Potential issues with our new boon dps specs!

[feeper.5287]

Hello fellow Tyrians! TLDR at the end

The June 27th patch notes sure have a lot to think about and overall I’m very happy with the direction Anet is pushing boon builds to having more flexibility and not having to spam skills off cooldown to provide key boons (namely quickness and alacrity). However, I do feel that warrior didn’t quite get the same attention to its boon application that other specs did. I am excited and happy that we got two boon dps builds but I fear the core design of the specs won’t allow for much functionality and cause these two builds to essentially not exist. Currently warrior has 3 (or 4 if you count core) quick dps specs but not many people play them (mainly) because you don’t have any control over when you apply your boons since they’re tied to banners. Obv that’s changing but the same problem might arise. I think Berserker will have more playability issues than Bladesworn so I’ll start with my thoughts on Bladesworn first.

I think putting alacrity on Daring Dragon is a cool idea as it is a different way to play Bladesworn and makes an underused trait more popular. IMO grandmaster traits should have a fairly large impact on your playstyle so that’s definitely a win. We don’t know the base alacrity amount and it’s hard to tell from the patch notes but I’m assuming you no longer go into another dragon trigger after you dragon slash with this trait now? If that’s the case the only “buffer” you have is your mine resetting dragon trigger to get more alac. I’d love to see Lush Forest provide alacrity when you consume the last round of ammunition skill so we have more control and uptime on alac and it’s not solely tied to bursting. In general a problem warrior has is they keep putting boon application on bursting and not on utility skills you can truly be reactive with. Banners losing quickness def helps and w/BDS you are taking tactics anyway so now you can (at the cost of some DPS) give your sub more stab and prot which is very nice. I think BDS could be a solid alac dps spec as it is now but I think it could use a bit more juice w/another trait or utility giving alacrity.

Now for Berserker. Personally I don’t think Berserker getting quickness makes any sense. The fantasy of a berserker imo is about smashing buttons and being an all out brawler. I can’t think of a single RPG where I’ve looked to my berserker/barbarian type class for support outside of them yelling at me and our enemies haha. I’m sure plenty of people will disagree but for me it’s a very odd pairing. The issue BZ will face is that you don’t have any room to take other utility skills because if you drop any of them for a banner or something else you drastically hurt your berserk uptime. You’re also not taking tactics so you don’t have the option for other boons there. Since so much of your dmg modifiers and crit chance is locked behind berserk mode, dropping that is already punishing and is going to be even more so on this build. Ofc the crit chance isn’t a problem for a condi quick berserker build but I just don’t see the functionality of either build being very good. Not everything needs to be the best of the best to be played ofc but I think the core design of berserker doesn’t lend itself to being a boon provider as it’s very “selfish.” Berserker is just too rigid in what it already needs/wants to function properly as a support dps build in endgame content.

For some proposed changes, I would move quickness to Spellbreaker. I will admit my bias towards Spellbreaker as it is my fav of the three but I think thematically and gameplay-wise it’s a much better fit. You take tactics on GS SPB so you have extra boon support here (and honestly tactics hammer isn't as troll as it sounds), you don’t rely on your utility skills nearly as much as Berserker so you have room to be flexible and the entire identity of SPB is centered around boons. They could keep the burst skill applying quick and it could allow for experienced SPB’s to flex a bit since Full Counter resets your weapon’s burst skill and is a burst skill itself. I’d also rework Revenge Counter to have it so when you taunt an enemy you share your boons to allies or apply quickness. This breathes life into an underused trait and a utility skill.

I’m curious as to what other people think about Anet’s changes and what I’ve proposed here. These are just ideas, there’s plenty of other things they could do. One thing they could do for Berserker is whenever you extend your berserk duration you apply quickness. Regardless I’m looking forward to trying these two builds out and all the other new toys other classes got! Maybe quick Berserker will be fun as hell and I’m completely wrong!

 

TLDR

• Have Lush Forest give alac as well when you consume your last ammo of a skill

• Berserker doesn’t have the flexibility to be a proper boon dps class due to its need to maintain berserk mode

• The tactics changes seem pretty pog and will allow BDS and a potential SPB boon dps to have solid options for more boons although it would be nice if it wasn’t tied to bursting

• I’d move quickness to Spellbreaker and rework Revenge counter or another trait and a meditation
   

Edited June 10, 2023 by feeper.5287

[Lan Deathrider.5910]

Light side users do not care for dark side users much like how Anet does not care for warriors...

[JTGuevara.9018]

49 minutes ago, feeper.5287 said:

Hello fellow Tyrians! TLDR at the end

The June 27th patch notes sure have a lot to think about and overall I’m very happy with the direction Anet is pushing boon builds to having more flexibility and not having to spam skills off cooldown to provide key boons (namely quickness and alacrity). However, I do feel that warrior didn’t quite get the same attention to its boon application that other specs did. I am excited and happy that we got two boon dps builds but I fear the core design of the specs won’t allow for much functionality and cause these two builds to essentially not exist. Currently warrior has 3 (or 4 if you count core) quick dps specs but not many people play them (mainly) because you don’t have any control over when you apply your boons since they’re tied to banners. Obv that’s changing but the same problem might arise. I think Berserker will have more playability issues than Bladesworn so I’ll start with my thoughts on Bladesworn first.

I think putting alacrity on Daring Dragon is a cool idea as it is a different way to play Bladesworn and makes an underused trait more popular. IMO grandmaster traits should have a fairly large impact on your playstyle so that’s definitely a win. We don’t know the base alacrity amount and it’s hard to tell from the patch notes but I’m assuming you no longer go into another dragon trigger after you dragon slash with this trait now? If that’s the case the only “buffer” you have is your mine resetting dragon trigger to get more alac. I’d love to see Lush Forest provide alacrity when you consume the last round of ammunition skill so we have more control and uptime on alac and it’s not solely tied to bursting. In general a problem warrior has is they keep putting boon application on bursting and not on utility skills you can truly be reactive with. Banners losing quickness def helps and w/BDS you are taking tactics anyway so now you can (at the cost of some DPS) give your sub more stab and prot which is very nice. I think BDS could be a solid alac dps spec as it is now but I think it could use a bit more juice w/another trait or utility giving alacrity.

Now for Berserker. Personally I don’t think Berserker getting quickness makes any sense. The fantasy of a berserker imo is about smashing buttons and being an all out brawler. I can’t think of a single RPG where I’ve looked to my berserker/barbarian type class for support outside of them yelling at me and our enemies haha. I’m sure plenty of people will disagree but for me it’s a very odd pairing. The issue BZ will face is that you don’t have any room to take other utility skills because if you drop any of them for a banner or something else you drastically hurt your berserk uptime. You’re also not taking tactics so you don’t have the option for other boons there. Since so much of your dmg modifiers and crit chance is locked behind berserk mode, dropping that is already punishing and is going to be even more so on this build. Ofc the crit chance isn’t a problem for a condi quick berserker build but I just don’t see the functionality of either build being very good. Not everything needs to be the best of the best to be played ofc but I think the core design of berserker doesn’t lend itself to being a boon provider as it’s very “selfish.” Berserker is just too rigid in what it already needs/wants to function properly as a support dps build in endgame content.

For some proposed changes, I would move quickness to Spellbreaker. I will admit my bias towards Spellbreaker as it is my fav of the three but I think thematically and gameplay-wise it’s a much better fit. You take tactics on GS SPB so you have extra boon support here (and honestly tactics hammer isn't as troll as it sounds), you don’t rely on your utility skills nearly as much as Berserker so you have room to be flexible and the entire identity of SPB is centered around boons. They could keep the burst skill applying quick and it could allow for experienced SPB’s to flex a bit since Full Counter resets your weapon’s burst skill and is a burst skill itself. I’d also rework Revenge Counter to have it so when you taunt an enemy you share your boons to allies or apply quickness. This breathes life into an underused trait and a utility skill.

I’m curious as to what other people think about Anet’s changes and what I’ve proposed here. These are just ideas, there’s plenty of other things they could do. One thing they could do for Berserker is whenever you extend your berserk duration you apply quickness. Regardless I’m looking forward to trying these two builds out and all the other new toys other classes got! Maybe quick Berserker will be fun as hell and I’m completely wrong!

 

TLDR

• Have Lush Forest give alac as well when you consume your last ammo of a skill

• Berserker doesn’t have the flexibility to be a proper boon dps class due to its need to maintain berserk mode

• The tactics changes seem pretty pog and will allow BDS and a potential SPB boon dps to have solid options for more boons although it would be nice if it wasn’t tied to bursting

• I’d move quickness to Spellbreaker and rework Revenge counter or another trait and a meditation
   

In other words, warrior is not invited to the boon party. Just say it.

Used to be that warrior was invited to the party only if it brought quickness, now it's not even invited at all.

I oppose the boon fiesta this game is becoming, but if you're going to have this fiesta...invite everyone.

[JTGuevara.9018]

Just now, Lan Deathrider.5910 said:

Light side users do not care for dark side users much like how Anet does not care for warriors...

Good. Then I shouldn't care about coughing up my money. I'll just spend it somewhere else. (GOG, Steam, etc.) Oh wait! I already do.

The only silver lining in this update are rifle buffs, which means: Yup. You're going to see more berzerker rifle in wvw. I hope folks like Gun Flame with a side of ranch dressing...

[oscuro.9720]

I disagree that quickness doesn’t fit on berserker. I felt it thematically a very comfortable fit. Berserker attacks faster as it hits more things feels very berserker to me. But everyone has different opinions 🙂 

As for spell, I don’t think quickness fits as an anti-boon spec. Granted there is absolutely space for it in spell with at least 1 trait per tier being open for change. My problem is that I like how spell functions presently (it’s my favorite spec as well) and would prefer it lean into its niche. Just my personal desires though.

I like the idea of alac on lush forest. It would be a good way to build more availability into Blade, and allow for providing some alac early in a fight before DS is charged.

Question; do you know if the alacrity provided by Daring Dragon will scale based on number of charges stored, or is it a base value, or do we not know yet?

[Lan Deathrider.5910]

12 minutes ago, oscuro.9720 said:

I disagree that quickness doesn’t fit on berserker. I felt it thematically a very comfortable fit. Berserker attacks faster as it hits more things feels very berserker to me. But everyone has different opinions 🙂 

As for spell, I don’t think quickness fits as an anti-boon spec. Granted there is absolutely space for it in spell with at least 1 trait per tier being open for change. My problem is that I like how spell functions presently (it’s my favorite spec as well) and would prefer it lean into its niche. Just my personal desires though.

I like the idea of alac on lush forest. It would be a good way to build more availability into Blade, and allow for providing some alac early in a fight before DS is charged.

Question; do you know if the alacrity provided by Daring Dragon will scale based on number of charges stored, or is it a base value, or do we not know yet?

They said nothing other than it would be via that trait.

[Dahkeus.8243]

Please consider changing your text to the default color. 

[feeper.5287]

46 minutes ago, oscuro.9720 said:

I disagree that quickness doesn’t fit on berserker. I felt it thematically a very comfortable fit. Berserker attacks faster as it hits more things feels very berserker to me. But everyone has different opinions 🙂 

As for spell, I don’t think quickness fits as an anti-boon spec. Granted there is absolutely space for it in spell with at least 1 trait per tier being open for change. My problem is that I like how spell functions presently (it’s my favorite spec as well) and would prefer it lean into its niche. Just my personal desires though.

I like the idea of alac on lush forest. It would be a good way to build more availability into Blade, and allow for providing some alac early in a fight before DS is charged.

Question; do you know if the alacrity provided by Daring Dragon will scale based on number of charges stored, or is it a base value, or do we not know yet?

Totally fair! Maybe that's what Anet was thinking as well as Berserker does go zoom zoom. I see SPB's niche being a boon dps build as well as full dps but different strokes for different folks. Idk about Daring Dragon scaling the alac with # of charges. I would assume not but that would be pretty cool! And yeah being able to apply boons outside of combat is always nice

[feeper.5287]

3 minutes ago, Dahkeus.8243 said:

Please consider changing your text to the default color. 

gotchu bby

[oscuro.9720]

6 hours ago, Lan Deathrider.5910 said:

Light side users do not care for dark side users much like how Anet does not care for warriors...

You see, this is how we know the dark moders are inferior. We don’t see light moders complaining they can’t read something. 

[Lan Deathrider.5910]

8 hours ago, oscuro.9720 said:

You see, this is how we know the dark moders are inferior. We don’t see light moders complaining they can’t read something. 

We have to handicap ourselves to give you a chance 😉

[Red Haired Savage.5430]

I'm fairly certain Alacsworn (and possibly Quickzerker for similar reasons but to a lesser extent possibly) will be DOA in most instances fractals, raids, WvW.  People want long lasting alacrity not something that's given to them in small chunks only while the warrior is in combat (you don't really see too many S/S Mirages very often (except on certain fights) when compared to other alac givers.  Alacsworn will suffer the same issues that S/S Mirage suffers since both can only give alac while in combat, which I think Alacsworn will suffer more since we don't really give out boons as freely as S/S Mirage gives unless we REALLY kitten ourselves swapping damage modifier traits for boon traits which just swapping to the daring dragon will take us down to the same level as dps boons from what I saw from one of CostaPrimo's Youtube videos. Then we'll probably have to give up the DPS traits to give might since that also is somewhat expected of DPS boons.  I'm also assuming we'll have to hit our foe when other builds can just do the thing (except S/S Mirage), I know it says "Grant alacrity to nearby allies when you use Dragon Slash." but Anet being anet all the rest of our burst traits have to hit to do anything.  So if the foe blocks or blinds us we're screwed anyways.

Just my 2 cents we won't see anything come from either build and they'll be DOA and forgotten.  Thanks for nothing Anet...

[feeper.5287]

1 hour ago, Red Haired Savage.5430 said:

I'm fairly certain Alacsworn (and possibly Quickzerker for similar reasons but to a lesser extent possibly) will be DOA in most instances fractals, raids, WvW.  People want long lasting alacrity not something that's given to them in small chunks only while the warrior is in combat (you don't really see too many S/S Mirages very often (except on certain fights) when compared to other alac givers.  Alacsworn will suffer the same issues that S/S Mirage suffers since both can only give alac while in combat, which I think Alacsworn will suffer more since we don't really give out boons as freely as S/S Mirage gives unless we REALLY kitten ourselves swapping damage modifier traits for boon traits which just swapping to the daring dragon will take us down to the same level as dps boons from what I saw from one of CostaPrimo's Youtube videos. Then we'll probably have to give up the DPS traits to give might since that also is somewhat expected of DPS boons.  I'm also assuming we'll have to hit our foe when other builds can just do the thing (except S/S Mirage), I know it says "Grant alacrity to nearby allies when you use Dragon Slash." but Anet being anet all the rest of our burst traits have to hit to do anything.  So if the foe blocks or blinds us we're screwed anyways.

Just my 2 cents we won't see anything come from either build and they'll be DOA and forgotten.  Thanks for nothing Anet...

I would largely agree. Hopefully the base duration for both is good enough where we only need about 20-30% boon duration to be sufficient but yeah not being able to apply boons outside of combat is an issue. I definitely don't see either of these being "meta" in fractals but strikes and raids I think Alacsworn has a chance. I think Quickzerker will largely be passed over due to playability issues and the fact that all it does is dps and quickness which just isn't enough. 

[Red Haired Savage.5430]

34 minutes ago, feeper.5287 said:

I would largely agree. Hopefully the base duration for both is good enough where we only need about 20-30% boon duration to be sufficient but yeah not being able to apply boons outside of combat is an issue. I definitely don't see either of these being "meta" in fractals but strikes and raids I think Alacsworn has a chance. I think Quickzerker will largely be passed over due to playability issues and the fact that all it does is dps and quickness which just isn't enough. 

I see Alacsworn being in a worse spot as you need it to be going between phases when compared to quickness isn't as necessary (it's still useful to be able to stack it up) when you aren't attacking.

[feeper.5287]

19 minutes ago, Red Haired Savage.5430 said:

I see Alacsworn being in a worse spot as you need it to be going between phases when compared to quickness isn't as necessary (it's still useful to be able to stack it up) when you aren't attacking.

Hmm that's very true alac is important to have in-between phases, having alac on lush forest potentially helps that issue. I think alacsworns access to the tactics trait line and it's ability to actually take utility skills that won't nuke it's performance will be a saving grace tho!

Edited June 11, 2023 by feeper.5287

[Red Haired Savage.5430]

7 minutes ago, feeper.5287 said:

Hmm that's very true alac is important to have in-between phases...I think alacsworns access to the tactics trait line and it's ability to actually take utility skills that won't nuke it's performance will be a saving grace tho!

No, the problem for bladesworn is that it's entire utilities side is dedicated to flow generation so there isn't a ton of room for other utilities. It's one reason why quicksworn wasn't very viable from the get go.

[feeper.5287]

5 minutes ago, Red Haired Savage.5430 said:

No, the problem for bladesworn is that it's entire utilities side is dedicated to flow generation so there isn't a ton of room for other utilities. It's one reason why quicksworn wasn't very viable from the get go.

In my experience "To the Limit" and Axe Mastery has been enough flow generation for quick bladesworn

[KryTiKaL.3125]

21 hours ago, JTGuevara.9018 said:

In other words, warrior is not invited to the boon party. Just say it.

Used to be that warrior was invited to the party only if it brought quickness, now it's not even invited at all.

I oppose the boon fiesta this game is becoming, but if you're going to have this fiesta...invite everyone.

E X A C T L Y

Seriously. I do not know what their hesitation is about just giving Warrior access to boons like every other class. It is where it struggles the most. Sure, they have Might and Fury...but basically nothing else. And those two things are only part of the bigger picture when it comes to competitive modes and even when it comes to PvE.

If they want to really drive it in that boons are the thing then they need to give every class an equal treatment with their ability to access them. I've seen the "That would homogenize the game too much" argument but that holds no weight in the discussion because they have very visibly already been doing that and the only classes left in the cold with it are Thief and Warrior, but Thief has god-tier mobility and consistent access to Stealth to compensate for it...Warrior does not.

Edited June 11, 2023 by KryTiKaL.3125

[ZeftheWicked.3076]

Joko the Insightful approves of the Berserker quickness.

The fearmongering here is only second to these sunspear dogs barking at the benevolent rule of Joko the Great.
Quickness on landing a burst is a good idea. Quickness stacks in duration, so being out of berserk mode is no problem, as you can just prestack a lot of it when zerked and then chill when it's down.

Tactics work well with zerker, despite discipline line being the meta. Consider this as a trade off. You can go discipline and have balls to the wall damage while also sharing quickness and banner boons including resolution (from doubled standards).

Or you can choose tactics for major self safety and boon share upgrades at expense of dps. With our without Phalanx Strength, tactics makes Warrior's might stacking for group rock solid. And mending might capitalizes on that making your self sustain huge based off that. You get free prot for group with new Soldier's Comfort and if you like also new group stab source with reworked Martial Cadence. Which is great because banner of tactics has a long cooldown if we're talking stab for allies.
 

[feeper.5287]

1 hour ago, ZeftheWicked.3076 said:

Joko the Insightful approves of the Berserker quickness.

The fearmongering here is only second to these sunspear dogs barking at the benevolent rule of Joko the Great.
Quickness on landing a burst is a good idea. Quickness stacks in duration, so being out of berserk mode is no problem, as you can just prestack a lot of it when zerked and then chill when it's down.

Tactics work well with zerker, despite discipline line being the meta. Consider this as a trade off. You can go discipline and have balls to the wall damage while also sharing quickness and banner boons including resolution (from doubled standards).

Or you can choose tactics for major self safety and boon share upgrades at expense of dps. With our without Phalanx Strength, tactics makes Warrior's might stacking for group rock solid. And mending might capitalizes on that making your self sustain huge based off that. You get free prot for group with new Soldier's Comfort and if you like also new group stab source with reworked Martial Cadence. Which is great because banner of tactics has a long cooldown if we're talking stab for allies.
 

Forgive me Joko, for I am now enlightened

[Lan Deathrider.5910]

33 minutes ago, feeper.5287 said:

Forgive me Joko, for I am now enlightened

Disregard the desiccated desert jerky, Aurene has trouble keeping him down.

(J/k Zeft, got to have some fun every now and then) 

[HeliosMagi.9867]

I actually really like having a Quickness trait on Berserker, but then again I've been trying to make an Open World Berserker build that can maintain Quickness on itself without banners for a long time now, so I'm obviously biased.

The reason for giving Alac to Bladesworn is probably because on paper it's the elite spec most viable for a support build, dues to the interaction between Lush Forest and Shouts. Personally I would have preferred Spellbreaker getting retooled into being the Support spec, if only so that I can use it as a Tank in raids that have tank mechanics, but I'll take having Healsworn vs not having a viable Healer build at all. Plus having Alac now means Warrior can fill more groups in instanced PvE.

Outside of the Arc Divider rework that I'm sure you're all sick of hearing about from me I otherwise feel most of the changes are a net positive.

[JTGuevara.9018]

On 6/11/2023 at 2:31 PM, KryTiKaL.3125 said:

E X A C T L Y

Seriously. I do not know what their hesitation is about just giving Warrior access to boons like every other class. It is where it struggles the most. Sure, they have Might and Fury...but basically nothing else. And those two things are only part of the bigger picture when it comes to competitive modes and even when it comes to PvE.

If they want to really drive it in that boons are the thing then they need to give every class an equal treatment with their ability to access them. I've seen the "That would homogenize the game too much" argument but that holds no weight in the discussion because they have very visibly already been doing that and the only classes left in the cold with it are Thief and Warrior, but Thief has god-tier mobility and consistent access to Stealth to compensate for it...Warrior does not.

 

Amazing, isn't it? EVERY class has a viable boon support build EXCEPT for warrior.

And thief. Nope! Support specter is viable. It can give out multiple boons from its wells (AoEs) plus barrier. That means only warrior is left out in the cold.

For warrior to give out anything other than quickness it has to sacrifice damage for concentration.

[feeper.5287]

19 hours ago, HeliosMagi.9867 said:

I actually really like having a Quickness trait on Berserker, but then again I've been trying to make an Open World Berserker build that can maintain Quickness on itself without banners for a long time now, so I'm obviously biased.

The reason for giving Alac to Bladesworn is probably because on paper it's the elite spec most viable for a support build, dues to the interaction between Lush Forest and Shouts. Personally I would have preferred Spellbreaker getting retooled into being the Support spec, if only so that I can use it as a Tank in raids that have tank mechanics, but I'll take having Healsworn vs not having a viable Healer build at all. Plus having Alac now means Warrior can fill more groups in instanced PvE.

Outside of the Arc Divider rework that I'm sure you're all sick of hearing about from me I otherwise feel most of the changes are a net positive.

Idk even w/Lush Forest you only have one weapon set that can have support on it with Bladesworn and you don't even have access to it all the time due to needing to Dragon Slash, I don't see how BDS is more geared towards support than SPB which has meditations, a perfect candidate for support on top of the support it already has with its CC and boon rip.

Also for open world try using Eternal Champion to keep proc'ing the quickness you get from entering berserk and the Aggressive Onslaught trait in strength! Easy quickness uptime w/a few diviners pieces

[Nephalem.8921]

On 6/10/2023 at 10:21 PM, feeper.5287 said:

Hello fellow Tyrians! TLDR at the end

The June 27th patch notes sure have a lot to think about and overall I’m very happy with the direction Anet is pushing boon builds to having more flexibility and not having to spam skills off cooldown to provide key boons (namely quickness and alacrity). However, I do feel that warrior didn’t quite get the same attention to its boon application that other specs did. I am excited and happy that we got two boon dps builds but I fear the core design of the specs won’t allow for much functionality and cause these two builds to essentially not exist. Currently warrior has 3 (or 4 if you count core) quick dps specs but not many people play them (mainly) because you don’t have any control over when you apply your boons since they’re tied to banners. Obv that’s changing but the same problem might arise. I think Berserker will have more playability issues than Bladesworn so I’ll start with my thoughts on Bladesworn first.

I think putting alacrity on Daring Dragon is a cool idea as it is a different way to play Bladesworn and makes an underused trait more popular. IMO grandmaster traits should have a fairly large impact on your playstyle so that’s definitely a win. We don’t know the base alacrity amount and it’s hard to tell from the patch notes but I’m assuming you no longer go into another dragon trigger after you dragon slash with this trait now? If that’s the case the only “buffer” you have is your mine resetting dragon trigger to get more alac. I’d love to see Lush Forest provide alacrity when you consume the last round of ammunition skill so we have more control and uptime on alac and it’s not solely tied to bursting. In general a problem warrior has is they keep putting boon application on bursting and not on utility skills you can truly be reactive with. Banners losing quickness def helps and w/BDS you are taking tactics anyway so now you can (at the cost of some DPS) give your sub more stab and prot which is very nice. I think BDS could be a solid alac dps spec as it is now but I think it could use a bit more juice w/another trait or utility giving alacrity.

Now for Berserker. Personally I don’t think Berserker getting quickness makes any sense. The fantasy of a berserker imo is about smashing buttons and being an all out brawler. I can’t think of a single RPG where I’ve looked to my berserker/barbarian type class for support outside of them yelling at me and our enemies haha. I’m sure plenty of people will disagree but for me it’s a very odd pairing. The issue BZ will face is that you don’t have any room to take other utility skills because if you drop any of them for a banner or something else you drastically hurt your berserk uptime. You’re also not taking tactics so you don’t have the option for other boons there. Since so much of your dmg modifiers and crit chance is locked behind berserk mode, dropping that is already punishing and is going to be even more so on this build. Ofc the crit chance isn’t a problem for a condi quick berserker build but I just don’t see the functionality of either build being very good. Not everything needs to be the best of the best to be played ofc but I think the core design of berserker doesn’t lend itself to being a boon provider as it’s very “selfish.” Berserker is just too rigid in what it already needs/wants to function properly as a support dps build in endgame content.

For some proposed changes, I would move quickness to Spellbreaker. I will admit my bias towards Spellbreaker as it is my fav of the three but I think thematically and gameplay-wise it’s a much better fit. You take tactics on GS SPB so you have extra boon support here (and honestly tactics hammer isn't as troll as it sounds), you don’t rely on your utility skills nearly as much as Berserker so you have room to be flexible and the entire identity of SPB is centered around boons. They could keep the burst skill applying quick and it could allow for experienced SPB’s to flex a bit since Full Counter resets your weapon’s burst skill and is a burst skill itself. I’d also rework Revenge Counter to have it so when you taunt an enemy you share your boons to allies or apply quickness. This breathes life into an underused trait and a utility skill.

I’m curious as to what other people think about Anet’s changes and what I’ve proposed here. These are just ideas, there’s plenty of other things they could do. One thing they could do for Berserker is whenever you extend your berserk duration you apply quickness. Regardless I’m looking forward to trying these two builds out and all the other new toys other classes got! Maybe quick Berserker will be fun as hell and I’m completely wrong!

 

TLDR

• Have Lush Forest give alac as well when you consume your last ammo of a skill

• Berserker doesn’t have the flexibility to be a proper boon dps class due to its need to maintain berserk mode

• The tactics changes seem pretty pog and will allow BDS and a potential SPB boon dps to have solid options for more boons although it would be nice if it wasn’t tied to bursting

• I’d move quickness to Spellbreaker and rework Revenge counter or another trait and a meditation
   

I am not sure if you realize how berserker will give quickness? It will give quickness with burst skills which is very problematic because the axe set uses one like every second. If they make the base duration too short condi berserker would be unplayable and if they make it too long you would be looking at a 36k+ dps quick berserker because the only thing berserker has to sacrifice for quick is a 10% dmg mod. No utility or anything.

We will see how it turns out but it might lack other boons but it will excel in that one area pretty hard. especially if it can take m/m on swap for cc. It does NOT need banners for quick anymore. In fact banners wont provide any quick at all anymore.