Now that Janthir Wilds has been announced and the upcoming territorial spear announced as a new weapon for all professions, Guild Wars 2 is previewing how the Guardian, Ranger, and Necromancer will each make the new spear their own when the expansion drops.
In an initial primer on the spear, the team mentioned that each profession has gotten its own tailored experience with the spear, adapting it to the various classes in a way that it would make sense and offer distinct and fun gameplay.
The Guardian uses the spear in a support role, while also being able to defeat enemies with the right strategic chains and timing. Naturally, a spear offers range, and you can use some of the support skills from a distance to help your allies in the thick of things. Using spear attacks can make your next attack illuminated, granting it additional effects or amplifying it. One example given, Helio Rush, strikes through enemies, and if it makes the next one illuminated, use it again to increase healing and resolution. So if you’re timing it right, you can attack then swiftly help your allies.
For the Ranger, stealth is part of what it means to use the new spear. There’s a new type of autoattack in play here that, within range, means you'll throw the spear at your target but move closer and it will be a melee chain. A number of the ranger’s spear skills are appropriately named after animals. And you can get stealth upgrades on each of those skills that turn them into a new version. For example, Falcon’s Stoop normally means you rapidly throw the spear at an enemy. The second version, Owl’s Flight, let’s you launch an unblockable owl spirit instead.
The Necromancer spear Is also designed for flexibility even though the spear is primarily used as a melee power damage weapon. Most of the spear skills here create soul shards and you need to strategically consume them in order to damage your enemies and heal yourself. The kit offers a gap closer, mobility, and the potential for powerful combos as you learn to create opportunities.
Guild Wars 2 is planning a spear beta for the end of the month, where everyone can test out these kits and the rest of the professions’ yet to be revealed spear options.
