This "shotgun nerf" design philosophy needs to stop and boon DPS traits should revisited.

[DarkCobalt.2849]

In the past few patches we've seen:

• Condi Firebrand get nerfed incredibly hard because its Condi Quick build was overperforming (37k with allies), now its standard Condi DPS build is underperforming and one of the worst Condi DPS builds in the whole game.
• Untamed getting its cooldown reduction trait nuked out of orbit because its Condi/Power Alac builds were overperforming (35-36k), now this spec just doesn't exist anymore in high-end content. Actually, now that the Alac build straight up no longer exists, we may as well revert this change, right...?
• And now, Condi Harbinger gets a 50% Blight nerf that affects the entire spec because, I suppose, its Condi Quick build was overperforming (35k). It's now doing universally worse than Reaper on its DPS build when it's supposed to be the high-risk high-reward glass cannon spec.

There's many other examples of this design philosophy (or tendency) of shotgun nerfing the entire spec, and it is starting to become harmful to the game. If one aspect of a spec is overperforming, the solution shouldn't be "nerf something that affects the entire spec" because that ends up hurting multiple builds when only one build needs to be targeted. The better solution would be to implement downsides on certain traits that need to be taken for boons, like for example making Blight 50% less effective but tying that specifically to the Deathly Haste grandmaster trait so that only the boon DPS build gets its damage lowered rather than the entire spec suffering. Not all classes benefit from this type of design though, so there needs to be a deeper rework of the boon-providing functionalities of certain classes like Firebrand, or beef up their condi-inflicting skills/traits that require some kind of trade-off with a boon-providing function in order to stand out (like taking more damaging traits in exchange for losing the boon function). 

In any case, this kind of shotgun nerfing needs to go and be buried. I'm tired of entire specializations having to suffer and just because one specific build is overperforming. 

Edited July 1, 2023 by DarkCobalt.2849

[SlayerXX.7138]

29 minutes ago, DarkCobalt.2849 said:

Condi Firebrand get nerfed incredibly hard because its Condi Quick build was overperforming (37k with allies), now its standard Condi DPS build is underperforming and one of the worst Condi DPS builds in the whole game.

It is a dps that can give aegis or stability, i would expect that it "under performs" on the dps axis.

33 minutes ago, DarkCobalt.2849 said:

. The better solution would be to implement downsides on certain traits that need to be taken for boons

They did try that out, was pretty hated as far as I remember.

[DarkCobalt.2849]

8 minutes ago, SlayerXX.7138 said:

It is a dps that can give aegis or stability, i would expect that it "under performs" on the dps axis.

The issue is that the 36k is its theoretical best, bringing all damage and no utility. If you swap out for utilities it will end up being worse than it already is. Granted, I agree those utilities are powerful, but Virt can bring something similar with its stability mantra and Feedback, as well as DPS Vindicator being able to bring Jalis for stability or even Ventari for bubble if it really came down to it, while scoring very high damage marks by comparison.

11 minutes ago, SlayerXX.7138 said:

They did try that out, was pretty hated as far as I remember.

They could also provide additional bonuses to DPS-specific grandmaster traits. Using the harbinger example again, they could make the grandmaster trait Doom Approaches double the effectiveness of Blight. Something of the sort. The point is to not adversely impact the DPS build whilst nerfing the qDPS/aDPS build.

[SlayerXX.7138]

Just now, DarkCobalt.2849 said:

The issue is that the 36k is its theoretical best, bringing all damage and no utility. If you swap out for utilities it will end up being worse than it already is. Granted, I agree those utilities are powerful, but Virt can bring something similar with its stability mantra and Feedback, as well as DPS Vindicator being able to bring Jalis for stability or even Ventari for bubble if it really came down to it, while scoring very high damage marks by comparison.

The Benchmark is 36.937. Swapping a whole legend is a little different then swapping a single utility.

[DarkCobalt.2849]

4 minutes ago, SlayerXX.7138 said:

The Benchmark is 36.937. Swapping a whole legend is a little different then swapping a single utility.

That benchmark is the lowest of the viable condition builds though. Again, this is its maximum bringing only 1 aegis basically and not burning pages in other tomes. Vindicator is 39,614 as its maximum so even if it was taken down a few notches for needing to take Jalis, it would still do fairly well as it has the headroom to sacrifice damage in favor of utility. 

[Batalix.2873]

Lol it's not nerfs. A lot of those classes needed nerfs, some for longer than others.

This goes a lot deeper than nerfs.