Shroud.2307

> @"Justine.6351" said:

> It is the safest and easiest camp to approach and it always has a waypoint nearby which is also the map starting point for the home server. You don't even need some fancy high mobility elite roaming build to defend it. You just walk north past the waypoint while invulnerable and boom, there you are, north camp. Any home defender can defend it on pretty much any build. Also because its so easy to get to its a camp you don't have to win to defend just by yourself as you can count on more allies showing up to defend it, just stall. Another item is that its super far away from enemy spawns so if you kill them they are gone for a measurable amount of time. They arn't just graveyarding it and in fact you can graveyard defend it yourself as a home defender. Having the two little doorways for entrances and even walkways above them is just icing on the cake.

>

> Truly a superb home defender favored camp and a testament to the original alpine borderland developer's rvr experience.

This ^

It's a camp with a waypoint. People just defend it aggressively because there's nothing to obstruct them on the way to the camp and it's a 30 second walk back if they die.

You can capture it from behind objects as long as you're still in the ring. Personally, if I'm alone when I go for this camp, I hide behind something while waiting for the cap, and if I see anyone coming I make a run for it. It never feels worth it to fight people there to me unless with a group.

As someone who has been playing core power Necro for a very long time, I want to say a few things regarding your version of it.

First of all, I stopped doing PvP shortly after HoT, and I've been a WvW main basically since day 1, so I understand this will influence my opinion.

I also understand that you're something like PvP rank 2k+(?) between your accounts, and although rank does not equal skill, it does mean you have a lot of experience. So I don't doubt that your reasons for crafting the build the way you did are correct.

Still, I want to add some thoughts.

To me, core power Necro is about spike damage, not DPS, which is why I prefer Berserker amulet and Curses over Blood Magic. I had said you should try Berserker amulet on your stream, but you said Marauder is better because it allows for more DPS. While true, I think this build is to be played more like a Thief or Revenant instead of like a Reaper. Not necessarily +1ing, but spiking pressured targets or forcing defensive cooldowns. Life Blast is where that spike damage comes from and it hits a lot harder with more Power and Ferocity. Although yes, your damage will fall off while out of Shroud, Curses will ensure you maintain your crit chance through Target The Weak _(increase critical hit chance per condition on the target)_ as well as giving you Path Of Corruption for more Corrupts to further improve your spike.

Because it's Necro you're going to be very vulnerable to getting spiked yourself. This is again why I feel it's better to go more offensive and focus on spike damage rather than DPS. Blood Magic is great support with Vampiric Aura, Ritual Of Life, and Unholy Martyr, but you can't afford to be supporting people in that way while being so squishy. Instead I think you should be supporting by spiking targets and Corrupting, as well as applying Weakness which Weakening Shroud will provide.

All your DPS in Marauder kind of goes to waste because much of your time will be spent hard kiting and playing defensive waiting for good openings to deal damage which Berserker + Curses could better capitalize on.

I know that Blood Magic is tremendously helpful in team fights as well as giving you a very potent cleanse, and that Marauder gives you a lot of Vitality which in turn means more Shroud. I also understand that you're not much use if you're dead, and Berserker + Curses is extremely risky. Still, if you're experienced enough to know how to handle fights, I think a more offensive approach can be a good choice assuming you have the proper team for it.

Despite all of this, I don't think Marauder + Blood Magic is worse, nor am I criticizing your advice. I just think there is an alternative way to play core power Necro that can be equally beneficial to your team, and recommend using.

I've been playing this for years. I'm sure it could be better optimized, like losing some crit chance because while in Shroud I often overcap, but I don't mind it as is.

It has a lot of losing match ups and it is horrendously weak in an open field, but there are also a lot of match ups it does extremely well in, and is a killing machine in small scale fights. I've tried more defensive builds, as well as Marauder with Speed runes, but again don't feel the loss in damage is worth it much of the time. I feel like it loses its purpose as a spike build and just becomes a weaker ranged Reaper, albeit better in some 1v1/X because of the higher Vitality.

Anyway, I apologize for the novel. I just love core power Necro dearly, and because I like... Literally _never_ see anyone playing it, or talking about it, I wanted to take this chance to write out my thoughts. At _best_ I'm a Platinum 2 player, so I know some of my feelings are objectively wrong, but I don't think that means all of this is without merit either.

> 1. Frequently has skilled commanders that enjoy leading PUG groups

There are only a handful of tags I'd consider genuinely skilled that aren't reliant on; having a map Q to back them, only playing aggressive during off hours, or parking alts to tag watch.

Most of the good pug tags don't tag often either. They roll with their guilds, roam, or join other tags instead.

> 2. Players are generally skilled enough so that fights are often enjoyable, come on voice chat, and follow commands instead of scattering like a swarm of pewpewing locusts.

Anvil Rock, Fort Aspenwood, Blackgate, and Maguuma are the only NA servers with consistently positive KDR and pugs capable of handling themselves without a tag. I don't know about voice comms, but all of these servers often work better individually/as a cloud.

Meaning, if you're looking for a server with players that will follow a tag, join Discord, and are generally competent fighters, there isn't one. All the servers with good fighters tend to play tagless more so than with.

> 3. I'm most after the fights but I don't want an extreme imbalance between PPT/fights

Again, probably won't find it. Servers that like fights tend to focus heavily on that, and servers that like PPT often wipe to half their numbers depending on who they're up against.

NA isn't completely absent of skilled players and guilds, but you're unlikely to find what you're looking for here. EU is a lot more "serious" in regard to comps and pugs willing to follow a commander, where as NA is a free-for-all.

> @"lodjur.1284" said:

> > @"TrollingDemigod.3041" said:

> > > @"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.

> > Dragon heal isn't that much of a problem in long run, but I do agree with True Nature - Demon being pepe design which need changes.

>

> Dragon heal is the strongest healing skill in the game.

>

>

> > Although I still believe that Trailblazer, Dire and many others sets need to be deleted, since they promote no effort builds with low risk-high reward gameplay.

>

> The opposite. Torment runes are specifically only good in high risk situations. If people can't outdmg them when you're in melee that's not the rune being broken.

>

> Id go as far as to say that there's barely any viable melee builds without a torment rune style effect for group fights. Such as impact savant, ps, ip, se etc. Because there has to be a reward for going melee, or there's no reason to not just play ranged.

>

> Trailblazer is needed for condi to be a thing and condi rev burst is predictable and slow and leaves the option to clear. True nature doesn't.

>

> > Torment runes and other runes need an icd that's for sure.

> > Let's get rid of a root problems instead of just trimming branches of the most problematic stuff.

>

> These things aren't even issues. Condi rev/ren can reasonably be focused down in group fights (and torment ja obviously mediocre in 1v1).

>

> The parts that make herald low risk aren't trailblazer, it isn't tormenting runes.

>

> It's having a 3 sec invuln with big upside for a heal together with multiple blocks and resistance. These are very mechanics, torment runes are one of the games few actual high risk high reward mechanics.

>

> > @"KrHome.1920" said:

> > It is tormenting rune. I have no issuses countering condi revs that dont use the rune - neither 1v1 and nor smallscale.

>

> If the rune does anything against you 1v1,you were already losing....

>

> 1v1 it's probably not even the best option that condi rev has...

>

> > It's also a no brainer that it is preferable to rework a rune that causes problems on one single class and damage type (and that is even sub par for other classes) in a way that it does not break this specific class anymore. Why on earth would you touch the class itself, if all you need to do to get things in line is doing a tweak on a rune?

>

> Cause the rune is a lot more interesting and leads to healthy gameplay as opposed to the mess that is a bunch of invulns to press when you play poorly to never get punished?

>

> > If you want to abuse this thread for infuse light nerf demands: you are missing the point.

>

> Nah, we just know how the class works.

>

> Tell me though, why should infuse light be so many times better than even the second best healing skill?

>

> Rev gets 2 healing skills cause they're supposed to be worse than other healing skills.

>

> Compared Infuse Light to Defiant stance (same duration (now that the stance trait isn't popular), same cd, same casttime).

>

> Now compare Soothing Stone to Mending. (roughly same heal, 30 vs 16 sec cd (always traited).

>

> Now note that defiant stance is in group fights generally considered stronger than mending.

>

> Compare Mallyx heal to consume conditions or bear stance or whatever and it will look similar. Rev heals are supposed to be weak in comparison.

>

> It's hardly like it's difficult to guess that infuse light has always been beyond broken (and a carry skill) just by some easy comparisons.

>

> Now think then that a very very vast majority of condi revs pick up herald. A traitline that gives you exactly 3 things.

>

> A mediocre dmg skill

>

> A super broken transfer

>

> A hilariously broken heal

>

> The later 2 is exactly what makes heralds horrible to fight and what makes it easy mode. If herald got nuked, I'd reckon we'd not even see a fifth of the people playing it swapping to core or ren, because these are actually hard builds. Nerf staff/Shield and the numbers would be even lower.

Ah, always refreshing to see some actual logic on these forums.

Although I don't fully agree with your thoughts on Tormenting runes, I definitely do agree that they're much less of an issue than some people think. I don't think it is entirely okay to be able to heal such large amounts just from a rune, because depending on the build _(not strictly talking Rev here)_ you can become astoundingly tanky with enough targets to hit. I have a Scourge build that is 100% offensive with nothing invested in Corrupts or Barrier, but I can facetank a lot of people at once if I play aggressive because of Parasitic Contagion and Torment runes. The two together give me a huge amount of sustain.

I feel reducing the healing per Torment applied would be good enough. An ICD seems to limiting to me because only a couple things can take advantage of such rapid Torment application while the others will struggle. And it isn't the runes that should be targeted, but the traits/skills instead.

Also I just want to add, as far as I can recall, Defiant Stance is effected by Poison. You will get reduced healing on incoming damage if you're Poisoned. Infuse Light does not do that.

> @"KrHome.1920" said:

> It is tormenting rune. I have no issuses countering condi revs that dont use the rune - neither 1v1 and nor smallscale.

>

> It's also a no brainer that it is preferable to rework a rune that causes problems on one single class and damage type (and that is even sub par for other classes) in a way that it does not break this specific class anymore. Why on earth would you touch the class itself, if all you need to do to get things in line is doing a tweak on a rune?

>

> If you want to abuse this thread for infuse light nerf demands: you are missing the point.

Your experience doesn't dictate the balance of the game. Though it is telling how you come to your conclusions.

Tormenting rune exacerbates the issue, it is not the source of the problem.

Given everyone who uses these forums is in a constant state of resentful abandonment abhorring how their suggestions are never to be heard by ANet, I don't see why some like yourself find it so threatening to discuss things you disagree with.

I think devs do stop by to review threads more often than people think, and I think it's worth it to be constructive.

> @"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.

**Hip Shot-** unchanged

**Net Shot-**

1. Remove damage, reduce recharge to 8 seconds, increase Immobilize duration to 3 seconds.

2. Remove damage, add x2 ammunition with 1 second recharge between shots and 10 second total recharge.

**Blunderbuss-** Remove Bleed and replace with Boon ripping effect that removes 2 - 3 Boons **on the initial target** dependent on range, x2 maximum range, x3 minimum range. Does not effect multiple targets.

**Overcharged Shot-** Replace movement impairment cleanse _(Chill, Cripple, Immobilize)_ with Vulnerability that applies additional stacks at same thresholds as Blunderbuss. x6 maximum range, x9 minimum range.

**Jump Shot-** Replace Vulnerability with movement impairment cleanse _(Chill, Cripple, Immobilize)_ on leap, add Swiftness 6 seconds and AOE Cripple 3 seconds on landing.

> @"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.

And if there was a moment, at what time did you know/decide you were a WvW main?

My earliest memory doubles as the moment I decided to be a WvW main.

I can't remember the exact servers that were present, but I do remember a lot of other details.- I had just entered EBG for the first time. I saw two sets of orange swords on the mini map, which at this point I only understood to be Events because I was still quite new to the game. Our server was blue, and I entered the keep from the spawn side moving toward the OJ's that were between Bravost, Umber, and Durios in the vicinity of the Grub. I confidently went up the wall preparing to hop out to participate, but immediately froze when I saw the _absolute ocean_ of red and blue names. It was a 3 way fight between all servers, and as far as I can recall, it must have been map Q's from each side. I was so floored by the scale of this fight I would be talking about it to friends for the next week.

I'm pretty sure I died within 30 seconds of joining the fight, but I went back as many times as it took, and I had a total blast. I had never seen anything like that in a video game before _(granted, I've only played a dozen or so video games in my life)_ and was immediately sold on WvW.

I still get a little giddy even today when I see huge 3 way fights even if they're often a lagfest. It just never stops being cool to me to see so many players fighting in one place.

How about you guys? I'd love to hear stories, especially from veterans that might remember things I totally forgot about. It would also be interesting to hear the perspectives of new players to learn how a new comer feels with all the things that have changed about WvW over the years.

> @"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.

Power Cannon

Been enjoying this build a lot. Although it has some very obvious weaknesses such as; poor Condition cleanse, poor sustained damage, and low mobility- it can still truck pretty hard. Explosive Entrance + Pry Bar is a _very_ high damage pair almost on par with Grenade Barrage. Often times I'm seeing Pry Bar hit around 6 - 8k with EE hitting 3 - 4k meaning depending on the health of my target I can do 50%> of their health in "one" hit.

Being a core build it is very risky, but it feels nice to play and has good pay off if you land your skills. Throw out some Mortar shells to keep pressure at your feet, smack people with Pry Bar when ever you can, get your Jump Shot loaded with EE at range so you don't proc it on the first hit, and if you can afford to use Elixir U offensively you can try Toolkit auto attacking. All of these skills hit quite hard with this build. Although Toolkit auto attacks are extremely slow and not the best thing to be spamming in most cases, it's good filler damage if you use it right, and the third hit can go anywhere from 4 - 8k.

As per usual when I share builds I want to add a disclaimer that this really isn't a "good" build so much as it is effective and fun. It has lots of counters and can be tricky to use, but it has enough utility to be more than a gimmick and often seems to surprise people with how hard it can hit.

> @"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.

While discussing it with a friend today, he made a suggestion that I really liked.

Give _Counterblow_ a flip over skill instead of the attack being automatic. Similar to Thief Sword 2, Infiltraitor Strike, or Ranger GS 4 Counter Attack. After you block an attack you gain access to an attack for a few seconds.

Landing the attack should reduce the recharge of Mace skill 3.

And Mace skill 3 should apply Vulnerability when interrupting a skill.

Lastly, the range on Skull Crack should be 170 because it is far too easy to negate. With all the Stability and Stunbreaks in the game, it isn't as punishing as it used to be, so it should at least have a little more reach.

I would love for Mace to get some reasonable buffs, it is by far and long my favorite Warrior weapon kit, but it just doesn't feel rewarding to use anymore. Skull Crack can still be a devastating skill, but requires a great deal more skill to capitalize on than it used to.

What are your thoughts on Mace and ways it could be improved?