Za Shaloc.3908

I play condi Rev fairly often and while you can still win fights, I haven't really enjoyed it in groups ever since the Scrapper rework and the rise the Antitoxin build. That build completely gutted my desire to play it against comped teams. Condi Rev has a fair diversity of condition application if built for it, and its consistent and high potential for boon rip gives it a nice niche, but that role is still greatly eclipsed by Necro's/Scourge's corrupts. I find it to have a balanced kit with a nice dose of counterplay, but that isn't really the name of the game anymore. You can completely stomp enemies that aren't built for condi clear (which is more common now as power is predominant), but anybody who actually tries to countercomp you or who just runs high cleanse in general will tear through you quite easily. Full trailblazer is an option for any condi build but I find that to be a bad representation of the build's state of balance because it is an extremely imbalanced stat spread and can make any condi build feel more viable than it is at its core. If I had to rate its effectiveness amongst classes, I'd probably place it third, below both Mesmer and Necro.

Stale meta, brainless specs, cheesey mechanics, lack of risk vs reward.

If I had just one word to describe Druid, it would be castrated.

Shield has a lot of cool potential and I would be happy to see it become more of a viable support weapon. Shield healing > healing orb memes.

On Mallyx Herald, you can absorb allies' condis from ACs and Burning Oil (and whatever other random condis) and transfer them onto those on the wall via True Nature - Mallyx (provided they are in the 600 radius). Draconic Echo absorbs condis from 10 allies and Pain Absorption gives you the resistance to hold them, so you can transfer some pretty fat stacks.

I would say I feel pretty proud of the way some of my characters look. I find it really satisfying to create a look that feels complete, cohesive, and polished with a clear theme that makes sense to the build and/or playstyle of the character. Finding and grinding for those perfect pieces that feel necessary to complete the look always feels really satisfying, even if I change it a couple days later.

Things that I think are fair targets for nerfs (not all together): -Elemental Blast damage (I always saw this as Glint's condi damage skill, but it works better on power builds. Would like the burning application to be easier to achieve as currently they have to get hit by the last tick)-Burst of Strength damage modifier-Shiro True Nature damage (not being able to crit would be fair IMO. Perhaps give it a different functionality besides damage? I strongly disagree with increasing the CD or decreasing the radius as it it an important skill to other Herald builds)-Phase Traversal damage modifier (10% isn't much, but really it is a bit unnecessary. The skill already offers enough without it.)-Sword 5 damage (the port, slow, and chill application are already powerful and offer a lot of utility, the damage is too much with everything else it offers)-Sword 4 being reverted in functionality to a block + flipover (core Rev and Renegade currently have no access to a defensive offhand weapon and axe/sword overlap in functionality)

So to those that think Rev is OP, what are the primary reasons this is the case? What makes it feel OP to have matched up against you? I am a Rev main and would just like some more understanding. I don't play sPvP but it seems that the burst is people's biggest issue?

I don't hate the map itself (especially with mounts), I just hate how dead it generally is. Roaming can be enjoyable on it if there are actually people there. It would be nice if we got a new BL map that replaced one of the Alpines so each would be different.

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.

I would rather have offhand sword nerfs than to have the rest of the class butchered as well, but I think sword 4 is fine. The cast time offers enough counterplay, but with quickness I suppose it does make it harder to counterplay (but this is not exclusive to Rev by any means, so I don't think the argument holds much ground). If they tune down the damage any more, I'd say they would need to increase its utility, like increasing the immob duration or reducing the cast time nack down a bit so it feels more fluid to use without quickness. Sword 5 to me is a bigger issue to me.

And there is more to longbow than Sic 'Em memes. RF certainly does NOT need a nerf. A core Ranger's RF can only really hurt if you truly invest and build around it, and even then it pales in comparison to Soulbeast. The problems clearly arise when Soulbeast comes into the picture. Longbow is actually a really balanced weapon with plenty of counterplay. The only thing that is arguably broken about it is how much it exceeds its listed range. I don't really see your point, because if you nerf Rapid Fire you are nerf literally every Ranger build that uses longbow. I think balancing the Sic 'Em is tricky because in PvE, its DPS is heavily reliant on the skill. A skill split of course could work in this sense, but I guess I don't really see the skill being used much in PvP/WvW if the modifier was nerfed so heavily. If this were to happen, I think it would need a utility buff, perhaps enhancing its reveal capabilities, or even receiving charges. The skill in its current form is very poorly executed; it is a skill that was implemented specifically and exclusively for pet interaction and never for the actual Ranger. Then Soulbeast was introduced many years later.

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.

Who would've thought that balance issues would arise when you take a skill that was designed years prior, balanced around it being used for a pet, only to keep its damage modifier as-is without any adjustments when given interaction to the player via Soulbeast. Regardless of whether it is as valuable as other utility skills, the skill is unhealthy as is. I honestly don't know why people try to defend this dumb gimmick. 40% damage modifier from a single utility skill? And no, not just for a few attacks, but for 10 flat seconds, with slightly over 33% uptime when traited. This skill is a balance embarrassment and belongs in the garbage bin. Too much nerfing and it'll make the skill absolute trash, so I'm in favor it being reworked to something more balanced and healthy for the game. People are suggesting to nerf things like longbow, but the weapon is well-balanced as is and doesn't need any nerfs (or buffs) to it.

I would really love this. I believe reaper is the only build with regular self-access to dark auras, and Mallyx feels like such an appropriate candidate, especially considering it is supposed to be a condition-manipulation legend. Unyielding Anguish is a nice skill, but it does come at a steep energy cost. A leap finisher is a way of adding more interesting interactions to the skill without powercreeping it by giving it something like an evade frame; in order to generate a dark aura, the revenant would have to be dropping 60 energy, which is a huge chunk. Dark auras would see more play in Charged Mists builds as well as on core builds thanks to the upcoming Ancient Echo skill, as both of these builds will have a more steady supply of energy, but in a build such as condi Mallyx/Glint herald, it wouldn't be as common as the 60 energy would come at a much steeper cost. A more common aura we would be seeing Mallyx revenants use would be fire auras thanks to Searing Fissure, which would be a welcome change.

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.

For Revenant, I honestly don't know. The two elite specs are too broadly focused and don't have a good defined purpose or vision. I would love for them to actually play on the energy mechanic and enhancing legends rather than the adding of random F-skills like they did for Renegade. For Revenant, I want them to get mainland scepter for a nature caster spec. Summoning storms and roots and such. Just a personal preference. I don't play much Mesmer, but I would love for it to have a cloneless elite spec. Less visual clutter would make me more tempted to play it.

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.