ArenaNet:Guild Wars 2 suggestions/Siege Master

(Discussion)
I. THE SIEGE MASTER

Background:

The Siege Master is a necessity for armies hoping to attack a fortified position. Commanding mighty, massive beasts who carry their engines of war into battle, they break down enemy fortifications and soften up the enemy in preparation for sending in brawlers and shock troops. The Charr Iron Legion is especially keen on having the best Siege Masters to command and maintain their siege devourers and siege towers.

Function:

Overall the Siege Master plays a supporting roll in battle, tossing grenades and bombarding the enemy at a distance. A Siege Master's armor is not strong enough nor are his grenades damaging enough for him to participate directly in battle. His mobility while attacking is also extremely limited as he must stick close to his siege engine to heal and protect it against enemy attack. He can use special grenade attacks to inflict conditions and can use signets and medicine to heal, but his main function is shouting out commands to his siege beast and directing its fire with his radar.

Appearance:

The Siege Master usually dresses in loose fitting cloths. Baggy pants, an overcoat, a cap, and a tall pair of boots are his most common attire. Siege Masters in the Krytan military usual dress in red or white Zouave style uniforms. Ascalonians and Norn use more furs, and Charr Siege Masters normally dress in ragged, loose fitting pants with bandoleers adorning their chests and leather wrappings covering most of their arms. Asura and Sylvari Siege Masters mostly dress in baggy pants and vests or loose-fitting blouses. The styles in Elona and Cantha differ slightly, but maintain the same basic layout. Turbans and tall hats are popular among Elonian Siege masters while Canthans often find soft-leather shoes and long robes more to thier liking.

Attributes:

1) Trajectory (Primary) - Affects the range and accuracy of siege beast's fire

2) Engineering - Affects the power of the siege beast's attack and skills augmenting the beast's attack and grenade preparations

3) Maintenance - Affects skills which heal and augment the siege beast's condition

4) Grenadeirship - Affects the strength of grenades and grenade weapon skills as well as some preparations


 * On a side note, the grenades would be dual wielded like daggers were and could be any exploding orb as far as I'm concerned, seeing as people seem to like to go to extreme measures to deny that there is gunpowder in GW. Also, If cannons are to be in GW2 we can just use whatever explanation we used to explain the Giant Turtles' cannons in GW Factions.

Strengths:

1) The Siege Master's long-range AOE attacks are perfect for thinning out groups of enemies from a distance and can easily turn the tide in a difficult battle

2) He is also proficient at inflicting numerous conditions on large numbers of enemies to support the party at close range

3) Different siege beasts can be switched out to accommodate the party's needs.

Weaknesses:

1) He and his beast are very vulnerable to direct attacks and require protection at all times

2) Has limited mobility while siege beast is attacking.

3) Effective use of the Siege Master requires a little planning before the attack. Cannot simply rush into battle.

Originality:

The major innovation here is the emphasis placed on the beast companion. Essentially, the Siege Master resembles a twist on the concept of the ranger. Here, the beast is the major focus and the player character is only there to protect it and direct its fire. Other tactics can be used, but all strategies for the Siege Master must involve coordinating fire from the siege beast with your own and your party's actions. Switching out and customizing siege beasts will play a big part in the Siege Master experience as bringing the right beast for the right situation could well mean the difference between victory and defeat. Some beasts carry long-range catapults while others are equipped for mid-range supporting fire. If Golemnancers are not included, golemns could function as siege beasts as well. Others function as siege towers and protect the group from enemy fire as they approach a fortified position. Still, this comes at a cost as, once the beast is killed, reviving it takes an extremely long time and is best done outside of battle.

TACTICS

Artillery Barrager

This is the most basic role a Siege Master can fill. His artillery attacks as well as his grenades are perfect for inflicting large amounts of damage on closely packed groups of enemies. Directing the beast's fire with his radar and using command skills to order it to execute different firing patterns will take up most to the Siege Master's time in this role. He would best do all of this from far behind the lines as he would not be equipped for close-range battle. In this function, the Siege Master's role could also be compared to the Ranger's Barrage tactic. However, the Siege Master specializes in this area and his various skills and siege beasts make him much more proficient at executing this role, possibly eliminating the need for Ranger Barragers altogether.

Condition Spammer

In this capacity, the Siege Master would engage his enemies at mid-range and try to bombard them with his grenade attack skills and preparations to inflict various conditions on the enemy party. To support this role, he would best bring along a beast which could lay down mid-range covering fire and order it to execute attack patterns which might knock down or otherwise disable his opponents. He would also want to augment his armor and possibly bring along skills from his secondary profession which would augment his running speed and/or skill recharge time. Hexes and preparations from other professions could also play a big part in this tactic.

Tank

Though his armor is certainly not made for this role, if he brought along a siege tower toting beast and gave it heavy armor, he might be able to mount it and play the role of a tank. He would want to bring along healing skills as well as shouts, enchantments, and echoes that would increase his beast's defense rating. It would be interesting if a whole party could mount inside a siege tower and fire down on the enemy from up high.


 * Why this is a good idea
 * As assaulting fortifications has already been described as part of the PvP, a profession specializing in the siege would be helpful
 * Charr Iron Legion has already been described as specializing in siege engines. This profession could personify that description.
 * Siege beasts and siege engines were already widely used in the previous GW installments (Giant turtles, siege devourers, Kournan artillery, numerous catapults and battering rams, powder kegs...) and yet there is no profession which specializes in their use.


 * Why it may not work out
 * Needs a better name (Maybe "Bombard")
 * May need to find a different primary weapon than grenades in light of popular disgust for any semblance of gunpowder
 * The role if the Siege Master is similar to the Elementalist and the Ranger
 * Very little information has been released on the possibility of mounts in GW2, and whatever decisions the devs make regarding mounts could greatly affect the practicality of this profession as described above.
 * Siege devourers are obviously too large for some areas. You wont't be able to bring certain siege beasts into certain areas.