Spellbreaker Specialization Updates for the Path of Fire Launch

Thanks, Robert, for giving us a heads up of what's coming. Much appreciated!

who's ready for might makes right nerfs?also the auto attack thing was the worst thing about spellbreaker so good thing that works

Every time I hope for longer warrior patch notes I'm utterly disappointed.

Why the nerf to revenge counter? I thought the point of the implementation was to let it hit through blind in a Condi nuke. It's not like the 2s resistance is overpowered.

Thank you Robert for communicating with your player base. Profession balance is probably the most important aspect of the game to me and it's good to hear from balance developers. Please continue this tradition!

Speaking of which, please check out https://en-forum.guildwars2.com/discussion/1283/ez-warrior-balance-pve-wvw-core-berserker for my ideas on balance to core warrior and berserker.

@Jzaku.9765 said:Every time I hope for longer warrior patch notes I'm utterly disappointed.

Why the nerf to revenge counter? I thought the point of the implementation was to let it hit through blind in a Condi nuke. It's not like the 2s resistance is overpowered.

Mate if you aren't getting a successful counter off you're doing something wrong anyways XD

Robert, you're a prince. Always appreciate your posts and the conceptual work you put into the specializations.

@Robert Gee.9246 said:Revenge Counter still hits through blind. The resistance was previously applied at the beginning of the counter stance, meaning that you got the resistance regardless of whether or not you successfully absorbed an attack. The resistance is now granted at the start of the counter attack so it will still hit through blind.

Oh okay. Thanks for clarifying that! It was my favorite aspect of the trait because Condi breaker seemed too hard to pull off for the second half to matter.

Any plans to look at the Dagger autoattack's power modifiers? They're ~70% as effective as thief's for no discernable reason. This would really help spellbreaker in the PvE side of things for a decent power raiding build too. I think a slight buff to close the gap a little from 70% to 80-85% would go a long way.Warr Dagger auto 0.55, 0.55, 0.85 | Thief Dagger auto 0.8, 0.85, 1.1

Was really hoping for a buff to dagger 1, 2, and 5.1 needs a damage increase, 2 needs more range, and 5 needs a shorter CD or more damage.

In addition can nothing be done about the flat out anti-synergy of spellbreaker with core warrior traits? Berserker Power, Adrenal Health, and Cleansing Ire in particular.

Also power warrior in general could use damage buffs.

@Jzaku.9765 said:Any plans to look at the Dagger autoattack's power modifiers? They're ~70% as effective as thief's for no discernable reason. This would really help spellbreaker in the PvE side of things for a decent power raiding build too. I think a slight buff to close the gap a little from 70% to 80-85% would go a long way.Warr Dagger auto 0.55, 0.55, 0.85 | Thief Dagger auto 0.8, 0.85, 1.1

To be fair, I think this is more of the case of Thief auto damage needing to be toned down a little than Spellbreaker dagger necessarily needing a buff.

@Drarnor Kunoram.5180 said:

@Jzaku.9765 said:Any plans to look at the Dagger autoattack's power modifiers? They're ~70% as effective as thief's for no discernable reason. This would really help spellbreaker in the PvE side of things for a decent power raiding build too. I think a slight buff to close the gap a little from 70% to 80-85% would go a long way.Warr Dagger auto 0.55, 0.55, 0.85 | Thief Dagger auto 0.8, 0.85, 1.1

I largely agree which is why I didn't suggest equalizing them lol.I wish I could do a golem test but I'm still fairly certain that dagger auto is one of the lowest performing auto chains on warrior in general still without any changes, which is incredibly depressing for a weapon locked behind an espec. It could really use a buff regardless.

@"Robert Gee.9246" said:

Additionally, there will also be a few core warrior updates in addition to these changes that will be messaged with the update on the 22nd.

I hope you fixed Flurryhttps://en-forum.guildwars2.com/discussion/1758/bug-warrior-f1-sword-flurry-does-not-proc-burst-traits#latest

Hi,

I have to say I'm a bit disappointed with these (lack of) changes. I don't get why you didn't publish the whole patch notes. Anyway, daggers felt pretty weak, in terms of damage and mobility, we'll have to pair them with GS if we want to use them. Also, there's no way Spellbreaker will make a better brawler than core warrior (unless your nerf this one hard). Finally, I'm not sure the debuff it brings on the table is significant enough in regards of other classes capabilities.

Thanks for the specialization, looking forward to play it for sure.

@Robert Gee.9246 said:Additionally, there will also be a few core warrior updates in addition to these changes that will be messaged with the update on the 22nd. Some of these changes are aimed at improving burst usage for Spellbreaker.

Hmmm... Can't tell if modifying core Warrior traits to synergize better with Spellbreaker, or nerfing core Warrior burst to make Spellbreaker more appealing...

thanks for adjusting the culling

Warrior doesn't need more damage on daggers. Even if it's not very high, that's not what this elite is for.

But warrior does need something else and that is boonremoval on dagger autoattack chain. Right now Mesmers and Necro do a far better job at removing or even corrupting boons. For the warrior elite, which is mostly melee without any new means of gapclosing and not a high dmg output, it is sad that warrior is still outclassed in the very thing that defines this elite.

Satisfied with the changes, good job.

Question : Isn't the trait "No Escape" (Dazes and stuns inflict immobilize) a bit redundant ? If one is dazed/stunned, isn't he immobilized already ? i mean , people don't move anyway if they are stunned/dazed ...

@azizul.8469 said:Question : Isn't the trait "No Escape" (Dazes and stuns inflict immobilize) a bit redundant ? If one is dazed/stunned, isn't he immobilized already ? i mean , people don't move anyway if they are stunned/dazed ...

i think it is meant to deal with stunbreak.

Also daze does not immobilize, it just interrupts and prevents new skills

@azizul.8469 said:Question : Isn't the trait "No Escape" (Dazes and stuns inflict immobilize) a bit redundant ? If one is dazed/stunned, isn't he immobilized already ? i mean , people don't move anyway if they are stunned/dazed ...

Daze doesn't prevent movement or dodging.Auto-proc stunbreaks will remove a stun, but won't remove immobilize unless it's also a condition clearYou can't stun or daze someone affected by Stability, but you can immobilize them

@Ghotistyx.6942 said:

@azizul.8469 said:Question : Isn't the trait "No Escape" (Dazes and stuns inflict immobilize) a bit redundant ? If one is dazed/stunned, isn't he immobilized already ? i mean , people don't move anyway if they are stunned/dazed ...

would the immobile go off if the daze or stun affect them?

I really hope that the utilities will get some love after launch, especially Sight beyond Sight and Imminent threat, they feel quite lackluster and kind of a waste of a slot, almost like they were made with 2012 GW2 in mind. Featherfoot Grace is really the only one I could see getting decent use as replacement for berserker's stance, but to be honest, it's still kind of a boring skill.

Would also be amazing if Aura Slicer saw some improvements - I remember it feeling pretty clunky during the stress tests. The long aftercast coupled with the very short distance travelled just doesn't make it very satisfying to use. I understand that dagger has another leap on the burst skill, but it would be nice if Aura Slicer saw at least a minor improvement on the leap distance. For a weapon with 2 mobility skills, dagger just doesn't feel very mobile.

Anyway, these changes are definitely really appreciated, especially the full counter one is huge. Thanks for keeping us updated Robert, looking forward to more =)

Featherfoot Grace is my favourite new utility. It is a great GTFO skill when you are fighting a losing battle and combines excellently with Greatsword. I wish its cooldown was reduced by 5 seconds though.

I can only guess what the other changes are going to be, but it will like be a Berserker's Power fix for Berserker and Spellbreaker, a buff to Burst Mastery, and maybe a couple of additional QoL changes (e.g. Stick and Move). It would be nice if they added a few additional damage modifiers to buff Power warrior in PvE (e.g. adding +5% damage to Rending Strikes and Bloodlust, Furious grants a stacking Condition Damage and Ferocity buff, etc.), but that is unlikely. I love the CondiWarrior rotation in PvE, but it would be nice for people who wanted to play Power warrior in PvE to be able to do so.

My issue here is, since counter will no longer interrupt your auto attacks, doesn't that mean you can't use it "when you need to block" ? It now means you have to stop actions and then use it? This worries me greatly as it isn't a QoL change, it's most likely hindering the use.

Edit: Fixed my Spelling (Hopefully)