Girth.9731

This has always been the status quo. Anet is absolutely terrible at responding to player feedback and communication in general. If we do get the patch as is, what the heck was the point of the preview? I've never seen a patch preview so universally criticized by the player base. The hate for this patch might even up there with the infamous Feburary balance overhaul disaster. Some excellent points have been raised by the community, lets see if Anet actually gives a kitten about this game.

I made a post about this a few weeks ago. Would giving Mending a 16s cooldown baseline break Def SB? No lol. The build is mediocre as is and far from meta. Regardless, something should be done or this is just a straight up nerf to the already dead Str builds. The easiest solution would be to buff either Restorative Strength, which is is a laughably underpowered trait, or increase the healing of MMR, which is probably still a bit undertuned. Two easy solutions. I suspect Anet will do neither and instead continue to destroy the build diversity of Warrior.

I made a post similar to this one a few years back, trying to provide ideas for improvements that could realistically be implemented. First off, from a PvP/WvW standpoint, the skill isn't terrible if you have a build that can utilize it properly. From my testing its about a 40% increase in DPS compared with autoattacking so it does do respectable damage. The problem, in my mind, is that much of the damage of the skill is tied up in the final hit which, without quickness, will essentially never land on a good player, even if you get a long CC like Bull's Charge to connect (this is why I love using Sigil of Celerity on my GS). This is not an acceptable state for a skill and it desperately needs QOL changes. Many people have argued that we should be allowed to move during 100b, similar to what Anet plans to do to Flurry. While this would improve usability, the problem with this suggestion is that the animation of 100b would look very bizarre if the character model were moving. Thus, Anet would have to either create a new animation or replace it with an existing animation that would work better with player movement. Neither is likely to happen. Additionally, the stationary channeling of 100b is what gives the skill its unique feel. So, what should be done? Well, I think there are a two easy changes Anet could implement to dramatically improve the usability of the skill without changing its identity or power level significantly. 1. Reduce the total channel time and damage of the first 8 strikes proportionally, but add damage to the final hit The goal here would be to make the final hit easier to land and more rewarding when it does land, without significantly changing the DPS of the preceding 8 strikes. I think a total channel time of 2.5 seconds would be ideal. Thus, even without quickness, it would be feasible to land the entire skill on a CC'd opponent. The damage of the first 8 strikes would be lowered so that their DPS does not change, but the final strike would have its damage slightly increased to make it more rewarding to land. I think the final strike should hit for a little less than a >50% health Arcing Slice. This would dramatically improve the usability of 100b and incentivize Warriors to channel the entire skill to get the damage of the final hit. 2. Increase the max targets from 3 to 5 I mean, the skill is called Hundred Blades, why the hell does it only hit 3 targets?

The skill will probably be better in 1v1 fights in PvP and WvW, especially against good players who can easily dodge or interupt the current iteration of Arc Divider. Its definitely a nerf for zerg fighting in WvW. In PvE it will just depend on the numbers.

Would literally be a dream come true. People have been asking for this QOL change for years though so I'm not holding my breath.

Well said. This would be a disaster. They need to slow the balance patches down, the game is mostly well balance across the game-modes right now. This feels like change just for the sake of change.

It's weird how they said they are reducing the cooldown of Mending from 20 to 16 seconds in PvE only, but Mending already has a cooldown of 15 seconds in PvE? Some decent changes overall, but if they don't reduce the cooldown of Mending in PvP/WvW that will basically be the last nail in the coffin for Strength-based builds. That, or they need to add more sustain to the Strength tree to compensate. Weird change there.

If the cooldown reduction to Mending is PvE only, it will further nerf all of the Strength based builds that rely on having a shorter Mending cooldown for sustain. I assume it may be a typo because Mending already has a cooldown of 15 seconds in PvE, but if it is not then they need to add some sustain buff to the Strength tree to compensate for this heavy nerf.

You don't understand what I am saying. This is an unintentional nerf to ALL of the Strength-based Warrior builds. (i.e. Core Warrior, Strength Spellbreaker, Strength Bladesworn). These builds are mediocre at best and will become even WORSE. They must add some sustain to the Strength tree as compensation or simply reduce the cooldown of Mending to prevent this from happening.

You are mistaken, the reduced cooldown of Mending was one of the few things keeping Strength based builds alive in PvP/WvW. If they remove that without any sustain buffs to the Strength tree, it will further kill those mediocre builds and essentially force everyone to play X/Defense/Discipline. Horrible change.

It already has a cooldown of 16 if you take the Strength tree. You understand taking that away will further kill all of the Strength-based builds right? What if I don't want to play X/Defense/Discipline? With this terrible update I will be forced to. Or, more realistically, I'll just quit the game.

Anet, I know this must be a typo because Mending already has a cooldown of 15 seconds in PvE. However, if it is not and you actually intend not to reduce the cooldown of Mending in PvP/WvW, please let me inform you why that is an absolutely horrible decision. This small oversight will further kill what little build diversity is left on Warrior. Core Strength Warrior = nerfed. Strength Spellbreaker = nerfed. Strength Bladesworn = nerfed. These builds are already mediocre compared with the X/Defense/Discipline builds and will become even worse if you remove the best reason to take the Strength tree in the first place. If you are hardstuck on nerfing Mending for Stength builds, I would HIGHLY recommend adding some type of sustain buff to the Strength tree to compensate. Perhaps increase the healing of Might Makes Right for example. Or add a 20% reduction to heal skill cooldown to a very underpowered trait like Restorative Strength. In short, if you do not intent to reduce the cooldown of Mending in PvP/WvW you will actually be hurting Warrior build diversity by making the best builds better (Bull's Charge now has a 24 seconds cooldown baseline) and the mediocre builds worse. I know this must be an oversight. Please reconsider nerfing the already very dead Strength tree. Thank you.

Yeah, I'm just hoping it was a typo considering Mending already has a cooldown 15 in PvE. Tbh if they accidently nerf every build that uses Strength because of a simple oversight, it might push me over the edge of quitting this game. I'm so tired of them unintentionally nerfing mediocre builds because of haphazard balance changes.

Same. It wouldn't be a balance patch if Core Warrior wasn't inadvertently nerfed by poorly thought out changes.

I assume they must have meant PvP/WvW only right? Mending already has a cooldown of 15 in PvE. If they don't reduce the cooldown of Mending in PvP/WvW as compensation it would be yet another nail in the coffin of any builds trying to utilize Strength. One of the best reasons to take the Strength tree was the lower cooldown of Mending. I'm sorry, but this whole patch feels really pointless and poorly thought out... times like these push me closer to quitting the game.

Found the DH main.

Yeah Healing Signet was way overnerfed. Believe me, I was one of the last holdouts who swapped to Mending because I loved the gameplay that the passive heal promoted, but Mending is way better than Healing Signet right now. There really isn't even a comparison to be made honestly. I wish Anet would give Healing Signet a little love so I could use it again.

Lol you're not wrong XD I'm mainly trying to avoid a big nerf to the max dmg output of Hundred Blades which I feel would be a certainty if they made it function exactly like Death Spiral.Hundred Blades is a really hard hitting skill with a long cast time trade off as well as a placement lock.Cutting the 3 and a half second cast time to 1 second but still having the x8 critable strikes would be such a huge amount of damage inflicted in such a short time.. it would probably become an insta kill skill against many in the PvP scene.Nerfs would certainly be called for in that case I'd bet.Blurred Frenzy deals 8 strikes in one second, it has meh damage but that is because it also evades during that time, so it is overloaded from a competitive viewpoint. Giving 100B a 1s cast time for 8 hits without evade frames is perfectly reasonable for at least a moderate damage ability, and if it has a very obvious windup animation then it definitely deserves high damage. When I was thinking about it I was thinking more a quick horizontal slice animation.It could work with a buildup though but if it's too easy to see coming it'll never be that viable in competitive as people will always be watching for it. I think a 0.25s of animation frames of the warrior cocking back the big AF sword before unleashing a kitten ton of damage is enough of a warning for people to get out of the way if they have dodges left. At the same time it would be quick enough to successfully start once you CC someone and get respectable damage in even if the last hit misses.I think this would be the best direction for the skill to go in. I'm okay with the channeled strike requiring you to stay in place, I think that's part of what makes Hundred Blades cool and unique. What I want to see a 0.5s wind up animation where the Warrior can move followed by a channeled burst of damage over the next 1.5s. I think this would make the skill feel alot more usable in multiple situations while maintaining the theme of the skill. I think the damage should be somewhere around 1.5x an Arcing Slice since this skill would still be harder to land.

I think most Warrior mains can agree that Hundred Blades needs a rework. While the skill is thematically cool, it can quite ineffective against skilled opponents and is very clunky in general. This is not to say that the skill is currently useless, but rather to say that it needs to be updated to fit with the pace PvP in 2021. While there have been numerous suggestions on this forum to either lower the cast time or increase the damage, I want to purpose a simple rework that I feel would dramatically improve the skill's usability while retaining its core theme. So, here it is. Hundred BladesFollowing a 0.5s cast time in which the Warrior gathers his strength, the Warrior channels a flurry of 6 attacks in a cone in front of him over the next 1.5s with the final strike dealing additional damage. Movement during the channel ends the skill. Why these changes? I think Hundred Blades should still function as a payoff for CCing an opponent, and thus this rework doesn't change the core idea that Hundred Blades should be used against opponents that can't get out of the way. However, with the current 3.5s cast time we have in game, it is nearly impossible to land the last strike in PvP against skilled players. This rework adds a 0.5s cast time before the strikes begin as a way to provide enemies with a visual indication the Warrior is about to use the skill and to facilitate counterplay. It then backloads the damage over the next 1.5s to reward Warriors who are able to keep their opponents in place during the total 2s that the skill lasts for. This should function to make the skill more usable in PvP and provide counterplay without changing the core idea of what Hundred Blades should be. Obviously, damage numbers may need to be adjusted to keep the skill balanced. Would this be too difficult for Anet to pull off? Is Hundred Blades fine as is? Let me know what you think.

I mostly agree with this. I don't really think we need to buff Warrior, but rather nerf a few over-performing specs. This only thing I would like to see is a rework of the dead 300s traits, a few weapons skills updated, and either a rework or a buff to Healing Signet as, in its current state, its unusable compared to Mending.

Man someone should get you on the balanced team. These are some great suggestions. Really love your ideas for Might Makes Right and Winds of Disenchantment, However, I think Mage Bane Tether is pretty much fine as is and applying a daze every second for 5 seconds seems quite insane. Really sad that, at least until the expansion, I highly doubt we will be getting any reworks, especially for Warrior. Also, I like what you suggested for Arms; I think it would facilitate some cool Sw/X - LB builds. I think the problem with Arms in PvP is that its a purely offensive trait line that basically provides no sustain, healing, or damage mitigation. If we want some cool Arms/Def/Disc condi build we would need Arms to be able to compete with the Berserker train line which provides at least a degree of healing and some stability. Since Strength is focused on gaining might and then converting that might to endurance and healing, I think Arms needs a different but similar focus. Maybe we could make Arms focus on stacking conditions rather than might and then healing or gaining endurance based on the conditions you have applied. There is even a skill in GW1 that did this called "Victory is Mine!". I think that would be a good direction for Arms.

Depends what you want to play. If you are just interested in open world content then it doesn't matter and pick what you enjoy playing the most. For PvP/WvW, Core and Spellbreaker are probably what you want to be playing. Not that Berserker can't be effective in PvP, but I would argue its certainly not as powerful as most of the Core/Spellbreaker builds out there. There are great Berserkers in the game who can make it work, but again you will have a harder time being effective in PvP as a Berserker. If you are interested in high end fractals or raids, you definitely want to be picking Berserker. Berserker can act as a great pure DPS spec or, more commonly, as a DPS/support hybrid spec known as Bannerslave which virtually every group will want.

Was actually about to say this. I recently swapped to action camera and a big reason is because Rush lands so much more consistently. Still isn't 100%, but its pretty close.

Eh, warrior really isn't that bad honestly. Sure, Healing Signet needs a buff, some of the old 300s traits need to be reworked still (pure laziness on Anet's part...), and a few weapons skills need touching up, but a good warrior can still compete at any level of PvP. Its more the fact that a few classes are still slightly over-performing even though last patch did help address that. If you really think warrior is "terrible" you may need to spend some more time practicing with the class. I've made posts before talking about how Anet refuses to address warrior's problems and they just get deleted - as will this post most likely. Anet either knows about warrior's problems and refuses to fix them or is so out of touch they aren't even aware they exist; I'm not sure which is scarier.

Hey man, really appreciate the detailed feedback. Been trying to spread this build around the warrior community so I'm glad to hear you gave it a try. I agree Rampage can be overkill and I often time swap between it and Signet of Fury. I could also see using banner for group play in WvW but I'm more of a roamer so I don't typically bring it. You hit the nail on the head with your analysis though, this build requires you to be on top of your opponent applying pressure 24/7. You don't want to kite away to heal or anything like that. If you can't weapon swap or your skills are on cooldown you should be chasing them and auto-attacking. I've always enjoyed the more sustain focused and durable warrior builds (a "brawler" if you will) which is why I searched for so long to find something that fit that archetype for me. I generally feel that I can out sustain just about anyone in a prolonged fight if I play well and keep up the pressure, which is exactly the build I was trying to create. At least for me, the key to really mastering this build is 1. Getting used to constantly apply pressure 2. Learning to work auto-attacks into your damage rotations (a lot of warriors I see don't do this) 3. Making sure you are careful to not waste/miss burst skill 4. Making the most of your 100b damage by using it after landing a FC to proc No Escape. If you do decide to spend some more time with the build let me know and I'd love to hear how it goes.