Engi spear presentation speculation

[bambi.6214]

I'll make some bets for that presentation of spears which they'll conduct on a live stream.

• engi will be entirely skipped, or the time for engi will be around a minute;
• If engi is presented, they'll say 1 sentence about the weapon as a whole (we gave engineer another meele power weapon that focuses on control) and show 2 most flashy skills - probably 3 and 5, or not show any animations at all;
• Engi will be either showed at the very end, or just before one of ANet's favourite - ele or guard (or before ranger coz it was in the trailer);
• The spear, similarly to shortbow, will give a strong "another weapon kit" vibes, with skills being very similar to each other (like nades or bomb kit)
• ANet will aim to make spear compete with hammer, but it obviously won't be able to, which will result in hammer nerfs
• The spear will have a whirl finisher, and a blast or leap finisher.

Take your bets, all speculation welcome.

[Bigbizz.9406]

I hope spear comes out as a metal spike with dynamite on it that explodes on every attack and that you can whirl finisher with small sticks of dynamite getting thrown about and there's a button that said "do not press" but we do it anyway and it shoots off a bunch tiny mechanical piranhas that eat their shoes

 

That or a lightning rod. Either way I want something nautical themed skills

[Gendalfs.7521]

...and comments on skills will be like: because why not? everyone likes it...and so on

[SleepyBat.9034]

I want a melee/hybrid power weapon with great mobility and a repost/defensive skill. It needs to deal solid damage because Engineer struggles to kill things in WvW unless you are full glass and Anet keeps buffing the sustain/durability of EoD specs Some boonrip would also be nice considering the crazy boon bloat you added to the game with EoD (I'm looking at you, signet catalyst). And we need great mobility because Anet keeps adding mobility creep and removing Engineer mobility options. Holosmith used to be the best class to fight Thieves on because it had great AoE cleave to no-scope them with but ever since they gave Thief Superspeed on Stealth Holo fell off. They also removed the best synergetic mobility rune for Engineer when they split rune set bonuses into relics, Zephyrite. On top of all that, our only mobility utility skill comes with two massive trade-offs, it competes with kits and you need a specific trait line. Bottom line: It better be a powerful competitive option because we haven't gotten anything good for far too long. Mechanist is an rp spec and mace/shortbow are support weapons.

Edited June 5 by SleepyBat.9034

[Calen.8945]

If the spear is bad, I'm not getting the expansion... or if it's another support weapon.

[Crystal Paladin.3871]

I imagine holosmith making light spears out of photon forge mode and throwing multiple light spears like a maniac using both hands... Imagine a spear version of Ranger longbow skill#2 rapidfire

[Phyrak.7260]

Hopefully thematically arcane-punk; a perfect parallel between tech and magic

[tyburok.3420]

I'm hoping it's a melee condi weapon. Only condi weapon we got is pistol (mace is jack of all trades). Pistol is cool, but it feels a little weird to play condi mech and be forced in melee with a ranged weapon. I also hope it gets some sort of lightning rod effect. They said one of the classes is getting a skill that applies a unique debuff to the enemy. So if that's engi, then it could be like a superconductor where the target gets struck by lightning every time you crit. Whatever it is, I hope its good on day 1 and not trash like shortbow was. 

[bambi.6214]

41 minutes ago, tyburok.3420 said:

I'm hoping it's a melee condi weapon. Only condi weapon we got is pistol (mace is jack of all trades). Pistol is cool, but it feels a little weird to play condi mech and be forced in melee with a ranged weapon. I also hope it gets some sort of lightning rod effect. They said one of the classes is getting a skill that applies a unique debuff to the enemy. So if that's engi, then it could be like a superconductor where the target gets struck by lightning every time you crit. Whatever it is, I hope its good on day 1 and not trash like shortbow was. 

I can almost assure you that engi spear will be the most half-âssed weapon of all 🙂

[Mysth.8509]

Explosive spear🫣🤯,maybe?

[Stalima.5490]

It will be a cattle prod and all 5 skills will be knockbacks

Edited June 6 by Stalima.5490

[Dawdler.8521]

4 hours ago, Stalima.5490 said:

It will be a cattle prod and all 5 skills will be knockbacks for the engineer too

Fixed.

[EdwinLi.1284]

I am assuming Power melee or Power Range

Either way if it is decent then it will be nice change from my current build of Pistol/Shield Machinist until they finally release Greatsword or Daggers for Engineer if those are atleast decent.

Though I am going for this expansion more for the continue story and finally housing system.

 

Ya GW2 story is not the best but it has been my casual entertainment since GW1 era (I am a GW1 Prophecy era player) and housing is something I have been waiting for since Day 1 of GW2.

Edited June 7 by EdwinLi.1284

[hash.8462]

On 6/6/2024 at 11:11 AM, Mysth.8509 said:

Explosive spear🫣🤯,maybe?

Nitro Skin  (https://wiki.guildwars2.com/wiki/Nitro)

😆

 

[draxynnic.3719]

1 hour ago, hash.8462 said:

Nitro Skin  (https://wiki.guildwars2.com/wiki/Nitro)

😆

 

The truest boomstick of all.

[Kodama.6453]

On 6/6/2024 at 8:38 AM, Phyrak.7260 said:

Hopefully thematically arcane-punk; a perfect parallel between tech and magic

Wasn't that shortbow already?

[Ravenwulfe.5360]

It amuses me this is the same group of people who voted the next weapon for Engie should be the STAFF, and there are a number of people upset with the spear.

My prediction; It will be a condition based melee weapon since Engie does lack some condition based alternatives to pistol (and let's be real, sword is only good in holosmith's hands no matter how badly you bash your head into a brick wall). See a lot of condition effects and booms that will go in it, probably cold, poison, and stuns. I would expect things like a shock prod, dynamite stick, and so forth.

That's what I would generally like but knowing ANet they will some how make the engie the one that uses spears as a ranged weapon.

[Phyrak.7260]

6 hours ago, Kodama.6453 said:

Wasn't that shortbow already?

Fair, I guess it didn't hit the mark in feel - though, aesthetically appropriate 

[EdwinLi.1284]

3 hours ago, Ravenwulfe.5360 said:

It amuses me this is the same group of people who voted the next weapon for Engie should be the STAFF, and there are a number of people upset with the spear.

My prediction; It will be a condition based melee weapon since Engie does lack some condition based alternatives to pistol (and let's be real, sword is only good in holosmith's hands no matter how badly you bash your head into a brick wall). See a lot of condition effects and booms that will go in it, probably cold, poison, and stuns. I would expect things like a shock prod, dynamite stick, and so forth.

That's what I would generally like but knowing ANet they will some how make the engie the one that uses spears as a ranged weapon.

Honestly, in my view Spear is just another Staff considering how they treat Staff with spear skins.

It is actually a good way for them to introduce Melee staff as Spear instead if a Profession already has Staff as a Range Weapon or provide it as a Range Staff weapon if the Profession has Staff as a melee weapon already.

Same for Trident if that is going to become land weapon in a future expansion as it can act as a Range Staff if a Profession already has a Melee Staff weapon while also can become a melee weapon for professions that already have staff as a Range weapon.

Edited June 8 by EdwinLi.1284

[draxynnic.3719]

4 hours ago, Ravenwulfe.5360 said:

It amuses me this is the same group of people who voted the next weapon for Engie should be the STAFF, and there are a number of people upset with the spear.

My prediction; It will be a condition based melee weapon since Engie does lack some condition based alternatives to pistol (and let's be real, sword is only good in holosmith's hands no matter how badly you bash your head into a brick wall). See a lot of condition effects and booms that will go in it, probably cold, poison, and stuns. I would expect things like a shock prod, dynamite stick, and so forth.

That's what I would generally like but knowing ANet they will some how make the engie the one that uses spears as a ranged weapon.

First, are they actually the same people? Staff wasn't universal, people disliking spear in this subforum might not necessarily be the same people advocating for staff. I'd also note that comments made in this thread might not be opposition to spear specifically, so much as cynicism over the quality of a new engineer weapon generally after what happened with shortbow.

More importantly, though, I think there is a significant difference. Staff is a bit more of a 'blank slate' weapon - most people advocating for staff were essentially advocating for it as some sort of science-fiction-esque energy weapon (thing Stargate staff weapons, albeit possibly something like electricity rather than plasma bolts). There are some staff skins that already have the look of a lightning projector rod (pretty much anyone who's spent much time in Ascalon probably has the Steam Staff skin unlocked, and one of the ghost busters events in Ashford uses the staff skin for an environmental weapon which is heavily inspired by the Ghostbusters device, and that's not the only lightning-y staff skin out there) and skins that don't have that look could be said to have the technology hidden within the staff.

Spear, however, is unlikely to cover the same fantasy, since spears are always going to have a sharp bit at the end that is intended for stabbing people, which makes it harder to justify it as an energy weapon of some description. Spears also don't have the benefit of years of weapon set released that potentially allow players to pick out a suitable skin out of lightning-themed weapons (stormcaller, storm's eye, aetherised, likely more that aren't coming to mind). Spear gameplay for engineer is likely to be either some sort of teched-up melee weapon or some kind of teched-up thrown weapon. Now, there's still potential for something cool there, but it's absolutely not the same as people were considering staff for, even if from a definitional perspective the difference is that the spear has a pointy bit on the end - that pointy bit presents a sharp constraint on how spear might be used on a profession that isn't simply using it as a spellcasting implement.

Edited June 8 by draxynnic.3719

[Ravenwulfe.5360]

6 minutes ago, draxynnic.3719 said:

First, are they actually the same people? Staff wasn't universal, people disliking spear in this subforum might not necessarily be the same people advocating for staff. I'd also note that comments made in this thread might not be opposition to spear specifically, so much as cynicism over the quality of a new engineer weapon generally after what happened with shortbow.

More importantly, though, I think there is a significant difference. Staff is a bit more of a 'blank slate' weapon - most people advocating for staff were essentially advocating for it as some sort of science-fiction-esque energy weapon (thing Stargate staff weapons, albeit possibly something like electricity rather than plasma bolts). There are some staff skins that already have the look of a lightning projector rod (pretty much anyone who's spent much time in Ascalon probably has the Steam Staff skin unlocked, and one of the ghost busters events in Ashford uses the staff skin for an environmental weapon which is heavily inspired by the Ghostbusters device, and that's not the only lightning-y staff skin out there) and skins that don't have that look could be said to have the technology hidden within the staff.

Spear, however, is unlikely to cover the same fantasy, since spears are always going to have a sharp bit at the end that is intended for stabbing people, which makes it harder to justify it as an energy weapon of some description. Spears also don't have the benefit of years of weapon set released that potentially allow players to pick out a suitable skin out of lightning-themed weapons (stormcaller, storm's eye, aetherised, likely more that aren't coming to mind). Spear gameplay for engineer is likely to be either some sort of teched-up melee weapon or some kind of teched-up thrown weapon. Now, there's still potential for something cool there, but it's absolutely not the same as people were considering staff for, even if from a definitional perspective the difference is that the spear has a pointy bit on the end - that pointy bit presents a sharp constraint on how spear might be used on a profession that isn't simply using it as a spellcasting implement.

Think you are overthinking it a bit. And considering how many fantasy epics or even sci fi a staff will be used to penetrate a target, I take it with a grain of salt, since staff and spear are interchangeable in a lot of ways. A lot of martial arts the tip of a spear is not the only weapon on the staff but the blunt part of the staff as well. Never mind so far the spear being used in the videos is used more like a halberd for a few of them.

Edited June 8 by Ravenwulfe.5360

[draxynnic.3719]

Just now, Ravenwulfe.5360 said:

Think you are overthinking it a bit. And considering how many fantasy epics or even sci fi a staff will be used to penetrate a target, I hardly take it with a grain of salt. A lot of martial arts the tip of a spear is not the only weapon on the staff but the blunt part of the staff. Never mind so far the staff being used in the videos is used more like a halberd for a few of them.

As far as this forum yes it was that poll someone created a bit ago, suggesting the next weapon and staff was the overwhelming selection.

As one of the people who proposed staff: no, I am not overthinking it.

The motivation for it was as I described - a lightning-projecting device. From what I recall, most of the people who posted supporting staff were in support of that or a similar idea. Not a melee weapon like you're talking about (the ratio between melee and ranged options on engineer is already a bit skewed towards melee for the kind of profession engineer is), nor a weapon that gets thrown at the enemy like a spear is likely to be if it's not a melee weapon.

I'm aware that the spear has been shown with animations using it as... well, a hewing spear or glaive. That doesn't change the point, though: having a blade on the end for a profession where form is usually defined by function constrains how it's likely to be used. However the engineer uses a spear, the point or blade will be a part of it somehow. Which excludes things that were proposed for staff like the energy projector idea.

When you express disbelief that people like one idea and not another, and someone explains the difference to you, it's probably not good form to accuse them as "overthinking".

Regarding the polls - most polls on this forum let you see who voted for what. In order to claim that the same people who wanted staff are opposing spear, it's not enough to just look at the numbers, you need to actually link the people who voted for staff to expressing anti-spear sentiment.

[Jski.6180]

I am thinking a tool base spear throw with atlatlan for very high power dmg spikes.

[Trevor Philips.3824]

Engi will get a spear kit instead. 🙂

[Dadnir.5038]

Don't get your hopes to high up you'll most likely get Hammer 2.0 like necromancer get greatsword 2.0. So a melee skill set with some magnetic pull instead of mobility, heavy magnetism thematic and a mechanic aimed at empowering a skill to force the player to rotate between his skills. The ultimate lightning antlion engineer.

Edit: The spear will feature a lot of way to apply slow and sPvP players will complain so much after the beta that it will be removed and the spear will end up being an empty husk that will take years before becoming somewhat playable.

Edited June 8 by Dadnir.5038