NorthernRedStar.3054

I just ignore the weavers with that build, I feel that fighting them is a waste of time This. You just out-rotate a weaver, fighting them is a waste of time and resources.

Low defensive capabilities lmao. Spam blind, spam stealth and evade. Thief needs nerfs, they need to lose access to one of these at the same time. DE is one of the safest, dumbest builds right now, and d/p could use some tone down too in the blind spam department. First of all "spam" blind. The cheapest access thief has to blind is Shadowshot. You get 3 blinds, and then you have to wait for over 8 seconds for the next one. Dunno about you, but I dont call that "spam", or even particularly good for defense. "Spam stealth" stealth is even less accessible, and more importantly, terrible for defense. If you stealth up against me, I will abuse that and hit you for tons of free damage. "Spam Evade", first of all, a thief that stealths up a lot has only 2 evades other than his basic dodge. Withdraw, and Daggertstorm. Thats even further from "spamming". Second, even the builds that evade a lot, still dont even come close to what Weaver can do survivability-wise. Hah, not even close. DE is extremely unsafe. There is a reason its a joke in 2v2, and a +1 build that runs away as soon as someone turns on them in 5v5 (where its also kind of a joke, but I digress). And as for blind "spam", see above.Stealth is terrible for defense and aggro break, you heard it here first, folks. Most thief builds have access to near perma-vigor, so there goes your point about "MUH 2 DODGES". Daggerstorm is nearly 3 seconds of continuous evade on top of free damage and ally support. 2nd off, you don't need defensive capability at the time you're applying as much pressure as a d/p thief with Assassin's Signet and all the trait damage modifiers and venoms active. The rest of your post regarding DE is just biased rambling regarding build you probably can't play yourself, hence you consider it 'meme'. It's a great example of a low-risk, high reward build that I immensely detest about thief. Funnily enough, I thought necro mains were the most biased bunch here.

Will probably be something menagerie-focused. Think Minister Cho's Estate. And yes, off-hand shield might be the accomplice, with a more stern focus on pet commands.

Condi mains: "Out of power builds, ranger is still viable. KILL IT!"

Low defensive capabilities lmao. Spam blind, spam stealth and evade. Thief needs nerfs, they need to lose access to one of these at the same time. DE is one of the safest, dumbest builds right now, and d/p could use some tone down too in the blind spam department.

Long? Frustrating? I don't even know what to say anymore. Guess all this community wants is the same OLD, SAME OLD, served on THE EXACT same OLD platter.

If you're having issues, try clearing the mobs (having something like staff thief with Dagger Storm helps, having a staff druid helps) at a consistent basis. The actual AoEs are really not that hard to avoid as long as you focus a little. Needless to say, having a healer is preferred (although not mandatory). As for the stressful part - that may just be you picking "the wrong" profession to do fractals with. The visual clutter part can be solved as easily as re-positioning your camera.

What about warrior? Revenant? Necro +1'ing you? I assume they can't even compare in terms of damage pressure.... You do realize a lot of the stuff you just said and pointed out stands on equal ground with what a lot of the other classes can do. The difference is, they can usually CC-lock you down much more easily and quicker. If ranger has its damage gutted, it will have nothing. It'll be a worse thief.

What warriors are we using as a basis for this thesis? Silver 2? Maybe lower?

Everyone knows how to counter ranger's telegraphed burst rotations. There's nothing to complain about, save for Bambi being a bit too strong on its own. Ranger's not an issue at the moment. That's all L2P-issues, posed by players who are directly benefitting from this patch and its lowered skill floor and cap.

Also, yay, Cantha... I must say that i didn't expect that. Verdant Brink is one of the best maps in the game. Also, heck of a job, guys! You're on fire these days. And you are keeping up the communication! Credit where it's due!

This very much. Even a random player like myself can get away with fun but not meta builds. This hasn't happened in such a long time. It's a true bliss. Sort of a contradictionary statement. This isn't how PvP in any game should be, really. And what's the way to play? Let's all bandwagon to the latest elite specialisation because everything else is unviable? That worked super well. So well in fact PvP has been in decline since the very first expansion. Not even the entirely unjustified praise for the PoF damage spam specialisations is going to change that. This patch is a little over 2 weeks old. You can't reasonably compare it to the meta that was before and that was years in the making. During those 2 weeks we already had 1 other PvP patch. That's pretty much unprecedented. While I'm not sold yet I'm entirely willing to see where Arena Net is going next. I like what they do right now.You completely missed my point. Random player, throwing in with anyone, with a random , "fun-packaged" -build. You know what's not fun? it taking a ton of time for a player who's better than them, to kill them. Even worse, scenarios where you would've won a 1v2 before, due to massive skill difference, are now automatically tilted in the duo's favour. It's not balance that's rejuvenating PvP right now. It's new ways to play aka game modes. If the next expansions brings out a new game mode or more ways to play, on top of a specialization, then that will also help re-populate PvP. This isn't some magic hat trick.

Feel free to contact me in-game. This sounds interesting.

I don't see Bubbles doing it with Canthans, but I can see Canthans worshipping the dragon. Due to Jade Sea and seclusion from Tyria and Elona, they've always had a fairly intimate connection with the sea. Mind you, it'd be interesting to see what's the connection saltspray dragons (see GW1) have with the elder dragons, if any.

Wait, so you actually saying they reduced the available functions and usability the skill has in-game? NO WAY, who could've seen that coming?! Wasn't this supposed to be a great patch?!

This. People shouldn't have complained as much as they did pre-patch. There were a select few problem builds, that could've been fixed with minor adjustments. Otherwise, the balance was pretty great. What we have now is a condition meta where the sole two classes who still contain some amount of power damage, namely ranger and engineer, are getting complained about because apparently people don't want to see any power builds. It's not an issue with the game balance at this stage. It's an issue with your in-game reflexes, ability to cope, and skill to adapt. Players should get properly PUNISHED for making MISTAKES. Before, every window was an opportunity to tilt the fight in your favour. Now, who cares. It's all about the build you're playing (condi), and none mechanical ability. Good one, folks. Keep the flag high.

What do you mean, weren't you one of the people advocating how great this patch was?

Thief gets played for duels - "Can't have that!" Thief gets played for mobility - "Can't have that, toxic!" One'd think I'd have gotten used to this by now. Pugs will always complain about thieves, though, because playing against one requires map attention and brain usage. Not saying there hasn't been times when thief's been over the top - as an avid advocate against pre-patch stealth thief.

The changes and players are giving me league of legends season 6/7 vibes. That ain't good, not by a long shot. Oh well, no matter what you do, people will always complain. Myself included, 'course. But I'll acknowledge a lesser evil when I see one. Sorry Geralt.

To be fair - speaking strictly balance -wise - capping available combat pets at 1 is the easiest, fastest, and probably least "painful" change/limitation to implement. Elementalist mains often whine and argue about why it's so hard for Arenanet to balance out their class ("we're not allowed to have damage!!!!" etc). It's very simple: flexibility and versatility has to come with a tradeoff; but generally speaking, a jack of all trades -class is VERY difficult to balance in ANY game. League of Legends contains perhaps the best examples in the form of Yasuo, Zed, Azir and others. Yes, it does gimp the skill and fun factor of the specialization. Yes, that sucks. There are, however, 8 other classes in the game.

This very much. Even a random player like myself can get away with fun but not meta builds. This hasn't happened in such a long time. It's a true bliss. Sort of a contradictionary statement. This isn't how PvP in any game should be, really.

Class: not ideal in one (side-) game mode. Class players: god, my class is dog food!

I feel you. The patch took some thrill out of the game for me. These are the words I used earlier, myself. The thrill is gone - for me, anyways.

Does not feel satisfying. Am I alone with this?

MATT MERCER MASTERRACE MALE NORNS!