Sam Beirne

A necromancer is a practitioner of the dark arts who summons the dead, wields the power of lost souls, and literally sucks the lifeblood of the enemy. A necromancer feeds on life force, which he can use to cheat death or bring allies back from the brink.

A necromancer feeds on death and decay. Life force is the energy that a necromancer uses to extend his own life. Using specific skills, a necromancer builds up life force by attacking and killing enemies. Rather than going into a downed state when he runs out of health, a necromancer automatically activates the Death Shroud ability. A necromancer can continue fighting in the ghostly Death Shroud form until he either runs out of life force or he gets a kill, rallying back into his own corpse.

We’re right in the middle of a busy, exciting gamescom, but I thought I’d take a moment on day three of the show to share some great news: Guild Wars 2 has just been awarded Best Online Game for gamescom 2010!

We’ve been eager to show off Guild Wars 2 for the first time at gamescom, and the response from fans to the hands-on demo has been overwhelmingly positive. This is our opportunity to demonstrate that all of the features we’ve been talking about for the past few months are real, not just hype, and we’re gratified that fans have really enjoyed playing the demo. Awards are fantastic, but let’s face it: connecting with players and earning their enthusiasm is the real prize at gamescom.

In our new MMO Manifesto video, ArenaNet Studio Lead Mike O’Brien and key creators explain how Guild Wars 2 will defy MMO conventions and create a new kind of game – free from boring grind and static, unchanging worlds. Loaded with incredible gameplay footage, the MMO Manifesto video charts a bold new direction in gaming. Watch it right here!

The ranger is a jack-of-all-trades and a master of them all as well, relying on his keen eye, steady hand, or the power of nature itself. A master of ranged combat, the ranger is capable of striking unwitting foes from a distance with his bow. With a stable of pets at his command, a ranger can adapt to his opponents’ strengths and weaknesses.

Defeat in Guild Wars 2 is intended to be an experience, not a punishment. Let’s face it: dying never feels great, even without a death penalty. As weird as it might sound, we decided to look into what would make dying a more enjoyable and memorable play experience.

Rather than being presented with immediate failure, when a player loses all of their health in Guild Wars 2, they are put into “downed mode.” In this mode, the player has a number of downed skills they can use to target enemies and fight for a chance to survive. A downed player can still be attacked, which will send them into a defeated state, leaving them to either wait for an ally to resurrect them or to resurrect at a waypoint.

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Simple systems like this, along with cross-profession combos, and the dedicated healing skill slot, help free players from the MMORPG shackles, and let us break the mold even more. We’re making players more self sufficient, but are also providing appealing ways for them to effortlessly work together to create a more inspired moment-to-moment experience. That is why Guild Wars 2 does not have a dedicated healing class.

Read more on the official Guild Wars 2 website, PC Gamer, Kotaku, and Game Informer.

The warrior is a master of weapons who relies on speed, strength, toughness, and heavy armor to survive in battle. A warrior can shrug off blow after blow to stay in the fight, all the while building up adrenaline to fuel his offense.

One of the challenges of a massively-multiplayer game is that in being inclusive to a vast number of people, it loses a lot of the personal interaction that makes single-player RPGs so much fun. When you’re looking at the games on the store shelf, it seems you have only two options – a game that you can play with your friends, or a game that has a satisfying personal story. The Guild Wars 2 design team believes that a game should have both.

We believe that telling a story begins with creating a deep, realistic world. Player characters should be the focus as much as possible, and be offered choices and decisions that meaningfully impact the world around them. NPCs should have understandable motivations, real character flaws, and believable relationships with the player and with each other. Cities should feel like centers of activity. The world’s history should make sense. The original Guild Wars had already done a great deal of work in that direction – Tyria is an amazingly detailed fantasy setting, a rich and vibrant world. We wanted to live up to what we had done in the past, and carry it forward into our new game.

Learn more at the official Guild Wars 2 website.

Enter the living world of Guild Wars 2 – filled with thousands of dynamic events that ebb and flow through the course of your adventures. One day there may be a thriving village filled with vendors and townspeople, the next day that village may be a smoking ruin overrun by centaurs.

Dynamic events evolve and cascade across the world in response to how you, the player, interact with them, leaving persistent effects in the game world. Will you save that village or let it burn? The choice rests with you and your fellow players.

The Dynamic Event system in Guild Wars 2 is built to be scalable and encourage impromptu group play where players are naturally cooperating together and not worried about encroaching on each other. The more the merrier!

Dynamic Events Overview by Colin Johanson

The Elementalist channels natural forces of destruction, making fire, air, earth, and water do her bidding. What the Elementalist lacks in physical toughness, she makes up for in her ability to inflict massive damage in a single attack, dropping foes from a distance before they can become a threat. Yet, despite her incredible offensive potential, versatility is what makes the Elementalist truly formidable.

Learn more about combat at the official Guild Wars 2 website.