May 2 Balance Update Preview

[Tobias.4975]

In advance i hope i didn't wrote so harshly and please excuse my bad english.

 

Herald

Facet of Nature change from 10 to 5 man. It has bound to happen sooner or later 

For only 5 man all passives are way too weak. 

 

My question is: Why taking a Quickherald as Heal after the nerf? It was one of the core utilities.

Also we need a Shield rework, It gives slightly no utility for the group and skill 5 is only selfish.

 

What i wish especially for QuickDpsHerald is a solution for doubletapping the F2. It's not often, but when it is very annoying.

Maybe there can some change like spectre F1?

 

Renegade

Yes CondiAlacRenegade is a bit strong. But nerving the Dps-Variant at the same time isn't the way in my opinion?

Nice to see is a buff for PowerRenegade

 

 

Bugfixes are always nice to see.

 

I know life is not a request concert, but i got also a few wishes:

 

For Core: Please show some love to the hammer. It is such a great idea behind this weapen, but not playable in pve-endcontent such as raids or fractals. WvW only in zergfights. Pvp i don't know and openworld you can play at least everything.

 

As i wrote for Herald: Shieldrework. Maybe something to give stability or aegis.

 

For Renegade: If you found a way to tune down only the CondiAlac-Variant without touching the Power- and DPS- Variants I'm fine with it.

 

For Vindicator: Animationfix for dodges underwater, they are way too long.

New animation for Greatsword 5, I'm not a reaper. ^^(maybe holding the Gs in the air to summon the blasts)

 

 

[Jummer.2045]

As someone who really likes Alac Willbender, nerfing Phoenix Protocol seems like a very bad move. 
not only is it already increasingly hard to even provide full alac uptime with 0boon duration, it's also very unrealiable and you kind of need a boon table to see your uptime on group, since you give yourself more alacrity than you give the rest of your party.
What a lot of people, even those who play alac willbender dont realize is, that the initial alacrity you provide when activating flowing resolve, does NOT get shared with your group. So looking at your own boon bar and seeing,that you have more than enough alacrity doesnt mean that anyone else in your group even exceeds 50% uptime. I personally need 25% boon duration to reliably provide 100% uptime for my group, while i can easily provide 100% uptime for myself even without playing well or without any boon duration at all.
So instead of only nerfing Phoenix protocol, please at least make the initial alacrity from flowing resolve shareable. This is really what the biggest issue with alac willbender is. People not realizing, that they themselves get way more alacrity and leaving the rest of the group to struggle.

[Nightara.1804]

26 minutes ago, RasSativa.5109 said:

By halving the alac duration you will lower the dps of condi alac mirage (staff - staff) lower then other alac builds.

kitten. You only reduce the Precision and Power by running full Ritu. Staff/Staff has 2k power DPS on the benchmark, so it is absolutely impossible for this change to have any greater effect than -2k DPS (And that's assuming the power DPS will be nerfed to LITERALLY ZERO, which is far from true). Yes, you will lose a few stacks of Bleeding due to Sharper Images, but I highly doubt those are anywhere near relevant for Staff/Staff considering its low attack speed.

The benchmark has a crit chance of ~45%, going full Ritu would reduce that to 30%, that's like one stack of Bleeding (Uptime, not total) you lose. Not. Even. Remotely. Relevant.

For Staff/Axe? Yes. For Staff/Staff? Nope. Absolutely. Not.

[dukefx.9730]

While I appreciate that Smash Brawler that is by far the weakest option is finally getting a long overdue buff but increasing the critical chance while in berserk mode is a terrible idea. People usually calculate how much precision they need for whatever their goal is. This will either make the critical chance suffer while not being in berserk mode or make that +15% useless if someone is at 100% already with gear stats+strength trait+fury+food. I'd strongly recommend to either add something that doesn't screw over the player like +attack speed while in berserk mode similar to the dual wielding trait for example or make that +critical chance work outside of berserk mode as well.

[Doggie.3184]

Boooo 👎

[Xycho.5642]

We are temporarily disabling an ranger minor trait, Untamed. while we address an issue. We will reactivate it as soon as possible in 2024 with the next balance patch. This will severely impact the untamed elite spec--we recommend that ranger players avoid it until this is resolved.

[shrikes.2983]

Mirage's Chaos Vortex is getting another nerf? Really?

I don't raid or do much competitively with other players, but I find I enjoy giving out alac in open world events. I'm not a very good player, and my alac uptime is terrible, but now what's the point? I think I'll be scrapping my staff/staff alac build. Shame. It was my favorite build.

[Exo.2143]

Thief is in a good place? Of all classes, I was expecting a buff the most for pDaredevil. I strongly advise you to listen to the comments that REMagic made on reddit. Very easily buffs to Thief, while also not making it too overpowered.

Link: reddit link

Edited April 22, 2023 by Exo.2143

[Bebuch.6904]

16 hours ago, Nitro.4732 said:

 

Can you please stop punishing players in instanced content when you have no choice to use zip-lines.  (and other mechanics)

Examples:  KO strike mission travelling between platforms, Dhuum Greens.

These just make you want to avoid doing mechanics as a soulbeast.

I have to agree with it... everytime when I'm merged and have to use zip line... absolutely total disaster... 

Merge>use zip line (became unmerged)>... wait for cooldown to be merged again and loose your mind because you can not start like other ppl... encounter like Kaening Overlook...

It reminds me problems with merging going underwater...

[VictorLeal.4102]

Nice reaper changes, it's been my main since before last year's disastrous changes.. and now we starting eating well 

[Lithril Ashwalker.6230]

"Thief

Thief is generally in a good spot, and we didn't see any major outliers that needed to be addressed with this update. We're working on some larger adjustments for the next update in June, including the goal of significantly improving specter support builds and introducing a quickness build for deadeye.

Signets of Power is a trait that we reworked in the last balance update that didn't quite hit the mark. We want to be cautious with repeatable initiative sources like this, but we feel like there's still room to tune it up."

bruh, if deadeye gets aoe quickness on top of specter improvements (deemed by community) then EcK is gonna be meme stacks all day with alacrity AND quickness...raids and strikes cheeeeeese. Anyone see this then hit me up in regards to joining the Thief Exclusive community!

[Burial.1958]

18 hours ago, Rubi Bayer.8493 said:

Thief

Thief is generally in a good spot, and we didn't see any major outliers that needed to be addressed with this update. We're working on some larger adjustments for the next update in June, including the goal of significantly improving specter support builds and introducing a quickness build for deadeye.

Signets of Power is a trait that we reworked in the last balance update that didn't quite hit the mark. We want to be cautious with repeatable initiative sources like this, but we feel like there's still room to tune it up.

Core

• Signets of Power: Increased initiative gain from 1 to 2.

Bug Fixes

• Weakening Charge: Fixed an issue that prevented this skill from creating Combo Finisher: Whirl the correct number of times.
• Well of Sorrow: Fixed an issue that prevented this skill from being affected by quickness.

hirl the correct number of times.

 

Okei. I do not know how Anet thinks that Thief is in a good spot.

[Methuselah.4376]

17 hours ago, stormemperor.3745 said:

Can you ducking add fury to power reaper for once?

IT IS THE ONLY BUILD IN ENTIRE GAME THAT CANNOT PROVIDE ITS OWN FURY.

Every other build shits out fury like crazy, even condition reaper.

Thanks,

Chilled to the Bone will take care of that. 

[misterman.1530]

19 hours ago, Rubi Bayer.8493 said:

 

Necromancer

Power-based reaper is another damage build that we looked at for this update, and we've brought up the damage of a lot of its key skills to make it a more competitive pick.

Reaper

• Shouts' damage bonus for melee range increased from 50% to 100% in PvE only.
• "Chilled to the Bone!": Reduced cooldown from 36 seconds to 30 seconds in PvE only.
• Gravedigger: Increased power coefficient from 3.0 to 3.6 in PvE only.
• Nightfall: Increased power coefficient from 1.05 to 1.15 in PvE only.
• Soul Spiral: Increased power coefficient from 0.6 to 0.7 in PvE only.
• Life Rend: Increased power coefficient from 0.9 to 1.4 in PvE only.
• Life Slash: Increased power coefficient from 1.25 to 1.6 in PvE only.
• Life Reap: Increased power coefficient from 1.7 to 1.8 in PvE only.
• Infusing Terror: Increased damage reduction percentage from 20% to 66% in PvE only.
• Deathly Chill: Adjusted bleeding from 2 stacks for 8 seconds to 4 stacks for 4 seconds in PvE only.

Uses the words "competitive pick" and then promptly buffs in PVE only. So, "competitive" in what respect? Are people somehow competing in PVE? Bad choice of adjective.

[misterman.1530]

1 hour ago, VictorLeal.4102 said:

Nice reaper changes, it's been my main since before last year's disastrous changes.. and now we starting eating well 

Sorry. I have to ask.

I main a Necro...were you actually having issues in PVE with a Reaper? 

Serious question. I don't, and have never, been in a Raid. Is that where the issues Anet is trying to address are?

[Antina.5973]

The changes to FB are awful, sure with current numbers quick FB was to be nerfed for sure, but why again at the cost of dps FB? At the same time you state that other specs that hit similar numbers to dps FB are in a good spot, like the top of the charts thief.

Why do we promote axe camping and uninteresting gameplay now (Unrelenting Criticism).

Why the middle column of traits in Firebrand spec has to be uninteresting garbage for non-suport builds? If you intend firebrand to be only support spec then at least give us back some options to pick up.

Ashes of the Just nerf? That is already a pain of a skill to use as you can't control on what target those stacks are used, and now you take more from us. Are we going to run quickness mantra now to proc Quickfire every 7ish seconds on dps FB?

Also why can't we have at least a balance patch cycle of rest after all those tome, mantra, and other changes?

[jkofortytwo.1795]

Alacrity Willbender is not a buid that is overperforming for most people. The reasons why it is possible to get high benchmarks and alacrity uptime with the build is imo:

1. That you can can interrupt a lot of aftercasts. This is difficult and not a fun way to play.

2. That the training golem can be attacked all the time. On a real encounter that wont be the case and you will need more boon duration.

3. That you can have unrealistic amounts of agegis (and other boons) on the golem.

 

Maybe the build is overperforming a bit for some people, but for most of us alacrity mechanist will still perform better.  Preventing after cast interupptions, or lower the aftercast and some power coeficients would be much better to make the build more in line with other alac builds and also more enjoyable to play.

[Kolzi.5928]

Glad to see some reaper changes, they look pretty respectable. The change to deathly chill is a little weird - it's a buff to condi reaper burst, obviously... I'd just have thought you might actually tune up the damage of it.

 

Since you are trying to differentiate "Chilled to the Bone!" in pve (since it has always unfortunately shared a bit of a role with the charge skill on the flesh golem), might I suggest that you add a chill combo field to CttB? This would give it some nice synergy for condi reaper at the very least, in letting you gravedigger inside the frost field a couple of times while on greatsword (plus pulsing a few extra chill stacks, and thus bleed stacks, in the area over its duration would be good), and it is quite thematic.

 

I know shouts don't usually leave aoes behind, but it's an elite shout that has long struggled to find its place despite being pretty cool. You can bend the rules a little, surely.

[Root the Kid.1026]

18 hours ago, Razor.9305 said:

I appreciate that this skill is being kept in line with the game in general, but I think the passives per legend were only viable when applied to a large amount of targets. With how weak most of the Facet of Nature passives and their active counterparts are, it would be great to have another look at this skill.

A possibility could be to return to the original One With Nature skill that applies multiple boons and have True Nature always apply the same passive buff. I think that would be generally accepted in all game modes and would make Herald feel closer to what it was originally. Appreciate if you could give this one a thought!

 

Yes please have a look at how this affects all Herald builds. This does not only affect the Boon support role. A lot of Power Heralds damage comes from the Shiro Passive. This could reduce the Power Heralds damage about 2k. With this change the power Herald is than not an option anymore compared to other power damage classes.

[cyberzombie.7348]

20 hours ago, Rubi Bayer.8493 said:

introducing a quickness build for deadeye.

Trust me, quickness builds already exist for that.

What concerns me about deadeye is that its basically p/p 3.0. As for years in pvp/wvw, the meta strategy has been to just run-n-gun spamming skirmisher shot and death's judgment. Which is effective but also neigh braindead and overshadows p/p kit.

Perhaps making kneel skills more rewarding (outside of snipers cover) and buffing the cantrips', but nerfing skirmisher shot in pvp environments would make it far more strategic and balanced.

[VictorLeal.4102]

1 hour ago, misterman.1530 said:

Sorry. I have to ask.

I main a Necro...were you actually having issues in PVE with a Reaper? 

Serious question. I don't, and have never, been in a Raid. Is that where the issues Anet is trying to address are?

Reaper had low DPS, Life Force generation issue, weak Shouts skills that were useless, very bad elite, weird traits. And with each patch they are fixing these aspects. 

Edited April 22, 2023 by VictorLeal.4102

[Sennje.3067]

Nerfing Mirage where it is best seems like a good idea, on a simple boss it has an incredible performance, but then I think you should also address the problem it has with phase changes with no targets and fights against several weak enemies where it is hard to keep up clones and attacking.

[Kain Francois.4328]

21 hours ago, Rubi Bayer.8493 said:

•  
• Soul Grasp: Increased power coefficient from 0.2 to 2.0 in PvE only. Increased base healing from 440 to 1,003 in PvE only.

 

Hi!

Is it meant to specify HEALING Power, or Strike Power?

0.20 coefficient is the Healing one.

0.75 coefficient is the damage component.

Thank you!

 

Edited April 22, 2023 by Kain Francois.4328

[Firby.9103]

hey, could you maybe please leave alac mirage alone? if you are not cool with how staxe mirage performs, cool, but can you please not address this problem looking at staff all the time? thank you

[HnRkLnXqZ.1870]

We had worse balance patches.

Those rants how ANet ruins everything, makes everything worse, does absolutely nothing and has no competence regarding balancing at all are getting really repetitive. I do complain when stuff goes sideways. But this is not the case here. There more buffs than nerfs and some builds may step out of the shadows once again.

Really appreciate the core-buffs. Those will come in handy. Thief is a little underwhelming, but at least it was not nerfed much further.

Bring on those confused reactions. Aiming for 20+ this time 😉