June 27 Balance Follow-Ups

[JazzXman.7018]

NOTICE: All following suggested mechanical changes to mirage ambushes can easily be compensated with just number splits to the dmg on clones and mesmers ambushes (dmg parameter in the formular near 0 for clones and low on mesmers own ambush in wvw/pvp and whatever dmg you want for mesmer and clone ambushes in pve). The playstyle and the benchmark in pve will not be affected at all!!!!!

 

Why mirage still needs a mechanical shift on some ambushes even after mc-nerf?

With mostly dmg focused ambushes you have the problem that pure dmg needs way less tactical timing and less setup/ combo work than specific utility rewards (for example a short daze or might/vuln stacks).  A short daze needs timing since a short random daze doesnt rly do that much except for being annoying and vuln/might stacks need follow up work from the mesmer or his teammates to get reward from those stacks, so requires setup). 
Means: With mainly utility based ambushes you force the mirage to dodge more tactical and pure offensive to time the utility ambush reward for max impact (for ex. daze) or to go offensive with a burst preparation (might/vuln application before a shatter burst). Means only with maily utility based ambushes you create real opportunity costs and harder decision making between offensive and defensive dodging. 
On the other side:  A mainly direct dmg orientated ambush reward doesnt need such tactical and offensive timing. You can mostly just dodge pure defensive and be happy about some mostly passive extra dmg spam after your dodge. So with direct dmg focused ambushes the  mesmer equips a whole traitline just to get a reckless dodge in a ranged version and is overall (esp when played without ih) just a core mes on steroids with some passive dmg on defensive dodges added (passive in a sense that the player doesant rly need to work tactical with the ambushes nor the clones). That is an insane potential wasted to make mirage more healthy, balanced, unique and skillful with way more mechanical deepness and complexitiy. 

 

What needs to happen for staff/scepter/axe
Reducing the dmg on those ambushes is the correct step but needs to be combined with adding decent utility rewards to the ambushes. What those utility rewards could be i will talk about later on, since not every utility would be a good choice. Atm you just nerf the dmg but doesnt add anything back, so the ambushes become even more just a passive side effect dmg spam from pure defensive dodging. since no one would waste a dodge pure offensive for barely any reward. Clone ambushes need to lose all their dmg and get the utility part of the mesmers ambush instead

 

What needs to happen for greatword
As for gs ambush reducing the might stacks is the totally wrong step. YOu need to reduce the direct dmg part on gs not the might or vuln stacks. Delete the direct dmg from clone ambushes, compensate with utility buffs (more vuln stacks) if needed.

 

What needs to happen for sword
Sword ambush is in terms of mechanics the best desinged one, since its mostly utility based and with the daze has an utility reward which requires timing. Also the clones ambushes do not provide any remarkable dmg, only have a weaker form of the mesmers ambush utilities. That is exaclty how it should be for ALL ambushes: Utility is the main reward not dmg, clone ambushes dont have dmg at all. IH becomes a pure utility trait (only indirect a dmg multiplier by might/vuln etc).
The only change to sword ambush you could argue about is, if sword provides too much utilities and is with that a bit too strong/ rewarding and with that power creeped. 
IMO: Compared to what other classes have? No. Compared to a balanced not power creeped and skillful gamestate? Yes maybe. 
I think it would be absolutely acceptable (also not needed in current gamestate, even with 2 dodges back) that the clone generation on sword ambush gets removed. You already get a leap and a daze+bit dmg, that is more than enough reward to worth dodging for, esp worth pure offensive dodging (when not in need to avoid an attack). 
Dont get the idea to remove daze from sword ambush just bc you added it to dagger too. It makes more sense on sword and is more balanced there (since you have the downtime of going melee for it and it is better animated).

 

What needs to happen for dagger

I think having 2 weapons with daze ambushes becomes pretty daze spammy and there are enough other options for a good utility reward on dagger (see later).  The only reason dagger on mirage isnt stupidly op atm is bc dagger 2 and 3 kinda suck. Also it makes no sense to add condition dmg on ambush to an otherwise pure power dmg orientated weapon. Give it a bit of power dmg (for the mesmer ambush only), delete the condi dmg and add a useful utility reward to it (clone ambushes ofc also have no dmg only the utility part of the mesmers ambush in a weaker form). You could test immob as utility also it might be too op (it needs at least 0,5-0,75 secs casttime then), also the investment for the mes to create a stun with dagger/sword main hand combo will maybe balance that out. 

 

What kind of new utility ambushes would be good?

The best way to make dodge-traits more active, add harder decision making, more tactical deepness and higher skill cap into the dodge management is by avoiding pure defensive utilities/ boons (so no protection, blind for example, dont go the holo explosives way pls).
 
Best are utilities with not only defensive but also offensive abilites (for ex. short daze, short immob). Or short duration (3-5 secs) non-dmg utilities like vulnerability or boons like might, fury which require further actions to capitalize from them and with that create the need to combo those dodge trait ambush rewards with other skills like weapon- and f-skills (just as it is on mes sword/ gs ambushes already). Clone gen is another alternative (when removing it from sword).  You could add the clone gen to one of the condi ambushes instead (scepter maybe? + some condi dmg stat increase ih clones would stack on the mesmer)  to compensate for the recent dmg nerfs and to add some more utility to it.

Other possibilities are 3-5 secs stat increase (for ex. condi dmg stat, power dmg stat increase), expertise buff (while ih clones would stack a debuff on the target not on themself that higher condi duration for x secs which are on the  target when getting hit and stat boni ih clones would stack a buff on the mesmer or something).

There are enough ways to turn staff, axe, scepter, dagger and rifle into more utilitybased ambushes for some interesting, more active, less spammy and unique weapon-ambush playstyle.

 

Mirage Mantle trait

Same utility focus ofc also needs to count for the new Mirage Mantle trait. For example it should add might and not a direct dmg boost to split surge!!! Otherwise you turn gs more and more into the more passive dmg spam weapon after defensive dodges as axe/scepter/staff. For rifle (what hopefully will not be another condi spam weapon... ) it also should not add simple torment condi dmg but increase the utility reward of the rifle ambush instead.

 

Regarding utility ambushes and timing:

An issue for some ambushes in regard of makign them reactive with utility rewards is cast and travel time. For greatsword its fast and an aoe beam, and for sword the utility can be managed via clone positioning. But for example for staff ambush the cast time plus travel time only further incentivises passive use/spam - because you cant plan to take momentary advantage of some window of opportunity with such a long wind up. So some QoL improvments in that regard would be good in addition. Also consider to rework scepter ambush to have less hits but each hit has more impact, so it doesnt overperform with core traits like Sharper Images and doesnt force overnerfs to this core trait anymore.

Edited June 30, 2023 by JazzXman.7018

[Qweqweqwe.8356]

27 minutes ago, Brujeria.7536 said:

Blood Bank: I dont understand why this trait exists and why i ever should pick this. Maybe add a more thematic selfish trait that gives life / siphons life when removing a boon / spending lifeforce / generating lifeforce?

Are you serious? I have like 12k barrier because of it in wvw fights. Whitout it reaper will die in blob in 5 sec.

 

I was wondering more why need to nerf 25% runing speed from quickening thirst and make it useless trait no one is gonna take?

It is not like we had perma super speed or anything OP. 25% speed above 75% health. Please take it back 🙂

[clockworkcuttlefish.3254]

22 hours ago, Cal Cohen.2358 said:

Herald 

The new implementation for quickness herald is another case that we’re looking to improve. The current timing around its quickness application can be clunky and hard to track due to the 3 second pulse interval. To address this, we’ll be rebalancing the duration around a 1 second pulse interval to make it a bit more responsive. We’ve also seen concerns around the reduction in boon uptimes due to the loss of extra facet pulses from Draconic Echo, and are giving additional sources of concentration to help mitigate this. Our hope is that these changes will improve the overall gameplay feel of quickness herald, but if we’re still seeing issues with the general implementation after the July 18 update, we will evaluate whether a larger rework is needed. 

• Elevated Compassion: Reduced quickness pulse interval from 3 seconds to 1 second. Reduced quickness duration from 3 seconds to 1.25 seconds. This trait now converts 13% of the herald’s power into concentration in addition to its other effects. 
• Reinforced Potency: Increased concentration from 120 to 240 in PvE only. 
• Shared Empowerment: Increased might duration from 8 seconds to 12 seconds in PvE only.

Herald shouldn’t need to maintain 6 upkeep to give quick! The way it worked was perfectly fine. I really loved playing healquick herald as a semi-low intensity healer because my hands aren’t always the best, but forcing us to swap between legends — burning our only real burst heals pointlessly — just to keep giving quickness is like, literally the opposite of how you’ve said you’ve wanted classes to play. 

And this is avoiding how garbage the change is for dps quickherald. Like. No herald player likes this. Herald was in a good place in PVE before y’all decided to shoot it behind the barn. 

Please don’t tie quickness to upkeep. The “changes” to the patch you’ve said here literally don’t address the biggest issue, which in my mind is the upkeep change. I just got to start bringing the main I’ve pumped 1k+ hours into to raids and I don’t want to be forced to play hb or HAM. 

Like, do you just want people to stop playing older professions in favor of EOD professions? Because it feels like the only viable healers now are HAM and firebrand, and it feels purposeful especially given the hullabaloo about the last big balance patch. Like I don’t even know if you play the professions you balance at this point because half of the changes seem so entirely out of touch.

ED: I understand the concept of wanting people to work harder to pump out boons, but I’m old enough to remember when “low intensity dps” builds were all a rage because cvirt was good for people with mobility issues to hit high dps. Why is that any different with certain boon providers? Herald (pretty much any Rev spec) may seem easy, but a lot of it is knowing when to apply a utility skill, when to apply a weapon swap, when to break a facet, etc. Just because someone may not be giving themselves carpal tunnel to play a class doesn’t mean there isn’t effort going into it. And it really stings in comparison to all these EOD specs that give quickness/alacrity by simply existing when you force older professions to play high-speed twister for the exact same result. Just stop trying to make everything give quick/alac. Stop trying to force some specs to be something they aren’t. Let some other specs be low-intensity boon providers as well. Again, herald pve was good where it was. RIP I guess.

Why do you even post these and say our feedback is important if you won’t even listen to it? Like I’m literally not buying the next expansion at this point because I’m so fed up with the pointless “balance” changes that seem designed to still push everyone into playing one or two pet specs at the expense of every other one out there. 

Edited June 30, 2023 by clockworkcuttlefish.3254
I have ADHD and “AND ANOTHER THING” syndrome

[Mike.7983]

6 pip requirement for quick herald is massive energy drain to the point of you dare use skills 2-5 your at 0 energy and....its gone. Should just make herald pulse quickness based on energy spent, higher more aggressive attack/skill use = more quickness and longer duration due to it.  The 6 pip upkeep sucks would rather facet flip prior to this garbage.  Only way for quick herald to dps is running shiro/jalis, toggle odds/hammers and literally auto attack only, any skill use ontop drops it so fast your uptime is gone.  Now that promotes a boring lazy gameplay.

Edited June 30, 2023 by Mike.7983

[ErikViking.2754]

The effect of transfusion has not been tested and is as implemented not working correctly. The issue comes from the healing being linked to the rez port, which is affected by target cap. That means that if you have 5 people that are down in the other subgroup and all people in your subgroup have 99% hp transfusion will not port a single person.

ALL other rez abilites and rez traits (like search and rescue, signets or nature spirit) on the other hand will always port the downed target regardless of subgroup since they only target downed people specifically.

Before the change that wasnt the case because the port was a permanent effect that affected downed allies, split off from the healing ticks (which sometimes mean you ported someone without healing them with the transfusion affect due to the healing going to target cap). Every person had an internal cd but the port itself did not port on ticks, but as a constant affect.

With how it works now its incredibly frustrating to use since even if you see 4 downed people and use the skill, you could just port no one to you at all negating the reason to take the trait in the first place.

Fixing that would be as easy as reverting the change and keeping the rez tied to a different internal effect that, if you want to nerf the streng of skill, could only last for one second instead of the old 6, keeping the effect only relevant directly after pressing the skill without the extreme frustration of the current implimentation which makes it extremely unfun to play (wasting the rez on healing fulllife people instead of porting the downed people is a horrible design decision)

[zeyeti.8347]

22 hours ago, Cal Cohen.2358 said:

• Sand Sage: This trait has been reworked. Gain expertise and concentration while you have an active sand shade (225 in PvE, 150 in PvP/WvW). 
• Blood as Sand: This trait has been reworked. Reduce all incoming damage while you have an active sand shade (15% in PvE, 7% in PvP/WvW). 

Sad we cannot have 3 shade active at same time , but thank you anet for correcting the minor traits and adapting them to the new way to play scourge.

[JazzXman.7018]

Changes to EM and what should happen with IH 
I dont rly like that IA got buffed with that EM change. This utility is imo still very braindead and spammy (just adds up on the dodge+1 spam gameplay) and doesnt need a buff at all. Quite the opposite. Same goes for Desert Distortion/ Mirrors. Mirrors are a bad mechanic in general and the trait Destert Dist. is already super strong without a broken synergy to EM.  IMO 2 condiremoves on dodge were way too strong anyway even with only one dodge. 1 condiremove on dodge with 2 dodges would be fine, esp with the nerfs to IH to make it a pure utility trait (no dmg on clone ambushes for all weapons). EM and IH could compete, just both on a lower power lvl, just as they compete now.

Overall better would be to make IH a minor trait  (since IH with correct utilitybased ambush design adds way more compos and setup abilities and with that adds skill ceiling/cap and uniquness esp compared to core gameplay). Then you can rework all major GM traits around IH being a minor and only utility based. But since anet has no will or ressources for skillful balance IH becoming a minor prob will never happen. So i leave that idea for now.  

 

Changes that still should happen with mirage getting the dodge back, since they are not only broken on mirage but also on core and other specs

1. Signet of Illusion still needs to lose the f4 reset. Core instant shatters are a very strong mechanic and giving too many and too powerful ways to reduce the cd esp on f4 is just not healthy for the game. That should happen no matter if Inspiration traitline and Desert Dist trait in mirage get reworked/nerfed too or not.
2. I would remove the retargeting mechanic completely (Axe, IA and esp the core skill Mirror Images). Mirage is unique enough without that (at least with correct designed utility ambushes) .
3. Desert Distortion should give less Mirrors or give a lower amount of endurance per clone instead. Overall it needs a nerf to the mirror dodge-ambush spam.
4. Rework Blurred Inscription trait in Inspiration.  Or split the trait when mirage is equiped so mirage doesnt get the ambushes on distortion.
5. Self-Deception trait should not create clones (just unhealthy with jaunt). maybe turn it into: "the next attack after using a deception skill removes a boon" (1 target, ofc the one the mesmer has targeted in case of aoe skills) or something. so condi builds can have access to boonremove without the need to take domination. 
6. Condi dmg on normal clone autoattacks should be reduced to the same amount power clone autoattcks do (around 10 dmg per hit). There is no reason why condi mes should have such an insane amount of passive dmg pressure from clones. Give the dmg back to condi weapon skills (mostly) and maybe shatter skills (slightly), so the overall condi dmg benchmark doesnt rly change but will be more active bc in the players hand not just clone autoattack spam.

 

Some of those changes are less easy compensated in pve by simple number splits. But there are ways. For example losing clone gen in self deception mirage trait can be in parts compensated by adding even more dmg to clone ambushes in pve only. So pve mirages have less clone gen but each living clone does more dmg with their ambush attack. 

Mesmer and even more Mirage has so many buttons you can adjust to balance it out and compensate mechanical changes, there are always ways! Also not only pvp player should be able to adapt. i think also pve player should be forced and are also able to adapt some changes which will affect them, it worth it, for a more healthy mirage/ mesmer mechanic in all game modes.

I will stop here for now. Furster mesmer balance suggestions i have written down here: 
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1hI5r9mpx94DJEj2LoZzc0Knicqk5SLmC/view?usp=sharing
 

NOTICE: I make suggestions refering to an overall less power creeped, higher skill ceiling/ cap and healthier gamestate. I dont support the current gamestate by providing balance suggestions to make mesmer just as braindead, op and power creeped as other classes to compete with the low skill demand metas of the last years.  Imo inspi and chaos in general need complete reworks to fit a more skillful and healthier gamestate instead just nerfing them into uselessness.

Edited June 30, 2023 by JazzXman.7018

[Brujeria.7536]

50 minutes ago, Qweqweqwe.8356 said:

Are you serious? I have like 12k barrier because of it in wvw fights. Whitout it reaper will die in blob in 5 sec.

 

I was wondering more why need to nerf 25% runing speed from quickening thirst and make it useless trait no one is gonna take?

It is not like we had perma super speed or anything OP. 25% speed above 75% health. Please take it back 🙂

Yes, its actually not a good trait design to be completly dependent on other players to have any benefit from the trait at all- Necromancer on itself has not so much self healing to make it usefull.

I maybe missed the dagger trait yeah, but at least its good on what it wants to do . 

[Batalix.2873]

35 minutes ago, JazzXman.7018 said:

Changes to EM and what should happen with IH 
I dont rly like that IA got buffed with that EM change. This utility is imo still very braindead and spammy (just adds up on the dodge+1 spam gameplay) and doesnt need a buff at all. Quite the opposite. Same goes for Desert Distortion/ Mirrors. Mirrors are a bad mechanic in general and the trait Destert Dist. is already super strong without a broken synergy to EM.  IMO 2 condiremoves on dodge were way too strong anyway even with only one dodge. 1 condiremove on dodge with 2 dodges would be fine, esp with the nerfs to IH to make it a pure utility trait (no dmg on clone ambushes for all weapons). EM and IH could compete, just both on a lower power lvl, just as they compete now.

Overall better would be to make IH a minor trait  (since IH with correct utilitybased ambush design adds way more compos and setup abilities and with that adds skill ceiling/cap and uniquness esp compared to core gameplay). Then you can rework all major GM traits around IH being a minor and only utility based. But since anet has no will or ressources for skillful balance IH becoming a minor prob will never happen. So i leave that idea for now.  

 

Changes that still should happen with mirage getting the dodge back, since they are not only broken on mirage but also on core and other specs

1. Signet of Illusion still needs to lose the f4 reset. Core instant shatters are a very strong mechanic and giving too many and too powerful ways to reduce the cd esp on f4 is just not healthy for the game. That should happen no matter if Inspiration traitline and Desert Dist trait in mirage get reworked/nerfed too or not.
2. I would remove the retargeting mechanic completely (Axe, IA and esp the core skill Mirror Images). Mirage is unique enough without that (at least with correct designed utility ambushes) .
3. Desert Distortion should give less Mirrors or give a lower amount of endurance per clone instead. Overall it needs a nerf to the mirror dodge-ambush spam.
4. Rework Blurred Inscription trait in Inspiration.  Or split the trait when mirage is equiped so mirage doesnt get the ambushes on distortion.
5. Self-Deception trait should not create clones (just unhealthy with jaunt). maybe turn it into: "the next attack after using a deception skill removes a boon" (1 target, ofc the one the mesmer has targeted in case of aoe skills) or something. so condi builds can have access to boonremove without the need to take domination. 
6. Condi dmg on normal clone autoattacks should be reduced to the same amount power clone autoattcks do (around 10 dmg per hit). There is no reason why condi mes should have such an insane amount of passive dmg pressure from clones. Give the dmg back to condi weapon skills (mostly) and maybe shatter skills (slightly), so the overall condi dmg benchmark doesnt rly change but will be more active bc in the players hand not just clone autoattack spam.

 

Some of those changes are less easy compensated in pve by simple number splits. But there are ways. For example losing clone gen in self deception mirage trait can be in parts compensated by adding even more dmg to clone ambushes in pve only. So pve mirages have less clone gen but each living clone does more dmg with their ambush attack. 

Mesmer and even more Mirage has so many buttons you can adjust to balance it out and compensate mechanical changes, there are always ways! Also not only pvp player should be able to adapt. i think also pve player should be forced and are also able to adapt some changes which will affect them, it worth it, for a more healthy mirage/ mesmer mechanic in all game modes.

I will stop here for now. Furster mesmer balance suggestions i have written down here: 
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1hI5r9mpx94DJEj2LoZzc0Knicqk5SLmC/view?usp=sharing
 

NOTICE: I make suggestions refering to an overall less power creeped, higher skill ceiling/ cap and healthier gamestate. I dont support the current gamestate by providing balance suggestions to make mesmer just as braindead, op and power creeped as other classes to compete with the low skill demand metas of the last years.  Imo inspi and chaos in general need complete reworks to fit a more skillful and healthier gamestate instead just nerfing them into uselessness.

You do realize removing mirrors just makes Mirage even less distinct and closer to one-note Virtuoso style play?

[CrashCrusFGH.8904]

Please bring old [Daring Dragon] back. It gave Bladesworn a fun and pretty unique play style.

Alacrity belongs on [Lush Forest] or [Immortal Dragon]. There's no reason to sacrifice an entire unique playstyle that was used in PvP and WvW. 0. Especially when you could easily put the damage somewhere else.

-----

(And as people have said here, as-is that alacrity trait' just makes it the DPS trait since now Dragon Slash does the same damage but charges faster with it.)

It seems like you went out of your way to get rid of a unique builds that you just didn't want to exist honestly. & I'm personally not down with supporting a Studio that does that & goes to extra effort to ruin fun builds & tell people how to play when they highlight the importance of "fun" in their streams. Especially when there are easier, better options. (See above.) Please fix this.

[Felices Bladewing.3914]

while totally agreeing with spectre issues right now and like the approach of making trait choices between roles, but i think traits that are giving passive x% more dmg/heal, +X Power with specific weapon types or the typical x% of stat A to stat B should be put out of the game.

maybe consider something more interesting for SoS like torment is ticking double as fast while in shroud or i don't know, numbers traits are boring and wont help the game in the long run, even though it might be the easiest solution in the short amount of time

[Blanche Neige.7241]

23 hours ago, Cal Cohen.2358 said:

We’ve been keeping a close eye on the discussion and it’s clear that some of the changes in Tuesday’s update didn’t land as we’d intended.

I seriously doubt you read the discussions about the changes made to boon corruption....

[coro.3176]

Engineer tool kit really didn't deserve the nerfs in PvP and WvW given that it can no longer trait for cooldown reduction. It's not an overperforming kit. If anything, it needed a buff, not a nerf. Maybe split the difference on Elixir S too.

[JTGuevara.9018]

Great! I can clearly see that all classes were addressed! 🙂

[Juan.6124]

Please bring back old quickness Herald that relies on consuming facets for quickness. Increase the boon duration so that using the heal skill is not required. Having to maintain Vengefull Hammers in Jalis makes it difficult to use Inspiring Reinforcements for stability or Rite of the Great Dwarf for AoE damage reduction.

Wouldn't be any different from chrono using phantasms to give quickness/alacrity. The consume skill of Facet of Elements, Facet of Strength and Facet of Chaos are used anyway during the dps rotations. Gaze of Darkness (from Facet of Darkness) has a cd of 10 seconds so it will be up anyway after cycling back to Glint.

Edited June 30, 2023 by DirtyDan.4759

[Batalix.2873]

3 minutes ago, DirtyDan.4759 said:

Please bring back old quickness Herald that relies on consuming facets for quickness. Increase the boon duration so that using the heal skill is not required. Having to maintain Vengefull Hammers in Jalis makes it difficult to use Inspiring Reinforcements for stability or Rite of the Great Dwarf for AoE damage reduction.

Wouldn't be any different from chrono using phantasms to give quickness/alacrity.

I am generally fine with booners needing to sacrifice DPS *or* additional utility to maintain quickness/alacrity.

In theory with enough base boon generation and concentration we should still be able to switch on and off and still have enough upkeep energy for other things. Just need to find the right balance point. But I do agree that Herald is impacted weirdly compared to other boon builds like Berserker or Bladesworn that can just passively apply boons with normal DPS kits/rotations.

[Jen.6021]

On 6/29/2023 at 5:20 PM, Cal Cohen.2358 said:

Hi everyone, 

As always, thank you for all the feedback you’ve shared over the past few weeks. We’ve been keeping a close eye on the discussion and it’s clear that some of the changes in Tuesday’s update didn’t land as we’d intended. Today I’ll be sharing our current plan for the next update on July 18, much of which is intended to address the most pressing issues that have been raised. 

Leading up to that release we’ll be watching your feedback to this post, this week’s beta test, and the June 27 update, and may make additional changes as needed. 

 

Thanks, 

Cal “cmc” Cohen 

Skills and Balance Lead 

Scourge 

Alacrity scourge is a build that we were pretty cautious with during development; we were concerned about the potential power level that could result from giving the existing heal scourge build easy access to alacrity, and to mitigate this we reduced the strength of some of its key defensive support skills. Now that the release has been live for a few days, we agree that the changes were too heavy handed, and we’ll be pulling back the reductions to Sand Cascade’s barrier as well as the barrier component of Desert Empowerment. We’ll also be giving scourge a reliable source of group protection through Sandstorm Shroud, and increasing the base alacrity duration to make it a bit easier to maintain. 

Damage scourge builds were negatively impacted by some of the changes made for alacrity scourge, and the July 18 release will include some larger adjustments to bring them back up.  

Sand Cascade: Increased base barrier from 996 to 1188 in PvE only. Increased barrier attribute scaling from 1.25 to 2 in PvE only. 

• Desert Empowerment: Increased alacrity duration from 1 second to 1.5 seconds in PvE only. Increased base barrier from 385 to 572 in PvE only. Increased barrier attribute scaling from 0.75 to 1.0 in PvE only. 
• Sandstorm Shroud: This skill now grants 1.5 seconds of protection to nearby allies each pulse, and 3 seconds of protection to nearby allies on detonation. 
• Fell Beacon: This trait no longer reduces the cooldown of torch skills, and now also increases the damage of burning you inflict by 10%. 
• Harrowing Wave: Reduced cooldown from 20 seconds to 16 seconds in PvE only. Increased the life force per target from 3% to 5% in PvE only. 
• Oppressive Collapse: Reduced cooldown from 25 seconds to 20 seconds in PvE only. Increased might radius from 240 to 360. Might application per condition is now capped at 7 condtions in PvE only. 
• Sadistic Searing: This trait has been reworked, and causes Nefarious Favor to burn nearby enemy targets (2 stacks, 5 seconds in PvE, 1 stack, 4 seconds in PvP/WvW).  
• Demonic Lore: Increased torment damage bonus from 25% to 33% in PvE only.  
• Sand Sage: This trait has been reworked. Gain expertise and concentration while you have an active sand shade (225 in PvE, 150 in PvP/WvW). 
• Blood as Sand: This trait has been reworked. Reduce all incoming damage while you have an active sand shade (15% in PvE, 7% in PvP/WvW). 
   

Druid 

Druid is in a similar situation to scourge in that we were overly conservative with its alacrity, so it is also getting an increase to its base duration. We’ve also seen feedback regarding druid’s might generation, and we’re bumping up both the stacks and duration on Spirited Arrival to address this.

• Grace of the Land: Increased alacrity duration from 0.75 seconds to 1 second in PvE only. 
• Spirited Arrival: Increased might stacks from 3 to 6 in PvE only. Increased might duration from 9 seconds to 12 seconds in PvE only. 
   

Untamed 

Quickness untamed has a few issues that we’re tackling in the July 18 release. The first being a usability improvement for Let Loose’s ambush-reset component: triggering the ambush reset while in the unleashed state will now immediately grant access to the ambush skill instead of requiring a transition out of and back into the unleashed state. We’re also making a slight increase to the quickness duration to make it easier to maintain.

• Let Loose: Increased quickness duration from 4 seconds to 5 seconds in PvE only. This trait will now immediately grant access to unleashed ambush skills when swapping weapons while in the unleashed state. 
   

Herald 

The new implementation for quickness herald is another case that we’re looking to improve. The current timing around its quickness application can be clunky and hard to track due to the 3 second pulse interval. To address this, we’ll be rebalancing the duration around a 1 second pulse interval to make it a bit more responsive. We’ve also seen concerns around the reduction in boon uptimes due to the loss of extra facet pulses from Draconic Echo, and are giving additional sources of concentration to help mitigate this. Our hope is that these changes will improve the overall gameplay feel of quickness herald, but if we’re still seeing issues with the general implementation after the July 18 update, we will evaluate whether a larger rework is needed. 

• Elevated Compassion: Reduced quickness pulse interval from 3 seconds to 1 second. Reduced quickness duration from 3 seconds to 1.25 seconds. This trait now converts 13% of the herald’s power into concentration in addition to its other effects. 
• Reinforced Potency: Increased concentration from 120 to 240 in PvE only. 
• Shared Empowerment: Increased might duration from 8 seconds to 12 seconds in PvE only.
   

Deadeye 

Quickness deadeye is significantly overperforming where it should be damage-wise. This was partially due to a bug that caused Malicious Intent to be active when not equipped, but looking beyond that fix it’s clear that additional reductions will be needed. We’re still discussing exactly what changes will be made, but they will be finalized in time for the July release and will likely include a reduction to One in the Chamber’s damage bonus. 

 

Specter 

Alacrity specter is another build that is overperforming in terms of damage. This is partially due to the base alacrity duration being long enough to require minimal investment into concentration, but also due to the lack of a significant damage tradeoff in the grandmaster trait slot. We’ll be tuning up Strength of Shadows while bringing down some of specter’s other damage sources to bring the alacrity build more in line without negatively affecting the damage builds. 

Lastly, we’re increasing the protection duration of Shadow Sap to ensure that healing-focused specter builds have a reliable source of group protection. 

• Shadestep: Reduced alacrity duration from 2 seconds to 1.25 seconds in PvE only. 
• Strength of Shadows: This trait no longer reduces incoming damage and no longer increases the duration of torment inflicted by Rot Wallow Venom, but instead increases torment damage by 25% in addition to converting vitality to expertise. 
• Larcenous Torment: This trait no longer increases torment damage, and instead steals health from an enemy when you apply torment to them. 
• Shadow Sap: Increased protection duration from 2.5 seconds to 4 seconds in PvE only. 
   

Alacrity Willbender 

A big pain point with alacrity willbender is its inability to provide alacrity during phase transitions or other times where it can’t strike an enemy. We’re hoping to mitigate this by updating Phoenix Protocol to grant some alacrity on the activation of resolve, which can also be shared via Battle Presence. We’ve also cleaned up some aftercasts and made general improvements to animations for a few key damage skills with the goal of making the overall gameplay feel a bit more fluid. 

• Phoenix Protocol: this trait now grants alacrity to the willbender when activating Flowing Resolve (5 seconds in PvE, 3 seconds in PvP/WvW), which can be shared to allies with Battle Presence. Reduced the alacrity duration when resolve triggers from 1.5 seconds to 1 second in PvE only.  
• Restorative Virtues: This trait now grants vigor instead of alacrity. 
• Symbol of Resolution: This skill can now be interrupted by other skills.  
• Ray of Judgment: Reduced aftercast  
• Binding Blade: This skill will now use a different animation with less aftercast. 
   

Alacrity Mirage 

Last up is a rework to how mirage grants alacrity. We want there to be a better distinction between alacrity and non-alacrity builds, which is something that can be a bit blurry at times due to Chaos Vortex granting alacrity with no investment. This alacrity is being rolled into a rework of Mirage Mantle that improves all ambush skills in various ways, which can be seen in the patch note below. 

• Mirage Mantle: This trait has been reworked. Ambush skills are improved. 
• Axes of Symmetry: Also inflicts cripple 
• Mirage Thrust: Removes a boon from struck foes 
• Ether Barrage:  Grants quickness to self (1.5 seconds)  
• Split Surge: Deals increased damage (25% in PvE, 10 in PvP/WvW) 
• Chaos Vortex: AoE Alacrity (2.5 seconds for the player, 0.5 seconds for clones) 
• Ambush Assault: Grants might to self 
• Wave of Panic : Also inflicts torment 

I didn't want to come to forums but here I am, so I hope you seriously consider reverting back Improvisation, you killed a REALLY FUN playstyle and as the name itself of the trait means it was intended to adapt on the fly by the random recharge, that WAS FUN, it wasn't broken, nor meta (Shadow Arts is still more busted) so I don't understand. Isn't the new idea of balance turning into FUN TO PLAY???

From the preview I had doubts because you didn't specify the amount, but 15% (wvw/pvp) 25% (pve) that's just super bad, and to be honest even with 50% won't have the same impact and FUN that the previous effect had.

With the new trait values you won't make Deadly Arts competitive anyway unless you nerf SA and we know that won't happen. So there's legit no point on doing this, just revert it, leave the random recharge WAS FUN, way more fun than playing perma stealth. There are other controversial changes in this big patch that I think can be related to the upcoming muti weapon system but this is not one of them for sure.

Edited June 30, 2023 by Jen.6021

[WaterMud.8106]

At least since we're not apathetic you know people still care ANet.

+ Alacrity makes much more sense on [Lush Forest] or [Immortal Dragon]. As is implemented now new [Daring Dragon] both provides dumb amounts of alacrity and boosts Bls DPS because you also charge faster. And destroyed an entire PvP/WvW play style to do it. Undo this & put Alac on LG or ID instead please. Or just put Alac/bullet on old DD. The damage was fine for a boon support (~35-37k) it just wasn't on SC or Discrtize.

This is exactly what you did with Berserker 6 years ago. Please don't do it with Bladesworn for literally no reason.

[Dualumina.1760]

I was fairly comfy on heal scourge the few times my group needed it. Wednesday, I brought an alac version of the build to some test raids.

I was working around the clock just to upkeep alac, and healing was basically down the gutter.

I switched to a dps alac variation and was also working around the clock just to upkeep alac.

I am once again asking you to improve shades duration.

[Birdie.3869]

Cal, you want our feedback? Are you sure? There's been tons of it and it's all been mostly ignored. Even this doesn't include half the stuff people have been complaining about (necro signets for example).

Are you REALLY sure you want our feedback? Or is this just a place to funnel complaints so it can be ignored more easily?

Because honestly I'm not sure anymore.

[Magizen.7842]

Catalyst is genuinely far too overtuned with this recent balance patch, there's a chance we might just get a signet catalyst stacking for the next MAT. Please do something about this class on your next follow ups or it's gonna be very unfun for everyone.

[kidbuu.4071]

On 6/29/2023 at 3:58 PM, SilverHalf.4652 said:

Spectre on the other hand has issues with the range of its boon application (it should be applied around both the caster and the tethered ally in my opinion), and struggles in some encounters where it does not start with any shroud. It's also completely un-useable in any encounter with high damage pressure (Boneskinner).

So what I found that helps is running the right gear either Plague Doctor or  Minstrel with herald runes or durability runes I've run Boneskinner many times since this patch no issues. 

skills that help with burst - Shadow Refuge, Shadowstep,  Blinding Powder, Measured Shot, Well of Gloom, Well of Bounty, Well of Silence, Shadowfall, Eternal Night. and the big daddy of all Consume Shadows after dropping out of  Shadow Shroud.

if all else fails  Infiltrator's Strike spamming works too.

Edited June 30, 2023 by kidbuu.4071

[Batalix.2873]

36 minutes ago, Dualumina.1760 said:

I was fairly comfy on heal scourge the few times my group needed it. Wednesday, I brought an alac version of the build to some test raids.

I was working around the clock just to upkeep alac, and healing was basically down the gutter.

I switched to a dps alac variation and was also working around the clock just to upkeep alac.

I am once again asking you to improve shades duration.

Shades duration is not the issue. It's at most a 10 percent loss of alac uptime (since you will almost always have at least one shade up, the concentration bonus will grant 5%, and frequently 10 or even 15%.

The reason you can't upkeep alac is because the base duration per barrier is 1 second, meaning even with full 100% boon increase you would still need to spam barrier every 2 seconds or less  on average to maintain uptime.

They are fixing this in the next patch by (a) keeping the full 15% bonus even if you have one shade up and (b) extending the base duration to 1.5 seconds so now you only need barrier every 3 seconds. Much more manageable if you have Sandstorm Shroud in use.

The only thing shade duration negatively affects is area control. Which, yes, I would like a bit longer duration to have more coverage of who I can drop alac on, but it's not the primary issue.

I really dislike a lot of the changes, but the shade duration complaints are really bizarre to me since they generally aren't honing in on the actual issues.

Edited June 30, 2023 by Batalix.2873

[Chatul Shabak.1645]

Idk why you keep nerfing and buffing classes at this point…as a person who plays casually and don’t really care about the numbers it feels unfair that I just completed a build that will be unusable in a couple weeks because again you’re breaking classes and not fixing the dead classes first or making some good classes bad. No point to play now…really…

[SaffronCity.3402]

Kind of a negative thought, but does anyone else think the info for the expansion was released the same day as the dreaded balance patch (that neglected weeks of constructive feedback) in an effort to cushion the blow so to speak? I'm trying to understand the logic that was used to decide to go on ahead with this dumpster fire of a patch that they honestly must have known for weeks was going to be catastrophic. It just seems like they gave us bad news for the present and tried to quell the negative attention to it (which if so, that failed miserably) by attempting to hype players for the future via expansion info. 

Edited July 1, 2023 by SaffronCity.3402