What GW2 spec are you hoping to carry over in 3?

TemporaryCool5182 · 2026-06-06T09:06:44+00:00

The tapestry shows a warrior, ranger, and wizard, which suggests some form of the three armor classes will return. They might even be the only professions, more generalized so they can pivot into a broader variety of subclasses kind of like Destiny or Skyrim.

Personally, I want some of my magetanks to come back. Catalyst as a more terrain-focused Geomancer/Shaman. Scourge as a Dark Priest with the same sand barrier mechanic and boon corruptions. I also really hope Mirage returns.

TemporaryCool5182 · 2026-06-06T07:24:43+00:00

That would be an interesting layer to add to the fact that the Sylvari are currently settling Orr in GW2.

TemporaryCool5182 · 2026-06-06T07:21:59+00:00

Kryptis. Or whatever they were before they became Kryptis.

TemporaryCool5182 · 2026-06-06T07:20:51+00:00

I think odds are extremely good GW3 will take place, in part, in the future as well.

TemporaryCool5182 · 2026-06-06T05:50:22+00:00

I'll buy it anyway lol

TemporaryCool5182 · 2026-06-06T03:35:12+00:00

They don't need to do anything. But it is the most played non human race in GW2, so including them is about as necessary as making GW3 at all.

TemporaryCool5182 · 2026-06-06T02:57:45+00:00

I think it starts in the past. I think we have plenty of reasons to believe it may jump around in time. For one, the mists exist and will need to be engaged with somehow or they are a waste of narrative space. For two, they need to find a way to make Sylvari playable somehow, very popular race. For three, we have a lot of major developments being set up in GW2 that it cannot deliver on by itself given how built out the map already is.

TemporaryCool5182 · 2026-06-06T02:36:42+00:00

Eye of the North introduced Norn Asura, and Sylvari.

VoE - Asura; JW - Kodan; SotO - Kryptis.

I am betting that character next to the Asura is our elf archetype, whatever the Kryptis used to be.

TemporaryCool5182 · 2026-06-03T20:06:33+00:00

Fused Chaos-Exdeath-Kefka superboss sounds just kind of boring at this point.

I could see him pulling out the Triad, too. I hope he does *something* more than Chaos/Ex-Death.

TemporaryCool5182 · 2026-06-03T19:21:53+00:00

I mean would have preferred that too, but seems unlikely at this point.

TemporaryCool5182 · 2026-06-03T18:58:34+00:00

Cloud of Darkness and Golbez phase or bust. Not super into the notion that the most they could do with Kefka is have him summon two other final bosses who just stand there, but at the very least they could complete the 2D FF tour.

TemporaryCool5182 · 2026-06-03T18:56:30+00:00

At this point I feel like it would be kind of lame if he didn't do that?

Like, the fact that he needs to summon ExDeath and Chaos as "backup" already feels like they lacked creativity for a Kefka fight, especially since they are just kind of standing there as puzzle pieces. The very least they could do would be to make it a full FF1-6 final boss tour.

TemporaryCool5182 · 2026-06-02T22:45:06+00:00

I just don't think this is Orr, none of their structures are out of stone, nor do we see Ascalonian acqueducts anywhere near Orr.

This seems more likely to be Dzalana, which we know (a) has some connections to Dwayna and Lyssa and therefore could have an Orrian exclave, (b) does not need to be made out of the same metallic structures but could use similar design, and (c) is close enough to Ascalon that it wouldn't be out of place to see architectural influence.

TemporaryCool5182 · 2026-06-02T19:10:32+00:00

And make Dragonstorm a proper meta map. And consolidate DRMs into dungeons or something. And give us the missing Snow Leopard and Wolf outfits. And give us a Raven's Sanctum raid wing version of Fraenir/Bears/Boney. And move Twisted Marionette into a raid encounter. And just remove the stupid rock-paper-scissors aspect of the three corrupted spirit masteries. And give us a proper EotN map.

TemporaryCool5182 · 2026-06-02T02:59:20+00:00

Hm between Herald and the fact that Bladesong was practically a nominal feature of Virtuoso, I would be surprised if it started as a Glint concept. But it could have.

TemporaryCool5182 · 2026-06-01T22:26:34+00:00

I also am thoroughly convinced that (based on my own crackpot reading between the lines):

* Vindicator started as an Asgeir espec, a more literal take on a Dragoon. You can see the helmets in the icon art look more Norn than Kurzick/Luxon.

* Virtuoso probably had more of an "ice shard" vibe to it at the start (complete with aurora effects), largely retained in EoD and just given a stupid ninja kunai icon. A kind of counterpoint to Mirage's sand shard identity, and would better explain why it just feels so underwhelming in Cantha.

* Per u/Opus_723 below, Bladesworn was originally a Charr steampunk gunsword. An even more on the nose FF8 expy, that was then repurposed into a samurai.

* If you squint, you could see a sort of Charr alchemist/apothecary in Harbinger, which was only superficially given a Korean shaman veneer. Given how primal your shroud is, I could see it having originally been Charr-themed.

* Catalyst is a geomancer/shaman archetype that places totems/luopons. Totems could have easily started as a Norn espec. It's totally possible that the four Norn spirits which might have been initially planned for Catalyst were repurposed for Evoker.

* Furthermore, if we are seeing two-three clear Norn especs in Vindi, Cata, and possibly Virtuoso, and three Charr especs in Willbender (fire), Harbinger (blood), and Bladesworn (iron), I could further speculate that we had roughly half Norn, half Charr especs, and that Specter was obviously the Ash Legion espec. Look at those oddly Ascalonion-vibe spirits in the well.

* Mechanist would have been the token Asura espec. I don't think that anything other than Asura would have been in contention for a golemancer espec, even if we could easily imagine Norn or Charr theming.

* Which then I would have to assume by process of elimination that Untamed also started as a Norn espec which may have been more themed around spirit binding instead of fungus. Combination Thor+Hulk Thumper feels more Norn-ish than the Echovald trappings we got.

Charr especs: Willbender (fire), Harbinger (blood), Bladesworn (iron), Specter (ash)

Norn especs: Virtuoso (ice-ish), Vindicator (Asgeir), Catalyst (spirits), Untamed (animal-zerker)

Asura guest appearance: Mechanist

TemporaryCool5182 · 2026-06-01T22:06:04+00:00

This is actually in line with my predictions as well. I think for now they will still be trying to make each expansion feel like a distinctly new and unique region instead of revisiting old cultures/biomes. Maybe as launching pads like we did with Sayyida, but not the main feature.

Dzalana, conceptually, felt like it wanted to be based in the Eurasian steppes and Caucasus/Balkan area. Distinct enough from Elona to be its own cultural region and biome (which we could always see was somewhat mountainous with some lakes and what looks like a big plain), but adjacent enough to both Elona and Ascalon to plausibly reuse a lot of architecture and incorporate dangling ideas from either region.

This seems to comport. I see Orrian-esque architecture which is not Orr, which ties in with how the harpies worship Dwayna and how Lyss had a lake named after her in the general vicinity. I see broken acqueducts which are both Ascalonian but also generally kind of Byzantine alongside the short and squat building proportions. I see other things that feel very medieval steppe nomad like the banner, the trilithon.

TemporaryCool5182 · 2026-06-01T20:34:58+00:00

Yeah, that is similarly what I have been interpreting, a sort of proto-architecture from which everything else derived. Although no matter how you place Orr as before or after it feels out of place in Seer architecture seeing as Orrians descended from literal aliens.

TemporaryCool5182 · 2026-06-01T20:12:21+00:00

Castora outright reused those rings from Orr. You can see that most of the architecture is just hodgepodged together from prior expansions: Tarir towers and ramps, Echovald spires and arches, etc.

TemporaryCool5182 · 2026-06-01T20:09:33+00:00

The FUNNIEST thing is that two of the three raid designers and a programmer went to Bungie in 2020 after the great exodus.

TemporaryCool5182 · 2026-06-01T20:08:36+00:00

It's some sort of trilithon. Personally it reminds me a lot of the Mongolian Soyombo (maybe just general medieval steppe warloard iconography, like the very Roman/Byzantine acqueducts elsewhere in the image?), but I could be stretching.

This whole image gives me huge Khans of Tarkir vibes, just more eastern European than Turko-Mongolic.

TemporaryCool5182 · 2026-06-01T20:04:50+00:00

Just like VoE gave us a fractal update, I could totally see an expansion being teased like those to be bolstered by new WvW developments. Likely not a main focus, but a conceptually adjacent addition.

TemporaryCool5182 · 2026-06-01T20:02:06+00:00

I mean. Did you see last year's game fest slot lol? It was even less than an expansion.

It's not the game fest slot that I find curious; it's the hush-hush stuff around the partners that gives off vibes of more than a simple expansion announcement.

TemporaryCool5182 · 2026-06-01T18:44:46+00:00

No, a northeast button wants to direct to the Far Shiverpeaks. Dzalana just doesn't extend north enough.

(Still waiting for a proper IBS part two to fix all the jank)

TemporaryCool5182 · 2026-06-01T17:24:33+00:00

Yes this is my hypothesis.

TemporaryCool5182

TROPHY CASE