August 23 Balance Update Preview

[YTNyxVoss.3890]

Warrior changes look nice! ty anet!

[Spatula.5136]

I'm all for shaking up the WvW meta, but reducing stab access for guardian is not the answer. Please give us more options for WvW stability access either on druid or tempest or literally any other class. I'm glad Throw Mine is getting buffed but that's because I main engineer and love using it to strip, but the same can be said for boon strip access- we need more of it to help shake up the stale WvW meta that hasn't changed much in years. 

[KoalaCorpse.3529]

It constantly feels ironic to me that the devs care so little about WvW - that's the only game mode where guilds are actually fighting one another. In a game called Guild Wars. Shouldn't it be way higher priority? The balance there has been awful for years and the last "big patch" made things even worse. And now this?

[Voraxen.2035]

On 8/12/2022 at 6:17 PM, cobracommander.5861 said:

What a joke lol. Wvw is gw2 endgame and the gamemode is dead they don’t care. More golem dps balancing, no creativity just changing some numbers and decimals to achieve golem number. Sad. 

 

No new spvp content since 2019.

[pallas.8150]

3 hours ago, Luna.6203 said:

 

Every patch when i scroll to guardian with some excitement.. "lets see whats new for my main profession!" it like this:
Guardian:
Firebrand is still OP lets nerf it more..
Thats all folks.. next ☹️

 

Honestly, Firebrand should have been dealt with YEARS ago in terms of how OP/ overtuned it is, performance-wise.

Look at it less as them nerfing it and more as them FINALLY starting to bring it into line with every other single specialization. Don't worry, though, it still continues to dominate - and I don't see that changing anytime soon.

 

Edited August 14, 2022 by pallas.8150

[Farwind.8016]

Will this change to Throw Mines fix the current bug when the trait Gadgeteer is selected?

Throw Mines has a corresponding underwater skill called Deploy Mines, and the two skills have a different damage coefficient. Throw Mines has a coefficient of 2, and Deploy Mines has a coefficient of 1.65

 

If you take the Tools traitline, there is a trait called Gadgeteer, which modified Throw Mines to drop a second mine at your feet. Both of these mines, when traited, use the Deploy Mine coefficient of 1.65 rather than the Throw Mines coefficient of 2.

 

When you fix Throw Mines, could you guys also fix the Gadgeteer trait so the mines have the correct coefficient of 3? As an aside, would you guys also buff Deploy Mines to match the Throw Mines coefficient?

 

Thank you.

[EnryVas.1036]

Nice, all good, but wgy you don't fix also other game mode? actually WvW it's frozen to the usual old builds, always the same, Firebrand, scrapper, scourge, herald, dragonhunter, few like tempest (IMO one of the best support) and none, none even look at Specter or Viundicator (two of the most fun and interesting profession) so please try to give us more variety make also other profession viable just to break the old boring sacred squad composition, please....

[Luna.6203]

21 minutes ago, pallas.8150 said:

Honestly, Firebrand should have been dealt with YEARS ago in terms of how OP/ overtuned it is, performance-wise.

Look at it less as them nerfing it and more as them FINALLY starting to bring it into line with every other single specialization. Don't worry, though, it still continues to dominate - and I don't see that changing anytime soon.

 

No offence. But if youve read whole post its pretty obvious that im not worried about firebrand at all.
In fact..
It wont affect firebrand performance in pve in any way since as i said firebrand dont even use MoL in pve.. Despite of that they talk about fractals, strikes and raids this is pure WvW nerf and it will hurt ppl around firebrand more than firebrand itself. Enjoy..

And if they put other supports more in line thats good thing.. thats whole point of balance isnt it? Im not against it im up for it.

I just wanted to point out that guardian is not only firebrand.

[Arolandis.8360]

No no no no no NO.

Do NOT nerf Firebrand's elite mantra in WvW. That is just so freakin' unnecessary.

You guys have GOT to stop with nerfs. These classes are performing great, and that's a GOOD thing. The problem is that other classes have basically NO stability. So the answer here isn't to nerf Firebrand kitten, it's to give other classes more stability. Why should a Firebrand player be punished, here? It doesn't even need to be on every class. Just add more of it to Elementalist's earth abilities/traits. Druid's Glyphs (like you did here, but only for PVE?...and yet you're nerfing FB in WvW in a PVE patch?), and a couple other classes that the boon would make sense on.

I can see how your philosophy as devs, looking at every class as a whole, can think "oh well it'll make more sense to remove a little here and add a little there", but all that does is create more problems. DON'T nerf things that perform well. As someone here mentioned earlier that makes the class a success. So you're trying to make them fail more so that other classes can compete, WHICH DOESN'T WORK BECAUSE YOU'RE NOT GIVING THE OTHER CLASSES THE TOOLS THEY NEED TO ALSO BE A SUCCESS.

When you're an actual player being punished all the time with unnecessary nerfs it makes situations like the june 28th patch. So STOP it already.

Imagine yourself as a player that logs on and hops into WvW. There's not a huge group of people on yet but there's some good 15 vs 15ish fights in some places. Someone tags up, and the squad starts forming. Since people are going to play what they want to play, you have a squad with just one or two firebrands, maybe a tempest, a druid (I guess), and say, a support vindicator. The rest are ranged dps'es. What good is nerfing Firebrand's elite mantra do here, practically? Did it somehow make the druid, tempest, and vindicator more useful?

NO.

Is the firebrand player going to be annoyed with nerfs and play something else?

PROBABLY.

So just leave firebrands and scrappers and other good builds alone and start giving other classes what they need SO THEY CAN ALSO BE GOOD.

Edited August 14, 2022 by Arolandis.8360

[loofah.3472]

Anet, I just wanted to say thank you for all the research, development, and math that went into all of these. Too many people act like they know more they do when it comes to game design and development and, frankly, I find it exhausting. 

 

I'm sorry you guys all get swamped with instant negative feedback on every single post... The internet used to be a much kinder place. 

 

Just know that the majority of us appreciate all the work you do. My wife and I are both very excited for this patch, you answered an enormous amount of our frustrations in PvE (also, Idk why everyone is bent out of shape about this being heavily PvE - that's where the vast majority of the game content and players actually are...).

 

Thank you, Anet! 

[eXistence.3876]

On 8/13/2022 at 4:27 PM, gsharkboy.1958 said:

Did Heal Scrapper need the nerf to the engineer healing tools?  Honest question.

Was wondering the same thing. Doesn't seem strong at all currently..

[pallas.8150]

1 hour ago, Luna.6203 said:

 

It wont affect firebrand performance in pve in any way since as i said firebrand dont even use MoL in pve.. Despite of that they talk about fractals, strikes and raids this is pure WvW nerf and it will hurt ppl around firebrand more than firebrand itself. Enjoy..

 

Actually, most of my time is spent in WvW and PvP, so yes - I'm going to enjoy the change. Thanks!

[Soilder.3607]

WvW Perspective

 

One Firebrand per 5 man group in a squad is still going to be mandatory even with the nerf to Mantra of Liberation simply because no other class can give group stab like Firebrand can. Not that I agree with the nerf. Nerfing stab too much will lead to a pirate ship meta because squads won't be able to push into melee range without getting CC'd to death. I don't believe the nerf to Mantra of Liberation alone will lead us to a pirate ship meta because the skill was never a source of hard stab like Stand your Ground is, but it still isn't the right move IMO.

 

The only way to replace Firebrand in a squad is to either give some other elite spec tons of group stab or to distribute group stab between multiple support specs, i.e to Tempest/Scrapper/Vindicator/Druid/Chronomancer, and with enough uptime so that two of them can maintain group stab for a party of 5.

Edited August 14, 2022 by Soilder.3607

[kamikharzeeh.8016]

to all ##### who think FB will get less important in Wvw by some stab nerfing... we'll likely rather run two firebrands than replace it with meme healer roleplayer classes

 

this change should really not go live. some ppl said yet, it mostly hurts those who a FB should support

 

how about finally giving every singe cc in the game + 1000% cooldown time? why wasn't that done directly with cc dmg removal? why wasn't that done with dmg nerfs and overall cd rising?

the responsible people for wvw balance literally pile up the sh#t and think we'll enjoy it or what?

like your job is to make the game better, yet it just gets more tedious.

[Kuma.1503]

4 hours ago, kamikharzeeh.8016 said:

to all ##### who think FB will get less important in Wvw by some stab nerfing... we'll likely rather run two firebrands than replace it with meme healer roleplayer classes

 

this change should really not go live. some ppl said yet, it mostly hurts those who a FB should support

 

how about finally giving every singe cc in the game + 1000% cooldown time? why wasn't that done directly with cc dmg removal? why wasn't that done with dmg nerfs and overall cd rising?

the responsible people for wvw balance literally pile up the sh#t and think we'll enjoy it or what?

like your job is to make the game better, yet it just gets more tedious.

The problem isn't that they removed some Stab from firebrand. Its monopoly over the boon was a problem that needed to be addressed. Part of what allowed it to maintain that monopoly was that it was also a necessary evil in order to prevent zerg fights from becoming unplayable in melee range. Without stab, range is the only way to get any meaningful work done in zergs. Otherwise you run into a wall of stuns, dazes, knockdowns, knockbacks, shocking aura, ect. 

That makes it especially confusing why the addition of stab and aegis onto other classes was implimented into PvE only. 

And beyond that, there's another problem that remains unaddressed. The design of other supports (arguably even HAM) just isn't able to compete with the design of firebrand. No amount of coefficient shifting will change that. Even if Tempest shouts were granted stab and aegis in WvW as well, one stack every 30 seconds is nothing compared to tome of courage and stand your ground. 

Firebrand gets stability without having to sacrifice a utility slot, and when it does, its stab utilities are so much more powerful. 

Utimiately, slapping boons onto underplayed classes and raising coefficients isn't enough. There need to be some serious reworks done and consideration into HOW classes perform their desired role. 

Until that happens, Firebrand will remain the top support in PvE and WvW. Until significant changes are made, every support will be judged, not just based on what they bring to the table, but on how well they synergize with FB. 

We've had several metas come and go, with supports leaving and entering the meta, but no matter what, whether it's Renegade + Firebrand, Scourge + FB, or Mech + FB. Firebrand just does things so much better than every other support, and until serious work is done to other supports, or until FB is nerfed into near unplayability like it was in PvP, that wont realistically change. 

Edited August 15, 2022 by Kuma.1503

[Jokuc.3478]

Most of these changes are good! 

 

I think the FB stability getting nerfed is not the way to go, just give tempest a powerful stability utility skill or something.

 

More importantly, the nerf to Axe on Mirage is BAD. Nerfing might on the staff is whatever (though it's kind of sad for open world solo players), but Axe did not need to get nerfed. It's like ANet doesn't understand fundamentals and just look at Soulless Horror speed kills on youtube and say "woah that's big numbers, nerf". Mirage is mainly only used on a couple specific bosses. It doesn't have the bursty  dmg of some other condi classes like firebrand and cvirt. Axe is really hard to use and it takes a huge amount of practice to pull it off. Most players, even those who do end game content regularly can't get anywhere near peak numbers on actual encounters. Not to mention mech does pretty much the same thing with minimal effort. If mirage ends up doing similar damage to virtuoso, why would you play it? You wouldn't.

Edited August 14, 2022 by Jokuc.3478

[Jin Seinochi.2347]

On 8/13/2022 at 10:17 AM, Sparky.3672 said:

Dang! Damned if you do, damned if you don't! Guys I understand the critiques but ANET seems to be listening! And let's be honest, we have NO IDEA how much time, and manpower it takes to make these changes. If you make one change to a trait, it may get the desired effect on an overpowered combination of stats, weapons, runes and sigils, but for the other 98% of possible combinations of build, it could completely make it unusable. They can't do everything at once. I'm sure the engi nerfs are coming. They finally nerfed FB, they are listening. Give some praise here, and be respectful with the critiques. Imagine you had a chance to say this stuff to their faces, and not just typing behind a screen. ANET thanks for the updates. 

Them listening is exactly why Warrior, Elementalist, and so much more are going to be viable some time in the next century, just wait for it!

[Ensity.2164]

13 hours ago, Caliboom.3218 said:

Maybe be patient because they can't patch two gamemodes at once without making things more chaotic? It's better to wait for a higher quality patch for your gamemode than rushing some balance changes that end up being crap. Also, some of the stuff in this patch was necessary. And, big surprise, the gamemode with the most players is the one getting the most attention. Because that's the way it should be.

Many years passed and waiting changes for wvw.One more time after beta alliance realeased we saw many bugs again and not solved many issues as before.They making chaotic things...It is supposed to be pve changes and silently touching and wvw.

[Artificer.3468]

Liking a lot of these changes.

 

Reaper buffs really might not change much overall. 

 

I would be more hype about staff buffs if it didnt feel like an auto attack and then the same skill 4 times but I dont know what else can even be done about that without a major shake up. 

 

Looking forward to October. 

 

 

[feeper.5287]

Loving the early preview! I think it would be cool to have Full Counter be more entwined in the Spellbreaker kit/rotation as the spec still feels kind of out of place in instanced PvE. Maybe it could reduce or reset the cooldown of Magebane thether if it successfully hits or extends boon duration on allies. Something to allow for a higher skill ceiling but not mandatory would be sick and it would make Full Counter feel more worthwhile!

Regardless excited for the patch 🙂

[Sploogesque.2801]

Removing might from FB, and Mech is also very bad, as the might that was given to replace these, aren't even close to meta uses. Please revert.

[aspirine.6852]

I dont understand the mirage changes, but the balance team must see things differently. Lets see.

[Suyheuti.1732]

22 minutes ago, aspirine.6852 said:

I dont understand the mirage changes, but the balance team must see things differently. Lets see.

 

I tell you why. At several raid bosses, staxe mirage performs too way damage with alacrity. Then they decided to put mirage into the casket completely instead of nerfing only staxe. 

After patch, they will see noone will play with mirage and they will decide to buff again after couple months. This is the way how anet balances. 

Edited August 15, 2022 by Suyheuti.1732

[Sahne.6950]

"giving tempest access to Stability for the group".... this has to be the biggest joke of all time.... 1 stack on a 30 second CD...

WHAT A JOKE!

How about turning transcendent tempest into this: "after finishing a overload, you grat 1 stack of stability for 3 seconds to neaby allies" "while equpping transcendent Tempest, the trait Harmonious conduit gains increased strength, The Stability from Harmonious conduit will now be shared with nearby allies".

slapping 1 stack of stabi on  "eye of the storm" which is a skill that noone uses anyways, and then thinking it can now compete with Fb... is delusional to say the least.

 

 

 

 

Edited August 15, 2022 by Sahne.6950

[Mr Aqua.7854]

On 8/11/2022 at 11:59 AM, Rubi Bayer.8493 said:

A message from the Skills and Balance Team:

Hi, all,

In our August 2 balance update preview, we mentioned that we added yet another balance update to our schedule for August 23 to address some lingering feedback from the June 28 release. Below you'll find the comprehensive preview of that update. While there are a handful of updates that impact all game modes, our focus for August 23 is largely on PvE gameplay.

 We'd like to hear your feedback on this. Please take today and the weekend to read through it, think it over, and share your thoughts. We'll be keeping an eye on the conversation and listening to what you have to say.
 

Core Weapon Tuning

In this update, we focused on improving the number of viable core weapon choices across many professions in PvE. This included increasing base damage on many ranged weapon autoattacks to a higher baseline damage per second. These changes should help reduce the performance gap between players using suboptimal and optimal weapons.

Guild Wars 2 is designed to encourage social gameplay–you should be stronger playing together than alone. With that in mind, we took another look at how boons are given out. Several weapon skills have been updated to grant might to nearby allies as well as the user in PvE, further contributing to boon availability in group events.

Damage Build Improvements

Our player community develops builds that are considered the gold standard for effective play, so we review them regularly. We made changes to some elite specialization weapons and traits to make various builds more competitive. Our goal is for every profession to have viable power- and condition-based damage builds.

• Power Tempest
• Condition Tempest
• Power Weaver
• Power Scrapper
• Power Holosmith
• Power Dragonhunter
• Power Reaper
• Power Herald
• Power Vindicator
• Power Daredevil
• Power Deadeye
• Power Berserker
• Condition Berserker
• Power Spellbreaker

Improving Support Diversity

Firebrand and healing Mechanist are currently dominating group compositions. In this update, we're improving support-role diversity by adding stability and aegis to Tempest's shouts and giving Druids increased access to those boons as well.

We're also making targeted reductions to stability and might uptime on Firebrand and Mechanist builds to make room for other professions. Firebrand's high on-demand stability from Mantra of Liberation is too essential in Fractals of the Mists and other group content, while Mechanist's barrier and might upkeep are cementing it as a build that pairs together too well with a Quickbrand to meet a group's support needs.

In the immediate future, we want to make sure more builds can be used successfully. In future updates, we'll expand this further by shoring up more support and healing build options.
 

Elementalist

We've firmed up the role of Fire Attunement skills in condition builds and improved Air Attunement skills' direct strike damage. Tempest's Transcendent Tempest trait has more than doubled in power to set it apart as the keystone choice for damage builds.

Staff
Fire

• Fireball: (PvE only) Damage multiplier increased from 1.0 to 1.4. Now also inflicts 1 stack of burning with a 1-second duration.
• Lava Font: (PvE only) Now inflicts 1 stack of burning with a 1-second duration on each strike.
• Flame Burst: (PvE only) Damage multiplier increased from 0.01 to 1.0. Burning stacks applied increased from 2 to 3.

Air

• Chain Lightning: (PvE only) Damage multiplier increased from 0.66 to 0.8.
• Lightning Surge: (PvE only) Damage multiplier increased from 1.44 to 1.8.

Earth

• Stoning: (PvE only) Damage multiplier increased from 0.5 to 1.2.
• Shock Wave: (PvE only) Damage multiplier increased from 0.5 to 2.5.

Scepter
Fire

• Phoenix: (PvE only) Recharge reduced from 20 seconds to 10 seconds. Burning stack count increased from 1 to 2.

Water

• Water Trident: (PvE only) Recharge reduced from 20 seconds to 10 seconds.

Earth

• Rock Barrier: (PvE only) Recharge reduced from 15 seconds to 8 seconds.

Dagger (Main Hand)
Water

• Vapor Blade: (All game modes) The aftercast animation duration before another skill can be used has been decreased by 0.5 seconds.

Air

• Convergence: (PvE only) Damage multiplier increased from 1.5 to 1.8.
• Shocking Aura: (PvE only) Recharge reduced from 25 seconds to 10 seconds. Duration increased from 4 seconds to 10 seconds.
• Transmute Lightning: (PvE only) Damage multiplier increased from 1 to 1.5.

Earth

• Ring of Earth: (PvE only) Final impact damage multiplier increased from 1.2 to 1.5.
• Earthen Rush: (PvE only) Recharge reduced from 18 seconds to 12 seconds. Damage multiplier increased from 1 to 1.8.

Dagger (Off Hand)
Fire

• Fire Grab: (PvE only) Recharge reduced from 25 seconds to 20 seconds, matching PvP and WvW.

Water

• Frost Aura: (PvE only) Recharge reduced from 30 seconds to 10 seconds. Duration increased from 4 seconds to 10 seconds.
• Cleansing Wave: (PvE only) Recharge reduced from 30 seconds to 20 seconds.

Air

• Ride the Lightning: (PvE only) Recharge reduced from 30 seconds to 20 seconds.
• Updraft: (PvE only) Recharge reduced from 40 seconds to 20 seconds.

Earth

• Earthquake: (PvE only) Recharge reduced from 30 seconds to 16 seconds. Damage multiplier increased from 1 to 3.
• Churning Earth: (PvE only) Recharge reduced from 30 seconds to 20 seconds.

Trident
Fire

• Magma Orb: Now also applies 1 second of burning on explosion.
• Boil: Now also applies 1 second of burning on hit.
• Steam: (PvE only) Recharge reduced from 15 seconds to 10 seconds.
• Lava Chains: (PvE only) Recharge reduced from 20 seconds to 16 seconds.

Water

• Ice Globe: (PvE only) Recharge reduced from 10 seconds to 8 seconds.
• Ice Wall: (PvE only) Recharge reduced from 15 seconds to 12 seconds.

Air

• Electrocute: (PvE only) Damage multiplier increased from 1.2 to 2.4.
• Air Bubble: (PvE only) Recharge reduced from 25 seconds to 20 seconds.

Earth

• Rock Anchor: (PvE only) Recharge reduced from 30 seconds to 20 seconds.
• Murky Water: (PvE only) Recharge reduced from 30 seconds to 25 seconds.

Weaver

Sword

Fire

• Fire Strike: (PvE only) Damage multiplier increased from 0.66 to 0.8.
• Fire Swipe: (PvE only) Damage multiplier increased from 0.77 to 0.9.
• Searing Slash: (PvE only) Damage multiplier increased from 1.25 to 1.6.

Water

• Seiche: (PvE only) Damage multiplier increased from 0.33 to 0.5.
• Clapotis: (PvE only) Damage multiplier increased from 0.45 to 0.6.
• Breaking Wave: (PvE only) Damage multiplier increased from 0.66 to 1.0.

Air

• Charged Strike: (PvE only) Damage multiplier increased from 0.77 to 0.8.
• Polaric Slash: (PvE only) Damage multiplier increased from 0.88 to 0.9.
• Call Lightning: (PvE only) Damage multiplier increased from 1.0 to 1.2.

Earth

• Crystal Slash: (PvE only) Damage multiplier increased from 0.66 to 0.8.
• Crystalline Strike: (PvE only) Damage multiplier increased from 0.66 to 0.9.
• Crystalline Sunder: (PvE only) Damage multiplier increased from 1.0 to 1.4.
• Earthen Vortex: (PvE only) Damage multiplier increased from 1.25 to 1.8.

Tempest

Traits

• Transcendent Tempest: (PvE only) Damage modifier increased from +7% to all damage dealt to +15% to all damage dealt.

Shouts

• "Feel the Burn!": (PvE only) Damage multiplier increased from 1.0 to 2.5. Might stacks applied increased from 3 to 5.
• "Eye of the Storm!": (PvE only) Cooldown reduced from 40 seconds to 30 seconds. Now also applies 1 stack of stability to allies for 5 seconds.
• "Aftershock!": (PvE only) Cooldown reduced from 35 seconds to 30 seconds. Now also applies aegis to allies for 5 seconds.

Engineer

The previous update's Mechanist-only damage reduction to Aim-Assisted Rocket left us with room to add damage to the core trait Big Boomer, bringing up the damage output of Holosmiths and Scrappers. That's not enough to close the gap on its own, so we're also making specialization-specific damage increases to Scrapper and Holosmith on sword, hammer, and Blast Gyro–which, in addition to more damage, will now stun enemies rather than knocking them away.

We're reducing the output of dominant Mechanist healing builds to give other support options more breathing room. We're also slightly reducing the output of condition damage builds with reductions to the Mech Command skills Rolling Smash and Discharge Array.
 

Harpoon Gun

• Homing Torpedo: Animation time reduced from 1.5 seconds to 1 second. Damage multiplier increased from 0.84 to 1.0. Applies 1 second of burning. This is now an explosion.
• Scatter Mines: (PvE only) Recharge reduced from 10 seconds to 6 seconds.
• Timed Charge: (PvE only) Damage multiplier increased from 1.75 to 3.5.
• Net Wall: (PvE only) Immobilize duration increased from 3 seconds to 6 seconds.

Utility Skills

• Throw Mine: (All game modes) The animation aftercast before another skill may be used has been reduced by 0.5 seconds. The mine will now detonate immediately if there is an enemy target in proximity when the mine lands. Now causes knockdown instead of knockback, with a duration of 2 seconds in PvE and 1 second in PvP and WvW. (PvE only) Damage multiplier increased from 2 to 3. Boons removed from targets increased from 1 to 3.

Med Kit

• Med Blaster: (PvE only) Healing power multiplier reduced from 0.2 to 0.1, matching PvP and WvW.

Elixir Gun

• Super Elixir: (PvE only) Duration reduced from 10 seconds to 5 seconds.

Explosives

• Big Boomer: (PvE only) Damage increase changed from 10% to 15%.

Holosmith

Sword

• Refraction Cutter: (PvE only) Damage multiplier increased from 1 to 1.4.
• Radiant Arc: (PvE only) Damage multiplier increased from 1.5 to 1.8.

Photon Forge

• Corona Burst: (PvE only) Might stacks per pulse reduced from 2 to 1, but they are now applied to up to 5 nearby allied targets.

Scrapper

Hammer

• Electro-whirl: (PvE only) Damage multiplier increased from 2.4 to 3.
• Rocket Charge: The aftercast animation duration before another skill can be used has been decreased by 0.35 seconds. Damage multiplier increased from 3.3 to 3.6 in PvE only.

Gyros

• Blast Gyro: (PvE only) Now stuns enemies for 3 seconds instead of knocking them back. Damage multiplier increased from 2.65 to 3.5.

Mechanist

Mech Commands

• Rolling Smash: (PvE only) Bleeding stacks applied reduced from 8 to 4.
• Discharge Array: (PvE only) Confusion duration per hit reduced from 5 seconds to 3 seconds.
• Crisis Zone: (PvE only) Stability duration reduced from 15 seconds to 6 seconds.
• Barrier Burst: (PvE only) Base barrier value per pulse reduced from 434 to 260. Might stacks per pulse reduced from 3 to 2.

Mace

• Barrier Blast: (PvE only) Base barrier value reduced from 434 to 260.

Signets

• Barrier Signet: (PvE only) Base barrier value per pulse reduced from 434 to 260.

Traits

• Barrier Engine (Passive): (PvE only) Base barrier value reduced from 434 to 260.

Guardian

Multiple stored uses of on-demand stun break and stability have made Firebrand mandatory in Fractals, Strike Missions, raids, and even WvW. In this update, Firebrand's Mantra of Liberation is reduced from 3 to 2 ammunition, with an increased cooldown. Together with an added source of stability for both Tempest and Druid, this will provide better parity across different professions' support builds in PvE. Firebrand's multiple sources will be countered by higher recharge.

The greatsword damage increases benefit Dragonhunter builds, and hammer improvements will help close the gap between it and other damaging weapons while living up to that weighty feel a hammer should have.
 

Greatsword

• Strike: (PvE only) Damage multiplier increased from 0.8 to 0.9.
• Vengeful Strike: (PvE only) Damage multiplier increased from 0.8 to 1.0.
• Wrathful Strike: (PvE only) Damage multiplier increased from 1.25 to 1.4. Might is now applied to up to 5 allies in a radius of 360.
• Leap of Faith: (PvE only) Recharge reduced from 12 seconds to 10 seconds, and damage multiplier increased from 1.25 to 2. Healing per foe hit increased from 235 to 1,053 in PvE, matching PvP and WvW.
• Binding Blade: (PvE only) Damage multiplier on initial hit increased from 1.0 to 1.5.

Hammer

• Symbol of Protection: The aftercast animation duration before another skill can be used has been decreased by 0.65 seconds.
• Mighty Blow: (PvE only) Damage multiplier increased from 2.1 to 2.4.
• Glacial Blow: (PvE only) Recharge reduced from 6 seconds to 4 seconds. Damage multiplier increased from 2.4 to 2.5.
• Zealot's Embrace: (PvE only) Damage multiplier increased from 0.8 to 1.5.
• Banish: (PvE only) Damage multiplier increased from 1 to 3.

Staff

• Bolt of Wrath: (PvE only) Damage multiplier increased from 0.55 to 0.65.
• Searing Light: (PvE only) Damage multiplier increased from 0.65 to 0.75.
• Seeking Judgment: (PvE only) Damage multiplier increased from 0.75 to 0.9.
• Holy Strike: (PvE only) Damage multiplier increased from 1.25 to 1.8.
• Empower: (PvE only) Might stacks per pulse reduced from 4 to 3. Might duration reduced from 12 seconds to 10 seconds.

Firebrand

• Mantra of Liberation: Ammunition reduced from 3 to 2 in PvE and WvW. Recharge increased from 25 seconds to 45 seconds.

Dragonhunter

Longbow

• Puncture Shot: (PvE only) Damage multiplier increased from 0.85 to 1.0.

Mesmer

In the August 2 update, we reviewed and updated the greatsword and sword core weapons. In this update we're increasing Chronomancer's alacrity duration from Stretched Time and increasing the damage of Tides of Time, the fifth shield skill. This will give a slight bump to boon-focused Chronomancer builds.

We also wanted to reduce some of the longer cooldowns on staff, but Mirage's high-performing condition damage builds made that tricky. We're making very small cuts to condition damage on Mirage's axe and staff ambush to maintain parity with other professions' builds. The reduced cooldown on the Phantasmal Warlock and Chaos Armor weapon skills will improve the Mesmer's leveling experience when using a staff.
 

Staff

• Phantasmal Warlock: (PvE only) Recharge reduced from 18 seconds to 15 seconds.
• Chaos Armor: (PvE only) Recharge reduced from 25 seconds to 20 seconds.

Utility Skills

• Blink: (PvE only) Recharge reduced from 30 seconds to 20 seconds.

Chronomancer

• Stretched Time: Alacrity on well cast increased from 4 seconds to 5 seconds.
• Tides of Time: (PvE only) Damage multiplier increased from 1.2 to 1.5.

Mirage

Axe

• Lingering Thoughts: (PvE only) Torment duration decreased from 4 seconds to 3 seconds.
• Imaginary Axes: (PvE only) Torment duration decreased from 4 seconds to 3 seconds.

Staff

• Chaos Vortex (Staff Ambush): (PvE only) Might stack count reduced from 8 to 5, and might duration reduced from 15 seconds to 10 seconds. Torment, bleeding, and confusion duration reduced from 8 seconds to 7 seconds.

Necromancer

Necromancer changes are focused on improving damage and skill-recharge timers for several weapons and abilities.

Staff

• Necrotic Grasp: (PvE only) Damage multiplier increased from 0.666 to 1.
• Mark of Blood: (PvE only) Damage multiplier increased from 0.33 to 1.5
• Chillblains: (PvE only) Recharge reduced from 16 seconds to 12 seconds. Damage multiplier increased from 0.55 to 1.8.
• Putrid Mark: (PvE only) Recharge reduced from 20 seconds to 15 seconds.
• Reaper's Mark: (PvE only) Recharge reduced from 32 seconds to 18 seconds. Damage multiplier increased from 0.275 to 3.

Dagger (Main Hand)

• Life Siphon: (PvE only) Recharge reduced from 10 seconds to 8 seconds.
• Dark Pact: (PvE only) Recharge reduced from 15 seconds to 12 seconds. Damage multiplier increased from 1.2 to 2.4. Immobilize duration increased from 3 seconds to 6 seconds.

Dagger (Off Hand)

• Deathly Swarm: (PvE only) Recharge reduced from 18 seconds to 16 seconds. Damage multiplier increased from 0.6 to 1.2.
• Enfeebling Blood: (PvE only) Recharge reduced from 25 seconds to 20 seconds. Damage multiplier increased from 0.5 to 1.5.

Focus

• Soul Grasp: (PvE only) Ammunition recharge reduced from 15 seconds to 12 seconds. Ammunition count increased from 2 to 3.
• Spinal Shivers: (PvE only) Recharge reduced from 20 seconds to 16 seconds. Damage multiplier on targets with no boons increased from 0.5 to 1, one boon from 1.125 to 1.625, two boons from 1.875 to 2.375, and three boons from 2.625 to 3.125.

Reaper

Greatsword

• Fading Twilight: (PvE only) Damage multiplier increased from 1.3 to 1.4.
• Chilling Scythe: (PvE only) Damage multiplier increased from 1.7 to 1.8.
• Death Spiral: (PvE only) Damage multiplier per hit increased from 0.425 to 0.5.

Reaper Shroud

• Life Rend: (PvE only) Damage multiplier increased from 0.875 to 0.9.

Shouts

• "You Are All Weaklings!": (PvE only) Damage multiplier increased from 0.7 to 2.5.
• "Nothing Can Save You!": (PvE only) Damage multiplier increased from 0.7 to 2.
• "Suffer!": (PvE only) Damage multiplier increased from 0.7 to 1.5.

Ranger

Feline pets' autoattacks aren't affected by quickness, a long-standing issue that makes them subpar in group play. Meanwhile, the iboga is the most powerful pet in any PvE boss encounter because its base attack damage scales with number of conditions on the target. A release note from 2018 indicated that this was fixed, but the change didn't make it to the live game.

A recent fix to the calculated critical-hit-chance values in the pet stats UI caused pet critical-hit chances to appear to drop by 17.8%. This was a display issue only, and the text now reflects the real value.

We're using this as an opportunity to improve pet balance in PvE overall by delivering that long-delayed reduction to iboga damage while bringing all Ranger pets' performance up by giving them a flat 17.8% critical-hit chance across the board.

Ranger pets and spirits will now also have a locked defiance bar in PvE, making them immune to crowd-control effects. This quality-of-life improvement will ensure that their skills are available for use when needed and that pets will perform more consistently in all PvE content.
 

All Ranger Pets

• (PvE only) All ranger pets' chance to critically hit has been increased by 17.8%.
• (PvE only) All ranger pets are now immune to crowd control when on a PvE map.

Feline Pet Family

• Slash (Autoattack): Now affected by quickness.

White Tiger

• Fixed a bug that caused a delay before this pet could act when summoned.
• Guardian's Roar: (All game modes) Casting time reduced from 1 second to 0.4 seconds. (PvE only) Cooldown reduced from 30 seconds to 25 seconds.

Other Pets

Wallow

• Fixed a bug that caused a delay before this pet could act after being summoned.

Phoenix

• Fixed a bug that caused a delay before this pet could act after being summoned.

Siege Turtle

• Fixed a bug that caused a delay before this pet could act after being summoned.

Iboga

• Consuming Bite (Autoattack): Reduced the base damage of this skill by 33%. Reduced the damage per condition by 40%.

Spirits

• (PvE only) All ranger spirits are now immune to crowd control in PvE maps.

Druid

• Glyph of Equality (Celestial Avatar): Range increased from 300 to 360 in all game modes. Now applies 5 seconds of stability to allies in PvE only.

Revenant

For core revenant, we're improving hammer as a ranged damage option. All revenant specializations will receive damage increases from Invocation trait updates.

Hammer

• Hammer Bolt: (PvE only) Damage multiplier increased from 0.95 to 1.1.
• Phase Smash: (PvE only) Damage multiplier increased from 1.75 to 2.
• Drop the Hammer: (PvE only) Damage multiplier increased from 1.5 to 2.3.

Invocation

• Rising Tide: (PvE only) Damage increase changed from 7% to 10%.
• Ferocious Aggression: (PvE only) Damage increase changed from 7% to 10%.

Herald

• Reinforced Potency: (PvE only) Bonus damage per boon increased from 1% to 1.5%.

Vindicator

Greatsword

• Mist Swing: (PvE only) Damage multiplier increased from 0.9 to 1.0.
• Mist Slash: (PvE only) Damage multiplier increased from 1.0 to 1.1.
• Arcing Mists: (PvE only) Damage multiplier increased from 1.25 to 1.3.
• Mist Unleashed: (PvE only) Damage multiplier increased from 1.9 to 2.0.
• Phantom's Onslaught: (PvE only) Damage multiplier increased from 1.5 to 1.6.
• True Strike: (PvE only) Base damage multiplier increased from 1.0 to 1.5. Damage multiplier added per blocked attack increased from 0.4 to 0.5.

Thief

In group content, venoms can account for as much as 25% of a thief condition damage build's total damage. Their solo damage is lacking in comparison. We're shifting some of that damage from venoms to direct attacks with increased condition duration on Death Blossom, Specter's scepter, and Shadow Shroud autoattacks, as well as a 50% increase to the condition damage attribute granted by the trait Deadly Ambition. The net effect of this change is to increase condition damage dealt in solo and open-world play.

Deadeye and Daredevil both get power damage increases as well, giving those builds stronger top-end damage potential.

Dagger (Main Hand)

• Backstab: (PvE only) Front damage multiplier increased from 1.2 to 1.5. Back damage multiplier increased from 2.4 to 3.
• Death Blossom: (PvE only) Bleed duration increased from 10 seconds to 15 seconds.

Dagger (Off Hand)

• Dancing Dagger: (PvE only) Damage multiplier increased from 0.6 to 0.9.

Pistol (Off Hand)

• Head Shot: (PvE only) Damage multiplier increased from 0.25 to 1.

Sword

• Slice: (PvE only) Damage multiplier increased from 0.8 to 0.85.
• Slash: (PvE only) Damage multiplier increased from 0.8 to 0.85.
• Crippling Strike: (PvE only) Damage multiplier increased from 1.3 to 1.4.
• Infiltrator's Strike: (PvE only) Damage multiplier increased from 0.75 to 1.8.

Venoms

• Skale Venom: (PvE only) Torment duration decreased from 5 seconds to 3 seconds.
• Spider Venom: (PvE only) Poison duration decreased from 4 seconds to 3 seconds.

Deadly Arts

• Deadly Ambition: (PvE only) Condition damage attribute bonus increased from 120 to 180.

Specter

• Shadow Bolt: (PvE only) Torment duration increased from 3 seconds to 4 seconds.
• Haunt Shot: (PvE only) Torment duration increased from 5 seconds to 6 seconds.

Traits

• Traversing Dusk: Alacrity radius on well cast and healing radius on shadowstep increased from 240 to 360.

Deadeye

• Premeditation: (PvE only) Bonus damage per boon increased from 1% to 1.5%.
• Iron Sight: (PvE only) Bonus damage dealt to and damage reduction taken from your marked target increased from 10% to 15%.

Daredevil

Staff

• Staff Strike: (PvE only) Damage multiplier increased from 0.66 to 0.75.
• Staff Bash: (PvE only) Damage multiplier increased from 0.66 to 0.80.
• Punishing Strikes: (PvE only) Damage multiplier increased from 1.672 to 1.8.
• Hook Strike (Stealth Attack): (PvE only) Knockdown duration increased from 2 seconds to 4 seconds.

Traits

• Weakening Strikes: (PvE only) Damage dealt to weakened foes increased from 7% to 10%.
• Bounding Dodger: (PvE only) Damage bonus increased from 10% to 15% in PvE, matching PvP and WvW.

Warrior

Warrior's longbow updates will make Arcing Arrow relevant in PvE and turn Smoldering Arrow into a useful defiance-bar breaker. We've also increased damage for several core weapons, elite specialization weapons, and traits.

Greatsword

• Greatsword Swing: (PvE only) Damage multiplier increased from 0.7 to 0.8.
• Greatsword Slice: (PvE only) Damage multiplier increased from 0.95 to 1.05.
• Brutal Strike: (PvE only) Damage multiplier increased from 1.25 to 1.5.
• Arcing Slice: (PvE only) Damage multiplier increased from 1.32 to 2. Damage multiplier against foes with less than 50% health increased from 1.98 to 3.
• Bladetrail: (PvE only) Damage multiplier increased from 0.75 to 1.5.
• Rush: (PvE only) Damage multiplier increased from 1.7 to 2.5.

Sword (Main Hand)

• Sever Artery: (PvE only) Damage multiplier increased from 0.6 to 0.8.
• Gash: (PvE only) Damage multiplier increased from 0.6 to 0.8.
• Hamstring: (PvE only) Damage multiplier increased from 1 to 1.2.
• Savage Leap: (PvE only) Damage multiplier increased from 1.66 to 2.

Sword (Off Hand)

• Impale: (PvE only) Damage multiplier increased from 0.5 to 1.5.
• Rip: (PvE only) Might is now applied to up to 5 allied targets within a range of 360.

Longbow

• Dual Shot: (PvE only) Damage multiplier increased from 0.44 to 0.525.
• Arcing Arrow: (All game modes) The aftercast animation duration before another skill may be used has been reduced by 0.5 seconds. (PvE only) Increased ammunition count to 2. Now applies 5 seconds of burning on hit.
• Smoldering Arrow: (PvE only) Now applies 1 second of dazed on hit.

Rifle

• Fierce Shot: (PvE only) Damage multiplier increased from 0.605 to 1. Might is now applied to up to 5 allied targets within a range of 360.
• Explosive Shell: (PvE only) Damage multiplier increased from 1.25 to 1.5.

Hammer

• Earthshaker: (PvE only) Damage multiplier increased from 1 to 2.
• Hammer Shock: (PvE only) Damage multiplier increased from 1 to 1.8.

Arms

• Furious: (PvE only) Condition damage per stack increased from 10 to 15.

Berserker

• Shattering Blow: (PvE only) Damage multiplier increased from 1 to 1.5.
• Sundering Leap: (PvE only) Damage multiplier increased from 1.5 to 3.

Traits

• Bloody Roar: (PvE only) Damage bonus increased from 20% to 25%.

Spellbreaker

Dagger (Main Hand)

• Breaching Strike: (PvE only) Damage multiplier increased from 1.5 to 2.5.
• Precise Cut: (PvE only) Damage multiplier increased from 0.55 to 0.6.
• Focused Slash: (PvE only) Damage multiplier increased from 0.6 to 0.65.
• Keen Strike: (PvE only) Damage multiplier increased from 0.85 to 1.05. Might is now applied to up to 5 allied targets within a range of 360.
• Aura Slicer: (PvE only) Damage multiplier increased from 1.2 to 1.8.

Dagger (Off Hand)

• Bladestorm: (PvE only) Damage multiplier per hit increased from 0.35 to 0.5.

Traits

• Pure Strike: (PvE only) Damage bonus increased from 7%/14% to 7.5%/15%.
• Magebane Tether: (PvE only) Damage bonus to tethered target increased from 10% to 15%. Might stacks per second reduced from 3 to 1, but they are now applied to up to 5 allied targets within a range of 360.

MECHANIST RIFFLE NEED DMG NERF !