My time in Guild Wars 2 Beta - Classy
(Guest poster, SteveH)
Yesterday I promised I'd write a shorter article on the classes I played while roaming around Guild Wars 2. It might have been a bad play for me to promise it would be a shorter talk but I am keeping my promise about the second article! So, without any further typing, here it is!
The classes for Guild Wars 2 are as follows: thief, ranger, necromancer, mesmer, elementalist, warrior, guardian, and engineer. I played all of them briefly and the elementalist and guardian the most.
Before I get into that, this might be the best time to explain how Guild Wars 2 handles skills. In most MMOs a character gains a skill every other level or so and ends up with more skills than any sane person can keep track of. In my experience it's best to find 5 - 10 skills that you commonly use, put those in a position easily accessed, and then putting the rest around the extended skill bars and almost never use them.
Guild Wars 2 changes that in a few key ways but the main way is by limiting the player to 10 active skills. That's right, 10. Gone are the days of having a quarter of your screen taken by the huge amounts of skills your character amasses, gone are the days of logging in, noticing a skill button you haven't looked at for a while and then trying to remember what in the crap it did. Some of you are probably angry, some of you probably like the massive amounts of forgettable skills mixed in with the relative few you actually use, but I also know there are a few others, like me, who are happy about this.
Now, before you either jump for joy or destroy the world in your endless rage, it is important to know that this isn't the same as me saying that each class only has 10 skills. The first 5 skills are based upon the items you have equipped in your hands, 1 - 3 are based upon your main hand item while skills 4 and 5 are based upon your offhand item but, if you have a two handed item equipped, then all 5 are based upon that item.
Skills 6 - 10 (or buttons 6 - 0) are skills you can buy using the skill points you get every level and can also attain through the skill challenges that are hidden throughout the explorable area. These purchased skills can be changed on the fly and offer a new method to customize your character. There are approximately 4 different healing type skills, something like 15-20 skills for slots 7 - 9 (I didn't count, sorry), and then 4 or 5 different skills for the "ultimate" skill, unlocked around level 30. The cheapest of these skills costs 1 skill point and I saw some around 5 skill points on the higher end.
Slots 1-5, as mentioned previously, are based upon your main and offhand items and change based on those items, leading to a few more skills based on class. For instance, a Guardian can equip in his main hand a one handed sword, a one handed mace, a two handed sword, and a two handed hammer. In his off hand he can equip a shield, battle horn, focus, or a torch. The skills you acquire using these add depth and a need to keep track of what is happening. The one handed sword and shield route was good against bad guys with ranged weapons, I was able to set up two different fields that would reflect the projectiles back at the enemy. The two handed hammer was good for large attacks that would hit multiple bad guys as well as launching them in the air Babe Ruth style.
This is true for each class, each has a list of weapons they can equip and each equipable item has 2 - 3 skills that can be unlocked, based on if it's a main hand item (3 skills) or an off hand item (2 skills). And, say you're playing an Engineer and want to dual wield pistols, sure! Pistol 1 gives you access to the three pistol skills and pistol 2 gives you access to the off hand pistol skills, the one I remember is the glue shot.
For main hand items you begin with the first attack, the auto attack, unlocked, and the rest are unlocked as you use the item, not per level. The offhand item's skills begin to unlock the same way once the 3 main hand skills are completely unlocked. This is how skills work, almost independent from level.
Alright, I think that basically explains skills. I think I can get on with classes without there being too much confusion. A note before I begin: my time was limited to just this weekend, and limited from there based on real life things I needed to do (the most basic of which being stupid stuff like eating, sleeping, and all that junk). This being said, a few classes I played I didn't immediately like and, therefore, moved on. I'll put a * by the ones I didn't play long and, therefore, might change my mind about if I was to play them further. Maybe the weapon combo I had in the beginning wasn't the best, maybe the skills get the character going in ways I hadn't allowed myself to see. So, in short, if you see a class you think you'd like but see I'm saying bad stuff, check to see if there's a * in front of the name and know that I admit to not giving that class a fair amount of time.
Elementalist: This was a fun class to play, also fairly complicated. In short, this class wields the powers of Fire, Water, Earth, and Lightning with devastating results. What made this class interesting is that it was one of the few classes that didn't allow for weapon swapping (that's not to say you were stuck with one weapon, just that you couldn't swap mid-battle). The reason why is because each weapon had different skills in the different attunements which meant that each weapon had 20 different skills that could be swapped in battle! This class was very good at dealing out the punishment and also set up the coolest cross-profession combos. An example of this that will explain what I mean is when the Elementalist lays down a fire wall, any other class that fires projectiles through that wall will have their projectile do extra fire damage. The Elementalist was good fun!
Engineer: Also fun to play. The Engineer is mainly a ranged class using one handed pistols and two handed rifles primarily. They could augment this using turrets that can start enemies on fire, heal allies, or just shoot plain old bullets. I didn't spend too much time with the engineer but I did enjoy my time playing him. If you want ranged attacks as well as having turrets and other machinations to help you along your road, Engineer is a good bet!
Guardian: My favorite. The Guardian is all about melee damage but also likes to use fields or sigils to burn foes and protect allies. I liked the Guardian because it allowed me to be very good support but also forced me to think on my feet, finding the right weapon skills for the problem at hand and allowing me to play it as I would think a Guardian would. I felt powerful in combat and helpful in and out of combat.
*Mesmer: this was the last class I played and, though fun, I feel like maybe would get better later in the game. The Mesmer is all about creating illusions of themselves and using those for small sustained damage or sacrificing them for a big hit, a stun, or to confuse the enemy. I feel like this class is a slow burn, you don't start as powerful as the elementalist but I could see the potential for crazy damage later on.
*Necromancer: Another class I played later on in the beta and feel would get better over time. The Necro starts off with some good damage capabilities, as well as a pet. The pet steals life for you, and can be sacrificed at any time for a large gain in life, but was really weak and took almost nothing to kill, robbing you of the big and small heals until the cool down timer expires. Maybe later levels allows the necro to bring up a stronger pet?
*Ranger: I spent almost no time with this class. The Ranger is a, surprise, ranged class and also has a pet which you choose at character creation. You start the game with an axe, which you throw at your enemy, but I felt really weak. Note: HUGE NOTE: I never got the ranger past level 2, nor did I find him a different weapon, and I saw a few rangers running around that did a fair deal of damage with a bow, so it's likely this class gets much better.
Thief: The rogue class. Very fast and high damage. My favorite part to the thief was their Steal skill. This wasn't the normal steal in other games, that brings up a loot table if successful, this is a much more fun, and funnier, skill. Steal in GW2 has the Thief attempt to steal a weapon from the opponent, usually the one the enemy is trying to hit you with! When unsuccessful the steal skill temporarily becomes a vanish, allowing you to take a step back and heal up. However, if successful, a lot of times you'll see the weapon your opponent was using now in your hands and your steal skill temporarily becomes a skill based upon the stolen weapon. The most memorable moment I had with this was when I stole a gun from an enemy and then used it to shoot an explosive round right in their face!
*Warrior: Another class I didn't really get into but might become better with time. This is your usual "Stab bad guy with big axe with my bigger axe" class. I'm sure different weapons give some more interesting skills but, what I saw with the starter sword, seemed a little dull. I saw some warriors spinning around with huge swords while I was adventuring which means that they probably get pretty cool later on.
And that about wraps this thing up, I can't think of anymore info I have on the game at the moment.
If I can leave you with one thought it would be this, I really enjoyed playing Guild Wars 2, it was the most fun I've had in a MMO in a really long time.
Yesterday I promised I'd write a shorter article on the classes I played while roaming around Guild Wars 2. It might have been a bad play for me to promise it would be a shorter talk but I am keeping my promise about the second article! So, without any further typing, here it is!
The classes for Guild Wars 2 are as follows: thief, ranger, necromancer, mesmer, elementalist, warrior, guardian, and engineer. I played all of them briefly and the elementalist and guardian the most.
Before I get into that, this might be the best time to explain how Guild Wars 2 handles skills. In most MMOs a character gains a skill every other level or so and ends up with more skills than any sane person can keep track of. In my experience it's best to find 5 - 10 skills that you commonly use, put those in a position easily accessed, and then putting the rest around the extended skill bars and almost never use them.
Guild Wars 2 changes that in a few key ways but the main way is by limiting the player to 10 active skills. That's right, 10. Gone are the days of having a quarter of your screen taken by the huge amounts of skills your character amasses, gone are the days of logging in, noticing a skill button you haven't looked at for a while and then trying to remember what in the crap it did. Some of you are probably angry, some of you probably like the massive amounts of forgettable skills mixed in with the relative few you actually use, but I also know there are a few others, like me, who are happy about this.
Now, before you either jump for joy or destroy the world in your endless rage, it is important to know that this isn't the same as me saying that each class only has 10 skills. The first 5 skills are based upon the items you have equipped in your hands, 1 - 3 are based upon your main hand item while skills 4 and 5 are based upon your offhand item but, if you have a two handed item equipped, then all 5 are based upon that item.
Skills 6 - 10 (or buttons 6 - 0) are skills you can buy using the skill points you get every level and can also attain through the skill challenges that are hidden throughout the explorable area. These purchased skills can be changed on the fly and offer a new method to customize your character. There are approximately 4 different healing type skills, something like 15-20 skills for slots 7 - 9 (I didn't count, sorry), and then 4 or 5 different skills for the "ultimate" skill, unlocked around level 30. The cheapest of these skills costs 1 skill point and I saw some around 5 skill points on the higher end.
Slots 1-5, as mentioned previously, are based upon your main and offhand items and change based on those items, leading to a few more skills based on class. For instance, a Guardian can equip in his main hand a one handed sword, a one handed mace, a two handed sword, and a two handed hammer. In his off hand he can equip a shield, battle horn, focus, or a torch. The skills you acquire using these add depth and a need to keep track of what is happening. The one handed sword and shield route was good against bad guys with ranged weapons, I was able to set up two different fields that would reflect the projectiles back at the enemy. The two handed hammer was good for large attacks that would hit multiple bad guys as well as launching them in the air Babe Ruth style.
This is true for each class, each has a list of weapons they can equip and each equipable item has 2 - 3 skills that can be unlocked, based on if it's a main hand item (3 skills) or an off hand item (2 skills). And, say you're playing an Engineer and want to dual wield pistols, sure! Pistol 1 gives you access to the three pistol skills and pistol 2 gives you access to the off hand pistol skills, the one I remember is the glue shot.
For main hand items you begin with the first attack, the auto attack, unlocked, and the rest are unlocked as you use the item, not per level. The offhand item's skills begin to unlock the same way once the 3 main hand skills are completely unlocked. This is how skills work, almost independent from level.
Alright, I think that basically explains skills. I think I can get on with classes without there being too much confusion. A note before I begin: my time was limited to just this weekend, and limited from there based on real life things I needed to do (the most basic of which being stupid stuff like eating, sleeping, and all that junk). This being said, a few classes I played I didn't immediately like and, therefore, moved on. I'll put a * by the ones I didn't play long and, therefore, might change my mind about if I was to play them further. Maybe the weapon combo I had in the beginning wasn't the best, maybe the skills get the character going in ways I hadn't allowed myself to see. So, in short, if you see a class you think you'd like but see I'm saying bad stuff, check to see if there's a * in front of the name and know that I admit to not giving that class a fair amount of time.
Elementalist: This was a fun class to play, also fairly complicated. In short, this class wields the powers of Fire, Water, Earth, and Lightning with devastating results. What made this class interesting is that it was one of the few classes that didn't allow for weapon swapping (that's not to say you were stuck with one weapon, just that you couldn't swap mid-battle). The reason why is because each weapon had different skills in the different attunements which meant that each weapon had 20 different skills that could be swapped in battle! This class was very good at dealing out the punishment and also set up the coolest cross-profession combos. An example of this that will explain what I mean is when the Elementalist lays down a fire wall, any other class that fires projectiles through that wall will have their projectile do extra fire damage. The Elementalist was good fun!
Engineer: Also fun to play. The Engineer is mainly a ranged class using one handed pistols and two handed rifles primarily. They could augment this using turrets that can start enemies on fire, heal allies, or just shoot plain old bullets. I didn't spend too much time with the engineer but I did enjoy my time playing him. If you want ranged attacks as well as having turrets and other machinations to help you along your road, Engineer is a good bet!
Guardian: My favorite. The Guardian is all about melee damage but also likes to use fields or sigils to burn foes and protect allies. I liked the Guardian because it allowed me to be very good support but also forced me to think on my feet, finding the right weapon skills for the problem at hand and allowing me to play it as I would think a Guardian would. I felt powerful in combat and helpful in and out of combat.
*Mesmer: this was the last class I played and, though fun, I feel like maybe would get better later in the game. The Mesmer is all about creating illusions of themselves and using those for small sustained damage or sacrificing them for a big hit, a stun, or to confuse the enemy. I feel like this class is a slow burn, you don't start as powerful as the elementalist but I could see the potential for crazy damage later on.
*Necromancer: Another class I played later on in the beta and feel would get better over time. The Necro starts off with some good damage capabilities, as well as a pet. The pet steals life for you, and can be sacrificed at any time for a large gain in life, but was really weak and took almost nothing to kill, robbing you of the big and small heals until the cool down timer expires. Maybe later levels allows the necro to bring up a stronger pet?
*Ranger: I spent almost no time with this class. The Ranger is a, surprise, ranged class and also has a pet which you choose at character creation. You start the game with an axe, which you throw at your enemy, but I felt really weak. Note: HUGE NOTE: I never got the ranger past level 2, nor did I find him a different weapon, and I saw a few rangers running around that did a fair deal of damage with a bow, so it's likely this class gets much better.
Thief: The rogue class. Very fast and high damage. My favorite part to the thief was their Steal skill. This wasn't the normal steal in other games, that brings up a loot table if successful, this is a much more fun, and funnier, skill. Steal in GW2 has the Thief attempt to steal a weapon from the opponent, usually the one the enemy is trying to hit you with! When unsuccessful the steal skill temporarily becomes a vanish, allowing you to take a step back and heal up. However, if successful, a lot of times you'll see the weapon your opponent was using now in your hands and your steal skill temporarily becomes a skill based upon the stolen weapon. The most memorable moment I had with this was when I stole a gun from an enemy and then used it to shoot an explosive round right in their face!
*Warrior: Another class I didn't really get into but might become better with time. This is your usual "Stab bad guy with big axe with my bigger axe" class. I'm sure different weapons give some more interesting skills but, what I saw with the starter sword, seemed a little dull. I saw some warriors spinning around with huge swords while I was adventuring which means that they probably get pretty cool later on.
And that about wraps this thing up, I can't think of anymore info I have on the game at the moment.
If I can leave you with one thought it would be this, I really enjoyed playing Guild Wars 2, it was the most fun I've had in a MMO in a really long time.
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