[Why is it Devs create selfish DPS who cannot apply self boons?]

 

4 hours ago, otto.5684 said:

I 100% agree. Virtuoso is highly reliant on fury with cumbersome access to it. Then you have rev sitting on stock pile of boons. Vindicator can maintain 100% fury, quickness and protection at the same time. Plus 10-20 might and good access to reg. The balance boggles my mind. 

Have you seen the vindicator benchmarks? It's 35-36k to virtuoso's 41k.

You want boons, you pay the price in damage, simple as that.

[Why is it Devs create selfish DPS who cannot apply self boons?]

4 hours ago, Daddy.8125 said:

Except DPS losses on a proffession built to maximise. This is the issue with reaper. 

If your a pure DPS doing as much DPS as a hybrid, you are no longer value. 

Well yeah, that's the point. These dps builds are not made by anet. They are made by players with the sole purpose of maximising dps. Anything else you want to add to those builds will come at a cost of some damage.

4 hours ago, Daddy.8125 said:

Virtuoso, weaver reaper and willbender are effectively the only selfish DPS. 

Dragonhunter / firebrand, chrono, etc etc generally all bring utility. Through CC  etc etc.à

But all of them have CC. And again, you still have access to the core class. Slot in Portal/Feedback/Phantasmal Disenchanter and now your Virtuoso has utility.

[Why is it Devs create selfish DPS who cannot apply self boons?]

1 hour ago, AliamRationem.5172 said:

Unless I'm misunderstanding, I think what we're talking about here is having some access to quickness on dependent classes like weaver.  Not 100% uptime.  Just some so that you are not 100% dependent upon support for competitive DPS output on a selfish DPS class.  Weaver's rotation is especially sensitive to boon uptime and it's one of several problems with weaver in actual play vs. weaver on a golem.

But weaver is hardly the exception. If you just copy a dps build off of snowcrows, chances there's no QoL/utility in there and it's tuned for maximum dps. That's the whole point of dps.

There's nothing stopping you from slotting a Sigil of Rage/Celerity to any build to give it some quickness.

[Arena has ruined the casters]

15 hours ago, Gibson.4036 said:

Pistol/pistol spellslinger

But op doesn't like that necro got a pistol because it's a mechanical weapon. I assume bows are also out since they are a hunter's weapon. So that leaves us with... torch? Dual wielding foci?

On 3/26/2022 at 11:40 PM, Sobx.1758 said:

So that wasn't a complaint when ele got a sword in PoF becaaaaause....?

Sword is ok, I mean even Gandalf used one 😀

[Global Quickness nerf in order?]

Just now, The Boz.2038 said:

Please do some tests, both with maths and plays. You are wrong on this.
Run a golem with full boons, then full -might, then full -quickness. You can easily see which has the greatest impact.

Quickness, like alacrity and unlike stat buffs like might, affects the rotation, so you would have to develop optimised rotations w/ and w/o quickness to do this test.

That been said, you could very well be totally right, and quickness is more powerful than 25 might (and we're taking purely about damage, like you said quickness affects -almost- all skill usage), but that's besides the point.

Like I said, quickness is a very rare boon. Might and fury are often by-products of regular rotations. You can blast a fire field to get might. If Time Warp gave fury, it would be a 12s cooldown skill, not 120s.

[Global Quickness nerf in order?]

Fury is the equivalent of 420 precision, and precision is interchangable with ferocity or power depending on your gearing. According to wiki, 15 ferocity gives 1% more crit damage, so 420 ferocity is 28% more crit damage.

Also yes, quickness is very powerful, the most powerful single boon, second most powerful to fully-stacked might. It's also much rarer. Yes, there are builds dedicated to offering perma-quickness, but that's specifically because of how rare it is. You don't need the same dedication for fury, or even might. You don't see the quickness equivalent of Deathstrike or even worse Furious Pounce.

[Why is it Devs create selfish DPS who cannot apply self boons?]

1 hour ago, The Boz.2038 said:

A lot of ANet's design really doesn't work in the "solo DPS" department, they seem to be bumbling about a lot in there.

Vindicator is the first class in a decade that can provide quickness for itself, and only itself, without investing *deeply* into diviner's. Kinda hilarious, isn't it?

Maybe it's more of a low hanging fruit with Vindicator, but other classes can do it by taking certain traits. Chrono for example with greatsword, Persistence of Memory, Phantasmal Haste, and Chronophantasma can have a lot of personal quickness. Necro now has two elite specs that give quickness in shroud. 

And speaking of Vindicator, it's no coincidence that it pays a hefty price on maximum dps for all that personal utility. It's the only way to make the kind of spec OP is asking for, without making endgame pve into stacking 10 self-sufficient damage dealers.

[I'm not mad, I'm just disappointed.]

I actually enjoyed PoF, as I did with all gw2 expansions, but I can't understand what makes PoF such a shining beacon in OP's eyes that EoD can't compare.

Is it just soulbeast good, untamed bad? You can say the mounts, but you can take the mounts to EoD maps. And nowadays, I usually use the skyscale and roller beetle, so I guess that's a point for season 4. 

EoD maps have tons more replayability and exploration is actually fun (subjective, but was there anything to see in PoF besides the desert? The only place I had fun discovering were the dwarven ruins). Your enjoyment of the elite specs depths what class(es) you play, but if you limit yourself to only ranger, you are missing on 88% of them. 

[When are the other professions going to get shroud mechanic?]

Thief elite specs are just such trainwrecks in terms of design.

You know how mirage and vindicator make trade-offs for their special dodge. DD gets a third dodge, tons of extra endurance gain and keeps all of its existing stealth.

Tradeoffs for 1500 range oneshots? No, instead lets completely remove what limited counterplay exists for stealth.

And let's give shroud to Thief. What, take away the stealth and/or shadowsteps to make it balanced? No no, let's give them barrier when they stealth and healing when they shadowstep. And shroud gives reveal so you get extra bonuses from traits.

[Single Main Class?]

On 3/21/2022 at 6:12 PM, anbujackson.9564 said:

Next would be engineer because it can do literally anything now except aegis and stability.

Engi could already do aoe stability with a couple tool belt skills and now mechanist can do both with Crisis Zone.

[Single Main Class?]

Guardian gets suggested too often, but in reality, it's horrid to play in open world if you don't want to invest in dedicated gear for it. You are almost as squishy as ele, and when you go down, you can't just mist form to the feet of a group of players that will instinctively rez you. Ele also gets pets that people often ignore, but they make for excellent aggro magnets.

In group content, guardian is indeed very versatile and in demand, same for wvw, but let's be honest, the average gw2 player spends most of their time in story and open world.

 

[Already seeing reapers/firebrands/renegades/Pof specs and nothing else OW]

On 3/22/2022 at 6:55 PM, otto.5684 said:

This is… not correct. Example, as a guardian main, condi WB has the highest damage output of any guardian dps build in all PvE scenarios. Its sustain is about equal with FB and core, with dps gear. Issue it is pretty much identical to core condi in terms of gameplay. It is not something new by any means. And offers nothing but damage. The power variant suffers from the same issues, with DH damage output being about equal.

 

My issue is purely from poor design (virtues are basically symbols on a mobile elite) and redundancy. Compared to PoF elites, EoD elites are really lacking in design. HoT elites had some of EoD elite issues, but back then, they were no other elites.

I'd say the constantly refreshing dash on F1 makes for a different enough experience compared to core guard.

Also, what does FB offer to itself when you really look at it? The tomes are burning, healing and defensive boons. WB virtues do the exact same thing with less button presses. 

And FB is not the only elite spec, what about DH? Isn't it just core guard with traps?

[Why is it Devs create selfish DPS who cannot apply self boons?]

You know that you still have access to the base profession, right?

I haven't played ele in a while, but virtuoso can still get quickness by using Persistence of Memory + Phantasmal Haste and/or Arcane Thievery. And it has many sources of might.

Also:

Quote

This means pure DPS options are only ever run in the highest point of runs and ignored anywhere below. Because the moment boon uptimebecome Non-optimal they fall behind. 

It's more of the opposite really, self boons in pve only matter when you are playing alone. Even in open world metas, you find yourself having a bunch of boons from all the aoe spam. Not to mention that whereas EoD is concerned, jade bot gives you all the boons.

In group play, you take 2 supports per 5 people, what are you going to fill those other 3 spots of not pure dps builds. Your thinking seems kind of backwards, you treat selfish dps builds as some sort of a hindrance to the group, when in reality, the reason we have dedicated supports in the first place is so that the rest of the group only cares about maximising their damage. 

I mean, in other mmos, those roles are hardwired into a class. Take wwo for example, there are some classes that can branch out, but if you play mage, your choice is between three different types of dps. Do you think those classes are undesirable?

[Mechanist Feels Like A More Powerful Power Scrapper]

It feels very different to me. Mechanist is more bunker-ish, you want to stick close to your mech to get boons and barrier. Scrapper on the other hand is high on caffeine, you can have near-perma quickness and superspeed, you should be zooming around the battlefield. 

[Returning player...continue where i left off or start from the beginning?]

It's up to you really. Don't delete any of your characters, because you get rewards based on their birthdays, but you can create a new character to get yourself familiarised (is that a word?) with the game again. Personally, even if I haven't left the game, I like to play something different each expansion, especially with new elite specs, it's the perfect time to get out of the comfort zone.

But that's purely from a gamepay perspective. Don't feel pressured to replay the story to refresh your memory, you will get a recap and some exposition, and it's pretty easy to follow. It sounds like episode 5 of season 4 is when you last played, so if you have episode 6 unlocked, you should play that to get the epilogue (it's quite important to understand how you got from Aurene's death to the events of EOD), but the Icebrood Saga is not as vital, and like I said, you will get a mini recap cinematic at the start of the expansion.

[Power stats vs Condition Damage stats]

Fresh Air tempest is all about the Fresh Air interaction with Overload Air. You can Overload Air, swap to fire or earth as soon as you finish the channel, at that point the lightining storm from Overload Air gets a crit, so the Air attunement cooldown is refreshed. Then, you either go back to Air so you can overload again after a couple seconds, or use 1-2 skills of your other attunement first before swapping back to air.

So you should be spending like 80% of your time in air, spamming Overload Air. I don't get how you get so much burning, are you overloading your other attunements?

[Mortar Kit visual 🙏]

Took a screenshot, in case someone is not familiar with what I'm talking about. 

dMog1fN.jpg (891×692) (imgur.com)

[Current state of mechanist class promotes degenerative gameplay]

That's like saying rangers are bad for the game because you run into a bearbow spamming LB 4.

[Mist Instability: Mist Convergence - Champion Rabbit one shots the mech]

You can just dismiss it, the rabbit is dead in 3 seconds, and it's only a 10s cooldown (8 with alacrity).

[Outstanding Lore for going forward.]

1 hour ago, draxynnic.3719 said:

Purists have been indicated to Definitely Still Be A Problem. A flareup there could put the Not Calling It That Detective Agency on their trail.

This is almost quaranteed to be (the start of) the plot going forward. 

They dropped a billion hints about Raisu palace, the Purists' plot, and there's even an npc that says Rama was already planning to investigate. Well, Rama is part of a detective agency now, it makes sense that would be their first job.

[So about the sustain nerf?]

3 hours ago, AliamRationem.5172 said:

That CM solo is great! Love it!

Edit: I don't normally comment on hurr durr confused emoji, but gotta love "confused" on a post that is pure love.  Haters gonna hate! 🤣

Sesshi's channel is amazing, they've soloed pretty much anything on engi. The first video I watched was the Migrane solo on core engi, and I realised that I'll never be good at this game 😅

[Warrior or Necro?]

On 3/22/2022 at 10:07 PM, Gigawatt.7850 said:

Thanks everyone for all your input and especially ZeftheWicked.3076 for his hilarious comparison stories lol. 

The thing I keep hearing is that every profession does everything better than a warrior on the forums and reddit. I hear you but could someone actually break it down so I understand? 

There are two aspects, thematic and balance.

Thematically warrior is undermined by almost every other profession. The thing in gw2 is that every profession fights with weapons, there are no typical wizards and such. Even the magical professions are more like magical warriors. Like, mesmer has illusions, but also fights with swords, guardian is a warrior with blue flames, engineer is a warrior with gadgets, etc.

Even gameplay wise, it feels like that, like you are playing a profession with less toys than everybody else. 

Then you see the problem in the elite specialisations too. Berserker is angry warrior, spellbreaker is so non-magical that it takes away other people's magic, and bladesworn is a super specific idea, what if greatsword had a gun attached to it. You can see how restricted warrior's thematic is, and it's very hard for them to branch out to new concepts.

 

Balance wise, I won't really say much, especially with a rework coming soon, but in pve warrior had been a banner slave for the last 10 years, and a bruiser in PvP just as long.

[With all of the complaints about every profession which profession is actually viewed as good in EoD?]

On 3/20/2022 at 2:51 AM, Tyrant.1270 said:

I am a returning player and I generally prefer sustain/tanky types of classes. I am having trouble finding a class that doesn't seem to have a large amount of problems (according to the forums). 

If you go in each profession sub forum you will see someone complaining the profession is dead, it wasn't properly treated, x profession is better, this one is dead, but the same goes for whatever profession they claim was better on that professions forums.

What is actually good at the moment? By good, I don't mean FOTM/meta, I am looking for something that I won't generally feel bad playing in all forms of content. I had my eye on Warrior and Necro but apparently Necro has the lowest PVE damage and Warrior is in a bad spot and has a banner rework coming.

So please, what is actually viewed as good in EoD?

Don't do the mistake of going for the "OP" based on forum feedback.

Every profession can be built to be tanky for open world, prioritize what you actually enjoy playing.

Between warrior and necro, since you mentioned those two, necro sounds more like your style right out of the bag, especially reaper, but harbinger flips necro on its head, offering a squishy ranged damage dealer. And it does live up to its name, it shreds when you pop your shroud form.

Warrior I can't say much, probably best to wait for the banner rework and where the profession will land after it.

I would also recommend guardian and engi, they are in the same boat, having great support, heal and dps builds, and playing in all game modes.

[So about the sustain nerf?]

You don't need sustain if you don't get hit in the first place.

https://youtu.be/E6IN2inFGd0

https://youtu.be/Ta4WMiRKUho

 

 

[Engineer is the most well balanced class at the moment for PVE]

7 hours ago, Kozumi.5816 said:

None of those have a personal tank.

Mirage is perma evading, and clones do indeed draw aggro. You can find plenty of videos of mirages soloing legendary bounties and the bosses often ignore the mesmer to attack the clones. Especially if the mirage is using staff, since aggro is proximity based.

Also, the autoattack video was misleading. It was using every condition on the golem, which is not at all realistic and it was using bomb autos, putting the engi at melee range, negating the mech as an aggro magnet.