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The original was posted on /r/guildwars2 by /u/AniTaneen on 2025-02-05 03:37:16+00:00.

I’m coming back after a long break, um… 5 years? Wow there is a lot that has and alot that hasn’t changed. I am catching up on the Icebrood Saga right now, and as a WoodenPatoes watcher, I know that the disappointment is coming.

Look, I know that the developers had to deliver an expansion’s worth in a living world. Between COVID, the layoffs, the sudden shift to Cantha, the delivery was not the best. And honestly, Zhaitan and Mordremoth, ANet weren’t exactly delivering the most captivating fights for most of the Dragons. Kralkatorrik was huge improvement, fighting in their mind, and also dealing with the their body afterwards.

So that is the conversation. In an alternate timeline that is slightly to fully better than our own, what would you like to see in a full expansion set in the Icebrood story? What specializations, masteries, story elements, etc. would you like to have seen? What Legend should revenants have taken? Some ideas I’ll put our there:

The Map:

  • If the Expansion focuses on both Jormag and Primordus. Then give us verticality. Maps Above and Below ground.
  • Areas that start to give us more of the Jotun, the Dwarves, the ancient Asura, and the Kodan. Maybe give us already some breadcrumbs to the Titans. The fall of the Jotun could easily have been tied to Jormag, somehow they used the sleeping dragon to fuel their intellect.

Specializations (some ideas):

  • Guardian: I still can’t believe they don’t use Warhorns. The Spiritcaller Guardian replaces their virtues with a chosen spirit companion, switching between them for different bonuses. The companion behaves like the Ranger’s pet and they gain access to Command abilities with different effects based on which Spirit is up. The Spirit of Justice is an Armed Warrior whose blade burns and can be activated to teleport to a target. The Spirit of Resolve is a Ranged Angel who can be activated to release a healing mist. The Spirit of Courage is a Shielded Soldier who can be activated to set up a bubble.
  • Engineer: The Delver uses torches. Their expeditions have taught them secret glyphs that they can wield, and their toolbelt can through warding stones, which give a an AOE ability based on the glyph equipped. Activating the Glyph with a stone out, gives a more powerful AOE version. Their F5 is called Found Relic, which they can deploy and charge up. The relic will activate based on how much health is lost, by enemies and allies. While the relic is out, the delver can sacrifice their health to charge it up by pressing F5.
  • Revenant: I know that their legend doesn’t always have to tie to the story, and I have an idea that is both unexpected for a Norn and Charr focused Expansion and thematic to fighting Dragons: Snaff. His story brings us full circle, and an Asura tied Legend would be nice. The weapon is the focus, which is used for short range AOE. The Legendary Genius skills reflect that he used telepathic control for his giant golems, with the feeling that you are the golem he is building up.
  • Necromancer: The Lamenter ties to the very idea that a spirit of the wild can die. They have touched the remnants of the Owl and have learned the rituals of the lost spirit of silent kills. They wield an axe in their of hand which is used in rituals, and their Nightshroud focuses on being invisible and have Glamour skills.
  • Mesmer: The Envoy replaces their shatter with Propaganda that emanates from them and their clones. They focus on a message which starts to broadcast, boosting allies or hurting enemies. Clones become fixed in place spreading the AOE, till your message ends and they dissipate. You can shatter the the clones, for an additional effect. Use the Warhorn and gain access to Banners. Whenever you or a player picks up the banner, it will have a long CD on the the 5th ability, each attack and ability lowers the cool down. The fifth summons a powerful Phantasm that will hold the banner giving the banner a larger AOE.

Masteries:

  • A cliff climbing mount. The idea is that the maps would have a lot of verticality.
  • A mastery around the different languages would have been fine, with special rewards for crafting found in the secrets of the Jotun, Kodan, Dwarves, and Ancient Asura.
  • I’m enjoying the Dragon response missions, the idea of going back to these maps and also not having them be destroyed on the living world is appealing. Obviously they are rushed, but could have been more. The idea of a Mastery that was about weapons for the Charr civil war, then becoming tools for larger engagements with the dragons. Rather than just Crystals, the ability to play Pact Commander and have the mastery unlock more tactical moves and unit deployment would have been interesting.

Map areas:

As I said, more underground areas too, seeing massive caverns made out of receding ice, leylines, and the Destroyers shaping the area. We finally find the ruins of the Asura central Network, obviously they are completely destroyed.

A lost city of the Jotun, on the highest mountains of the shiverpeaks. A jumping puzzle into the their lost observatory. If they wanted to make the Water dragon a creator god of some kind, they could give us the bread combs here, the city could also leave breadcrumbs for the Titans.

We meet a whole Dwarven Force. Underground and still fighting the good fight.

Epilogue: Bangar is alive, and freed from the dragon. Believing that Aurene will make him a yet another dragon minion, he sets out to use his abilities as the voice, to begin recruiting lost minions. Leaving him as a future villain.

Living World Season 4

Jormag’s time in Rata Sum has resulted in destabilizing events, It became clearer during the campaign that the Arcane Council was falling to her whispers. With her demise, however, they seem to be growing more paranoid and sabotage a peace meeting that sought to finalize the end to the conflict between Charr and Humans, stealing Sohothin. We chase them into the Mists, only to discover that the big mystery of where the Asura Terminals went is that part of the city was accidentally evacuated into the mists. It’s inhabitants driven insane by echos and agony. The Atherbaldes have built an entire dockyard, and this sets up a better introduction into their role with Cantha.

Anyways, reality sucks, and it’s no surprise that I’m back to playing a game I haven’t touched since the last time we had this madness in the USA.

What are your ideas for a gentler kinder world and what kind of expansion it would have produced?