We've had a few hints over the last week about changes with the demo, but it wasn't until last night, when the blog post written by Jon Peters was put up, that we finally realized how big those changes actually were.
ENERGY & DODGING
- Skills no longer cost energy.
- Energy potions have gone away.
- The old energy potion button has been replaced with a Dodging button.
- Dodging still requires energy, but that energy regenerates over time.
- You can now bind Dodge to a single keystroke. (You are still free to use the old double-tap system, as well.)
- You dodge in whichever direction you are moving. If you're not moving, you automatically dodge backwards.
SKILL ACQUISITION
- Weapon skills are now learned by fighting with a weapon.
- You will no longer have to visit a skill trainer to learn weapon skills.
- The rest of your bar will be unlocked by a collection mechanic similar to what is used in Guild Wars.
- Trait acquisition, attribute spending and skill tiers have also changed, but those changes are not yet public.
BOSSES
- Giant bosses have been improved through better camera angles and new things they can do with their skills.
- Defeating a boss feels more epic.
- New surprise giant events in the higher level areas of the demo.
SKILL IMPROVEMENTS
- Almost all weapons for each profession have been changed.
- There are new weapons that we haven't seen before:
- Ranger greatsword – The ranger’s AoE melee weapon full of chopping, leaping, kicking, evading, and bashing.
- Warrior hammer – Get ready to knock some folks around with this heavy hitter.
- Guardian hammer – A hybrid damage-and-support weapon that helps to control an area.
- Guardian greatsword – Unleash a combination of magic and melee with a massive two-handed blade.
- Elementalist earth attunement – The heavy-duty elementalist attunement with Earthquake, Sandstorm, and a host of good defensive abilities.
And the rest we already know about: structured PvP (first map is Battle of Kyhlo), character customization, charr starting area, the sylvari and asura being playable.
Overall, the Guru community seems rather positive with these changes, but a few are worried about too much iteration and if all these big changes mean we're not as close to beta and release as we once thought we were. What do you think? Come discuss it with us over at Guild Wars 2 Guru!
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