Catalyst Feedback Thread

[Chopps.7461]

1 minute ago, SeTect.5918 said:

What do you mean in "Issue 4"? Effectiveness increased to 3 but stacks decreased to 3? That wouldn't be max 15%, that would be max 9%. Do you mean effectiveness increased to 5% then maybe?

My bad! But thats it! 5% per stack instead 2

gonna fix it, thank you!

[SeTect.5918]

1 minute ago, Chopps.7461 said:

My bad! But thats it! 5% per stack instead 2

gonna fix it, thank you!

Ah okay, nice. Yea that would indeed be also good because of the lack of auras on hammer. 

[Chopps.7461]

3 minutes ago, SeTect.5918 said:

I like the ideas, not sure if everything Was just wvw/pvp but most fits also in pve. 

Especially issue 1, 2 (point 1 only), 3, 4, 5, 6 and even 7 (except the CD increase on Invigorating air). 

So basically everything except issue 2 no. 2.

The problems are almost exactly like that in pve. 

However you got my like! Very nice. 

I read some comments about pve problems too, but i didnt play pve so i left it for pve ppl. I just finished the story.

[Caid.4932]

I thought the recent update was a huge improvement. It feels a lot more playable and a lot easier to pick up and understand.

Im playing with arcane skills, just for funs sake really. The immobilize in earth arcane skills gives some nice synergy with topping up elemental empowerment and the boon duration and lower jade sphere cooldown are nice ease of use traits. Find the arcane skills still have good interaction with jade spheres without having to worry as much about what element they are vs augments. I always liked combo fields as a mechanic so the extra blast finishers are just nice and quite fun too.

Its a lot of fun to play. Very, very busy, it feels like i press 2 - 3 times as many buttons playing this as anything else. Mobility being bad and a lot of static mechanics make positioning pretty important which is an interesting obstacle to work against. I enjoy playing it but fail at executing it pretty regularly. I still drop orbs despite the 15 sec duration! Changing phase, dodging mechanics whatever - i do it pretty often (or maybe i double press and fire them off by mistake?). My peripheral awareness is basically zero as im trying to queue up the next 4 button presses in my head, check cooldowns and figure out the best place to put the next well. I sometimes just get brainfreeze and have no idea what button i need to press next or what element i need to get into and just end up doing ... not a lot really, a few auto attacks. Mistiming combo finishers and hit them after jade sphere ends is another one. Its hard to play basically, lots of ways to mess it up and i do regularly.

It feels strong despite all that and a huge amount of fun when you do get it right. Takes a while to get going but makes things really melt if they stand around. Its growing on me, i quite like it

Edited April 7, 2022 by Caid.4932

[Ahkaskar.3906]

Just throwing in my two cents... damage seems okay but I find playing Catalyst to be physically uncomfortable as defined with the base keybinds. And before someone tells me to remap, consider this is a core problem and remapping my keys to play one spec isn't a solution.

 

Hitting the F5 button is uncomfortable regardless of what spec I'm playing, and considering how often I need to deploy a Jade Sphere it feels like it adds a lot of busywork for little purpose. It's also hard to intuit when to do it especially when I'm juggling so many other mechanics. I also feel like the orbits are a waste of a button and that one of these mechanics needs to be simplified into another button or removed. One example might be putting the orbits as part of any weapon's auto attack and moving the Jade Sphere to an attunement's button. (Overload style) This would let weapons other than hammer use that mechanic. The 3 key on the hammer could then get a more active ability, or even a unique/upgraded version of the Jade Sphere.

 

That said I also don't really like the orbits as they tend to keep me in combat when I hit random passive or ambient mobs trying to get from point A to point B. I've spent an inane amount of time stuck unable to mount and keep up with a fast moving squad in PvE. If it weren't so integral to the Catalyst's (as I see it, too many concurrent) mechanics and the hammer weren't so dull without it, I simply wouldn't use it.

Edited April 8, 2022 by Ahkaskar.3906

[Caid.4932]

4 hours ago, Ahkaskar.3906 said:

Just throwing in my two cents... damage seems okay but I find playing Catalyst to be physically uncomfortable as defined with the base keybinds. And before someone tells me to remap, consider this is a core problem and remapping my keys to play one spec isn't a solution.

 

Hitting the F5 button is uncomfortable regardless of what spec I'm playing, and considering how often I need to deploy a Jade Sphere it feels like it adds a lot of busywork for little purpose. It's also hard to intuit when to do it especially when I'm juggling so many other mechanics. I also feel like the orbits are a waste of a button and that one of these mechanics needs to be simplified into another button or removed. One example might be putting the orbits as part of any weapon's auto attack and moving the Jade Sphere to an attunement's button. (Overload style) This would let weapons other than hammer use that mechanic. The 3 key on the hammer could then get a more active ability, or even a unique/upgraded version of the Jade Sphere.

 

That said I also don't really like the orbits as they tend to keep me in combat when I hit random passive or ambient mobs trying to get from point A to point B. I've spent an inane amount of time stuck unable to mount and keep up with a fast moving squad in PvE. If it weren't so integral to the Catalyst's (as I see it, too many concurrent) mechanics and the hammer weren't so dull without it, I simply wouldn't use it.

Changing jade sphere to attunement button would be a nice change. I rebound f5 but its still not on a particularly easy to reach key.

I wouldn't be opposed to them bringing a cast time back to hammer 3. The class could probably do with a couple more longer cast skills to weave the instants around. Would help solve double pressing the button. Ideally making it a pulsing aoe around your character instead of a floating projectile that does 1 damage. Would normalise how many times it hits. As it stands it still makes energy generation pretty variable.

[Ziegrif.5964]

Been playing Quick Catalyst in raids. It's solid stuff!

Only thing I want is more energy so i can have more boons around or just throw away the energy mechanic or not have the mechanic tied to damage but just skill usage.

[RAZOR.7246]

I've played several variants of Catalyst in different game modes with groups of varying skill levels, all PvE based. This is my feedback on my experiences with the class.

 

"+"ves:

I for one have no issues with f5 as a keybind for jade sphere as it does add an element of difficulty to the class.

I think the current damage output is fair for the various builds that can be played on this class compared to other classes.

Rotation feels smooth for the most part and suits the elementalist playstyle except for 1 glaring issue which will be discussed later.

Buffing ability is very good provided you can get them off.

Great build diversity which allows for several viable DPS or Support builds.    

 

 

"-"ves

Energy management can be made a lot easier for players, especially in certain game modes. This is almost unplayable IMO in open world due to the way buffs are applied and energy is regenerated. There are several problems I have with the current system.

 

1. You lose all energy when you down.

2.  You can't gain energy while a jade sphere is active.

3. There are no sources of energy gain virtually anywhere else other than hits, even when you're out of combat in open world situations.

4. There is no way to viably regain energy during boss phases where bosses are invulnerable to hits and you need to dps right after.

5. It would take me 8-10s to regenerate just 8 energy out of combat if I specifically traited for it. This would take me 30-40s to refill my energy bar in a situation where I can't hit which is completely ridiculous. 

 

The current elite skill is completely useless in any PvE context and I haven't met anyone who has claimed otherwise. For real, FGS and Glyph are far superior. Change this elite skill to help with energy generation which actually has something to do with the newly introduced  energy mechanic on elementalists. If this skill could be toggled on and off to gain % energy at the cost of % endurance, that would be much more helpful than what it currently is. Another drawback that could be added to this is that endurance cannot be recharged while this skill is active so you can't just leave it on. This playstyle would also synergize well with the amount of vigor that elementalists can produce on certain builds. IMO this would feel much smoother as a form of energy management instead of desperately trying to hit enemies which is just not possible in a lot of scenarios due to the static playstyle and mechanics and makes a lot of situations very uncomfortable to handle. I also think a small energy gain whenever you use f5 could help significantly make rotations feel smoother. 

 

This next one shows the potential of a viable healer that could seriously rival any heal build. A current heal build can apply all boons except Stab, Aegis and Alac along with significant vulnerability application which is seriously lacking in a lot of 5 man pug runs especially. Now let me just state that I have played healers across the board and this one by far feels the most fun to play because it plays like a DPS due to the hits you need to get to keep your boons up although the current energy management and positioning can be a real pain. The main problem is that you literally need only 1 thing to compete with HB which is Stability. You have the trait "Staunch Auras" but this comes at the cost of  "Sphere Specialist" which is a must on any support build IMO. This trait should 1. grant Stability to any allies you apply auras to and 2. be merged with "Hardened Auras" in the minor line. As an added drawback, the damage reduction from this buff should also apply to your own personal damage which makes this unviable on more DPS oriented builds. Furthermore, taking this trait would require "Powerful Auras" in the water trait line which further nerfs the DPS viability and focuses on more healing oriented builds instead.  The actual difficulty of the rotation and positioning on this build compared to other healers is a further tradeoff which I think makes it balanced enough to compete.

 

This is just my opinion on how the class could be significantly improved because currently it just feels uncomfortable in a lot of situations without feeling the benefits. 

     

Edited April 15, 2022 by RAZOR.7246

[Kuma.1503]

Catalyst, is in a very good spot after its changes. There are just a few pain points remaining. 

Energy. 

It should refill to half out of combat. Just enough that they can comfortably start their rotation on each pull.

You cannot do your rotation proper when at 0 energy because you have to spend time building energy for air sphere. Give them just enough to drop 1 sphere at the start of combat. 

Second pain point: Traits. 

The way you gain empowerment does not mesh well with how the spec is played. 

First is vicious empowerment. I have three issues with this trait. 

1. It encourages spamming your Crowd control skills thoughtlessly to maintain a buff

2. Hammer has little in the way of CC, and using air 4 to maintain the buff is clunky due to the self knockback

3. Because you're encouraged to "waste" CC for this buff, you will be forced to drop stacks if you need to hold cooldowns for breakbar phases. 

I would change this to "gain elemental empowerment when swapping to a new attunement". A trait that encourages you to cycle attunements instead of camping, further playing into the orb mechanic. 

 

Second is Evasive Empowerment. 

This is a PvP trait, and it's not a good one. Catalyst is not an evasive class like Daredevil or Mirage. It's a sturdy low-mid range bruiser. This trait would make sense if Catalyst gained value from dodging in the way these specializations do. 

If catalyst had ambushes, this trait would make sense because it would reward you for using the ambush mechanic well, timing it to avoid incoming damage. 

Catalyst's primary defensive measures center around stacking damage reduction modifiers. High protection uptime, resolution uptime, resistance, damage reduction from rocky loop and Icy coil. Weakness from Crescent wind. 

If damage needs to be avoided, they do so via blocks and reflects. 

 

There are a number of ways you can rework this trait. Goal is to make it mesh better with Catalyst's playstyle as a combo/aura spec. 

Option 1: Gain elemental empowerment when your aura effects trigger. 

Rewarding you for using your auras well. This would give you elemental empowerment if you reflect projectiles with magnetic aura, stun a foe or deal breakbar damage with shocking aura, are struck with fire/ice aura, ect. 

Downside of this change is that it doesn't fix the issue where you cannot maintain empowerment stacks in raids (unless you are tanking)

Option 2: A gameplay altering trait with a trade-off

Your hammer orbs have reduced duration. 15 seconds >> 4 seconds. Reverting the buff we recieved. 

in exchange: 

Performing a combo will spawn an orb based on current attunement. If that orb is already spawned, extend the duration of your orbs by 4 seconds (15 second cap). 

Gain elemental empowerment when your orbs strike a foe (1 second ICD)

This trait creates a gameplay shift that solidifies catalyst as a combo spec. It also enables a new form of gameplay centered around permentantly maintaining your orbs instead of building them up/ spending them with grand finale. This trait would really help solidify Catalyst as the "combo" spec. 

This would also give you access to orbs even when using weapon sets other than hammer. 

 

 

 

 

Edited April 28, 2022 by Kuma.1503

[The Boz.2038]

12 hours ago, Kuma.1503 said:

Energy. 

It should...

be deleted.

The rest is good.

[crosknight.3041]

honestly i feel like energy does have potential, at the moment it is stupid and only limits how many spheres the player can have (something that ammo skills already exist for) especially when you LOSE ALL ENERGY WHEN YOU GO DOWN (who thought this was a good decision? it makes the spec mechanic frustratingly punishing). would like to see it change to become a "risk vs reward" thing. for example being able to order your orb to do an attack that costs energy or keeping your energy for selfish (or team) effects with your sphere.

also the UI for the energy is atrocious.

[Lite Ning Strike.5203]

Didn't want to respond until I gave it a weeks worth of playing.

I guess I can't understand the idea behind a "caster" class with a "heavy" class weapon. 

Without going into a long reasoning I'll just say it's a no for me, both Tempest, Weaver, and base elementalist are more in toon with the class so I will stick with them.

Thanks for trying ANet but I believe a Bow or pistol/rifle would have made more sense.

TY for your time!!

 

[Ashantara.8731]

Why does the Catalyst's auto-attack look exactly like the shovel animation?

I don't find "digging" the ground with my hammer very appealing.

[Esquilax.3491]

Please let us regenerate enough energy to cast 1 jade sphere after combat....

 

The spec feels terrible if you have to engage a mob and you can't open with a jade sphere.

 

Just allow it to quickly go up to 33% or whatever the number is for a single jade sphere, if you are out of combat and below that amount.

 

Necromancer has a trait that does this iirc, just copy paste that code thanks

[The Ghost.3087]

I don't know what is up with the devs but I am kinda fed up with all the melee and medium-range elite specs. Can we please get a proper range elite spec next expansion?

[TempoRamen.9861]

It's been how long, 5+ years? Since we have been remotely viable. Why must Anet hate us so? How are they unaware of just how frustrating it has been for Eles all these years and they don't change anything?

 

Suggestion: Buff the kitten out of us. YOLO it. Just do it. You already broke the game with the balance, just pump a bunch of buffs to Ele to mix things up and get us back to meta. You can't damage balance any more than you have, just take the leap.

[Ceris.2189]

Catalyst was in a fine place, not great before update but it was perfectly fine. Now again, it's trash. I don't know what is your idea of balance, but this kind of complex, heavy penaltied (when u miss hammer 3 or press it by accident) class is still not rewarded in highest dps, or providing sefficient quickness. Don't you see the difference between scrapper or cataclyst? Quick firebrand? Like basically one skill quickness vs complex, hard rotation. You took away quickness, which no one even tried to provide because it's just zero profit in compare to the other quickness classes and now you are taking it dps possibilities (One button for guardian for crying out loud). Not mentioning that other Elementalist options like power tempest or weaver are basically non existent anymore. Shame on you Anet,  i have firm belive that you have no clue about your game, elementalist especially - change my mind . I refuse to be one button monkey, i'd rather to quit the game and join many of my friends who arleady did it because of the same reasons. 

Edited July 2, 2022 by Ceris.2189

[BlueBoy.1236]

Not sure if ppl alr suggested this, but pls let the atk from elementals (glyph of elementals) also generate energy (and if possible, trigger other on-atk trait: serrated stone, raging storm, etc).

Edited August 4, 2022 by BlueBoy.1236
Some other buff suggestions

[Gibson.4036]

Played around with Catalyst for a while, and while it was plenty strong, it feels oddly mechanical because it is such a race to hit each skill in succession.

I know people do "rotations" in instanced content, but I tend to gravitate toward "skill priority" specs. With catalyst, though, it feels like whatever the content I'm just a monkey chaining the same buttons in the same order over and over.

[HotDelirium.7984]

Fix conjure skills so that they last longer or nobody else can pick them up because nobody really ever wants to pick them up.

Fix Elemental empowerment since its still next to impossible to get to 10 stacks with catalyst skills.

I'd love for a jade orb to float near me like scrapper has their little gyro friend. At least give us a mini that is!

[HotDelirium.7984]

My little once over for traits. Cooldowns can be changed for balance reasons. I wanted more "catalyzing to be happening":

Minor Proficiency- Hammer Proficiency- You can wield hammers.

Minor Adept - Depth of Elements- Build up elemental energy when you strike foes. Energy is consumed to imbue the Jade Sphere with different elements, creating combo fields and granting boons to allies in the area. Gain access to Augments.

Major Adept - Hardened Auras- Damage reduction is increased when you gain an aura. Gain stability when you gain an aura.

Major Adept - Vicious Empowerment- Gain Elemental Empowerment and might when you disable, immobilize or combo a foe.

Major Adept- Energized Elements - Gain fury when you switch attunements. Energy can now be gained while outside of combat.

 

Minor Master- Elemental Empowerment - Gain Elemental Empowerment while in combat.

Major Master-  Empowering Auras- Gain increased outgoing damage when you gain an aura. When this triggers, the duration of all stacks are refreshed. Frost, Fire, Shocking and Magnetic aura are automatically transmuted upon expiring.

Major Master-  Evasive Empowerment - Gain Elemental Empowerment and vigor while evading an attack.

Major Master - Spectacular Sphere - Your Jade Sphere grants a boon to nearby allies based on your current attunement when activated. Radius in increased to 360.

 

Minor Grandmaster -  Elemental Epitome.png Elemental Epitome  - Gain an aura based on your current attunement when you combo. Gaining an aura grants you Elemental Empowerment. Auras can be gained this way once per attunement per interval.

Major Grandmaster - Staunch Technology - Conjured weapons no longer drop for allies to pick up but their duration is doubled.

Major Grandmaster  - Empowered Empowerment - Elemental Empowerment effects are double per stack.

Major Grandmaster  - Sphere Specialist Boons applied by your Jade Sphere have increased duration and the cooldown for Jade Orb is reduced by 25%.

[Syronus.7605]

16 hours ago, HotDelirium.7984 said:

Major Grandmaster - Staunch Technology - Conjured weapons no longer drop for allies to pick up but their duration is doubled.

 

I don't see the point of why double duration would be a benefit.   From what I can see conjured weapons at the moment are 'use best skills and drop' type utlities and rarely see extended use beyond brief moments of lightning hammer and firey greatsword because their sustained dps can't match up to the dps of a multi attunement rotation.  This suggestion feels like a dead on arrival trait and is no-where near grandmaster level. 

 

[HotDelirium.7984]

6 hours ago, Syronus.7605 said:

 

I don't see the point of why double duration would be a benefit.   From what I can see conjured weapons at the moment are 'use best skills and drop' type utlities and rarely see extended use beyond brief moments of lightning hammer and firey greatsword because their sustained dps can't match up to the dps of a multi attunement rotation.  This suggestion feels like a dead on arrival trait and is no-where near grandmaster level. 

 

Certainly I'm up for fine tuning until conjured skills are viable dps-wise. I just see this as a lore related opportunity to address conjured weapons. If not, I think each attunement should include a conjured weapon clause along with the Minor Grandmaster Trait.

[pcgamefreak.5208]

Catalyst is awful!  I'm talking PvE because WvW is otta the question given how "squishy" the class is in PvE.  You can't stay alive, period!  I don't understand why developers always use the same old stuff from other MMORPGs.  It's like the Mage on World of Warcraft...  Get to the Mage, you can take it out in one or two hits, don't get to it you're dead.  When staying alive is that intense, it takes away from everything else.  You can't even concentrate on combat from fear of dying.  I find myself attuning to water just to keep standing, which kills DPS and even then, I barely survive at times.

 

I'm thinking about dropping the "Celes" build and go Vit, Toughness and Power.  The class is ridiculous....really, I thought nothing could be worst than Core and Scouge Necro in WvW (not pve) but "Eles" are far the worst when it comes to sustain.  That's how I know all the "Eles" in WvW that constantly heal up while taking huge amounts of damage and even gain the yellow extra health bar from super self heals...  ARE HACKERS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[Serephen.3420]

1 hour ago, Horace.3184 said:

Catalyst is awful!  I'm talking PvE because WvW is otta the question given how "squishy" the class is in PvE.  You can't stay alive, period!  I don't understand why developers always use the same old stuff from other MMORPGs.  It's like the Mage on World of Warcraft...  Get to the Mage, you can take it out in one or two hits, don't get to it you're dead.  When staying alive is that intense, it takes away from everything else.  You can't even concentrate on combat from fear of dying.  I find myself attuning to water just to keep standing, which kills DPS and even then, I barely survive at times.

 

I'm thinking about dropping the "Celes" build and go Vit, Toughness and Power.  The class is ridiculous....really, I thought nothing could be worst than Core and Scouge Necro in WvW (not pve) but "Eles" are far the worst when it comes to sustain.  That's how I know all the "Eles" in WvW that constantly heal up while taking huge amounts of damage and even gain the yellow extra health bar from super self heals...  ARE HACKERS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

You do know ele has access to barrier on some specs😅 and that other classes can give barrier to allies. I do wonder what you consider huge amounts of damage. But I guess you're still new to ele and aren't familiar with how far you can push it. There is an unfortunately large gap between floor and ceiling. Largest of all classes in my opinion.