November 28 Skills and Balance Update Preview

[SevenFives.2734]

+ If every other "Lightning Reflexes" specialization skill is going to give resistance or remove immobilize: [Dragonspike Mine] should give resistance at the start of the cast. Don't just make it remove immobilize as it already does this when traited with [Warrior's Sprint] and resistance is better for Bladesworn because it means you can actually cast Slash2 anyway.

 *(It should also move you further back, or have 2 charges. But you know, it's important to keep sacrificing pieces of Bladesworn's anemic PvP kit for PvE.)

+ [Heightened Focus] should just put a buff on your bar that automatically refreshes your burst skills for 10s, or just reduce the cd for burst skills down to 1/4s and reduce their total efficacy by 20%. -- Trying to generate adrenaline or flow for this without a PvE Build and without [Burst Mastery] is going to be a nightmare anyway. | Having it auto-trigger randomly when you hit something below 50% on an invisible icd when you just used all of your profession resource to do that next attack is silly.

+ [Dual Wielding] should do... something... like at all...

 

Thief and Mes changes look solid tho. Ty for the preview! ❤️

Edited October 29, 2023 by SevenFives.2734
I forgot Dual Wielding exists harder than the devs did.

[Sirius.4510]

I think I generally feel positive about these changes. Some interesting stuff on the Ranger pet side of things; for high-end PvE I'm hoping this results in a bit more "clever" play where you take different pets for different situations rather than there being 1-2 "meta" picks and the rest being ignored. Can't help but think Bristleback just got killed off for hybrid soulbeast though. And there are too many changes for me to be really sure how this shakes out until I've played it.

There are a few unaddressed issues with Ranger in PvE though (I main the class so forgive the fixation 🙂). My "wishlist":

• Druid CA generation for DPS builds needs another look. Currently it's too unreliable for alac dps to be an advisable choice, and it performs better the worse your group is (due to them taking more damage and needing healing) which is kind of dysfunctional.
• Quickness untamed needs to have more boon access, I think, or be easier to play well or something. It has a pretty high theoretical damage output, but in practice I'd rather just play herald - in basically every scenario. My quickness uptime is more consistent, and my dps is usually higher too... and it has better utility access through Jalis/Ventari.
• I wish greatsword were stronger. Hammer feels bad to play and relies on weapon stowing to optimize dps. Honestly that should never be the case, but given we've already got a 2h weapon that feels fun to play in greatsword... it just needs to deal competitive damage and I'll happily switch to it and shut up about hammer.
• Would like it if sword 3 (Serpent's Strike) were either less janky with positioning, or were purely a mobility skill and not part of the DPS rotation (i.e. cut the power coefficient and rebalance damage onto sword 1 and 2 instead so sword is still competitive). Especially since it's far too easy to cancel axe 4 (Path of Scars) with it. I seem to do that at least once every single fight. 😞

In general the power level is pretty decent, just needs some "fun factor" tweaks. I've been playing a lot of Herald lately and have noticed how much smoother it feels to play.

[EyeGore.9254]

Garbage balance from the WvW side of things, as usual.

[Obnoxa.6702]

On 10/27/2023 at 7:16 PM, eyestrain.3056 said:

Some necro notes:

-Well of Power. If the goal is to make this skill more viable, the reason it isn't worth taking isn't because of the cd, it's because it's a stunbreak that can be, and often is, interrupted leaving you still stunned. Until it's either instant cast or the stab applies instantly protecting the cast, it's neither an effective stunbreak nor the best option in slot for pure condi clear (spectral walk, plague signet, suffer, and elixir of bliss are all better for personal clear, and scourge has the best options for ally clear with barrier application).

QFE.

 

That said, the attention put on the Ranger pets is nice - might even have to dust off my storage toon to check them out.

Edited October 30, 2023 by Obnoxa.6702

[Angesombre.4630]

On 10/26/2023 at 8:40 PM, Rubi Bayer.8493 said:

Revenant

This update is focused on improving revenant's short bow, shield, and hammer weapons. We've made piercing part of the short bow's base attacks to make it more appealing to non-renegade users. The shield changes improve its usability as a support weapon, while hammer has gotten some improvements to both its damaging and defensive capabilities.

• Hammer Bolt: Increased the power coefficient from 1.15 to 1.35 in PvE only.
• Coalescence of Ruin: Adjusted the damage areas to begin at the player's location instead of being offset from it. Increased the power coefficient from 1.75 to 2.0 in PvE only. Reduced the cooldown from 10 seconds to 7 seconds in PvP only.
• Phase Smash: Increased the power coefficient from 2.0 to 2.2 in PvE only.
• Field of the Mists: This skill now grants aegis to the user on activation and will fire a projectile at up to 5 enemies around the target. The projectile destruction wall will now activate immediately.
• Drop the Hammer: Increased the power coefficient from 2.3 to 2.7 in PvE only. Increased the knockdown duration from 2 seconds to 3 seconds in PvE and PvP.
• Envoy of Exuberance: This skill now grants protection to allies at its impact point instead of when the projectile passes through them. The impact now also grants aegis to allies. Increased the missile velocity from 900 to 1,200. Increased the healing coefficient from 0.5 to 1.0.
• Crystal Hibernation: This skill now also heals allies in a radius of 360 around the user.
• Shattershot: This skill now pierces.
• Bloodbane Path: This skill now pierces.
• Sevenshot: This skill now pierces.
• Inspiring Reinforcement: Increased the duration of the initial stability from 1 second to 1.5 seconds in PvP only. Increased the duration of the pulsing stability from 1 second to 1.25 seconds in PvP only.
• Spiritual Resolution: This trait now activates when invoking a legend instead of when using an elite skill.
• Set in Stone: This trait replaces Eye for an Eye. Gain protection when you use profession skill 2.
• Contained Temper: This trait has been reworked. Gain energy when you break out of stun.

Herald

• Forceful Persistence: Increased the bonus damage from 15% to 20% in PvE only. Increased the bonus damage per herald upkeep skill from 5% to 7% in PvE only.

Renegade

• Bold Reversal: This trait has been reworked. Gain resistance when you use a healing skill.
• Heartpiercer: This trait no longer causes short bow skills to pierce.

Vindicator

• Reaver's Curse: This trait has been reworked. Reduce the recharge of Energy Meld. Energy Meld enhances the effects of your next dodge.
• Angsiyan's Trust: This trait has been reworked. Energy Meld no longer has an energy cost and grants energy when used.
• Song of Arboreum: This trait has been reworked. Energy Meld grants more energy and also grants its energy and vigor to nearby allies.

It's a nerf to these abilities if you look at the vigor you go from 62% regeneration to 50% (so unless you keep that it's a nerf). But the F2 has a 20s CD with a 10 energy hit, so it's bound to be a loss of both DPS and heal. Instead of having a slightly better regen, we'll have to wait 20 seconds.
For me, the f2 is an accessory that's very little used in the first place, so we're nerfing a good line for something mediocre.
After that, the shield is better, but you still can't move with the 5.
I'm waiting for the next nerf of the short bow, which will be too strong afterwards...

Contained Temper: This trait has been reworked. Gain energy when you break out of stun. (currently Gain fury when you disable a foe.) (Looks like a big dps nerf knowing that it's in synergy with Roiling Mists and Ferocious Aggression) Because apart from specializations, there's no way to get fury.

Vindicator still has problems dodging in the water, GS 3 range. And renegat's main problem is being able to put the kalla facets where you want them, because of ground problems in a lot of places.

Edited October 30, 2023 by Angesombre.4630

[Gotejjeken.1267]

Was trying to go back and watch the balance stream...

Is it me or are 2/3 people muted on the VOD? Like I watch it and only Roy is audible which...doesn't help since he isn't actually balancing anything 😂

November 28th Balance Preview Livestream! - Twitch

[WhoWantsAHug.3186]

yea these change are no where  close enough to make support scrapper viable in PvP. engi needs like 8 more reworks on dog kitten traits, most of them grand master traits. elixer r and toss elixer r are both kittening awful. elixer r needs to be a stunbreak. i have no idea why it still isnt. toss elixer r is a joke for rezzing. its slow as kitten and doesnt provide any protection to rez or remove any condis. its easily outcleaved 100% of the time. HGH is still trash and support engi doesnt even use it. Iron Blooded needs a buff or rework. why are support engi traits broken up into 3 different trees? it makes 0 sense. absolutely no synergy. 

Health Insurance needs to be moved to the tools traitline. med kid has literally 0 elixers so why is it in alchemy. med kits heal is a toolbelt skill, so it should be in tools. soothing detonation is in inventions, but needs tools trait for max synergy, but then you miss buffed med kit from alchemy. it makes 0 sense. this is why support scrapper sucks and will continue to suck in PvP. 

support engi works best with shield offhand, so please buff clunky mace or give sword some utility. 

Edited October 30, 2023 by WhoWantsAHug.3186

[FaeriFrie.1827]

On 10/27/2023 at 2:40 AM, Rubi Bayer.8493 said:

Bountiful Disillusionment: The additional boon based on which Shatter skill you use is now also granted to nearby allies. Distortion now grants stability instead of regeneration.

Really loving these support mesmer changes so far! One tiny critique on the change to bountiful disillusionment, I was hoping that the amount/duration of boons gained depends on the amount of clones that are shattered. I don't think we should be incentivized to spam all shatters as fast as we can especially since we can do that for free under continuum spilt in chrono. 

I would also like you peeps to take a look at the two Major Master trait lines in chorno. Currently both of them are targeted for power damage which feels over the top. I would love to see some variety on that line.

I also don't like that the Major Grandmaster trait line has the same method of pumping out Alacrity & Quickness. I would prefer if there were distinct ways to share those boons giving you some decision points on what weapon you take or what trait lines you choose to pair it with. One idea that comes to mind is allowing alacrity to be tied with the shatters while the quickness can be tied to the phantasm summons. Anything that gives differentiation on this would be great!

Finally my last concerns are the radius issues on mesmer. All of the mesmer mantras have different ranges which can be quite jarring. The inspiration trait line Restorative Mantras gives the allied healing raidus for all Mantras at 360 while the Mantra of Recovery has the allied healing range at 240. The Mantra of Resolve itself has so many conflicting ranges. When you finished channeling the Mantra of Resolve, the cleanse radius is at 240 but the activation of the mantra is at 360. All in the mean time, Mantra of Concentration is both at 600. It's all very conflicting and I would love to see those ranges ironed out. The shield 4 protection radius is also very small (at a measly 240!) and the boon is from the phantasm itself which spawns near the target. Even if I do my best to position near the team, if the phantasm spawns behind the target, my allies won't get the protection boon because the radius on the ability is too small.

Those are my only concerns for mesmer right now! I know my post is mostly on the negatives but I really wanna say that the changes that you guys have pushed out so far has been amazing! Been loving the direction. I hope you can take my critique into consideration!
 

[Aeolus.3615]

On 10/27/2023 at 9:14 PM, shadowpass.4236 said:

Takedown changes are lame

Or add a damage boost when  is KD... dont expect much  logic on any update.

[TentacleInvoker.2860]

Vengeance being changed to 100% after a kill is an absolute banger, this imo sets Warrior apart from other professions drastically in a positive sense. Other than that, a nice patch overall. There is more to be done, but it seems like you guys are on the right track. Thanks.

[Convet.2605]

On 10/28/2023 at 1:51 PM, Doam.8305 said:

Been awhile since I used my ranger but if I remember correctly the HoM pets are merely reskins. For instance the Black Widow Spider is just a reskinned Jungle Spider. So the HoM Pets should be updated too.

As for underwater its underwater and people have given up all hope for underwater in this game.

See I get that. I wonder if they appear different in the update though and will they get affected by changes is the more of a worry.

 

In regards to underwater, I am still holding out on that hope :(. Rainbow Jellyfish, while HoM, am pretty sure has its own unique skill the other jellyfish don't have. Would be intresting to see.

[Sereath.1428]

Regarding the Major Master trait changes for Vindicator (mostly for competitive game modes, but some does still apply for PvE), previously posted on the Revenant forums:

On 10/28/2023 at 3:14 AM, Sereath.1428 said:

Alright.

While I do think this might be a step in the right direction, I do see how this is a nerf to the frequency of dodges and in consequence a nerf to damage and utility:

1. Reaver's Curse: No complaints here, it was bad in every game mode. The new version is certainly much more interesting.
2. Angsiyan's Trust: Mostly a sPvP trait because Song is terrible there. Right now you get 10 endurance (meaning you can dodge 2 seconds earlier from the usual 10s) with every legend swap and also with every alliance tactics swap. So 10 endurance for going into Shiro/whatever then 10 again when you swap back to Alliance and 10 more when you swap between orange and blue sides. That was very useful and will be a great loss.
3. Song of Arboreum: Now this is just a nerf to me. And it's not about the vigor with each dodge, but the enhancement part: Vigor Effectiveness Increase: 25% 
   This had very nice synergy with Relic of Evasion (PvE/WvW version). And thematically it made sense.

And from what I saw on stream, Energy Meld still has a 30 second cooldown. Still costs 10e (which isnt terrible), still +15 endurance by default and still has a casting time.
(So the same values as now for both sPvP and WvW)
That is not so great, especially the cooldown. But mostly in contrast to current Angsiyan's Trust and Song of Arboreum.
Maybe if the cooldown was 20s and it had no casting time.

Bearing in mind that Vindicator's entire power budget is shared with dodging doing damage / having utility.
A 15, maybe 20 second cooldown at most for Energy Meld would be good, more interesting and pretty much a side-grade from current traits, which is also good. Otherwise you are simply deleting the current access to reliable endurance.

Edited October 30, 2023 by Sereath.1428

[Rap Tiger.1257]

What I find strange is that you are not going to nerf bladesworn? this class is already broken in PvP, soon they won't die even against 2vs1 or more, and be able to win against 4 or 5 people..... As for the ranger, I'm happy, I hope the pets can hit like a bladesworn and be able to attack the targets, instead of playing tag with the enemies..... As for Smokescale's nerf takedown, I think it's unnecessary, Smokescale should stay as it is and match the other pets to be as useful as Smokescale.

Since rangers will not have improvements in any class, so the pets have to be really useful fighting partners...

Edited October 30, 2023 by Rap Tiger.1257

[Rap Tiger.1257]

On 10/28/2023 at 1:36 AM, Burnfall.9573 said:

All these updates means absolutely nothing when Thief Profession and Stealth Mechanic remains a threat. I can easily see past the Manipulation, Confusion and Diversion. High Manipulattive tactics is very strong presense here with this balance patch; to evade accountability and reality to the real threats that has been jeapordizing the game competittive sceneary. 

Anet is continuing in investing so much in not taking Accoutabilty for anything. Years and pages of unresponse threads, posts and concerns, are quitely, silently pushed away to distract The Community, with the next 'balance patch'

The 11 years+ of Destructive Conditioning of Sabotaging The Community Trust to give them a False sense of "Power" to combat Toxcity, Bad Game Design and Stealth Mechanic continues.

The Bait of giving The Community and the players a false sense of "Power" and "Security" for dealing with Toxic Game Design vs Toxic Profession+Toxic Build Design, is Toxic.

11 years+ of  Refusing to take Accoutability, Refusing to Empathize with The Community and the players, Refusing to be Transparent and Honest, Refusing to Communication, Taking Advantage of our Trust, Hope and Emotions, Feeling no Remorse for our  Experiences, Refusing and Neglecting....years and years of unresolved concerns including Bad Game Design, Exploits, Hacking, Cheating etc....

Is Malignant In Disguise

 

Open Your Eyes - See Past The Buffs/Rewards/Add-ons

(Anet true intention is to make every Profession, players feel "Special", while continuing allowing Toxic Game Design: 1 shot, Stealth Mechanic continue to control the outcome)

Do Not Ignore The Elephant In The Room. The Elephant Is Still Is Still There!!

I honestly think you're delusional, in every game there will be toxic players, also in other games there will always be complaints and praise, I still think guild wars 2 is better than many other games.

[Angesombre.4630]

On 10/26/2023 at 8:40 PM, Rubi Bayer.8493 said:

 

Revenant

This update is focused on improving revenant's short bow, shield, and hammer weapons. We've made piercing part of the short bow's base attacks to make it more appealing to non-renegade users. The shield changes improve its usability as a support weapon, while hammer has gotten some improvements to both its damaging and defensive capabilities.

• Shattershot: This skill now pierces.
• Bloodbane Path: This skill now pierces.
• Sevenshot: This skill now pierces.
• Contained Temper: This trait has been reworked. Gain energy when you break out of stun.

Vindicator

• Song of Arboreum: This trait has been reworked. Energy Meld grants more energy and also grants its energy and vigor to nearby allies.

I'm going to sound boring but I don't understand certain changes, here's what the archetype says.
Invocation: "I call upon the great legends of the Mists..."

Invocation grants bonuses when switching between legends, giving you access to the fury boon. Enhancements to fury give additional damage and an increased critical-hit chance.
So the change from: Contained Temper: This trait has been reworked. Gain energy when you break out of stun. 
Knowing that we have a grandmaster trait right behind it:
Charged Mists
Invoking a legend while at or below the energy threshold grants extra energy to your new legend.

There will be almost nothing left to provide fury apart from elite specialization and sword 5. And the energy already goes up when you change legend.

 You'd think he doesn't watch what they're doing.

The short bow will be nerfed in the next patch because it will be too strong with the other specializations.

And for Vindicator you'll nerf the only useful trait so far. Vindi took so much in the teeth.

We're going from 62% regeneration with Song of Arboreum to 50%, so a 12% loss of passive regeneration, for a skill that has a CD of 20 sec PvE and 30 PvP/WvW.

Small oversight
Enduring Recovery: Gain increased endurance recovery (October 18, 2022    
Reduced endurance regeneration bonus from 25% to 10% in PvP and WvW when using the vindicator elite specialization).

Edited October 31, 2023 by Angesombre.4630

[Piedplat.3597]

Rework on ranger's pet? Eleven years of waiting. Thanks Anet, I'am  impatient to play all of them.

[Hieroglyph.2607]

Relic of the Demon Queen: Poison that you apply reduces healing by an additional amount. Disabling a foe applies poison.

 Poisoned additionally has the effect of reducing incoming healing, Resistance does not negate that effect.

Time to fix RESISTANCE!

[Polar.8634]

i am happy with all rev changes, it does not need 4 traits to regenerate endurance and 3 + skills to gain fury, nice trait reworks. weapon reworks are nice too.

but demon reworks left to go! demon stunbreak is sucide button for non-heralds, and even for herald still can selfgg often because how much cc is out there and how little stab herald has.

[diese.1354]

Power mechanist need more buffs, dps are too low even with hammer and Mechanical Genius should award player instead of punishing him.

To have more active gameplay with Mechanist, I suggest changing the Mechanical Genius trait to grant bonus stat to the player and not the mech, an idea will be the more the mech stay with the player, the more "offensive" stat the player get.

[Suyheuti.1732]

After very long time, I really see good changes. Thank you for anet dev team.

It will be nice if anet remove "Succesfully evade" part to only "evade" from Relic of the Mirage. It would be very good change for condi mirage & condi trv holosmith for creating good alternatives for relics.

[Voyant.1327]

Going to just accept these changes and roll with them after a few days of analyzing them,
Depending on the stats themselves should be able to work around most aspects.
It is possible the increased confusion stacks offset the DPS loss in theory.
It would be wise to keep an eye on this and if there is an area to provide constructive feedback, will definitely do so.
perhaps even have a window at launch for the first 1-2 days of a balance patch to offset issues/community with pitchforks?
(Just a thought that maybe having that team have a clear schedule and to engage with the community in game & adjust accordingly with smaller tweaks by day 2.)

But primarily there is one trait I just can't wrap my head around especially being in the grouping that it's in:
Ego Restoration: This trait fills the master tier slot previously held by Restorative Illusions. Create a clone after using a healing skill.

Idea/Passing the Ball:
I get it, there's probably healing skills on the rifle and this is a plant to make a source of generation. I think adding a phantasm on heal skill would be a much better solution.
Esp since of the changes elsewhere. It doesn't have to be anything major. A stack of confusion or two, or even something different like it spawns and drops lesser chaos storm.
If I am understanding correctly that Lesser Phantasmal Defender is going away, why not just take that animation and tweak it a bit, use it here.
Would just be a fun change without losing the spirit of the class.

I get that might be more work then I would know first hand, but I don't think animation wise much would need to be done differently.
And as long as you didn't go overboard with what it did, re-balancing would be solved, plus creates a way to balance the spawning w/ it having a sensible cool down time.

Either way, vitriol now aside I hope the future is brighter then the past for all.
Hope this turns out well.

[Zebulon.1850]

Net Shot: Increased the casting time from 0.24 seconds to 0.62 seconds. This skill now inflicts vulnerability in addition to immobilizing enemies. Increased the power coefficient from 0.5 to 1.25 in PvE only.
I hope that cast time does not take affect in WvW, since the power coefficent is not being increased.

 

Also, can we please get the autoattack fixed on rifle? You can buff the other skills as much as you want, no one is going to run it when it does so little. We're still looking at .385 damage coefficent in WvW, down from .44 on the old hip shot.

 

Finally, [&Bhb3AAA=], thief twilight combo (scepter 3 with dagger) is in desperate need of a skill split for WvW, it is still using the pve number of 1.5 + 0.5, for a total of 2. That's more than trueshot does, on a skill that you can cast 3-4 times in a row.

[Jski.6180]

It looks good not much for ele but still looks good over all. The buff to the relic was very much needed and i would love to see them buff the other first set of relics mostly Astral Ward where it would trigger on every signet use but with an say 3-5 sec icd to prevent over spamming. I would also like to see Relic of Lyhr cut off at low hp % so its not always death when you need to self support to stay alive hehe.

[Gendalfs.7521]

Anet can keep that kitten 2 shot AA engie rifle, but plese remove casting time on first shot. If you dont believe me, take mesmer with GS, herald with SB and engie with rifle to Madlab farm for comparison

Edited October 31, 2023 by Gendalfs.7521

[Reig.8173]

Tempest
Can you remove the Activation time of "Aftershock!" in PvE please?
Can't be used when Overloading.

Thank you.