While the good folks at ArenaNet won’t be at E3 next week, that doesn’t mean the floodgate of Guild Wars 2 information is going to show any signs of stopping! Today, ArenaNet has revealed the Warrior class as well as the Traits system. Below we’ll take a look at the Warrior.
The Warrior class, at least on a basic level, should be familiar to most veterans of the genre. Encased in heavy armor and tough as nails, the warrior also builds up Adrenaline which drives his power in combat.
Adrenaline increases the damage a warrior deals with each successive attack in battle, which can build up to three stages. Adrenaline also builds up the the Warrior’s “Burst Skill,” which is an extremely powerful attack that will vary based on the weapon he is wielding. The Burst Skill can be used at any time the Warrior desires, however, the more Adrenaline stages a Warrior has built up the more powerful the final result, which isn’t always necessarily more damage, some Burst Skills will add additional or different effects based on the amount of Adrenaline built up.
The Warrior has many weapon sets at his disposal, including the ability to dual wield. Warriors can use a variety of weapons, and they can be configured up to 19 different ways, including complementing their one-handed main-hand weapons (sword, axe, mace hammer) with another one handed weapon, or even a shield or warhorn. Though, according to ArenaNet, the Warrior is generally defined by their main hand weapon or a two-handed weapon such as a greatsword.
Warriors can also switch between two weapon sets in the heat of battle, though switching does initiate a cooldown, so you can’t just switch back and forth willy nilly. Equipping the Weapon Master trait allows the Warrior to switch sets in battle more frequently. Outside of battle, a Warrior can set up his weapon sets and switch between them freely.
Your choice of weapon as a Warrior makes a significant impact on your play style. Below are a number of examples:
A Sword warrior is nimble, and even has the ability to Savage Leap between his foes, taking them out swiftly and with brutal efficiency.
The Axe wielding warrior enjoys increased Adrenaline gain, allowing for high spike (burst) damage attacks.
Prefer to smash your foes with a Hammer? The Hammer warrior is capable of staggering AOE attacks.
If bludgeoning weapons such as Maces are your preferred death dealer, you’ll be glad to know you can stun enemies with your attacks, making them more susceptible to successive strikes.
Feel the power in your hands, there’s nothing like an awesome Greatsword to cleave your enemies with, and you don’t have to pick just one enemy either, as the Greatsword also opens up the Warrior to cut a swath through his enemies with brutal AOE attacks.
The Warrior isn't limited to melee weapons, either. A Longbow can be used to deal damage from range, and arrows can be lit on fire to deal area of affect damage as well. While the Rifle can be used as a powerful single target weapon, either to pull monsters or quickly take out an enemy who is attempting to beat a hasty retreat.
A Warrior’s skills break down into five types: Stances, Chains, Banners, Shouts and Charge Skills.
Stances are toggle skills that grant the Warrior a particular effect or effects in exchange for a constant drain of energy. Berserker Stance, for example, grants the Warrior regenerative Adrenaline at the cost of energy drain.
Some Warrior skills are part of a Chain and as such they take up a single slot on the Warrior’s hotbar, changing as you go through the chain. Sever Artery, Gash and Final Thrust are part of the same Chain and correspond to a single key. For those of you concerned about the perceived restrictions of the 10 slot hotbar, you may be breathing a sigh of relief right now. Everyone loves more skills!
Banners allow the Warrior to support his team with a variety of buffs, such as the Banner of Courage, which buffs his allies’ melee damage. The Warrior can carry the banner around or he can plant it into the ground so he can continue the fight depending on what the situation calls for.
Shouts are wide area affect abilities that can buff allies or debuff foes. On My Mark allows the Warrior to debuff an enemy’s armor and designate the target to his allies.
Certain Warrior skills can be charged up to deal progressively more damage depending on how long the skill is charged. The Mace skill Obliterate can be charged to up to four different levels, each dealing increased damage.
Below is a video demonstrating the newly revealed Warrior and the awesomely brutal skills at his disposal:
