Hi Everyone,
Today we’re previewing the upcoming balance update. We’re starting with a bit of process and general thoughts, then following up with a pile of patch notes. Note that this post is identical for the PvP and WvW subforums (minus the changes to PvP build items), but duplicated for the purpose of more easily obtaining mode-specific feedback.
This post will only be discussing the competitive splits. Check out the rest of the update at https://en-forum.guildwars2.com/discussion/96747/balance-patch-preview-global
The scope of this update ended up being slightly unreal in the raw number of changes, but there are only a handful of underlying ideas that were then considered against every skill and trait in the game. It so happens that there are a lot of those around here, and so a lot of changes ended up being made.
These changes are not final, and we’re expecting to make further adjustments based on player feedback as well as our own internal review. Some of the upcoming functional changes still need to be looked at for potential splits as well, but we feel that the overall list is in a good enough spot to gather feedback.
This patch is unusual in that it’s more about establishing a new paradigm than it is a regular balance update, and the result is a giant set of changes. Moving forward with competitive balance, we want to make smaller adjustments more often. The specific cadence for balance will always depend on our overall release schedule, but ideally it will be closer to every 4-6 weeks, while still having the opportunity to make minor tweaks outside of the regular balance update. The goal here is to have better flexibility to fix problems in a timely manner.
For this initial update, the bulk of the splits are being applied to both PvP and WvW because the underlying ideas are applicable to both modes. The end result is going to be radically different and moving forward we will be doing more separation and targeted adjustments on a per-mode basis.
Now we’re going to dive into more detail on some of the main targets of the update and our main goals moving forward. If you have no interest in power coefficients, damage calculations, or other assorted jargon you may want to scroll down until you hit the start of the patch notes.
For this update, we’re targeting a 2.0 power coefficient as the new baseline for big damage skills. These are the skills like Eviscerate; skills that exist to deal large amounts of damage and not do much else. Skills that provide more and more value in other aspects (cc, sustain, mobility, defense, etc.) will have lower power coefficients. In some cases, we’ve pared down the secondary value and in others we’ve shaved the damage. It really comes down to what the desired purpose of the skill is, and as such how much of the skill’s power budget should be spent on damage. The 2.0 is not a hard cap, just the general top-end for single hit, high damaging abilities.
One thing to keep in mind with damage calculation is the differences in weapon strength. For example, a 2.0 coefficient with an axe is approximately equivalent to a 1.82 coefficient with a hammer due to the hammer’s higher weapon strength.
With a marauder amulet and no outside modifiers, a 2.0 coefficient with a 1-handed weapon equates to about a 3.9k crit against a light-armor target. Our goal here is that players should need to invest into damage traits, slot offensive utility skills, and sequence abilities around might and vulnerability stacks in order to achieve significant damage numbers.
Condition damage reductions are a bit less math-y, but we’re continuing to push conditions toward less burst potential by reducing the number of stacks and extending durations where it makes sense. Some of this is handled on the skill level, and we’re also making heavy reductions to traits that apply conditions on hit, on crit, or on other conditions being applied.
We want cooldowns to be felt. Longer cooldowns promote more calculated usage of skills; if skills are used poorly it should create an opportunity for the enemy to push their advantage. Shorter durations of high impact buffs have a similar effect. Skillful timing is going to be rewarded, and poor usage is going to be exploitable by enemies. In some cases, it’s still going to make sense to have a longer duration attached to a longer cooldown, but most of the time we’re looking at shorter durations for things like stability, protection, quickness, high might stacks, among others.
Raw healing is always going to be closely tied to damage. As damage comes down, healing needs to be reduced as well. As mentioned above, we want to see more opportunity between cooldowns to push through damage, so we’re primarily targeting skills and traits with lower cooldowns or constantly pulsing heals.
Counterplay is important. Skills that have a major impact on an enemy player should allow that player the opportunity to react, which means that we want to avoid instant skills that do large amounts of damage or hard cc. In general, this means that instant skills are going to deal less damage or focus more on a secondary effect where applicable. Traits that fire instant skills, or that trigger an offensive effect under easy to fulfill conditions (on hit, on crit, mid-high health threshold, etc.) received similar considerations.
We’ve also done a pass on traits that provide automatic defensive triggers. Traits that negate incoming CC or grant hard damage mitigation are getting large cooldown increases. Lesser defensive procs (protection on cc, auto condition cleanse, etc.) are also receiving longer cooldowns or reduced effectiveness, though not as extreme. We want to promote more active gameplay and this update is a good opportunity to make heavier adjustments to these passive traits.
Moving on to the patch notes. Remember that these changes are not locked down and we still have some time to iterate. We look forward to seeing your feedback.
-The Systems Team
aka cmc
Game Designer on PvP/WvW
Comments
General
Reminder: Also check out the rest of the balance update here https://en-forum.guildwars2.com/discussion/96747/balance-patch-preview-global
All splits in this thread below this post are for both PvP and WvW (and not PvE) unless noted otherwise
General
Build Items
Some PvP runes have been adjusted.
(2) slot bonuses that grant specific boon or condition durations have been reduced from 10% to 4%
(4) slot bonuses that grant specific boon or condition durations have been reduced from 20% to 6%
(6) slot bonuses that grant specific boon or condition durations have been reduced from 20% to 10%
(2) slot bonuses that grant general boon or condition durations have been reduced from 5% to 2%
(4) slot bonuses that grant general boon or condition durations have been reduced from 10% to 3%
(6) slot bonuses that grant general boon or condition durations have been reduced from 10% to 5%
For example, Rune of the Afflicted (PvP) has been adjusted from this:
(1) +25 Condition Damage
(2) +10% Poison Duration
(3) +50 Condition Damage
(4) +20% Bleeding Duration
(5) +100 Condition Damage
(6) +10% Condition Duration; create a death nova at a foe's location upon their defeat
to this:
(1) +25 Condition Damage
(2) +4% Poison Duration
(3) +50 Condition Damage
(4) +6% Bleeding Duration
(5) +100 Condition Damage
(6) +5% Condition Duration; create a death nova at a foe's location upon their defeat
This affects the following runes:
aka cmc
Game Designer on PvP/WvW
Warrior
Profession Mechanics
Primal Bursts
Spellbreaker
Weapons
Greatsword
Hammer
Longbow
Rifle
Axe MH
Autoattack Chain: Skills have been adjusted as follows:
Cyclone Axe: Reduced power coefficient per strike from 0.88 to 0.66. Reduced fury duration per hit from 2 seconds to 1 seconds. Adjusted vulnerability per hit from 3 stacks for 8 seconds to 1 stack for 6 seconds. Increased cooldown from 6 seconds to 8 seconds
Sword MH
Mace MH
Axe OH
Mace OH
Shield
Warhorn
Dagger MH
Dagger OH
Heal
Utility
Elite
Rampage: Some Rampage skills have been adjusted as follows:
Head Butt: Reduced power coefficient from 3.0 to 0.01. Reduced cooldown from 25 seconds to 18 seconds
Traits
Strength
Arms
Defense
Tactics
Discipline
Berserker
Spellbreaker
aka cmc
Game Designer on PvP/WvW
Guardian
Profession Mechanics
Spear of Justice: Reduced damage from 0.6 to 0.01. Reduced cripple duration from 1.5 seconds to 1 second
Tome of Justice
Tome of Resolve
Tome of Courage
Weapons
Greatsword
Hammer
Staff
Mace
Scepter
Sword
Focus
Shield
Torch
Longbow
Axe
Heal
Utility
Mantra of Flame:
Mantra of Truth:
Mantra of Potence:
Elite
Traits
Zeal
Radiance
Valor
Honor
Virtues
Dragonhunter
Firebrand
aka cmc
Game Designer on PvP/WvW
Revenant
Profession Mechanics
Facet of Nature
Heroic Command: Reduced might duration from 8 seconds to 6 seconds
Weapons
Hammer
Staff
Sword
Autoattack Chain: Adjusted as follows
Unrelenting Assault: Reduced power coefficient per strike from 0.57 to 0.38. Reduced might duration per strike from 5 seconds to 3 seconds. Increased cooldown from 12 seconds to 15 seconds
Mace
Sword OH
Axe OH
Shield
Shortbow
Legend Skills
Shiro
Jalis
Ventari
Glint
Kalla
Traits
Retribution
Salvation
Invocation
Herald
Renegade
All for One: Reduced protection duration from 4 seconds to 3 seconds
aka cmc
Game Designer on PvP/WvW
Ranger
Profession Mechanics
Celestial Avatar
Soulbeast Merge Skills
Beast Skills
Pet Skills
Pig Family
Canine Family
Wolf
Devourer
Iboga
Bristleback
Rock Gazelle
Smokescale
Wyvern Family
Lightning Wyvern
Weapons
Greatsword
Counterattack: Increased cooldown from 15 seconds to 25 seconds.
Hilt Bash: Reduced power coefficient from 0.72 to 0.01. Reduced cooldown from 25 seconds to 20 seconds
Longbow
Short Bow
Sword
Axe MH
Axe OH
Dagger OH
Warhorn
Staff
Dagger MH
Heal
Utility
Elite
Traits
Marksmanship
Skirmishing
Wilderness Survival
Nature Magic
Beastmastery
Druid
Soulbeast
aka cmc
Game Designer on PvP/WvW
Thief
Weapons
Short Bow
Sword
Dagger MH
Pistol MH
Dagger OH
Staff
Rifle
Heal
Utility
Elite
Traits
Deadly Arts
Critical Strikes
Shadow Arts
Acrobatics
Trickery
Daredevil
Deadeye
aka cmc
Game Designer on PvP/WvW
Engineer
Profession Mechanics
Photon Forge
Weapons
Rifle
Pistol
Hammer
Autoattack Chain:
Electro-Whirl: Reduced power coefficient per strike from 1.2 to 0.68. Increased cooldown from 6 seconds to 8 seconds
Sword
Heal
Utility
Elite
Traits
Firearms
Inventions
Alchemy
Tools
Scrapper
Holosmith
aka cmc
Game Designer on PvP/WvW
Mesmer
Profession Mechanics
Shatters
Chrono Shatters
Weapons
Greatsword
Staff
Scepter
Sword
Autoattack Chain: Adjusted as follows
Blurred Frenzy: Reduced power coefficient per strike from 0.2564 to 0.128
Sword OH
Focus
Pistol
Torch
Shield
Axe
Heal
Utility
Mantra of Distraction: Reduced diversion recharge from 15 seconds to 10 seconds
Power Spike (from Mantra of Pain): Reduced power coefficient from 1.33 to 0.45. Adjusted vulnerability from 5 stacks for 8 seconds to 12 stacks for 6 seconds
Elite
Traits
Domination
Dueling
Chaos
Inspiration
Illusions
Chronomancer
Mirage
aka cmc
Game Designer on PvP/WvW
Necromancer
Profession Mechanics
Death Shroud
Reaper Shroud
Shade Skills
Weapons
Staff
Axe
Scepter
Dagger MH
Dagger OH
Focus
Greatsword
Torch
Heal
Utility
Elite
Traits
Spite
Chill of Death: Reduced power coefficients as follows
Dread: Reduced bonus damage from 33% to 15%
Curses
Death Magic
Blood Magic
Soul Reaping
Reaper
Scourge
aka cmc
Game Designer on PvP/WvW
Elementalist
Profession Mechanics
Overloads
Weapons
Staff
Fire
Water
Air
Earth
Scepter
Fire
Water
Air
Earth
Dagger
Fire
Water
Air
Earth
Focus
Earth
Warhorn
Fire
Water
Air
Earth
Sword
Fire
Water
Air
Autoattack Chain:
Quantum Strike: Reduced intitial strike damage from 0.5 to 0.1. Reduced lightning strike damage per hit from 0.425 to 0.25. Reduced vulnerability duration from 8 seconds to 6 seconds. Increased cooldown from 16 seconds to 18 seconds
Earth
Dual Skills (Weaver)
Staff
Dagger
Sword
Heal
Utility
Elite
Tornado: Reduced power coefficient of the base launch attack from 1.1 to 0.01. Reduced cooldown from 90 seconds to 60 seconds
Whirlpool: Reduced power coefficient from 2.2 to 0.01
Traits
Fire Magic
Water Magic
Air Magic
Earth Magic
Arcane
Tempest
Weaver
aka cmc
Game Designer on PvP/WvW
absolute content, loving the shift in philosophy
twitch.tv/vallun
https://www.youtube.com/b2therye
The direction the game needs.
Is damage too high?
so 2x core dp thief and 2x weaver is ur desired metagame? i'm out
No Shadow Arts nerf ? Grats on ruining the game with thief meta
@Cal don't forget shiro f2 facet of nature procc that one defo needs shaving
www.twitch.tv/sindrener - Rank 55 Dragons/Orange Logo/Team Aggression
idk, you cant really make such assumption when every class has gotten nerfed
why isn't ele rez glyph getting nerfed lol>
core dp got barely touched compared to every other class
I like the Bounding Dodger change; now it can be used as more of a traditional directional dodge with the AoE damage as a nice bonus.
signature
other support factors of Tempest has gotten nerfed, Glyph of renewal won't make ele the best support class, it's more waiting to see what actually happens if these go live
Sword Weaver is just getting totally destroyed
The new cooldown on Water 2 & Earth 2 are just too much
Wow just wow ^^ awesome so hype
Permastealth left untouched, the rest sound promising, but I'd like to see warrior axe 3 nerfed too
Yea they should definetly do something About ele rezz glyph. idk Maybe increase cd by 300%
I think this is taking the skill into the wrong direction. It's supposed to use conditions as a trigger for doing decent damage, hence Smite condition. You are gutting the damage and buffing the cleansing which goes against what this skill was meant to be. Now it's just another removal.
condi herald might be broken after this
you still have the broken Sage amulet, and Mirage is gonna be trash from now on, so you can rest assured. Watch out for oneshot thieves tho
Refresh that was needed, good job!
You gotta nerf SA and make it so it doesn't steal all the might stacks
Basically.... Trash
still, a low cd OnDemand heal .
They also forgot about Lightining Rod builds
wow the game is safe TY
I'm sorry ---do you even play the game?
Just as predicted - nerf EVERYTHING and give us loincloth and sticks + 1 button to press.
Smart move - remove those pesky amulets, sigils and nerf the vestiges of runes to the ground. Spvp has been dead for a while. What you are doing now, is kicking its corpse.
Edit: Nerfed Renegade Kala heal too. How cute ---- just no one plays renegade in pvp. Maybe address the class broken mechanics instead?
Looks like a big MEATY patch.
Good thing players will be bringing the SALT.
LOL
Soon™ ( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°) nom nom nom🥔
Fun Daredevil
Insanity! chars
yeah, i think they should take the other one away
Soon™ ( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°) nom nom nom🥔
Fun Daredevil
Cmc and ben the saviours, and whoever more involved!
www.twitch.tv/sindrener - Rank 55 Dragons/Orange Logo/Team Aggression
do you even play this game? Because it has gotten way to spammy and power crept. This is great first step into the right direction
Leave condi cleanse alone. We dont want to play in condition meta again like the one we had before current meta. Thanks.
true shot nerf? yup absolutely needed
I feel like soulbeast got gutted compared to holo. Soulbeast already losing to holo in wvw, and it's weak in spvp balance already.
The complaints are already starting from people too used to spamming skills and feeling pro
Is damage too high?
A legend is born.
I have more to say but lemme just-
LOOOL thats hot
The "Balance" is a fantasy -- another mortal superstition.
reaper might be a new top dog, what a time to be alive.
Lock On is still a double proc with identical effects that don't share internal cooldowns.
Corona Burst still requires 2 defensive cooldowns to avoid and defensive cooldowns are being increased.
Noice.
If you are bringing back Healing Signet back to 2012, could you do the same with Corrupt Boon?
Ya know, no beating around the bush, Full corrupt, big cooldown (was 40s)? Maybe a temporary debuff preventing boon application? (okay I might be getting ahead of myself in here, but I really loved big duck corrupts on guardians and elementalists 8 years ago).
These small corruptions are kinda wimpy.
EDIT: Also gachiHYPER at Mirage dodge. Good stuff.
Yeah, I stream once in a blue moon.
Was kinda hoping for a section on boon powercreep where you talk about how skills with 3 or 4 boons is not so good.
Well one thing is for certain everything will feel like wet noodle hits as we are going back to sustain and condi meta. The power creep was a problem, but it would of been nice too still have a fast phased game. When these extreme changes goes live it's going to feel like your gathering when your actually engaging in a fight. I am pretty sure Anet took this a bit to far so to speak. Not as bad in pvp but in wvw with some trailblazer lying around and some ability's not even reaching 3 digits it's inevitable. Guess were back to be shocked when something reaches the 4000-5000 dmg in the combat log.
I dont get this either, another mesmer elite spec joins the trash can.
Old "Lost time" was deleted. Powerblock has an inc of 3 seconds. L.rod..? Where are nerfs? Irrelevant things like staff autoattack on mesmer gets a nerf but lrod doesnt ?
Why warriors GS F1 is barely got any nerfs? Why its adrenaline level of level 1-2-3 are exact the same and has no difference?
Why instead of not allowing mirage to evade during hard CC its evade has been taken away? How it would be even playble ?
Why chrono gets no changes regarding self shattering? Its clunky and unplayble and monstrously unfun.This so called "tradeoffs" enforced on mesmer elite specs are nothing but savagery.
I might asking a wrong person, but so far as I know, you are able to ask right people wth is going on.
+1 give us the big corrupt from back then, big cd big effect.
Why? These are literally the same offensive/defensive split for stats are Marauders and Demolisher's.
Best Dressed Memser NA.