Za Shaloc.3908

This is extremely informative and very well explained. Thanks for taking the time to make this. It has been a while since I have played Ranger but when I roamed with it I never perfected the AA evade chain...I feel stupid now because I had never once tried to stow.

Assuming you are referring to WvW, I'd say Monk definitely bring the most value if running Sneak Gyro, and perhaps Altruism if running Mortar Kit.

For me it is simply the price. Legendary armor has been a game-changing QoL improvement for me since I constantly change builds, so I see much lesser value in the runes and sigils. The price just doesn't seem worth it at all, comparitively speaking.

Dire Lemming pls.

FSP all the way! Bolt is fuhgly but the draw sound effect is an edgelord's wet dream.

I have always hoped for more Norn-centric content, so I am excited for that. I was super hyped when bounties were announced back pre-PoF, but found their execution to be sloppy and poor, so the Strike Missions do admittedly interest me because they seem more structured and challenging and less zerging and spamming. I am looking forward to more Norn-inspired armor pieces (hopefully) that all races have access to. But honestly this doesn't really take away from my disappointment. Not only did the event end 10 minutes earlier than advertised, but they actually dedicated a segment of it to announcing merch, which I find to be insulting given how little else was actually discussed. No Q&A (perhaps damage control), no displaying of the build template UI, no hope given to PvPers or WvWers. I spend most of my time playing WvW and from the preview, it seems that changing build templates is instant, which worries me. I hope they implement restrictions for that so people can't just OoC and swap builds then re-engage in a matter of seconds. I am sure I will continue playing, but the predominant feeling I am left with from this is major disappointment.

I don't hate shield like I used to and think they did a good job at making it a lot more attractive with the current trait, but I do think it could use some changes. Healing power makes the shield shine, and that's a niche that should remain. Glint is naturally a very boon-oriented legend, but that is an aspect of the e-spec that the shield doesn't do a great job at highlighting. I'd like that to be changed a bit. [shield 4]-Change the functionality of it so it is a frontal cone. Simplify this unnecessarily clunky skill. It is extremely unreliable and suffers from major pathing issues.-Add 2 seconds of regeneration baseline. Especially with the removal of the regen traits from Salvation, the class needs a more diversified access to the boon.-Have it grant 2 seconds of boon extension. This is what the old trait used to do and although the trait was a double-edged sword due to the auto-proccing shield 5, the boon extension was a nice niche that the weapon offered.-Increase energy to 10. With the added effects, an increased cost is fair. [shield 5]-In addition to its current effects, the skill now has a flipover skill that stops the block effect for you anad instead pulses the remaining healing in a PBAoE. This would not only be quite a potent heal (3 pulses max to allies), but would also allow for more group condi cleanse. This would be a significant buff to support Herald.

I am not a Guardian player, but not gonna lie, that looks really fun.

Yeah shield 4 is "unblockable," but shoot it at a guard with aegis and the projectile gets negated because it eats the boon lol. The skill has such an awkward design.

I agree that Rebound could be buffed. For starters, the fury is extremely random and ill-fitting for a skill that is supposed to be healing/supportive in nature. I would say that giving it 3-4 seconds of resistance after the effect expires (meaning upon aura or upon the heal) would immediately increase its value. I also agree with others that increasing the healing value would be fair.

Meh, I am resigned to them. There are times when I get frustrated at their existence, but really I get a great kick out of pouncing on downs in zergs and ooc-ing so I can do it again. It seriously makes me crack up every time. My connection can't really handle zerg-play very well, so it is my way of having fun and being a (war)kitten in the process. Whether we like it or not, the Warclaw is not going to be leaving the gamemode. I just wish we could get a better looking cat skin.

Well, I kinda want to have a reason to craft Verdararch because the draw effect is just so beautiful, but really I am resigned to it being greatsword, if the day of new elite specs is ever to come.

Thank you for always doing such a good job at communicating, Ben. Overall I find the Warclaw to be pretty decently balanced, but I would like to pass on three personal wishes for changes. Just my opinions, of course. -When using a waypoint, restrict Warclaw access for ~15-30 seconds. Excluding Desert BL, the maps are quite small. Reinforcements are far too easy to send if there is a nearby waypoint, and deaths are trivialized by respawning being less of a punishment now.-Normalize travel speed to the baseline speed when in an enemy territory. When the dismount skill becomes a feature, the increased speed will provide too much of an advantage to those within their own territory.-Prevent Warclaw stomps from rallying allied players. This provides a healthy drawback for a very powerful skill.

All of the Ventari tablet skills.

IMO Kalla needs to stay as a PvE legend. The design is terrible and if it became more functional in PvP it would be another cancerous giant AoE spam build. Soulcleave's Summit is disgustingly OP and if its functionality ever becomes more usable in PvP settings, it will get hardcore nerfed. I'd rather they just focus their energy on making the shortbow more viable in PvP settings, as well as tending to the core class.

I don't think there is necessarily any correlation. As stated above, there are players of various skill levels in all WvW playstyles, and there are so many situations that have different contexts as to why somebody may be acting a certain way. However, it seems like many roamers (myself included) have their own weird sense of manners and honor that tends to contrast very sharply to a zerger's, and if you are able to adhere to those, respect is usually given. If other enemy roamers see you being respectful and falling within the "roamers code of ethics," if you will, this respect will often spread because these people tend to have a common goal and purpose, so I'd say there is frequently a certain degree of camaraderie. Oftentimes these players will be decent because they spend time roaming (oftentimes while outnumbered) and honing their fighting skills, so there is a possibility that they will be more skilled than somebody who outnumber-ganks all the time and doesn't have as much experience in fights not in their favor. This is of course a generalization. Everybody does a little bit of ganking. Everybody's a cunt at least once in a while. But most people that leave me alone and that I chill with are pretty good players (in my eyes).

Also looking forward to videos.

Maybe I'm missing something but it seems to me that the only class that has received a big nerf has been full counter warrior the rest is intact, ranger is one of the best roaming classes, it would be like saying scougers / FB are OP in the zergs or say ranger needs buffs because in 6 years he never had a meta build zergs.You've probably played it so much that you've never realized that winter's byte already has an animation and stoneform is not used in any boonbeast build, I do not understand why there should not be 2 skills that perform the same function or why you want to remove protection from a 40-second skill but anyway the game is balanced in pvp (for that little), wvw is a broken mode, between total immunity, red circles, permanent invisibility, etc .. no one knows where to start. xD Not sure why you are trying to demean me, but okay. Yes, I know that Winter's Bite has an animation. It is in the projectile itself. That's not what I am suggesting. Revenant's Sword 4 has a wind trail effect around the player when using it, so my suggestion would be to give WB something similar, like a frost aura of some sort. The skill hits very hard now so I think it is fair enough.I also know that Stoneform is not used in Boonbeast builds. I never stated that it is, but just because it isn't doesn't make it a healthy trait. It seems that ANet is wanting to move away from passive lifesaving traits (see Elixir E) and this would be one step towards that goal, which I think is ultimately a good change.My suggestions were to decrease the boon uptime on boonbeast variants (especially Protection, Stability, Quickness) because it is very easy to maintain very high uptime on most boons, as well as to decrease the burst windows for burst variants because in my opinion, they last a little too long. Both builds would still be completely viable, they would just require a little more thought when using them. The only direct nerf (beyond an animation change to WB) that would affect the core class is Soften the Fall.

I have roamed with Soulbeast since PoF launched and have observed its power increase as other classes/specs have been nerfed. I don't play it much anymore, but I do believe it is still too overperforming. Here are some nerfs that I think are reasonable, from a perspective of both playing one extensively and fighting against them: -Dolyak Stance: Remove the damage/condi damage reduction component. This was completely unnecessary. The skill was already fantastic as it was before. Have the increased 40s CD apply to WvW too.-"Sic 'Em": Add a noticeable visual effect to the Soulbeast or pet when activated, similar to Strength of the Pack. Decrease the duration to 6-8s in WvW/PvP only.-Unstoppable Union: Decrease Unblockable duration to 2-3s in WvW/PvP only.-Fresh Reinforcement: Decrease Stability duration to 2.5-3s in WvW/PvP only. Decrease Quickness duration to 1.5-2s in WvW/PvP only.-Moa Stance: Remove Protection application. Increase CD to 40s in WvW, as it is in PvP.-Smoke Assault (Merged): Decrease range from 750 to 600. Add 1/2-3/4s cast time. (This is to make it more similar to Rev's Unrelenting Assault, which has clear counterplay. It being instant cast it the main culprit here IMO.)-Stoneform: Remove this from the game. Trait rewards bad playing. Replace it with something that is still worth taking.-Soften the Fall: Reduce Immobilization duration to 1s. Reduce Lesser Muddy Terrain duration to 5s. (This trait is WAY too good for an adept. Hardly a "lesser" version of MT.)-Winter's Bite: Add a clear visual tell to this skill, similarly to how they changed Rev's sword 4.-Unflinching Fortitude: Have it no longer remove movement-impairing conditions. There is already Dolyak Stance for this. I don't want to see the spec burn, but overall it is way too forgiving. Although I believe its damage is an issue, damage in general is too high in the game and is not isolated to just Ranger, so I won't touch on that. Also, there are many underperforming aspects of Ranger that I do think need buffs/attention, so some of that would be nice too.

Well said and basically sums it up for me. Perhaps it's just something from my perspective, but if I have some good fights with somebody and chat with them and exchange some nice words, there's definitely a level of respect I gain for them. I will happily 1v1 them if we both decide to, but it's also nice to see others you respect and just exchange jump spam with them rather than fighting. Perhaps it is a bit of a contradiction because ultimately I am roaming for fights, but I still get enjoyment out of coming across people I know and just taking it easy with them, maybe chatting with them a bit or watching fights from afar with them. It's nice to just chill at times. I will say that I sometimes avoid certain 1v1s against super annoying builds that are zero fun to fight. I do like a challenge, but I'm not gonna knowingly 1v1 against a permastealth DE who is gonna run away if they have any chance of losing. Or any gank build that, again, will burst me and kill me or start losing and run away. Sometimes it depends on my mood too. I don't consider myself a skilled player, but maybe I am tired of constantly dying and walking back from spawn, and don't want to have to again. A lot of people like to assume roamers have ego issues, but it's just as easy for me to say the same thing about people who chase me 1v3+ and blow all their cooldowns just for the kill, or zergs who do the same thing, without actually knowing what they are experiencing behind their screen. It is easy to assume things about others when they are programmed to be your enemy and communication is restricted unless you put in the effort. I see it all the time with people talking kitten and making all sorts of assumptions about commanders, skilled roaming/havoc guilds, or even generalizing entire servers and conveniently concocting up their own ego-driven idea of what they are thinking, feeling, or doing. I'm not saying I'm perfect either, but assumptions are easy to make, especially when they feed the ego.

Making CF generation dependent on staff is a very bad idea in my opinion. While staff should provide the fastest CF generation potential, making it a required weapon to access the e-spec mechanic goes against build diversity. Also, having CF generation dependent upon healing allies and not self-healing further restricts its build variety and application. Forgive me if I misunderstood something from your post. Adding those additional stats to boons via GotL would also go against comp diversity in PvE. Comp diversity is a good thing, they changed GotL to might generation for a reason. Having ranged options for CA 1-3 is really helpful and I would hate to have that taken away. CA 1 and 2 are clunky and underperforming and need to be looked at, but the ranged potential for these skills adds to the spec's flexibility.

Retribution changes from last patch were a step in the right direction. Core revenant, while not to the level of most/any meta specs, feels a lot better to play. Some more polish to the core class would be very welcome. IMO Salvation needs it most now to diversify it beyond healing modifier traits.

I don't think they could (or should) ever change the functionality of a skill type to only be limited to choosing one. If someone wants to run all spirits, they should be able to.

Dragonscale Epaulets.

Here she is in all her glory: the demoness herself, Oumalaka Sha. These hyenas got in the way, so I decided to use them to my advantage. One of the many Revs I have created.