The MMORPG Guild Wars 2 showcased the new elite specializations during the presentation of the new expansion “End of Dragons”. So far, three of the total nine specializations are known, and you can even try them out yourself. We at MeinMMO will show you how.
What do we know? The large third expansion for the MMORPG classic Guild Wars 2 is called End of Dragons and will come to you after a delay in February 2022. Like the previous expansions, End of Dragons will also add nine new elite specializations to the game.
In three videos, developer ArenaNet is now introducing the first specializations and announcing a beta in which you can extensively test all three.
Overview of the new elite specializations
Which specializations are known so far? The new elite specializations will be revealed gradually. So far, we know about the following:
- The Mesmer will become the “Virtuoso” with the dagger.
- The Necromancer will become the “Harbinger” thanks to a pistol.
- The Guardian will become the “Willbender” with a second sword.
- The Warrior will combine a pistol and sword into the “Bladesworn”.
- The Thief is still unknown.
- The Engineer is still unknown.
- The Elementalist will receive a hammer and become the “Catalyst”.
- The Revenant will wield a greatsword and become the “Vindicator”.
- The Ranger is still unknown.
A leak on August 17 shows the weapons of the upcoming elite specializations.
In the video, you can see the link to End of Dragons and what awaits you in Cantha:
Here are the new elite specializations
ArenaNet has so far introduced 6 of the total 9 new elite specializations. We present them to you in detail:
The Vindicator – Combines Defense and Offense
What is the Vindicator? The Vindicator is the new elite specialization of the Revenant. He can summon not just one, but two new legends that thematically relate to the land of the new expansion Cantha.
The Vindicator wields a greatsword and can choose whether to play defensively or offensively, depending on which of the legends he has currently summoned. This is meant to open up new possibilities for how both work together.
The Vindicator will likely be a power DPS class.
How does his mechanic work? The legend functions as an “Alliance” legend status, so both can be merged into one legend, gameplay-wise. When you use your skills in one legend, it goes on cooldown and automatically swaps places with the skill of the other legend, which then has a 10-second cooldown.
Additionally, the Vindicator only has a single “Dodge” skill that you can modify with various traits to create what you want from your character.
You receive an F2 skill called “Alliance Tactics” that has a 19-second cooldown but switches your entire skill bar to the other variant and gives you endurance back.
What can his support skills do? His aggressive healing skill deals damage to all surrounding enemies and grants you power, while the defensive healing skill heals you and your allies.
With the second skill, you leap onto an opponent in offensive mode while you spring away from your opponent in defensive mode. A classic dodge skill. With the next offensive skill, you deal damage from a distance, while the defensive version heals at range.
The “9” skill in the offensive variant breaks stuns from you and deals damage, while the defensive version provides a stun break for your entire group. Your elite skill deals a lot of damage at a range of 2000 when played offensively. The defensive version of the skill passively heals your allies while consuming your energy and health. You cannot be healed during this, but you also take less damage.
What can his active skills do? With the first skill, your auto-hit, you hit up to 5 enemies in front of you with your greatsword and deal some cold damage to your opponents.
The second skill lets you strike forward in a cone and inflicts weakness on your opponents, while the third skill is a simple leap that deals damage and cold to the target.
The 4th skill blocks the next attack that hits you, but you can activate the skill twice to deal damage with it afterward. It works like the Guardian’s counter attack. The 5th skill works like a meteor shower. It spawns random explosions around you, dealing damage to all enemies in the area. The greatsword kit is as varied as his support skills.
What can his traits do? In the first line, you can adjust your F2 skill according to your playstyle. For example, you can extend its cooldown to reduce other cooldowns, grant your allies power and regeneration, or heal your allies with the F2 skill when you have less than 50% health.
In the second trait line, you prepare your unique dodge skill. Among other things, you can regain endurance when you hit someone with your dodge skill, when you switch your legends, or gain an improved version of vigor when you dodge.
In the third line of traits, you can choose your dodge skill. All three change the effect your dodge skill causes. You have the option to deal damage with your dodge skill and thus integrate it into your rotation. You can also heal with your dodge skill and provide buffs to your allies.
In this video, you can see the Vindicator in action:
The Bladesworn – Unites Pistol and Sword into a New Weapon
What is the Bladesworn? The Warrior transforms into the Bladesworn with a pistol. He uses new technology to create a kind of shooting sword. Only the best warriors are said to be able to wield such a weapon.
To achieve this, they use bullets made from special wood, sourced from the land of Cantha, so that the elite specialization thematically fits into the new maps. With the combination of pistol and greatsword, he gets a unique new weapon – the Gunsaber.
The Bladesworn will likely be a power DPS class.
How does his mechanic work? In combat, the Bladesworn cannot switch his weapon. You are always bound to your Gunsaber. Additionally, you lose your classic F1 skill as you switch to your unique weapon.
While you are in combat, you build up a buff called “Flow” that replaces the previously known adrenaline of the Warrior. You can build up to 100 Flow. Once you have more than 10, you can execute your F2 skill, charging your charges. You can have up to 10 charges. So, 100 Flow builds up 10 charges.
Once you do that, you unlock three different “Dragon-Slash” skills with varying effects that deal particularly high damage. While you charge, you cannot move, but you get a teleport skill with 3 charges.
What can his support skills do? The healing skill has 2 charges, which you can use consecutively without cooldown. It heals you a bit when you use it and then gives you a buff that heals you once it expires. However, if you reactivate the skill before the buff expires, you gain some boons instead of healing.
The next skill has 3 charges and lets you throw a grenade that deals damage and leaves behind a wall that blocks projectiles. The skill “Electric Fence” also has 2 charges and creates a wall that cripples opponents who touch it. If they get hit twice, the opponents are even immobilized.
The skill “Flow Stabilizer” increases your flow charge and simultaneously grants you some stability, preventing you from being knocked down. This skill also has 2 charges.
The only support skill without charges is called Dragonspike Mine. With it, you can roll back and leave a mine that deals damage and cripples opponents who trigger your mine.
The elite skill is called “Tactical Reload” and restores all your skills that work with charges. At first, this may seem like little, but it is an extremely powerful mechanic. The ability has only a 30-second cooldown and charges faster than some of the other skills’ charges.
What can his active skills do? With the first skill, you deal damage to up to three opponents in front of you. The last hit in your auto-attack chain triggers an explosion.
The second skill also triggers an explosion in front of you that deals a lot of damage but is bound to melee, while the 3rd skill has a similar effect but is designed for ranged.
The 4th skill blocks projectiles coming at you and deals damage to your opponents; the skill has 2 charges, allowing you to use it twice before it goes on cooldown.
The final skill has 2 charges and lets you leap onto your opponent and deal damage, providing greater mobility for the Bladesworn’s abilities.
With the pistol as an off-hand weapon and without your Gunsaber, you receive two new skills again. With the 5th skill, you can shoot your opponent up to 6 charges at once, which can deal a lot of damage. The 4th skill lets you leap forward and grants you Aegis. Additionally, the 4th skill returns three charges for your 5th skill, which can be a great combination.
What can his traits do? In his first trait line, you can optimize your flow. You can increase healing that affects you while also improving your flow buildup. Additionally, you can generate more flow through movement skills or generate flow faster by switching weapons.
In the second line, it’s all about your charges. When you use the last charge of a skill, you can either burn your opponents, gain barrier, or even reduce your skill cooldowns.
The third trait line deals with your “Dragon Slash” abilities. It allows you to heal with your “Dragon Slash” skills, stun opponents, or reduce your charges from 10 to 5, making you a bit more agile regarding your cooldowns and flow.
In this video, you can see the Bladesworn in action:
The Catalyst – Channels Magic into Spheres
What is the Catalyst? The Catalyst harnesses magic from Tyria and enhances it with the magic of the new continent Cantha. They wield a hammer as a weapon and can leverage the ancient powers.
Catalysts can create spheres to channel elemental forces more effectively. They are thematically meant to represent the convergence of ancient soldiers and mages, explaining the melee weapon of the new elemental magician elite specialization.
The Catalyst will likely be a support class that could specialize in speed.
How does their mechanic work? The Catalyst receives an F5 skill that builds up energy while you are in combat and hitting enemies. They place a sphere on the ground, depending on which element you have equipped. The spheres of different elements provide various boons as well as other combo fields.
The sphere switches elements with you. So, if you are on fire and place a sphere, then switch to earth, the sphere changes with you to the earth element.
What can their support skills do? You receive what are called augmentations with your support skills. All your support skills are associated with an element and receive a bonus effect when executed within a sphere of their element.
The earth skill provides you with barrier and a block, while the air skill grants you speed and also serves as a stun break.
The water skill gives all your skills splash damage and adds chill when used in a water sphere. The fire skill increases your damage percentage-wise and can make your attacks unblockable.
You can activate your elite skill and receive a buff based on which element you currently have equipped. Additionally, your cooldown is reduced for every auto-hit you land while you have activated the elite skill.
What can their active skills do? The Catalyst has a total of 20 active skills, as they are divided among the four elements. Therefore, we will be shorter regarding the active skills.
In the fire element, you can:
- 1st Skill – You hit your opponents in ranged combat with the hammer, causing damage and burning.
- 2nd Skill – In ranged combat, you hurl a wave of flames at your opponents, igniting up to 5 enemies in flames for 9 seconds.
- 3rd Skill – You summon a sphere that circles around you, dealing damage whenever it grazes an enemy. If you trigger it again, it sends a projectile to your opponent, dealing damage. The skill remains the same across all elements, and you can create spheres of all elements before firing them.
- 4th Skill – You summon three small volcanoes arranged in a triangle that deal area damage and hit enemies in the center especially hard.
- 5th Skill – You hit the opponent with the hammer and gain buffs and extra damage when you hit a burning opponent.
In the wind element, you can:
- 1st Skill – You deal ranged damage to the opponents you hit.
- 2nd Skill – You spin and create a tornado in the target area that deals multiple area damage.
- 3rd Skill – This is identical across all elements.
- 4th Skill – Triggers a wind explosion that deals some damage and pushes you back significantly.
- 5th Skill – Launches a slow projectile at the opponent, stunning and causing some damage when it hits.
In the water element, you can:
- 1st Skill – You strike your opponent in melee, adding cold damage.
- 2nd Skill – Allows you to perform multiple strikes on your opponent, also causing cold damage.
- 3rd Skill – This is identical across all elements.
- 4th Skill – You leap onto the opponent, dealing area damage and healing for every enemy you hit.
- 5th Skill – You spin in a circle and deal damage; whenever you hit an opponent with it, you also remove a condition.
In the earth element, you can:
- 1st Skill – Strike in melee against your opponent, causing spikes of earth to come from the ground around you, also dealing area damage.
- 2nd Skill – You slowly rotate and deal damage while causing your opponents to bleed.
- 3rd Skill – This is identical in all elements.
- 4th Skill – The next attack that hits you will be blocked. If you successfully block an attack with it, you receive an aura based on the selected element.
- 5th Skill – Slams the ground and hits up to 5 enemies at once, immobilizing them and causing them to bleed.
What can their traits do? Many traits focus on the buff “Elemental Empowerment,” which increases all your attributes by up to 30% when certain conditions are met. These conditions vary depending on the chosen trait. Additionally, the lines here are horizontal instead of vertical, as with the other specializations.
In the upper trait line, it revolves around the auras or spheres and modifies what happens to your character when you engage with one of these spheres. Among other benefits, you receive less damage, deal more damage, or gain stability.
The middle trait line deals with more damage and increased “Elemental Empowerment”; you improve how you gain the buff and may even double the effect of the buff.
The bottom line deals with the F5 skill, such that you gain energy when you switch your element, grant your allies buffs when you trigger a sphere, or make your spheres last up to 50% longer.
In this video, you can see the Catalyst in action:
The Virtuoso – Magic Daggers Instead of Clones
What is the Virtuoso? The new specialization for the Mesmer is a kind of dagger mage. Previously, the Mesmer could create clones of himself. The Virtuoso loses this ability and instead summons daggers from magic to rain down upon his enemies. His abilities were presented in detail during the stream on Friday, August 13.
He receives a dagger as a new weapon. In the meta, it will likely be a power DPS class.
How does his mechanic work? Skills that previously created clones now create daggers for you, which you can use in various ways, just as you are used to from the Mesmer. Instead of the crushing clones, you receive so-called Bladesongs, which can trigger similarly strong abilities.
His skills allow him to block or combine all the little daggers into one big dagger to deal a lot of damage. The Virtuoso should give you more time than, for example, the Illusionist or Chronomancer, as your daggers do not disappear when you exit combat. This allows you to enter a fight more actively without long preparation times.
What can his support skills do? Most of his support skills are damage abilities. The Virtuoso can buff himself and build power and fury. Additionally, he can break free from a stun. All other skills of the Virtuoso are active skills that enable you to deal more damage.
What can his active skills do? His new dagger skills are, as you know from the Mesmer, ranged abilities. Some of his skills can bounce off surfaces and return to you. If you play this cleverly, you can deal damage twice with many of his abilities. The auto-attack (1) does not have a traditional “auto-attack chain”; instead, it comprises projectiles, similar to the guardian’s scepter.
What can his traits do? His specializations also enable you to deal more damage. Among other things, you receive fury equal to 10% of your vitality. Other specializations grant you simple attack bonuses like 15% more damage when you are closer to your opponent than you need to be.
He also brings some traits for condition damage, which, however, is probably less beneficial, as the character is likely geared towards power damage. To withstand a bit more, you can also trait that you gain Aegis each time you use a Bladesong.
In the second line, you gain even more fury, allowing you to increase your critical hit chance by up to 30%. The other trait grants you expertise for a percentage of your fury. With the last trait of the second line, you gain more fury and a speed buff for three seconds.
In the third line, you receive a dagger back whenever you block an attack or dodge, while the second trait in the line automatically generates new daggers if you have fewer than three daggers. With the last trait in the line, you again deal more condition damage and gain more daggers when you cause bleeding.
In this video, you can see the Virtuoso:
The Harbinger – High Stakes, High Rewards
What is the Harbinger? The Necromancer receives a pistol through the Harbinger and becomes a dark alchemist. He can brew and use elixirs, poison and curse his enemies, and, according to lore, will be able to transfer his “pain to others.” He loses the classic necromancer shroud and gains a unique Harbinger shroud that brings different mechanics.
He can wield the pistol as a new weapon. In the meta, it will likely be a condition DPS class.
During the stream on Friday, August 13, the developers emphasized that the Harbinger takes a new direction for the Necromancer. He uses jade magic for his elixirs to enhance his reflexes and fully utilize his pistol.
How does his mechanic work? The life force from the shroud is gradually consumed to heal yourself. Additionally, you slowly gain stacks in the shroud that reduce your maximum health by 2% each. You can stack up to 25 stacks, which means you could lose up to 50% of your health. There are various skills that benefit from the negative stacks. Furthermore, the Harbinger shroud will no longer protect you from damage, as other necromancer shrouds do.
The Harbinger is meant to be a typical “high-risk, high-reward” character and has more mobility than previous necromancer classes. The new attack skills within the shroud are supposed to be especially powerful.
What are his active skills? The first skill within the shroud deals double damage and inflicts four seconds of torment on enemies, while the second skill of the shroud can cause up to 6 stacks of torment and maintain up to a range of 900. Skills 3 and 4 are movement abilities meant to grant the new Necromancer more agility, as he has less durability than his other specializations. Skill number 3 also inflicts torment on the enemy, while skill 4 provides you with an extra “Dodge” stack.
The last skill in the shroud is an AoE CC skill that lifts all your enemies into the air for 3 seconds and can also refill your life force. The Harbinger’s pistol also inflicts significant torment, making it a potentially very effective condition damage character. The 2nd skill of your pistol pierces opponents, dealing damage, making your opponent vulnerable and also inflicting torment.
The third skill of your pistol can stun the opponent and inflict poison, and your opponent then also suffers from weakness. The entire skill set of the Harbinger deals a lot of damage to compensate for his lower health.
What can his support skills do? The elixirs also represent an exciting new mechanic. You gain powerful bonuses through your elixirs but also always receive the negative buff that you also have in the shroud. You stack the new mechanic “negative health”. The elite elixir grants you all buffs the game offers but adds “negative health” equivalent to 20% of your maximum health.
What can his traits do? Within the traits (or specializations), you can further explore the “high risk – high reward” concept. In the first trait line, he can extract up to 25% more condition damage or power damage from his negative health.
In the second trait line, he receives defensive properties. Among other things, he gains stability, reduced cooldown on his pistol skills and expertise when wielding a pistol. Additionally, one trait allows him to share his buffs with his whole group, meaning up to 5 people. This makes the Harbinger a potential boon supporter.
In the last trait line, he can specialize in damage again. Among other things, you receive a skill that deals continuous damage around you while you are in the shroud. This skill also has a version that works similarly for condition damage. With the middle and last trait, he can grant his entire group speed for about 3 seconds, once again going in the direction of a boon supporter.
In this video, you can see the Harbinger:
The Willbender – Guardian in Assassin Style
What is the Willbender? The new Guardian is a fast defender, staying true to the motto: Attack is the best defense. He charges into battle with two swords, relying on agility and mobility. In the video, he leaps across the battlefield and can deal significant damage to his enemies.
During the stream on Friday, August 13, the developers mentioned that the Willbender tends more towards an assassin with a lot of mobility for a heavily armored class.
He receives a second sword as a new weapon. In the meta, it will likely be a power DPS class.
How does his mechanic work? The Willbender has three distinct mechanic skills. With the first (F1), you jump to your opponents and leave behind a burning field that deals damage multiple times to the enemy. All three skills are agility skills, so you can jump with all mechanic abilities.
Additionally, you can use them to deal extra hits to your opponents. The F3 skill “Courage” grants you Aegis and stability, so it’s a good way to enter the fight or to escape from one. However, all mechanic skills overwrite each other. You can only maintain one bonus from the skills at a time.
What are his active skills? With the two new sword skills, you can extract even more mobility from your character. With the 5th skill of the kit, you can jump twice back-to-back before it goes on cooldown. If you hit an opponent with this, the enemy is slowed and takes damage from you. The 4th skill also deals double damage and inflicts vulnerability on the target.
There are only two active skills, as he can only use the sword as an off-hand weapon.
What can his support skills do? With his healing skill at 6, he can heal himself, but also gains a block for the next few seconds. If the Willbender blocks an attack with this skill, he gains significantly more health back. The mechanic works similarly to the full counter of the Guardian, but he heals instead of dealing damage. He has two charges, allowing you to use it twice back-to-back without cooldown.
The next skill is also similar to the warrior’s bull rush. The Willbender jumps on the opponent and deals 5 times damage. If he reactivates the skill, he jumps back to his original position. His other support skills focus on dealing more damage. These are area damage attacks that can apply burning to the opponent. He can also stun his enemies for two seconds.
The elite ability of the Willbender triggers a hand from above that slaps down on opponents. It strikes one enemy and throws them to the ground, while all enemies around are thrown away. You can use it to isolate enemies and then deal better damage to them.
What can his traits do? His specializations grant the Willbender more damage and many buffs. Additionally, he gains a class-specific buff called “Deadly Speed.” This buff can be maintained permanently with some practice and grants you 15% more damage. His stacks regain their original time once a new stack is added.
In the first trait line, you can be a true egoist. You receive more buff time on yourself, but you reduce the duration of the boons you grant your allies. The second trait removes 240 toughness but grants you 240 power, meaning you will deal significantly more damage while enduring less. This can be worthwhile, especially with the block from the healing skill. Even with the third trait, you can improve your self-healing but decrease healing for your allies.
In the second trait line, you gain more bonuses on your class-specific abilities. With the first skill, you can reduce the cooldown of your mechanic abilities to further enhance your agility. The second skill increases the damage of your mechanic abilities and grants you a bit more healing, while the third skill of the trait line grants you more defense through passive boons when you use shadow steps.
In the third and final trait line, you gain further bonuses for each of the mechanic abilities. The bonuses include boons you receive when using your abilities, reduced cooldown, and increased damage. With this, the Guardian gains access to the ability “Deadly Speed” for the first time. You can also further enhance the “deadly speed” abilities, but you’ll shorten their duration. The last skill can literally make you immortal as long as you carry the “Courage” buff, but at the same time, the duration of the skill is shortened. Overall, you can become unkillable for up to 4 seconds, but lose Aegis for Courage.
In this video, you can see the Willbender:
Playing the remaining 6 elite specializations? All information about the beta
When does the beta start? The next beta starts on September 21 and allows you to try out the next three elite specializations. These include those of the Revenant, the Warrior, and the Elementalist.
During this period, any Guild Wars 2 player, whether you purchased the game or not, can participate.
How do you participate in the beta? You simply need to play at the specified time. The beta for the new specializations takes place on the live server, so no additional download or new registration is required.
As of the beta start, you will receive new character slots on your account, which are specifically for beta characters. There you can create the new elite specializations and fully test them within the current live content.
This is how the beta works
What is special about the beta? The characters you create are provided with equipment that has various stats, have learned all necessary skills, and are of course level 80. You also carry your mastery level over to the beta characters. It is still unclear whether you can use parts of your legendary armor on the characters.
But beware: After the beta, your character slots will be taken away again, and your beta characters will be deleted. This also applies to all items that are on this character. Additionally, all progress made with the beta characters will be reset. So, farming things here is not worthwhile.
When will the other specializations be available? ArenaNet announced further beta events for the remaining three elite specializations. These are expected to follow in October, but exact dates and which specializations will be involved are not yet known.
Which of the new specializations do you like best, and what playstyle appeals to you? Are you excited for End of Dragons or disappointed due to the delay? Feel free to let us know in the comments.
If you are as excited about End of Dragons as we are, we have prepared 7 things you should do to prepare for End of Dragons now.
