Einar.1482

I appreciate your feedback. Respectfully though I think you're wrong. 1. Thief has greater access to weapon skills than any other class in gw2. - With no weapon skill cds the only thing limiting accessibility is resource cost which is one of the few concepts that can be replenished by way of not time. Ofc there is the time based recharge that occurs but simultaneously there are a variety of ways in which the player can regenerate it: entering and exiting stealth, steal, roll for imitative and ofc just setting a higher base amount (which technically doesn't apply to regen but applies to general pool of resource from which to pull from). I do really like how revenant plays. It has a good balance of low accessible skill cds and balances a resource management well. 2. Thief is the only class in t he game that sits in 1 weapon set when the game doesnt force them to. - note engineer, ele are examples of classes that have access to 1 weapon set while in combat and use that as such but thief h as access to 2 weapon sets in combat but gets nearly 100% of its dmg, sustain, and control from one. the secondary set is simply to disengage or maybe add a bit of cleave (primarily SB).

In short, there should be weapon skill cds applied to theif weapons. I would think that thief would be more appropriately balanced if it were implemented similarly to revenants energy low cd balance. an example would be adding cd to say heart seeker to the tune of like 4-5 sec. reduce the initiative cost of the skill this means it can be used to create stealth access but it wouldn't be as spammable. this would provide counter play opportunities that exist outside of reveal (which not every class has access to). This would also promote weapon rotations and combos beyond what has effectively become (in DP Daredevil for the last 9years) 5 (black powder)- heart seeker/bound/ (occasional blast) - steal into BS or just BS. I think that herald balance has a good concept of low weapon skill cds that allow it to be pretty good but also, there is some counterplay in terms of energy management

So to clarify, because I play Mesmer I'm not allowed to have an opinion about balance? I'm very much aware of the counter that it present. Regardless of that, it doesn't negate my argument. But see this is one of the few arguments that ppl make to disregard. I've got 10k hours in gw2 And am quite the experienced player which is why I can identify a variety of things that need reworking; thief weapon skill cds being added would be one of those.

I'm no noob. But I am right

Its time radical changes come to thief. I understand those who play it will say " it isn't overpowered", "it isn't meta" " its not meta for zerging" ":it doesn't do much dmg" etc. etc. etc. i" it has hard counters like sic em, like engineer revel, like Dh chain etc.: Thief needs to have Cool downs added to its weapon skills. - It's time thief plays more like revenant. a combination of lower weapon skill CDs alongside a resource management system (in this scenario Initiative). I am fully aware that some will say that it "ruins thief" or "makes it unplayable" or whatever they may cry but its just this simple: A CLASS WITH NO WEAPON CDS CANNOT EXIST IN A GAME WITH WEAPON SKILL CDS FOR THE OTHER PROFESSIONS AND B AEDEQUATELY AND OR APPROPRIATELY BALANCED. Arena Net has systematically been removing CD reduction traits because even they acknowledge that they are best in slot and limited build diversity. - with this same principle in mind its time that thief have weapon skill cooldowns added to their respective weapon skills. -Note: I do acknowledge that some tinkering regarding the thief dmg need to be addressed and I completely agree.

Do not take the only mobility mesmer has aside from mirage thrust off Master of Manipulation. That superspeed is the only thing that allows mobility in large scale environments like wvw. Being without mobility is the single most detrimental thing to a class in wvw... with the hypermobility of will bender, ranger, thief etc... it puts any form of mesmer at a massive disadvantage and relegates it to one playstyle several classes have access to their own personal superspeed such as holo leap, thief stealth entrance and I dont think mesmer should be relegated to team based superspeed. Its really important for mesmer mobility that it remain as is presently to provide options for personal mobillity in a game where there is so much of it that being even comparatively immobile is amongst the most disadvantage you can have. I implore you not to make that change

I think the change to master of manipulation is a poor idea. Master of Manipulation is the only trait that allows for increased personal mobility on mesmer aside from running leaps on mirage. With the removal of Superspeed any kind of small scale or individual play especially in WvW large landscape with all the hyper mobility of thieves, rangers, & will benders... its going to be impossible to compete with that without this... you've already capped the amount of superspeed a player can have simultaneously at 10 seconds.. i dont understand why you need to remove the superspeed from manipulation skills and take away the reduced icds from the trait to give superspeed elsewhere... both can exist... not many small scale players are going to run glamours bc those are primarily dedicated for supports. I think its a bad change and I would recommend not doing so... dont remove the only mobility available to mesmer.

Look its time Anet removed downstate in competitive game modes. IE: wvw/spvp.There is no reason why a player or players should have to continue using cooldowns on players who have been beaten. If they want to implement a rez mechanic implement hard rez utility skills such as Sig of undeath and Sig of Mercy.These skills are fantastic and certainly serve a place in the game as a rez mechanic but we have got to get away from players in downstate continuing to cause issues for players who are not downed.Furthermore, this eliminates some of the BM that can occur with downed bodies such as siege, jumping. bleeding out etc.There will be some that argue bleeding out is an important mechanic in gw2 Spvp. While this may have some merit I still find it to be largely unhealthy for a player vs player mode or anything even resembling a competitive game mode. Im sure there are some examples that are eluding me at the moment but the majority of semi competitive games to the higher tier competitive games do NOT have a downstate mechanic and certainly not one where the downed player can still interact with the players who are not downed in a way that is meaningful Perhaps this would lead to more bursty gameplay or perhaps more sustaining gameplay but it would allow players who are skilled to win outnumbered fights while furthermore incentivize team play and cooperation because death is a much more realistic and looming threat.

@Mini Crinny.6190 i will concede you make a fair point about the hybrid nature and having to retool the traits which becomse considerably more complex very quickly. That being said, your latter two points I think are incorrect. 1. Twist of Fate having it total cd increased to 75 sec is perhaps a bit much. I likely would have gone 60 but regardless the charges themselves need longer cds between uses. This skill provides provides a breakstun and evade frame + superspeed on a 5 second interval... This of course doesnt include any other breakstun that may be on the utility bar. 2. regarding lightning strike nerf... almost any skill that doesnt crit does poor dmg. That isnt elusive to Ele.

Ok then if thats the case, I would like to see other counterblock type skills get similar treatment. Riposte, Illusionary Counter, illusionary Riposte etc. these skills are blocks that pop on hits and lose the block effect ending them shorter than the duration indicates. This would make sword sword warrior more viable which would be nice.2.Putting a tell on a skill that modifies dmg by 25% in spvp and 40% in wvw and pve would not kill the skill xD lol. It would introduce counterplay. no more 6 sec reveal from 2000 range without a cast animation that can be evaded and countered... that doesn't mean that the dmg multiplier cant still take affect. Core ranger and druid you can kill the pets sure but Soulbeast has been able to merge and restore its health without consequence. Furthermore, having that pet as you mentioned makes it more like a having a +1 in most scenarios bc somehow pets in gw2 arent completely useless. especially when paired with Sic Em. SO yes, you can kill the pet... situationally .

@Miellyn.6847 double checked, i was right about Counter blocks cd. it changed just recently at the end of February. So the swap to 25 sec has only been a recent change.

@Miellyn.6847 ah yeah i see i wrote down the wrong cd for GS. Regardless, it is still a 3 sec block + evade frame + KD which if on a 25 sec or 20 sec icd is still considerable more use than most blocks in the game. Futhermore, i see no issue with the way the sword block was. it blocked ranged attacks without breaking to the counter and only melee was able to force the counter attack animation. Given the amount of dmg reduction modifiers Ranger has it stands to reason that reverting it back to its past uses wouldnt be an issue. to your point about sic em. The visual que of Eyes above ones head is an indicator of having been revealed... not The Skill Sic Em itself, as it stands there isnt a visual que that allows a player to see the cast animation and evade the reveal. a good example of something similar that im referencing is something like Spear of Justice for DH. a visual animation in the cast time and throwing of the spear. obviously that wouldnt work for a ranger as they have no spear but there could easily be a 3/4 sec cast time with a visual indicator above rangers head indicating that its being cast. *of course this 3/4 sec could be augmented by quickness which ranger has plenty of access to but it would provide counter play to the 6 sec reveal, of course let them keep the strongest single skill dmg modifier in the game xD. but I would still reduce it to the aforementioned 15%. side note: hitting like a wet noodle is every class in the game at the moment since the dmg reduction patch. Yet ironically, Ranger still scales well and still outputs more dmg than most other similarly built power specs. So nerfs... not really, realignment to match much of the other classes, yes.

@LucianTheAngelic.7054 sorry, mistyped. 60sec grav well

@"LucianTheAngelic.7054" so in reference you're right there are a few other cc's like grav well mentioned that chain hard cc and can be continuum split to boot but the cd discrepancy can't be ignored. Grav well is an elite skill specific to 1 elite spec. and has a cd of 90sec. Where as Staff 5 is a weapon skill able to be used by any specialization of revenant and on a 20sec icd. exactly, why having “more cc” makes it an overloaded skill? WHY is that overloaded? " this skill has 9 consecutively hitting knockbacks. if hit without some form of stability specifically or breakstun that relocates the players character model it chains them together whilst evading for the duration. furthermore this cc is not reliant on landing a single hit to cc rather it has 9 separate opportunites to cause a knockback affect making its cc more overloaded for a skill. minding its on a 20sec icd. comparable hard cc's might be something like bulls charge which is an evade 900 range kd for 3 seconds. but can be evaded since it has one contact point. follow up opportunities vary: in wvw swap to S/S hydro proc, shackles, sword 2 into a sword 5 or a variation of that. in Spvp that may be slightly different but a similar high burst dmg rotation is a solid follow up. another variation includes continuing the kb chain with Glint elite then into the previously mentioned rotations.. does it provide an unfair advantage no. is it a better CC than almost any other? yes. arguably it offers the most. Now that the dmg has been made nearly 0 it isnt as bad of course. but i could serve as a good skill with less of the evade frame or without all the consecutive cc's

@knite.1542 yes the dmg reduction on staff 5 is fine. it still shouldnt be a 9x knockback consecutively mind you while evading. and fantastic about the stability on holo. Obviously there are other factors accounting for such as heat accumulation and what not to be considered but generally speaking the cd increase on forge mode and on forge mode skills would reduce spam.Engineer if im not mistaken can run a utility sKILL though that acts as a second weapon. and holosmith is effectively a weapon swap which is why i stated that it should have increased cds. similarly reaper/necro shroud skills have cds that are similar to weapon skills. even though they do have access to a secondary weapon

@LucianTheAngelic.7054 it isnt about getting hit by it my friend. its 9 successive hard cc's. any other skill in the game do that? regardless of windup or dmg? bc I would argue.. not.

.Remove the "Marked" effect from WvW. This was implemented to reduce stealth durations but does not account for stealth durations on long cds like Mass invis, Decoy.This mechanic was implemented to combat Deadeye being able to abuse stealth through Rifle evade providing 3 sec of stealth at the time x3 = 9 sec. Evade, Evade, weapon swap to another rifle + energy sigil = 3rd evade 9 sec of stealth. Of course this did not account for 3 to 4 leaps possible through rifle 4 Deaths Retreat Which also continued stacking stealth + Hide in the Shadows (another 3 sec of stealth) and blinding powder + shadow house if needed... to top all of this off. Deaths Judgment was Unblockable at the time AND the only class in the entire game that has a skill that removed the "Revealed" debuff... Deadeye with 2 charges of Shadowmeld. So the marked mechanic was designed to combat this abuse and every other class that has access to stealth has been punished far more heavily given no other class can remove reveal nor do they have equal access to stealth. Long cds and what not. I mentioned mass invis and Decoy as easy to recognize options. These are a 6 Sec stealth not traited and 3 sec Stealth *not traited on a 75 and 45 sec cd respectively. IMportant skills most would agree for resetting, bursting, leaving, general survival... If those arent good enough for examples I'll use 1 more mesmer skill... Signet of Midnight... a 35 sec cd 2 sec stealth... this skill according to the "marked" mechanic is considered "too long" and will reveal the player using it for 5 sec. so really... 2 seconds of stealth has been deemed too long when only one class has perpetually been able to abuse the mechanic. A Again sorry for the additional post, but I forgot to add it to one of my first general changes so I thought it would be good to amend it here.

I apologize for the way this discussion post is formatted. Im not certain why its broken up the way that it is and I cant be bothered to reformat the whole thing. Sorry ya'll!

GW2 Balance Change Ideas: 4/21/2020General Changes:1.Remove the "Marked" effect from WvW. This was implemented to reduce stealth durations but does not account for stealth durations on long cds like Mass invis, Decoy 2.Protection should no longer stack in Duration but rather intensity *similar to that of Stability* 3% per Stack of Protection MAX of 10 stacks = 30% dmg reduction (stacks with other dmg reduction modifiers ex: food, traits, utility skills, armor)3.Another stat has got to dictate total amount of condition dmg. In power builds if you want to maximize dmg output you have to stack power, crit chance, and crit dmg *not including boons that modify the necessity for some of these aforementioned stats) In a condition dmg build only ONE SINGLE STAT matters...Condition Dmg. The remaining stats increase sustain through Vitality/Toughness/Condi Duration and varrying other but the dmg stat is 1. I dont have a specific alternate stat but I would suspect Power, Precision or Crit Chance would likely be good alternatives to add condition dmg Alternatively: Condition Dmg could have its dmg output reduced quite a bit so that it is DOT (dmg over time) which would necessitate the sustainy stat attributes of toughness, and vitality as primary stat combinations. However, this would also result in longer fights with condi players and more time for cleanses which would mitigate the potency of condition dmg while maintaining its current stats. This alternate option would likely be the easiest to change and would not require trait changes to account for newly added stat combinations affecting which conditions apply and what they scale to etc. 4. A hard cap on amount of Barrier Generated of 3-5k.5. CC's cannot be treated equally regarding dmg reduction: ex: Diversion is an instant cast no tell skill that dazes. (this should have minimal to zero dmg) *unless interrupting with powerblock or draining sigil. ex: Headshot has a relatively easy tell but is spammable in current game. (this should have some dmg associated with it) more than Diversion *or similar skills, but less than more telegraphed, longer cd skills like... ex: Bullscharge has an easy visual tell and is not spammable. (this should have higher dmg associated with landing this CC) as it should punish players for being hit by a longer cd more obvious visual tell skill. Elementalist:1.Sword: Power or Condi? --> Eliminate the hybrid Nature... Pick a lane.2.This hybrid style leaves players in a state of what to do, if they spec entirely into power they get less dmg and range than scepter.3.If they spec entirely into condi they spec bunker or cele/marshalls which leads to sustainy, boring drawn out gameplay which reduces skillfull gameplay.4.Eliminate evade frame in Water Attunement Increase cd on Twist of Fate Charge from 5sec to 15-20 sec and a 60-70 sec icd on the overall skill recharge.Lightning strike from swapping to air attunement--> must be facing foe. Similar to Mantras (instant cast 3-4k dmg)Engineer: Holosmith: Increase forge mode cd from 5 sec. to 9sec. like all other swaps (Revenant Legends, Reaper Shroud, Ranger Pet)Increase Forge Mode Skills cd's to match other Weapon Skill cd's. ex: forge mode skill #2 Holo Leap ( 2 sec icd to 6-8 sec icd.)Forge Mode skill #3 Corona Burst (6sec icd to 10-12 sec icd) remove stability on hitForge Mode Skill #4 Photon Blitz (10sec icd to 15-20 sec icd)Forge Mode Skill #5 Holographic Shockwave (15sec icd to 25-30sec icd)Guardian: I believe that currently Guardian does exactly what it is supposed to do. Admittedly my knowledge of the class is limited as I've really only played Dragon hunter and Core GuardI do think that the rez utility while strong is appropriately placed on a class that is designed to mitigate dmg through blocks/blinds and stability.Mesmer: Diversion = 1 sec stun at players location (240 range) not clones Chronomancer- If you're going to change the way the whole class was designed around this concept of time and continuum split and you didn't like the ability to distort often than atleast allow the player to count as a clone still.The class has very little power viability bc you cannot open with a Mirror blade, Mind Wrack, Mind Stab combo + Continuum Split for a double burst. This has resulted in a dip of chrono players across the every game mode except MAYBE raids and High lvl Fractals.PLayer counts as a clone to use shatter skills again. everything else can remain the same. Mirage-Infinte Horizon 10 sec icdIncrease cds of utility skills that grant "ambush" ie: Illusionary Ambush (35 is good) and False Oasis heal from 1,215 per/tick to 1,400 hp per/tick from 25 sec icd to 30sec icd Necromancer: Ranger: Companion's Defense: "You and your pet gain protection when you dodge roll"Rework this: You and your pet gain protection when you "EVADE" a skill similar to revenant Stability gain on evade... not on dodgeGS 4: Revert it back to its previous mechanic. (currently it is the longest block on the shortest cd in the game) 4 sec block on a 12 sec traited cdPreviously this could be countered via melee attack popping the counter attack. much like Illusionary Counter or Riposte Reduce pet dmg to reflect power coefficent reductions across the board. (currently eagle hits for like 2.5k autos)Sic Em is arguably the single strongest dmg multiplier in the game and does so much more.Sic Em needs its dmg multiplier reduced even further from 25% to 10-15%.In addition the reveal should last no more than 5 sec.Lastly as the longest range skill in the game. The skill needs to have a Cast time of around 3/4 of a second with a visual que above the head of the user like Stone sigThat indicates the skill being used so that players have a chance to evade the reveal.Revenant: Remove Unblockable hits from Phase Traversal. (low icd @ 5sec) + 1200 range and acts like blink or shadowstep in that it activates well outside of the 1200 range.Staff 5 needs to be 1 CC. not 9 successive kb'sRiposting Shadows:Remove endurace gain on skill replace with condition clear x2. in addition to removing movement impairment conditions.Thief:Area of concern: Spammability of Skills and Abuse of Stealth Remove inititive system and apply weapon skill cd'sIn order to efficently do this, some changes will need to be made to weapon skills. Currently thief camps a single weapon set ex: Sword/Dagger or Dagger/Pistol or Staff or Rifle. disproportionate to any other class in GW2Often times, their secondary weapon set is not utilized as a part of a rotation for dmg but instead is utilized solely as an escape opportunity.I propose that the iniative system is the reason that this is the case. By removing initiative and adding weapon skill cds you eliminate the spammy nature of skills and stealth which in turn means you can increase dmg back to numbers previously seen. ELite Spec changes:Bounding Dodger is no longer a leap finisher cant use it to stack stealth in smoke fieldsWith the changes listed below I see no reason why Steal cant remain 1200 range on each class and have its 30 sec cd. eliminate swipe Weapon Skill CD examples:Sword/Dagger1.auto chain normal 2. Infiltrator Strike 6-8sec cd. 3. Flanking Strike 10-12 sec. /// Dancing dagger 15 sec. Cloak and Dagger 20 secSword/Pistol1.auto chain normal 2. Infiltrator Strike 6-8sec cd. 3. Pistol Whip 10-12 sec. /// Head Shot 15 sec. Black Powder 25-30secDagger/Dagger Auto chain normal 2. Heartseeker 5-6 sec. 3. twisting fang 10 sec. 4. Dancing Dagger 15 sec. 5. Cloak and Dagger 20 sec.Dagger/pistolAuto Chain Normal 2. HeartSeeker 5-6 sec. 3. Shadowshot 10-12 sec. 4. Head SHot 15 sec. 5. Black Powder 25-30 secStaffauto chain normal 2. Vault 8 sec 3. Weakening Charge 12 sec. 4. Dust Strike 15 sec 5. Debilitating Arc 20 secSBAuto chain normal 2. Cluster bomb 4-5 sec. 3. Disabling Shot 8-10 sec. 4. Choking Gas 15 sec. 5. Infiltrators Arrow 20secRifleauto chain normal 2. Skirmishers Shot 6 sec. 3. double tap (3 round burst) 12 sec. 4. Deaths Retreat 15 sec. 5. Kneel Rifle obviously would need more thought but the basic idea is there. Weapon Skill cd's that reduce spamming and reduce access to stealth without completely eliminating it. ex: you could theoretically Drop Blinding powder (D/P) 5 sec duration... Heart Seeker leap for 3 sec of stealth. swap to rifle & Deaths Retreat for 6 sec + evade with rifle adding 1 sec each evade. this would put you around 8 sec of stealth lastly: if bringing Utility Skill blinding powder you could reach 11 sec of stealth but at the cost of 30sec cd (black powder) 15 sec cd (deaths retreat) 40 sec cd & break stun (Blinding powder Utility)In order for these cd's to be implemented and the class remain viable dmg on skills would have to be appropriately changed.ex: in my list here I moved Vault to skill slot 2 respectively. bc most skill 2's do the most dmg. true shot Hundrend Blades rapid fire etc. I think this is a more appropriate spot for vault and could scale similarly to the aforementioned skills. Warrior: Reduce healing output of Adrenal HealthCC's such as Shield Bash, Bullscharge, EarthShaker, Backbreaker etc have to have dmg returned to them.Note: perhaps not as much as previously but no dmg on these skills makes hammer a borderline useless weapon and leaves the player wanting morewith regards to bullscharge and shield bash which serve as the primary setups for burst dmg.Mind you these skills all have very visible tells and common rotations as well as reasonable cdsIf the dmg isnt returned to skills that CC especially for a class like warrior than the traits like "Merciless Hammer" which ammer skills gain reduced recharge and deal increased damage when striking a disabled foe. Gain adrenaline when you disable a foe.need to be completely reworked because doing 20% more dmg on Hammer Weapon Skills that do 4 dmg EarthShaker, 4 dmg Staggering Blow, 4 dmg Backbreaker is inconsequential and a wasted trait.I agree with the passive proc changes to balance stance and endure pain while keeping the active utility skills cds as they were. this allows more active game play Reduce dmg output on throw axe to a more reasonable hit. ( no more 9k's) I've playe GW2 for quite a while and generally speaking this game has the best combat of any MMO with maybe a couple other than are close. Balance has been an area that I think we as a community have lacked and in general I'm sure itstough to balance. These are some of the things that as a player I notice and think are most often causes of issues. Arguably my most controversial take is on thief. I have said for years that because of the way theif works from a core mechanicit will always be the most susceptible to being abused. one argument people will make im sure is that thief is constantly nerfed here and there etc. swipe, backstab dmg, etc etc. and thats 100% true but its likely being nerfed because itlends itself most to being broken in the grand scheme yes other classes are busted at the moment like the neverdie necro, previous bunker chrono specs of old, Boon beast, perma evade weaver and the list goes on. That being said, each of the ones I just mentionedall operate on equal footing with regard to weapon skill cds and such. From my perspective, which of course is just that these are some of the changes I think would benefit gw2 balance and with the exception of changes to thief would likely be more simple to implementthan reducing all the dmg coefficients and seeing where things fall. Obviously I haven't accounted for every single detail but as a general concept I do think that these changes or changes similar**** to these would make gw2 a more balanced and more skill based game which would still remain accessible for newer players.