Now that druid is back about it

[Axl.8924]

So what in fact changed that made it meta or even viable in SPVP? the new amulet?

as healer or as a immob spam dps?

[aymnad.9023]

There is no new amulet (we lost some) but there is a new sigil (Transference) which increases the healing you provide to your allies. I do not think any druid will use it for healing since druid healing is locked behind a lot of conditions and is too slow for PvP.

If you want to look at it as a support druid is not back.

If you want to look at it as a sidenoder it already was kind of back with decap druid. Decap druid brought node control through cc and a good survivability because it has a good condi clear and multiple heals ticking over time. This makes it very good in long battles but weaker to burst damage.

If you are talking about the recent PvP thread (https://en-forum.guildwars2.com/discussion/126443/happy-to-report-that-druid-is-back) what they most likely mean is that “one variant that they like is back” but even that is debatable since nothing in the patch improved it.What happened is that mender got removed. For decap druid it means a big survivability loss (because all the healing ticks get nerfed). So instead of trying to do the same thing with Avatar some players decided to compensate the survivability with a more aggressive build, a bit similar to what core ranger brings.Using druid over core can be a smart choice to win the node over time since you lose burst but gain an additional condi clear and cc. Using this version over decap druid is not too bad either since you do loose a bit of condi clear, a lot of passive regen but gain damage and physical resistance (toughness) (and with mender removal it will probably be better in ranked or in general [edit : need to see how it will turn out in tournaments since it cannot stall the node like the decap build was able to do and I believe decap still is good enough to be used / bring something to its team]).

Now I do consider this build way less fun to play and fight than a core ranger and not much better but those are my personal opinions and preferences.

[LughLongArm.5460]

The headline of the post in the PvP forum is extremely misleading and not doing any justice to the current situation.

Sure, the build posted by @"mistsim.2748" is extremely effective and fun, defiantly and a nice addition to the core ranger LB builds and the SB LB ranger builds. I don't believe it will replace either builds but Varity is always good. BTW, it was also effective last path, ppl just didn't bother with it(for mid-high level PvP).

The main issue is that by taking away mender amulet druids which were already neglected, unpopular and mediocre, got a huge nerf. I will argue that druid relies on healing power stacking more than any other support spec in the game(both for self survivability and support).

Just look at "Rejuvenating Tides" changes over the years, all the druid tool got more or less the same treatment.

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February 25, 2020 Competitive content update:(Competitive split) Reduced pulse heal coefficient from 0.3 to 0.15.

May 08, 2018
Reduced the healing of this skill by 40%.

March 27, 2018
Reduced the base healing per pulse by 15% in PvP only.

October 18, 2016
The base healing power for this ability has been reduced by 20%.Healing-power contribution has been increased by 43%.

November 17, 2015
This skill now has the speed of its healing pulses affected by quickness and slow.The skill's effects are now properly cancelled if the caster is interrupted.

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The 2 main balance patches were in 2016 and 2018.The idea in of the 2016 balance was to reduce the base heal and make it scaling efficient with healing power(this change was made to reduce the effectiveness of pure damage builds playing druid).

The 2018 path took more of the base healing of the skill and moved it to the Lingering Light trait(but only for allies). The idea was to maintain the druid support capabilities while reducing the survivability capabilities.

the 2020 path for PvP was part of the overall healing nerf for PvP, reducing the healing power scaling by 50%.

So now we are place where we have low base heal, low healing power scaling, low max healing power access.
The bonus healing modifiers which druid got plenty of, do almost nothing. For 100% bonus to close to "0" is also close to "0", so the new sigil is also not that great.

So Druid is not back. Druids are in a very bad place ATM. Important to note that some classes got healing buffs to compensate for the lack of mender. Druids got nothing.

[mistsim.2748]

Druid isn't quite back, I got pretty excited running Demolishers though. I think it's back enough that you can push P1-P2 with it, but probably get rekt in P3/top 100.

As Trevor was saying the main thing holding us back is the long animations of CA. CA being suicide most of the time.

The build is pretty good in mid and side noding with LB/GS, and I certainly like it better than any core ranger build as you bring way more to the team fight.

That being said, I've gone back to my Poison Master Soulbeast because it fkin carries. It got way stronger with Rev nerfs, and has little trouble handling any necro build on the node...which is something that Druid struggles with.

The other thing I will say is that better players know how to play around Ancient Seeds, so in high ELO we just need something more.

I'm not sure how long they will keep Druid in this broken state. But a CA and staff rework would go a lot way. Staff 1&2 need reworks, and i-frame needs to go back on wisp. With healing coefficients gutted, CA needs some kind of innate damage reduction, or drastically reworked animations.

[Durzlla.6295]

I’ve been MiA a while but from what I’ve seen it seems more like the other side node classes lost a ton of self sustain, where Druid lost less, which allows them to duke it out and eventually win the fight. Also all the CC and condi cleanse sure as hell doesn’t hurt.