GW Chapter 2 info

[somefool]

cgw-ryan.1up.com/do/blogEntry?bId=6330219&publicUserId=5380397#comments



Pure sex.

[somefool]

There second profession is the "Ritualist."

Doesn't that just makes you want to sacrifice cute animals to open the gates of hell?

[somefool]

Some more info:

-Stand-alone chapter, you don't need chap 1 to play it
-6 new armors
-Assassin will have hexes to use
-Ritualist have the ability to heal, a semi-monk I would assume
-New land is call Cantha
-It will be Asian themed


* The new content of Cantha
* Two announced classes--assassin and ritualist
* Faction wars between Luxon and Kurzick
* 55 maps to try and gain control of
* Guild Hall enhancements
* Battle Isles
* Two new campaigns per year

CURSES! If someone have this magazine or the scans, post it please. D:

[somefool]

More info on the Ritualist:

Originally Posted by Computer Gaming World
The Ritualist

This guy may be blindfolded, but hey - he doesn't need to be able to see you in order to kill you. The ritualist, who resembles something of a dark, savage priest, can see into the ethereal realm and commune with its spiritual inhabitants. In game terms, he's something of an odd mixture of ranger, necromancer, and monk: He summons spirits, whose life forces can be used to power offensive magic, healing, and even resurrection spells. He might bind a spirit that absorbs a percentage of damage dealt to party members within its radius of effect, or perhaps sacrifice a spirit's health in order to mend an ally's wounds. From a design standpoint, the ritualist provides a handy - albeit micromanagement-intensive - alternative to the monk, making for an excellent support character that can fill a wide variety of needs.

Attributes

Spawning Power (Primary Attribute): Increases the durability of the ritualist's spirits and other creatures, such as ranger pets.

Channeling Magic: The ritualist's direct-damage spell line.

Communing Magic: Creates immobile spirit creatures that the ritualist can use to power various spells and effects.

Restoration Magic: Healing spells and other defensive magic.

Skills

Essence Strike: If you're standing near a summoned spirit, this gives you a quick energy boost.

Spirit Burn: Causes direct damage to the target, magnified depending on how close you are to a spirit.

Spirit Rift: High-damage area of effect spell.

Channeled Strike: Causes damage, which is magnified if you are holding an item through which to channel it.

Shelter: A summoned spirit that protects all allies within its radius from high-damage attacks.

Pain: A spirit that attacks enemies.

Flesh of My Flesh: Quickly resurrects a fallen ally at the cost of half your health.

"It's true that one of the goals with the ritualist is to provide an alternative to monks, but primarily, we're looking for these professions to find a unique role in Guild Wars."

- Factions designer James Phinney

[somefool]

More info, a post from guild wars guru:

Chapter 2 information on Guild Wars and the new three nation continent of Cantha.


Cantha

* Takes place in Cantha, an Asian-style area
* Plot--stop the 200-year murderer of an emperor from making trouble
* Shing Jea Monastery akin to Presearing in Chapter 1, a tutorial area
* Story missions match groups with and against each other (whole 8 player groups included)
* Players may choose an alliance--Luxons or the Kurzicks, which affects conflicts in the story and pvp areas such as a "king of the hill" scenario
* Two announced classes--assassin and ritualist


The Assassin

* Primary attribute increases chance of critical hits and gains energy for the assassin with energy on every critical hit.
* Attribute skills include dagger skills, offensive hexes and magic, and teleportation and stealth techniques
* Sample skill list: Jagged Strike, Viper Strike, Razor Wing, Moebius Strike, Death's Charge, Shadow Refuge, Critical Eye. (complete descriptions in magazine)


The Ritualist

* A dark, savage priest; mix between ranger, necromancer and monk.
* Primary attribute increases the durability of the ritualist's spirits and other creatures, such as ranger pets.
* Attribute skills include direct-damage spell line, immobile spirit creatures, and healing.
* Sample skill list: Essence Strike, Pain, Spirit Burn, Channeled Stroke, Shelter, Flesh of my Spirit. (complete description in magazine)


Faction Wars, PvP Arenas, Equal Footing, GWWC

* Faction Wars betwen Luxon and Kurzick
* 55 maps to try and gain control of
* Successful alliances enjoy discounted merchant prices and display of banner
* Guild Halls will have NPC-like merchants, storage agents, additional guild storage and scrimmage play.
* New guild halls will be available.
* PVP arenas; Ascalon Arena, the Tomb of the Primeval Kings, will all be on their own continent called Battle Isles
* Practice areas will be implemented.
* A group of "core skills" will be available in each campaign to ensure balance.
* Ability to go to Cantha and change your secondary profession to ritualist or assassin.
* 2 new campaigns per year are slated to come out.
* No word yet on if GWWC will be televised in North America.

[advent]

Ok, I think we got the point, come down with the quintet posting.

[Triia]

Found this today. There is a little bit of information on how the story line starts out, so if you don't want to know, read carefully.

It gives some information on the new skills offered to the current profession and confirms there will be six new armors for ALL professions. Time to start saving and stockpiling those crafting materials!

There is also more information on the Faction Wars, which seemed a little unclear to me, but sounds great anyway. Good lord... I hope we don't have to wait until June for this...

[somefool]

pc.gamespy.com/pc/guild-wars-campaign-2/680914p1.html

Why Helo Thar pretty assassins.

edit: media.pc.gamespy.com/media/789/789078/img_3313645.html

Why the hell isn't our hall like that?

[Kaiser]

Was anyone else a little disappointed that you don't really need a specific key to play in the weekend event? I am impressed that all unlocked skills will remain unlocked when you purchase the retail version. Regardless, it should be a lot of fun.

[Triia]

OMG!! D:

I was looking around at stuff today and found this!

It appears that Anet or someone has been putting out misleading information about Chapter 2. Almost everything that's out there is wrong! I can't believe Anet would do this to us.....

[Jupiter]

More screenshots...lots of talk about the training yard picture and guessing at what characters are being shown.

And Game Update (it's long):

Update - Thursday, January 19

Attention citizens.

The Tomb of the Primeval Kings has been overrun by the enemies of Balthazar. The Zaishen Order recognizes that many of you may wish to help conquer this foe. While this is admirable, only those truly devoted to the teachings of Balthazar should attempt to enter the Tombs.

Those wishing to become as great as we, the Zaishen, should take heart. Members of our order await your arrival at the Great Temple of Balthazar. We will train you in the ways of war, so you may continue the personal squabbles that seem to consume so much of your daily routine.

If you truly wish to better yourself, take the ship to the Great Temple, and hone your skills with the Zaishen.

May the blessings of Balthazar follow you on your journey.

-Commander Kuro of the Zaishen Order

Guild Wars: Factions
Free-For-All PvP Weekend

With this update, we roll out the first parts of Guild Wars: Factions, including the new login and character selection/creation screens, boat travel between continents, and a weekend sneak preview of the two new professions. (The weekend event lasts from Friday January 20 8:00 am GMT to Monday January 23 7:59 am GMT.)

All high-level PvP has been moved to the Battle Isles, which can be reached using the ship off the coast of Lion's Arch. On the Battle Isles, you'll find a new explorable area with Training Arenas, NPCs who can help you test all aspects of your character's build, updates to existing PvP Arenas, and all-new Zaishen Challenges, where you and your friends can practice against teams of computer AI opponents. All of this content is now organized into a natural progression, so that players can experience the basics of PvP before moving on to advanced challenges.

New computer AI challenges:

- Training Arenas: a series of four maps designed to teach the basics of PvP and Arena Combat. Beat all four maps to unlock the Zaishen Challenge on your account.

- Zaishen Challenge: an Arena where you can play the computer AI team of your choice on the map of your choice. Beat five different computer AI teams to unlock the Zaishen Elite Challenge.

- Zaishen Elite Challenge: the ultimate AI challenge. See how far you can get in a series of random Arena matches against increasingly difficult AI teams.

New unlocking of existing PvP types:

- Win five-in-a-row in the Random Arenas to unlock the Team Arenas on your account. (Existing accounts have the Team Arenas unlocked already.)

- Win five total games in the Team Arenas to unlock the Tournament (Heroes' Ascent) on your account. (Existing accounts have the Tournament unlocked already.)

Changes to Guild Combat mechanics:

- Five minutes after Victory or Death starts, both teams' Guild Lords will now rush out of their base to engage in combat.

- In the Burning Isle guild hall, NPCs now take the high path to avoid lava when Victory or Death occurs, and Flame Cursed Sentinals no longer drop loot.

- The Guild Lord's Amulet of Protection now interacts correctly with Deep Wound. (See Fansite Friday #62 for more information about the Guild Lord's Amulet of Protection.)

Miscellaneous improvements:

- When a party leader uses Map Travel in a town or outpost, his entire party travels with him to the new map.

- During PvP matches, the Party window now displays your team color.

- Skill icons for Enchantment and Hex spells are now displayed with a small marker in their upper-right corner.

- Text descriptions and icons of various magic item upgrades have been improved.

-The location and visibility of hint popup windows can now be modified using the Customize Layout interface.

Miscellaneous fixes:

- Ghosts in The Underworld are no longer considered fleshy and will not leave exploitable corpses.

[Triia]

When you guys get a chance log in a check out the new log in screen! It looks great. They added a few nice details to the character selection and the new background is amazing.

Very interesting screenshots. The new armors shown give me high hopes! I have no idea what I'm looking at in the training yard shot, but it looks fun. The characters look like a ranger, necro, monk and what I'd guess is a ritualist. That third shot..... *salivates*

I might need someone to stop me from staying up until 3am. I'm just itching to try this out!

[Kaiser]

The training yard is just that... a training yard. You go in with your weapons and skills, and you can beat up on the suits of armor (which respawn later). The ring structures train you in distances to target. The armors are labelled "adjacent," "nearby," and "in the area" so that you know how far the skill you use will go. There's also a place to experience the conditions, and to try out bows. All-in-all very useful for 00s, but just a place to beat things up for the rest of us.