A Charr, a Sylvari and an Asura walks into a Keep...
ArenaNet’s Jordan Massey just published an in-depth blog postabout the Squad system in Guild Wars 2′s World versus World (WvW) PvP mode. Head over to the ArenaNet blog for the full deal, but here is the cliff-notes version:
- A squad is a one-to-many command structure, with one commander at the top and all the followers underneath.
- All commanders have a special map marker that other players can see, and they also have an icon over their heads that identify them as commander to their team mates, other commanders, and people not currently in a squad.
- A squad receives its own chat channel where only the commander can talk but all members can see.
- Commanders get so-called squad map markers, which they can place on the map. Markers represent orders such as “attack,” “defend,” “rally,” and “bring supply”, and all squad members can see them.
- It is easy to join squads, just select a teammate and right-click their portrait. If they’re in a squad, you’ll see an option to join their squad. No commander-approval needed.
- If you are not already in a squad, you can create your own, which will automatically make you the commander.
- To create a squad and become a commander, you must purchase a manual from a Master Strategist merchant.
- A manual costs a hefty sum of gold, but grants permanent commander rights for that character so only needs to be purchased once (per character).
- The commander/squad system is also usable in PvE, which should prove useful for large-scale Dynamic Events.
