This weekend I heard a few folks talking about Combos after having discovered (on accident) how they work.
I thought it might be helpful to give a basic rundown of what they are and how you can start experimenting. You can use them playing solo or in a group!
Combos in Guild Wars 2 refers to the ability to combine two different abilities to get an extra buff or special effect.
Ingredient 1: Combo Field. This is any type of field you set on the ground in a circle or line. Some examples are Poison cloud, rings of Fire, Water springs, Light shields (or bubbles), etc... A basic rule of thumb is that if you're casting it on the ground, it's very likely a Combo Field.
Ingredient 2: Combo Finisher. There are only four combo finishers that you use within (or through) a combo field. These finishers are: Blast, Projectile, Whirl, and Leap. By using the different Finishers, you will get different results.
Example:
My guardian lays down a ring of Fire. If a warrior comes along and uses an ability with Leap, that warrior will get a fire aura around them that burns nearby foes. If an Elementalist comes by and shoots rocks over the top of that ring, those rocks will cause burning on the enemy when they hit. If I then grab my big old hammer and use my AoE Blast finisher inside that ring of Fire, it will grant all closeby allies with a few stacks of Might for some extra damage.
How can you tell if an ability is a Combo Field or Combo Finisher?
You can read up on this directly in the tooltip description of an ability. If you see either Combo Finisher: [finisher] or Combo Field: [field] right in the description of your abilities, then you know that this ability will trigger the Combo when you use it in the right place!
How can you tell if it's working?
You will see (or you probably already have seen) little heart shaped flashes on your screen. Next to these very brief hearts will be a short description of what's happening. So in the example I gave above, when the Elementalist shoots those rocks over the top of the ring of fire, she'll see "[heart] Burning". Some Combos even make a particular sound such as projectiles going through a Poison field. Try it out!
Using some of these Combos, you can do some pretty amazing stuff. For example, if an Engineer lays down a Smoke Bomb and someone comes along with a Blast finisher, that will cloak all nearby allies for a few seconds. How awesome is that?!
Hope this helps, and gives you the basic tools to start experimenting on your own. If you have any questions, please ask!
~Aidan/Goremar
» Edited on: 2012-09-10 14:09:00
» Edited on: 2012-09-10 14:10:00
» Edited on: 2012-09-10 14:11:03
» Edited on: 2012-09-10 14:13:09