Guild Wars: Factions Preview

Computer Games has conjured up a three-page preview of ArenaNet’s upcoming Guild Wars: Factions, after spending some firsthand time with the expansion pack. Check it out:

The two new professions, Ritualist and Assassin, are not new classes as one might tend to think, but a crossover of the older ones. The Ritualist is a cross between the Monk, Ranger, Elementalist and Necromancer while the Assassin can be described as a Warrior with skills specific to the Mesmer and Necromancer. Like Rangers, Ritualists can cast spirits which affect a certain area around them. For instance, Wonderlust or Earthbird force the enemy to always be on the move, so these skills are excellent for bodyblock builds or the use of snare skills. Other spirits, like Recuperation, grant certain bonuses to teammates which are in their area of influence. I wouldn’t be surprised if the split tactics which are very popular in today’s GvG (Guild vs Guild) matches become less frequent once Factions is released. Moreover, unlike the Ranger spirits, the ones used by the Ritualist can cause damage as well, which makes them pretty dangerous, at least in theory, to adversaries with low hit points.