October 4 Balance Update Preview

[XenoSpyro.1780]

That Mine Field change will make that skill actually useless, especially in boon-spam Fractals.

[DeceiverX.8361]

Soulbeast is probably just going to completely replace guardian in WvW and dominate every role except boon hate.  The amount of stability it's getting with all that bonus damage and literally no tradeoff is absolutely stupid.

Prepare for pirate ship.

[Infusion.7149]

3 minutes ago, XenoSpyro.1780 said:

That Mine Field change will make that skill actually useless, especially in boon-spam Fractals.

It's mainly a PVP/WVW patch. Throw Mine (the utility skill for Mine Field)  still does damage, rips boons and does CC in PVE and is used in low intensity rifle power mech builds.

[Glott.7239]

I just finished watching the preview steam VoD on Youtube and just wanted to say that i love this new style. This is exactly the Type of communication so many People of the community wanted to see for so long. Pleas keep this going on a regular basis.

 

As for the notes im very happy with everything so far and excited to try some of it when it goes live. So far no red flags for me. Only think i would like to see is , while you give some damage back to CC skills, please include Executioner's Scythe (Reaper Shroud 5) in that aswell. Reaper could use some buffes anyway and smacking someone over the head with a gigant Scythe just feels like it should do some damage.

[Kuma.1503]

Overall impressions:

Warrior - VERY nice changes. Berserker got some very deserved love. I hope they're able to find their way into the meta as a result of these chagnes

Bladesworn - RIP my PvE healsworn. I hope tactics gets a buff in PvE only to compensate (Shoutsworn in PvP is not something Warrior mains enjoy being balanced around.)

 

Druid - Also very nice changes. Glyph of the Stars change is massive. Free astral force is very helpful and Glyph of the Stars is finally usable. THis was a very powerful skill held back by the 7 second cooldown and it's gone. 

Soulbeast - This is going to be insane in every game mode. I'm expecting above a 40k benchmark in PvE, and I expect them to becoeme top tier in WvW roaming and in PvP. Especially now that harbinger is the only AoE quickness source and they naturally counter it. 

 

Scrapper - It's dead. Bury it, It's gone. I expect it's representation in PvP to be next to zero, and other supports will out class it in WvW. 

At least now "It's broken in WvW" can no longer be used as an excuse for it being outclassed by Firebrand in PvE. 

 

Specter - Pretty harsh nerfs to it in PvE. It was very strong, but it wasn't being played very much. It may have gone up in playrate with Mech getting nerfed so some nerf was most likely going to be necessary at some point, but this does seem a bit harsh. 

 

Mechanist - Deserved. However, do not overcorrect. With it being nerfed and soulbeast getting buffed, I'm already expecting soulbest to take its spot as the best DPS overall. You have a habit of overnerfing Mechanist by hitting it hard then promising more nerfs in the future before giving it time to settle. This resulted in it's death in PvP (prior to rifle rework). Do not do that again in PvE. 

[Soilder.3607]

Druid Changes, WvW Perspective:

 

Outstanding work on these changes. They might push Druid into the meta as a full healer/cleanser. At the very minimum it will reach Viable status in the same vein of Heal Vindicator and Cleanse Tempest.

 

I am completely satisfied with all the changes you have made. I have only two requests.

 

Is it too late to extend the stability from Glyph of Equality into WvW? It would help a little. The elite glyph is very strong, but having an instant cast source of Stab would help. You increased the radius from 360 to 600 and a lot of skills that give stab do so with a 600 radius, so that aspect of it would be logical. But good with the elite glyph anyway, that alone is substantial.

 

Is it possible to include the recharge reduction for all the glyphs into WvW? They were not unbalanced when traited. Additionally, the full cycle time between CA Mode and it's cool down is 25 seconds (15 seconds in CA + 10 second recharge). Previously, when the glyphs were traited all of them except the elite glyph had a cool down below 25 seconds, which meant they were always recharged and ready to use when reentering CA Mode if you had cast them immediately.

 

Thanks for your excellent work in this update.

[Batalix.2873]

I'm gonna put out a hot take on Scrapper, since I don't see anyone else doing it.

 

These Scrapper changes feel like a passive aggressive way not dealing with Mech. ANet introduced a braindead espec with a mobile everyman pet, that does everything: extra DPS, tanking, full boons, barrier, at 1200 range. It was an archetype that I still think was an unnecessary addition when Scrapper was already Engi's pet job with the more distinct Gyro concept.

 

And now ANet is tacitly digging their heels in by deciding that no, it isn't Mech that needs to change, they need to gut Scrapper even further from its niche utility to distinguish the job fantasies better. Because heaven forbid Engi have two especs with mobile support turrets.

 

As others have pointed out, Scrapper only has a niche in WvW, and is otherwise underperforming everywhere else. And even in WvW, it is only stealth and swiftness that make it "meta" in that mode. I do not think making wells stationary across all game modes was necessary to fix this small problem. Especially at the cost of making Scrapper even less viable across the board juxtaposed against the gross ubermensch that is Mech.

 

Do not agree. A better solution, to me, would be to make more fields mobile and increase access to stealth and swiftness, specific to WvW. WvW is rough enough as it is due to long stretches of terrain with extremely limited access to mounts and gliding, and always having to stick to your blob. The gameplay is fundamentally different, much more horizontal and much more mobile than PvP or PvE. Modify especs to be more mobile for that mode specifically to keep up with Scrapper and Firebrand, and leave PvE job uniqueness kitten well alone.

 

 

Edited September 17, 2022 by CourtJester.5908

[BATMAN.6794]

• Defense Field: This skill is now ground targeted. The spell area of effect created by this skill is now stationary. Increased cooldown from 25 seconds to 35 seconds in WvW only.
• Scrapper wells are now stationary ground-targeted skills with a range of 900.

Absolutely not, you said for warrior you don't want to delete BS from the meta, well this would definitely delete scrapper from the meta, you would be making a huge mistake by doing this. Leave these how they are now, all of them, idc if you play with the cd, but the function you should not mess with.

[MarkoGold.7126]

Hey which genious decided to make the berserk mode activate automatically when bar is filled oh boi i sure like the game to decide when i should go berserk instead of myself. and what is up with the f1 f2 switching no thats not going to be confusing at all, anets genious balance team strikes again making the game worse.

[Malus.2184]

38 minutes ago, Cevr.1984 said:

What was the logic to make scrapper gyros change?

It will make scrapper feel not really fun to play pve wise.

 

It has no effect on PvE, this is only for PvP and WvW, which is even worse since the same mecvhanic will work in two completely different ways in different game modes. This is bad. It's okay if an ability works a little different indifferent game modes, however, in this case they're entirely different set of mechanics.

[Jijimuge.4675]

Re : Reactive Lenses

It seems rather underwhelming now as a trait to me, unless I'm not understanding something.  The part of it that was most useful to me was the stunbreak on being disabled.

If it still retains the stunbreak, then presumably there's no way to use that part of the trait, as all of the heal skills (for the purpose of triggering effects) have a cast time.

[Velth.3780]

Will you finally fix the bugged evasive arcana trait for elementalist? Dodge in fire attunement isn't working since 2 patches....

[Mungo Zen.9364]

'Fool me once, shame on...shame on you. Fool me—you can't get fooled again.'
 

Is this what they are doing this week?  Nice change, let’s see what they do for the next PvE pass. 

[Shao.7236]

Please do something about Poison modifiers, they are a huge problem for Mallyx. No amount of Resolution or Resistance is going to fix the fact that Empowering Misery gets neutered anytime there is Poison.

[MuscleBobBuffPants.1406]

Please focus less on changing numbers and more on their overall philosophy and goals.  People can read through numbers, being shown numbers or demonstrated coefficient changes aren't going to fix fundamental philosophy problems.
 

If there was a fundamental philosophy to balance design , then the mechanist changes that came during the Summer patch would have been instantly caught and corrected early on.

[akipappi.3917]

"The single dodge that vindicator has access to has been a long-standing point of negative feedback"

what about mirage

 

personally mesmer has felt so bad since the phantasm change 

[Skyroar.2974]

Quote

Final Shielding: This trait no longer grants Arcane Shield when dropping below 50% health. Instead, it grants Arcane Shield after using an elite skill.

Misplaced. Arcane Shield is a defensive effect. It should proc on the healing skill instead. Otherwise, if you really want this trigger, just rework the effect so it gives Arcane Power or something more generic.

I know it's a pvp/wvw patch, but this is also going to affect PvE, right? You'd be removing a useful option for solo OW builds when most of them go for the elemental glyph elite. The synergy between both is terrible.

Edited September 16, 2022 by Skyroar.2974

[Jash.3104]

7 minutes ago, Malus.2184 said:

It has no effect on PvE, this is only for PvP and WvW, which is even worse since the same mecvhanic will work in two completely different ways in different game modes. This is bad. It's okay if an ability works a little different indifferent game modes, however, in this case they're entirely different set of mechanics.

That's not true. It is for all gamemodes. Notice how other changes specifically mention "in PvP" or "in WvW".

[Vizardlorde.8243]

Are you  aware that the only  damaging elite  skill Dragonhunters have, Dragon's  Maw, does only  8 damage  on WVW? 

 

[PseudoOAlias.4279]

Big ups for the changes!! 😄

 

I understand not wanting too many moving parts at once but

---A Couple Important Design Things:---

Movespeed Stuff:

1) Re This Statement: https://clips.twitch.tv/BoldConsiderateCiderPastaThat-fdB4QcXC9Dob4VvJ Unless you un-hard-cap the movement speed cap of 400 Superspeed + any additional movement speed effect that further stacks like [Rising Momentum] or now [Aggressive Onslaught] will not further increase movement speed either in or out of combat.

Superspeed = a 100% increase in movement speed:

Cap is 400

In combat: base movement speed = 210 * 2.00 (+100%) = 400 max still.

*It should be noted also that true movespeed augments such as: [Rising Momentum] took ages to work with supplementary augments like [Superior Rune of Speed]. (And it's usually somewhat of a crap-shoot between patches whether they will work or not to bump your speed up to 400. While I doubt fixing this is a priority it is probably an interaction worth noting when introducing a new Grandmaster Trait.

 

2) If you're adding damage back to "class identity" cc skills Please don't forget: [Executioner's Scythe], [Wild Blow], & [Holographic Shockwave] which also do bonus "x damage based on y game state" and seem superfluous currently.

3) For what it's worth I actually have an all cavalier's build that greatly benefits from the toughness conversion from [Armored Attack]. So if the new trait could still do this, or convert toughness to a lesser extent that would be rad. Altho I do acknowledge I'm probably the only person in the known universe who wants this. OR if dodging is going to grant resistance maybe make dodging also remove immobilize or grant the resistance on button-press before the dodge so that it's useable al-la: [Warrior's Sprint]? It's kinda useless if you're already immobilized.

4) Yearly reminder that almost all warrior weapon skills are butt in PvP and WvW other than shield. Especially Longbow and off-sword.

4.5) Dragon Trigger doesn't toggle you into RP walking or root you like deadeye and can't be aimed without a target. So it kinda feels like butt to play. & Gunsaber and off-pistol still only do damage and have identity beyond this.

4.8) Virt and Soulbeast are going to immortal in WvW. But I dig it. I don't want other people to not have fun so I can. But maybe just bring some other stuff up to be able to compete?

But yes: 6200 stat points from celestial in WvW is kinda cracked for classes that can utilize it vs 3600 total stats from a 3-stat for WvW. Maybe just bring cele down by like 20%?

 

Love the direction tho, & the stream! TY 😄 😄 😄

Looking forward to more in the future!

 - Pseudo

Edited September 17, 2022 by PseudoOAlias.4279
notes added

[Phil.1074]

Those changes sound great, but Scrapper Gyros being stationay sounds like a very horrible idea. 

 

Please don't do this in PvE >.>

[Lily.1935]

So the stationary changes for gyros on Scrapper is interesting, but this has a major impact on its usability in PvE. Steath Gyro being stationary really hurts it for PvE. And its been one of those really fun skills to use to aid allies. So one of my favorite memories from playing Guild Wars 2 is while doing the Twilight Oasis Fractal when it was new I took a heal scrapper into the fractal with my guildies. This was when Med kit was changed and I really wanted to test it out, gyros weren't wells at the time so they'd follow you. I used stealth Gyro to get our group past some of the difficult challenges and our struggle against the boss was made much easier thanks to the healing output of my scrapper at the time. This was a lot of fun to do and since then I've loved using stealth gyro to get past things in Dungeons and fractals especially while aiding less experienced players who might just run past. With this change it functions almost identically to Shadow Refuge on thief, which requires a bit more understanding from the players. Which isn't as much fun to use.

For me its kinda a shame. I'm not all gloom over it because wells are decent skills, but I'll miss that old design quite a bit.

[XenoSpyro.1780]

12 minutes ago, Infusion.7149 said:

It's mainly a PVP/WVW patch.

That's great, but the entry for Mine Field does not say "PVP only", so this is a global nerf.

[Myror.7521]

@thaniretouni.4762 hmm bloodyroar is basicly now better in wvw zerks cause of resistance the 5% nerf is meeh but it will not do too mutch (just pvp since in pve it will be stull 25%). Also headbutt was a buff not a nerf. It used to remove your own stability to deal increase dmg. Now it only cc yourself but does not remove you stability means stability will let you be not cced. This is as it used to work. Also as it seems they compensate the 50% buff from headbutt just by simply buff its dmg there for like 50% baseline.

 

All in all the Berserker rework is just a straigth buff for pvp.  Well in pve i dont know we might need to see it first xd!

[Arianth Moonlight.6453]

>be me

>be Reaper

>still no way to escape anything

>still no way to catch anything

>Scourge gets nerfed

>mfw

ಠ_ಠ