Spear skills for the new Janthir Wilds expansion got a new preview from the Guild Wars 2 team, this time covering what you’ll be able to try as a warrior, thief, and engineer.
When the expansion launches on August 20th, every profession will have access to new weapon skills for the new terrestrial spear that you can get your hands on and learn to master. Given that every profession has a different focus, mechanics, and a different flavor, the spear skills reflect this and broaden options.
Warriors are usually in the thick of things, but the spear offers them some distance. While some of the skills are intended to attack a single enemy, some will strike multiple opponents. Some of the single-target abilities have additional effects, like the auto attack called Mighty Throw. Once you throw your spear at one enemy, it shatters on impact and fragments damage fly out and nearby enemies. The spear also has a burst skill called Harrier's Toss, with a warrior jumping into the air and coming down hurling the spear with force.
Ultimately, as with a lot of these new spear skill sets, flexibility is key.
ANet dove way back into the original Guild Wars assassin kit to draw inspiration for the thief’s spear skill line. For the thief, the spear becomes a melee hybrid weapon, and the second and third spear skill slots share characteristics and have multiple states. Use your lead attack and the other slots will flip into the follow-up attack state. Once you use a follow-up attack, the slots turn into finishers. Be fast and strategic with your combos and you’ll nail this kit.
The engineer, always building something better, uses the spear as a hybrid weapon, focused on melee and hybrid damage, specifically using some lightning power to get the job done. Dash into enemies and charge them, and every other weapon attacks will build up focused effects on targets. The primary skill is called Conduit Surge, which gives you some hints as to where this is going. Lightning Rod is a consistently available skill while using a spear. Lightning rod will spin around the engineer and deal damage to targets that you have built up focus on. Devastation is the fifth skill and “allows you to leap to a targeted area and deliver a massive EMP-style attack, inflicting focused foes with a continuously damaging effect”.
A spear beta with all professions is coming at the end of the month.
