Guild Wars Preview

GameSpy has released an updated two-page preview of Guild Wars, based upon what they saw on a visit to ArenaNet's headquarters. An excerpt to follow:
Team tactics ruled the day. Establishing control of the center of the map so you could enjoy armor and magic bonuses was the first order of business. Teams that held back until they could attack en masse were also way more successful than those who charged forward in ones and twos. A couple of strong fighters, backed by a healer and a necromancer or two and boosted with beneficial spells, were absolutely devastating when working together.

Team tactics were also augmented by individual decisions. My test character was a necromancer/warrior, but given the composition of my team, prior to the fight I chose to go into battle with mostly warrior skills and stats and only a few necromancer spells. Depending on the battlefield situation I could adjust my tactics accordingly -- if we were on the defensive while waiting for reinforcements I used my longbow to attack while casting slowing spells on the attackers, sometimes from within the safety of our own walls. When we went on the offensive I switched to melee weapons where I could use a couple devastating fighter skills to finish off opponents. Because warrior was only my subclass and I was as good as dogmeat if outnumbered, I would often linger just behind the main attack wave then split off to single out an enemy healer to remove her from play.