So how is PvP now?

I've been away from the game for about 8 months now, don't even have it installed currently. Anyway, I've been considering coming back to the game with the PvE side getting more interesting as there's a new expansion on the horizon? That tells me the game still has a future to be worth investing in. However, PvE doesn't satisfy me in this game for long, PvP has been the content that keeps me in the game long term and what I enjoy the most.

I understand there's been some huge PvP balance rehaul since then and I'd like to know how that's affected PvP. Is the balance better now?

It's nice but condi thief Wil annoy you until they get nerfed

Not only is there no balance, but there's no diversity

Full of low risk/high reward noob builds for beginners, just like Anet wanted.

It is... well, better.

The patch went in the right direction, tuning down many builds so the differences to less optimal ones got reduced. This enables some non-meta builds to be playable without getting completely destroyed by meta builds. Build diversity has definitely increased.

But there are still many issues and reworks are still necessary. Core necro being as braindead as possible. Revive skills being still pretty strong. Some weird decisions as seen by the removal of amulets and stuff.

So: it is better, but still not perfect. But if you want to play off-meta builds and don't tryhard, you will definitely have more fun now than before the patch.

Same boat. And no. It's exactly the same as its always been.

-Combat still revolves around micromanaging ultra-short duration particle effects.-It's still the same game mode from 2012 which is singlehandedly responsible for most of the modes balance issues.-matchmaking is still broken resulting in incredibly lopsided snowballs. Every single time.-chatbox is pure covid.

I'm already in the process of looking for another game.

@ZeteCommander.4937 said:Not only is there no balance, but there's no diversity

Not true.

@NorthernRedStar.3054 said:Full of low risk/high reward noob builds for beginners, just like Anet wanted.

Also not true.

There are several more builds that were pushed out by the meta before that are viable now per class, but a large number of people have been spoiled by ez-bake damage and are now clinging desperately onto whatever gives them even a shred of that back.

@Yannir.4132 said:I've been away from the game for about 8 months now, don't even have it installed currently. Anyway, I've been considering coming back to the game with the PvE side getting more interesting as there's a new expansion on the horizon? That tells me the game still has a future to be worth investing in. However, PvE doesn't satisfy me in this game for long, PvP has been the content that keeps me in the game long term and what I enjoy the most.

I understand there's been some huge PvP balance rehaul since then and I'd like to know how that's affected PvP. Is the balance better now?

Seems fine to me, but it seemed fine before, too. I can't say that balance patch really changed much for me as far as my enjoyment of PvP/WvW. It is different, though.

CC feels simultaneously more ubiquitous and less impactful. It's a result of the destruction of passive defenses which they thought would lead to more skilled play. I'm not really convinced that worked out. Landing CC is easier now that everyone isn't covered in stability, so it doesn't matter so much if you miss! Just spam CC because nobody can defend against it forever. I don't think this is an improvement, but it's not killing PvP for me either. I'm pretty neutral-leaning-toward-slightly-negative on this one.

The previous meta was very bursty, which I enjoyed. It felt fast-paced. On the other hand, slowing things down hasn't really hurt the speed of gameplay too much now that some of the more obnoxious sustain builds have been trimmed. I think we're heading in the right direction here, but I'm going neutral-leaning-toward-slightly-positive on this. This one I feel needs more tweaking and it will probably end up panning out.

Out of time here! Off to work! Overall I'd say if you liked it before you should still like it now. But try it out, because most people seem a lot more sensitive to balance stuff than I am. Combat feels good to me. I don't see what the problem is or was!

pretty much the same but slower, we had a patch reducing overall dmg by 33% and healing by 15-20%, one shot builds got hit hard and all CC have their dmg reduced, so no more 5k bulls charge.

Mirage has just 1 dodge in pvp and got replaced by pistol thief as the main condi spammer

Condi builds are more dominant

and bunkers more effective

most cancerous builds right now are condi thief and burn guardian, there's also symbolbrand and condi rev performing well, and condi soulbeast rising

If you like Bunkers, as well as CC and conditions running rampant, you'll love the current PvP.If you don't like that, you probably won't enjoy current PvP .

Combat still feels decent. I don’t really like the fact that all ccs do 1 damage now, but it seems a little more balanced so hopefully it doesn’t hurt combat too much. Same problem as before though- game is hard for new players to understand, so in ranked you will see some insanely dumb stuff in comparison with what is “norm” in “high tier”. If that is too much for you too handle then play a more pvp focused game like league, otherwise it’s not as bad as some ppl let on

It feels like old GW2 in a way. Not all elite specs dominate now. A lot of people who joined during the years of the CC to Burst Meta are very upset because they have to self reflect and realize that they aren't as good as the powercreep had them believe they were.. PvP is a bit slower and dare I say more welcoming outside of the toxic community, it allows for more mistakes as well as thoughtful skill use and games are a lot more rotation orientated.

There's always room for balanced but I hope that damage doesn't increase at all because I don't wanna go down that power creep road again.

I've been trying other games all week. Time to Kill dramatically increased and it's just not fun to me.

@Drennon.7190 said:I've been trying other games all week. Time to Kill dramatically increased and it's just not fun to me.

Well I mean it's not that fun for the other person either if they die faster than they can really learn the mechanics.

@Azure The Heartless.3261 said:

@ZeteCommander.4937 said:Not only is there no balance, but there's no diversity

@"NorthernRedStar.3054" said:Full of low risk/high reward noob builds for beginners, just like Anet wanted.

Boo-hoo, my "fun for all!" -build got pushed into viability because good players can't pub-stomp me anymore because Anet gutted all their damage! Yay me!

@Azure The Heartless.3261 said:

@ZeteCommander.4937 said:Not only is there no balance, but there's no diversity

@NorthernRedStar.3054 said:Full of low risk/high reward noob builds for beginners, just like Anet wanted.

I don't think there's a lot of diversity in this version with lots of placeholder talent and useless elite .The old builds that are not available are because they have great defects. Destroying the builds that have been available will not improve them, but the players have no choice.As far as mesmer are concerned, in the past, interrupting clone phantom And everything is available , and all weapons have suitable build. Now, what other options are available except core shatter ？Do you call this diversity?

This seasons is better than last

@"NorthernRedStar.3054" said:Boo-hoo, my "fun for all!" -build got pushed into viability because good players can't pub-stomp me anymore because Anet gutted all their damage! Yay me!

Good players still pub-stomp.

Having a build that allowed you to pub-stomp taken from you making you suddenly unable to pub-stomp means you weren't as good as you thought/were being carried harder than you thought..(some exceptions made for chrono.)

It is CC and bunker meta. Make of that what you wish...

Step 1: Win first midfight.Step 2: Let your bunker hold the node permanently.Step 3: Win

@Azure The Heartless.3261 said:

@"NorthernRedStar.3054" said:Boo-hoo, my "fun for all!" -build got pushed into viability because good players can't pub-stomp me anymore because Anet gutted all their damage! Yay me!

Ye, that's why rezzing's been complained about for months.

Google 'pub-stomp'. 'Course you're still gonna beat people you outskill in a 1v1. It's a whole different matter how long it's going to take, and that has a massive effect on the game. You need to severely out-do a 1v2 to down both players at the same time.

But of course low-grade players feel better about themselves now. That was the whole point of these changes.

The balance is really the only saving grace of pvp. It's nice to play without all the one-shot, two-shot builds running around. Sure there is condi and CC to worry about, but the situation is much more manageable. The community and the matchmaking, on the other hand, is a dumpster fire.

it's good. im playing an off-meta Soulbeast build and doing fine in the higher divisions. it's a good sign when you can use off-meta, play it well, and do ok against good players playing meta. im seeing a lot of build diversity in general. i also think there is a good balance between condi and power builds right now, still slightly favoring power builds in higher ranks. i don't think condis need any nerfing whatsoever.

boring. very boring.

the balance is livable if not a bit too slow and some classes are not well represented

balance aside the game to me does not feel fluid like it used to

play a couple if matches a day and log off is a healthy approach

but yeah...boring

@mistsim.2748 said:it's good. im playing an off-meta Soulbeast build and doing fine in the higher divisions. it's a good sign when you can use off-meta, play it well, and do ok against good players playing meta. im seeing a lot of build diversity in general. i also think there is a good balance between condi and power builds right now, still slightly favoring power builds in higher ranks. i don't think condis need any nerfing whatsoever.

I play berserk, I've fought condi guards/condi dragon hunters(they used sword/focus/longbow/even GS at times), the condi from from their traits proc'd by their power weapons does more damage than my power weapons(even swapping auto attack chains), power is much more likely to be blocked than condi skills, and I've never been able to reflect condi's.balance.