a cooldown begins, the action still has a chance to be completed but it will take longer due to it being reset due to the stagger.  Stagger also very briefly slows down a fleeing opponent.  Stagger chance varies from weapon to weapon, and even within the same weapon certain skills will have a higher chance to incur Stagger versus other weapon skills.  In general, the two key criteria which determines greater chance to Stagger is bludgeoning or force of the attack.  Bludgeoning two-handed weapons on average have a greater chance to stagger across all their weapon skills versus those of slashing or piercing two-handed weapons.  Two-handed weapon skills which are executed by greater amounts of effort by the wielder or enhanced by momentum will have the higher chance to Stagger foes.  Stagger is not a condition, it is a feature of the weapon the same way a critical hit is.

Because Stagger requires physical power, the general rates of Stagger should be 
Warrior (highest rate of Stagger) > Assassin > Ranger (lowest rate of Stagger)

Ailments are negative effects placed on target foes by Warriors.  Ailments are heavily dependent on the weapon, are not improved by Condition Damage stats, and are very brief in duration.  Ailments are typically applied on critical hit, but that can be modified via traits to be a flat percentage chance to apply on hit in addition to critical hit application.  Ailments can be cleansed (by a skill specifically designed to cleanse Ailments) but since they are constantly reapplied, the target may opt to save their cleanse for another condition.  Traits in the Warrior 'Two Handed Weapons' or 'One Handed Weapons' trait lines  can also modify Ailments in different ways, such as duration, and even a chance to resist cleanse.

 

P. Weapon sets and swapping
All professions besides Assassin and Warrior have 2 weapon sets that can be swapped during combat.  Assassins and Warriors have 3 weapon sets each that can be swapped during combat.  Assassins can get a fourth weapon set via trait.  Warriors can get a fourth and fifth weapon set via traits.  Both Assassins and Warriors can obtain swap cooldown reduction via traits. 

 

Q. Parrying weapons and blocking
There is a dedicated keybind each for parrying and blocking, Parry and Block respectively.  Please note the Aegis Boon now produces an 'Obstruct' effect when negating attacks, it is no longer 'block' so as to avoid confusion with this new mechanic.

Blocking refers exclusively to an action that can only be performed if a shield is equipped in the offhand, if you do not have a shield equipped then the Block key does nothing.  If you have a shield equipped and press the Block key, you gain an Effect (remember Effects cannot be dispelled or stripped) called 'Blocking-<shield type>', for 2 seconds the Effect is active, and then a 3 second timer countdown commences signifying the Block cooldown which must expire before Block can be used again.  Blocking is effective at 225° radius (centered at the front of the individual blocking), there is 135° radius behind the individual where the block will be ineffective.  

Parrying refers exclusively to an action that can only be performed if you have either a parry-axe, parry-sword, or parry-mace equipped in either hand, if you do not have any of the aforementioned weapons equipped then the Parry key does nothing.  If you have a parry-weapon equipped and press the Parry key, you gain an Effect called 'Parry Weapon', for 1.5 seconds the Effect is active, and then a 3 second timer countdown commences signifying the Parry cooldown which must expire before Parry can be used again.  If you have two parry-weapons equipped, one in each hand, then your Parry cooldown timer reduces from 3 seconds to 2 seconds.  Parrying is effective at 225° radius (centered at the front of the individual parrying), there is 135° radius behind the individual where the parry will be ineffective.  Only Warriors can equip parrying weapons.

Both Block and Parry requires your feet to be planted on a surface (there is a Warrior and Assassin trait that enables you to Block in midair).
What is the difference between Parry and Block?  Blocking takes into consideration the enhanced physical damage mitigation relative to different types of shields.  Parry damage reduction is lowest and the same for all parrying weapons.

Block-Tower Shield: 85% damage reduction of blocked physical attacks.  
Block-Shield: 80% damage reduction of blocked physical attacks.
Block-Buckler: 70% damage reduction of blocked physical attacks.
Block-Spiked Arm Shield: 65% damage reduction of blocked physical attacks.
Parry (parrying axe, parrying sword, parrying mace): 50% damage reduction of parried physical attacks.

Only warriors have access to parrying weapons, but why bother taking a parrying weapon if the damage reduction is inferior to a standard shield?  To give you more combat options, and a defensive tool that will provide additional mitigation on top of your heavy armor and high HP pool.  Parrying weapons are a good option for dual wielding warriors with aggressive load outs who do not want to completely sacrifice defense for more damage.
Versatile combat load outs are as follows:

a. Parrying sword in your main hand and pistol in your offhand - melee weapon with a defensive tool plus midrange offense. A good set to equip as you close the distance to your target or against targets who will seek to run and avoid close combat.

b. Parrying mace in your main hand and warhorn in your offhand - melee weapon with a defensive option plus party support. In addition to your warhorn support you can leverage your mace's Concussion Ailment to get interrupts on key enemies.

c. Parrying axe in your main hand and parrying mace in your offhand - for the reduced Parry cooldown.

d. Heavy axe in your main hand and parrying axe in your offhand - balance the slower, more powerful main hand with a faster, defensive offhand.

Don't overlook the defensive value of shields!  Parrying weapons only provide a single defensive tool (Parry key) but shields have a better version of that (Block key) and provide 2 additional valuable skills. Generally, skill 4 and 5 belong to the shield.  Skill 4 will be a 3-5 second (duration is profession dependent) skill that obstructs all physical and projectile attacks at 100% mitigation.  Skill 5 will be a 2-4 second (duration is profession dependent) skill which reflects projectiles.  Shields can also block projectiles (physical or magic), parrying weapons cannot (the only parry / mitigate damage of other melee attacks).  Beyond the aforementioned, different professions add a thematic spin to their shield skills, such as for Mesmers, in addition to the already mentioned functionality, Skill 4 produces a clone if an attack is successfully obstructed.

Additionally, different shields add different AC values to the wielder's overall AC and some add unique combat features. Here is the order of shields with the highest contributing AC to the lowest:  tower shield - shield - buckler - spiked arm shield.  Spiked arm shields have a chance to inflict piercing damage when Blocking against melee attackers.  Tower shields are the only shields whose skill 5 can also nullify an incoming knockdown, knockback and stun.  Due to their large size and weight, tower shields impose a 5% movement speed penalty to the wielder.

 

R. One handed weapons versus two handed weapons
So parrying and blocking seems so useful, why bother going the two handed weapon route and lose so much defensive capability?  Beyond the base higher damage and the higher critical damage, two handed weapons have an advantage in reach, number of targets affected per hit (one handers can hit up to 3-5 targets, two handers hit 5 or more targets), and at least one skill on a two hander can hit an unlimited number of foes in an specific area (arc in front, nearby etc).  For Warriors, two handed weapon bursts damage an unlimited number of foes in an affected area, but some additional effects will affect a limited number of targets.  An example would be Earthshaker, it will damage all enemies in its affected area but will only knockdown up to 5 (8 with trait) targets.

 

S. Weapon Customization
One handed weapons have 3 customizable slots: one gemstone, one sigil, and one infusion.  Two handed weapons have 5 customizable slots: one gemstone, two sigils, and two infusions. 

1. Gemstone : this slot is reserved for either an element or other powerful select modifications.
Fire Damage: converts 25% of the weapon's physical damage into Fire damage.

Ice Damage: converts 25% of the weapon's physical damage into Ice damage.

Lightning Damage: converts 25% of the weapon's physical damage into Lightning damage

Acid Damage: converts 25% of the weapon's physical damage into Acid damage

Spite: increase threat of your weapon's attacks by 25% - PvE only.

Pacify: decreases threat of your weapon's attacks by 25% - PvE only.

Rebuke: 25% increased damage against Greater Undead, includes Wraiths, Draugr, Wights, Liches, etc. - PvE only.

Djinn Bane: 25% increased damage against Djinn Elementals - PvE only.

Blessed: 25% increased damage against Demons - PvE only.

Dragonslayer: 25% increased damage against Dragons - PvE only.

Electromagnetic Pulse: 25% increased damage against Automatons and machines - PvE only.

Furious: 33% increased Adrenaline gained per successful weapon attack.

Mythical: 25% chance on critical hit to reduce all your magical spell cooldowns by 1 second.

Tenacity: 25% chance on critical hit to reduce all your melee attack cooldowns by 1 second.

Righteous: 10% of your melee critical hit damage heals 4 of your nearby allies, does not heal you, 5 second internal cooldown, only triggered by melee attacks.

Diverge: 10% chance on critical hit to cause your projectile to splinter and hit 3 nearby foes.  Only triggered by two handed ranged weapons such as shortbow, longbow, mortar and rifle.  This gemstone has a 5 second internal cooldown.

Misdirect: 25% chance on critical hit to raise the threat of all your pets, minions and clones attacks by 100% for the next 10 seconds.  Only triggered by two handed ranged weapons such as shortbow, longbow, mortar and rifle.  This gemstone has a 20 second internal cooldown.

Pet Food: 25% chance on critical hit to mark your target as a meal for your pets and summons.  A hex unique to this gemstone, 'Pet Food' is applied to target for 15 seconds.  Any pet or summons which attacks a target with this hex will gain regeneration for as long as the target is afflicted with the Pet Food hex.  Only triggered by two handed ranged weapons such as shortbow, longbow, mortar and rifle.  This gemstone has a 30 second internal cooldown.

Bomblets: 10% chance on critical hit to cause your projectile to disburse a multitude of tiny bomblets over a large area which flash red and detonate after 5 seconds damaging all enemies in the area.  Each bomblet has a 10% chance to critical hit.  Only triggered by two handed ranged weapons such as shortbow, longbow, mortar and rifle.  This gemstone has a 20 second internal cooldown.

Irradiated: 10% chance on critical hit to cause your projectile to disburse a radiation cloud that applies 'Radiation Sickness' to anyone, friend or foe, standing in the cloud.  Radiation Sickness is a condition unique to this gemstone that decreases the effectiveness of all healing spells and skills by 33% AND slowly saps endurance bars.  The radiation cloud lasts for 6 seconds.  Only triggered by two handed ranged weapons such as shortbow, longbow, mortar and rifle.  This gemstone has a 30 second internal cooldown.

Foundation: 20% chance for your shield skills to block and obstruct damage originating from the ground, ie Wells, Traps, Symbols, flame pools etc. (Note: by default shields do not block damage if it originates from the ground beneath you.)  Does not prevent the application of Conditions, Hexes, Curses, Diseases, Poisons or Ailments from ground based sources.  Only triggered by shields.  

Sure-Footed: 33% chance for your shield skills to prevent the application of Conditions, Hexes, Curses, Diseases, Poisons or Ailments originating from ground based sources (ie Wells, Traps, Symbols, flame pools etc.).  Only triggered by shields.

Extinguish: 20% chance for your shield skills to extinguish up to 3 harmful ground based sources of damage and/or Conditions, Hexes, Curses, Diseases, Poisons or Ailments.  This gemstone can only be equipped on shields.  This gemstone has a 30 second internal cooldown.

Salvation: 25% chance to negate a deathblow if you have this gemstone and a shield equipped.  Any Conditions, Hexes, Curses, Diseases, Poisons or Ailments on you are purged.  You instantly regain up to 5% of your total health.  This gemstone can only be equipped on shields.  This gemstone has a 60 second internal cooldown.

Bolster: you gain 10% more health points when you have this gemstone and a shield equipped.  If your health points deplete to a value beyond 10% of your total, you gain regeneration until your health points reaches 10% of your total health.  The aforementioned feature has a 30 second internal cooldown.  This gemstone can only be equipped on shields.

Undergirding: your sheid's Armor level is increased by 50% when you have this gemstone and a shield equipped.  You also gain an extra 10% damage reduction of blocked physical attacks (block damage reduction cannot exceed 99%).  This gemstone can only be equipped on a shield.

Mirrors: 20% increased chance to reflect a projectile, physical or magical, back to its source when using shield skills.  10% chance to reflect a projectile when using block key.  This gemstone can only be equipped on tower shields.

Celerity: 25% chance to recharge all your movement spells when you take damage and your health is <= 25%.  This gemstone can only be equipped on foci or flutes.  This gemstone has a 45 second internal cooldown.

Panic: 20% chance to cast any spell at half the cast time if your health is <= 25%.  This gemstone can only be equipped on foci or flutes.  This gemstone has a 30 second internal cooldown.

Reprisal: 10% chance to gain a unique effect called 'Reprisal' for 3 seconds when your health is <= 20%.  The Reprisal effect increases the rate of recharge for all spells by 100%.  This gemstone can only be equipped on foci.  This gemstone has a 60 second internal cooldown.

Mage Barrier: 20% chance to gain a Mage Barrier for 4 seconds when you have been critically hit by a melee attack or non-magic projectile and your health is <= 25%.  Mage Barrier adds 100% to your total Armor level and +10 resistance to all damage types.  This gemstone can only be equipped on foci.  This gemstone has a 60 second internal cooldown.

Harmony: 10% chance to apply the unique effect 'Harmonious' on 5 nearby allies for 4 seconds whenever you use a flute skill.  The Harmonious effect grants you the health regeneration, movement speed, and ability to use certain skills which can only be used out of combat.  If you suffer damage while under the Harmonious effect you do not enter combat; only if you attack do you enter combat.  The Harmonious effect does not affect accumulated

Adrenaline.  This gemstone can only be equipped on flutes.  This gemstone has a 60 second internal cooldown.

Disharmony: 10% chance to apply the unique Hex 'Disharmonious' on 5 nearby foes for 4 seconds whenever you use a flute skill.  The Disharmonious Hex causes all shouts and songs affecting foes to expire 50% faster.  This gemstone can only be equipped on flutes.  This gemstone has a 60 second cooldown.

Reverberation: 10% chance to produce an echo of your just cast warhorn skill (you can audibly hear it a second time) where the benefits or your warhorn skill are apllied to any allies which did not receive it the first time you triggered the skill.  This gemstone can only be equipped on warhorns.  This gemstone has a 45 second internal cooldown.

Recuperation: 10% chance to instantly refill one bar of endurance for all allies effected by your warhorn skills.  Player controlled allies have priority over pets, summons and npc allies.  This gemstone can only be equipped on warhorns.  This gemstone has a 45 second internal cooldown.

Horn of Plenty: 10% chance to increase the rate of recharge for the healing skill (Skill 6) of all allies affected by your warhorn skills by 100% for 3 seconds.  Player controlled allies have priority over pets, summons and npc allies.  This gemstone can only be equipped on warhorns.  This gemstone has a 45 second internal cooldown.

War Party: PvE only.  If you have this gemstone and a warhorn equipped, plus you are in a PvE game mode, and the 5 member party you are in consists of no guardians, no necromancers, and has at least 1 Assassin, 1 Ranger, and 1 Warrior, all members of your 5 member party (this includes pets, summons and npc allies) receive the 'War Party' effect.  When you have the War Party effect, you cannot apply any beneficial Effects, Boons, etc to any player or npc who do not also have the War Party effect and who are not in your party.  When under the War Party Effect, you gain damage reduction against all damage types, your healing skill recharges 50% faster, your Boons, Shouts last 50% longer, your endurance bar recharges 33% faster, Assassin poisons are applied to all party members, ranger pets have double armor, ranger pets have 50% increased strike damage, and mounted banners on warriors have a 50% larger effective radius.  The War Party effect is applied if you have the gemstone and a warhorn equipped and you meet the party profession composition requirements.  Once the War Party Effect is applied, it is on permanently unless:
A. a guardian or necromancer joins your party
B. the equipped weapon set with the gemstone is removed from your weapon loadouts
C. the person who initiated the War Party Effect switches character
D. if anyone leaves party
If any of the above conditions are met, all party members lose the War Party Effect.  
Note that you can swap to different weapon sets and not lose the War Party effect.  This gemstone can only be equipped on warhorns.

Spurn: 50% chance on critical hit to transfer a condition (with remaining duration) to target, 5 second internal cooldown.

Rebuff: 50% chance on critical hit to transfer a hex (with remaining duration) to target, 5 second internal cooldown.

Repudiate: 50% chance on critical hit to transfer a curse (with remaining duration) to target, 5 second internal cooldown.

Chaos: 10% chance on critical hit to apply the 'Chaotic' hex, a unique hex exclusive to this weapon gemstone.  When under the Chaotic hex, your next action targets the opposite side originally intended, ie the group heal you cast will heal your opponents instead.  Any offensive spell you cast will randomly target your team instead.  Your next melee attack will target any allies close to you instead.  Chaotic hex duration is 4 seconds, but expires once target uses a spell or attack. This gemstone has a 30 second internal cooldown upon hex application.

Incapacitate: 5% chance on critical hit to disable all melee attacks for 5 seconds.  Cannot be cleansed.  On PvE boss mobs this is reduced to 2 seconds, and generates a significant amount of threat.  This gemstone has a 45 second internal cooldown.

Silence: 5% chance on critical hit to disable all spell casting for 5 seconds.  Cannot be cleansed.  On PvE boss mobs this is reduced to 2 seconds, and generates a significant amount of threat. This gemstone has a 45 second internal cooldown.

 

2. Weapon Sigils: this slot is reserved for more subtle changes to combat.  You cannot use two of the same sigil on a single weapon.  When dual wielding, the sigils on one weapon do not affect the other weapon's attacks.  Some powerful sigils incur a penalty.
Sigil of Force: 6% increased damage.

Sigil of Brutality: 10% increased damage, your total health points are reduced by 10%.

Sigil of Accuracy: 7% increased critical strike chance.

Sigil of Certainty: 10% increased critical strike chance, your total damage is reduced by 10%.

Sigil of Bursting: 6% increased condition damage.

Sigil of Eruption: 10% increased condition damage, your health points are reduced by 10%.

Sigil of Curses: 10% increased duration of curses.

Sigil of Hexing: 10% increased duration of hexes.

Sigil of Poison: 10% increased duration of poisons.

Sigil of Ailments: 20% increased duration of ailments (this % is high due to ailments having very short durations).

Sigil of Bleeding: 10% increased Bleeding duration.

Sigil of Burning: 10% increased Burning duration.

Sigil of Confusion: 10% increased Confusion duration.

Sigil of Chilled: 10% increased Chilled duration.

Sigil of Charging: 10% increased Charged duration.

Sigil of Crippling: 10% increased Cripple duration.

Sigil of Immobilizing: 10% increased Immobilized duration.

Sigil of Slowing: 10% increased Slow duration.

Sigil of Weakening: 10% increased Weakness duration.

Sigil of Vulnerability: 10% increased Vulnerability duration.

Sigil of Aegis: 10% increased Aegis duration.

Sigil of Alacrity: 10% increased Alacrity duration.

Sigil of Fury: 10% increased Fury duration.

Sigil of Might: 10% increased Might duration.

Sigil of Protection: 10% increased Protection duration.

Sigil of Quickness: 10% increased Quickness duration.

Sigil of Regeneration: 10% increased Regeneration duration.

Sigil of Resistance: 10% increased Resistance duration.

Sigil of Resolution: 10% increased Resolution duration.

Sigil of Stability: 10% increased Stability duration.

Sigil of Swiftness: 10% increased Swiftness duration.

Sigil of Vigor: 10% increased Vigor duration.

Sigil of Proximity: Melee weapon only.  Your weapon attack affects one additional adjacent target. 

Sigil of the Parry Master: Warrior only.  Your parrying weapon has a 33% chance to successfully parry a projectile and a 20% chance to perform a 'critical parry' resulting in 100% damage mitigation of a melee attack.

Sigil of Featherweight: Warrior only.  Your two handed weapon swing is 25% faster.

Sigil of Reach:  Warrior only.  Your pistol or throwing spear's range is increased by 20%.

Sigil of Guile: Assassin only.  Your weapon attacks have a 20% chance of consuming no Initiative.

Sigil of Shadows: Assassin only.  Your weapon skills which put you into stealth have a 20% chance to extend stealth duration by 25%.

Sigil of Toxins: Assassin only.  If your weapon is poisoned, any weapon skill which critically hits a poisoned target has a 20% chance of adding 5 seconds to the victim's poisoned duration.

Sigil of Avoidance: Ranger only.  Your two handed ranged weapon has a 10% chance to knockback your target.

Sigil of Explosives: Ranger only.  Your two handed ranged weapon skill that fires a succession of projectiles has a 20% chance for the final projectile to cause an AoE explosion.

Sigil of Inclusivity:  Ranger only.  In addition to the 5 allies your warhorn skills affect, your warhorn skills affect 5 additional Ranger pets and/or Necromancer summons.

Sigil of Cloning: Mesmer only.  Your weapon attacks have a 20% chance of producing an additional clone.

Sigil of Encores: Mesmer only.  Your weapon skills that summon clones have a 15% chance to reduce the cooldown of all shatter skills by 1 second.

Sigil of Dark Mimicry:  Mesmer only.  Your weapon skills which summon clones have a 10% chance to summon a clone of your target, complete with all of the target's weapons and skills.  Does not work on PvE Boss characters.

Sigil of Plagues: Necromancer only.  The Diseases you inflict from weapon skills have a 20% chance to become 'Virulent' (icon will change in appearance on victim) and require two cleanses to remove.  If the Virulent Disease spreads to an ally (of the same species) of your target, their disease becomes Virulent as well.

Sigil of Horrors: Necromancer only.  Your weapon attacks have a 20% chance of producing an additional undead minion.

Sigil of Demonology: Necromancer only.  Your weapon skills which summon a lesser demon have a 15% chance to summon a Juggernaut variant of the demon originally intended to be summoned.  Juggernaut demons have 50% more health, power, toughness and condition damage than normal variants.

Sigil of Compassion: Guardian only.  Your weapon skills have a 20% chance of healing one additional ally.

Sigil of Symbols: Guardian only.  Signs from your weapon skills last 50% longer.

Sigil of Holy Flames: Guardian only.  Any weapons skill that heal or apply Boons to allies have a 10% chance to inflict 3 seconds of Burning on nearby foes.

Sigil of Torrent: Elementalist only.  Spells, cast from weapons, that release multiple projectiles have a 10% chance to inflict all their damage 33% faster.

Sigil of Escape: Elementalist only.  Movement spells, cast from weapons, have a 20% chance to move you twice as fast.

Sigil of Elemental Reach: Elementalist only.  Any cone spells, cast from weapons, have 20% extended reach.

Sigil of the Dirtbag: If your weapon skill (Warrior Burst included) knockdowns targets, each nearby, knocked down target has a 20% chance to have dirt kicked in their eye resulting in 4 seconds of Blindness.

Sigil of Gambling:  Melee attacks only.  Your bonus crit damage is reduced by 50% BUT your critical hits have a 20% chance to hit for 200% bonus crit damage.

Sigil of Divine Mercy: If this sigil is equipped, when you die you have a 20% chance for a spirit to revive you from death.  If the spirit appears, it would arrive 15 seconds after you die.  You are revived at full health.

The following sigils can only be applied on shields, flutes, foci, and warhorns.  Many of hese sigils all affect some feature of the skills on the main hand and they are the only sigils which affect a weapon other than the one the sigil is equipped on.

Sigil of Acid Melee Penetration: The Acid element attacks on your main hand weapon penetrates 20% of the Acid resistance of your target.  Affects melee attack skills only.  This sigil can only be equipped on a shield, flute, foci or warhorn.

Sigil of Acid Spell Penetration: The Acid element spells on your main hand weapon penetrates 10% of the Acid resistance of your target.  Affects weapon spells only.  This sigil can only be equipped on a shield, flute, foci or warhorn.

Sigil of Fire Melee Penetration: The Fire element attacks on your main hand weapon penetrates 20% of the Fire resistance of your target.  Affects melee attack skills only.  This sigil can only be equipped on a shield, flute, foci or warhorn.

Sigil of Fire Spell Penetration: The Fire element spells on your main hand weapon penetrates 10% of the Fire resistance of your target.  Affects weapon spells only.  This sigil can only be equipped on a shield, flute, foci or warhorn.

Sigil of Ice Melee Penetration: The Ice element attacks on your main hand weapon penetrates 20% of the Ice resistance of your target.  Affects melee attack skills only.  This sigil can only be equipped on a shield, flute, foci or warhorn.

Sigil of Ice Spell Penetration: The Ice element spells on your main hand weapon penetrates 10% of the Ice resistance of your target.  Affects weapon spells only.  This sigil can only be equipped on a shield, flute, foci or warhorn.

Sigil of Lightning Melee Penetration: The Lightning element attacks on your main hand weapon penetrates 20% of the Lightning resistance of your target.  Affects melee attack skills only.  This sigil can only be equipped on a shield, flute, foci or warhorn.

Sigil of Lightning Spell Penetration: The Lightning element spells on your main hand weapon penetrates 10% of the Lightning resistance of your target.  Affects weapon spells only.  This sigil can only be equipped on a shield, flute, foci or warhorn.

Sigil of Bludgeon Melee Penetration:  The Bludgeon attacks on your main hand weapon penetrates 20% of the Bludgeon resistance of your target.  Affects melee attack skills only.  This sigil can only be equipped on a shield, flute, foci or warhorn.

Sigil of Piercing Melee Penetration: The Piercing attacks on your main hand weapon penetrates 20% of the Piercing resistance of your target.  Affects melee attack skills only.  This sigil can only be equipped on a shield, flute, foci or warhorn.

Sigil of Slashing Melee Penetration: The Slashing attacks on your main hand weapon penetrates 20% of the Slashing resistance of your target.  Affects melee attack skills only.  This sigil can only be equipped on a shield, flute, foci or warhorn.

Sigil of Acid Protection: you receive 5% reduced Acid damage from all sources.  This sigil can only be equipped on a shield, flute, foci or warhorn.  If the item this sigil is equipped on is swapped out for a different weapon set, you lose the damage protection.

Sigil of Arcane Protection: you receive 5% reduced Arcane damage from all sources.  This sigil can only be equipped on a shield, flute, foci or warhorn.  If the item this sigil is equipped on is swapped out for a different weapon set, you lose the damage protection.

Sigil of Fire Protection: you receive 5% reduced Fire damage from all sources.  This sigil can only be equipped on a shield, flute, foci or warhorn.  If the item this sigil is equipped on is swapped out for a different weapon set, you lose the damage protection.

Sigil of Ice Protection: you receive 5% reduced Ice damage from all sources.  This sigil can only be equipped on a shield, flute, foci or warhorn.  If the item this sigil is equipped on is swapped out for a different weapon set, you lose the damage protection.

Sigil of Lightning Protection: you receive 5% reduced Lightning damage from all sources.  This sigil can only be equipped on a shield, flute, foci or warhorn.  If the item this sigil is equipped on is swapped out for a different weapon set, you lose the damage protection.

Sigil of Bludgeoning Protection: you receive 5% reduced Bludgeon damage from all sources.  This sigil can only be equipped on a shield, flute, foci or warhorn.  If the item this sigil is equipped on is swapped out for a different weapon set, you lose the damage protection.

Sigil of Piercing Protection: you receive 5% reduced Piercing damage from all sources.  This sigil can only be equipped on a shield, flute, foci or warhorn.  If the item this sigil is equipped on is swapped out for a different weapon set, you lose the damage protection.

Sigil of Slashing Protection: you receive 5% reduced Slashing damage from all sources.  This sigil can only be equipped on a shield, flute, foci or warhorn.  If the item this sigil is equipped on is swapped out for a different weapon set, you lose the damage protection.

 

3. Infusions:  This slot holds small jewels that boost any of the base attributes of the profession; Power, Precision, Ferocity, Healing Power, Toughness, Vitality, Concentration, Condition Damage, Aggression (Assassin equip only), Durability (Warrior equip only) and Stamina (Warrior equip only).  A reminder, Warriors are not magic caster so Concentration and Condition Damage have NO effect on them and Assassins have a limited ability to cast Boons so Concentration has no effect on them.  As an added measure, Warriors will be unable to even equip Concentration or Condition Damage Infusions and Assassins will be unable to equip Concentration Infusions.

Infusions come in 3 varieties:
Fixed Boost Infusions:  a specific attribute is increased by 200 points (Note, this value is high because weapons no longer innately have attribute point boosts).

Accumulating Boost Infusions: the infusion starts at a paltry 10 bonus for a specific attribute, but as you kill foes, you increase the attribute by 10 points, max is 24 stacks.  Maximum stacks of an Accumulating Boost Infusion will yield 250 bonus points for a specific attribute.  If you die (not downed as in GW2), then you lose all stacks gained.

Triggering Infusions: a specific attribute is increased by only 100 points, but when your health is reduced to 33% or less, the specific attribute is increased from 100 to 300 points.  Once your health returns to above 33%, the infusion returns the attribute increase back to 100 points.

In game rewards can take any of the above types of infusions and append a minor passive buff to the infusion that can stack.  For players looking to max their passive buff potential, such rewards would be perceived as being valuable.  Most of these passive buffs should be directed toward non player controlled mobs.  The buff value should be low with the assumption many will fill all their infusion slots with said infusion.  Another route could be Anet could impose a maximum value to the infusion boost of a specific type to 10%.
For example
- Vitality Accumulating Boost Infusion with 1% increased damage against FvF guards.
- Precision Fixed Boost Infusion with 1% increased damage against Raid Dungeon guards.
- Ferocity Triggering Infusion with 1% increased defense versus Demons.

 

T. Weapon Enchantments
Weapons of higher tier quality, ie Exotic or Ascended, have the possibility of being generated with an enchantment.  This possibility will increase the value of loot drops and extend their desirability due to players pursuing the max value of a certain enchantment.  

Note: how weapons are categorized: 
Melee Weapons: Greataxe, Greatsword, Hammer, Halberd, Naginata, Spear, Scythe, Bo/Staff, Heavy Axe, Longsword, Heavy Mace, Axe, Sword, Mace, Parrying Axe, Parrying Sword, Parrying Mace, Spiked Mace, Dagger, Clawed Gauntlets, Spiked Arm Shield, Scepter.
Ranged Weapons: Mortar, Rifle, Longbow, Shortbow, Throwing Spear, Pistol, Thrown Weapons.
Guard Weapons: Tower Shield, Shield, Buckler, Spiked Arm Shield, Warhorn.
Caster Offhands: Focus, Flute.

Below are some max value weapon enchantments.
Asura Bane: 10% increased damage on Asura.  All weapons.

Asura Brutalizer:  15% increased critical hit damage on Asura.  All weapons.

Asura Hunter:  8% increased chance to critically hit an Asura.  All weapons.

Awakened Bane: 10% increased damage on Awakened.  All weapons.

Awakened Brutalizer:  15% increased critical hit damage on Awakened.  All weapons.

Awakened Hunter:  8% increased chance to critically hit an Awakened.  All weapons.

Cani Bane: 10% increased damage on Cani.  All weapons.

Cani Brutalizer:  15% increased critical hit damage on Cani.  All weapons.

Cani Hunter:  8% increased chance to critically hit a Cani.  All weapons.

Centaur Bane: 10% increased damage on Centaur.  All weapons.

Centaur Brutalizer:  15% increased critical hit damage on Centaur.  All weapons.

Centaur Hunter:  8% increased chance to critically hit a Centaur.  All weapons.

Charr Bane: 10% increased damage on Charr.  All weapons.

Charr Brutalizer:  15% increased critical hit damage on Charr.  All weapons.

Charr Hunter:  8% increased chance to critically hit a Charr.  All weapons.

Dredge Bane: 10% increased damage on Dredge.  All weapons.

Dredge Brutalizer:  15% increased critical hit damage on Dredge.  All weapons.

Dredge Hunter:  8% increased chance to critically hit a Dredge.  All weapons.

Dwarf Bane: 10% increased damage on Dwarves.  All weapons.

Dwarf Brutalizer:  15% increased critical hit damage on Dwarf.  All weapons.

Dwarf Hunter:  8% increased chance to critically hit a Dwarf.  All weapons.

Ettin Bane: 10% increased damage on Ettin.  All weapons.

Ettin Brutalizer:  15% increased critical hit damage on Ettin.  All weapons.

Ettin Hunter:  8% increased chance to critically hit an Ettin.  All weapons.

Forgotten Bane: 10% increased damage on Forgotten.  All weapons.

Forgotten Brutalizer:  15% increased critical hit damage on Forgotten.  All weapons.

Forgotten Hunter:  8% increased chance to critically hit a Forgotten.  All weapons.

Giant Bane: 10% increased damage on Giants.  All weapons.

Giant Brutalizer:  15% increased critical hit damage on Giant.  All weapons.

Giant Hunter:  8% increased chance to critically hit a Giant.  All weapons.

Grawl Bane: 10% increased damage on Grawl.  All weapons.

Grawl Brutalizer:  15% increased critical hit damage on Grawl.  All weapons.

Grawl Hunter:  8% increased chance to critically hit a Grawl.  All weapons.

Harpy Bane: 10% increased damage on Harpies.  All weapons.

Harpy Brutalizer:  15% increased critical hit damage on Harpy.  All weapons.

Harpy Hunter:  8% increased chance to critically hit a Harpy.  All weapons.

Hylek Bane: 10% increased damage on Hylek.  All weapons.

Hylek Brutalizer:  15% increased critical hit damage on Hylek.  All weapons.

Hylek Hunter:  8% increased chance to critically hit a Hylek.  All weapons.

Human Bane: 10% increased damage on Humans.  All weapons.

Human Brutalizer:  15% increased critical hit damage on Human.  All weapons.

Human Hunter:  8% increased chance to critically hit a Human.  All weapons.

Jotun Bane: 10% increased damage on Jotun.  All weapons.

Jotun Brutalizer:  15% increased critical hit damage on Jotun.  All weapons.

Jotun Hunter:  8% increased chance to critically hit a Jotun.  All weapons.

Kappa Bane: 10% increased damage on Kappa.  All weapons.

Kappa Brutalizer:  15% increased critical hit damage on Kappa.  All weapons.

Kappa Hunter:  8% increased chance to critically hit a Kappa.  All weapons.

Kodan Bane: 10% increased damage on Kodan.  All weapons.

Kodan Brutalizer:  15% increased critical hit damage on Kodan.  All weapons.

Kodan Hunter:  8% increased chance to critically hit a Kodan.  All weapons.

Krait Bane: 10% increased damage on Krait.  All weapons.

Krait Brutalizer:  15% increased critical hit damage on Krait.  All weapons.

Krait Hunter:  8% increased chance to critically hit a Krait.  All weapons.

Largos Bane: 10% increased damage on Largos.  All weapons.

Largos Brutalizer:  15% increased critical hit damage on Largos.  All weapons.

Largos Hunter:  8% increased chance to critically hit a Largos.  All weapons.

Naga Bane: 10% increased damage on Naga.  All weapons.

Naga Brutalizer:  15% increased critical hit damage on Naga.  All weapons.

Naga Hunter:  8% increased chance to critically hit a Naga.  All weapons.

Norn Bane: 10% increased damage on Norn.  All weapons.

Norn Brutalizer:  15% increased critical hit damage on Norn.  All weapons.

Norn Hunter:  8% increased chance to critically hit a Norn.  All weapons.

Ogre Bane: 10% increased damage on Ogres.  All weapons.

Ogre Brutalizer:  15% increased critical hit damage on Ogre.  All weapons.

Ogre Hunter:  8% increased chance to critically hit an Ogre.  All weapons.

Phanin Bane: 10% increased damage on Phanin.  All weapons.

Phanin Brutalizer:  15% increased critical hit damage on Phanin.  All weapons.

Phanin Hunter:  8% increased chance to critically hit an Phanin.  All weapons.

Skritt Bane: 10% increased damage on Skritt.  All weapons.

Skritt Brutalizer:  15% increased critical hit damage on Skritt.  All weapons.

Skritt Hunter:  8% increased chance to critically hit a Skritt.  All weapons.

Sylvari Bane: 10% increased damage on Sylvari.  All weapons.

Sylvari Brutalizer:  15% increased critical hit damage on Sylvari.  All weapons.

Sylvari Hunter:  8% increased chance to critically hit a Sylvari.  All weapons.

Tengu Bane: 10% increased damage on Tengu.  All weapons.

Tengu Brutalizer:  15% increased critical hit damage on Tengu.  All weapons.

Tengu Hunter:  8% increased chance to critically hit a Tengu.  All weapons.

Troll Bane: 10% increased damage on Trolls.  All weapons.

Troll Brutalizer:  15% increased critical hit damage on Troll.  All weapons.

Troll Hunter:  8% increased chance to critically hit a Troll.  All weapons.

Undead Bane: 10% increased damage on Lesser Undead.  All weapons.

Undead Brutalizer:  15% increased critical hit damage on Lesser Undead.  All weapons.

Undead Hunter:  8% increased chance to critically hit a Lesser Undead.  All weapons.

Minor Spite: increase threat of your weapon's attacks by 10% - PvE only.  All weapons.

Minor Pacify: decreases threat of your weapon's attacks by 10% - PvE only.   All weapons.

Bloodthirst: 5% increased melee damage against all creatures who can bleed, excludes Undead, Spirits, magical or technological constructs, Elementals etc.  This enchantment is found on Melee Weapons only.

Magical Disturbance: 5% increased melee damage against all creatures which are animated by magic (magical golems, summoned undead) or protected by magic (magical force fields, Barriers, Protection or Aegis Boons), excludes Spirits or Ethereal Beings.  This enchantment is found on Melee Weapons only.

Ethereal Disturbance:  Your weapon imparts unmitigated damage on Spirits and Ethereal Beings (Spirits and Ethereal beings normally suffer 50% reduced melee damage).  This enchantment is found on Melee Weapons only.

Masochism: 10% increased melee damage against all creatures who can bleed, (excludes undead, spirits, magical or technological constructs, elementals etc) BUT also causes the wielder to lose 2% of their health with every successful attack.  A single attack that hits 3 foes will still incur a 2% health loss on the wielder.  This enchantment is found on Melee Weapons only.

Magic Rending: 10% increased melee damage against all creatures (excludes spirits and ethereal beings) which are animated by magic (magical golems, summoned undead) or protected by magic (magical force fields, Barriers, Protection or Aegis Boons) BUT also causes the wielder to lose 2% of their health with every successful attack.  A single attack that hits 3 foes will still incur a 2% health loss on the wielder.  This enchantment is found on Melee Weapons only.

Ethereal Destruction: Your weapon imparts unmitigated damage on Spirits and Ethereal Beings (Spirits and Ethereal beings normally suffer 50% reduced melee damage).  You deal 5% increased damage and the chance to critically hit is increased by 5% versus Spirits and Ethereal Beings BUT you lose 1% of your health with every critical hit.  This enchantment is found on Melee Weapons only.

Ethereal Annihilation: Your weapon imparts unmitigated damage on Spirits and Ethereal Beings (Spirits and Ethereal beings normally suffer 50% reduced melee damage).   You deal 10% increased damage and the chance to critically hit is increased by 10% versus Spirits and Ethereal Beings BUT also causes the wielder to lose 2% of their health with every successful attack.  A single attack that hits 3 foes will still incur a 2% health loss on the wielder.  This enchantment is found on Melee Weapons only.

Boon Fiend: Two consecutive melee attacks which are both critical hits will result in the removal of a Boon.  Removing a Boon in this fashion will cause the wielder's next successful critical hit to be 20% more damaging.  Boon removal with this weapon enchantment incurs a 10 second internal cooldown.  This enchantment is found on Melee Weapons only.

Hex Fiend: Two consecutive melee attacks which are both critical hits will result in the removal of a Hex on the wielder.  Removing a Hex in this fashion will cause the wielder's next successful critical hit to be 20% more damaging.  Hex removal with this weapon enchantment incurs a 10 second internal cooldown.  This enchantment is found on Melee Weapons only.

Curse Fiend: Two consecutive melee attacks which are both critical hits will result in the removal of a Curse on the wielder.  Removing a Curse in this fashion will cause the wielder's next successful critical hit to be 20% more damaging.  Curse removal with this weapon enchantment incurs a 10 second internal cooldown.  This enchantment is found on Melee Weapons only.

Disease Fiend: Two consecutive melee attacks which are both critical hits will result in the removal of a Disease on the wielder.  Removing a Disease in this fashion will cause the wielder's next successful critical hit to be 20% more damaging.  Disease removal with this weapon enchantment incurs a 10 second internal cooldown.  This enchantment is found on Melee Weapons only.

Condition Fiend: Two consecutive melee attacks which are both critical hits will result in the removal of a condition on the wielder.  Removing a condition in this fashion will cause the wielder's next successful critical hit to be 20% more damaging.  Condition removal with this weapon enchantment incurs a 10 second internal cooldown.  This enchantment is found on Melee Weapons only.

Trap Fiend: Two consecutive melee attacks which are both critical hits, while standing on two or more enemy Traps, will consume one of the Traps and cause the wielder's next successful critical hit to be 20% more damaging.  Trap removal with this weapon enchantment incurs a 10 second internal cooldown.  This enchantment is found on Melee Weapons only.

Well Fiend: Two consecutive melee attacks which are both critical hits, while standing on two or more enemy Wells, will consume one of the Wells and cause the wielder's next successful critical hit to be 20% more damaging.  Well removal with this weapon enchantment incurs a 10 second internal cooldown.  This enchantment is found on Melee Weapons only.

Symbol Fiend: Two consecutive melee attacks which are both critical hits, while standing on two or more enemy Symbols, will consume one of the Symbols and cause the wielder's next successful critical hit to be 20% more damaging.  Symbol removal with this weapon enchantment incurs a 10 second internal cooldown.  This enchantment is found on Melee Weapons only.

Determined Strike: This weapon enchantment has a 25% chance for your melee attack to bypass any magical spell which obstructs your attack or causes you to miss (as in under the Blind condition) enabling you to land full damage on the target.  Landing an attack in the manner described incurs a 5 second internal cooldown.  This enchantment is found on Melee Weapons only.

Avenge: If a nearby party member (does not include pets, summons, or npc allies) dies, this weapon enchantment causes your next 3 melee attacks to be 33% more damaging.  Triggering damage augmentation in the manner described incurs a 10 second internal cooldown.  This enchantment is found on Melee Weapons only.

Bullied: If within 1 second you are the recipient of the attacks (melee, ranged, spell) of 4 or more foes (does not include pets or summons), your next 3 melee attacks are 25% more damaging.  Triggering damage augmentation in the manner described incurs a 10 second internal cooldown.  This enchantment is found on Melee Weapons only.

Aggrieved: If within 1 second you are the recipient of 5 or more ranged attacks your next successful melee critical hit will be 25% more damaging on any of your ranged attackers.  Triggering damage augmentation in the manner described incurs a 10 second internal cooldown.  This enchantment is found on Melee Weapons only.

Harrassed: If within 1 second you are the recipient of 5 or more melee attacks, your next successful ranged critical hit will be 25% more damaging on any of your melee attackers. Triggering damage augmentation in the manner described incurs a 10 second internal cooldown.  This enchantment is found on Ranged Weapons only.

Exasperated: If within 1 second you are the recipient of 5 or more melee attacks, your next successful spell critical hit will be 10% more damaging on any of your melee attackers. Triggering damage augmentation in the manner described incurs a 10 second internal cooldown.  This enchantment is found on Caster Offhands only.

Brutalized: If within 1 second you are the recipient of the attacks (melee, ranged, spell) of 4 or more foes (does not include pets or summons), the next 3 attacks on you are 25% less damaging.  Triggering damage reduction in the manner described incurs a 10 second internal cooldown.  This enchantment is found on Guard Weapons only.

For the following weapon enchantments, remember Effects cannot be cleansed and their durations cannot be reduced, you must ride out their full duration.  Also these negative Effects are triggered by weapon skill use, NOT weapon hit, therefore even if your skill attacks multiple times the die is rolled once, at skill activation, that is it.

Assassin's Pain: If targeting an Assassin, 10% chance on weapon skill use to apply a negative Effect called 'Assassin's Pain' that prevents the target Assassin from entering stealth for the next 6 seconds.  For all targets, this enchantment does 3% increased damage and adds 3% increased chance to critically hit.  All weapons.

Assassin's Misfortune: If targeting an Assassin, 10% chance on weapon skill use to apply a negative Effect called 'Assassin's Misfortune' that prevents the target Assassin from using their heal skill for the next 6 seconds.  For all targets, this enchantment has a 20% chance on critical hit to steal 25 Endurance (50 Endurance is required for 1 dodge).  All weapons.

Assassin's Agony: If targeting an Assassin, 5% chance on weapon skill use to apply a negative Effect called 'Assassin's Agony' that drains 75% of the Assassin's Initiative and reduces the damage from the Assassin's attacks by 50% for 6 seconds.  While Assassin's Agony is active no Initiative can be gained.  For all targets, this enchantment adds 6% increased critical hit damage.  All weapons.

Elementalist's Pain: If targeting an Elementalist, 10% chance on weapon skill use to apply a negative Effect called 'Elementalist's Pain' that prevents the target Elementalist from using any movement spells for the next 6 seconds.  For all targets, this enchantment does 3% increased damage and adds 3% increased chance to critically hit.  All weapons.

Elementalist's Misfortune: If targeting an Elementalist, 10% chance on weapon skill use to apply a negative Effect called 'Elementalist's Misfortune' that prevents the target Elementalist from using their heal skill for the next 6 seconds.  For all targets, this enchantment has a 20% chance on critical hit to steal 25 Endurance (50 Endurance is required for 1 dodge).  All weapons.

Elementalist's Agony: If targeting an Elementalist, 5% chance on weapon skill use to apply a negative Effect called 'Elementalist's Agony' that reduces the damage caused all spells by 50% and increases all cooldowns on all of the Elementalist's skills by 6 seconds.  The duration of this effect is 6 seconds, once it expires any increased skill cooldown is removed.  Any skill used while this Effect is active will gain the negative Effect and therefore have 6 seconds added to their cooldown.  For all targets, this enchantment adds 6% increased critical hit damage.  All weapons.

Guardian's Pain: If targeting a Guardian, 10% chance on weapon skill use to apply a negative Effect called 'Guardian's Pain' that prevents the target Guardian from using any defensive spells (Aegis, Protection, Barrier etc) for the next 6 seconds.  For all targets, this enchantment does 3% increased damage and adds 3% increased chance to critically hit.  All weapons.

Guardian's Misfortune: If targeting a Guardian, 10% chance on weapon skill use to apply a negative Effect called 'Guardian's Misfortune' that prevents the target Guardian from using their personal heal skill, or any healing spell on themself, for the next 6 seconds.  If the Guardian has a spell that affects multiple allies, the allies will be healed but the Guardian will not.  For all targets, this enchantment has a 20% chance on critical hit to steal 25 Endurance (50 Endurance is required for 1 dodge).  All weapons.

Guardian's Agony: If targeting a Guardian, 5% chance on weapon skill use to apply a negative Effect called 'Guardian's Agony' that prevents the Guardian from casting any defensive, healing, or cleansing spells on other allies for 6 seconds.  The Guardian will still be able to cast spells to benefit themself, but other allies will receive no benefit.  For all targets, this enchantment adds 6% increased critical hit damage.  All weapons.

Mesmer's Pain: If targeting a Mesmer, 10% chance on weapon skill use to apply a negative Effect called 'Mesmer's Pain' that causes all active Clones summoned by the Mesmer to attack their master for the next 6 seconds.  Any new Clones summoned by the Mesmer, while Mesmer's Pain is active, will target the summoning Mesmer.  Clones will randomly attempt to charge the Mesmer and use a Shatter.  After Mesmer's Pain has elapsed, any active Clones resume attacking the Mesmer's foes.  For all targets, this enchantment does 3% increased damage and adds 3% increased chance to critically hit.  All weapons.

Mesmer's Misfortune: If targeting an Mesmer, 10% chance on weapon skill use to apply a negative Effect called 'Mesmer's Misfortune' that prevents the target Mesmer from using their heal skill for the next 6 seconds.  For all targets, this enchantment has a 20% chance on critical hit to steal 25 Endurance (50 Endurance is required for 1 dodge).  All weapons.

Mesmer's Agony: If targeting a Mesmer, 5% chance on weapon skill use to apply a negative Effect called 'Mesmer's Agony' that lasts 6 seconds.  Mesmer's Agony causes any currently active Hex placed by the Mesmer to be removed from the target(s) and placed on the Mesmer.  After the 6 seconds has elapsed, any Hexes placed on the Mesmer are cleansed.  Note that within the 6 second window Mesmer's Agony is active, any Hex placed on a foe will be placed on the Mesmer instead.  If the Mesmer has any Hex removal skills, they can use it to remove Hexes from themself.  For all targets, this enchantment adds 6% increased critical hit damage.  All weapons.

Necromancer's Pain: If targeting a Necromancer, 10% chance on weapon skill use to apply a negative Effect called 'Necromancer's Pain' that causes any Undead summons or Lesser Demons, summoned by the Necromancer, to attack the Necromancer for the next 6 seconds.  Any new Undead summon cast while Necromancer's Pain is active will target the Necromancer.  Once Necromancer's Pain has elapsed, any active Undead summons and Lesser Demons resume attacking the Necromancer's foes.  For all targets, this enchantment does 3% increased damage and adds 3% increased chance to critically hit.  All weapons.

Necromancer's Misfortune: If targeting a Necromancer, 10% chance on weapon skill use to apply a negative Effect called 'Necromancer's Misfortune' that prevents the target Necromancer from using their heal skill for the next 6 seconds.  For all targets, this enchantment has a 20% chance on critical hit to steal 25 Endurance (50 Endurance is required for 1 dodge).  All weapons.

Necromancer's Agony: If targeting a Necromancer, 5% chance on weapon skill use to apply a negative Effect called 'Necromancer's Agony' that lasts 6 seconds.  Necromancer's Agony causes any currently active Curse or Disease placed by the Necromancer to be removed from the target(s) and placed on the Necromancer.  Diseases placed on the Necromancer behave as normal, therefore any of his nearby allies of the same race contract the disease.  After the 6 seconds has elapsed, any Curses or Diseases placed on the Necromancer are cleansed.  Note that within the 6 second window Necromancer's Agony is active, any Curse or Disease placed on a foe will be placed on the Necromancer instead.  If the Necromancer has any Curse or Disease removal skills, they can use it to remove Curses and Diseases from themself.  For all targets, this enchantment adds 6% increased critical hit damage.  All weapons.

Ranger's Pain: If targeting a Ranger, 10% chance on weapon skill use to apply a negative Effect called 'Ranger's Pain' that prevents the target Ranger from using any offensive Boon spells (Might, Fury, Quickness etc) for the next 6 seconds.  For all targets, this enchantment does 3% increased damage and adds 3% increased chance to critically hit.  All weapons.

Ranger's Misfortune: If targeting a Ranger, 10% chance on weapon skill use to apply a negative Effect called 'Ranger's Misfortune' that prevents the target Ranger or their Pet from using their heal skill for the next 6 seconds.  For all targets, this enchantment has a 20% chance on critical hit to steal 25 Endurance (50 Endurance is required for 1 dodge).  All weapons.

Ranger's Agony: If targeting a Ranger, 5% chance on weapon skill use to apply a negative Effect called 'Ranger's Agony' that reduces the Rangers long range weapon range by 90% and causes their Pet to turn against them for 6 seconds. Pets cannot be unsummoned while Ranger's Agony is active.  For all targets, this enchantment adds 6% increased critical hit damage.  All weapons.

Warrior's Pain: If targeting a Warrior, 10% chance on weapon skill use to apply a negative Effect called 'Warrior's Pain' that drains 100% of a Warrior's Adrenaline and prevents the gain of Adrenaline for the next 6 seconds.  For all targets, this enchantment does 3% increased damage and adds 3% increased chance to critically hit.  All weapons.

Warrior's Misfortune: If targeting a Warrior, 10% chance on weapon skill use to apply a negative Effect called 'Warrior's Misfortune' that prevents the target Warrior from using their heal skill for the next 6 seconds.  For all targets, this enchantment has a 20% chance on critical hit to steal 25 Endurance (50 Endurance is required for 1 dodge).  All weapons.

Warrior's Agony: If targeting a Warrior, 5% chance on weapon skill use to apply a negative Effect called 'Warrior's Agony' that disarms any shields equipped and causes any attacks the Warrior makes to reflect 50% of the damage back to the Warrior for 6 seconds.  For all targets, this enchantment adds 6% increased critical hit damage.  All weapons.

 

U. Legendary Armor, Weapons and Jewelry
Legendary gear, as in GW2, require a wide cross section of materials, ensuring the market for materials acquired at lower levels retain some value.  Since armor no longer carry a unique combination of attribute points (you control attribute distribution via infusions), attribute point combinations are no longer something you can select from the Legendary Armory.  What you can select for armor is material type, or enchantments if you have unlocked them via the loot system.  The same can be said for weapons, you can unlock weapon types, and weapon enchantments and select from those in the Legendary Armory.

What should change is the default availability of all upgrades or of any aspect of customization.  Every aspect of customization needs to be unlocked, whether that is via loot obtained through chests or fallen foes, or through completion of some ingame content.  We want as many people as possible engaging and contributing in the many challenges that gate such rewards to promote the widest level of availability in the community.  

Using any customization options you unlocked, the Legendary Armory will generally function as it currently does and be available across all your alternate characters.  There should also be legendary infusions available.

On deciding which upgrades to gate behind difficult content
Which upgrades are so potent they are worthy of being rewards for completing difficult content is something Anet must decide.  I do have to strongly urge that certain upgrades like 

Weapon Enchantment: Human Bane: 10% increased damage on Humans.  All weapons.

which will be perceived as being highly valuable (in PvP, due to the propensity of players choosing humans in MMOs) should NOT be gated behind difficult content because such upgrades are there to incentivize the playerbase to roll races other than humans due to certain PvP modes will be regional battles between alliances of different races.  

On the subject of what is or is not worthy of being gated behind challenging content, I would deemphasize cosmetics in favor of upgrades and gameplay enhancements such as passive buffs on your character, as gameplay options are immensly more valuable than cosmetics.  This is not to say flashy cosmetics are not going to be rewards, just they should not be the primary motivation for tackling difficult content.  Players will be more willing to struggle and plod through difficult content if they perceive they will gain a gameplay advantage.  Players are more willing to forego the content if the ultimate reward is some cosmetic they can live without, as we can expect there will be plenty of flashy cosmetics available to dress up your character.

 

V. Species bonuses
Each species will possess a set of bonuses and vulnerabilities to reflect some logical or lore-friendly aspect.  Unique species bonuses are a means to achieve some level of species diversity.  Species diversity is an important need for the Faction versus Faction game mode.

1. Asura: 1% innate weakness to Bludgeoning Damage, 1% innate weakness to Slashing Damage, 1% innate weakness to Piercing Damage, 3% innate defense to Lightning Damage, 1% innate resistance to Confusion condition, 5% increased chance to evade environmental hazards.  All Asura have the option of equipping a unique Utility skill, 'Golem-in-a-Box', which summons a small portable golem for 120 seconds.  This mini-golem does not have skills with high damage, but all its skills have high threat, so it is able to draw away aggro from its Asura master.  The golem has a very large pool of hitpoints, which enables it to soak up a lot of damage.  Golem-in-a-Box may be most useful when its Asura master is downed, if summoned during such a situation, the mini-golem enters the 'Take one for the team' mode where all of its attacks have 100% more threat, it tries to tag all enemies near its master, and when it has their aggro, will automatically move away from its master drawing all foes with it.  This would give the Asura master time to revive themselves from the downed state.  In the process of drawing foes away from its master, should the mini-golem take enough damage to reach 5% or less of its total health, it will self-destruct and Knockdown all nearby foes.

2. Awakened: 2% innate weakness to Fire Damage, 1% innate defense to Slashing Damage, 1% innate defense to Piercing Damage, 1% innate defense to Ice Damage, 1% innate resistance to Fear condition.  Awakened have 25% increased downed state health, giving them a better chance to rally themselves, and if they are successfully rallied, return with 40% of their max health instead of the 25% other species typically rally with. 

3. Cani: 2% innate weakness to Cold Damage, 1% innate weakness to Acid Damage.  1% innate defense to Fire Damage.  1% innate resistance to all Curses.  When standing on deep sand or deep snowpack, out of combat, and not moving for at least 10 seconds, the Cani will burrow into the sand or snow and assume a 'Hide: Sand' or 'Hide: Snow' status (depending on the medium they burrowed into).  The Cani will stay buried in the sand or snow and not be visible to incoming foes.  The Cani can still be exposed by a canine Ranger pet, another Cani (Scent Detection) or a Scout Drone from the Technologist (Assassin Elite Specialization), but if the aforementioned are not present and the Cani does not move, is not knocked down, or take any action, they will remain hidden.  When the Cani does choose to attack, they will leap out of the medium and attack.  Cani have a Scent Detection Utility Skill that allows the Cani to use their heightened sense of smell to detect if stealthed foes are nearby.  If Disarmed, Cani are still able to bite foes (Piercing Damage) and attack with its claws (Piercing and Slashing Damage).

4. Charr: 2% innate weakness to Fire Damage, 1% innate weakness to Arcane Damage.  2% innate defense to Acid Damage, 1% innate defense to Ice Damage.  When in combat, Charr gain the unique Effect 'Predator's Intuition', which grants 3% increased chance to hit any target with a weapon skill.  Charr have a unique Utility skill called 'Sound Detection', when used it can detect stealthed characters if they are moving or performing action.  Sound Detection can also pick up sounds made by foes, stealthed or unstealthed, behind walls.  If Disarmed, Charr are still able to attack with their claws and horns, depending on the shape (or lack of horns, which result in a headbutt) of the horns, will have either Piercing or Bludgeoning Damage while their claw skills will have either Slashing or Piercing Damage.

5. Human: 3% innate weakness to Acid Damage, 1% innate defense to Arcane Damage, 1% innate resistance to Disease, Humans have the option of equipping of equipping a unique Utility skill, 'Invoke Divine Aid', which when pressed, temporarily changes your skills 6, 7, 8, 9, 0 to 'Summon Avatar of Dwayna', 'Summon Avatar of Kormir', 'Summon Avatar of Lyssa', 'Summon Avatar of Melandru' and 'Summon Avatar of Grenth' respectively.  Selecting one of the aforementioned will collapse the skill, initiate Invoke Divine Aid skill cooldown, and return your skills 6, 7, 8, 9, 0 to their former state.  Each of the god avatars will possess lore-consistent skills to aid the Human, and be a useful summon partner for 120 seconds or their hitpoint pool expires.  Note, any Boons the god avatar provides will only benefit the Human which did the summoning, no other player character or ally.
Humans also have an additional species benefit, one that differs from faction to faction
South Tyrian Alliance Humans: 1% innate resistance to Earth Magic.
Elonian Alliance Humans: 1% innate resistance to Fire Magic.
Canthan Alliance Humans: 1% innate resistance to Air Magic.

6. Kodan: 2% innate weakness to Fire Damage.  When in very hot environments, gains the 'Disfavored Environment: Hot' Effect, which causes a 2% decreased Endurance regeneration rate (this can be negated if the Kodan enchants a piece of their armor with Protection from Extreme Weather).  3% innate defense to Ice Damage, 1% innate resistance to Ice Magic, 1% innate resistance to the Chilled condition, 1% innate resistance to the Frozen control Effect.  When in cold environments gains an Effect, 'Preferred Environment: Cold', which causes the Kodan to have 5% increased Endurance regeneration.  If Disarmed, Kodan can still use bite (Piercing Damage) and claw (Piercing and Slashing Damage) attacks.

7. Norn: 1% innate weakness to Fire Damage, 1% innate weakness to Acid Damage, 1% innate weakness to Arcane Damage.  2% innate defense to Bludgeoning Damage, 1% innate defense to Ice Damage, 1% innate resistance to Weakness condition.  Norn have a unique Utility skill, 'Great Spirit Blessing' which allows them to temporarily transform into a humanoid form reflecting one of the Great Spirits: Bear, Raven, Snow Leopard and Wolf.  Upon hitting the Great Spirit Blessing skill your 1, 2, 3, 4 skills change to 'Transform to Bear', 'Transform to Raven', 'Transform to Snow Leopard', and 'Transform to Wolf'.  These individual forms have their own skill sets and passive Effects.  Selecting one of the aforementioned will collapse the skill, initiate Great Spirit Blessing skill cooldown, and your skills 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 change to skills belonging to the transformation you have selected.  When a Norn is Disarmed, they are still able to use Great Spirit Blessing (if not on cooldown) and regain a full set of skills to use in battle.

8. Phanin: 3% innate weakness to Ice Damage, 4% innate defense to Acid Damage, 2% innate resistance to poisons.  When Phanin are Disarmed, they are still able to bite (Piercing Damage AND poisoning) and spit venom at a distance (Acid Damage AND poisoning).  They are the only species automatically equipped with ranged or poisoning skills when Disarmed.

9. Sylvari: 1% innate weakness to Acid Damage, 1% innate weakness to Fire Damage, 1% innate weakness to Ice Damage, and 1% innate weakness to Lightning Damage.  1% innate defense to Arcane Damage, 2% innate resistance to Earth Magic, 2% chance to resist being Immobilized or Crippled if the ensnaring agent are vegetation (ie vines, thorns etc.), 2% chance to resist being poisoned by plant or fungal spores.  When swimming, standing in shallow water (not a puddle), or close to a large body of water, gains an Effect, 'Preferred Environment: Water', which causes the Sylvari to have 5% increased Endurance regeneration.  When touching large vegetation, out of combat, and not moving for at least 10 seconds, the Sylvari will assume a 'Hide: Vegetation' status where they will blend in with the vegetation and not be visible to incoming foes.  The Sylvari can still be exposed by a canine Ranger pet or a Scout Drone from the Technologist (Assassin Elite Specialization), but if the aforementioned are not present and the Sylvari does not move, is not knocked down, or take any action, they will remain hidden.

10. Tengu: 2% innate weakness to Fire Damage, 1% innate weakness to Ice Damage , 1% innate weakness to Piercing Damage.  2% innate defense to Lightning Damage, 1% innate resistance to Acid Damage, 1% innate resistance to Air Magic.  When performing two evades in close succession, the Tengu will fly close to the ground, covering the same distance as the two evades.  While the Tengu is in flight, they will not trigger any Wells, Marks, Traps or negative effects from a Symbol.  When performing an evade while in midair, Tengu briefly fly and can control their flight direction; flying consumes Endurance.  When Disarmed, Tengu can still peck with their beaks (Piercing Damage), as well as obtain a replacement skill which uses gusts of wind from their wings in order to push back foes.

 

W. Professions and their roles
Do not fear the general premise of roles in an MMO.  In endgame game modes, the toolset of each profession reveals an optimal role for the profession, and a lack of commitment to establishing set roles inevitably leads to a whack-a-mole environment for profession balance (ie the move away from unique Boons and effects in GW2 leading to the same Boons to be divvied up among all the professions) and the dominance of a few professions (Guardian and Necromancer) and the relative exclusion of others (ie Thief in raids).

Roles in MMO are inevitable, it is best to nurture several defined roles for each profession offering a variety of play styles and different ways to contribute to the group than trying to let every profession try to be everything, because I have yet to see anyone succeed at the latter.  I would wager it would be near impossible under the GW2 constraints to achieve profession balance under a system where nearly all party buffs are restricted to Boons, where some of those Boons will be highly valued for what they do, and some professions are going to be able to provide more of said highly valued Boon and will be overrepresented in profession makeup of the player population.

Relative to Guild Wars 2 (GW2), professions in GW3 are more constrained to a fixed predetermined set of roles that will useful in the variety of competitive game types to be implemented: 10-20 player PvE raids, 10 player PvP, 20 player FvF, 50 player FvF etc.

Party buffs and party member contribution
It is important to have party buffs come in a variety of forms, some forms exclusive to some professions.  It also adds to profession value if some of those party buffs are not able to be dispelled in the same manner as conventional Boons; requiring a different skill that your opponent may not have equipped.  Trying to promote "kitten hits the fan" scenarios makes things interesting and creates fun and unpredictability...just as long as there are clear ways to mitigate them.  Introduce enough of said scenarios and no single player will be able to equip a skill load out that can neutralize all of them, which is a good thing.

Having said all that, conventional magical Boons should still be the most powerful and long-lasting ways to buff a party (barring a few limited exceptions), but the countermeasures should be abundant.  Conventional Boons should also be the easiest to remove in the sense that a single skill could remove any conventional magical Boon with maximum stacks, BUT a buff by a Warrior's back-mounted banner cannot be dispelled so long as you remain in their effective radius.  Just to be clear the Warrior's banner does not give Boons, it gives a non-dispellable proximity Effect that while not as powerful as a magical Boon, provides a useful benefit free from a concern it can be dispelled.  If the Warrior is downed then the banner is lost and the proximity Effect instantly is removed from allies.

No more invincibility skills
Another important gameplay feature necessary for balance is there cannot be any skills which temporarily make you invincible, even on light armor classes.  Light armor classes need to rely on skills which briefly do enhanced mitigation of specific types of damage, dodges, movement skills (which they should have plenty of), CC, trickery, ranged attacks, the protection of better armored allies and using their damage output to survive encounters.  

Boon, Condition and Control Effect distribution
Boons, Conditions, and Control Effects are mostly divvied up among the professions so as to add increased importance to profession diversity.  

The division of Boons
Aegis: Obstruct the next incoming attack; stacks duration.  Aegis can be applied by Guardian and Necromancer (elite specialization only).
Alacrity: Skills recharge 33% faster; stacks duration, max duration is 30 seconds.  Alacrity can be applied by Mesmer only.

Barrier: A health buffer is applied; this health buffer take damage prior to your health bar. The amount of health buffer generated is based on the source's healing power, and is capped at 50% of the recipient's maximum health.  If multiple sources apply Barrier, the size of the health buffer will be the source with the highest healing power.  The initial Barrier application has a 5 second duration, subsequent applications increase duration by 1 second, 10 second maximum duration.  Barrier is a primary Boon, meaning it will automatically be placed first in your active Boon list, meaning it will be the last Boon that can be stripped.  Barrier can be applied by Guardian and Necromancer (elite specialization only).

Exactitude: All your melee or ranged weapon attacks cannot miss and 50% reduced chance for glancing blows; stacks duration with a maximum duration of 5 seconds.  This applies only to conventional melee weapons, unarmed melee or ranged weapon attacks, not magic spells or magic projectiles.  Still applicable to a conventional weapon attack infused with magic.  Exactitude will supercede all debuffs that affect chance to hit, but can still be boon stripped.  Exactitude can only be applied by Assassin (elite specialization only).

Fury: Critical chance increased by 25%; stacks duration.  Fury can be applied by Assassin (elite specialization only) and Ranger.

Might: increases outgoing Power and Condition Damage; stacks intensity up to 10 times.  Might can be applied by Assassin (elite specialization only) and Ranger.

Protection: Incoming strike damage reduced by 33%; stacks duration up to 30 seconds.  It does not affect Condition Damage or Ailment Damage.  Protection can only be applied by Guardian.

Quickness: The speed of skills and actions are increased by 50%; stacks duration up to 30 seconds.  Quickness can be applied by Mesmer and Ranger (spirit only).

Regeneration: Gain healing over time, gaining health every second.  Amount of health gained is determined by the source's healing power.  If received from multiple sources, the source with the highest healing power is prioritized; stacks duration up to 10 seconds.  Regeneration can be applied by Guardian, Elementalist (limited to Water Attunement only) and Ranger (spirit only).

Reprise: If you die in combat, go back in time and return to the level of health when you first received the Reprise Boon.  Can only be cast on a single target.  Reprise stacks in duration up to 8 seconds.  If you are saved by Reprise, you are afflicted by the 'Second Chance' Effect for 1 minute and cannot receive the Reprise Boon for the duration.  Reprise can only be applied by Mesmer.

Resistance: Nondamaging conditions afflicting you are temporarily neutralized; stacks duration up to 30 seconds.  These nondamaging conditions are: Blinded, Crippled, Fear, Immobilized, Slow, Vulnerability and Weakness.   Resistance can be applied by Guardian and Necromancer (elite specialization only).

Resolution: Incoming damage from conditions is reduced by 33%; stacks duration up to 30 seconds.  It does not affect Ailment Damage.  Resolution can be applied by Guardian and Necromancer (elite specialization only).
Stability: You temporarily cannot be afflicted by the following Effects: Float, Knockback, Knockdown, Launch, Pull, Sink and Stun.  Any of the aforementioned Effects remove one stack of Stability, except for Knockdown, which removes two (if you only have one stack of Stability left, Knockdown will remove it and you will be knocked down at half duration).  Stability stacks intensity up to 10 times.  Stability can be applied by Elementalist (limited to Earth Attunement only), and Mesmer.

Swiftness: Your movement speed is increased by 33%: stacks duration up to 60 seconds.  Swiftness can be applied by Elementalist (limited to Air Attunement only), and Ranger (warhorn and spirit).

Vigor: Your Endurance regeneration rate is increased by 50%; stacks duration up to 30 seconds.  Vigor can be applied by Guardian and Ranger (warhorn and spirit).

The division of conditions
Note: Torment has been removed as a condition.  Mesmer Hexes have largely taken up the elements of Torment's functionality.
Bleeding: A condition that deals damage every second; stacks in intensity up to 1500 times.  The damage incurred per tick of damage is dependent on the Condition Damage of the source.  Any noncorporeal Undead (spirit) or Skeletons are immune.  Any machine or robot is immune.  Golems are immune.  Any fluid creature (Ooze) or elemental spirit (Water, Fire, Air and Earth) is immune to Bleeding.  Can be removed using a general condition cleanse.  Bleeding can be applied by Assassin, Elementalist, Guardian, Mesmer, Necromancer, and Ranger.

Blindness: Causes the afflicted's next attack to miss its target.  If the attack is an area-of-effect spell or attack, the target or spell will manifest in an area outside of the target cursor.  If the afflicted attempts to heal themself or allies, there is a 25% chance for the heal to fail.  Any target which is already blind is immune to Blindness.  Can be removed using a general condition cleanse.  Blindness can be applied by Assassin (poison and trap), Elementalist (limited to Earth Attunement only), Ranger (pet only) and Mesmer (Warhorn).

Burning: A condition that deals Fire Damage every second; stacks in intensity up to 1000 times.  The damage incurred per tick of damage is dependent on the Condition Damage of the source.  In general, will be the condition that inflicts the highest damage per tick.  The Fire Damage from Burning is inflicted on the target itself, armor fire resistance (the innate quality of the material that makes your armor, not to be confused with Enchantments on your armor that do provide mitigation) offers no mitigation, only the target's innate Fire Resistance can mitigate damage.  Fire Elementals are immune to Burning.  Demons and Destroyers are highly resistant to Fire Damage.  Can be removed using a general condition cleanse, water, or Water Magic.  Burning can be applied by Assassin (few utility skills and traps), Elementalist (has the most skills which apply Burning), Guardian, Necromancer (only summons) and Ranger (some weapon skills, traps, and  pets).

Charged: A condition where the victim is overloaded with electrical charge that periodically discharges, can also affect nearby allies.  The discharge deals Lightning Damage and has a 25% chance to interrupt skills.  If you are afflicted with Charged, foes have a 50% increased chance to hit you with Lightning Damage, be it by weapon or spell; even if they are Blinded or you have Aegis.  Stacks in duration up to 10 seconds.  The Lightning Damage from Charged is inflicted on the target itself, armor lightning resistance (the innate quality of the material that makes your armor, not to be confused with Enchantments on your armor that do provide mitigation) offers no mitigation, only the target's innate Lightning Resistance can mitigate damage.  Lightning Elementals are immune to Charged.  Diamond Golems are extremely resistant to Charged and Lightning Damage.  Dragons and Dragonkin are highly resistant to Lightning Damage.  Oil Oozes, Air Elementals and Demons are resistant to Lightning Damage.  Charged can be removed by a general condition cleanse and the Mobile Lightning Rod Turret from the Technologist (Assassin Elite Specialization).  Charged can be applied by Assassin (traps, Technologist turrets), Elementalist (has the most skills which apply Charged), and Ranger (pets).

Chilled: Movement speed is decreased by 66%, skill cooldown is increased by 66% and incurs varying levels of Ice Damage for different actions you take.  If the afflicted moves, a small amount of Ice Damage is incurred.  If the afflicted uses a skill or casts a spell, a larger amount of Ice Damage is incurred. If the afflicted attacks with a weapon skill, the largest amount of Ice Damage is incurred.  Stacks in duration up to 10 seconds.  The Ice Damage from Chilled is inflicted on the target itself, armor ice resistance (the innate quality of the material that makes your armor, not to be confused with Enchantments on your armor that do provide mitigation) offers no mitigation, only the target's innate Ice Resistance can mitigate damage.  Ice Elementals are immune to Chilled.  All types of Undead are highly resistant to Ice Damage.  Demons are resistant to Ice Damage.  All denizens of very cold environments have some level of Ice resistance.  Can be removed using a general condition cleanse, weak fire spells can reduce the duration of Chilled without injuring the victim.  Can be applied by Elementalist (has the most skills which apply Chilled), Necromancer, and Ranger (pets).

Confusion: The afflicted becomes disoriented in midcombat and forgets who are their allies and who should be the target of their efforts.  When the afflicted is attacking, they have a 50% chance to attack or inflict conditions on themselves or an ally (within range of their skills).  When the afflicted are attempting to assist an ally, they have a 50% chance to heal or apply Boons to a foe (within range of their skills).  When the afflicted attempt to summon, they have a 50% chance to summon a creature which will attack themselves and their allies.  Stacks in duration up to 10 seconds.  Machines and robots are immune to Confusion.  Confusion can be removed by a general condition cleanse.  Confusion has a 33% chance to be resisted and its duration reduced by the Disciplined Army Effect (Warrior banners).  Confusion can be applied by Assassin (limited), and Mesmer (has the most skills which apply Confusion).

Crippled:  The afflicted's movement speed is decreased by 50% and has a 50% decreased chance to evade.  Stacks in duration up to 10 seconds.  Noncorporeal Undead (spirits), Earth Elementals, and Golems are immune to Crippled.  Can be removed by a general condition cleanse.  Crippled duration can be reduced by Ranger spirits.  Crippled can be applied by Assassin, Elementalist (limited to Earth Attunement), Necromancer (summons), and Ranger.

Fear: A condition which interrupts skills and causes the afflicted to involuntarily run away from the source, for a brief period of time.  Stacks in duration up to 15 seconds.  Once Fear expires (or is cleansed), it imposes a secondary unique Effect, Cowardly, for 5 seconds (duration can be increased with traits).  The Cowardly Effect randomly causes the afflicted to either 
A. Cancel an action to run away from foes.  Cancelled skill cooldown incurred regardless.
B. Attack with a weapon with only glancing blows and a 25% increased chance to miss.
C. Heal or grant Boons only to themself instead of others.
All Undead, except Awakened, are immune to Fear and Cowardly.  Machines and Robots are immune to Fear and Cowardly.  Godlike beings are immune to Fear and Cowardly.  Fear can be removed by a general condition cleanse, but Cowardly cannot.  Warrior shouts can only remove Cowardly.  Fear can be prevented from being applied by the Unshakeable Courage Effect, which is granted by Guardian Symbols and Warrior banners.  Fear can be applied by Assassin (Occultist Elite Specialization), Necromancer and Ranger (pet only).

Immobilized: A condition which prevents movement, movement skills/spells, turning, and dodging; stacks in duration up to 10 seconds.  Noncorporeal Undead (spirits), Earth Elementals and Golems are immune to Immobilized.  Can be removed by a general condition cleanse.  Immobilized duration can be reduced by Ranger spirits.  Immobilized can be applied by Assassin (poisons), Elementalist (Water Attunement), Mesmer and Ranger.
Slow: The activation time for the afflicted's skills and the animation time for their attacks are increased by 100%.  Any Boons or Effects received every second (ie Regeneration, Aegis, banner Effects, etc.) are now received every two seconds instead.  The afflicted's evade is slower, with the evade window delayed by 0.5 seconds.  Stacks in duration up to 10 seconds.  Any temporal entity which resides outside of Time is immune to Slow.  Can be removed with a general condition cleanse, can be partially counteracted with Quickness.  Slow can be applied by Assassin (Dagger Mastery Elite Specialization), Necromancer (summons), and Mesmer (has the most skills which apply Slow).

Vulnerability: A condition which increases both strike and condition damage the target receives by 1% for each stack, up to a maximum of 25% (25 stacks).  Any stack level of Vulnerability will increase the critical damage the afflicted receives by 10%.  Can be removed by a general condition cleanse.  Vulnerability duration can be reduced by Guardian Symbols.  Vulnerability can be applied by Assassin, Mesmer, Necromancer and Ranger.

Weakness: A condition that decreases the afflicted's endurance regeneration by 50%, makes half of their hits into glancing blows (glancing blows deal 50% less damage that cannot be critical), and upon weapon skill usage, has a 33% chance for the afflicted to drop their weapon(s) and be Disarmed.  Weakness also has a 25% chance to cause the afflicted to trip halfway into their movement skills/spells, resulting in a 0.5 second Knockdown.  Stacks in duration up to 10 seconds.  Machines and robots are immune to Weakness.  Can be removed by a general condition cleanse.  Weakness duration can be reduced by Guardian Symbols and Warrior shouts and banners.  Weakness can be applied by Assassin (poisons), Mesmer, and Ranger (pets).

The division of Control Effects
Effects are unlike conditions in that they cannot be removed by a general condition cleanse, their effect is very brief, aside from Frozen (Water Attunement Skill),  Petrify (Necromancer Curse) and Float (Mesmer Skill), are not magical spells, and their application often relies on meeting certain criteria.

Asphyxiate: Causes the victim to be unable to breathe for a brief period of time.  You are still able to move, cast spells, block, parry, use skills and actions that do not requie intense physical exertion (low-intensity skills and actions).  Skills and actions that require intense physical exertion are: sprinting, jumping, flying, shouting, repeated melee attacks, continuously using a longbow or shortbow, throwing objects, and multiple evasions.  When under Asphyxiation, a gray bar appears over your head and any action you take depletes that bar to the point where you cannot perform any action except movement.  Casting spells, blocking, parrying and using low-intensity skills and actions consume a small portion of the Asphyxiation Bar.  Evading, a melee attack, use of longbow or shortbow, or throwing an object uses 60% of the Asphyxiation Bar (in other words, you get one shot so make it count). Any noncorporeal Undead, robot or machine, ethereal entity without a physical form (Fire and Air elementals etc.), magical constructs or golems are immune to Asphyxiation.  Typical duration is 5 seconds.  Can be removed by the Unshackle skill (Guardian) or Ranger (spirit only - Freedom).  Cannot be counterracted by Stability.  This effect can be applied by Elementalist (Air Attunement) or Ranger (pet only).

Daze: You are unable to use any skills for a brief period of time, but you are still able to move.  Only interrupts channeling or charge skills.  Any noncorporeal Undead (spirit) are immune.  Any machine or robot is immune.  Any fluid or ethereal being without a solid physical form (Oozes, Water, Fire and Air Elementals, etc) is immune to Daze.  Typical duration is 3 to 5 seconds.  Can be removed by the Unshackle skill (Guardian) or Ranger (spirit only - Freedom).  Cannot be counteracted with Stability.  You temporarily receive a 33% chance (can be increased with traits) to resist Daze by using the Fortify Constitution skill (Assassin and Warrior).  This Effect can be applied by Assassins, Mesmers, Rangers and Warriors.

Float: As you are slowly raised off the floor, you are unable to move, all skills take 100% longer to activate, and all actions taken have a 50% chance to fail to execute.  Any noncorporeal Undead (spirit) is immune.  Typical duration is 3 seconds.  Can be removed by the Unshackle skill (Guardian) or Ranger (spirit only - Freedom).  Can be counteracted with Stability.  This Effect can only be applied by Mesmers.

Frozen: You are frozen solid, you are unable to move or use any skills.  Pet commands (Ranger) can still be issued.  Unlike Petrify, if you are Frozen you can still receive Boons and be healed.  When Frozen, you gain increased defense against all physical damage and Fire damage slowly diminishes the Effect's breakbar, enabling an earlier release from the Effect.  Any noncorporeal Undead (spirit) is immune, Ice Elementals are immune, and any creature with a very high resistance to Ice damage gets either a chance to resist Frozen or a reduced duration.  Typical duration is 5 seconds.  Can be removed by Fire damage.  Cannot be counteracted with Stability. This Effect can only be applied by Elementalists (Water Attunement).

Heave: A forceful strike to the midsection causes a foe to briefly struggle to perform any action. All skills and actions which expend a resource (Endurance, Mana, Energy, Adrenaline, Divine Favor, Initiative, Life Force) will require twice the amount of resource in order to be performed.  Any noncorporeal Undead (Spirit) is immune.  Any fluid or ethereal being without a solid physical form (Oozes, Water, Fire and Air Elementals, etc) is immune to Heave.  Any robot, machine, or heavily armored entities such as Golems or Earth Elementals are immune to Heave.  Any very large entity is immune to Heave.  Typical duration is 3-5 seconds.  Cannot be counterracted with Stability.  Can be removed by the Unshackle skill (Guardian) or Ranger (spirit only - Freedom).  You temporarily receive a 33% chance (can be increased with traits) to resist Heave by using the Fortify Constitution skill (Assassin and Warrior).  Warrior shouts can reduce duration of an active Heave.  This Effect can be applied by Assassin (Backwards Kick Utility Skill), Necromancer (Brute Undead summon only), and Warrior (Gut Punch Utility Skill).

Knockback: You are pushed a short distance away from the source of the Knockback.  You are still able to use your skills.  The primary goal of Knockback is to either put distance between you and a foe (for range heavy professions), attempt to escape, or force a foe off a ledge.  Any concorporeal Undead (Spirit) are immune.  Any fluid or ethereal being without a solid physical form (Oozes, Water, Fire and Air Elementals, etc) is immune to Knockback.  Can be counteracted with Stability.  Warrior shouts can decrease the distance of the Knockback.  You temporarily receive a 33% chance (can be increased with traits) to resist Knockback by using the Fortify Constitution skill (Assassin and Warrior).  This effect can be applied by Assassin, Elementalist, Guardian, Mesmer, Necromancer, Ranger and Warrior.

Knockdown: You are knocked down to the floor, putting you into a prone position.  All skills are interrupted and you are unable to move or use any skills.  While under the Knockdown Effect, you take 10% additional damage from Melee Attacks.  Any noncorporeal Undead (spirit) are immune.  Any fluid or ethereal being without a solid physical form (Oozes, Water, Fire and Air Elementals, etc) is immune to Knockdown.  Typical duration is 2 to 4 seconds.  Can be removed by the Unshackle skill (Guardian) or Ranger (spirit only - Freedom).  Can be counteracted with Stability, but Knockdown removes 2 stacks of Stability instead of 1.  You temporarily receive a 33% chance (can be increased with traits) to resist Knockdown by using the Fortify Constitution skill (Assassin and Warrior).  Warrior shouts can reduce duration of an active Knockdown.  This Effect can be applied by Assassins (Staff, Mace, Sweep), Elementalists (Earth Attunement), Guardians (Hammer), Rangers (Mortar and pets) and Warriors (Hammer, Mace, Bull's Charge).

Launch: You are lifted off the ground as a result of some force pushing you upward.  If you were already prone (due to Knockdown), you are still lifted off the ground.  All skills are interrupted and you are unable to move or use any skills for 1 second.  While you are midair, you take 10% increased damage from Ranged Attacks.  Any noncorporeal Undead, ethereal being without a solid form (Fire and Air Elementals etc), or extremely heavy or large entity cannot be Launched.  Can be removed by the Unshackle skill (Guardian) or Ranger (spirit only - Freedom).  Can be counteracted with Stability.  Warrior shouts can reduce the time you are midair.  This Effect can be applied by Assassin (Staff, Mace, Uppercut Utlity Skil), Elementalist (Air Attunement, Earth Attunement), Necromancer (Warhorn, summons), Ranger (Halberd, pets), and Warrior (Hammer, Mace, Stomp Utility Skill).

Petrify: You turn to stone, are unable to move or use any skills, and you cannot be healed or receive any Boons.  All Boons, Conditions or Effects on you are removed.  When petrified, you are highly resistant to all physical damage and magical spells.  All noncorporeal Undead (spirits), Earth Elementals, Dwarves who have undergone the Rite of the Great Dwarf, and any constructs made of stone are immune. Typical duration is 10 seconds.  Can be removed by the Remove Curse skill (Necromancer).  Cannot be counteracted with Stability.  Can only be applied by Necromancer (Curse).

Pull: You are pulled toward the caster or toward some location as directed by the caster.  If you were already prone (due to Knockdown), you are pulled in some direction.  All skills are interrupted and you are unable to move or use any skills for 1 second.  Any noncorporeal Undead, ethereal being without a solid form (Fire and Air Elementals etc), or extremely heavy or large entity cannot be Pulled.  Can be removed by the Unshackle skill (Guardian) or Ranger (spirit only - Freedom).  Can be counteracted with Stability.  Can be applied by Elementalist, Mesmer (profession with the most skills that Pull), and Ranger.

Sink: As you slowly sink deeper underwater, you are unable to move, all skills take 100% longer to activate, and all actions taken have a 50% chance to fail to execute.  Any noncorporeal Undead (spirit) is immune.  Typical duration is 3 seconds.  Can be removed by the Unshackle skill (Guardian) or Ranger (spirit only - Freedom).  Can be counteracted with Stability. This Effect can only be applied by Mesmers and only when underwater (Trident).

Stun: You are unable to use any skills for a very brief period of time, you are unable to move.  Interrupts all skills and attacks.  Any noncorporeal Undead (spirit) are immune.  Any ethereal being without a solid physical form (Fire and Air Elementals, etc) is immune to Stun.  Typical duration is 0.5 to 1 second.  Can be removed by the Unshackle skill (Guardian) or Ranger (spirit only - Freedom).  Can be counteracted with Stability.  You temporarily receive a 33% chance (can be increased with traits) to resist Stun by using the Fortify Constitution skill (Assassin and Warrior).  This Effect can be applied by Assassins (Mace, Pistol), Guardians (Mace), Rangers (Pistol, Rifle, Pets) and Warriors (Hammer, Mace). 

Taunt: You are forced to target the source of a Taunt at your full damage capability.  If you target away from the Taunt source while their Taunt Effect is still active, you do 50% less damage to an alternate target.  Typical duration is 3 seconds, but can be increased with traits.  Can be removed by the Unshackle skill (Guardian), Ranger (spirit only - Freedom), or the 'Shake it off!' shout (Warrior).  Duration can be reduced through Warrior shouts.  Cannot be cleared by a standard condition cleanse.  Cannot be counteracted with Stability.  You temporarily receive a 33% chance (can be increased with traits) to resist Taunt by using the Fortify Constitution skill (Assassin and Warrior).  This Effect can be applied by Assassins, Rangers (pets) and Warriors.

Important Effects worth mentioning
Demoralized: After being the victim of 5 consecutive critical hits in a rapid succession, by the same source, you are afflicted with the Demoralized Effect, which increases the skill recharge of all currently recharging skills, causes your attacks to miss 5% more and increases your chance to be critically hit by 5%.  The amount of skill recharge increased is dependent on weapon damage, with two-handed weapons inflicting a larger penalty than one-handed weapons.  This Effect cannot be removed, but can be countered with Spells (ie Alacrity) and enchantments.  Cannot be counteracted with Stability. This Effect can only be applied by Assassins and Warriors.

Exposed Skin:  Your skin has been severely damaged by Acids, all of your elemental resistances are downgraded by one level.  Stacks in duration up to 10 seconds.  If you were immune to Fire Damage, you are now extremely resistant to Fire Damage.  If you were moderately resistant to Fire Damage you are now weakly resistant to Fire Damage. If you had no resistance or vulnerability to Ice Damage, but now are afflicted with Exposed Skin, you are now weakly vulnerable to Ice Damage.  The amount of Acid Damage that needs to be endured in order to be inflicted the Exposed Skin Effect is dependent on your resistance to Acid Damage, and if you are an NPC (Non-playable character).  Higher tiers of NPC: Veteran, Elite, Champion, Legendary, will require more Acid Damage in order to be inflicted with the Exposed Skin Effect.  This Effect cannot be removed, but its duration reduced with Warrior banners.  

Revealed: You are temporarily unable to stealth or hide. 

Traversing Difficult Terrain: Your movement is impeded in a specific area.  Certian spells and non-spell abilities cause a wide area of terrain to be difficult to traverse due to unique impediments.  All PCs and NPCs are impeded barring specific individual resistances or mitigating qualities.  The Traversing Difficult Terrain Effect is not a condition which can be simply cleansed, nor is it an obstacle which can be negated with any single skill or spell.  Rangers (spirits) and Warriors (banners) can increase increase the expiration rate at which a particular area is affect by Difficult Terrain.  Note, some areas are permanently imbued with Difficult Terrain and no Ranger spirit or Warrior banner can cause it to dissipate.

Wounded: After being the victim of the Demoralized Effect, nearly at the same time, from two different sources, you are afflicted with the Wounded Effect, where you temporarily lose 20% of your maximum health points.  Typical duration is 5 seconds (can be increased with traits, since two sources are required, the final duration is the later occuring sources's input duration value.  If both sources somehow hit at the exact same time, the source with the higher duration value is used), stacks duration up to 10 seconds.  This Effect can be removed by using the Treat Wounds skill found on the Medkit toolkit (Assassin and Warrior).  Cannot be counteracted with Stability.  Duration can be reduced by Warrior shouts. Can only be applied by Assassin and Warrior.

 

X. Profession trait lines
Unlike GW2, GW3 professions have 5 active trait lines (instead of 3)
2 trait lines you can choose from a set of 4 or more.  Let's call these 'optional trait lines'.

2 trait lines that is the core class trait lines that are automatically chosen for you but you are allowed to tailor them via trait options. Let's call these 'core trait lines'.

1 elite trait line that must be chosen.  Upon game's release, there should be an option to choose from 2 different elite specs per profession. You can no longer choose to make a character without choosing an elite spec as you could in GW2.  Each successive expansion will add 1 new elite trait line for each profession.

Trait line changes and role focus are made with the intent to simplify balance and better guarantee players are able to make a viable character across game modes.  Content will be created so as to utilize these roles and guarantee all professions will be welcomed in all game modes.

Trait lines and the aspect of character skills they modify will be concentrated so as to prevent unforseen synergies which can create imbalance.  For example, defense will only be in one trait line, with the possibility of adding additional branches to the trait line in the future...but since it will be added to the one trait line, choices must be made and opportunity costs incurred.

Trait lines no longer have major or minor traits.  In order to simplify class balance and avoid forcing players to choose trait lines for key major or minor traits, key features will be added to the profession outside of trait lines.

There are no longer adept, master and grandmaster trait tiers.  Traits within a trait line are separated by categories and can be chosen independently of each other.  Players can choose to specialize or spread out their gameplay options across several categories.  Because of the nature of the gameplay feature covered by a particular trait line, some trait lines will contain more options than others and it may be necessary to vary the number of available trait points from trait line to trait line.  I would caution Anet to not set the available trait points too low and allow players to choose a good number of traits within each trait line.  Trait lines set up in this manner can be easily expanded with minimal need to revisit dependencies across several aspects of gameplay that may lead to unintended power creep.

Elite trait lines and expansions
In new expansions, Elite trait lines will not be tied to specific new weapons for a profession, it will mostly be added or altered functionality to existing weapons and utility skills...plus additional profession mechanics added to section of the player UI reserved for unique profession skills.

A suggestion for the 'ultimate' ingame reward
In order to motivate players to complete ingame content across 3 expansions, you could offer the ability to select a third optional trait line.

Ascended character: You are rewarded with the capability to select a third optional trail line for: completing the story for the base game and three expansions, completing map exploration for base game and three expansions, defeating all the world bosses, completing all dungeons, completing all the raids, and defeating all the strike missions.

I cannot see a better motivating factor to tackling all ingame content than offering a chance to select a third optional trait line (remember, in the beginning it was stated you can choose only two optional trait lines, in addition to one elite trait line and customizing two mandatory core trait lines).  This is a better motivating goal than legendary armor, because you still could use ascended armor (might be a good idea to change the name of this tier of equipment to something else instead of ascended,..maybe mythical or heroic).  The opportunity to add a large number of tools to your character is hard to ignore.

The only issue with this suggestion is what about players who only focus on PvP or FvF?  Should Ascended characters carry over their advantage into these game modes?  I would dare say yes...for FvF, but for balance purposes, allow all PvPers to be able to select a third optional trait line after that third expansion.  For FvF players, they will need to be given some subtle warning that PvE content will unlock more abilities that will be accessible in the FvF game modes, it's a warning that needs to be given very early in the game's life so participation in PvE content will be part of FvF players's focus.

If selecting an entire opional trait line is deemed too much of a reward, then allow for players to earn two or three additional trait points for each already selected trait line.  Having trait lines with unconnected benefits (versus the mutually exclusive, branching structure of GW2 trait lines) easily lends itself to be further invested in should trait points be awarded as endgame rewards.

 

Edited May 9 by RiyazGuerra.9203
Previously left open to append itemization details

[RiyazGuerra.9203]

Reserve for elite spec suggestions

[synk.6907]

Fanfiction is probably better suited to https://en-forum.guildwars2.com/forum/29-community-creations/

[RiyazGuerra.9203]

2 minutes ago, synk.6907 said:

Fanfiction is probably better suited to https://en-forum.guildwars2.com/forum/29-community-creations/

If recommended by mods I will move it there.  Admittedly it is a long read but trying to cover a lot of aspects of gameplay.  As you can see I had a lot of free time during the pandemic. 😆

Edited April 15 by RiyazGuerra.9203

[Tiamat.8254]

TLDR

[Gehenna.3625]

5 hours ago, RiyazGuerra.9203 said:

If recommended by mods I will move it there.  Admittedly it is a long read but trying to cover a lot of aspects of gameplay.  As you can see I had a lot of free time during the pandemic. 😆

I would suggest that next time you write something like this to post it in parts. What's the point of writing a really long post if nobody reads it?

[Behelith.6708]

9 hours ago, Tiamat.8254 said:

TLDR

Understatement of the decade

[QueenKeriti.5176]

Sorry, dude, this is over 14k words. You have a novella going on. :|

[Novahh.7426]

A better WvW type system is all us WvW players want :)

[VocalThought.9835]

This guy needs to get hired by ANet. He clearly has life experience that he could substitute for college credit and years on the job.

[Carnage.6751]

Fmo GW 3 should focus on revealing entire Tyria first.We still didn't get Dzalana while it takes place on middle of the map.From wiki it says Dzalana is realm of Harpies.It would be so cool if we see Harpy empress and other creatures in that maps.Also  new playable races should be İtzel and Tengu.GW3 takes place 100 years further than GW 2 and some races evolved into civilization.Quaggon drive Kraits from their lands and create an underwater Kingdom.They build an underwater city and select a Quaggon King and Queen.İtzel spread on Tyria and trying to cleanse corruption of dragons.While Tengu open to Dominion of Wind because of high population and create new villages in Tyria and Cantha.

New antigonists of GW 3 should be Old Gods.Because of neglection of new gods and Balthazar ;races of Tyria some races start to create cults and praise their old Gods  but some of  this gods wasn't benevolant as they think.İn this timeline Races in Tyria also improved technologically.Humans start to use more fire power .While Charr become more sophisticated and less warmongering.Most of Asura return to Underground while some of them still likes to live on the ground.Norns and Kodan otherhand return to their Northern Homelands and become more conservative and away from other races.

[Timelord.8190]

kitten, you put more effort into the post than the entire Anet team combined put into the game. To bad it would be too much of a hassle for them to read it. Not that it would matter anyways.

[Noidea Incognito.9607]

There is some really interesting idea's here, but i had to turn it all into smaller chunks in my mind for it to make sense... personally.

However; i can tell you absolutely gave it alot of thought. I am sure Anet employee browse this forum from time to time aswell. So consider the possibility they also can see your idea's aswell. Well just have to wait and see. o7

[Zerin.9834]

I think monks and ritualist need to come back at the least. Necromancers need to summon minions again. 

[Zerin.9834]

The guild wars armor styles have never been bad or horrible they just need to make way to consoles also and that will leave more players online.

[CAAC0A77-4222-BCC3-99F8-E60463D8E1DD.2061]

90 pages, 40,870 words, 250,389 characters.

A novel is a work of prose fiction with a word count of 40,000 words or more. A novella is a work of prose fiction with a word count between 17,500 and 40,000 words.

I'm hooked on your ideas and await more!

[Girdio.7946]

Didn't go through all of this, but clearly you're putting a lot of effort into something like this.

Hopefully someone with influence will look over some of this and consider it.

 

[Nemo.6295]

I honestly don't know why they are doing this. This game is fine. Might be 12 years old but it aged pretty well, it has a very nice community and so much more stuff can be added to it. I am worried they are making a mistake making a 3rd game.

[DoomNexus.5324]

On 8/21/2024 at 9:09 AM, Nemo.6295 said:

I honestly don't know why they are doing this. This game is fine. Might be 12 years old but it aged pretty well, it has a very nice community and so much more stuff can be added to it. I am worried they are making a mistake making a 3rd game.

Money. That's why it was announced by a c-suite guy of NCSoft and not from someone in ArenaNet. It's been revealed during an earnings call where shareholders expressed concerns about future revenues. Soo, yea. GW3 will most likely be a cash cow to generate more returns for investors.
At least I'm not looking forward to GW3 as it will probably just be everything wrong with "modern" GW2 on steroids.. edgy characters, horrible story writing, no competitive content, .. and since it's supposed to generate a lot of revenue I'd bet my kitten that NCSoft won't allow any experimental stuff like GW1 or GW2 had. So you'll likely get some crunched/rushed, cookiecutter live service garbage with heavy focus on DEI to get that sweet sweet ESG money.
At least I'm not spending any money anymore on GW2 apart from expansions (and only on my main account) because of this, so no additional gems/upgrades anymore.

My only hope is that gw3 will turn out to be a mobile game or some other kitten and gw2 will still get support with expacs similar to now. However, considering Anet is a rather small game studio I highly doubt it and I'd expect gw3 to put gw2 into maintenance mode like gw2 did with gw1.

Edited August 22 by DoomNexus.5324

[Giovix.5948]

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Edited August 26 by Giovix.5948

[Giovix.5948]

I'm sorry, unfortunately I wasn't able to read everything, but I got to just over halfway through, you're certainly much more cultured than me when it comes to the lore and mechanics of Guildwars, but I didn't approve of almost any of the choices you described, at least until where I read, especially regarding the gameplay, however, in my ignorance I would like this in a few words: an unmodified, but improved WvW, more dynamic maps and more organized servers, so as not to create disparities, a more popular PvP , PvP events that keep that sector of the game always active and interesting, which in Gw2 is beautiful but almost abandoned, and as regards Pve, I think that creating private maps for groups is a huge mistake, not only would it go against the concept of Same MMO, but no one would play open world games anymore, more than anything I would make the maps bigger, not by much because in GW2 the maps are already quite big, but it seems bad to say, the GW2 maps are too well done, too many points of interest, deserted and empty areas, inserted here and there, where perhaps secret boss fights take place, but which give a sense of immensity while playing, so as to avoid always feeling inside a box, it would be fantastic. as for the main story, it needs charisma, interesting antagonists, not epic, not dragons, not gods, nothing masterful, but antagonists with charisma, I madly loved 2 villains from Gw2, scarlett and palawa Joko, for me they are the highest moments in the history of the game precisely because the villains are interesting in character and have a different back story from the usual ''demonic villain who just wants to destroy everything'' so no humanoid dragons and stuff like that, but also simple charr/asura/any race , who find through good writing, a way to reverse the peace on Tyria, that said, I would appreciate less globalization of the game world, I would like for example ''around 1500 the united nations of Tyria had collapsed due to any reason , and the game began in a situation of global disgrace, where communications between peoples and methods of travel were incredibly compromised, fewer safe areas, more dangerous and mysterious areas. having said this, as an ignorant person, I said it all, honestly for me if guildwars 2 had a graphic improvement of the lighting, and replacement of some terrible animation choices, such as the npcs that follow you with schizophrenia at the speed of light, for me Gw2 it could go on forever, it's still too good a game in the MMORPG industry.

[Nemo.6295]

On 8/22/2024 at 10:02 PM, DoomNexus.5324 said:

Money. That's why it was announced by a c-suite guy of NCSoft and not from someone in ArenaNet. It's been revealed during an earnings call where shareholders expressed concerns about future revenues. Soo, yea. GW3 will most likely be a cash cow to generate more returns for investors.
At least I'm not looking forward to GW3 as it will probably just be everything wrong with "modern" GW2 on steroids.. edgy characters, horrible story writing, no competitive content, .. and since it's supposed to generate a lot of revenue I'd bet my kitten that NCSoft won't allow any experimental stuff like GW1 or GW2 had. So you'll likely get some crunched/rushed, cookiecutter live service garbage with heavy focus on DEI to get that sweet sweet ESG money.
At least I'm not spending any money anymore on GW2 apart from expansions (and only on my main account) because of this, so no additional gems/upgrades anymore.

My only hope is that gw3 will turn out to be a mobile game or some other kitten and gw2 will still get support with expacs similar to now. However, considering Anet is a rather small game studio I highly doubt it and I'd expect gw3 to put gw2 into maintenance mode like gw2 did with gw1.

Oh after hearing this, I'm not spending any money on this game either, not for expansions, not for anything. Aside it feeling pointless, I get the feeling that whatever comes next to GW2 won't be as good as it could have been because they are focusing on the next game. Oh well.

Edited September 11 by Nemo.6295
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