Firebeard.1746

If I'm not mistaken years ago A-net themselves said that E-Spec would offer different playstyle(not a straight-up upgrade to core) without making it mandatory but currently it's meta e-spec or shoo away. There's no need to "built similar to an elite spec", because they're just nothing more than a traitlines and skills like everything else. I don't understand your point of view at all, it seems like you consider E-spec like something totally different, but they're nothing more than a trait lines and access to new skills, do not forget that. Yes, the entire core class is available to every elite spec. That is the fundamental difference to elite specs which can, as a result of being exclusive to each other, get balanced way easier. Now in order for both core AND elite spec to be equal in power, the elite spec needs to be essentially a full sidegrade to the core class while ALSO offering an additional traitline and new skills. I doubt that is even remotely possible to be achieved and you would too doubt this to be possible if you gave it some deeper thought. It's a very simple mathematical equation. Core builds are X, elite specs are Y. X is part of Y thus Y is X+N, but you want X and Y to be equal. This would be only doable with severe drawbacks in elite specs (as to compensate for having access to the full core class) which in turn means they would need severe penalties. Not only is this not fun, it would be very hard to balance. As I had mentioned earlier. The balancing issue gets even worse than this when you think about it even more. Let's use elementalist for example. For core elementalist to do similar DPS to weaver in raids, the package that weaver gives needs to compete with the worst of the 3 trait lines that core DPS eles use. A typical core DPS ele would use fire/air/arcane, while a DPS weaver uses fire/air/weaver. For these builds to have similar DPS weaver would only be allowed to be as good as arcane for DPS builds, which means that fire and air would have to be clearly more powerful trait lines than weaver in terms of DPS. This is the problem that arises from elite specs being able to take everything you could want from core. You can always use an elite spec to replace the least desirable trait line within your build, so of course the build with the elite spec will end up stronger even if they made sure that the elite spec itself is not the strongest trait line of the profession. Basically, balancing them with core is impossible, especially when you consider that DPS is not the only thing that you need to balance for. Anet has already made certain skills behave different based on spec. All they have to do is change core attunements to behave differently and give additional bonuses. They have made such changes and yet they haven't truly succeeded in making core equal to elites with this method. This is because of the combination of getting extra utility and weapon options, in addition to what I said about the elite needing to be equal with the least important core trait line in a given build dedicated to a role. This is a lot of issues that you have to deal with. It would probably be way easier if they introduced a new batch of elite specs in LW5, with LW5 being accessible to players of the core game. This way core players will not be necessarily outclassed by PoF and HoT elites. If you eventually have enough elite specs the viability of core builds becomes irrelevant anyway, since the amount of elite specs gives you the variety that you want.But the change in mentality is pretty recent. So i don't think they've actually tried to bring core in line with elites in this way. You just have to add a lot of utility to core attunements to make up for it. What I was to was referring to were chrono shatters last patch.

If I'm not mistaken years ago A-net themselves said that E-Spec would offer different playstyle(not a straight-up upgrade to core) without making it mandatory but currently it's meta e-spec or shoo away. There's no need to "built similar to an elite spec", because they're just nothing more than a traitlines and skills like everything else. I don't understand your point of view at all, it seems like you consider E-spec like something totally different, but they're nothing more than a trait lines and access to new skills, do not forget that. Yes, the entire core class is available to every elite spec. That is the fundamental difference to elite specs which can, as a result of being exclusive to each other, get balanced way easier. Now in order for both core AND elite spec to be equal in power, the elite spec needs to be essentially a full sidegrade to the core class while ALSO offering an additional traitline and new skills. I doubt that is even remotely possible to be achieved and you would too doubt this to be possible if you gave it some deeper thought. It's a very simple mathematical equation. Core builds are X, elite specs are Y. X is part of Y thus Y is X+N, but you want X and Y to be equal. This would be only doable with severe drawbacks in elite specs (as to compensate for having access to the full core class) which in turn means they would need severe penalties. Not only is this not fun, it would be very hard to balance. As I had mentioned earlier. The balancing issue gets even worse than this when you think about it even more. Let's use elementalist for example. For core elementalist to do similar DPS to weaver in raids, the package that weaver gives needs to compete with the worst of the 3 trait lines that core DPS eles use. A typical core DPS ele would use fire/air/arcane, while a DPS weaver uses fire/air/weaver. For these builds to have similar DPS weaver would only be allowed to be as good as arcane for DPS builds, which means that fire and air would have to be clearly more powerful trait lines than weaver in terms of DPS. This is the problem that arises from elite specs being able to take everything you could want from core. You can always use an elite spec to replace the least desirable trait line within your build, so of course the build with the elite spec will end up stronger even if they made sure that the elite spec itself is not the strongest trait line of the profession. Basically, balancing them with core is impossible, especially when you consider that DPS is not the only thing that you need to balance for. Anet has already made certain skills behave different based on spec. All they have to do is change core attunements to behave differently and give additional bonuses. Leave traits out of the equation.

I don't touch PvP at all, but i have raided (and ALL of them were training raids- actually only most of them, though i've never been in those PUGs that ask for kp :p).... and honestly, at least the people i run with, we rarely had trouble making dps marks on encounters. It wasn't easy, and it's not like we did them in the quickest possible time - but we rarely reached the enraged timer, even if that was only by 10 seconds or so that we made it. And all this after ele and DE were taken back to reasonable benchmarks though i have opinions about ele, not that i want to see it reaching 42k or whatever ever again, this aint the thread for it so that's with all the dps' having their SC benchmark around 30-35k. If it was your first time raiding i assume it was in a training group of similarly new peeps. regaurdless of how much a person knows their rotation it would have been hard to pull big numbers simply because new peeps will always find it hard to keep up a rotation, and sometimes damage at all, in unfamiliar mechanics. With time and experience encounters get easier - you learn mechanics, their tells, ways to deal with mechanics easier, and get downed a lot less as you learn efficient ways to do things (e.g. i don't dodge backwards in cairn unless i have to because it puts you in knockback range, shards range, and more likely to get agony....dodging backwards was my primary cause of being downed when i only had a few cairn attempts under my belt) and what to prioritise avoiding and just taking damage from, safer areas to move to, how safe & for how long you can perform rotation uninterrupted etc etc.Tl;dr as you do an encounter more and get more familiar with it, that alone makes it easier to perform more and more dps each time you do it. Training groups almost always need to put everything into meeting the enrage timer, while experienced groups shouldn't really have to think about them at all. You're right a 10 second cushion for experienced players is plenty to work with in terms of nerfing. And while we're at it, let's make the game harder for new people, right? I could tell based on how bad our last raid boss went that there isn't a lot of room for error in these raids and what you're saying only convinced me further that raids are balanced around the top output of our current specializations and i doubt the balance team is involved in raids and having experienced stat squishes in other games i have little confidence that anet will rebalance things appropriately.

This game is still far more casual than WoW. Are you grinding a completely new set of gear every 6 months? Is your character far below max level cap because you took a 3 year break? Everything you mention is a nice to have. Heck you can even get legendaries without raiding if you can stand a pvp grind with terrible matchmaking. And you keep those legendaries forever even of a new expansion comes out. The ones i earned in legion are useless now. In contrast, I left GW2for 2 to 3 years and i can still play my characters and jump straight into end game activities. Also this game offers far more permanent, yet slow progression. It's casual in just the same ways that wow is. And by the same token it's just as demanding as wow though. You now have to put a lot of time and effort in in order to get certain things you want. The major difference between wow(especially wow of old) and gw2 is that it's possible now, assuming one has the means, to shorten the way by legitimately(as in not going to third party gold selling sites) throwing money at the problem via gem purchases, conversions to gold, and then purchasing certain necessary items on the Black Lion Exchange. Much of this grinding depends on what part of the game you're invested in. GW2 is by no means monolithic- consisting of several game modes now. If you wish to be your best(read be included) in either high tier fractals, raiding, or in competitive modes(mostly WvW) then you end up chasing metas and those are dictated by the ever changing balancing and mechanics introductions made by ANet's development teams. New metas require new gearing even if it's only on the level of exotics(much of it demanding ascended and infused equipment) and this is a song and dance that's repeated as often as those metas change. Many new metas require armour and weapon stat combinations found only via grinding certain maps in order to craft them. And while it could be argued that yes, the community enforces the metas, when it comes to metas in general ANet still lays the egg first, so to speak. They know the community's temperament in regard to metas and still continue to develop the majority of their content with metas in mind(even if it's only the means to acquire the gear to meet them). What's more they've also backpedaled on their stances regarding the trinity and third party programmes which is no small thing because most raiding requires it and many raiders demand it and they(ANet) for whatever reason want a piece of that demographic. It's true that if all you ever want to do is face roll on open maps and collect your bags from meta events you shouldn't have to change much. If, however, you want something more beyond that limited vision of GW2 then your hand is indeed forced. So could we please not perpetuate this myth that there is no grinding required in GW2? At best it's only a half truth. Well ascended gear is account wide. Legendary gear allows stat swapping. At some point you would have enough different sets and characters at lvl 80 or legendary gear on your main where something you have should work when the meta changes. Wow has 4 seasons per expack. Is that how many stat combos are introduced and each of them meta every 2 years? I don't think so. Support chrono has been meta for over a year now. Also legendaries provide permanent progression. There is no notion of permanent gear progression like that in WoW. Also you imply pw2 aspects via gold purchases. You know that people sell raid clears in WoW too right? I could just as easily purchase gold and get heroic raid tier gear without working for it at all in WoW. "Progression" implies advancement, moving forward or just...in a direction. "Permanent gear progression" or "permanent progression" isn't a thing...horizontal progression sure, rather than moving up it moves to the side. Stays on the same level but is more about options rather than power. Some people don't like vertical progression, in fact I'd argue that the majority of GW2s playerbase is vehemently against vertical progression, despite each expac adding more to power creep. Also I'd say GW2s grind is not really that bad. Mostly because you're not necessarily....gaining anything out of it other than mostly just cosmetic "gain" or personal achievement. You don't have to grind anything, it essentially amounts to nothing because there isn't much to "gain" from the grind. Other games with grind, like BDO, actually have something tangible you earn that contributes overall to your character and there is meaning to spending that time doing it. Getting exp for levels, which unlocks more and stronger versions of your skills as well as money for gear which makes those skills deal more damage and allow you to survive longer. GW2 its really just for gold that you'd then use to either craft a legendary, which is really just for cosmetic and convenience purposes, or to buy cosmetics on the TP like Infusions or weapon/armor skins. Thats it. The reason i call legendaries progression is because no matter what new affixes are in the game, you'll immediately have access to them. The person responding to my OP implied the new affixes and/or changed meta is the progression and they're still grinding for that reason. On that note, Wow's progression or even BDO's is an illusion. Seasons in WoW or new weapons to enhance in BDO open a new cap and anyone chasing that cap will be more powerful than anyone who isn't. So really it's like everything you've done becomes invalidated over night and you have to start over again to compete. WoW players are finally waking up to this. It's one of the issues players are having with BFA. How many new weapons/armor do you think they release in BDO? In the years its been out...its been one and that happened very recently, its also only something you even touch if you've hit PEN on everything else because the investment for it is substantial. Also I dislike that outlook on it: "Everything you've done becomes invalidated." Feels kind of defeatist to me, I prefer "More reasons to continue playing the game." The draw I feel to BDO is because there is constantly something I know I can work towards and there is meaning behind it, getting all my Boss gear (armor and weapons) to PEN is a time consuming effort that can require a lot of planning, hours spent grinding and lifeskilling for money, failstacking for higher enhancement chance and luck. WoW/FFXIV I feel similarly. There is a goal I see in the distance, I know what I need to do to get there and I go for it and all that effort, even if some new update or expansion "invalidates" what I did previously just means I get to have that journey all over again to get the satisfaction yet again of achieving that goal. To have the chance to show that the effort and time I put in actually amounted to something; it is not a bad feeling. I mean it is a video game but...who is anyone to tell others how to have fun? So the idea of "that progression is an illusion because it gets invalidated" naw, that progression isn't an illusion...it happened and I get to do more of it. Getting the rare drop, getting the piece of gear I need. In BDO succeeding on upgrading my weapons and armor to TET or PEN. Trust me, I used to think exactly the same way that you do right now. Not so much anymore. All about perspective.Interesting because i used to think the way you do now. I guess i've neen playing WoW too long. But seriously people only see your ilvl when you apply to groups. The most anything means in WoW is a mog. And don't discount the fact BDO is recently adding more weapons. They make all their money on boosts it'll happen again and you'll understand my PoV.

After raiding for the first time last night i can only seriously believe anyone who feels this way is talking about pvp. It felt like we needed every inch that everyone could give. See above response. Buffing core does not mean buffing elite. There are ways around it. And pvp balance should be handled separately from pve balance.

Doesn't have to. They can make abilities behave different based on whether or not an elite is equipped. Like Chrono vs. Mesmer shatter. Add functionality to base abilities that already exist and remove it if an elite is equipped.

This game is still far more casual than WoW. Are you grinding a completely new set of gear every 6 months? Is your character far below max level cap because you took a 3 year break? Everything you mention is a nice to have. Heck you can even get legendaries without raiding if you can stand a pvp grind with terrible matchmaking. And you keep those legendaries forever even of a new expansion comes out. The ones i earned in legion are useless now. In contrast, I left GW2for 2 to 3 years and i can still play my characters and jump straight into end game activities. Also this game offers far more permanent, yet slow progression. It's casual in just the same ways that wow is. And by the same token it's just as demanding as wow though. You now have to put a lot of time and effort in in order to get certain things you want. The major difference between wow(especially wow of old) and gw2 is that it's possible now, assuming one has the means, to shorten the way by legitimately(as in not going to third party gold selling sites) throwing money at the problem via gem purchases, conversions to gold, and then purchasing certain necessary items on the Black Lion Exchange. Much of this grinding depends on what part of the game you're invested in. GW2 is by no means monolithic- consisting of several game modes now. If you wish to be your best(read be included) in either high tier fractals, raiding, or in competitive modes(mostly WvW) then you end up chasing metas and those are dictated by the ever changing balancing and mechanics introductions made by ANet's development teams. New metas require new gearing even if it's only on the level of exotics(much of it demanding ascended and infused equipment) and this is a song and dance that's repeated as often as those metas change. Many new metas require armour and weapon stat combinations found only via grinding certain maps in order to craft them. And while it could be argued that yes, the community enforces the metas, when it comes to metas in general ANet still lays the egg first, so to speak. They know the community's temperament in regard to metas and still continue to develop the majority of their content with metas in mind(even if it's only the means to acquire the gear to meet them). What's more they've also backpedaled on their stances regarding the trinity and third party programmes which is no small thing because most raiding requires it and many raiders demand it and they(ANet) for whatever reason want a piece of that demographic. It's true that if all you ever want to do is face roll on open maps and collect your bags from meta events you shouldn't have to change much. If, however, you want something more beyond that limited vision of GW2 then your hand is indeed forced. So could we please not perpetuate this myth that there is no grinding required in GW2? At best it's only a half truth. Well ascended gear is account wide. Legendary gear allows stat swapping. At some point you would have enough different sets and characters at lvl 80 or legendary gear on your main where something you have should work when the meta changes. Wow has 4 seasons per expack. Is that how many stat combos are introduced and each of them meta every 2 years? I don't think so. Support chrono has been meta for over a year now. Also legendaries provide permanent progression. There is no notion of permanent gear progression like that in WoW. Also you imply pw2 aspects via gold purchases. You know that people sell raid clears in WoW too right? I could just as easily purchase gold and get heroic raid tier gear without working for it at all in WoW. "Progression" implies advancement, moving forward or just...in a direction. "Permanent gear progression" or "permanent progression" isn't a thing...horizontal progression sure, rather than moving up it moves to the side. Stays on the same level but is more about options rather than power. Some people don't like vertical progression, in fact I'd argue that the majority of GW2s playerbase is vehemently against vertical progression, despite each expac adding more to power creep. Also I'd say GW2s grind is not really that bad. Mostly because you're not necessarily....gaining anything out of it other than mostly just cosmetic "gain" or personal achievement. You don't have to grind anything, it essentially amounts to nothing because there isn't much to "gain" from the grind. Other games with grind, like BDO, actually have something tangible you earn that contributes overall to your character and there is meaning to spending that time doing it. Getting exp for levels, which unlocks more and stronger versions of your skills as well as money for gear which makes those skills deal more damage and allow you to survive longer. GW2 its really just for gold that you'd then use to either craft a legendary, which is really just for cosmetic and convenience purposes, or to buy cosmetics on the TP like Infusions or weapon/armor skins. Thats it.The reason i call legendaries progression is because no matter what new affixes are in the game, you'll immediately have access to them. The person responding to my OP implied the new affixes and/or changed meta is the progression and they're still grinding for that reason. On that note, Wow's progression or even BDO's is an illusion. Seasons in WoW or new weapons to enhance in BDO open a new cap and anyone chasing that cap will be more powerful than anyone who isn't. So really it's like everything you've done becomes invalidated over night and you have to start over again to compete. WoW players are finally waking up to this. It's one of the issues players are having with BFA. I also want to take a moment to point out that Azerite, as it was designed, didn't feel as powerful as artifact weapons, and that hard loss in power helped players wake up to the treadmill reality. Nerfing elite specializations that require way more hero points to unlock may feel the same way. That nothing you do in game really matters.

This game is still far more casual than WoW. Are you grinding a completely new set of gear every 6 months? Is your character far below max level cap because you took a 3 year break? Everything you mention is a nice to have. Heck you can even get legendaries without raiding if you can stand a pvp grind with terrible matchmaking. And you keep those legendaries forever even of a new expansion comes out. The ones i earned in legion are useless now. In contrast, I left GW2for 2 to 3 years and i can still play my characters and jump straight into end game activities. Also this game offers far more permanent, yet slow progression. It's casual in just the same ways that wow is. And by the same token it's just as demanding as wow though. You now have to put a lot of time and effort in in order to get certain things you want. The major difference between wow(especially wow of old) and gw2 is that it's possible now, assuming one has the means, to shorten the way by legitimately(as in not going to third party gold selling sites) throwing money at the problem via gem purchases, conversions to gold, and then purchasing certain necessary items on the Black Lion Exchange. Much of this grinding depends on what part of the game you're invested in. GW2 is by no means monolithic- consisting of several game modes now. If you wish to be your best(read be included) in either high tier fractals, raiding, or in competitive modes(mostly WvW) then you end up chasing metas and those are dictated by the ever changing balancing and mechanics introductions made by ANet's development teams. New metas require new gearing even if it's only on the level of exotics(much of it demanding ascended and infused equipment) and this is a song and dance that's repeated as often as those metas change. Many new metas require armour and weapon stat combinations found only via grinding certain maps in order to craft them. And while it could be argued that yes, the community enforces the metas, when it comes to metas in general ANet still lays the egg first, so to speak. They know the community's temperament in regard to metas and still continue to develop the majority of their content with metas in mind(even if it's only the means to acquire the gear to meet them). What's more they've also backpedaled on their stances regarding the trinity and third party programmes which is no small thing because most raiding requires it and many raiders demand it and they(ANet) for whatever reason want a piece of that demographic. It's true that if all you ever want to do is face roll on open maps and collect your bags from meta events you shouldn't have to change much. If, however, you want something more beyond that limited vision of GW2 then your hand is indeed forced. So could we please not perpetuate this myth that there is no grinding required in GW2? At best it's only a half truth. Well ascended gear is account wide. Legendary gear allows stat swapping. At some point you would have enough different sets and characters at lvl 80 or legendary gear on your main where something you have should work when the meta changes. Wow has 4 seasons per expack. Is that how many stat combos are introduced and each of them meta every 2 years? I don't think so. Support chrono has been meta for over a year now. Also legendaries provide permanent progression. There is no notion of permanent gear progression like that in WoW. Also you imply pw2 aspects via gold purchases. You know that people sell raid clears in WoW too right? I could just as easily purchase gold and get heroic raid tier gear without working for it at all in WoW.

I will say this: initially you may like the vertical progression from WoW initially if you're new to it. You may, just like me, not realize you miss this game, but after coming back i'm realizing that this is a much better MMO. Wow actually plays a lot like a single player game outside of structured group activities. there's toxicity in both games in structured groups, but it's worse in WoW because of how asocial it is outside of groups and players aren't really forced to think of each other as assets in the open world. It bleeds into other content where players see each other as means to an end.

Wow has more content per update and more content released overall. I wouldn't call Wow's gear progression all that rewarding. It's a constant treadmill and soon people who can clear normal raids now will have this season's mythic raiding gear next season. Also, the way it's structured stratifies the community. It's hard to find people to raid with you or group with you from your own guild if you've fallen behind in gear level. As a wow refugee i can say it has a lot to learn from this game. The only thing that might make this game go dry is if people lose reasons to play. I.e. content dearth.

This game is still far more casual than WoW. Are you grinding a completely new set of gear every 6 months? Is your character far below max level cap because you took a 3 year break? Everything you mention is a nice to have. Heck you can even get legendaries without raiding if you can stand a pvp grind with terrible matchmaking. And you keep those legendaries forever even of a new expansion comes out. The ones i earned in legion are useless now. In contrast, I left GW2for 2 to 3 years and i can still play my characters and jump straight into end game activities. Also this game offers far more permanent, yet slow progression.

The game is very much alive. Really the only reason i think wow streaming is popular is because it's so time consuming to play that's the only way some people can experience all its content: by watching people who do have that kind of time.

Not necessarily. They could add extra mechanics to core abilities when you don't have an elite specialization set just like they change shatter functionality when you're a chronomancer. It's just an inversion. And it gives the trade off you're looking for.

Don't act offended with people voting of their own free will in your own thread.Personally, I think HoT and PoF content will stay just as playable, especially with both mastery sets fully unlocked. If not - well, all the more reason to play in a party which isn't necessarily a bad thing either. I'm not offended. I'm pointing out that there were considerations made when these specializations were designed that i believe they're ignoring. And the comment is mostly aimed at people who responded in the thread saying they want them nerfed. Both zones already require plenty of partying. It's just going to make them that much harder and raise the bar for getting basic activities in those zones done. Not everyone has mastery sets unlocked. I definitely don't. Your response essentially translates to making life harder for new or returning players

To all the kittens who want elites nerfed: does that mean you want HoT and PoF content unplayable? I haven't seen any of you discuss the content balancing tied to these specializations. I wish I could add more options. Maybe you can and it's not showing up on my phone ui. They would be: 3) Elite power creep is non issue, leave as is4) Achieve balance through a core elite specialization.

In the more recent balance patches it feels like the devs have been mostly focused on nerfing elite specs instead of bringing core closer to elite power. It's been a gripe within the community for a while, that elite specs were too powerful, but it was never my impression that the community wanted elite specs nerfed. It's also problematic that these balance changes are being made without changes to the content these specs were balanced around - PVE content might get too difficult as a result. It's also problematic that some of these specs are becoming nigh unplayable with no attention to class balancing history. Does the community want core buffed or elites nerfed?

Wow classic will die out real fast. I give it like a month before everyone realizes how timeconsuming it is and that they're not in college any more. Afterwards it will have a niche following among streamers and people who are unemployed.

I tried it, without clutch healing/cleansing from shattering everything in a pinch, and buffs to clone survivablility, this is still going to feel like a nerf. I definitely feel the extra alacrity and it's interesting that it lets you use weapon skills more often with the extra recharge. But I still can't say I'm happy. I'll tinker to see if I can work out a good solo/fractal build. The thing is I don't like spending time hunting hero points and looking for people to help me. It was a huge deal that I finally unlocked this mayish and these changes just feel bad. I still don't have mirage and don't want to have to use it in order to feel viable. Like the dedicated class team should be making sure that every talent and ability has its niche in a build that's good at something. Not making stuff unusable in normal gameplay. It's really not that hard to lose your clones in just normal gamplay. This change would actually mean something if they buffed clone survivability and provided alternatives to getting out of a pinch. I can jsut remember too many times in HoT areas or fractals when I felt compelled to shatter everything to survive.

I told myself this morning that i might still finish unlocking my skyscale before i quit. Not so sure any more. I only recently came back so adjusting to the survivability nerf from the loss of permanent phantasms and their synergies has been rough and as soon as I get the hang again they nerfed my main to the ground. I might still grab the daily login rewards in case this is a joke.

The problem is that there's a team dedicated solely to balance. That means they're not going to feel satisfied unless they change something, fun, balance, etc be damned. It was a mistake for anet to give this team that sole responsibility. They need to also be part of the design of the other aspects of the game making sure the classes function properly and have a variety of viable builds as new content is released. The chrono nerfs pretty much make them useless outside of raiding. Dry shattering without clones is the "o crap" button to replace permanent illusions that could tank and heal (shatters can cleanse and heal). As a returning player i've had to deal with essentially 2 waves of nerfs to game modes i play more: pvp and open world. I just don't know how i'm feeling any more. Without buffs to clone survivability and generation, these chrono changes are just awful.

The other disappointing thing is this looks like a nerf (I'm a noob to this game and chrono, but I'm generally good with game mechanics across games). I'm still working on my boon support chrono gear set, but at face value it feels like they're going to make it harder to sustain the core Chrono buffs with less shatters available. Like Mesmer already looks like it only has 1 role when I'm searching snow crows and meta battle and I don't feel like this looks like it's opening up new roles and appears to take away from our only active one.

I think that they need to rework clone survivability. It's annoying having something so core to your class able to be destroyed by AOE. Group fights in PVP suck for this reason and it occaisionally gives me crap in PVE too. Reading these changes without seeing any mention of tweaking to the core class mechanic is quite disappointing....

Dude. PoF had great reviews. You think no one bought it and ncsoft just randomly made anet fire 1/3rd of the staff for no reason? Anet is a business and it needs to make money. Making it easier for players to pay into Anet without introducing pay to win elements is the best way to stop it from going the direction of pay to win.

I just want an automated way to pay into the game on my terms (hence customizable amount) and i believe it would help anet as well as i imagine there would be people who are the same who would keep that automation in place even when they're inactive. I'm first and foremost concerned about the health of the game and i'm afraid a few bad quarters could mean pw2 elements creeping into the cash shop. Pw2 elements choke games and ruin the experience for everyone. So i would like people who don't want perks to clearly state they're okay with it as long as there are none which i totally support and i'd like everyone proposing perks to just stop it. You'd be able to unlock lw seasons eventually with the gems you'd buy anyway.

This is actually funny. You're right it is when your win rate randomly tanks between two seasons. And the outcome of a match has nothing to do how you play.