Get ready to finally wield spears on land in Guild Wars 2 with the Janthir Wilds expansion

The newest expansion for Guild Wars 2 is out later this month, and Janthir Wilds is bringing new maps, the exciting new Homestead feature, and giving all professions the use of the Spear, a weapon previously only available for some professions underwater. For those not familiar with GW2, the main rotational abilities of each profession is determined by the equipped weapon irrespective of any specialization or traits chosen. With all nine professions needing the development of new abilities to take advantage of the Spear, it’s no surprise that Arena Net held a beta weekend solely to test it, and even responded to feedback.

Whenever a weapon is added to a profession in Guild Wars 2 the goal is to patch up any weaknesses in the gameplay (for example, providing midrange or closing options) or to expand their viability in certain aspects of the game. As a result while flavor will always exist for the weapon they won’t be consistent across professions — some will use the Spear from range, some will use it in melee, and others will use it to switch between the two. GW2 also eschews the “holy trinity” of combat roles so some professions will find the Spear augments their support builds while others use it purely to do damage.

Combat weapon-swapping is also an important factor in GW2 (except for the Elementalist and Engineer who are not able to do so) and a lot of theorycrafting will involve determining which weapon to pair the Spear with. Fortunately as GW2 has no gear treadmill so when a new weapon finds itself a main component of meta builds players won’t have to struggle to acquire one.

Illumination and Stealth: Guardian and Ranger abilities with the Spear

Guardian spear skills are based on the concept of “Illumination” — using a skill in a certain way will empower the next skill you cast, and you can chain this via precise usage of illuminated skills. For example, Helio Rush will illuminate your next spear ability if you strike an enemy with it; if you follow this with Gleaming Disc and that also strikes an enemy the followup skill will be illuminated as well. Spear powers are generally support-oriented, debuffing enemies and buffing/healing allies especially when illuminated. As a result Guardian Spear will likely see a lot of usage in group play such as World vs World (WvW) and the new raid coming with Janthir Wilds.

Ranger spear skills are about stealth, with the normal abilities (mostly melee) augmented if used when in stealth. Unlike with the Guardian the Ranger’s spear skills are almost all offensive, with some debuffing of enemies when abilities are done from stealth. Testing did encounter issues especially in PVP as pulsing damage natively removes stealth in GW2, but Rangers will have a short opportunity to use a stealth ability after being revealed by damage to mitigate this problem. As the abilities are mostly stronger in melee expect to see the Spear frequently paired with weapons like the Longbow.

Clarity and Soul Shards: Mesmer and Necromancer abilities with the Spear

Mesmer spear skills are all about finding the sweet spot to hit your opponent while also taking advantage of a new mechanic called Clarity. While most of the abilities are best used in melee, the core ability is Mind the Gap, which does more damage (including a guaranteed critical) to opponents along the outer edge of the attack. Originally Clarity was only gained if an opponent was on the outer edge during a Mind the Gap attack, but this proved problematic (especially for solo/open-world players) so Clarity is automatically gained if Mind the Gap hits regardless of their position. Clarity will help summon more phantasms, and can also stun foes with the Mental Collapse closer. While some aspects of Mesmer Spear are support-oriented, this will likely be a strong candidate for pure damage builds.

Necromancer spear skills are built around the generation and expenditure of soul shards especially in melee (with Isolate triggering a teleport-to-opponent option when it strikes). The goal is to build up soul shards and then unleash them with Perforate. While there are some nice support options (including a daze), like for Mesmer this is a weapon designed for melee damage by the Necromancer.

Abyssal Destruction and Mighty Throws: Revenant and Warrior abilities with the Spear

Revenant spear skills take a collect-and-slaughter approach, with Abyssal Raze being the core damage ability whose power increases the more stacks gained — with the use of it building up subsequent stacks for the next cast. The other abilities are designed around reducing its recharge cooldown (the ability starts with three charges) or pulling opponents into one spot to be hit with it. There’s a lot of use of the targeting mechanic with the Revenant Spear so if you’re not comfortable with it you’ll want to practice as poor targeting will negate most of the strength of this weapon. It may also be a weak option against a solo opponent but it should excel in WvW.

Warrior spear skills are all about hurling a mighty weapon from range, dealing strong damage to adversaries caught in the attack. Originally the abilities were based on a mid-range approach to combat, where being closer to your targets resulted in more damage, however testing revealed that it didn’t work well outside of PVP so it’s being redesigned to focus its power on the first target hit regardless of distance. While there are some conditions and dazes, this is a weapon designed for damage regardless of your position on the battlefield.

Lightning and Assassin: Engineer and Thief abilities with the Spear

Engineer spear skills are in a word shocking. Designed for melee combat, the Engineer Spear will start off combat with Conduit Surge to a target, making them “focused” and subjected to additional effects while using your abilities. While the focus takes the most damage, the Engineer will still be able to use their toolkits and other Spear abilities to damage others unfortunate to be close to the Engineer. This will be a popular Condition-based build if the damage is competitive.

Thief spear skills are based on the original Guild Wars Assassin playstyle. Two abilities — Mantis Strike and Unsuspecting Strike — will chain in parallel from lead to follow up to finisher, and they can be weaved together. The other abilities granted by the Spear are augmented if they follow a finisher, so Thieves will want to use them before restarting the chain. This weapon is designed for melee attacks and cleave-style gameplay while not completely ignoring the Stealth mechanic that is at the core of the class.

Glass Cannon time: Elementalist abilities with the Spear

Elementalist spear skills embrace the old-school gaming idea of a “glass cannon” — lots of damage but very little support. As such, this is a weapon choice that will work especially well in a large group setting where the Elementalist doesn’t need to worry about defense or movement (the capstone Etchings are more powerful if you’re able to stay within the symbol while casting subsequent spells — although to maximize their effectiveness means you’re going to be in melee so proper positioning is critical). Like all Elementalist weapon builds you’ll want to regularly swap elemental attunements, especially to water if you need healing.

While Elementalist Spear is likely going to be a tough experience if solo or in the open world, there are ways to mitigate the glass cannon effect. As always, traits and slot skills can be chosen based on more defense and healing, and equipment with Vitality stats can be used. There’s also the Weaver elite specialization (requires the Path of Fire expansion), which when using the Spear provides a defensive or healing spell in the dual attack weapon skill slot.

The developers of Guild Wars 2 have given themselves a tough task by needing to develop nine new sets of abilities in Janthir Wilds for players to take advantage of the Spear, but the initial impressions are positive. In addition, regular balancing and updates of weapon skills is a feature of GW2 so while not every profession may find Spear useful as of the release of the expansion in time there’s bound to be a relevant usage regardless of playstyle or activity.