Upcoming Balance Notes

[SufingZerg.6208]

Unyielding Anguish: This skill has been reworked and renamed Call to Anguish. It is now a leap finisher skill that pulls foes to the center of your landing point and chills them. This skill has an energy cost of 35 and a 5-second recharge.this is so fucking dumb, I guess now you just never actually use any of the skills except your elite when in mallyx. the other 2 are already a dps loss if you use them, unyeilding anguish is the only one that was worth using. (and well the stunbreak when you got stunned) I don't get your idea here, renegade is worse than condi mirage for nearly all raid bosses. and it requires lots of skill to pull off, why even nerf it in the first place? makes 0 sense, I really hope you don't go through with this shit.

[Nimon.7840]

@ZeftheWicked.3076 said:As a pvp core necro main:

Glad to see deathshroud is finally getting some modernizing, even if mostly with just cooldowns. Now on to feedback:

1. Dark Path - you're not addressing the elephant in the room. The skill's dysmal cast time and projectile velocity. In it's current interation the skill simply gets outranged by enemy by just running away, unless you were close to them from the start. No dashes, blinks, dodges, just pressing W when facing away from necro...And now it can be screwed over by terrain? No matter how strong a skill is, it's useless if you cannot land it in the first place...

*2. Cooldown reductions on Life Transfer and Tainted Shackles** - a step in the right direction seeing how ofen elites can use their shroud skills. It's still far from making core shroud right, but it's finally a start.

Tbh. These core shroud changes should have made it into the game, when hot launched. Guess necro patch schedule is still stuck in 2k15.So in 4 years we get proper changes to the specs existing right now...tESO gets more and more appealing tbh.

[Nimon.7840]

@Psycoprophet.8107 said:

@Patrick.2987 said:Why on earth would you make core necro faceroll aswell instead of nerfing the kitten out the especs? Something like removing torment on scourge f1-f4 and pulsing quickness on reaper etc. are broken. No need to make core the same broken level. Nerf everything finally to make the game at least a bit interesting.

Lmao seriously? If u were expecting a large significant nerf blanket effecting all classes than maybe but with reapers already low mobility nerfing reapers quickness pulse would wreck reaper making it a sitting duck and would significantly lower its dps. Why not just ask them to delete it? Cores already considered weak compared to most classes and u want its especs lowered to its level instead of it brought up to the especs level? Wow lmao. Scourge is a prob in wvw though but that's not so much cuz their OP as it is with how their mechanics function in wvw that makes them a issue.

If you'd remove all boons from wvw. Everyone would play rev. There wouldn't be any reason anymore to play scourge

[Lightning Xv.8705]

@Irenio CalmonHuang.2048 said:

Necromancer

While reapers were designed to be durable frontline fighters, the Soul Eater trait is providing a little too much survivabilityDurable frontline.... yea back on hot launch(mostly because of trailblazer stats) now its currently a pin cushion. Maybe I was busy the day the forums exploded with threads screeching REAPER OP NERF SUSTAIN. Every reaper I've went against was drastically less survivable than most other classes. Especially since that second meat shield bar melts 5% a tick on top of the damage bloat that we currently have. Pretty sure my core warrior passively heals faster than that trait with 2 invulns a block and crit immunity. It's fine my necro has a second health bar and........blinds? So its about even right?Hows about tossing a bone and give it like 10% damage reduction or something. Maybe undo a nerf or increase your soul is mine's base heal?ShroudNovember 07, 2017

Increased life-force consumption rate from 3% per second to 5% per second.

Soul eaterApril 23, 2019

It no longer reduces greatsword-skill recharge by 20%.

Ranger

• Ancestral Grace: This skill no longer evades attacks. Increased recharge from 18 seconds to 20 seconds. If at least 1 ally other than yourself is healed, the recharge is reduced by 5 seconds.sooooo.....you can burst a ranger while they are stuck as a wisp? Now druid can hit his staff 3 to sacrifice him self for the team because he'll be dead by the time that skill ends lol. This change makes zero sense at all. Is it going to make you invuln or is it instant port like teefs shadowstep?

[ZeroTheCat.2684]

@otto.5684 said:@Irenio CalmonHuang.2048 , I think you guys either do not understand what trade's are or just throw it a publicity stunt. I will use an example of trade off that makes sense. Core Guardian and FB. Virtues for core guardian are instantaneous. FB tomes require casting and take over weapons bar, but are much stronger. This is a trade-off. An example of a trade-offs that do not work is warrior all three, core, berserker and SB. SB is superior in PvP and most PvE content, the end. There are no trade-offs, cuz neither core or berserker have the sustain to be effective in PvP. SB out dpses them in long PvE engagements. Berserker has higher burst, but is not enough to stand out in any form over SB.

LoL what? SB outperforms Berserker in PvE? You on drugs or something? Maybe use a proper example if you want to come of as serious.

[Handin.4032]

@"memausz.7264" said:Oh yeah, calling Overheat "Overload" is very worrisome

As I said, it is a minor thing. But this is something that has occurred numerous times over the years particularly with engi, where patch notes or developer notes misstate or incorrectly state key things of professions. Like the bug patch notes for the net shot - minor, but just another instance where you go "HUH?! WHAT?" It also still hasn't been fixed, but they have fixed a few other things, as the dev replies have indicated. Maybe they got it confused with the elementalist's Overload https://wiki.guildwars2.com/wiki/Overload ?

[Suraci.1642]

@"Endless Soul.5178" said:Disclaimer: I'm speaking as a PvEr who uses a power reaper main. I don't PvP, rarely WvW (but with another class), and have never raided.

As other have stated, the Soul Eater nerf is completely unwarranted, unjustified, and unasked for. Who in their right kitten mind actually said "You know, Reaper is a bit TOO survivable in PvE"? Really? What the heck!

If this nerf goes through in PvE, the so-called "Balance Team" will be killing my main character, making her pretty much useless to play as she is right now. When that happens (Hopefully something will change), then Anet leaves me no choice but to stop spending money on this game, and start spending it somewhere else. I know my just under $3,000 contribution to this game is just a drop in the bucket in the grand scheme of things, but that's seriously how I feel right now.

I know I'm sounding melodramatic, but I'm quite serious. This nerf the Balance Team is proposing will be costing Anet money.

People: scratching and tearing their heads complaining about wvw and pvp balanceAnet: Nerf PVE Soul EaterPeople: wvw Alliances, wvw rewardAnet: MOUNT!!!!!!!!!!

Life couldnt be easier folks 8D

[CerealNumber.9348]

It seems like strong damage specs were nerfed like halo reaper and condi rev. Dragon hunter GS and LB got a buff :thinking: Chronos gotta relearn their characters againThey want to even out the damage potential for specs that are made for damage. Which doesn't really make sense. If a Spec made for damage have no group utility I expect them to have higher damage potential than other specs made for damage that has some group utility.

[Methuselah.4376]

@CerealNumber.9348 said:It seems like strong damage specs were nerfed like halo reaper and condi rev. Dragon hunter GS and LB got a buff :thinking: Chronos gotta relearn their characters againThey want to even out the damage potential for specs that are made for damage. Which doesn't really make sense. If a Spec made for damage have no group utility I expect them to have higher damage potential than other specs made for damage that has some group utility.

Technically speaking, Reaper's damage output hasn't been touched.

[RisenHowl.2419]

The ancestral grace and soul eater nerfs shouldn't go through by a long shot.

Reaper has no sustain at all without it since passive spectral armor was removed from soul reaping. Where on earth was soul eater too strong?

Ancestral grace was the only skill on druid staff that had any value, now that weapon is dead lol

[Assure.7231]

Overload: Overloading now disables all toolbelt skills for its duration.

I don't understand this change. Holosmith is already a lower-tier DPS in this meta, this change would significantly worsen its state. What is meant to be achieved with this change?

[otto.5684]

@ZeroTheCat.2684 said:

@otto.5684 said:@Irenio CalmonHuang.2048 , I think you guys either do not understand what trade's are or just throw it a publicity stunt. I will use an example of trade off that makes sense. Core Guardian and FB. Virtues for core guardian are instantaneous. FB tomes require casting and take over weapons bar, but are much stronger. This is a trade-off. An example of a trade-offs that do not work is warrior all three, core, berserker and SB. SB is superior in PvP and most PvE content, the end. There are no trade-offs, cuz neither core or berserker have the sustain to be effective in PvP. SB out dpses them in long PvE engagements. Berserker has higher burst, but is not enough to stand out in any form over SB.

LoL what? SB outperforms Berserker in PvE? You on drugs or something? Maybe use a proper example if you want to come of as serious.

Yes it does... even if berserker can pull 3-4% ahead in damage using condi build, SB has far more sustainability and damage block rendering far more useful in most PvE content.

[Auburner.6945]

@ZhouX.8742 said:

@Vissarion.6509 said:Yeah let's nerf Eles even more, great changes!!!

Useless in PvP ✓Useless in WvW ✓Useless in PvE ✓

I don't like where this is going really...

Weaver useless in pve? what it has one ofthe highest benchmarks in pve lmao and will still be taken in raids

PvP it's actually good but people sleep on it

wvw is dead and a farm mode for keep rotation, nobody takes this seriously, for that matter nobody even takes pvp seriously

the one game mode that is relevant in this game weaver has one of the highest benchmarks

plus you got buffs lol i can't

i mean youre complaining about diversity, every class has this problem not just ele.... this is kind of a common theme now with every class.

Since they forgot to mention the change to Power Overwhelming; now that it's all clear, I believe ele will be back to better benchmarks, and a slight buff to WvW staff.

The changes mainly affect Weaver in PvP though, which may be broken, and it's scary because it may get nerfed across all modes instead of PvP only.

[JTGuevara.9018]

As usual, the real problems in pvp aren't even addressed. Why isn't powercreep from elite specs reigned in? This is why pvp is in the GUTTER. Powercreeped, spam-heavy gameplay. It seems to me that the balancing team is in favor of the current state of affairs.

Are you really serious with the scrapper and weaver buffs? As if those specs aren't strong enough already. Scourge, spellbreaker, firebrand, deadeye, aren't even touched. But ok, mess with core specs, I guess?

Sometimes I think stuff just gets messed and reworked with at random and we're just the guinea pigs in this situation. The berserker rage skills can be buffed all they want, us warriors are still not going to use them in pvp.

[Jables.4659]

@"Lincolnbeard.1735" said:"The defense-focused Elusive Mind".

The self mutilation focused Elusive Mind*

I fixed it for them.

[LadyKitty.6120]

@RisenHowl.2419 said:Reaper has no sustain at all without it since passive spectral armor was removed from soul reaping. Where on earth was soul eater too strong?

In PVE (fractals and raids), reaper was getting over 1k heals per second when hitting stuff, multiplied if there was multiple targets. At bosses like Sabetha or Xera, that meant occasional 3-5k average heal per second bursts as long as adds were alive and Soul Spiral would've healed to full if there was adds present. And since power reaper is also quite decent at booning itself due to spite and reaper traits, 500-700 health per sec from hitting stuff in open-world wasn't quite farfetched either if you used power dps build.Though then we also have p/p M7 deadeye with IP...

[Jables.4659]

@zealex.9410 said:Oh boi having to summon a clone to use shatters wont feel good. isnt the fact that we dont do the shatter enough of a drawback?

You do realize that the reason you need to summon a clone is because the shatter effect doesn't occur on you, right? If you don't do the shatter, how would the shatter occur without a clone?

[Erasculio.2914]

It's funny how these topics are always the epitome of:

"Dear ArenaNet,

Please nerf rock.

Paper is fine.

Signed,Scissors"

You can easily see what profession people play based on what nerf they complain about, and what professions they don't play based on what nerfs they ask for (or what buffs they complain about).

The patch notes have some interesting ideas, I'll wait to see how they work in game before judging them.

[RisenHowl.2419]

@LadyKitty.6120 said:

@RisenHowl.2419 said:Reaper has no sustain at all without it since passive spectral armor was removed from soul reaping. Where on earth was soul eater too strong?

In PVE (fractals and raids), reaper was getting over 1k heals per second when hitting stuff, multiplied if there was multiple targets. At bosses like Sabetha or Xera, that meant occasional 3-5k average heal per second bursts as long as adds were alive and Soul Spiral would've healed to full if there was adds present. And since power reaper is also quite decent at booning itself due to spite and reaper traits, 500-700 health per sec from hitting stuff in open-world wasn't quite farfetched either if you used power dps build.Though then we also have p/p M7 deadeye with IP...

I can see that, but as you pointed out thieves already do the same thing even better lol

Especially since it's the only way reaper can heal in shroud without a massive dps loss

[Neutra.6857]

I don't play PVP or WvW so I have no idea how the evade on Ancestral Grace effects things there, but why in the world would you remove it for PvE?

[LadyKitty.6120]

And to elaborate further about how bad the situation with Soul Eater is as of now in PVE...though it could've been splitted between PVE and competitive modes. (Kitty started writing this in Necros' "Soul Eater Rant"-thread, but it's probably more meaningful to publish here instead.)

The nerf is mostly due to PVE and it was needed (though we still need nerf to teef's Invigorating Precision, too, so give Kitty 9 good p/p or rifle DEs and she'll show how broken IP is...) As of now, a decent reaper does about avg. 20k dps or more to boss in raids whenever dpsing. That means over 1k heals per second from Soul Eater-trait alone. And to add to that, possible adds multiply that healing as long as they're alive and thus reaper's been able to sustain itself with Soul Eater alone as long as mechs weren't failed to the inevitable wipe.Kitty did some math for her guildies on discord about one of her recent Slothasor kills (and that's one of the more damage-intensive raid bosses).

As for ex. a Slothasor Kitty did on power reaper 2 days ago lasted for 278 seconds and Kitty took 281k damage during that time (which is much but squad had otherwise really low dps and that meant really much incoming damage as the fight progressed).

Kitty did avg. 21k dps total (including damage to adds) and thus (278 seconds 21k dps 0.05% dps as incoming heals) / 281k damage taken = 291,1 / 281 = 1.039.

And that 1.039 means that Kitty got more heals from her damage than the damage she took and as long as she didn't take enough burst damage to get downed (and Kitty never did), Kitty could've fully sustained herself entirely through Soul Eater's heals. And the same thing has happened at other bosses like Sabetha, Cairn, Mursaat Overseer and Samarog on Kitty's cleaner kills.

And if you have a squad of good reapers with Soul Eater as it is now, you could also essentially eliminate the need of a healer at some bosses (just need the boons).And actually, Kitty did a reaper-only Slothasor a couple weeks ago (she was being a healer reaper, the only actual pure healer in the squad, to boon and heal peoples if they ate shakes or tantrums) with a squadful of somewhat mediocre reapers with Soul Eater traited.So does this not need a nerf?

[fixit.7189]

@Irenio CalmonHuang.2048 said:Hey all - the Elementalist notes were missing an entry from the initial posting:

• Power Overwhelming: This trait has been reworked. It now grants 150 bonus power while the elementalist has at least 10 stacks of might. This power bonus is doubled while attuned to fire.

Sorry about that - it was a change made early, but with the note coming in a bit late. That should be all the notes.

wow...you need a ten stack or more of might to even use this trait? that's seems weird to me...most traits give you a buff/perk without any requirements. also, 10 might seems kinda harsh b/c in solo/ow stuff i almost never get that much, even during large events. w/e. grats fractal/raiders/wvw players though, it's a nice buff!

[Kylden Ar.3724]

@"Bridget Morrigan.1752" said:This thread is too long for me to find the answer in the time I have by searching, but my question is, if "Speed of Sand: Instead of granting superspeed when dodging, this trait instead causes Mirage Cloak to grant +66% movement speed," then are they readjusting the dodge back so that it still covers the same area as another profession's dodge? Since they adjusted it down previously to align with other professions, this sounds like you'll only move 66% of the distance.

Currently Speed of Sand gives Superspeed, which is a 100% increase to movement speed (So 200% movement). +66% speed instead will be 166% speed, or a 34% nerf.

As we'll still have to move ourselves during that, that is effectively making the dodge movement less area.

{edit}-- However, I did notice that Superspeed is forward only, not when strafing or moving backwards. However, other movement speed boosts apply to all movement, so this will actually make Mirage Cloak while strafing a little better.

We'll have to see how it plays out, as Mirage will be the only WvW option now that they have fully gutted the Chronomancer with a dependency on clones in the AoE/Cleave Abyss that is the current WvW meta.

[Never.6014]

I keep looking for a red post explaining that the Scrapper's reduced 300 vitality is meant to say increased by 30, or wasn't meant to be there at all. How unattractive does it look to see that an elite spec reduces your HP by 15% on average just for choosing it?But you gain barrier as you do damage now, so it's still a buff, right?I wish, but as someone else pointed out, you'd need to be sustaining about 20k DPS just to break even with the loss from damage-generated barrier, so that notion is out.So just focus more on damage and you'll make up for most of the loss, right?Wrong again, because Scrapper damage was reduced by 10% with the loss of Perfectly Weighted, and even more with the loss of the 5% damage bonus from Impact Savant and Kinetic Stabilizers.But Kinetic Stabilizers might still have +10% damage during stability, right?Hopefully, but even if it does, that's still a minimum 15% loss of damage, which means less survivability because our survivaility now comes from our damage. It's not like Scrappers were going around one-shot-ganking players and soloing Champions in seconds.GW2 seems to be getting a decent influx of refugees from WoW who left because they were sick of ignorant developers making nonsensical changes to the game. Doing the same thing here isn't the way to keep people invested. Please listen to the community.

[Ithilwen.1529]

A major nerf to Mesmer in removing the Chronomancer as one of the clones.

Portal for thieves? There is no longer a SINGLE THING that makes the Mesmer class unique... every skill Mesmer has is replicated by other classes and usually done better.

Making everyone into a melee fighter will not be productive for PvP or PvE.