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Treasure Hunt in WvWvW
User	Guild Wars 3 perhaps
Categories	Player vs. Player Mechanics

Go here to see a list of my other GW2 suggestions and discussion contributions.

This suggestion goes hand-in-hand with my previous suggestion, Alternative Scoring in WvWvW. It is part of a series which explores ways in which the depth of play, strategy, and tactics can be increased in WvWvW.

This is a suggestion to add a Treasure Hunt scoring mechanic to WvWvW. In it, I make suggestions for two different Treasure Hunts; one macro and one micro.

Micro Treasure Hunt

In each world's home base there will be an Asura Engineer. If you speak to him/her, they will explain that a former colleague of their's was attempting to build a laser weapon for the team's use. "Unfortunately, Glipp was a little overzealous in charging the flux capacitors.", the Engineer will inform you. "The resulting explosion blew the laser apart. Glipp will be missed; may he rest in pieces.", he/she continues, "However, all is not lost. If you recover the laser parts, I can reassemble them into a working prototype. They're scattered all over this area. So wha'dya say? Get out there and find one for the Glipper!"

The laser parts will be randomly scattered across the map; but always in the open, never inside a tower, keep, or Stonemist Castle. I initially thought 12 pieces would be adequate, but that can change based on whatever testing and balancing reveal to be the right amount. There are not 12 parts per world; there are only 12 parts total (at least initially). Players from each of the three worlds will be competing against one another to recover the parts.

Every 12 or 24 hours the same 12 parts will randomly respawn in new locations; parts from a previous cycle will remain on the map in their original spawn location. This way it assures that every team will have a chance of collecting all 12 parts to reassemble the laser prototype. The in-game explanation of why these parts keep respawning is that the laser keeps blowing up. This doesn't have to change any of the Asura Engineers' previous dialogs; their explanation - if asked - is that another team's Engineer must have had an "accident", "Tsk! Tsk! Always double check the alignment of your crystal matrix array, eh Glorp?", the team's Engineer will state, almost to themselves, "That's a rookie mistake. But more parts for us, eh Bookah?!?!" This could even be accompanied by a mini-mushroom cloud exploding at each team's home base and visible to any one near that base; the explosions herald the scattering of 12 new parts.

Returning a part to the Asura Engineer will score war points for the team. Returning all 12 parts will earn bonus war points in addition to those awarded for simply returning the twelfth piece. Returning laser pieces may not only score war points for a player's world but may also score them some personal experience or Karma as well as influence for the guild they currently represent. The pay-off for returning all 12 parts is the Asura Engineer will now offer laser cannon blueprints for sale.

The laser cannon will be a siege weapon that can be built like any other siege weapon. It will not be an Uber-One-Shot-Kill-Win-The-WvWvW-Round-In-God-Mode weapon; it will be balanced in accordance with the capabilites of the other siege weapons.

• It will have less health than a trebuchet but more than a ballista.

• It will cost at least as much as a trebuchet to build.

• It's range will be slightly greater than a trebuchet's; it is a laser, afterall.

• However, unlike a trebuchet, it does not cause AoE damage; which helps balance it against the other siege weapons.

• It will be a direct-fire, line-of-sight weapon whose beam can be blocked by obstacles in its path; another balancer.

• It will do considerable damage to a target (comparable to a trebuchet or maybe a bit more), though it may have a slow rate of fire due to a long charge-up cycle. Furthermore, the damage is confined to a single target at a time as there is no AoE damage from this weapon.

• Its best use will be as a counter-siege weapon ideal for destroying other siege weapons, sniping siege weapon operators and wall defenders, and for assaulting a gate or wall at range (assuming the operator can get a clear line-of-sight to the target).

• It may have a telescopic lens which will allow the operator to zoom in their crosshairs on a target at the expense of diminishing their field of vision. A careless operator who remains 'scoped in at all times will be vulnerable to an enemy sneaking up behind them. However, 'scoping-in may be the only method for charging the laser. If the operator 'scopes-out, the charge stops; they must re-scope in to continue the charging process. This is another means of balancing this weapon.

• It may have the ability to pierce targets. For example, let's assume it does 1,000 damage per shot. If it hits a target with more health than that, it does 1,000 damage to that target; but the beam will travel no further. On the next shot, that same target now has only 500 health left. The laser will deal 500 damage to that target - destroying it - and pass through the target until it hits another object. That new object will take 500 points of damage.

• As its beam will be quite visible to everyone on the map, this is not a stealth weapon. It will be very easy for enemies to track the beam back to its source.

As there will be a build up of duplicate laser parts over time (since they respawn every 12 or 24 hours), this leads to the possiblity of players delivering pieces to the Asura Engineer that have previously been returned. In such cases, there will be no war points awarded for the duplicates and the Engineer may make some snide remark about Bookahs not being able to tell the difference between a flux capacitor and a crystal matrix. However, as compensation, the duplicates can be salvaged by the player for materials; maybe even rare ones or the occassional gem. Alternately, players may opt to place the duplicates into storage as there may be an option to build additional weapons requiring these duplicate parts (more on that below).

If a player picks up a laser part and is subsequently put into a downed state, they will drop the part they were carrying. This part can then be picked up by any other player. This may lead to running fire-fights as teams attempt to stop one another from successfully returning a part to their home base. If a player carrying a piece uses a waypoint, the part will drop at the point at which they leave the map; even if they had placed the part into their inventory. There will be no teleporting of laser pieces; they must be run all the way back to the home base.

Players are not required to speak with the Asura Engineer at the home base to participate in this Treasure Hunt. Consistent with the Dynamic Event philosophy, players can be out exploring in the WvWvW map and simply come across a laser piece. It's then up to them whether or not they want to pick it up and carry it back to their base.

It's up to the devs to decide how obvious they want to make the laser pieces as they lay on the ground. To increase the challenge, the parts wouldn't have any glowing aura or sparkling particle effect; thus making them more difficult to locate. To increase the competition, parts could be given some aura or sparkling particle effect (similar to loot laying on the ground). This would draw attention to the piece from multiple players who may then engage in a battle over who will get to the part first.

Regardless of what a part looks like while lying on the ground, it should be very obvious that a player is carrying a laser piece. This will draw an enemy's attention to that player such they may head off in hot pursuit of the carrier. I'm split on whether carrying a laser part will slow the carrier down or not. On the one hand, slowing them down may make it too easy for an enemy to down them and recover the piece the carrier drops. On the other hand, not slowing them down may make it too easy for the carrier to return the piece to their home base.

Once all of the parts have been found and assembled into a laser prototype, this begs the question of, "Now what?". Do we reset the Asura Engineer's Dynamic Event and have them build another laser requiring twelve new parts? That seems kind of redundant. Do we, instead, just end the Dynamic Event; there will be no more war points scored for finding laser parts after the laser is built? That runs counter to the spirit of this suggestion; permitting an alternative scoring method in WvWvW.

Perhaps the Engineer has a brainstorm and figures out a way to build a new type of siege weapon using the laser parts:

• a flamethrower (short range but causes Burning; will set wooden objects like palisades and siege weapons on fire),

• a rocket launcher (multiple missiles with AoE explosive damage),

• an ion cannon (maybe it ignores armor),

• a freeze ray (chills targets),

• a golem gun (spits out ten mini-golems which fight for a short time before their batteries die and they self-detonate),

• a grenade launcher (AoE damage plus the ability to hit targets around corners/not in direct line-of-sight).

• or an Ooze Uzi (leave it to the Asura to figure out a way to weaponize Oozes by firing them from a gun).

Now, however, the Engineer does need duplicates to complete these new weapons; players will have to deliver two of each of the 12 laser parts they find scattered around the map. Then, when the ion cannon is built, it will take three duplicates of each of the 12 laser parts to finish the freeze ray, for example. Each part delivered which contributes to the completion of a new weapon will award war points to the team and, perhaps, experience and Karma to the player and influence to their guild; even if these parts are duplicates.

All sorts of strategies will result from this Dynamic Event/mini-game.

• Players may find a duplicate laser piece they've already recovered. Rather than pick it up, they will camp its location and wait for an enemy to come along. When the enemy heads over to pick up the part, the players launch an ambush.

• Alternately, they may set up an ambush close to the enemy base or otherwise along a main route (if they can manage to keep themselves hidden) and lie in wait for enemy carriers to come along.

• Another strategy will be to immediately salvage any duplicates they come across in an effort to decrease the pool of available parts, thus denying them to their enemies.

• Teams may find a part but not pick it up immediately. They'll assemble their teammates who will then string themselves out across the map. This way they can act as a relay team, picking up a part that is dropped by a downed ally in an effort to keep it out of enemy hands and moving towards their home base.

• Players/teams may even declare temporary truces to trade laser parts to one another. Even if there is no in-game trading mechanism in WvWvW, teams could still accomplish this informally. Similar to Checkpoint Charlie from the Cold War era, enemy players may agree to meet at a bridge. Each is carrying a laser piece. They walk to the center of the bridge, drop their piece, and pick up the one dropped by the enemy. Plenty of team members from both sides are standing at either end of the bridge to ensure the other team honors the truce and the exchange. Of course, once the exchange has been made, what's to stop one or both sides from attacking? The carriers better have plenty of condition removal and Swiftness boons at the ready!

Macro Treasure Hunt

This battle being fought in the Mists has not escaped the attention of the Six Gods. Though they will not intervene directly, they still attempt to influence the outcome by bestowing their blessings upon the Mists. Of course, the combatants must prove they are worthy of such boons. Enter...The TALISMANS!

Once every 24 hours during a 2-week WvWvW match, one of the Six Gods will send a Talisman to the Mists. Each will fall like a meteor from the sky, heralding its arrival as well as granting a clue to its location as players will be able to track the path of the Talisman if they look skyward. For a nice added artistic touch, the plume of fire and smoke trailing behind could take on the color and impressionistic likeness of the god represented by that Talisman.

Some basic mechanics:

• The Talismans can be picked up and carried by any player.

• Downing a carrier forces them to drop a Talisman.

• Talismans can not be placed into player inventory or storage; only carried.

• Attempting to waypoint teleport while holding a Talisman will cause the Talisman to drop at the location at which the player left the map.

• Talismans will never fall into a tower, keep, or Stonemist Castle; they will only fall into open ground accessible by all players.

• To gain the benefit of a Talisman requires that it be placed into a shrine or other holding point inside a tower or keep.

• Successfully carrying a Talisman to a tower or keep and placing it in a shrine scores war points for that team.

• It may be that the Talismans will periodically add war points to the score of the team who possesses them; similar to how captured resource camps, towers, and keeps add to the war score every 5 minutes. This opens up the possibility of a team which has fewer resouce camps, towers, and keeps than their opponents still remaining competitive if they manage to locate more Talismans than the enemy. The periodic war points scored by the Talismans will compensate for their lesser number of resource camps, towers, and keeps.

• Players can steal Talismans from the shrines using the disguise mechanic I suggested in my Capture-the-Flag (Orb) in WvWvW feedback post. Successfully stealing a Talisman and placing it in their own shrine will score war points for the thief's team.

• Successfully recovering a Talisman stolen by a disguised player before that player manages to run the Talisman to their own tower or keep will score war points for the recovering team. Recovery doesn't mean just killing the thief; the Talisman must be placed back in its shrine to be considered "recovered".

Each of the Six Gods will release two Talismans. One will grant a defensive boon and the other will grant an offensive boon. As there are Six Gods, this means there will be twelve Talismans. To bring the total to fourteen to cover the fourteen days of a WvWvW match, the remainig two Talismans will be a Talisman of Light and a Talisman of Dark.

Some examples of the boons granted by Talismans:

Balthazar

• The Talisman of Might - Grants a Might boon to all players of the owning team every X minutes.

• The Talisman of Fire - Enemies attacking any player of the team under the protection of this Talisman have X % chance (perhaps 5%) of Burning for X seconds.

Lyssa

• The Talisman of Dazing - Players under the protection of this Talisman have X % chance (perhaps 5%) to Daze whenever they attack an enemy.

• The Talisman of Confusion - Enemies attacking any player of the team under the protection of this Talisman have X % chance (perhaps 5%) of receiving one stack of Confusion for X seconds.

Grenth

• The Talisman of Vampirism - Players under the protection of this Talisman have X % chance to steal X life whenever they attack an enemy.

• The Talisman of Frost - Enemies attacking any player of the team under the protection of this Talisman have X % chance (perhaps 5%) of being Chilled for X seconds.

It should be obvious from those examples how this plays out; each Talisman granting small offensive and defensive buffs consistent with the character of each of the Six Gods. The Talisman of Light might grant protection and some other boon while the Talisman of Dark may give a chance to blind an enemy and some other boon. You get the idea. The intent is not to make these boons so overpowered that the team in possession of a Talisman will automatically steam roll the opposition. They would need to be kept balanced.

The release of the Talismans is random; there will be no pattern in which on day 1 the first Talisman that falls is always the Talisman of Vampirism followed by the Talisman of Might on day 2, for example. Every 2-week round of WvWvW the pattern will randomize.

To gain the benefit of a Talisman it must be placed in a shrine in a tower or keep. Teams can collect more than one Talisman and any number can be stored in a single tower or keep or split between multiple towers and keeps. For example, if one team were so lucky as to capture all fourteen Talismans, they could house all fourteen in a single tower if they wanted. That would be a stupid strategy, of course, since it puts all the eggs in one basket; but there's nothing stopping them from doing so. This may also be the only option available to a team which has been reduced to holding a single tower or keep.

I'm split on what to do when an enemy successfully captures a tower or keep in which Talisman(s) are housed. On the one hand, the assault force may be attacking this particular tower or keep specifically because it houses Talisman(s) which they hope to claim for themselves. It's a fair reward for their dilligence in locating the Talisman through their disguised spy network and mounting a successful siege (it's my intent that there are no visual indicators of which tower and keep Talismans are housed in; they must be scouted out using disguised spies).

On the other hand, the intent of the Talismans is to create an alternate form of scoring war points in WvWvW separate from the points scored by capturing and holding towers and keeps. Furthermore, as stated at the beginning, the players must prove themselves worthy of the Six Gods' boons. Consequently, my alternate suggestion is - when a tower or keep is captured - the Talisman(s) housed therein launch themselves in a great explosion or flash of light. The fly into the air and come crashing back down to earth in new, random locations. Players now must return to the Treasure Hunt to re-locate the missing Talismans; thus proving their worth. This maintains the spirit of the Talisman mechanic as the object of a Treasure Hunt rather than of a Capture-the-Flag mini-game. I realize this portion of my suggestion marries the two - Treasure Hunt and Capture-the-Flag - but I want to strike a balance between them rather than have one dominate. Thus, I feel the Talismans should be lost when the tower or keep in which they reside falls; players then must return to the Treasure Hunt method of scoring war points.

In Conclusion

This suggestion provides for scoring mechanics in WvWvW which are not wholly combat-dependant. This gives the explorers and treasure hunters on a team a viable means of contributing to their team's war score without having to engage in battle (if they are so disinclined). It also adds greater depth and strategy to the WvWvW game as well as additional Dynamic Events to keep it fun and engaging. Randomizing elements of these mechanics also adds to the replayability of WvWvW.

Thank you for reading.

Guild Wars 3 perhaps 19:39, 3 July 2012 (UTC)

Update

Expanding upon the additional siege weapons offered by the Asura Engineer after a team collects enough laser parts:

Voting for Blueprints

After completing the first phase of the Treasure Hunt in which the Asura Engineer offers the laser blueprints for sale, players may continue collecting scattered laser parts. When two full sets of the 12 laser parts have been delivered to the Asura Engineer, they will offer a new set of siege weapon blueprints for sale. However, which set will be put to a player vote.

The moment the twenty-fourth laser piece has been delivered to the Engineer, a team vote will be initiated. The voting will be open for a set period of time; perhaps a couple hours all the way up to six hours to give a large enough window of opportunity for the majority of the team's players to vote without dragging the voting out over too long a period. Players will vote on which set of blueprints they want the Engineer to develop.

Each player on the team gets one vote and they must be present in WvWvW during the polling period to cast their vote. There will be an opportunity to open a window which lists the capabilites, costs, limitations, etc. of each blueprint under consideration.

As soon as the voting closes, the votes are tallied and the blueprints with the most votes becomes the latest siege weapon offering which can be purchased from the Asura Engineer.

Gaining Additional Blueprints and Balancing Issues

Once the voting for this latest siege weapon offering has closed, players can resume the Treasure Hunt for more scattered laser parts. If they deliver three complete sets of 12 laser parts to the Asura Engineer, they will earn the right to cast votes for a third siege weapon to be built.

Each tier of siege weapon construction requires one additional set of 12 laser parts as compared to the previous tier. If a new set of 12 laser parts are limited to spawning once every 24 hours, it becomes physically impossible for any one team in WvWvW to construct more than four new siege weapons. To illustrate:

• To complete the laser requires one complete set of 12 laser parts.

• To complete a second siege weapon requires two complete sets of 12 laser parts. The total delivered to the Asura Engineer at this point is three complete sets.

• To complete a third siege weapon requires three complete sets of 12 laser parts. The total delivered to the Asura Engineer at this point is six complete sets.

• To complete a fourth siege weapon requires four complete sets of 12 laser parts. The total delivered to the Asura Engineer at this point is ten complete sets.

As there are only fourteen complete sets of 12 laser parts in any 2-week WvWvW match (1 set per day x 14 days), there will not be enough sets for a team to construct a fifth siege weapon as it would require fifteen complete sets; one more than what will exist in a match. This acts as a limiter which forces the team to make choices as to which siege weapons they want as they will, at best, only be able to construct four of the eight options (laser + three additional siege weapons).

In practice, as they are competing against other teams in this version of the Treasure Hunt, it's unlikely any one team will manage to collect even that many sets. The majority of the time, teams will likely only manage to build a laser and one or two of the other siege weapons. This serves to balance this mini-game reward and prevent any one team from gaining too great an advantage over the others.

The other advantage this system offers is the opportunity for teams to specialize and further establish a unique identity. Perhaps one team favors close quarters combat; they may vote for the Flamethrower siege weapon. Another team may prefer more stand-off tactics and will invest in the Rocket Launcher. The third team focuses on attrition and chooses the Golem Gun to sow conditions among their enemies.

Lastly, even if a team never manages to collect their last full set of 12 laser parts, they still earn points towards their war score for delivering pieces to the Asura Engineer while working towards the completion of their latest tier. For example:

• Red team has completed their laser siege weapon as well as a second siege weapon they've voted on.

• Red team members continue to collect laser parts; they will need three complete sets to earn another siege weapon.

• As red team members go about finding parts and delivering them to the Asura Engineer, they are earning points for their war score.

• The 2-week WvWvW match ends before red team manages to find three complete sets of laser parts. They don't earn that third siege weapon but they do get to keep the points for their war score. Failing to complete all three sets does not penalize them in any way where the war score is concerned.

However, keep in mind that the same restriction on duplicate parts that applied while scavenging for the laser tier also applies to any of the other tiers. To illustrate:

• Red team is at the laser tier level; they need one complete set of 12 laser parts to earn this blueprint.

• A red player delivers a flux capacitor to the Asura Engineer on day 2 and earns points for the team's war score.

• On day 3, another red player finds a new flux capacitor (recall that the parts respawn every 24 hours).

• Their attempt to redeem this duplicate flux capacitor for war score will be rejected by the Asura Engineer since, at this tier, it is now a duplicate and not required to complete the laser prototype.

• This rebuffed red player places the duplicate into their storage for a rainy day.

• Red team eventually completes their laser. They are now eligible to collect two new full sets of laser parts in an attempt to earn the second tier of siege weapon blueprints.

• The red player who had stored their duplicate flux capacitor now delivers it to the Asura Engineer. This time it is not considered an unneeded duplicate. The Engineer accepts the part and the team earns points for their war score.

• A third red player locates a flux capacitor and delivers it to the Asura Engineer. Since the second tier of siege weapon construction requires two full sets of laser parts, the Engineer gladly accepts this second flux capacitor.

• A fourth red player finds yet another flux capacitor. In attempting to hand it to the Asura Engineer, they are refused. This flux capacitor represents a third version. As the second tier only requires two versions of each part (and no more than two), the Engineer will not accept this part nor will the team earn points towards their war score for it.

• This fourth red player has a few options. They could:

• Place the part in storage in the hope their team will advance to the third tier of siege weapon construction. At which point, this player could turn the part in to the Asura Engineer for credit.

• Salvage it for materials.

• Attempt to trade it to an enemy team in exchange for a part red team needs to complete their current tier.

All of the above serves to balance the Treasure Hunt rewards system by preventing any one team from building all of the siege weapons at their enemies' expense. The most determined, dogged, part-blood-hound scavengers on a team will never manage to collect enough parts for more than four of the eight additional siege weapons (laser + three additional siege weapons put to a team vote).

Even so, this will not discourage the would-be treasure hunters on a team since every day new parts are spawned. This provides daily or near-daily opportunities for redeeming these parts for war score points while attempting to complete the current siege weapon tier. Furthermore, as the other teams are doing the same, there's the added competition for a limited pool of parts. Even if a team is not interested in gaining additional siege weapon blueprints or war score points, they will certainly be interested in denying the same to their opponents. This keeps the Treasure Hunt alive throughout the entire 2-week WvWvW match rather than seeing a short-lived spike of interest the first few days of the match waining as the round progresses.

Storing Laser Parts

Readers of this feedback entry may have noted a continuity error. I had stated in the original suggestion:

" If a player carrying a piece uses a waypoint, the part will drop at the point at which they leave the map; even if they had placed the part into their inventory. There will be no teleporting of laser pieces; they must be run all the way back to the home base."

Later, I go on to state that players may place laser parts into inventory or storage for later use. If the original restriction, quoted above, will cause a laser part to drop - even if it's in the player's inventory - whenever a player map jumps, then there wouldn't be much point in placing it in inventory.

To rectify this, the restriction will now read as follows:

• There will be no map jumping / teleporting of laser pieces on first-discovery; they must be run all the way back to the home base.

• Once a player has entered their home base with a laser piece they've carried in from the field, THEN they may place it in their inventory or storage without fear of it dropping out when they map jump / teleport.

The Blueprints

The Flamethrower

There's two ways to handle this siege weapon:

• Make it identical to the current Engineer profession's Flamethrower; same skills, same activation time, same recharge, same range, same damage, etc. Well, maybe the damage and range will be increased, given that it is a siege weapon

OR

• The siege weapon version of the Flamethrower will differ from the Engineer's Flamethrower:

• It will have 90 units of fuel, charge, energy, whatever you want to call it.

• The fuel, charge, energy, whatever you want to call it automatically recharges at the rate of 1 unit per second. If empty, the Flamethrower will take 90 seconds to fully recharge. The Flamethrower will not recharge while one of its attack skills is in use.

• The Flamethrower inflicts X amount of damage per unit of fuel consumed.

• Pressing and holding the weapon slot #1 key will spray a cone of fire which consumes 3 units of fuel per second. If the weapon slot #1 key is held down until the Flamethrower's fuel is empty, this will give 30 seconds of continuous flame. This skill will cause direct damage and will inflict the Burning condition on foes for X seconds. The damage inflicted increases the closer the target is to the Flamethrower. Siege weapons made of wood will take double damage and/or the Burning condition will be doubled in duration.

• Weapon slot #2 will release an air blast which pushes back foes and projectiles (up to and including siege weapon projectiles, perhaps). This will consume considerably more fuel than the fire cone of weapon slot #1. Perhaps 15 units of fuel per blast.

• Weapon slot #3 will pull foes towards the Flamethrower in a fiery backdraft, just like the Engineer skill Backdraft. This, too, will consume considerably more fuel than the fire cone of weapon slot #1. Perhaps 15 units of fuel per blast.

The Flamethrower siege engine is very deadly at close range but practically useless at medium ranges and beyond. However, it will have considerable hit points. As such, it makes the perfect point-defense weapon; whether that be defending a gate, a choke point, or another siege weapon such as a trebuchet.

Unlike some of the other siege weapons, the Flamethrower can be turned very quickly and swept over an area within its range simultaneously while being fired.

Freeze Ray

Nothing fancy but certainly effective, the Freeze Ray inflicts AoE cold damage and the Chilled condition on enemies for X seconds. Perhaps it can be used to extinguish Burning teammates and siege weapons, as well. It might have a Shard Storm option to inflict Bleeding and an Ice Storm option to freeze the ground, causing Knockdown.

Rocket Launcher

Straight forward, pure AoE explosive damage with decent range but not the greatest accuracy or precision. Maybe the rockets cause knockback when they explode. There may be an option for different varieties of rocket:

• Gas Rockets (Poison)

• Shrapnel Rockets (Bleeding)

• Concussion Rockets (to explicitly cause Knockback or Launch)

Ion Cannon

A channeled siege weapon which inflicts increasing damage the longer it is channeled. Perhaps the damage is armor-ignoring. Its damage potential will start off very low but will steadily increase each second to the point of being devastating to a stationary target. Very effective against a mass of players assaulting a gate, siege weapons, walls, and gates. Interrupting the operator will necessitate starting the charge-up/channelling of the weapon all over again.

Unlike some of the other siege weapons, the Ion Cannon can be turned very quickly and swept over an area within its range while being channeled.

Medium range.

Perhaps the damage increase follows a geometric progression:

• Second 1 = 1 point of damage per second.

• Second 2 = 2 points of damage per second.

• Second 3 = 4 points of damage per second.

• Second 4 = 8 points of damage per second.

• Second 5 = 16 points of damage per second.

• Second 6 = 32 points of damage per second.

• Second 7 = 64 points of damage per second.

• Second 8 = 128 points of damage per second.

• Second 9 = 256 points of damage per second.

• Second 10 = 512 points of damage per second.

• Second 11 = 1024 points of damage per second. At this point, the Ion Cannon has reached its maximum damage potential and will continue inflicting 1024 points of damage per second so long as the operator continues to channel the weapon. Interupting the operator with any of the in-game interrupts will force the operator to start over at the 1-point-of-damage-per-second level.

To balance it so an operator isn't sitting there channeling the Ion Cannon up to its maximum damage potential in advance of a pending gate assault by the enemy, limit the Ion Cannon to a maximum of 30 seconds of channeling. After that, the Ion Cannon shuts down for 5 seconds. It then must be rechanneled from the 1-point-of-damage-per-second level.

The Golem Gun

A weapon which uses compressed air to launch spheroids in a ballistic trajectory (i.e. can be fired over walls and obstacles); FOOMP!!!.

Range is decent; perhaps not quite as far as a catapult.

On spheroid impact, it causes an AoE knockback to nearby foes.

The spheroid then transforms/unfolds to reveal itself to be a smallish combat golem. The Golem Gun will replace all ten of the operator's weapon and utility skills with a unique golem which can be fired from the gun:

• Golem #1 (Bleeding) - Inflicts X stacks of Bleeding on all adjacent foes once every 10 seconds. This golem is all blades and spines protruding from it at all angles.

• Golem #2 (Blind) - Inflicts Blindness on all adjacent foes once every 10 seconds. This golem will be encrusted with gems which will flash a blinding light.

• Golem #3 (Burning) - Inflicts Burning for X seconds on all adjacent foes once every 10 seconds. This golem will have multiple vents all over its body which constantly burn with a pale blue flame. Perhaps there are smoke plumes rising from a smoke stack on its head or protruding out of its back. When it activates its Burning skill, white-hot gouts of flame come roaring out of these vents in all directions.

• Golem #4 (Chilled) - Inflicts Chilled on all adjacent foes for X seconds once every 10 seconds. Encrusted with ice, a pale blue frost will constantly stream from this golem in a downward direction. Perhaps icicles hang from its limbs and other protruberances.

• Golem #5 (Confusion) - Inflicts a stack of Confusion on all adjacent foes once every 10 seconds. This golem shimmers and wavers like a heat mirage, making it difficult to completely visualize it at any one time. Is it even there?

• Golem #6 (Crippled) - Inflicts Crippled for X seconds on all adjacent foes once every 10 seconds. This golem is a mass of snaking, coiling metal wires and cables flailing about in constant motion, just waiting to trip up the unwary.

• Golem #7 (Fear) - Inflicts Fear for X seconds on all adjacent foes once every 10 seconds. Some say the Asura go too far; and then there is the legend of Xoxx. A brilliant Asura scientist driven mad over his failure to mate Asura and Golem in a cybernetic whole, who knows what horrors lie beneath the carapace of the Golem of Fear? Xoxx knows!!!

• Golem #8 (Immobilized) - Inflicts Immoblized for X seconds on all adjacent foes once every 10 seconds. This golem is composed entirely of outsized links of chain in the shape of a golem, just waiting for the opportunity to unfold and ensnare their next victim.

• Golem #9 (Poison) - Inflicts Poison for X seconds on all adjacent foes once every 10 seconds. This corroding golem's external vents are stained with the venom leaking from its internal resorvoir. Fringed with a hovering green cloud, it releases a spray of toxicity on its victims.

• Golem #10 (Vulnerability) - Inflicts a stack of Vulnerability on all adjacent foes once every 10 seconds. This solid and compact little golem has pneumatically-driven hammers for arms. Woe be the armor that crosses paths with this ball of concussive thunder.

General golem characteristics:

• All Golem Gun golems have the same armor, health, non-special ability damage, range, and speed.

• All Golem Gun golems have a life-span of 30 seconds before their batteries fail and they deactivate.

• On deactivation, all Golem Gun golems explode. This explosion causes AoE damage and/or activates their golem-specific special ability one last time.

• Each Golem Gun skill takes 60 seconds to recharge before another golem of that type can be launched again.

• Golem Gun golems, on activation, attack the nearest enemy and will continue attacking that enemy until they are defeated or the golem's battery dies. Siege weapons are considered enemies, as well; a Golem Gun golem which lands next to an enemy siege weapon will attack that siege weapon.

• A Golem Gun's golems only inflict moderate damage with their normal physical attack. It is their special attack which makes them a threat.

Thank you for reading.

Guild Wars 3 perhaps 06:15, 4 July 2012 (UTC)

The Grenade Launcher

This siege weapon would be similar to an Engineer's grenade kit skills. The operator's weapon skills would be replaced with various flavors of grenade which can be fired from the Grenade Launcher.

The difference between this siege weapon and the Engineer's grenade kit will be the following:

• It will have considerably greater range than the Engineer's grenades.

• The AoE of the siege weapon's grenades will be larger than the Engineer's grenades.

• The damage and/or duration or stacks of conditions inflicted by the siege weapon's grenades will be greater than the Engineer's grenades.

Similar to the Mortar siege weapon, the Grenade Launcher will lob its grenades in a very high-arcing ballistic trajectory. This will permit the grenades to be fired over walls and obstacles. The differences between the Grenade Launcher siege weapon and a Mortar siege weapon are:

• The Grenade Launcher should not have as large an AoE as the Mortar or, if the Grenade Launcher will have the same AoE as a Mortar, then the Grenade Launcher's fall-off of damage from point of impact should be greater than the Mortar's.

• The Grenade Launcher should not do as much damage in its AoE as the Mortar. It's direct impact damage, however, may be equal to or greater than a Mortar.

The other unique property of the Grenade Launcher, which further differentiates it from the Mortar, is its grenades will not detonate on impact with a vertical surface or the ground. They will, instead, ricochet or bounce a short distance before coming to rest. They will then detonate a few seconds later. The only time they will immediately detonate on impact is if they contact an enemy player, NPC, or siege weapon before touching a surface other than one of those three exceptions. Unique among the siege weapons, this property of the Grenade Launcher permits a skilled operator to hit targets that are not in a direct line-of-sight or at the initial point of impact of a grenade by bouncing their shots off of environmental objects.

For example, let's assume a choke point of a narrow opening through a wall. The enemy has set up Flamethrowers and Arrow Carts to either side of the opening. Any players trying to make a push through that gap are quickly cut down before they can get close enough to damage the Flamethrowers or Arrow Carts. A skilled operator decides to build a Grenade Launcher to deal with this problem. Through careful placement of their shots, they are able to ricochet grenades off the wall of the opening, bouncing and rolling around the corners to within range of the Flamethrowers and Arrow Carts, destroying them.

A good implementation of this mechanic can be seen in the Demoman class from Team Fortress 2. It's one of the classes which permit a team to push through a heavily defended area when direct assaults prove futile.

Thank you for reading.

Guild Wars 3 perhaps 18:36, 10 July 2012 (UTC)

The Ooze Uzi

Familiar with Oozes on account of their previous subterranean habitation, the Asura have managed to weaponize these little blobs.

The Ooze Uzi will replace an operator's weapon (and, possibly, utility) slots with each of the different variety of Ooze. The operator can then rapid-fire Oozes at their enemy; BLORP! BLORP! BLORP!

The differences between this weapon and the Golem Gun are:

• The Ooze Uzi starts off with a "clip" of 10 Oozes.

• The Ooze Uzi has a Mother Ooze held captive inside. It is this Mother Ooze which serves as the breeding stock for the Oozes fired from the weapon. However, there is a limit to how many Oozes "she" can generate within a given time period; this regeneration rate may be 1 Ooze per 10 seconds (or whatever testing reveals to be reasonable). This regeneration will never lead to exceeding the maximum "clip" size of 10 Oozes.

• Unlike the Golem Gun in which each golem type can only be fired once every 60 seconds, there is no such restriction with the Ooze Uzi. If the operator wants to fire off 10 Rust Oozes, for example, they just hold down the skill key associated with that Ooze to rapidly launch all 10 Rust Oozes.

• Alternately, the operator can fire off any combination of Oozes as long as their "ammo" holds out. For example, with their initial "clip" size of 10, they could shoot out 3 Rust Oozes, 2 Toxic Oozes, 4 Chromatic Oozes, and 1 Ectoplasmic Ooze if they wanted.

• The rate of fire will be one Ooze-per-second. An operator will burn through their starting "clip" in 10 seconds of continuous fire. It would then take 100 seconds to fully refill the "clip"; though they would still be free to fire additional Oozes as soon as the "clip" had regenerated at least one "ammo". Alternately, they could space their shots out over a greater period of time to conserve "ammo".

• Testing will reveal what level the Oozes should be limited to for balance.

• Unlike the Golem Gun, an Ooze will not cause an AoE knockback on impact. However, Oozes fired from the Ooze Uzi may bounce or roll a short distance before coming to rest, similar to the Grenade Launcher mechanic.

• This weapon will have medium range.

• The Oozes fired from the gun will behave like Oozes found anywhere else in Tyria. This includes the ability to merge into a larger Ooze or sub-divide into smaller Oozes.

• One must take care when firing the weapon to ensure the Oozes land close to the enemy and far from allies. They will be aggressive; they just got launced out of a gun, afterall, and are not happy about it. They will attack friend as well as foe; leading to another balancer for this weapon.

• Thirty seconds after having been shot out the Ooze Uzi (or whatever testing reveals to be reasonable), an Ooze will calm down, cease attacking, and seep into the ground in search of a subterranean home. This will also apply to any Ooze "children" which resulted from a sub-division of an Ooze. For example, an Ooze shot from the Ooze Uzi subdivides after 15 seconds of having landed on the battlefield. These "children" will only persist for 15 seconds, not 30 seconds, before seeping into the ground.

Conversely, an Ooze which results from the merger of two or more Oozes will only persist for as long as the Ooze with the shortest lifespan which contributed to the merger. For example, if three Oozes - one with 30 seconds lifespan remaining, one with 20 seconds lifespan remaining, and one with 10 seconds lifespan remaining - merge into a single larger Ooze, this new Ooze will only last 10 seconds.

This will prevent the battlefield from becoming overrun with Oozes resulting from multiple sub-divisions and/or multiple overlapping "clips"-worth of Oozes fired from the Ooze Uzi. Using the regeneration rate and lifespan numbers presented here, there will never be more than twelve Oozes on the battlefield at any one time (exluding "children" resulting from subdivisions).

The firing chamber should be a transparent crystalline cylinder into which is loaded an Ooze in preparation for launch. On launch, the Ooze should assume a frightened/pissed arrangement; I envision a sphere with spiky tendrils sticking out in all directions. On landing, it turns into a sphere/blob which rolls or bounces as appropriate. After coming to rest and having a second to recover from being dazed, the Ooze then aggressively lashes out at the nearest target. If it initially hits a player, NPC, or siege weapon rather than the ground, wall, or other obstacle, the Ooze won't roll or bounce but will, instead, immediately attack.

Thank you for reading.

Guild Wars 3 perhaps 21:19, 11 July 2012 (UTC)

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