Guild Wars 2 underwater combat detailed
Game designer Jonathan Sharp reveals details about the water worlds in the MMO
A new blog on ArenaNet has Jonathan Sharp discuss the underwater content in upcoming MMO, Guild Wars 2. In addition to dynamic events, most dungeons have underwater content, and the player's personal story will also occasionally take you under the sea.
When underwater, players may go into a drowning state, which functions like the downed state you experience when above water, except with some small ability to move. Players can then similarly revive themselves by killing an enemy or swimming to the surface. The transition from swimming to not-swimming was also focused on. If you just need to cross a body of water to get to the other side, you can swim at the top of the water without diving below. While swimming on the surface you can’t fight and are fair game for any enemies lurking below the surface.
If you want to go full-on underwater, players tilt the camera down and keep moving forward. When this happens, you will automagically switch to your underwater weapon set, your underwater skill setup, and your breathing device.
Fighting underwater challenges the player by introducing the z-axis and throwing danger at them from any angle, but it also opens up a lot of tactical opportunities for players as well. Area of effect skills can be used to hit foes on top of one another. You can use skills to force enemies up to the surface, or drag them down to the ocean floor.
Beneath the surface of the water, the skills in slots 6 through 10 automatically change to underwater skills for players. As you might imagine, not all your land-based utility, heal, and elite skills work underwater, so we’ve come up with some really cool underwater equivalents of these skills. Players will also have unique underwater-only weapons that can be used.
For a full list of details, visit the official blog post. Guild Wars 2 is scheduled for closed beta this year.
When underwater, players may go into a drowning state, which functions like the downed state you experience when above water, except with some small ability to move. Players can then similarly revive themselves by killing an enemy or swimming to the surface. The transition from swimming to not-swimming was also focused on. If you just need to cross a body of water to get to the other side, you can swim at the top of the water without diving below. While swimming on the surface you can’t fight and are fair game for any enemies lurking below the surface.
If you want to go full-on underwater, players tilt the camera down and keep moving forward. When this happens, you will automagically switch to your underwater weapon set, your underwater skill setup, and your breathing device.
Fighting underwater challenges the player by introducing the z-axis and throwing danger at them from any angle, but it also opens up a lot of tactical opportunities for players as well. Area of effect skills can be used to hit foes on top of one another. You can use skills to force enemies up to the surface, or drag them down to the ocean floor.
Beneath the surface of the water, the skills in slots 6 through 10 automatically change to underwater skills for players. As you might imagine, not all your land-based utility, heal, and elite skills work underwater, so we’ve come up with some really cool underwater equivalents of these skills. Players will also have unique underwater-only weapons that can be used.
For a full list of details, visit the official blog post. Guild Wars 2 is scheduled for closed beta this year.

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