Poll - Which is your favorite Path of Fire elite specialization.

[Samnang.1879]

Holosmith seems the most fun, but I don't wanna judge before playing all. My least fav is mirage... I don't really get it.

[Cave Rock.4869]

> @"Drarnor Kunoram.5180" said:

> I'm a Necro main through and through, but I had to vote Deadeye for this one. It's honestly surprising that a sniper spec wasn't the first Elite specialization that Thieves got because it fits them so well!

 

Sup Drarnor Kunoram, Scourge not your cup of tea? What made you choose Deadeye over your main. Do you have concerns with the Scourge? Or couldn't figure out a build?

 

BTW your not wrong about the Deadeye, it kinda just feels right and fits in really well with so much of the core Theif. That comes from a person who feels that guns like pistols and rifles have no place in a relatively high fantasy game.

[Cave Rock.4869]

> @Samnang.1879 said:

> Holosmith seems the most fun, but I don't wanna judge before playing all. My least fav is mirage... I don't really get it.

 

Oh Hey Samsung welcome to the discussion thread about all the nine new elites. A big tick for the Holosmith seems like the general consensus at the moment from the community.

 

I personally loved what Arenanet did with rocket boots by giving it the ammo mechanic. So there is not just one big huge jump but two when required. Although the white ammo numbers don't stand out enough in the utility bar. Perhaps a more vibrant colour would work, maybe class specific ones instead of plain old white across the board. That goes for all ammo based skills across each of the professions. Just a minor niggling feeling I had with that new mechanic that was introduced in the previous class or profession balance patch.

 

Oh Yeah Samnang I was confused also with the Mirage to the point I couldn't even make a build that I was happy with at moment. That may also have something to do with me not understanding the potential of ambushes or just being disappointed by the Mirage cloaks, having to be run through or picked up. I felt Mirage suffered from the Ventari Revenant problem. A cool idea to have evasion be the focus but the implementation of having to pick-up mirrors to cloak in practice is too hard. Just like the Ventari orbs to heal with... Because in a crux when you need a heal or an evade these things need to happen relatively instantly or you just get downed or stomped. But also they need to not get too overpowered. I guess that is hard to balance. Plus it has to have fun game play and mechanics that are possible to be made by all the teams.

[calb.3128]

I was looking forward to Mirage, but Holosmith wins it for me.

 

I know there has been a lot of criticism over some of the new elite specialisations, but I do like that (at least some of them) are not automatically _better_ in all respects than the other options from the same profession, unlike what we saw with the launch of HoT. I just hope that doesn't change by the weekend... :3

[Cave Rock.4869]

> @calb.3128 said:

> I was looking forward to Mirage, but Holosmith wins it for me.

>

> I know there has been a lot of criticism over some of the new elite specialisations, but I do like that (at least some of them) are not automatically _better_ in all respects than the other options from the same profession, unlike what we saw with the launch of HoT. I just hope that doesn't change by the weekend... :3

 

I hope for the same Calb, but in the instance of core builds. I never really was a fan of many of the Hot elites specialisations. The last build I mained for a long time was a minstrels core shout build Guardian. But when Hot launched I did play a Revenant and Tempests for a little bit.

 

So for that reason I am super pumped for the new Path of Fire elite specialisations. Although like yourself I hope that not too many other old staple builds get pushed aside or nerfed. For the sake of those people who enjoyed the past playstyles.

[Arden.7480]

Weaver, it is so perfect. I thought it'd be worst than Tempest, but I was wrong and weaver is absolutely fantastic. Same thoughts about Scourge.

[Cave Rock.4869]

> @Arden.7480 said:

> Weaver, it is so perfect. I thought it'd be worst than Tempest, but I was wrong and weaver is absolutely fantastic. Same thoughts about Scourge.

 

Hey Arden, thanks for participating in the poll! Yep Weaver is one of the best in my opinion! I am so glad more in the community feel just the same like me and you.

 

 

[Thurindir.3268]

> @Warlyx.6732 said:

> Holo , hands down , awesome animations, New mechanic , fun gameplay

 

Really can't wait to play my Holosmith. I came into this game to play engineer, but did not enjoy Scrapper all that much. Really loved what I saw from the new elite specc in the Demos. Before I played Holosmith, I was thinking Deadeye would be my favorite. That changed quick.

[Cave Rock.4869]

> @Thurindir.3268 said:

> > @Warlyx.6732 said:

> > Holo , hands down , awesome animations, New mechanic , fun gameplay

>

> Really can't wait to play my Holosmith. I came into this game to play engineer, but did not enjoy Scrapper all that much. Really loved what I saw from the new elite specc in the Demos. Before I played Holosmith, I was thinking Deadeye would be my favorite. That changed quick.

 

Sup Thurindir, isn't it a nice feeling knowing that there is a new elite specialization that has reinvigorated your interest in your main character or profession that you play or have done so for a long time. As you never found the Scrapper to be your particular play style you must be absolutely stoked that your back enjoying playing the Engineer again with the new elite specialization the Holosmith. I agree with you both Warlyx and Thurindir, Arenanet did a fantastic job on the Holosmith.

[PainbowBrite.3785]

I voted weaver, but holo is a very close second. I've mained about half the classes at one time or another since beta. Weaver has a steep curve, but a ton of potential. Have to really get used to all the new abilities and dual attuned skills and master new combos. This build will lose alot of the fresh air lovers with a 4 second global on all attunements, but you can still do so much. Main weakness is going to be condi clear. Water traitline is still mandatory for spvp/wvw sadly.

 

Holo is just fun as he'll and visually appealing. I expect the engy population to skyrocket with their high dmg and low learning curve. Survivability will be a problem though, especially in wvw.

[Warrost.4895]

Tbh I am not looking forward for any of them.

All of the new specs have their huge design flaws, and none feels well rounded, and just like it was with HoT I highly doubt Anet will do anything close to a rework/fixing core broken mechanics.

Only reason for me to get PoF is mounts.

[CptAurellian.9537]

As much as I like guardian as a class, my answer to this poll is holosmith. That spec felt good in every aspect. Firebrand, on the other hand, has been implemented in an absolutely horrible way.

[Aomine.5012]

I think Anet can use this poll and see which classes need to be address asap in general.

 

Mirage, Soulbeast, and Renegade need a hot fix asap before launch.

(I do understand why Spellbreaker get low vote, but honestly Spellbreaker is strong as is right now. It just doesn't have top dps for PVE compare to Berserker)

[Hibiskus.8294]

I voted the mirage, since i am and i will ever be a mesmer player...however the ppl are right, we have a hard time right now and the blood was really boiling after that what they have done to the mantras... : heal mantra: 20 sec. recharge time, taken away the trait for the 3rd charge, lowered the heal.....also they have put the firebrand right in our face: 3 mantra charges as basic....but we have cried a lot in the old forums, hopefully they make some changes that there were mentioned....(i mean: the ammo - system is soo cool, but use both charges and you still need to cast....the recharge time is some sort of CD AND cast at the same time....so why just not make it like it goes to 0 and then you need to wait for the next charge instead of casting new...)....

 

And yes: Mirage concept is really cool...however some rework needs to be done (the short time you have the cloak...no time for cast and evade...most enemie attacks are longer then the cloak, so you need to run away...or stand in the attack, cast the ambush and get hit...), the heal is to low for a 30 sec. CD but the idea of no need to stand in it is cool, ( i mentioned that instead of higher heal a lower CD would be nice, since the chrono has a strong 30 sec heal) etc.

 

also they had said in one of the videos that mirage can camouflage themselves....but they can not....so i have opened a thread in the mesmer forum to ask if we can get a baseline: stand 5 seconds on the same place and camouflage yourself for long as you want, but when you move you destroy the illusion that you have created so you are visible again: so stand still (after 5 seconds) you are invisible, move and you can be seen again.... why after 5 seconds? well i think instant invisible would be not good for pvp / wvw and 5 seconds are a long time....and when you move you are visible again so you can not sneak to an enemie... but in pve you can loose aggro from monsters and your illusion take the aggro...would be cool....

 

Also: OriOri have opened some discussion threads about weapon skill improvements for the mesmer and since axe is a really nice movement weapon i think the sword will have a hard time right now.... and it may need some changes (not dmg changes, just some handling changes).

[Cave Rock.4869]

> @PainbowBrite.3785 said:

> I voted weaver, but holo is a very close second. I've mained about half the classes at one time or another since beta. Weaver has a steep curve, but a ton of potential. Have to really get used to all the new abilities and dual attuned skills and master new combos. This build will lose alot of the fresh air lovers with a 4 second global on all attunements, but you can still do so much. Main weakness is going to be condi clear. Water traitline is still mandatory for spvp/wvw sadly.

>

> Holo is just fun as he'll and visually appealing. I expect the engy population to skyrocket with their high dmg and low learning curve. Survivability will be a problem though, especially in wvw.

 

Love the name btw, my brother had a rainbow Brite as a kid your post brought back some funny memories lol.

 

Now back to talk about thw game. Your post is helpful for two main reasons, the first is recognising the Weavers 4 second global cooldown. Secondly the WvW potential problems for the Holosmith. I feel you might be on to something here, and that is both Weaver and Holosmith might have a big part of the SPvP scene and not so much in WvW. Perhaps this is due to the fact that offense seems to be more preferred than defense. Burst over sustain. Most WvW builds can deal with control effects and conditions plus heal a bit, therefore they have better sustain. Whilst in SPvP it is largely kill or be killed or escape runing to save your own skin to bring about a health bar reset.

 

Sadly I don't think the water line slow health returns through Soothing Mist will be enough to stop some of the Path of Fire elite specialisations burst damage potential. The water line may only be useful for condition cleanses soon.

 

Both elites have drawbacks Weaver 4 global cooldown and Holosmith overheating. You will constantly have to be prepared and think what will my next action, skill, move or step be in this fight and what do I save for another in the future. These two builds might be unforgiving at times. As you might get caught unawares or in a predicament, from your own build or elite specialisation's mechanics.

 

Although don't get me wrong I really really like both a lot even enough to call them my second and third favorite new elites. For me the Weaver edges out the Holosmith but only just.

 

Thanks for the helpful and insightful post Painbowbrite and reminding me how odd my brother used to be as a kid. But in a good and funny way.

[Cave Rock.4869]

> @Warrost.4895 said:

> Tbh I am not looking forward for any of them.

> All of the new specs have their huge design flaws, and none feels well rounded, and just like it was with HoT I highly doubt Anet will do anything close to a rework/fixing core broken mechanics.

> Only reason for me to get PoF is mounts.

 

Thanks Warrost, for your honest post and I am really happy to see that your keen to pickup Path of Fire because of the mounts. You know what I am so glad I put in an undecided category, it was definitely intended for people just like yourself.

 

Those that had concerns, worries or fears that none of the nine new elite specialisations would not meet their expectations or for what they hoped to get but didn't.

 

This discussion can be just as much a thread for those somber emotions and feelings of disappointment and frustration as for those who are happy or over the moon about the new elite specialisations. As long as it is constructive feedback. Go ahead and say undecided folks if that is how you really feel and do what Warrost did be considerate and constructive with the feedback. How does Arenanet know if we are happy or not if we don't tell them?

 

Warrost managed to find a positive in amongst so many negatives for what he/she expected and I guess that is one great thing to consider if you feel the same. MOUNTS ARE COMING TO GUILD WARS 2! How cool is that everybody.

 

Mounts are definitely a great reason to purchase the second expansion, if not that then just to continue on with the expansion and living world STORY to find out what happens between Balthazar, the Elder Dragons, Palowa Joko and us the Commander's.

 

Finally don't forget core and Heart of Thorns builds (traits and traitlines) which will still be viable and should not totally be forgotten. I know for one that I have never given up on the core Guardian shout build and perhaps others should remember this saying of mine, 'old is not useless, bad or to be considered close to death, it just means they are wise builds to use because they have been tried and proved to be true through practice or experience.' In other words don't toss old builds aside just because of new elites if you know they work. That is right everyone give em a go in the new meta.

 

Thanks for the honest and insightful post Warrost, cheers from Cave Rock.

 

Don't forget all to check out my video if you're having trouble deciding on an elite. It might just help you out. If not atleast you will be able to see in the second half how much trouble I personally had in coming to a conclusion or concensus on the elites that I liked, disliked or thought needed some fine tuning.

 

I almost voted undecided because of how torn between three of the new elite specialisations I was when creating and producing my presentation.

 

[Cave Rock.4869]

> @CptAurellian.9537 said:

> As much as I like guardian as a class, my answer to this poll is holosmith. That spec felt good in every aspect. Firebrand, on the other hand, has been implemented in an absolutely horrible way.

 

CptAurellian, I am so sorry to hear you feel that way about the Firebrand. I think the easiest way to explained to you how I see the Firebrand is one elite with locked or gated skills that are just behind the fence but need time to get to in a crux or the crunch... Therefore you need to have time to react and the only way to really do that is by having a rather tanky build or one with support/healing/condition removal. It seems a sad but true fact. It may be hard for those who have played the Dragonhunter to adjust to the Firebrand.

 

The other elites similar to this are the Soulbeast and Weaver. But the order of elites with gated skills goes Soulbeast, Firebrand and Weaver. Those are my top three but there are others like Scou

 

These locked or gate skills feel clunky and unresponsive to players. APM drops and lack of instant skills are forcing the player to adapt to a new meta. Along with skill that have ammo or recharges.

 

Unfortunately Firebrand basically get most of those mechanics and then some with tome and mantas. But personally I think I could adapt to it, but that is coming from a Guardian that likes support and tanky builds. Not power or condition damage burst builds that expected Firebrand to be tailored to their playstyles which have not been met as of yet from what we saw in the demo.

 

Time till use and radius are perhaps something the skills and balance team could look into in tge near future.

 

Thanks heaps CptAurellian I found it really interesting.

[Oglaf.1074]

I wish I could be psyched for Spellbreaker but I just can't.

 

Dinky little daggers for my Norn warrior? Seems to be an entirely WvW/PvP-focused spec? Nah, it just doesn't get me hot under the collar in any way or form....

[Cave Rock.4869]

> @Aomine.5012 said:

> I think Anet can use this poll and see which classes need to be address asap in general.

>

> Mirage, Soulbeast, and Renegade need a hot fix asap before launch.

> (I do understand why Spellbreaker get low vote, but honestly Spellbreaker is strong as is right now. It just doesn't have top dps for PVE compare to Berserker)

 

Sup Aomine, I am sure they will use this post for future iteration. I have complete faith in their ability as a skills and balance team. Karl, Robert and Irenio plus many others have got this under control and I bet have taken on so much of this feedback if not to use now but also into the near future. We have to remember this old saying 'Rome wasn't built in a day', it will take time. We just have to be patient! The more patient and helpful we are the better the outcomes and sooner. No pitch forks people.

 

Aomine thanks for sharing which elites you believe may need some slight adjustments to in upcoming expansion and balance patches.

 

Cheers for participating in the Path of Fire favorite elite specialisation poll. That goes for everyone who has voted or commented. Thanks all from CaveRock.4869 and BlueVoltron42.

[Cave Rock.4869]

> @Hibiskus.8294 said:

> I voted the mirage, since i am and i will ever be a mesmer player...however the ppl are right, we have a hard time right now and the blood was really boiling after that what they have done to the mantras... : heal mantra: 20 sec. recharge time, taken away the trait for the 3rd charge, lowered the heal.....also they have put the firebrand right in our face: 3 mantra charges as basic....but we have cried a lot in the old forums, hopefully they make some changes that there were mentioned....(i mean: the ammo - system is soo cool, but use both charges and you still need to cast....the recharge time is some sort of CD AND cast at the same time....so why just not make it like it goes to 0 and then you need to wait for the next charge instead of casting new...)....

>

> And yes: Mirage concept is really cool...however some rework needs to be done (the short time you have the cloak...no time for cast and evade...most enemie attacks are longer then the cloak, so you need to run away...or stand in the attack, cast the ambush and get hit...), the heal is to low for a 30 sec. CD but the idea of no need to stand in it is cool, ( i mentioned that instead of higher heal a lower CD would be nice, since the chrono has a strong 30 sec heal) etc.

>

> also they had said in one of the videos that mirage can camouflage themselves....but they can not....so i have opened a thread in the mesmer forum to ask if we can get a baseline: stand 5 seconds on the same place and camouflage yourself for long as you want, but when you move you destroy the illusion that you have created so you are visible again: so stand still (after 5 seconds) you are invisible, move and you can be seen again.... why after 5 seconds? well i think instant invisible would be not good for pvp / wvw and 5 seconds are a long time....and when you move you are visible again so you can not sneak to an enemie... but in pve you can loose aggro from monsters and your illusion take the aggro...would be cool....

>

> Also: OriOri have opened some discussion threads about weapon skill improvements for the mesmer and since axe is a really nice movement weapon i think the sword will have a hard time right now.... and it may need some changes (not dmg changes, just some handling changes).

 

Hey Hibiskus, thank for helping to grow constructive feedback about the mesmers new elite the Mirage. Do you think that if the duration of evade ob the Mirage Cloaks was extended a few seconds that it might become more viable?

 

Also I will not claim to be a mesmer pro when I am not but do you think that the mantra changes were too extreme at the time of introducing them to the public. Perhaps like you suggested it was the time more so than the reduction or so called nerf of mantras. I personally have seen the effect of these changes on the Mesmer community. You and they certainly feel hard done by and not compensated for yet. I say yet because just give it a couple more days time and with patience much more information will be at hand to judge the situation. It might just work out for the Mirage as only time will tell, pardon the unintended time pun for a Mesmer response.

 

Keep your heads up the Mesmers and soon to be some Mirages' out there things will work out trust me. If I am wrong message me with an I told you so in a few weeks and I will eat my words.

 

Thanks Hibiskus, for the heartfelt plea to bring some much needed love for the Mesmer and it's new elite specialisation the Mirage.

[Hibiskus.8294]

Yes, i think increasing the duration of the mirage cloak would help a lot, since then you can cast your ambush and run out of the attack of the enemie, on the stress test it was like: cast the ambush and get hit...or loose your ambush and dont get hit decision ( but for that i saw that the time is sometimes not even long enough to run out of the attack, so i was going full attack...and yes, died sometimes) , also yeah the mantra nerv has hitted hard, i know some mesmers that are trying to get another class up before PoF is released, but i ( since i really love my mesmer and probally never play another class that much) have decided to look for another heal...and found it in the skill: Mirror a good Cooldown for a heal... i am one of the ppl that can not really doge any attack so i need some heal with low Cd and good heal....but it took me some time to figure out wich suits my style...

 

If the mantra change was too extreme: yes i think a little bit, since most mesmers that i know (and used the mantra, half i know use other heals already before the nerv), now have take a look for another good heal...or even another class (wich i never could do...).......but fine - tuning it will maybe happen, i mean the ammo - system is a whole new system, that is cool but i think it is not finished yet. (also i think on some old weapons it would be cool, since we got new ones with this system...

and it worked, i mean: i love the axe on the mirage)

 

Also the dev´s posted something on the old forums that make me hope: they said that they made "several changes" to some classes but they will be (for us) not aviable for the stress test (we can see them the first time with the release from PoF) so i think we will be fine.

 

Also some mesmers just cried in the old forums, but some made some cool suggestions what needs to be changed: some said, the new heal is too low increase the heal since it is a 30 sec CD, other ppl said the heal is good, we already got a 30 sec CD heal with the chrono, so lower the CD to 12 - 15 sec......(just to say a sample), also i saw in these new forums threads about what should be changed on the weapon skills (from all weapons) and i posted something about the sword (the dmg is good, but the movement for a close range is not so good)...since we get the axe with a lot of movement i fear that some ppl will never using the sword again after getting hands on the axe ( i really love the axe and can not really wait for the release) , for my taste the axe dont need any changes,

i really trust anet and hope they made some good changes...we will see it (in 3 days....i have the feeling that this will be a loooong waiting time for me...).

[CptAurellian.9537]

> @"Cave Rock.4869" said:

> Unfortunately Firebrand basically get most of those mechanics and then some with tome and mantas. But personally I think I could adapt to it, but that is coming from a Guardian that likes support and tanky builds. Not power or condition damage burst builds that expected Firebrand to be tailored to their playstyles which have not been met as of yet from what we saw in the demo.

You miss the reason why I'm pissed at FB's current state. I don't care for its burst, as we already have DH for dps and burst. But the support part of FB is totally useless, because mantras have their stupid cones. How does a FB support his group if he cannot even hit them reliably? That is the horrible implementation I'm talking about (and tomes are bad, too).

[czerwoni.9563]

I main thief, want to play scourge, bit weaver tho lol sooo hard to pick and atm I only have 1 set of ascended armor it's sad :( need that light armor lol

[Esprit Dumort.3109]

Looking at the poll result icons from each voter, you can see that each new elite is mostly dominated by that profession's normal or elite icon. Though there is still a good mix of other profession icons mixed in...

 

... Except Weaver. Assuming icons represent each player's main, Elementalists are the only profession that look forward to Weaver. Haha.

[Cave Rock.4869]

> @"Esprit Dumort.3109" said:

> Looking at the poll result icons from each voter, you can see that each new elite is mostly dominated by that profession's normal or elite icon. Though there is still a good mix of other profession icons mixed in...

>

> ... Except Weaver. Assuming icons represent each player's main, Elementalists are the only profession that look forward to Weaver. Haha.

 

I like how your Chronomancer icon doesn't match Scourge :)

 

Also yeah it is great to see that most people will be sticking to their main profession according to the poll. It seems the same across the profession forum post as well.

 

But I know by now many people have one of every profession and sometimes multiple alternative characters within the same profession but differing builds.

 

It definitely is interesting to analyse the data of this poll for sure. I almost made the voting anonymous but decided against it. I didn't think it would be fair sharing peoples voting choices, because that is personal and a preference that was well in their right to keep private. I even flagged the post to change it. But now I am more than happy it didn't get changed. Because now it feels like we are mostly all happy to share our opinions as a community and not feel too shy to show what we personally like to the public.

 

I only hope others weren't scared off from voting in the poll because they didn't want their choice on public record. My sincere apologies if that has been the case for some.

 

But I am very happy at how the community has reacted and rallied around the poll. Plus given great positive and constructive feedback.

 

Although I can't say I am not surprised by the results as I pretty much expected these voting patterns from the beginning. But maybe I will be surprised, so keep voting people and giving more feedback plus praises to the development teams for all of their hard work on the new elite specialisations and Path of Fire. YEAH WE ARE NEARLY THERE ALL HOW EXCITING!