Shroud.2307

> @"lodjur.1284" said: > Herald is the issue. > > Not condi rev. Not torment runes. Not trailblazer. > > Dragon heal and True Nature - Demon (and to a lesser degree the defensive weapons) are the issues. These are some of the biggest issues with it, agreed, but there are a few things you missed. https://wiki.guildwars2.com/wiki/Abyssal_Chill https://wiki.guildwars2.com/wiki/Invoking_Torment Abyssal Chill adds a lot more Torment than people give it credit for, not to mention it has no ICD and long duration. Invoking Torment is similarly problematic in that it has a long duration, good scaling, and is AOE on Legend swap. Someone suggested some where here on the forum that Infuse Light _(Glint heal)_ should cost more Energy to upkeep so it can't be camped. I think that would be a very good change and would obviously impact this build. Reducing the radii of True Nature - Demon and fixing it so that it can be Blinded and dodged _(it has been bugged for a long time and hits regardless unless you're out of range)_ would also help a ton. Remove Chill from Call to Anguish, and reduce the duration of Invoking Torment. All of those things combined would still leave the build viable without allowing it to be as oppressive as it currently is in small scale.

> @"Helicity.3416" said: > > @"Dawdler.8521" said: > > Yep looks exactly the same as other classes can do against glass. Just the other day a warrior hit me with decapitate for almost 10k damage... and that's on full trailblazer. > > Almost 10k on three bars F1 Vs the same or more, at range, and then followed with a 7-9k rocket jump. > > I know you're trying hard to downplay here, but nade engie hits harder than 7 malice Deadeye shot with no additional setup beyond "drink elixir B" > > > ...and it's AoE. > > It's deeeefinitely overtuned. Grenade Barrage is busted in WvW, but there are a few things to think about here; Grenade Kit in general is a kit with very little utility. It's basically damage and nothing else. That's not to say the kit is bad, just that other kits, even Bomb Kit, offer more versatility. Grenade Barrage has a relatively long recharge if you're not using Tools. And because core Engineer is extremely uncommon _(not just in WvW, but in general)_ most that are using Grenade Kit will be Scrapper or Holosmith meaning they're going to be using Explosives and not Tools. Alchemy is pretty well a guarantee in any build _(though of course there may be outliers, but in that case they're a full YOLO build)._ Grenade Barrage counts as a projectile meaning it can be reflected back at the Engineer, it has a moderate air time before it strikes, it doesn't have a lot of range, and it only hits particularly hard in melee range when all of them hit. If you happen to have an easy access Reflect, like Scrapper's hammer #2 Electro-Whirl for example, you can very easily redirect the barrage to the Engi. I'm not defending Grenade Barrage because I agree it is broken in WvW, and it was nerfed in PvP for a reason. With that said, PvP and WvW are different environments and Grenade Barrage is a lot more oppressive on a node and on smaller maps. In WvW it isn't nearly as easy to reliably land on people and it often does more damage to _you_ than you do to other players when using it in a zerg. Although Holosmith and Scrapper are still strong specs, _(not talking about support Scrapper in this case)_ much of their damage is reliant on Explosives which is why Grenade Kit is so common. I just wanted to give you some info in case you're unfamiliar with Engineer, which judging by the OP, you are.

> @"Crackmonster.2790" said: > snip > >> **Everyone is entitled to play as they like, don't mistake this for a "I don't agree with what they do so it's wrong" kind of thing.** This was said right in the comment you quoted, then you say, > Most of this is just disagreements with the free human nature - you don't like how others act and how it interacts with how you want to play. You cant have an open pvp area without many of those things happening, just because humans can and will do it. ??? I understand this, lol. I just don't enjoy it. I don't see how this is wrong of me.

I play both Necro and Engi almost exclusively at this point, although I've never been an alt-a-holic either. I have only ~~4~~ 3 characters; Necro, Engi, Ranger, ~~Warr.~~ Pre-HoT instead of Necro/Engi it was Necro/Ranger, but I got very bored of Ranger and pretty much never play it anymore. ~~I've always had a love hate relationship with Warr, and it is by far and long my least played of the 4, but I do still like it sometimes.~~ I consider myself a Necro main at heart, but I think Engi and Necro are pretty evenly tied for my two favorite classes. I love everything about both of them, and nothing I've played is as fun or satisfying to me. I also enjoy all of their elite specs and a variety of builds on each, which is nice because it keeps the classes feeling fresh if I'm starting to get burned out. * Game mode: WvW * Specialization: Core Engineer, core Necromancer * Power for both Engi and Necro * Weapon: Engi, Shield. Necro, Staff. _Why_ do I enjoy Engi? Hard to say, but, I think the driving force is how much fun I have with it compared to anything else. I have a lot of fun on Necro as well, but Engi is consistently exciting and enjoyable no matter what I'm doing. I find Necro can be a bit bland at times, especially in PvE _(which I don't do much of anyway, but I get bored of Necro real quick if I am)._ I have also always enjoyed that I feel like I have an answer to every situation with Engi. It doesn't matter what I'm fighting or dealing with, I'll have a trait, utility, or combo field, or something to help me out, and I really love that. I never feel outgunned. One thing I have to say about Engi when compared to Necro is that Engi is the only class in the 8 years I've been playing that I don't seem to get bored of. I tend to rotate mains in such a way that I'll play something almost exclusively for a few weeks, then get bored of it, move to something else, and the cycle continues. Engineer is the only class I can do that with and never feel like I want to swap to something else. **EDIT** Okay 3 characters only now. Deleted my Warrior because I just straight up don't enjoy it anymore. I don't touch my Ranger often either, but it's not a character I'll ever delete because of it's age and play time. My Warrior was relatively old as well, but not even 1k hours. >!

> @"gavyne.6847" said: > > @"LetoII.3782" said: > > > @"gavyne.6847" said: > > > 20-25 players > > > > You're self limiting due to your guild's size. > > try running less people if you _actually_ want more fights. > > > > Used to run 15-20, but more and more guilds run 30+ now it becomes harder to stay small. Times have changed, seems like skilled players are consolidating into less guilds on less servers, hence creating this problem. When facing certain servers you are expected to fight multiple guilds running 25-30+ next to each other, which makes it even harder for you to compete as a small group. Guilds don't roll with larger numbers because they need to, they do it because they're lazy. A small organized group can take down larger groups, but doing so requires a lot of discipline. Most guilds fail a few times and start stacking supports. When they see that stacking supports doesn't always work, they start stacking numbers too. Then no one wants to fight them because they're too large, and it becomes a vicious circle of "there's nothing to fight", and "we're too small to fight that". There's nothing wrong with losing, especially when you're outnumbered. It can be stressful and demotivating if you're losing all the time, but it's important to know how this feels so you can understand why scaling things up will limit content for everyone. Pick your battles; Know when it's time to go under the radar if you can't handle what you're up against- start doing havoc. If you're too large for the enemy, let them gain some morale before re-engaging to avoid forcing them off the map. It is still perfectly doable to accomplish things with 5, 10, or 15 players if you're smart, but why think when you can steam roll everything with a blob.

> @"Arheundel.6451" said: > Getting the same kitten error kitten, game is close to be unplayable, sometimes happens once every few hours...another time twice within 10m Same thing happening to me for the last week(?). It seems to be getting worse too. I don't understand what the deal is, but I'll tell you, being disconnected when there's a Q of 50+ in WvW makes me pretty unhappy.

> @"Voltekka.2375" said: > > @"Shroud.2307" said: > > > @"Voltekka.2375" said: > > > Btw, on a completely unrelated comment, that scourge build he mentions isnt really good. May work against clueless pvers, and thats it. Who runs without stunbreaks or cleanses, anyway? > > > > Spectral Walk is a stunbreak and Cleanse. Consume Conditions is a full cleanse. Sigil of Cleansing removes 3. Putrid Mark removes 3. Nefarious Favor removes 2 on a low cooldown. > > > > And yes I agree it's bad. I share builds that I have fun with and that are good in their niche to hopefully inspire others to give it a try or to create ones of their own. I've shared lots of build threads in the past and almost every time I'll add a disclaimer that it isn't meta and will state its weaknesses so people know what they're getting themselves in to if they try it. > > > > I never said it was good, just that it's good at some things. Anything can steamroll clueless PVErs so I don't think that's much of a statement. > > > > I just want to remind people that not everyone who visits the forum are experienced veterans. There are a lot of people that read this and never comment. It is helpful to criticize things, but just saying "x thing is bad" is not. This is why we have a community of players that have 0 creativity. Because any time they experiment with something they're met with insults rather than criticisms like what you've just said- > > > > > that scourge build he mentions isnt really good. May work against clueless pvers, and thats it. > > > > Very insightful. > > In my opinion, this is a bad build. People have offered you insight on another thread (most classes will just stunlock you or pewpew you from a distance), yet the reply is always the same: "no insight". Non meta builds can be great, i myself run offmeta builds but this one is just bad. > Btw, you havent actually given the full build (correct me if i am mistaken). I imagine it is full trailblazer, some torment runes or necromancer runes or nightmare runes (or similar) with death 2-2-2, curses 1-3-2, scourge 2-2-1 or 2-2-2. Scepter-torch and staff. Either way, you have 3 fear skills, f4, staff 5 and spectral ring (all on high cd), you could run corrupt boon hoping to corrupt stab (into fear for terror to kick in), spectral walk (kinda bad since you desperately need lifeforce, so spectral armor may be better), or trail of anguish for another stunbreak. Assuming you take corrupt boon and spectral ring, you have ONE stunbreak. Good luck with that. > Corrupting boons isnt this build's strong suit either. Scepter 3 and corrupt boon, plus any shade skills you use (but this is a shadeless build). So... Yeah. > Conditions get mitigated nowadays from enemy roamers, as condirevs are abundant (and generally speaking, condiroamers arent a rarity). You boom condispike on a target? Cleanse, your main offenders (torment and burning) get cleansed and you dont really have the chance to reapply them fast enough, as scourge. > What this build offers is tankiness. Warriors, rangers, reapers, corenecs, weavers, mirages, engies, thieves wont have an actual issue against this build. > I hope this was insightful enough. I used to run a similar build when boonrip wasnt nerfed, with curses > 2-2-3 or 2-2-2, scourge 1-2-1 (boonsteals amd lifeforce management). This is obsolete, now. That is a better explanation, most of which I agree. It frustrates me when people come in to those threads just to say the build is bad, so I defend myself as necessary. _X thing will roflstomp you_ is a criticism and advice, but it isn't very constructive either. You could say that about an entire class in some cases, never mind specific builds. I suppose I should just stop making build threads since this is about 99% of the types of comments I get. Often times I agree when someone points out a serious flaw, but again, it is rarely constructive. I just want to be able to share things I'm proud of and to discuss; ways to improve the build, to hear about similar builds other people have run, and to learn about or focus on underused things _(be it trait, utility, stat, etc.)_ to see how flexible they can be. The builds' strong suit is aggression, like I'd said in the thread. I also said it doesn't have many Corrupts, so you're correct. It has many weaknesses, but not every build needs to have a 90% rate of success to be fun. I just don't think I'll ever get why that's so hard for some people to grasp is all.

> @"Voltekka.2375" said: > Btw, on a completely unrelated comment, that scourge build he mentions isnt really good. May work against clueless pvers, and thats it. Who runs without stunbreaks or cleanses, anyway? Spectral Walk is a stunbreak and Cleanse. Consume Conditions is a full cleanse. Sigil of Cleansing removes 3. Putrid Mark removes 3. Nefarious Favor removes 2 on a low cooldown. And yes I agree it's bad. I share builds that I have fun with and that are good in their niche to hopefully inspire others to give it a try or to create ones of their own. I've shared lots of build threads in the past and almost every time I'll add a disclaimer that it isn't meta and will state its weaknesses so people know what they're getting themselves in to if they try it. I never said it was good, just that it's good at some things. Anything can steamroll clueless PVErs so I don't think that's much of a statement. I just want to remind people that not everyone who visits the forum are experienced veterans. There are a lot of people that read this and never comment. It is helpful to criticize things, but just saying "x thing is bad" is not. This is why we have a community of players that have 0 creativity. Because any time they experiment with something they're met with insults rather than criticisms like what you've just said- > that scourge build he mentions isnt really good. May work against clueless pvers, and thats it. Very insightful.

> @"fuzzyp.6295" said: > I believe part of the reason most novelties are turned off are to avoid unintentional exploits or unfair advantages. If I remember correctly, the Executioner Axe Toy was used for incredible mobility back in the old days of vanilla WvW, which I think is why ANet just removed them all together. It would be nice to have some things work in WvW... and it would be even more exciting if ANet added some chairs/novelties exclusive to WvW that we can purchase with WvW currency. > > Atleast you can still tonic. Mushroom tonic was another one that was heavily abused for mobility. The #2(?) skill is a long range dash with a brief pause at the end that could be skipped by exiting the transformation and re-entering to spam the dash repeatedly uninterrupted. It was pretty much a no-cooldown Warrior GS #5 _(Rush)._ You can actually still use this tonic in WvW too, but obviously because you can't Tonic while in combat anymore it doesn't have any use. As for the OP, I'd say what others have said is true. It's just easier to disallow most things to prevent potential exploits than to limit or adjust them individually. Because coding is such a weird thing, you can get some extremely unexpected results from the most unassuming actions. Just for an example- when you kill a player/NPC and it drops loot, it will move you slightly. In various locations various times in the past, this has been exploited to bypass walls/gates by standing at specific locations. I can vividly remember how easy this was to do at Inferno's Needle in EOTM and on North West inner gate in Stonemist Castle because both were so consistent. Kill an NPC while standing on specific terrain, and be teleported through the gate. I do feel you with wanting to use certain novelties in WvW though. I've been wanting to use my chair forever, but I just stopped hoping it would ever happen.

> @"ArchonWing.9480" said: > -snip- Very well put, and weirdly a little moving. I feel the issue of megaservers is bigger than some people think. Like you said, servers would push to be the first at things, and servers had pride. Although this can create toxicity and exclusion of its own, it also creates competition, loyalty, and a true community. People get familiar with each other and are willing to help each other to work toward a common goal. These are things that still exist, but because tiers have been condensed and communities are regularly shuffled, it drastically reduces the urgency to coordinate for a desired tier/match up and makes it difficult to maintain a server identity. Winning or losing isn't as rewarding or punishing as it once was, and frequent transfers and relinks have all but erased the personalities each server had. Don't get me wrong, it's not like every server was a snowflake completely unique from one another and with different goals, it's just that differences were a lot more apparent to an experienced eye. The only thing keeping WvW going anymore is the combat. It's still exciting because it's still some of the best on the market. But a game can only carry itself on that one feature for so long before people get bored. You need a reason to beat the enemy, and you need a place to call home. You can have one without the other, but these things together can sustain a hobby for a life time.- Just look at passionate sports fans to see what I mean.

> @"Dawdler.8521" said: > At the very least take streamlined kits so you dont move like a winnebago with 3 flat tires. Lolol, I thought about using that and Speed runes, but I'd have to drop most of my Valk to stay at a decent crit chance. I'm slow, but I have at least some mobility with Rifle 5, Acid Bomb, and Toss Elixir U to kite around in combat. I've been doing okay without the trait, but it would definitely be a good alternative if anyone feels like trying the build.

> @"Yasai.3549" said: > > @"Shroud.2307" said: > > > Condi Herald can apply several Conditions in an area around them with no tell when swapping Legends, of which you can further buff with sigils like; Blighting, Doom, Geomancy, etc. > > True Nature is also bugged with Mallyx and is both Unblindable and Undodgable with one shot potential if they have enough stacks on them. If you look here you can see this bug. I could be mistaken on this one, but it also has a radius of 600. I think it's actually 360 in WvW? I forget, but either way, both are an enormous radius. These things are all very similar to what I'd said about Necro in that you can suddenly take heavy damage just by being in the general vicinity of the Herald, which is why they should be changed. > > > > True Nature needs to be fixed and to have its radius reduced. You say it isn't broken, but this skill is objectively so. Call To Anguish needs the Chill removed, and Invoking Torment should have the duration of the Conditions it applies reduced. > > It has also been suggested in other threads that Infuse Light should be a more costly skill to upkeep so you can't just camp it. > > > > Otherwise I agree with what you've said about how to fight it. > > Yea, it's really no longer a secret that the single source of all of Condi Herald's damage is actually swapping in their enemy's face and unloading all the Condi. > If one knows how to look out for that attack pattern, it's really easy to avoid having that attack land. > > TN Demon is the real problem here in the end : I have made several posts talking about either nerfing TN Demon or changing how it functions altogether. > I see no reason why TN Demon should transfer condis up to 5 people AND give Might for Condis transferred as well. > Makes no sense at all. Agreed for sure. I think all Condi Herald needs are like two or three small changes and it will be a lot more balanced. It is "easy" to counter it right now by hard kiting it, but it there are still a couple things about it that shouldn't be performing the way they are. True Nature (Demon) being the biggest issue.

> @"ArchonWing.9480" said: > Shrugs, if someone is trying that hard to win an internet argument, they could probably be like playing the game or something. > > I have died because I was posting on these forums a few times lol > > Anyhow, what kind of fallacy is it? https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ad_hominem#Circumstantial Maybe? I dunno. Think it's https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tu_quoque > > > Person A makes claim X. > Person B asserts that A's actions or past claims are inconsistent with the truth of claim X. > Therefore, X is false. > > But fallacy or not, it's pretty creepy. I'm not going to pretend I don't contradict myself at times, I don't keep track of everything I say, and my opinions change. But taking things out of context and comparing apples to oranges is hardly an argument, especially when it's framed like an attack. I'm flattered someone took the time to read through so much of my history though.

> @"Swagger.1459" said: > -snip- Thanks for that walk down memory lane. I've got nothing to add because you've made no arguments, you're just trying to put me in a bad light to appeal to your narrative. If you're going to dig through post history and get personal because you disagree with me, I'm not going to give you any attention other than what I'm saying here. This is like if someone were to say "no, I don't like Game of Thrones", and then you go through their Facebook status history to patch together what ever evidence you can find to prove otherwise. It's just yikes.

> @"Yasai.3549" said: > > @"Voltekka.2375" said: > > Condi herald is broken as it is now. > > "Bad players die to it". Bad players also die to thieves > > Bad players die to everything kek. > > But seriously, Condi Herald 1v1 is not impossible or "broken" by any means. > Stay on the defensive when they are in Mallyx, go on the Offensive when they are in Glint, and take care not to free heal them during Infuse Light. > That's basically all it takes to beat them right now. > And even if yu can't beat them, alot of builds can outrun them because Condi Herald has really weak mobility. > > Are they very strong? Yes. > Are they broken? Far from it. > > Alot of stuff in the game can be beaten or encountered with game knowledge, I much prefer to fight things that require strategy to beat. > Which less can be said for low/no skill MM builds which just let their minions do all the chip damage while they just sit there and take camps. Necro had the strength of things like Spiteful Spirit and Chill of Death nerfed because they were no-tell procs that did heavy damage. Those were good changes because it added more counterplay. You don't suddenly take a big hit just from being in the general vicinity of the Necro with no warning anymore. Condi Herald can apply several Conditions in an area around them with no tell when swapping Legends, of which you can further buff with sigils like; Blighting, Doom, Geomancy, etc. True Nature is also bugged with Mallyx and is both Unblindable and Undodgable with one shot potential if they have enough stacks on them. If you look here you can see this bug. I could be mistaken on this one, but it also has a radius of 600. I think it's actually 360 in WvW? I forget, but either way, both are an enormous radius. These things are all very similar to what I'd said about Necro in that you can suddenly take heavy damage just by being in the general vicinity of the Herald, which is why they should be changed. True Nature needs to be fixed and to have its radius reduced. You say it isn't broken, but this skill is objectively so. Call To Anguish needs the Chill removed, and Invoking Torment should have the duration of the Conditions it applies reduced. It has also been suggested in other threads that Infuse Light should be a more costly skill to upkeep so you can't just camp it. Otherwise I agree with what you've said about how to fight it.

The amount of denial here is so unreal, lmao. It's not wanted in zergs Just dodge This is the tldr of what many have written in defense of their opinion. Very little reasonable thoughts on ways to change and improve the state of SlB has been made. Some of you really need to learn to look at things objectively when having these discussions instead of acting like balance requests are a personal attack. It's so weird how often the same names will defend Ranger as being a valuable addition to a zerg, but will defend imbalances with being unwanted. Nerfs don't mean there's no room for buffs. I think a lot of people are just afraid that even if SlB is still effective at what it does, changes that make it harder for them will be unfair. Something being difficult to use isn't unfair so long as it's rewarding in what it does. Or to explain it in another way- Heavily outplaying someone and putting in ten times the effort is difficult, not rewarding. Putting in the same amount of effort and making the proper decisions to outplay someone is both difficult _and_ rewarding.

You guys are missing the point entirely, lmao. It's that Soulbeast is low risk, low effort. You press one button, Dolyak Stance, and you're now immune to all CC with a Prot stacking effect that reduces Condi damage too. With one button you're doing more than half the builds in the game do with several. And with memebeast you can blast through someones' health bar from a football field away, and cover the same distance in the opposite direction if they move toward you. Nothing is as safe, low risk, and easy as being able to do 15 - 20k damage from 1500 range, with the option to run away if it fails before the target can even cover half that distance. Because I know how defensive Ranger mains are, I again want to defend myself by saying **I'm not the one asking for nerfs here.** But if you can't accept that SlB, be it boon or glass, is one of the lowest effort, lowest risk things you can play in WvW, you're kidding yourself. I'm a Necro main and think it's one of the easiest classes for beginners, that the core Unholy Martyr build needs to be deleted, and Lich is still broken even if it's easy to counter. Y'all need to learn to stop having biases for your classes if you want to actually discuss balance or you're not worth talking to.

> @"Yasai.3549" said: > All Engi needs is a mainhand for core that isn't bad. > LITERALLY ALL ENGI NEEDS. > > Cmon Anet, it ain't hard. Imo, Toolkit auto attacks should have cast times reduced through the entire chain, and maybe a small damage buff as well. Then give either Pistol auto attacks or Pistol #2 a better power coefficient so it can be used with either Condi or Power- but obviously don't buff it _too_ much. Just enough that it's actually damaging. And give Rifle some of its killing power back like what it had pre-February. It doesn't need to be completely reverted, but at minimum give Jump Shot damage again. Right now, that skill hits almost _half_ as hard as it used to. I think the easiest change would be the first one though. It would make Toolkit a good choice for more builds, and would give core a melee option that's actually reliable. I suppose you could say Bomb Kit fills that niche, but with the delay of the Explosions it tends to be very clunky. Toolkit autos actually hit fairly hard, especially the third hit in the chain. It's just that it's _sooo slow_ that you're only ever going to get that third hit off with Quickness, and even with it it's hard to land all of them. Maybe not the best suggestions, but at least easy ones to apply.

> @"whoknocks.4935" said: > For pure solo roaming if you wanna die the least amount possible of times, easy escapes and choosing your fights, go thief. > But unless you are good at knowing all class mechanics you won't kill decent/good players in 1vs1s and you will get rekt even by noob ranger. > > If you want easy noob mode with 1 braincell required: longbow/greatsword soulbeast or boonbeast. > > If wanna faceroll anything in smallscale then go condi herald and mashing buttons off cd and demon F2 when loaded with condi will do the trick, at the cost of losing braincells. > > If you are too unskilled to time and press many buttons for oneshot/high burst combo, then roll an holo or scrapper with granades and after a bit of aim spam practice you are good to go. > > This is pretty much the roaming meta nowadays. I think this is the most accurate statement in the thread you're going to find, OP. Besides that, what some others have said is also true about being ganked Xv1. Very, very few players _actually_ solo roam anymore, and in case anyone knows who I am, I'm not saying I'm any different. The _vast_ majority of roamers play in small groups now _(and always have really, it's just that it's more common now than ever)_ and will rarely attempt to do anything alone. If they're truly a solo roamer that play alone more often than with friends, they're very likely to be playing some kind of cookie cutter build similar to what has been said above. There are still avid solo roamers out there, but they are a dying breed. I venture out on my own quite often, but it's almost exclusively in EBG, and I'm not usually very ballsy about what I do. It's just flipping camps and looking for fights in areas I'm less likely to get zerged because most times I get jumped by a 10 man roaming guild within 5 minutes of going anywhere alone. In other words, I solo roam but I'm not a solo roamer.

> @"Kovu.7560" said: > Cut down (or flat out remove) all of those multiplicative bonuses the Beastmastery and Soulbeast traitlines give to a soulbeast and buff core ranger damage. Core ranger damage is sufficiently pathetic that anything shy of bruiser-based builds is subpar in today's roaming meta. > > As for Soulbeasts that press sic 'em & rapid fire... their rotation is literally the most predictable thing in the game, making even rifle deadeye look high-skill. > > Druids are annoying with the roots but don't actually kill anything on their own -- unless you have literally 0 cleanses and they're allowed to ramp up those bleeds. IMO that spec needs a rework involving the reduction of immobilize applications, but whenever I bring it up Druid mains (all three of them) cry. > > Also, since we're comparing lengths, 8k hours on ranger here. o/ > > ~ Kovu Only issue I see with that is that Soulbeast and Ranger become too similar, and they're already not very different. I think it makes sense for Soulbeast to be the high damage spec, it's just that the utility it has is superior to core as well which makes it almost a complete upgrade. In my opinion, all Ranger pets need to be reviewed and the changes I listed earlier in this thread need to go through for Soulbeast. Then Soulbeast could get some small damage buffs here and there, be it Condition stacks/durations or coefficients. That way it can have the identity of being a heavy damage dealer _(similar to Warrior -> Berserker or Necromancer -> Reaper)_ without inadvertently buffing it by changing any of the trait lines. As for core, I think buffs should be mostly targeted at pets _(even if that also benefits Soulbeast)_ because core can use two. Maybe even reworking a trait in Beast Mastery to work similarly to Zephyr's Speed that grants some of kind of effect on pet swap. Core Ranger can still do quite a lot of damage if you're glassy. And if you're not, it is a _very_ good duelist/outnumbered fighter. As I'd said, there is a boon core build that is astoundingly tanky, even compared to the pre-nerf Soulbeast version, and it isn't the only bruiser build core can use effectively. I think it's just rare that anyone sees them because 99.9% of Rangers would rather go Soulbeast because it's easy mode.

> @"anduriell.6280" said: > Your suggestions are pretty close to be good but clearly don't play with ranger which shows. > > BoonBeast is not a thing anymore. It is very difficult to keep up the boon uptime although the Soulbeast can have a some moments where it can get a burst of boons. > The main culprit of the efficiency of the tanky builds is the Axe Mainhand. That weapon does too much damage compared with the range and utility bought (weakness + chilled) . Without that weapon the tanky builds would be just that, tanky builds. Maybe I misunderstand what you're saying, but I have many _( over 4k )_ hours on Ranger, and it is my second oldest character approaching its 7th birthday. I've also fought many, many, _many_ Rangers. Boonbeast is still a thing. It's less faceroll, but still forgiving. There is actually a core Ranger version of the Boonbeast build that is even more tanky and with better Condition cleanse, but slightly less damage. Longbow Boonbeast has never been as good as the GS + X _(typically full melee or with Axe mainhand)_ variant, but it is still plenty strong. I know of a particular player who uses a Boon build with GS + Longbow and is absurdly tanky despite also dealing very heavy damage. I don't know what his armor is, but I'm assuming a mixture of Marauder and Commander or Diviner + Durability runes. I want to be clear that I really don't care whether it does or doesn't get nerfed, it's in a much better place than it used to be. I just like to discuss balance when threads like these come up because often times people ask for blanket nerfs without considering how it affects the role of the class or the balance of the class as a whole. I appreciate your input, although I don't agree with all of it, but I do 110% agree with this- > The ranger in general needs better designed pets it is it's main mechanics and it shows very clearly it has not being taken care of. Ranger is in serious need of pet rebalancing because only a handful are useful, while the rest have skill recharges and effects that are relics of pre-expansions. Smoke Scale is _waaayy_ too good compared to the rest of the pets, and I think many of them should be brought more in line with the versatility of Smoke Scale, rather than nerfing Smoke Scale if any changes to pets were to be made.

> @"LetoII.3782" said: > an Singular. Soulbeast has multiple.

Dolyak Stance is one of the biggest offenders. 33% damage reduction 33% Condition damage reduction Immune to movement impairing Conditions 6 stacks of Stability Stunbreak 30 second recharge This is practically an elite skill. It makes you _immune_ to all form of CC, on top of giving a Protection effect that cannot be removed that also effects Conditions. Removing the 33% damage/Condition damage reduction, and changing it so that it only reduces _the duration of_ movement impairing Conditions, would make this skill a lot less overloaded, but still strong. Next, "Sic 'Em!" should apply Exhaustion to the Ranger for 3 seconds after use. And lastly, Smoke Scale's merged skill, Smoke Assault, needs **one of two changes;** Range reduced to 350, or give it a cast time. Right now it has _double_ the range of Unrelenting Assault, no cast time, and can be enhanced with "Sic Em!" to deal nearly as much damage, on less than double the recharge. These are targeted changes because this is how balancing should be done. These things will effect Soulbeast and Soulbeast only. Not Druid or core. They are things that have been over performing and overlooked for a long time, and the spec will not die with these changes.

I like floaty rams. When I throw them I do it inside the gate so people can't repair from inside and because it looks silly.

> @"Sleepwalker.1398" said: > > @"Sigmoid.7082" said: > > Deaths charge has a bunch of hits that are not listed in the skill fact that are part of the spinning animation. You get hit by them if you are close enough. The tooltip you see is the final hit and the final hit only. > > > > I can't remember how many but they haven't actually been updated in damage value since introduction, unlike the final hot, so they land for a damage coeff of 0.1. > > > > For some reason my memory wants to say 9 extra hits? > > > > It's one of the strongest skills in the kit..even if you only look at the final hit. only really held back by being a leap (not affected by quickness ), the landing lag on the final hit, and the weird targeting all leaps have. > > > > Though if you are getting hit for that much by that skill there are a lot of skills that would do FAR more damage to you. > > Thanks for this. I'm not a reaper so the hits on the skill's description did not make sense. > I was just testing and I think you are right in it being 9 hits. > The first 8 seem like normal and 9th is one that spikes. >  > It is meant to tell you _"you're being hit, you're being hit, move away."_ A little bit like Holo's Corona Burst. It has a wind up before the big hit comes, and it warns you with a lower damage hit first. You want to dodge the end of the charge, not the beginning.