TheBHSP.8952

Currently Guild Objective Aura VIII (from keeps) and borderlands bloodlust give precision in addition to other stats. This variable change in precision makes it difficult/pointless to optimise one's build for open field WvW because one runs the risk of going over the 100% crit cap whenever bloodlust is present/absent. Could this extra precision be removed and instead augment the other stats as compensation for the lost precision?

Questions are more than welcome either here or on youtube or ingame.

Not sure if this is intended behaviour or a bug: swapping weapons just before the dodge lands engenders the dodge to fail.

Submitting a ticket to customer support keeps redirecting me to log in over and over and over. Tried without ad blocker to the same effect.

It's in the video description

Thanks! The 12th one is quite short (backpedaling). I was afraid that the video was too long so I will elaborate here. I sometimes see newer players slowly backpedaling when their tag goes 180 degrees and these newer players get caught in enemy rev spikes which is easily avoidable had they just used any one of the three solutions.

Hopefully Anet can increase the number of guild slots. Then you and your little band of friends can go make a new guild free of any rules just for the alliance.

My feedback as a rev main in WvW for open field zerg fights (for context this is how I play:) It feels like the vindicator is intended to be a selfish melee focused spec but is outclassed by existing options like the berserker or daredevil both in terms of survivability and burst damage. It also seems like the vindicator is an introduce-the-problem-sell-the-solution kind of spec where the problem is having only 1 dodge while the solution is wasting valuable trait space to grant endurance regeneration. The recent changes are in my opinion, in the right direction. The dodge mechanic still takes too much away from the spec without offering much in return. 100 endurance dodge is too punishing and the airtime is too long on top of having only 1 dodge. I have to invest in energy sigils just to compensate for the dodge mechanic whereas I can run sigil of force or hydromancy on other specs. You often don't need such a huge window of evade frames for dodges. 2 short dodges are better than 1 long dodge. Furthermore, with the current radius of forerunner of death, we are incentivised to dodge directly into the enemy blob, exposing us to every damage possible. Unless we are one pushing PPT trains, this leaves you very vulnerable to counter pushes. This is only exacerbated by the 100 endurance dodge which means I cannot immediately evade out of incoming damage. I could do greatsword block but wells are unblockable and corrupted stab is not fun. Vindicator traits mainly involve compensating for the weak dodge mechanic while other specs without negative mechanics get bonuses, for example, on herald you get a flat 10% vitality boost and 1% damage boost for every boon on you, movement speed in the form of rising momentum, and might application on shared empowerment and even more damage with forceful persistence. The only trait that is not compensatory in nature is Leviathan's strength and empire divided but even those come with conditions instead of flat unconditional bonuses. Leviathan's strength encourages you to always keep your endurance unfilled which is extremely dangerous on a spec with two regular dodges. On a spec with only 1 dodge it is kind of suicidal against competent enemies, aggravated by the fact that energy meld costs energy and has a cast time. This is a "selfish" damage spec. As it stands, 10% damage increase is not worth it over not dodging damage. You also want a way out if things go south. Yet the herald has more offensive damage at ranged, has more survivability and provides group offensive support. The vindicator is more mobile with greatsword 3 and nomad's advance however but that is not super important in zerg fights unless you are a spellbreaker with even better mobility and immunity to damage in the form of feel no pain and defiant stance. You even lose the immob on sword 4 by using greatsword. On herald, we have forceful persistence which is very easy to upkeep. I literally have to press 1 button on dwarf for 13% damage. On the vindicator we have forerunner of death which is risky to upkeep. You have to sacrifice evading damage for the damage buff. Do you preemptively dodge to get the 15% buff or do you use the actual dodge to do damage? With bounding dodger, the daredevil gets 10% just by sacrificing 1 dodge out of 3 dodges. Moreover, the daredevil has shadowsteps to get out of trouble. With the vindicator we have to expend our only dodge to get a 5% damage increase over the daredevil trait and it is not as if the daredevil doesn't have way to regenerate that endurance. I like the idea of Amnesty of Shing Jea but the might stacks are too little. In theory, I can use scavenger's burst off cooldown to trigger this, giving my group 1 might stack every 3+0.75s for 20 energy. Yet facet of strength grants more reliable might source to others and at a reduced energy cost (2 per second) without requiring any cast time. I can see vindicator fulfilling a might bot role while dishing out respectable melee damage in contrast to the herald who has better ranged DPS and better overall boon support. Balance in Discord is pretty much useless for open field fights with a competent scrapper and firebrand. Why does a melee DPS spec have this kind of token sustain trait? The major traits are particularly problematic Reaver's Curse is the obvious choice for open field fights. Song of Arboreum seems like a support trait while Angsiyan's Trust is for roamers. The major trait space is completely wasted just to compensate for the dodge mechanic. 0 -1+1 is still 0. Vassals of the Empire also feels out of place. Now it is trying to offer some group utility in the form of boon duration by a measly 2s whereas the rest of the spec doesn't give out substantial boons to others like the herald does. I suggest changing Vassals of the Empire to suit a more defensive playstyle i.e. a dodge that rewards dodging to reposition and to avoid damage rather strictly for offensive burst damage. Instead of dealing substantial burst damage and chill, grant some % damage buff greater than forerunner of death that stacks in some intensity only in combat. This way, reckless dodging still gets you killed but careful and methodical dodging rewards you over time. Whereas forerunner of death is an instant pay off, the new vassal of the empire will be a lower upfront payoff but rewards the risky playstyle of the vindicator. This should cater to a wider variety of playstyle rather than just strictly either you one-push them or you can get one-pushed. More importantly, the current open field meta requires something that is versatile at ranged fights. Comparing vindicator to herald, I am losing ranged damage in the form of facet of elements; group swiftness, might, fury, protection and superspeed for selfish fury and quickness(which my firebrand will provide anyway). The Herald only needs 0.25s for elemental blast for DPS that is equivalent to necro well of suffering while vindicator only has scavenger's burst and takes 0.75s to cast. Even the berserker has better ranged damage with the F1 burst of the bow. Herald has infuse light, vindicator has no damage mitigation other than greatsword 4. A lot of the damage is concentrated on greatsword with greatsword 2, 3 and 5 while the alliance utilities are kind of weak either due to the weak traits which make the actual power coefficient lower than what they are on herald. Starting with the stunbreak, 35 energy is just 5 less from rite of the great dwarf which is also a stunbreak but gives 50% damage reduction. I almost never touch rite of the great dwarf because of the energy cost. Change the stunbreak to rip some boons or inflict immob or upgrade it to stun rather than daze should justify the insane 35 energy energy cost. Maybe it is justifiable in roaming but in open field fights, it is not and I will only use this in an emergency in which case, it is a over-glorified stunbreak. Nomad's advance is serviceable but aoe ground targets are better than what is currently in the game. We lose the option to cast it on the outer portions of the zerg to hit as many targets as possible while also mitigating damage. Comparing nomad's advance with vault, they both take you into melee, both have 600 range but unlike vault, nomad's advance does not have any evade frames. Therefore, using it on a target usually means diving head first into damage. An aoe ground target would be more apropos here. Akin to the change to coalescence of ruin, changing it to a ground target will enhance the experience of the Vindicator. If left unchanged i.e. not a ground targeted ability, the aoe radius also feels pretty tiny. If it is altered to a ground target, then it's fine. I get that scavenger's burst gives quickness but the cast time for scavenger's burst feels really slow and limits the rest of the vindicator's combo because you would want to use this first if your firebrand is sleeping. Perhaps reducing the cast range to 600 while reducing the cast time fits better with the melee archetype. The damage is also really weak for a 20 energy skill because of the weak traits and is near the ballpark of holy strike except holy strike is faster to cast, has better range and doesn't cost 20 energy. Berserker's get free quickness when entering berserk mode from burst of aggression while vindicators have to invest 0.75s and 20 energy. The elite for Archemorus feels out of place in that it doesn't have an aoe when it does connect (like fireball) or that it doesn't even pierce. While it may be thematic for Archemorus to throw a spear from the next solar system, it doesn't fit what the kit is going for. Nerf the range and improve the damage/windup time and either give it an aoe at the end like the weaver's plasma blast (fire/air dual skill) or make it pierce at the bare minimum. Vindicator should not have a longbow ranger feel to its elite. Vindicator greatsword autos are too narrow for the animation. Otherwise greatsword is in a good spot if the dodge traits are reworked. Energy meld should not have a cast time or cost energy. In summary, the vindicator tries to be a selfish melee DPS spec but is outclassed by current meta options both in terms of damage and survivability. If the intention of the vindicator is to fill a niche which rewards careful and very precise dodging i.e. dodging when it isn't needed should punish you, the rewards whether it be greater damage or greater boon support needs to be significantly better. I will not comment on the Kurzick traits because I do not play support.

Less outfits and more unique armor skins so I can actually choose which sets to mix.