Most disappointing EoD elite spec after beta 4 changes

[Pirindolo.9427]

Make your choice for the most disappointing EoD elite spec after beta 4 changes

[Pirindolo.9427]

Well, it looks like Catalyst has been somehow fixed, but Untamed is as disappointing as it was before the changes. 

[BadSanta.6527]

Untame for sure 

[The Great Al.2546]

Catalyst hasn’t been fixed. Aspects of it are improved but unless you are just playing against DPS golems the survivability isn’t there. I just started playing around with WP’s D/W Tempest, and Catalyst is a complete downgrade in terms of survivability in close range. I won’t consider Catalyst to be ‘fixed’ until the Sphere, orbs, and augments  actually make thematic and mechanical sense, and there is a niche that this fills that makes it feel intrinsically different from other Ele playstyles (I.e. not relying on Auras again)

Edited December 11, 2021 by The Great Al.2546

[Noodle Ant.1605]

8 hours ago, The Great Al.2546 said:

Catalyst hasn’t been fixed. Aspects of it are improved but unless you are just playing against DPS golems the survivability isn’t there. I just started playing around with WP’s D/W Tempest, and Catalyst is a complete downgrade in terms of survivability in close range. I won’t consider Catalyst to be ‘fixed’ until the Sphere, orbs, and augments  actually make thematic and mechanical sense, and there is a niche that this fills that makes it feel intrinsically different from other Ele playstyles (I.e. not relying on Auras again)

idk about wvw/pvp, but i found it pretty handy that that i could always open with earth f5 (for prot and because f5 last patch was basically lava font mk2) and earth hammer 3 (cuz orb mechanic). if its a ranged enemy, i can get free hits or brief immunity with earth hammer 2; alternatively or otherwise, earth hammer 4 is a surprisingly low cd block that can also give magnetic or shocking aura. on top of this, water hammer 4 is essentially a 2nd heal skill also with a generous cd that can be reduced further with water traitline (which ironically i believe is BiS for dmg output) and air hammer 3 can maintain perma weakness. coincidentally, the rapid attunement swapping playstyle of cata hammer hammer gives a pretty good excuse to press all these skills

augments sure, i didnt really find great use for them, but then again i didnt really touch the utility bar much because hammers kit already gave me enough to play with

atm id just prefer to not have to stand directly inside hitboxes to get full value from hammer #3. everything else imo is relatively minor or is a core ele problem, you cant expect cata to do certain things when the foundation is already shaky

[Pirindolo.9427]

On 12/11/2021 at 4:18 PM, The Great Al.2546 said:

Catalyst hasn’t been fixed. Aspects of it are improved but unless you are just playing against DPS golems the survivability isn’t there. I just started playing around with WP’s D/W Tempest, and Catalyst is a complete downgrade in terms of survivability in close range. I won’t consider Catalyst to be ‘fixed’ until the Sphere, orbs, and augments  actually make thematic and mechanical sense, and there is a niche that this fills that makes it feel intrinsically different from other Ele playstyles (I.e. not relying on Auras again)

Well, I didn't say fixed, but "somehow fixed". Many Catalyst testers in other forums said that new Catalyst is way better than the pre beta 4 version. On the contrary, the untamed testers are writing that beta4 version is even worse than the previous one, except for a couple of things.

[deadteds.2659]

dont love the framing of the question, but that aside

Harbinger had such a fall from grace between betas. beta 1 gave this necro main the elite spec i've been waiting 5 years for and some stuff that needed addressing (it was still a beta afterall). beta 4 manage to ignore everything that needed addressing and only remove the stuff that made me excited for the spec. (the blight and lifeforce management gave me the feel of corruption condition juggling, but then beta 4 all your blight stacking tools also threw your blight away, so "blight management" became sitting in shroud, ignoring half the buttons, for 20+ seconds)    

[Custodio.6134]

well, from a WvW-perspective, pretty much every EoD-specialization is pretty disappointing (at least in medium/large scale). 
some to indeed look pretty fun (like new revenant), but in terms of what synergies are needed in WvW, the current specs are superior. 

Not going into detail, but the main points making them unviable in medium/large scale are for each spec:

Willbender --- well, it´s Melee-DPS, what do you expect? Melee-DPS is always a tricky thing in that scale, but even if you go niece-builds, you have to compete against scrapper (which brings more utility like superspeed, stealth and cleanse)

Catalyst --- if you don´t go for the hammer, but staff this could also be a decent DPS-build. However: why go catalyst if you can go weaver instead? if you gonna use staff anyways, weaver will at least be as good (or as bad, depending on the situation) as catalyst, but i cannot tell for sure as i don´t play weaver much and didn´t test catalyst at all

Virtuoso --- This one i actually tested in various ways (support-Style and DPS-style). the support route isn´t really that good and most of what Virtuoso could provide is already given by Firebrand and Scrapper. On the DPS-Side: although i was optimistic that it could be good, the Power-Scalings aren´t that good. Any Hammer-Revenant will out-DPS a Virtu, with at least the same amount of CC and better Boon-Support. 

Harbinger --- absolutely inferior in terms of corrupts, while having even higher risk due to the blight (i think that´s what the health-pool reduction was called) mechanic. While scourge is superior in that, it is even the safer due to barrier. It could potentially be in a league with reaper i think, but won´t compete with scourge imo

Vindicator --- completely giving up the perma swiftness and fury is the big downside of vindicator. Greatsword is a melee-weapon, so that´s only an option for pushing (where imo SW/SW is at least as good) since you still wanna go for Hammer. in that case, why not stay Herald instead, giving way better synergy to your allies while providing potentially the same amount of damage

Bladesworn --- no expierience from the beta, so i can´t say anything about it. from looking at class skills and traits, i doubt that theres some superior playstyle that would make it more viable than Spellbreaker in medium/large scale

Mechanist --- too dependent on their Mech. The Damage-Speccs completely rely on their Mech (which will almost instantly die in cleave damage) while the support-specc cannot even close keep up with Heal-Scrapper. 

Specter --- every well is also a shadowstep, so it would only be useful in a push-scenario. outside of that, there´s almost no synergy or any benefit compared to the already existing classes. 

Untamed --- didn´t get a non-projectile ranged weapon, so theoretically you´re dependent on your melee-weapons (Hammer/Greatsword etc). Well, like willbender, melee-dps rarely works (with the only exception being scrapper currently) and utility to allies is pretty much non-existent. 

So basically, all the speccs don´t provide any of the utility/synergy that is needed in medium/large scaled combat. And none of the speccs does better than a different class of the same role, or a different specc of the same class. 

Edited January 12 by Custodio.6134

[Tiviana.2650]

I have to say both catalyst and untamed are a huge letdown. 

[AusarViled.7106]

As a hunter / thief main, I am super disappointed in both. Who wants to use a HAMMER, you kidding me. Where is my RIFLE SPEC.  I WANT TO SHOOT PEW PEW PEW

 

and the thief spec, more like a shadow priest yet not a vampire. If it was a vampire I would be fine with it more, but it gives me a necro feel.

[Lord Trejgon.2809]

5 hours ago, AusarViled.7106 said:

As a hunter / thief main,

As a ranger main I am asking you what the heck is a "hunter" 😉

Jokes aside, hammer ranger was a meme build back in GW1 and alot of old timers felt like espec making reference to that would be hilarious. So I guess AN delivered.

[AusarViled.7106]

10 hours ago, Lord Trejgon.2809 said:

As a ranger main I am asking you what the heck is a "hunter" 😉

Jokes aside, hammer ranger was a meme build back in GW1 and alot of old timers felt like espec making reference to that would be hilarious. So I guess AN delivered.

 

I say hunter, because ranger is a weird term that GW2 uses lol. I play it like i would play a hunter in WoW, use a bow for long range, use a dagger for close range. A hammer  makes it feel like i am playing some weird version of monster hunter, which does not work for me. A rifle would be nice

[Lord Trejgon.2809]

On 1/21/2022 at 9:01 PM, AusarViled.7106 said:

I say hunter, because ranger is a weird term that GW2 uses lol.

Ranger is a character archetype that was present in role-playing games long before anyone thought that an mmo could be ever a thing 😉

Rangers were present in fantasy settings before those, one of the most famous ones being Aragorn from Lord of the Rings (tho surprisingly alot of people do not realize Aragorn is one).

It is speculated that the archetype was based off historical militia units, deployed within Nothern America continent during colonisation, one of most famous of such groups were Texas Rangers.

So I would risk a claim that "hunter is a weird term that WoW uses" 😉

 

[Alcatraznc.3869]

On 1/22/2022 at 7:01 AM, AusarViled.7106 said:

I say hunter

 

Well hunter kind of restrict the class to a hunter vs a prey whereas the term ranger can fit multiple purpose from longbow fighter to scouts or guerilla fight. 

[Zacchary.6183]

From a purely construction standpoint, Bladesworn. Because dealing 140k in one attack is a severe mathematical failure, regardless of how cool it is.

[fenriswolfman.5486]

said bladesworn but catalyst is up there too. ill be playing cata anyway cause even if its a hot mess i find it cool. when in doubt always go with rule of cool.