My reaction to Reaper's Touch new visual effect.

[Sublimatio.6981]

I just noticed the skill has new visual effect unmentioned in patch notes and it boggles my mind that they bothered to tinker with it and not rework focus or at least this skill. It's so subpar at this moment and even punishes you for playing with other people since the effectiveness of the skill is destroyed if it bounces from ally. I hoped this would become an AoE dps field or it would be changed to bounce only from necro and give might instead of regen. Focus should be a better dps option than warhorn which is swiftness/daze weapon.

While I'm at it, if warhorn wants to be a mobility weapon, making us cripple everything as the price of getting swiftness is a really terrible design choice. Let us ride-the-lighting with warhorn and move the locust pulsing dmg to something else because it really doesn't make sense.

[Lahmia.2193]

I'm still of the mind that they should load all the effect into one single non projectile 1200 range attack, like Spinal Shivers. Triple the damage to compensate the removal of the bounces, apply 12 vuln and grant 9% life force (or a reduced amount if anet sees this as too much). Then remove the regen and grant either fury or might on hit. Also reduce Spinal Shivers to 3/4s cast time and make it so the damage is no longer dependent on how many boons you remove.

[Sublimatio.6981]

or they could make it like jalis hammers and make it circle the player for x seconds

[Alpha.1308]

> @"Sublimatio.6981" said:

> I just noticed the skill has new visual effect unmentioned in patch notes and it boggles my mind that they bothered to tinker with it and not rework focus or at least this skill.

 

agreed, i never even knew about it until now because why would i use focus over something else

 

>It's so subpar at this moment and even punishes you for playing with other people since the effectiveness of the skill is destroyed if it bounces from ally. I hoped this would become an AoE dps field or it would be changed to bounce only from necro and give might instead of regen. Focus should be a better dps option than warhorn which is swiftness/daze weapon.

 

also sort of agreed, Warhorn should be lifeforce and daze, focus could generate no life force but hit like a truck (which, 4 kinda does, but, again, the bounce ruins it) and probably be in a decent spot

 

> While I'm at it, if warhorn wants to be a mobility weapon, making us cripple everything as the price of getting swiftness is a really terrible design choice. Let us ride-the-lighting with warhorn and move the locust pulsing dmg to something else because it really doesn't make sense.

 

disagree here, however

Warhorn is incredibly good, the pulsing damage is what makes it really strong for its life force generation

and an unblockable AoE long daze is invaluable in pvp

if it underperforms in pve, that's their fault as a development team to decide to not split pve and pvp, which, is what everyone knows is a disgrace for a game that tried to be "esports" while balancing both game modes together at once, and pretty poorly, at that

 

now, if other things were brought up to be on-par with it, we'd probably see that "maybe" the Warhorn IS bad in of itself,

but, that's why other things should be tweaked, first

Warhorn is more or less BiS, it shouldn't be reworked before other things, other things should be made more viable first

 

that said, i still don't agree that necros should be too mobile, they should be the class that's hard to get away from, easy to stay away from, all while having really heavy hitting, threatening skills

(you know, what core necro Life Blast should have been, while it used to hit like a bus, it's so overshadowed by the power creep in this game where everything just keeps getting stronger and stronger, along with being too easy to avoid and not very scary minus the fact that it hits "pretty hard" for something so spammable, which, again, hasn't been updated, so the power creep is making it seem less and less valuable for damage)

 

but that's a problem with the necro

their design philosophy and how they saw the class working isn't what's causing the problem

it's the balance team neglecting to attempt to fix anything so it keeps in line with how they wanted it to be

mobility is king in all pvp games, they need to work hard to make a class that can counter mobility while not being mobile, otherwise it's pretty bad

their glacial speed of balance updates for every class, and then when they finally do, mostly just change some numbers here and there, is the biggest issue this game has right now

even completely F2P games balance their game more frequently, are they perfect? no, is it quality over quantity? sure, but we still don't even have remotely anywhere near "quality", so that's a moot point, and when these F2P games update, plenty of things go through major overhauls, not just "lol guys 7% extra damage on this skill it felt weak, you're welcome we're listening"

i'm beginning to think Karl's Smiter's Boon icon is supposed to be a smack to our faces about just how much they don't really care about balance, as that's all that skill was, a show of how they don't care enough to put in the little bit of effort to do something to a skill, whether or not it had a "silly backstory" or not that a dev member went on vacation or something, that's all this game's balance seems to mean to them at this point, a vacation

[Drarnor Kunoram.5180]

What's interesting is League of Legends had a problem with mobility creep getting seriously out of hand, but instead of really nerfing it, they introduced a few counters to it in the game. Cassiopeia's venom spray and Singed's glue puddle completely stop mobility skills from being used by those in them while Poppy's ring blocks any that try to cross it. Then there's Camiele's ult which you 100% cannot leave until it's over, even with Flash.

 

I've said before ANet needs to look at League of Legends for inspiration when it comes to Necros (usually referencing the Juggernaut class), but this is another area where a big game has had the same problem and found a way to solve it.

[Sublimatio.6981]

> @"Drarnor Kunoram.5180" said:

> What's interesting is League of Legends had a problem with mobility creep getting seriously out of hand, but instead of really nerfing it, they introduced a few counters to it in the game. Cassiopeia's venom spray and Singed's glue puddle completely stop mobility skills from being used by those in them while Poppy's ring blocks any that try to cross it. Then there's Camiele's ult which you 100% cannot leave until it's over, even with Flash.

>

> I've said before ANet needs to look at League of Legends for inspiration when it comes to Necros (usually referencing the Juggernaut class), but this is another area where a big game has had the same problem and found a way to solve it.

 

sure thats a good example for pvp balance but as any class in GW2's dynamic combat, in PvE even necro needs a bit of mobility and active defense in order to use the combat system instead of facetanking everything. just a little bit.

[Drarnor Kunoram.5180]

PvE doesn't require much in the way of combat mobility. I almost never have had to get somewhere without being able to just walk the distance in time. If I do, it's usually because I moved into a dumb location on my own and wasn't thinking about it.

[Sublimatio.6981]

Thats not true for many fractal, dungeon and sometimes raid bosses. Mobility and active defense is integral to GW2's combat system and necromancer is the only class without access to a block, evade skill, invuln skill or a meaningful mobility skill (one without 1 sec cast time or requiring life force)

 

Im not saying necro should be like thief, but every class has evades, blocks and invulns in their weapon and utility slots. And it's the only defense that matters, because life force is not only required for dps rotation but also it doesn't scale with incoming damage and it's a passive defense not active.

[Drarnor Kunoram.5180]

Only Fractal boss I haven't fought is Amala, but no other Fractal encounter and no raid boss require more mobility than walking can provide.

 

Notice, however, that I do not disagree with you on active defense.

[Crinn.7864]

It's not in the patch notes because it's not a new animation. It's the same animation as before however it's scaled 3 times as big.

 

Probably a bug.

[Sublimatio.6981]

> @"Crinn.7864" said:

> It's not in the patch notes because it's not a new animation. It's the same animation as before however it's scaled 3 times as big.

>

> Probably a bug.

 

you're incorrect. the old visual was the smoky scythe effect that appears when you use staff skills. the new scythe is green and sharp. looks very spectral-like

[KrHome.1920]

> @"Sublimatio.6981" said:

> > @"Crinn.7864" said:

> > It's not in the patch notes because it's not a new animation. It's the same animation as before however it's scaled 3 times as big.

> >

> > Probably a bug.

>

> you're incorrect. the old visual was the smoky scythe effect that appears when you use staff skills. the new scythe is green and sharp. looks very spectral-like

This!

 

The new effect is weird. It is barely visible - not a problem for the caster but for the target. Maybe they tried to buff it by reducing the telegraph.

 

> @"Sublimatio.6981" said:

>Focus should be a better dps option than warhorn which is swiftness/daze weapon.

Focus is a great burst and cc weapon which - like every power weapon - has decent LF generation.

 

I would lose 80% of my roaming encounters against skilled opponents without Focus - because of kiting and dis-/re-engaging. I said it often before and I will say it here again: **This weapon is in a great spot!** A Power Reaper build without it is not even viable in high level PvP / roaming!

 

And I state that most comments in this subforum about Power Reaper being weak in 1v1 (which is not true at all) are a result of the incapacity of the posters to include Focus in their builds as they don't recognize its potential.

 

 

[EremiteAngel.9765]

> @"KrHome.1920" said:

> > @"Sublimatio.6981" said:

> > > @"Crinn.7864" said:

> > > It's not in the patch notes because it's not a new animation. It's the same animation as before however it's scaled 3 times as big.

> > >

> > > Probably a bug.

> >

> > you're incorrect. the old visual was the smoky scythe effect that appears when you use staff skills. the new scythe is green and sharp. looks very spectral-like

> This!

>

> The new effect is weird. It is barely visible - not a problem for the caster but for the target. Maybe they tried to buff it by reducing the telegraph.

>

> > @"Sublimatio.6981" said:

> >Focus should be a better dps option than warhorn which is swiftness/daze weapon.

> Focus is a great burst and cc weapon which - like every power weapon - has decent LF generation.

>

> I would lose 80% of my roaming encounters against skilled opponents without Focus - because of kiting and dis-/re-engaging. I said it often before and I will say it here again: **This weapon is in a great spot!** A Power Reaper build without it is not even viable in high level PvP / roaming!

>

> And I state that most comments in this subforum about Power Reaper being weak in 1v1 (which is not true at all) are a result of the incapacity of the posters to include Focus in their builds as they don't recognize its potential.

>

>

 

Focus is good against non-condi opponents.

Dagger is better against condi opponents.

 

Personally I prefer dagger which has more utility and is more reliable than Focus.

[Nimon.7840]

Well i played focus as well. But just because i have the new legendary one. And it fits necro perfectly.

But thats it.

Its pretty bad weapon. #4 never hits #5 always gets evaded.

Or hits like a wet noodle.

 

No this isnt a great weapon.

Tere are way better options.

And the boonrip is marginal, since every other class will just renew their buffs

[Sublimatio.6981]

> @"KrHome.1920" said:

> Focus is a great burst and cc weapon which - like every power weapon - has decent LF generation.

>

> I would lose 80% of my roaming encounters against skilled opponents without Focus - because of kiting and dis-/re-engaging. I said it often before and I will say it here again: **This weapon is in a great spot!** A Power Reaper build without it is not even viable in high level PvP / roaming!

>

> And I state that most comments in this subforum about Power Reaper being weak in 1v1 (which is not true at all) are a result of the incapacity of the posters to include Focus in their builds as they don't recognize its potential.

>

>

 

I completely disagree. I don't care much about wvw or pvp, but as person above mentioned, #4 never hits, 5# has 1 year casting time, easily dodged.

To add to that, #4 bounces from allies, making the skill only hit once in pve. It's extremely underwhelming. The entire weapon is in a dreadful state. Staff and focus need a complete rework, and then warhorn needs to get a blast finisher on #4 .

[Brujeria.7536]

Focus is in a bad spot. I suggested many times that focus 4 is a great contender for the "ammo" system, more on demand burst when you need it. Alongside this, change the regen to some kind of offensive boon, fury, might, quickness, alacrity, like Subli suggested.

 

Focus 5 is pretty bad as well, it has some uses but these are very niche. I would add an AOE field here, or any other interesting mechanic. (Tether skill, jalis hammers, cone/field AOE)

[Lexan.5930]

What did they do to it? And yes I agree that focus is a weapon the needs help on necro, justblike staff needs a lot of help.

 

Focus feels really off necro. It corrupts and chills on a very very long cast that now is beat out by corrupt boon for corruption and damage by axe 2. It has power and Condi and regent and boon removal and over all feels like its trying to do too much.

 

I always liked the idea of a focus focusing the ability of the caster. Focus is kind of a power weapon mostly but lacks the umph that power weapons have or the utility in most game modes to make it worth taking

[reikken.4961]

The only thing I don't like about reaper's touch (pvp) is the enemy gets several chances to block it. As soon as it gets blocked or dodged, it stops bouncing. That's lame. If it weren't for that, it would be a great skill. Maybe speed up the projectile a bit

[Lahmia.2193]

> @"Lexan.5930" said:

> What did they do to it? And yes I agree that focus is a weapon the needs help on necro, justblike staff needs a lot of help.

>

The scythe projectile is now green instead of shadowy.

 

 

[Lexan.5930]

> @"Brujeria.7536" said:

> Focus is in a bad spot. I suggested many times that focus 4 is a great contender for the "ammo" system, more on demand burst when you need it. Alongside this, change the regen to some kind of offensive boon, fury, might, quickness, alacrity, like Subli suggested.

>

> Focus 5 is pretty bad as well, it has some uses but these are very niche. I would add an AOE field here, or any other interesting mechanic. (Tether skill, jalis hammers, cone/field AOE)

 

Focus 4 on the ammo system would be awesome actually and allow for some nice burst combos with axe especially if it gave some might on target hit. Focus 5 as a field would be so welcomed for the offhand. Or even if its a cast that creates a field if it successfully hits would make it a lot more fun to use and combo off of

[kybraga.7103]

> @"Brujeria.7536" said:

> Focus is in a bad spot. I suggested many times that focus 4 is a great contender for the "ammo" system, more on demand burst when you need it. Alongside this, change the regen to some kind of offensive boon, fury, might, quickness, alacrity, like Subli suggested.

>

> Focus 5 is pretty bad as well, it has some uses but these are very niche. I would add an AOE field here, or any other interesting mechanic. (Tether skill, jalis hammers, cone/field AOE)

 

For Reaper's Touch, I'd consider Retaliation. I'd also consider making it so it bounces **ONLY** to the caster and then the target. Allows for no DPS loss- if not some stealth tracking in a PvP Situation. (Also... Ammo would be amazing. K'thanks.)