Primary professions directly affect the appearance of a player's in-game character and armor and the type of Runes which can be applied to the armor. In addition, each profession has a primary attribute which is not available to a player's character when chosen as the secondary profession.
Elementalists are most similar to arcane magicians in most fantasy settings. They use elemental fire, water, ice, lightning, air, and earth to deal damage to enemies, or to a lesser degree to provide beneficial status to allies and detrimental status to enemies. Primary Elementalists also have the highest maximum total energy out of all the classes through the Energy Storage attribute.
Related to Energy Storage, Elementalists are the only profession that can suffer from a status called "Exhaustion," which is often an attribute of higher level skills. Exhaustion reduces an Elementalist's total energy by 10 and is indicated in effect by greying out part of the energy bar. Total energy will gradually replenish to normal at a rate of 1 point every 3 seconds. This effect will stack if multiple spells with Exhaustion are cast, and energy can drop to below zero.
- (Primary Attribute): Energy Storage increases an Elementalist's maximum energy by 3 per level. This trait also increases the effectiveness of several spells involving the restoration of health or energy.
- : Air spells center mostly around the application of electricity or wind for damage, such as Lightning Strike, which can penetrate armor to cause higher damage, or Status Effect s, such as Windborne Speed, which increases an ally's movement speed. Most Air Magic skills affect a single target and are often accompanied by a secondary effect, such as becoming blinded or knocked down. Air is sometimes considered to be the most difficult element to master, however it offers great power in the right hands. Air is also used for Spiking .
- : Fire spells center mostly around the application of fire for damage over an area, utilizing Area-of-effect spells such as a large Fire Storm attack, which deals fire damage over a short amount of time, or a Meteor Shower, similar to Fire Storm, but has higher damage and also knocks down the enemy. Both spells are favored by Nukers . Fire is the most commonly chosen element for Elementalists, especially for first time Elementalists.
- : Earth spells focus on the defense of the Elementalist and his or her allies. Earth magic includes wards, which can be placed on the ground to create an area of protection for team members which cannot be dispelled. Several Earth spells utilize rock and stone for damage, such as Earthquake, which knocks down foes in addition to the damage it causes, and Obsidian Flame, which deals damage directly to an enemy, regardless of its amount of armor. Obsidian Flame is also used in spiking.
- : Water spells center mostly around the application of ice and water for damage and defense. Most damaging attack spells also have a secondary effect, such as slowing a player's attack speed or movement. Many Water spells are defensive in nature, such as Armor of Frost, which increases armor against physical damage but creates a vulnerability to fire. Water is commonly referred to as the Elementalist's "support" line.
- :
- --- : Glyphs consist of spells that alter some component of the next spell cast.
- --- : Wards consist of spells that apply some benefits to all allies within its radius for a limited duration. Examples of Wards include Ward Against Elements and Ward Against Melee, which provide protection against elemental and physical damage, respectively.
Mesmers are a unique casting class who use magic which affects creatures, often in subtle ways. Their spells often have the result of "shutting down" enemies, making their spell-casting and physical attacks ineffectual. Mesmers can also learn to cast spells more quickly in combat.
- (Primary Attribute): Fast casting increases the rate at which spells are cast. Fast casting, unlike other attributes, does not produce a linear gain and has less of an effect at higher levels {Link without Title} .
- : Domination skills focus on manipulating the energy and skill use of the target. It is primarily used to shut down casters by disabling their skills, inflicting damage on them when they try to use a skill, and depleting their store of energy.
- : Illusion spells create effects and manipulate the enemy while not always doing direct damage. Illusion skills tend to focus on shutting down melee characters, although spells like Arcane Conundrum and Migraine slow down casting time for casters. Spells such as Illusion of Haste and Illusion of Weakness are also used to make the caster appear to have abilities he does not possess, such as, respectively, increased movement rate or decreased health.
- : Inspiration spells manipulate the energy or health of either the caster or the target. Inspiration magic also contains two anti-interrupt stances, Mantra of Resolve and Mantra of Concentration, which prevent a caster from failing to execute a spell due to damage or spell interruption by another person. It also includes a number of spells for gaining energy, as well as protective abilities.
- :
- --- : Energy denial skills are spells that decrease energy from the target and sometimes increase the caster's energy.
Monks are a divine casting class, using a connection to the deities to heal damage, protect allies, or wield divine wrath. Monks also have Divine Favor, a trait which provides them with extra healing on every monk "prayer" they cast. Because monks have the most effective skills for maintaining their allies well-being, they are considered a necessity for most groups.
- (Primary Attribute): Divine Favor allows any Monk spell cast on an ally or the monk herself to heal the target for an extra amount. Divine Favor spells generally increase the Monk's ability to cast her spells.
- : Healing spells directly restore physical health to the target. Healing is highly sought after for its versatility in keeping allies alive.
- : Protection spells protect a target through physical, elemental, magical, or natural means. Protection spells are usually situation based, often requiring the target be attacked in order to receive full benefit of the spell.
- : Most Smiting spells deal holy damage that ignores armor and deals double damage against Undead. Smiting enchantments can add damage to an ally's physical attacks or provide a benefit whenever that ally is attacked.
- :
- --- : Blessings are enchantments, or " Buffs ", which benefit the target constantly. Maintaining these spells will lower the Monk's energy regeneration rate by one. These are also known as maintained enchantments and upkeep spells, but are most commonly referred to as bonds.
- --- : Monks have various skills dedicated to revive a dead ally.
Necromancers practice dark arts to manipulate life and death. This magic often requires some form of sacrifice, either in the form of the caster's health or the consumption of a nearby corpse. Necromancers also have the power to raise undead minions and harvest energy from another creature's death.
- (Primary Attribute): Soul Reaping allows the Necromancer to regain energy whenever a friend, foe, or summoned creature dies near the Necromancer.
- : Blood Magic spells manipulate health into damage or damage into health for the target. Blood magic spells also deal damage to the target over time, and several heal the necromancer.
- : Death Magic spells deal mainly with the manipulation of corpses and direct damage. Minion summoning and manipulation are Death Magic skills, as are spells such as Soul Feast, which allows a Necromancer to exploit a corpse for health.
- : Curse Magic spells deal with applying negative conditions and hexes, or "debuffs", to the target. Other curses cause the target to take greater effect from other types of damage.
- :
- --- : Undead minions are summonable allies from a corpse. These undead minions are inherently unstable and will degrade, gradually losing health until they die. The rate of decay is directly proportional to how long the minions have been alive, making it difficult to keep them alive for an extended period of time.
- --- : Wells are area-effect spells that can affect either friends or foes within range but must be cast from a corpse.
Rangers utilize nature to help their allies, harm their enemies, and allow them to survive. They may also charm animal companions who will travel into battle with them. The Ranger's preferred weapon is the bow, and they can learn to decrease the energy cost of their attack skills using the Expertise attribute. The Ranger is commonly used to inflict large amounts of damage over a short time, known as "spiking", with a combination of Marksmanship skills and damage-boosting skills.
- (Primary Attribute): Expertise reduces the energy cost for attack skills, preparations, and traps. Expertise skills increase the Ranger's abilities to stay alive or deal damage.
- : Beast mastery skills provide bonuses for the Ranger's animal companion. Beast Mastery also has a few Nature Rituals, such as Energizing Wind, which lessens a spell's energy cost while increasing its recharge time.
- : Marksmanship improves the damage a Ranger is able to inflict with bows. The higher a Ranger's Marksmanship, the more powerful the Ranger's attack skills are.
- : Wilderness Survival skills provide an advantage to the ranger if used prior to combat. They also enable the character to heal and deal extra damage. Wilderness Survival includes Nature Rituals, like Greater Conflagration, which turns all damage in the area to fire damage, and Winnowing, which causes enemies to receive a greater amount of inflicted damage.
- :
- --- : Nature rituals are global enchantments that affect every character present within the area of effect. Only one of each type of Spirit can be summoned at a time within the area of effect.
- --- : Pets are creatures that a Ranger has tamed from the wild. Pets gain experience and level similar to Player Character s. A Ranger can only have one pet at any given time but can always replace it with a new creature he may find by giving their current pet to a tamer. To keep his pet, he must always have the "charm pet" skill in his selected skills.
- --- : Preparations temporarily add extra damage or effects to a Ranger's bow attacks. Only one preparation can be active at any given time.
- --- : Traps are skills that are triggered if an enemy enters a designated area. For example, Dust Traps cause an enemy to be temporarily blinded, and Flame traps deal intense fire damage over a short period of time.
Warriors are the primary melee combatants, using either swords, axes, or hammers to deal damage and wearing heavy armor to protect themselves. Warriors are also masters of battle tactics, which allows them to avoid damage, and are the stongest class, allowing their physical attacks to hit harder and reduce their enemies' armor protection..
- (Primary Attribute): Strength increases armor penetration of melee attacks by 1% each level. Strength skills increase the Warrior's damage and physical strength.
- : Axe Mastery improves axe damage. Most axe skills involve inflicting conditions to the target.
- : Swordsmanship improves sword damage. Sword skills involve inflicting conditions and consistent damage to the target.
- : Hammer Mastery improves hammer damage. Hammer skills are often used in crippling or knocking the target down. Hammers deal high damage but attack at a slower speed than Swords or Axes.
- : Tactic skills increase the Warrior's ability to stay alive. The level of this skill also determines the type of shield a Warrior can use.
- :
- --- : Adrenaline, which is obtained by hitting an opponent or taking physical damage, is required for many of the Warrior's skills, similar to energy. After a prolonged period without taking or dealing damage, stored adrenaline disappears.
- --- : Shouts are beneficial skills that affect both the Warrior and nearby allies, like "Shields Up!" which temporarily increases armor, or harm other enemies, like "Fear Me!" which causes enemies to lose energy.
|
