Virtuality.8351

I know. I just really wish that WvW inherents the entire PvP Build system and give us WvW specific attribute combo and Sigils/Runes for balance sake. (Irrelevant to the topic, but maybe also remove all the loot drops like in PvP as well, and instead reward players by bouncy chests based on how many players they've defeated.)

I just happened to start a topic on this one. See if you are interested. Indeed!

I've been thinking a lot about the thematical identity of Elementalist's elite specs. Tempest has a strong focus on Singularity. Not only is it mentioned in the specialization description, but the word "Singularity" has multiple traits named after it. The Overload mechanism also gives you an idea of pushing a single attunement to the extreme. Weaver focuses on Duality. The spec grant players the ability to dual wield different attunements and access to Dual Attacks. Catalyst focuses on...Triality? Not sure what it is all about. The best I can understand it is that, a (jade) sphere is a 3 dimensional object. And now think about it. Tempest is 1 dimensional with all its linear AoEs from Warhorn. The "conduit" theme, which has several traits named after it, also stress on linear conveyance or liquid or electricity. Weaver is 2 dimensional. The act of "weaving" it self is to creates a 2 dimensional object, a piece of fabric, a plane. The spec creates something never existed (Dual Attacks) by coordinating two different dimensions/elements. Heck, you could even argue that the technique of weaving is to create a Cartesian coordinate. Catalyst is 3 dimensional...? The Minor Adept trait does say Depth of Elements. Depth, or sometime height, usually indicates the magnitude in the third dimension. While a deployed jade sphere is just a plane AoE on the ground instead of a sphere or a dome, but verticality is not a thing unless you go underwater, so we can probably give that a pass. Other than that, I can not think of anything thematically related to the idea of 3 dimensions. Do let me know if you make better sense of it! Still wish it was a sphere or a dome though, something spectacular like Shield of Absorption. And this leads us to the question. What will our fourth elite spec be? Moving up to 4th dimension, or time, would probably be unlikely, since that domain has already been taken by Chronomancer. While technically we still have Aion (time as a cycle) and Kairos (time of opportunity), those two just does not fit into the dimensional idea. Alternatively, to go down to zero-dimension, which translates in classical Euclidean geometry to a point, that is, 'an exact location in space, and has no length, width, or thickness'. But how would that translate to in-game mechanism?

Well yeah it is indeed a bit of both. While the healing aspect corresponds to water, mean while Warhorn itself gives you a feel of airflow. There are also multiple traits named "conduit", which could be understood either as electrical conduit, which corresponds to the air attunement, or simply channels that convey water. I do hope that there will either be another new spec dedicated to either Water or Air them and split it from Tempest in the future.

I mean, yeah Runes deeply integrated with certain skills (Trapper) or mechanism (Radiance with Tempest Aura share), while being the most interesting or even gameplay defining ones, are just hard to balance particularly for PvP/WvW. However, with the developers embracing function splits between PvE and the competitive scenes, and on top of that, limitation to access potentially troublesome Runes, which is a countermeasure already in place for PvP, it could not be all that bad?

I just could not agree more with you. Excellent write-up. For those who really feel like TL:DR, please at least check out the couple points I excerpt down below. At first glance, the underlined part seems to be potential balance hazard. Although this indeed could help some support builds that are considered not 'compressed' enough (meaning to be able to singlehandedly take up the responsibility of multiple roles, thus 'role-compression'). The difficult part would probably be how to prevent the existing highly 'compressed' support builds from accessing these boons way too easily that they just do not invest any attribute points into Concentration. And the 'special interactions' and 'utility types' you mentioned here really provide a neat solution. Overall, this definitely looks implementable. kitten it man, this is exactly what needs to be done after the multiple-year-long trend of standardization of unique buff effects. I can only hope the developers do find this. Just imaging Rune of Necromancer has some unique features proc upon entering shroud, or Rune of the Minion Master that provides functions that synergize with active minions. The sheer possibilities are immense. For Christ's sake, this is the kind of design that we NEED.

Anything but firearms please. The scientific/technology theme just does not match the elementalist archtype. Also something that can fit into a "water/ice elemental" theme, since we already got one spec for air (Tempest with Warhorn), fire (Weaver) and earth (Catalyst with Hammer and Jade sphere, both of which are pretty physical) each.

This ^. I think we could also use more voice lines between player character and the legendary figure they invoke. Let Mallyx, Ventari and others tell more stories about themselves and inform players the relevant lore better, instead of just some funny exchanges that only GW1 veterans understand. That would be some actually helpful 'small talks'.

This is spot on. However, it also presents a dilemma: if the Runes vary from each other too much in terms of DPS (or other capability in concern), people could be further discouraged to take the off-meta alternatives. On the other hand, the lack of gameplay difference provided by different runes can potentially be addressed by letting Runes provide access to features you would not be able to access otherwise. Take Trapper Runes for example. The set provides, upon deploy a trap, Stealth and Superspeed, both of which are otherwise difficult or impossible to access for Ranger or Dragonhunter. The set provides a significant mean to disengage and drastically changes how you would play. I'd say we could use more designs like this.

I think they meant the former case. The trait has a 0.25 s internal cooldown, likely prohibiting Vindicator from providing Protection to multiple allies suffering from conditions with one single cleansing skill. This is indeed something worth looking into in my opinion.

Glad you like the idea. Cheers! Personally, I prefer Stamina Sigil on Hammer (instead of GS), just to make up for Hammer's lack of point blank AoE damage skills, which is a con when it comes to mob farming. (Hammer is my default mob farm set.) With this set up I can tag mobs far away with Hammer skills, while still able to tag mobs within melee range with my dodge attack pretty effectively. And also thank you for your post. It gives me quite some ideas how I might put together my build in a different way.

Another thread on open world builds derailed by instanced content optimization nazis. People just never get tired of this huh? Not saying optimization advices are inherently bad, but it really is the business between OP and their party mates. They can negotiate and figure it out themselves. Instead of whacking your e-peen around and venting your frustration of some bad comp you recently had, how about provide some optimization advice that is actually constructive for open world scenario instead? LIke, OP if you've got a spare Greatsword, try Sigil of Energy with Celerity. It could provide more consistent Quickness coverage in boss fights with no adds, where Sigil of Stamina hardly comes in to effect. Especially helpful when you are in Dwarf stance, with no other source of Quickness than the duration extension effect from Vassals of Empires.

There we go. Another guy goes by "your priority does not count as long as it is not my priority". Classic. How about be grateful that whatever you feel more important is as it is ❤️

Vicious Reprisal While you have resolution, all damage dealt is increased, and you gain might when you strike foes. Resolution granted to you lasts longer. Damage Increase: 10% Might (8s): 30 Condition Damage, 30 Power Duration Increase: 50% — In-game description To quote from wiki: The bug has persisted for nearly 6 years since the introduction of the bonus back in 2017, surviving both change from Retaliation and boon stack rework. Please kindly address this issue.

I really like the dash idea a lot. Maybe done in the fashion similar to Warrior's Greatsword Rush with a significantly reduced distance to reflect the weight of hammer in Guardian's hands. Like, at the end of the animation, you transfer all the momentum accumulated during the short dash into your target with a powerful hammer uppercut, knocking it back. Seriously mad love.

What bugs me the most is that the developers never explicitly state the intention and design consideration behind this reversion in this patch note as they usually do. Instead, they just leave it for us, confused, to figure out what is supposed to be addressed and what can be done in order to address it. And you just cannot point and say what is done right/wrong with it.

First edit: for how exactly the rebalance could be done, I have proposed my idea in the comment below. Second edit: DO CHECK OUT the excellent write-up by Asum.4960 in the comments below. This is the best proposal I've seen so far. I have also provided an excerpt for those who do not wish to read long articles. - Looking into the lists of Sigils and Runes on wiki, it suddenly hit me that, the last time we got new Sigils and Runes was from the release of Path of Fire, back in September, 2017. That's been almost 5 and a half years. Both Heart of Thorns and Path of Fire introduced Runes associated with new Specializations (Rune of Weaver, etc). Heart of Thorn, additionally, adds Sigils that proc upon interrupting or disabling foes, and Runes that provides huge Boon Duration or Poison Duration buffs. The End of Dragon release introduced none. It only seems appropriate that at least new Runes associated with EoD specs will be made up in future patches or paid mini-expansions. Meanwhile, we are already provided with a huge variety of options. There are a total of 81 different kinds of Sigils and 127 kinds of Runes available in PvE. The problem is just that the majority of them never see use. Some of them follows dated design, such as stacking bonus attribute points upon killing an enemy (which was meta eons ago). Others just provides buffs that are not meaningful under any circumstances whatsoever (e.g., Sigil of Chilling, barely seen use after Reaper's Chill damage was removed and not even available or useful in PvP), and/or so niche that they are outshined by more generic ones (e.g., Malice Sigil vs condition-specific ones for builds rely on more than one or two types of damaging conditions). With professions and elite specialization update already made "a higher priority" and next balance patch coming in May 2, upgrade components could really use some love too. The first Rune and Sigil balance patch was done in 2014, followed by the second (and also the latest) one in 2018. No major overhaul has been done ever since, and the second half of 2023 seems to be a good time for another round.

Just to clarify, I have no intention to make permanent self-quicness possible for Weaver. As Mauti has also pointed out, 5 sec could be too high, and I am fine with whatever number people deem balanced. Updated the proposal with 3 sec duration.

Delayed Reactions Disabling a foe slows them. Disables include stun, daze, knockback, pull, knockdown, sink, float, launch, taunt, and fear. This trait can only affect the same enemy with once per interval. Slow (3s): Skills and actions are slower. Interval: 3 seconds — In-game description Bug: The trait is not triggered when a foe is taunted by Mesmer's Phantasmal Defender or Lesser Phantasmal Defender. While one might argue that adding Slow to Phantasmal's Defender would defeat its purpose, which is to take as many hits as possible, in reality it would not really matter. What actually affects the attack frequency of the regular PvE mobs is not their animation speed but their skill cooldown. On a side note, the trait can be triggered by Phantasmal Mage's daze. Remove Slow ICD in PvE: Slow is already one of the least accessible condition across all professions. The 3 sec ICD not only further limits the condition's presence, but also makes another associated trait Danger Time (+15% critcal chance against slowed targets) an even less worthy pick. (Meanwhile, Mesmer/Chronomancer is one of the most difficult profession to achieve Crit Cap.) By removing the trait's ICD and perhaps even doubling the Slow duration to 6 seconds could help a lot. It would not really break anything since there's already a 10 second maximum duration limitation for Slow in place.

I have an idea. Here is an alternative proposal: Superior Elements Dual Attack skills grant yourself Quickness. Attacks under the effect of Quickness have increased critical chance. Quickness (5s): Skills and actions are faster. Critical Chance Increase: 15% Since Quickness is consistently provided by allies in instanced contents, this will easily bridge the gap between builds/rotations of variable access to Dual Attacks. On top of that, it will make Weaver's combat more fluent in open world and less hindered by all the forced movements such as Flame Uprising (Sword #2 under Fire Attuenement). It will also encourage players to try out more complex rotations for just how powerful the Quickness boon is. I'll also update this part to my main post.

*oops sorry for double posting!*

I have made a few points in 4 separate posts. Guardian: [Feb. 14 Balance Patch] Hammer teleportation is welcomed - though perhaps misplaced. Elementalist: [Feb. 14 Balance Patch] PvE Power Weaver: Remove Superior Elements ICD Mesmer: [Feb. 14 Balance Patch] Mantra of Recovery requires further boost. Overall trend: [Feb. 14 Balance Patch] The trend that traits no longer reduce cooldowns is much welcomed.

Among all 5 Mesmer Mantra skills, the healing skill Mantra of Recovery is probably the least utilized one by players. Just look at the tooltip and it is not difficult to understand why. Mantra. Chant the mantra of recovery, instantly healing yourself. Receive increased healing if you are below the health threshold. Healing: 1,640 (0.25)? Healing below 50%: 2,620 (0.4)? Health Threshold: 50% Count Recharge: 20 seconds Maximum Count: 2 First of all, the baseline healing is just abysmally low. 1640 health point every 20 seconds make up for 82 hp/s. For comparison, Ether Feast heals 264 hp/s. The below-50% conditional healing isn't great either. 2640 healing makes up for only 16.6% of Mesmer's base health. Hardly something you would want to rely on dropping under 50%. And you have to cast 2 charges back to back with a 1 sec delay in order to reach the same effectiveness of Ether Feast. Only after adding 872 healing from Restorative Mantras, the mantra starts to become somewhat impressive. However, the dependency over one single trait for it to work properly, makes this skill a complete lackluster for Mesmers not taking Inspiration, a trait line that only a small minority of players would take. Now, the Feb. 14 balance patch will bring back the old Mantra preparation mechanics. Upon completing the preparation, Mesmers... Heal yourself, and heal nearby allies for a lesser amount. What is not explicitly stated in the preview note raises some real concerns. For example: How long does it take to prepare the Mantra? After all, no one enjoys healing skills with long cast time due to being prone to interruption. How much does a successful preparation heal? What about the charge healing value? Will the latter be buffed to a more usable degree? That makes a huge difference for players to decide whether they should prepare it before engagement or to prepare it only after receiving damage. Does the cooldown start upon completing preparation, or does it start upon consuming the final charge as it used to be? If the latter is the case, there is practically no point at all to save the last charge, and really no point to bring back the entire tactical preparation-charge mechanics for no meaningful decision making involved. The last time Mantra of Recovery received some meaningful buff was back in 2017, when it received 25% healing bonus upon fully charged--that is, a buff to the preparation part which was then removed in 2021. Now with the preparation coming back, as a fellow Memser main who just loves the Mantra theme deeply, I sincerely hope that the skill will be properly reworked to a practical state.

In the Feb. 14 balance patch preview note, we are seeing 10 skill sets (3 for weapons and 7 for slot skills) no longer receive cooldown reduction from their corresponding traits. Instead, the majority of the affected skills will have the reduced cooldown their new baseline after the patch. This is one of the most welcomed trend in recent balance patches, as players are no longer bond to take up certain trait lines just to get a more or less proper cooldown. It also promotes more engaging gameplay (after all, no one enjoys staring at long cooldowns in combat). The trend should really extend to the following: All underwater weapons: seriously, barely anyone would ever take a trait just so that their underwater weapon skills can have reduced cooldown. Just make the reduced value the new baseline. All core specialization slot skills: along with rebalance/rework to encourage players to further utilize some old core specialization slot skills and promote build diversity.

The Feb. 14 Balance patch is going to introduce a new teleportation mechanism for Guardian's Hammer #2 and #4 skill: Banish: This skill now marks the enemy for 5 seconds. Mighty Blow will consume the mark to teleport to the target. This will address the issue and frustration when Guardians launch their target with Banish, they have to walk up some distance to it, just so that they can hit it again. However, I'd like to propose an alternative solution here. Rather than adding the teleportation mark to Banish, increase Mighty Blow leap distance to 600 and slightly reduce Banish launch distance to 600, so that Guardians can just leap and hit their blown-away target. Meanwhile, let Mighty Blow consume the teleportation mark still, but add the teleportation mark to Zealot's Embrace instead. The problem with Zealot's Embrace, as discussed a few years go, has always been that even if the 1200 range projectile successfully hits and immobilizes its target, as long as the target is about 600 units away, there is hardly any chance for Guardian to capitalize on the 2-second immobilized time frame due to lack of mobility. Adding the teleportation mark to Zealot's Embrace would provide better synergy and make the 1200 full projectile range actually useful. This proposal will also make Hammer significantly more competitive in PvP scenarios, providing better in-and-out of combat mobility for Hammer Guardians to engage and pursue their opponents, at a slight cost of the launch distance of Banish. Let me know what you think about this idea!