Can Gravedigger die already?

[Barnabus Stinson.1409]

I am not going to lie, I really hate this skill. Just because it becomes the whole rotation under 50% if the design of a class is to bore me senseless for half a boss can I atleast be average in terms of DPS. I get why some peope think harder rotations deserve a reward. But Mechanically flawed boring ones should keep up to. Reaper is themeatically amazing, has some great skills, but the you get them under 50% and now I may as well toggle auto cast on 2 and leave the room.

 

 

[dceptaconroy.7928]

Agreed and the awful cast time of these GS skills are added meh.

[Sinful.2165]

I gotta agree. Power reaper DPS numbers are lackluster to begin with and downright insulting that >50% is just gravedigger spam. So. Boring.

[Zero.3871]

Maybe Change the mechanic of gravedigger to half the the cd after successful hit on target below 50% could help. in that case anet also could reduce casttime of that skill without making this skill OP against Targets under 50%.

[Oglaf.1074]

Not to mention that my Charr looks ridiculous performing the move over and over.

[Krypto.2069]

I don't know, man, regarding pve... but in WvW, Gravedigger is like **CASH! MONEY!!** on the weak, CC'd and dying! :lol:

It's down-right EVIL, especially when finishing off an enemy in downstate! My Reaper loves it! :love:

 

Maybe Anet could split how the skill works a little bit between the game modes to accommodate all? :smiley:

 

btw: OP, nice play on words in your post's title! :+1:

 

[ZeftheWicked.3076]

As Krypto said - **gravedigger** is named so for a good reason - it's meant to send downed players to their graves along with anyone who dares try to revive then when in range of your spin of doom.

 

I think a small tweak like adding a major boost to gravedigger's power when used on <50% targets, but cutting cooldown only by 50% not a full refund, would be aswesome. At the same time keeping the full refund and regular damage vs downed. In PvE not many enemies get the downed state, and less so bosses (which are the main subjects of balancing). That way both sides get theirs without even having to do game mode splits.

[Obtena.7952]

It's a very poorly designed skill ... there isn't a single player that enjoys spamming. It's not engaging.

 

I guess the problem is how to put a strong, frequent skill in the game without it being OP. It needs a complete rethink. Wipe the skill, start over with something else. For me, it's one of those opportunities to tie LF into damage outside of Shroud.

 

"_Consume X LF to get Y damage_" or something like that.

[ZeftheWicked.3076]

It's a boring skill for PvE, but far from poor design. Maximum damage output (outside reaper shroud) that hits in a circle and is spammable is very useful, just boring.

In pvp situations the gravedigger's purpose is clear - cleave the downed and would-be ressurectors, since normal stomp takes time and does nothing vs anyone else then the downed target.

[Lahmia.2193]

How about reducing the cast time to 3/4s, reducing the cooldown to 3 seconds then removing the <50% part, whilst keeping the down aspect of it for wvw cleaving. Then add a few of the trait damage modifiers I suggested, so the rotation stays interesting in pve but we might just be able to do mid tier dps.

[Sinful.2165]

I just want them to buff reaper damage in a meaningful way so that gravedigger spam isn’t “optimal” DPS. Gravedigger itself is great as a skill, but please for the love of Joko buff our other skills to make the build more engaging.

[Rym.1469]

> @"ZeftheWicked.3076" said:

> It's a boring skill for PvE, but far from poor design. Maximum damage output (outside reaper shroud) that hits in a circle and is spammable is very useful, just boring.

> In pvp situations the gravedigger's purpose is clear - cleave the downed and would-be ressurectors, since normal stomp takes time and does nothing vs anyone else then the downed target.

 

As funny as it may sound, gravedigger isn't a great option for downed cleave, at least in pvp. The long windup is more time without pressure and easy to blind. It's also vulnerable to CC. It's a bit better than autoattacking and gravedigger is situationally very useful, but it's not your bread and butter.

 

By far the best cleave ability Reaper has is RS#4 followed by RS in general. Quick, strong, cleaving attacks combined with reaper's respectable aoe corrupts is quite a menace.

 

As for Gravedigger in general, I have an easy fix for it I've already discussed with some people, coupled with shaking up Reaper in PvE, but I'd like to finish a few other things before presenting it as a whole.

[Lahmia.2193]

> @"Rym.1469" said:

> > @"ZeftheWicked.3076" said:

> By far the best cleave ability Reaper has is RS#4 followed by RS in general. Quick, strong, cleaving attacks combined with reaper's respectable aoe corrupts is quite a menace.

>

 

Don't forget poison to stop those pesky dedicated revivers.

[Barnabus Stinson.1409]

Two change Ideas, I favor the second:

1)

Reduce cast time to 1 second, reducing damage by 15% to make up for this. On foes under 50% it deals an extra damage to put it back to its current level. So basically it goes off a little quicker but isnt a new 1skill.

This would be the easy low effort change option.

 

or 2)

Make it a chain skill, only if cast on a target under 50%. The second skill Is a followup overhand smash call it something like "Lay to rest" or anything on the lines of you just dug a grave, get the corpse in there. It is another pretty heavy blow, comes off a little quicker @ a 1second cast.

That way it still has good use, in pvp it still has some counter play, dodge the first no second. Fail to dodge the first then get a chance to dodge the follow up.

[Sephylon.4938]

Or make it like holo sword 2 where chilling scythe will reset the cd of gravedigger by x% while above the lf threshold, while reducing the activation time of chilling to be between 0.75-0.5 sec instead of 1. Then give gravedigger a damage boost based on the target's current hp%, 10% bonus damage to foes between 75-51% hp, 15% to foes between 50-26% hp, and 20% to foes between 25-0% hp.

[Kaiser.9873]

Really hoped that GD would have been a leap/port. Something with some movement, then they revealed the move, and disappointment set in.

[Aktium.9506]

what if they removed the recharge reduction and instead made it a channelled skill that you could hold and release for up to 5 seconds?

each second held increasing the damage by 75% per second before 50% hp and by 140% per second below 50%

[TotallyNotJazzie.1493]

> @"Aktium.9506" said:

> what if they removed the recharge reduction and instead made it a channelled skill that you could hold and release for up to 5 seconds?

> each second held increasing the damage by 75% per second before 50% hp and by 140% per second below 50%

 

Not a bad idea if they tune it to have some real omph but they’d need to give reaper more Stability or you’d never be able to channel it.

[Warscythes.9307]

The problem with that is you are going to spend 5 seconds every rotation doing nothing but holding one button. That doesn't sound much better than the current iteration.

[Nimon.7840]

> @"ZeftheWicked.3076" said:

> It's a boring skill for PvE, but far from poor design. Maximum damage output (outside reaper shroud) that hits in a circle and is spammable is very useful, just boring.

> In pvp situations the gravedigger's purpose is clear - cleave the downed and would-be ressurectors, since normal stomp takes time and does nothing vs anyone else then the downed target.

 

It doesn't hit in a circle. Only 180° in front of you

[Aktium.9506]

> @"TotallyNotJazzie.1493" said:

> Not a bad idea if they tune it to have some real omph but they’d need to give reaper more Stability or you’d never be able to channel it.

75%/140% x 1-5 on a skill with a 3.2 coefficient is ridonkulous damage

 

[TotallyNotJazzie.1493]

> @"Aktium.9506" said:

> > @"TotallyNotJazzie.1493" said:

> > Not a bad idea if they tune it to have some real omph but they’d need to give reaper more Stability or you’d never be able to channel it.

> 75%/140% x 1-5 on a skill with a 3.2 coefficient is ridonkulous damage

>

 

Oh it definitely is. But the damage is the only thing keeping Gravedigger as even useable.

 

If they made it a channel i’d expect more stability provided or higher damage. Or else it’d be flat out worse than current gravedigger, as it’d be interupted all the time unless you’re provided stab from ally.

 

I like the idea tho.

[Aktium.9506]

> @"TotallyNotJazzie.1493" said:

> > @"Aktium.9506" said:

> > > @"TotallyNotJazzie.1493" said:

> > > Not a bad idea if they tune it to have some real omph but they’d need to give reaper more Stability or you’d never be able to channel it.

> > 75%/140% x 1-5 on a skill with a 3.2 coefficient is ridonkulous damage

> >

>

> Oh it definitely is. But the damage is the only thing keeping Gravedigger as even useable.

>

> If they made it a channel i’d expect more stability provided or higher damage. Or else it’d be flat out worse than current gravedigger, as it’d be interupted all the time unless you’re provided stab from ally.

>

> I like the idea tho.

well of power should have had pulsing stability added to it since forever

 

[Aetatis.5418]

What about making GD below 50% a flip-skill.

If you hit with GD below 50%, give it a chain that hits (a lot) faster but to an equal-ish amount of DMG and keep the cooldown of GD .

(Pressure in PvP/WvW that still can be countered by blinds etc. , But a change to the boring pve rotation)

Although i have to admit, that i have zero idea if a function like that is easy to introduce, technically.

 

To make up the dps loss of spamming GD, either tweak GS AA and/or give necro (baseline) a wanted support-thing for pve. (just an example: The shadowfiend active skill could activate +5%dmg for 10sec ... grp-wide - i don't like minions/ai, but if we have to use them for max dps anyway, make them unique and available for core and elites.

edit: unique profession buffs did create the big mess of op-support-professions in the first place. so we would want less and not more of them. but i couldnt come up with something else, that hasnt been mentioned yet)

[Rhyse.8179]

> @"Barnabus Stinson.1409" said:

> or 2)

> Make it a chain skill, only if cast on a target under 50%. The second skill Is a followup overhand smash call it something like "Lay to rest" or anything on the lines of you just dug a grave, get the corpse in there. It is another pretty heavy blow, comes off a little quicker @ a 1second cast.

> That way it still has good use, in pvp it still has some counter play, dodge the first no second. Fail to dodge the first then get a chance to dodge the follow up.

 

This is the best idea in the thread. I'ma post my idea anyway, but for the record, I like this one even better.

 

My idea: Concept is you either weaken them, to help send them to the grave, or smash their face in, to actually send them.

Above 50%: Inflicts Chill(2s), Weakness(5s), and Vulnerability (10 for 5)

Below 50%: Guarunteed Crit

Both: Faster cast time.