Magizen.7842

No point complaining about balance when we're very close to xpac at this point but we can expect things to go loud again right after release.

That's intellectually dishonest because FA Cata took around 2 months (2 MATs) for people to realize you stack 2-5 of it. Most certainly didn't take one night LOL. The follow up balance patch where they nerfed Signet Cata happened only a few days or a week before the MAT, before that nearly everyone agreed you would definitely stacked at least 3 or more Signet Catas.

Like who? They are certainly not in this thread right now that's for sure. And whoever else you have in mind do you genuinely believe the NA finalists, especially USA, would think they're good enough for that role because I can assure you they only see 1 ranger in NA and he's banned.

I don't think you are aware of the fact that this build was tested several times in scrims w/c one would consider 'higher tiered play' as these were a mix of veteran players coming from USA, r55, Worms, etc.. to begin with, that is why it became popular and seen play in MAT. The reason Team USA nor the 2nd place in NA didn't play it in MAT is because both teams had no one that plays soulbeast and there was probably not enough time to practice it and be good at it in just a few days. The only top player that could play ranger well against other top players was banned which is why USA had no ranger this time.

Maybe a pull shouldn't have a 1/4 cast time (even faster with quickness) for a CC skill that also immobs you. Either nerf the cast time or remove the immob then a slight nerf to pet maul, even I can't contain my grin whenever I land a 10-12k burst on one skill mid CC+Immob it just feels dirty. I think sword needs a tiny bit dmg nerf and pig F3 then I think the build is pretty balanced.

This will be the greatest QoL update in the history of Guild Wars 2 PvP, you can even sell this feature separately as a DLC or in the gemstore. I wouldn't mind paying 5000 gems to unlock this feature.

You mean "What is even the point of Virtuoso in sPvP?"? Honestly, specs like Mech, Virt, Shout/Tactics Bladesworn, and Signet Cata shouldn't be a thing in PvP unless they get a big rework to cater to PvP'ers. The truth is, nearly everyone hates Virt but Virt players themselves which is why Anet can get away with gutting the spec with nothing to give back in return. It's frustrating for sure but I would highly suggest rerolling to a different class at least only for sPvP. No one likes Virt and CmC knows it, just come back when they rework virt.

If you're talking about signet Cata, it doesn't matter I haven't even seen anyone play it in the last 2 days. If it's FA Cata then I have no clue how you can get "perma" prot. If it's Hammer Cata well they kinda do need it considering how that spec was already slow and made even slower after the last balance patch by removing mobility on Hammer Air 4. Also, if you really want protection for free on any Ranger spec: https://wiki.guildwars2.com/wiki/Companion's_Defense. Guard and Cata can just complain why they don't get to have 'perma'-stealth like Thief does, or perma-range pressure via AI like Ranger does... these types of complaints are ultimately baseless for obvious reasons imo. Just can't have all the mechanics in one class unless you're Engi LOL.

Well, these suggestions were probably ignored so we get to have a balance patch that weren't so effective. They're trying to increase build diversity but it created one overpowered build that again leads to indirectly nerfing other things which lowers build diversity for the class, the cycle continues. Can't help but be convinced that this was an uninspiring way to nerf Catalyst. Any hopes of making Scepter ever be strong on DPS Weaver, Tempest, Core Ele is completely gone YET it's gonna feel even more mandatory to run Signet Cata more than any other Ele builds. This nerf crushes any hopes of making Scepter useful outside of Catalyst, D/D builds across all Ele specs are nerfed, no reason to play Hammer Catalyst after this besides farming mechanically bad players, and the only build that was actually high risk-high reward FA Cata w/ off-hand dagger and FA Weaver is gonna feel even less rewarding to play now despite how much harder you have to out skill every other meta specs to achieve the same results. Basically, these changes indirectly nerfed builds that didn't need nerfing while not even solving the core issue with Signet Cata. People say CmC is bias to Elementalist yet at the same time do people actually think balance devs can be bias to classes they don't even play?

There's simply no type of matchmaking that will solve this issue if the game mode simply doesn't have enough players to make them as fair as most of us wish it to be. You will notice matchmaking has higher tendency to be balance and accurate during prime time in EU when everyone is at home (when a bunch of p1-p3 players are actually queueing). And then you can go to NA and try to queue on Monday-Tuesday off-hours and the matchmaking feels so RNG due to the fact that there's not enough players for the MM to pick up for your rating. Also, a good tip coming from someone who has had thousands of matches, once you're tilted you should just stop playing or at least take a 15-30 minute break to do something else because I noticed most of my lose streaks happened when I'm tilted and I'm not alone in this experience.

Catalyst is genuinely far too overtuned with this recent balance patch, there's a chance we might just get a signet catalyst stacking for the next MAT. Please do something about this class on your next follow ups or it's gonna be very unfun for everyone.

Signet Cata build has to be the most overpowered Elementalist build in the last 5 or so years. I understand the direction they want to go with this class which is to make it an aura/field/combo based playstyle (which I'm a fan of) rather than its outdated identity of being a jack-of-all-trades tank class but this patch only encouraged off-cooldown highly spammy playstyle that is highly rewarded for minimum effort in sPvP. I try to be as objective as possible without overnerfing but I'm open to hear your thoughts about this, especially Ele mains. For build reference: http://gw2skills.net/editor/?PGgAsilZwwYZMN2LOSPvxPA-zZoKjMTgeLApHAA Here are some Nerf suggestions: Add an Internal cooldown (ICD) on 'Staunch Auras' that lasts for 2s. (This does not only prevent stab stacking but will also force the player to choose between optimizing their DPS or their stab uptime.) 'Flamestrike' should no longer burn on its second strike (nerfing its condi damage and making it take longer to reapply burns) 'Churning Earth' bleed stacks reduced from 8 to 5 and increase cast time from 3/4s to 1s. 'Spectacular Sphere' might from fire sphere reduced from 5 to 2 but will now last from 6s to 8s. 'Energized Elements' will no longer grant might on attunement swapping and reduce energy gain from 3 to 2. (I know energy generation on Catalyst is horrendous without this trait, in fact no cata build will work in sPvP without it but Anet can address this in the future or by my next suggested change) 'Elemental Epitome' will no longer grant 'Elemental Empowerment' but instead grant 2 energy gain, ICD remains the same. 'Elemental Empowerment' stacks reduced from 3 to 2 while in combat. 'Signet of Water' reduce healing coefficient by 50% ONLY for the user but maintain the same amount of heal for allies. Add an ICD on ''Elemental Shielding'' for 1s. Add ICD on 'Written in Stone' that ranges from 10-20s. (most important and necessary nerf for signet cata) Decrease 'Geomancer's Training' Damage reduction from 10% to 7% and its range threshold from 360 to 180. Decrease 'Stone Flesh' Damage reduction from 7% to 5% Increase 'Gale' cast time from 3/4s to 1 1/4s, if this is too much then at least add a much more telegraphed animation for this ability it's the only way you can justify a 3/4s cast time Rework 'Earthen Blessing' to give an Earthen Blessings stack that lasts for 'x' after receiving any of these conditions: cripple, chill, immobilized. At 3 stacks it will trigger its function to grant 15 endurance. Will no longer decrease the duration of movement impairing conditions. (Overall a nerf, ele mains might hate me for it but I think this is a healthier implementation of what it tries to achieve.) The idea around these suggestions is to specifically nerf the currently overtuned builds for Catalyst (Signet Cata and FA Cata) while minimizing its effect on other Elementalist builds, especially those that are already underperforming or in a balanced state. This may finally push Catalyst out of meta BUT it should probably remain strong without being OP nor unfair to fight, which what every class should aim to be at.

Why does it matter? And besides if it was as easy as you want to think, there's only about 2-3 people (EU & NA combined) that plays it at a level it's expected to be played at a competitive level or in Monthly Tournaments. Unlike previous meta builds including the more recent one's like Catalyst, Chrono, Bladesworn, Vindicator, Scrapper, etc., about half of the tryhards I know just rerolls to it with ease and play at a top level.

Herald was actually the first thing that came in my mind but it doesn't feel strong enough in my opinion.

For me it would be Untamed and Catalyst as they are the strongest DPS classes in PvP in this current meta yet I don't feel they're overpowered, especially Untamed and Vindicator, they feel strong for right and fair reasons. Maybe FA Catalyst needs a bit more toning down but I don't see what else is there to nerf other than its absurd might generation and Gale (unblockable CC for 3s with very subtle yet fast animation), but other than that it feels fine.