Guild Wars Mini-Interview #8
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Q: Concerning the crafting, we do know that it will be possible to upgrade items, yet have you thought of the possibility to craft items with precious stones to reinforce them (i.e. +5 resistance to fire)? Or are there going to be such elements as rings, amulets and so on, such as in Diablo, which shall play an equivalent role in Guild Wars?
A: Yes, Guild Wars has items that give armor the types of improvements that you mention; they are called "Upgrade Components." Let me give you some examples. My elementalist acquired a Rune of Lesser Fire Magic as the result of salvaging a rare item. Salvaging items does not always result in a rune but instead often gives you crafting items that are a bit more common. In this instance, though, I was lucky enough to salvage the rune, and so I visited the crafter in town and upgraded the elementalist's robe (armor). Wearing the upgraded robe, she now does greater fire damage when casting spells involving that element.
My ranger isn't able to use a Rune of Fire Magic in her armor, but there is another Rune designed specifically for that profession: The Rune of Marksmanship. I've not had the good fortune of acquiring that rune yet, but when she acquires it, she'll have a nice boost to her marksmanship. On the other hand, my ranger does have two runes that are useful to members of any profession: The Rune of Lesser Vigor and the Rune of Vigor. I upgraded her present armor with the Rune of Lesser Vigor, and am saving the better rune until I get a higher level of armor in which to place it. What these particular runes do for characters of any profession is increase their maximum health so that they are heartier in battle.
There will be many upgrade components for just about every type of item in Guild Wars. In addition to customizing weapons in order to increase damage or to improve accuracy or range, you will find that special effect upgrades may be added to items, as well. So the terrific battle hammer that you get as a monster drop may be made even better by upgrading it so that it changes from doing standard damage to lightning-enhanced damage.
As to other kinds of jewelry, I am not sure if we will have other types such as amulets. But rings are definitely an essential element in Guild Wars, for the entire skill system is built upon Skill Rings. The very reason that you have 8 skills to take into battle is based on the fact that, yes, you have 8 fingers. :)
