November 28 Skills and Balance Update Preview

[Furball.1236]

On 10/26/2023 at 11:40 AM, Rubi Bayer.8493 said:

Mesmer

Our goal for mesmer in this update was to improve the set of tools available to support builds. We've made larger changes to the chaos and inspiration specializations to provide better access to certain boons and improve healing capabilities.

+250 expertise from Chaotic Persistence from the Chaos trait line is the main reason why cMesmer builds take Chaos in group contents.

The self regen built in this trait line is going to be removed even though regen uptime nowadays is unfortunately low from most of the groups out there. Sadly, regen uptime is also not a main focus of most healers. Needless to say, solo cMesmers need to maintain regen themselves and it doesn't make any sense to take this away from them.

Please allow the builds that take advantage of Chaos trait line to have control of the boon themselves.

[Angesombre.4630]

Speaking of WvW, it would be great if certain skills could stop attacking the supply, and he doesn't even attack me....

[pbalint.1607]

The changes to rifle are irrelevant, because the weapon itself is bad.

Please fix rifle (starting with the auto attack), turrets, kits, also, don't forget that Engie sacrifices a utility slot for taking a kit in the first place... (Or just give it weapon swap already: Engie has to auto attack a lot, because of no weapon swap)

[XDeadzX.2581]

Not sure where to mention it, but the live stream VOD for the balance notes is broken and only features Roy "Roy" Marks' microphone track. Maybe the gathering node enthusiast has his OBS set to a secondary VOD Track in his audio settings? If anybody could mention it to him to check for next time it'd be appreciated. Or if you read this in your feedback crawl Roy, thank you. 😀

[Exciton.8942]

I like all mesmer changes. PvE, PvP, WvW support mesmers may become viable. PvP one might even be too strong...depending on the numbers.

Only thing I'd like to see is to make signet of inspiration 5 targets baseline. You can reduce the base duration to 2sec and make the GM blurred signet buff it back to 3 seconds.

The skill is pointless without its support function. It makes no sense to force ppl to pick a GM trait just to make a skill meaningful.

[crazyhusky.2985]

Instead of Piercing Light giving aegis when you use a trap skill. Can it give Resolution instead,

Resolution(Retaliation when it was in the game) has been a key part of Power Dragonhunter builds since before the release PoF, Yet Dragonhunter still does not have native way of getting the boon within it's traits or skills within the Dragonhunter spec. it has rely one of the Greatsword skills and allies to give it the boon.

Another other boon would have been nice. More aegis really doesn't help much. Guardians pump out so much aegis already. Resolution on traps would allow Dragonhunter's to maintain the boon up on Resolution so they can keep up the damage over time.

[Azure The Heartless.3261]

On 10/26/2023 at 2:40 PM, Rubi Bayer.8493 said:

Berserker

• Berserk: Increased the duration from 15 seconds to 20 seconds in PvE only. Reduced the cooldown from 15 seconds to 8 seconds in PvE only.
• Smash Brawler: This trait no longer extends berserk duration by a flat amount and instead causes Primal Burst skills to extend berserk duration by 2 seconds in PvE and 1 second in PvP and WvW when striking an enemy, once per skill. Decapitate will extend berserk mode by 1 second in PvE.
• Heat the Soul: This trait no longer has an internal cooldown. Reduced the quickness duration from 4 seconds to 3 seconds in PvE only. Decapitate grants 2 seconds of quickness.

@Cal Cohen.2358 Hey, the arms changes are nice, but in pvp power zerker continues to be difficult to succeed with. The fact that it catches additional nerfing due to condi builds that have sustainy amulets makes it worse.

Consider that, because discipline is mandatory for warrior, berserkers only have one traitline choice.

If they take anything but defense, the only sustain afforded by their traitlines is a single second of strike damage immunity, and three seconds of life leech (that can be negated by weakness.)

There are only a handful of power zerkers in  the mists. Everyone else is playing bladesworn. Think we can get a fix? I'd like to play power zerker in pvp without having to try several times harder than the majority of the other classes.

At the very least, can you put a second of immune back on savage instinct, or find some way to tie sustain to power zerker without enabling condi zerker? Thanks.

[Abyss.5986]

... seriously 2 well changes for specter and NOTHING FOR DEADEYE???? Please why can't i play qdps DE??? Guess we back to thief getting nothing for balance.... Also don't tease pistols if you don't bring ricochet back that just hurts.... its just sad seeing how no one cares.... see ya around im done for now the last patch was a good indicator but i still had faith.

 

Oh yeah and great idea ad more forced movement on daredevil....

 

Rifle and scepter still garbage for any other spec. Thief just got left in the gutter this expack... so frustrating 

[Yerlock.4678]

20 hours ago, Dreams.3128 said:

What are you talking about? I have a friend that mained  spellbreaker in PvP since the start of it, and she is still getting high plat consistently. Hell, in my rare moments of wanting to rank for whatever reason, Spellbreaker gets me up to the low end of Plat. Spellbreaker isn't falling behind, Berserker is actually in a very compromising position because with all of these extra buffs, it's going to only get nerfed stupidly hard back into nothingness. And Berserker has always struggled with that. It's either stupidly broken or useless.

Spellbreaker is probably the one spec that is actually 'balanced' since it hasn't gotten out of hand in a good while, while also still being solid enough to always be a problem for boon heavy/reliant specs.

In the higher end Spb is behind the meta picks, you can balance accordingly but it's just the truth.

[Kal Durak.2830]

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

Mechanical Genius: For a short period of time, the effect will remain active even after the mech moves out of range of the engineer.

Useless until you fix the Mech running off. You all are getting warmer but still no fix. I think you assume the Mech follows me. 

- Give us the option to do like the Ranger and merge with our Pet Mech, but give us something (for example) like the Asura robot suit, with appropriate Mech/Player powers. Then we know the Mech is with us. instead of me putting the Mech away or let it die. i.e. PVE Boss Mobs and WvW fights.  

Edited October 29, 2023 by Kal Durak.2830

[Vizardlorde.8243]

5 hours ago, crazyhusky.2985 said:

Instead of Piercing Light giving aegis when you use a trap skill. Can it give Resolution instead,

Resolution(Retaliation when it was in the game) has been a key part of Power Dragonhunter builds since before the release PoF, Yet Dragonhunter still does not have native way of getting the boon within it's traits or skills within the Dragonhunter spec. it has rely one of the Greatsword skills and allies to give it the boon.

Another other boon would have been nice. More aegis really doesn't help much. Guardians pump out so much aegis already. Resolution on traps would allow Dragonhunter's to maintain the boon up on Resolution so they can keep up the damage over time.

This the aegis will be supporting Virtues  DH  instead  of Radiance. Apparently  virtues is  the higher dps build per SC.

[Lxya.6950]

"Well of Blood: Increased the base pulse healing from 280 to 496 in PvP and WvW." 

Really? You should nerf the transfusion necro/support scourge for wvw, not buff itXD 
I always thought the downed state HP in wvw is too much, it's really a pain in the a.. to finish the downed, especially for they have CC or just flying away in invulnerable state across a portal AFTER they had some sec of invuln when became downed, ect...Now almost everyone uses this transfusion support scourge with the relic of mercy and 40k HP with barrier, they don't even need to be skilled or know anything to win a fight...It is beginning to be a very boring chinese-style where you don't even have to move from your place or pay attention to anything except for shroud 4+F the downed IF there are downed, and in 1 sec every downed is up again...
 

Edited October 29, 2023 by Lxya.6950

[Leonantti.7651]

Could you please fix berserker's berserk mode? Currently if you have the Elite specialization berserker as a warrior, you're given F skill options (by default keybinds) F1 being normal warrior burst and F2 being berserker's berserk activation. Then when you activate berserk mode by pressing F2, normal bursts and the berserk mode activation options disappear and now you only have F1 being the berserker's primal burst. This is all good except when you mount up and dismount while still in berserk mode, it gives you again F2 option (for activating berserk mode) alongside with F1 for primal burst/normal burst. Essentially this is not a big deal but in some cases it is a little bit distracting. Also I would prefer if there could be a toggle or some way of just having access to the berserk mode/primal bursts only without having F keybind slot for the normal bursts (I personally never use the core warrior bursts and always save my adrenaline until I can activate berserk mode again).

[Jokuc.3478]

On 10/28/2023 at 4:05 AM, Gaiawolf.8261 said:

Nah, just make all boon shares 600 radius, so we can finally say goodbye to tiny boon balls. Until then, I'll be standing in melee alongside all the warriors with my 1500 rifle. Wheeee! 🙄

You would be doing this regardless because of the way the combat in this game works. Even with all boon applications being 600 range you are still missing out on unique buffs, combo fields and healing. Making everything massive radius is not going to make things better it'll just make it bad. The reason you don't stack in a tiny spot in some other mmos is cause they focus more on ally targeted buffs rather than aoe.

[peperoncino.2516]

3 hours ago, Leonantti.7651 said:

This is all good except when you mount up and dismount

my guy, mounts break some specs way more than just "distracting". for example, take weaver, who literally loses the ability to dual attune after mounting "incorrectly", unless a switch to other elemental combo is made first. annoying beyond all, affects combat directly, was and still is present in game since that especs introduction.

[coro.3176]

On 10/26/2023 at 11:40 AM, Rubi Bayer.8493 said:

Engineer

with pistol filling the role of a hybrid damage off-hand weapon to play alongside both sword and pistol main hands. 

• Static Shot: Reduced the casting time from 0.4 seconds to 0.2 seconds. Reduced the cooldown from 12 seconds to 10 seconds in PvP and WvW.
• Blowtorch: Increased the minimum power coefficient from 0.33 to 1.0 in PvE only. Increased the maximum power coefficient from 1.0 to 2.0 in PvE only.
• Glue Shot: Increased the missile velocity from 900 to 1,200. This skill is now a blast finisher and deals strike damage to enemies in the impact area with a power coefficient of 1.5. Reduced the cooldown from 20 seconds to 12 seconds in PvE only.

 

Focusing on this because I know it best. These are nice changes, but don't address what makes off-hand pistol bad in PvP and WvW. That is: blowtorch. Low stack, long duration condi does not work in a game mode with so much cleanse. Landing a perfect blowtorch feels bad because you only ever get ~20% of it to tick before the opponent cleanses it. It needs to go back to 4 stacks and 6 seconds rather than 2 and 12.

[Gaiawolf.8261]

3 hours ago, Jokuc.3478 said:

You would be doing this regardless because of the way the combat in this game works. Even with all boon applications being 600 range you are still missing out on unique buffs, combo fields and healing. Making everything massive radius is not going to make things better it'll just make it bad. The reason you don't stack in a tiny spot in some other mmos is cause they focus more on ally targeted buffs rather than aoe.

I would advocate 600 range buffs and healing too, as long as they prioritize party members. Various combo fields are fine, since projectile and ranged blast finishers are things.

 

 

Edited October 29, 2023 by Gaiawolf.8261

[Omg Im Target.3095]

Im still coping for the day where condi sword weaver gets a little buff. Scepter in comparison does more condi dmg, is much easier to play and has range which does matter. 

Regardless, Im glad offhand dagger fire 4 (Ring of Fire) got a buff. Hopefully it will be on the same level as warhorn which has been THE choice since the xpac. But i think it would be healther to give offhand dagger earth 4 and 5 a buff. These skills are clearly power oriented but dont see any play in pve because its just not worth it to attune to earth just for those 2 skills.  If they dont get any love people will just stick to fire/air all the time.

Edited October 29, 2023 by Omg Im Target.3095

[Icefyer.9208]

37 minutes ago, Gaiawolf.8261 said:

I would advocate 600 range buffs and healing too, as long as they prioritize party members. Various combo fields are fine, since projectile and ranged blast finishers are things.

 

 

Other classes having this kind of range for their buffs and such would be fantastic. Mechanist for example would have less pressure to spam shift signet because their mech goes off into Narnia when the boss jumps or moves. Obviously some abilities like Barrier Signet and maybe the might-giving fists it wouldn't make sense for, but it'd certainly help with the wonky pet AI.

Like one of the comments in that video says, now that buffs are limited to 5 players, the tiny range is more of a hinderance than anything else. There's a reason Heralds are extremely popular right now, since they can just dump buffs at a massive range.

Edited October 29, 2023 by Icefyer.9208

[SleepyBat.9034]

The concerning thing about this set of patch notes is that it does not contain ANY nerfs for overperforming classes in WvW. There are way too many builds running around that are unkillable and yet can delete you in 5 seconds with overwhelming condition spam or insane power bursts.

[Jokuc.3478]

52 minutes ago, Gaiawolf.8261 said:

I would advocate 600 range buffs and healing too, as long as they prioritize party members. Various combo fields are fine, since projectile and ranged blast finishers are things.

 

 

Please no

And linking Mukluk just automatically makes me dismiss the comment

[Flallen.4598]

Warrior changes are a nice start, and some of them look like they will open up some interesting alternatives in PvE and WvW, but this patch feels like they are trying to tell us that Berserker is the only relevant Warrior build. I was hoping for some of the damage done to Spellbreaker's boon removal capacity to be undone, but I see nothing there related to the spec, which is disappointing.

 

 

 

[FellFalls.3750]

Copy-pasting this over here because some people seem concerned/confused about how new [Heightned Focus] + Bladesworn would work:

To those concerned about double Unlockable' Slashes in PvP: 

It's basically impossible to get any kind of value out of this because, (even with flow stabilizer,) it's next to impossible to generate the required 100 flow (for a full slash) in less than the 8 second cooldown that Dragon Trigger has even without the proposed Heightened Focus trait.

Math:

Flow Stabilizer generates: 8 flow/s + a flat 15s base if you already have fury. (So assuming you use a fury generating skill, let's say gunsaber 5 for example: (which has a 1/2s cast time w/ an aftercast of ~1/4s - it puts the fury on after this aftercast) and you IMMEDIATELY double tap Flow Stabilizer and by some miracle of God have it not bug out and actually give you the 30 flow and put +4flow/s for 8s on your bar. You still NEED TO WAIT THOSE 8 SECONDS or via math a minimum of 8 seconds = 40 flow generated (+1 for base-in combat = +5/s flow generation for 8s) and then will need to wait an additional 30 seconds for the rest of the flow.

 

However Bladesworn obviously has other sources of Flow generation. So let's then assume ABSOLUTE IDEAL CONDITIONS for [Flow Stabilizer] as you suggested:

+ You already have fury on your bar (somehow.)

+ You have not used any charges of flow stabilizer and have both up w/ Tactical Reload also up.

+ You have some additional +1s flow at least from a Bladesworn trait + another permanent (again "somehow") + 1flow/s source.

 

This still requires:

Double tapping Flow Stabilizer + casting Tactical Reload (1/2s cast time) = 45 base flow + 7flow/s for 8 seconds. = 55 which is JUST enough to get a 2nd dragon slash off. IF you can make all of those stars align. However, this necessitates dedicating both a double-count recharging utility slot as well as your elite slot to just this burst. And, more importantly, YOU STILL NEED TO WAIT THOSE 8 SECONDS TO GENERATE FLOW EVEN WITH THE BOOSTED RATE ANYWAY. And that's not even accounting for the 1s down-time from the cast time of Tactical Reload towards boosted generation. (So in reality you need to wait 8.5-9s.) Which, frankly if you want to do, fine. But that leaves you weak as a kitten after. Plenty of other classes, i.e. Burst mesmer etc. Function in similar ways. But this also presupposes that you have 100 flow built before this entire combo, without blowing any of these buttons for the first slash anyway, you still need to channel the 2nd UD slash to "load the bullets" so there's plenty of time for counter-play, and this still does nothing to take advantage of any potential Heightened Focus reset Heightened Focus Trait by virtue of Flow Stabilizer "simply existing."

 

| The Closest You Could Come: |

---------

The absolute ONLY way to get 2 back-to-back full UD slashes off, nearly instantly would be:

+ Have "To The Limit" on your bar.

+ Have "Fury Signet" on your bar.

+ Have "Flow Stabilizer" and Fury Already somehow on your bar.

+ Blow Tactical Reload for the double Flow Stabilizer proc + faster bullet loading.

Blow literally ALL of these ^ after landing the first slash. Hit them again (as the trait as-read in the notes / how it works in the game currently only triggers when you hit someone who is blow 50% health" - again more time off your 8s limit to do this) and charge and land the 2nd slash.

 

And again, that's if, by some miracle you manage to have HF currently ready, (somehow know that - because there's no way for either you or your opponent to know that this is up because it does not add any kind of visual indicator or buff to your bar,) and then have all these stars align and get the 2nd slash off. And that's still with a minimum 0.75s "faster" bullet charging, + working to hit the dude, + 1s cast time for To The Limit + 1/4s cast time for Fury Signet + 1/2s cast time for Tactical Reload. SO MINIMUM: 2.75-3s down time for one slash only AT BEST.

 

| What New [Heightened Focus] Should Do |

---------

How new [Heightened Focus] should work imo. The issue with the proposed HF change as I see it, is not WHAT it does but HOW it does it. In theory the trait is for nuking your opponent down below sub-50% and Quickness is quite a good boon for this. So disregarding balance power-level: The new HF trait essentially aims to fill the same function as the old one, but in a cooler way. However:

As Cal has stated, many many times, the automatic sub 50% traits, both offensive and defensive are problematic because there's very little both agency/ability to know that these traits are up' on part of the user and very little counter-play on the part of the opponent. Doubly so with something like new HF if it's a) only going to trigger randomly when you hit a sub 50% hp opponent -- resetting a skill that needs adrenaline / flow that you just blew all of your adrenaline / flow to use anyway and thus (see above ^ cannot even remotely capitalize on without HEAVILY devoting your power budget to it) and b) it has a 12s icd. Something that neither you nor your opponent will likely be aware of or be able to keep track of since there's no visual indicator or buff for this.

>> Thus: Assuming they would like to keep this trait functionally the way it is, but maybe introduce some of the actually fun functionality from old Daring Dragon that people seem to miss, because tying the trigger to randomly hitting the opponent is stupid, is to either:

 a) Have it simply reset each burst skill once but make you do 20% less damage on each. (= More Functionality, Less Damage, Since all of Warrior's current power balance AND functionality are on it's burst skills anyway.)

OR

 b) Have it Reset the next 10s of Burst skills after you use after you use an elite skill. (10s Buff similar to the Tactical Reload one for loading bullets faster.)

AND/OR

Separately: Just give us back the Daring Dragon slash-reset and put that functionality on Immortal Dragon but reduce the healing, like everyone and their cat seems to want. And put something NEW in the [Heightened Focus] slot.

[MrZapples.6043]

Can this be just pve? Condi death magic harbinger is already extremely strong, especially in trailblazer gear. 

Deadly Strength: This trait now also grants condition damage per stack of Death's Carapace.

[SleepyBat.9034]

1 hour ago, MrZapples.6043 said:

Can this be just pve? Condi death magic harbinger is already extremely strong, especially in trailblazer gear. 

Deadly Strength: This trait now also grants condition damage per stack of Death's Carapace.

Going to be avoiding DM necros like the plague next patch.