Vindicator Feedback Thread

[Caid.4932]

16 hours ago, Kidel.2057 said:

If anet wants Vindicator to be a viable heal support for PvE, it has to bring some "rare" boons or unique buffs, otherwise it will simply be overshadowed by existing specs. Vindicators heal is really nice, but sadly that is not enough for the current meta.

If they threw some stability on it would that be desirable? Or would it need quickness / alac to really holld its own?

[Allium Cepa.6927]

So this feedback is mostly from Vindi support in open world metas like Drizzlewood. (Minstrels gear)

Urn:
I like Urn, but it needs a few tweaks. The  new energy cost for Urn feels good. -10 was way too much before. -5 feels right. I didn't find it worth risking the 25% hp threshold for resistance. Was it intended to be something you aim for or just something that's there to help out if you happen to be at 25% when dropping urn? If you should be aiming to get that low health threshold I think the healing bonus from dropping it at low health needs to be a bit stronger. Make the bonus stack multiplicatively with itself, not additively, but reduce its power to like 80/85%. Assuming it has a base heal of ~1000, the 25% threshold would heal about 6k, rather than 4k with additive calculations, while higher hp thresholds would be less impactful.
Make dropping the urn faster. So many times I have died because I clicked to drop the urn and follow up with Selfless Spirit (the heal) only to end up canceling the drop and wasting the self heal from Selfless Spirit.

Using the urn required me to do a few things to survive. As a Healer/support focus I wanted to take Saint's shield but found that did not provide the survivability needed in Urn. To have the surviavlity needed I needed to do a few things:
1. Take Imperial Impact for the protection.
2. Take the Retribution trait line for Determined Resolution. Grab Spiritual Reckoning, Resolute Evasion and Vicious Reprisal.
These together provide 93% strike damage reduction and 83% condi damage reduction while urn is up. It helps to offset the constant damage and lack of healing. Providing a little more in survivability options while urn is up, like stronger self barrier. While it didn't feel necessary with the above setup, taking Resilient Spirit provided great survivability. But not quite enough  to take Saint's Shield or drop Retribution.

Alliance Tactics:
While the utility skills are much easier to use now that they don't flip, they now lack the charm and "fun" factor they had. I felt more engaged managing the flip. Now it just feels like a 3rd stance. I would like to see the flip mechanic come back in some way. Make a trait that brings back flip and provides some benefit for having them flip.

The other supports:
While I think (support) vindi is fun on it's own merit, its running into a problem that many supports have. They just can't compare to chrono, druid, healscourge or firebrand. I don't see it being used at all in any challenging group content. Is this a problem with Vindicator being too weak or is it that the other support are too strong? No one wants to see their favorite firebrand meta nerfed, but buffing  vindicator up to that level with quickness and such may be too much. Hard choice, but perhaps a little of both?

Edited December 5, 2021 by Allium Cepa.6927

[Zenith.7301]

4 hours ago, Caid.4932 said:

If they threw some stability on it would that be desirable? Or would it need quickness / alac to really holld its own?

 

 

Any support has to compete with HB, which brings all boons but alacrity, and has access to reflect, aoe pull, and plenty of condi cleanse.

[Silesium.5623]

Don't know if its only me but Master Traits that gain endurence back three diffrent way dont work for me, I will prefer marge two of them in on and add new two traits that do diffrent thing. 
New Master Trait ideas:
1. ''Far Ahead Advance'' Moveable skills have duble distance. (all legends/weapons) (gain cripple)
2. "Full Restoration" Energy Mold give 100% endurence but duble cd
3. "Legent Unity" Swaping legends + alience tactics is cd is 25% shorter ( maybe 50% but maybe to unbalance for master trait)
4. "Double Trouble" Two Endurence Bars but endurence regend is 50%- slower
5. "Mist Droop" Upgrade Tenacious Ruin : Range 400 / 10 Targets (Effect all grandmaster traits)
6. "Frenemies" Lose abilty to use Allience Tactice have to pick kuzick or luxon (once pick cant change till trait swich). Buff Utilitys/Elita of chosen faction.
7.  "Rentering Mist" After finishing fall down from dodge create area of mist energy (500 range circle) give new buff to self/allies in it. 'Evasive Land' there is 50% chance to avoidance of 3 hits (3stock) for 5sec if the buff is not removed be 3 hits player get debuff 'Lost In Mist' for 5sec next incoming 1 hit is 50% more dmg
8. "Supportive Allience" Automatic Brake Stun but put Allience Tactice on 20/30/40 (dep on balance) sec cd

That some of my ideas don't know if arena net will read or have time to make those big changes in spageti code ❤️

[Zenith.7301]

12 minutes ago, Silesium.5623 said:

Don't know if its only me but Master Traits that gain endurence back three diffrent way dont work for me, I will prefer marge two of them in on and add new two traits that do diffrent thing. 
New Master Trait ideas:
1. ''Far Ahead Advance'' Moveable skills have duble distance. (all legends/weapons) (gain cripple)
2. "Full Restoration" Energy Mold give 100% endurence but duble cd
3. "Legent Unity" Swaping legends + alience tactics is cd is 25% shorter ( maybe 50% but maybe to unbalance for master trait)
4. "Double Trouble" Two Endurence Bars but endurence regend is 50%- slower
5. "Mist Droop" Upgrade Tenacious Ruin : Range 400 / 10 Targets (Effect all grandmaster traits)
6. "Frenemies" Lose abilty to use Allience Tactice have to pick kuzick or luxon (once pick cant change till trait swich). Buff Utilitys/Elita of chosen faction.
7.  "Rentering Mist" After finishing fall down from dodge create area of mist energy (500 range circle) give new buff to self/allies in it. 'Evasive Land' there is 50% chance to avoidance of 3 hits (3stock) for 5sec if the buff is not removed be 3 hits player get debuff 'Lost In Mist' for 5sec next incoming 1 hit is 50% more dmg
8. "Supportive Allience" Automatic Brake Stun but put Allience Tactice on 20/30/40 (dep on balance) sec cd

That some of my ideas don't know if arena net will read or have time to make those big changes in spageti code ❤️

 

 

We're basically paying a tax in traits to have compensation they've crippled the class with a single dodge in the time span others have 2-3 dodges. Awful design.

Edited December 4, 2021 by Zenith.7301

[Silesium.5623]

Its call balanc you run bigger distance u get tierd = criple XD

[Silesium.5623]

5 minutes ago, Zenith.7301 said:

 

 

We're basically paying a tax in traits to have compensation they've crippled the class with a single dodge in the time span others have 2-3 dodges. Awful design.

 Also everything in () is to change/remove/add on

[Kain Francois.4328]

Negative

I feel like I don't have my dodge available when I actually need it on a PvE boss. F2 does not properly compensate for my lack of endurance, nor' do any of my skills.

Edited December 5, 2021 by Kain Francois.4328

[Caid.4932]

1 hour ago, Zenith.7301 said:

 

 

Any support has to compete with HB, which brings all boons but alacrity, and has access to reflect, aoe pull, and plenty of condi cleanse.

Sure but most of that stuff is replaceable. Stability not so much. Jalis is as close as you can get to replacing stand your ground probably. Stick stability on the blue stun break utility, i guess it still wouldn't be enough to make vindicator a meta support but it could be part of kicking Firebrand out of a role (maybe harbinger replaces the quickness for instance).

I kind of assume Firebrand is going to be toned down at some point anyway.

[HotDelirium.7984]

Since its such a unique stance I think both Energy Meld and Alliance Tactics should trigger traits that involve switching stances.

 

I also think the damage mitigation should be higher for the Urn  since we are literally making such a huge sacrifice for our teammates and can do nothing else but this channel. Add maybe another threshold for Resolution and an added benefit that if you are downed  while channeling its max benefit of healing and boon thresholds is still triggered and given to allies but you are still of course downed.

Edited December 5, 2021 by HotDelirium.7984

[Zenith.7301]

1 hour ago, Caid.4932 said:

Sure but most of that stuff is replaceable. Stability not so much. Jalis is as close as you can get to replacing stand your ground probably. Stick stability on the blue stun break utility, i guess it still wouldn't be enough to make vindicator a meta support but it could be part of kicking Firebrand out of a role (maybe harbinger replaces the quickness for instance).

I kind of assume Firebrand is going to be toned down at some point anyway.

 

 

Nobody can consistently supply Resolution besides Guardian, either.

 

And while other classes can bring reflects, for HB it comes at no DPS cost whatsoever, it's for free in their kit, not having to sacrifice utilities or inferior weapon usage to bring one.

 

Won't even mention Aegis and how grossly OP it is in PvE either and how Guardian is the only consistent provider of it.

Edited December 5, 2021 by Zenith.7301

[Buran.3796]

1 hour ago, Caid.4932 said:

I kind of assume Firebrand is going to be toned down at some point anyway.

   Taking in consideration how poorly the Firebrand currently performs in PvP I doubt is in the mind of ANet balance team to punish his PvE performance.

[Angesombre.4630]

This is only my opinion

I think we should be able to put back the system of flipping skills like in the first beta with a f3 to change the color of the skills and a f4 to prevent the flipping, locking them on one of the modes. That would allow us to be mobile in certain moment and in other to be able this specialized.

It would be necessary to have more buffs for the group which is interesting or a better DPS, the 2 would be better even if this option is given by the features not to have too much abuse.
The spear of the elite remains to be improved (more damage or zone of attack, ...), just like the urn with buffs while one holds it.
If you look at renegat is more interesting in terms of buffs, especially in PvE.

I also think that it would be necessary to have an additional dodge, 2 in PvE and 1 in PvP to play a better role because we can't avoid, DPS or support knowing that this class has a support and DPS role inferior to the others (Firebrand, Renegade, Engineer, Druid, ....). I'm not going to enumerate everything but we can see the idea, without counting the new specializations.

Maybe review some traits that I think are not useful enough "Redemptor's Sermon", "Amnesty of Shing Jea" and "Reaver's Curse". 

There are some interesting things but at the moment for me I don't know if I would want to play it with the "alliance" as a legend.

Edited December 5, 2021 by Angesombre.4630

[pitchBLACK.5479]

So before I jump into my thoughts and feedback with the class, I want to point out that I’m by no means a hardcore Raider/PvPer/WvWer, etc. I’ve played through from the start of GW1 and GW2 and enjoy playing all the different kinds of content at a more casual pace. Therefore numbers, min/maxing, having alacrity here, or might there isn’t my angle. My feedback is from the perspective of: “Is this class fun to play”, so if things feel off, or janky, or not right with the class playstyle or targeted thematic’s, that’s where I like to place opinions.

 

The changes made to the vindicator make it so much more enjoyable to play compared to the last beta. Not being locked into the forced skill swap of the legendary alliance stance have transformed how this class feels to play! You can make the conscious choice of offense or support, it’s great! I honestly don’t have many bad things to say about the state of the Vindicator now, it’s tonnes of fun. However, the few comments I do have are as follows:

Dodge

It sometimes bugs out for me when I use it… when it does, my character leaps about 3ft into the air and hovers near the target and then slams down? It’s very rarely done this, but something to mention.

Class “F” skills

Outside of the new legendary alliance stance legend and the dodge change, there really isn’t much that differentiates the “elite specialization” aspect of the class. The F3 just locks in whether you want Archemorus or Saint Viktor utilities (cool), but if you’re not using that legend, then this F skill has no use… albeit I think it does need to stay for this purpose. Where is really breaks down is the F2 (Energy Meld), It’s just “push a button” and get endurance… oh yay! It has no play to it at all and is quite boring.

What I think could be really cool here is playing on that duality of the legendary alliance in tandem with the new dodge, I propose to add an additional F skill and completely change energy meld. Have 1 F skill be Archemorus focused and the other F skill be Saint Viktor focused. Maybe the Archemorus focused F skill could provide offensive boons on use to the vindicator and then if the dodge is used within say 5 seconds it does additional damage, and/or gives AOE offensive boons when it lands. Then with the Saint Viktor F skill it could give supportive boons to the Vindicator and if the dodge is used within the 5 second period, it provides healing/barrier when it lands, and/or give AOE defensive boons. Having this change would mean that if you opted not to use the legendary alliance stance, there is a more unique reason to choosing this elite spec.

Greatsword

Feels great, don’t change its functionality!

Archemorus side of legendary alliance

All the skills for this side of the stance feel great, except the elite. The Spear of Archemorus skill feels slow and somewhat un-rewarding outside of PvP to use. If it’s to have this long wind up before it throws the spear, might be cool to have a small AOE where it hits, or leave a trail of fire behind it or something. Either that or reduce the time it takes to throw the spear by a little.

Saint Viktor side of legendary alliance

Same as Archemourus, most of these feel good. I think the Urn of Saint Viktor has a tooltip bug? It states you take damage, yet the description has +1% Damage… which makes it sound like you get additional damage with your attacks? Maybe it should be “1% Self Damage per second”

Traits

Given my suggestion for additional F abilities/changes, I think the traits may need some tweaking to work with this. The 3 elites are great and should remain, as they change the dynamic of what the dodge does which is great. The Minor and Major however might need some number tweaking and potentially slight updates to not make having new F skills to over powering… maybe this is where additional endurance gain on using the 2 new proposed F abilities could be?

 

Overall, this class is shaping up to be my favorite of the new set of elites at the moment! With some small updates, I think it could be one of the best in general! Keep up the great work ANET!

[Dahkeus.8243]

From my experience, I'm still not a fan of the single dodge mechanic, particularly because of the reliance on the damage/boons/healing from the dodge.  It reminds me of playing a power Daredevil in PvE, where you would need to dodge for the DPS gain, even when there is nothing to evade, except you would still be able to dodge again if you needed to actually avoid something,

 

There just seems to be too much tied up into a mechanic that is core to GW2 survival and so many encounters are based around the assumption that the player can dodge, so combining other functions into that mechanic ends up being too much of a trade-off.

 

Additionally, all the endurance gain mechanics aren't something I've enjoyed either.  This is because the ability to dodge becomes too erratic and unreliable.

 

I would much rather see the benefit of the dodge reduced as well as the evade time of the dodge reduced so that we could dodge twice with a full endurance bar than to see it continue in its current state.

Edited December 5, 2021 by Dahkeus.8243

[Ausar.9542]

14 hours ago, Caid.4932 said:

If they threw some stability on it would that be desirable? Or would it need quickness / alac to really holld its own?

would like more protection as well. 

[ScottBroChill.3254]

Honestly would reduce the the dodge bar by 25% or something and then reduce the effects of the dodge. It still isn't available readily enough and without jalis theres a complete lack of stability so you end up getting whipped around in pvp a lot. Having all the middle traits focus on endurance recovery seems a bit redundant although I can see how each one is more useful for specific areas, the enhanced vigor one still seems the best though. Greatsword animations need an update as they are hard to fight against using generic animations that are shared with other skills on the bar. 

And honestly I like the changes to the flip skills but I also don't know if I like it. I find myself pressing the flip skill a lot more and I don't know if that's because it's free now or because I've become more familiar with the skills so I now know which ones I want to use, but generally theyre seemed to be a nice ebb and flow to the old mechanic of hopping in with archemorus and then dipping out with viktor. I feel like now I'm trying to recreate that but have an extra button to press, which maybe that's a good sacrifice to have full autonomy over which skills are available, idk. I always wonder how the old flip would work with the new free alliance flip f3. It is nice to have archy's heal or viktors evade when I need them though. I imagine the automatic flip is a real hinderance to support builds though. 

[Alek Seven.2374]

I would turn Spear of Archemorus into an upkeep skill so it can be easier to manage with Charged Mists. It charges and when you release it or change legend, it throws the spear, dealing more damage the less energy you have.

[Lonewolf Kai.3682]

Yeah, there really needs to be an upkeep somewhere on Arch

[Beshbaliq.3724]

I think the really big Problem with the Archemorus-Elite, at least for me, is that it doesn't feel like I'm using the Elite-Skill of my current Legend. More like an additional, fifth skill.

 

I think it would feel a lot better if the damage was to be increased substantially and add some sort of AoE to it. Maybe add a secondary Dmg-Part and short AoE-Knockdown (1 to 1.5 seconds?) on impact. Now, to compensate for all of that, increase cooldown but increase projectile-speed..

 

That way it would kind of feel like Zeus, throwing his Lightning Bolt... or something along those lines, I guess

 

[VoodooChurch.6513]

13 hours ago, Dahkeus.8243 said:

There just seems to be too much tied up into a mechanic that is core to GW2 survival and so many encounters are based around the assumption that the player can dodge, so combining other functions into that mechanic ends up being too much of a trade-off.

 

Additionally, all the endurance gain mechanics aren't something I've enjoyed either.  This is because the ability to dodge becomes too erratic and unreliable.

I agree - for what it's worth. The single dodge feature is the one thing that has me apprehensive about playing this e-spec.  Why make a dodge that uses all your endurance, then provide a bunch of stuff that gives you endurance gain? Endurance gain is a nice and useful boon to attach to skills, but it's not interesting enough to be a central pillar of the spec. Dodge is too critical a part of surviving to make you have to game it like this. 

[Kain Francois.4328]

Here we are, lads. 37k Power DPS on Vindicator (with a HUGE opening burst.)

Some lingering concerns:

• F3 having a cast time makes the skill feel really iffy. Also, F3 disappearing if you're not using Alliance feels a bit... off.
• F2 is still lame. Pay 20 energy for 50 endurance? That's it? and the F2 is a crappy profession mechanic. Even the core Revenant F2 is better. Come on, ArenaNet, you can do better.
• Despite gaining so much power for good DPS, the penalty to endurance feels extremely punishing, and makes it a risky spec to take on most battles, without a worthy justification for that risk. What is a Vindicator supposed to do in order to survive Qadim 1?

Edited December 5, 2021 by Kain Francois.4328

[TheeBlackDeath.5692]

On 12/1/2021 at 6:12 AM, Adah.8371 said:

We need more conditions on the Greatsword. It will make the spec more hybrid and give us a choice.

We only have the shortbow as a condi weapon.

 

Give Chilled to GS5!

[TheBHSP.8952]

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.

 

[Zenith.7301]

8 hours ago, Kain Francois.4328 said:

Here we are, lads. 37k Power DPS on Vindicator (with a HUGE opening burst.)

Some lingering concerns:

• F3 having a cast time makes the skill feel really iffy. Also, F3 disappearing if you're not using Alliance feels a bit... off.
• F2 is still lame. Pay 20 energy for 50 endurance? That's it? and the F2 is a crappy profession mechanic. Even the core Revenant F2 is better. Come on, ArenaNet, you can do better.
• Despite gaining so much power for good DPS, the penalty to endurance feels extremely punishing, and makes it a risky spec to take on most battles, without a worthy justification for that risk. What is a Vindicator supposed to do in order to survive Qadim 1?

 

Pray your GS4 is up and you are on GS instead of sword/sword lol, it's that bad.

 

37k DPS glass cannon spec with zero meaningful group utility, maginal CC.

 

Meanwhile Dragonhunter/Soulbeast already do more DPS while bringing significant group buffs/utility and won't even mention EoD DPS specs pushing 40-50k DPS (cough catalyst, harbinger, specter, bladesworn, willbender).

 

Have fun playing Qadim1+2/Soulless Horror/Deimos/Lagos/CA/KC/Sabetha on this spec.

 

It's going to be even worse in fractal CM's. In the event they fix condi being incredibly overpowered on breakbars for fractals, 100CM will still be unplayable as Vindicator, you'll get 1-2 shot by tornadoes 24/7. MAMA, Ensolyss, Artsariv will be a nightmare. Siren's Reef as well.

 

The single dodge needs to go or they need to massively buff endurance regen sources and convert the F3 to a 100% endurance restore without a cast time and some other added benefit to justify the energy cost.

 

BTW, the total lack of animations/spell effects+legendary interactions for this spec at this juncture is plain unacceptable.

Edited December 6, 2021 by Zenith.7301