The current boonball meta is a horrible disgrace. But there is an easy fix

[Verdict is Vengence.6912]

I wish Anet would address it with a in-depth explanation on why they prefer boon ball meta, but I know they'll get blown up no matter what they say.

[ArchonWing.9480]

3 hours ago, NickTheNortGreek.3162 said:

As a returning player. I am in disbelief that each group now needs 3-4 supports for boon/heal spam. Like do people really want to play 4 to 1 , support / dps? A zerg of 25 would need 20 supports 5 dpsers? I feel just that, forces people out of wvw

Quite literally, even if the commander isn't exclusively gatekeeping.

If you're a dps, this means you have max 10 slots to compete with, and if this is an organized guild running, 3-5 of these slots are auto taken. So you basically have to be running a meta dps spec like berserker or holosmith to even have a chance; the other ones is basically rolling dice.

Furthermore, because of this inanity, it doesn't matter if the squad lacks dps, because there are probably no shortage of guild members willing to switch to dps.

Commanders that don't do this find themselves at a huge disadvantage vs groups that don't, and those that run pugs are already at a disadvantage at many way than one.

So even if you do get on comms and run coherent builds- if you're not running on top of the meta as a dps, you're basically told to pound sand. Unless you are known by your team as a exceptional good dps, then you can put in several times the effort to get similar results. The final result is that players need to submit an application showing 15 years of experience, because it is simply expendable.

And even if you do get past all these obstacles, it is very easy for a dps to be held back by lackluster supports that aren't held to the same scrutiny as dps are. But of course it is only natural to place pug dps with the weaker supports or just other pug supports of unknown quantity, and guess who will shoulder the blame first? Though I suppose it is funny to hear people bash the pugs even when the parties is stacked as such, but I feel these things happen at an unconscious level regardless.

It has never been a crappier time to pug, or run open if you don't like playing support. And it doesn't help that most of the support builds are so braindead and devoid of any real decision making. I suppose primary supports like Chrono/Firebrand get some leeway in creativity and simply because they have more leverage to run weird stuff, but nobody cares about you performing well; only when you don't.

Edited March 25 by ArchonWing.9480

[Dawdler.8521]

7 minutes ago, Verdict is Vengence.6912 said:

I wish Anet would address it with a in-depth explanation on why they prefer boon ball meta, but I know they'll get blown up no matter what they say.

Anet dev 1: ”Hm maybe reducing ranger damage could fix this?”

Anet dev 2: *permastealthing in smoke fields in a corner*

Anet dev 3: “So anyway, we’re buffing willbender.”

[XenesisII.1540]

4 hours ago, NickTheNortGreek.3162 said:

As a returning player. I am in disbelief that each group now needs 3-4 supports for boon/heal spam. Like do people really want to play 4 to 1 , support / dps? A zerg of 25 would need 20 supports 5 dpsers? I feel just that, forces people out of wvw cause the point of wvw is pvp and fight / defeat enemy players. As in any other mmo healers are very fewer players compared to dpsers. 

I guess boons are just that good and easy to upkeep nowadays. That organized group just forces/guides people into support builds... 

I used to have some amazing fights in keeps where none of the zergs were actually stacked but that was before even expansions.. 

Player collision sounds nice, to me at least, but I would guess would put more strain on servers? Maybe. 

Having more than one supp per group doesn't sound fun to me. I haven't touched wvw yet but watching a lot of streamers /vids etc to get updated on the meta and situation of wvw. 

Mobility, tactics and strategy should be where fights should be decided not who spams more boons than the other. I feel too much focus has been put onto boons. 

They have 25 stacks of might(750 power and condi) the entire fight, not to mention other stuff like bloodlust or claim bonuses, with fury/quickness/alacrity practically always up, so even minstrels can still hit decently, certainly enough to roll pugs by hitting 11111, while your dps are there for the coordinated spike damage on other boon balls.

Stacking support makes sense if you're running tagged up on maps, given that most pugs that may surround you will be dps specs more often than not. Your core group will be able to sustain fights for the overall damage of the squad and pugs to eventually take over the enemy.

Overall this was a bad direction to take the game, as they've built way more dps specs than support specs into the game, almost a 3:1 ratio of dps to support specs now, while the group setting has been reduced to 1-2:3-4 dps to support spots, one of which is 99% has to be a guard of some sort.

If they reduced might you would probably see more dps roles show up in squads again, since damage will be too low without it, but then you'd have minstrel specs crying about not getting loot or credit for kills. 🤷‍♂️

Fully agree with your last statement. Support carry so hard that groups can just use the chinese gvg now, sit in one spot and soak damage while flinging poopoo at the opponent sitting right next to them. Course part of that is also the skill lag is so bad against some groups now, you might as well just sit in one spot and wait for skills to eventually pop off and see who explodes first from the skill releases. 😏

[Coldtart.4785]

6 hours ago, XenesisII.1540 said:

If they reduced might you would probably see more dps roles show up in squads again, since damage will be too low without it

Doesn't solve the problem. This is 100% because of the strength of healing.

[applecinder.1960]

Time to add the Ole cannon blueprint for these boonballs.