February 14 Balance Update Preview

[RacoonStylePlay.1852]

Ok so First of all most of the changes sound interesting and I'm very happy to test Mesmer and Ele out with some buildideas.

2 things I still miss is

 

-underwater mech cause I switch to holo or scrapper every single time. there is absolutely no point in using mechanist underwater neither for dps or alac cause you can't grant alac underwater anyways (its 10% or less). Its always anoing in fractals or underwater open world content and even in story. if you go underwater as mech you basically remove an entire traitline which shouldn't be a thing.

 

-reaper should get an option to alac on their shout skills or something. there are some power alac builds in the game however there are currently no real options or alternatives for power alac builds. you either use power alac mech or swap to alac heal builds like tempest, mech, or druid. thats especially frustrating when it comes to power based raid content like KC or CA.

[Arianth Moonlight.6453]

2 minutes ago, RacoonStylePlay.1852 said:

reaper should get an option to alac on their shout skills or something

not a fan. I rather have more quickness outside RS (Dread is just not enough).

[Bai.2607]

13 hours ago, Lithril Ashwalker.6230 said:

• Shadow Meld: This skill no longer removes revealed in PvP and WvW.
  
  I get it, too much stealth...but what are you going to do to make the skill ELITE worthy now? 
   - "Stealth Yourself" is a bit CRAP to be frank...2s of stealth with 45s cooldown on 2 ammo charges EACH... its NOT worth the elite skill. Not to mention that it helped synergize with followup shots like Death's Judgement.
  You have literally killed Deadeye Roaming playstyle altogether with this. Now when we come against a NEW UNBLOCKABLE Sic em + Rapidfire ranger you cant just place down Smokescreen because it lasts what...4 second with a long cast time? You are DEAD the moment he mashes "Sic Em!" No way to counter it other than Daggerstorm or to obstruct the shots. NOT TO MENTION Longbow's and some shortbow attacks have an ARC which extend the EFFECTIVE range by 200 units the higher elevation you are so you couldnt even defend yourself with a rifle which literally should be outranging a longbow... Give this skill some kind of compensation in WvW aside from a measly 2s stealth...it wont even synergize with Meld With Shadows Trait now. Seriously take a look at the GW2 Thief Forums, Ask for feedback and TAKE IT HIGHLY INTO CONSIDERATION. YOU DID WELL on the rifle revert last patch because that range reduction was going to kill the entire elite spec...do it again.

Skill issue uwu, dont rely on perma stealth. Its cheese

[bluehead.9842]

DE dont have usefull AoE

DE dont have invul/block

DE attack is projectile which lot of other class can counter with projectile block/reflect 

a lot of other class skills give revealed status (and its very long duration) 

 

now you nerf shadow meld...

 

what kind of BS is this

[VictorLeal.4102]

Reaper Shouts: Additional damage with no details of coefficient and what is "melee range of the caster"? What the range of shout now? it's buffed? nerfed?  

So it's hard to know if I'm happy or not for Reaper

Edited February 4, 2023 by VictorLeal.4102

[Baseraver.7241]

Some Feedback from me regarding Power DPS Berserker:

 

[CrazyM.1852]

Still waiting for Specter to get initiative back as they sad and some shadow force, since the reduction. Since the shadow force is to low now the the only build you can play in pvp is condi with more hp to make up for it witch is not that strong so it doesn't get any play anyways, pls give some love to power Specter build.

Meld shadow nerf is bad, wont get into it, because to many people did it already, I mean it is an elite skill, if it no longer removes reveal , it is not worth taking, you have to give it something else to do to compensate.

Removing Swipe? why?, just give it more range as it had before, the unblockable part is important if you know what you are doing.

Impact strike change means nothing, because you never take it, if you want more cc, you take basi, more dmg, you take thieves guild, the only reason i can see it being used is in power build, but for that it needs to do more dmg to be part of the rotation, and even if it did, the power build does to low dps to be viable, it is only usefull on small number of raids for stolen skill.

Lastly, would love a power specter dps build to be viable, it is fun to play, but the damage is to low, just buff Well of Tears and Shadowfall to scale better with power, make some traits usable for power, like Dark Sentry and buff power dmg of shroud.

[Sagedurk.7358]

10 hours ago, Jojo.6590 said:

Trait disparity amongst classes is another massive issue though harder to manage and balance. I'll try to keep this one short. There needs to be a guide line that identifies if a trait is a adapt, master, or a grandmaster trait as well is as if it should be a minor trait (minors, cant be changed) . It is highly evident there currently is not. For example, Willbender has a set major adept traits (this is the lowest level/rank of a trait and thus should be the weakest of the traits to pick from) that give it an extra 120 condition damage, +120 healing power, or +120 power plus 100% damage increase. THIS IS RIDCULOUS and insanely over powered for a set of adept traits. Most other classes do not get these types of traits until master or grandmaster. Why is this still happening?! WHY HAS THIS NOT BEEN BROUGHT UP MORE AND STILL NOT ADRESSED?! It is things like this that make us, the player base, your consumer feel like balance greatly favors specific classes. This feeling worsens when its left unchecked! These adept traits are better than most classes minor traits LET ALONE grandmaster traits. 

Have you looked at the rest of Willy's traits?

 

Master traits literally can't be shared, so you ALWAYS take Restorative Virtues in group play, unless you're on power and don't have an external resolution source, in which case you take Vanguard Tactics. Yes, even the heal build runs Restorative Virtues, and Holy Reckoning is useless so long as it's self only.

And if we look at GM traits, the last one is so niche that it might as well not exist (I have experimented with it on handkite willy and taking shelter for the block is better), and if you want to provide alac, you not only need to drop Tyrant's Momentum for Phoenix Protocol, but you are literally FORCED to take Battle Presence, a GM trait in the virtues traitline. If you don't take BP, you're not sharing alac. Those adept traits being as they are is no problem at all.

Power willy is weak compared to other dps, and healers aren't ranked based on their raw healing output, if they were, people would not only play hfb but heal willy as well. Only the adept condi trait would be susceptible to any kind of nerfs

 

What is ridiculous is not the adept traits, but how weak our other traits are. Phoenix Protocol is a kitten GM trait and doesn't provide 5 man alac by default. We are forced into taking 2 different GM traits, just to be able to share alac by attacking!

 

The reason it hasn't been adressed or brought up is because we don't need nerfs, we need buffs, at least in PvE

[SehferViega.8725]

On 2/3/2023 at 1:19 AM, Rubi Bayer.8493 said:

Thief

 

Core

• Trickster: This trait no longer reduces the cooldown of trick skills. Increased the number of conditions removed from 1 to 2.

Daredevil

• Steal is no longer replaced by Swipe when the daredevil specialization is equipped.

Deadeye

• Shadow Meld: This skill no longer removes revealed in PvP and WvW.

 

 

 

What I can see for thief in competitive modes are just nerfs.

1. Give Withdraw a base cooldown reduction in WvW/PvP: 20 seconds cooldown, that is what actually Trickster do.
2. A Daredevil with Steal will just be a core Thief with better dodges. This way you are killing builds diversity and you are reducing the "space" for core thieves: who will play a core build, when Daredevil can do the same things, but better in most of the cases? Revert this change please.
3. Shadow Meld removing Revealed is a must have in WvW fights, where Deadeye is really squishy out of Stealth, revert this change in WvW.
4. The last patch updates are pushing Thieves more and more into Shadow Arts and Stealth, that is exactly what the players are not asking for.
5. You nerfed Acrobatics with the October 4th update, we still have completely useless traits that work really bad with other thieves skill like Hard to Catch, Instant Reflex, Uncatchable, Signets of Powers, ecc.. why don't you work on them seriously to make them playable instead of changing something that work well? How many people are using the "new" Hard to Catch and Instant Reflex after the last patch? Have you checked it? How many players will use the new Signets of Powers? I bet nobody, because it's just worse than the old one.

 

Edited February 4, 2023 by SehferViega.8725

[CelestialCat.6240]

I personally would like to see a few of the skills that still can do 5k+ damage per hit while having a powerful secondary function nerfed in power. For example the Cloak and Dagger skill which "Stab your foe and vanish in stealth, leaving them vulnerable". This skill tends to be more of the core reason why I think thieves will go double dagger when if you teleport in while stealthed, do a Backstab for say 9k+ and then a Cloak and Dagger for another 9k and then maybe just teleport back to start and assess the damage on your foe why would you take a riffle over an instant 18k+ damage spike that gives free stealth?

[Ghos.1326]

On 2/2/2023 at 7:19 PM, Rubi Bayer.8493 said:

Hi all,

Welcome to the preview for the February 14 balance update! As always, the goal of previewing these changes is to gather your feedback before the live release. We'll be following the conversation and making further adjustments as needed.

Thanks,

Cal "cmc" Cohen

Skills and Balance Lead

 

Mantras

In May 2021, we made a significant adjustment to the mantra skill type to address some pain points in their gameplay patterns, but this also caused mantras to lose most of their identity, gameplay depth, and even some functionality. We decided to take another look at the rework to figure out what problems we need to solve, and if we can do it in a way that allows mantras to keep their unique aspects.

The original goals behind the rework were focused on two main ideas:

First, recasting all your mantras after changing maps or dying wasn't a particularly fun experience. This primarily applied to firebrand mantras, as mesmer mantras grant a bonus upon finishing their initial casting time. During the initial investigation of the mantra rework, we considered simply allowing mantras to automatically prepare while out of combat in PvE maps. There was some concern about creating a functional difference between game modes, so we moved away from that idea and went with the more significant rework that's in the game now. Since then, we've become more open to functional differences across game modes, and with this update, we've decided to implement the autopreparation mechanic in PvE and return to mantras' unique mechanics.

The other central idea was that using a mantra's final charge was a mistake most of the time. This is commonly due to an imbalance between the value of the initial charges and that of the final charge (or in the case of mesmer mantras, the on-cast effect) and is something that we feel can be addressed by tuning the effectiveness of these skills. We don't want to tilt the scales so far in the other direction that rushing through the mantras as quickly as possible is always optimal; there should be cases for each play pattern. Sometimes it will be correct to sit on the ammunition recharge and sometimes it will be correct to use the final charge. We believe that this balance can be reached with the previous version of mantras, and with the primary issue resolved via autopreparing firebrand mantras, we decided to return all mantras to their old functionality.

In summary:

• Mantras will again need to be prepared before gaining access to their charges.
• Firebrand mantras will have a more powerful final charge.
• Mesmer mantras will grant an effect upon finishing their initial casting time.
• In PvE maps, firebrand mantras will automatically prepare when out of combat and not on cooldown.

Elementalist

To improve the staff's support capabilities, we're bumping up the power on some of its weaker skills and increasing the usability of some clunkier skills. We've also tuned up some of the cantrips that don't see as much play to solidify them as solid defensive options.

On the competitive side, scepter became a powerful threat following the last balance update, and we're making a few adjustments in those modes to bring it back in line.

Core

• Burning Speed: This skill will now stop moving when it reaches the targeted enemy if one exists.
• Earthen Rush: This skill will now stop moving when it reaches the targeted enemy if one exists.
• Soothing Disruption: This trait no longer reduces the cooldown of cantrips.
• Lightning Flash: Reduced cooldown from 40 seconds to 20 seconds in PvE only.
• Cleansing Fire: This skill is now an ammunition skill and grants the caster might for each condition it removes. Ammunition recharge time is 25 seconds.
• Armor of Earth: This skill now grants barrier for each unique boon on the user in addition to its other effects. Reduced duration from 6 seconds to 4 seconds in PvP only. Reduced cooldown from 60 seconds to 40 seconds in PvP only.
• Ether Renewal: Reduced casting time from 2.75 seconds to 2.25 seconds. Reduced cooldown from 18 seconds to 15 seconds.
• Flame Burst: This skill now inflicts blind in addition to burning.
• Burning Retreat: Reduced cooldown from 20 seconds to 18 seconds.
• Water Blast: This skill can now target allies.
• Geyser: Increased heal attribute scaling from 1.0 to 1.25 in PvP and WvW.
• Frozen Ground: This skill now grants frost aura to allies in the area when the field is created.
• Healing Rain: This skill now heals allies for each condition removed. Increased conditions removed per pulse from 1 to 2 in PvE only.
• Gust: This skill is now ground-targetable.
• Windborne Speed: This skill now grants superspeed in addition to its other effects.
• Transmute Earth: This skill now grants stability instead of protection. Increased boon-application radius from 240 to 600.
• Dragon's Tooth: Reduced power coefficient from 2.0 to 1.5 in PvP and WvW.
• Water Trident: Reduced ammunition from 2 to 1 in PvP and WvW.
• Blinding Flash: Reduced ammunition from 2 to 1 in PvP and WvW. Reduced weakness duration from 2.5 seconds to 2 seconds in PvP and WvW.
• Stone Sheath: Reduced the duration of Tectonic Shift from 2 seconds to 1 second in PvP only.
• Conjurer: This trait no longer reduces the cooldown of conjured-weapon abilities.

Tempest

• Lucid Singularity: This trait now causes overloads to pulse alacrity while channeling in addition to granting alacrity when channeling is completed. The total amount of alacrity granted remains the same.

Weaver

• Superior Elements: Critical chance granted by this trait has been increased from 10% to 15% in PvE only.
• Cauterizing Strike: Increased power coefficient against burning enemies from 2.33 to 2.8 in PvE only.
• Charged Strike: Increased power coefficient from 0.8 to 0.9 in PvE only.
• Polaric Slash: Increased power coefficient from 0.9 to 1.0 in PvE only.
• Call Lightning: Follow-up lightning strikes occur faster and will now always strike three times.
• Polaric Leap: Increased power coefficient from 0.33 to 0.66 in PvE only.
• Seiche: Increased power coefficient from 0.5 to 0.8 in PvE only.
• Clapotis: Increased power coefficient from 0.6 to 0.9 in PvE only.
• Breaking Wave: Increased power coefficient from 1.0 to 1.1 in PvE only.
• Aqua Siphon: Increased base healing from 1,770 to 2,255 in PvE only.
• Twin Strike: Increased power coefficient on initial strike from 0.5 to 1.0 in PvE only.
• Shearing Edge: Increased power coefficient from 1.5 to 1.8 in PvE only.
• Weave Self: Woven Air and Perfect Weave now grant increased strike damage in addition to their other effects.

Catalyst

• Fortified Earth: Reduced base barrier from 2,520 to 1,254 in PvP only.
• Elemental Celerity: Increased cooldown from 60 seconds to 75 seconds in PvP only.
• Deploy Jade Sphere: Increased cooldown from 10 seconds to 15 seconds in PvP only.

Engineer

This engineer update focuses on usability improvements. Some boons and conditions from the mechanist mech's skills were being applied by the engineer rather than the mech itself. While addressing this issue, we wanted to ensure that the mech would maintain its current effectiveness, and we've fixed some issues that prevented certain condition duration traits from affecting the mech. We're also relaxing the timing on the mech's out-of-range penalty, giving players a bit more flexibility when moving away. We've also cleaned up the animation timing on main-hand pistol to make the weapon feel a bit more fluid to use.

In competitive modes, we're taking another look at improving bruiser scrapper builds and bringing back one of its more iconic defensive traits in Rapid Regeneration.

Core

• Fragmentation Shot: Reduced aftercast duration by 25%.
• Poison Dart Volley: Increased overall animation speed of this skill by 66%.
• Utility Goggles: Increased number of damaging conditions removed from 1 to 2.

Scrapper

• Reconstruction Field: Reduced cooldown from 25 seconds to 20 seconds in PvP and WvW.
• Chemical Field: Reduced cooldown from 25 seconds to 20 seconds.
• Damage Dampener: This trait has been replaced with Rapid Regeneration. Rapid Regeneration heals the scrapper while they are under the effects of either swiftness or superspeed.
• Applied Force: Increased bonus power per might stack from 15 to 20 in PvE only.

Mechanist

• Fixed an issue that caused the engineer to be the source of boons and conditions for several mech skills, instead of the mech itself.
• Jade Mech CJ-1: Fixed an issue that caused melee autoattacks to be slower than intended. Reduced the range of the first two melee strikes from 240 to 130.
• Mech Frame: Channeling Conduits: Increased concentration inherited by the mech from 100% to 150%.
• Mechanical Genius: Increased duration of the boon applied by Mechanical Genius from 6 seconds to 10 seconds.
• Chemical Rounds: Fixed an issue that prevented the condition damage from this skill from being inherited by the mech.
• Serrated Steel: This trait now functions with the mech when it is active.
• Incendiary Powder: This trait now functions with the mech while it is active. Trait cooldowns for the mech are separate from the engineer.

Guardian

Power guardian builds still aren't quite at the level we want them to be in PvE after the previous balance update, and we're making some additional improvements to greatsword, sword, and focus to improve their damage potential.

One of our goals with the mantra update is to make the final charge of firebrand mantras a more compelling option, and as part of that, we've made an adjustment to Weighty Terms that makes final charge skills restore a page to the firebrand. We've also tuned up some tome skills in PvP, where firebrand is still struggling to find its footing.

Core

• Strike: Increased power coefficient from 0.9 to 1.0 in PvE only.
• Vengeful Strike: Increased power coefficient from 1.0 to 1.1 in PvE only.
• Wrathful Strike: Increased power coefficient from 1.4 to 1.5 in PvE only.
• Whirling Wrath: This skill no longer reduces the user's movement speed.
• Symbol of Resolution: Increased power coefficient per strike from 0.6 to 0.65 in PvE only.
• Sword Wave: Increased power coefficient per strike from 0.5 to 0.55 in PvE only.
• Symbol of Blades: Increased power coefficient per strike from 0.6 to 0.65 in PvE only. Reduced recharge from 10 seconds to 8 seconds.
• Ray of Judgment: Increased power coefficient per strike from 0.33 to 0.45 in PvE only.
• Zealot's Defense: Reduced cooldown from 15 seconds to 12 seconds.
• Symbol of Protection: Reduced casting time from 1.33 seconds to 0.9 seconds.
• Zealot's Embrace: This skill now grants barrier when striking an enemy.
• Banish: This skill now marks the enemy for 5 seconds. Mighty Blow will consume the mark to teleport to the target.
• Right-Hand Strength: This trait no longer reduces the recharge of main-hand sword skills.
• Unscathed Contender: Reduced strike damage increase while under the effects of aegis from 20% to 7%. This trait now grants an additional 7% strike damage increase while you are above 90% health.

Dragonhunter

• Test of Faith: Increased protection duration from 2 seconds to 4 seconds in PvP only.
• Light's Judgment: The first strike of this skill will now daze enemies in addition to its other effects. Reduced cooldown from 30 seconds to 20 seconds.
• Wings of Resolve: Reduced cooldown from 30 seconds to 25 seconds.
• Shield of Courage: Reduced cooldown from 60 seconds to 50 seconds.
• Fragments of Faith: Reduced cooldown from 60 seconds to 45 seconds in PvP and WvW. Reduced stability duration from 5 seconds to 4 seconds in PvP and WvW.
• Hunter's Determination: This trait has been reworked. It now causes all elite skills to break stuns on activation.
• Heavy Light: Reduced internal cooldown from 10 seconds to 1 second.

Firebrand

• Exiting a firebrand tome will now put that tome on a 0.5-second cooldown.
• Chapter 2: Igniting Burst: Increased weakness duration from 2 seconds to 3 seconds in PvP only.
• Chapter 3: Heated Rebuke: Reduced page cost from 2 to 1 in PvP only.
• Chapter 2: Radiant Recovery: Reduced cooldown from 8 seconds to 6 seconds in PvP only.
• Chapter 4: Shining River: Increased base pulse heal from 287 to 464 in PvP only. Increased pulse-heal attribute scaling from 0.2 to 0.25 in PvP only.
• Epilogue: Eternal Oasis: Reduced page cost from 3 to 2 in PvP only.
• Epilogue: Unbroken Lines: Increased the number of stability stacks from 1 to 2 in PvP only.
• Firebrand mantras now require an initial casting time to prepare the mantra charges. The final charge of each mantra is more powerful.
• Firebrand mantras will now automatically swap to their charged state when not on cooldown and when the player is out of combat in PvE maps.
• Weighty Terms: This trait will now only trigger on the final charge of a mantra and restores one page in addition to its current effect. This trait no longer has an internal cooldown.

Willbender

• Willbender virtues no longer remove the active effects of other willbender virtues.

Mesmer

While reviewing mesmer's mantras, we felt that many of the effects granted upon finishing the initial cast could be more powerful, and in those cases, we've added an additional bonus for nearby allies.

We've also made some usability improvements to shield and added additional options for group might to help make both quickness-focused and alacrity-focused chronomancer builds more competitive with other support picks.

Core

• Master of Manipulation: This trait no longer reduces the recharge of manipulation skills, and it now grants aegis to nearby allies instead of superspeed.
• Mirror: Reduced cooldown from 15 seconds to 12 seconds in PvE, and from 20 seconds to 15 seconds in PvP and WvW.
• Mimic: Reduced cooldown from 30 seconds to 20 seconds.
• Mass Invisibility: Reduced cooldown from 60 seconds to 48 seconds in PvE, and from 75 seconds to 60 seconds in PvP and WvW.
• Time Warp: This skill now also grants superspeed to allies and inflicts chill on enemies. Reduced cooldown from 120 seconds to 75 seconds in PvP and WvW.
• Decoy: Reduced cooldown from 45 seconds to 40 seconds in PvP and WvW.
• Mirror Images: Reduced cooldown from 35 seconds to 30 seconds in PvP and WvW.
• Mesmer mantras now require an initial casting time to prepare the mantra charges. The effects they grant when completing the initial cast are as follows:
  • Mantra of Recovery: Heal yourself, and heal nearby allies for a lesser amount.
  • Mantra of Concentration: Grant boons to yourself and nearby allies.
  • Mantra of Distraction: Reduce the recharge time of Diversion.
  • Mantra of Pain: Grant might to yourself and nearby allies.
  • Mantra of Resolve: Remove all conditions from yourself, and remove fewer conditions from nearby allies.
• Egotism: Increased damage bonus from 5% to 10% in PvP and WvW.
• Protected Phantasms: This trait has been replaced by Temporal Enchanter. Temporal Enchanter causes glamour skills to grant superspeed and resistance to allies in the area and increases glamour durations by 1 second.

Chronomancer

• Echo of Memory: Deja Vu: These skills will now immediately summon the phantasm when successfully blocking an attack. If no attack is blocked, the phantasm will still be summoned at the end of the channel.
• Tides of Time: Catching the returning wave while under the effects of Continuum Shift will now also reduce the recharge of this skill after exiting Continuum Shift. Increased the number of might stacks from 5 to 8 in PvE only.
• Well of Action: This skill now grants might and fury to allies on its final pulse in addition to superspeed.
• Well of Senility: This skill now dazes enemies on its final pulse in addition to removing boons.

Virtuoso

• Psychic Riposte: Fixed an issue in which the unblockable effect would not apply to the entire shatter.

Necromancer

We're improving the reaper's shout skills, which will now deal increased damage and gain additional effects when striking enemies in melee range, rewarding players for diving deep into the fray.

Warhorn also sees some improvements, with Wail of Doom once again being unblockable and the cooldown reduction from Banshee's Wail being rolled into the baseline, allowing a wider range of necromancer builds to take warhorn without feeling tied to the Blood Magic trait line.

Core

• Banshee's Wail: This trait no longer reduces the cooldown of warhorn skills.
• Wail of Doom: This skill is now unblockable. Reduced cooldown from 30 seconds to 24 seconds.
• Locust Swarm: Reduced cooldown from 30 seconds to 24 seconds.
• Necrotic Stab: Increased power coefficient from 0.7 to 0.9 in PvE only. Increased life force gained from 2% to 4%.
• Necrotic Bite: Increased power coefficient from 1.2 to 1.3 in PvE only. Increased life force gained from 6% to 8%.
• Life Siphon: Reduced cooldown from 10 seconds to 8 seconds in PvP and WvW. Increased damage bonus against bleeding foes from 20% to 50% in PvE only.
• Dark Pact: This skill now also inflicts bleeding on the target and grants life force to the caster for each boon removed. This skill now removes boons instead of corrupting them in PvP and WvW. Increased the number of boons removed from 1 to 3 in PvP, 1 to 2 in WvW, and 2 to 3 in PvE.

Reaper

• Augury of Death: This trait no longer reduces the recharge of shout skills.
• "Your Soul is Mine!": This skill now deals additional damage and grants additional life force per target struck within melee range of the caster. Reduced cooldown from 20 seconds to 16 seconds.
• "Nothing Can Save You!": This skill no longer grants additional unblockable attacks on all enemies struck. This skill now deals additional damage and grants additional unblockable attacks when striking targets within melee range of the caster. Reduced cooldown from 20 seconds to 16 seconds.
• "Rise!": This skill now deals additional damage and summons additional horrors when striking targets within melee range of the caster. The maximum number of shambling horrors that can be summoned is 5. Reduced cooldown from 40 seconds to 32 seconds.
• "Suffer!": This skill now deals additional damage and transfers one additional condition to targets struck within melee range of the caster. Reduced cooldown from 20 seconds to 16 seconds.
• "You Are All Weaklings!": This skill now deals additional damage and grants more might when striking targets within melee range of the caster. Reduced cooldown from 25 seconds to 20 seconds.
• "Chilled to the Bone!": This skill now deals additional damage, stun, and condition duration, and grants you additional boons when striking targets within melee range of the caster. Reduced cooldown from 45 seconds to 36 seconds.
• Chilling Victory: Reduced cooldown from 2 seconds to 1 second in PvP.
• Blighter's Boon: This trait now also triggers when removing a boon from an enemy.

Ranger

We've rolled a few of ranger's cooldown reduction traits into the baseline cooldown reduction for those skills, creating additional builds in which the skills can be taken at a higher level of effectiveness. Primal Cry will now inflict poison in addition to its other conditions, adding some synergy with ranger's poison traits and providing a slight improvement for condition-based soulbeast builds.

For competitive modes, we've made some improvements to the Wilderness Survival trait line and tuned up soulbeast stances to improve ranger builds that are focused on attrition and survival over raw burst damage.

Core

• Empathic Bond: This trait has been reworked. It now causes beast skills to remove conditions from the ranger and their pet.
• Rugged Growth: Increased pulse heal from 155 to 196 in PvP and WvW.
• Windborne Notes: This trait no longer reduces the cooldown of warhorn skills.
• Hunter's Call: Reduced cooldown from 20 seconds to 16 seconds.
• Call of the Wild: Reduced cooldown from 30 seconds to 24 seconds.
• Wilderness Knowledge: This trait no longer reduces the cooldown of survival skills.
• Troll Unguent: Reduced cooldown from 25 seconds to 20 seconds in PvE, and from 30 seconds to 24 seconds in PvP and WvW.
• Lightning Reflexes: Reduced cooldown from 30 seconds to 24 seconds.
• Muddy Terrain: Reduced cooldown from 25 seconds to 20 seconds.
• Quickening Zephyr: Reduced cooldown from 45 seconds to 35 seconds in PvE, and from 40 seconds to 32 seconds in PvP and WvW.
• Entangle: Reduced cooldown from 60 seconds to 48 seconds in PvP and WvW.
• Brutish Seals: This trait no longer reduces the cooldown of signet skills, and it now grants might in addition to fury.
• Signet of the Hunt: The active component of this skill now grants superspeed in addition to unblockable stacks. Reduced cooldown from 40 seconds to 20 seconds.
• Signet of Renewal: This skill now grants resolution to the ranger's pet in addition to resistance. Reduced cooldown from 50 seconds to 35 seconds.
• Signet of the Wild: Reduced cooldown from 40 seconds to 30 seconds.

Soulbeast

• Double Arc: Reduced cooldown from 7 seconds to 6 seconds in PvP and WvW.
• Instinctive Engage: Reduced ammunition recharge from 15 seconds to 12 seconds in PvP and WvW.
• Dolyak Stance: Reduced duration from 6 seconds to 4 seconds in PvP only. Reduced cooldown from 60 seconds to 40 seconds in PvP only.
• Moa Stance: Reduced cooldown from 40 seconds to 30 seconds in PvP only.
• Griffon Stance: Reduced cooldown from 30 seconds to 25 seconds.
• Primal Cry: This skill now inflicts poison on each strike in addition to its other effects.
• Eternal Bond: Increased base heal from 487 to 584.

Untamed

• Unnatural Traversal: This skill is no longer instant and now has a casting time of 0.25 seconds.

Revenant

Vindicator is still overperforming relative to where we want it to be in PvP. With other top elite specializations like spellbreaker and catalyst seeing some reductions, we wanted to make sure to bring down vindicator as well, and we're continuing to pull back on some of the damage improvements that were made following the Guild Wars 2: End of Dragons™ launch when vindicator was still struggling with access to one dodge. We'd like to see vindicator builds move into more offensive trait choices to make up for the loss in damage, instead of remaining a damage threat while focusing on defensive traits.

Core

• Resilient Spirit: Reduced barrier per unique boon from 160 to 119 in PvP only.

Renegade

• Kalla's Fervor: Increased power damage bonus per stack from 1% to 2% in PvP and WvW.
• Heroic Command: Lasting Legacy: Increased might duration from 6 seconds to 9 seconds in PvP and WvW.
• Bloodbane Path: Increased power coefficient per strike from 0.4 to 0.45 in PvP and WvW.
• Sevenshot: Increased power coefficient per strike from 0.24 to 0.265 in PvP and WvW.
• Endless Enmity: This trait no longer requires the enemy to be under a certain health threshold. Reduced fury duration from 6 seconds to 4 seconds. Fury is also applied to nearby allies.
• Brutal Momentum: This trait now grants a 10% increased critical-hit chance when endurance is not full. The 33% increased critical chance while endurance is full is unchanged.

Vindicator

• Phantom's Onslaught: Reduced power coefficient from 1.36 to 1.18 in PvP only.
• True Strike: Reduced power coefficient per block stack from 0.3 to 0.15 in PvP only.
• Spear of Archemorus: Reduced power coefficient from 2.67 to 2.33 in PvP only.
• Nomad's Advance: Reduced power coefficient from 2.1 to 1.7 in PvP only.
• Scavenger Burst: Reduced power coefficient from 1.4 to 1.25 in PvP only.
• Imperial Impact: The attack from this trait no longer inflicts chill in PvP and WvW. Reduced power coefficient from 0.625 to 0.5 in PvP only.

Thief

Rifle saw some improvements in the last balance update, but it's still outshined by dagger in most power deadeye builds. We do want rifle to be a viable pick, and we're bumping up the damage a bit more. We've also made a usability improvement to Deadeye's Mark, which will no longer be lost when entering the downed state.

Specter is another support build in PvE that struggles with might generation compared to some other options. We've shifted the self-only might from Shadow Sap into area-of-effect might and bumped up the might on Well of Bounty with the goal of making alacrity-focused specter builds more competitive.

Core

• Signets of Power: This trait has been reworked. It now causes signet skills to grant initiative when activated.
• Signet of Malice: Reduced cooldown from 15 seconds to 12 seconds.
• Signet of Shadows: Reduced cooldown from 20 seconds to 16 seconds.
• Infiltrator's Signet: Reduced cooldown from 30 seconds to 24 seconds in PvE, and from 35 seconds to 28 seconds in PvP and WvW.
• Trickster: This trait no longer reduces the cooldown of trick skills. Increased the number of conditions removed from 1 to 2.
• Caltrops: Reduced cooldown from 30 seconds to 24 seconds.
• Haste: Reduced cooldown from 30 seconds to 24 seconds in PvE, and from 45 seconds to 35 seconds in PvP and WvW.
• Roll for Initiative: Reduced cooldown from 35 seconds to 28 seconds in PvE, and from 50 seconds to 35 seconds in PvP and WvW. Reduced initiative gain from 6 to 4 in PvP and WvW.
• Skelk Venom: Reduced cooldown from 30 seconds to 25 seconds.
• Keen Observer: Reduced health threshold requirement from 90% to 75% in PvE only.

Daredevil

• Steal is no longer replaced by Swipe when the daredevil specialization is equipped.
• Impairing Daggers: Reduced cooldown from 25 seconds to 18 seconds.
• Impact Strike: Reduced cooldown from 40 seconds to 30 seconds.

Deadeye

• Deadeye's Mark is no longer removed when the deadeye goes into the downed state.
• Brutal Aim: Increased power coefficient from 0.6 to 0.75 in PvE only.
• Deadly Aim: Increased power coefficient from 1.0 to 1.1 in PvE only.
• Skirmisher's Shot: Increased power coefficient from 0.8 to 1.0 in PvE only.
• Spotter's Shot: Increased power coefficient from 1.15 to 1.3 in PvE only.
• Double Tap: Increased power coefficient per hit from 0.65 to 0.8 in PvE only.
• Three Round Burst: Increased power coefficient per hit from 0.75 to 0.85 in PvE only.
• Shadow Meld: This skill no longer removes revealed in PvP and WvW.

Specter

• Shadow Sap: The enemy-targeted version of this skill now grants might in an area around the specter. The ally-targeted version of this skill now grants protection.
• Well of Silence: This skill has been reworked. It now dazes enemies on the initial strike, then removes conditions from allies in the area on each pulse. Gain shadow force for each condition removed. Reduced cooldown from 50 seconds to 40 seconds in PvP and WvW.
• Well of Bounty: Increased might stacks from 6 to 8 in PvE only.

Warrior

For this update, we focused on improving the gunsaber skills. As it essentially replaces one of bladesworn's regular weapons, we want to make sure that the gunsaber is a flexible kit that can play well with a broad number of other weapons. To that end, we've added a ranged component to a lot of gunsaber skills, as well as a potential crowd control to Artillery Slash. The gunsaber will still maximize its potential when in melee range, but now it will have a bit more flexibility in midrange situations and a broader set of tools to draw from.

Spellbreaker has become a dominant force in PvP over the last few months, and in this update we're targeting some of its sustain potential with adjustments to Banner of Defense and Adrenal Health. We've also adjusted the way that Full Counter interacts with traits like Adrenal Health, which now requires a successful strike instead of triggering when blocking an attack; our goal is to introduce the same counterplay that many burst skills have.

Core

• Counterblow: Reduced cooldown from 8 seconds to 7 seconds in PvP and WvW.
• Pommel Bash: This skill now grants barrier if it strikes an enemy that is using a skill.
• Savage Leap: Increased power coefficient from 0.75 to 1.15 in PvP and WvW.
• Final Thrust: This skill now inflicts a reduced amount of bleeding to targets above 50% health. Reduced cooldown from 15 seconds to 12 seconds in PvP and WvW.
• Dolyak Signet: Increased base healing from 1,000 to 1,640. Reduced stability duration from 6 seconds to 4 seconds in PvP only. Reduced cooldown from 60 seconds to 40 seconds in PvP only.
• Balanced Stance: Reduced cooldown from 60 seconds to 50 seconds in PvP only.
• Signet of Stamina: Reduced cooldown from 40 seconds to 35 seconds. Increased endurance gain from 25 to 50 in PvP only.
• Frenzy: Reduced cooldown from 40 seconds to 35 seconds.
• Banner of Defense: Increased cooldown from 30 seconds to 40 seconds in PvP only.
• Fierce Blow: Increased cooldown from 4 seconds to 5 seconds in PvP only.
• Adrenal Health: Reduced base heal per stack from 87 to 70 in PvP only.
• Martial Cadence: Reduced quickness duration from 3 seconds to 2 seconds.

Berserker

• Arc Divider: Increased power coefficient per strike from 1.4 to 1.5 in PvE only.
• Shattering Blow: Reduced cooldown from 20 to 15 in PvP and WvW.
• Sundering Leap: This skill now grants aegis on activation. Reduced cooldown to 15 seconds in all game modes. Reduced power coefficient from 2.33 to 2.0 in PvP and WvW, and from 3.0 to 2.5 in PvE. Decreased berserk mode extension from 5 seconds to 3 seconds in PvE only.
• Outrage: Reduced cooldown from 20 seconds to 18 seconds in PvP and WvW.
• Dead or Alive: Increased Blood Reckoning duration from 2.5 seconds to 3 seconds.
• Eternal Champion: This trait has been reworked. It now grants stability and endurance when entering berserk mode, and it causes all traits that trigger when entering berserk mode to also trigger when exiting berserk mode.

Spellbreaker

• Full Counter: This skill will now trigger traits that trigger on burst skill usage when striking an enemy instead of when absorbing an attack.
• Breaching Strike: Reduced bonus damage against enemies with no boons from 50% to 5% in PvP and WvW.

Bladesworn

• Swift Cut: This skill now fires an additional projectile after the melee slash. Enemies hit by the melee attack take reduced damage from the projectile.
• Steel Divide: This skill now fires an additional projectile after the melee slash. Enemies hit by the melee attack take reduced damage from the projectile.
• Explosive Thrust: The secondary explosion portion of this skill is now a ranged attack. Enemies hit by the melee attack take reduced damage from the projectile.
• Blooming Fire: This skill no longer causes explosions along the length of your strike. Instead, this skill now launches a projectile at your target, shattering on contact and causing multiple explosions.
• Artillery Slash: This skill now consumes all ammo when used, gaining bonus damage and different effects based on the amount of ammo consumed.
• Cyclone Trigger: This skill now applies aegis to the caster in addition to its other effects. This skill now blocks missiles as soon as it is activated. The total duration of the block remains the same.

i'll need to dig into the rest of the notes.

but in the engi side....well done. giving credit where credit is due.

also, i owe y'all 10 sneezes. i'll have to stream it for proof.

[ben.3281]

Hello! Thanks for the hard work on the patch. Just talking about elementalist because that's the profession I'm most playing. 

 

First of all I'm soooo happy to see that staff gets some attention! I always enjoyed playing staff in PvP but it really wasn't viable or fun anymore. This might renew some interest in the weapon. I still think it could also use some more damage on fire, especially compared to the cata hammer, but the overall changes really get me excited to try it out and make it work again! Staff ele needs a place in PvP! 

 

Nothing to say about sceptre in PvP, it needed a nerf. However I do think the overall catalyst mechanics nerf in PvP affects other builds that don't run fresh air sceptre more than is necessary 😐 making alternative catalyst that aren't overpowered less viable.... But maybe I'm wrong here. 

 

Big thanks for rethinking cantrips! I hope they will get used more in PvP :D 

 

Thanks

[Veprovina.4876]

@Cal Cohen.2358

 

Can you please comment on what you're planning on doing with Mirage? This patch, as much as i like the changes that will happen to Chrono, are going to yet again nerf Mirage with the Master of Manipulation trait change, and lose a big part of its roaming capability which already is in the gutter due to Mirage being the only one left with a major tradeoff - 1 dodge.

No other class has this kind of tradeoff anymore, and i for the life of me can't see the reasoning behind still leaving it in - especially since, when it was introduced, it was introduced on top of other major nerfs without anything to compensate.

And now again - while other elites did get more, Mirage has been left out without anything to compensate Master of Manipulation.

 

Can't you just return the dodge this patch when it hits, and then we can monitor how this change affects Mirage, and what else needs to be done or changed? I guarantee you it won't even scratch the surface of mirage being fixed, but please, start.

 

There's thread in the mesmer section that's been going on for a while, it doesn't feel good knowing Mirage is the only elite right now with such a huge handicap.

 

 

Edited February 4, 2023 by Veprovina.4876

[felincyriac.5981]

You guys just made a typo and forgot to also include WvW for cata right? Right?

[Orack.4825]

1 hour ago, RacoonStylePlay.1852 said:

underwater mech cause I switch to holo or scrapper every single time. there is absolutely no point in using mechanist underwater neither for dps or alac cause you can't grant alac underwater anyways (its 10% or less). Its always anoing in fractals or underwater open world content and even in story. if you go underwater as mech you basically remove an entire traitline which shouldn't be a thing

Yes I'm a bit sad about this, I picked engi because I like the Mech and how it close from a Summoner in other game. I'm a bit bored to change spe every time I go underwater especialy in fractal where I just can fill my role (HAM) and have to swap Scrap quick hopping someone can cover alac and have the gear for, which is not always the case with all the new player on my guild...
 

[chris.9142]

15 hours ago, Sublimatio.6981 said:

Necromancer/Reaper feedback:

I think that the changes for necromancer are insubstantial. There are classes that reach over 40k DPS on power builds, and the changes to dagger and shouts will not contribute to the necromancer's DPS ceiling that this class desperately needs. It's nice that dagger gets a little buff, so the bottom level of necromancer DPS will increase slightly, however we still struggle with life force depleting quickly in PvE content due to passive damage taken - this was not a big problem in dungeons and early fractals as much, but over time the PvE combat design shifted into unavoidable, shared damage that you need to bring healers for. This hurts necromancers a lot by pulling them out of shroud, where they need to be to deal damage. But even in a perfect scenario where the reaper can be in shroud for full duration, it still barely reaches 35.6k DPS. If anything, balancing reaper should be similar to how you're treating elementalist this patch, where you're over-buffing it so that the heavy price of being a reaper is evening out the average performance. 

Barely ?

 

barely?

36k and your saying barely that more then 95% of players will ever get anywhere near

[Doggie.3184]

You guys also didn't mention if you were fixing the Twilight Combo bug for Specter that was reported in beta a year ago, and countless times since, where pets/allies body block it from reaching our targeted ally. It prevents it from being used for support.

https://streamable.com/io4lu1

https://streamable.com/1vyegp

Edited February 4, 2023 by Doggie.3184

[Ascency.3580]

4 hours ago, Firebeard.1746 said:

I have extremely mixed feelings about the mantra change. I really liked being able to just use them whenever and not have to think about where to place them on my rotation, especially on my HB. I'm willing to give it a go, but please don't tell me that it's going to make HB feel bad. 

 

the mantra changes shouldnt really be a thing, if they didnt change them to what they are now some time ago. this change was the sole reason why the WHOLE GAME was dominated by firebrands. becouse it made a complex but extremely potent build into a spamfiesta-has-everything more potent build that requres no tought. this in turn led to numerous nerfs to the class, and the whole tome rework. becouse it was impossible to tone it down without deleting its core functionalities. with mantras requireing more tought, and alowing for dealing with oh kitten moments by expending the final charge fb by default was way more rewarding to play, and naturally blanced a bit more. becouse u could have found yourself without charges, and needing to prep the mantras while kitten was going down. this also made thinking about using final mantra charges vs going into f2/f3 tomes a thing. the mantra nerfs, specifically for firebrand (mesmer not so much) was one of the worst decisions anet made, that looked innocent at first, but led to a huge mess in the whole meta for more then a year now. its GREAT they are reverting this to where it is supposed to be, but do be prepared that combined with all the other nerfs that this has spawned in the past fb might feel weaker untill they bring it back up.

[Jimbru.6014]

The problem with Tempest alacrity is one of accessibility and over-specialization.

Tempest: Has to select a specific trait to give alacrity, and constantly switch elements and spam overloads to maintain alacrity, while giving up other important traits affecting overloads, resulting in lower DPS, reduced support abilities, and more stressful gameplay.

Mechanist: Also has to select a specific trait to give alacrity, BUT can maintain perm alacrity simply by auto-attacking with mace and Barrier Burst, with only slightly less DPS and no negative effect on support abilities.

Until this disparity is fixed, Tempests will remain the least desirable and least fun class for providing alac.

[Beshbaliq.3724]

I really do not understand the positive feedback on the planned changes to mantras, especially for mesmers. Yes, it brings back some flavour to otherwise rather bland skills, but in all honesty? I'd rather have bland skills that can actually be used in gameplay if the other option is full of flavour and has me doing nothing for over two seconds (assuming they just revert to old cast-times).

Sure, we can always just sit on the last page and wait for the other one to recharge, but honestly? That's just bad design. The precast was never a good mechanic. Sure, it was full of flavour and class identity, but there are other ways to get those besides making skills annoying and clunky to use.

The state of mantras right now may be a bland one, but they are usable. Reintroducing precast is, in my oppinion, just lowering the QoL for no real reason at all.

Edited February 4, 2023 by Beshbaliq.3724

[Henadde.4503]

Have you guys ever considered reducing to 2 secs the stealth thieves get from combos? So you finally could encourage perma stealth players at wvw to fight instead of reseting cds. Maybe could add it as a debuff at any SA minor trait, since gaining superspeed and initiative when entering AND exiting stealth is a bit too much...

[subgenius.7649]

where are the notes about punishing afk pvp'rs?

 

[Random dude.5089]

16 hours ago, Omg Im Target.3095 said:

Lol at the power weaver buffs. It's already in a decent state and now they increase the damage by like what 20% or even more? Ridiculous.

was in a decent state , now its in a realy great state why u complain ?

Edited February 4, 2023 by Denver.4621

[regilyor.3152]

I wanted to add my voice to the opinions on patch notes, namely the firebrand mantras. I honestly don't see the purpose of this change.

I primarily play quickness firebrand, both dps & heal, and with a revert to original mantras using that final charge will always feel like a mistake. Using up all the mantras prevents me from continuing to provide my primary role of giving quickness until I recharge the mantra. But while charging it, I cannot perform my secondary role of dps or healing. That just feels like incredibly punishing gameplay.

No matter how amazing the final charge might be, or how many pages I get back from using that final charge, having to recharge mantras mid-combat just feels bad. You aren't doing anything except watching a cast bar filling up, and it feels more like being a spectator than being relevant in the fight. 

Even if on a dps firebrand spamming mantras to get more pages is the optimal dps rotation, I don't know that I could enjoy that gameplay. Which is a shame because I am really enjoying the recent changes to the tome skills and pages. If charging mantras actually did something, like pulsing damage and/or healing (even a small amount) maybe it would feel less clunky and less separated from combat.

Additionally I often get a bug where the number of charges left on my mantras is wrong. With current mantras it doesn't bother me but if that bug isn't fixed for this change it is going to make avoiding that last charge even more aggravating. 

 

On a completely unrelated note I am very happy to see the short cooldown addition to tomes since accidentally opening tomes when trying to close them has been causing me a lot of issues.

And even more unrelated, that pulsing alacrity change to elementalists' overloads may actually make me want to play elementalist again, so thanks for that!

[Paradoxoglanis.1904]

 You forgot to buff ele staff proj speed and look at the weaver dual skills