Vagrant.7206

July 17, 2019

@Alatar.7364 said:I dislike the look/animations of drawn weapons for the weapons I mostly use, frankly most look ridiculous.

Yeah, the idle animations with weapons drawn aren't particularly good IMO.

July 17, 2019

@Xyonon.3987 said:I just noticed that condi Holo is heavily crippled as well now. :/

Yeah, solar focusing lens gets particularly hurt by the change, because it specifically relies on overloading in PBM.

July 17, 2019

The hilarious thing about the new function gyros is that they have so little health, I've seen them cleaved instantaneously upon spawn (like, less than 1/8th of a second). They're just BAD, and useless in almost all scenarios except for providing me with stability on the drunk scrapper build.

"Elite" mechanic.

July 17, 2019

(Just watch the first 50 seconds)

July 17, 2019

@Trevor Boyer.6524 said:
@Trevor Boyer.6524 said:
@Vagrant.7206 said:
@Trevor Boyer.6524 said:
SCRAPPER:
--- snip ---

I think you misread a lot of what happened to scrapper, allow me to explain:

-300 vit minor trait. All scrappers are down 3000 health now, equivalent to guardian/ele base health.
15% of outgoing strike damage (I presume this means power damage) is returned as barrier. This means that in order to recover 3000 health, the scrapper needs to deal 20,000 damage. This damage doesn't include condi as far as I can tell.
Old function gyro worked every 10 seconds at 900 range. New function gyro works every 30 seconds at 600 range (+15s per additional f-gyro spawned). This is roughly equivalent to the warrior elite banner but on a shorter cooldown and shorter radius, and works more slowly (f-gyros need to cast, not instantaneous like banner). F-gyros should all still be cleavable/cc-able.
Object in Motion comes at the expense of perfectly weighted and another damage boost. Overall, it's actually a decrease in damage.
Rapid Regen was removed -- significantly lowering scrapper's ability to survive and heal. It also hurts healer builds using MDF.
The increase in stun/daze brings finishers up to closer to 1.5 seconds instead of 1 second. It's stronger, but not
that
much stronger.
Adaptive armor's effect is weaker, it only boosts barrier you gain now.
The new function gyro prevents access to F5 skills such as Detection Pulse and Moa

In short, scrapper must output more damage than it used to in order to regain the health it lost. However, at the same time it also lost some serious damage-dealing traits and some powerful F5 skills. It can theoretically generate more barrier and stuns, but it remains to be seen how helpful that is, considering how much more vulnerable it is to bursts now.

Yeah I hear ya. I'm not trying to make solid ultra statements here. I'm just saying that I think people are seriously underestimating how much barrier is going to be returned when a Scrapper is in a team fight wearing Demolisher or something, getting AoE cleaves on 3+ players. As you said, to return 3000 health as a barrier, you'd need to deal about 20,000 damage. Thing is, that's pretty easy to do when 2 or 3 people are balled up together on a node and if the Scrapper was running a DPS amulet. Even running Knight's, would still yield sizable frequent barriers if the Scrapper was 1v2. Anet didn't specifically mention anything about a CD on this specific trait, so if it has no CD, there will be a lot of room to toy with Scrapper DPS builds that will be surprisingly sustainy for those who are good at maintaining pressure.

I think this change to Scrapper is just going to make & break the difference between good players and bad players. It won't be so easy to roll around and 100% defensive bunk a side node anymore for mid to low tiers. Good Scrappers on the other hand, are still going to be difficult to kill, and actually dangerous with more frequent and elongated dazes, and a lot more damage.

I'm actually excited to try it tbh. As soon as the patch hits, I'll be rolling a DPS Scrapper. See how it works.

Yeah it was terrible.

Completely wrong to have been hopeful about this.

Told ya. :tongue:

The only thing scrapper seems to be good for now is gimmick builds. Or, as they say in the biz, "meme" builds.

Try this crap, maybe you'll have fun with it. -- shrug --

July 17, 2019

Holo took a hard hit in PvE for no particular reason. I don't see exactly why they felt it would hurt PvP.

Scrapper took a turn... for the weird? It seems like gimmick builds are the way to go, rather than actually being a tank or bruiser.

July 17, 2019

@EnderzShadow.2506 said:
@"Vagrant.7206" said:I have a hammer variant I HIGHLY recommend trying if only for the lulz. It's incredibly amusing to turn a "tank" spec into a bursting monstrosity. I'm regularly hitting 8k on electro-whirl, 3-5k on autoattack crits, and 3-5k on rocket leap.
HammerSigil of Enhancement + Sigil of Purging (up for better options)Seeker AmmyRune of Strength
Healing Turret - Elixir U - Elixir B - Elixir S - Sneak Gyro
Alch 2-2-1Explosives 2-2-3Scrapper 3-3-3
Use stealth liberally to pop out of nowhere and smack people. If they run, use throw elixir U or one of your combos from sneak gyro/heal turret. You can also use the function gyro field too.
This thing is goofy as hell, but I am surprising a lot of people.

hehe Ninja Plumber

"Surprise Mechanic"

July 17, 2019

I have a hammer variant I HIGHLY recommend trying if only for the lulz. It's incredibly amusing to turn a "tank" spec into a bursting monstrosity. I'm regularly hitting 8k on electro-whirl, 3-5k on autoattack crits, and 3-5k on rocket leap.

HammerSigil of Enhancement + Sigil of Purging (up for better options)Seeker AmmyRune of Strength

Healing Turret - Elixir U - Elixir B - Elixir S - Sneak Gyro

Alch 2-2-1Explosives 2-2-1Scrapper 3-3-3

Use stealth liberally to pop out of nowhere and smack people. If they run, use throw elixir U or one of your combos from sneak gyro/heal turret. You can also use the function gyro field too.

This thing is goofy as hell, but I am surprising a lot of people.

July 17, 2019

Ok, played 2-3 matches. It's still very much played like a meme build, but it can be really hilarious to burst out of stealth with an 8k electro-whirl (on hammer) with 3-4k crit autoattacks. I don't think anybody worth their salt would run this competitively, but it is absolutely hilarious -- constant super speed, stealth, and massive bursts. The downside is that condi will eat you alive.

July 17, 2019

@EnderzShadow.2506 said:@"Vagrant.7206"
Perfect time to necro... I mean dust off this thread
With the changes, what would you change about the build?
Does it ONLY work with zerk stats?
The metabattle buildhttps://metabattle.com/wiki/Build:Scrapper_-_Drunk_Engineer
Your buildhttp://en.gw2skills.net/editor/?vdAQFAUncTBlXhVXB2XBEqilJjS8ZKgAgeuz7A/74WumD-jJROABAs/AMlBQ/CAI/DAAA
Curious why even go scrapper?Could you just go core? and do this meme build even better?Something like, thishttp://gw2skills.net/editor/?vdAQFAUlcThqrY5Vw+KQ7FLDGEY9zfQFbXJCxXASf7B-j5QOABwUGA9PAAA7PAA
copy and paste links -forums are bugged.
I can go marauder/Leadership-- with firearms instead of scrapper and Im just under 23k instead of Zerk stats with scrapper and sitting under 14khitpoints

My thoughts:

Seeker Ammy/Zerk Ammy
Rune of Strength
Sigil of Separation + Sigil of Enhancement
These traits
- Consider minesweeper and a different sigil for hammer builds

Scrapper is the better choice for this build for 3 reasons: Sneak gyro, Mass Momentum, Applied Force.

July 17, 2019

@EnderzShadow.2506 said:@"Vagrant.7206"
Perfect time to necro... I mean dust off this thread
With the changes, what would you change about the build?
Does it ONLY work with zerk stats?
The metabattle buildhttps://metabattle.com/wiki/Build:Scrapper_-_Drunk_Engineer
Your buildhttp://en.gw2skills.net/editor/?vdAQFAUncTBlXhVXB2XBEqilJjS8ZKgAgeuz7A/74WumD-jJROABAs/AMlBQ/CAI/DAAA
Curious why even go scrapper?Could you just go core? and do this meme build even better?Something like, thishttp://gw2skills.net/editor/?vdAQFAUlcThqrY5Vw+KQ7FLDGEY9zfQFbXJCxXASf7B-j5QOABwUGA9PAAA7PAA
copy and paste links -forums are bugged.
I can go marauder/Leadership-- with firearms instead of scrapper and Im just under 23k instead of Zerk stats with scrapper and sitting under 14khitpoints

Unfortunately the build editor also doesn't have the new skills. I need to toy around with this patch to try it out.

July 16, 2019

@Yannir.4132 said:Scrapper is still extremely good at dealing with condi classes like scourge and mirage. Cleanse still through the roof, and you take 20% less damage from whatever random ticks you do get. You barely notice the -300 Vit if you are used to playing Guardian anyway.

Prot holo is generally better at this.

July 16, 2019

@EnderzShadow.2506 said:@Vagrant.7206
All the talk about drunk scrapper, I pulled up the Drunk Scrapper build and ran that a game.I had no idea what I was doing. But people died...and well, being a meme build, so did I :P

Yeah, drunk scrapper is pretty silly, and @Ivantreil.3092 invented it. I suspect this change may make it stronger than it's been in a while, but I could also be wrong.

July 16, 2019

@mindcircus.1506 said:
@coro.3176 said:Could you maybe throw us a bone and allow some of the new Scrapper traits to work with condi instead of only power?
Eg. The barrier one? Allow barrier on condi damage as well as strike damage?
As it stands now, there are precious few traits that are playable in a condi build, and it seems like most of the new scrapper ones that could at least provide some sustain or defense now require us to play a power hammer scrapper.

Honest question... why would a condi engineer be running scrapper in the first place?

Scrapper is generally tankier than core engi. Condi engi relies on victory through attrition, so it needs to burst condis, then survive while those condis tick.

July 15, 2019

@Trevor Boyer.6524 said:
SCRAPPER:
--- snip ---

I think you misread a lot of what happened to scrapper, allow me to explain:

-300 vit minor trait. All scrappers are down 3000 health now, equivalent to guardian/ele base health.
15% of outgoing strike damage (I presume this means power damage) is returned as barrier. This means that in order to recover 3000 health, the scrapper needs to deal 20,000 damage. This damage doesn't include condi as far as I can tell.
Old function gyro worked every 10 seconds at 900 range. New function gyro works every 30 seconds at 600 range (+15s per additional f-gyro spawned). This is roughly equivalent to the warrior elite banner but on a shorter cooldown and shorter radius, and works more slowly (f-gyros need to cast, not instantaneous like banner). F-gyros should all still be cleavable/cc-able.
Object in Motion comes at the expense of perfectly weighted and another damage boost. Overall, it's actually a decrease in damage.
Rapid Regen was removed -- significantly lowering scrapper's ability to survive and heal. It also hurts healer builds using MDF.
The increase in stun/daze brings finishers up to closer to 1.5 seconds instead of 1 second. It's stronger, but not that much stronger.
Adaptive armor's effect is weaker, it only boosts barrier you gain now.
The new function gyro prevents access to F5 skills such as Detection Pulse and Moa

In short, scrapper must output more damage than it used to in order to regain the health it lost. However, at the same time it also lost some serious damage-dealing traits and some powerful F5 skills. It can theoretically generate more barrier and stuns, but it remains to be seen how helpful that is, considering how much more vulnerable it is to bursts now.

July 15, 2019

@"Irenio CalmonHuang.2048" said:
Engineer
Scrapper traits have been reworked and repositioned. The specialization line has changed as follows:
Minor
Impact Savant: This trait no longer increases damage while you have barrier. Instead it converts 15% of all outgoing strike damage into barrier and reduces vitality by 300.

I'd like to ask you to reconsider this specific change for multiple reasons:

It shoehorns scrapper into power damage. "Outgoing strike damage" almost always means power damage packets, not condi damage. If you want diversity in scrapper builds, this will have the exact opposite effect.
It harms support scrapper builds -- specifically healing scrapper builds. These builds rarely put out damage -- making them significantly more vulnerable to damage in general. These builds also tend to use condi damage for their damage.
300 vitality = 3000 health. In order to get that back in the form of barrier (at a rate of 15%), you would need to do 20,000 damage. In most realistic PvP scenarios, this would be difficult to acquire within the period of time that a burst class could kill you. 15% is reasonable for PvE, but not competitive formats.
You just nerfed scrapper's damage output overall. It doesn't have the kind of burst berserker does. How is it supposed to make up the 20k damage difference?

July 12, 2019

@Turk.5460 said:
@Vagrant.7206 said:
@Turk.5460 said:
@Vagrant.7206 said:
@Turk.5460 said:
@Vagrant.7206 said:
@Turk.5460 said:
@Vagrant.7206 said:
Hip shot nerf is beyond comprehension. It was the only skill on rifle that tracked targets, and almost all other classes get skills that track. Now, people will be able to strafe left and right and avoid rifle even more.

This bug fix is fine. What "almost all other classes" have

auto attack

fast moving projectiles that track? Also it pierces and is the highest damage Rifle auto attack out of the 3 Rifle users. Your outrage at this is beyond comprehension.

It wasn't a bug.
It was an autoattack. None of our 2-5 skills had tracking.
It has significantly less range and doesn't travel as fast as longbow arrows. The damage isn't out of this world -- it's plinking damage.

Yes, it was an autoattack, which is why I specifically mentioned auto attack in my reply. Are you aware that almost zero (if not actually zero) other professions have 1-5 projectile skills that track?

It certainly says it was a bug in the patch notes, and I'm far more inclined to believe the game developers over a typical player in that regard. You can have the bug back as soon as they give the same bug to Warriors and Deadeyes, okay?

Actually, they do. The difference is in how they track. I was bored so I messed around with some golems in the PvP lobby. Longbow arrows fly farther and faster than rifle projectiles do, and they can be way off-target and still count as a hit. Rifle projectiles don't get that luxury, but it seemed like engineer rifle had less forgiveness compared to warrior rifle. I didn't bother with deadeye rifle, so I leave that decision to you.Actually no, they don't. Engi rifle only has 1 skill that can compare to the 1 thru 5 skills of Warrior and DE Rifle and that's the auto attack (I believe Overcharged Shot projectile speed is
much
faster) - which makes the
engi
the one that has a far more forgiving skill because, before the upcoming patch, it tracks. Ranger longbow arrows fire faster. Warrior and DH do not. Further? Yes, but nobody was disputing that. Contrary to your claim, rifle shots are actually
more
reliable in terms of hitting strafing targets than Warrior and DH longbow.
Yes, but they also called the net shot firing backwards a bug.
Not long ago they said it was supposed to fire backwards
. I'm not sure I trust their track record on "bugs"Sure, net shot release notes have been contradictory. But it is not comparable to Hip Shot, as no other rifle attacks worked like that, and they have no previous notes regarding this. I am discussing Hip Shot, not Net Shot
So your method of balance is "If I can't have it, nobody can?" Strange policy, but you do you.What is your reasoning that one auto attack should have this, while the other two cannot? I guarantee it's not anything better than my request for uniform mechanics.

Congratulations, you've won an internet! I'm not sure what you're arguing with me about, or why it's such a big deal to you. So I'm just going to leave this here.

It's unfortunate that you don't seem to be able to admit you are wrong when proven so, and you resort to abandoning the conversation in such a manner. Please avoid such hostile reactions when the person you are talking to is not being hostile.

I've learned long ago that arguing on the internet is about as effective as pissing into the wind. You're just going to get wet and cold.

If you interpreted my response as hostile, my apologies. Not my intention. But it's kind of obvious I won't be able to convince you. It's better to just leave it alone.

July 12, 2019

@Dirame.8521 said:
@Vagrant.7206 said:
@Dirame.8521 said:
@Naxos.2503 said:
@Ivantreil.3092 said:
@Naxos.2503 said:As a main condi holo, this balance patch will be particularly bitter to swallow. I cant for the life of me understand why they'd prevent us from using Toolbelt, when it's essentially our way to bridge cooldowns on a class that cannot switch to another weapon, and has very ineffective kits. Change Grenade kit to a normal projectile skill instead of a ground target skill if you're going to ruin rotations like that... What are holos supposed to use for 20 seconds during overheat once all their weapon skills hit cooldown ?

Guess it's time to devolve to the core version? Yikes

Perish the thought. It would be a sad outcome, Holo has a few rather good Burn skills that supplement core condi really well. I'd hate to leave behind a spec I grew to love, but I will if it comes to that, as I'm sure many others will.

What condi Holo Build are you running that makes you overheat 100% of the time?

I would think you'd want to avoid overheating at ALL TIMES unless you were trying to go all in for a win....?

Personally, the changes are interesting. I can't speak to how bad or good they are until I test it. I have learned to manage my heat when using Holo now so the overheat change doesn't bother me (and I use ECSU trait as well). The Scrapper change makes me think there will be only one major way of playing bunker Scrapper if they do not allow condi damage to tick up the Barrier count.

I'm taking the wait and see approach.

Meta condi builds run

solar focusing lens

and

photonic blasting module

.

For PvE or PvP? Also I guess you could use your toolbelt skills BEFORE overloading then? In that case you may discover a bug that resets all your toobelt skills after the overload clears hehehehehe.

PvE. Condi engi isn't particularly viable in PvP.

July 12, 2019

@Dirame.8521 said:
@Naxos.2503 said:
@Ivantreil.3092 said:
@Naxos.2503 said:As a main condi holo, this balance patch will be particularly bitter to swallow. I cant for the life of me understand why they'd prevent us from using Toolbelt, when it's essentially our way to bridge cooldowns on a class that cannot switch to another weapon, and has very ineffective kits. Change Grenade kit to a normal projectile skill instead of a ground target skill if you're going to ruin rotations like that... What are holos supposed to use for 20 seconds during overheat once all their weapon skills hit cooldown ?

Guess it's time to devolve to the core version? Yikes

Perish the thought. It would be a sad outcome, Holo has a few rather good Burn skills that supplement core condi really well. I'd hate to leave behind a spec I grew to love, but I will if it comes to that, as I'm sure many others will.

What condi Holo Build are you running that makes you overheat 100% of the time?

I would think you'd want to avoid overheating at ALL TIMES unless you were trying to go all in for a win....?

Personally, the changes are interesting. I can't speak to how bad or good they are until I test it. I have learned to manage my heat when using Holo now so the overheat change doesn't bother me (and I use ECSU trait as well). The Scrapper change makes me think there will be only one major way of playing bunker Scrapper if they do not allow condi damage to tick up the Barrier count.

I'm taking the wait and see approach.

Meta condi builds run solar focusing lens and photonic blasting module.

July 12, 2019

@Turk.5460 said:
@Vagrant.7206 said:
@Turk.5460 said:
@Vagrant.7206 said:
@Turk.5460 said:
@Vagrant.7206 said:
Hip shot nerf is beyond comprehension. It was the only skill on rifle that tracked targets, and almost all other classes get skills that track. Now, people will be able to strafe left and right and avoid rifle even more.

This bug fix is fine. What "almost all other classes" have

auto attack

fast moving projectiles that track? Also it pierces and is the highest damage Rifle auto attack out of the 3 Rifle users. Your outrage at this is beyond comprehension.

It wasn't a bug.
It was an autoattack. None of our 2-5 skills had tracking.
It has significantly less range and doesn't travel as fast as longbow arrows. The damage isn't out of this world -- it's plinking damage.

Yes, it was an autoattack, which is why I specifically mentioned auto attack in my reply. Are you aware that almost zero (if not actually zero) other professions have 1-5 projectile skills that track?

It certainly says it was a bug in the patch notes, and I'm far more inclined to believe the game developers over a typical player in that regard. You can have the bug back as soon as they give the same bug to Warriors and Deadeyes, okay?

Actually, they do. The difference is in how they track. I was bored so I messed around with some golems in the PvP lobby. Longbow arrows fly farther and faster than rifle projectiles do, and they can be way off-target and still count as a hit. Rifle projectiles don't get that luxury, but it seemed like engineer rifle had less forgiveness compared to warrior rifle. I didn't bother with deadeye rifle, so I leave that decision to you.Actually no, they don't. Engi rifle only has 1 skill that can compare to the 1 thru 5 skills of Warrior and DE Rifle and that's the auto attack (I believe Overcharged Shot projectile speed is
much
faster) - which makes the
engi
the one that has a far more forgiving skill because, before the upcoming patch, it tracks. Ranger longbow arrows fire faster. Warrior and DH do not. Further? Yes, but nobody was disputing that. Contrary to your claim, rifle shots are actually
more
reliable in terms of hitting strafing targets than Warrior and DH longbow.
Yes, but they also called the net shot firing backwards a bug.
Not long ago they said it was supposed to fire backwards
. I'm not sure I trust their track record on "bugs"Sure, net shot release notes have been contradictory. But it is not comparable to Hip Shot, as no other rifle attacks worked like that, and they have no previous notes regarding this. I am discussing Hip Shot, not Net Shot
So your method of balance is "If I can't have it, nobody can?" Strange policy, but you do you.What is your reasoning that one auto attack should have this, while the other two cannot? I guarantee it's not anything better than my request for uniform mechanics.

Congratulations, you've won an internet! I'm not sure what you're arguing with me about, or why it's such a big deal to you. So I'm just going to leave this here.

July 12, 2019

@Derm.4932 said:
@Vagrant.7206 said:
@Turk.5460 said:
@Vagrant.7206 said:
@Turk.5460 said:
@Vagrant.7206 said:
Hip shot nerf is beyond comprehension. It was the only skill on rifle that tracked targets, and almost all other classes get skills that track. Now, people will be able to strafe left and right and avoid rifle even more.

This bug fix is fine. What "almost all other classes" have

auto attack

fast moving projectiles that track? Also it pierces and is the highest damage Rifle auto attack out of the 3 Rifle users. Your outrage at this is beyond comprehension.

It wasn't a bug.
It was an autoattack. None of our 2-5 skills had tracking.
It has significantly less range and doesn't travel as fast as longbow arrows. The damage isn't out of this world -- it's plinking damage.

Yes, it was an autoattack, which is why I specifically mentioned auto attack in my reply. Are you aware that almost zero (if not actually zero) other professions have 1-5 projectile skills that track?

It certainly says it was a bug in the patch notes, and I'm far more inclined to believe the game developers over a typical player in that regard. You can have the bug back as soon as they give the same bug to Warriors and Deadeyes, okay?

Actually, they do. The difference is in how they track. I was bored so I messed around with some golems in the PvP lobby. Longbow arrows fly farther and faster than rifle projectiles do, and they can be way off-target and still count as a hit. Rifle projectiles don't get that luxury, but it seemed like engineer rifle had less forgiveness compared to warrior rifle. I didn't bother with deadeye rifle, so I leave that decision to you.

Completely untrue when it comes to tracking. Generally speaking rifle and rifle like projectiles have superior tracking to longbow arrows, especially when it comes to side strafing. The one exception may be Ranger LB.

Interesting. I'm curious how ranger LB compares to engi rifle then.

@"Mil.3562" said:" Function Gyro mechanic becomes a ground-targeted skill in the F5 slot " meaning all Elite Toolbelt skills are gone. And what's overload? Is it overcharge? So this patch, amongst other nerfs, also
1, Replaces our F5 Toolbelt Elite Skills with Function Gyro
Removes Rapid Regeneration Trait
Disables all Toolbelt skills when Overcharge is active
This patch is a quite a nerf to Healing Scrapper build :/
Why remove rapid regeneration when Scrapper's regen ticks are relatively weak compared to all other professions that also give regen.

I think they meant overheat.

July 12, 2019

@Turk.5460 said:
@Vagrant.7206 said:
@Turk.5460 said:
@Vagrant.7206 said:
Hip shot nerf is beyond comprehension. It was the only skill on rifle that tracked targets, and almost all other classes get skills that track. Now, people will be able to strafe left and right and avoid rifle even more.

This bug fix is fine. What "almost all other classes" have

auto attack

fast moving projectiles that track? Also it pierces and is the highest damage Rifle auto attack out of the 3 Rifle users. Your outrage at this is beyond comprehension.

It wasn't a bug.
It was an autoattack. None of our 2-5 skills had tracking.
It has significantly less range and doesn't travel as fast as longbow arrows. The damage isn't out of this world -- it's plinking damage.

Yes, it was an autoattack, which is why I specifically mentioned auto attack in my reply. Are you aware that almost zero (if not actually zero) other professions have 1-5 projectile skills that track?

It certainly says it was a bug in the patch notes, and I'm far more inclined to believe the game developers over a typical player in that regard. You can have the bug back as soon as they give the same bug to Warriors and Deadeyes, okay?

Actually, they do. The difference is in how they track. I was bored so I messed around with some golems in the PvP lobby. Longbow arrows fly farther and faster than rifle projectiles do, and they can be way off-target and still count as a hit. Rifle projectiles don't get that luxury, but it seemed like engineer rifle had less forgiveness compared to warrior rifle. I didn't bother with deadeye rifle, so I leave that decision to you.
Yes, but they also called the net shot firing backwards a bug. Not long ago they said it was supposed to fire backwards. I'm not sure I trust their track record on "bugs"
So your method of balance is "If I can't have it, nobody can?" Strange policy, but you do you.

July 11, 2019

@Turk.5460 said:
@"Vagrant.7206" said:
Hip shot nerf is beyond comprehension. It was the only skill on rifle that tracked targets, and almost all other classes get skills that track. Now, people will be able to strafe left and right and avoid rifle even more.

This bug fix is fine. What "almost all other classes" have

auto attack

fast moving projectiles that track? Also it pierces and is the highest damage Rifle auto attack out of the 3 Rifle users. Your outrage at this is beyond comprehension.

It wasn't a bug.
It was an autoattack. None of our 2-5 skills had tracking.
It has significantly less range and doesn't travel as fast as longbow arrows. The damage isn't out of this world -- it's plinking damage.

@MLinni.6109 said:Do we really need -3000 HP on scrapper via the -300 VIT forced on us in Impact Savant? Yes, you want to force scrappers into an active damage role, but that would require offensive stats to cause damage which then translates into barriers which support builds don't have. So we'll have to suck it up, eh?The loss of F5 is also very painful and deprives us of interesting tactical options in WvW.

The thing that bugs me is that scrapper hammer puts you in a relatively fragile position. It doesn't deal well with ranged AT ALL, and such a nerf leaves scrappers even more vulnerable to deadeyes, rangers, and scourges. These were enemies that scrapper already had a hard time dealing with. If you need to do damage to get barrier, then you need to be in range. Hammer has not proven itself to be very good at range.

@Ivantreil.3092 said:I agree with the weird nerfs to rifle, the no LoS effect was one of the very few skills we had to play against enemies hiding behind objects or walls without looking like a fool chasing the enemy hopelessly.
Welp, at least it still ignores projectile hate.
Net shot nerf is meh, i used it mainly for Open moa combos, so my guess is that it won't affect me that hard this nerf.
Drunk engi is back? I'll have to test it how it goes, no moa access and the hip shot nerf (drunk engi's main damaging skill) could possibly hold it back from being an actual good buff.

I think the barrier on hit, plus +200 power with quickness, plus all the added stability potentially make drunk scrapper very dangerous again.

July 11, 2019

Engineer
Scrappers are seeing a comprehensive rework in this update, targeted at improving the Function Gyro to be more of a core mechanic and unifying some of the disparate themes present in the trait line. These changes aim to refocus the scrapper as a tank-like character that utilizes personal barrier applications to stay in a fight. The reworked Impact Savant trait links barrier with dealing damage, making the scrapper a durable combatant as long as they can keep dishing out damage. The refocus on barrier led us to the removal of the Rapid Regeneration trait, which was offering too much health recovery while remaining protected by barrier. Players will still want to have swiftness and superspeed, though, to help dish out that damage with one of the new traits: Object in Motion. Beyond focusing scrappers more clearly around their personal barrier application, their unique Function Gyro mechanic becomes a ground-targeted skill in the F5 slot, which can be enhanced based on trait selection and acts as a general-use ability rather than a niche option for sometimes reviving an ally or finishing a downed enemy. In addition to reworking the scrapper traits, we're also slightly increasing the penalty for holosmiths overheating, as it wasn't commensurate with the level of power granted by holoforge mode.
Overload: Overloading now disables all toolbelt skills for its duration.
Blowtorch: This skill now applies 4 stacks of burning that scales dynamically between 3 and 6 seconds based on distance from the target. This skill now scales damage dynamically based on distance rather than using distance thresholds.
Blunderbuss: This skill now respects line of sight.
Bulwark Gyro: This skill now scales the initial personal barrier it grants with the number of allies you are redirecting damage from. The base barrier granted has been reduced to account for the higher potential initial gain. Barrier amount is no longer split by game mode as a result. Fixed a bug with an incorrect skill fact for barrier amount.
Elixir X: The cooldown is now 105 seconds in all game modes.
Hip Shot: Fixed a bug that could cause this skill's projectiles to follow their target.
Net Shot: Fixed a bug that could allow this skill to be fired backward.
Invisible Analysis: This trait now applies 5 seconds of fury when it activates.
Laser's Edge: The bonus damage from this trait is now calculated dynamically based on the amount of heat you have rather than activating after passing a specific heat threshold. Because of this change, the effect icon will no longer be displayed. Bonus damage is now multiplicative instead of additive.
Enhanced Capacity Storage Unit: This trait now increases the bonus damage maximum from Laser's Edge by 50% in addition to its previous effects.
Scrapper—Function Gyro: While scrapper specialization is equipped, this skill now occupies the F5 slot. Recharge has been increased to 30 seconds. This skill trait is now ground targeted at a range of 600 and creates a lightning field at the target point with a radius of 180. Within this radius, it spawns up to 6 function gyros targeting up to 3 enemies and/or 3 allies. Enemies are finished while allies are revived. This skill's recharge is increased by 50% for each function gyro spawned beyond the first.
Scrapper traits have been reworked and repositioned. The specialization line has changed as follows:
Minor
Function Gyro: The Function Gyro skill has been reworked. See previous note for details.
Speed of Synergy: This new trait causes all leap finishers to give superspeed to the scrapper, and all blast finishers give superspeed in an area around you.
Impact Savant: This trait no longer increases damage while you have barrier. Instead it converts 15% of all outgoing strike damage into barrier and reduces vitality by 300.
Adept
Gyroscopic Acceleration: This new trait causes wells to give superspeed when they end and increases well radius. Additionally, it causes your function gyro skill to give superspeed in an area when cast.
System Shocker: This new trait causes your function gyro to inflict daze in an area for 0.5 seconds when cast. Improves effectiveness of all lightning field finishers by 50%.
Mass Momentum: This trait has been moved to the adept tier. It no longer grants power based on toughness. Instead it causes your function gyro to grant stability in an area when cast in addition to causing stability to pulse might.
Master
Damage Dampener: This new trait causes 20% of all damage dealt to you to be dealt after a 2-second delay from the initial strike. In PvE only, the damage delay is increased to 33%.
Expert Examination: This trait has received no changes.
Object in Motion: This new trait increases outgoing damage by 5% if you have swiftness, superspeed, or stability. Each boon increases the bonus damage by 5%, up to a maximum of 15% if you have all three.
Grandmaster
Adaptive Armor: This trait no longer gives barrier when struck. Instead, it increases the barrier received by 15%, in addition to reducing condition damage by 20% while you have a barrier.
Kinetic Stabilizers: This trait is no longer triggered by Function Gyro. Instead it increases the duration of stuns and daze effects by 25%. It also grants stability and superspeed when disabling a foe.
Applied Force: In addition to its previous effects, this trait now also grants +200 power while you have quickness. It now grants quickness when at or above 10 stacks of might rather than only when above 10 stacks. Fixed various bugs that could cause inconsistent trigger behavior.

My thoughts on the matter:

Toolbelt skills

Say bye bye to detection pulse (Gyro F5 skill)! Our only reveal will now be our Lock On trait. Analysis from Utility goggles won't be used.
Also say goodbye to F5 toolbelt skills in general - now core is the only one that can access them, making them less relevant than before.
Disabling toolbelt skills on overheat will hurt PvE DPS builds that rely on Photonic Blasting Module

Rifle Changes

Blunderbuss is now respecting LOS? It's been 7 years, and it's a problem now? Consider my mind boggled.
Hip shot nerf is beyond comprehension. It was the only skill on rifle that tracked targets, and almost all other classes get skills that track. Now, people will be able to strafe left and right and avoid rifle even more.
Net shot nerf is reverting something they added not that long ago. Don't label it as a bug when you specifically introduced the ability to fire it behind us.
Many engineer MH weapons are weak as-is. They're making one of our more important ones even weaker.

Holo Changes

Laser's Edge/ECSU change seems theoretically interesting. Here's a protip though ANet: Make ECSU affect Exceed skills.

Scrapper Changes

Bulwark gyro change is what I wanted. Good.
Function gyro improvements are appreciated. It will be more useful in WvW and PvE now.
Changes to scrapper traits seem to leave healing scrapper intact, although the toolbelt change hurts healing scrappers.
Impact Savant Change is interesting. We'll need to experiment with it to see what happens now.
I'm not sure how Damage Dampener will fit into any build besides healer, but maybe my thinking is limited.
Object in Motion seems too conditional.
Applied Force buff makes quickness scrappers look real dangerous. We might see gimmick builds like the drunk scrapper reappear.

Other Changes

Elixir X change is fine. The world needs less Rampage.

What Didn't Change

Throw Elixir S is the same
Healing Turret is the same
Photon Forge is mostly unaffected -- Rifle got nerfs instead.
No real improvements to core besides blowtorch

July 10, 2019

I thought the new inquest chair was pretty cool, so I tried to buy some gems.

I keep getting an unspecified error no matter what I try. Logging in/out doesn't resolve. Help?

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Posts posted by Vagrant.7206

Engineer

Engineer

Toolbelt skills

Rifle Changes

Holo Changes

Scrapper Changes

Other Changes

What Didn't Change