scerevisiae.1972

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.

The whole class mechanic is pretty bad TBH - it's clunky to use and overall very weak in impact -- it's just a plain old stationary combo field. Get rid of energy - just have a set duration, make each element's field have its own CD, and make creating a new field remove the old field (ie one field at a time). The core suckiness issue here is that it's stationary and hammer is based on combo fields but has not combo field in its kit. Even if buffed in this way, it's still a really meh profession mechanic, super disappointing.

Agree with all that. Seems like it will be better to run D/D than hammer just because of the availability of fields and combos is that much better. The other big thing that I hate is that Catalyst design really locks Ele into taking cele/bunkery stats yet again (at least hammer anyway). It would have been nice to see a bit more mobility emphasis instead of CC/tankiness, because, you know, it's a caster class, not a tank, and sword weaver is already a tank. I also really hate the F5, it's really really bad. Just make it move with the Ele or remove the energy requirement and give it a cooldown.

but... you could have unique legendaries and then reskin them with gemstore/set skins if you want stuff to match. personally, 3rd gen legendaries being all the same are a huge disppointment.

Link some, i don't know of any, I have the Claw, it still fits the backwardly-held dagger visual motif, it's just a symmetrical around the hand. Look again at the silhouette. The blade of the weapon extends well past the knees, and clearly extends from the front of the hand. There's no way this is a dagger. Much more likely a spear / polearm.

Definitely not a dagger, daggers are iconically held in the back of the hand in this game for easy visual identification. I don't think they would break with that core design motif, so definitely not a dagger. I think it's a new weapon type. It could be a terrestrial version of a spear but more likely a similarly-named polearm weapon like glaive/pike/javelin etc. I think at least one other elite spec will get this weapon and i think there's a high chance it will be called a paragon, from GW1. It also seems to me like new mesmer spec will *not* have clones.

pay-to-win is a spectrum, not a binary choice. there's no doubt that GW2 is on the less pay-to-win side, and that's fine. everyone is going to have their own personal breakpoint at which point the pay-to-win-ness is tolerable (in your words, "legit") vs not. and that's ok.

i think you mean: _your_ personal definition. urbandictionary definition with 778 approves: https://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=pay-to-win read that to yourself slowly and then, objectively if you can, apply that to GW2. even if you want to arbitrarily restrict it to PVP, someone who buys expansion and competes with elite specs has a clear advantage over someone restricted to core specs. in PVE, someone who spends $$$ for boosters, larger bank & bag slots, infinite gathering tools, salvage-o-matics and world boss portal device etc has a clear gold-per-hour advantage over someone who doesn't.

i think some major white-knighting going on here... but yes i would say any expansion that adds a class/spec that is clearly better than the existing ones available is consistent with the pay-to-win label yes. i don't really get the big deal, most games have pay-to-win aspects to them - it's how they incentivise spending money on their game and earn income -- GW2 is no different.

if you could _only_ buy with in-game gold, yes, that would not be P2W. buyable with in-game gold does NOT mean not P2W... numerous "win" items are purchaseable with real-world money - elite specs (being so much better than core specs), time-saving (eg: various boosters) and gold-making enhancements (eg: infinite gathering tools, portal devices) are all P2W. even being able to buy gold directly with cash is P2W. if you could *only* buy these things with in-game gold, or you could *only* buy cosmetic items with real world money then GW2 would not be a P2W game. but you can, so it is. it's a mild P2W game, but it's definitely P2W.

it's "pay to win", not "pay to win pvp" - all boosts and time-convenience items allow you to "win" over someone who spends the equivalent amount of time and no money at all. as i said, GW2 is a _mild_ P2Win game, but the P2W is definitely there.

because sPVP, the way they've done it, just isn't very good. Even showering players with gold through tournaments hasn't made it popular. I answered v similar question the other day so i'll just quote myself here in the hope that an Anet PM reads it:

I would say yes. elite specs, numerous boosters and time-saving convenience items, buying gold directly... these are all pay to win. if you can spend real money and get a time or combat benefit over someone who didn't spend any extra money then that is literally the definition of pay-to-win. GW2 is not extreme pay-to-win but it is nonetheless clearly there in plain sight.