Game Update Notes: December 3, 2019

[Simo.6819]

I like the ooc eli and engi weapon sets ^^ can get free blast for stealth ooc , and immediatly go back to main weapon for fight :open_mouth: , hopefully it doesnt keep the previously used skill cooldown toh. :sweat_smile:

As for detection pulse ahah , we will see , changes are fun for theorycraft and new gameplay so , might look bad , but at the end we dont know till we try :+1:

[FitzChevalerie.1035]

@Zenix.6198 said:Not sure why everybody is so excited about the ele and engi weaponswap thing.Only usable while out of combat.....a convenience feature if anything.

Still can be nice in pvp

[LucianTheAngelic.7054]

No mention of the CoR targeting/pathing bug or missing sound effects??

[VAHNeunzehnsechundsiebzig.]

now fix thief damage, stealth and the infamous block block block evade evade invul block warrior.

[Stand The Wall.6987]

ele - k.engi - utility goggles might replace stun break slot for power scrappers in wvw if the resistance is long enough. damn might even be a good choice for altruism scraps.guard - mmm, they really don't need any more survivability, especially protection. huge buff to double fb comps.mes - k. chaotic interruption needs a functionality change at this point. staff shave instead of infinite horizon nerf? might work.necro - signet of undeath active is dumb. glad you're removing cripple on shade cast, this profession has waaay too much cripple spam.rang - k.rev - wow what a tease. why not just increase all ventari skills radius.teef - good change to deadly ambition imo. staffy nerfy sounds good.war - kinda overboard on the rampage and warriors cunning nerf.

[HeadCrowned.6834]

@"Fire Attunement.9835" said:Revival traits are also seeing the removal of the 10% revival speed passive effect that we've been slowly phasing out over the last several updates. In exchange, skills that directly revive allies are seeing enhancements.

• Allies' Aid: This trait no longer increases revival speed. This trait's cooldown has been reduced from 85 seconds to 60 seconds in PvE only. Fixed a bug that caused the version of "Search and Rescue!" associated with this trait to be considered a shout skill instead of a command.

What exactly is the ''enhancement'' that ranger gets in PvP as compensation for the nerf? Why do you keep butchering this whole class (especially druid) without giving anything in return for the last I-don't-know-how-many patches? The only broken rezz skill in PvP is Guardian's signet of mercy, and yet you decide to actually buff that skill.

[Orion Templar.4589]

I really like the out of combat weapon swap for engineer and elementalist - nice!

But please, please, please also fix revenant's coalescence of ruin. Not just the go-through-walls bug, but the overall bugginess of the skill since the balance update a couple months ago. It currently will sometimes fire off to the side, get stopped by bumps in the terrain, and overall just seems to not be working. If possible, please revert CoR to how it worked prior to the balance update a couple months ago. Then if it was over-performing in WvW, just reduce the damage numbers for WvW only. But leave the skill mechanics like they were before - especially for PvE.

[HoneyBadger.5691]

Not sure where to begin, if I was to address what is wrong with this patch it'd take post upon post of walls of text. From class-breaking changes like removing cripple on manifest sand shade, to changes like 1s stab on elixir U rendering a utility useless, to removing fall dmg traits providing quirky and unique gameplay, the best thing to do is not ship this patch until it makes reasonable sense.

[TheSun.4321]

@Shades.3708 said:

I signed in just to laugh at your comment. New player spotted.

Gotta agree with Otto on this one. Valor is not meta. Virtues always, or you're doing something wrong.

[Vegeta.2563]

Sand Savant: This trait no longer increases the target cap of shade skills in WvW only.

That's fine and all.. but if this also includes increases recharge time.. this trait is now worthless.

Also when are we going to expect a nerf to perma stealth deadeye which can sit inside a keep or tower and just non stop stealth and then port their mesmer buddy in?

Our group spent a good 20 minutes looking for someone inside of Bay throwing down painter traps and the second he hits them he removes reveal and restealths and goes far away so we can't find him again. I feel that classes that can remove reveal shouldn't have access to portal.

[HoneyBadger.5691]

@otto.5684 said:

@Largo Cifer.3495 said:

@otto.5684 said:

@Lighter.5631 said:lol support FB buffed, no nerf to symbol fb and herald lol ok..btw what happens in pvp with ele/engi, can they swap OOC too, that would be the most BS i've ever seen lol

I am not sure what is the “buff.” signet of mercy was better with healing power. What Anet said is flat out false. Only FB dishes much boons (other guardian options do not), and is much better served with healing power over concentration. In any case, it does not matter, signet of mercy only role is the instant revival. Lost the 10% revive speed for the equivalent of nothing. And the only interesting change, courageous return, is only 1 sec in PvP (basically useless), and valor is not used by FB anyway, and DH and core are pretty dead in PvP.

Overall, insignificant, but surely more of a nerf.

Support Fb does use Valor so it's the only build that got buffed from all these changes. It also gets the benefits from the mace 3 buffs.

No FB build runs valor, at all. All builds run FB, honor and virtues. And if you are not, there is no room for flexibility here, you are just doing it wrong. You know why? Cuz the only mediation you could (and not even need to) have is contemplation of purity. If you are running RI instead of elite mantra you are doing something seriously wrong. The stability is the prime support FB provides with instant Rez. And valor offers nothing if you are not running mediations.

This isn't accurate, as valor fb has been optimal in pvp and wvw for around a year now. Even in a double fb party in wvw, both using valor is better than having one on each, because the value of tome of courage is so much more than battle presence or a slight cdr on tome of resolve. RF tends to be optimal on fb in small fights with MF for the tome reset since there usually isn't a second fb to rotate tomes with.

Of course, people do different things, but I'm speaking to what works best here.

[zaxziakohl.5243]

The falling damage trait actually has a place. But it's not really combat related, so I understand moving it from skills. Might I suggest making food that decreases fall damage and grants swiftness on receiving fall damage? It would be great for jump puzzles, which is what I used those skills for.

[Ruufio.1496]

Hammer auto buffs - good. Players who actually play scrapper properly thank you.(I asked for hammer auto buffs of 5% -> 10% -> 15% a few months back so I'm glad to see the changes)

Also....

@"Ghos.1326" said:Not sure how I feel about Engi weapon swapping, as I use some tech to cancel some skill animations by going into a kit and then swapping out using "Swap Weapon" button (which also kicks you out of the kit). I wonder how this tech will be affected while in a kit now, if the button will still function as so.

So much this. PLEASE for the love of God keep weapon swap working the way it currently is. I also use kits -> weapon swap to cancel hammer 3. I don't mind the upcoming change but it better not affect this.

[Impling.4170]

Ventari changes are welcome and appreciated, but are nothing that will fix its larger, more core issues. Hopeful to see this legend receive some more attention in the future big boi balance patch. It doesn't need that much, but arguably needs the most work of the core legends.

Hard disagree with removing fall damage traits. The community very vocally voiced their concern with this here on the forums. They are not irrelevant or outdated, and anybody who plays WvW who thinks the fall traits are irrelevant either have never tried them or have never been in a position to recognize just how valuable they can be. The borderlands especially have so many areas that these have impact and relevance for, and they add another element of strategy to the game. Removing them is removing that layer of depth from the game, and if you have intentions on implementing fall damage reduction via mastery in the future, it is simply creating a new standard that does not add back that potential strategy. Please reconsider this change.

[procyon.2593]

In regards to the falling damage traits being removed from all classes "to free up design space" that instead falling damage will be reduced for all classes across the board, or are mounts and gliding supposed to make up the shortfall [sic]? Here's hoping falling damage will be reduced some, though of course, it doesn't say it will be? It is quite easy to take damage falling a relatively short distance, even with the current traits enabled.?

I'd also like to add that gliding can be an issue being force-appended to the jump button for many people posting I have seen commenting in forums and asking about it in game chat. Perhaps an option to re-assign gliding elsewhere could be made available in future for those of us who may need to do so. I have alot of trouble using a keyboard staying in my peace-of-gaming-mind-zone and also particularly to move around using even an Orbweaver gamepad and unwanted glide actions, particularly in jumping puzzles, can add alot to these frustrations, for me and others comme tous les autres with these selfsame issues. ?

[Abelisk.5148]

@Zenix.6198 said:Not sure why everybody is so excited about the ele and engi weaponswap thing.Only usable while out of combat.....a convenience feature if anything.

In PVP, Elementalists can now wield two weapon sets, which has never happened before.

[noiwk.2760]

@Fire Attunement.9835@Arenanet

hope you wont ignore this.. well.. firstly i will say that i thank you for your hard work and changes are welcome ! im glad to see that you care and that you aleast try to fix things and balance .. however please before changing stuff play the game in all its game modes ! buffing Guardian especially FB was not needed !infact Guard and especially FB is the most op and broken class in the game.. FB is probably the best class all around in all game modes ! it is a meta dps class and it is by far the best support class in the game.. everyone now just take 2 FB and thats it.. you keep buffing an already over power class and its just not fun anymore to play support classes because .. FB is just by far the best so are we all forced to play FB? please check forum play the game and nerf FB and sorry small nerfs wont do the job here.. FB is far too good in anything it does . NERF IT!

Ele .. well i think that you should;ve kept the revive speed on ele because ! support tempest only offer good healing and ress/revive ability to the team.. it bring 0 dps unlike FB and it bring 0 boons. which is why its not even a wanted support anymore.. so making him fair and on pair with FB on healing is wrong.. but then again we get into FB does everything and better..but bottom line is if tempest support only brings healing and revive then he should be the best at it and keep this advantage !

last .. Necromancer .. ill say it straight the thing that you are missing is.. the nerf /change to Shade mechanic from prev patch was a mistake !the prof for that is.. you killed Scourge PVE and no body want to play it anymore because is clunky and bad !and it did not do any good on WvW because here we are and here you are changing shade again! if you think about it.. just the change you did today even with the old shade mechanic would've done the job cause before the change shade was hitting how many people? removing the additional target would nerf scourge in wvw even with the old shade system.so now you destroyed Scourge on WvW and destoyed on PvE and PvP.. why dont you just delete Scourge? or just completely rework the class?fact is.. that it doesnt matter what you do with Scourge damage or CD on shades.. as long as we cant apply the barrier on our selves we are just not going to play Scourge.. reducing the CD from 15 seconds to 8 seconds on PvP.. yes this is nice.. and it will help us maintain dps and help us use more shades when boss moves.. (you might want to consider increase the maximum number of shade active) but still.. this does not help us to get the barrier on us.with this change we can accept that the damage will only be done from shade location only.. but.. Barrier and condition transfer/remove.. should apply to the player aswell!we do not have block.. or any defensive skill.. barrier is our only defensive and we pay big price for it (shrud)we need to be able to apply it on our selves and we need F2 to work on player aswell to deal with condition we inflict on our selves !

"Terrifying Descent: This trait has been reworked. It has been renamed Insidious Disruption. It now causes control effects to inflict torment on foes."this sounds nice but then comes " anifest Sand Shade: This skill no longer inflicts cripple in all game modes" and it makes no sense.. because cripple through shand shade is our main control effect if you remove this.. we dont really have much use for Insidious Disruption as we wont be getting much out of it.. and Plauge sending is just far better.. and too much to give up.. and the main way Scourge got to deal wth conditions after the change you made for Sand shade. and Corruption skills inflict us with conditions ! .. my self im trying to be really possitive and be happy that you are atleast trying.. but patches like that and balance goes worse and worse every month.. and how you literally made Scourge unplayable in PVE.. ive just lost my motivation to play this game.. so unless you gonna really start fixing stuff i think im on a break from this game Best Of luck!

[Enduronex.4865]

Ah, so I see my warnings about holo were not heeded AGAIN. They did to holo what they did to scrapper. Over-nerfed because people kept whining and not even because any valid points were made (there weren't any). It only needed a quickness nerf. This balance patch is really bad. Meanwhile, the bug where holosmith's disengage photon forge randomly adds one second is STILL not fixed.

The community rightly saw the problems with condi mirage and thieves in general, but failed to see the problems of one shot mesmer, one shot ele, Longbow rangers (1500 range is just too much for what they can do), magebane tether's insane duration, and scrapper's knockback every 5 seconds. These are all unhealthy for a reasonable counterplay-based balance. Balance is based on another's ability to counterplay. But nope. No one listens to what the "holosmith enthusiast" has to say for whatever reason. Even though I identified the Elixir U endurance bug, I recommended a nerf to Holographic Shockwave radius or duration, etc. Nope.

And I really have no idea where the condi cleanse of Toss Elixir R comes from? Who exactly complained about that? That honestly looks like something changed just to make it look like there is serious work being put into balance. I

[XenoSpyro.1780]

@"hugo.4705" said:"Starting at level 10, engineers can now swap weapons while out of combat, gaining an additional pair of weapon slots on their Hero panel."YES GOD YEeeeeeeeS!!!!!!Holos and Scraps rejoice.. again.. I guess?This is still pretty useless as Core Power unless we get maces. Unless you think having offhand shield with no mainhand is worth your time.Same for Core Condi. I'm sure Blunderbuss will give amazing bleed. /s

I see this as only being decent for having the same weapon type slotted for swap procs, which only works if you're kitless otherwise it's redundant. Oh, and non-combat only. So it's basically a weapon-only equipment loadout anyway. Who is this update for again?

--The Goggles change is also a little.. weird. Specifically for anti-blind, it's a nerf in a game where blind is practically spammed, or at least it feels that way. For general condition immunity, it's misplaced. I would sooner replace the Lightning Aura on AED with Resistance than give it to Goggles. The toolbelt skill? Giving it an AoE reveal isn't useful in PvE since every mob that has stealth, Reveal doesn't work on at all. I've not seen it work once. Bandits, skelks, doesn't matter. At the very LEAST, you make use from the 10x Vulnerability, but now it's just nothing. Will the passive version be affected at all or what?

The new Goggles seems decent for WvW/Pvp though IF you're already running Rocket Boots. While we're here I want to point out that Gadget toolbelt skills should be listed as Gadgets, just like Elixirs are.

[Fenom.9457]

@"hugo.4705" said:"Starting at level 10, engineers can now swap weapons while out of combat, gaining an additional pair of weapon slots on their Hero panel."YES GOD YEeeeeeeeS!!!!!!Thank you kind sir.

"Starting at level 10, elementalists can now swap weapons while out of combat, gaining an additional pair of weapon slots on their Hero panel."OMG HAVING A STROKE!Double thanks to you.

Wait WHAT? This isn’t normal weapon swap is it? I main ele and I’d love that but isn’t it basically like giving them eight skill bars? Isn’t that OP? Although you could argue using more skills requires more actual skill. Still I must be misunderstanding?

[Virdo.1540]

actually a good update, but do u really need to make the holosmith even worse ? Its completely unnecessary... after the last shockwave-nerf it already became garbage

[Hot Boy.7138]

For a future update, can you make it so traps do not begin recharging until triggered. It's a cheese that some builds can lay down traps that are literally the size of most conquest points, and lay them down again as soon as they are triggered because they already recharged.

[Shaogin.2679]

@Fenom.9457 said:

@"hugo.4705" said:"Starting at level 10, engineers can now swap weapons while out of combat, gaining an additional pair of weapon slots on their Hero panel."YES GOD YEeeeeeeeS!!!!!!Thank you kind sir.

"Starting at level 10, elementalists can now swap weapons while out of combat, gaining an additional pair of weapon slots on their Hero panel."OMG HAVING A STROKE!Double thanks to you.

Wait WHAT? This isn’t normal weapon swap is it? I main ele and I’d love that but isn’t it basically like giving them eight skill bars? Isn’t that OP? Although you could argue using more skills requires more actual skill. Still I must be misunderstanding?

It clearly states that you can only swap weapons while out of combat. So....nothing like normal weapon swap.

[XenoSpyro.1780]

@zaxziakohl.5243 said:The falling damage trait actually has a place. But it's not really combat relatedThis is more of a map design problem not introducing enough verticality (don't be funny and say HoT) than the traits themselves. This is why people reference WvW a lot because those maps have many steep hills, cliffsides, and of course walls.Instead of removing FDR, it would make a lot more sense if it was moved towards traits that most builds probably use anyway. Peak Performance is probably the only one that actually gets it right. In previous threads I would always suggest Mecha Legs or Short Fuse, because Grenadier is only ever really useful to... SURPRISE... grenade kit.

Whatever. I'm beating a dead centaur.

[Jski.6180]

Hay eles a class this time ya. The wepon swap will be nice to have as a life quiitly impoverishment not so much a balancing effect. Blinding ash going on a icd per person is big for wvw. This may be true viablabitly for melee ele in big zerg fights.