After posting the Guild Wars edition of MMO Co-Opportunities last week, I was surprised, yet enthused, to find out that many of you guys are past or present Guild Wars fans, or have a good amount of interest in the game. So I thought you all might be interested in a Guild Wars 2 mega-post where I could gather a lot of the information that’s been released on the game and present it to you in a (hopefully neat) package for your reading enjoyment! In the following pages I'll try to answer some of what I would anticipate to be the more common questions about Guild Wars 2.
What Races Will There Be In Guild Wars 2?
As some of you may recall, one thing that many people found slightly odd in Guild Wars 1 was the fact that you could only make human characters. In Guild Wars 2 you will be able to pick from five different races. Players will have the option to make human characters again, like in the first game, but will also have access to Ascalon's classic enemy, the Charr, now allied with the humans despite their war-torn history. The large and courageous Norn, hailing from the mountains, and the short but fiercely intelligent Asura will also be available as playable characters, races first introduced in the Guild Wars 1 Expansion, Eye of the North. Lastly, a completely new race, the Sylvari, will also be an option for players. Born from a tree and only sprung into existence in the past few decades, the Sylvari are closely attuned to nature and defined by curiosity and honesty.
The classic question asked by players in any game that offers a race selection is "what effect will my race selection have?" In Guild Wars 2, most of your choice will be cosmetic and character-related. Personality options will be different from race to race and you'll be able to build up a story for your character based along your racial choice (if you so choose), but ArenaNet largely wants it to make little difference in your effectiveness as a certain profession. This is why there are thusfar no racial restrictions to professions - every race can be every profession with no detriments. An Asuran Warrior should be able to be just as effective as a Norn Warrior, for example. This brings us to our next point.
What Professions Will There Be in Guild Wars 2?
There will be eight different professions in Guild Wars 2. Three “scholar” professions (light armor wearers), three “adventurer” professions (medium armor wearers), and two soldier professions (heavy armor wearers). At this point of time, only four of the eight professions have been announced. Though there is much more in-depth information available on all the professions, I’ve attempted to create short-and-sweet descriptions of them here, with links to their official Guild Wars 2 pages if you wish to learn more specifics.
"The elementalist channels natural forces of destruction, making fire, air, earth, and water do her bidding. What the elementalist lacks in physical toughness, she makes up for in her ability to inflict massive damage in a single attack, dropping foes from a distance before they can become a threat. Yet, despite her incredible offensive potential, versatility is what makes the elementalist truly formidable." - Guild Wars 2 Official Website
Elementalists can attune to one of the four elements at a time, each element focusing on a particular type of role or type of gameplay. Fire focuses on raw damage to multiple enemies, Air on single-target damage and blinding foes, Earth on more utility and party defense, and Water on snaring/freezing and a little healing. In addition, they can also focus on short, medium, or long-range spells. Elementalists also get access to glyphs (skills that enhance or modify other spells), signets (which have a continuous passive effect, but can also be actively used to various effects), and conjures (where an elemental weapon can be summoned for the elementalist or his/her allies to use).