Raiken.1476

It seems the new elites have received changes since the last beta, but they aren't in the patch notes, and there is no word from Anet on what's different now. Post your findings, I suppose.

I'd like to see the actual notes on these things. There's valuable feedback to be had, especially from people who've done extensive beta testing, before fractal CMs get totally abandoned and the new elite specs get released to a broken state of the game.

It's all up in the air right now and it depends entirely on the final tuning. Currently, its pure DPS build damage is a bit too high in groups, but the alacrity from wells is weak, requiring lots of wells and it loses a ton of DPS running an alacrity build. Ritualist stats will help with alacrity builds for sure. Depends how good the DPS will be after the tuning when it's got enough wells to cap alacrity for the subgroup.

Thief has so many band-aids that ripping just one isn't going to solve anything. Acrobatics is dead, so is sword, and there's not a single good power weapon that isn't locked behind an elite spec... and even that is debatable. That said, I don't have any idea why they keep the weapon swaps the way they are...

Due to the legend swap profession mechanic, the best a Revenant spec can get is half core. As for the Alliance, it doesn't really play that much like Core Revenant because of the lack of DPS upkeeps and more like a mix of Renegade and Daredevil, using set energy cost skills and dodges to do its damage. It's about as much variety as the Revenant can get because the energy and legend mechanics are incredibly restrictive in terms of gameplay design.

I feel like the Ritualist stat combo will be stronger for condition Renegades providing Alacrity.

Assassin Stance is the best stance for Vindicator currently. It's actually even better than the Alliance stance you get from the spec, which struggles to compete with Dwarf.

Regardless of when it actually releases, there's a lot of work to be done before the actual release on the expansion if Anet wants the new elite specs to be played as more than a novelty. The state of professions is awful at the moment, and it's not only the new elite specs over/underperforming or the popularity of classes in fractals and other game modes (though it is a big part). Several things need to be addressed before this game gets into a situation where people unlock elite specs just to try them out, and leave them (and possibly the whole game) behind immediately after realizing there's just no incentive to play them. Key issues: 1. The Scourge/Renegade/Firebrand meta. These classes just halt the usage of anything that doesn't do insane DPS in PvE. Scourge covers everything defensive while providing Epidemic, Renegade covers easy Alacrity with one button press off cooldown, and Firebrand covers quickness and potentially serves as a main healer for Fractals. All on top of each class providing strong DPS. There's no way End of Dragons elite specs can compete with this unless they're ridiculously overtuned. Mesmers in particular also deserve a mention here, they're first in line to take over the meta especially for 10 man content when/if these classes get their rightful nerfs. 1.5 Alacrity. Current classes provide 10 man alacrity, while EoD classes provide 5 man alacrity. This absolutely needs to be fixed by release or any new alacrity build is dead on arrival for raids and the new strikes. 2. The state of some of these specs after the second beta. I have no idea who's gonna play Untamed aside from soloing things anyone can solo using one finger. And if only it was just the Untamed... Some of these specs just don't perform nearly well enough to compete. There are some limited applications for specs in PvE but there is little reason to play the Vindicator (the Beta 4 changes did help a lot though), Harbinger (quite the opposite), and Untamed there. As for PvP and WvW? A mess I won't even bother to type out. Can reach the length of a novel. 2.5 The builds that should have been, but weren't. Condition Virtuoso, Power Mechanist, Healing Vindicator (PvE), Alacrity Specter, Power Harbinger, and any Untamed. Clearly, these builds were very much intended for their classes based on the new skills and traits, but there's nothing that these builds can do to compete and they're all garbage in their current state. 3. The massive amount of useless options currently in the game. Some things really do give off the impression they were never meant to be used. The first few that come to mind are the thief's sword and Acrobatics trait line, the warrior's multitude of useless weapons (when's the last time you saw a warrior seriously use a hammer? A rifle? An off hand sword?) and the Spellbreaker (outside of WvW zergs)/Defense trait lines, the elementalist's ranged builds (Staff was ruined beyond all recognition), the necromancer's power options (main hand dagger in particular) that aren't barely stitched together by the already fairly low-damage (power) Reaper spec. These just offer nothing in any game mode and serve as little more than a trap for new players thinking they might have a purpose. 4. The bugs. I really hope someone reads these and fixes more than just the Gem Store bugs. https://en-forum.guildwars2.com/forum/9-bugs-game-forum-website/ I've probably forgotten something. Fill me in with the replies.

Vulnerability is fine, it synergizes with Dance of Death from Devastation. I'd prefer if we got something more in Alliance Stance than a 1.5 second daze, or if they want to make it strong in other ways, then True Strike (GS4) should taunt for the block duration.

I'd much rather have 5 regular specs and a nerf to the one elite that would have no net loss from the changes combined than 4 regular specs because I'm too scared one might become slightly less than half as strong as Necro in competitive. Pretty much.

I might have forgotten to put the CD on Instant Reflexes. Wonder if changing the duration to 1/4s is better instead though, for consistency. I was thinking of Power Deadeye DPS with the middle line and I believe it would fit the spec's traits and toolkit much better than Daredevil. Probably a significant DPS difference in favor of Deadeye as well. As far as PvP goes, this won't fix deadeye of course - it has a far, far longer way to go towards that. Some of these things DD can do already, and the initiative on dodge has a 5 second cooldown in PvP. Then again...yeah, Reflexes would be OP on it in particular. Probably warrants that spec-targeted nerf, like Dhuumfire on Necro.

Replies in quote. I still don't see a reason to run Alliance over Dwarf as a DPS in that post.

So the Acrobatics spec is pretty much never used aside from RP and extreme edge cases of solo gameplay, and the Thief lacks proper options for its specializations. To add insult to injury, the PvP traits both now have 300 second cooldowns, which is a horrible design choice in general. Then there's Sword, which is next to useless in itself and since Dagger strike damage got obliterated when D/D Deadeye was meta for a brief moment, the Thief has no good core power weapon set. The aim of this rework concept is fairly simple: - Expand on the mobility concept of the Acrobatics trait line (top line) - Give power builds an alternative to Deadly Arts built around Sword instead (middle line) - Preserve what little use it has currently (bottom line) Here's a draft of what I'd like to see, as an all new specialization taking Acrobatics' place. I'll call it Assassination, since it fits the theme better and the chances that we'd get an Assassin spec after Shiro Revenant and Specter are minimal. Assassination: (note: listed numbers for PvE) Minor Adept: Feline Grace (merge with Expeditious Dodging) - Gain swiftness upon dodging. Also gain vigor if you dodge an attack. Swiftness (5s) Vigor (5s) Cooldown: 1s Major Adept: Enhanced Reflexes (Instant Reflexes change) - Dodges grant evasion for a short time after completion. Duration Increase: 1/2s (note: possible changes if OP? 1/4s duration for Daredevil? CD?) Major Adept: Lethal Emergence (new) - Gain increased strike damage. This bonus is doubled for a duration when using a stealth attack. Damage Increase: 5% Duration: 5s Major Adept: Pain Response (unchanged) Minor Master: Assassin's Agility (new) - Gain increased movement speed. Restore initiative when you shadowstep. Movement Speed: 25% Initiative: 1 Cooldown: 10s Major Master: Night Prowler (new) - Your shadowsteps gain increased range when you have swiftness. Gain swiftness and might when you shadowstep. Range Increase: 25% Swiftness (6s) 3x Might (6s) Cooldown: 5s Major Master: Swindler's Equilibrium (change) - Gain power, increased when wielding a sword or spear. Spending initiative with a sword or spear equipped recharges Steal. Power: +120 Additional power: +120 Recharge time reduced: 1/2s per initiative Major Master: Hard to Catch (change) - Break stun and refill endurance when you are struck by a control effect. PvP change: Reduce cooldown from 300 seconds to 60 seconds. Reduce endurance gain from 100 to 10. (unchanged for PvE) Minor Grandmaster: Endless Stamina (change) - The effects of vigor on you are enhanced. Gain increased strike damage when you have vigor. Damage Increase: 10% Effectiveness Increase: 50% Major Grandmaster: Assassin's Reward (change/merge) - Dodge range is increased. Gain initiative when you evade an attack, and heal when spending initiative. Healing: 102 + 0.085 modifier Range Increase: 20% Initiative: 1 Cooldown: 2s (5s in PvP/WvW, as with current Upper Hand) Major Grandmaster: One with the Shadows (new) - Tactical Strike is replaced with Shadowblade. Gain power and ferocity for a short time when shadowstepping. Shadowblade (stealth attack): Shadowstep behind your target and deliver a quick strike. Removes a boon. Blinds targets with no boons. Damage: 2.0 modifier (note: Tactical Strike has 1.0, Backstab has 2.4 from the back) Range: 360 Boons Removed: 1 Blindness (3s) (Deadeye: Malicious Shadowblade - damage increased by 10% and range increased by 20 per stack of malice) Power: +60 Ferocity: +60 Max Stacks: 3 Major Grandmaster: Don't Stop (unchanged)

The gods objectively exist in the universe and all races acknowledge them at least since the events of Path of Fire. And we've got plenty of racial lore specs, especially human in the Path of Fire and End of Dragons expansions. The Reaper is also based on the "human" god Grenth.

What traits do you think would become good enough to save the Alliance if F3 would proc them?