Za Shaloc.3908

My thoughts: - The nerf to Soulcleave was so brutal that I would not really seriously consider running Kalla.. I don't think the legend is unplayable by any means, but adding a 1s ICD to Soulcleave makes it not worth ever casting in WvW, which was a huge reason to even running Kalla to begin with in a game mode that is IMO the least compatible with the summon mechanic. I just don't see much value in running the legend beyond maybe some 1v1s or some niche smallscale fights. The daze spirit can be clutch on downs, but otherwise, I'd choose something else. -I haven't run with Mallyx too much at all after the patch but personally, the playstyle of this build is all about camping shortbow and kiting nonstop, and Mallyx is all about PBAoE control and has much better PvP/WvW synergy with mace/x. With the change to resistance, I wouldn't personally choose to run with it. I find the constant pressure of Impossible Odds and the general kiteability of Shiro to not be worth dropping for what you gain from Mallyx. -Jalis works really well with Ventari and would be my personal recommendation if you swap Shiro out. The stab road and Rite of the Great Dwarf are both so strong and really great for teamfights. I occasionally swap to Jalis when fighting pull-heavy groups that won't let me poke at them, and I'm sure it makes a solid 1v1er, but as a roaming build I wouldn't take it simply because it leaves you completely devoid of mobility. Most roaming Necros seem to run speed runes nowadays so if you're going to get outrun by even the slowest class in the game, you're in trouble and at constant risk of getting melted in a +1 that you can't kite out. This isn't to say that other legends don't have their own advantages over Shiro, I just think that as a roaming build, Shiro feels like too important of a component to justify taking it.

Hope you enjoy :). The Alacrity uptime is good if you spam Natural Harmony, but that is very energy intensive so I only use the skill if I am trying to resustain. You can always take Righteous Rebel in groups but you will definitely feel a pretty big decrease in damage without the might from Vindication, which IMO is a pretty important component to the build for actually securing kills. Every so often I will swap when I am with a bunch of pugs and my damage doesn't make much of a difference or the enemy has high projectile denial uptime.

Throughout my years in WvW, I have attempted to push Ventari builds into the realm of roaming. While they have always been fun to play, every build I have tried to make has felt like it still belongs in the "meme" category despite all efforts. Ventari, being the awkward legend that it is, just couldn't really adapt enough to the demands of a proper roaming build. However, with the most recent patch, the celestial stat set has been a blessing for the legend, and I finally feel like I can play a roaming Ventari build that feels like it is actually strong and viable. I felt compelled to share this here out of pure happiness for finally not feeling like I am horribly handicapping myself by roaming with the tablet. The Build The build isn't particularly innovative and the traits are all rather predictable, but between how insanely strong shortbow is and with how disgustingly overstacked celestial is now, the external factors carry the build to a successful degree of viability. With running a full celestial build, I wanted to be able to take advantage of all the different stats, and with Mallyx being nerfed the way it has been, I felt mixing both Shiro & Ventari was a good way of being able to do so. It lacks heavy condition pressure, but with the frequently high stacks of might from Vindication, it is still a worthy investment considering the natural hybridity of shortbow. While the build's greatest weakness is high spike power damage, it has really incredible "sustained sustain" between Ventari and Resilient Spirit. Additionally, with how much damage the build can actually avoid from its high projectile denial uptime, it feels even beefier. It also has really great cleanse potential (both self and AoE), and thus far has felt very strong against any sort of condition build. Some fights I have encountered are naturally stalled due to the nature of sustain v sustain fights, but that is what happens when you run a sustainy legend with cele gear. However, it still has surprisingly high damage for how much sustain investment it has, making it a very potent 1v1er with rather strong kill pressure. I also feel like I can contribute quite a lot to smaller scale fights. Beyond power spike damage being a weakness, being CC'd while in Ventari is another, but it feels exponentially less dire since the damage reduction of the big February balance patch. The build is by no means hard to play due to how easy shortbow is to be effective with, it just takes time to get familiar with how to use Ventari. I wouldn't say the build is "perfected" by any means; the rune choice as well of Sigil of Air feel like wildcards, but the rest of it feels very solid. I decided to go with Rev runes because it is one more boon for maximizing Resilient Spirit, and also any sort of chill feels really horrible to play against while in Ventari as it severely slows tablet movement, which is a very key component to survival and success. Sigil of Air is left over from my previous/outdated power variant of this that I was using before the patch, but I haven't felt much of a need to change out of it. If I did, I would maybe choose Absorption or Doom. I also am usually too lazy or indifferent to using food/utility, but I do like to use healing food to round off the healing power a little more. Anyway, not trying to oversell the build by any means. It is probably *overall* weaker than the traditional meta power Shiro/Jalis variant, but it undeniably has its advantages and has brought me more enjoyment because I get to play Ventari with it. I greatly disagree with ANet adding expertise and concentration to the celestial spread, but it has been a blast profiting from the change nonetheless. The build is total cheese, but it's WvW after all. If you give it a spin let me know how it goes for you!

I think it would be nice for Reinforced Potency and/or Forceful Persistence (especially FP) to affect condition damage as well. Now that Condi Rev is brought down a lot in its potency it leaves more room for this sort of thing to happen in PvP/WvW. Burst of Strength is definitely a very inflexible and rather boring skill. Would love it if they put a little more creativity/flavor behind it and changed the effects based upon the *secondary* legend to be something like: * Shiro: current effects * Jalis: Grants barrier to allies per strike and decreases incoming damage on self for X seconds * Mallyx: Bleeds foes on first strike, burns foes on second strike, and increases outgoing condition damage on self for X seconds * Ventari: Heals allies per strike and increases outgoing healing on self for X seconds

I used to be very much in favor of a stunbreak while in Ventari, but with the current powercreep I would say i am in agreeance with you now that the design makes more sense now. I agree that Ventari's biggest issue currently is landing the skills on allies because the legend skills themselves are all actually quite good. I have made my own personal suggestions on how to help remedy this and I would really love ANet to make the legend feels more usable and adaptable in realistic high-mobility scenarios. I can understand Aeolus' (can't seem to tag users on mobile) issues with the elite knockback spam and to an extent I do agree with him, but at the same time I think the skill is super useful. Rev is the only class with no rez skill or trait (EC interaction could be considered a bug), so the elite spam is Rev's roundabout version of that. It provides absolutely amazing rez enabling and stomp deniability and I would be sad to see it go. But honestly I just find it to be so fun and in general useful. It feels meh in PvP in my eyes because of the nerfed knockback radius, but I won't pretend to act like I know what I'm talking about in that game mode since I have long since played it seriously.

Love seeing Glyph of the Stars being used! Prob my favorite skill in the game.

The change to Pain Absorption makes me want a baseline offhand weapon even more. Give it a skill that transfers condis so as to help take advantage of the change to PA.

Personally I think the on-vuln application should stay and has really great intentional synergy with different aspects of the class throughout multiple specs. However, I do agree with you that there is a pretty clear issue when DoD competes in DPS with a pure DPS trait that offers no sustain. That just simply shouldn't be the case. I don't think that really means that the trait requires a rework, but moreso that it could just use some numbers tuning. No need to really overthink what is IMO a really cool, thematic, and well-executed trait.

Please consider reviewing both Ranger's Signet of Renewal and Guardian's "Save Yourselves!". These are *full* condi absorption skills with a short duration of resistance that also function as stunbreaks, and will suffer a similar date as Pain Absorption if not re-evaluated. While Signet of Renewal is a bit different in that it sends the condis to the pet, it was specifically designed to give resistance as a short grace period upon absorbing the condis.

Hey @Syfer.5897 mind clarifying what game mode/type of content you are referring to?

Almost every time I go solo on the southern BLs, I get killed repeatedly by the same roaming guilds. It is frustrating and sometimes I get salty about it, but at the end of the day it is part of the game mode and something that you have to accept. Something that I think is important to keep in mind is that being ganked usually feels a lot more personal than it actually is. How often does it feel like you are making it personal when you are in a group and kill randos? Often probably not, but it is more likely to feel personal when you are on the receiving end. There are countless people who have killed me and I converse with them and there is no sort of animosity, just people playing the game mode. More often than not, I honestly think a lot of this behavior happens out of boredom because roaming has gotten so much worse and people get thirsty for content. Personally speaking, I don't like to let my prey escape (XD) so I will often hard chase people who run away. It doesn't mean that I have a problem with the one I am chasing, but moreso that I want to finish the fight and it is fun to chase people to test the limits of my cooldown/skill management and adaptability if kitten happens. And hey, if people are actually being kittens towards you, there is always the option of BMing them back.

Yeah, I agree with you. Core Jalis/Mallyx Condi or Jalis/Shiro Power both feel really wonderful for open world play.

Lmao, this made me chuckle. In response to the OP, I really don't see why this can't be an option, even in PvE if somebody desires. Would be a really nice QoL.

Elementalist: Longbow Engineer: Staff Guardian: Warhorn Mesmer: Dual daggers Necromancer: Mainhand sword Ranger: Scepter Revenant: Scepter (with focus offhand baseline) Thief: Scepter Warrior: Staff SCEPTER TAKEOVER

I suspect it isn't related to the distance it travels because I walk around all the time with the tablet and generally no issues. It seems it is in some way related to elevation changes or variances in terrain, almost as if there is certain terrain where the "net" or "web" on the outer terrain is missing. Since the tablet behaves so uniquely in its pathing and where it can actually go, it's as if there are invisible holes in the terrain or something. I have no idea about this sort of thing--not much of a tech person--just a theory. Certainly an incredibly annoying bug though.

Ventari's Will can often clip through the terrain and "fall" beneath it. Once this happens, you generally have to destroy the tablet or swap legends if you want it to settle on the terrain again. I am not sure what exactly causes this to occur but as an example, it happens incredibly consistently near the SWT/SC area south of the bridge on Alpine Borderlands in WvW when moving it between the different elevation points.

Yeah tbh I think you will be totally fine in most solo content. I have a feeling they will be touching on the resistance/Pain Absorption issue and how it specifically affects Mallyx (the feedback has been very vocal), and the torment change in open world IMO is more of a benefit than a hindrance. Just pull em and bomb em. The Soulcleave change will for sure hurt your sustain if you are running Kalla, but you have other means of remedying this like @Infusion.7149mentioned, such as Dance of Death, and if running condi, Tormenting Runes.

As a mostly solo WvW player, I am very happy to see retal removed, but the changes to Resolution and Resistance should require a total reevaluation of each skill that gives access to these boons. The changes to Resistance were horribly thought out in relation to its impact on Mallyx (additionally skills like Save Yourselves!, Signet of Renewal, and all the resistance-granting skills/traits from Warrior). For a legend that has no inherent access to cleanse (beyond True Nature F2), Pain Absorption and Facet of Nature - Demon both become a liability. They were designed with the whole idea of *holding* conditions in mind, and now as you and many others have brought up throughout other posts, it is a total gamble in any sort of group play. This is my biggest issue with the change. ANet decides to make massive blanket changes to 2 boons while forgetting the impact these changes have on builds that are completely balanced around these previous functionalities. At this point, I think a rework to Pain Absorption and Facet of Nature - Demon would be of benefit. I agree with you completely on the Kalla Elite change; the nerf is insanely massive. I agree with ANet that the skill was horribly difficult to balance, but they specifically designed the entire elite with multi-hits in mind in order to provide synergy with Soulcleave, so I find it a bit funny that they are going back on this. IMO, it should have its life siphon kittenmage/healing values increased, have its cast time reduced to 0.5s, and its upkeep cost reduced to -8. I also was really hoping for some Ventari & healing orb changes. Big sad.

Unfortunately this post seemed to be more PvE focused. I was really looking forward to support Rev & Druid changes to make them a bit more desirable, but alas.

Hey I've been looking at your build because a lot of meta Rev builds are boring AF. And I'm hoping to make Ventari work. I'm looking into supporting a few of my friends as we roam, so aoe condi cleanse, CC, and heals seem very appealing. Big problem with Ventari seems to be a lack of Protection boon and stunbreak. I imagine Malyx/Herald is still king? What's your objective assessment of this build given your time with it so far? I did work out a better stat combo (Dire and Apothecary with torment duration sigil and Veggie Pizza). You get more condi damage, a TON more toughness, and condi duration isn't that important because you're spamming Torment. Vitality isn't that important because Malyx makes you totally immune to condis. Thoughts? Hey there, sorry for the delayed response. Yes I would say Mallyx/Glint is still king, although for group support value, Jalis/Mallyx probably comes out on top. It basically turns you into a bulldozer spec and works really wonderfully in small groups. Lots of stab, RotGDs, CC, boonrip, and a ton of sustain. My objective assessment of the Ventari/Mallyx build is that it is nothing beyond subpar, but still has its niches. IMO the greatest benefit Ventari brings is actually not even its healing anymore, but its really high projectile denial uptime, and to a lesser extent its AoE cleanse if you are running in a tight group. I started playing Rev and made it my main class specifically because of Ventari, so I have always enjoyed trying to find ways to incorporate it into builds (I only play WvW). Unfortunately Ventari is arguably the worst legend in Rev's kit for competitive modes, and it operates so much differently from the rest of the legends in the game, so it is a bit of a wildcard and can easily feel like a handicap. Personally though, that's part of what I love about it; I really like the challenge and the opportunity of being able to split my brain's attention in multiple paths. On the topic of Ventari builds, I started running another build that I consider to be better than the one I listed, though it's not core and not condi. Shortbow is such a busted weapon right now and between that, Impossible Odds, and near-perma 25 stacks of might, it gives you more room to build into sustain without feeling like it is too big of a handicap. Not gonna pretend it is the final prototype because I have the Minstrel's in there because I couldn't find my other Crusader's trinkets, but I actually am really digging the current sustain-to-damage ratio it is giving (you absolutely need sustain if running Ventari). It is far from a meta build, but it is not as much a meme as I thought, lol. Shortbow and Ventari feel really nice together as it allows you to sit back with the shortbow to poke while you micromanage the tablet. People just straight up don't know how to fight it and it's hilariously satisfying to watch Rangers whiff their Sic 'Em burst into the bubble. If you are interested, here it is: http://gw2skills.net/editor/?PmgAUZllQMMKyjNRdsKijFSksBigH1U7bD-zRZYdRFXQYQGjBhfKtJByUI0rIonFgiHA-e

I have a severe case of altoholism so my playtime for classes is split up into multiple characters, many of which I have deleted, so the hours logged aren't accurate at all. However, I was moreso curious about deaths per hour, so these are my numbers for my un-deleted Revenants. CHARACTER | HOURS | DEATHS | DEATHS PER HOURREV 1 | 1431 | 3640 | 2.54REV 2 | 953 | 2920 | 3.06REV 3 |411 | 1091 | 2.65TOTAL | 2795 | 7651 | 2.73 What does this tell me? I die a lot. It doesn't really bother me or surprise me. I have logged a lot of my hours running solo, and I do put myself in a lot of really dumb situations. I am sure my deaths per hour would be much higher if I didn't become such an EBG monkey the past couple years.

I mean it can be annoying to fight against but it is indeed working as intended. Seeing as you seem to play Thief, you could always use Prepare Seal Area at the portal entrance and pop it once they come out.

I don't play Necro much but when I do and there aren't any NPCs around to kill, I will swap a utility to Summon Bone Minions and just spam the skill off CD. Generates pretty good LF with a low CD.

I think this discussion seems to already be veering on the side of WvW meta, which I specifically mentioned I was not trying to intentionally shift. As far as Renegade goes, the only reason to really take it is for the Alacrity, no? But it still sees play with Diviner Hammer Renegade, so naturally the same could happen for a Minstrels version with Ventari if the base kit gets buffed, because the Alacrity is a big deal just on its own, and Renegade still offers some additional support within its traitline, with regen/retal on evade. Kalla can stay as is, I have no desire to see any changes with the legend. Yes, of course blast finishers would make little impact in that context, but it seems that you are assuming these suggestions are from a perspective of large-scale only; they are not. Water fields could be a huge deal on a class that can reliably blast it with: Mace 3 (x2 blasts if you position it correctly), Staff 4 (x2 with the charges), Hammer blast finishers if you so fancy the weapon, and Energy Expulsion spam. I would consider blast finishers pretty integral to the class--especially on support--and access to a water field would be pretty big. I know it seems like an outdated mechanic, but it is not. I disagree about Ancient Echo needing a change as the skill is already wonderful as is, but I could see Ventari's effect gaining an outgoing healing boost or some sort of healing effect. I'm not opposed to that by any means. If Elevated Compassion isn't meant to be intended to use it, then why even did they implement it in the first place? I agree the trait is incredibly boring and passive, I'm all for changing it at its core, which is part of why I suggested tacking on the change to Purifying Breath; it turns a mediocre skill when playing support to an extremely strong and impactful one. Call of the Dragon is as passive as every other Song of the Mists versions, so unfortunately they would need to reconsider the trait at its core. IMO they have overdone legendswapping effects (on condi Rev for example), but if that is a mechanic they actually believe in, by all means I think they could be used to improve support potential. Edit: I want core Rev to provide a stronger foundation and for Glint to provide a better extension.