Balance Changes Upcoming

[Lazze.9870]

> @"hennrick.4623" said:

> I am not sure if somebody said it before, but the druid pet changes seem... puzzling?

> I mean everyone has more or less a decision-making change, that might or might not impact sheer power in some ways. The druid does not, it only gets a 20% reduction.

> I am not sure if that is balanced or not, by any mean, but it seems very out of the line. I have imagined something like " the druid can't pet swap" or something like that.

>

> That said, overall i am happy with this. Always said that the elite specs were more like elite buffs, and i like most of the approaches done here.

 

The trade off is already made when picking druid. Your damage is pityful. Core ranger is more or less at the bottom among core classes as far as damage goes, and picking druid means one out of three traitlines are devouted a bunch of traits that do little more outside improving your healing. Druid didn't need a trade off. It's per today capable of nothing except being a buffer/healer. If they're gonna take away pet attributes on top of that, they could at least give the pets a boost to healing power and concentration so that they could be a part of the role, instead of an afterthought.

 

And why on earth should druid lose pet swap? Because they need to take away even more build options by removing pet swap traits?

[Klypto.1703]

All I can say after reading these daredevil changes is maintenance mode for gw2.

 

Edit: Also the whole issue of the elite spec over core or vice versa between two elite specs is the changes they seem to be doing have nothing to do with the issue. As for thief trickery and for guardian virtues and so on those utilities force you into 2 out of 3 specializations. So your enemy will always know what you are going to use on them same goes for weapon skills. As well the whole melee aspect isn't lost for thief players its a combination of ruining the core component of stealth along with the forcing at close range the way these traits sound like they will work just ties you down to a vulnerable position to just get one shot before having the chance to do anything. So I just see these changes overall just a step closer to the maintenance mode of the game.

[Jables.4659]

From a WvW roaming perspective, the Scepter nerfs on Mesmer are rather ridiculous. Power Mesmer with scepter and sword as main hand weapons have been in my main roaming builds since shortly after launch, and prior to the last patch I felt it was in a reasonable place. They went overboard buffing Confusing Images by 25% (the block changes were nice) and I was worried upon seeing it because I felt something exactly like this would happen. Scepter would increase in popularity dramatically which would result in people whining and Anet overreacting. Well here we are. I could understand them reverting the 25% buff, but a 50% damage nerf? Skills should not receive nerfs or buffs by percentages higher than 15% in a single patch unless massive changes to other areas of the profession justify it. The additional 2 seconds on the cd of the scepter block is just adding insult to injury. As far as the Evasive Mirror nerf, once again they are going overboard. Timing on its icd will be incredibly hard to track throughout a fight with no real way to use it in an intentional/skillful manner. I get it, mirage was overpowered with the release of pof and they have been slowly dealing with it ever since. I just feel as though they have repeatedly targeted the wrong aspects of Mesmer. On another note, Elusive Mind still sits in purgatory. Is there any intention to revamp or tweak the trait for use in pvp/wvw? As it stands, it is better to go with no grandmaster trait than it is to take Elusive Mind. Dune Cloak is also far outshined by Infinite Horizon (the only real choice for literally any mirage build) and can also be a detriment as dodging may reveal you when in stealth. This is just one example of the larger problem, too often is one trait in a tier the undisputed "correct" choice to the point where it isn't really a choice at all.

 

My suggestion: Do not release the Mesmer patch in this form. Reduce the damage on confusing images by 25% (to revert the buff from the last major patch) and keep the block nerf in place. Scepter is very clunky to play without Malicious Sorcery, and that's something that should be looked into. Perhaps it would serve to make the 20% attack speed baseline for scepter and give something else to the trait. This would create an actual choice. For evasive mirror, a 5 second icd is far more reasonable and it would give us a chance to test it out and see if it needs further tweaking. Elusive mind would be a viable option if the smiter's boon was removed entirely and replaced with a 5-10 second icd. That being said, I would prefer to see the trait removed entirely and replaced with something else. Mesmer has solid condition removeable in its current state and breaking stun on dodge is a bad mechanic that promotes unskilled play. The mass invisibility buff on top of everything else is like slapping someone in the face and then putting a band-aid on it. With the current Reveal bloat/marked mechanic (which should be looked into since deadeye dodge stealth was nerfed last patch), long duration stealth is very hit or miss in a roaming scenario. There are many other changes I would like to suggest, but this is becoming something of an essay and I very much doubt any Anet employee will take it to heart.

 

[Psaro.6178]

Reaper looks insane! I must try it out.

Really hyped.

[kappa.2036]

Speaking about "trade-offs"... where are the trade-offs on firebrand and chrono, for example? Firebrand gets 15 new skills just by choosing the spec, and also chrono gets the F5 without consequences. I don't understand honestly.

[Blocki.4931]

> @"kappa.2036" said:

> Speaking about "trade-offs"... where are the trade-offs on firebrand and chrono, for example? Firebrand gets 15 new skills just by choosing the spec, and also chrono gets the F5 without consequences. I don't understand honestly.

 

They're going to address that in the future. This is just the start of making it more pronounced.

[zoopop.5630]

loving those mesmer changes i can Auto attack with rifle now and not worry about getting clapped by a mirage :D

[stone cold.8609]

Thank you for the early communication about the balance patch changes! I very much appreciate the transparency and hope this becomes the norm.

 

Also, thank you for making the Scrapper Gyros work underwater! After the most recent changes, Scrapper is actually viable in PvE. Good job!

 

The changes to Berserker look interesting as well. I look forward to trying a power Berserker build.

[LucianDK.8615]

> @"stone cold.8609" said:

> Thank you for the early communication about the balance patch changes! I very much appreciate the transparency and hope this becomes the norm.

>

> Also, thank you for making the Scrapper Gyros work underwater! After the most recent changes, Scrapper is actually viable in PvE. Good job!

>

> The changes to Berserker look interesting as well. I look forward to trying a power Berserker build.

 

Viable in what way and role? So far ive not heard anyone speaking of them as a proper dps spec.

[Kain Francois.4328]

**As a Revenant Main**:

 

I worry slightly with Staff #2 being removed from the game. I loved it as a source of damage and CC. I liked how we could use Staff as a melee alternative to sword, which is very important since our weapon choices are soooo limited. Also, Staff as a melee weapon looks soooo cool!

[NecroSummonsMors.7816]

Thank you, for posting the changes in advance much appreciated. This is a good thing keep it up =)

I'm going to comment about necromancer changes, since it's my main class and It's what I know best.

Dark aura is a nice addition to the game, waiting to test it.

 

_Gravedigger: Increased the range from 170 to 180 to make the range a standard multiple of 60._

 

This change amount to nothing 10 radius is not even noticeble, gravedigger really needed a rework or at least a trade: a nice cast time reduction coupled with the remove of instant recharge below 50%. Infact this would make the skill more reliable to land in pvp/wvw.

 

_Crimson Tide: This skill now grants 2% life force per hit._

 

A usefull change more life force generation is always good underwater.

 

_Locust Swarm: This skill will now inflict its effects every 0.5 seconds instead of every second. The duration of this skill has been halved, so the same number of attacks will occur, but they will occur faster. The radius of this skill has been reduced from 210 to 180 to make the range a standard multiple of 60. Finally, rather than inflicting damage on each pulse, Locust Swarm will now siphon health from enemies within its area of effect._

 

The fact that the effect occur each 0.5s might seem good, but in reality it just reduce the uptime of the skill in correlation with cooldown. I meant that now you the skill for 10s over a 30s cooldown, so basically 1/3 of the time you can have it up. With this new change you would 1/6 of the time.

I dont get the radius reduction to be honest, it should have been 240 instead.

The swap from damaging pulse to siphon can be good for a nice recover of health if the siphon healing part has real significance, a middle ground beetween vampiric wells and revenant assassin stance healing skill, otherwise it would result just in a skill nerf. To be honest I would prefer more the healing part of the siphon rather than the damage part. Does each pulse still inflict cripple on this new version?

Will Blood Magic Banshee Wail trait increase not only the duration but also the siphoning healing part?

I would suggest a rework for this trait, so that it transform it Locust Swarm into a proper defence skill since the duration of skill is less now, a projectile block of 5s would be awesome for necromancer, since cpc won't defend us vs unblockable projectils anymore.

 

_Reaper's Touch: This skill has been significantly reworked, and it has been renamed Soul Grasp._

 

Finally the rework we long waited for, much appreciated.

 

_Soul Grasp: This skill has two casts. Each cast sends forth a disembodied hand to inflict vulnerability on foes, grant the necromancer life force, and steal health from a foe._

 

For this two casts I suppose it's an ammo mechanic right? My point still remain the siphoning healing part must be relevant to helping necromancer with sustain, otherwise it is not usefull.

 

_Death Spiral: Reduced the recharge time from 12 seconds to 10 seconds. Increased the range from 220 to 240 to make the range a standard multiple of 60. Adjusted the visual effects of this skill to be more pronounced. Narrowed the attack cone so that this skill's attack region more accurately matches its animation. Removed bonus damage to targets above 50% health. Increased base damage by 28% in PvE and 6% in PvP and WvW._

 

Radius increase always welcome as the improved visual effect. The narrowing of the attack cone might not be benefitial to use it vs multiple target, since the skill can be used on 3 foes. The remove of bonus damage it a slight nerf of -4% on targets above 50% health, but if the skill works better with the changes is not a tragedy.

 

_Grasping Darkness: Increased the range from 750 to 900 to make the range a standard multiple of 60. Fixed issues that caused this skill to unexpectedly fail when hitting some objects. This skill will no longer be stopped by projectile blocking or reflecting._

 

A long awaited change. Thank you! Nice range increase and the fixes are the most beautifull thing, still remain to see if those works xD The fact that skill is not stopped by blocks or reflect is awesome, I couldn't take anymore to not have a reliable pull. I hope that all the skill ground wonky interactions were looked at too.

 

_Sand Swell: Fixed a bug that could prevent movement for a short time when the skill failed due to targeting an invalid location._

Nice bug fix

 

_Soul Eater: This trait has been reworked. It now increases the strike damage dealt to all foes within a range of 300 by 10%, and it causes the reaper to heal for 5% of the damage dealt to foes within that range. It no longer reduces greatsword-skill recharge by 20%._

 

The healing part might be good, but we have to wait and see. Does it have an internal cooldown, or it is always up so that it heals continuosly? The damage increase is really nice, but does it work for all weapons or only greatsword?

What I don't like is the fact that you keep removing traits with cooldown reductions, but you never adapt the skill to match that loss, a 5s loss in cd it is a lot, that means in 4 nightfall I can cast a fifth one when I had the recharge. This is especially important on necromancer greatsword because since it lacks any form of mobility the uptime defence of nightfall and the possibility of pulling people is really crucial.

 

This comment is not intended as harsh critique but as an insight from a player that care about the necromancer

[Ziggityzog.7389]

I love when Reaper gets a boost and its mostly the skills i use :). If you use off meta builds then you tend to get boosted rather then nerfed :). Hope this fixes the no skill required visual trash mesmer puts out. Either be immune to all damage from evading dodging invulnerability and stealth or be able to kill people with a spike kill / add 100 conditions to someone in 5 seconds. Not both

[LucianDK.8615]

I wonder if focus becomes stronger damage wise, that we might always take one over the nerfed warhorn and go for the trait that reduces axe and focus recharge, as well a flat +10% damage. Especially when combined with the second new trait adding +10% damage.

[Alfa.2170]

Hi, I would like to say that I'm writing here to criticize yours action regarding the specialization of druid in PvE (although this also applies to chronomancer because of its co-martyr of your obsession with the meta) and I want to make possible discussion with people being responsible for these changes. I would also like to point out that you would interpret this text as oversaturated with venom which I must alleviate to be nice and that is a really short version of the way I think. I'm a longtime fan of this universe and I have played the druid from the beginning of this specialization. This is my favorite specialization, so it hurts me to see what you are doing with it. And for this reason, I would like to remind you because of why it was created. Appendix to the game Heart of Thorns began the ere of rallies and irreversible division of the community gw2 in half (for the need of this post we will name them) "pro" and "casual". The ranger (the worst and least-liked class of those times) got druid specialties so that the era of rallies could come. Since then, it has become an inseparable symbol of the "meta". The specialization able to heal and buff allies while supporting them in battle. And as far as I can understand your first nerfs related to this specialization. The famous condi druid and power druid that were created and used by pro players in rallies because they had a large base heal and could focus on dps because people did not die like casual players. You have destroyed the condi druid and power druid and I can accept this, because the druid has to focus on healing, scaling of the healing skills has been increased to reward the nerf of the base values of the treatment. Since then, the heal druid has really gone through a lot because it was the last buff he got from his creators. Systematic for years you destroy the heal druid and try to push him from the meta in all possible ways. The nerfs "Grace of the Land" converting an additional bonus to dps on the Might. Then others specializations under the heal began slowly to become popular. Your goal is "differentiate the meta" I'm sorry but you will never win with the meta. The meta is a phenomenon and people want to do something quickly and easily. So you started to buff other classes such as the firebrand, the revenant, the tempest because of replacing the druid in the meta. But it still wasn't enough for you that there were already replacements that appeared and were used on the fractals and the raids. Because the druid was still the best option, he has many applications in the raid mechanics, relatively high dps and cc for great treatment. So what did we get? The pets did, despite appearances, really big dps on the druid. The famous pet Iboga which came to the meta. After repairing the bug associated with "Consuming Bite" the pet got a nerf because he was too good. Now "The base attributes of pets have been reduced by 20%." . The most glyph druid is situational or useless. The only useful glyph is "Glyph of Empowerment" + 10% dps for 6s will be replaced by the useless "Glyph of Unity". Which will replace the new glyph probably useless "Glyph of the Stars" or situational. Why? Because the druid has a great condi removal and without it, and "prevented allies from losing health while being revived, and grants boons at range." The heal's task is to prevent the death of allies. And if it happens, it is from this "Spirit of Nature" because instead of treating symptoms better to prevent. The Glyph of unity is useless but it was used because it always did a little bit of dps and gave 2 stacks might. Congratulations, these two changes will be crucial. You will considerably reduce DPS to the druid and cease to be a unique healing class. Why? Because he won't have anything virtually unique to offer. So far, the druid was liked he had dps buffs for the team. Now he has only the Frost Spirit, a spirit that can take the soulbeast as well. The Might can give you many classes and other specializations that you have buffed for months to destroy the druid. And now? Who do you think replace the druid? The Heal Renegade? Who gets the buffs for months to dethrone the druid and the chronomancer? Or maybe the firebrand? You deprived the druid of his identity in the same way as the Chronomancer, the two of your biggest works that have been carrying your raiding content over the years. And now you've used it to be dumped in rubbish at every opportunity. Oh, this is not like the balance look like, the destruction of other classes existed. Just add the mechanics in the game that will favor other aspects of the specialization and ensure the diversity, because now other types of the heal specializations have found their place in the raids. But it's easier to poison your children and push them away than to make an effort. So the question is what do you want to achieve? Do you want to destroy the druid? I can talk about a lots of the better or worse changes for the druid that you made, but what you wrote in the description of the path isn't true. This isn't the Balance Update, this is a destruction of the specialization.

[Will.9785]

I hope whoever is responsible for the thief changes gets moved on to another class. Deadeye is complete garbage and now they seem intent on ruining Daredevil as well. I'm very close to quitting the game as Daredvil is literally the only profession I find fun to play.

 

Setting my issues with thief changes aside.... when are we going to see support classes get some REAL buffs to make them viable alternatives to the current meta? We keep getting nerfs, nerfs, nerfs, and occasional changes to things like Tempest... but it hasn't been working. Firebrand and Renegade should both be able to give both quickness and alacrity so that we aren't so tied to Chrono in the meta. We should have more classes that can heal and stack might that could slot in for druid. These are the changes we need to see.

[DonArkanio.6419]

This looks very promising!

I'm very happy about the changes for Berserker, Revenant and Thief.

What worries me is that the overperforming builds/classes will see no changes. Let's take Power Revenant's damage output for example. The build has a trade-off indeed: You deal huge damage but you can also get killed very easily. I want to see that clearly stated in the game - just like with Berserker in this patch note.

What about Jalis, Mallyx? It's great that they get additional stuff, but their problem isn't lack of tools - it's the lack actual functionality.

See - Mallyx's Leap - Unyielding Anguish - it's clearly a leap, with a Dark Field = Dark Aura. This combo is non-existent.

Jalis needs work, the Forced Engagement is very ineffective in any game-mode. Look at Shiro; high energy cost abilities that are spammable (hence the energy mechanic). Jalis and Renegade don't have that.

[LucianDK.8615]

> @"DonArkanio.6419" said:

> This looks very promising!

> I'm very happy about the changes for Berserker, Revenant and Thief.

> What worries me is that the overperforming builds/classes will see no changes. Let's take Power Revenant's damage output for example. The build has a trade-off indeed: You deal huge damage but you can also get killed very easily. I want to see that clearly stated in the game - just like with Berserker in this patch note.

> What about Jalis, Mallyx? It's great that they get additional stuff, but their problem isn't lack of tools - it's the lack actual functionality.

> See - Mallyx's Leap - Unyielding Anguish - it's clearly a leap, with a Dark Field = Dark Aura. This combo is non-existent.

> Jalis needs work, the Forced Engagement is very ineffective in any game-mode. Look at Shiro; high energy cost abilities that are spammable (hence the energy mechanic). Jalis and Renegade don't have that.

 

Power revs have pitiful damage in pve, as well bad survivability. They do not need any more maluses due to pvpers not knowing how to deal with them.

[DonArkanio.6419]

> @"LucianDK.8615" said:

> > @"DonArkanio.6419" said:

> > This looks very promising!

> > I'm very happy about the changes for Berserker, Revenant and Thief.

> > What worries me is that the overperforming builds/classes will see no changes. Let's take Power Revenant's damage output for example. The build has a trade-off indeed: You deal huge damage but you can also get killed very easily. I want to see that clearly stated in the game - just like with Berserker in this patch note.

> > What about Jalis, Mallyx? It's great that they get additional stuff, but their problem isn't lack of tools - it's the lack actual functionality.

> > See - Mallyx's Leap - Unyielding Anguish - it's clearly a leap, with a Dark Field = Dark Aura. This combo is non-existent.

> > Jalis needs work, the Forced Engagement is very ineffective in any game-mode. Look at Shiro; high energy cost abilities that are spammable (hence the energy mechanic). Jalis and Renegade don't have that.

>

> Power revs have pitiful damage in pve, as well bad survivability. They do not need any more maluses due to pvpers not knowing how to deal with them.

 

I'm talking from a PvP perspective. Shiro, except 1 utility is a PvP-functionl legend.

 

[Jski.6180]

@"Irenio CalmonHuang.2048"

At what point can dagger main hand ele can play high enofe dmg with out getting one shot by other ppl will be the real update to dagger main hand. This is not that fix.

[Erasculio.2914]

> @"kappa.2036" said:

> Speaking about "trade-offs"... where are the trade-offs on firebrand and chrono, for example? Firebrand gets 15 new skills just by choosing the spec, and also chrono gets the F5 without consequences. I don't understand honestly.

 

Keep in mind that ArenaNet used the Reaper as an example of a "trade-off": they lose Death Shroud and gain Reaper Shroud. So a Firebrand already has a trade-off: they lose access to the normal virtue activations, which are replaced by the tomes. The same applies to the Dragonhunter: the trade-off is losing access to the normal virtue activations.

 

You could argue that the tomes are better than the normal virtues, but, considering how the same line of thinking applies to Reaper Shroud vs Death Shroud, it appears that ArenaNet's rule is making a difference between mechanics that replace others and mechanics that simply add something new.

 

Chronomancers, for example, will probably gain some kind of drawback - right now, they only gain a new ability, without losing anything.

[Sad Flute.6280]

Just come back to the game after 4 years, Mesmer is my main character, will be leaving again! /bye Anet.

[LucianDK.8615]

> @"DonArkanio.6419" said:

> > @"LucianDK.8615" said:

> > > @"DonArkanio.6419" said:

> > > This looks very promising!

> > > I'm very happy about the changes for Berserker, Revenant and Thief.

> > > What worries me is that the overperforming builds/classes will see no changes. Let's take Power Revenant's damage output for example. The build has a trade-off indeed: You deal huge damage but you can also get killed very easily. I want to see that clearly stated in the game - just like with Berserker in this patch note.

> > > What about Jalis, Mallyx? It's great that they get additional stuff, but their problem isn't lack of tools - it's the lack actual functionality.

> > > See - Mallyx's Leap - Unyielding Anguish - it's clearly a leap, with a Dark Field = Dark Aura. This combo is non-existent.

> > > Jalis needs work, the Forced Engagement is very ineffective in any game-mode. Look at Shiro; high energy cost abilities that are spammable (hence the energy mechanic). Jalis and Renegade don't have that.

> >

> > Power revs have pitiful damage in pve, as well bad survivability. They do not need any more maluses due to pvpers not knowing how to deal with them.

>

> I'm talking from a PvP perspective. Shiro, except 1 utility is a PvP-functionl legend.

>

 

And Revenants have suffered incredibly severe pve damage nerfs because of pvp, making it a laughing stock class for dps in pve.

[Forgotten Legend.9281]

> @"Irenio CalmonHuang.2048" said:

 

> ### General

>

> - Skills that destroy missiles will now block missiles instead. This change affects the following skills:

> - Elementalist: Swirling Winds

> - Engineer: Launch Wall

> - Guardian: Deflecting Shot, Refraction, Sanctuary, Shield of the Avenger, Zealot's Defense

> - Mesmer: Illusionary Warden

> - Necromancer: Corrosive Poison Cloud

> - Revenant: Inspiring Reinforcement (Underwater)

> - Thief: Sniper's Cover, Smoke Screen, Concealed Defeat

> - Warrior: Winds of Disenchantment

 

 

hmmmm... is this preparation for some "block hate" type skills like the GW1 Glass Arrows?

 

this gives me hope for something like this:

 

https://en-forum.guildwars2.com/discussion/857/suggestion-celestial-elite-spec/

[Leablo.2651]

Thanks for addressing chain attacks with the blunt weapons on Guardian. My gut feeling is that this is probably not enough of a change to make the weapons usable in general combat, but is at least an acknowledgement of the issue and a step toward improvement. I think the longer delays on these weapons will still be unacceptable compared with the consistent 0.5s cadence on other weapons, but I will look forward to testing out the changes to confirm.

[Swagg.9236]

* Magic Bullet: Stun duration for this skill has been increased from 2 seconds to 2.5 seconds.

* Counter Blade: Daze duration for this ability has been increased from 1 second to 2 seconds.

* Mantra of Distraction: Daze time for this skill has been increased from 1 second to 1.5 seconds.

* Confounding Suggestions: This trait no longer increases daze and stun durations. Instead, Diversion stuns foes for 1.5 seconds and no longer dazes foes.

 

I mean, who really enjoys being able to control one's own character anyway? I'd rather just not be able to press buttons. That said, if these changes were made in order to maybe give more break bar pressure to random Mesmer skills, you really ought to just do something like standardize break bar damage across all instances of CC rather than just arbitrarily elongating stun and daze durations. Also, I'm sure everyone in PvP will really love another Signet of Mercy tier revive meme. And STOP ADDING AURAS (or at least change their disgustingly passive nature).