Hot on the heels of ArenaNet President Mike O’Brien’s “Guild Wars 2 Design Manifesto,” the studio today released specifics on what players can expect from one of Guild Wars 2’s most exciting components – combat mechanics – as well as details about the Elementalist profession. This latest reveal gives gamers a first look at the visceral and dynamic action they can expect to find in the highly anticipated Guild Wars 2, the upcoming sequel to the acclaimed Guild Wars franchise.
ArenaNet is set to post a two-part feature straight from Lead Designer Eric Flannum that describes the core components of Guild Wars 2 combat mechanics, showcased through an explanation of the game’s principles, examples of combat in action, sample skills, and a brand new look at the Elementalist profession.
The combat highlights include:
Visual and dynamic combat - Manoeuvre around an opponent to strike for maximum damage or send them flying through the air. Create giant crushing stone hands, turn into a massive tornado, or summon a flock of vicious birds of prey to swarm your enemies.
Cross-profession combos - Combine attacks from different professions for extra damage, like shooting arrows through a flaming wall to create a barrage of fiery projectiles, or sending pets through a cloud of poison so they spread the toxin among the enemy.
Environmental weapons - In the hands of a skilled Elementalist, a simple boulder can be turned into a meteor storm. Or save the day by taking control of a siege weapon on the battlefield!
A skill system that is easy to learn and rewarding to master - In Guild Wars 2, you start with a strong base set of skills, but the game allows for deep player customisation. You get your base skills from the weapons you wield and then customise your skill-set with racial skills, healing skills, profession skills, and even a devastating elite skill.
In order to illustrate the combat system in action, ArenaNet also introduces the Elementalist, the first profession reveal of Guild Wars 2. Channelling the forces of nature, the Elementalist represents:
Versatility - Adapting to any situation, the Elementalist can attune to the elements of Fire, Water, Air, and Earth. Each element provides a separate set of options and visually-powerful attacks, like the ability to call down precision lightning strikes, trigger volcanic eruptions, or heal allies.
Distinctive Mechanics - Glyphs, Signets, Conjurations, and Attunements provide a distinctive set of mechanics that foster versatility and garner grand results, ranging from area-of-effect destruction to defensive snares.
An innovative skill system, unique profession mechanics, and extensive customisation combine to make combat in Guild Wars 2 an immersive, exciting experience.
Elementalist
The Elementalist channels natural forces of destruction, making fire, air, earth, and water do her bidding. What the Elementalist lacks in physical toughness, she makes up for in her ability to inflict massive damage in a single attack, dropping foes from a distance before they can become a threat. Yet, despite her incredible offensive potential, versatility is what makes the Elementalist truly formidable.
Rather than swap weapons to adjust to new situations, the multi-faceted Elementalist quickly adapts to new threats by attuning to different elements as needed. When the Elementalist attunes to any of the four elements, she receives intrinsic bonuses that continually empower her.
With FIRE attunement, the Elementalist can inflict scorching damage on multiple enemies by turning the ground to fire or raining down molten rock from the skies. Why kill just one enemy when you can burn them all? Just by attuning to fire, the Elementalist automatically causes flame damage to any foe foolish enough to touch her.
When the Elementalist attunes to AIR, she can harness wind and lightning to target specific foes with focused, high-damage attacks. Dazzling bolts of lightning rip from the Elementalist's fingertips, and brilliant flashes of light blind her enemies. When an Elementalist attunes to air, nearby enemies are continuously pelted with lightning strikes.
WATER attunement forgoes the raw damage of air and fire, in favor of controlling an opponent's movement. By creating slippery ice or freezing foes solid, water attunement ensures that the battle is always fought on the Elementalist's terms. Nearby allies receive continuous healing from an Elementalist who is attuned to water.
In the most dangerous situations, the Elementalist relies on the powerful defense of EARTH attunement. An earth Elementalist uses the ground under her feet to defend herself and her allies, turning flesh to stone, destabilizing foes with seismic shocks, and destroying threats with volcanic eruptions. Earth attunement automatically confers magical protection to the Elementalist.
Elementalists have a number of special spell types:
Glyphs These arcane spells enhance or modify the natural power of the Elementalist. She uses the Glyph of Elemental Power to increase the damage, range, and duration of her spells.
Signets Signets provide an ongoing benefit to the Elementalist, but can also be activated for a greater effect. An Elementalist equipped with the Signet of Earth has increased damage resistance, but activating the Signet sends out a wave of stone, stunning nearby enemies.
Conjure Spells The Elementalist uses Conjure spells to summon useful items and potent weapons that she or other party members can use. For instance, she uses Conjure Flame to create a fiery rock to hurl at the enemy.
Area Spells Using Area spells, the Elementalist creates hazards and mayhem all over the field of battle. The Elementalist fires lava arrows in a cone-shaped blast or creates walls of fire that scorch any enemies passing through.