http://forums.knights-templar.com This is a discussion forum for Knights Templar, go to http://forums.knights-templar.com/ . en Thu, 09 Sep 2010 00:39:05 GMT vBulletin 60 http://forums.knights-templar.com/images/Knights-Templar/misc/rss.jpg http://forums.knights-templar.com http://forums.knights-templar.com/showthread.php?t=4273&goto=newpost Wed, 01 Sep 2010 20:55:56 GMT if (!GWBBCODE_HOOK) { var GWBBCODE_HOOK = true; var gwbb_dynamic_url = 'gwbbcode'; /* Include the overDiv div...]]> From Kill Ten Rats (http://www.killtenrats.com/2010/08/2...cer-interview/)

Posted by Ravious on August 27, 2010

The role of the necromancer in Guild Wars was not easily defined, as it straddled the line between hexer, minion master, and even melee. The necromancer profession in Guild Wars 2 seems to be a streamlined version of the necromancer of old. In re-defining the necromancer profession, what role do you intend for the necromancer to play in groups?

Like all of our professions, we intend that the necromancer be extremely versatile. That being said, the necromancer really shines when absorbing damage and providing support to allies. The necromancer has very high health and the ability to extend that health through the use of the Death Shroud ability. Combine those things with the ability to heal themselves through lifestealing skills and you have a profession that is very hard to put down. For support, the necromancer is great at inflicting debilitating conditions on enemies as well as removing conditions from allies. All these things, plus the ability to heal and cause fear, make them great at supporting teammates.


One notable difference in the new Guild Wars 2 necromancer is the apparent lack of true hexes or sustained hex-like abilities, like the always favorite Spiteful Spirit from Guild Wars. Does the Guild Wars 2 necromancer have any sustained hex-like abilities, and what was the design goal in getting away from the hex mechanic of Guild Wars?
We wanted to streamline things for Guild Wars 2, so we rolled all of our negative and positive buffs into our condition and boon systems. We did this to make combat easier for players to learn. Instead of having to learn what a potentially unlimited pool of hexes do, players only have to learn about a much smaller set of conditions. We wanted to introduce some different types of complexity into combat (positioning, weapon and skill swapping, etc…) and therefore had to streamline other things so that we didn’t overwhelm players. It should be noted that many of the things that necromancers were able to do with hexes in the first game can be accomplished through other means in Guild Wars 2.


Marks, one of the necromancer’s unique type of skills, are ground targeted skills. How are they different from the necromancer’s Wells and the ranger’s Traps?
Marks differ from traps and wells in several key ways. First, traps and wells are placed wherever the caster is standing, while marks are placed at a ground-targeted location. Wells have a constant effect in an area, unlike traps and marks, which activate only once when triggered. Traps are triggered automatically when an enemy enters the trap radius but marks must be activated by the necromancer manually.

Will Fear, the necromancer’s unique condition, work any differently in PvP? Can you compare Fear to a knockdown?
We will have different balance for skills in PvE and PvP, so it is very likely that skills that cause fear will function slightly differently in the two game types. That being said, fear is very comparable to a knockdown or a stun in that it disables your character for a short period of time. In many ways it is actually less powerful than a knockdown since it is a condition and can be affected by anything that affects conditions, whereas a knockdown is only affected by things that specifically affect knockdowns.


Lorewise, is the necromancer’s power tied to the Elder Dragon Zhaitan in any way? Will the Guild Wars 2 necromancer replace or assimilate the Guild Wars ritualist’s spiritual powers?
The power of necromancers is not tied in any way to Zhaitan in the same way that ice elementalists have nothing to do with the ice dragon Jormag. Necromancers manipulate and harness the power of death, whereas Zhaitan actually corrupts death itself. The necromancer does not replace or assimilate the ritualist’s spiritual powers. ]]> Guild Wars 2 News Guardian http://forums.knights-templar.com/showthread.php?t=4273 http://forums.knights-templar.com/showthread.php?t=4272&goto=newpost Tue, 31 Aug 2010 21:47:39 GMT From the A.net Blog (*http://www.arena.net/blog/eric-and-izzy-answer-your-necromancer-questions*) *Eric and Izzy Answer Your Necromancer Questions*... From the A.net Blog (http://www.arena.net/blog/eric-and-i...ncer-questions)

Eric and Izzy Answer Your Necromancer Questions

By David Campbell August 31st, 2010


Last week we unearthed the necromancer, the macabre master of life and death in Guild Wars 2. Many of you had questions about this updated take on the classic Guild Wars profession, so we summoned Lead Designer Eric Flannum and Game Designer Isaiah “Izzy” Cartwright to answer the most common queries. Read on for answers to your necro questions!



Fear

Q: Fear sounds like an unbalanced crowd control mechanic. Could you explain this mechanic in more detail? How often can you use it and can you remove it? Are there certain types of enemies that are immune to fear?
Eric: Fear is a condition and is therefore removable by anything that removes conditions. How often fear can be used depends entirely on the skill that inflicts it, so it will vary from skill to skill. Boss monsters are currently immune to fear, but this is something that we are constantly balancing.

Izzy: Currently, fear lasts 2 to 5 seconds in PvE and 2 seconds in PvP, but these are just the current numbers and we’ll continue to refine and balance them as we keep playing.

Q: How will fear work in PvP? I don’t like losing control of my character, and it seems like fear may make my play experience frustrating and unenjoyable.
Eric: As Izzy alluded to, we’ll have different balance for skills in PvE and PvP, so it’s very likely that skills that cause fear will function slightly differently in the two game types. Fear is similar to a knockdown or stun in the way it disables your character for a short period of time. In some ways, fear is less powerful than knockdown, since it’s a condition, and it can be effected by anything that affects conditions. Knockdowns, on the other hand, can only be affected by things that specifically affect knockdowns.

Death Shroud

Q: Will the necromancer be able to slot in different skills for his Death Shroud abilities?
Izzy: No, your Death Shroud skills are a special set of skills, but you can make improvements to your Death Shroud via traits.

Q: Does damage done to the necromancer in Death Shroud decrease the life force meter?
Eric: Yes, when the necromancer is in Death Shroud state, any damage they receive decreases their life force.

Q: Will there be ways to spend life force outside of Death Shroud? If not, would you consider adding some utility skills that would do this?
Izzy: We want to keep these concepts simple, so skills can only add to your life force pool.


Minions

Q: The necromancer article seems to imply that you can only have one minion of each type active, since summoning it swaps the skill out for a minion bomber skill. Is that true?
Izzy: Some skills such a Bone Minions can give you three minions, plus an additional two using traits. You can also have a Blood Fiend and a Bone Fiend. Keep in mind we haven’t revealed all the necro minions yet!

Q: If I’m out of combat and switch out one of my minion skills, do I lose the minion I have already summoned on the field?
Izzy: Yes, anytime you unequip a utility skill you lose all benefit from that skill – including minions.

Q: Are minion models tied to the spell used to summon them (like in Guild Wars) or to the type of corpse that it was raised from?
Eric: Minions in Guild Wars 2 are not raised from corpses, so the type of minion created is determined by the skill used.

Q: Do minions have natural health regeneration?
Eric: No, minions do not currently regenerate health.

Q: Do minions have levels and do they vary in size or shape depending on the life force?
Eric: The level of the minion is based upon the level of the necromancer that created it. They do not vary based upon life force.

Wells

Q: Since wells originate from the caster herself, and not from a corpse, do they follow you around or stay at the location where the skill was cast?
Eric: Much like wards in the original Guild Wars, wells do not move.


General

Q: Would you consider some PvE only tweaks to further spice it up, like making necros slightly more powerful during in-game nighttime than in bright sunlight?
Eric: We wouldn’t want to do anything to make a player feel like they should only play a particular race or profession in a limited set of circumstances, so I don’t think we’d do this sort of thing. That being said, we do have items that act differently at night versus during the day. The key difference is that item choice is a much more short term choice whereas race and profession are long term choices.

Q: Is there any limit to how many marks I can place?
Eric: When you place a mark, the skill switches to an “activate mark” skill. This means that the number of marks a necromancer can have active is limited by how many individual mark skills he brings.

Q: Can the Life Siphon skill be maintained by holding the skill button down until either the enemy is dead or your energy runs out?
Eric: Life Siphon is a timed skill that drains life for a short period of time, and then recharges. It can be interrupted by moving.

Q: Are the scary and dark sound effect we can hear in the skill video permanent sound ambient effects for the necromancer, or were they used for the video only?
Eric: Some of them were generated for the video and some of them are in the game. We tend to use the videos as sound concept tests though, so it is very likely that you’ll hear many of those sounds while playing the game.

Q: Can necromancers swap weapons?
Eric: Absolutely. Like other professions, necromancers can swap between two weapon sets (which is the current maximum for any profession).

Q: Reading up on Ghosts of Ascalon, I wonder if what some of Killeen did in the book will somehow manifest itself in the game, or if that was simply a loose literary translation of necromancer abilities?
Eric: Some of what Killeen does in the book will be reflected in the game (quite accurately). However, some of what she does is a pretty loose interpretation of in-game necromantic capabilities.

Q: What is that brilliant-looking skill used at the beginning of the Life Siphon video?
Izzy: That is a skill called Life Blast, which is skill number four on the focus item.

Q: You mentioned bleeding in the skill Grasping Dead. How does bleeding stack in Guild Wars 2? Is it just additional duration, or is it an additional health loss per second?
Izzy: You can have up to nine bleeds on a target and each does some damage per second.


"Thanks guys! Both Eric and Izzy will be at the Guild Wars 2 booth at PAX Prime in Seattle this weekend, along with a ton of other ArenaNet staffers. Stop by, say hi, and play our demo!" ]]> Guild Wars 2 News Guardian http://forums.knights-templar.com/showthread.php?t=4272 http://forums.knights-templar.com/showthread.php?t=4271&goto=newpost Tue, 31 Aug 2010 21:28:58 GMT Screenshots (Click for larger view) Image: http://www.guildwars2.com/global/includes/images/screenshots/necromancer/thumbs/necromancer01.jpg ... Screenshots (Click for larger view)











]]> Gallery Guardian http://forums.knights-templar.com/showthread.php?t=4271 http://forums.knights-templar.com/showthread.php?t=4270&goto=newpost Tue, 31 Aug 2010 21:25:49 GMT
"The great thing about minions is that they never last long enough to work up a horrid stench!"

A necromancer is a practitioner of the dark arts who summons the dead, wields the power of lost souls, and literally sucks the lifeblood of the enemy. A necromancer feeds on life force, which he can use to cheat death or bring allies back from the brink.


A necromancer feeds on death and decay. Life force is the energy that a necromancer uses to extend his own life. Using specific skills, a necromancer builds up life force by attacking and killing enemies. Rather than going into a downed state when he runs out of health, a necromancer automatically activates the Death Shroud ability. A necromancer can continue fighting in the ghostly Death Shroud form until he either runs out of life force or he gets a kill, rallying back into his own corpse.


Necromancers have a unique set of special skills:
Wells—Wells are persistent spells that allow a necromancer to control the area around him. Created at the necromancer's location, wells affect targets within the skill's range. Well of Blood, for example, applies a regeneration boon to all allies within it. A necromancer can only have one well skill active at any time.


Minions—The necromancer summons undead minions to attack foes and do his bidding. Every minion-summoning spell has an associated secondary spell that appears after the minion has been summoned. This secondary spell destroys the minion while providing a powerful effect to the necromancer. For example, necromancers have a healing skill called Summon Blood Fiend that creates a minion that heals its master while it attacks. After the minion has been summoned, the Summon Blood Fiend skill is replaced by the skill Taste of Death, which allows a necromancer to destroy the minion to gain a larger amount of health.

Marks—Necromancers can also place marks--ground-targeted spells with a variety of potent effects. For instance, Mark of Blood damages enemies while placing a regeneration boon on nearby allies. Marks will trigger after a set period of time, but a necromancer can always trigger their marks on command by hitting the skill again.


Fear—Necromancers use a condition not available to any other profession: fear. A removable condition, fear makes an enemy flee directly away from a necromancer for a short period of time. For example, a necromancer can use Doom to instill fear in a single target.

Skills

• Doom
• Putrid Explosion
• Grasping Dead
• Locust Swarm
• Life Siphon

Weapons
When outfitting himself for combat, the necromancer can choose from the following weapons. The necromancer weapons are:

• Main Hand: Axe, Dagger, Scepter
• Off Hand: Dagger, Focus, Warhorn
• Two-Handed: Staff

Life Force
Life force is a special type of energy used by a necromancer. Once he reaches a certain life force threshold, a necromancer can activate Death Shroud (see below), entering a spirit form and leaving his body behind. Each of his weapon sets have skills that give a necromancer life force, and he gains an even larger amount of life force for kills that happen nearby. Finally, there are utility skills that build up life force, like Ghost Armor, a skill that improves a necromancer's armor and adds life force every time he takes damage.

Death Shroud
Death Shroud is a special ability--usable by a necromancer at any time--that utilizes his life force as a secondary health bar. Instead of entering a downed state when his health is reduced to zero, a necromancer automatically activates the Death Shroud ability and assumes a spectral form. In Death Shroud, a necromancer has a number of special skills. For example, a necromancer can summon a shadow fiend, a special minion unique to this form. With the ability to tap into Death Shroud, necromancers are certainly one of the most durable professions in Guild Wars 2. ]]> General Topics Guardian http://forums.knights-templar.com/showthread.php?t=4270 http://forums.knights-templar.com/showthread.php?t=4268&goto=newpost Tue, 24 Aug 2010 20:56:19 GMT Screenshots (click for larger view) Image:... Screenshots (click for larger view)











]]> Gallery Guardian http://forums.knights-templar.com/showthread.php?t=4268 http://forums.knights-templar.com/showthread.php?t=4267&goto=newpost Tue, 24 Aug 2010 20:54:58 GMT Screenshots (click for larger view) Image:... Screenshots (click for larger view)











]]> Gallery Guardian http://forums.knights-templar.com/showthread.php?t=4267 http://forums.knights-templar.com/showthread.php?t=4266&goto=newpost Tue, 24 Aug 2010 20:51:56 GMT Screenshots (click for larger view) Image:... Screenshots (click for larger view)











]]> Gallery Guardian http://forums.knights-templar.com/showthread.php?t=4266 http://forums.knights-templar.com/showthread.php?t=4265&goto=newpost Tue, 24 Aug 2010 20:48:31 GMT
"Fire, Air, Earth, and Water. I can deal death with any of them."

The elementalist channels natural forces of destruction, making fire, air, earth, and water do her bidding. What the elementalist lacks in physical toughness, she makes up for in her ability to inflict massive damage in a single attack, dropping foes from a distance before they can become a threat. Yet, despite her incredible offensive potential, versatility is what makes the elementalist truly formidable.


Rather than swap weapons to adjust to new situations, the multi-faceted elementalist quickly adapts to new threats by attuning to different elements as needed. When the elementalist attunes to any of the four elements, she receives intrinsic bonuses that continually empower her.


With FIRE attunement, the elementalist can inflict scorching damage on multiple enemies by turning the ground to fire or raining down molten rock from the skies. Why kill just one enemy when you can burn them all? Just by attuning to fire, the elementalist automatically causes flame damage to any foe foolish enough to touch her.


When the elementalist attunes to AIR, she can harness wind and lightning to target specific foes with focused, high-damage attacks. Dazzling bolts of lightning rip from the elementalist's fingertips, and brilliant flashes of light blind her enemies. When an elementalist attunes to air, nearby enemies are continuously pelted with lightning strikes.


WATER attunement forgoes the raw damage of air and fire, in favor of controlling an opponent's movement. By creating slippery ice or freezing foes solid, water attunement ensures that the battle is always fought on the elementalist's terms. Nearby allies receive continuous healing from an elementalist who is attuned to water.


In the most dangerous situations, the elementalist relies on the powerful defense of EARTH attunement. An earth elementalist uses the ground under her feet to defend herself and her allies, turning flesh to stone, destabilizing foes with seismic shocks, and destroying threats with volcanic eruptions. Earth attunement automatically confers magical protection to the elementalist.


Elementalists have a number of special spell types:

• Glyphs—These arcane spells enhance or modify the natural power of the elementalist. She uses the Glyph of Elemental Power to increase the damage, range, and duration of her spells.
• Signets—Signets provide an ongoing benefit to the elementalist, but can also be activated for a greater effect. An elementalist equipped with the Signet of Earth has increased damage resistance, but activating the Signet sends out a wave of stone, stunning nearby enemies.
• Conjure Spells—The elementalist uses Conjure spells to summon useful items and potent weapons that she or other party members can use. For instance, she uses Conjure Flame to create a fiery rock to hurl at the enemy.
• Area Spells—Using Area spells, the elementalist creates hazards and mayhem all over the field of battle. The elementalist fires lava arrows in a cone-shaped blast or creates walls of fire that scorch any enemies passing through.

Skills

• Meteor Shower
• Phoenix
• Static Field
• Water Trident
• Churning Earth

Attunements
The elementalist has four elemental attunements that they can tap into. These attunements are represented by four skills that are located on the bar above their normal skills. When an elementalist switches attunements, the first five skills on their bar will change. These five skills are based on the elementalist's attunement and their current weapon, so that a fire-attuned elementalist will have different skills when he wields a staff than when he wields a scepter or focus. In addition to changing the elementalist's skills, attunements also work like a normal skill and provide an ongoing effect.

Weapons
Scepter (Main Hand) — Scepter skills specialize in close range combat.
Dagger (Main Hand) — Main hand daggers are fast and focus on medium range spells.
Staff (Two Handed) — Staves are slow casting long range weapons.
Dagger (Off Hand) — Off hand daggers specialize in powerful medium range abilities.
Focus (Off Hand) — Skills on a focus are powerful close range abilities. ]]> General Topics Guardian http://forums.knights-templar.com/showthread.php?t=4265 http://forums.knights-templar.com/showthread.php?t=4264&goto=newpost Tue, 24 Aug 2010 20:43:44 GMT
"Axe or Mace? Rifle or Greatsword? You know, they're all good."

The warrior is a master of weapons who relies on speed, strength, toughness, and heavy armor to survive in battle. A warrior can shrug off blow after blow to stay in the fight, all the while building up adrenaline to fuel his offense.


Adrenaline makes the warrior more powerful, increasing his damage output with every attack while powering up his burst skill. Each weapon set has a single designated burst skill which a warrior can trigger by spending all his built-up adrenaline to unleash a powerful attack. The warrior can use his burst skill at any time, but the more adrenaline stages he has filled, the more devastating his attack will be. Some burst skills apply more and varying conditions while others simply do more damage.


Each weapon serves a different role, allowing the warrior to customize his play style. Warriors can compliment main hand weapons like swords and maces with a shield, warhorn or dual wielded weapon, but their role is still mostly defined by the main or two-handed weapon.


A SWORDwarrior is quick and mobile; he bleeds his enemies as he bounces between them with a Savage Leap.

An AXE warrior quickly builds up his adrenaline and can deliver powerful spike attacks.

A HAMMER warrior pounds his foes and the ground with area attacks that stagger groups of enemies.

A warrior with a MACE disrupts his enemies with powerful stunning attacks, and hits them where it hurts leaving them susceptible to further blows.

A warrior with a GREATSWORD uses his momentum to deliver sweeping area effect damage attacks while gliding around the battlefield.

Warriors with a LONGBOW light their arrows on fire to inflict area-of-effect damage.

The RIFLE is a single-target ranged weapon that a warrior can use to pull monsters or finish off a fleeing foe.



Warriors have a number of special skill types:

• Stances—These are toggle skills that let you turn on an enhancement at the cost of energy regeneration. For example, a warrior could hit Berserker's Stance which drains his energy, but gives him adrenaline regeneration. You can easily toggle off Berserker's Stance and send the skill into recharge.
• Chains—A set of three skills that share a single skill slot, chains go off in sequence if you are hitting your target. For example, the sword chain skills Sever Artery, Gash, and Final Thrust are all on the same key, so rather than making a sword warrior spend three slots, they stack to fill only one slot. Chains effectively give a warrior two extra weapon skills on a weapon set.
• Banners—The warrior calls down banners to buff his allies with attack power. A banner can be picked up and carried around to move the buff, or it can be planted in an area to convey the buff, allowing the warrior to continue fighting. One example is Banner of Courage, which increases the melee damage of allies within its range.
• Shouts—Shouts are skills that affect a large area and give bonuses to allies or debuff enemies. A warrior could use the shout On My Mark to lower an enemy's armor and call a target out to allied party members.
• Charge Skills—Some skills can be held down to power them up for more impressive attacks. A warrior with a mace can wind up the powerful skill Obliterate and release it at four different power levels to do increasing amounts of damage.

Skills

• Sever Artery + Gash + Final Thrust
• Arcing Shot
• Shield Stance
• Stomp
• Eviscerate

Weapons

A warrior can use nine different weapons. He can combine any of the nine weapons available to him in 19 different ways. The warrior weapons are:

• Main Hand: Sword, Axe, Mace
• Offhand: Shield, Warhorn, Sword, Axe, Mace
• Two-Handed: Greatsword, Hammer, Longbow, Rifle

A warrior can easily switch between his two active weapon sets in combat as needed, but swapping weapons triggers a cool-down that prevents warriors from constantly flip-flopping between weapons. However, a warrior can equip the Weapon Master trait to circumvent this cool down, and opt for a more wild back-and-forth combat style with both weapon sets. Outside of combat, the warrior can reconfigure his weapon sets before entering an encounter.

Adrenaline
Warriors start a fight without adrenaline, and then build one strike of adrenaline with every attack they make. Warriors have three stages of adrenaline that take increasing amounts of strikes to fill - or they can release their stored adrenaline with a burst skill. Each stage of adrenaline also gives the warrior a direct passive damage bonus to every attack.

Burst Skills
Burst skills spend all of a warrior's adrenaline. Each weapon has one burst skill that improves at each stage of adrenaline. This improvement can be anything from doing more damage, adding additional conditions, increasing condition duration, or increased skill duration. ]]> General Topics Guardian http://forums.knights-templar.com/showthread.php?t=4264 http://forums.knights-templar.com/showthread.php?t=4263&goto=newpost Tue, 24 Aug 2010 20:30:32 GMT

"Good dog! Hold the enemy down while I shoot them! You get a biscuit!"

The ranger is a jack-of-all-trades and a master of them all as well, relying on his keen eye, steady hand, or the power of nature itself. A master of ranged combat, the ranger is capable of striking unwitting foes from a distance with his bow. With a stable of pets at his command, a ranger can adapt to his opponents' strengths and weaknesses.

A ranger is accompanied by his pet, a loyal animal companion. Rangers charm pets and then bond with them. A ranger can have up to three pets at his call, but generally speaking, only one pet can be active at any time. Pets' base health, armor, and damage are based on the level of the player that owns them.


Pets are charmed by interacting with juvenile versions of the species you want to charm. There are a variety of Tyrian species that can be charmed, including bears, moas, devourers, and sharks. As you adventure with a pet, it evolves to become more unique and eventually allows you to give it abilities that compliment your tactics.

Rather than manage a unique resource in combat, a ranger will manage his pet, assigning them a behavior from aggressive to passive. A ranger can also manage his pet by giving commands such as "attack," "heel," and "stay."


Rangers have a number of special skill types:
Traps--Traps are utility skills that can be placed at a ranger's current location. When an enemy enters a trap, it is triggered. For example, Spike Trap will cripple and bleed enemies that pass through it. A trap can remain active as long as the ranger chooses to remain close to it. A ranger can only have one of each trap type out at any given time.

Spirits--A spirit skill summons a nature spirit that influences the area around it. For example, Sun Spirit applies additional fire damage to allied attacks inside its influence. A spirit stays out for a short period of time and goes away if the ranger wanders too far away from it. Spirits can be attacked by enemies and removed from the battle. A ranger can only have one of each type of spirit out at any given time.

Skills

• Barrage
• Hunter's Call
• Spread Shot
• Serpent Strike
• Whirling Defense

Weapons
A ranger is mostly a master of ranged weapons, however, he can use sword or greatsword in melee combat. The ranger weapons are:

• Main Hand: Sword, Axe
• Off Hand: Axe, Dagger, Torch, Warhorn
• Two-Handed: Greatsword, Longbow, Shortbow

Pets
A ranger has three active pet slots. Outside of combat, or through the use of utility skills, the ranger can swap their active pet. There are 12 different types of pets, including some terrestrial (spiders), some amphibious (lizards), and some aquatic (sharks). Within each type there are subtypes that can influence pets' abilities. For example, a polar bear might have an Icy Roar, while a brown bear might have a Fearsome Roar. A ranger's pet gets its level from its master, which determines their basic attack, armor, and health.

Pet Evolution
Pets have customization options. The first of these has to do with a pet's evolution level. Pets evolve up to 20 evolution levels. Each pet type receives automatic bonuses at different evolution levels. For bears, these bonuses might be increased health or increased damage. Pets gain evolution points when the player gains XP while the pet is active. At certain evolution levels, pets will unlock ability slots (up to 4 total). Ability slots can be filled from a list of active pet abilities based on pet type.

Pet Controls
In addition to managing his skills, a ranger will be able to manage his pet with limited commands and modes. This will be an interface element for the ranger class. Here are some examples:

Modes--Ongoing behavioral settings the ranger can toggle.

• Aggressive--Attack what I am attacking.
• Defensive--Attack enemies that attack me.
• Passive--Don't attack.

Commands--Specific, direct commands that execute right away.

• Attack--Attack my target.
• Heel--Come to me.
• Stay--Do not move.

]]> General Topics Guardian http://forums.knights-templar.com/showthread.php?t=4263 http://forums.knights-templar.com/showthread.php?t=4262&goto=newpost Tue, 24 Aug 2010 20:26:05 GMT Incase you haven't seen it. Check out the new Guild Wars 2 Video: MMO Manifesto, it rocks!

Watch Our MMO Manifesto Video

In our new MMO Manifesto video, ArenaNet Studio Lead Mike O'Brien and key creators explain how Guild Wars 2 will defy MMO conventions and create a new kind of game - free from boring grind and static, unchanging worlds. Loaded with incredible gameplay footage, the MMO Manifesto video charts a bold new direction in gaming. Watch it right here!

http://www.guildwars2.com/en/media/videos/ ]]> Gallery Guardian http://forums.knights-templar.com/showthread.php?t=4262 http://forums.knights-templar.com/showthread.php?t=4261&goto=newpost Tue, 24 Aug 2010 20:19:06 GMT From A.net Blog:
By Mike O'Brien August 20th, 2010


We’re right in the middle of a busy, exciting gamescom, but I thought I’d take a moment on day three of the show to share some great news: Guild Wars 2 has just been awarded Best Online Game for gamescom 2010!
We’ve been eager to show off Guild Wars 2 for the first time at gamescom, and the response from fans to the hands-on demo has been overwhelmingly positive. This is our opportunity to demonstrate that all of the features we’ve been talking about for the past few months are real, not just hype, and we’re gratified that fans have really enjoyed playing the demo. Awards are fantastic, but let’s face it: connecting with players and earning their enthusiasm is the real prize at gamescom.

Those ArenaNet staffers who aren’t in Cologne are still playing a vital role at gamescom; our entire studio here in the Seattle area has been playing the game remotely with show attendees all week. We’ve been having a blast meeting and playing alongside our European fans in-game – it’s been like one big international LAN party!


We’re bringing the hands-on Guild Wars 2 demo to the States in two weeks at PAX in Seattle (Sept 3-5), and we’d love to see you there. Even if you can’t play the demo, keep an eye on this blog for more Guild Wars 2 news and information. ]]> Guild Wars 2 News Guardian http://forums.knights-templar.com/showthread.php?t=4261 http://forums.knights-templar.com/showthread.php?t=4260&goto=newpost Tue, 24 Aug 2010 20:14:45 GMT From A.net Blog:

"It’s on! The doors are open at gamescom in Cologne, Germany, and fans from all over Europe (and beyond) are descending on the NCsoft booth. Our French community manager, Stéphane Lo Presti, has been capturing the gamescom excitement with his camera (and grabbing pictures that other staff members have taken), so we thought we’d share these pictures with you. To start, here’s a pic of Guild Wars Live Producer Mike Zadorojny with two of our iconics – Rytlock Brimstone and Caithe!"

http://www.flickr.com/photos/arenane...7624620294803/ ]]> Gallery Guardian http://forums.knights-templar.com/showthread.php?t=4260 http://forums.knights-templar.com/showthread.php?t=4259&goto=newpost Tue, 24 Aug 2010 20:10:37 GMT Sorry Shivafang was trying to move thread and accidently deleted it. I was able to go back and copy your text though.... Originally posted on... Sorry Shivafang was trying to move thread and accidently deleted it. I was able to go back and copy your text though....

Originally posted on Massively, but I'm giving you the youtube link because it loads WAY FASTER;

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vXgTFsrNseE

A few notes: He is using DEV HAX for demonstration purposes, which might be why enemies are ignoring him (and it looks like he uses it at one point to map travel where there is no Gate, but can't be sure). ]]> Gallery Guardian http://forums.knights-templar.com/showthread.php?t=4259 http://forums.knights-templar.com/showthread.php?t=4257&goto=newpost Mon, 23 Aug 2010 21:05:30 GMT New official YouTube channel for Diablo.. http://www.youtube.com/diablo

Not sure if this was released before but it's the first time I saw it, so I thought I'd share it...
Diablo 3 Caravan Preview:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mlTu2yCdkCI ]]> Off-Topic Guardian http://forums.knights-templar.com/showthread.php?t=4257