Spear Me the Details: Mesmer, Revenant, and Elementalist

[Rubi Bayer.8493]

Mesmers, revenants, and elementalists have waited long enough, so here's a look at your new spear skills coming in Guild Wars 2: Janthir Wilds. Can't wait to try them out? The spear beta starts in just one week! 

 

 

[Zera.9435]

All 3 look good. I'll definitely be trying these out. Can we get clarification on whether or not the 'frozen in place' stuff for ele was just a video effect or an in-game effect? Really hoping it's the former.

[Donari.5237]

Now I have to decide what to make to use up the 80 boost in my new shared slot.  Guardian, warrior, or mesmer are the prime contenders based on videos and descriptions (and my not having made any medium legendary armor yet), but the beta will be the chance to be sure.

I look forward to more details on mesmer.  That bit about needing to get the outer edge of your aoe on the target has me a little concerned given my lack of skill at fast precise positioning combined with how hard it can be to see exactly where the target is in a big fight.

[SuavePuppy.2809]

"The elementalist wields a spear as a long-range, power-damage weapon"

Dwayna's blessings upon you

[LichOverlord.6329]

I wasn't sure what to expect, but a melee spear that focuses on fast movement and positioning was not what I was expecting from mesmer...

...and I couldn't be more excited! Such a weapon sounds like it would really shake up gameplay, and offer a unique skill challenge that has its own sense of mastery different from some of the other weapons.

I, for one, can't wait to try it out on my mirage, as it's mobility and positioning sounds like the perfect accompaniment to my axe abilities, which already are highly mobile 

I'm going to be teleporting and dashing around the battlefield so fast you won't be able to tell illusion from reality, and its going to be beautiful! 😍

[Fueki.4753]

They all look nice, but I don't like Elementalist's spear's mechanic.

Most Elementalists already flip through all four Attunements on a regular basis, so there's no need for an additional gimmick.

Edited June 20 by Fueki.4753

[ViolentMuffin.9573]

These look amazing. Can't wait to try them out!

[Randulf.7614]

*puts ele pistol into the bin

Hellooooo spear!

[Novah.2510]

OMGGGGG!!! FINALLYYYY!!😍🤩✨Long-Range power weapon for Ele!! Melee AOE-focused weapon for Mes!! I'm literally crying right now🥹😭😭 I could not be more excited for the Ele/Mes weapons coming!!! The mechanics of them both... the ideas for each ability... the animations for every skill... the names for all the abilities... literally everything is PERFECT!! I love everything about the new weapons. THANK YOU ANET THANK YOU THANK YOU!!!🤗💖

 

[Badger.6198]

Please please please!! make it so that Huge ground elemental state AoE under the elementalist is only visible to you, just changed entirely to be less visible as well because that is going to be so annoying in groups if it isnt only visible to you / changed/removed/ or togglable off

[Karaha.3290]

2 hours ago, Randulf.7614 said:

*puts ele pistol into the bin

Hellooooo spear!

I mean, pistol is a condi weapon, while spear will be a power weapon.

[Randulf.7614]

2 minutes ago, Karaha.3290 said:

I mean, pistol is a condi weapon, while spear will be a power weapon.

I'm hybrid in open world where I only care about whether it feels fun to play rather than anything else

[Forgotten Legend.9281]

Sigh... elementalist spear is "longe range" but requires you to stand in the circle of the #5 skill to max its potency, thereby turning the skill into close range. I knew the devs would k i t t e n this up.

PS... it looks like 900 range from the video. Longe range is 1200. We don't need another 900 range weapon. I'll reserve judgement til the specifics come out, but initially I'm infuriated by close range requirement of #5 skill.

Unless the circle placement is only for the "charging", and the skill goes off at range, where the target can be outside the circle...

Edited June 20 by Forgotten Legend.9281

[Tempest.8479]

1 hour ago, Forgotten Legend.9281 said:

Unless the circle placement is only for the "charging", and the skill goes off at range, where the target can be outside the circle...

That seems to be exactly how it works. In the trailer it looks like after casting the etching, the elementalist is able to cast volcano outside the range of the circle

[Curunen.8729]

Looks good, thank you for potentially giving mirage some love this time.

Assuming the backward evade is like the new sand through glass? Together with the gap closers would allow for some really fun and mobile gameplay.

Hopefully the positioning isn't too annoying to make use of depending on the enemy, and hopefully the ambush is fun - maybe something like axe ambush to complement the otherwise full melee nature of this weapon.

[Gaiawolf.8261]

Very cool potential here for these spears! I'm excited by the themes for all of them. A mobile melee weapon for mesmers is just what I wanted, and a good, ranged weapon for elementalists is long overdue. A hybrid, melee/ranged skirmish weapon like the rev's concept is always welcome for a weapon like a spear. All the concepts look great actually, but what's up with even more minigame gimmicks? Didn't SOTO teach you most of these are unwanted? I have a few questions about them.

1. Mesmer: What's the difference between Illuminated and Clarity? Why the same, weird memorization game on both classes I play the most? Are you trolling me? LOL
2. Revenant: Okay, who lost the bet in the studio and had to come up with the wildest, most convoluted gimmick-riddled weapon for players to wade through? Did that dev have to get high to come up with this thing? How many minigames can you pack into one weapon? Yeah, I won't be touching this with a 10-foot spear during the beta unless another player convinces me it's good.
3. Elementalist: Okay, these are not so bad! They look great even! Gimmicks and minigames are kept to a minimum in favor of actually interesting skills! And they don't require attunement swapping to boot! Bravo! Adding a static boost to the next spear skill is nice; at least I don't have to memorize each trigger condition and then memorize each extra effect for every skill (I'm looking at you, guardian and mesmer spears!). Targeting/positioning for greater effect is fine (instead of some other weird skill interaction/unrelated boost effect). And even the etching is cool and straightforward. Three skills of any type to boost a cool circle skill, with a flash on the circle graphic that only the elementalist can see (and not just on the skillbar), please? Really excited about this one.

GW2 is a hybrid ARPG, so please lean into the action and keep mechanics on the battlefield, and not on the skillbar/UI. The game already has enough drawing my attention away from the action with profession mechanics, condition icons, and other skillbar graphics. The position triggers on the weapons are good. Those I can focus on the field, but some of these other shenanigans that force my eyes onto the skillbar or going in circles away from the action are not. But all in all, except for the more gimmicky minigames, I'm looking forward to beta weekend!

Thanks!

Edited June 21 by Gaiawolf.8261

[Karaha.3290]

2 hours ago, Forgotten Legend.9281 said:

PS... it looks like 900 range from the video. Longe range is 1200. We don't need another 900 range weapon.

It's probably just for the video. It's just easier to show character and enemy when they are closer together.

And yes, we urgently need a ranged power weapon, even it it's "only" 900 range.

 

2 hours ago, Forgotten Legend.9281 said:

Sigh... elementalist spear is "longe range" but requires you to stand in the circle of the #5 skill to max its potency, thereby turning the skill into close range.

Why should any skill be turned into close range? You have to stay in the circle, not the enemy.
And having to stay inside the circle for a few skills doesn't make it close range.

 

 

20 minutes ago, Gaiawolf.8261 said:

Revenant: Okay, who lost the bet in the studio and had to come up with the wildest, most convoluted gimmick-riddled weapon for players to wade through?

Skill 5 has ammos/charges. Skill 1-4 reduces the cd of skill5's charges.
It's really not complicated.

 

25 minutes ago, Gaiawolf.8261 said:

What's the difference between Illuminated and Clarity? Why the same, weird memorization game on both classes I play the most?

What memorization game? Use a skill to get the buff -> next skill you use is enhanced. Easy.

 

27 minutes ago, Gaiawolf.8261 said:

Adding a static boost to the next spear skill is nice; at least I don't have to memorize each trigger condition and then memorize each extra effect for every skill (I'm looking at you, guardian and mesmer spears!).

Dude, it's literally the same as the Mesmer/Guardian effect... 🤣

 

 

[Gaiawolf.8261]

2 hours ago, Karaha.3290 said:

What memorization game? Use a skill to get the buff -> next skill you use is enhanced. Easy.

Dude, it's literally the same as the Mesmer/Guardian effect... 🤣

 

Enhanced how? It sounds like you have to memorize what specific requirement on each skill will cause you to get the Illuminated effect, and which skill can grant these effects? They specifically stated that each skill will have a different trigger to get the effect, so you have to memorize these individually. For mesmers this is a bit easier. It's always skill 2 at max radius, but for guardians...

Quote

By fulfilling specific conditions, certain spear skills will cause the following spear attack to be illuminated, which makes them stronger or grants them additional effects.

The exact effect of Clarity will be different for each skill, so you’ll need to plan ahead to gain the most value from it. 

So then you have to memorize which extra effects each skill gets to use them properly?

Conversely, elementalist spear sounds like it's just hit skill 3, and only skill 3, to always get the effect (no extra trigger condition needed) to kittenze an enemy on the next skill. No extra effects for each skill to remember, just daze, and always daze no matter what next skill you use. Much simpler to remember.

Edit: LOL I have no idea why Anet censored it, but the last bolded word is just "daze." 😄

Edited June 21 by Gaiawolf.8261

[HotDelirium.7984]

2 hours ago, Gaiawolf.8261 said:

Very cool potential here for these spears! I'm excited by the themes for all of them. A mobile melee weapon for mesmers is just what I wanted, and a good, ranged weapon for elementalists is long overdue. A hybrid, melee/ranged skirmish weapon like the rev's concept is always welcome for a weapon like a spear. All the concepts look great actually, but what's up with even more minigame gimmicks? Didn't SOTO teach you most of these are unwanted? I have a few questions about them.

1. Mesmer: What's the difference between Illuminated and Clarity? Why the same, weird memorization game on both classes I play the most? Are you trolling me? LOL
2. Revenant: Okay, who lost the bet in the studio and had to come up with the wildest, most convoluted gimmick-riddled weapon for players to wade through? Did that dev have to get high to come up with this thing? How many minigames can you pack into one weapon? Yeah, I won't be touching this with a 10-foot spear during the beta unless another player convinces me it's good.
3. Elementalist: Okay, these are not so bad! They look great even! Gimmicks and minigames are kept to a minimum in favor of actually interesting skills! And they don't require attunement swapping to boot! Bravo! Adding a static boost to the next spear skill is nice; at least I don't have to memorize each trigger condition and then memorize each extra effect for every skill (I'm looking at you, guardian and mesmer spears!). Targeting/positioning for greater effect is fine (instead of some other weird skill interaction/unrelated boost effect). And even the etching is cool and straightforward. Three skills of any type to boost a cool circle skill, with a flash on the circle graphic that only the elementalist can see (and not just on the skillbar), please? Really excited about this one.

GW2 is a hybrid ARPG, so please lean into the action and keep mechanics on the battlefield, and not on the skillbar/UI. The game already has enough drawing my attention away from the action with profession mechanics, condition icons, and other skillbar graphics. The position triggers on the weapons are good. Those I can focus on the field, but some of these other shenanigans that force my eyes onto the skillbar or going in circles away from the action are not. But all in all, except for the more gimmicky minigames, I'm looking forward to beta weekend!

Thanks!

It's like horizontal game theory. If they make you HAVE to do a certain key amount then the effect will be worth it more than the base effect. They have to work with the game engine that they got. What do you expect them to do with the current interface? You got 5 weapon slots and it seems like they cannot program any additional updates to it which is really sad so they have to work with what they got. They have a certain "game budget" for a 5 button weapon mechanism system and this is them maximizing on it.

[HotDelirium.7984]

2 hours ago, Gaiawolf.8261 said:

Very cool potential here for these spears! I'm excited by the themes for all of them. A mobile melee weapon for mesmers is just what I wanted, and a good, ranged weapon for elementalists is long overdue. A hybrid, melee/ranged skirmish weapon like the rev's concept is always welcome for a weapon like a spear. All the concepts look great actually, but what's up with even more minigame gimmicks? Didn't SOTO teach you most of these are unwanted? I have a few questions about them.

1. Mesmer: What's the difference between Illuminated and Clarity? Why the same, weird memorization game on both classes I play the most? Are you trolling me? LOL
2. Revenant: Okay, who lost the bet in the studio and had to come up with the wildest, most convoluted gimmick-riddled weapon for players to wade through? Did that dev have to get high to come up with this thing? How many minigames can you pack into one weapon? Yeah, I won't be touching this with a 10-foot spear during the beta unless another player convinces me it's good.
3. Elementalist: Okay, these are not so bad! They look great even! Gimmicks and minigames are kept to a minimum in favor of actually interesting skills! And they don't require attunement swapping to boot! Bravo! Adding a static boost to the next spear skill is nice; at least I don't have to memorize each trigger condition and then memorize each extra effect for every skill (I'm looking at you, guardian and mesmer spears!). Targeting/positioning for greater effect is fine (instead of some other weird skill interaction/unrelated boost effect). And even the etching is cool and straightforward. Three skills of any type to boost a cool circle skill, with a flash on the circle graphic that only the elementalist can see (and not just on the skillbar), please? Really excited about this one.

GW2 is a hybrid ARPG, so please lean into the action and keep mechanics on the battlefield, and not on the skillbar/UI. The game already has enough drawing my attention away from the action with profession mechanics, condition icons, and other skillbar graphics. The position triggers on the weapons are good. Those I can focus on the field, but some of these other shenanigans that force my eyes onto the skillbar or going in circles away from the action are not. But all in all, except for the more gimmicky minigames, I'm looking forward to beta weekend!

Thanks!

It was always my wish that in some way they would have weapons or mechanics that can be great in one attunement alone and you wouldn't have to attunement swap continuously. Sometimes we just wanna be a fire wizard and that's it!

[Gaiawolf.8261]

17 minutes ago, HotDelirium.7984 said:

What do you expect them to do with the current interface?

Give us interesting individual skill effects like the elementalist spear and the guardian greatsword and the mesmer greatsword and staff. Not play minigames that require memorizing trigger or effect conditions and rotations like guardian spear, mesmer spear, and elementalist pistol. They don't have to do anything new, they are already doing it. Just do that more instead of relying on complex gimmicks.

Also if they want to add neat skill interactions, have that be something that pops up on the field, like skill combos they already do, or skill graphics like how the guardian's Ignition symbol ignites or my example for elementalist circle, or something that surrounds the character, like auras already do, preferably only visible for the character that needs it. Again, nothing new, they are already doing it, just do it more instead of adding a slue of effects on the skillbar that I have to memorize or look away to see if I have them.

Quote

It was always my wish that in some way they would have weapons or mechanics that can be great in one attunement alone and you wouldn't have to attunement swap continuously. Sometimes we just wanna be a fire wizard and that's it!

Yes, I agree with this too. A weapon or espec that allows you to specializes in a single element for certain tasks would be nice. I actually created a concept for that in one of the theory threads.

Edited June 21 by Gaiawolf.8261

[phandaria.4891]

Will elementalist finally get non attunement dancing gameplay? But how will it work vs elite spec mechanics?

Long range traditional mage style is finally here!

[Flowersunshine.7385]

6 hours ago, phandaria.4891 said:

Will elementalist finally get non attunement dancing gameplay? But how will it work vs elite spec mechanics?

Long range traditional mage style is finally here!

Sounds like spear might make me leave tempest to try some of the other elite specs! I mean, I've tasted weaver and catalyst, but they weren't intuitive enough for me to like them enough to leave tempest with its overloads. If the spear game play is fun enough, I might give catalyst or weaver a try again!

Especially weaver is too complicated for me, but if I have to spend less time thinking about dodging, I might be able to get the hang of the attunement combos!

[Malus.2184]

Called that the Rev spear would be a condi weapon. Because Rev just does things differently.

[Karaha.3290]

8 hours ago, Gaiawolf.8261 said:

Enhanced how?

What do you mean?
Earth 3 enhances your next skill to stun -> your next skill stuns. Easy

 

8 hours ago, Gaiawolf.8261 said:

It sounds like you have to memorize what specific requirement on each skill will cause you to get the Illuminated effect, and which skill can grant these effects? They specifically stated that each skill will have a different trigger to get the effect, so you have to memorize these individually. For mesmers this is a bit easier. It's always skill 2 at max radius, but for guardians...

So your problem is to remember how a skill works?

 

8 hours ago, Gaiawolf.8261 said:

So then you have to memorize which extra effects each skill gets to use them properly?

Yes, you have to remember the skill description. That's nothing new.

 

8 hours ago, Gaiawolf.8261 said:

Conversely, elementalist spear sounds like it's just hit skill 3, and only skill 3, to always get the effect (no extra trigger condition needed) to kittenze an enemy on the next skill. No extra effects for each skill to remember, just daze, and always daze no matter what next skill you use. Much simpler to remember.

Ele skill 3, Guard and Mesmer all have different mechanics.
When illuminated Guards get an additional effect for the next skill they use. The effect depends on the next skill (not the skill they used to get illumination).
With clarity Mesmer's next skill is altered. Unlike Guard the next skill does not only get an additional effect, but works differently.

Now Ele 3 works pretty much like Thief venoms with a single stack. It grants an effect that is triggered by the next skill. Unlike Mesmer/Guard the effect is nor dependent on the next skill you use, but on Skill 3. Earth 3 for example causes the next skill (whatever it is) to daze. Fire 3 does something else.

And yes ofcourse the ele one is much simpler, the main mechanic is on skill 5 after all.

 

8 hours ago, phandaria.4891 said:

Will elementalist finally get non attunement dancing gameplay? But how will it work vs elite spec mechanics?

I don't think so. At least if it's about meta builds.
It's simply because of weapon skill cooldowns. If all your fire skills are on cooldown, your will naturally do more dmg when using other attunement skills instead of auto attacking on fire.

If it's not about meta builds, tempest already have a condition build where you camp on fire.
It's pretty strong even, but just not as strong as a build that rotates through attunements.