User:Shai Halud/Humans and Charr: Calvary and Siege Beasts

This is the third in a series of articles elaborating on my idea for Mounts as Companions and More.... This will also be the last article unless I decide to post one on mounts in general, which I most likely will. Anyway here's your info.--Shai Halud 17:22, 1 November 2008 (UTC)

Animal Mounts
The Humans and Charr are alike because both of them use animals or, more specifically, monsters as their mounts. Unlike with humanoid mounts, a player character can normally use his own weapon while riding on his animal mount. Also, animal mounts do not remove benefits from your character but rather decrease your character's health and energy by a certain amount. Luckily, both races have a method of decreasing this effect (Cavalry training for humans and Iron Legion for Charr), and the effect does not increase as your character levels up. This makes animal mounts of much more use to higher level characters. Also, animal mounts must be tamed before they can be used. Their strength is dependent upon your race-specific attribute.

As a side note, all mounts should be able to carry at least two people. Norn can carry an Asura or Sylvari on their back. Golems ad Jagganathen should be able to carry a second character on their back, and, obviously, Human mounts can carry a second person as well. However, some Charr siege beasts can carry 3 or more (especially siege devourers and siege towers). Also, animal mounts allow passengers to use both their weapons and skills in battle.

Humans: Cavalry
Number one, I want to state clearly that there can be no horses in GW2. I know cavalry comes from the French word for horse, but, as this system requires your mount to act also as your companion in battle, all mounts have to be able to attack on their own. Seeing Mr. Ed beating back Charr hoards with his hooves, while it would be hilarious, is something I just cannot take seriously. Maybe we can include a tonic that turns your mount into a horse as a joke, but that's the only way I can see of including them. And, as I don't recall seeing any horses in GW1, it would be perfectly reasonable of us to say that horses just don't exist in the GW universe. However, we may need to go back and edit out the "Iron Horse Mines" as well as all the undead horsemen, though their undead mounts don't much resemble horse skeletons (but if we can have horses which look like that, we could certainly include those in GW2).



That handled, sink your teeth into the pictures above. These are the sort of creatures that will make up the human cavalry in GW2. Obviously, only certain monsters can be tamed and made into mounts, but, once you graduate from the Royal Academy and reach about level 10, you will be able to visit the Royal Sables in Divinity's Reach. There, if you speak to the stable manager you can purchase a saddle and riding equipment. Once you have these, he will offer you a group of missions. Each will allow you to tame a different kind of monster, and you will only be able to pick one. Once you accept a mission, he will send one of his men to accompany you and assist in the taming of your mount. The taming of the mount could be a very entertaining mini-game if the devs put a lot of work into it, but I'll let others decide exactly how that will work.

If there are stables for your mounts, then, by purchasing a second set of riding equipment and paying for your stables, you could tame more mounts and swap them out at the stables. However, if you wish to swap out your mount and not keep the other, you can sell your mount to the Krytan army and get a mission to go tame another. You may be able to find missions later on in the game for taming mounts in other areas, and perhaps some elite mounts will be available in distant lands. However, taming a monster is a two man job no matter how you look at it, so with out a special mission, you cannot tame anything.

While not mounted, each mount fights differently as they all have their own skill bars. They do tend to, however, attack your target or attack enemies targeting you. They are also the only companions which move at increased speeds while fighting. Most mounts have dervish-like attacks and hit more than enemy at a time. The strength of their attack, of course, depends on the mount. Their ramming skills and dervish-like attacks can wreck havoc, but, because they cripple your health and are, all of them, close-range fighters, they aren't nearly as useful as companions as they are as mounts

As for the properties pf cavalry while mounted, Humans specialize in stealth and finesse, so their mounts are quite flexible. Some accelerate faster than others but have weaker attack and vice versa. Cavalry mounts also have a fifth speed setting (see Mounts and Their Skills and D-Pad Functions). This allows them to run at 44% above trotting speed but only for about a minute, even with a full stamina bar. This allows for short bursts of speed which can be used to escape pursuit or to overtake fleeing enemies. Also, cavalry mounts all have their own skill bars which replace your racial skill bar while you are mounted. They usually include a ramming or trampling skill which knocks down opponents and can even knock them off their mounts but can only be used at speed.

The greatest advantage cavalry afford, though, is stirrups. No other race has these. They provide your player character with the stability needed to fight from horseback (figuratively speaking). This means you can use your own weapon and almost all of your skills while mounted. Melee weapons attack with glancing strikes and ranged weapons allow you to strafe. Furthermore, you can do all of this while on the move. Once you have locked onto an enemy, your camera will shift to keep them in view, allowing you to continue attacking as you circle around them. Moving targets are harder to hit, so you have a fair chance of dodging most attacks. AoE spells will be practically useless against you, but this is a very intensive form of combat so making interrupts can be difficult. Lastly, you'll do best while at running speed (at least 11% above average) and, though this will slowly exhaust your mount, getting hit also causes exhaustion for cavalry. The faster you move, the better chance you have of dodging attacks, but you will still become exhausted this way, limiting the usage of cavalry in battle.

There are a few other things to mention. Because mounted humans are such a threat, enemies will be programed to use attacks which can knock you off your mount when you aggro them. They will do this less if you are actively attacking them vs running away, but this still poses a threat. Also, cavalry tactics naturally work better in open areas rather than in close-quarters. Caves, thick jungle, urban areas, and mountain trails are all bad news for for human knights. Still, if you only move at trotting speed, your mount can be quite useful in these areas as well. Another disadvantage is that cavalry mounts don't increase your armor or health when you are riding them. Lastly, if grabs are introduced in GW2, grabbing an enemy while riding cavalry allows you to drag them through the dirt, racking up damage and interrupting their spells, until they break free of your grip. This does more damage the faster you run while holding them. However, you can only grab enemies between weight/size levels 5-3 (see Weight and Size Classes). Things above level 5 are too heavy, and enemies below level 3 are too short.

Charr: Siege Beasts


(My only picture of a Charr siege devourer looks really stupid and this picture looks just plain awesome. Besides, its my user space. I can put whatever I want here.)

Charr, as you may have noticed in EotN, often enslave beasts of burden and use them to tote around their deadly war machines. The Iron Legion are the ones who mainly handle these, so, in order to acquire one, you must journey to the Iron Citadel in the ruins of Rin. There, you will have to prove yourself to the Iron Legion. You must complete a series of tasks for them before they will recognize you as worthy of taming a siege beast. Then, much like with the human cavalry, you will be able to choose from a series of taming missions. You will have to pay Iron Legion engineers to fit your beast with armor and weapons after you tame it, but even without these fittings, it can still be ridden and join you in battle. It simply won't be capable of siege mode until you have it fitted with weapons.

The really unique thing about siege beasts is that they can be customized. Every siege beast can be equipped with a variety of weapons which will allow it to specialize in short range or long range combat, and there are siege attacks for both long-range and melee combat. Of course, some animals are less customizable than others, and only those with full allegiance to the Iron Legion will have access to all of the possible upgrades.

I postulate four possible siege beasts below, but, as I am not sure exactly what the game devs hope to achieve by including siege towers in the game, I only speculate that this might be a form of siege beast and do not consider it, yet, to be in the same category as the others.

1) Siege Ettin – These are large humanoid monsters that the Charr have enslaved and equipped for use as siege beasts. They are armored and very useful in melee combat. While they are not completely immobile in siege mode, they do tend to move very slowly. In this mode, their normal fighting skills are useless, but they are now capable of using “giant’s stomp” which your party should find quite to their liking in a fierce fight. Alternatively, they may be able to throw explosive orbs over short distances you choose to equip them so. They are the most heavily armored of the bunch, but have the shortest range.

2) Siege Turtle – Honestly, I’m not sure this would be included, but a mid range support beast should definitely be considered. Still, if any Luxons managed to escape conquest in Cantha, I’m willing to bet they managed to bring with some turtle eggs with them, and if the Charr found out, they’d to everything they could to get a hold of some of them. These have less range than siege devourers and don’t do as much damage, but they have a faster rate of fire and a better defensive rating to suit. I have difficulty imagining them as melee combatants, but I suppose it could receive heavy armor upgrades.

3) Siege Devourer – These are almost definitely going to bet included somewhere in the next game. They have good attack, terrible defense, and one hell of a long range siege skill. Their rate of fire is slow, but the damage is extreme. Weaker enemy parties could be wiped out with just a single volley. However, if they were heavily armored enough and equipped with reinforced pincers, they could be devastating close range combatants.

4) Siege Dolyak - Dolyaks, like Siege Turtles could be equipped with cannons strapped to each side and offer mid-range support. They could also be fitted with armor and bladed horns for use in close-range combat. Another possibility is that they could toe a siege tower into battle, carrying several allies through dangerous fire zones.

5) Siege Towers – I’m willing to be that these are either pulled along by some beast or ride on top of one of them. They would be commanded by a single Charr and carry several combatants, protecting them from attack and allowing them to approach fortified positions safely. The Charr who brings one of these along is terribly handicapped by the amount of health and energy needed to maintain control over it.

Siege beasts also come with their own set of about four skills, one of which can only be used in “siege mode”. Their skill bar can also be customized with skills acquired from the Iron Legion. You will be required to have on your racial skill bar a shout for switching your siege beast in and out of siege mode, very much like you were required to have "charm animal" to have an animal companion in GW1. In siege mode, the beast is usually rendered incapable of movement. Its effective range in this mode would be displayed as a circle on your radar. It will normally attack your target, but you can command it to focus its fire on a specific location using a targeting reticule on your radar (see D-Pad Functions).

When riding a siege beast, Charr will either hang off its side or ride on its back. While hanging off the side, you may use grabs as humans do and use your melee weapon to attack nearby enemies. You will not be able to use a bow, staff, or musket in this mode, but single-handed ranged weapons can still be used as well as most skills. While riding on a beast's back, grabs cannot be used and neither can melee weapons, but all ranged weapons can be used from an animals back as well as all ranged skills. You may also use your mount's skill bar to attack, but shifting into siege mode is impossible while you are still riding.

Now, When you use a siege beast (you would probably equip them in town and when you exit the beast will be waiting for you) your energy and health will decrease by a certain amount depending on what beast you choose. Usually, the amount rather sizable, making them somewhat unattractive as warrior companions. Only the Iron Legion, which specializes in siege beasts, receives practically no handicap as part of it passives system. Also, using a siege beast to kill enemies and complete missions, earns you points with the Iron Legion, decreasing your points with the other legions. However, the occasional siege beast user need only complete a few special missions each month without his siege beast to maintain his rank with his primary legion.

Iron Legion also has several command skills which allow siege beasts to perform special attacks specific to what type of siege beast you have out.

Each character would likely only be allowed to own one siege beast at a time. It would be interesting if members of Iron Legion could capture other special beasts (maybe even a titan) for use in combat.