Guild
Wars - The
Blank Slate

src="http://www.tentonhammer.com/image/view/84772">

In the original Guild
Wars campaigns and Eye
of the North expansion,
players are essentially given a blank slate to create builds for their
characters,
provided they adhere to a few key rules:

• Skills can only be from
  either
  your Primary or Secondary profession, in any
  combination
• A maximum of 1 Elite skill
  can be used per build
• A maximum of 3 Title Track
  skills can be used per build (PvE Only)
• Skills can only be swapped
  out in Towns or Outposts

Of course actual build creation
is a much more complex thing, but for the most part the sky is the
limit in terms of exactly which of the hundreds of available skills
can be placed into the 8 slots at any given time. For example, here is
a Ritualist build that I use fairly often in PvE:

src="http://www.tentonhammer.com/image/view/84773">

In the above example, the main
focus of the build is on primary
Ritualist skills, with 1 slot taken up by the Elite skill Signet
of
Spirits (slot 1) and 2 slots
utilizing the PvE-only Title Track skills
Vampirism
and Feel No Pain
(slots 2 and 8). The beauty of this system
is that another player might decide to create a similar build, only in
their version the PvE-only skills might be swapped out with something
from their secondary profession to make the build function altogether
differently while still having a heavy focus on spirit spamming.

While some might consider 8
slots to be fairly limiting when
compared to other titles in the genre, once you begin to factor in that
teams consist of 8 players you suddenly begin to realize just how
complex a thing selecting a team build consisting of 64 skills out of
hundreds spread across 10 different professions can be. In fact, the
relative lack of restrictions to builds in Guild
Wars is one of the
major things that have been revisited in Guild
Wars 2. According to
Lead Designer Eric Flannum:

If you use the CCG
paradigm to explain our skill system, we
went from a system with almost no deck building restrictions in Guild
Wars to one that has some necessary
and sane
deck building restrictions
in Guild Wars 2.
The new system is much friendlier to new players and
to those players who either aren't interested in the deck
building aspect (or are just not that good at it), but it still allows
advanced players to come up with literally hundreds of combinations to
trash their opponents with. One of our designers did the math and the
possible number of combinations is in the millions. This system also
allows us to more easily balance the game and maintain that
balance.

Guild
Wars 2
- The Structured Deck

Among the first details
regarding combat to be revealed for Guild
Wars 2 was an interesting
look some of the changes that have been made to the original
game's 8 slot skill bar design. The most obvious among them is of
course the addition of 2 additional skill slots, for a total of 10 in
GW2. But what are some of the other, potentially more significant
changes, and how will they ultimately effect combat and build
construction? Let's take a look at some of the main restrictions
on builds and how they'll differ somewhat from the original game.

src="http://www.tentonhammer.com/image/view/84771">

In the above image, I've color
coded the 10 skill slots to
make it easier to visualize what each of them can contain. Keep in mind
that this is only an estimation of how a build might be structured
based on available information so far, as it's entirely
possible that the final layout will be very different than what I've
mocked up here.

Based on the known info so far,
builds in Guild Wars 2
will consist of
the following:

• 5
  skills will be based on your current weapon set and profession
  - Players will be
  able to switch between two weapon sets at will depending on their
  profession, which is represented by Slots
  1-5
  above (green
  representing the first weapon set, and red the second set).
  
  
  
  While it's uncertain whether
  players can choose which 5 skills to use with their current weapon from
  a longer list or each set of skills
  will be static based on other criteria, this
  is still a very unique approach when you consider that in the original
  game only physical damage-dealing professions (Assassin, Warrior,
  Ranger, Dervish, Paragon) have access to weapon-based skills. In fact,
  that tends to be the norm for just about any fantasy-based RPG. In GW2,
  even casters like the Elementalist will have access to skills based
  solely on which weapon they choose to equip.
  
  
  
  Other variables yet to be
  revealed include whether or not a single type
  of weapon can have multiple forms of damage. For example, can you equip
  a Fiery Dragon Sword and gain access to 5 fire based sword attacks vs.
  an Icy Dragon Sword which would give access to 5 cold based sword
  attacks?
  
  
  
  As you can see, what first
  appears to cut available skill selection
  neatly in half will still potentially offer players a fairly broad
  spectrum of skills depending on weapon sets they choose to equip. This
  makes weapon selection infinitely more significant than merely
  providing base character stats and a damage range for auto attacks. The
  other bonus here is that you can freely switch between sets during
  combat, which should provide a much more fluid element to combat just
  based on these first 5 slots alone.

• 3
  Skill slots will be based on your profession and race
  -
  This is represented by the orange Slots
  6-8 above.
  
  
  
  Not a
  whole lot has been revealed about these three slots
  thus far, though I would imagine they will be heavily
  geared towards things such as
  your character's race. For example, it's been said
  that Norn will have the
  ability to transform into a bear, with their skills switching to match
  their
  new form. While the alteration could occur among the weapon skills, it
  seems
  much more likely that this group of three skills will be the ones
  directly affected.
  
  
  
  Another
  interesting variable to consider is whether there
  will be something similar to the PvE-only Title Track skills in Guild
  Wars. If
  so, I would imagine those would be slotted here as well, though
  it's entirely
  possible they could fall into one of the other categories depending on
  what
  type of Title Track-style skills are available, if any.

• 1
  Skill slot is reserved for an Elite skill
  - This is
  represented by the gold Slot 9
  above.
  
  
  
  As with the original game, Guild
  Wars 2 will have Elite
  skills which are said to be much more powerful this time around.
  However, a
  primary difference here is that the elite slot holds a set place in
  each build,
  whereas in Guild Wars
  players can opt to not use an elite skill at all
  if they
  so choose.
  
  
  
  It remains to be seen whether Signets of Capture will
  survive the 250 year period between games, or if elite skills will be
  obtained
  by an altogether different system. Personally I enjoy the
  exploration
  aspects of having to go out and capture elites, though I certainly
  wouldn't be
  surprised if this system has been completely redesigned for GW2.
  
  
  
  The last thing to note here is that available elite skills
  will still be based on your character's profession. Even with
  the removal of
  secondary professions from the mix, I'd imagine elite skills
  will still remain
  the cornerstone of most builds.

• 1
  Skill slot is reserved for a Healing skill
  - This is
  represented by the blue Slot 10
  above. And yes, I realize that
  keyboards don't have a number 10 key, but what are you gonna
  do?
  
  
  
  The addition of a dedicated healing slot is something entirely new to
  the Guild Wars
  universe. Intended as a means of allowing anyone to solo
  effectively, it will be interesting to see specifically what types of
  skills can be slotted here. So far, it sounds as though a fairly
  diverse array of skills types will fall into this category, including
  more direct heals as well as group buff-type skills among others.
  
  
  
  As with the weapon skills, the available healing slot skills will
  depend on your profession. For example, a Warrior might have a skill
  like Frenzy
  slotted to instantly fill their adrenaline gauge, while an
  Elementalist could use Aura of
  Restoration which sounds as
  though it
  will function very similarly to the current GW skill of the same name.
  
  
  
  Another interesting thing to consider is the impact this could
  potentially have on PvP. While I'd imagine that the primary
  healing class(s?) will still have the biggest available heals, it will
  be incredibly useful for full teams to have at least some means of
  easing the pressure that most healers face when attempting to keep them
  alive in the thick of battle. Mind you, not all skills that can be
  slotted here will necessarily be associated with replenishing health,
  but this is still a very powerful tool to give to players either way
  and something that I've been wishing MMOGs would adopt for
  years.