Changes to UNDERWATER combat [merged]

[rank eleven monk.9502]

Can someone explain so many unsplits to skills? E.g. restorative illusions is now unsplit and uses the pvp stats (aka nerfed in pve) . What is the point? There are many changes like this which seems pointless

[Fenom.9457]

> @"Ardid.7203" said:

> Expect floating and moving platforms in the next Episodes. That is all I'm going to say.

 

 

Are you implying you know something that’s coming or just guessing?

[Fenom.9457]

> @"Samnang.1879" said:

> i was taken aback when ppl started making Underwater Expansion Threads based on one little announcement lol. i was like... why r ppl assuming underwater expansion based on this??? but then i was like, imma join the hype train, cuz an underwater mount would be awesome... even tho i dread UW combat.

>

> but now we know our hopes and dreams are fully dead.

 

 

This one update didn’t fix everything we expected, so therefore there will be no further updates to underwater and it’s dead regardless of how today’s update went since it wasn’t everything?

[Fenom.9457]

> @"Randulf.7614" said:

> > @"sorudo.9054" said:

> > they should've added the flesh horror for UW, it's frikin annoying to recast all the time and wait till the recharge is over.

>

> Apparently this is being looked at. They said any changes would after this update

 

Exactly, it will require all new animations. I expect more underwater improvement updates to come and that’s probably gonna be part of a bigger one

[Zephyr.5382]

> @"perilisk.1874" said:

> > Yes, that's right. All those other developers just didn't know what they were doing. 6 degrees of freedom is a super great idea in a game that fixes its camera to prevent gimble lock. What could go wrong? Oh wait, Vashj'ir.

>

> GW2 doesn't have 6dof underwater.

 

Not trying to be argumentative; but don't the 3 axes plus positive and negative directions for each axis equate to 6 degrees of freedom?

[notebene.3190]

At the risk of this getting lost in here, the daily achievement says to kill 10 Krait "in a 24 hour period".

 

Does the daily achievement reset like normal daily achievements, or is this going to be 'one of those unfortunate things' that's on one of those 22-24 hour schedules?

[Ashantara.8731]

> @"lokh.2695" said:

> While at it, add the rime rimmed breather with it's effect to the newly created category.

 

So much this! :+1: I hate how its effect cannot be transferred to other aquabreathers (I no longer like doing PvP, but I'd love to have one for my other two Norn characters as well).

[Despond.2174]

Buffs all around for underwater it seems, a cool new breather skin and boosts to swim speed. I think it's a great start, and it's even a bit more than I was expecting. The buff to the water mount glide speed was also neat. I wish they would fix that skill deadzone if you go to the waters surface.

[perilisk.1874]

> @"Zephyr.5382" said:

> > @"perilisk.1874" said:

> > > Yes, that's right. All those other developers just didn't know what they were doing. 6 degrees of freedom is a super great idea in a game that fixes its camera to prevent gimble lock. What could go wrong? Oh wait, Vashj'ir.

> >

> > GW2 doesn't have 6dof underwater.

>

> Not trying to be argumentative; but don't the 3 axes plus positive and negative directions for each axis equate to 6 degrees of freedom?

 

Positive/negative is irrelevant. 3 axes of movement = 3dof. The other 3 come from orientation. Until you can do barrel rolls underwater, it isn't 6dof. Given the limitations on up-down rotation, more like four and a half.

 

Edit: Well, no, you can't actually move freely up and down either. So, more like three and a half.

[Ashantara.8731]

> @"Maikimaik.1974" said:

> I don't quite understand... Do I have to spend 512 of those Infusions to actually be able to use them?

 

NO! The vendor's items tell you exactly how many you need for which bonus. Those infusions fit into any ascended aquatic headgear, not only the new skin. All my chars have had ascended breathers for ages, most even before LWS3. You can craft them like armor or acquire one for Winterberries in Bitterfrost Frontier.

[Headcase.4618]

The best I can say about today's patch is that it's a good first step. My hope is that they continue to improve on UW combat and make it more usable

[Jokubas.4265]

> @"Headcase.4618" said:

> The best I can say about today's patch is that it's a good first step. My hope is that they continue to improve on UW combat and make it more usable

 

Definitely. I was hoping for more, but it's a great first step.

 

When I broke down the elements that contributed to underwater content being frustrating before, most of them connected back to the weaker and more awkward combat exacerbating everything else. With large buffs all around, more AoE, and the two skills I always used as an example of how awkward underwater skills could be having been redesigned to be more normal now, the most overarching issue has been dealt with.

[Einlanzer.1627]

Hopefully the enthusiasm for this shows devs that it's sometimes worth updating things they don't think are worth updating. People get excited for launch content to be made relevant again when it hasn't been in ages.

 

ahem ahem dungeons ahem.

[Brother.1504]

> @"morrolan.9608" said:

> So the game is badly crying out for more balance changes and normal skill changes and you see fit to spend developer resources on content that has been rendered irrelevant across the game! Not to mention the previous waste of developer resources on chairs.

 

Chairs and interactive environments were asked for by the player base for years. Careful what you ask for.

[Ardenwolfe.8590]

Personally? I'm loving the underwater changes! The nerfs? Not so much.

[Opal.9324]

Still gonna avoid it until I can use helmet skins underwater. My most used character has a certain look that is completely ruined without his helmet.

[wickedkae.4980]

Still can't use golem in water. Get it together Anet. This really displays your laziness. This should have been fixed 5 years ago.

[OriOri.8724]

> @"FOX.3582" said:

> > @"OriOri.8724" said:

> > > @"Ayakaru.6583" said:

> > > If you’re only go do some minor damage multiplier updates to underwater skills,

> > > there’s really no need to announce it ahead of time, and getting us all hyped up.

> > > Everyone was hoping to changes to how skills worked underwater, enabling some skills that were disabled, or maybe adding new skills exclusive for underwater.

> > > Heck, the revenant could’ve really used an underwater legend.

> > > But if this is all, its really just a minor patch that will hardly affect underwater combat at all.

> > > But I suppose we cant look a gift horse.. or a dolyak? In the mouth, can we?

> >

> > ? Revs can now use Jalis underwater, and got a second UW weapon. A lot of classes received changes so that a few more skills are usable underwater than were usable underwater before this patch. Several classes had their UW skills changed pretty massively. It was not just number tweaks

>

> Most of this added stuff is nothing special and should've been there at the beginning, specially the Revenant skills.

>

 

I agree that it should have been there from the beginning. But that does not magically mean that this patch was pure number tweaks. To say so is just absurd.

[Cyrin.1035]

My favorite change in the new patch is the skimmer's speed! I also like all the skill updates and bug fixes. The treasure hunt could have been designed better in terms of how you get keys, but other than that I think it was a brilliant idea. It's nice to have an UW-focused hunt like this and then to see so many players in the water as opposed to avoiding it and being only on land, is really cool. It gives me an idea what it will be like when UW gameplay is further developed. Welcome to the deep seas. Hope you stay awhile.

[Konig Des Todes.2086]

Honestly, I only have one thing to say in terms of feedback about the changes:

 

_Is this all?_

 

Not asking in a cynical way, but I am genuinely curious if this will be the extent of changes for underwater combat baring tweaking of numbers. If so... not enough. Not even close to enough. And sure as heck not worth mentioning that it was happening beforehand.

[sorudo.9054]

> @"Fenom.9457" said:

> > @"Randulf.7614" said:

> > > @"sorudo.9054" said:

> > > they should've added the flesh horror for UW, it's frikin annoying to recast all the time and wait till the recharge is over.

> >

> > Apparently this is being looked at. They said any changes would after this update

>

> Exactly, it will require all new animations. I expect more underwater improvement updates to come and that’s probably gonna be part of a bigger one

 

the mount treatment is already enough if it requires new animations

[maelranaidh.3724]

Still one thing I don't understand : Druid's glyphs. Why are they restricted to land use only ? I can't fathom the reasons behind that. And while we're at it, the same goes for Chrono's wells. Necro can use wells under water but not Chrono.

[Cyrin.1035]

> @"daynay.1089" said:

> YAY!! finally I always, always avoid underwater battles. So hopefully this will change it : )

 

These are the first steps of many. From this patch to now, there has been consistent, though small progression toward UW development. But even small steps are worth being excited about because they bring us closer to major steps in the future.

[Cyrin.1035]

> @"Alimar.8760" said:

> I think Selbbub has corrupted the Anet staff and forced them to do this against their will.

 

No one can resist the power of Bubbles. Not even its creators and designers. They knew one day they would have to face the DSD and put them in the game. It's about time.

[Caligrafers Blade.3871]

As a Rev player, it was good to see that we could use tridents and Jalis now underwater. But yeah, when I first saw the announcement, it sounded huge. I mean, there have been a lot of clean ups and UW handles much better now. But what I was hoping for was a change of build when you're in the water. Most skills cannot be used underwater, and we are forced to choose from a limited set. Just because of that, I end up with a variation of my build that is not necessarily in harmony with the traits I've chosen.

 

Of course, given how much attention underwater is getting (looking at you sunken treasure), we're probably going to get underwater elites next, so maybe different builds underwater will become redundant. Waiting patiently, Anet!