draxynnic.3719
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Posts posted by draxynnic.3719
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Hey, Malafide! Long time no see!
A lot of these I don't really have the answer for off the top of my head, but I'll give it a go:
* My understanding is that signets are actually a signet ring that the user can activate to achieve an effect. In the _ancient_ days of GW1, all skills were actually empowered by "skill rings", but signets were those that did not require energy input from the user. While I think the idea of all skills being powered by rings has been dropped, I think signets are still, essentially, magical signet rings.
* I don't know for sure, but given that marks can be thrown at a distance, I'd presume it's conjured rather than physically drawn (similar to guardian symbols in that respect).
* I think stealing life force is the equivalent of Soul Reaping in Guild Wars 1 - you're essentially harvesting energy from their soul. Like in GW1, you harvest energy when creatures die, but in GW2, certain skills allow you to harvest energy off the still living as well.
* Extremely unclear. My gut feeling is 'no', but AFAIK there's nothing concrete.
* Also unclear. I'd guess that with skills that specifically mention blood, such as Blood is Power and Enfeebling Blood in GW1, they do, especially if it's shown in the skill image. Other skills involving sacrifice might be sacrificing the necromancer's own life force directly, however, especially skills which passively sacrifice health in small quantities such as Soul Taker.
* Shadow Magic is its own thing - used by thieves and assassins. Necromancers might have effects related to darkness and shadows, but this is distinct from Shadow Magic, just as the fire conjured by guardians is not Fire Magic. (That said, I suspect Shadow Magic might be found in the part of the magical spectrum where necromancer and mesmer approach each other.)
* Given that ArenaNet tried to strip actual invocations of the gods out of every profession in Guild Wars 2 so they'd work for nonhumans, I'd guess not.
* I'd personally guess that wells are still fundamentally similar to how they worked in GW1 - the power comes from exploiting a corpse to generate the desired effect. Unlike in GW1, though, either the necromancer carries enough remains to toss them over to where they want the well to go, or they're able to exploit corpses that are buried beneath the earth.
* I _think_ minions are spiritless - this tends to be the distinguishing factor between minions and "proper" undead such as the Awakened. I think this might be touched on in Ghosts of Ascalon - my copy isn't in easy reach, however.
* Souls have energy. _Lots_ of energy. Consuming an entire soul can sustain a daemonic entity for a long time before the soul finally expires. Soul Reaping seems to be essentially a case of siphoning off a small amount of power from the soul being reaped. This appears to be in small enough quantities that it doesn't appear to cause noticeable harm to the soul, and in some cases it's probably a case of the necromancer collecting energy that was being released anyway.
* Unclear. If I recall correctly, Spectral Walk was originally themed as going for a walk in the spirit world, leaving your body behind, and when it finished you could either return to your body or bring it to your current location, but that might have changed. Broadly speaking, though, I think spectral skills just employ the spectral realm in general, and don't necessarily all function the same way. Spectral Walk, for instance, might involve walking through the spirit world, while Spectral Armour might instead involve wrapping yourself in spirit energy while remaining corporeal.
* Also unclear. It's possible that the skills are named just according to what superstitious non-necromancers _think_ the necromancer is doing. If it does involve contact with supernatural entities, though, I'd probably be more inclined to think 'spirits of the dead', similar to ritualists, over demons. Another possible explanation is that the skills were originally believed to work by invoking demons (or servants of Grenth), but like monk prayers, it was actually the caster producing the effect independently all along.
* According to Akesi Xuni: "(Shades are) An extension of our power, allowing us to affect the near and far, casting spells from both ourselves and our shades. They're versatile, able to protect allies and attack foes." So unless Akesi is just _that_ blase about talking about bound spirits, it seems that they're just magical constructs that serve as a kind of repeater tower for scourge effects.
Sorry there's a lot of 'I don't know, but here's my best guess' in there, but ArenaNet hasn't really been forthcoming on the details of what's actually going on with the use of a skill. It's also at a time of night where I don't really have time to go chasing up sources, so there may be things I've missed - hopefully, if there is, someone will come along and fill in the gap.
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Reaper also loses the ranged attacks on Shroud. Faster health degen was applied as a general nerf to Reaper rather than as a tradeoff, although it _does_ fit a general idea of core necro being the tanky build while Reaper is more DPS-oriented.
Scourge loses regular shroud, being replaced by the shade skills.
Deadeye has Steal replaced altogether with Mark, which, as you say, changes the stolen skills.
Herald and Renegade both lose the core F2, which is primarily an energy management skill but which also provides another buff when used depending on the legend.
Berserker only loses armour when in a rage - what they actually have traded out is the ability to use adrenal skills without being in a rage.
Dragonhunter and Firebrand lose the instant-activation core virtues.
Chronomancer has their shatters changed as you note.
Weaver has a 3s cooldown on all attunements when switching (regular elementalist has a 10s cooldown on the attunement you just switched out of, but other attunements do not incur a cooldown).
Tempest currently does not have an explicit tradeoff (longer recharge on using an overload doesn't count, since that only kicks in if you choose to use an overload, you can otherwise play a tempest just as a regular elementalist) - however, elementalist is probably in a state at the moment where it would be better to give core elementalist something (as happened with revenant) than give something to core tempest.
And lets not forget that ALL elite specialisations give up a core traitline. This matters more for some professions than others, but in some cases a relatively weak explicit tradeoff is counterbalanced by having core traitlines that are good enough that giving up a core traitline _is_ a considerable tradeoff (guardian is a good example of this - many people say that the explicit tradeoff is weak because the elite virtues are better in most circumstances than the core virtues, but guardian core is probably the core that is most used across a variety of game modes, since the core traitlines are good enough to justify it).
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> @"JesusDrinksLatte.5091" said:
> It doesn't help that Glacial Heart is not only not a very good trait, but also competes with one of the strongest traits they have. I remember running quite a fun hammer medi guard build using it but that was years ago, before they reworked the trait system into what it is now. RIP.
In all fairness, there's a degree of that. To optimise a hammer build you really want Zeal and Honor - doesn't leave a lot of space to fit Glacial Heart in. When I do run hammer, I usually don't bother running Glacial Heart unless I'm already bringing Virtues for some other reason.
One wonders if it should also have a reaper-esque "chills you inflict also inflict bleeding", so it can help produce a quasi-condi build, but that might be overloading the trait.
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> @"Aaron.1294" said:
> @"draxynnic.3719" but healbreaker IS a joke of a support. IT IS literally a meme dat shouldn't be viable but it is. Also banner warrior such wow much fun - another meme held by anet balance system.
Where it's probably actually coming from is that the other supports have been nerfed so much in sPvP that healbreaker has risen to the top simply through the competition having been shot down.
But that's the point. An elite spec could be the thing that brings it all together.
I'd also note that shout warrior was a thing in the pre-HoT days as well. _ArenaNet intended all professions to be able to support._ It's just that some professions have elite specs that enhance this, and this generally allows them to support better than those professions that don't. (Until they get nerfed to death in sPvP, anyway).
It's not like spellbreaker or berserker are going to go away, and the majority of the support especs also work perfectly well as DPS builds with the right gear and traits anyway.
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On the question of Blish being 'tortured':
I _have_ come across references to sensory deprivation being used as a long-term method of... enhanced interrogation. It's one of those things that doesn't _sound_ as bad as inflicting physical pain, and it probably doesn't generate results as quickly, but it does have long-term psychological effects. Like solitary confinement on non-introverts but so much worse.
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> @"Dawdler.8521" said:
> > @"Konig Des Todes.2086" said:
> > It likely that in small scale joint operations, a centurion would take temporary command over another legion's legionnaire (and by extension, a warband or two).
> Unless that legionnaire is a lone survivor, I think the warband would seek out one of their own legion centurions for orders rather than listening to another legion, unless already ordered by a superior officer to follow the commands of that legion.
>
> The only way I see a Charr "taking command" over other legion warbands in battle would be if they have alot of respect for that Charr as a warrior... so we are probably looking at tribunes or above to begin with. A random centurion from another legion wont be well known.
>
> But then again anything can happen on the battlefield.
>
> Hell even Rytlock became the commanders kitten.
I think Konig's point is that if there's a combined-arms operation and it's small enough to warrant only one Centurion, warbands of other legions might be temporarily seconded to a Centurion of another legion. For instance, an operation that involves a Blood Legion warband operating as an escort for Iron Legion war machines and artillery while an Ash Legion warband operates as scouts and spotters, the overall command might be given to an Iron Legion centurion in overall command of the operation. In this case, however, the right to command cross-legion forces doesn't come from the Centurion simply being of higher rank - it comes because someone higher up in the Ash and Blood command structure has ordered the warbands to obey the Iron Centurion until the operation is concluded (or until they otherwise decide that the arrangement has run its course). The "when in legion X's territory, obey legion X's command structure unless ordered otherwise" general agreement that the legions have with each other is an example of this as a long-term arrangement.
Given that the three legions have been allied for decades, they're probably also practical enough that if a superior officer of another legion makes a request, they'd probably be inclined to acquiesce as long as the request is reasonable and does not conflict with their own orders. Think of Anglo-American cooperation since WW2 - if an American senior officer makes a request of a British unit or vice versa, it's _probably_ not going to be dismissed out of hand just because it's not coming from their own chain of command. On a similar level of practicality, in situations where the chain of command has broken down, it's likely that warbands will gather around the most respected commander on their side of the conflict until they can re-establish contact with their own legion's command structure. We see this sort of thing happening on a smaller scale with individual charr joining warbands that aren't of their own legion.
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> @"Grand Marshal.4098" said:
> I guess Koda follows the similar idea as a gendered deity as Ameyalli of the Jungle and Zintl the Sun. Wouldn't surprise me tbh. Although I do question why leave the whole gender thing for the Elder Dragons so convoluted. Why is Jormag suddenly a they and what not, when Primordus, Zhaitan, Mordremoth and Karkatorrik are pretty much implied to be males? I don't get it. Humans gods have genders, the spirits of the wild clrearly identify as something...Only the Eternal Alchemy and the Dream, _2 concepts_ are obviously not entities to have a gender.
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> I suppose Jormag is special.
>
I think it's because Jormag identifies as nonbinary, and is talkative enough they we _know_ they identify as nonbinary. Aurene and Glint identified as female, Kralkatorrik and Vlast as male, Primordus isn't talking so we're just assuming that Jormag knows what they're talking about when calling Primordus "he". Mordremoth and Zhaitan... I think there are references to their minions calling them by masculine pronouns, but I'm not completely sure off the top of my head, and even if they did, they might have got it wrong like the Sons of Svanir did.
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> @"Aaron.1294" said:
> @"draxynnic.3719" they still had and will always have better tools to be a support rather than a joke.
> Also back then ppl played dps only core guard bcuz it was 1-shot from 1200 range :)
Core guardian still isn't going to compete with the likes of druid or tempest for support unless you specifically want stability. Meanwhile, with the nerfs to firebrand and tempest, healbreaker has become the meta support build in sPvP, and in high-end PvE, banner warriors are pretty much stapled to the meta teambuilds. The potential is clearly there.
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> @"Aaron.1294" said:
> @"draxynnic.3719" yes? Wha is this question even.
You might, but the general consensus at the time was that guardians were pretty much DPS only, except in WvW. Maybe they could contribute a bit to quickness through Feel My Wrath!, but that's about equivalent to what warriors have now through Tactics and banners. The core professions are designed with pre-HoT levels of support in mind - it took Firebrand to really make guardian a serious contender for support.
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> @"Norbe.7630" said:
> Chrono active 2 dodge
> Mirage active 1 dodge
> 3rd elite active 0 dodge make it chance percentage like passive
Mirror Image spec. Every time you would otherwise get hit while you have a clone active, you get evasion for a second, but a clone pops.
Over time, the evade duration gets balanced downwards, until each clone is basically just an Aegis.
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> @"Aaron.1294" said:
> @"Lan Deathrider.5910" it is. It shows why warr is just a bad class as a support.
Would you have slotted Guardian in for support in the period between HoT's release and PoF's? Similar situation.
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One possible approach they could take on the mobility side, similar to warrior banners, is to _substantially_ reduce the recharge if you pick the turret back up. Wouldn't work for healing turret because that would be a little too much healing, but it could be interesting if other turrets could be picked up and dropped down again with _about_ the same recharge as their overcharges used to have.
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> @"Fipmip.7219" said:
> the problem is the perma symbol relies on constant auto, which isnt fun. I'd like to combo some skills together like I do with greatsword etc. but fact is the best thing to do in terms of both support and damage is to auto 90% of the time. it makes the sight of a breakbar actually exciting. It fares a bit better in pvp since you can throw people around a bit, but I wish it offered some built in stability somewhere so I could actually finish casts.
That's certainly a consideration, but one that I think is a matter for personal taste. The other skills on hammer are mostly there for utility - skill 2 is a gap closer, and the other skills are about controlling the enemy's positioning. I don't think it's a bad thing to have some weapons where the majority of the damage comes from autoattacking rather than having a series of skills that are basically "press on recharge to deal more damage".
As I've said a few times, guardian has one of the highest number of weapons in the game, alongside warrior. It can afford to have some uniqueness to it for use in situations where it shines, while we've already got sword and greatsword as traditional melee DPS weapons. Making hammer more like greatsword would only put it in more direct competition with it.
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> @"Lan Deathrider.5910" said:
> The Seraph generally all have guardian vibes fwiw.
I think they were always supposed to have guardians in their ranks thematically, but the archers use warrior bow skills, and I'm pretty sure the sword-and-shield Seraph are using warrior skills as well. Some of the Queen's Champion bosses back in that event might have had guardian abilities (and, of course, there's Logan), but up until Lake Doric, the 'generic' Seraph all used warrior skills. The polearm Seraph introduced there were an exception.
Which makes a lot of sense when you consider that even though guardian originated among humans, most human soldiers are still going to be warriors. I don't think any of the races have enough guardians for them to be the general rank and file.
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> @"Smoosh.2718" said:
> > @"draxynnic.3719" said:
> > > @"Smoosh.2718" said:
> > > > @"Psycoprophet.8107" said:
> > > > spear for warrior, pistol would 100% be useless and a waste of a new weapon guaranteed going by anets past.
> > >
> > > Answer this, what will the 'spear' or shall i call it staff give the warrior that it cant already do?
> > > It has GS for Power
> > > It has Hammer for Power CC
> > > It has Rifle for power range
> > > It has LBow for condi range
> > >
> > > The only logical role Staff would fill for warrior is 2h melee condi...
> > > Personally I find condition damage play the most boring to play.
> >
> > This is a question that has already been answered: Support.
> >
> > Depending on the theme of the elite specialisation, it could also have more of an AoE focus than a single-target focus (if the elite specialisation is another case of mixing a bit of magic into the Warrior).
> >
> > It might not be an answer you like, but it's an answer that isn't covered by existing 2H weapons, and a warrior support spec is something that some people have asked for.
>
> If that is the case then a maximum of 2 skills can be support on a 2h weapon else you'll make a useless weapon with 1-2 attack skils. Then comes the question of what 'support' would this weapon provide? It cant provide might, traits do that. It cant provide Fury, shouts do that. Would it apply regeneration or health? Protection?
>
> From my standpoint its better to make a weapon flexable, make it so the support comes from the skills and traits rather than the weapon, which will allow the player to work these weapons into different playstyles. Heck for all we know Anet might be making a new grandmaster trait system that changes all bursts to be power, condi or support depending on what you pick.
>
> A lot of players also asked for 2h axe for a long time. I'm still confident that it will be pistol since it fills most of the missing gaps for the warrior. (Never forget that warriors suck vs kiters. You don't take a rifle because you drop sustain for it, however with pistol you can still at least have a shield on you.)
Healing is a potential use for a support staff. As is protection, for allies or for the warrior. Condi removal. Might can come from traits, but having additional sources could be worthwhile. Fury being on a shout doesn't prevent warrior from having fury on other sources, including weapon skills, and having multiple sources means that you don't need to pack all of them yourself. Depending on the theme of the elite specialisation, other boons may be possible, even the coveted quickness and alacrity.
And if we're going to make 'for all we know' statements, we can imagine anything. I'm not seeing any justification to your claim that staff will inherently suck just because. And if it turns out you made HOPE prematurely, you'll only have yourself to blame.
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We know that Primordus and Jormag have fought in a previous Dragonrise - that's the fluff behind there being pieces of Jormag's crystallised blood in Drizzlewood. So I think it's plausible that the "Jormag tries to get mortals to kill Primordus" thing has happened more than once, enough for Primordus to have decided that mortals are too dangerous to have around.
In that context, I don't think Primordus would be deliberately seeking Braham as a champion - however, if Braham has picked up Primordus-power from the scroll, it's plausible that a connections has formed _accidentally,_ and if Primordus has never had a link with a sapient mortal before, doing so might be enough for him to reconsider his attitude towards mortals somewhat.
Or, y'know, _not._ It definitely falls within the region of wild speculation.
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As I've explained in previous posts, Primordus's tendency to attack everything within reach _could_ be a learned behaviour. Animals or people that have been hurt multiple times can get to a point where they paranoiacally lash out at anything that gets too close in a kind of pre-emptive retaliation to push away anything that might hurt it again. Primordus' behaviour makes sense when viewed through this lens, and in the context that he has minions. Just that instead of claws or words, his weapons are the destroyers.
We have one dragon who's good at manipulating mortals, and one dragon that appears to view all mortals as enemies (more so than other Elder Dragons). The first dragon wants to destroy the second, while the opinion of the second regarding the first is unknown. These two statements... _might_ be connected.
Or Primordus might genuinely be the monster he's being made out to be. Like we've _both_ said now... speculation.
Regarding Braham - my reaction last chapter was "don't be silly, Braham's a follower of Wolf who only recently gained the ability to transform, he's probably using the same Wolf-granted tracking ability that we used to track Svanir in Eye of the North". Now, though, we're getting strong hints that Braham has the destroyers "calling to" him.
While I don't think we can rule out the idea that Jormag instilled Braham with some destroyer-sensing ability while he was communing with the corrupted Spirits, I also don't think it's the most likely explanation. First, because the term "calling to" suggests that there's more going on that Braham simply sensing their presence - the choice of description implies _communication,_ albeit on a very primitive level, and that Braham is somehow linked to them rather than simply feeling their proximity. There's also the thing about Braham being prophesied to be able to kill Jormag, something that has otherwise been suggested to require Primordus' power - the two dragons are each other's weaknesses, after all. If this is true and they genuinely are each other's weakness rather than a simple "fire melts ice, ice extinguishes fire" thing, than that implies that to be able to kill Jormag as the prophecy demands, Braham must have access to some of Primordus' power.
Where could he have picked that up? Well, we don't know where the power of that jotun scroll came from, but we do know that a lot of ancient magic involved tapping directly into the energies of the dragons. It's possible that the jotun harnessed some of Primordus' power to make that scroll. Now, most of that power went into the bow, of course, but if just _some_ of it transferred to Braham instead as he was empowering the bow, that would explain why he seems to have some connection to the Destroyers now.
And raises the question of why Braham isn't suffering the effects of dragon corruption, but that might be why Primordus doesn't normally corrupt the living - his form of corruption might be much less potent at twisting living creatures to serve his will than the other dragons.
At this stage, I think this is the best explanation for what's going on with Braham. I wouldn't say that I'm 100% sure - probably more like a little over 60% sure - but it does seem more consistent with the evidence than the other explanations thus far.
And if it turns out that Braham becomes the first mortal to ever communicate with Primordus... that could well be a game-changer. Or it might not. It's probably still more likely, given the precedents of the other Elder Dragons, that Primordus' destructiveness is just his form of the insanity that the other Elder Dragons (except Aurene) seem to suffer from, along with mortals who absorb too much magic. But at the moment we're just speculating, and it is a line of speculation that remains consistent with observations.
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> @"Brokensunday.4098" said:
> > @"draxynnic.3719" said:
> > > @"Brokensunday.4098" said:
> > > > @"draxynnic.3719" said:
> > > > > @"Yggranya.5201" said:
> > > > > > @"Linken.6345" said:
> > > > > > > @"Yggranya.5201" said:
> > > > > > > Guardian? How about warrior hammer? By the time you've used all CC abilities on a group of enemies, any other melee weapon would have killed them and the next group, maybe even more. Same for maces. In PvE, they have no purpose except to break the defiance bar. Good? I guess, but i would rather use them exclusively. Besides, warrior has more than enough CC utility. Not like the bar is high enough to require more than that since they are designed for groups, and the cooldown is so long on the bar that you'll have the skills ready again before it can be broken again.
> > > > > >
> > > > > > You havent played fractal 100 cm I see.
> > > > >
> > > > > Yes, i have not, and never will. Still, if it's good in one thing, that doesn't mean it's any better in the other, now does it?
> > > >
> > > > Guardian has the second highest number of weapons after Warrior. It can afford to have one or two that have specialised uses rather than competing for the role of top glass cannon DPS.
> > >
> > > Staff is utility, shileld is utility, focus is combo damage and utility, mace is utility mostly, hammer is supposed to be damage and utily but is lacking the damage excluding the skill 2.
> > > Guarian need a change on gammer because even as an “utility” weappon as is right now is mostly useless outside of some super rare ocassions.
> > >
> >
> > Hammer is tanking and crowd control. With Writ of Persistence, you've got pretty much permanent protection and healing, which makes it very useful for situations when running sword, greatsword, or axe will mean you don't have the durability to remain in melee with whatever it is you're fighting.
>
> In reality you will not tank nor heal much with hammer even runnin kitten the chain is supper slow to practically use it, is even a dps loss just auto attaking with it, as a cc weappon banish is too predictible and the knockback weakens your dps more, ring of warding is decent but it lack damage inside the ring to force people of running out of it or making them waste their stab.
> On pve i can see how i can work as a tanking weappon but again guardian has sooo much more ways to do that and even better ways of doing it rendering the weappon useless, and on pvp is just not competitive you wont hit with autos and hammer 2 are supper predictibles. Extreme risk medium reward is the weappon as right now.
You've got a symbol up pretty much permanently. That symbol provides permanent protection and constant healing. It might not look like much, but it's another 3000+ healing in the thirty second recharge of most guardian heals. That's significant, especially with protection reducing the damage incoming.
And in the meantime, you're damaging everything near you. Lots of melee adds? No problem, the permanent symbol will clear them out. And if you can fit in Zeal, then all the traits that trigger based off symbols will be active _permanently_ as long as you're able to keep standing there and swinging away (and with the damage mitigation and healing, you probably can). That's not something that the other weapons can do.
Meanwhile, you're not relying on utility skills for your base damage mitigation, so you can freely fill them with whatever fits best for the instance. Sure, it's not the only source of protection Guardian has - but keeping protection up permanently by other means takes a fair amount of investment.
I'm speaking from experience here. I do a lot of instances solo, often in berserker gear, and I've had quite a few cases where switching to hammer meant smooth sailing when doing the same content with the "preferred" weapons made it longer and more hectic because I had to focus more on the "don't stop not dying" part.
Again, this is not to say that it couldn't stand a few usability improvements, like speeding up the CC skills (including making Ring of Warding something you can cast while moving, even though I THINK it's supposed to be used as a 3-4-5 chain) and the final stroke of the autoattack sequence. But I'd really rather not see hammer's unique features stripped out to make it just like the other weapons. Guardian has six autoattack-capable weapons before we even get into elite specialisations (of which guardian is one of the few to have an autoattack-capable weapon with each elite spec), while most professions have four. It can afford to have one or two that are optimised for more specific situations rather than being cookie-cutter DPS weapons.
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Pretty sure the polearm Seraph are supposed to be relatively mookish _guardians._ Their leap attack looks a lot like Leap of Faith (guardian greatsword 3) to me.
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> @"Smoosh.2718" said:
> > @"Psycoprophet.8107" said:
> > spear for warrior, pistol would 100% be useless and a waste of a new weapon guaranteed going by anets past.
>
> Answer this, what will the 'spear' or shall i call it staff give the warrior that it cant already do?
> It has GS for Power
> It has Hammer for Power CC
> It has Rifle for power range
> It has LBow for condi range
>
> The only logical role Staff would fill for warrior is 2h melee condi...
> Personally I find condition damage play the most boring to play.
This is a question that has already been answered: Support.
Depending on the theme of the elite specialisation, it could also have more of an AoE focus than a single-target focus (if the elite specialisation is another case of mixing a bit of magic into the Warrior).
It might not be an answer you like, but it's an answer that isn't covered by existing 2H weapons, and a warrior support spec is something that some people have asked for.
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My gut feeling is that House Vasburg, and the Kurzicks in general, probably don't know about Balthazar's fall from grace. It'd be hilarious, though, if they not only did know, but they knew who his replacement was.
The simplest approach, from ArenaNet's perspective, would probably be to simply have House Vasburg switch from Balthazar to Kormir. While not a war goddess _per se,_ Kormir's mortal life still makes her well suited as a patron of soldiers in the absence of a true war god.
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In my case, it's not really a case of "wanting" anything, so much as being open to the possibility. Just as I was open to the possibility of Jormag being genuine about having had change of approach around the start of the Icebrood Saga, and it was when they started tripping red flags in their dialogue that I concluded that Jormag just regards us as tools rather than allies.
(I note that I do think that Jormag genuinely seeks to preserve things, in their own twisted way... but keep in mind that Zhaitan's obsession also seemed to be a world in which nothing ever truly died, but the 'eternal life' that Zhaitan offered is one that few would choose for themselves. The Frozen have also disproven Jormag's claim that they only give what is asked for, however Faustian the bargain - I'm pretty sure that those civilians did NOT ask to be frozen indefinitely.)
In Primordus' case... we don't know much, largely because Primordus is the Elder Dragon that interacts least with mortals. Even most Destroyers, despite names like "Destroyer Troll" and "Destroyer Harpy", are not actually corrupted regular creatures, but constructs given life by Primordus' power (and in some case, being able to reproduce by laying eggs, something that dragon minions of other dragons seem to generally be unable to do unless they were corrupted while pregnant). Which means we know zilch about Primordus' actual motivations, just his actions.
Technically speaking, we only have Jormag's word that Primordus identifies as male. Given that line about being two sides of a coin that can't see each other directly, Jormag might not even _know._
Applying some meta-thinking to the topic, though, the hints that Braham might have some connection to the Destroyers provides an avenue through which that might change. That's their opportunity to spring a twist that changes our interpretation of Primordus, _if they were so inclined._ And it does have to be noted that the saga is focused on Jormag, not Primordus - it's Jormag who's been corrupting the spirits and the charr, and Jormag with whom one of the major NPCs has a prophecy wherein they must slay Jormag or be slain by Jormag. Primordus' role, thus far, has pretty much just been to be a third party that provides a justification for cooperation with Jormag in an 'enemy of my enemy' fashion. It's _possible_ that ArenaNet is planning a twist whereby it turns out that Primordus is the one that just wants to be left alone, but which has been driven to aggression by a justified (albeit possibly exacerbated by his own version of Torment) paranoia. Primordus has probably never had a champion that he didn't create before, and if that IS what's happening to Braham, it might end up being an eye-opener for both of them.
It's also just as possible that Primordus is exactly the monster he looks like, and we're going to end up rushing to Cantha looking for more dragons that can help control the release of magic from further Elder Dragon deaths before the world explodes. I'm not really invested in either, and unlike some people I'd happily switch theories as evidence comes in to support one over the other. Just making observations and speculations.
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> @"Poormany.4507" said:
> > @"draxynnic.3719" said:
> > > @"EdwinLi.1284" said:
> > > > @"draxynnic.3719" said:
> > Yeah, that's pretty much what I was thinking. By Elder Dragon standards, Jormag is relatively extroverted and downright chatty. Zhaitan and Mordremoth mostly spoke through minions (apart from sylvari). Kralkatorrik and Primordus, on the other hand, have been pretty quiet - our main insights into Kralkatorrik's personality and motivations required someone jumping into his mind, and we haven't had the opportunity to do that with Primordus.
> >
> > Now, don't get me wrong - Primordus' behaviour is _definitely_ also perfectly consistent with just being a monster. But it is common behaviour among animals that feel threatened to lash out at anything nearby, which can become permanent behaviour if they're sufficiently traumatised to push them to permanent paranoia. Humans under these circumstances don't necessarily do so physically, but might push people away through rude and antisocial language and behaviour to stop anyone from getting close enough to hurt them again. The Elder Dragon equivalent of this would likely be sending minions out to attack everything within reach indiscriminately.
>
> I do wonder though if in the near future Primordus will be able to communicate with us, and/or start using tactics, as it is mentioned in game that Primordus has recently processed Mordremoth's magic to a further extent. We've already seen Jormag and Primordus gaining their new "hive mind" type abilities to absorb power through their minions from the dead elder dragons, so I wonder if Primordus gained some form of intelligence from the newly processed Mordremoth magic and not just being a mindless raging monster anymore. This could also tie in with the "Braham is becoming Primordus' champion" theory floating around if that's the case.
Yeah - as I indicated, I've been wondering if this is the purpose of the 'Braham can sense destroyers' plot thread. It's possible that at some point he'll be able to hear Primordus' thoughts and give us an indication of what his actual goals and motivations are.
That said, I would say that in light of the revelation of the feedback loop, there _are_ signs of possible strategic thinking behind Primordus' moves. Attacking Rata Sum might have been triggered by Ryland's presence - if we assume that Primordus has been paying attention to the asura at all, preventing an alliance between the asura and Jormag might be something he'd consider worth trying. After that, the chapter 1 DRMs are mostly focused around picking out relatively soft targets to destroy (and therefore harvest power from) while diverting possible defensive forces by feinting at more valuable targets (something I've done myself in strategy games, albeit usually with more of a 'wear the enemy down' strategy than an 'empower myself' strategy). In chapter 2, he starts hitting at harder targets, suggesting that he's built up enough power that he feels confident enough to do so.
Or he could just be blindly lashing out at whatever's within his minion-enhanced reach. Or something in between.
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> @"Cromx.3941" said:
> > @"draxynnic.3719" said:
> > > @"Brokensunday.4098" said:
> > > > @"draxynnic.3719" said:
> > > > > @"Yggranya.5201" said:
> > > > > > @"Linken.6345" said:
> > > > > > > @"Yggranya.5201" said:
> > > > > > > Guardian? How about warrior hammer? By the time you've used all CC abilities on a group of enemies, any other melee weapon would have killed them and the next group, maybe even more. Same for maces. In PvE, they have no purpose except to break the defiance bar. Good? I guess, but i would rather use them exclusively. Besides, warrior has more than enough CC utility. Not like the bar is high enough to require more than that since they are designed for groups, and the cooldown is so long on the bar that you'll have the skills ready again before it can be broken again.
> > > > > >
> > > > > > You havent played fractal 100 cm I see.
> > > > >
> > > > > Yes, i have not, and never will. Still, if it's good in one thing, that doesn't mean it's any better in the other, now does it?
> > > >
> > > > Guardian has the second highest number of weapons after Warrior. It can afford to have one or two that have specialised uses rather than competing for the role of top glass cannon DPS.
> > >
> > > Staff is utility, shileld is utility, focus is combo damage and utility, mace is utility mostly, hammer is supposed to be damage and utily but is lacking the damage excluding the skill 2.
> > > Guarian need a change on gammer because even as an “utility” weappon as is right now is mostly useless outside of some super rare ocassions.
> > >
> >
> > Hammer is tanking and crowd control. With Writ of Persistence, you've got pretty much permanent protection and healing, which makes it very useful for situations when running sword, greatsword, or axe will mean you don't have the durability to remain in melee with whatever it is you're fighting.
>
> Problem is I can get protection from other sources, and the same for healing.
There are other sources, sure, but hammer isn't THAT big of a DPS loss, so having it gives you the option to do other things with the rest of your loadout. It also gives you sustain that comes naturally as part of your DPS (which, incidentally, is very AoE-focused, which can be advantageous in situations where there are adds to deal with as well) rather than needing to interrupt your DPS for sustain options.
Could it stand to get a few buffs? Sure. But I think the profession as a whole will be worse off if it had its unique characteristics stripped out.
Necromancer skill lore
in Lore
Posted
> @"Eekasqueak.7850" said:
> > @"Fueki.4753" said:
> > > @"Mad Queen Malafide.7512" said:
> > > What is a signet exactly? Is it a symbol that a necromancer carries with them, or a symbol they draw?
> > Signets are an artifact from GW1's planning phase, in which every skill was supposed to be cast from a ring, with one ring on each finger.
> > That's also why GW1's skill bar is limited to eight slots, one for each finger (not counting thumbs).
> >
> > > What is a mark? Is it simply a symbol that the necromancer conjures forth, or do they draw it on the ground?
> > Similar to Guardian Symbols, they are magically carved into the ground.
> >
> > > What does it mean to steal life force? Traditionally, a spell like Life Transfer is Blood Magic (in GW1), but does the necromancer steal the blood of their foe, or something else?
> > I think this is more spiritual than physical in nature.
> >
> > > Is a Spiteful Spirit an actual malevolent spirit summoned forth from the Mists?
> > Spiteful Spirit is named after GW1's Spiteful Spirit, which is a Hex Spell from the "Curses" attribute.
> > Since there are some curses in real life dealing with Spirits, it could indeed imply the use of an actual spirit.
> >
> > > When a necromancer sacrifices health, do they literally cut themselves with a ritual dagger, as the icons for Blood Ritual and Blood is Power suggest?
> > It is strongly implied that necromancers cut themselves.
> >
> > > Several necromancer spells deal with darkness and shadows. Yet, shadow magic doesn't seem to be a school of its own. Is shadow magic its own thing?
> > Shadow magic is its own thing. Shadow Steps and Stealth belong to this magic.
> >
> > > Does Dhuumfire literally invoke the power of Dhuum himself? And could this be considered heracy?
> > This one is probably just imitating his Fire.
> >
> > > What is a well spell? Is it a dark power invoked from the depths of the earth and brought to the surface by the necromancer?
> > > What is a minion exactly? Is it a spirit inhabiting a body created from nearby remains?
> > Both of these spells, in lore, are about manipulating corpses. This is reflected in them requiring corpses in GW1.
> > This means, wells are not conjured from the depths of the earth, but from the depths of cadavers.
> >
> > > When a necromancer reaps souls, what exactly do they absorb?
> > Just like with Stealing Life forces, they probably reap some kind of essence or spiritual residue.
> >
> > > What happens when a necromancer uses spectral skills? Do they become a spectre themselves, or do they shift into a spectral realm body and all?
> > Spectral skills are about partially conjuring things from other worlds or partially diving into said worlds.
> >
> > > Several necromancer skills imply contact with demons, such as Dark Pact.
> > Dark Pact doesn't imply anything about Demons.
> > It's likely just a nod to self mutilation and offering of your own blood like cults often do in pop fiction (I don't know about cults in reality).
> > In fact the only Necromancer trait that directly mentions Demons is the Scourge trait Demonic Lore. But I think it actually is connected to demons.
> > Necromancers in GW2 don't generally handle demon things.
> >
> > > What are sand shades exactly?
> > Sand Shades seem to be artificial spirits made from mixing life force (which in turn is spiritual residue from other beings) and sand.
> >
>
> Doesn't scourge tap into the realm of torment? I dunno if your description of sand shades would be quite accurate.
The elite does, appearing to be essentially a necromancer version of Spirit Rift that's specifically creating a rift to the Realm of Torment, but it's unclear whether tapping into the Realm of Torment is common to all scourge abilities or just the big elite skill.
That said, however, it _is_ established that the sands in the vicinity of the Mouth of Torment are imbued with energy from the Realm of Torment, so it's possible that there's your link - using sands that have a residue of power from the Realm of Torment or Abaddon's power is effectively tapping into the Realm of Torment's energy, albeit indirectly. Scourge could well have been an elite spec which could _only_ have arisen in the vicinity of Elona, and might actually need to carry sand from Elona in order to continue functioning elsewhere. But that's just speculation.