Good grief. The Vindicator is being messed around so many times, plus people claim that it's OP and deserves to be nerf. It's like the Vindicator is attacked by the community especially those that don't main the Vindicator and its haters, and the ANet balance team devs. I played GW2 since Oct. 2022 (my first ever MMO game) and I didn't know that the Vindicator was controversial with the PvP/WvW experience and the continuous nerfs that happened to this class recently and again, it's nerfed again for no reason while the Catalyst dominates the scene in PvP and WvW. What's next? ANet going to try to gut the Vindicator in PvE this time?
It must be frustrating that the dodges get nerfed and this forces the Vindicators to get the next best dodge after the nerfs, so the choices become limited. I didn't know that ANet was nerfing the Forerunner of Death on its damage and Saint of zu Heltzer and on its heals and barriers since the changes occurred before I played this game. No wonder why I have seen players in PvP uses Vassals of the Empire these days while I use it since I like to take advantage of gaining boons in PvP/WvW, open world, strike missions, and fractals. I just finished beating Fractal T4 Sunqua with a full group and Vassals of the Empire is amazing and it kept me alive for the final boss fight. The Vindicator cannot get everything it wants and it's still get's nerf. If I want all damage, I use Forerunner of Death and goodbye to anything else. If I want sustain, I sacrifice some of my damage and use Vassals of the Empire, and this is my main build coupled with Salvation traits. In the ArcDPS stats with my main build, I don't usually get the highest DPS compared to the other classes while being in the middle of the pack in fractals teams and raids. The only way for me to gain the most DPS is sacrificing everything and go with Invocation and Devastation and give up Salvation. Most of the time, my DPS placed 4th to 6th. During my raid trainings with the guild, I placed 1st once and 2nd twice on successful raid boss fights in emboldened mode since I'm still new to raids. Why I brought up these instanced PvE results? This is to show that Vindicator is not OP on its own and I have to work hard and learn its class to gain the most of it. For PvP play, I have to be aware of its deficiencies while finding other ways to contribute to the team. Damage is not the be-all and end-all since other classes already outshines the Vindicator when it comes to damage and having most attributes at once. I am still not happy with removal of chill even though I play with the power build. It takes away the options for those Vindicators that want to play with condi damage.
Vindicators do have utilities, but their CCs is not as effective and I have to switch legends and use the staff to knock back enemies. What happens when Jalis's chains cannot work like in a fractal Mai Trin boss fight where she has those immunity bubbles, or when players in PvP neutralize it successfully? The CC of the Vindicator gets negated, so I have to resort to Shiro and use Jade Winds, which is way too wasteful and I exhaust all the energy, and players can dodge this too. In PvP, I use Shiro for stuns and gain enough damage, but the sustain isn't great. If I use Jalis, I gain sustain and CC, but the damage is not there. Once again, Vindicators cannot get everything in one go. I have to be aware of the trade-offs. I have to be aware of interruptions and this will prevent me to use my heals. I can use stun breaks, but in PvP play, those happen continuously. I can block attacks with the GS, but players can easily read it to avoid wasting their attacks.
Speaking of the PvP amulets, I start to see that Berserker with Divinity is the best option for damage. I tried Maurader with Divinity and the damage feels so weak. I did a practice duel with my brother who plays the Willbender on the PvP practice area in Heart of the Mists. He was amazed that my class is that weak and I could not kill him and his HP only went down by 1/3 of it with my full rotation while running Alliance (Archemorus). I did the same thing previously on the open world in the guild instance arena area and I completed destroyed him and he was sniped by my spear. The nerfs on the Vindicator is alarming that I am forced to use the aforementioned amulet combination to get the damage. Even though I can squeeze more damage, it's not good enough compared to the other meta classes like the Elementalists, Mechanists, Reapers, Bladesworn, Berserker Warriors, Spellbreakers, Holosmiths, etc. If I want to get more comparable DPS in PvP, then I have to go to Forerunner of Death and there goes my survivability, boon removal after one dodge, and sustain. Condition damage is very strong and I get melted when I get caught once. Elementalists particularly the Catalysts, killed me the fastest among all the classes in the game.
What's the deal with ANet these days? Is the Vindicator's prominence in competitive play hurt their pride? So, if a Vindicator is able to solo T3 Mai Trin boss legitimately with no macros (which I actually did in 36 min. with my Wupwup gear without being downed), being able to solo champions in the open world, and being the key player of reviving players in instanced PvE group play very successfully while taking lots of punishment and surviving with the tank Celestial build, will this class get nerfed again when other classes can do things better? I am now very worried since I am more conscious about the incessant nerfs on the Vindicator rather than enjoying the game. I have a feeling that ANet does not want me to play the Vindicator and this game any longer. I didn't know that Vindicator really has a bad history of nerfs and PvP/WvW triumphs, and the controversy of one-dodge vs. two-dodges. To me, GW2 is like League of Legends although these are totally different games. ANet constantly takes away the options of the Vindicator, and once the players get the best option, it gets nerfed again. The Vindicator's life is like in the hamster wheel. I start to really despise the balance team since they want to take away my fun. At the same time, I don't want the Vindicator to be OP. I simply want the sweet balance that makes the class rewarding to play and being able to gain new heights when I master it, and being able to appreciate its skill expression. I am a noob with a core Guardian, and yeah, I have better experiences with the core Guardian than with the Vindicator in PvP. They are getting buffed next patch too, but I am not really the fan of the Guardian.
I start to think that there is profession/elite-spec favoritism among the ANet devs and balance team devs. Is the vision of these guys want specific class to dominate in specific situation or all game modes so that players are forced to play the meta and remove player choice? League of Legends forces players to play the meta game as well, and the same can be said in mobile games too.
@Buran.3796, thanks for your insights and I share some of the issues and concerns with the Vindicator. Unfortunately, I came to the game very late, so I need to know some insights about the Vindicator in the past. The Vindicator is quite a polarizing class. What bothers me the most is that ANet constantly takes away the players' options with it comes to the Vindicator when they craft the most optimized build. I believe that their profession/elite-spec favoritism may make this game jump the shark, but that's my honest opinion.
I want to know the update about the current player base since the Catalyst firestorm has shifted the PvP landscape entirely thanks to the BS of the 5-player French Catalyst squad dominating the MATs and the massive prominence of the elementalists in championship winning MAT teams recently. My brother doesn't play much GW2 now since he's also frustrated by the Catalyst meta (same as me) and his Willbender doesn't get much love since ANet doesn't seem want to improve the Power DPS Willbender especially the off-hand sword in all game modes. Also, he told me that he gets wrecked by Catalysts and other PvP meta professions. I have noticed that there is something wrong with the Catalysts. Some of their attacks seemed are not telegraph and are hard to react. I was completely destroyed by a Catalyst and I was getting hit everywhere and not even seeing anything that hits me. Is there a mechanic on what makes a Catalyst difficult to read, perhaps, not telegraphed? Fortunately, I am still around playing this game since I finally reached Lv. 100 in fractals today, did some successful raid trainings and strike missions with the guild, doing the usual meta events, dailies, and Dragonstorm, and soloed T4 Mai Trin boss fractal. I'm really a main PvE player, but being put to a spot of playing PvP since the dailies are there. I honestly wish there are more PvE dailies so I don't have to play PvP at all. Unfortunately, the unbalanced nature of PvP can make more players leave the game. I want to see some of the statistics or anything related to current number of players after this current patch. I imagine how the new players got destroyed by the Catalysts and then decide to leave the game because they got blown out and/or shutout. Being dominated in PvP is a waste of time and it's similar to not making a progress by not playing the game. It's like the newer players get punished by the power fest of Catalysts and other meta professions by simply playing PvP and trying out other competitive game modes.
