Guild Wars 2 Q&A

Guild Wars 2 lead designer Eric Flannum took some time out of his day to address a handful of Ten Ton Hammer's questions about the game's warrior profession and character trait mechanics.
Ten Ton Hammer: Will professions still have the equivalent of a "primary" attribute, or will the placement of traits into specific lines allow players to achieve the same effect in terms of being able to choose which specific attribute they want to favor over others?

"Eric: The concept of the (primary) attribute as it was used in Guild Wars 1 is not something we needed in Guild Wars 2. In GW1 primary attributes were used to make an Necromancer/Mesmer play differently from a Mesmer/Necromancer as well as give each profession a unique mechanic. Since we don't have secondary professions in Guild Wars 2 the primary attribute mechanic was unnecessary.

Instead, each profession has a unique profession mechanic and in some cases multiple mechanics to make them feel distinct and play differently from their peers. Trait lines are used to allow players to differentiate themselves from others who share their profession. All warriors for example will equip traits into their tactics line but will choose different traits depending on their play style as well as their choice of skills and weapons. Players will not be forced to favor one trait line over another but rather customize each trait line as they see fit.