IDEAS: to make GW2 builds better.

[DeadlyDohnut.7052]

Before i get into the main topic of ideas for this post we the players of GuildWars 2 could really use an **items bar** for all those usable items we get from special merchants. instead of having to open our over-sized inventory mid fight to pick out a 1 time use mine and a 1 time use flower turret, it would be far more engaging if we could either click on a tool bar or set some keys to be able to use the items in the slots. or just make the account wide slots into key-bindable slots to be used on command making them even more valuable to buy $$$ and give more use to the fun little items we collect in game.

 

**Add choices of skills to skills 2, 3, 4, 5**

This meaning to give the weapons more skills to use with the build you want to play. this game is all about skins and i love the dagger skins but dagger is crap for most of my builds i play as.

In GW1 we had the choice of 8 slots and hundreds of skills which i know was hell to balance but why not make it where the weapons of different levels unlocked more skills that could be traded out.

1. **basic-fine:** normal set of skills

2. **masterwork:** option of a 2nd skill for each slot (plus the previous 1)

3. **rare:** option of a 3rd skill for each slot (plus the previous 2)

4. **exotic:** option of a 4th skill for each slot (plus the previous 3)

5. **Ascended/Legendary:** option of a 5th skill for each slot (plus the previous 4)

you can change the skills much like the other 5 skill slots with the pop-up arrow above each slot.

this will allow healing builds to better spec with weapon skills that could now heal on hit or create healing aoes etc

this will allow condition builds with the weapon of their choice instead of being forced to use weapons that are not what we want to use but we have to use them to do the damage we want.

--this will allow power builds to not waste skills that do more conditions than damage.

--this will allow pvp builds to be much harder to read

--this is actually alot of skills that could be added to the game and alot of them could be taken from gw1 or just made anew for gw2. like being able to make more minions for a true minion master or heal minions on use of a skill. i get that its 4 new skills added to 4 slots of each weapon and these skills would all be different for all 9 classes

--Math: 4 skils x 4 slots x 19 weapons x 9 classes=2736 skills at minimum as some of the weapons can be in either hand and that changes skills.

--this paired with **Build Saving** much like in GW1 would create the ability to have some pretty awesome builds and could be swapped out quickly when out of combat.

 

[Inculpatus cedo.9234]

Probably this: "which i know was hell to balance".

[Erasculio.2914]

> @"DeadlyDohnut.7052" said:

> --Math: 4 skils x 4 slots x 19 weapons x 9 classes=2736 skills at minimum as some of the weapons can be in either hand and that changes skills.

Too much. And adding new "legendary skills" feels too much like Pay to Win.

 

I do agree with your main point, though - we have very little build variety, and some weapons are simply too bad to be useful in PvE.

 

Instead of adding hundreds of new skills, though, I wish ArenaNet would just add more traits that rework skills. Like the Guardian trait that changes Hammer skill 2 into a cold attack, or the Scourge trait that changes how Scepter 3 skill works. This is a nice way to add a few new skills to existing weapons without demanding huge balance changes.

[Skotlex.7580]

What I'd like is if each weapon had skill choices, but only for weapons which don't have a defined role (if it's power based, it doesn't need condition based alternative skills, and vice versa). I am thinking of utility / hybrid weapons, which don't quite lean towards power nor condition, those could use an alternative skill set to allow players to set it up according to build style.

 

There's no way Anet will add even a second set of skill choices if they had to modify the animations, so I am guessing that the changes will be much more subtle if anything like it gets added (like swapping a skill that causes bleeding per hit, for one that has slightly better damage coefficient and inflicts vulnerability)

[Edelweiss.4261]

I like it, but I don't see it happening. Instead, what if we added options/flavors to weapon skills. Maybe allow a skill that normally causes vulnerability the option of adding weakness instead. Maybe lower the damage of a skill for a lower cooldown. Such changes allow for increased player expression without requiring the developers to add new animations/icons.

Balance has always been an illusory goal. Limiting options for balance is foolish.

[maddoctor.2738]

GW2 already has way more skills than GW1 and we are getting more with each expansion through elite specs. And you want to add even more skills to it? Also, more skills doesn't mean more variety, instead it means more clutter. Players will figure out the optimal combinations for each content and the rest of the skills will be worthless.

[Tommo Chocolate.5870]

> @"DeadlyDohnut.7052" said:

> --Math: 4 skils x 4 slots x 19 weapons x 9 classes=2736 skills at minimum as some of the weapons can be in either hand and that changes skills.

 

You're making some pretty mad assumptions here, namely: every weapon useable by every profession, and every one-handed weapon useable in both hands. You've also ignored how Elementalist works completely. A more accurate method would be to use [this table](https://wiki.guildwars2.com/wiki/Weapon#Weapon_usability_by_professions "this table"). Main hand and off-hand weapons contribute 2 slots per tick (or elite spec symbol) in the table, and two-handed weapons contribute 4 slots per tick, with Ele weapons contributing 8 and 16 slots respectively. By my count (admittedly by hand), I make it 55 one-hand and 39 two-hand weapons, plus 6 one-hand and 2 two-hand for Ele. That's 346 slots, so (assuming 4 new skills per slot, as you suggest) 1384 new skills - about half the number you'd calculated.

 

Of course, that's still a huge number of skills. For comparison, GW1 had [1319 skills](https://wiki.guildwars.com/wiki/Skill#Skill_quantity "1319 skills") in total.

[Mikali.9651]

> @"Inculpatus cedo.9234" said:

> Probably this: "which i know was hell to balance".

 

GW1 balance was a baby compared to GW2. GW2 is Hell itself to balance. Much more complicated.

[Knighthonor.4061]

I had idea for the environmental weapons with an Environmental Suitcase or something that can store all your environmental weapons