Cageman.6157

So, yes lowering channel time/increasing dmg can mildly fix that, but it still presents a major underlying issue. Why do 100b over other skill chains that can output more, and proc more with a double adrenaline hit. Or why have it at the 6 sec cooldown (due to being in slot 2) when it requires setup to use, and other skills could swap places and efficiently use the 6 sec cooldown. Finally, how would simply a damage increase on a skill that needs setup, singularly cause great sword to become more incentivized over weapon kits. Right now great sword is really only used for mobility, and even then it's debatable if u even need that over other builds. It doesn't entirely synergize with other weapons either, it's execute dmg on arc slice is not as impressive as before, and it gives no overall utility other than mobility, and a ranged poke. The goal with not simply targeting damage is to give it more identity over other weapon kits, and more of an incentive. The incentive of simply damage is a common failing point to specs since it only lasts as long as it's current state/meta lasts, when a nerf flies by that affects it, or changes the meta against it, then it becomes obsolete. This can be said for most things (since meta dictates a great deal of builds), but simply damage doesn't have as much fall back as something with utility does. So the goal is longevity, and effectiveness. Does mobility with 100b make it hit harder, no. But what it does allow is more frequent use, ability to pool adrenaline, and the ability to remove effects such as aegis/blind, or force invuln (if they were low enough to not want a poke and rest of burst rotation was on cd) by being a filler. Would it be favored over other wpns, more than likely still not, especially when looking at something like axe or dagger. However, allowing mobility could open up other possibilities to later buffs, or allow it to still perform in metas where it's damage falls off even more, by at least adding a filler to the rotation that lacks mainly cuz of only having mobility, and arc slice. Not to mention 6 secs on a 5 sec wpn swap allows u to more efficiently use the skill, while also no longer having to be forced to chain cc with it (which allows u to maintain an effective dmg rotation/pressure), and allows you to do things like activating it early, then running on a target to land just the final hit kind of scenario. Also yes making/changing animations takes time/effort, but it secures more longevity, or opens up more options in doing something like this, that will expedite the process. Especially on something like warrior, that suffers from having a weapon reworked anywhere from 3~5 times before it becomes acceptable.

So part of this is an issue with understanding their mechanics. For starters i'm assuming that's a rifle Dead eye. They can only do damage if they don't go stealth arts, otherwise their damage becomes more manageable and you can out kite it. Next Dead eye's rely on that first intial quickness proc from stealing, and trying to 3 spam or 2 spam 3 times with it. The counter there is to dodge, block, or block vision. Once you do that they become very manageable either because they ran low on initiative, or they lost the quickness. Yes they can kite around, and mildly stealth, but it's about what they trade to do their damage. They trade a lot of survivability, and as long as you don't play into the chase game on them, and know how to kite right against a thief, you can get them very easily or at least make them run. Overall a deadeye is far more telegraphed than your average Daredevil thief that has for more of a defensive kit and can harass a lot more consistently. Plus the damage on Dead eye rifle is the same as most high rank burst builds, some examples being chronoshatter, Dragonhunter with a 12k arrow hit, vindicator/herald shiro builds, or soulbeast stomp melee builds. The difference is that Dead eye trades far more defenses compared to those other ones. Now for the catalyst, i'm assuming you are talking about scepter catalyst. For those your goal is to apply chills, dazes, or bury confusion since they are relying on chaining a whole variety of skills/procs all at once. So your goal is to disrupt, spread out, or apply damage to those rotations. The other step is to not get cc'd (Or to break the cc before the damage from something like a dragon tooth phoenix occurs), and/or to not do your burst when they have chill aura. Most times they'll apply chill aura, protection, and sometimes weakness during this time and ball of those together reduce a lot of strike damage all at once. So if you chain a damage rotation during this you just effectively wasted your damage and got forced into a passive/defensive rotation while they go hard at you. The reason why you can see these classes perform more frequently, is because of ease of access right now. chrono shatter, vindicator/herald, and even soulbeast trade less (catalyst is sorta there with them), but they take more knowledge and skill to play. So they tend not to be played as much unless you are a higher tier player (Right now more have fun with mesmer builds due to the low cd's right now making them fairly decent for once). they are very manageable though, and are very duelist heavy, so if they are an issue for you make sure your team is aware of their presence, and avoid being alone if your build isn't capable of handling them.

I understand that damage is seemingly the issue on the skill (and in some parts it is). However that isn't the entire picture. This skill mimics Zealot's defense in some ways, but 1 is far more applied than the other. The major differences contributing to this are the fact that the cast time is lower, and it provides utility. Utility such as projectile blocking, trait procing (with the multi hit feature), and ranged component. All this combined made the lesser dmg than what the new hundred blades will have and the longer cooldown worth it still. Not to mention soon they'll have mobility which means no longer do u need to use a teleport, or land on target first. However where hundred blades lacks is that it does not proc traits, does not have utility, and has a long channel time. Those features cause the lower cooldown, and higher dmg (which is debatable based on one's ability to land it with cc and quickness) to be negligible and very difficult to apply for a 2 slot skill. Not to mention it competes with other skills/bursts since the long channel time overall lowers dps in pvp; when you could instead chain a rotation of damage in that time that eclipses the hundred blades damage. I suggest instead of a damage increase (or alongside it) to simply allow us to move with it, since the theme lately is to remove immobile channels. It provides no utility, and would not impact the meta/strength of the class by much. It would simply allow the greatsword to have more usage outside of mobility and arc slice. For instance hundred blades could use that 6 sec cooldown more efficiently, you could pool more adrenaline with it, or u could remove blind/aegis with the multihit. Simply by adding more mobility you can add more utility to a skill that lacks it. My other proposal is to switch the place of hundred blades with the blade trail. This would allow us to use the cooldowns more efficiently since blade trail is used far more frequently than hundred blades (due to lack of mobility/utlity). However that could cause issues for pve since hundred blades does perform in pve.

Greatsword: Swap places of hundred blades with blade trail. This is because "Hundred Blades" needs too much setup to be used as often as 61/2 seconds, but blade trail is impactful for ranged poke/setup. Let "Hundred Blades" be used while moving, like the "Flurry" rework. That way the low cooldown can be used efficiently as opposed to rarely. Increase Rush speed to account for how exposed you are while using it. Rifle: Let "Brutal Shot" shoot while evading like before the rework. Due to being exposed while waiting for the after shot to happen (most times better just to use another skill than to wait for the shot after evade). Lower "Kill Shot" cast time from 1/14 second to 1/2 second or 1/4 second cast. Due to the skill being overly telegraphed, and exposing the character to most of a burst rotation. It is for this reason that very few people bring it unless they're on a berserker build. Longbow: Lower "Arcing Arrow" cast time to 1/2, or1/4 cast time. The cast time is extremely telegraphed and lowers dmg potential after a cc setup due to the time needed. Increase "Arcing Arrow" speed. The cast time is relatively long and telegraphed, however it also has a slow travel time. This skill should mimic the thief's "Cluster Bomb" in travel time being closer when nearer to you. Allow "Arcing Arrow" to have an early detonation to mitigate the slow travel time and cast time. Just like thief "Cluster Bomb" that way there is incentive to use at close range like "Fan of Fire" rather than ignoring the skill.

Some more basic sets of armor that look like the plate armor in the "Exalibur (1981)" movie. Something that connects (or looks like it) on the arms to shoulder, and waist to leg like in warlord's set. I know there a quite a few people that want full armor sets in female variants as well.