TomUjain.8206

Hello everyone, I'm a long standing player, so i've seen it all - heck, I did the entire world completion before mounts were a thing. I've been here since beta and i've seen a lot of huge changes in this game. The one thing I really do thing I really do stand against though is how every single expansion or major update seems to tip the power creep up and up. Back in the day, 25k was a very strong benchmark to strive for -- and the majority of the games PVP and PVE content was designed for this. With the addition of all these (arugely) half baked classes and skills thrown in that benchmark has gotten higher and higher. As a result of these new skills the core of the game has not been able to keep up. Due to the sheer amount of swiftness, charge, shadowstep / teleport skills you can get to the other side of the map in a ridiclous amount of time. It is painfully clear a lot of the core design aka the maps, NPCs (stronghold) etc... have not been updated to factor in that players have now become walking nuclear missle silos. Around 4 years ago - A net went to war on 'bunker' classes (at the time) they were a big problem -- and this was (in my view) where things started to spiral out of control. With the removeal of all the tanky traits / amulets in PVP the result was PVP becoming a reflex match of 'who can get the rotation of high DPS skills off first' -- in solo matches this can be very disheartening if you are dead before can even touch the mouse and it creates a huge rift between the meta heads and the casuals (even in unranked) mixed in with outdated maps and mechanics that have not been updated to reflect the power creep and it is no wonder PVP is in such a dire state. To shift to PVE briefly -- The fact that world bosses have to be given a temp god mod aka (phases) so players don't smash them down in 10 secs -- speaks volumes, and is a clear sign things are in a dire state. When a doungon (which used to be a struggle with 5) can now be soloed by 1 player -- in under 5 mins, you have a problem. These needs to be a hard cap on the max DPs players can dish out because in PVP and PVE the numbers people dish out these days is just far too high. Would like to hear your thoughts on this, Tom

Very helpful post, thank you!

Hey guys want your view on this because maybe its just me, As a scrapper main I have a really hard time with this guardian elite skill. Once I am able to see the guardian proc it I can prepare and avoid it however when they do manage to pull me into it or I fail to see it -- how on earth are you supposed to get out of it? Here is why I think it is unfair (unless you have a teleport skill like shadowstep) Scenario 1) - I get caught in the trap, I try to roll away, get knocked down - I try to roll again - get knocked down and have tn endure all the burst until the maw goes away as I am unable to use skills. By this point I am normally dead. Scenario 2 ) - I stand in the middle of the maw and spam all my condi remover skills and pray I am still standing at the end of it. How are you supposed to counter this? I do try to avoid it whenever possible but there are times you get sucked in and boom, that it is over. The only counter I have found to this (as engineer main) is Drink elixir S - which gives you 3 secs invulnerability and you can walk out of it with no problems. Any insight into this would be massively appreciated, Regards, Tom

This is what I am leaning towards yes. Because right now we are ping ponging from left to right and getting nowhere. What we really need is a huge nerf -- across the board -- to all classes, that is the only way we can 1) make this fair 2) stop this visious circle 3) reduce the disorinating identiy crisis of a lot of classes shifting from one thing to another. As it stands, slowly nerfing and buffing things isn't going to get us anywhere. I will also add; we need to strike that balance of damage and sustain. In regards to PVE - we need to tread carefully or we risk mobs and bosses becoming bullet spondges, which was somewhat the case a while ago -- equally we need to be careful to not be able to nuke everything into orbit by blinking. In regards to PVP -- damage is too high, and buffs need reigning in, some buffs need to be exsluvie to some classes (stealth, thief only -- for example) while other buffs should be universial (might for example) I agree it is not a good outlook if everyone and everything can fart out buffs left and right.

The issue I have with the A net balance team is (as it was pointed out here) they will often nerf one thing without overlooking the effects it has on other traits or abilities - which can lead to a 'domino' effect Using scraper as an example - nerfing superspeed renders a lot of other traits useless, for example; Damage damper (which was better than the rework, but oh well) which is now known as Rapid Regen was already crap, to put it mildly -- but now thanks to this it is even worse. I honestly think they should of left this trait alone as damage damper was unique, but there you go. They will also do daft things like nerf the Gyro -- when using it as DPS was always the trade off, save it for res or use it for dps; why was it nerfed? No idea, and further highlights my believe that they have no idea what they are doing.

I agree. New maps / modes are desperatly needed. As well as a full rework of the underwater system (remember the old underwater pvp maps. They removed them instead of reworking them) My whole point with bunkers was @Trevor Boyer.6524 they didn't do much damage, yes -- but they were by no means no threat, even in top tier matches. My point being that the grass is not greener. 2017 had huge problems, and looking back at it with rose tinted glasses is just dishonest. Today, in 2023 we have differnt issues -- but back then we had the benefit of a much more active dev team, and one that had more of an idea of what they were doing. Now, I honestly don't think anyone knows what they are doing (I suspect due to cost cutting / budget cuts) and as @Kuma.1503 pointed out - randomly nerfing things left and right is not going to stop power creep, it'll only shift it around and destroy build potential.

@Trevor Boyer.6524 I will also add that 'elite' pvp'ers is not a good bench mark for balancing, as the majority of players will be, well 'casuals' and I will argue that regardless of how bad a class is, a pro PVP'er who knows what they are doing can make any old trash look very good. It isn't repesntitive. I will also point out, back then a lot of skills had 1,800 range -- even granades! You moan about scraper granades then, but I remember you could spam those things from across the map -- and back then there was a trait where you could add an extra granade (now removed) and stealth was a huge issue back then. I'll repeat - 2017 was riddled with more problems than you think, the grass was not greener. And even as a 'casual' I remember very heated forum topics on several toxic issues in 2017. That isn't me saying we don't have issues today. It is me saying that this approch to 'nerf everything' is sustainable, nor is it going to work. People now are generally more unhappy and confidence in Anet is at an all time low. PVP population is down, massively and people are not enjoying PVP. Why? I would argue that is down to how unpredictable and how much Anet keep moving the goal posts.

I never claimed to know the game very well, nor am I claiming to be some top tier PVP'er either. I am claiming to have lived through this game and I can tell you from experience what I saw and what I believe. I am not claiming to be a paragon or pro. However. I disagree with you in regards to how 'good' things were back then. Bunkers (atleast upto gold) had alot more sway than you think, annoying -- is putting it mildly, Anet went to war on bunkers, so much so that any trait, amulet or skill with the ability to bunk effectively was removed or heavily reworked. Make no mistake, back then - it was possible to tank or keep 'busy' the entire team 1 vs 5. No damage? Sure, but useless? Hardly. You could contest the node, indefinatly. The Turrent build was everywhere at one point, I mean everywhere - disregard the 'plat' and above players for a moment -- it was, casually a problematic and difficult build to counter. So much so, A net nuked turrents so hard they have never recovered (TILL THIS DAY!) And don't underestimate how annoying the old engineer mine kit was, back when stability was low - you couldn't see those annoying things and engineers could just spam you with cc (remember old slick shoes?) To add, even back then - was plenty of cheesy 1 hit kill builds going around -- just less of them. I will add, and I remember this very vividly -- PVE was extreamly slow and clunky back then. I'm not defending how easy raids / PVE is now, but equally I do remember how sluggishly-slow it was to kill a single mob back then. I do agree, however the 'pace' of PVP is a lot faster now, but honestly the best way to get around that would be to give us more choice of amulets to pick from.

I do agree with this. The reason a lot of base content feels so, well - weak is because it hasn't been updated or touched since it was put into motion 10 years ago. Compare that to more 'up to date' PVE content where mobs have more health and do more damage. Only recently we have had a major overhaul of world bosses, which we desperately needed. I will also point out that several amulets (in pvp) have been either removed, or nerfed which has massively reduced sustain (remember the old 'soilder amulet?) @Kuma.1503 is correct though. This nerfing loop has only done more and more damage and has only upset / driven away people, I myself (as I said earlier) now dread balance patches due to how unstable they can be -- in one balance patch Anet can seemingly destroy an entire class (that isn't an understatment either) as they throw out some huuuuuuuge curveballs or even entire skill or trait line reworks -- most of the time making everything worse. We are not asking for more power, we are asking for stability and consistancy. We do not want a build to be one thing for x amount of time, only for it to be something else the next.

I will add that I don't think it is the new 'elite' classes fault for this boon / power problem. Anet has always been awful at balancing or fixing problems. Whenever a new 'elite spec' is out -- it is always, always massively overpowered as was demonstrated at the start of each expansion. Throw in the mix that all classes have had a major overhuel / rework of skills and abilities over the last 10 years to the point where the core design of a lot of these 'specs' is now so confused and all over the place. Anet (from beta) has always stated they wanted all classes to be able to do 'everything' and get away from the old style MMO tank / heal / dps methanics of say WOW for example -- but honestly, they have gone so far in the opposite direction I honestly don't think Anet even knows what they are doing, and at this point they are just winging it.

Also, I kindly ask everyone to be respectful - no need to jump down each others throats over this. We can respectfully agree to disagree.

I have been here since beta. I can tell you, back then - things were not as rosy as you think. I agree with you, power creep has been a thing over the years and we can argue its flaws, however - do not think 10+ years ago was any better either. I remember, very vividly massive problems from the old 'turrent engineer' build, the old mine kit (where you could throw down 5 mines at once) -- and the bunkers, where you could tank the entire team on a node -- all day and night long. The old days were riddled with massive problems, and I would argue we are in better place now then we were then. With that said we need some form of stability here. We can't keep yoyoing up and down. Anet buffing (engineer rifle for example) only for it to then be reduced to being worthless again. Or scrapper (which is suffering from an idenity crisis) I was there when it was designed as a 'tank' -- it is now, what? A roamer? A bruiser? Support? I can't quite tell you. When something is established (super speed was always a scrappers thing) and then ripped away, it is highly disorinating for all players involved. I don't know what the answer to power creep is. But I can assure you, randomly buffing and nerfing things (why did they tough gyro?) is going to get us nowhere.

The Anet balance team have no idea what they are doing. what on earth were they thinking? What was the logic for them to randomly touch the Gyro? Are they drunk? It was hardly over performing.

Couldn't agree more. Thank you. It has come to the point that every 'announced' balance patch scares me, it terrifies me so much it demotivates me to log in and play. How many times has a class shifted from one thing to another? They 'rework' something, only to 'destroy' it a few patches later.

I never said that, did I? The answer is to what? Destory every unique aspect of a class because people cry about it? power creep can be cut, that is fine -- as long as that is universal across the board. No. The issue is when the core of a class is gutted rendering said class useless. I am fed up of bunny hopping from one class to the next. Finding something I enjoy and ticking the clock until Anet decide to butcher / change / rework or render it useless. It is disorienting and demoralizing.

and now, engineer - again, has had yet another nerf. Worst part is it hasn't even addressed the 'nade scrapper' build.

Stop it. As it was pointed out many times before. Instead of rushing to nerf everything you dislike because you are ignorant of the counters or how strong it 'really is' -- I invite you all to play x build of the month and see for yourself what it is all about. We need to stop this witch hunt because it will not end, a new build -- will ALWAYS come and might even replace a new x build with a far worse one. To add, all you are doing is destroying the fun for people who enjoy x class. Naturally its all fine and dandy until they tough your main, isn't it? We need to focus on bringing builds / classes up, not destorying everything because you dislike it.

The nade scrapper has huge flaws you can exploit, that being condi and cc bursts. I know a lot of the people here who are moaning about this class have not even bothered to try it, otherwise they would know that. It has 1 stun break (and no stability) it relies heavily on the team for support or it'll drop like a lead balloon. Super speed is the core design of this class (its already been nerfed twice) and only procs on gyro use - nades are very clunky and very often only a few of them will land, but that 1 / 5 times it does land -- that is what people notice, they disregard the other 4 times it misses! This witch hunt for nerfs needs to stop. Scrapper will never be in the meta due to the massive flaws in its design - is much better classes out there that can burst and sustain far more efficently than scrapper. Instead of moaning about classes you don't like, play them and learn it - everything has a solid counter, don't come on here and demand everything you don't like get nerfedl all that does is makes things worse for everyone.

No. Play it, before you start bashing on it. It has 3 sec of super speed (per gyro) and even if you max out the skills with just gyros - it still wouldn't be 'perma super speed' As I pointed out in another thead, these builds all run zerker amulet with no stability and one stun break - it is very, very weak to condi (has no clenses) and can be CC'ed into the ground. To add, it will never be in the meta because it has huge flaws and can be burst down very quickly. We need to stop this witch hunt, calling for nerfs every time we come up against something we don't like - this isn't the way forward.

Super speed has actually been nerfed twice on scrapper (most recently in the last patch, but its duration was also nerfed last year as well) the new 'rapid regen' is also a nerf considering the other trait was a lot better and more useful. If they remove super speed, the class will need a re-design as not only is it extreamly slow and clunky, but it'll remove the core of the class. Let us not forget the nerf to stealth gyro - which is now 75 sec in pvp (lets not talk about the WVW version which is about as useful as a wet noodle) As it has been pointed out - this build hits like a truck but drops like a lead balloon. Pressure it with condi bursts or cc and it'll die very fast. It isn't and never will be 'meta' To add, all nerfing scrapper will do is upset a lot of the few players who still use this class (me being one of them) is other classes out there with better bursts and better sustain than the nader scrapper. I think this is a case of the butterfly effect - one person hears about this 'new build' so everyone copies, and it leads to complaining (and a huge exagguration about how powerful it is) i've seen the same thing happen with pretty much every class over the years.

Can confirm, it is still broken.

I don't want to bash ele, just wanted some prospective here, is ele overperforming? I only play (mainly) engineer and have very little experience with other classes. I am only going by the fact that a lot of the top tier players all use ele, and how most of the meta builds are ele. as a scrapper going against ele tempest it is almost impossible to take them down - they make the ultimate bunker / tank and on node battles they are by far my worst nightmare to face as scrapper. I also heard that one of the devs plays an ele main, which is why I was wondering if (possibly) that is leading to some form of favortisum. I am not calling for nerfs as I said just looking for a bit of prospective.

Over the last year or so, Ele has constantly been in the meta. As an Engineer (scrapper) main, and feeling somewhat let down by the state of scrapper - I decided to give Ele a go and, yikes - the difference between Ele and scrapper is night and day they can just do everything I can do but better! I mean they even have a revive which is instant with 4 different versions of it (granted on a bigger cooldown than my Gyro. I mean, come on 2 of the 3 meta builds now are ele! I just feel like ArenaNet have a soft spot for this class considering the treatment and state other classes are in at the moment. Your thoughts on this?

Hello guys, would really appreciate some insight on this. So in PVP stronghold today, at the start of the match while attacking the guards a ranger (who came up behind me) was shooting with with long bow. I put down defence field and carried on killing NPC guards, then went to focus on him. He quickly ran behind the gate so I went to support team in mid. Only for him to then come back out and shoot me (I had full hp) then, out of the blue - i'm downed from full hp (25k) to zero, in seemingly one hit. After looking at the log I saw this: Long Range shot deals 43k damage I remember being confused, wondering why my health just nose dived to zero seemingly without warning. I have noticed a similar thing happen before, but thought nothing of it. Any help or guideance on this matter would be welcomed, Thanks in advance! :)

Hello guys, I have a lot of concerns about the impact savant trait. in practice it seems like a good / unique trade off- a hit on health in exchange for barrier on hit. Is it worth the payoff though? In a lot of cases I have found having the 2,000 health a lot more useful. Here is why. In order to make up for that lost health you would have to be pumping out 20,000 damage constantly (10% barrier) This pretty much forces scrapper to go full zerker in pvp for extra damage. Support scrappers or heal scrappers suffer the most as they pretty much have to take the hit on health with no benefit at all. Any condi builds now or in the future will also suffer heavily from this trait, effectively shutting down a lot of options for the scrapper. So my question to you guys is. Do we need this trait? Should it be removed, or reworked? Thanks in advance, Tom