October 4th Balance Patch Preview - Warrior Only Notes

[oscuro.9720]

Since no one has sectioned them out, here are the changes that we can be looking forward to my brothers;

 

Warrior

Berserker is a specialization that was heavily impacted in competitive modes by the introduction of its tradeoffs, and it was one of the primary targets for improvements in this update. In addition to removing these tradeoffs, we've added adrenaline back to many of berserker's rage skills to make berserk access more reliable. The Defense trait line has also received some significant updates, tuning up some weak traits and improving some of berserker's key synergies with Adrenal Heath and Cleansing Ire.

We've also included a handful of improvements for power and support spellbreaker builds in PvP, both of which have been underperforming.

Skills

Call of Valor: Increased base barrier from 2,064 to 2,580 in PvP only.

Charge: Increased quickness duration from 2 seconds to 3 seconds in PvP only.

Earthshaker: Increased power coefficient from 0.01 to 0.682 in PvP and WvW.

Skull Crack: Increased power coefficient from 0.01 to 0.75 in PvP and WvW.

Whirling Axe: Reduced power coefficient per strike from 0.373 to 0.298 in WvW only.

"To the Limit!": Increased endurance gained from 50 to 65 in PvP only.

"Shake It Off!": Reduced ammunition count from 2 to 1 in PvP and WvW. Reduced recharge from 75 seconds to 30 seconds in PvP and WvW. This skill now breaks allies out of stuns in addition to its other effects.

Signet of Rage: Reduced casting time from 1 second to 0.25 seconds. Increased might duration from 4 seconds to 5 seconds in PvP and WvW.

Hammer Shock: Reduced cooldown from 10 seconds to 8 seconds.

Counterblow: Reduced cooldown from 10 seconds to 8 seconds in PvP and WvW.

Pommel Bash: Reduced cooldown from 12 seconds to 10 seconds.

 

Traits

Berserker's Power:  This trait now grants one stack of Berserker's Power, plus one additional stack per bar of adrenaline spent. Increased maximum stacks from 3 to 4. Bonus damage per stack reduced from 7% to 5.25%.

Aggressive Onslaught: This trait has been moved to the Grandmaster tier slot formerly filled by Merciless Hammer. Gain quickness when you disable a foe. While you have quickness, your movement speed is increased.

Thick Skin: This trait has been reworked. It now grants protection to the warrior when using a healing skill.

Adrenal Health: This trait now grants one stack of Adrenal Health, plus one additional stack per bar of adrenaline spent. Increased maximum stacks from 3 to 4. Healing per stack reduced from 133 to 100 in PvE, and from 100 to 87 in PvP and WvW.

Shield Master: This trait no longer reduces the cooldown of shield skills. Blocking an attack or reflecting a missile now grants adrenaline instead of might.

Cull the Weak: This trait no longer applies weakness when striking an enemy below 50% health. Instead, it applies weakness when striking an enemy with a burst skill.

Defy Pain: This trait no longer grants Lesser Endure Pain when dropping below 50% health. Instead, it grants Lesser Endure Pain after using an elite skill.

Armored Attack: This trait has been removed and replaced with Resilient Roll.

Resilient Roll: Gain resistance at the end of your dodge roll.

Sundering Mace: This trait has been removed and replaced with Merciless Hammer.

Merciless Hammer: This trait now also increases damage from mace skills when striking a disabled foe. Reduced adrenaline gain from 10 to 7. This trait no longer reduces the cooldown of hammer skills.

Last Stand: This trait no longer grants Lesser Balanced Stance when disabled. This trait now applies barrier in addition to vigor when using a stance skill.

Cleansing Ire: This trait now removes one condition, plus an additional condition per bar of adrenaline spent. Burst skills still must hit an enemy to remove conditions.

Rousing Resilience: This trait has been removed and replaced with Stalwart Strength.

Stalwart Strength: Disabling an enemy grants stability. While you have stability, your strike damage is increased.

 

Berserker

Berserk: This skill has been moved to slot 2 of the profession mechanic bar. Core burst skills are now accessible in slot 1 of the profession mechanic bar for the berserker specialization.

Berserk mode now activates instantly.

Entering berserk mode no longer initiates an attack, and now counts as a rage skill instead of a level 3 burst skill.

 

Skills

Blood Reckoning: Reduced berserk mode extension from 5 seconds to 1 second in PvP and WvW. Increased adrenaline gain from 10 to 30 in PvP and WvW.

Outrage: Reduced bonus berserk mode extension from 5 seconds to 2 seconds in PvP and WvW. This skill now grants adrenaline: 10 base adrenaline, plus an additional 10 when breaking stun in PvP and WvW. 5 base adrenaline, plus an additional 5 when breaking stun in PvE.

Shattering Blow: Reduced bonus berserk mode extension from 3 seconds to 1 second in PvP and WvW. This skill now grants adrenaline (10 in PvP and WvW and 5 in PvE).

Sundering Leap: Reduced berserk mode extension from 5 seconds to 1 second in PvP and WvW. Increased power coefficient from 1.5 to 2.33 in PvP and WvW. This skill now grants adrenaline: 10 base adrenaline, plus an additional 10 on hit in PvP and WvW. 5 base adrenaline, plus an additional 5 on hit in PvE.

Wild Blow: Reduced berserk mode extension from 4 seconds to 1 second in PvP and WvW. This skill now grants adrenaline (10 in PvP and WvW, 5 in PvE). This skill now removes blind, weakness, and slow upon activation, and it knocks enemies down instead of knocking them back.

Head Butt: Reduced berserk mode extension from 2 seconds to 1 second in PvP and WvW. This skill no longer removes stability from the user, and it no longer deals increased damage when removing stability. Increased power coefficient from 3.0 to 4.5 in PvE only.

Rupturing Smash: Increased attack area from 180 degrees in front of the player to 360 degrees around the player. Increased daze duration from 1 second to 2 seconds in PvP and WvW.

Flaming Flurry: Increased projectile speed.

Blaze Breaker: This skill now creates a blast finisher at the initial casting location. Increased ammunition count from 1 to 2 in PvP and WvW.

Flames of War: Increased the number of conditions removed from 2 to 3 in PvP and WvW.

 

Traits

Fatal Frenzy: This trait no longer reduces toughness.

Dead or Alive: This trait has been reworked. It now grants 2 seconds of Blood Reckoning when entering berserk mode.

Bloody Roar: This trait now grants resistance when entering berserk mode in addition to its other effects. Reduced damage bonus from 15% to 10% in PvP and WvW.

 

Spellbreaker

Skills

Featherfoot Grace: Reduced cooldown from 35 seconds to 30 seconds in PvP only.

Full Counter: Increased daze duration from 1 second to 1.5 seconds in PvP only.

Breaching Strike: Increased power coefficient from 1.2 to 1.32 in PvP only.

Aura Slicer: Increased power coefficient from 1.32 to 1.45 in PvP only.

Disrupting Stab: Increased daze duration when interrupting an enemy from 1 second to 1.5 seconds in PvP only.

 

Traits

Attacker's Insight: Increased power, precision, and ferocity granted per stack from 35 to 45 in PvP only.

Revenge Counter: Increased resistance duration from 2 seconds to 4 seconds in PvP only.

Magebane Tether: Increased might duration from 6 seconds to 9 seconds in PvP only.

 

Bladesworn

Skills

Tactical Reload: This skill now only recharges bladesworn skills instead of all warrior ammunition skills.

 

Traits

Dragon Trigger: Fixed a bug that caused this skill to have a shorter cooldown than expected.

Dragonscale Defense: Fixed a bug that caused this trait to have a shorter cooldown than expected in PvP and WvW. This trait now grants protection instead of stability in PvP and WvW. Reduced internal cooldown from 60 seconds to 15 seconds in PvP and WvW.

Edited September 16, 2022 by oscuro.9720

[Lan Deathrider.5910]

Dark theme goes nope sir.

[erapago.4387]

Quote

Sundering Mace: This trait has been removed and replaced with Merciless Hammer.
Merciless Hammer: This trait now also increases damage from mace skills when striking a disabled foe. Reduced adrenaline gain from 10 to 7. This trait no longer reduces the cooldown of hammer skills.

 

The mace trait was replaced with a hammer trait that only impacts maces? What?

 

Edit: Oh, I can't read. It's Friday, goodbye folks!

Edited September 16, 2022 by erapago.4387

[Lan Deathrider.5910]

Adrenal Health procs on Burst use now folks.

Nice.

CI still has to hit though, but with the resistance on dodge, and entering Berserk Mode makes that less of an issue.

Also, Wild Blow now knocks down and clears blind, weakness, and slow. Very nice.

[Broxxgar.6801]

DMG come back to Hammer and Mace stuns?

[DanAlcedo.3281]

Super Happy about the changes.

The only part i majorly disagree with was the part of Spellbreaker being currently good in WvW.

Its not. Like seriously. Its really not good.

Edited September 16, 2022 by DanAlcedo.3281

[Mr Kitten.7359]

9 minutes ago, DanAlcedo.3281 said:

Super Happy about the changes.

The only part i majorly disagree with was the part of Spellbreaker being currently good in WvW.

Its not. Like seriously. Its really not good.

I think they approached that part from a gvg perspective? At least I hope they did, because in open field spb is pretty mediocre indeed 

[Mr Kitten.7359]

Hammer greatsword berserker is back in business 

 

No more bubble jail

[DanAlcedo.3281]

2 minutes ago, Mr Kitten.7359 said:

I think they approached that part from a gvg perspective? At least I hope they did, because in open field spb is pretty mediocre indeed 

They said the dont want to balance around the 0.00000000001% anymore. Which is gvg.

In Zerg v Zerg, the main part of WvW, Spellbreaker is at most cute. Like AWWWWW he dropped a bubble i can ignore! How cute of him.

[Lan Deathrider.5910]

I think Berserker itself is back in business.

 

I'm seeing Str: bot/bot/bot Def: Bot/mid or bot/mid or bot Brk: Bot/bot/top or Bot with different rune choices to focus on different aspects of the build and utilities taken.

Wild Blow got a nice facelift and might become a staple.

[oscuro.9720]

1 hour ago, Lan Deathrider.5910 said:

Dark theme goes nope sir.

Don’t be so edgy? Jk, I tried fixing it lmk if it’s better. 

[Lan Deathrider.5910]

1 minute ago, oscuro.9720 said:

Don’t be so edgy? Jk, I tried fixing it lmk if it’s better. 

Better. Now edge lords can read it too.

[Blazing Rathalos.1904]

Blegh, I hate the removal of tradeoffs, makes things less unique, and makes Core more boring.

[Aeolus.3615]

Dragon Trigger: Fixed a bug that caused this skill to have a shorter cooldown than expected.

 

NOICE!!!!

and pitty that spellbreaker wasnt buffed  in some stuff

[eXruina.4956]

pumps fist ✊

[Grand Marshal.4098]

So they decided to hear us a bit? 

Nice idea on Dead or Alive for Blood Reckoning. Glad I was heard. 

Defy Pain should scale to the CD of the Elite skill. The higher CD, the more Endure Pain. So Headbutt can still make use of the trait without being busted. 

Rage skills still leave something to be desired with the Adrenaline gain. 

Defense looking cute now. Sad to see RR go. A true classic. 

I don't rly like quickness on rupt. It's basically Sigil of Celerity and it will probably have a CD itself. Same for Stab on CC. Probs 1 sec for that if they don't pull a 10 sec ICD. 

Frenzy can still see its CD lowered. Same with Berserker Stance. 

SKULLGRINDER STILL NEEDS A LEAP. 

My Berserker build will get buffed finally. Still wish for some better superspeed on Zerk mode activation (more seconds maybe?). 

Backbreaker needs it's damage back too. 

SpB needs more boonstrip. 

Revenge Counter needs to TRANSFER CONDITIONS even at the cost of Resistance. 

Good riddance Trashsworn. 

Arms is left. That's all you need to do now. 

Self-roots not being addressed aside and with no increase in dmg coeffs for weps in Comp, let's hope this makes for a decent buff. 

Defense Zerker, Quick Strength SpB and post-rework Tactics Core looking all very fun rn. 

It's time to give Tactics a role that's unique so it doesn't overlap with defense again. 

Shake it off change is better than what we got rn. 

[Lan Deathrider.5910]

1 hour ago, Blazing Rathalos.1904 said:

Blegh, I hate the removal of tradeoffs, makes things less unique, and makes Core more boring.

The problem with their tradeoffs is that some specs (berserker, bladesworn) got WAY too heavy handed tradeoffs while others (DH, Reaper) barely got "Tradeoffs." Because they proved incapable of doing tradeoffs right in the first place, it is only proper to take out the ones they started to add in. There is always the base trade off of having to take the traitline for the espec anyway.

[Grand Marshal.4098]

Where is my stab rip on enemies with Headbutt. I demand more!

[Lan Deathrider.5910]

10 minutes ago, Grand Marshal.4098 said:

So they decided to hear us a bit? 

Nice idea on Dead or Alive for Blood Reckoning. Glad I was heard. 

Defy Pain should scale to the CD of the Elite skill. The higher CD, the more Endure Pain. So Headbutt can still make use of the trait without being busted. 

Rage skills still leave something to be desired with the Adrenaline gain. 

Defense looking cute now. Sad to see RR go. A true classic. 

I don't rly like quickness on rupt. It's basically Sigil of Celerity and it will probably have a CD itself. Same for Stab on CC. Probs 1 sec for that if they don't pull a 10 sec ICD. 

Frenzy can still see its CD lowered. Same with Berserker Stance. 

SKULLGRINDER STILL NEEDS A LEAP. 

My Berserker build will get buffed finally. Still wish for some better superspeed on Zerk mode activation (more seconds maybe?). 

Backbreaker needs it's damage back too. 

SpB needs more boonstrip. 

Revenge Counter needs to TRANSFER CONDITIONS even at the cost of Resistance. 

Good riddance Trashsworn. 

Arms is left. That's all you need to do now. 

Self-roots not being addressed aside and with no increase in dmg coeffs for weps in Comp, let's hope this makes for a decent buff. 

Defense Zerker, Quick Strength SpB and post-rework Tactics Core looking all very fun rn. 

It's time to give Tactics a role that's unique so it doesn't overlap with defense again. 

Shake it off change is better than what we got rn. 

FWIW I think some of those items you listed can be a part of the Nov. balance pass. Arms didn't have any 300s traits so it got passed up this time.

The new trait in Strength is only because they took MH and added mace to it within Defense and they had to replace the slot. I think its a good change, but we'll see what the duration/CD ends up being. 

 

@Cal Cohen.2358, you guys joked about ditching Discipline, if you want to get serious with that then make Fast Hands baseline and give it 1s of quickness on weapon swap (4s ICD) instead.

[Grand Marshal.4098]

1 minute ago, Lan Deathrider.5910 said:

FWIW I think some of those items you listed can be a part of the Nov. balance pass. Arms didn't have any 300s traits so it got passed up this time.

The new trait in Strength is only because they took MH and added mace to it within Defense and they had to replace the slot. I think its a good change, but we'll see what the duration/CD ends up being. 

 

@Cal Cohen.2358, you guys joked about ditching Discipline, if you want to get serious with that then make Fast Hands baseline and give it 1s of quickness on weapon swap (4s ICD) instead.

Heightened Focus more obsolete than ever may I add for a Discipline tweak. 

We got the axes (assuming they dont go to a reworked arms with no CD redu in line with hamm and Mace) and Burst mastery for util. Heightened Focus can be removed for something new. 

[Broxxgar.6801]

And I thought they would increase the dmg of Earthshake and Skull Crack, but it was just power coefficient. 😒

1 of dmg to 32 of dmg with a awesome critical of 50!

 

 

They should fix this skill from SPB:
Sight beyond Sight - We should become immune to blind for at least 3-5s

Edited September 17, 2022 by Broxxgar.6801

[Lan Deathrider.5910]

18 minutes ago, Grand Marshal.4098 said:

Heightened Focus more obsolete than ever may I add for a Discipline tweak. 

We got the axes (assuming they dont go to a reworked arms with no CD redu in line with hamm and Mace) and Burst mastery for util. Heightened Focus can be removed for something new. 

Heightened Focus is due for a revamp for sure at this point.

I'd say that Savage Instinct is also almost obsolete after the defense rework if it weren't for the stunbreak part.

 

 

5 minutes ago, Broxxgar.6801 said:

And I thought they would increase the dmg of Earthshake and Skull Crack, but it was just power coefficient. 😒

1 of dmg to 32 of dmg with a awesome critical of 50!

 

Broxxgar, there are no base damages for strike damage, its a multiplier on your Power stat:

(Weapon damage * Power * Skill Coefficient)/(Target toughnes + target armor) is the base formula without modifiers added in.

So the new coefficients will be like the last hit of the AA chain in damage levels roughly speaking.

[Broxxgar.6801]

4 minutes ago, Lan Deathrider.5910 said:

Broxxgar, there are no base damages for strike damage, its a multiplier on your Power stat:

(Weapon damage * Power * Skill Coefficient)/(Target toughnes + target armor) is the base formula without modifiers added in.

So the new coefficients will be like the last hit of the AA chain in damage levels roughly speaking.

I know, but from my researches on the wiki, its stated there (4 of dmg * coefficients.) I thought they locked this 'dmg'.

You know , they are crazy on  Balance  release. I don't doubt anything, this game should be in a better state.

But at least AA dmg is better than 1 or 50 of dmg.

[Lan Deathrider.5910]

4 minutes ago, Broxxgar.6801 said:

I know, but from my researches on the wiki, its stated there (4 of dmg * coefficients.) I thought they locked this 'dmg'.

You know , they are crazy on  Balance  release. I don't doubt anything, this game should be in a better state.

But at least AA dmg is better than 1 or 50 of dmg.

It will be the coefficient the showed in the stream * your power * your weapon strength divided by the targets defense like every other skill, only the coefficient is being changed from 0.01 to 0.682 for hammer and 0.01 to 0.75 for mace.

[oscuro.9720]

1 hour ago, Lan Deathrider.5910 said:

FWIW I think some of those items you listed can be a part of the Nov. balance pass. Arms didn't have any 300s traits so it got passed up this time.

The new trait in Strength is only because they took MH and added mace to it within Defense and they had to replace the slot. I think its a good change, but we'll see what the duration/CD ends up being. 

 

@Cal Cohen.2358, you guys joked about ditching Discipline, if you want to get serious with that then make Fast Hands baseline and give it 1s of quickness on weapon swap (4s ICD) instead.

The stream had a 1/4s cast for both new Rousing Resillience and the new Strength trait, both had 3s duration.