ArenaNet talk:Guild Wars 2 suggestions/Vandal (Barbarian-Shaman)

• I love the overall flavor of this but it has a few things that are rather annoying to me. First is the weapon choice. yes i know that ranged is very nice for gaining adrenaline but with the half-ranged nature of these trowing axes, I would suggest a melee weapon with an extended range, such as a whip or something interesting like that considering that weapon type might not matter in GW2 (I read that somewhere on this sight...). Second addition +30 vs ele is seriously something that should stay unique to rangers, i suggest an inherent adrenaline gain increase per hit sort of thing. Lastly, with the adrenal spells, which i like, one would have to make sure that one could gain at least one adrenaline while casting a spell, which would work probably a little better than the current primary effect, which is rather inconsistent. Maybe there should be an adrenaline bar or some new adrenal system. anyways, take this into consideration, and i still like the overall feeling of the profession (btw it seems more like a cross between a warrior or para and a rit and a mes) The Emissary 07:06, 23 January 2009 (UTC)

• How about this,instead of throwing axes or another normal weapon why not give it a weapon that represents that it is a caster as well as a fighter. Something savage, but also has a mystical quality. My suggestion is an orb or other object that is suspended in the air over your character or around the arm that one could channel their wrath or violence through to create an attack. I think that this would represent the feeling of this class very well. also i dislike the half-range idea as it has no point at all, given that the downside of half range would have to be offset with something which could cause problems.The Emissary 20:32, 24 January 2009 (UTC)

Thanks for contributing =) I'm grateful for the amount of thought you put into it. I'll summarize and address the things you brought up.

• Weapon choice: half-range throwing axe is a bad idea

We'll prolly argue a bit on this one, cause I feel very strongly for the half-range throwing axe/tomahawk idea. Since the attack speed is equal to a wand/staff, the adren gain would be the same, but twice the range. The advantage of the throwing axe would be its DPS/weapon powers. I'm highly opposed to yet another melee class. If you use a shortbow and point-blank shot you can get a feeling of the range. To me, its perfect for a throwing axe and much better than another melee weapon.

• +30 vs elemental should remain unique to the ranger.

You may be right there. I know I want heavier than 60, but lighter than 80, so 70 is perfect. I imagine them in leathers, hides, and furs, with some armors being very ornate (decorated with skulls, hanging bones, etc), and others being very barbaric. So very in-tune with nature and dressed in everything natural, that's why I thought of the +30 vs elemental, the same reasons that rangers have it (connection to Melandru, braving the elements, etc). A possibility is to just have +10, +15, or +20 vs elemental, but then offer special Vandal insignias on the armor that could add +10, +15, or +20 vs elemental. For example: +10 vs elemental on Vandal armor standard, but offer a +20 vs elemental insignia. Maybe have it require X amount of Fanaticism, like the Warrior's Sentinel insignia (+20 vs elemental, req. 13 Strength).

well you could have something else that represents the connection to all things natural, but if this class is so in tune with that why wouldn't the armor show its desire to fight against the unnatural, such as enchantments, conditions and hexes, or something like that.

• Armor should instead have inherent adrenaline gain.

I don't feel the armor should have a built-in adrenaline gain, but definitely an inscription like "+% adrenaline gain" that you could put on the armor. As long as it wasn't so uber for the class that no one ever picked any other inscription.

well this was just a random idea to get people thinking...The Emissary 15:10, 27 January 2009 (UTC)

• The adrenal spells need to be able to gain a strike of adren upon casting. The primary attribute could do this instead of its current effect.

First off, I don't think it would break the game system to just implement this for all classes. There's no reason that casting offensive spells shouldn't garner you a strike of adrenaline. It's not like you'd see a wave of Ele/warriors with hammers or something, even at the fastest casting (like flare) you can still gain adren faster with a weapon, there just isn't enough synergy in the vanilla classes. Secondly, I like the idea of the primary attribute doing that, the only problem is gaining adren upon casting is a very narrow special effect. Primary attributes are generally more broad (though not always). Energy storage is extremely broad, effecting any skill that uses energy, but skills like the Paragon's "Leadership" are very narrow, only effecting shouts/chants (tangent: Paragon/Vandal would be fun). I tried to make the current Fanaticism effect very broad, activating not only on hexes but conditions too, and giving not only energy but also adrenaline. I added the "gain adren upon spellcasting" as an alternative effect of Fanaticism, since it's a cool idea and works with the class concept.

• The function of Fanaticism (gaining energy/adren upon condition/hexes) is inconsistent and not the best idea.

This would make more sense if you saw it in-game. Lets take 12 Fanaticism as an example stat. You gain 4 energy and 2 strikes of adrenaline every time you get a hex/cond. In an ideal situation you'd gain 2-3 conditions and 1-2 hexes. That's roughly 12-20 energy and 6-10 strikes of adrenaline (in addition to what you gain from attacking and being attacked). If you compare that to skills that give similar amounts of adrenaline/energy, those are elites. And they never grant BOTH. It's fairly powerful, even if its only situational, and represents the class concept well. If the idea is workable, but the hex/cond requirement is too unreliable, you could change it to "every time you get hit by a spell or attack..." or "every time you gain adrenaline..." I'm not opposed at all to changing this, I just want to stick to the basic idea.

• A new adrenal bar or gauge would be a good idea.

I agree, the gradually "glowing" skill icons is a unique but somewhat clumsy way to represent adrenaline. A new system could greatly benefit the Vandal.

• A better weapon would be a mystical orb that flies around the character's hand that could channel their wrath through for attacks.

I wanted to keep the class fairly realistic and gritty compared to the other classes, to really get the feeling of "primitive" and "savage". I'm not entirely opposed to magical orbs, it's not a bad idea, but I think a staff is much more fitting for the class if you want to go the route of "mystical". Many different culture's tribal shamans had "mystical staffs" that were very primitive, wooden, and decorative that would fit the class perfectly. But as for a weapon to attack people with, there aren't many alternatives that truly fit the class. Ancient slings, long-spears, clubs, or other throwing weapons like hammers/boomerangs could work as well, but I felt a throwing axe was brutal, primitive, and had a base in many ancient primitive cultures (tomahawks, stone axes, etc).

wanting to regress in technology and use MORE primitive weapons would have some people up in arms (though I personally almost suggested boomerangs myself :-) )i guess staves are a good choiceThe Emissary 15:10, 27 January 2009 (UTC)

• Half-range has no point at all. It could be used to offset some advantage, but that advantage would cause balancing problems.

The idea of half-range is being the in-between fighters. Not as in-your-face as the dervish/assassin/warrior, but not as far back as the rangers. A class that would dance between casting range and half-range. In balance-terms, half-range instead of long range would be to balance out the relatively high DPS and condition-dealing that is typically reserved for melee. I don't think this would cause balancing problems, as long as it was worked with and tweaked to perfection (which Anet is pretty good at, especially with patches).

Again, thanks for the feedback. If you ever felt attacked, don't, I'm grateful and hoping for more discussion.

Shadowlance194 06:46, 27 January 2009 (UTC)

I definitely like the alternative for fanaticism, it seems like it would really be more helpful in many ways and would probably promote builds that use other professions in interesting ways. The Emissary 18:23, 28 January 2009 (UTC)

It's the profession that no matter how you say it, it still sounds like it's getting blocked from the wiki.