Balance Patch Thoughts

Core Engi: Still garbage tier

Condi: Still garbage tier. ..and hey, nerf pinpoint distribution just to reinforce that point.

Underwater: Hooray! Much-needed buffs and changes.

Med-Kit: Hooray! Much-needed buffs and changes .. maybe?

slight buff/bugfix to scrapper barrier, on-demand stab with defense field

Can't play yet, but I'm really hoping Engie healing will become a thing.

lmao this Pinpoint Distro nerf is so nostalgic. I'm just going to call patch notes like these a TON (That One Nerf) from now on. Because it just keeps happening.WAVE OF BUFFS TO VARIOUS THINGS (MOST LIKELY TURRETS)That. One. Nerf. to that one thing people still likeI'd be angry right now but I haven't played Condi in so long so I can't even muster the energy. I'm just laughing now. Time to test this new Med Kit because wow.

I'm not a fan of the changed underwater skills, there's less interaction now with the mines and net not being activated with a second keypress.The AA was trash and needed some love but it's also why we have kits in the first place, speaking of which, grenade kit is still ass underwater.

Pinpoint was already one of the weakest class specific auras, it didn't warrant a nerf.

They toned down all of the passive aoe buffs afaik. Good on paper as long as they replace artificial diversity with actual diversity.

The one true buff for me though was defense field. Sure we cant reflect anymore but it got a solid amount of aoe stability!

Of course then deadeyes goes and get unblockable (dear lord is that gonna cause a lot of salty commanders during no downstate weekends, and rightfully so) but still...

Idk if its a bug, but that minor trait for med kit, Health insurance, multiplies bandage heals by 10. instead of by 10% lol. Well tooltip is broken maybe.

@iKeostuKen.2738 said:Idk if its a bug, but that minor trait for med kit, Health insurance, multiplies bandage heals by 10. instead of by 10% lol. Well tooltip is broken maybe.

It's time to be the healbot that I always wanted to be

Edit: Seems like it's only a tooltip problem? I am, unforunately, not healing people for 2624 per bandage

@Nilix.2170 said:

@iKeostuKen.2738 said:Idk if its a bug, but that minor trait for med kit, Health insurance, multiplies bandage heals by 10. instead of by 10% lol. Well tooltip is broken maybe.

Gonna be interesting as a scrapper since that already rolls in some support options. Tried to make a Tanky/Heal/Boon support build already but lack celestial stats to make it ideal =( Sort of wish it provided more water fields.

Providing more than one would be ridiculous. You can use it along with Mortar Kit, i suppose

Eng healing is absurdly good right now. Like, insane.

Realizing that Medical Dispersion Field will now provide the same amount of healing you get from Healing Turret to your allies as well.1260 from MDF(your first heal)2520 from Healing Turret itself1260 from MDF (your second heal)

I typically only play PvE but I really hate the new barrier.... reflecting bullets back to monsters, especially in PoF, while dealing with all the melee mobs was so much more useful to me than what the new one does.

Medkit isn't healing as much as the tooltips says they do (in pvp lobby atleast)?

@miriforst.1290 said:Medkit isn't healing as much as the tooltips says they do (in pvp lobby atleast)?

I only noticed this on the #2 skill. Instead of the 3k on Menders amulet, I was getting around 1.4k.

why don´t the packages from skill #2 stay on the ground? kinda useless for solo play

@Shaogin.2679 said:

@miriforst.1290 said:Medkit isn't healing as much as the tooltips says they do (in pvp lobby atleast)?

Im thinking it gets mixed up with the old skill 2 when you select the medkit trait.

@TheWolf.1602 said:why don´t the packages from skill #2 stay on the ground? kinda useless for solo play

It is a bit of a pain in the behind to actually hit all of the kits on a low health target (which also will be kiting around like a madman).

But i do think the intention is to make it useless for soloplay. We do not want powerfull healers that can heal themselves just as much as they heal others, that's why we often get + outgoing healing effects instead of just + healing. They now just need to make it powerful enough for healing allies.

Yeah, Medkit 1 and 2 isn't meant for the caster, that would be OP.

Even if Med kit changes don't give us a viable Healing role, it was a very needed and welcome change nonetheless, i'm defenitely rocking this at my WvW squads.

If somehow the player concessus finds a viable role of Healing Engi in raids, my dreams will come true.... but i doubt, just a wishful thinking.

After some testing last night, I found I still prefer Healing Turret for the sorts of things I usually do (solo roaming, small fights), but Med Kit is really good now, and I'll probably run it for larger WvW groups.

It goes really well with the Tools traitline, which I usually run. Streamlined Kits, Reduced cooldown on the f1 heal, 10% damage from the vigor bomb.

Nobody is really talking about the cooldown reductions on rifle, but I like the way it feels a lot.

@magus.3012 said:I typically only play PvE but I really hate the new barrier.... reflecting bullets back to monsters, especially in PoF, while dealing with all the melee mobs was so much more useful to me than what the new one does.

It is supposed to be a trade-off, but I also find the reflect removal disagreeable and, moreover, unnecessary. Even when geared for power/precision/ferocity and with might stacked, the scrapper deals pitiful damage and the reflected projectiles often helped clear certain mobs or counter-pressure ranged opponents in a timely (i.e., not maddeningly lengthy) manner. I understand that, for the sake of balance, it is unfair to have a single skill that is incredibly multi-functional. At the same time, the scrapper spec is already quite limited in many functions, so some multi-functionality might be warranted. Additionally, there are a number of other professions that have incredibly versatile skills (arguably the Scourge's shades and shade skills fall into this category, and the Spellbreaker's mechanic is built around such versatility). I would have been happier if, along with stability, Defense Barrier was either (a) also made into a stun-break, (b) granted a pulsing barrier function, or © allowed to retain the reflect function. I do not see option (a) as being over-powered, and it would be nice considering the nature of the current meta. Option (b) would be interesting and fit the scrapper's typical role as a tank. Just my two cents.

eh i actually prefer the new barrier its got a long cd anyway for its short duration so the reflects were far more situational than stability+ anti projectile can push your team with protection+barrier fields

Just as I expected ... just as I told you ... Anet buffs underperforming SKILLS, not builds. The med kit change was a long, wanted one. Not sure it does much to raise Engi status for game modes though.

@Obtena.7952 said:Just as I expected ... just as I told you ... Anet buffs underperforming SKILLS, not builds. The med kit change was a long, wanted one. Not sure it does much to raise Engi status for game modes though.

Right, right, they buffed Medical Dispersion Field, Med-Kit, and Heath insurance, they obviously didn't buff support builds. They buffed 3 random skills that happen to coincidentally all be part of one support build. Wowie.

How about we say you're equally correct saying they buffed support builds or support skills. There's no difference, stop acting like you've won an argument or something... :expressionless:

@Chaith.8256 said:

@Obtena.7952 said:Just as I expected ... just as I told you ... Anet buffs underperforming SKILLS, not builds. The med kit change was a long, wanted one. Not sure it does much to raise Engi status for game modes though.

Really? Let's just wait and see ... the jury is still out on support builds being 'viable' even though they buffed those skills. I'm going to bet that even though these got some great love, you're still not going to get people playing them in Raids or WvW. That's all speculation for now but my point is simple; there IS a difference between targeting BUILDS vs. SKILLS and it's clearly the case that more often, Anet targets skill buffs, not making specific builds viable. The motives are different, and as such, so will be the result.

Even though it's fun to think I'm not right ... the OP is still complaining he doesn't have a viable condi engi build ... AND pinpoint got a nerf ... HUM. I'm just going to let people think how those things are related ><