fatnorn.3065

~ Week 1 of bumping this thread until Arenanet notices it ~ To prevent this reply from being pointless, I shall fill it with a summary of the OP's suggestions that could bring Heal Specter in line with other healers. Increase the baseline of Protection from Ally Shadow Sap to 5 seconds. 20%-25% reduced effectiveness for (Scepter) non-targeted allies. 50% is too punishing. No reduced effectiveness at all would be even better because no other healers in the game have to go through this penalty. Increase the radius of ally-targeted boon application via Scepter abilities to 480 units because we are not in control of our tethered allies and their movements. Increase the radius of Alacrity and boon application from Shadestep to 480 units around the tethered ally. Same reason as above. Benefits of Shadestep trait to be applied around the Specter and the tethered ally (it does not stack). The application around the Specter to be smaller than the tethered ally is fine too (240 radius by default). And if I could add a suggestion of my own: Give the Specter some percentages of incoming damage reduction while in shroud in PvE only. That way, it will be easier to maintain healing and Alacrity uptime in high intensity situations. Preferably in Shadestep trait, so it will only benefit Heal/AlacDPS Specters.

Leaving a reply for the sake of bumping this thread up. I love every suggestions here, especially the radius increase and lesser penalty on the ally targeted scepter skill benefits. Please make these changes happen, Arenanet. I was aggravated when the healing radius for mantra mesmers were increased in the recent update but not the specter’s healing radius.

#No

Was unaware too until I decided to experiment running Leeching Venoms on my PvE Heal Specter build. The life steal properties were hardly in the log and healing was a pain in high intensity encounters. I checked wiki to understand the trait in detail and my suspicions were correct. It was hardly healing and a bug was the reason. https://wiki.guildwars2.com/wiki/Rot_Wallow_Venom But either way, I wouldn’t give up Shadow Savior for Leeching Venoms because: 1. The allied healing numbers from Shadow Savior is significantly stronger than Traversing Dusk (Specter trait). 2. The life steal quality from Leeching Venoms are actually based on the allied healing power, NOT the healer. Which is silly because it beats the whole purpose of being a healer when the allied players would always be DPS with zero healing power. Long story short, I would really insist Arenanet to make RWV siphon health by default so we wouldn’t have to give up Shadow Savior.

It's bugged right now, only the final stack of RWV on an ally would siphon health, making it absolutely pointless to run that trait.

Bump

Exactly! Rot Wallow Venom should’ve been Life Steal this whole time. That way, Power DPS and Condi DPS will have equal benefits + a little extra health gaining benefits never hurts!

So it is. But it shouldn't be a problem if Rot Wallow Venom is modified to siphon health because yes, the life steal properties would definitely coincide if the specter chooses Leeching Venoms. Nevertheless, Shadow Savior (Shadow Arts) and Traversing Dusk (Specter) are already two coinciding traits that can be used at the same time. So let's look at it this way. If my Rot Wallow Venom suggestion happens, 1. Heal Specters can run Shadow Savior and Traversing Dusk for more burst heals. Or 2. Heal Specters can run Leeching Venoms and Traversing Dusk for a much more potent passive health regeneration, thanks to the health siphoning properties from RWV coinciding. At the end, they will have options to better suit whatever encounters they're in. _______________________ PS: I should also note that there is currently a bug where only the final stack of Rot Wallow Venom would siphon health with the Leeching Venoms trait. So, I hope Arenanet would also fix that while they're at it should they consider my suggestion one day.

(TL;DR below, and please pardon my English if there are errors) After the 27th June 2023 update, meta build sites like Snowcrows and Metabattle suggests that Condition DPS Specter builds use the 'Second Opinion' major adept trait instead of 'Consume Shadows'. However, the 'Consume Shadows' trait stayed relevant for the Heal Specter builds. So here's a small suggestion to make 'Rot Wallow Venom' more in-line with the Heal Specter builds considering that Heal Specters would provide more Rot Wallow Venom to allies than DPS Specters. Ultimately, my suggestion may also help improve the Specter's healing output with the scepter weapon being used. As of now, Rot Wallow Venom applied on allies will make them inflict torment on struck foes, and the DPS output will go to the Specter, not the allies (similar to other venom utilities). But today, DPS Specters hardly gives Rot Wallow Venom to allies. At least, not as frequent as the Heal Specters. Therefore, if I may suggest: Rot Wallow Venom applied on allies with make them siphon health from struck foes. With the 'Dark Sentry' trait (Apply Rot Wallow Venom to allies you grant barrier to. Outgoing healing to allies is increased. Rot Wallow Venom effect cannot apply to yourself.) being part of the Specter's trait line, I personally think it would also fit thematically considering the fact that not only is the 'Dark Sentry' trait being the reason Specters provide Rot Wallow Venom, it is also the same trait that improves your outgoing healing. Hence, being beneficial to Heal Specters. This will also be beneficial to the Specter's scepter skills as not only all of its skills would provide allies barrier, scepter is now also heavily used for boon application, making other weapon options like a main hand sword to be not as beneficial. So yes, that is my suggestion and I hope the developers of the game would take this idea into consideration. (TL;DR = Make Rot Wallow Venom siphon health to allies instead of inflicting torment on struck foes because Heal Specters gives barrier to allies more than DPS Specters)

Image taken at the scene of the crime (In all seriousness, I think this is a visual bug. I don't remember those cages looking like that)

Then it will only benefit you in Wing 3. Makes sense nonetheless, you wanna be good at Wing 3, you practice in Wing 3. But I am not talking about Wing 3 in particular. I'm talking about the entire spectrum of the pushing mechanics. Something that is universally done in 2 or more raid wings and future wings to come. Hence, why being able to practice this in the aerodrome would be handy. However i still love your suggestion there. If anyone wants to practice specifically KC pushing (not tormented dead, etc) they can definitely have a Xera instance available for that.

Nope, see you missed my point and speculated your own. I did not, and never did, suggested the training to be as realistic as possible. Just one golem that can be pushed/cc and no more, no less. If anyone else want to experience buggy floor, annoying npcs, they can attempt the actual encounter itself. However, i do agree with your suggestion on practicing pushing skills in OW. Will definitely give that a try.

Why are you overcomplicating my statement? I never even suggested a chrono tower practice, sabetha cannon practice, mushroom eating practice. In short, suggesting a system where you can practice every raid mechanic outside of the boss encounter came from YOU. Not me. I see no harm to the game with this feature being added. I'm only suggesting (not even a request) for this one special golem. You will still feel the real experience when you push the core with the phantasms actually chasing you and pushing TD with the death walls coming towards the squad.

Hey guys, So we not only have a DPS Golem to practice our rotations, we also have special golems for thieves to practice their stolen skills (perfect for boonthieves) as well as pulsing area damage feature for healers to practice their healing capabilities (some even use this feature to practice their survival skills for tanking, handkiting, etc). I would like to suggest another golem variety which is a small golem we can use to practice our pushing skills with.Just a small golem, ho-ho-tron sized golem will do.And I suggest making this golem immune to damage but can be moved simply by attacking it (similar to Keep Construct’s core) because it should be meant for us to practice our pushing/hard CC skills with. Even though we can spawn regular golems without a defiance bar, it is still immune to every forms of hard CC. This could be a perfect feature for new players to tackle new roles in raiding, particularly pushing Keep Construct’s Core and Soulless Horror’s Tormented Dead. I personally do not think it is ideal to practice these roles in the actual fight, even in training runs because it will be bothersome to 9 other players who wanted a smooth completion and I can’t help but to feel selfish if I mess up and cause 9 other players to waste their time. Pushing may look easy, but the reality is that it can be pretty tricky to master as you need to have the right positioning to push your target to where you want it to go. I believe with this new golem feature, we can practice our positioning, CC skills and trial and errors in pushing so we can improve ourselves for the real fight. PS: Yes, I am aware that the golems in the fractal lobby are prone to hard CC. It may only be good for practicing Tormented Dead pushing, but the arena is too small and limited compared to the aerodrome training area . It’s still nonetheless useful to have a feature where just by attacking it will push it forward so it can be universally beneficial to practice for all forms of pushing mechanics, let it be for existing raid wings and even for future raid wings.

My partner and I host daily T4 runs everyday as a Chrono/Druid duo so we will always LFG for DPS to complete the party. Believe it or not, 90% of times our session ran fast and smoothly.But recently, we noticed there's always that one disrespectful person everyday, coming into OUR PARTY to join and ask for Firebrand.. Comparing us with Firebrand.. Telling us how this won't end well without a Firebrand even before we started... And worst of all, a Healbrand himself coming into our 'DPS Only' PUG and had the nerve... the audacity...to come at our faces like he's so entitled and asked my partner and I to switch to DPS... Who the f are you? Who the hell do you think you are? Go to a different party if you wanna healbrand so badly or even better, MAKE YOUR OWN PARTY. I swear to whatever human gods Tyria has left that this is something that we are starting to face everyday. If its just 1 person out of random, fine we get it, we let this slide.But this is starting to become an Epidemic. And i'm not blaming any Condi Necros for that one. We would be respectful if we were to join other people's PUG and as DPS players if they requested for it. Because we can read. But can YOU do the same?? So do us a favor. If you don't like something in your PUG:Keep it to yourself, do what the party owner requested or even better, LEAVE and MAKE YOUR OWN PARTY.And don't go telling us that Firebrand is everything because I swear to god, yeah, i'm pointing my finger at y'all for this one, i swear to god. If y'all keep saying Firebrand is everything, I dare to chop my fingers off to bet that one day Arenanet will nerf the hell out of Firebrand the way they did to Chrono.Learn from history.

Many thanks for your contribution to this discussion, @LadyKitty.6120 . I humbly agree with your feedbacks. If i may, I would like to point out few minor things. In fractals, we Chronomancers are no longer preferred as people preferred the simplicity of alacrity distribution from renegades. But the drawback is the fact that renegades couldnt provide quickness the way Chronomancers can. Hence, the healer firebrand steps in to fill in the spot. And thus, healers like druid, tempests and scourges are also no longer preferred as they couldn't provide quickness. With Chronomancers being more efficient in giving both quickness and alacrity, people too, could benefit from Druids and their spirit buffs, Scourges and their barriers, and Tempests with their lethal blow mitigations from Rebound. I agree on this kitty, thank you for giving me the realization to this. As mentioned on my previous reply, based on other people's feedbacks on my discussion from both this forum and other social media platform, I have decided to suggest something new which goes as follows; The Chronomancer wells would heal players by default and no longer by traitline. But the 'All's Well That Ends Well' remains changed based on my suggestion. The new 'All's Well That Ends Well' trait would change how the wells work according to my post suggestion with its healing benefits removed. That way, we players have freedom on which mechanics to pick for a more interactive gameplay. Want the wells to work like before, ranged and healing? Pick a different trait. A solid point really. Perhaps the boons will not pulse, but with the suggested 'All's Well That Ends Well' mechanic selected, it could work the same way support Scourges give barriers when they pick 'Harbinger Shroud'. It takes time before the wells distribute the boons to allies but in a larger radius around the Chronomancer. Without the suggested 'All's Well That Ends Well' trait being selected, everything remains unchanged and the wells would be ranged and heal allies by default. Sincerest apologies dear Kitty if my thread discussion made you feel that way. Being a dedicated Chronomancer in this game ever since the release of Heart of Thorns, I would never have intended to destroy the profession the way you assumed I would. I would want nothing more but to merely make my profession gameplay more enjoyable for other players. My initial plan of posting this discussion is to help cater what the community desired for smooth runs. People find renegades to give better alacrity than chronos. but they dont give quickness so thats when healer firebrand steps in, due to that, healers like druid arent preferred anymore. I just wanna make things fair for other dedicated healers out there to do their thing without persecution from elitists. Nonetheless, I love your inputs, do share any more suggestions or points you have in mind for this discussion if there is any before this thread is closed. I look forward to your replies.

Overall, I humbly thank you for your imput. The feedbacks and opinions are very beneficial for this public discussion. Thanks again for your feedback.

This will improve the viability of the Chronomancer as a boon support class in endgame PvE and will give a green light to other healers besides Firebrand. I hope with this suggestion, it will really create a balanced gameplay by allowing other support professions to strive in the endgame and not just the Firebrigade duo.I personally think the Wells (formerly Gyro) rework to be a wonderful new mechanic for Scrappers. I would like to suggest the same mechanic to be implemented on Chronomancer wells. (and Necromancer wells too while you're at it, just to be fair). Rather than placing it on the ground, it would be a wonderful mechanic if the Wells actually follows the Chronomancer (similar mechanic on Scrappers). That way, Chronos can distribute boons in a more user-friendly manner, particularly Alacrity, the same way Renegades do with 'Orders From Above'. This rework might considered to be a nerf to 'Gravity Well', but no harm done as most DPS and Boonshare Chronos are often in melee range anyway. Please fix 'All's Well That Ends Well' from the Chronomancer traitline. Instead of making the wells heal allies when it ends, please enlarge the radius of the wells. It is absolutely redundant for the wells to heal allies when we would already have a healer in the party. The same way 'Righteous Rebel' from the Renegade traitline enlarges the 'Orders From Above' utility from 240 to 360. Please make 'All's Well That Ends Well' trait to do the same; enlarges the Chrono wells from 240 to 360. Instead of the Chrono wells distributing boons when it ends, please rework the wells to distribute the boons as it pulses. That way, party members wouldn't have to waste time standing on our wells waiting for it to end. That's all my suggestions. I am hoping that with these rework suggestions, other support roles will become more viable for players to pick and rely on and not just the Firebrigade duo. Other healers like Druid, Tempest, Scourge, etc will surely benefit from this rework as it will instantly make them more favored by most pick-up groups as long as it is paired with a Chronomancer.