Guild Wars Insider Interview with Jonathan Sharp

YOU CAN KILL PEOPLE WITH COWS. That is all.

Okay, fine, but that have been my favorite highlight of covering any interview ever.

Even ignoring the whole "cow" amazing-ness this is a fantastic PvP-oriented interview led by the Guild Wars Insider team. Jonathan "Chap" Sharp was quite generous with his responses, and we learned about some balance changes, philosophical design, and new information on some recently added mechanics.

Many of those who played a Ranger in previous BWE’s felt like their pets didn’t provide enough damage or had a slow reaction/target time, both ultimately resulting in a lowered DPS. First, have any significant changes been made to pets since BWE2 to balance DPS? Secondly, are there any future changes expected, and if so, what do they include?

Chap:  "Since the last BWE we’ve improved Pet AI, and we’ve also rebalanced a lot of the pets.  Their damage should be higher than before, due to the AI changes, and a lot of them had slight tweaks to their defensive stats as well! This means we had to rebalance some ranger skills to account for the fact that their pets work now. Also, there were a number of bugs that had ranger pets stop attacking. We think we have addressed them all now."

Pet AI is vastly improved. We'll be a judge of that in just under 24 hours (which can't come fast enough), and I am excited to see how the ranger, mesmer, and MM necromancers play.

In GW1 players were able to acquire emotes tied to the Hero and Zaishen titles to display /rank to other players. Will we see any emote-like thing of this sort in GW2? 

Chap: "This weekend we’ll be showing something new in this regard! As you rank up in PvP, you will be able to unlock different levels of Finishing Moves, based on your PvP rank. Every 10 ranks you will unlock a new type of Finishing Move and a new rank name. Once you have achieved a new rank, you’ll be able to use consumables that change your finishers!  This weekend we’ll be showing:

 - Ranks 1-9: Rabbit

- Ranks 10-19: Deer

- Ranks 20-29: Dolyak

- Cow – This is something for fun! J You can buy these in the Gem Store and finish people with a cow.  No, I’m not joking.

The rank-based finishing moves can be acquired through reward chests (by playing in tournaments or by ranking up), so have fun with them!"

Yes. 1 million times yes. If anyone tries to argue that dropping a cow takes away from game immersion, I may be inclined to send a cow your way.

What can you tell us about the new guild conquest map? How does game design/scoring differ from previous conquest maps? Will other maps, like Khylo, allow for guild conquest?

Chap: The new map, Legacy of the Foefire, will bring back memories for Guild Wars players!  Both teams have a base filled with NPCs and a key NPC they must protect.  If this NPC (currently called the “Lord”) dies, then the opposing team earns 100 points.  The NPC does not respawn, so this is a score can only be gained once. This can instantly win many close games, or push a team out to a very strong early lead, so protecting this NPC while applying pressure to your enemy’s base is crucial.

Some more details on the new sPvP, yes please. An even later response has some brief strategy tips for us as we enter this map for the first time.

For the Full Interview: Click Here