[Improving match maker more important than balance right now]

59 minutes ago, stry.1493 said:

you said my core ele minion build with inscription is bad 😞

I enjoy setting the Lesser Elemental Glyph as my auto while I AFK on a node. >:P

It's a fun build though, Alacrity trait adds some extra pizazz.

[Your love]

Mirage, especially the Axe.

Berserker, love Skullgrinder and the metal-head vibes it gives. Goes well with KoRn.

[Changing Tactical Reload in favor of build variety]

16 hours ago, Lan Deathrider.5910 said:

It really should just reload explosion skills. The fact that it affects ALL of warrior's ammo skills is itself the problem, even it if it is a 50% reduction on all warrior skills.

This is definitely is the better approach to go about things. Reload specifically Bladesworn ammunition skills while having the Dragon Trigger bonus effect. That way it doesn't kill the potential future builds using shouts, such as Healbreaker in PvP, and doesn't nerf Core like every other balance patch seems to do to every profession.

[Sugestions to make catalyst feel a bit better to play]

I blame the core specialization for why Catalyst feels awful to people. 😉

[The Platinum Challenge]

9 minutes ago, bethekey.8314 said:

Are you a Platinum+ ranked player who's tired of capping objectives because your noob teammates won't? Tired of seeing them rush headlong into fights they won't win? Then the Platinum Challenge is for you my friend.

Post your highest kill count while still losing the game!

Farm the hell out of the noobs on the enemy team while completely ignoring map objectives. Leave your noobs nothing to do but objectives. Force them to learn the game or lose!

Bonus points if ranked.

DEs, FA Weavers, PChronos, and various other oneshot specs are going to devour this challenge! Can't wait to see the results. >:)

[I'm sorry but toxicity is least of PVP problem]

On 8/30/2022 at 1:44 AM, Carnage.6751 said:

I'm a honest person İF you are acting dumb that means you are a dumb.And there is no benefit of being wholesome to afk and trolls.

UwU I know you didn't meannnnn it. GG all! I had fun with this match! Especially with the two Specters, Bladesworn, Herald, and Catalyst hunting me down! Thank you for the glorious matchmaking, I hope you all have a great day UwU.

[Leap of Faith]

The day leaps across all professions aren't completely dog when tracking a target is the day GW3 is released.

[With Mesmer in Mind]

18 hours ago, Crab Fear.8623 said:

If you are capable of imagining the scenario, how about your opinion.

I expect a confused face, it's the general state of players in the forums.

My opinion is no.

Confusion is fine. It's a niche condition in PvE. It's a solid mechanical shutdown condition in PvP. It's basically a CC without CCing.

Maybe buff Confusion to do Defiance Bar damage in PvE.

That'll be my last comment in this thread. This is coming from the guy who has made many posts about what Mesmer needs.

[With Mesmer in Mind]

What if X scaled with A instead of Z.

[Recurring Builds in PvP]

What are the most common builds that have popped in and out of meta over the entire history of PvP?

First one I can think of is Power Herald with the most consistent existence out of all professions flat.

Next being, I guess, Support Tempest/Power Reaper?

 

I'd love to see more of the previous meta builds get some nudges to return again. Some good ol' Power RR Macezerker, S/D Core Thief (although has had plenty of spotlight through Specter and Deadeye recently), Support Druid (Remember those days? Cleric's Druid was a nightmare. But Avatar's could be a fun refreshment if they did something about some of the scaling). 

 

Anyway, I figured I'd contribute some positivity to this thread, I'd love to see some of the older builds come back with the changes over the years and wiggle their way into some people's hearts whether niche or not.

[mind stab boon rip?]

I think the idea was more aimed towards PvP specifically... For some reason.

... Yet Mind Stab was more reliable to get a quick Protection rip off if necessary. At least Phantasmal Berserker rips 2!!!!!!!

I wanna see GS Mesmer get ammo on its skills. They did it to LB on Warrior. (PvE specifically).

[gf left me coz of ladderboard (remastered)]

All is Vain

[RIP knockback on blast gyro in PvP & WvW]

Throw Mine is technically a stun now as well. It erroneously says Knockdown but it actually stuns for 2 seconds now.

 

[Replacing dodge roll with spectral dash]

I think a profession specific dodge would add a nice level of flavor to the game!

Thieves have that cool 'woosh' dodge sound.

Revenants have that trailed mist effect while dodging.

Mesmer could reuse the Mirage effect while performing the dodge roll.

Necromancer could turn spectral-green with, perhaps, a ghastly groan.

Elementalists could have a cool effect, such as the elemental rings around their wrists trailing along with them.

Warriors can have their Reckless Dodge effect but baseline, without the damage if not specializing in Strength.

Guardians can have their dodge from Honor but baseline, no healing if not specializing in Honor.

Ranger can have some sort of nature-y yellow-green trail.

Engineers can have a mechanical whirring while dodging.

[specter most OP]

I'd argue the only problem with Specter is the shroud pool size. (150% of HP)?

I'd gladly accept the old Shroud gain if they just made the shroud squishier... Or just fixed the bug where you can't see the current shroud amount... Still an active bug since betas...

Not being able to know how much shroud the Specter has isn't exactly a balanced 'feature'. You basically have to hope that your prediction is correct on the size of the pool right at that moment.

Specter is also kinda the Swiss Army Knife of Thief specializations. It's like Holosmith like someone mentioned above. There's also the fact that the inherent design was thought up for the whole 'Healer GF/BF' concept. I'd definitely say get rid of that horrible bug first, then, if still over-performing, target the HP-to-Shroud scaling.

Also Bladesworn is only really obnoxious in a 1v1 scenario, it's so easy to interrupt the heal constantly, even if it's bugged and doesn't go on full CD. Just need to keep it locked down for a few seconds for it fall behind.

[let's talk about the venom nerf]

Careful. They'll turn Venoms into boons.

[HOT TAKE: Warrior Needs to be OP [PvP/WvW]]

4 minutes ago, JTGuevara.9018 said:

Right you are, OP. But "hot takes"...sigh...that phrase is SO overused it's not even funny. If everybody says they're "hot takes", they're not really all that hot aren't they?

Microwaved Hot Pocket Take.

 

[Why do you come to the forums?]

I have always been a little bit of a build junky and enjoyed theory crafting. I used to share builds and ideas off and on.

 

I still do that but I also make suggestions at this point due to the direction the balance has been going specifically from a PvP PoV.

[You should do this more often Anet, in fact..]

Maybe they'll look at all the other things that could warrant this kinda split.

 

Baby steps!

[Chronomancer Suggestions (PvP)]

7 minutes ago, Tseison.4659 said:

Another great and clean write up. For clarification, when you use Continuum Split, are the Wells enhanced? If so that’s a ✅ from me. 

Consider it a flip-over similar to like Glyphs on Druid/Elementalist.

8 minutes ago, Tseison.4659 said:

My only two cents again is when it comes to Wells, they NEED to either have their radius increased (360) or be mobile and go off at the Mesmers location, excluding Gravity Well. Can mention PvE but for mostly PvP/WvW, everyone is always moving and no one is going to sit and stand on the Wells or a lot of players will miss the final pulse, move out of it thinking it’s an enemy Well or again, the Well is positioned in a way that prevents you from being in it without being killed/ran over by a boonball.

I really like the idea of increasing the radii of Wells but I get concerned when I think of a 360 radius Gravity Well being double cast on Graveyard in Legacy of Foefire or smaller nodes like Waterfall or Mine. I figured letting the healing portion of the All's Well That Ends Well be the bigger radius would justify letting the Wells themselves be more powerful especially while lowering CS's cooldown. Chronomancer's whole identity is a little tricky to balance and it gave me a little insight as to why they struggle giving it a rework without a FULL rework.

[Chronomancer Suggestions (PvP)]

General Gist:

This is a follow-up on my Mirage post in regards to what I would like to see from Chronomancer. You can read that post as well if you're interested in my views on what Mirage needs adjusted. I wish I could do full revamps but since skills can only be split between gamemodes and not changed entirely... This can be a little tricky.

 

My goal with these suggestions:

My focus with Chronomancer is to solidify its role as a support as an in-between of Scourge for boon control and Scrapper for their Swiss army knife kinda options. These changes will include primarily trait changes/moves to update Chronomancer's potency of the traits to keep up with newer Elite Specializations. I'll also be adjusting the duration of Continuum Split/Shift to better suit the usage of the skill in the current times. Wells also could use a little bit of a touch-up due to the style of how they function has fallen behind with the times.

TL;DR Going to be touching traits, skills, CS, and wells.

 

Traits:

Going to be moving/merging a lot of traits, adjusting numbers on some of these, and changing some traits. Goal is to make some traits less mandatory and change some traits to better suit the goal above.

• Times Catches Up: The Superspeed on shatter portion of this trait is now merged into Time Marches On. This trait now causes phantasms to spawn with Superspeed and deal increased damage to movement impaired enemies.
  • The superspeed to clones has been fundamental to Chronomancer's identity in PvP and leaves the other traits unable to compete regardless of their strength. Figured giving Phantasms superspeed on spawn would save a shatter for giving Phantasms a boost to reach the enemy.
    • Superspeed: 3 seconds
• All's Well That Ends Well: Increased the radius of the healing portion.
  • Increasing the radius of the healing enables Chronomancer to be able to heal allies more without grumbling internal monologues about how the someone barely stepped out of the radius of the Well itself.
    • Radius: 360
• Danger Time: No longer increases critical chance. Now causes the Chronomancer to remove boons from enemies when inflicting Slow.
  • This would give a little more synergy with Delayed Reactions, Well of Action, and Phantasmal Avenger since they all inflict Slow. It would be competing with the ability to keep clones around or faster cooldowns.
    • Boons Removed: 1
• Illusionary Reversion: Reduced the number of clones required to be present.
  • This will open up opportunities to keep clones around more often since Phantasms no longer count towards Shatters.
    • Required Clones (PvP): 2
• Stretched Time: No longer causes Wells to grant Alacrity to allies near them. Now causes Flow of Time to be shared with nearby allies. Tides of Time now grants Quickness instead of Alacrity.
  • Decided to swap boons between Seize the Moment and Stretched Time to allow the Chronomancer to supply both boons since it doesn't have a much more powerful identity aside from doing that. This also allows both traits to be set up the same way and just select the boons you rather supply in bursts rather than with Shield 5.
    • Radius: 360
    • Number of Targets: 5
    • Tides of Time Quickness: 5 seconds
• Seize the Moment: Tides of Time now grants Alacrity instead of Quickness.
  • See Stretched Time.
    • Tides of Time Alacrity: 5 seconds
• Chronophantasma: Reduced the duration of Daze.
  • The daze has been holding back phantasms from doing their job and with the meta constantly getting faster and hitting harder with things like Harbinger. A slight reduction to the daze would allow them to keep up.
    • Daze: 0.75 seconds

Wells: 

Going to be giving Wells an improved effect that changes based on whether or not this was started from CS (Continuum Split). These effects will consider the fact that health is reset from CS, endurance is reset from CS, etc.

• Well of Eternity: Increased the Ending Healing. All the initial healing while in CS is moved to Ending Healing. Conditions Removed is also increased to 2 while in CS.
  • Increasing the Ending Healing improves the reward for somehow staying in the small radius. Moving all the Initial Healing to Ending Healing while in CS rewards saving CS for healing and increasing the cleansing further infers that.
    • Ending Healing: 4,290(0.8)
      • If Started from CS:
        • Ending Healing: 6,389(0.3)
        • Conditions Removed: 2
• Well of Action: Superspeed duration is increased while in CS.
  • Increasing the Superspeed while in CS will reward trying to stand in the radius for allies and yourself as it's difficult to do in a game about moving.
    • If Started from CS:
      • Superspeed: 7 seconds
• Well of Calamity: Final Damage is further increased while in CS.
  • Makes an already potentially lethal skill even more lethal from standing in it on the final pulse.
    • If Started from CS:
      • Final Damage: 798(4.5)
• Well of Precognition: Now grants Vigor in addition to granting Endurance when cast from CS.. Reduced the cooldown slightly. Aegis duration has been reduced.
  • Rewards standing in the radius even more. Reducing the cooldown to give this utility more potential as a stunbreak for Chronomancer.
    • Cooldown: 35 seconds
    • Aegis: 1 second
    • If Started from CS:
      • Vigor: 5 seconds
• Well of Senility: Boons are converted in addition to removing when cast from CS.
  • Punishes enemies for standing in the radius for the full duration further if they cast it from CS.
    • If Started from CS:
      • Additional Boons Converted: 2
• Gravity Well: Now inflicts Slow on the Final Pulse if cast from CS.
  • Rewards casting this from CS and punishes enemies for standing in all three pulses by inflicting Slow to set up further interrupts potentially.
    • If Started from CS:
      • Slow: 3 seconds

Chronomancer Shatters:

I'm planning to update these shatters to improve the Shatter-centric aspect of Chronomancer if wanted. Definitely don't want to push it too far into obnoxious territory. These shatters now gain bonus effects if cast while in CS.

• Split Second: Both pulses of this shatter now are affected by traits that improve Shatters on hit while in CS. Excludes Restorative Illusions, Bountiful Disillusionment, and other skills that grant positive effects to allies or self.
  • Since the damage is technically lower on this skill, improving the benefits of using traits like Rending Shatter, Shattered Concentration, etc. Would give this skill an extra benefit for using Chronomancer instead.
• Rewinder: Using this Shatter while in CS grants Alacrity.
  • Giving Chronomancer more consistent Alacrity if used while in CS.
    • Alacrity: 0.5 seconds per Clone.
• Time Sink: Using this Shatter while in CS inflicts Chill to enemies affected.
  • Slowing down enemies, slowing their recharge time, and interrupting them from CS isn't too powerful I hope. It rewards setting up for CS.
• Continuum Split: Cooldown has been reduced and duration has been reduced. This skill's cooldown is increased based on the number of skills used while under the effect of this skill. Master of Fragmentation reduces the increase of the cooldown if equipped. Wells and Shatters do not affect the Recharge Increase.
  • Continuum Shift: Now counts as a no-clone Shatter and inflicts Slow to nearby enemies if Master of Fragmentation is equipped.
    • Punishes enemies for being near the rift when it ends.
  • In PvP this skill is normally used to get off a quick combination in succession on an enemy. To prevent this from being too powerful while also enabling players to do it more often is the goal with this change. You could probably halve the Recharge Increase and leave the duration the same in PvE.
    • Recharge Increase (without MoF in PvP): 3 seconds
    • Recharge Increase (with MoF in PvP): 2 seconds
    • Duration per Clone: 1 second
    • Cooldown: 75 seconds (63.75 with Master of Misdirection).

Shield Skills:

Frankly this offhand doesn't need much changing other than a tiny cooldown adjustment and a boon change.

• Echo of Memory: Slightly reduced cooldown.
  • Just to improve uptime on blocks since this is intended to help makeup for the loss of Distortion.
    • Cooldown: 30 seconds
• Tides of Time: No longer grants Swiftness. Now grants Regeneration for the same duration.
  • To give Chronomancer access to Regeneration so it can receive benefits from Chaos traits. Additionally provides a little extra sustain.
    • Regeneration: 5 seconds

[Mirage Suggestions (PvP)]

Follow-up on the comments!

On 7/19/2022 at 11:18 PM, Parasalin.4137 said:

Mirage Advance would be awesome if it gave mirage cloak, basically shadowstep to an ambush then hop out again.

Definitely like the idea for this! Being able to port in, ambush with Axe (for example) and then port back would open some opportunities. I hadn't double-checked something and Mirage Retreat should also count as a Deception so it generates 2 clones potentially. I wish I could give massive adjustments for some of the other skills you all have mentioned.

On 7/20/2022 at 5:25 AM, Tseison.4659 said:

If Mirage only get to keep the 2 dodges for PvE and only 1 dodge for PvP/WvW, then there needs to be endurance based traits like what the Vindicator has to compensate.

Yeah... The fact they haven't really compensated Mirage for having one dodge (50 endurance) is kinda rude when something like Vindicator has the ability to generate Endurance PER entity affected by the dodge (5 targets max though)... They skill have Vigor duration nerfed as if to prevent the old IH Axe build when it really was flourishing due to the bug where each Axe could hit twice... (Meaning you could potentially hit 24 times with 3 Illusions+ yourself + Mirrored Axes). I wonder if they'll revert those duration nerfs at least too but I wasn't going to mention it here. I think giving us passive Swiftness would at least allow us to take Adventurer's Rune so we can generate Endurance again without sacrificing mobility. (Plus it would allow us to go a rune with more damage if we wanted...)

On 7/20/2022 at 4:45 AM, Lincolnbeard.1735 said:

Crystal sands needs a functionality change. No matter the CD it will always be awful if the skill remains the same. 

Very true, but it unfortunately is a mandatory skill for PvE builds to my knowledge due to the confusion + mirror it generates on a low cooldown. That's why I just slapped on an even lower cooldown since you're rarely going to actually land the skill anyway. I even debated 10 seconds and just nerfing the damage into the ground so it's just a mirror spawner. (Reminds me of the bug with underwater Jaunt LOL).

On 7/20/2022 at 5:25 AM, Tseison.4659 said:

Alacrity on staff I still think should be removed. I really see no reason for Mirage being an alac bot/support role when Chrono was suppose to fill that role…

Agreed. Alacrity on Mirage was a poor choice especially when they've adjusted the entirety of Chronomancer on the fact it gets access to Alacrity... It's just giving them grounds to nerf Mirage for the same reason. 😕

I'm planning on releasing a post similar to this format with Chronomancer suggestions too!  Be sure to check that out too!

Maybe even Core Mesmer changes too but they would be a bit different format due to the variety of paths we could go with it.

Debated even using Logic Gates as a joke for 'if this then that' kinda mindset since Mesmer's identity is basically just a pink wizard with copies that can do damage.

Oh yeah...

 

Also.

Quote

Unwavering Avoidance: Reduced vigor duration from 3 seconds to 1.5 seconds in PvP only when the Vindicator specialization is equipped. ...

Why didn't Mirage get this with Critical Infusion?

 

[For the fun of it]

Condi Deadeye would be pretty good at taking down the Archers/Bombers.

Mass Invisibility + PU so you can rush mid for supplies. Slap it on Chronomancer with a couple wells and you've got a support giving Alacrity/Stealth/Crowd Control.

I remember messing with Tempest giving 25 Might/Fury to allies in Stronghold too and having good results.

I could see Chronomancer taking Portal for supplies.

[Nice update]

21 hours ago, Buran.3796 said:

   But with Renegade Forced Engagement had a reach of 1200, now 600, and Planar Protection a cooldown of 20s, now 30s. I wouldn't touch Renegade at PvP ever again. Rene was already OUT of meta before EoD, and the nerfs to Jalis and Retribution due ANet didn't care to adress Vindi made Ren even worse. Is like them nerfing core Engie for no reasons while no one is playing it while buffing Mech.

   Anyway: meta yesterday was guards, necros and specter, nothing changed.

Definitely true. But that's where Anet seems to keep pigeonholing non-Herald Revenant builds. Maybe they'll Elite Specialization split utilities and weapon skills like they've needed to for YEARS now....

Mist Form being nerfed specifically to Tempest but has a reasonable cooldown under other Elite Specializations or NONE. Obby Flesh being split too would be cool. A lot of specializations would benefit from Elite Specialization specific splits since they tend to be the main problem... Then they nerf CORE things. 😉

[They Stealthnerfed harbi, but harbmains are not even noticing it!]

9 hours ago, FrownyClown.8402 said:

I havent checked in a while, but whenever my tooltip said 240 id heal for 272 only when in air

In case you're wondering, https://wiki.guildwars2.com/wiki/Signet_of_Restoration#Notes .

I made a note on this like a year and a half ago lol.