With the launch of its first expansion, Heart of Thorns, Guild Wars 2 will add several elite specialisations; these are new talent trees that give your character access to new weapons, skills and traits.
For the Necromancer class, that’s the Reaper. Rather than mess around with wands and sceptres, these guys prefer to get up close and personal with a greatsword, stealing health from their enemies with drain attacks.
Once they’ve drained enough life-force soup, the Reaper can transform into a deadly new form, with which they can do even more damage. It’s developer ArenaNet’s way of switching things up for Necromancer players, who’ve previously had to hide at the back of the fight flinging spells.
“The reaper’s thematic roots come from classic movie monsters and survival horror games,” explains developer Robert Gee. “We pulled elements from slow but seemingly unstoppable horror monsters like Pyramid Head and Jason Voorhees to try to craft the feeling of a relentless pursuer who becomes extremely deadly once they close the distance to their prey. The greatsword is the ideal weapon for expressing this sense of dread due to its size and weight, but there was one thing that was missing—what’s a reaper without a scythe?”
Good question. The answer comes in the form of a minor trait called Shroud Knight, which switches up the Necromancer’s core Death Shroud abilities, equipping them with a shadowy scythe for area damage.
The specialisation also gives players a bunch of cold spells and banshee wail attacks, but let’s be honest it’s the whole “turning into a death-dealing Grim Reaper” that everyone’s interested in. You can watch a more in-depth guide to the Reaper on the Guild Wars 2 Twitch channel right here.
There’s no release date for Heart of Thorns just yet, but it’s expected out later this year.
