scerevisiae.1972

Rate the elite specs

hard disagree. Vindicator was one of the best new specs and greatword is awesome. Catalyst on the other hand, was as bad as bad gets.

It's a fair point of discussion but at the end of the day, you can execute the skill at range, so IMO it's still a ranged attack, just *you're* the projectile instead of a spell projectile. Hard disagree that 600+ is min for ranged though, I think catalyst being a mid-ranged caster is fine, just... that it's not, according to the data. It's my sincere hope they add more range to hammer, cause even at 600 range, with 1 gap closer, a 1single attack block and no swiftness/superspeed, it's going to be total garbage in wvw.

^this. It should be a fixed duration (maybe extendable by traits). The whole concept of energy as a resource is really dumb IMO. It's not even original - it's functionally the same thing as adrenaline, only with warrior you gain access to powerful burst skills, with catalyst you get to make your boring field a couple of seconds longer. Omega-bad.

The more I mull over catalyst skills & traits, the less likely I think it can even be made good. 600 range is going to be really awkward with minimal mobility, no stab, no reflect, no way to reset attunement CD and only a single attack block.... it's so so bad. The last thing I want is catalyst D/D that plays exactly like core ele D/D plus a boring F5 field. Anet please raeassure us you're making serious changes.

water jade sphere doesn't heal allies either.

updated with evade comparison

https://en-forum.guildwars2.com/topic/102004-rate-catalyst/ 260+ votes /is/ statistically relevant for the likely population of catalyst players in the beta.

yeah I think hammer needs big improvements, it doesn't have a niche. Range needs to be extended or mobility needs to be increased a lot. It was so bad in WVW. I also think there should be at least 1 ranged skill in every element at a minimum. It would be nice if there were a couple of skills with 900+ range, eg: air #2, fire #4 and the #3 finale skills. Personally I thought the #3 skills were gimmicky and weren't worth the time to cast either due to weak effects and would prefer they were totally replaced but I can't see that happening.

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/18YPpHisLo2kstuM--8BtTozGat-kYp7PZO_XEPex9ss/edit?usp=sharing I defined ranged as anything with 400+ range. Summary: hammer is ~60% melee / 40% ranged (6 / 20 true ranged skills, 2 mobility skills, 12 melee skills) sword is ~90 melee / 10% ranged dagger is ~70% melee, 30% ranged So if you were feeling like hammer had no real niche or identity, well, according to the numbers, you'd be right. Hammer and dagger share nearly the same profile of melee/ranged attacks. Clearly, hammer needs more range (or more ranged skills) if it is to have any unique identity over the space that sword/dagger already fill. Also: hammer has 0 evades (though there is a single attack block) sword/dagger has 3 evades dagger/dagger has 3 evades

yeah i think this is on the money. rework F5 for sure. needs to be a separate field per element (seperate CDs), moveable, or recastable. Personally I'd prefer F5 just has a regular 10sec CD, and the field lasts 3-5sec (3sec base, 5sec with traits). remove energy mechanic completely. normalise _most_ but not all hammer skills to be 600 range, with a couple of 900-1200 skills so hammer is not useless in WVW. Beta hammer was WAY too similar to sword and dagger. Make it unique please. utilities were really really bad. Just god-awful, no exaggeration. Rework completely to address the weaknesses of hammer -- mobility, condi clear, field generation, lack of block/evades/reflects. Utilities should actually provide utility, right? At least, those would be the iterable improvements I'd be hoping for, but honestly I'd prefer a version of Catalyst where the utilities each provide a specific element field (call them wells) and the class mechanic is something entirely new. Make the elite grant 1200 range to all ranged skills for 5 sec, something like that. If they don't make big changes after the near-universally negative reception (just look at the poll), then there's something majorly wrong.

Overall I liked it. Blades instead of clones is definitely a good new direction. Didn't like dagger much at all, the #3 skill is waaaay too slow moving and #2 was a bit meh. i really think the #2 or #3 should have been a movement skill. The utilites were good, though the damage felt very undertuned. The elite skill is really bad, numerous times it missed all targets even though it looked perfectly lined up from my perspective.

yeah Catalyst is kittening awful. flashy and pretty animations but the design and playability are in the toilet.

main issue with catalyst based on evidence (poll in this forum) is the F5 field, namely that it's immobile, which makes it super bad for anything requiring movement (90% of the game). here's a relatively simple change that would make a world of difference. The format is: `suggestion` -> `impact` * The F5 fields have a CD per element, so you can go into air, cast a field (with ~4sec fixed duration improved by traits) then go into water, cast another field. casting a new field removes your previous field., ie: you can only have 1 field up at a time (traits could maybe allow previous field(s) to linger for 2extra secs). -> the F5 is effectively made mobile * delete energy as a mechanic -> it's pointless, just use a fixed duration instead * Extend the duration of the #3 circling skills by at least 2 sec (again, could be a trait); extend the finale skill range to 1200 -> #3 skill is worth casting * make *all* (or at least more of) the #1 and #2 skills 600 range -> because 2/3rds of skills are melee and catalyst needs to be more differentiated from D/D and sword * Seriously consider replacing/deleting the aura line of traits, auras were tempest's thing -> catalyst is differentiated from tempest * No suggestion for the utilities, they can't be fixed with number tweaks, they are really that bad. Catalyst **desperately** needs more condi cleanse and mobility, so i would refocus the utilities to address that shortcoming.

The main thrust of the complaints are not about its power level, they're about how fundamentally broken the core design is. * it's basically a mish-mash of sword weaver and D/D because ~2/3rd of the kit is melee range, *not* medium range * the F5 is super clunky (unless you're stationary) * the "energy" mechanic is way out of left field and really adds nothing over a normal fixed duration or duration + traits * the traits are based on aura production with only 1 (clunky) field in the whole kit (how stupid is that) and moreover, auras were tempest's thing, why are we doing auras again? * the utilities are ultra bad and don't work with the any of the rest of the kit. ... it's a design problem not a number problem. i mean look at the poll numbers - it's blatantly obvious there's a problem.

One of the most polished and fun e-specs so far. The whole kit is pretty nice and the utilities are genuinely useful. Pleasantly surprised.

You can't be serious. I am just deleting people with alliance/shiro GS/hammer. The damage and mobility are awesome.

IMO the main reasons: * GW2 is kinda grindy. is salvaging 10000 things per day fun? is having to empty your full bags 100x per day fun? * it's tedious and too much pay-to-win, nearly everything worth having requires gems, the game is SUPER TEDIOUS to play without spending gems * it's quite an anti-social game, with many barrier that make it hard for you to play with your friends, the levelling up experience is really horrible. * PVP game mode is really unappealling * a lot of people hate downed state

This. I don't even bother casting them.

For me the key failure is the lack of differentiation from dagger and sword. Hammer is basically an inferior version of sword but with a nearly identical playstyle. Hammer really should be a true mix of ranged and melee -- there should be a 600-900 range skill in each attunment, not just 2. Also just 1 field in the entire kit. What is the point of the aura traits if there is only 1 field? The whole stationary field/energy mechanic is REALLY REALLY bad in its current form - both in terms of the concept of playing around a stationary field and in terms of implementation, using an arbitrary new energy resource that really adds nothing. IMO just scrap energy completely and have separate field CDs per attunement with fixed duration.

Overall it's one of the better if not the best e-specs so far. Things I like: * GS as a weapon is great, nice combination of skills * the dodge mechanics actually work and are pretty good * _most_ of the utilites are good Things I dislike: * I don' like the flip-over skills at all. I'd rather choose the ones I want and lock them in so they never flip over. * the blue elite (the urn) feelsbadman, should be instant cast not 1sec CD to use then use again, not to mention the effect is really bad/useless, I never want to use it * there is an annoying movement/animation lock at the end of the middle dodge GM attack, I stopped using it because of it. * the top GM dodge trait is good but costs too much energy, 150 is too much.

yeah i definitely thinking the designers are locked into some kind of design cliche where all ele specs require frequent attunement changes, all healing and cleanse skills are locked into water attunement, etc etc. I was hoping for new style of gameplay with catalyst but it's really just the same thing all over again, just this time with a really bad profession mechanic.

Rate catalyst

^ this. Catalyst is clearly better with D/D but even then it's only on par with core ele.

Sorry guys but overall it's bad, really bad. Slow, clunky and short range on a low HP/armour class was a mistake but there are some other glaring problems. * the F5 is really bad. it's just a combo field! other weapons sets have numerous combo fields but hammer has only 1, yet have 1/3rd of its traits based around combo fields. * i hate how slow and lumbering hammer feels. * mixed range is fine but i really hate the inconsistency of melee range only for earth and water. i REALLY wish there was at least 1 900+ range skill per element. * the #3 spinning skills are cool but the duration is really short, feels not worth the opportunity cost of casting & switching attunements to use. I don't even use these skills except to precast before an encounter. The range on the finisher is too short. * I dislike that all of the #2s don't require targeting but air does. * the aura traits are good but as before there's only 1 combo field in the entire kit!!!! Really disappointing sorry. IF i could change just 1 thing it would be to make all the 600 range skills 900 range, and 300 as the min range for all skills except the #5s. The next thing would be remove/replace the F5.