In this article of The Scrying Pool, Mattsta speculates about the Guardian specialization coming in Heart of Thorns.

The Scying Pool is a Guild Wars 2 column where I simply ask what if? Nothing is off the table as I dive into possible features and future content, looking at what currently exists in Guild Wars 2 before I answer my own what if question with how I think the feature and content could be implemented.

Last week I gave my overall speculation for the Specializations that are coming with Heart of Thorns. This week I dive into the first of the profession specific speculations with my idea of the Guardian’s specialization, the Cleric.

For each of the professions and what their specialization could be, I am looking at what the profession is trying to accomplish. From there it is looking at what is missing to fill out that profession’s objective. Finding this missing element can be easier for some professions than others, and such is the case with the Guardian.

To make it even easier to nail down what the Guardian’s specialization will be doing; the Longbow has been all but confirmed to be the new weapon that Guardian’s will be getting with their specialization. This weapon is something that I have long speculated Guardian to be getting for a couple of reasons.

The first reason is the spirit weapons. Spirit weapons are utility skills that the Guardian has that summons pet-like allies that appear as a ghostly, floating version of the weapon. The list of spirit weapons that the Guardian has had since launch includes hammer, shield, sword and longbow. The profession can equip each of these weapon types as their primary weapons with the sole exception of the longbow. While this does not mean that Guardians need to have a longbow to match the spirit weapon, it does complete the set.

The larger of the reasons lies in what I believe the Guardian is missing. The profession is a heavy support class, but with a few exceptions the profession is entirely a close range support class. The majority of its weapons are melee focused and many of the utilities are point-blank areas-of-effect (pbAoE). By default, consecrations are placed at the Guardian’s feet and shouts affect nearby allies. These lead to the profession being a mostly close-ranged support class. The longbow then fills in the area that I believe the profession is lacking—ranged support.

With this in mind, the Cleric would be a specialization to turn the Guardian into more of a ranged support class. In last week’s article, I mentioned how specializations are adjusting professions, not creating entirely new ones. For Cleric, I imagine that many of the skills and utility types will remain the same, instead replacing a utility of each type that doesn’t quite fit the ranged support theme.

As I get into the specifics of these skills, it is important to look at these as the greater whole of the profession. It is unlikely that these will be the skills that you see the specialization having, but gives a better sense of the goal that these specializations will try to fulfill. Plus, it is really fun to come up with entirely new skills.

To start off let’s look at my idea for the new heal skill:

Pillar of Tranquility -- Heal self. Create a pillar of light that destroys enemy projectiles and grants regeneration to allies. (Utility Type: Consecration | Replaces Shelter)

The Pillar of Tranquility is a Consecration, which means any passive traits that affect consecrations would also apply to this healing skill. The other thing to note is that it is replacing another healing skill, Shelter. This goes back to the idea that specializations are not adding, but replacing skills so that the number of skills are not increased for any profession but that the available skills are aligned more toward their new outlook.

I like Pillar of Tranquility as it keeps a bit of the heavenly theme that Guardian has while giving it more support over the heal that it is replacing. Shelter blocks incoming attacks while healing, but only does so for the Guardian. Pillar of Tranquility only affects projectiles, but does so for all projectiles whether they are aimed at the Cleric or a nearby ally. Lastly to add on to the support role it grants regeneration to allies standing within the light.

Righteous Holding -- Consecrate the ground, stunning and damaging enemies and creating a ring from which foes may enter but cannot leave. (Utility Type: Consecration | Replaces Sanctuary)

The first of the utility skills I have come up with is Righteous Holding, which is another Consecration utility type. Righteous Holding is the inverse of Sanctuary, the skill I see it replacing. Sanctuary keeps enemies out of an area while slightly healing allies. While this is support orientated, I also see crowd control (CC) as a way for players to support. Healing can be a way to support, but stunning or keeping an enemy contained can also support by interrupting damage before allies take it.

The other thing I see changing is Consecration skills as a whole. For Guardian these are pbAoE skills by default, but for Cleric I see these skills taking effect at the target’s location by default. This aligns them more into the range support for the profession, as Clerics can sit back and do ranged damage while throwing skills like Hallowed Ground out to the front line to give the players in the trenches more stability and support.

Page 2 -->