February 14 Balance Update Preview

[kokonut.7683]

• Impairing Daggers: Reduced cooldown from 25 seconds to 18 seconds.
  
  The cooldown change doesn't do anything here, the reason people don't use this skill is because:
  1. You have to face the target when using it.
  2. The cast animation is the slowest in the game, which is pretty ironic for a thief spec.

[Sgt Bubbles.4908]

Really great changes all around. Lots more fun interactions and class fantasy/identify. Love to see you guys working along those lines. Would really really REALLY like to see some changes to engineer turrets next!

[shinvold.3618]

@Cal Cohen.2358 If you want to apply the Shadow Meld changes, please check out the mechanic improvements for Revealed.

[Kilty.4906]

Once again, those are very good changes to Elementalist, especially now that Weave Self provides a strike damage buff.

Though, there are some concerns I wish would be addressed too, some of them I already posted on the previous balance feedback:

• Lightning Orb being more reliable on smaller enemies;
• Adjustments for Conjured Weapon skills so they feel less clunky to use, especially when picking up the summoned weapon;
• Improvements for Drake's Breath, Cone of Cold, and Fire Grab when using them on moving targets;
• Double tap safe check cooldown when summoning orbs with Catalyst's hammer so it prevents unwanted use of the skill Grand Finale;
• Rock Barrier skill giving flat defense instead of a toughness buff to prevent unwanted aggro;
• Better condition application for Weaver when using hybrid trident skills;
• Meteor Shower being more reliable on smaller enemies, perhaps smaller radius, and also improve its capability to apply burning.
• Static Field and Unsteady Ground being more reliable when placing them on top of enemies, especially when you want to CC bosses.
• Comet casting on top of yourself if no target is selected.
• Improve Catalyst's energy regeneration when using a weapon other than a hammer or when choosing to be support instead of dps.

[SolsticeIV.3710]

I think these improvements are for Alac Renegade?   

1. 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.
2. 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.

This still doesn't fix the uptime though, even with full ritualist you can't keep Alac up on condi without food and utility, while on Power the dps is still too low because of the reliance on all diviner.  Can we get just a bit more duration on Orders from Above so we can play Alac Renegade again? 

This doesn't seem like that big of a change to make 2 builds viable again.  

[Moradorin.6217]

On 2/4/2023 at 5:51 AM, Beshbaliq.3724 said:

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.

IMO because the fanboys and streamers will just chime in that its good cause they always do and most are affraid to actually be critical. That and allot of people just dont understand Mesmer and if they play they probably use Virt only and maybe a little chrono, at best. So the issue gets white washed and the avg player doesnt comprehend the issues.

Lets face it. If they cannot even mention Mirage and its missing dodge in pvp/wvw I dont see what the point is in expecting them to come up with decent balance concepts. It was the most lazy balance change in the history of the game and CMC is seemingly too scared to even mention it after he, perhaps accidentally, mentioned that Mirage's other dodge was on the table when they gave Vindicator a 2nd dodge. No word since on Mirage. CMC has no integrity, face it.

Edited February 5, 2023 by Moradorin.6217

[Gaiawolf.8261]

18 hours ago, Firebeard.1746 said:

And that's basically my concern. My hb doesn't feep any stonger than any of the other supports i play. I'm afraid hb is going to get overly clunky and difficult to use. It feels like managing the tomes and weapon skills is enough finger and rotation gymnastics. Being forced to plan mantras into that mess is going to suck, but i'm willing to try it.

This is the primary concern. People complained enough about the old mantra system, and welcomed the simpler gameplay. Going back to the old system might add more counterplay and dynamic skill use, but on top of the tome rework, it's going to add too much complexity to a class that is popularly played by people that like simpler support builds. There are other, more complex classes already for players who prefer that.

On top of being aware of the environment and what other players are doing that all supports need to watch, a HFB especially now also has to track hidden tome skill CDs, hidden trait ICDs, hidden dormant tome effect CDs, page regen, page costs, and now mantra charges?

The class isn't becoming much weaker for skilled players, it's becoming troublesome and very clunky for the average player to manage effectively, and it seems the devs are only concerned with high level play here. If they want to use the old mantras system, they should make sure the last charge is actually worth using for more that just clutch moments, and not so punishing on accidental use of the final charge.

And for mesmers, the charge up effects need to be buffed too, which I think they are from the notes. We just don't know if they will be enough yet.

Edited February 5, 2023 by Gaiawolf.8261

[Dr Meta.3158]

On 2/4/2023 at 12:22 AM, Arianth Moonlight.6453 said:

I'm sure I can solo it if I try really hard. After all, I've been soloing content that was supposed to be unsoloable since GW1. However, I'm trying to point to the fact that other professions can literally face-tank this kind of bosses and still deal way more damage than Necro/Reaper.

either they boost our damage to 50k or give us real sustain because right now, we have none.

So I went back to try partially to see if the pokemon sword/shield boons worked in dungeons (they don't). I ended up soloing the entire thing including the last boss. I don't think 50k is necessary for any class but I did do a writeup of what I think are good changes for reaper overall below.

 

[MagicBot.1570]

Hello, just stopping by to share suggestions for the Willbender. The point of this post is to make Alacrity Willbender viable :

PvE Willbender suggestions

Edited February 5, 2023 by MagicBot.1570

[Royalroil.5149]

Yet again, Revenant Hammer skill-line  receives no changes. Hammer Rev will basicly never see serious play. The fact that Hammer is available for Revenant is nearly pointless. The exception being zerg WvW gameplay.

 

I would like to see a rework on the Hammer's basic attacks, hammer 1 and cast time reduction or larger AoE for hammer 5.

In my opinion all 5 of the skills should receive sometype of rework.

 

Please comment and/or continue this conversation if you would like to see changes to Hammer Revenant 🔨 

Or let me know if I'm crazy or wrong.

[Dominic.5719]

Unfortunantly the Ranger shortbow 2 is still causing mine freezes/lags.

It is really annoying in SPVP.

 

Please Anet try to fix this. 

[Leyf.1506]

wow this is depressing. Ele has felt so hard to enjoy in PvP and I finally was feeling like I could keep up with Dragonhunters, Spellbreakers, Daredevils, Firebrands, Vindicators, Soulbeasts (you get the picture) in PvP, but now you've nerfed all their defensive abilities away. You buffed many of these already over-performing classes in PvP.

 

I have been struggling to enjoy Ele PvP since GW2 launch, and I got to enjoy it for a week before it gets nerfed 

 

Yeah, maybe catalyst was too strong for the literal professional PvPers, but for us normal players, it was finally able to put up a fight.

 

VERY excited for the new staff changes in PvP! I can't wait to wave that bus-on-a-stick around and feel like I'm useless again. /s

 

[Zivhayr.3658]

Untamed teleport change is going to feel really bad, less play options

[Jski.6180]

So seeing how they are "nerfing" dagger 3 earth and fire for ele can we just make all leap and movement skills stop when they hit there targets or a target. Thoughts skills are just as un-safe to use in pve.

[Fallub.9103]

I am more than sad to see the nerfs of Mesmer Mantras. I really don‘t see any benefit for changing them and they are already very weak. Please give us at least the PvE auto-recast that Firebrands get, or else they will probably never be used again. 

[Pie.2167]

I appreciate the effort that is going in to these balance patches and that should be applauded. Thank you!

My two cents on the mesmer changes.

Master of Manipulation is a buff to Mirror,  Mimic, and Mass Invisibility as now the cool down reduction is available all the time without this being traited.  It is a nerf to Blink, Illusion of Life, and Arcane Thievery and this will hurt mesmer mobility especially in WvW and PvP.   It is already a slow profession and requires Fireworks or Travelers runes to even keep up.  The change of superspeed to aegis is an interesting choice, perhaps this was done to generate more blades for Virtuoso, but that did not seem to be an issue before.  Superspeed with Arcane Thievery and Blink was nice.  The trait certainly doesn't feel very masterful anymore and there is little reason to use it. 

Chronomancer shield buffs are nice and I like the addition of a trait to buff Glamour skills. However, Manipulations didn't need to be nerfed to do it.

Nice attempt to buff Chrono wells, but the final pulse the strongest is poor design in PvP/WvW, they should work more like Chaos Storm which dazes on first strike.  Well of Action and Senility are still not very good skills.

Still no word on Mirage dodge in WvW/PvP is disappointing.

 

Edited February 6, 2023 by Pie.2167
Corrected Illusion of Life reference

[Dadnir.5038]

I do hope this is not the whole patch note because I can see dead traits appearing everywhere.

For example, who is going to take the trait conjurer if this trait only give you fire aura upon taking a conjured weapon?

Edited February 5, 2023 by Dadnir.5038

[Merica Madman.4695]

We keep going round and round the buff / nerf merry go round. This has to be very frustrating for a new player that has invested their time into learning, gearing, and gathering resources for that hero. Which brings up a question, is there an agreed upon dps target for solo or group play?

 

Guardian

Is it just me or is the revert back to the old way Firebrand mantras work really a way to hamstring it in PVP? Meaning, you have to pre-cast prior to using the mantras (unlike PVE if out of combat).

 

A buff to power guardian will make Dragonhunters more viable again.

 

Nerfing right hand strength will definitely hurt core guardian builds.

 

Necro

I am shocked that Reaper is getting buffs and not a nerf.

 

Thief

Thank you for addressing perma stealth thief.

 

Other suggestions unrelated to the patch:

Fractals

1) Is it possible to allow people to keep sigil stacks if they GG.

 

WVW

1) Increase the weekly gold reward to 20g to make it worth wild. 8g on top of the daily 2g is nothing compared to 20-40g from doing daily T4 fractals

[Daniel.9240]

On 2/2/2023 at 9:19 PM, Rubi Bayer.8493 said:

Flame Burst: This skill now inflicts blind in addition to burning.

I mean.. Why? doesn't core ele have a trait that add blindness? or better! staff air 3 skill?

 

On 2/2/2023 at 9:19 PM, Rubi Bayer.8493 said:

Frozen Ground: This skill now grants frost aura to allies in the area when the field is created.

I mean... WHY? doesn't ele have enough options to do a blast combo.? like... staff earth 2 skill? (if you don't want to use evasive arcana, arcane brillance or arcane wave)

 

I know that staff on ele is not a first option. But dude, creating low intensity builds (like autotarget scepter) it doesn't improve the competitive environment!

[Frenade.6745]

On 2/3/2023 at 11:36 PM, Frenade.6745 said:

Amazing Elementalist updates! ❤️
Loving this direction for both weapons and utility skills. AND the alacrity fix for Tempest! WOOOH!
Good job Cmc and the team! Keep it up! 🙂

Now for some Elementalist feedback. 🌻

"Burning Speed/Earthen Rush"
The damage effects on these skills still need to reach their maximum range, even if the player stops. Especially the Fire Field.

"Burning Retreat"
I'd really prefer if this skill was ground-targetable, especially now that "Gust" is ground-targetable. (Same goes for the "Conjure Flame Axe" version, skill 3.) "Conjure Fiery Greatsword" skill 3 is also already ground-targetable, so this would make everything a bit more consistent.

"Conjurer"
The cooldown reduction needs to be baseline for conjured weapons now, like for cantrips. This trait also needs something more to be able to compete with the other two fire adept traits. We already have "Burning Precision" as the obvious Condi/Hybrid pick, so "Conjurer" should bring some Power damage oomph instead. A simple 10% strike damage bonus while wielding a conjured weapon, or perhaps while you have an active aura would be neat! Even better if the effect lingers for a few seconds.

"Catalyst"
Our current sphere energy mechanic is simply not fun or rewarding to interact with. It's cumbersome to grasp if I have enough energy to cast 2 or 3 Spheres, or sometimes I'm only missing that 1 extra energy when I'm blocked from gaining more energy until my active sphere has expired. Super frustrating.
Also, all other weapons than hammer struggle to juice up enough energy. The trait "Energized Element" is supposed to help, but 2 energy on attunement switch is far from enough. Maybe 4 to 5 energy could be noteworthy. But we still struggle at the start of combat, as we cannot apply boons until we've found something to attack to fill our energy. This is even more punishing if you want to play Healer/Support Catalyst. 
I'd prefer a rework/removal of the energy mechanic all together. (Ammo system, similar to Firebrand perhaps?)

"Utility Skills"
The changes to Cantrips are great! Other elementalist utility skills are in much more need of a rework though, like "Glyph of Elemental Power". Looking forward to more changes following Cantrips' direction.

Cheers! 🌻

Edited February 6, 2023 by Frenade.6745

[Nihil.9817]

dagger 3 should stay the same on necro, the boon corrupt is a fc counter you can use dagger main hand 3 on a spell breaker and rupt their stab and they have no dodge animation, the dagger 3 change is a buff to spell breaker

[Frostterror.6075]

Rip Competitive play for FB mantra. Not going to be a welcome change what so ever from a WvW standpoint. PvE sure I can understand being a environment where you can time things well with the mechanics of a boss fight. But that is not the same for WvW and the unpredictable squad on squad action. So instead of FB using there time to channel and cast there utility like hallowed ground but now will have to make sure they burn there stab just so they can recharge the mantras and not keep the team alive. I myself normally have 3-4 mantras that I use often in group play. On top of that for the page recharge, I have been in support of the new FB system. So I would prefer to keep that vs the cast the last mantra to get a page back. Only thing that would have been better to also keep track of the 8 sec recharge time is to give us a time for it so it wouldn't feel random.

[Acheron.1580]

Kind of weird to rework well of silence when well of tears is completely useless and strike damage doesn't even remotely fit the class. Just sayin'.

While on the topic of thief wells, maybe make them work under water too so we can do alac for that one stupid fractal.

Edited February 5, 2023 by Acheron.1580
On the topic of wells

[Magus.8152]

I don't understand why Reaper shroud doesn't get the same thing Specter did. Make them take 33% reduced damage in PvE only, and this would probably just make them able to function again in both fractals and raids.

 

Overall, very...underwhelming. I'd like to see something done to Untamed to allow for an alternative but effective build that doesn't require the high APM of FF.

 

EDIT: Also, please, for the love of the Six, make wells functional underwater for alac specter so we can actually DO the fractal content. 

Edited February 5, 2023 by Magus.8152

[jeferson.5679]

On 2/2/2023 at 8:19 PM, Rubi Bayer.8493 said:

Water Blast: This skill can now target allies.

can we have an attack speed for this skill ? the  staff skills 1 are too slow, but with a change in water blast it would give the elementalist a better support.