The Guild Wars 2 information blowout continues with the release of part two of Lead Designer Eric Flannum's two-part feature discussing the combat system in Guild Wars 2. Part two gives us a look at how your choice of weapon, profession, and race play into the game's combat systems.
Kicking things off we are provided with the full list of weapon types available to players in Guild Wars 2:
One-Handed: Axe, dagger, mace, pistol, scepter, and sword.
Two-Handed: Greatsword, hammer, longbow, rifle, shortbow, and staff.
Offhand only: Focus, shield, torch, and warhorn.
Not all classes can wield all weapon types, and Eric also mentions that some classes will be able to dual wield one handed weapons, which is key due to the fact that as Eric mentioned yesterday, the weapons you wield will determine five out of the 10 skills at your character's disposal. In the case of a warrior dual wielding two one handed weapons (let's say an axe and a dagger) he would receive three skills from the weapon in his main hand and two from the weapon wielded in the off-hand.
Environmental weapons will make use of this system as well. When a player interacts with a siege weapon for example, his first five skills will switch to skills determined by and appropriate for the siege weapon. The skills that become available will also be determined by a player's class; as an Elementalist will be able to different things with a boulder than say a Warrior would, such as launching it into the sky and bringing it down with the force of a meteor strike. Environmental weapons will often be generated in a number of natural ways, such as breaking a barstool over a patrons head and then using the chair leg as a club.
Moving onto profession, Eric mentions that there will be eight in total in Guild Wars 2 and they all fall into categories determined by the armor that is available for them to wear. Scholars make use of light armor, Adventurer professions use medium armor, and Soldiers will use heavy armor. The final profession breakdown is being described as: three scholars, three adventurers, and two soldier professions. Secondary professions will not be making a return to Guild Wars 2, but Eric assures us that this choice was made for the best:
Many players from Guild Wars are familiar with the concept of secondary professions. We included secondary professions in early versions of Guild Wars 2, but due to the unique mechanics of each profession and the increased role of race in character customization, they are no longer a feature of the game. We feel that this decision will allow us to create a more balanced game with really distinct professions that are fun to play.
Professions will also be able to perform cross-profession combinations, and we've heard a few examples so far, but we're treated to a few more in today's update. One of the more interesting examples includes the ability for a Warrior to use his Cyclone Axe ability near an Elementalist's Fire Wall in order to fan the flames outwards and damage their foes.
Finally, Eric touches once more upon the importance of race choice towards a characters combat options. Racial skills aren't new to MMOs, but some of the ones available in Guild Wars 2 sound pretty interesting:
A player can also choose to bring elite racial skills. A norn Elementalist might take the norn skill Wolf Form and transform into a giant half-norn half-wolf able to tear across the battlefield, savaging enemies. A human might bring the Hounds of Balthazaar, a skill which summons two massive fiery dogs into the battle. Racial skills can combine with profession skills to give players a wealth of choices when deciding how they want to play their characters.
And that's about it for thepart two of Eric Flannum's combat update. In the future, we can expect to hear from Lead Content Designer Colin Johanson who will provide details on the oft touted dynamic event system of Guild Wars 2, and how ArenaNet intends to use this system to really change the experience from your traditional quest-driven MMO.
Read the original article here.
