CalmTheStorm.2364

Dear @Cal Cohen.2358 and Roy, Thanks for all the hard work in putting together the June 27th patch. There is an incredible number of changes there that should really shake up the game! I'm very excited to see how this plays out. A few thoughts, if I may, on the proposed changes to Warrior: Rifle: These changes are excellent. I can finally see Rifle being a compelling choice, and it may open up some interesting avenues of gameplay for various specs. I very much look forward to trying this out! I do feel, however, that Kill shot has been overlooked. A 1.25s channeled self-root feels absolutely terrible (it's like a worse Dragon Slash), and it's very outdated in the current game. Consider that Death's Judgement has a 1/2s cast time, and even Gunflame has a 3/4s cast. Considering that Kill shot only does high damage with max adrenaline (and doesn't cleave or daze like Gunflame does), I think reducing the cast to something like 3/4s makes a lot of sense. Keeping KS with such a disadvantage will make rifle harder to use on Core and Spellbreaker builds. Signets: I'm very grateful for the CD reductions to be made baseline, as these are some very powerful tools. However, a few thoughts: Dolyak Signet: Please reduce its CD to 32s (as it is currently with the CDR). I use Arms and traited Dolyak signet frequently, and it hasn't shown itself to be OP in the slightest, esp with the degree of boon removal/corruption in the game. Further, with Balanced Stance appropriately getting its CD reduced to 40s in all game modes, there's just little reason to take Dolyak Signet if it has the same CD. Balanced Stance is just better. Giving DS a slightly shorter CD would help it stay competitive. Changing the +toughness bonus to a -10% incoming damage modifier would help, too. Signet of Rage: Please reduce its CD to 30s in all modes. Seriously, this signet is pretty underwhelming for an elite skill, especially on such a high CD--so much so that it is often taken just for its passive adrenaline gain rather than active effects. Reducing the CD would be a good way to boost its usefulness. Slapping a few seconds of quickness on it wouldn't hurt, either. Healing Signet: Needs more than a CD reduction. The resistance change hit it hard. Buffing its active heal (~4.2k) and reducing its cast time to 3/4s would give it a niche, though. Flurry: Removal of the self-root is a very welcome change. However, please change the immobilize to apply once per target per cast (so that if the first hit is blinded, blocked, or misses, the entire immob is not negated like it is currently). Increasing the range to 180 would also help make MH sword a compelling option, even for power builds. Cooldown Reduction Removals and Reworks: Overall, I'm glad to see it. But please don't forget about a few: Torch: with Heat the Soul getting reworked, Torch needs its reduced CDs baseline. Please consider further reducing Flames of War, as Torch underperforms as is; it could use a little boost. Shrug It Off: should also get the reduced shout CD Greatsword/Forceful Greatsword: I know you have limited bandwidth and a lot of changes to make, but pretty please make the reduced CDs baseline for GS. This change has the potential to help a lot of builds, especially in competitive modes where Warriors usually have to run Defense over Strength. To The Limit!: This skill should be great, esp for Berserker, but in competitive modes it heals for about the same amount as Mending whilst cleansing no conditions and having a 4s longer CD. Please lower the CD in competitive modes to at least 20s to make it a more viable alternative. Thanks so much for considering it!

I'd love a daze on arcing arrow, too, although I doubt they would got that route since they already added a daze to smoldering arrow in PvE. Maybe they'd make it a competitive -only thing. But mostly it just needs to not take a day and a half to reach the target...after a 3/4s cast time.

These are excellent ideas, Zuko. A few thoughts/alternatives: Final Thrust: ok as it is, but could benefit from a slightly longer range (240). Would be neat to have it refreshed if you immob someone with Flurry. This would make it work more similarly to Ranger's Maul/Hilt bash interaction. Mace: combine counterblow and pommel bash. Block for 1.5s; if you block, gain access to pommel bash. Give PB a short dash (like rangers hilt bash) and stun for 1s. I like ground pound and the leap on tremor. Excellent ideas. Crushing blow might be redundant with ground pound. Could swap this for a "throw mace" that dazes and applies confusion. That would allow OH mace to provide both mobility as well as a ranged attack, which is unique among our OH weapons. LB: Arcing arrow needs to be sped up significantly. I'd love for it to apply some cover condis like weakness, vuln, and cripple.

I actually really like, Bladesworn, although I do agree it feels pretty clunky. I don't think the spec needs a full redesign, though; it needs changes to smooth out its gameplay. For example, reduce cast time for artillery slash and blooming fire. Don't put DT on full CD when it gets interrupted. Add Stability to triggerguard. Make it so you can't jump over DS attacks. Make Ds Reach a proper projectile that doesn't jump over targets. Etc. The skeleton is there, and it's a good one. Just needs some love to flesh it out.

This. Also, counterblow's attack component needs to be instant-cast like riposte is. It is very difficult to land the clunky 1/2s cast ...which is a really unnecessary penalty considering the skill does almost no dmg and you can't control when it is triggered.

I'm shocked, tbh. Where's all this negativity coming from? I mean, the forums are filled with happy go-lucky types with great attitudes without a shred of bias.

....I know. I literally addressed this my initial post: I don't think it would be good to put it on immortal dragon...would be busted. You'd be able to have perma protection, a heal from DT damage, AND alacrity? On top of BS's already crazy sustain (which gets even crazier thanks to reduced CDs)? That'd be pretty nuts. As I said above, DS attacks need to be at least unblindable and preferably unblockable as well at baseline. Immortal Dragon would immediately be viable then. As for the current Daring Dragon, you automatically re-enter DT. This stops you (the self root) and costs flow. Yes, you can cancel with movement, but the delay and wasted resources is suboptimal at the very least, esp in competitive modes. What could have worked would be if there was simply no CD on DT; as long as you pay the flow cost, you can enter DT whenever you want. But you're not automatically entered into DT. But this new alacrity thing (which is really only being added so that warrior can have some Alac support option in PvE) could be ok too. We'll have to see.

Oh I haven't forgot about that at all (I mentioned it in the first paragraph of the post). I'm not sure the new DD will change the way BS is played in competitive modes; really depends on how much alac and how much dmg it does. I've argued elsewhere that I think dragon slash attacks need to be at least unblindable and preferably unblockable as well at baseline. Otherwise, immortal dragon and daring dragon face a steep uphill battle to provide similar value to unyielding dragon.

I wouldn't call the current version "functional"...I'm glad some folks are having fun with it, but it is a complete design disaster. Being forced to reneter DT over and over again is seldom what is desired in any given scenario. Further, losing the unblockable/unblindable CC of UD is huge (and will probably seriously hurt the proposed DD trait, too). However, the new DD provides both higher damage per charge (which is superb in competitive modes where you rarely have time to charge for 2.5s anyway) and alacrity. If the alacrity uptime is good, it will further support BS's spammy playstyle, boosting both it's offense and defense. And that is on top of the reduced CD on shouts that's also coming. Assuming perma alac, I get every charge of FGJ on 16s CD, combat stimulant on 20s CD, and Tactical Reload on a 30s CD. That's pretty freaking great (I realize, of course that they probably won't allow perma alac in PvP, but you get the idea.). It will also reduce the CD of DT, providing a sort of positive feedback loop. All that to say, there are some real possibilities here.

Virtuoso losing one of its infinite blocks will probably help a little.

It is a double-edged sword, I admit (and did so earlier in this thread as well). And I am taking it on faith that Arc Divider will still have at least a 360 radius, otherwise it will certainly suck. But my point is that this is not a straight up nerf; there is a fair bit of benefit that will come with this change, too. It may not be what you personally would desire for the skill, but that doesn't mean that there won't be new strengths that you can lean into should you so desire. Blind will be more of a problem, certainly. Fortunately, resilient roll (and even bloody roar, to a lesser extent) can help mitigate that.

I really don't see how this change is going to be a nerf. As long as Arc Divider retains its large radius, it will essentially be a low-CD, huge aoe arcing slice that doesn't need the target to be below 50% to do max dmg. The faster cast time and having all the dmg being loaded into one attack (rather than spread out over 3 slow attacks) should make it much easier to land damage. This should be a good change.

Rune of the Trapper is objectively overpowered compared to other runes. No other runes in the game provides that degree of value (stealth and super speed are the strongest effects in the game) on every single utility skill. Most runes provide their benefit on heal skill use, OR elite skill use, OR have a lengthy CD. And that's for effects like "gain resistance (4s) on elite skill use--45sCD.". For RoT to provide stealth and super speed with no CD on every utility is simply unparalleled. It's also the case that Dragon Hunter would probably lose all viability without RoT. That, I suspect, is the real reason RoT remains in the game. If so, that probably is a pretty strong indicator that DH needs some serious reworks... It can't be good for a class to be completely dependent on one Rune, right??

Coming from a competitive mindset, I think the new Arc Divider should be great (assuming they give it the full 480 radius). The faster cast and not needing all 3 hits to crit will be a big step forward.

Totally agree. I would love have FT be a dash. In previous threads I've suggested something similar (usually swapping places with Flurry and making FT the new burst skill). This would be my dream scenario. But, assuming that they don't want to put more time/energy into reworking the skill completely, a range increase would certainly help.

This. I think increasing the range of Flurry and Final Thrust, even to just 180, would make a big difference in sword's functionality

What if... What if it both allowed you to move AND did more damage than the auto attack? 🤯🤯🤯 I dare to dream.

Maybe? It's not OP currently when you take Strength. Defense SpB is no longer meta, and neither is any form of berserker or core build. So...it probably wouldn't break the game to make it 16s baseline. I mean, Reaper gets a 16s heal skill on top of double health bars (with massive built in damage reduction)...

I think the change will be a double-edged (great)sword. On the one hand, having it be a single hit means it is much more susceptible to aegis and blind. On the other hand, having it in one hit reduces the opponent's opportunity to react to it (i.e., players often dodge waves 2 and 3 currently). Its damage will also be more consistent because you only need 1 hit to crit instead of all 3 to get max dmg. Overall, as long as they give it the mid or max range (360 or 480), it should still be decent).

I thought the same thing; I hope they meant that they are lowering it in PvP/wvw to 16s, but I'm not holding my breath

@Cal Cohen.2358 since Heat the Soul is being reworked, please don't forget to lower the torch CDs! Also, please consider further lowering torch 5 to 16s baseline to make the weapon more useable in competitive modes.

I don't really feel like continuing this conversation any further, but I will point out that there is a big difference between chaining CCs (i.e., linking multiple CCs that requires multiple weapon skills or utilities) and a single skill that pulses CC for an extended duration with no further input from the user. That's what makes roots degenerate. And it's not like Ranger is lacking other CCs, either; they are more than capable of actually chaining CCs in addition to the pulsing immob (and some of the most toxic builds do exactly that).

I like how they described ancient seeds as "unhealthy gameplay" in the live stream and proceeded to leave Entangle and Jacaranda alone 😂🤦‍♂️

The bugs it mentions are that it pulses every 1.5s x5 (instead of every 1s x4). It does not say that the immob duration is shorter than 2s.

https://wiki.guildwars2.com/wiki/Entangle The wiki says 2s