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?

Warrior: The Warlord. Two greatswords (that would create a new weapon set together) as the weapon, a support or a tanky damage dealer, with a superhuman strength theme that the warrior suspiciously lacks in my opinion. Guardian: The Archon, a warhorn-wielding, cleric-like spec that would deal damage through healing allies. An all-out offensive support. Revenant: The Tormentor, a dual dagger user with Menzies as the legend with legend skills based on the Shadow Army. Ranger: The Marksman, a hunter themed rifle user, with fully ranged damage dealing abilities. Thief: The Black Knight, a greatsword-wielding bruiser thief that instead of stealth would enter a visible but much stronger form with repeatable stealth attacks. Engineer: The Leymaster, a staff wielder themed around using ley line magic to enhance and power their technology. Necromancer: The Lich, a hammer user that would be able to raise actual controllable humanoid minions, but would sacrifice the shroud to control them. Think "what if the Scourge summoned something interesting and interactive?" Elementalist: The High Priest, a fully ranged (!) dual scepter user themed around the Gods, with an F5 skill that would grant them a damage and range buff. Mesmer: The Bard, a longbow using mesmer that would rely heavily on sequencing their skills in specific orders to create different "arias" that would provide various supportive effects based on skill order.

The second beta has brought major improvements to the Vindicator, such as damage buffs and the Alliance stance no longer forcing a flip over to the other skill in the slot, which allows it to actually work for both damage and healing builds (so far, in theory). It's finally an alliance instead of two unruly legends bickering over the skill slots at the expense of the Revenant. However, there is one thing that still doesn't quite cut it, and that's the actual Alliance stance skills. Currently, as a damage dealer, your Alliance skills don't do very much damage and your utility suffers greatly - there is not enough space nor enough utility to warrant using the Kurzick side of the Alliance, and the Luxon side is horribly weak. Key issues: In a PvE DPS context, the Alliance still lacks a solid damage skill. There is not enough energy to cast all of them, Nomad's Advance is far too slow to become the main damage skill, Scavenger Burst is weak, and so is Reaver's Rage. One of the skills, ideally Nomad or Scavenger since they have 3 second cooldowns, should deal more damage so it can become the primary damage dealing skill of the stance, as is Icerazor for the power Renegade. Spear of Archemorus still sucks and nothing has changed. It just doesn't do enough, and not just in terms of damage. Why does it torment? There's practically nothing in the Vindicator spec that would make it good for a condition build, not the traits, not the greatsword, and the rest of the Alliance doesn't do enough condition damage. This skill should do something else instead of torment, whether it means helping allies, providing control, or enough damage to actually be worth the energy cost. Speaking of energy costs, the nerf was a bad idea. The revenant in general is short on energy in a DPS role most of the time, and it doesn't help the Alliance Stance that it has to sacrifice casts of Luxon skills to have enough energy for weapon skills. The Vindicator's DPS build still lacks utility. The daze on Scavenger Burst was a nice addition as it now has something at the very least, but it's nowhere near enough. Control is important for a build like power Vindicator, as its DPS tends to shine the most on large hitbox power encounters that tend to require a lot of defiance bar damage. (This is not necessarily about the Alliance only, the greatsword could get the control effect instead as long as the Alliance is worth picking for some reason.) Control doesn't have to be the only form of utility the class gets though - ally support, especially offensive as a DPS, is still valuable. As of the second Vindicator beta, the superior choice for the second stance was Dwarf, since it provides stability and more control for nearly equal damage. Overall, the Vindicator's second beta damage wasn't too awful. It ended up doing about 37k on large hitbox, however, it suffers greatly from it's lack of utility, inability to dodge like other DPS classes, and smaller hitboxes. It doesn't need much in the way of raw damage, perhaps just enough to push the Alliance a bit above Dwarf, but it needs something to alleviate its current selfishness as a damage dealer. Without that, there's not much reason to pick it over classes that do equal or greater damage and bring much more to the team without sacrificing said damage. There are much better selfish builds, and much better utility DPS.

https://wiki.guildwars2.com/wiki/Fortifying_Bond Fortifying Bond in Nature Magic. This trait causes the pet to gain the ranger's boons. So why is it holding the Untamed back? Simply enough, if the Untamed should have a powerful pet, this trait is pretty much necessary for the pet to be not only stronger, but also consistent in its power. However, it's not worth picking the Nature Magic trait line for this trait alone, and it provides little synergy with the elite specialization otherwise. The Untamed does not have any support qualities of its own, and is thus relegated to a damage dealing role in PvE and a mixed damaging and defensive role in competitive modes. To fix this, the trait should ideally be added to a minor trait in the Untamed specialization, and replaced within Nature Magic. This will allow the Untamed to actually be the spec for the Ranger that improves the pet, while also boosting its only worth for a team in its damage. As for the trait's functionality, it should work in a similar manner to the Mechanist's boon sharing, to provide more consistency between the player's and pet's boons.

Welcome. To finalize your application and to grant you your membership, we'll need 50 liters of tears due tomorrow. For a warrior main, that should be no problem 😉

I can see this for the Catalyst and Untamed. I can sort of see a similarity for the Willbender, Virtuoso, and Vindicator. But I have absolutely no idea how you can think that about the Bladesworn, Specter, Harbinger and Mechanist.

...clearly nowhere near as imbalanced as the skill levels of the two players in the video.

The Bladesworn will probably have higher demand for its banners. However, it'll just be another take on Banner Berserker in the end. The DPS doesn't really increase all that much when not taking banners, so it's also kinda stuck in the one slot per raid. The class doesn't really bring anything new to the Warrior in terms of roles, so it's first gotta break out of the Warrior vs Warrior competition. The Vindicator still has a way to go, because while it offers decent damage in a vacuum on a large hitbox, such bosses tend to require CC which Vindicators struggle to provide (especially using Alliance stance), and then they've got trouble dodging damage. On the other hand, once Vindicator does become more viable, there's not that much direct competition within the class since all other power revenants struggle with actually dealing damage. In their current state, I'd imagine the Bladesworn is more viable. In the big picture with the whole class as the background, I think picking the Revenant for the Vindicator is a better idea than picking the Warrior for the Bladesworn.

Probably the Specter now. Still like the Bladesworn, and Harbinger switched places with Vindicator where the Harbinger is now the broken mess that offers nothing over others and the Vindicator is the cool and fun to play new take on the class now that it offers almost decent damage and the skills don't flip.

I would imagine the combo fields would fit better thematically if they were: Viktor - Ice - chill Arche - Fire - might Shiro - Dark - life steal Ventari - Light - cleanse Jalis - Lightning - control Mallyx - Ethereal - confusion

Spectre, but let its weapon stay Scepter, to further the inconsistencies.