Guild Wars 2: End of Dragons Discussion Thread: Gameplay and Elite Specializations [MERGED]

[Sentient Anomaly.9473]

Hello everyone!

Please use this thread to discuss Guild Wars 2: End of Dragons gameplay and the new elite specializations. 

[LucianDK.8615]

Pistol necromancer is of great interest. Necromancers really need a good mainhand. Though I really want to know if its power or condition.    I hope power. As well a proper power dps spec that isnt held back by too high tanking ability with shroud or super selfish about boons like the reaper.

 

Scourge really showed that you can make different takes on the shroud that doesnt make us too longlived and suffering in damage as a result.

[Bristingr.5034]

Legendaries: The designs just seems... lazy -- they almost look like something that would be from a Black Lion Chest collection.

 

New Mesmer Elite Specialization: Looks unique, but not for me. Maybe some others will enjoy it, but I'll stick with my Chrono.

Guild Hall: Already planning on moving my guild there Day 1. I love the design of it.

Edited July 27, 2021 by Bristingr.5034

[Kilty.4906]

Is it bad if I'm sad we got no spear mesmer?

[Rainbow Dragon.7268]

7 minutes ago, Kilty.4906 said:

Is it bad if I'm sad we got no spear mesmer?

yes bad XD i wanted shortbow mesmer and still do. XD i don't really play power builds so this new spec looks meh the skills are pretty but judging by the showcase of it no condi so i'll be sticking to mirage.

[DanAlcedo.3281]

The only "bad" part was the legendaries.

 

Thats it. Everything else was on a expected level.  Very good.

[Neveric.6824]

Cool turtle ofc. Fishing and boat is sellers for me. And Guildhall. Its much better than Dusty, Dark and Sandy ones.

Best part is locations, as always. New necro spec is banger indeed.

 

But. But.

- Strike missions? Hate them.

- New mesmer spec? Not unique, its just mesmer with projectiles, lol.

- Story? Ahahahahahahahhah... yeah, after ibs... story, you know?..

- 14 samelooking legendaries. Feels like scam after all these weeks, sorry. And I hate Aurine. Tell me about story.

 

Well. It's seems good.

I hope.

[Infusion.7149]

Siege turtles! 😀

I'm worried about fishing because it encourages afking in other games, which is added server load with no actual "gameplay". I hope it involves player activity and the existing "fishing" in game with respect to Sandswept Isles and Thunderhead Peaks is going to be updated.

Strike missions with CMs was probably a sound business decision.

I'm not that hyped for legendary weapons but that's mainly because the cost/benefit is generally not high for the weapons I'm missing or don't plan on crafting.

Specs
Virtuoso seems a interesting way to move past clones on mesmers but if it doesn't have utility (either great CC or might/fury generation for other people) it bothers me that the damage on the tooltips for utilities was 1K. Mesmer isn't great in fractals anymore outside Sunqua Peak due to the ramp time with respect to clones (and confusion being semi-useless vs CCed enemies), so maybe this spec will address that.

Not sure what pistol necromancer is going to bring to the spec, but will wait for more information before saying anything about it.

Edited July 27, 2021 by Infusion.7149

[AXLIB.8425]

And that is the third expansion without more than 3 weapon skills for only mesmer, yeah 😞

 

so the entire elite is just core mesmer without clones? the shatter are all the same expect for the last one. f2 still has confusion which is a joke of a condi in pve for a power focus spec. at least my clone don't die now since others won't be attacking it, oh wait, so i'm just going to die in pvp since mesmer have no sustain, just look at chrono in pvp.

 

I was so hyped about everything until this mesmer elite, especially when you guys said the new elites will offer a unique and new way to play your profession, but this seems like it is still just going to be same power mesmer gameplay we that we already have with chrono, you summon clones, but now they are daggers, you instead of order them to die you now throw them at others, oh wait its a projectile, at least clones don't reflect their damage back at me. if the new spec is just going to be basic power dps number 4 at least make chrono a better support, better yet give chrono a way to heal probably that don't relies on shattering and your allies standing in your well for 3 secs straight so i can ignore this spec and finally play a healing mesmer support like i always wanted.

 

Everything else is great with the expectation of  new legendary being a set rather then each being a unique weapon. 

Edited July 27, 2021 by AXLIB.8425

[Teratus.2859]

I'm really curious how shroud will work on this new Necro..

For some reason i'm feeling like perhaps there won't be a new shroud, but rather our Life force will instead be used to enhance our weapon skills or something.

[artcreator.4859]

didnt really show any gameplay.

As a player of the game, I don't know if I can trust this Xpac, will it be as boring as the second half of icebrood saga? or will it be more engaging. Will I even be compelled to use the elite specs at all.

I have no idea as I didn't see any content, can't preorder yet

Edited July 27, 2021 by artcreator.4859

[Belisaria.8136]

They obviously know where their money comes from more than me, so I trust their direction in that regard. That said, very disappointing to see it more strongly confirmed that players like me interested in raids/fractals/competitive will see very very little once again even in this big expansion. Hopefully some new game will fill that void, I suppose, and I'll have to leave GW for casual down time only.

[SeTect.5918]

I like it so far.

Everything seems pretty fine. The mesmer elite spec seems cool to me. I like almost Everything except 2 things.

 

There are 2 things i dont like:

1. I was so hyped to see my Elementalist elite spec, now we got 2 and no ele. Wouldve been cool to also reveal a preview of the 3rd light armor class. I am a bit disappointed that we know 2 light classes now basically and not the 3rd. Thats also a bit Personal because weaver is my fav class.

2. The legendary weapons seem boring to me...looks like a Black lion collection...ofc cooler but...still. i am a dark kind of Person and dont like that every leggy has this same shiny look. 

 

 

Other than that it looks pretty cool to me. Siege turtle seems amazing. The guild hall too. 

Fishing is ofc no big deal but i personally think, if it is no afk farm, its a nice Feature, sit somewhere and just enjoy the nice place. 

 

If i get my Elementalist elite spec I am happy. Would be nice to get some boons.

 

Nice first look imo. 

 

People just should get some patience. Even if i have none myself. 😄

[Teratus.2859]

3 minutes ago, SeTect.5918 said:

If i get my Elementalist elite spec I am happy. Would be nice to get some boons.

You may not have to wait long 😄

Mesmer got dropped as the first spec and Necro second so i'm assuming the 3rd will be Ele to round off the 3 light armour classes.
I expect these 3 will be the first ones playable in the first Beta and a similar pattern will happen with the second and third Beta's sticking with their respective armour weights.

Heavies is my bet on the last 3 they'll do so Medium classes revealed second.

[Mac.7249]

Topic: Necromancer in depth look? before the 17th I hope!

;TLDR;

After 8 years of dedicated power core since launch, into reaper, then scourge, and back to reaper. I have been wishing-no! moaning, and whining for a better ranged option for power or hybrid. We already have a 900 range power based weapon in axe that does exceptionally well. Staff leaves something to be desired as a hybrid weapon with no real benefit, and in my opinion needs a serious look into updating it's usefulness. especially in competitive pvp. WvW specifically* within the boon-ball meta. using scepter on a power build for scourge feels extremely limiting. Moreover I am very curious(concerned)as to how you have approached the shroud, or lifeforce mechanic this time. Scourge was not fun for me. With no real mobility, or personal defenses, one stability on a 40 second cooldown after the trait changes in soul reaping. and far too reliant on party support in competitive play with a very clunky class mechanic. I am very excited for more information on the only class I'm interested in playing. 

 

I hope all of you are happy, and healthy. 

-mac

[Jaken.6801]

We barely saw new gameplay

 

Fishing sounds fun, but I want to know how it integrates with the rest of the game

 

New Mesmer Spec is what I wanted, but I feel there are some skills that are reused too much.
I think we got 3x the "straight line unlaoding" thing in different timings.

I would have prefered if the "elite" was like a "Macross Missile Barrage", several daggers flying from the mesmers back in an arc bombarding an area.

It's not like this spec does care about visual noise.

[Asukai.4507]

Pistol necromancer?...I hope it looks good I'll wait and see how it plays out thanks.

[Jaykay.9641]

Regarding gameplay:

 

Will there be another major profession balance patch? Or are the current traits and weapon skills the versions we'll see for EoD Launch?

 

This is my biggest concern as the "big" May balance patch didn't really do anything to address the any bad traits in the game, including the 300 sec CD traits in competitive modes. Also, some lesser used weapons need to be updated.

[Donari.5237]

They've posted the beta dates:  https://www.guildwars2.com/en/news/prepurchase-guild-wars-2-end-of-dragons/

 

One month break between each.

[Donari.5237]

The release page is live, it includes the icons for the elites if you scroll down:  https://www.guildwars2.com/en/end-of-dragons/

[glenndevis.8327]

As a Mesmer main I feel kind of conflicted about Virtuoso yet it's the thing i'm mostly hyped about so far.

I've wanted dagger Mesmer for ages so i'm quite happy with it. 

I love clones so i'm sad to see them go for this spec but I don't mind the change.

 

The thing i'm mostly conflicted about is the blade mechanic.

The idea sounds really cool but in the end it just feels like the "shatters" are kinda the same. F1 Power damage, F2 condi/confusion, F3 interrupt/cc, F4 defensive. The big positive here being able to have a proper dps spec for Mesmer in WvW without having to worry about your clones dying non stop.

 

Animations look pretty kitten cool though and still quite hyped. Really hoped  for a bit more "uniqueness" from mesmers having their entire mechanic changed for this spec. For being so different it's still mostly the same.

Then again we still haven't seen the traits yet so there's prob some interesting things in ther.

[hugo.4705]

Really hope for engie to be alchemist.

[Magek.4718]

Not sure how I feel about Virtuoso.

 

Thematically, it doesn't feel like an illusionist. You can't just make purple translucent effects and call them illusions!

 

I feel a doppelganger kind of spec where you lose clones in favor of a single copy of you that mimics your actions would have been a better fit.

 

That said, it IS very flashy and cool looking. It seems to be geared towards power which looks to be a good fit for me since I've been a lost sheep ever since we lost our phantasms since I played power phantasm build.

 

Dagger being main hand only is a bit suspect though since MH Sword + Greatsword is essential for any power Mesmer build. I feel like like it would have been better off hand since Memser has been lacking a good pure damage off hand ever since we lost our phantasms.

 

I'll probably end up playing Chrono for PvE and Virtuoso for PvP but we'll have to see when it launches how it'll actually be.

 

At least I've still got Shooshadoo!

[notebene.3190]

Suppose "Strikes" covers any sort of 1-5 public mode (like DRM) options for the rest of us? 🤔

[Skyroar.2974]

Legendaries

I understand the budgeted decision of making the new set of legendaries a BLC-esque set with extra effects (which, I predict, all weapons will also share the same foot effects, auras and trails, for further budget efficiency). And I don't have anything against that strategy. However, I do agree that it makes them a bit underwhelming, as they are right now, and I believe that there's also other (budget) options to make up for that:

1. Either make them cheaper to craft than previous weapons (or, at the very least, than gen 2 weapons);

2. Or add an additional feature to them. My suggestion? Multiple (copy-pasted) skins with different pre-set dye variations. Make it so that unlocking one Aurene legendary weapon automatically unlocks not 1 skin of that weapon type, but several colored variations of it. I assume that shouldn't be too hard nor too time-consuming to do, and it will make them worth more. For example: blood-themed trails, night-themed trails, profession-colored trails like blue for guardians, purple for mesmers, etc.

 

Virtuoso

After the tease, I predicted a dagger spec that would have 5 psychic, floating daggers instead of 3 clones; a F4 mechanic to be a barrier of blades that would damage nearby enemies; and utility skills like Guardian's spirit weapons, except with a different name/theme to them, something psychic-related instead of something spiritual. Wow! I pretty much got that right. I also predicted double-dagger, because it makes full sense for an spec and a theme that is obsessed with blades, and not getting that was one area where it disappointed me. Otherwise, I love how it turned out. Here's some things that could have been better in my opinion:

1. It doesn't seems to offer much besides damage. I get that dps and/or burst is its main role, but there's something missing here. Virtuosos seem defensively worse than normal mesmers (no clones to hide behind, block instead of distortion on their profession mechanic), and offer almost no form of non-damage utility. But it's too soon for me to tell.

2. Shatters F1-3 are a bit uninspired. They're basically the same effect as core shatters. Only F4 seems to get some creativity put into it (a barrier of blades is really cool!). The worst offender is F2. I don't see confusion ever being useful for this spec. Daggers have no condition damage. Utilities have no condition damage. I assume the traits likely will not focus on that either. What's confusion there for? On the other hand, F3 dealing damage might be... interesting.

3. Seems like there's a subtheme of dealing more damage to controlled/inactive foes, but no new skills help with that. The elite requires opponents to stay in the same place. Okay, makes sense. One of the utilities deals additional damage to controlled or downed foes. Okay. Shatters seem to have extra damage to inactive foes (although that may be a core trait, no?). But where are the control skills? Dagger has 0. Utilities seem to have none or little from what I recall. Are Virtuosos meant to fully rely on core abilities to achieve that? I'd say this omission opens an interesting opportunity to add more creativity to their currently uninspired shatter skills. Instead of having F2 apply confusion, which seems pointless for this spec, as stated above, and instead of F3 applying daze, what if they apply cripple/immobilize and stun, respectively? This would allow for some cool CC->damage combos and add some depth to their playstyle besides dps rotations.

4. Yeah, dual-dagger would be perfect for this spec's thematic. And an off-hand dagger could give them cool CC skills for the combos mentioned above. I know it's too much to ask for an additional set of skills, but it just makes too much sense for a bladedancer! I'll just shut up about this one, anyways.

Overall, I really love the theme, the animations and a DPS-focused role that seems to be really convenient to play in open-world PvE. It just needs some more polish/ depth here and there. I'd give it a 8/10 for now, with potential to get to a full 10.

 

Gameplay features

The mounts and fishing are fine, but I'm neutral on them. I don't believe those features are as major as mounts, gliders, or everything that HoT introduced for the first time (elite specs, expandable guild halls, masteries). It feels like something is missing. As if Anet is left without ideas for major A features, and they're relying on B features instead. Or that the company may not have the budget, or be limited by whatever else, to make more drastic or ambitious changes to GW2. Overall, it's very clear that this is one of the most budget-efficient expansions in this game, or at least it seems to. In some cases, that's really great, like re-using story bosses and story maps for strike missions, and giving strike missions CMs to make them raid-like. It allows Anet to create more content, that also appeals to different audiences, and with several different difficulty levels, for less resources. For other things, like legendaries, the budgeted decisions make them underwhelming, although I believe there may exist simple solutions to make up for that, like I've stated at the beginning of my post. And finally, for things like boats and fishing, well... they're exciting, but niche. They'll certain have an audience that will love them, but I particularly don't care about fishing and cooking in any MMO at all, and traveling with boats through very beautiful landscapes might be a wonderful experience, but not one that I imagine it'll have long-lasting appeal to me.

 

Veredict

End of Dragons needed, in my opinion, something more, something bigger, when it comes to main features. But, otherwise, the potential for it to be a very polished expansion is there, especially as it is taking lessons from both HoT and PoF, instead of being either one or the other or like none of them. I predict it may be the best expansion yet, when it comes content, or at least the potential is there; but it'll likely be the worse of the three when it comes to game-changing features.

Edited July 27, 2021 by Skyroar.2974