The one thing I'm afraid of is having the one character I usually stick with turn out to be terrible on the field!
Because ANet has abandoned the Tank/Healer/DPS model in favor of Control/Support/Damage, every class can (and must) perform each of those roles to varying degrees. While this sounds like it only affects PVE, it actually has a lot of impact on PVP as well.
For example, you can't 'tank' enemies in traditional MMOs because taunt/aggro is a silly, broken mechanic that only paper-thin AI responds to. But in GW2, control is all about manipulating enemy positioning and abilities. You can't 'tank' another player away from your cloth-wearing Elementalist friend, but you can fuck him upside the head with a big ass hammer and knock him away. Or the elementalist can switch to Wind Attunement and blow them away, or create a static field that stuns them. Or create a Lightning Hammer and knock them away.
And every class can do this. Even Thieves have some stuns and cripples, and even an AOE heal ("Shadow Refuge"). We've heard stories from the Press Beta of thieves coasting along behind big groups of players and picking them off one by one, or scouting locations in advance of an attack. So your concern of getting stuck with a profession that is incapable of working in the field can be laid to rest. Everyone will have some value in the game.
So what's everyone's top three list of classes to try in the upcoming beta weekend?
My wife works the first day of the test, so I'll probably spend the day switching between Warrior and Guardian to find which suits my preference. That's my big question mark right now, which one is going to give me the 'feel' I want. That way, when we play over the rest of the weekend, I can relax knowing I made my decision on which class I want at launch.
So that's the top two. My third will probably be an Engineer.
I have heard things like Rangers are slightly OP and Engineers are in serious need of a buff but balance changes are inevitable in a PVP game.
Yeah, Rangers are going to be nasty in PVP because they're evasive as hell (they can even stealth in emergencies) and can dump a lot of damage from a long distance. I can see batteries of Rangers being used to great effect in WvW to just saturate areas and lock them down. Elementalists will probably work the same way, but last I heard Ranger damage was kinda high.
Engineers are a complicated class, so I wouldn't be surprised if they're working as intended, but nobody has had the time to learn their nuance. I think they've said Engineers and Mesmers are the most complicated class. Elementalists are up there too, as I recall.
I think you hit it right there. I think if they are limited to one weapon they shouldn't also be limited less open utilities. The class would be more interesting if their kits were more used like attunements for Elementalists. Have them be the f1-f4 buttons and the weapon you use takes on a different effect, or something like this. I know their F keys are used for something, but can't remember what they were for.
Each Healing and Utility Skill has a corresponding "Toolbelt" skill. F1 is your Healing Toolbelt skill, F2 is your first Utility Toolbelt skill, etc. For example, if you have "Rocket Boots" (Fly backwards, damaging enemies with the exhaust) as your first Utility skill, then F2 becomes "Rocket Kick" (A kick that causes AOE Fire damage). If you've got Flamethrower (which when used, changes your entire weapon setup) as your second Utility, your F3 becomes "Incendiary Ammo" (Next three attacks cause burning).
Really, each of the Engineer "Kits" is like having a second weapon. And since you can have three of them in your utility slots (4 if you use the Medkit Healing skill), that actually gives you 4 weapons (5 with medkit) rather than 2. And there's a lot to chose from;
Flamethrower: Damage, but also a flame Wall (that blinds), a force pull, and a knockback.
Grenade Satchel: Lots of Condition infliction, but also a chill.
Bomb Satchel: Blind, Immobilize, Daze
Elixir Gun: A Condition remover, a cripple, and an AOE Heal.
Mine Kit: Drop up to 5 mines that you detonate on demand.
Tool kit: Knockback, a Bleed/cripple, a force pull and a shield.
Think of the Engineer as Batman; they've got a shitload of gadgets and tools to draw from, but no super powers to speak of. You get by on your wits and kits alone. That kind of playstyle is very appealing to a lot of people, including myself.
Seriously, play with it;
http://gw2.luna-atra.fr/skills_tool/?lang=en
I still think it would be cool if the kits worked more like attunements though. You have a weapon and then your weapons skills are changed by the different kits you wear.
That's
exactly how the kits work, man.
Like a "how's your home town like" feeling. One thing that's not really covered in the long article is gems/microtransactions. What are some of the things you can buy with it? What are gems? Can you buy this elusive "karma", (does anyone mind explaining that to me too, how it's different from just plain old gold or dungeon-tokens?) with it and then buy weapons/armor with that, or are the microtransactions purely cosmetic? I'm not a big fan of pay2win
