Chronomancer Alacrity; Identity Crisis

[Omegacide.8649]

Hello all,

The change to Alacrity generation has been a major blow to the identity of Chronomancers. Before the June 27th, Chronomancers could:

• Grant Alacrity to allies on-demand through Wells, 5s per cast at 1200u AoE range.
• Maintain 100% Alacrity uptime in and out of combat, through Wells and shield skill 5
• Apply Alacrity to siege in WvW, improving the speed of WvW siege mechanics
• Granted Alacrity from shield skill 5 to allies

Ideally, Chronomancer's role or identity is to alter the flow of time for both allies and enemies, however; due to the June 27th update, regarding Alacrity, Chronomancers now:

• Only grant Alacrity on Phantasm spawn, which requires a target
• Alacrity granted to allies, is only applied around the Chronomancer as opposed to targeted Wells
• Blinded, Evaded(?) or obstructed Phantasms DO NOT generate Alacrity, as some Phantasms do not spawn 
• Alacrity has been severely reduced in duration down to 2s per Phantasm, from 5s per Well
• Most weapon layouts only include a single Phantasm (2 on shield skill 4; 2 on PvE staff 3), which with 10 second swap, only generates 4s Alacrity to allies over 20 seconds.
• No longer apply Alacrity through shield skill 5, ultimately reducing usefulness of the Elite Spec weapon which was solely intended for Chronomancers. (This change may be ultimately because of weapon proficiencies)

These changes didn't bring freedom or breathing room to the Chronomancer, these changes pressure us to constantly use Phantasms and Shatters for boons instead of activating them tactfully. A Chronomancer used to be priority in group content, but now resemble a generic Mesmer. These changes were ultimately a nerf to Chronomancers in PvE, WvW, and PvP regarding their main mechanic: Altering the flow of time, ie Alacrity.

Please let me know what you think about these recent changes.

Edited June 30, 2023 by Omegacide.8649

[Corvin.5679]

it seems bugged but 4 wells still do grant alacrity

and u also share alac when u shatter

[mungozen.2379]

16 minutes ago, Corvin.5679 said:

it seems bugged but 4 wells still do grant alacrity

and u also share alac when u shatter

For those wondering, Well of Senility and Well of Action do not give Alac.  The other 4 give 1-2 seconds Alac on first pulse

To the OP, after a few minutes playing around, it feels like the Quickness build also suffers from similar issues to the Alacrity build.

As Well (pun intended), Heal Alac and Heal Quick Chrono won't be a thing if Wells are intended to be the primary source of Healing but not Boons.  Currently wondering about Inspiration Chrono Support builds with a load of Concentration gear.

 

Edited June 28, 2023 by Mungo Zen.9364

[Omegacide.8649]

I have to second your thoughts on Chrono Wells healer, it has been gutted in it's potential due to the Alacrity changes. I find myself being more and more like an "NPC" in group content now that I'm mostly a quickness DPS Chronomancer. I enjoyed bringing something to the table other than DPS.

[Pie.2167]

I agree with OP 100%.  Chronomancer is terrible at providing Alac now, and that seems really strange and depressing since it was originally one of the core features of the spec.

After this patch, I personally see no reason to run any wells in WvW except Gravity Well.

[Ronin.4501]

The balance team literally took one of the defining purposes of a Chronomancer and removed it. Why not make a thief with no access to stealth, a guardian with no access to aegis/shield, etc? The current balance team is not only the worst in the history of Guild Wars 2, they might just be the worst balance team in the history of MMOs.

[Roadkizzle.2157]

I don't really care if it's Alacrity.

Chronomancer has the Shield and Wells. I just wish I could play a more defensive oriented build with those. 

 

[Mobian.8256]

Edit:

I tested it out and it's not as bad as I initially thought actually. The wording in the game threw me off but it applies through shatters. I think it still has its issues (not being able to apply boons out of combat) and generally I don't think there was a major issue with how alacrity was being applied previously, I think the variety and giving wells/shield more of a purpose was nice.

Edited June 30, 2023 by Mobian.8256

[Omegacide.8649]

I've seen several people point out that shatters give Alacrity; however, this is not shared with allies, only quickness, and it forces a style of play where you cannot meditate on when to shatter and when to generate Phantasms. In both PvE and PvP/WvW, a practiced Mesmer does not spam their core mechanic wildly.

You should ideally, shatter to gain shatter benefits and not spam shatter to keep 100% Alacrity uptime. Being tactful in combat means saving your illusions for distortion, cluster dazing, and well timed continuum rifts. 

If you are spamming your Phantasms for Alacrity/Quickness, you cannot better time them for double shatter bursts, or waiting out boss invulnerability, or dealing with a player who chooses to poke from invis.

It is for this reason, that I believe ANET destroyed the playstyle of Chronomancer. Some won't feel it at first, but you'll never shake the feeling that you had your freedom to apply boons taken from you.

ANET believes separating class mechanics from utility offers freedom, when in reality it forces us to become spastic brawlers.

Edited June 30, 2023 by Omegacide.8649
Incorrect information; Strikeout

[Roadkizzle.2157]

14 minutes ago, Omegacide.8649 said:

I've seen several people point out that shatters give Alacrity; however, this is not shared with allies, only quickness, and it forces a style of play where you cannot meditate on when to shatter and when to generate Phantasms. In both PvE and PvP/WvW, a practiced Mesmer does not spam their core mechanic wildly.

You should ideally, shatter to gain shatter benefits and not spam shatter to keep 100% Alacrity uptime. Being tactful in combat means saving your illusions for distortion, cluster dazing, and well timed continuum rifts. 

If you are spamming your Phantasms for Alacrity/Quickness, you cannot better time them for double shatter bursts, or waiting out boss invulnerability, or dealing with a player who chooses to poke from invis.

It is for this reason, that I believe ANET destroyed the playstyle of Chronomancer. Some won't feel it at first, but you'll never shake the feeling that you had your freedom to apply boons taken from you.

I agree with what you say. But if you select the trait for Alacrity you do provide group Alacrity with both Shatters and summoning Phantasms.

The trait says that the Flow of Time trait provides it's boon to the group.

[Omegacide.8649]

11 hours ago, Roadkizzle.2157 said:

I agree with what you say. But if you select the trait for Alacrity you do provide group Alacrity with both Shatters and summoning Phantasms.

The trait says that the Flow of Time trait provides it's boon to the group.

I agree with you, my statement regarding Shatters was incorrect, as I was only thinking along the lines of using Seize the Moment. The ability to share shatter Alacrity is enabled through Flow of Time. Thank you for the correction.

Edited June 30, 2023 by Omegacide.8649
Grammar

[Pie.2167]

This is all true regarding group alac from shatters and summoning phantasms, but it is still a considerable nerf, especially in WvW zerg setting.  Druids and Tempests can both easily out perform Chrono in this aspect.