[Reworking Underperforming Specs: Druid Edition]

Druid is a pure healer. It has little to no buff but some utilities (blind / stealth / daze). That is why it has fallen of meta in PvP and PvE. You know what? I am ok with being pure healer. (edit : Only if it means being able to challenge Swiss knifes support)Seed of Life : I like the blind. I agree it should be slightly faster and would like to have 1 more condi cleanse but since it is a field and you can already combo I think it is already decent.I am not as salty about the pet %reduction as I used to be and I also disagree with your suggestions on staff 3 and 5 as the current one are already nice.I think if we want to keep the pure healer route we need to have more options

Pure healer:We need to be able to keep astral force on death. Dying is extra punishing on druid. You lose a fight and are useless the next because you need to rebuild it. And maybe the next if you die and maybe the all match you are behind like this. NO OTHER SUPPORT HAS THIS PROBLEM since they are bound to CD (also even necro keeps lf on death). Even on a high cd like FB I can come back in and have at least the healing tome if I used everything before.More Healing, support or disruptive options: I like the staff cd reduction and think we can have more. It will allow druid to be focused on allies because people fear the old point holder druid (was pretty stupid and I always considered people doing it bad). For example the auto on CA can explode a second time and be bigger if it hits allies (exclude pet from allies here). I do not really like the disruptive idea but maybe add healing to allies when you interrupt or inflict blind ? (can be a bad idea so not sure)Little to no interactions with core ranger: Again something “special” to the ranger. Other specs do have options in the core specs that they use. Sadly I do not really have a lot of suggestions here. Take a look at “other suggestions ”.

Some upgrades:Glyph of the stars: Channel it 3-4s and the rest channels without you. I said it a lot but this skill is already really strong. I do not want to buff it too much or give no counter but this improvement will give it more space.

Other suggestions (can honestly be for other Specs):Add spells like thorn armor (give barrier + enemies in close combat bleed [ranger always has things unique instead of just retaliation :p]) (this also works with HoT theme).Add Auras depending on the inactive pet categories or each X attacks or each time you buff them. A lazy suggestion I know: it could also be a degen aura when druid is in CA as a GM trait

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The armor looks ok. I just wish the one on the left was medium but it probably is light.I do not see why some people consider swiss as new "content". You can be happy to be able to play more and maybe find teams that have your level (that is a good reason) but you will still be playing the same maps for the same rewards.

[Chaos Fractal - Legendary Brazen Gladiator]

@"Zhaid Zhem.6508" said:There is not only the boss, there are the golems too that can kick you out + the "pestles". And a dodge is already dps lost or a skills chain breaker No there is nothing wrong to bring stab. Stab works 100%. If you have a FB+DH+Ren with the dwarf legend it's ok; but as someone say, they don't always bring the rights skills, or watch their buffs.

Exactly! I mostly play druid in fractals, something I appreciate is when there is someone giving aegis, stability or just aoe stunbreak (I am sure everybody likes those :p). Those are defensive options some of the “optimal” build lack. This kind of boss can be a pain because you have to stay close to heal or dps but you do not want to get cc, the floor and stomps also makes people spread. I am not saying it is a hard boss but all the different effect can make the boss very chaotic (I am not even counting instabilities). Your group will most likely kill the boss faster if you can just face the mechanics instead of running away all the time.

[Unstoppable Union]

Suggestion : Add 1.5s of unblockable to Eternal bond on merge on top of the current effectOr you can even do unblockable 2-3attacks for ranger on merge and unblockable 2-3 attacks for pet when you leave bestmode since it looks like it is the new way to balance. Less burst but slightly more annoying. Do not know which one is better.

There are 2 benefit to this :1) The trait has some use : Currently it has no use. In PvP and PvE. Even the hand kitter build on Deimos does not need it. The cd is too long, the heal too small and I understand that you cannot make it better to not be frustrating.2) You will still have way less damage compared to the previous sic em build. If you decide to pick this, you will loose the "oppresive superiority" high bonus or the high defense / dmg burst provided by "leader of the pack".It is a cheap way to solve the problem but I have been thinking about it for a while (since people started complaining about the build).

[Let's Talk About Druid Competitively After Pet Nerf - And Buffs That CA Deserves]

@anduriell.6280 said:Druid needs a serious rework at this point, it has very unfun mechanics like celestial shadows and ancient seeds, but if you remove those directly it would be better just to delete it.Actually I really like those 2. They both have a place in either a disruptiv build or support.

It is just how is implemented, not the general design, For example think about the new elite.Lots of people do not like it but the new elite is really strong (look below for an improvement suggestion). You cannot use it in PvP but I am ok with that since I use it 90% of the time in PvE. If you try it in fractals or raids you will see how much it can nullify some attacks (while providing good healing). The range aoe save is also great + it rebuilds CA if you channel it before leaving CA form.

And the Systems team wanted to change the Empowerment Glyph? So just apply the new effect of the elite (chanelled ranged AoE for 7 seconds) and all the players inside of it get the damage buff. Increase the AoE and the damage buff a little and that skill will be amazing and not to cast and forget.Wow rez + boosted heal or empowerement + immune to condi. How about adding it to unity instead ? I think it would make sense.

What about Sublime Conversion to heal the first 10 players who cross it instead the regen?Sublime conversion already does a ton of things. Water field (staff, warhorn and ca have blast), projectile hate and regen. I think it was already strong and would leave it like that.

Celestial shadow... Why can't be a trait to stealth\superspeed the druid for 2s while in celestial avatar when hit with an ICD of 6s? The trait could be use to detarget the druid and provide the same support but at the same way provide counterplay.The detarget option instead of stealth (like mirage) sounds really nice, the cd is good because it will not be too strong in 1V1 and still be decent in a teamfight but I hate it on mesmer.

Druidic clarity can make the Druid so it cant take new conditions while in CA (so still has to use cleanses for the existing ones, but while in CA it wont be affected by new conditions).I would leave it as it is. ButSuggestion for glyph of stars : Channeling 4s the glyph and the last 3s are doing it by themselves would be enough to push it in a really strong state while beeing far from OP.

And bring back the evade and the CD Ancestral grace. It is extremely needed for the druid to be able to position itself.I tried the changes in PvE. The cd reduction works on the pet and I am now sure that quickdraw triggers first (before staff cd reduction on ally) which is awesome. I will need some time to get used to the loss of the evade but it does not look as bad as I thought.

Change Natural convergence to become a 1200 teleport for the druid which applies Slow, cripple, small immob and some burning on destination (no physical damage)The design of all of this is:

• druid goes into avatar, teleports to the Front line using Natural converge, stays in front line while burst healing and when it finish goes back to backline using Ancestral Grace.I love this design! But suddenly we loose our main source of stab so not sure :/.

And add condition damage to the staff instead power. Then sets like seraph may begin to make sense.I see this suggestion a lot in the ranger forum. I like the staff as it is and never liked the condi druid.

Other suggestions : glyph of unity : Increase the range (mandatory) + add a small barrier to you in regular form or add the effects of empowerment

[New Daggerstorm change coming question.]

@DoomNexus.5324 said:

@aymnad.9023 said:Quite sure that's what it means. 3s of daggerstorm invulnerability instead of 4.

Evade

.. Pls use the correct terms.. there's a huge difference between invul and evade and that's exactly the reason why dagger storm doesn't prevent point capture for example.

Hum true. Did edit it. Still comes pretty close if you ask me. (the skill does so much)

[Upcoming Engineer Balance Changes]

Hello,

Non engineer player here. I was not a fan of the side nodding scrapper but I liked the idea of him beeing support in PvP and PvE. While I did prefer the old design, on paper "damage as barrier" pushes scrapper as a bruiser and sounds to me like "if you have an advantage, you can snowball" (in PvP). I am not a fan of some mechanics like that in other games. While most of you seem opposed to the rework, can you tell me what you think of this ?(keep in mind I do not play engie, do not fully understand the big picture of all the talent rework yet, I just want a feeedback/opinion from you because only time will tell how good / bad this is :smile: )Edit : I also did take time to read the previous messages and the health drop. If you play Hots I think of the new style as an Artanis (the strongest counter might be blindness / cc).

[and the nerfs keep coming]

@len.7809 said:

@aymnad.9023 said:I never said this build did'nt need a nerf. In fact I was 100%ok with reducing the unblockable to 2s and reducing the sic em bonus from 5% to 10%. The problem is that this also affects sPvP where you will never get this range and most of the classes can already deal with slb. (not to mention obstacles). As you said this probably was meant for WvW in priority. Warhorn / LB was not really used in sPvP where it is better to have close combat option with a range option. (I consider warhorn long range for dmg build and close for a support build).

[Ranger Upcoming Balance Patch Notes]

@Cyric.7813 said:

@Stand The Wall.6987 said:no fresh reinforcement nerf/ fixgarbaggio changes

There is no problem with it..

Do'nt feed the troll. He just hates ranger. Read some ranger nerf thread to see it.

[and the nerfs keep coming]

@"Durzlla.6295" said:The only nerf that was out of place and unjustified was for poor old Druids staff 3.

The Soulbeast ones everyone knew were coming and won’t even come close to killing SB. Not to mention LB got super buffed for sure in any range threshold that isn’t the highest. And twice as vicious is now twice as long.

I have to disagree. LB got hit hard. Yes it is a damage buff that can be fun / annoying on the mid point but I am sure guardians are even more happy. This means they are a full counter to LB just like before we had unblockable. Not only do they provide lots of projectile mitigation but also they will have good reason to have builds with retaliation (like they used to). Also lots of classes already have projectile reflects (mesmer, engi) and I am sure those with "only" blocks are happy that we cannot deal with them anymore(warriors).

[New Daggerstorm change coming question.]

Quite sure that's what it means. 3s of daggerstorm evade instead of 4.

[Ranger Upcoming Balance Patch Notes]

I always try to look at all the patch before having an opinion. Since I only play ranger I had a harder time reading all the patch this time because I did not recognize most of the traits or meta things from the other classes ^^. I am not going to count bug fixes here.

The + (fair changes and decent additions)Point Blank Shot: I think it is a fair change.Barrage: It is good. This long cd skill was only usefull on static group of mobs and I like having 1 more option to control an area in sPvP (also needed with the - section).Sublime Conversion: Since the skill is supposed to be used in front of the team or to combo blast so I am not sure. But giving it one more effect is still good.Frost Trap: It is ok. Maybe a decent option for aoe damage in PvE. After all ranger has mostly been focused on single target damage. Just ok.Twice as Vicious: Really good. The dps will be smoother and less reliant on getting the cc then a burst.

The - (so much hate for ranger unblockable in this patch)Call of the Wild: Weak.Clarion Bond: Same.Second Skin: Ranger is already weak VS condition pressure.Unstoppable Union: I like the dispell but even more unblockable hate here.

Unsure (bad and good at the same time):Ancestral Grace: Really bad for our survivability in PvP,. It was also great in PvE for some extra dodge / save. I really want to put it in the - category. The new effect is : Do it for your allies, not for you. I guess it a noble intention and is ok in PvE because it will give more heal. I wonder what triggers first. Quickdraw then the reduction or the opposite? If this is quickdraw first it will be strong, if this is the other way around it does not change anything."Sic 'Em!": 5-10% reduction would have been fine. Maybe it is ok with the twice as vicious buff. But not with all the unblockable hate.Light on Your Feet: I am 100% sure it used to work like this in the past. Did they change it at some point or was it supposed to be a bug?

Conclusion :The thing that comes out for me is that most of the changes are aimed at sPvP. And this patch is just really bad for our damage and survivability. I am just going to say "Guardians and engineers". Just those 2 classes alone have so much projectile hate, and did not get affected by the patch. Anyone playing ranger knows how much LongBow is reliant on the unblockable when Line Of Sight (obstacles) already damages us. Loosing condition damage reduction is also going to affect a class who has not a lot of cleanse and is weak VS burst. It passively nerf the bear stance because you will take more damage when you use it (like my build).

I have been playing sword / axe for more than a year. I feel like I cannot handle condi / power pressure anymore and I have to pick greatsword like everyone :/.

[pls delete]

@LadyKitty.6120 said:

ranghalve all bonuses from traits while in beastmode, remove gs 2 bonus attack of opportunity completely, nerf sic em by half but reduce cdThis would lower dps soulbeast's damage so much that it'd return to non-existence it rose from half a year ago.

Not only that but it will also remove consistency. The dev are still giving the buffs / traits / effects from merging with pets patch after patch (last one beeing condition damage stat bonus) which is something that should have been here from the start. It took them so long and this is asking to remove one :anguished:.

[What I'll Like to see in Next Week Balance Patch]

I agree with your selection of classes (I would have put holo in general and not only the elixir rifle).

I am playing soulbeast sic em so here is my opinion. When you play slb in sPvP, you have a decent amount of time going in / out merged form (not full time like in PvE) that is why I do not think targeting pet will work or is good idea (I think the nerf to pet druid was a good idea but is currently too high). I would look at some talents(reduce unblockable to 2-2,5s, maybe 5% less on sic em). Some reduction but not too much because otherwise the spec will have a hard time, it still is a very vulnerable spec to pressure / burst (rev, holo, mirage) and there are lot of blocks / aoe denial around.

Some skills like the thief daggerstorm also have a special place in my heart (for the nerf Hammer) :tongue: .

[3 months without balance]

About the subject :I agree. Every week I am waiting for it. Trying to predict what is going to happen and hoping to be able to theory craft the future meta. I like that they add tons of events but after so long it starts to feel like a temporary solution.In sPvP the meta is not "terrible". I know internet is a place of exaggeration but every class has a place. I am happy with most of the balance. Some builds really needs to be toned down but there is room for a lot of specs / builds.

About the reactions :
Even if I agree, the overreacting in this thread is hilarious and sad. "I played X years this game and it never met my expectations!" "In my time it was way better!". Yeah, sure.

My take on this :They are preparing the new season and I expect them to launch a big patch with / prior it. I do not know how they are dealing with the restructuring but I hope we have more news in the future (soon if possible) about their plans for the balance in PvP, some of the teased projects (I am waiting for the option to save builds) and for the new format of PvE. (again I think news for PvE would mean balance is close)

[Dragon fest seems pointless]

This one is low on my list too. I like the work on Hoelbrak and am really a fan of seeing some old opponents coming back but do not like feeling like I am just fighting waves of enemies. I know a lot of people do enjoy it (like in season 1 Scarlet mass invasion or the Halloween labyrinth) but it feels like it is mostly for farm. I quickly lose my mind during those events. My favorite is wintersday because of the wide range of activity.

[How do i Druid?]

About all your questions :

• Druid VS soulbeast solo damage : In open world you will have a better dps on soulbeast. If you are not scared of taking time to kill a mob then yes druid can take a lot of damage without any problem (but a tanky boonbeast will still get a kill faster).
• Gear : I assume you want to heal. I like minstrel in fractals but raids recommend Harrier because minstrel has too much toughness (and you do not want to have more than the tank). In WvW I have no idea what the best gear would be if you want to heal. Ascended is recommended.
• Difficulty : I would say druid is easy to understand. In Pve, even after the heal was cut down to be put in a trait (lingering light) you still heal enough with ascended gear to take grace of the land (also people want the druid for the might). In pvp you need to have an idea of your dispells cooldowns because you will most likely get focused.
• Damage in group : Your dps will be low but that is not your goal as a druid. If you want to have some dps there is a condi variant of the druid support for raids. There is also a trap ranger build for WvW because it gives stealth and some tankyness but it has more a solo purpose rather than a group one (you do not want to run into multiple enemies to land your traps).