Guild Wars 2

Hey guys, it has been forever since I last posted. I missed it, what with the insane amount of exams *cough-retakes-cough* I had to do and the sudden absence of teachers and....I’m making excuses. Allow me to get down on my knees and grovel my way back into your forgiving hearts.

So, tonight’s post. You’re probably thinking ‘dude shut up and tell me something interesting.’

I’ve been busy being a studious, good teenager and it is boring, and means I’m somewhat behind on my gaming. I began a post about my poor attempts at Halo and decided that it wasn’t what you wanted to hear from my first post after such a long time.

Looking back through our posts I laughed at some of the things we’d done, some I miss and some I still don’t understand what we were thinking. But hey it’s a new year...for me. So new ideas, new games and many more posts.

Has anyone ever played Guild Wars?

Well, tonight is all about Guild Wars 2, wait until you see it. Not only does this MMO RPG have a new storyline but its producers claim that it is responsive to player actions. How many MMO’s can claim that?

The new game has technology based on physics. Yes I mean Havoc, the new state of the art physical simulation technology. All the best new games have it these days; Halo III, Assassins Creed: Revelations... (You know I just noticed that we have never done a post on Darksiders or Halo or Gears of War or Saints Row...forgive us) The game also has 3D environments and a little extra enhancement of animation.

There are 5 races and 8 professions to choose from.

RACES

Human

Charr

Asura

Norn

Sylvari

PROFESSIONS

Scholars have light armour

Elementalist – May switch between attunements: Earth, Air, Fire or Water where other professions allow switches between weapons. Earth focuses on defense, Air is for focusing on target damage, Fire focuses on area damage and Water is for healing or movement restrictions like snares.

Necromancer – We all know what Necromancers do but for those who don’t, Necromancers have power over the dead. They can summon minions, namely the dead, to fight for them or generally do their bidding. They have a ‘Life Force’ which builds up as people die around them which can be used instead of hit points.)

Mesmer – Basically an illusionist (A rose by another name....). Mesmers can create illusions of doppelgangers which can be used in many ways including sacrifice for effects.

Adventurers have medium strength armour

Ranger – May use ranged and melee weapons, traps and spirits. They are focused on quick movement and defence. Can have an animal companion equipped with special skills depending on the animal.

Thief – May use ranged and melee weapons and are able to use pistols. In combat uses stealth, shadowstepping and traps. Can steal other people weapons and instead of a cooldown period Thiefs can use some of their initiative.

Engineer – Can use pistols and rifles and a number of gadgets for offence, control and healing even grenades and flamethrowers.

Soldiers have strong armour.

Warrior – Can use a mixture of ranged and melee weaponry which range in uses. They can assist allies and have a special ability which allows them to increase damage to foes when the bar is full.

Guardian – Use Courage, Justice and Resolve to assist allies in attack. Can create wards and summon enchanted weapons.

Players must be able to use strategy as they are able to choose 10 of a number of abilities from a skill pool. A step on from the first Guild Wars has the 10 slots with predefined functions such as healing, a mixture of profession and weapon, undefined and elite. Guild Wars 2 focuses on quality over quantity of skills so instead of being Jack of all trades you get to be a master of few.

Guild Wars 2 is set 250 years after the first game and whilst characters are not transferable, achievements and honours will be recorded in the Hall of Monuments, which also appears in Guild Wars: Eye of the North, monuments allow the players access to exclusive titles, items, and animal companions.

A Bit of Plot

The game is set in Tyria. 5 elder dragons have awoken since Guild Wars, spreading destruction and corrupting citiszens. Humans have been at war with the Charr and are weakening as a result. The Charr have finally won back the remains of their homeland, Ascalon, from the humans. The Nords are being forced to migrate south by the rise of the Jormag. Asura, a technologically advanced race have had no choice but to build permanent homes above ground for the dragons to awaken. Sylvari, a 25 year young race, have settled in Tyria near the Asura, they have an unexplained connection to the elder dragons.

 Cantha have been isolated by a xenophobic climate reinforced by the undead navy of Zhaitan, an elder dragon, whose reawakening caused The Battle Islands to cease to exist because of the tidal wave from the emerging of the old Kingdom of Orr. Elona are another continent has been cut off. Another battle goes on between Palawa Joko's Mordant Crescent and Kralkatorrik in the Crystal Desert, as well as occasional reports from Order of Whispers spies

Basically the whole world is in turmoil and everyone is at war or dead.

Your character must reunite the Destiny’s Edge guild whose eventual reassembly mimic the world as a whole as it unifies to create an army strong enough to defeat Zhaitan.

Sounds pretty epic doesn’t it? Considering it is a MMO I think it has an impressive storyline and could prove to be a thrilling adventure.