GW2Pseudo: "Our bosses are, debatably, a little bit smarter" is probably the sickest unintentional low-key WoW-Burn I've ever heard.

SilvasRuin: The slots on this shield aren't practical. They also form a clear shape, suggesting it's just meant to evoke an idea. It's a rook/tower. It's a defensive structure. This icon is all about representing defense.

stickmanz: I think the shield is for the new engineer spec simply because it was revealed last, as is tradition.

Vaelios3292: Because the blog post says the spec won't be tied to a specific weapons, i think it's purely metaphorical.

KuhntaSmash: My guess, is one of the features for the expansion is to "remove" the need to unlock spear, expanded arsenal, and untethering weapons from elite speccs. Then potentially having the new elite speccs, while not requiring one of those new weapons from SOO or Janthir, may have a one of the majors based around them.

GasMaskKai: Dark Knight would be a dream spec for guardian as changing the virtues into sins

littlekong7685: Plottwist: EVERYONE is getting paragon or ritualist specs. Melee is getting Paragon, ranged/magic is getting ritualist!

henrykboy: Literally first quote on paragon class from GW1 wiki: "The Paragon is a battle commander who wields a SHIELD and throwing spears"

toddwittie4421: The shield looks like a shield.

But it also looks like a fortified tower. With battlements on the top. Not necessarily the notches on the side but that may be just to break up the lines on the side to make it more interesting.

My thinking is like a Bastion for Guardian...

Or a combat engineer constructing fortifications

ClockworkBard: I could see Paragon having some weird mechanic that lets you use two handed weapons in your main hand, trading out skill 4/5 for your offhand. But my god, that'd be so much work for the animations team.

KokkeOP: Historian Insight: The small gaps and notches found in these types of shields were historically designed to trap blades during melee combat, but they were not intended to hold or support spears. For spears, medium and tower shields often featured crescent-shaped or curved notches at the top or along the edges. In this particular case, the shield displays clear markings that suggest a strong association with one-handed spears or piercing weapons, rather than being specifically designed for swords or maces. This indicates its use with thrusting weapons such as javelins for close combat, traditional spears, or similar point-focused weaponry. Broad-bladed spears like halberds, which were used in the Chinese armies of the Three Kingdoms era, were not typically held or supported on shields as a standard practice. So I would say this shield design likely complements the use of one-handed spears or thrusting weapons paired with an off-hand shield, presenting a fascinating perspective.

FengHoang: Mesmers are very performance/theater themed in GW, and their class fantasy revolves around illusions and mindcontrol type skills. Music is often used for hypnosis in fantasy. Think siren songs in Greek mythology, harpies in D&D (& BG3), Jigglypuff in Pokemon, the scene in Harry Potter Sorcerer/Philosopher's Stone where Fluffy (the 3-headed dog) gets put to sleep from the enchanted harp, or sound genjutsu in Naruto.

EDIT: Also, I'm pretty sure that class icon is a lute.

SilvasRuin: I'm locked in on 2 being Warrior and 9 being Guardian because of the original class icons. They would be following in the footsteps of Dragonhunter, Soulbeast, and Catalyst.

3rd is Engineer because nothing else looks mechanical or science-y in any way.

6th is the only one that suggests Ritualist to me now that all the icons are revealed.

7th is the only one that looks like elemental magic, and Elementalist has always been a depiction of fire or some form of whirlwind in Tempest's case.

4th, the Cards, seem to depict Initiative. I know people use Willbender as a counterargument, but Willbender's diamonds had straight sides while the icons on the cards and Initiative have concave sides.

Then there's Mallyx's accidentally added line about a "Painting Lady" who was elegant, strong, and kind. He also says she was the first to die, suggesting she was killed by demons. I still think the 5th closely resembles the teeth of The Hunger specifically, and the "Painting Lady" is probably not going to be represented by her probable murderer. That would be in poor taste. The most elegant icon is the winged arrow. So...

Lute - Bard - Mesmer

Helmet - Paragon - Warrior

Orbital Thingy - ??? - Engineer

Cards - Trickster - Thief

Demon teeth - Demontamer? - Ranger

Ceremonial dagger - Ritualist - Necromancer

Rabbit mask - Summoner - Elementalist

Winged Arrow - Painting Lady - Revenant

Rook shaped shield - Sentinel? - Guardian

taa347: I really hope they take these subclasses as opportunities to break the mold on what the classes normally do

cameirusisu1024: spears are 2h, its not a shield to use with another weapon. it looks like a tower, a bastion

more archery for my archer? what archer? ranger has no archery....that why people want an archery spec for it

reptiliancow: from a design language perspective, the helm is warr and the shield is guardian. They use the icons to give in game information. Confusing the icon language would be a big mistake.

m0chii_starrs_: that ball with swirl things had in chinese version mentioning that the ball is silver and the swirls are light and darkness

icyiceberg: Lock in!

1 (Cremonese mandolin) Mesmer - Minstrel

2 (Winged helm) Warrior - Paragon

3 (Mercury shift) Elementalist - Quicksilver

4 (Initiative cards) Thief - Oracle

5 (4 winds, 5 claws) Revenant - Tengu

6 (Ceremonial dagger) Necromancer - Ritualist

7 (Aery Spirit) Ranger - Summoner

8 (Winged arrow) Guardian - Seraph(?)

9 (Shield) Engineer - Bastion

Cimarb: I want the "atomic looking thing" to be Dervish. Saw someone suggest that a few days ago and cannot get it out of my head now. A whirling ball of swinging swords...

Zeegs037: The bow with wings is Dwayna - Rev gets the transforms from Dervish. Dwayna = Heal, Balthazaar = Elite and the other god forms are the utilities. These forms would change how your weapons act

otterix: I feel like the theme of this expansion is virtual symbolism meaning that they all become virtual weapons or armors that infuse with actual weapons equipped.

And I am leaning more to the fact that specs who don’t have those ‘physical’ weapons will get that spec, eg ele, necro, ranger are candidates for this shield; rev, guard, eng are candidates for dagger; etc

71775926: 1 Mesmer - Minstrel

2 Guardian - Valkyrie

3 Engineer - Argentwright OR Elementalist - Astramancer

4 Thief - Gambit

5 Ranger - Shadowhunter

6 Necromancer - Ritualist

7 Revenant - Dervish

8 Elementalist - Stormcaller OR Engineer - Artillerist

9 Warrior - Paragon

boutch1993: So, after long thought and curiosity, here's my bet and why:

Arrow and wing: Dervishes for revenants. Dervishes and revenants already share a lot of aesthetic theme and guardian is not exactly a religious class to be the one for this symbol. Also, dervishes were already speculated in the past to come as a Revenant elit spec, considering they're not existent in the lore anymore.

The shield with the holes: paragon's for warriors for the exactly same reasons you said in your video. This shield is very 'paragonesque'.

The helmet: Seraphs for Guardians. Maybe they can teach their knowledge to other races in the lore.

Pointy shield: I think this could be some kind of warden or demon hunter for rangers. Maybe we'll get a dark ranger? Important to remember that the warden magic was already shown in the game in Gyala Delve against demons invasions.

The dagger: ritualist for necromancers, strictly because of the poem mentioning spirits etc.

Cards: Gambler for thief. And because the diamonds means wealth, which has all to do with thieves in general.

Lute: Minstrel for mesmers. In many mithologies, music is used to cause confusion, to hipnotize or to distract. This would make sense. In the other hand, I think the lute could make sense for a lot of other professions, like the thief or the ranger. But this is my final bet.

Sphere: for me, this is alchemist for engineers. The symbols remind me of liquid metal and the two curved objetos looks like a nail. Maybe they'll control/transform the state of matter.

The firefox: maybe it's a symbol for the elemental forces of the spirits that will come to the wilds once again to help elementalists. I first thought this could be the shrine guardian helping the rangers, but I dunno.

BlazersWrath: I'm right there with you on this one. Paragon getting the shield is a little rough but it is the only icon that doesnt have some strange, thats not paragon, item to go with it. Can't wait for the prediction to shatter tomorrow!

VinceMouse: Revenant channeling Goremonger Gwen Thackery would absolutely be the funniest option. Not only are the Seraph way too Paladin to jive with Revenant's theming, but Charr Revenants would have to come to terms with the Charr Boogeyman living in their heads.

VinceMouse: This looks like the Guardian class icon, kinda... clearly, this means we're getting Almorra as a Revenant Legend.

Jul 15 2025

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