How many E-specs do you think we need per class?

[Amaranthe.3578]

IMO 3 e-specs per class is just perfect, don't think we need more. Hope there will be another expac sometime.

[Adrianna.3092]

There should be at least 1 more expansion... we still have to go to cantha after all and i imagine that will bring the final elite spec to all classes.

[Eekasqueak.7850]

3 is what I was thinking, preferably they should allow the class to cover any role.

[Teratus.2859]

3-4 each sounds about right to me aswell.

 

I'm hoping there will be at least 2 more expansions though.

I don't mind not getting new specs with every expansion though, not if we get something awesome instead like mid-combat build/role swapping or some other big character enhancement.

[DoomNexus.5324]

Yea there should be one more expansion that brings us to Cantha. I think it's still one of if not THE most desired region by a big portion of the playerbase I'd assume (ofc not by everyone but judging by how often it got requested for the first expansion pre-HoT - when anet didn't even plan on making expansions at all .. ye)

 

I'd like to see maybe 1 more elite spec that flips every classes role completely but not to the point where like thief gets the new broken healer/support meta or any ridiculous stuff like that.

But honestly I'd love to see a dual class system like in GW1. So like all elite specs + maybe 1 core traitline and 1 skill category (heal, utility and elite - the weapon skills obviously shouldn't change at all) for example can only be used by the primary class and not the secondary*.

Ofc it would be near impossible to balance this but since balance is already almost non-existent and anet doesn't seem to care the slightest, why the heck not? It would open up build diversity exponentially and it would affect everyone, PvE and competitive game modes alike.

Don't get me wrong, I'm fully aware this would fuck up basically everything but I think at this point it wouldn't really matter but the variety would be kinda cool. Maybe everything would turn into such ridiculousness that nothing is broken anymore? :D

 

* For those who don't know the dual class system in gw1: you basically had your primary class just like normal but later you could pick and swap every other class as a secondary class. Skills were also tied to a specific attribute which you could spend points for to increase their effectiveness -> this is where gw2 would have to differ I guess. You then had access to all skills of the other class as well with the exception of the 1 signature attribute/skill category that was exclusive for the primary class. So for example Soul Reaping for Necro.

[joneirikb.7506]

The problem with that line of thought is that ANet designed the Elite-Spez to be open ended enough that they could keep adding more and more of them, not limit themselves to a set number. But at some point, adding too many will just become bloat, and will give them too many options to balance and keep alive.

 

I personally also strongly dislike this idea of "one elite per role", because this plays right into one of my main dislikes with Elite's, they usually force your play-style, where the core traits are usually variable enough to be played in multiple ways. So if you don't like the one play-style enforced by an elite, you could just as well ignore the entire elite. (exceptions exist, DareDevil for example opened up more ways to play existing builds).

 

Also, the Elite system is basically the Dual-Class system from GW1 just set with limitations and theme. Just look at Guardian: Dragon hunter is Guardian/Ranger (longbow, traps), FaceBook is Guardian/Elementalist (elemental atunement).

[Luthan.5236]

I'd still like to see something like sniper for Engineer with additional ranged stuff and 1 target high damage. Would be cool. More elite would mean a lot more balancing difficulty though.

[Asum.4960]

I always thought around 5-6 would be a nice number, to cover a good amount of roles as well as having some overlap with different themes and mechanics if something isn't your thing but you love the profession.

There is so much they can do with Elite specs and unique spins on the profession mechanic that for example 2 different elite specs designed to be a DPS on the same profession could turn out and play very differently, filling different niches (Like Reaper being a slow close range power DPS Brawler while Wraith could be a fast moving evasive power DPS without Shroud at all etc.).

 

At this point I would be happy with at least 3 though, it's really about time.

 

Balance wise, everything is a mess already anyway with everybody running around almost perma invul/evading/blocking and almost oneshotting each other if not, so that's not exactly my biggest concern any more.

I just want some fun new tools to play with.

[Eloc Freidon.5692]

Elite specs will eventually become bloat for sure. We can squeeze in two more elite specs for now, but eventually for more variation we should get weapons open ended at least for future variation beyond that.

[Amaranthe.3578]

> @"Eloc Freidon.5692" said:

> Elite specs will eventually become bloat for sure. We can squeeze in two more elite specs for now, but eventually for more variation we should get weapons open ended at least for future variation beyond that.

 

Eventually? You really think GW2 will even last for 2 more expacs? I doubt it. I mean, if you look at the sPvP population things look very grim.

[Trise.2865]

"Need"? Zero. None of them were nor are "needed". Professions were designed with flexibility in mind. Player strategy and encounter design was supposed to drive play style, rather than new skills.

 

However, "ESpecs" are cool. They're a way of simultaneously adding new classes and pseudo-dual-classing without sacrificing the identity of existing Professions. As long as ANet can continue making these choices meaningful, I see no reason to put specific limits on them.

 

For the sake of topic continuity, I'll throw out a semi-arbitrary number and say 8, one for each other profession sampled. I'll also add a call for some kind of "Core boost" mechanic or "SuperSpec", with extra skills and/or synergies available when using only Core specializations... not necessarily because Core specs are weaker *per se*, but because they feel weaker by having fewer visible options.

[Elspereth.1280]

I'll go along with zero. Personally i don't like any of them.

[Obtena.7952]

As many as we can get ... they are flavour.

[Zephyr.5382]

I agree about the balancing issue. But, then again, I think that can of worms has long since been opened. I would just like to have enough e-specs to make each profession desirable to everyone. For example, necro, in its current state, doesn't really appeal to me, and my necro characters have all been shelved for longer than I can remember. No offense, necro mains.

[Amaranthe.3578]

> @"Zephyr.5382" said:

> I agree about the balancing issue. But, then again, I think that can of worms has long since been opened. I would just like to have enough e-specs to make each profession desirable to everyone. For example, necro, in its current state, doesn't really appeal to me, and my necro characters have all been shelved for longer than I can remember. No offense, necro mains.

 

But that doesn't make any sense....if all classes are desirable for everyone that basically means they are all the same and offer no unique features.

[Excursion.9752]

IMO Leave elite specs alone and focus on making all weapons available to all classes. I've always found it silly that they were tied to elite specs anyhow...

[Rauderi.8706]

I'd like to see at least one more elite spec. I think after that, it will be increasingly difficult to innovate each class, *and* give them new weapons, *and* a yet-unused skill category.

[DeanBB.4268]

I see no reason to set a limit. Let Anet keep adding them and fiddling with the so-called balance.

[Ashantara.8731]

I don't mind there being many more. What I hope for the most, though, is new professions.

[Naxos.2503]

1 per newly explored cultural area. Specs are tied to the new world we explore in way or the other, so as long as there are new large landmasses coming, there should be new specs. Cantha is culturally different, and should have it's own set of specs as a result. I dont think there is another such large culturally diverse area after that, so there could be things based on the past as well, like dwarven technology maybe.

[Rauderi.8706]

> @"Naxos.2503" said:

> 1 per newly explored cultural area. Specs are tied to the new world we explore in way or the other, so as long as there are new large landmasses coming, there should be new specs.

 

Fair point! So depending on where Season 5 leads us, which I suspect will do the same as Season 3, could be an expansion + new e-specs. Though the official stance is "no expansion soon", finishing a Season takes 1.5-2 years, plenty of padding to develop another one.

 

[derd.6413]

all of them

[Cuks.8241]

First they need to implement build templates which include gear changing and than they can add as many elites as they want. Right now it is just to much of a pain in the ass to change specs to bother so I don't even play many existing specs even though I would like from time to time.

[Erasculio.2914]

Poorly worded question.

 

"Need"? "Need" for what? Considering how we're talking about playing a game, an activity that you don't really "need", anything in it is not really needed.

 

Even ignoring the issue of how everything in GW2 is not needed, we have the second flaw in the question - why worry about how many specializations we need? If ArenaNet only made the minimum necessary content for the game (or rather, "necessary"), we would have far less armor sets, weapons, skills, mounts, etc. It isn't a matter of how many we need, rather of how many the game can support.

 

Lastly, the specializations have different roles depending of what you play. If you are a solo player who doesn't raid or do fractals, the Druid is useless, as are the Ventari skills for the Revenant. Considering how it's possible that ArenaNet will add more specializations that are useless like that (things that only really work in one aspect of the game), setting a number of the amount of specializations doesn't really work.

[Obtena.7952]

> @"Zephyr.5382" said:

> I agree about the balancing issue. But, then again, I think that can of worms has long since been opened. I would just like to have enough e-specs to make each profession desirable to everyone. For example, necro, in its current state, doesn't really appeal to me, and my necro characters have all been shelved for longer than I can remember. No offense, necro mains.

 

I like the cut of your jib. The 'balancing issue' is a ruse ... the game has optimal builds for content. in the end that means something is really good and other things aren't. People don't consider that if we have 10 espces per class ... it's HIGHLY unlikely they are balanced. In otherwords, they are flavours as Anet intended. There isn't actually a balance problem if the target isn't equivalent performance and when you get a large number of flavours per class, it becomes MORE evident with more especs.

 

Consider this ... what is the probability if you have no espec, that the addition of 1 espec is better that the core spec ... it's pretty high, 50%. what is the probably if you have 8 especs that the addition of 1 espec is better than all the other 8+1 core? It's pretty low, 10%. People QQed alot when the first espec came out because of power creep, but if you consider the example here, it's just statistics.

 

If we are truly in an environment where Anet isn't targeting equivalent performance, then we should be demanding much more choices for especs, not less. Certainly, 'balance' isn't a reason to not want more especs.