INTRODUCTION

Hi all,This post is to summarize my view on the current WvW Metagame, as well as provide small constructive feedback about both current status of classes and small ideas. Usually I go by The Blue Rangerr, and am an admin at Metabattle.com for their WvW section. I will be aiming to keep all feedback at a realistic level, and maintain current class identities with any proposed changes, and encourage everyone to do the same. This feedback is my personal opinion- and I really do encourage everyone to discuss areas they believe also need attention. If we are able to generate good discussion, I will continue to post summaries for each balance patch.

The aim of this post is to start some discussion and constructive feedback about the state of the Q4 2017 WvW Metagame. For the purpose of this discussion, I'll be sticking strictly to zerg v zerg builds, but please feel free to add in anything you find relevant to the roaming scene. I will be going on a class-by-class basis, looking at the roles, builds and strengths of each class and how they contribute to group gameplay. Feedback will be divided in to 'practical' (small changes that are realistic and will provide benefit to a fun game style) and 'Idealistic' (changes that are unlikely and large scale, but could diversify the game and create new fun ways to play).

Rather than go in to any sort of talk about a 'pirate ship', 'melee ball' etc kind of meta, I will focus on classes and their strengths in each gameplay style. The one thing I will say is that the boon meta is long dead. Currently boons are extremely hard to get and maintain, which is causing many groups to turn back to a ranged composition, as it is highly effective at generating downstate without the requirements for boons- and thus less at risk to the removal of these boons.

GUARDIAN

Guardian has always been in a exceptional place for WvW, and the current metagame is no exception. Firebrand's strengths are many- they provide AoE Stability, Condition Cleanse, Boon Support in multiple forms, Crowd Control, Healing and high potential damage. The classes strength allows a zerg to function, with many of these boons not just enhancing builds, but making them possible to be played. The biggest factor of course being AoE stability, without which many classes would struggle to operate at all in the game mode. Because of this, Guardian excels in all gameplay patterns of WvW, and is a mandatory pickup in any group. Mantras, already strong, saw another buff in usability that made it significantly easier to work with.Having a mandatory class for a game mode is usually something I would consider unhealthy- however in the case of GW2 WvW I believe that a meta involving Guardians is both fun and stable, and does not require any form of large nerf to the class that does not involve adding in permanent Breakbars to every player.

The current role of the Guardian in the metagame is 3fold, one of the most diverse in terms of legitimate gameplay differences as well as build differences. The Minstrel Support Firebrand is exceptionally strong, so strong in fact that it removes the need for a dedicated party healer, and even the need for a second Guardian in the party. Celestial Support Firebrand fills a very similar role, but also manages to bring a reasonable offensive pressure- usually having 2 in a party to ensure optimal party support. Burn Guardian(can be DH, FB, Core Guard) is an exceptional damage dealer, with strength increasing exponentially against larger and range oriented comps. Niche builds, such as Power DH Frontline, Longbow DH Backline, also exist in a capacity, and are viable (not optimal) slots to take.

My feedback for Guardian is generally to keep it sitting in its current position, as without their strength the game mode would be extremely vulnerable to CC and instakill bursting, making it way less enjoyable to play for both sides (no game is fun if you cant use your skills). Tthe only way to reduce Guardian's prevalence is to buff other classes up to the same level of support- or at least give viable (note: some classes have options- just not as good as Guard) alternatives for stability to more classes.

1. Practical Changes:

   • Remove cast time on entering Tomes (F123).
   • Fix the functionality of Trait|Indomitable Courage so that the stunbreak works in WvW.

2. Idealistc Changes:

   • N/A (I don't believe this class requires large, game breaking changes)

NECROMANCER

Another of the strongest, most meta influencing classes, Necromancer has always found itself at the forefront of the metagame in WvW. This is in no small way thanks to the plethora of boon corrupting abilities available, as well as the simple fact that they can provide enormous amounts of damage in an AoE quickly. Necromancer and Guardian have always been hand in hand, with Necromancer's being one of the most optimal ways to counter a Guardian's boon support. With the rise of Condition damage in WvW, Scourge sits as the condi king, and although it is possible for Burn Guard to out DPS a Necromancer, the boon corrupts are too strong not to take. Currently, scourge with Curses sits close to 68 corrupts per minute at a conservative average- higher against huge groups or sustaining enemies not entering downstate quickly. (numbers taken from a collection of multiple ArcDPS logs and in game testing)

Another area of strength the Necromancer can claim is in its unique ability to apply large scale AoE Barrier- as well as the incredibly powerful Tranfusion. Scourges can provide life saving Barrier that can get people through chokes, out of Winds of Disenchantment, through siege etc, and whats more, if someone does die, they can be Transfused out of damage and in to safe territory to be revived. The ability to control downstates is game changing in WvW, and more and more DPS Scourges are taking Blood Magic simply for this one trait, despite the rest of the line not being incredible for their damage.

The current role of a Necromancer focuses on maximising damage, with a unique niche role of providing AoE Barrier and Transfusions. The builds range from full condition damage based Trailblazer stats to Celestial, with Trailblazer being the tankier and more consistant DPS dealer, and celestial providing stronger Barrier, mild healing and reasonable power damage through Desert Shroud and Wells. Full Power Wells Reaper is now also a viable slot, given the changes made that increased shroud damage, but requires a melee oriented comp to be effective as it struggles to compete at range. Full Minstrel support is a reasonable option to take just for Barrier output- slightly weakened because of the reliance on allies to have a large HP pool and by not having ENOUGH healing or ENOUGH barrier to be a full, dedicated support that competes with other healers.

My feedback for Necromancer is to reduce its ability to corrupt boons- or at least for Stability to be put as the last thing to go. Stability is already being removed by CCs, to have it corrupted as well kills off any composition that wants to be melee oriented. Note- I actually love that boon counterplay exists- what I want to see is focused, directed boon removal and counterplay instead of AoE spamming and praying. Scourge is in a good place now, and whilst their DPS is not the top anymore, their utility makes them still optimal. Besides this, I believe that an upgrade to some of their damaging skills for both conditions and power would be excellent compensation for a loss of corruptions, reducing some of their inherent WvW strength whilst boosting their PvE power.

1. Practical Changes:
   • Give Scourge 1 more way to apply AoE Barrier and small AoE healing, especially for a support focused build, to help give it an identity in this area.
   • Improve the identity of the Death Magic traitline as a personal sustain spec focused around securing kills- such as small HP gain on kill, Power after kill(instead of toughness>Power) etc.
   • Remove the rapid decay from Reaper Shroud in WvW only, to give Power Reaper more time to stay in Melee range- losing shroud to cleave is good gameplay, losing it to a timer is incredibly punishing.
   • Give Deathly Claws (Lich skill 1) Unblockable skill fact in WvW/PvE only. This is an elite skill- but is too easily countered by projectile reflect spam for such a slow moving projectile. This will give Power Reaper a powerful mid ranged elite choice and improve their high-risk-high-reward gameplay pattern.
2. Idealistc Changes:
   • Make Transfusion baseline for moving downstates but not the heal, turn the trait in to an entirely healing focused ability, healing for a small amount on each shroud skill. Although this is unlikely to happen, it will give supports a viable healing path.

ELEMENTALIST

Elementalist has always had a role in the WvW metagame- and Weaver is no exception. The DPS output is incredibly high- and though it does not put out a meaningful amount of group support outside of occasional water fields and cleanse, the CC, DPS and mobility more than compensate for this in a DPS slot. Tempest also sits in a wonderful spot as a utility healer, hard countering Scourge with its application of cover boons and extremely high condition cleanse.Weaver's damage output is matched only by its ability to get burst down. Personally, I believe this is at the heart of Elementalist gameplay, and am happy to see it sitting in an area that rewards skilled gameplay. What I do not believe is rewarding is the amount of pressure Retaliation provides. Skills are completely unviable simply because of how strong Retaliation is against a Weaver, and so options that further increase its DPS are not taken since you are too likely to kill yourself.Tempest is seeing a backseat in the meta not because it isn't strong, but because its slot can be taken by other classes for equal if not better effectiveness. Minstrel Guardians almost completely negate the need for a heal Tempest, and correctly traited Scourge will bring almost the same condition cleansing powers to the group.In all settings, there is no Melee DPS option for Weaver or Tempest that comes even close to competing with other classes. They have the damage on Tempest, but die too quickly to be worth taking.

My feedback for Elementalist mostly revolves around its use of auras. The nerf to Aura duration was not insignificant, and lessens what is an otherwise unique way of supporting allies. Returning auras to previous duration OR giving a trait option that improves the effective of Elemtalist applied auras would go a long way to improving class identity and strength. I would also love to see a way for Elementalist to improve over time sustain outside of the Temepst elite spec- especially on staff oriented builds.

1. Practical Changes:
   • Increase the barrier on Dual skills. This will give Weaver a better immunity to Retaliation whilst still being vulnerable to being taken down by burst skills.
   • Create a trait that improves Elemental auras slightly if you apply them. Frost Aura -12% damage, Flame Aura 2burn 2might on proc, Shocking 1.5s Stun, Magnetic SLIGHT radius increase. As an example. Or instead increasing their duration to 6s if applied by an Elementalist. A good place for this would be where Tempestuous Aria is- a trait that sees almost 0 gameplay in any game mode- but would compete with other strong options.
   • Revert the Static Field change for WvW, where its usage was focused around striking lots of enemies, not isolating 1 single enemy inside the cage.
2. Idealistc Changes:
   • Improve sustain on Elementalist in general, especially in a melee setting, either with greater defensive capabilities on the Stances, a way to get improved HP or Toughness, or a general buff to Earth as a self sustaining line that helps it compete with Water.

REVENANT

A powerhouse of a class, Revenant can do almost everything, with huge boon support and defensive utility even whilst taking on a DPS role. The main role now is to deal as much damage as possible from range and generate downs for your group to focus on. This style of gameplay is rewarding to play, but horrible to play against, as Coalescence of Ruin is almost impossible to see in a zerg and has no way of being stopped unless you are blocking or invulnerable at the time. Unlike the Weaver, Hammer Revenant has multiple sustain options for both itself and the group- this being especially true if you are taking the Herald elite specialisation. Boon support and high DPS make this class a monster in the current meta, and is the main reason ranged comps are so effective.Support Revenant in the form of Ventari healer is also viable and a pseudo powerful slot- with Ventari Rev being a fantastic choice when trying to heal more than just 1 party at a time.Condi rev retains the same strength it did in the HoT meta, but thanks to its requirements of going melee and the rise of the scourge it is no longer a powerhouse defining the melee comp meta, and instead is outclassed by other specs.

The current role of the Revenant in the metagame is to generate downstate enemies as fast as possible from a distance, which they can do effectively thanks to a unique combination of hard to see and hard hitting skills. Their lack of reliance on projectiles means they are more powerful in this meta than other ranged focused classes, but are still weak to the projectile reflect spam because of the easy to reflect nature of Hammer Bolt. Herald and Renegade are both effective long range DPS specs, with Herald edging our for personal sustain and group support.

My feedback for the Revenant is to improve counterplay without nerfing damage directly, as I do firmly believe you should be rewarded for hitting your skills. The removal of Equilibrium was a good step in the right direction, making it harder to be 1shot by something you can hardly see. If DPS is the intended idea for the Revenant, then consider making it harder to take boon, defensive and offensive options all in the 1 build. Currently, the high DPS comes at very low risk compared to any other class.

1. Practical Changes:

   • Give CoR a small delay between each impact, so that someone can move to avoid it, but retain its high damage so that if you hit something they are going to feel it.
   • Add an option in T1 Devastation traits that is not entirely melee weapon focused.
   • Make it harder to maintain boon support whilst also maintaining DPS in a WvW focused build- I HATE energy in its current form, but dare i suggest giving an initial cost to Facet of Nature to reduce spamming it for boons and still being able to DPS- or to other facets for maintaining them and still being able to do regular DPS.

2. Idealistc Changes:

   • Give Assasin stance more damage modifying options to solidify it as a the true power DPS spec, whilst similarly taking away some of the modifiers you gain when in other stances. This way, you cannot be providing the Dwarf Elite or Mallyx Resistance whilst still pumping out such easy damage, instead having to focus on being a damage dealer or supporting in turn.

THIEF

Thief has viable, but not optimal options for zerg fighting. If I were to discuss roaming, this would be the place, as Thief is a solid pickup with multiple builds. Currently its zerging potential is limited to 3 options- Staff Frontline, Shortbow Condi or Dagger/Pistol/Rifle backline killing. Deadeye is a powerhouse for sniping targets, but is countered too hard by projectile hate to be considered part of the metagame.In the current Meta, Staff Frontline is severely weaked by the fact that boon removal is so prevelant. Without Stability, you cannot get off your skills effectively, and are prone to being 1shot by too many things to be worth taking over other, safer options like Spellbreaker. Condi Thief has a modestdamage output- but gives nothing to the group at all. combining its relatively small DPS output with a lack of meaningful utility outside of CC (which other classes can also provide) means that this option is rarely picked up outside of thief diehards. Backline killing thief is not a terrible choice, but in the current metagame players stick too close together for it to work as effectively as it once did. Even pirateships stay mostly intact. Against cloud formation enemies this build can be quite effective- but is very risky to play as a great deal of the cloud are on similar builds and will jump on you if they see you isolated.

My feedback for zerging thief is limited- without destroying the class identity of the thief there are relatively few changes that can be made. However, the increase of potential ranged power damage on the Deadeye and a way to get around reflects could go a long way to creating a build that is functional as a single target long ranged sniping build.

1. Practical Changes:

   • Make Death's Judgement 'Explode' your marked target rather than shooting a projectile, giving you a way to burst through enemy walls without being able to put out constant pressure and piercing attacks. and still being blockable. To compensate for no longer being able to dodge the projectile, have a small black explosion begin on your character, which if you dodge before it finishes can be evaded.
   • Bounding Dagger grants 1 stack of Stability for 5s after succesfully striking an enemy (10s ICD)
   • improve Shortbow as a condition weapon, bleeding on auto for a short duration or increased radius on Choking Gas would be fantastic here

2. Idealistc Changes:

   • N/A (I dont believe thief SHOULD be a big zerg class, but others might have other opinions, please share!)

MESMER

Mesmer sits as part of the metagame as the single best utility support available. It has powerful, spammable CC, the best boon support available, moderate healing, and unique skills such as Veil, Portal, Timewarp, Moa, Gravity Well and others which are incredibly strong in a WvW setting. Outside of this utility capacity, there is no role that mesmer can fulfil in a zerging scenario, simply due to a lack of AoE skills and an inability to use illusions to their full effect.Mesmer's role as a tanky support is extremely important, fishing enemies with pulls to be killed by Revenants, Gravity Wells inside Winds of Disenchantment, distorting allies inside of Winds to escape, providing good boon support, are all extremely important in maintaining both a ranged and melee composition. This is limited to the Chronomancer Spec, with core and Mirage both seeing a distinct lack of play in a zerg environment.

My feedback for mesmer is simply to make any kind of DPS option viable in a WvW setting. How to go about this can be difficult, since balance needs to work around the fact that clones do exist in other game modes and could blow out the damage.

1. Practical Changes:

   • Improve damage done by Well of Calamity's initial pulses, leave final pulse the same if not slightly buffed.
   • Give Mantra of Pain and Mantra of Distraction a larger AoE to make them useful against groups
   • Increase the damage of Spatial Surge- or at least the Ambush skill
   • Return some form of the trait that caused clones to deal damage and conditions upon death
   • Increase Protected Phatasms to 2s Distortion so they can complete 1 attack inside a zerg- it competes with the strongest sustain trait available and should have a better use
   • Mirrored Axes: Sends out a phantom Axe to each Nearby enemy (up to 5)
   • Sand Shards Radius increased to 240

2. Idealistc Changes:

   • Give Clones and Phantasms damage reduction when against large numbers of enemies. This is admittedly hard to implement without destroying roaming, as cleaving clones is important against mesmers. If the tech exists, then scaling with enemies would be great, if not then another way for them to obtain longer duration Distortion or Mirage Cloak is pseudo compensation. I would love to hear a dev response on this specifically, as any clone change could completely shake up the class for WvW!

WARRIOR

Warrior is solidified in the metagame for a single skill- Winds of Disenchantment. This skill has so much raw power that is mandatory to take a warrior or 2, even in a pirate ship composition, as the bubble can be used to either stop an enemy dead in their tracks or to offensively push into and take down enemies. Warrior backs this up with decent DPS if able to melee, supported by its high personal sustain. Without the ability to remove so many boons, the class would be lacking in DPS and group support, but in this metagame with Spellbreaker's power, Warrior is a mandatory class.Only a single, Power Spellbreaker build is meta currently, designed to drop the bubble and deal as much damage as possible. There are niche builds using axe, Strength Traits to dodge infinitely, or even a Rifle Berserker (ironically more powerful than a Deadeye). None of these would be considered meta in my eyes.

My feedback for Warrior is that they deserve to deal much higher damage when in Melee range, but should not be able to do so with the Spellbreaker line equipped. Being able to do more damage than they currently do, whilst still bringing Winds and Break Enchantments, would make the class too strong. My suggestion is to return some power to the Berserker Specialisation as a DPS role, and I would love to see a functionality change in Winds but am doubtful of it being a realistic change.

1. Practical Changes:

   • Give 100Blades more power on its final strike, and potentially a small increase to the rest of the skill. Having to stand still for 3.5s is a huge risk, and the final impact should reward players instead of dealing less than a Coalescence of Ruin.
   • Increase 'Bloody Roar' to a 15% damage increase
   • Restore Bersker skills as Stage 3 Adrenaline uses for WvW/PvE only
   • Increase the duration of Peak Performance's raw damage buff

2. Idealistc Changes:

   • Change Winds of Disenchantment's effect slightly- so that it still removes boons every 1/2 a second, but allows them to be applied. This will allow guardians to give small amounts of Stability, either from F3 tome or Elite mantra (all of these sources come with at least 1 other cover boon that will help it from being rippped right away) that enables other classes to escape a winds instead of being locked in CC with no counterplay.

RANGER

Longbow ranger will forever be a go to for pugs. It is easy, it is powerful single target, and it is safe. Soulbeast compounds the damage whilst retaining the same safety of the Ranger, but does not open any new gameplay options for the class. One of the best things about a ranged soulbeast is the access to unblockable attacks, letting them ignore projectile hate and be effective. Druid retains its spot as a powerful healer, and currently with the new Grace of the Land changes is a brilliant pickup as a might giver to the group. Though I would not consider any ranger build in the meta, the closest would have to be Druid, but it is countered heavily by conditions which makes it weaker in the current metagame than other healers. Soulbeast Longbow builds are also viable, capable of 1shotting enemy Weavers safely and focusing down other targets effectively.

The role of the Soulbeast in the current meta is limited to ranged gameplay, as although there are some exciting things available for a melee player, they simply lack the easy sustain of a Warrior and the AoE pressure. Druid's ability to give stealth to downstate players makes it incredibly strong in smaller fights, but as the enemy gets larger the druid suffers from a lack of personal sustain, constant access to healing (when CA is down) and on demand condition cleanse.

My feedback for Soulbeast involves upgrading its stance sharing further to give it a role inside a zerg, and to give it the ability to pet swap inside of Beastmode so that it can access both sustain and DPS pets readily. Druid simply needs a better way to cleanse conditions from allies, since the pet will be getting killed too easily for Signet of Renewal to be reliable, even with petswapping, and the skill is on too long of a cooldown to be consistant cleanse against condition based enemies.

1. Practical Changes:

   • Give Soulbeast the ability to petswap in Beastmode. This is vital in making many builds work, and will allow them to sustain as a melee class.
   • Give at least a 17% increase to damage on Greatsword Auto Attacks. Despite its evade, this auto attack has both less utility AND less damage than multiple other classes. (E.G. it is outdamaged by skills such as Guardian Hammer 1, Mesmer Sword 1, even Guard Staff 1!)
   • Prevent Counterattack from ending the block early unless we choose to activate the skill.
   • Increase stance sharing range to 600- the same as Guardian Shouts. Currently, 360 range is completely impractical and impossible to use reliably in a group setting, and so no matter how strong the stances themselves are, they are useless to share if your allies wont get them. This gives Soulbeast strong AoE condition cleanse, DPS increases and a role as Stability provider, and although not nearly as strong as a guardian, they will at least be an option.

2. Idealistc Changes:

   • Give Druid more access to condition cleanses for allies. For personal cleanse, they are very strong, but allowing more AoE cleanse will help them be a viable healer in WvW.

ENGINEER

Engineer has never had a defined role in the WvW meta outside of a few short months as a frontline Scrapper, played mostly by EU guilds before migrating for a very short time to the NA metagame. Even this was underused open field, stronger in small scales and GvGs where the stealth play was so vital. There options are all there for engineer to be a great class, but there are too many factors that get in the way for each build. Holosmith is a prime example- where it has all the damage you would ever need, but is simply too easy to burst down, and doesn't give enough of an increase over safe ranged classes to be a viable slot.Ranged options for Engineer exist, but are weak thanks to either a short range, small AoE, low base damage or a combination of all 3 at once.Support builds simply lack the burst healing and high numbers needed for WvW, but they do have a great deal of condition cleanse. The base is there for a support Engineer, unfortunately their healing output just needs to be increased and more available.

The role of the Engineer in the current metagame is either as a DPS Holosmith, where you focus on extreme bursts, or as a Frontline Scrapper, which is as strong as it was in HoT, but unfortunately not strong enough to take a slot over any other class.

My feedback for Engineer is that their ranged options could do with an increase in damage, and their sustain (particularly as a Holosmith) needs a kick to make them viable.

1. Practical Changes:

   • Increase the range of Grenade Kit to 1200, and potentially increase either the raw damage or conditions applied.
   • Increase Mortar Kit damage to be a viable ranged option
   • Give some form of Unblockable to either/both of these ranged options so they are not destroyed by reflect, Streamlined Kits: (Motar orGrenade) all attacks are unblockable for 4s after entering this kit.
   • Flamethrower Auto Attack burn on First hit instead of last- or 1 stack at start 1 stack at the end.
   • Crystal Configuration: Eclipse - Massively increase the base Barrier (200-300% more) to help Holosmith sustain in forge mode
   • Spectrum Shield: Increase duration to 6s in WvW and PvE
   • Elixir Gun: Allow Fumigate to hit yourself aswell, at least if moving forward. Increase Cooldown by 3s, reduce condis cleared/converted to 4.

2. Idealistc Changes:

   • Hard Light Arena also gives Stability.

Conclusion

Well, thats about all I have for this current Metagame. This list is compiled of my own reaction, results of extensive testing, feedback from both the Metabattle discord, website comments, official Forum class sections, WvW section and the official subReddit. Please add in your own feedback. My personal opinion on this metagame is that it is actually quite enjoyable- but could do with allowing more options for engaging at melee (the dream?). As it stands now, the only skills I consider out of order are Winds of Disenchantment, since it really discourages fun playstyles and has no viable counterplay thanks to Warrior's access to defensive skills.

Please let me know anything I have missed, and lets start a good discussion that can HOPEFULLY be used in future balancing, or at least raise some questions that the devs can answer for us :)

Add Cannon Blueprints

Good Write-up.

As a Warrior main, I don't consider Winds of Disenchantment the bigger offender. That's actually the Grandmaster Trait Enchantment Collapse. Enchantment Collapse is what makes Winds so overpowering: even if you're not standing inside Winds you stand to lose pretty much all your boons because you're in range of a guildie who got caught inside or a few greens who just randomly ran inside.

I'd actually like to see the proliferation of a few more stunbreak skills among commonly used zerging classes/skills, to make it easier for people to get out of Winds.

As for Engineer, which I generally play after Warrior, I think it's in a fairly decent position. It's not a bad class by all means, but unlike sPvP, it never became simple or easy to play in WvW.

Holosmith suffers from the same position as anything in Engi that doesn't run Rifle/Hammer. The shield skills. Just chopping the cooldown on those skills would go a long way towards making Holosmith easier to play. I think Rangerr's idea for Spectrum Shield is good, though I'd like to see the cooldown of Flash Spark (the toolbelt skill) pretty much halved as well.I'm not a fan of increasing Mortar Kit's damage, though, however. Just feels off to me. I'd rather see a different niche, such as making each skill 10-targets rather than 5 (with the area increased back to 300: turn it to a group pressure skill rather than long range damage), or maybe making the 1st skill be a Blast Finisher with a trait (Orbital Command, maybe, just one hit every 15s is lackluster), so that it lets an Engi with Mortar build up and upkeep some Might.

Engineer, and holo in particular, does not suffer because of a lack of range damage. The biggest buff to Holo will come when it can push into groups without crazy high condition pressure/corrupts hitting it - at which point it will be the highest damaging build in WvW below staff weaver.

With regards to ranger and soulbeast, the greats word really needs to see some range increases as well as hot cap increases to be viable. Where holo succeeds whilst soulbeast does not is in the self sustain department. Soulbeast needs some major access to some low duration, low cd stability as well as some more healing.

Thief needs to see some tone backs on some of the recent nerfs to staff thief. In groups it is a very high skill floor build, but is rewarded with high damage for good play. This should be upped by giving back some of its endurance regen to allow it to have better sustain in long fights.

Very good and insightful introduction to the WvW meta.

+1Well thought out and very well written post.

Swordfish for Anet partner!

@AngelsShadow.7360 said:Engineer, and holo in particular, does not suffer because of a lack of range damage. The biggest buff to Holo will come when it can push into groups without crazy high condition pressure/corrupts hitting it - at which point it will be the highest damaging build in WvW below staff weaver.

Don't you see what you are saying? Holosmith will be great when it can push reliably into groups to apply melee damage. That's exactly because it suffers from a lack of range damage in a ranged meta! I've been playing a zerging Holosmith build for one of my guilds since PoF was released. Pushing into groups hasn't been the problem. It's the fact that there's a wait until there is even the opportunity for my guild to engage with melee while you're juggling your heat. Running rifle for ranged is kitten for zerging because 1) there is no cleave and 2) rifle's damage isn't even optimal at range. So then you look to grenade kit, which btw was nerfed to 900 range so again not optimal, or mortar kit, which really isn't a DPS kit and beside the projectiles are slow. Meanwhile the weavers and revenants are putting out damage at higher ranges.

Holosmith is a great zerging spec for Engineer but sadly it is best for a melee-ball meta, which isn't the meta right now.

CHABA FOR ANET PARTNER.

Make it happen, also send nudes.

If they can make condi more of a dmg over time effect then it would be ok with how tankly condi classes can build but till then condi still going to be the safest and most of the time best chose in wvw setting.

For each class i can only talk about is ele core tempest and weaver.Core ele needs some type of effect that both tempest and weaver do not get the full benefit. The swap cdr is good but it helps out tempest and weaver so much that they simply become ele core +1 in there own ways.

Tempest dose to much dmg for a support roll and not enofe support when you look at classes like fire brain. Tempest needs more "strong" boons for its team and less dmg from its overloads. Maybe a powerful boon at the end of an overload quickness, super speed, high might/fury, stab maybe even overload boons only for your pt.

Weaver dose to much raw dmg at the same time it lacks major anty dmg migration such as unblockables and counter heals/boons effects that needed by more dmg classes. Weaver can get too much crit dmg but all of its duel skills come out way to slow and are all but one projectile.

Hammer revs have sustain? Lol ok...

And lol at adding delay to cor so people can side step it, considering cor cannot land on someone strafing already...

Remove every casting times it's completely useless and counter effective. Make every skills instant.

AlsoTRUMP FOR ANET PARTNER.Make WvW great again and rebuild walls between tiers to prevent the tanking BS.

i'd like commander targetting allow players to press a key and target it. not just control like in party

Awesome Review of the current meta.Now we just have to pray for Anet to read this and learn!Thanks for taking the time to write this, it will be very helpful for alot of players here looking for some pointers on what and how to play!

@Namer.9750 said:Good Write-up.

As a Warrior main, I don't consider Winds of Disenchantment the bigger offender. That's actually the Grandmaster Trait Enchantment Collapse. Enchantment Collapse is what makes Winds so overpowering: even if you're not standing inside Winds you stand to lose pretty much all your boons because you're in range of a guildie who got caught inside or a few greens who just randomly ran inside.

Finally someone who sees it. My idea is to give it an internal cooldown in range from 0,1-0,5 seconds to prevent it from proccing so often.

Also the Venom share Thief is quite interesting, especially when played in full condi gear.

I am not sure why you mention, that engineer Needs more raw realing to be viable but do not say anything about it in your changes.

Improve sustain on Elementalist......... what?! These, even when running paper builds, are in many cases difficult to kill due to the way they "dance" around you and cleanse/heal and you want to boost their sustain abilities? .....

@Seffen.2875 said:

@Namer.9750 said:Good Write-up.

As a Warrior main, I don't consider Winds of Disenchantment the bigger offender. That's actually the Grandmaster Trait

Enchantment Collapse

. Enchantment Collapse is what makes Winds so overpowering: even if you're not standing inside Winds you stand to lose pretty much all your boons because you're in range of a guildie who got caught inside or a few greens who just randomly ran inside.

Finally someone who sees it. My idea is to give it an internal cooldown in range from 0,1-0,5 seconds to prevent it from proccing so often.

yeah, i genuinely struggle to see how to implement these changes outside of a MASSIVE overhaul of the entire Med Kit skill, which I don't believe is something ANet will consider at this time. I am optimistic to be proven wrong, but wont hold my breath :(

@Swordfish.8512 said:

• Make it harder to maintain boon support whilst also maintaining DPS in a WvW focused build- I HATE energy in its current form, but dare i suggest giving an initial cost to Facet of Nature to reduce spamming it for boons and still being able to DPS- or to other facets for maintaining them and still being able to do regular DPS.

I don't think boon support with DPS pressure is an issue, but aren't there better ways to address this? I'm assuming you are talking about spamming One With Nature for its boons. Instead of adding an initial cost to facets wouldn't it make more sense to add an energy cost to One With Nature. Another more direct option would be to increase the energy cost of certain hammer skills.

I'll repeat by saying that I don't think these changes are necessary due to the high availability of boon corruption. I also feel that if you start adding activation costs to facets you'll not only hurt the back-line DPS builds but the front-line support/condition builds as well.

My constructive 2 cents is nothing can really be configured properly if you are going to start off with the "zerg aspect" first. Some of the new builds are already making others no longer viable. Every class should be viable 1v1 and hold their own according to skill and sometimes a little luck, then group dynamic should be adjusted accordingly so it don't melt the stones off of the garri with the brilliance of their numbers :P

I mean this good heartedly. Power creep is real and to address it one will have to take a closer look without all the extras in the herd.

Didn't get to read it all yet, but you spelled "Idealistic" wrong every time. You missed an "i." Just a heads up mate

@"shadowpass.4236" said:Didn't get to read it all yet, but you spelled "Idealistic" wrong every time. You missed an "i." Just a heads up mate

Oh the dangers of Ctrl+C Ctrl+V :'(

scrapper is as good as it was in HoT?hmh no?the single condi cleanses on elixiers were not enough in HoT and are now a lot worse. (e.g. they always cleansed the chill and never the bleed on chill-reaper because cleanses always cleanse the last condition applied... which, in the case of chill reapers, was ironically the chill - not the bleed)the fact that engineer in general has only one freaking healing skill that is viable (because it cleanses and is aoe healing and is the biggest/most consistend heal on a short cooldown)... is also bothering.it is "spec for condi cleanses all the way and get kittened by condis anyway - 2 sec later, but you die 99%"

the stability conversions kills it even more. "if" somebody was still using the stability on gyros this is now THE punishment since it get converted into fear 90% of the time :(exept for hammer 5, there is not much left for the scrapper to do. before PoF i could get into the first 5 dps/damage done while diving deep (not a burst like berserker to create downstates quickly, but the ability to do more damage during the entire fight)with PoF release i cant get into melee in the first place - no matter how i change traits and skills. i mean its ranged meta for a reason and scrapper (also holosmith and normal engineer (some exceptional good players will disagree)) is not build for that.

holo is an exceptional good roamer if played well and holo is THE power dps spec of all power dps specs in pve.but in wvw larger scale battles the entire profession dropped from performing at 80% pre PoF to (idkr) 30% now... in comparison to the carries (guards, necros, revs, mesmer)

now, i dont want to rage really. the OP-post in general is well written and many of the facts are very truei just felt like i need to vent off some frustration because two (three if i look at support tempest, four if i see the melee/resistance rev underperforming greatly (get your resistance and 50 burning and then lose resistance. gg), five if i remember the very first druid-healing spec that worked so nicely as a melee power healer) of the specs i LOVED to play are simply gutted atm.and i dont get a hang onto any of the new specs :-/

@Swordfish.8512 said:The builds range from full condition damage based Trailblazer stats to Celestial, with Trailblazer being the tankier and more consistant DPS dealer, and celestial providing stronger Barrier, mild healing and reasonable power damage through Desert Shroud and Wells.

Are you sure TB > Celestial for damage in a proper WvW fight?

I watch ArcDPS every night in WvW and my Celestial scourge beats all the other scourges.

I think my Celestial really hits hard when I've got fury and might stacks from my group because then my 200% crit damage really gets a workout..

It could be that I have a better rotation than everyone else but that seems unlikely because I'm a scrub.

I have a trailblazer set on my other necro but I found my exotic Celestial was beating my ascended Trailblazer so stayed on Celestial.

I have 4 out of 6 WvW legendary armour now so I'll be a stat swapping king soon!

@dzeRnumbrd.6129 said:

@Swordfish.8512 said:The builds range from full condition damage based Trailblazer stats to Celestial, with Trailblazer being the tankier and more consistant DPS dealer, and celestial providing stronger Barrier, mild healing and reasonable power damage through Desert Shroud and Wells.

Specifically consistent damage, TB Scourge should win, and does from most groups/tests that I've seen. In any scenario that you would want higher spike damage Cele is instantly better, and considering how quickly groups get wiped lately I wouldn't be surprised if you were to consistently see a higher damage on Cele than on TB.