Gaiawolf.8261

Spear, the most common, widespread, iconic weapon in all of human history before guns took over.

True, plus Omnivore is much better against sylvari than Carnivore.

Not mentioning our dissatisfaction or fixes to the symbol are what have me most worried. I'll reserved judgement on skill 5 until I see this adjustment they mentioned, but that doesn't sound good either. It reads like they specifically improved how it functions in melee range. Sigh More focus on how a ranged weapon performs in melee? Really, A-Net?

https://www.guildwars2.com/en/news/new-weapon-proficiencies-beta-feedback-update/ So the article about adjustments from the feedback mentions improvements to the animation speed of Jurisdiction, but nothing about how the skill interacts with targets or changes to the symbol and slot placements of skills two and four. I think I'm more confused than anything else.

I just hope the devs take our feedback to heart. Guardian pistols were fun, but the skills had some serious mechanical flaws that limited the weapons. The mesmer rifle was inspiring but could use some animation and mechanical polish. Other weapons needed more adjustments, and it would be a shame if they went live without fixes.

As far as I knew, support hero's complaints covered the initial rework in November 2022. I read his article and agreed with him. Since then, arena net made some much-needed adjustments to the Tome of Justice page costs that greatly improved the situation for CFB. Subsequent changes to the trait line also gave us more options to regenerate pages. Has support hero published anything since then on the state of the class? Personally, I've come to like the changes to the tomes, especially for WVW. Being able to pop into any Tome I want for the skill I need works much better for competitive modes. Tweaking my build for more pages also makes PVE fun for me again. I actually use the tome more often now, and can even blast away with searing spell whenever I need to burst. I find the mantra revert more problematic, considering the tome rework added some complexity to the spec. I'm fine with tracking pages and ICDs or mantra charges, but not both.

I don't see how this counters my comment. The post I quoted told the OP to not bring a certain class because it sucks at certain content. I stated the game's philosophy is that the player should be able to achieve effective results with any class. Aren't we saying the same thing in different ways?

This goes against GW2's design philosophy, "bring the player, not the class," as stated in the thread title. The OP's point is that you shouldn't have to change your class/e-spec just to join certain content and be effective. This is a primary goal of the game, as stated by the developers. The OP is just asking them to live up to it.

Oh yeah. No argument here, except I'd say it was only a moderate chunk of damage for most builds. The trait was still quite good and worth it for many builds. This change to the trait is only better for meta condi builds that used a torch in both weapon sets to maximize the damage rotation. I firmly believe the current balance team are meta fanboys, or they're trying to define trait choices strictly to push what they believe should be meta options (as another poster mentioned), and they don't adequately consider how their changes affect the rest of the builds out there.

I don't mind homogenization in favor of more parts that can work together (this can actually increase build and team diversity if done right) or for easier balance development, but I'm not a fan of hand-holding over build diversity, at least not in an MMO with such a robust wiki and online community. And as an OG GW player, especially not a game that puts the words "Guild Wars" anywhere in the title. That said, I actually like the synergy between power and resolution in the traitline (an example of it being done right), despite considering Retribution the most bland of those components. I'd probably be happy with the Radiant Fire change if they took the opportunity to rework the underwhelming, unreliable Wrath of Justice trait. Meta builds needed to equip a torch on both weapon sets to make full use of the trait before the rework (i.e. "always having a torch equipped" meant set #1 = axe/torch and set #2 = scepter/torch). Now they only need the torch equipped on weapon set #1 and can switch to pistol/pistol on set #2 for half the damage rotation.

I don't know much about power herald. Most I know about them is from playing with some support herald friends. For what it's worth, both professions have some good specs and builds. Overall, most of my mechanist builds are easier to play, but my celestial vindicator is pretty easy too. My power vindicator or renegade are not difficult, but not quite as simple to manage in tougher fights. They kill faster tho, so clearing is more direct with the revs than the mech.

Time is reletive. Don't assume people have as "much" as you. People usually ask advice because they don't have the time to figure it out for themselves, or they are just too stupid or lazy. And I'm not going to assume the OP a moron or a sloth. 😅 Sorry, I have never played a herald, so I can't answer specifically on that spec. But I have played vindicator and a little renegade from a boost, So I know it's a perfectly good approach. Despite what some others may say, you don't have to level it to learn it. I leveled engineer and have played all the specs there. 1 and 2. Both professions have great builds for open world and story content. You can't go wrong with either. 3. Herald has one of the best support specs in the game. Mech used to be great, but I don't know about recent performance or demand. 4. This one is entirely subjective, because both are good in all game modes. 5. Mechanist is one of the easiest specs to play. Vindicator has some easy builds, but I'm not sure about herald. I hear the support spec is easier to play than some other supports.

Herald and Mech are on different professions. I was under the impression the OP only had 1 boost. Are you willing to provide the other?

Not many pve condi builds, but there are some hybrid builds, and even some power builds, that could make use the auto-procs to trigger other traits and virtues. In pvp and wvw, it was a good trait to cover other conditions too. The bigger issue here is that the Radiance master traits are far too restrictive now. Radiant Fire is now ONLY good if you use a torch. Retribution is ONLY good if you have high power AND high resolution uptime. Wrath of Justice is ONLY good if you don't know what "good" means. Before the change, builds without resolution at least had an option to add something useful. Now, what do we pick if not running a torch or resolution? Do you have an answer for that one? (Not being a jerk. I'm seriously asking. I would like to know what every other build should pick here.) EDIT: Just to clarify, I'm not asking about niche pve condi builds here. We all agree this change is good for the vast majority of pve condi builds. The people who are complaining run other builds (hybrid builds without a torch or power builds without resolution) or play pvp. It's just a bad change for everyone else besides most pve condi players. It looks to me like yet another case where the devs are only catering to balance the meta and not taking time to consider how it affects the broader playerbase or stifles build diversity.

This is the heart of it right here. Celestial gear is great but not OP for certain builds in OW, not efficient in raids/fractals except for very few niche fractal builds, and even in wvw it's usually outclassed by other stats for the main encounters (ZvZ). The only place celestial gear has a meta home is for roaming, and marauder or TB builds are just as good except on ele and mes. Celestial gear is really only OP against glass cannon gankers who realize they can't burst a cele build down and don't want to live with the high risk part of a high risk/high reward build. Everyone else has a counter for cele builds, so just learn to use them. Cele is the lower risk build, but no one is ever going to get ganked by one before they can execute their own counters... IF you were smart enough to bring some instead of going full glass. 😄

Last time I checked, you could port to "allied" objects like supply depots too. LOL

Personally, I don't care about numbers too much, but I would appreciate some stability in the profession balance and skill/trait designs. It seem like every few months at least one of my builds gets tweaked to the point where something feels off or noticeably subpar. So I have to relearn how to play it effectively/intuitively again. Can't they just pick a design and stick to it? Or better yet, reduce disparities between meta and off-meta options (as discussed in the Balance Philosophy thread) so off meta options don't often feel like clunky trash.

I play FB in WVW. It's one of our main jobs to pump out and blast light fields, not to mention all the other finishers from the rest of the zerg that just happen by coincidence. So for support guardians, very deliberate. Everyone else, not so much, but they benefit from it more than they ever know! 😄 In smaller groups, it can still be impactful but requires more coordination. Definitely not as common. The combos also help reduce the need for direct cleanses, freeing up actions and slots for more stab and resistance.

Light fields are a pretty important reason why condition damage isn't very useful in wvw too.

Most stat multipliers are not free. They require a specific trait selection over another benefit.

I get that they are going for an interactive design, like using the proc or now ammo, to fuel extra Zealot's Fire with the trait selection. That's okay, depending on the build, and can be fun. I just think it should be something that can benefit other weapon selections. Maybe with VoJ that all guardians get regardless of build or weapon selection. Something like: Critical hits add one stack of Radiant Fire (ICD 3-4s). Activating VoJ consumes all stacks of Radiant Fire to damage and burn foes around you. Deal more burning per stack of Radiant Fire. Consuming [max] stacks of Radiant Fire also applies Blind and Revealed. Just off the top of my head. Only issue I can see might be loading too much burst on willbender VoJ with the VoJ recharge trait on kill. But that can be managed with moderating the base damage, since you need to build stacks to use it effectively. Off course, they could give us better options for the other master traits if they want to keep Radiant Fire tied to the torch. But the lesser wrath signet is too unreliable for its long CD, and the bottom trait relies on both power and resolution. There will be no trait left that can benefit a wide variety of builds in the master slot.

Firebrand and mirage can also make full use of celestial stats. Any mesmer using Chaos, really. The most that celestial stats start to be a problem in open world is when you have to solo dps a boss down before an event timer runs out. Sometime offensive stats are better then.

Yes. It's a clear nerf to any build that doesn't use a torch, which is sad. The only reason to take the trait anymore will be the +20% burn duration. This wouldn't sting so bad if the other master traits were better (the lesser signet) or not need power AND resolution.

Here's a guy that watches a Lord Hizen video and thinks it's because of the stats. This just in: Puma shoes OP because Usain Bolt can break 27 mph in them. NERF PUMA SHOES! Not Vindi (or cele), Hizen.

Nah, celestial gear is intended to be the generic, versatile, safer stat set. It gives players options and stability without having to change builds. That's its job, and it does it well. That's why it's booster gear and not high performance gear. Except for a few builds that can make use of almost every stat with tight synergy, it's almost always going to be worse for any given task. 3-4 offensive stat gear always going to be better for DPS but squishier. 3-4 stat support gear is going to give better healing and boon duration but suck at dealing damage. Those are the tradeoffs of specialized gear. You specialize for higher performance, but there are risks or downsides. You use celestial gear when you want to play it safer or have more options. This is how life works, and I'm glad it's how the game works. I'm glad for these build options and gaming/life lessons.