Upcoming Balance Notes - 10/1/2019

[Swagger.1459]

Looking forward to trying the Ranger weapon changes, particularly sword.

[FrigginPaco.4178]

I'll just be touching professions I play most often:

Necromancer

Scourge: The change to shades may indeed be necessary to stem how oppressive they can be w/their zone control, however, they already have to dedicate the Scourge grandmaster to Sand Savant for a bigger AoE for most competitive game modes and rarely get to enjoy either of the two others simply because WvW and PvP fights rarely squat on one place. Anyone with a brain won't sit in a Sand Shade on a point unless it's about to tick 500 in sPvP. WvW on the other hand has so much open space, most classes get free real estate with their AoEs (it's free real estate). Just keep an eye on how this feels.

Death Magic: Finally, some attention to this line. I'll mess around here.

Revenant

I'd be great if I could change away from Shiro/Glint to Mallix/Anything. Believe me, I've tried some wacky builds recently, like a cele Ventari/Mallyx and Shiro/Mallyx core I see the reduction in energy cost for Call to Anguish, but I'm actually looking for it to be 25 energy. Rev energy is most closely related to thief initiative, and they have a way to increase their pool. While things like Charged Mists (Evoking a legend while at or below the energy threshold grants extra energy to your new legend.) is essentially doing the same thing, it's a dedicated grandmaster traitline "purchase" and not a mere Minor Master trait.

The other thing is the limited weapon skills available for those play styles. The fact Hammer is the only baseline ranged item is kind of appalling, and Renegade isn't that fun to play or even concise...

Warrior

Neat changes, I'll try some stuff out.

All the rest:

The builds I play aren't affected much by these changes.

[Sojourner.4621]

@Gogdarth.6741 said:TL;DR

Tempest still tries to be a DPS spec when Weaver existsScrapper's still meh aside from WvW ham and cheeseFB is still greatChrono's still ultra-dead for anything but raids, now even more for PvP modes because no extra damage on Lost TimeScourge will still plague PvP modesRanger's sword is little less cumbersome, GS lil toned down in PvP modesCondirev might be a thing, but most likely still isn'tCondithief slightly buffed, support build is still not happening most likelyOnly good thing happened to Warrior, except the banners still unfortunately exist

Final rating: Not worth waiting for months/10

The scourge changes are actually.. interesting. Current support scourge used big shade to hit at a range while also throwing barrier on all its zergy allies at the same time. Since you no longer pulse with your shade, you no longer can barrier support with big shade. The only option becomes 3-shade and one of them is placed on you for less overall utility. You now have to choose between big damage or big utility, you don't get both at the same time without any extra effort.

The tempest changes are fine. Power Tempest was actually already in a decent position damage-wise in PvE (35kish) and this will only make it stronger... Weaver exists for sure, but this might actually put Tempest close to their overall DPS if not their initial burst.

[Virdo.1540]

What about the thing of the Heralds Gaze of darkness doing damage? I think it would be a neat thing, but just adding something like an 2sec Chill instead wouldnt be horrible thing too.But tbh its lovely to see that the dwarf actually gets some love ^^ An faster chain-fly animation wouldnt be bad too

The rest of this balancing is imo fine.

[Requiem.9648]

What about chrono buffer???? not even giving any quickness or alac underwater lol. Class his completely destroy Inspiration and Chaos line are completely useless and will remain useless. What about dry shatter??? make him still even more useless. Funnest thing to see warrior barrier.... Warrior can have resistance-quickness and now barrier the top HP charater class can also perform reflect and a tons of CC skills. I wont be surprise on next update Anet will try to add warrior elite banner how will give perma all boons....to 10 mans.

[Dreams.3128]

God those tempest changes made me sweat a little. Can I actually play dps tempest or some form of ele build now in competitive?????

I really want to, but dear god I don't feel like this is enough.

[Auburner.6945]

I want any other change than numbers to ele.

[Asum.4960]

600 extra Toughness is exactly what Necro needed to become wanted in PvE endgame content, thanks!

[Naxos.2503]

Good changes overall (from my playstyle's point of view). But I strongly concur with my engineer colleagues.

1. Function Gyro has too little health, and is effectively useless at any function at all, whether it be reviving, or finishing. The abysmal range does not help it either.
2. Turrets are still completely and utterly unusable, for the same Reason function gyro is unusable : they dont have enough health or they dont have enough damage mitigation. For static summon (a Marked disatvantage), they need to be tanky enough to not be trivial. As it stands, people can either Simply go around them, or topple them with a small push (the equivalent of attacking it for -3-hits for a veteran monster. Imagine a player).
3. Holographic wave being reduced is fine, but the range is Completely halved. Couldn't that have been handled differently ? Have various ranges : Immediately near the Holo = Knockdown, Half range = Daze, Damage reduced ?
4. If Necromancer minions can use necromancer stats, I move that turrets be allowed to use atleast a portion of engineer stats. If engineer is built around tankiness, make turrets a hindrance by being resilient. If engineer is built around glass cannon techniques, make them strong enough to pose a threat, but as easily counterable. Engineer is the Only profession to have a full skill line obsolete through complete lack of adapted stats.

I hope at the very least point 1, 2 and 4 get a read, and some proper love. It's high time turrets make a return. Give core engineers Something.

[Requiem.9648]

@Asum.4960 said:600 extra Toughness is exactly what Necro needed to become wanted in PvE endgame content, thanks!

lol exactly specialy in raid.... when nobody want toughness except tank....

[Mini Crinny.6190]

@Requiem.9648 said:

@Asum.4960 said:600 extra Toughness is exactly what Necro needed to become wanted in PvE endgame content, thanks!

lol exactly specialy in raid.... when nobody want toughness except tank....

It's weird because Weaver's Elite Woven Stride had the toughness that you gain while in Earth Attunement removed and replaced with a -20% Inc damage purely because Condi Weaver would never of been viable because of all the toughness that you gained surpassed the tank's toughness

[crazyhusky.2985]

@"Irenio CalmonHuang.2048" said:Greetings all! As before, here are the planned Balance update notes for next week's release! We look forward to your discussions and theorycrafting.

~GW2 Systems Team

Profession Skills

Guardian

Firebrand prevalence in group content has been quite strong as they offer significant support options to the point that they were crowding out other builds. In particular, Tome of Courage had a bit more power than was healthy, so we've sought to tweak that down while retaining its overall playstyle by removing some of its boon generation. We're also reducing scepter damage and increasing sword damage in PvE as the best melee damage option should not be a ranged weapon.

• Orb of Wrath: Reduced damage by 10% in PvE only.

If you wanted Firebrand to used a bit less how about you rework Dragonhunter and make it more viable for the meta.You know the OTHER Elite specalization for Guardian, it does have 2 of them like other classes. The one that has NOT been properly updated in 3 YEARS! All the other Elite specs from HoT have had buffs and nerfs within the last year but Dragonhunter remains untouched. Even when you went and did that whole "revamping the Heart of thorns Elite specs balance update " Dragonhunter wasn't even mentioned at all in that update, but every other elite spec was. I wouldn't be surprised if people forgot that it exists, because you clearly have. You might as well rename Guardian to Firebrand.

Secondly why shouldn't a ranged weapon be the strongest weapon?Scepter has always been Guardians best or one of its strongest weapons for damage, why try to change now? It doesn't make sense. leave the Scepter alone.Guardian has VERY little HP and No evades on it's moves. Aegis is worthless now, Having a bit of range helps ALL GUARDIANS not just firebrand.All you have been doing the past years is focusing on FIREBRAND! its tomes this and tomes that. There is more to Guardian than just Firebrand.If you want to make Guardians more melee based using close ranged swords and Greatsword then raise the HP pool of Guardians to 15.6 HP which is the mid tier health pool, so they survive being at close range. If you're worried that Firebrand will be too strong, with a little more base HP then reduce the vitality for Firebrands by 300 like you've already done for scrapper. Shove the HP penality into the traait Imbued Haste or something.

The whole thing of Guardian's scepter shouldnt be a strong weapon due to it being ranged it's just is silly because Deadeye's rifle does A LOT more damage than Guardian's scepter, also that rife has 1500 range over Guardian's 900 range.Weaver with a scepter does more damage than a Guardian with a scepter. So you're nerfing it for no reason.

Side note - Still waiting for you to undo the chronomancer shatters change, it feels horrible to use now.

[Anchoku.8142]

@Requiem.9648 said:

@Asum.4960 said:600 extra Toughness is exactly what Necro needed to become wanted in PvE endgame content, thanks!

lol exactly specialy in raid.... when nobody want toughness except tank....

I'd wager Death Magic is still viable for open-world MM, though.

[gen.6807]

I would love to know what plan they have for Chrono, because right now it looks like they have none. Guess it's Quickbrand for me now.Btw. why they don't fix DH bow? Why leave DH dedicated weapon in such sorry state for so long?

[Marxx.5021]

Scourges in PvP use position and kiting to prevent damage. With shade skills not working on the scourge anymore you just remove veteran players from your game.

[shippage.1983]

While I agree with pretty much all these changes, I still think Holo is too strong. With these changes you have to have slightly more skill to play Holo, but all of it's strengths are still there.I still think that Healing Turret needs a nerf, as it can full heal you (Holo 5 in healing combo field) with no healing power invested. Holo still really lacks any sort of downsides and is a massive powerhouse with mobility, stability, all sorts of boons, invuln, stealth, and insane damage. The only real weakness it has is it getting boon corrupted by Necros.Besides Holos still being a little insane (which I still see them being just as strong after this patch), I think the game is in a decently balanced state.

[Virdo.1540]

@Naxos.2503 said:Good changes overall (from my playstyle's point of view). But I strongly concur with my engineer colleagues.

1. Function Gyro has too little health, and is effectively useless at any function at all, whether it be reviving, or finishing. The abysmal range does not help it either.
2. Turrets are still completely and utterly unusable, for the same Reason function gyro is unusable : they dont have enough health or they dont have enough damage mitigation. For static summon (a Marked disatvantage), they need to be tanky enough to not be trivial. As it stands, people can either Simply go around them, or topple them with a small push (the equivalent of attacking it for -3-hits for a veteran monster. Imagine a player).
3. Holographic wave being reduced is fine, but the range is Completely halved. Couldn't that have been handled differently ? Have various ranges : Immediately near the Holo = Knockdown, Half range = Daze, Damage reduced ?
4. If Necromancer minions can use necromancer stats, I move that turrets be allowed to use atleast a portion of engineer stats. If engineer is built around tankiness, make turrets a hindrance by being resilient. If engineer is built around glass cannon techniques, make them strong enough to pose a threat, but as easily counterable. Engineer is the Only profession to have a full skill line obsolete through complete lack of adapted stats.

I hope at the very least point 1, 2 and 4 get a read, and some proper love. It's high time turrets make a return. Give core engineers Something.

+1

[OutOfOrder.3719]

How can ANET slip in this change in FINALiZED balance notes for shade mechanics for Scourge and hope that no one would notice?

Although I don’t think dps curse oriented builds won’t be effected that much, however, the blood support builds will be severely effected in PvP.

Now I can see the reason for reducing damage output when manifest shade is cast, but taking barrier away and not casting it on a Necro when outside of range of a shade when using F3 or F5 will nerf Scourge into oblivion.

We really need more details on whether these changes are only for WvW and involve only “Sand Savant”, or the change to the Shade Mechanic in Scourge is also for PvP and PvE.

And if dps is the problem, then the flat damage should be minimized from manifest shade.

But removing the barrier application from shades or only around the necro when no shade is up: is too harsh of a nerf that will remove the small amount of sustain that Necro needs to not die instantly in PvP.

Necro is already considered a free kill at platinium 1 or higher games when played without support. Now it will be even harder to play Scourge in solo que and Blood Scourge will probably be eliminated from the meta.

And the problem is that Scourge in WvW will still be a powerhouse, and still not be addressed. This was supposed to be improve WvW, not destory Scourge in PvP and nerfed in PvE. This just shows a lack of understanding from the balance team to acknowledge the real problem of Scourge in WvW, which is Sand Savant taking up half the screen !

And the balance team is even planning on increasing the amount of targets that Sand Savant hits from 5 to 10 ! Why ?

These changes were supposed to be WvW oriented balance issues and improve gameplay in WvW, not Nerf Scourge to meme status in PvP.

Just like a Chronomancer identity is sharing alacrity with their allies, and on themselves, Blood Scourge does the same thing in PvP giving barrier to allies and themselves.

If you take away the ease of sharing barrier with allies that is fine. However, reducing the barrier and sustain that a Scourge can cast on themselves is too harsh of a nerf and will make Scourges more of a free kill then they already are.

The changes to F3 and Sand Flare already favor players to take some healing power to have the same barrier output as before. Barrier reduction is now 30% of what it was, but the contribution of healing power was increased by 20%.

[Bellefon.1259]

@"Naxos.2503" said:

4. If Necromancer minions can use necromancer stats, I move that turrets be allowed to use atleast a portion of engineer stats.

Necromancers' minions don't generally inherit necromancers' stats. "A minion has a fixed amount of health, damage, and armor…" -- wiki. The few stats they do inherit (condi dmg, condi duration, and boon duration) are basically useless unless traited in Death Magic by a condi necro.

The reference in the notes: "Fixed an issue that caused this trait to use the minion's stats instead of the necromancer's." only pertains to a trait bug, and even then I'm not really sure what the issue was, unless minions only inherit a percentage of the necro's condi dmg/dur.

[RyuDragnier.9476]

@azzardome.9184 said:nerfing base thief and daredevil while deadeye is left untouched. same goes for condi drd. some real big brain balance hereWhere in the patch notes has Thief and DD been touched? Wondering because I don't see it.

[Doutrinador.6285]

How long will you be skating on your failures with Scrapper? The function gyro remains a shame, no use in pve and a big joke in pvp... changes in the ranger's sword for no reason while core engineer with his whole arsenal of 3 weapons basically only has the rifle to survive. The pistols remains a stats stick for the already poor kits and the turrets that were supposed to be the engineer's signature, remain a whole line of "worthless skills".

[Eurantien.4632]

If you think Greatsword autoattack is a random dodge, then you aren't watching animations well at all.

[SerynNovah.4319]

The changes for Ranger sound so good especially since I've started using GS a lot now. I have been relying a lot on that auto-evade in the chain sequence for skill 1, but it sounds like it's being changed to give more control and opportuninty of evading. I won't know how well that works until I can test it.

The skill 4 change sounds great especially the increase of targets knocked back, but the only thing I'm curious about is whether I can still block multiple ranged attacks and projectiles during its duration or if it will only block one and then disable the blocking animation?

[SerynNovah.4319]

@Swagger.1459 said:Looking forward to trying the Ranger weapon changes, particularly sword.

I've been hoping they would change the sword this way. Skill 2 always seemed backwards for me lol.

[FtoPScrub.5476]

Holo nerfs in PvP are not enough, especially given nerfs to Scourge/FB which are a decent check against Holo. For the utility and damage it has, the sustain is really high and one of the main culprits is heat therapy having an insane amount of healing despite being a minor. Please consider nerfing this trait. It only needs to be adjusted numbers wise so it can be split between game modes. Additionally, 6 second stealth on elixir toss is very high. Perhaps consider looking at this too?