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Phase Traversal, Shadowstepping, and Balance


Arkaile.5604

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To preface this, there is one thing above other issues which bothers me with regard to how ANet balances: inconsistency. Similar abilities on different classes should behave very similarly unless a particular class has access to an ability or other mechanics which would make consistent application overpowered. With that in mind, let's take a look at Phase Traversal (PT) before the Feb. 6th nerf.

PT was a 1200 range shadow step which inflicted damage, gave a 10% damage buff, 2 unblockable attacks, was unblockable itself, and did not require a range check to be used. That's pretty loaded as far as skills go, but it had a hefty cost of 35 energy, a 5sec cd, and a 0.5sec cast time which prevented other skills from being used out of range to precast in safety and then move in for the damaging portion of the animation. A good example of a class which can make use of this is thief. Activate Heartseeker and then use steal to instantly close in on a target for the damaging portion. This is effectively a roughly 1200 range Heartseeker on top of the benefits of steal. Eles, mesmers, and guards can do similar things by mixing instant cast abilities and shadowsteps/teleports. I'm not saying they're all effective at such combos, but the functionality is there.

However, something all (as far as I know) shadowsteps/teleports had in common was their lack of a range check to determine whether or not the ability can be activated. When such skills work this way, they lend to a class' mobility by allowing them to chase targets despite being out of range or to disengage by moving toward a different target. Since the nerf, which was labeled a bug fix, to PT, Rev has lost this functionality and can no longer use PT, its best gap closer and a disengage tool, in this manner. I can see the range check possibly being needed due to the balance team being unsure whether or not the skill was too overloaded with it now applying quickness, but the skill's loss of the function of gap closer when beyond 1200 range is just too much.

To that end, I have a few ideas for people to consider and critique.

  1. Keep PT as it is after the Feb 6 update.Personally, I don't like this option much, but I'm leaving it here for the sake of the pole.

  2. Remove the range check and keep the rest of PT as is.This is what I see as being the most likely outcome of the hotfix Karl mentioned and would restore PT to a good state.

  3. Remove the range check, but have the additional effects only apply if a target is in range.If the skill seems overloaded, this is a possible middle ground to justify its additional effects.

  4. Keep the range check, but only use it to determine whether or not PT uses 20 energy (out of range) or 35 energy (target in range) and only apply the additional effects if a target is in range.This would be as close to a reasonable, ideal scenario which I can think of. PT would be usable as a gap closer/disengage tool without eating all of a Rev's energy and would only apply its additional effects if the target was in range, which the Rev has to use effectively or the extra 15 energy is essentially wasted.

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