On the night of August 18, data miners shared some hidden files in the code of Guild Wars 2 on reddit, giving the first insights into the new elite specializations. We from MeinMMO summarize.
What was leaked? In Guild Wars 2, base classes receive a new weapon with each elite specialization that they can wield. As part of the first beta for the new elite specializations, you can already play the Mesmer, the Necromancer, and the Guardian.
What new weapon a class receives often says a lot about the direction of the specialization. For example, the Virtuoso, the new elite specialization of the Mesmer, receives a dagger as a new weapon and can summon appropriate daggers.
The new leak now shows you the weapons that the remaining 6 elite specializations will receive, and it looks like this:
- The Thief will receive a scepter
- As an Engineer, you will soon wield a mace in battle
- The Elementalist will soon swing a hammer
- Rangers will also be granted a hammer
- Warriors are apparently armed with pistols in End of Dragons
- Revenants will have access to the greatsword
However, more about the names of the elite specializations or even their abilities is currently not known.
The leaks are nearly watertight
How reliable is the leak? This looks very credible. Data miners found correspondingly clear indications in the code of the latest update. Unless ArenaNet intentionally left false trails in the code of the game, we can assume that the information from the leak is correct. (via reddit)
How did the leak come about? In Guild Wars 2, you can link any item in the chat with a click. When you hover over it with the mouse, you see the item and can retrieve more information about it. For this to work, each item in the game has a so-called chat code.
To fully utilize the beta of the currently known 3 elite specializations, the beta characters were given a special equipment chest containing all weapons that the corresponding class can use.
However, ArenaNet seems to have already brought these equipment chests into the game for the new elite specializations. Data miners found the chat codes of the boxes and were able to display what is inside. Accordingly, there was a weapon in each of the chests that the class could not previously carry.
The community speculates
What do the players say? On reddit, users are voting the post with the leaks up considerably. Already at 11 PM on August 17, it has nearly 400 votes, which is comparatively a lot for Guild Wars 2. The community is now speculating about how the elite specializations could look:
- The user Etrae writes on reddit: ‘I’ve always wanted a spellcasting thief. I thought he would get a focus, but a scepter works too. I’m so ready for it.’
- Player Orihkeks writes on reddit: ‘Rangers with hammers and Revenants with greatswords make me happy. These are exactly the weapons I wished for both.’
- Disappointed, user Sandzibar writes on reddit: ‘No longbows?.. Why does ArenaNet hate longbows so much?’
It remains to be seen how the elite specializations will ultimately play, but we can already make assumptions. With a balance update in May 2021, the “Boon-Thief” build was significantly weakened. This is a support thief who could celebrate his great comeback with the announcement of the scepter.
Big question marks are still the hammers for Elementalists and Rangers. Some fans fear another specialization of the Elementalist that focuses on melee combat, which was already critical with its last two elite specializations. The “Guild Wars 2” veteran Zapfelsaft writes on Discord: ‘If the hammer for the Elementalist is pure melee again, I will definitely not play Ele anymore.’
What do you think of the leaks and the weapons for the new elite specializations? Are you eager to try them out and do you have a special favorite? Feel free to leave us a comment.
By the way: Everything we know about the new expansion End of Dragons can be found here.
