Catalyst Feedback Thread

[vardeleanu.8972]

what garbage

[Bleikopf.2491]

I just wanted to add:

I'm a bit sad at the lack of pushing and pulling skills on the Hammer.
Even the Lighting Hammer has a skill to push people with. And It doesn't make much sense for me how Air 4 is pushing me away from the fight, but knocking the targets down?

For a big, slow, clunky weapon like a Hammer I'd wish for some more CC.

[Jakal.9582]

I like the premise and I like some of the traits, especially the elemental empowerment. I've found that I like using dagger/dagger with this spec. I like having some extra fields to work with dagger/dagger, especially a water field for healing. The hammer feels too slow for such a fast paced class. It is also hard to benefit from the dragon sphere fields as they are in a fixed position. I like the idea of the elemental empowerment buff, but sometimes it is hard to generate a good stack of the buff.

 

My recommended changes:

     -  Change the dragon sphere fields to be mobile and move centered on the elementalist. (This would help a lot with the spec)

     -  I would like to see an increase in the duration of the elemental empowerment buff myself

     -  The hammer skills should be sped up generally

     -  I would increase the duration of the hammer 3 orbiting skill. In order to get full value from that skill, I have to practically ignore  the rest of the hammer skills while I speedily burn through all of my attunements.

     -  The utility skills should be tweaked a bit. I'm not sure how, but I would make the cast times quicker or buff up the effects or both.

 

I think that this e-spec has a lot of potential to be really fun without being busted if given some good tweaks.

[Terra Dactyl.2047]

I'm a... weird ele main, so I'd probably get crucified for saying the rest of this sentence (and the "props" point) on reddit, but the overall concept is pretty much exactly what I was hoping for. IMO it would only take a few minor tweaks to make this an awesome organized squad WvW spec. (It probably still wouldn't be "meta", but that's more an issue with the current WvW meta classes doing too much with 1 build)

 

Props:

The aura traits actually synergize really well with a dagger/dagger roaming setup, which was my personal favorite playstyle, on any class, in any MMO, ever. Worst case scenario: if this spec releases exactly as-is, I'll just run it like a core dagger/dagger ele with bonus stats and actual access to stability, so I'm (probably the only ele main who's) already basically satisfied. However, I think it has the "bones" to be something truly amazing, the hammer and jade sphere just need some love.

 

2 Gripes, with suggested fixes:

Gripe 1: For hammer to be usable (not "good", not "meta", just "not objectively useless" in WvW, hammer 3 needs to somehow be made not subject to projectile destruction/reflect until you actually throw the projectiles with grand finale. Every organized WvW squad has a scrapper and firebrand in every party, which means squads basically have permanent projectile destruction/reflect. This means hammer 3's circular projectiles are just instantly deleted on contact and do absolutely nothing in WvW. Too much of the weapon's damage output (and overall identity) is tied to those skills to have them effectively not exist in WvW and expect anyone to ever use it.

 

Suggested fix: Making the "circular projectiles" unblockable until you throw them is probably the simplest fix. Replacing it entirely with a pulsing field instead would also work (and can't really be misconstrued as "oh the ele main is just asking for an ele buff" like "make it passively unblockable" could).

 

Gripe 2: Re-casting the jade sphere needs to be faster somehow. Dropping it on the ground and not being able to do that again, or move it, for 20 seconds means you pretty much just end up ignoring the fact that it exists. The fact that this is hammer's *only* source of a combo field when the grandmaster minor trait is entirely based on comboing makes a 20 second cooldown pretty much a slap in the face.

 

Suggested fix: One (or more) of the following: MUCH Shorter cooldown (presumably with proportionately shorter duration), the ability to reposition it like ventari tablet, refunding the remaining duration off the cooldown when you cancel it. Any of these would make it easier to actually use it as more than a single 1 second quickness application in a fight (because the fight has moved by the time it pulses a second time).

 

 

Edited September 25, 2021 by Terra Dactyl.2047

[schrodingerscat.3872]

I don't normally take to forums to actively voice my disapproval, but I feel compelled to add my voice to the pot here. 

Catalyst gameplay feels clunky, slow and makes me want to take another weapon other than hammer - but in doing so effectively turns Catalyst into core ele (with a discount, semi-functional gyro) 

The jade sphere feels inconsequential to use for the time cost it requires to power it up (both for dps and support builds), the traits are meh. 

Ultimately, the gameplay is unrewarding and makes me question my choice to play Catalyst, and ele at large, when other classes can output dps and boons/support far better than Catalyst, with more rewarding and fun gameplay. At its core, elementalist gameplay is known for being glass cannon, high risk, high reward, and complex in style. This takes everything that elementalist is and throws it out the window, in the worst way possible. 

edit: forgot to mention the utilities - that's how insignificant they were to the spec. The utility skills add nothing to the class - for both dps or support builds, nor my enjoyment of the catalyst. 

Edited September 25, 2021 by schrodingerscat.3872

[Control.8154]

2 hours ago, schrodingerscat.3872 said:

I don't normally take to forums to actively voice my disapproval, but I feel compelled to add my voice to the pot here. 

Catalyst gameplay feels clunky, slow and makes me want to take another weapon other than hammer - but in doing so effectively turns Catalyst into core ele (with a discount, semi-functional gyro) 

The jade sphere feels inconsequential to use for the time cost it requires to power it up (both for dps and support builds), the traits are meh. 

Ultimately, the gameplay is unrewarding and makes me question my choice to play Catalyst, and ele at large, when other classes can output dps and boons/support far better than Catalyst, with more rewarding and fun gameplay. At its core, elementalist gameplay is known for being glass cannon, high risk, high reward, and complex in style. This takes everything that elementalist is and throws it out the window, in the worst way possible. 

edit: forgot to mention the utilities - that's how insignificant they were to the spec. The utility skills add nothing to the class - not for dps or as support build, nor my enjoyment of the catalyst. 

well written! pretty much nailed all of my thoughts! 🙂

[Zauber.4069]

My first idea was to move hammer 3 skills to F5 and sphere to utilities making them wells. However longer I think I wish sphere should stay as our f5 ability and work as ventari's table. Catalyst's elite skill should complement single attunement playstyle. It should reduce all weapon skills of chosen element instantly so that I can cast them twice. I would go even further with this and also reduce utilitie of that element. Moreover hammer 3 skills, since this mechanic complement switching attunements, should be moved to weaver. This is a cool mechanic. I don't want it to go to waste.

Edited September 25, 2021 by Zauber.4069

[Axl.8924]

Catalyst is inferior to both weaver and tempest, and tempest has a lot of  support options to make up if it was to be a full support.

[MagicBot.1570]

I know there are plenty of things people want to see fixed, but as someone who doesn't play Elementalist much, and has a different perspective, I just wanna say one thing : Why are Augments not shared with allies ?

I have a feeling that Arenanet has developped an aversion for unique party buffs. But I don't understand why because it's a reliable way to enforce a class into the PvE meta. 

Edited September 25, 2021 by MagicBot.1570

[Xaylin.1860]

26 minutes ago, MagicBot.1570 said:

I have a feeling that Arenanet has developped an aversion for unique party buffs. But I don't understand why because it's a reliable way to enforce a class into the PvE meta. 

You basically answered your own question. It potentially creates meta builds or BiS classes without alternatives. It's a balancing issue.

[giblets.6401]

Overall, I think it's pretty bad, like 2-3 out of 10 level bad. Mainly because the design has MAJOR problems; see below

Things I like:
* conceptually, a 600-900 range bruiser is a good space (even though i would have preferred a 1200 range hybrid to compete with staff).
* animations are pretty

Things I don't like:
* playstyle is WAY too similar to D/D and sword as 2/3rds of hammer skills are melee -- a few melee skills are OK but 2/3rds melee skills? that is bad, i think at least ALL the #1/#2 skills should be 600+ for consistency 
* the F5 field is immobile / single-instanced, severely limiting its relevance. 
* the energy mechanic is really pointless; should just be a fixed duration
* I dislike that the field type change with current element, it may be technically cool but functionally it's bad
* the whole spec is just so slow and lumbering.  For a low HP/low armour melee/600 range class i would expect a lot of mobility and evades or superspeed but there is nothing, it's just slow and easy to kill.
* no condi cleanse on hammer; water #5 requires targets in melee range
* I really dislike that traits are aura-based because auras were tempest's thing. Seems lazy.
* I especially dislike having all these aura traits when there is only 1 field, that's super bad design.
* the utilities are just really bad, i  wouldn't use any of them, they're garbage. I would have expected utilities to provide unconditional superspeed or mobility, condi cleanse, projectile reflect to compensate for melee/600 range but there is none of this.
* the elite is the best of the utilities but still super un-impactful
* the #3 skills are way too short for their impact, not worth the opportunity cost of even casting them, need to be at least 3 sec longer. The finale skill should 1200+ range.
* i hate that melee-600 means I'm going to be forced into running celestial gear again and forced into a speed rune because terrible mobility. Honestly though, I doubt I will ever play this spec because of all the other bad things above.

 

Overall I'm just super disappointed . This is nothing like the spec I wanted and is way too much like a worse version of D/D + sword with a worse version of tempest's aura traits.

I really hate it. I really hope you substantially rework. 

Edited September 25, 2021 by giblets.6401

[Hedonismbot.3697]

What if… we could teleport to the jade sphere?

 

Also, what if catalyst doubles down on the stationary combat and gains it’s unique buff from staying inside the F5. You become a turret, so to speak. Obviously that would be terrible. Unless…

 

[Emberheart.8426]

Possible solutions to the clunky nature of the jade sphere have been discussed here ad nauseum, but we should be looking for ways to make it more fun and unique as well. What if the catalyst's blast combos catalyzed into an explosive reaction? It would be a sort of combo that causes damage and has effects based on your attunement. You could even give it an indicator and a 0.5 second delay like scourge shade skill effects if you want to make it fair.

[eliroth.3869]

The ELITE skill:
1. It should just Fill the Jade Sphere gauge instead of reducing cooldowns of weapon skills. Honestly, I’d rather have self-alacrity then reduced cooldowns. Not only does this give catalyst more interaction with its profession mechanic, but it also gives a support option for elites and allows the Catalyst to immediately grant quickness at the start of a fight.

GRANDMASTER TRAITS

Allow a Well’s element to persist even after switching attunnements for a certain amount of time via trait or a utility skill/elite skill. If Anet insists on making the Jade Sphere the spec mechanic, then we need more traits that change how we can apply it via grandmaster traits.

                a. Make the Jade sphere function similar to Engie wells + Staunch Aura’s effect

                b. Jade Sphere is still a target AOE.  Increase the jade sphere damage to apply pulsing power damage and condi damage based on attunement. (Fire – Burning, Air – Vulnerability, Water – Chill, Earth – Bleeding) + Empowered Empowerment.

                c. Jade sphere is still a target AOE, but remove the cooldown so it’s easy to reposition the sphere and replace it for allies + Increased boon duration

AURAS

A lot of people are against the Aura traits but I personally like it because it makes Tempest synergize  well with Catalyst beyond boon support similar to how Berserker would benefit from Fire auras from tempest. I like this kind of unique cross-profession interaction.

HAMMER

3. Underwater Jade Sphere functions as a Ground target skill. It should be a Pointblank AOE otherwise it’s useless underwater

4. going downed after having a loop skill up, the loop animation persists after being ressed

5. Hammer earth 2 is way too slow for the weak damage it does. Better just make it cast faster since it’s not worth using even WITH quickness because you lose the Rocky loop while using it.

6. Why is Hammer 5 melee when the rest of the kit is ranged? Just make it similar to Drop the Hammer on revenant

7. the loop skills need an increased duration. It’s difficult to keep them up even with alacrity/quickness. Lower their damage to compensate.

AUGMENTS

The augments are… okay? I think the fire and water augments are both dps focused so they overlap in function. Since Water Augment already exists as the heal skill, just change this from Water Augment to the Arcane Augment. It's function will be similar to Unravel on Weaver wherein it lets a Jade Sphere's element persist even if you change attunement to enable support builds to focus on providing certain boons *cough quickness cough* and still access their other skills. The added effect while standing in a sphere will be the Spectacular Sphere trait. Then you can make Spectacular sphere focus on Energy generation instead

 

REVISED SPECTACULAR SPHERE

Increase the size of the AOE 240-360. Deactivating the Jade Sphere no longer reduces Energy to 0.

Simple. This trait interacts with all grandmaster traits and makes boon application MUCH easier. Honestly, I don't want the Chronomancer well's dilemma all over again.

[TheAgedGnome.7520]

The more I think about Catalyst and its issues, I think it can be thought of this way:

Catalyst does not feel like a synergistic spec, because it is instead a stack of 4 minigames:

• F5 minigame
• Hammer3 minigame
• Augment synergy minigame
• Auramancer minigame

Whilst playing these disparate minigames, you are supposed to also kill things and survive.

This is why the spec feels overcomplicated and punishing:

Instead of the spec supporting the character in their gameplay, the spec demands excessive support from the player.

 

This is also why there are a very small subset of very good players who able and willing to play all these minigames together and perform great feats with Catalyst.  But their abilities are in no way evidence that this is a quality, fun spec for the playerbase at large.

Edited October 1, 2021 by TheAgedGnome.7520

[Xora.2581]

Im personally very disappointed with the new elite spec. It is in a way the third melee spec ele gets considering tempest shouts and overloads already are melee medium range, weaver is a melee spec and now this.

 

Unique class mechanic

The unique class mechanic (F5) feels like a completely useless skill. It requires energy, doesn't last long, has a pretty long cd and is stationary. Fights tend to be dynamic where you move around and don't stay stationary. Furthermore the reward for staying stationary feels non existing for how short it lasts and how it doesn't really do anything except give some boons. Because the field also swaps with the attunement you cant reliably use combo finishers from a different attunement than the field you want to combo. E.g blast from fire hammer 5 to blast the water attunement field. You can setup the field in fire, use the skill and swap to water, but this forces very awkward gameplay considering the field might already have run out before you are able to pull it off. 

 

 With f5 being the only class specific mechanics, this is just a core elementalist with a single extra skill that is mediocre at best. 

 

Hammer

I don't know what to make of this weapon. The weapon feels like it anti-synergies with itself. Some attunements are mostly melee, which makes the orbs miss. Others have lackluster range, but the AA dont deal dmg, the cone attack on fire also misses most of its hits against ranged targets. There isn't a single field for a class that requires to combo on the hammer except the f5 skill which is very cluncky to use and has too many conditions to be useful. There are some fancy animations but that is about it.

 

Augments

These skills are underwhelming. The combination of the cast time and the short durations makes them pretty lackluster. The interaction for the extra buff when used in the sphere of the correct type is also impractical with how the sphere works right now. I personally do not think they are worth using at all over other core ele utilities like the glyphs and the cantrips. Traits There are a bunch of traits that have a stat increase. When combined with the other ele weapons, this can be fun to play, but at this point you are playing core ele on steroids. The increase in all stats will be annoying for raids with toughness based tanking. The sphere traits right now feel very underwhelming considering how the sphere works. Some extra boons and longer boon uptime for when you manage to stay in the sphere for an extended period. It is also a bit more supportive for a spec that except for the cluncky sphere mechanic has zero supportive options or abilities. All hammer skills and augments are all selfish skills.

 

Conclusion

Ele is supposed this wizard that wields the elements. Tempest overloads are melee - medium range which forces the class to melee if you want to utilise the overloads. Weaver is a melee brawler class. Instead of finally getting an elite spec that focuses more on the ranged wizard/mage aspect, ele gets another melee spec. Furthermore it is by far the worst implementation of a melee-mid range spec that could be added. It is worse of a support than tempest and it is worse of a brawler than weaver. It lacks an identify. Right now the only way this is playable is to just play core ele with a stat steroid. The class brings nothing else worthwhile. Even though this is not going to happen, I would want this elite to be completely scratched and made anew.

[Gorani.7205]

All has been said on the 20 pages before I think, but perhaps writing some down again, will make it clear that Catalyst is far from finished to be a fun and nicely playable profession in EoD.

1. I was looking forward to that "mixed range" possibilities, but that 600 range is weird. It is a strange kind of "almost melee" and not yet "at range".  You are dancing around positioning yourself not only for the F5 field and the circling balls to hit something, you also have to move to actually are at range for skills (while trying to be in your F5 skills for the utilities) and you are not even fighting a moving opponent. Way too complicated to get a flow going, especially with range indicators missing on some of the 600 ranged skills.

2. Building up the energy for the F5 skill happens way too slow, especially because you have a decay on in too. It should be less like warrior's Adrenalin and more like the Life Force of the Necro. If you want to keep the decay, the build up has to be faster.

3. Utilities are bad. That is a very diplomatic way of saying it.

4. On my Marauder Aura-Tempest I feel like tank, compared to Catalyst with hammer (who is in danger from random mobs in PvE maps) and I do way more damage (playing on equal terms when it comes to gear, as both have WvW armour, trinkets and weapons from my pool of legendary weapons). I know I don't play Catalyst with the same fluency and muscle memory than the beta character, but it is very noticeable how far they are apart.

 

When you get the feeling that you should play Catalyst as a D/D Ele, ditching Hammer to fix that weird feeling of "it sucks" and create a pseudo core Ele 2.0 with F5 you might use when it is charged, you see dark clouds on the horizon for your main profession in EoD.

[HotDelirium.7984]

13 hours ago, Bleikopf.2491 said:

I just wanted to add:

I'm a bit sad at the lack of pushing and pulling skills on the Hammer.
Even the Lighting Hammer has a skill to push people with. And It doesn't make much sense for me how Air 4 is pushing me away from the fight, but knocking the targets down?

For a big, slow, clunky weapon like a Hammer I'd wish for some more CC.

omg I can just see it now, Hammer skill 2 *pull* -

Riptide-wave of water brings them closer

Vaccum-a gust of air sucks em closer

Quicksand- oily mud slips em closer

Minicano- fire blasts em closer! 

xD

My body was always ready ❤️ 

[HotDelirium.7984]

3 hours ago, Ganathar.4956 said:

Possible solutions to the clunky nature of the jade sphere have been discussed here ad nauseum, but we should be looking for ways to make it more fun and unique as well. What if the catalyst's blast combos catalyzed into an explosive reaction? It would be a sort of combo that causes damage and has effects based on your attunement. You could even give it an indicator and a 0.5 second delay like scourge shade skill effects if you want to make it fair.

Why do other specs get cool names and we get named a job duty? lol That's like calling a warrior "THROWER."

We deserve a name like SYNERGIST or ATTUNER or FIELDMANCER or ADJUVANT or THE STIMULUS. 😛 

Edited September 25, 2021 by HotDelirium.7984

[Caid.4932]

Air 4 is pretty annoying tbh.

I dont feel fast or mobile with hammer, getting thrown miles out of range of most of my attacks feels really counterproductive. And yes, i've thrown myself off cliffs a few times with it already which is ok, i seem to have a talent for doing that in games but its more often just throwing me off a small platform thats a bit annoying to get back onto without a mount and with in combat movement speed. I've taken to looking for a wall to put my back against before using it (yay bad camera angles as i see the inside of that nearby wall) or just not using it (despite not being overburdened with cc).

[Jijimuge.4675]

53 minutes ago, HotDelirium.7984 said:

omg I can just see it now, Hammer skill 2 *pull* -

Riptide-wave of water brings them closer

Vaccum-a gust of air sucks em closer

Quicksand- oily mud slips em closer

Minicano- fire blasts em closer! 

xD

My body was always ready ❤️ 

That's a different meaning than most people are giving to the phrase "Catlyst sucks!" 🙂

[Zunki.3916]

16 hours ago, deadteds.2659 said:

  even a Persisting Flames 

Im wondering what wizardry you do to get the pwrsistent flame on hammer... It's the only weapon that simply cannot trigger this buff. 

 

And yes, whirls should be whirl finishers. And the grand finale should be a projectile finisher, or 1-4. And all the buffs should just have double uptime. We dont need even more stress than weaver. Skill ceiling would be the same, but the floor would be down, which is a good thing. The attribute stack should be easier to upkeep or the trait should dou le the effect at any time, not just max stacks. 

[Chichimec.9364]

This response comes from a very distinct perspective. As an old, slow player, I look for builds that are durable and easy to play. The Catalyst was neither for me. I winced when I saw how the utility skills were tied to different attunements. It would be hard enough for me to remember which attunement goes with which skill, let alone react fast enough to use them intelligently and well in a fight.  As for durability, after gearing up the Catalyst, I jumped to a LS 4 map where I promptly died in a fight with 2-3 small spiders. No, I don't think I will be bothering with the catalyst at all. This is only one old man's reaction though. I expect others will have very different reactions.

Edited September 25, 2021 by Chichimec.9364

[kurosy.1384]

Okay i really wanted to play more with Catalyst but my week is what it is.

So here's my impression after playing for 6-7 hours during the beta. Please also consider i have 4k hours on elementalist (half of my total time) so i'm not new to it. Also, i'm not commenting about pvp cause i don't play it.
Despite Catalyst isn't what i was wishing for the Ele new specialization, i must admit it looks cool and engaging. What I liked most from the showcase was that the player really had to work around combos and chains to get the best from this spec.

But this revealed to be too much punishing. Playing with Catalyst feels like you have to desperately change your playstyle, dropping things like moving, kiting, using terrain as an advantage, in order to actually USE the main mechanic on f5. And when you use it, it doesn't pay back at all for that big struggle. GW2 is an extremely dynamic and fun game thanks to its fight system which allows players to play with line of sight, kiting, hiding behind things and a lot more but this spec is designed for static, immobile golems benchmark really. It feels like a huge struggle, likely succeeding 1 time out of  10, just to have the same results of a mediocre build from any other class. But let's see this more in the details:

- F5 energy:
Why does it decrease out of combat to 10 points? Why do we have to start from zero? In combat, i do feel energy comes back pretty quickly and the consume speed is even fine to me, but having it starting from zero after a /gg in raids for example is hugely crippling the class. Think about Alacrity renegade and how they can start the combat using their F5 and giving pulsing alacrity (which moves around them) to even 10 people. There are spec capable of granting quickness to their party since the start of the fight and those classes will be always prefered to catalyst if catalyst isn't able to use their f5 on air instantly at the start of a fight. Please consider making it start from 50% and always regenerate back to 50% when exiting combat. I know you considered air F5 as a choice of perma quickness for the class, i know this is exactly what you're trying to do lately in order to let people play different compositions in end game pve content. So why crippling the catalyst this way?

-F5 cooldown and placement:
Speaking about gw2 being a very dynamic game, the whole mechanic of this spec is going against the fight design itself. Deploying a sphere makes a static pulsing 240 radius circle. Players move away from that in any game mode. Even in pve you don't face tank mobs on a lv80 map and the best you can do to squeeze out the juice off this spec is running in this narrow circle, which is kinda ridiculous . Such a small, static, persisting area works only on immobile raid/strike bosses. For all the other situations, players can stay in for 2-3 seconds, maybe dodge out and step in again for another couple of seconds. It could work if we were talking about utility skills (like mesmer wells) but we're actually talking about the specialization mechanic. I mean, without f5 Catalyst is just a tiny better than core ele and not any special, I hope you realize it.
Of course there are other spec with immobile fields, but they all have a way around it.
Many people here suggested cool solutions, here's mine: when interrupting F5, the energy left is kept and the skill goes on a 4 seconds cooldown. Then it's possible to put it back down on terrain. When going to 0 energy, the skill goes to the 15s cooldown. This way, it could even be engaging for the player to choose to interrupt and re-build energy instead of letting it go on a longer cooldown.

-F5 visual:
May i suggest a different icon while the sphere is deployed? Sometimes i deactivated my sphere cause i couldn't understand if it was on ground or not and the energy bar is way too small. Also, sphere fields get easly hid by all the aoe stuff on the ground and it's quite hard to visualize them.

-Traits:
COMBOS
I really love some of the traits of this spec! For example I like Vicious Empowerment, Energized Elements and Evasive Empowerments, all 3 of them synergize well with my fav content (which is solo open pve and wvw blob fights or cloud fights).
I like how the key to use this spec at best is actually doing combos. But if a spec rotates around interacting with fields and getting auras, why there is so little field and aura generation in its kit? Utilities have zero auras or fields or even finishers! Even hammer which is designed for this spec can only make finishers without granting any extra field, and there's just 1 situational aura in earth 4. The only field we can deploy is the f5 which is not even available at any moment like a weapon skill would be. Again, F5 can work in front of a static boss, but what about all the rest of the game where you need to move and deal with enemies who will probably knock you back, immobilize, push and much more. I'm not even talking about pvp! I've been in PoF and HoT maps where mobs have a plethora of cc skills to hit you with. If F5 could be re-placed within a decent time, things would def be better.

AURAS
So, i love auras. Catalyst builds up a lot of stuff trough auras and i love it. But the access to aura is very limited not just for the absence of direct auras in the whole kit, but also because of the limit to one aura per attunement per interval through combos! I see you want to avoid aura spamming, but please find another way. Overall i feel like Cata will be able to use its aura-stacking traits at 30% of their potential for 80% of the time, which makes those traits (and the spec itself) a big underwhelming choice. The only scenario where i saw a Cata succesfully filling its stacks of Empowered Empowerment, Empowering Auras and Hardened Auras as well as keeping a good uptime of them is a benchmark scenario and this feels very limiting

Empowered Empowerment:
It's either you have 10 stacks of Elemental Empowerment or this trait is completely useless... and again, i fear 10 stacks are only obtainable and reasonably maintainable in a raid scenario. I didn't try some other extreme situation like dodging 5 attacks in a wvw blob fight tho. But this triait still seem weak, it's either a temporary win or a total loss, which doesn't feel right for a master trait.

-Utility skills:
Won't say much, just that matching them with the right sphere attunement is a hell and could be done in a reasonable way only having F5 following you. It'd be better to just have the effect being improved into any sphere. Nevertheless, these skills all feel weak and i barely saw anyone succesfully using any of them in competitive scenarios (only exception is the fire one for raid scenario).

-Hammer:
Those 3 skills have such a short window! I apreciate the fact that you're giving us a reason to use all elements... but using elements doesn't mean wanting to burn all our attunement cooldowns just to have a chain right and then being clueless after that. Also, the final result is so underwhelming :c

 

Nevertheless, thanks for this beta. I hope all of these posts will really help for a great release of the classes in EoD! Can't wait! 🙂

[Bast.7253]

Hammer feels awkward. Some of the skills are neat, primarily fire and air. Water has a nice heal and cleanse if you hit targets, but they're extremely slow, telegraphed, and it's difficult to stay in range. Weaver has this issue as well even with the traits granting swiftness, superspeed, and air sword 2. 

Toggling between mid and melee range just doesn't make sense. Really none of this spec makes sense.

I'd rather the f5 skill be somekind of temporary transform with new weapon skills changing with your attunement. Instead, we have a well that has a timer, a resource to build, is stationary, and doesn't provide much benefit outside of boons. Quickness is nice. 

The elemental empowerment buff is negligible, but really the whole spec is in general.

I don't know, it doesn't feel cohesive enough to really give feedback. No direction. I'm not sure whose idea it is to keep trying to make ele some bruiser melee range fighter instead of leaning into the whole spellcaster/mage theme but weaver was done significantly better. 

The vast majority of these specs seem extremely rushed and lacking identity.