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Factions is the next chapter in the Guild Wars saga. Released at the end of April, just about 1 year after the original campaign (now called Prophecies), it allows existing players to take part in a new story, and new players to start up without needing the first game. Although I haven't had time to play it for the past week, when I was playing, I had a blast.
One of the big selling points of Factions was the introduction of two new classes, the Ritualist and the Assassin. I've had a chance to play both.
The Ritualist deals with spirits, and can serve as a utility class or a damage-dealing class. They also look pretty awesome. However, when I played one during the Beta I found that it was pretty difficult to find the right strategy and I died all the time. The other day, however, I was in a group with a Ritualist and I don't think he died once. He definitely had it together. Ritualists don't seem to have too much trouble finding a spot in a party.
Assassins deal with killing things. They can also buff themselves a bit, and teleport. They have some kickin' armor, oftentimes with knives all over it, and the dual-wield. I like the fact that female Assassins have a lithe gymnast body and actually aren't racked. Assassins have a bad reputation of dying a lot, but I've found that if a clever healer casts the right buffs, and the Assassin plays it smart, they're just as good at staying alive as anyone else. Assassins use a lot of combinations and it can be fun to set those up. However, due to the "always dies" reputation, it is hard to get into a party as an Assassin.
Another big selling point of Factions is the Asian theme. There are Asian-inspired monsters, such as Naga, Ki-Rin and Oni, Asian-styled armor (including new armor for all of the core classes), and Asian architecture in many boards. I'm really geeking out on this, of course. Not like I'm a huge fan of martial arts movies and anime or anything.
Factions also contains some new play styles, such as cooperative missions, PvP missions, and repeatable missions. I haven't progressed far enough in the game to experience most of these, although I have noticed that you can repeat every mission to try to get a better score for competing it more quickly, unless you got the best score on your first try. I've also done one cooperative mission. I don't like these, as you have to wait for the other team to load, and then if there's no player team, you get stuck with a team of NPCs.
One big thing that we noticed right away about Factions is that you progress in levels a lot faster than in Prophecies. Sometimes the EXP gain was almost ridiculous, but level doesn't matter as much as skill does, and when you reach the second stage of the game you'll be glad for the quick leveling, as you're suddenly thrown up against monsters that like to use you as a mop.
Also, in Factions you have to buy all of your skills instead of getting them as quest rewards. While this does cost you a lot of money, it's nice as it allows you to get the skills you want instead of whatever crappy skills your trainer wants to give you. I never liked getting a Water Magic skill on my pyromancer, let me tell ya.
Factions introduces many new skills for existing classes. Some of these skills duplicate existing skills, allowing you to have two skills with the same basic effect equipped at once. This can be nice, as while you're waiting for one skill to recharge, you can use another one to do the same thing.
The storyline in Factions is no great shakes. It's not bad, but I don't think people will be raving about it for years to come. At least there's no Prince Rurik. Stupid Rurik. The cinematics have the same great voice-over quality players have come to expect from Guild Wars games, which is to say it can be kind of silly at times. Also, these cinematics have a bad habit of focusing on the party leader and ignoring the accomplishments of the team as a whole. Kind of lame for a multi-player game.
ArenaNet and NCSoft are doing a pretty good job of making players feel loved, however. They surprised us all with mini-pets on our characters' birthdays. These are vanity pets, useless in combat but pretty cute. Meanwhile, on a more serious side, they work hard to keep the skills balanced, the game bug-free, and the bot-abusers banned.
I definitely recommend Factions for current Guild Wars players, or those who have strayed and are considering coming back. I also recommend it for new players over the Prophecies campaign, as Factions eliminates some of the flaws that were in the original game and offers more options.
Now if I could just find time to play again . . . I want to go get my Ascended armor!
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