how do you feel about the upcoming balance changes?

[Skotlex.7580]

I see a lot of criticism with a few supportive comments, but I was wondering, percentage wise, how people are actually feeling regards it.

 

https://en-forum.guildwars2.com/discussion/81729/upcoming-balance-notes/p1

[Randulf.7614]

None of the above. They just feel random to me and seem to be change for the sake of change.

 

Having said that they prob won’t bother me too much - few balance patches have any real effect on my style of play, but even I’m looking at them with a raised eyebrow.

 

They are what they are though. Whatever opinion any of us has will not have any bearing on this or future balances anyway.

 

 

[Tiviana.2650]

I am very disappointed in what they did with holo overload, and reaper soul eater I will have to see how this plays out but it looks bad. And holo is like a glass cannon that has a higher skill cap why punish it and make it squishier?

[Naxos.2503]

> @"Tiviana.2650" said:

> I am very disappointed in what they did with holo overload, and reaper soul eater I will have to see how this plays out but it looks bad. And holo is like a glass cannon that has a higher skill cap why punish it and make it squishier?

 

My thoughts exactly. The chrono changes are interesting, the thief changes have potential, the Ranger nerf was kind of obvious, but the buff to berserker was uncalled for, as was the complete mess being made of -both- elite engineer specs.

[DaFishBob.6518]

I'll know what a stunned wisp of energy looks like after this patch.

[Donari.5237]

I'm afraid for my Reaper who has been my go-to for open world PvE to help friends with stuff since she can just wade into things. She doesn't melt the opposition but it doesn't melt her. That may change now. And I'm sad to lose my Chrono's oh-no! button F4. I'm a bit unclear on that exact change, since Continuum Shift is a separate thing from Continuum Split, and Shift is what's been moved (could be another typo like Overload vs Overheat). If they meant to write it that way, is Split now still F5 but Shift is on F4 to be hit at will before the timer ends? Either way, it seems likely that the protection F4 offers is no longer something to hit if you haven't got a lot of skills off cooldown you want to hit and recover, so those moments of safety are gone.

 

But I went through each of my alts actually looking at their current builds and what bits will change, took notes on it all, and most of them won't need altered rotations at all. I didn't worry about mere number changes, or the move from distance tiers to distance spectrums, since that doesn't affect how I play. So when I look at changed skills, utilities and traits, the impact is less than the notes make it seem at first.

 

I do wonder if they'll do a traits reset to make people re-choose traits, given how some have been swapped around.

[Iozeph.5617]

Cynical. Whatever potential was there is nothing but an ever widening, rancid smelling puddle of urine at Anet's feet. It's rubbish.

 

Waiting and seeing for the fait accompli that is patch day has and will continue to do nothing but wind people up and burn them out. Anet's too tight-fisted to have a proper public test server so that these changes aren't dropped on the community as the rolling skip fires they routinely are before being left in place for six or more months.

 

It's one thing to adapt and overcome to a new map or a new enemy. But why should players have to fight their own professions or, more to the point, why should every patch be an exercise in adapting to and overcoming the balance team's(assuming there's more than one person tasked with this) ineptitude?

 

Seriously. Having more frequent balance passes AND a public test server AND a team who will actually listen to the feedbacks given by that server's population would probably do more right now for the health of this game than more gem store tripe, another limpid living story arc, or the bridge to nowhere AKA "Alliances" because at least people would take away the impression that in spite of all the rhetoric and reassurances, Anet actually cares about their product and their player's in-game enjoyment. Would there be lobbying? Perhaps. Would there be dishonesty on the parts of some of the testers with an agenda in mind for their favoured professions? Yes, but there would also be the indisputable data from the servers which they couldn't fake. Data which is much more easily parsed and digested in an isolated testing environment rather than from live servers.

 

But what's the use? Every time one of these polls is done someone brings these points up. And every time they seem to fall on deaf ears. And the only reason I've come up for that happening are that one, they score a palpable hit to those responsible for this game's development, and two out of pique and ego they're ignored because, 'We know better.'

 

If that isn't so then isn't it time for things to change? Or does Anet want it this way until the next round of layoffs, until doors are shut and the lights are turned off for good?

 

Otherwise keep on trucking I guess. At least we'll be all be well dressed on our race to the bottom.

[Erasculio.2914]

> @"Skotlex.7580" said:

> these balance patches mostly nerf off meta builds and buff things nobody uses

 

Yeah, that's what a balance patch is expected to do.

 

To nerf the things that are overpowered and so used by everyone (thus, "meta builds") and to buff the things that are underpowered and so underused (thus, "things nobody uses").

 

I would be very much surprised if ArenaNet were to buff meta builds or nerf things nobody uses.

 

Again, it's the "Hey, scissors here, please nerf rock, paper is fine" mentality.

 

[Skotlex.7580]

> @"Erasculio.2914" said:

> > @"Skotlex.7580" said:

> > these balance patches mostly nerf off meta builds and buff things nobody uses

>

> Yeah, that's what a balance patch is expected to do.

>

> To nerf the things that are overpowered and so used by everyone (thus, "meta builds") and to buff the things that are underpowered and so underused (thus, "things nobody uses").

>

> I would be very much surprised if ArenaNet were to buff meta builds or nerf things nobody uses.

>

> Again, it's the "Hey, scissors here, please nerf rock, paper is fine" mentality.

>

 

I wrote "off neta

[Skotlex.7580]

> @"Skotlex.7580" said:

> > @"Erasculio.2914" said:

> > > @"Skotlex.7580" said:

> > > these balance patches mostly nerf off meta builds and buff things nobody uses

> >

> > Yeah, that's what a balance patch is expected to do.

> >

> > To nerf the things that are overpowered and so used by everyone (thus, "meta builds") and to buff the things that are underpowered and so underused (thus, "things nobody uses").

> >

> > I would be very much surprised if ArenaNet were to buff meta builds or nerf things nobody uses.

> >

> > Again, it's the "Hey, scissors here, please nerf rock, paper is fine" mentality.

> >

 

I wrote "off meta builds", not meta builds. I've seen a few comments stating that this balance patch buffs some of the problematic classes, nerfs

"Viable for casual PvP play" builds into irrelevance, thus reducing diversity.

 

Granted, I've read comments stating all sort of things regarding the effect of the changes, so I just wanted a poll to get a rough idea of how many of the forumgoers are really against it, or if it is a case of a "silent minority". Though, if few people vote then there's not enough data to be informed. :o

 

 

[casualkenny.9817]

Where can I read the details for this?

[MithranArkanere.8957]

They appear to be a step in the right direction.

 

But it's just a step. They are doing things that have to be done before further changes, like profession mechanic tradeoffs.

So far the only profession mechanic tradeoffs left to do are:

* An F5 for core rangers to trade off.

* Mirage shatters.

 

After the remaining two are done, every profession will have F1-F5 skills that are replaced by elite specializations. It will be time for further adjustments down the line.

[Westenev.5289]

Anet has been touching my builds for the past few balance changes (Daredevil and Heal Druid in particular), so I'm hesitant to praise any further attention to ranger or thief. That said, Thief traps really were useless and I'm happy to see them go. Anet would have their work cut out for them if they set out with the intent to make preperations worse.

[Kattenpootjes.4291]

It's never been any good so it doesn't really matter much, it's temporary anyway. The whole drama will soon be about something else because that's how it's been for years now.

[Inculpatus cedo.9234]

> @"casualkenny.9817" said:

> Where can I read the details for this?

 

Professions sub-forum.

[ZeftheWicked.3076]

Seems somone came there with hot iron and forced them to finally start touching core necro death shroud. New changes are an improvement, but core necro is still worlds apart from his elites.

 

**core**:

 

1. Has poor cleave compared to both elites

2. Has much lower damage then both elites!

3. Has lower support ability then both elites! (especially scourge)

4. CC ragdoll compared to both elites (reaper has his own stab, scourge can steal stab from enemies by corrupting + trait)

5. His shroud is clunky and outdated compared to reaper's. Mostly a tanking mechanic, while reaper uses his to actually get things done.

 

There is no balance in core vs elites in case of necro, save very fringe cases where you simply need the safety of 1200 range that lifeblast offers. Other then that core gets outdone by elites on every turn, being the spec that hits less targets for less damage, providing less utility...the lesser choice...

 

[Ygdrasill.9135]

I think they took care of a couple major issues and the rest just felt like minor tweaks that honestly won't affect very many players, especially those who don't care about PvP or WvW

[bluberblasen.9684]

Good:

Ranger unblock reduce

Ranger sic em nerf

Ele buffs

Rev nerfs

 

Bad:

mesmer still too good in wvw no nerfs to mirage only instead chrono rework

Holo still too strong. No damage nerf to laser beam. No damage nerf to holo skills. No range nerf to holo skills. No sustain nerf.

Instead overheat nerf...

Scrapper still too tanky - remove barrier gain, or remove barrier from the game.. Its a vers bad feature...

Scourge still too much barrier plus condi spam and too much 1200 range 10 target skills. Remove barrier and Reduce target to 3....

No rampage nerf.. The nerf is a buff......

 

Core classes still underwhelming and elite spec still too strong. Stop nerfing core classes when elite spec is the problem.

 

Neutral:

Guard buffs. I think Guard is in a good spot neither need buffs or nerfs.

 

My optinion is wvw based. I dont care about pve and pvp Balance.

 

 

 

[Rauderi.8706]

I marked Cynical, because that's how I feel about things in general nowadays.

I'll reserve my ~~death's~~ judgment until Deadeye gets an F3 instead of this bizarre, choppy Stealth Malice thing.

[Dahkeus.8243]

Seems to be a lack of understanding how balance patches work based on this option:

 

Negative: these balance patches mostly nerf off meta builds and buff things nobody uses

 

Balance patches don't just need to focus "meta" builds. Of course, meta builds need to be adjusted, but there's often builds that become too popular for the majority of the population of players without being exactly "meta". Look at turret engineer, deadeye, etc.

 

Meta builds are based around top tier games where meta builds fight other meta builds in balanced teams such as the tournaments. However, most people play PvP in ranked/unranked games, which consist of games where you may not have a bunker/roamer/etc. at all on your team. I mean, a rev is a beast when they're paired with a bunker in a team fight because that bunker gives them the defense they need to keep running offensively. Without that, they just don't have the disengage mechanics to survive an even matchup.

 

And of course balance patches will buff things people don't use. That's *why* those things need to be buffed.

[sorudo.9054]

i have seen no balance patch notes nor any news about this, ether they did a poor job notifying ppl like always or it's shoved in the game while nobody asked for it.

[otto.5684]

It depends on the class.

 

I think ele changes are good. I like condi ele and this should make it viable.

Engi, both scrapper and holo need nerfs in sPvP. I think the changes are okay in that regard. Not sure what is going to happen with scrapper with the changes.

Guardian. Mediocre. Ya, core and DH should be slightly better in sPvP. But neither will be able to become competitive. Zeal should be a variant in some condi builds. No FB nerfs..

Mesmer, not sure. I think the changes are absolute was of time, but will see the outcome.

Necro. Neutral. Core necro is not a thing. In any game mode. And surely would not become one with a bit of buffs to core shroud.

Ranger. I think Soul Beast changes are solid. Druid changes are dumb, at best.

Rev. Power nerf are okayish. Mallyx changes are stupid and will make it so much worse in PvP. In PvE, it will remain the same. Switch to Mallyx, turn on elite. Switch legend 10 sec later. Epic fail.

Thief. Dunno. Have not looked. I do not play condi thief or use traps. I am highly doubtful this will even been remotely PvP viable.

Warrior. Berserker remake was terrible. The patch did very little to fix the issues. It will remain terrible for the foreseeable future (probably ever). At least there was a rampage nerf.

[Randulf.7614]

> @"sorudo.9054" said:

> i have seen no balance patch notes nor any news about this, ether they did a poor job notifying ppl like always or it's shoved in the game while nobody asked for it.

 

In case you hadnt seen it since your post

https://en-forum.guildwars2.com/discussion/81729/upcoming-balance-notes/p1

[Asum.4960]

> Negative: these balance patches mostly nerf off meta builds and buff things nobody uses

 

 

Wouldn't that be positive and exactly what balance patches are for?

 

The problem rather is that they often don't accomplish exactly that, with not much changing at all.

[Skotlex.7580]

> @"Asum.4960" said:

> > Negative: these balance patches mostly nerf off meta builds and buff things nobody uses

>

>

> Wouldn't that be positive and exactly what balance patches are for?

>

> The problem rather is that they often don't accomplish exactly that, with not much changing at all.

 

Not quite:

Proper balance: meta builds receive some shaves of their performance, and unused traits / skills are improved.

What the "negative" poll option means is: nerf to non-meta classes, meta classes are untouched, unused traits / skills get a pointless buff as they are still garbage after the buff.

 

I've seen a few comments speak that badly of the balance notes, hence the way it's phrased.