12.12 patch note

[Wandering Mist.2973]

@Zoser.7245 said:

@Xstein.2187 said:

@Wandering Mist.2973 said:

@Xstein.2187 said:

@Wandering Mist.2973 said:It will be interesting to see if Chrono tanks in raids take something else instead of Inspiration, since distortion sharing was the main reason for taking that trait line in the first place.

Its still probably needed for Illusionary Inspiration.

Is that trait really that useful when chances are you will already have all the buffs on the whole raid anyway? I'd rather take the increased damage from either the illusion or duelling line personally.

TBH, I don't know what the leeway is for quickness on chrono. However, Illusionary Inspiration theoretically can give your allies an extra 6 seconds of quickness roughly every 22.5 seconds with perma alacrity and 100% boon duration (obviously theory is hard to get perfect in reality). It all depends on maintaining permanent quickness on your allies, which is always going to be the most important part. Meanwhile, SoI also doesn't require your allies to stand in wells (they should, but just in case something goes wrong). Additionally, if not inspiration, domination with blurred inscriptions gives a 20% reduced cool down to SoI. There are just a lot of things to consider before jumping on the 'try to put in more dps bandwagon'.

The Inspirin Distorsion is a big nerf and quickness can be shared by other professions that hit a lot harder while tanking too. Now is to be seen if only alacrity is enough to maintain the Chrono's spot or be replaced. Mirage wasn't meta or wanted in half or more of the raids even being OP with the bug, so now, even with the buff of the axe that are good changes for other game modes it will no affect the raid composition... less if some nerfs to others open that spot. I still need to read the other professions change to watch if something could affect us indirectly too... Barriers! I'm sad for the scepter because I'm fan of that weapon but nothing to do with it aside test it, compare if with staff, adapt the build if necessary, etc. I'm curious about the axe changes, I'll test it later together with the scepter.

Aside for the Chrono and raids, plus the scepter, we should be happy with the changes. Time to test them in our and other professions too.

I guess that will depend on how easy it is for healing revs to maintain alacrity compared to mesmer, plus whatever else they bring to the group.

[Cyninja.2954]

@Zoser.7245 said:

@Xstein.2187 said:

@Wandering Mist.2973 said:

@Xstein.2187 said:

@Wandering Mist.2973 said:It will be interesting to see if Chrono tanks in raids take something else instead of Inspiration, since distortion sharing was the main reason for taking that trait line in the first place.

Its still probably needed for Illusionary Inspiration.

Is that trait really that useful when chances are you will already have all the buffs on the whole raid anyway? I'd rather take the increased damage from either the illusion or duelling line personally.

TBH, I don't know what the leeway is for quickness on chrono. However, Illusionary Inspiration theoretically can give your allies an extra 6 seconds of quickness roughly every 22.5 seconds with perma alacrity and 100% boon duration (obviously theory is hard to get perfect in reality). It all depends on maintaining permanent quickness on your allies, which is always going to be the most important part. Meanwhile, SoI also doesn't require your allies to stand in wells (they should, but just in case something goes wrong). Additionally, if not inspiration, domination with blurred inscriptions gives a 20% reduced cool down to SoI. There are just a lot of things to consider before jumping on the 'try to put in more dps bandwagon'.

The Inspirin Distorsion is a big nerf and quickness can be shared by other professions that hit a lot harder while tanking too. Now is to be seen if only alacrity is enough to maintain the Chrono's spot or be replaced. Mirage wasn't meta or wanted in half or more of the raids even being OP with the bug, so now, even with the buff of the axe that are good changes for other game modes it will no affect the raid composition... less if some nerfs to others open that spot. I still need to read the other professions change to watch if something could affect us indirectly too... Barriers! I'm sad for the scepter because I'm fan of that weapon but nothing to do with it aside test it, compare if with staff, adapt the build if necessary, etc. I'm curious about the axe changes, I'll test it later together with the scepter.

Aside for the Chrono and raids, plus the scepter, we should be happy with the changes. Time to test them in our and other professions too.

Most other professions which can tank don't do so in maximum damage gear so yes, other class can tank and do more damage, but by far not as much more as one might expect.

Chrono still brings:

• permanent quickness and alacrity
• massive amounts of blocks, invuls and self distortion
• boon share/copy

The chance for double chrono to leave the meta are pretty slim.

[Curunen.8729]

@NICENIKESHOE.7128 said:

@"ReaverKane.7598" said:I'll direct you to

https://qtfy.eu/guildwars/benchmarks-11-07-17/

In case you haven't notice, the patch at 28/11/2017 reduce the 40k mirage to 25k dps if you're still playing the same build. Some people played around the traits/builds and manage to generate 30k on this forum I think?

Anyway I'm actually surprised the dev actually buffed the axe by 1.5-1.75x to bring it back up. Has anyone tested if it reaches 33-34k now?

Also axe trait is very underused in PvP/WvW. Sword is used instead in every meta build for mobility and survival, and even less people trait for axe due to how much survival you can get from desert distortion. So I really don't get all the complaining on the buff, seems like people who complain are those who don't really play the class.

Axe 3 is my go to burst in wvw - 8s cooldown traited including detarget and evade, crits pretty hard, stacks nice confusion and synergises extremely well straight into F1 or F2. Together with Axe2 and DE (to ensure max clone axe 3 and shatter), it can output some solid pressure. Grieving stats do bring out the damage of axe 3 in particular.

Sword on the flipside only really has mobility going for it - but between traiting blink, Jaunt, phase retreat and even IA, I don't find it as useful (unless traiting interrupts).

I suppose I'm glad fewer people use axe - hopefully less complaints about it that way.

[ArthurDent.9538]

Inspiring distortion change was ultimately a healthy change. Group invulnerability is too strong for one class to have an absolute monopoly on it especially considering how frequently it could be shared.

[Curunen.8729]

In any case surely mantra of resolve removing all conditions on initial cast is a bit too much?

I mean you can pretty much build to be almost immune to conditions between that, elusive mind and jaunt, nevermind if you go crazy and decide to trait Inspiration with RI and so on...

[OriOri.8724]

@ArthurDent.9538 said:Inspiring distortion change was ultimately a healthy change. Group invulnerability is too strong for one class to have an absolute monopoly on it especially considering how frequently it could be shared.

No, lets be honest here. Inspiring distortion was always fine. It was blurred inscriptions that was the problem, allowing us to take extra skills to grant distortion. Inspiring distortion would be perfectly balanced if BI didn't grant distortion on signet use, because we would be limited by F4's CD.

A significantly healthier change would have been to alter that effect on BI so that we couldn't spam distortion in the first place.

[Levetty.1279]

In my defense when somebody says they are going to nerf something you expect it nerfed not buffed.

[apharma.3741]

@Curunen.8729 said:In any case surely mantra of resolve removing all conditions on initial cast is a bit too much?

I mean you can pretty much build to be almost immune to conditions between that, elusive mind and jaunt, nevermind if you go crazy and decide to trait Inspiration with RI and so on...

I dunno it depends on the conditions on you, I mean you might actually die in that 2.25s cast time or at least lose a significant chunk of health which is why I just don't have any opinions on the mantra changes. I mean, I want to have opinions on it but it's like I'm the reporter in that I like turtles video.

[Cyninja.2954]

@apharma.3741 said:

@Curunen.8729 said:In any case surely mantra of resolve removing all conditions on initial cast is a bit too much?

I mean you can pretty much build to be almost immune to conditions between that, elusive mind and jaunt, nevermind if you go crazy and decide to trait Inspiration with RI and so on...

I dunno it depends on the conditions on you, I mean you might actually die in that 2.25s cast time or at least lose a significant chunk of health which is why I just don't have any opinions on the mantra changes. I mean, I want to have opinions on it but it's like I'm the reporter in that I like turtles video.

Think Chaos, think Bountiful Disillusionment, think Continuum Split, think spvp or wvw. :)

[OriOri.8724]

@Cyninja.2954 said:

@apharma.3741 said:

@Curunen.8729 said:In any case surely mantra of resolve removing all conditions on initial cast is a bit too much?

I mean you can pretty much build to be almost immune to conditions between that, elusive mind and jaunt, nevermind if you go crazy and decide to trait Inspiration with RI and so on...

I dunno it depends on the conditions on you, I mean you might actually die in that 2.25s cast time or at least lose a significant chunk of health which is why I just don't have any opinions on the mantra changes. I mean, I want to have opinions on it but it's like I'm the reporter in that I like turtles video.

Think Chaos, think Bountiful Disillusionment, think Continuum Split, think spvp or wvw. :)

Eh. That's quite a lot of investment to secure a 2.25s channel in the middle of a fight. Its just not worth it in my opinion. Instead of continuously buffing the effects when we finish channeling mantras, we just need their channel times reduced by another .5 seconds. 1.75 would be significantly better tbh.

[Asur.9178]

This balance patch has to be a troll.

[Cyninja.2954]

@OriOri.8724 said:

@Cyninja.2954 said:

@apharma.3741 said:

@Curunen.8729 said:In any case surely mantra of resolve removing all conditions on initial cast is a bit too much?

I mean you can pretty much build to be almost immune to conditions between that, elusive mind and jaunt, nevermind if you go crazy and decide to trait Inspiration with RI and so on...

I dunno it depends on the conditions on you, I mean you might actually die in that 2.25s cast time or at least lose a significant chunk of health which is why I just don't have any opinions on the mantra changes. I mean, I want to have opinions on it but it's like I'm the reporter in that I like turtles video.

Think Chaos, think Bountiful Disillusionment, think Continuum Split, think spvp or wvw. :)

Eh. That's quite a lot of investment to secure a 2.25s channel in the middle of a fight. Its just not worth it in my opinion. Instead of continuously buffing the effects when we finish channeling mantras, we just need their channel times reduced by another .5 seconds. 1.75 would be significantly better tbh.

Oh I agree on the aspect of wanting other changes to mantras. I really don't like the on skill cast functionality.

You got to hand it to Robert though, what better comeback can you expect from a mesmer/chrono who is loaded with conditions than:

• hit CS, get resistance and stab
• charge mantra to remove all conditions
• have 3-3.75s left to cast stuff
• come out of CS with no condis, a condi cleanse mantra charged and skills reset

It kinda screams comeback on paper. Ofcorse you need 3 illusions up for that which makes it kind of a mid fight scenario.

[ReaverKane.7598]

@Cyninja.2954 said:

@ReaverKane.7598 said:

@zealex.9410 said:

@ReaverKane.7598 said:So wait, the top tier dps class got buffed while everything else got nerfed?That's kind of the opposite of balance Arena net...And now i have to go around looking at which boss skills are unblockable cause can't distort allies anymore...

Top tier dps in what mode exactly? Because it wasnt in pve.

I'll direct you to

https://qtfy.eu/guildwars/benchmarks-11-07-17/

Outdated benchmarks for the win. God I hope you jumped on the mirage hype train based on that benchmark.

I'll counter with: https://www.gw2raidar.com/global_stats/5Tha's actual data from boss runs.

[zealex.9410]

@Cyninja.2954 said:

@OriOri.8724 said:

@Cyninja.2954 said:

@apharma.3741 said:

@Curunen.8729 said:In any case surely mantra of resolve removing all conditions on initial cast is a bit too much?

I mean you can pretty much build to be almost immune to conditions between that, elusive mind and jaunt, nevermind if you go crazy and decide to trait Inspiration with RI and so on...

I dunno it depends on the conditions on you, I mean you might actually die in that 2.25s cast time or at least lose a significant chunk of health which is why I just don't have any opinions on the mantra changes. I mean, I want to have opinions on it but it's like I'm the reporter in that I like turtles video.

Think Chaos, think Bountiful Disillusionment, think Continuum Split, think spvp or wvw. :)

Eh. That's quite a lot of investment to secure a 2.25s channel in the middle of a fight. Its just not worth it in my opinion. Instead of continuously buffing the effects when we finish channeling mantras, we just need their channel times reduced by another .5 seconds. 1.75 would be significantly better tbh.

Oh I agree on the aspect of wanting other changes to mantras. I really don't like the on skill cast functionality.

You got to hand it to Robert though, what better comeback can you expect from a mesmer/chrono who is loaded with conditions than:

• hit CS, get resistance and stab
• charge mantra to remove all conditions
• have 3-3.75s left to cast stuff
• come out of CS with no condis, a condi cleanse mantra charged and skills reset

It kinda screams comeback on paper. Ofcorse you need 3 illusions up for that which makes it kind of a mid fight scenario.

U can also run the whole mantra setup on a mirage and cover the channel with mirage cloak.

[Dethl.2875]

@ReaverKane.7598 said:

@Cyninja.2954 said:

@ReaverKane.7598 said:

@zealex.9410 said:

@ReaverKane.7598 said:So wait, the top tier dps class got buffed while everything else got nerfed?That's kind of the opposite of balance Arena net...And now i have to go around looking at which boss skills are unblockable cause can't distort allies anymore...

Top tier dps in what mode exactly? Because it wasnt in pve.

I'll direct you to

https://qtfy.eu/guildwars/benchmarks-11-07-17/

Outdated benchmarks for the win. God I hope you jumped on the mirage hype train based on that benchmark.

I'll counter with:

https://www.gw2raidar.com/global_stats/5

Tha's actual data from boss runs.

so 2nd in dps (3rd with ele cleave), 4th most 'popular' over all bosses, and no party support at all except for some paltry fury from the opening torch 5

[ReaverKane.7598]

@Dethl.2875 said:

@ReaverKane.7598 said:

@Cyninja.2954 said:

@ReaverKane.7598 said:

@zealex.9410 said:

@ReaverKane.7598 said:So wait, the top tier dps class got buffed while everything else got nerfed?That's kind of the opposite of balance Arena net...And now i have to go around looking at which boss skills are unblockable cause can't distort allies anymore...

Top tier dps in what mode exactly? Because it wasnt in pve.

I'll direct you to

https://qtfy.eu/guildwars/benchmarks-11-07-17/

Outdated benchmarks for the win. God I hope you jumped on the mirage hype train based on that benchmark.

I'll counter with:

https://www.gw2raidar.com/global_stats/5

Tha's actual data from boss runs.

so 3rd in dps, 4th most 'popular' over all bosses, and no party support at all except for some paltry fury from the opening torch 5

Well, we're talking DPS, if you want to go support, well, aim lower. Also it's second on single-target DPS, and third with cleaves.And popularity will of course be going to the "mirror comp" guys that are deemed mandatory for raids.Also, last i checked 3rd is still top tier DPS.

[apharma.3741]

@Dethl.2875 said:

@ReaverKane.7598 said:

@Cyninja.2954 said:

@ReaverKane.7598 said:

@zealex.9410 said:

@ReaverKane.7598 said:So wait, the top tier dps class got buffed while everything else got nerfed?That's kind of the opposite of balance Arena net...And now i have to go around looking at which boss skills are unblockable cause can't distort allies anymore...

Top tier dps in what mode exactly? Because it wasnt in pve.

I'll direct you to

https://qtfy.eu/guildwars/benchmarks-11-07-17/

Outdated benchmarks for the win. God I hope you jumped on the mirage hype train based on that benchmark.

I'll counter with:

https://www.gw2raidar.com/global_stats/5

Tha's actual data from boss runs.

so 2nd in dps (3rd with ele cleave), 4th most 'popular' over all bosses, and no party support at all except for some paltry fury from the opening torch 5

We will have to see how much difference the slight increase in duration by 1s and extra stack makes to imaginary axes as well as extra 1.5s duration increase to the torment (a condition that was buffed a few patches ago in PvE) on phantasmal seeking axes make. It could be the clone build with infinite horizon makes a come back but it will be a buff to the current condition mesmer builds too which should make them directly comparable to other condition builds. It may be that these builds can stay competitive while also bringing a situational utility but we will have to see.

From what I can tell the buffs were very careful at being targeted specifically at IH clone dps builds while slightly bringing up other condi mirage builds. I’ll wait and see from benchmarks but if this plays out the way it looks I would love to know which dev came up with these changes as they are really insightful.

[NICENIKESHOE.7128]

@apharma.3741 said:

We will have to see how much difference the slight increase in duration by 1s and extra stack makes to imaginary axes as well as extra 1.5s duration increase to the torment (a condition that was buffed a few patches ago in PvE) on phantasmal seeking axes make. It could be the clone build with infinite horizon makes a come back but it will be a buff to the current condition mesmer builds too which should make them directly comparable to other condition builds. It may be that these builds can stay competitive while also bringing a situational utility but we will have to see.

From what I can tell the buffs were very careful at being targeted specifically at IH clone dps builds while slightly bringing up other condi mirage builds. I’ll wait and see from benchmarks but if this plays out the way it looks I would love to know which dev came up with these changes as they are really insightful.

When they patched the double hitting bug in 28/11/17 we had a drop in 15k dps on clone build. Obviously player's own ambush deals roughly x1.5 damage now but clones should only deal 120% as oppose to 200% like before the patch. I'd suspect dps on the old mirage build to rise to around 28-30k but need some testing to confirm that. This buff also barely touches Me Games Ma's clone build (the one that hit 30k) since his build's clone doesn't ambush.

Personally I think Dune Cloak will still outdamage infinite horizon as clones only do 20% more damage on ambush.

[apharma.3741]

@NICENIKESHOE.7128 said:

@apharma.3741 said:

We will have to see how much difference the slight increase in duration by 1s and extra stack makes to imaginary axes as well as extra 1.5s duration increase to the torment (a condition that was buffed a few patches ago in PvE) on phantasmal seeking axes make. It could be the clone build with infinite horizon makes a come back but it will be a buff to the current condition mesmer builds too which should make them directly comparable to other condition builds. It may be that these builds can stay competitive while also bringing a situational utility but we will have to see.

From what I can tell the buffs were very careful at being targeted specifically at IH clone dps builds while slightly bringing up other condi mirage builds. I’ll wait and see from benchmarks but if this plays out the way it looks I would love to know which dev came up with these changes as they are really insightful.

When they patched the double hitting bug in 28/11/17 we had a drop in 15k dps on clone build. Obviously player's own ambush deals roughly x1.5 damage now but clones should only deal 120% as oppose to 200% like before the patch. I'd suspect dps on the old mirage build to rise to around 28-30k but need some testing to confirm that. This buff also barely touches Me Games Ma's clone build (the one that hit 30k) since his build's clone doesn't ambush.

Personally I think Dune Cloak will still outdamage infinite horizon as clones only do 20% more damage on ambush.

See that is the beauty of the patch, in Ma Games Ma build he will get extra torment from his traited axe from the ambush and get the extra confusion from imaginary axes but it does nothing for his clones so the already decent clone build gets a little better by maybe 1-2k as they launch phantasmal spinning axe.

The IH build though, this is a huge buff for it as each clone should launch the phantasmal seeking axe which was buffed as well as having the extra confusion duration on imaginary axes which they all spam. Additionally that build used all axe skills quite frequently so the extra duration on the phantasmal seeking axe goes much further.

The phantasm build gets the phantasmal seeking axe buff as well as the imaginary axes and will likely pull ahead of either of the other two as it was already in a slightly better position.

As far as I can tell if all that is right it looks like a really well thought out set of changes which is why I’m looking forward to seeing the benchmarks.

[MailMail.6534]

My scepter/Pistol+Axe/Torch grieving Mesmer says thanks.

Honestly, I don't even feel like I have the right to complain about the MEGA-nerf to Inspiring Distortion. They should have just gotten rid of it, and I'd feel better.

Otherwise, wow.

[Zoser.7245]

@Cyninja.2954 said:

@Zoser.7245 said:

@Xstein.2187 said:

@Wandering Mist.2973 said:

@Xstein.2187 said:

@Wandering Mist.2973 said:It will be interesting to see if Chrono tanks in raids take something else instead of Inspiration, since distortion sharing was the main reason for taking that trait line in the first place.

Its still probably needed for Illusionary Inspiration.

Is that trait really that useful when chances are you will already have all the buffs on the whole raid anyway? I'd rather take the increased damage from either the illusion or duelling line personally.

TBH, I don't know what the leeway is for quickness on chrono. However, Illusionary Inspiration theoretically can give your allies an extra 6 seconds of quickness roughly every 22.5 seconds with perma alacrity and 100% boon duration (obviously theory is hard to get perfect in reality). It all depends on maintaining permanent quickness on your allies, which is always going to be the most important part. Meanwhile, SoI also doesn't require your allies to stand in wells (they should, but just in case something goes wrong). Additionally, if not inspiration, domination with blurred inscriptions gives a 20% reduced cool down to SoI. There are just a lot of things to consider before jumping on the 'try to put in more dps bandwagon'.

The Inspirin Distorsion is a big nerf and quickness can be shared by other professions that hit a lot harder while tanking too. Now is to be seen if only alacrity is enough to maintain the Chrono's spot or be replaced. Mirage wasn't meta or wanted in half or more of the raids even being OP with the bug, so now, even with the buff of the axe that are good changes for other game modes it will no affect the raid composition... less if some nerfs to others open that spot. I still need to read the other professions change to watch if something could affect us indirectly too... Barriers! I'm sad for the scepter because I'm fan of that weapon but nothing to do with it aside test it, compare if with staff, adapt the build if necessary, etc. I'm curious about the axe changes, I'll test it later together with the scepter.

Aside for the Chrono and raids, plus the scepter, we should be happy with the changes. Time to test them in our and other professions too.

Most other professions which can tank don't do so in maximum damage gear so yes, other class can tank and do more damage, but by far not as much more as one might expect.

Chrono still brings:

• permanent quickness and alacrity
• massive amounts of blocks, invuls and self distortion
• boon share/copy

The chance for double chrono to leave the meta are pretty slim.

Well, looking in to all options I see an alternative or two that I prefer not put here. But what I see clearly is that even without the old Inspirin Distorsion, what still saves the Chrono spots is the unique combination of permanent quickness and alacrity together that, even with it's low dps, give the the raid a more versatile composition around him to max the dps without care about share that boon and effect. Of course, all the adds that you've mentioned counts too favouring the chrono as preferred tank.

Now I'm looking in how Grieving stats performs against Viper after the changes in some professions and Pure Power builds. I'm happy after all, but this was only a minor balance into the new direction about power vs conditions or that was what they said. For now we have been lucky and you clearly can see the reactions against us in the forums about the buff of the axe even if it's effectiveness is vigor/endurance dependant, probably they forgot fast the bugfix of the axe in the previous patch.

[Carighan.6758]

@reikken.4961 said:This is insane. Condi mesmer--the burstiest condi class in the game, arguably even above necro (which is more sustained)--was actually buffed. In a patch meant to reduce condi burst. Someone at anet is trolling hard.

Or they have finally realized that sPvP is a lost cause with GW2's underlying design, combat system (plus it's not where the players and hence money are), and have decided to mostly focus on PvE balance. Which, frankly, the game needs. Desperately. It's 5 years in by now, and if you enjoy a team brawler you'll be playing Battlerite, not GW2. A game built for that type of gameplay.

However, PvE needs substantial balance changes, not minor number adjustments, seeing things such as the 80% buff to Hilt Bash, the removal of Distortion Share, the specialization of Mesmer vs Firebrand Mantras and so on: good. Baby steps, but we're approaching PvE-useful balancing changes.

And, also, after the recent bugfix Mirage DPS needed some buff, so there you go.

@psizone.8437 said:Expect to see more Condi Mirages in WvW and much more complaints until the next balance patch.

As a condi class which only applies Torment and Confusion, that's going to stick how long? 0,1s to 0,3s?

[psizone.8437]

@Carighan.6758 said:

@psizone.8437 said:Expect to see more Condi Mirages in WvW and much more complaints until the next balance patch.

As a condi class which only applies Torment and Confusion, that's going to stick how long? 0,1s to 0,3s?

It's the low cooldown reapplication that makes it strong, as soon as you run out of cleanses you're gone.

Coupled with how difficult it is to pin a Mirage down to burst them to death, you'll see it being used more often.

@Carighan.6758 said:

Or they have finally realized that sPvP is a lost cause with GW2's underlying design, combat system (plus it's not where the players and hence money are), and have decided to mostly focus on PvE balance. Which, frankly, the game needs. Desperately. It's 5 years in by now, and if you enjoy a team brawler you'll be playing Battlerite, not GW2. A game built for that type of gameplay.

However, PvE needs substantial balance changes, not minor number adjustments, seeing things such as the 80% buff to Hilt Bash, the removal of Distortion Share, the specialization of Mesmer vs Firebrand Mantras and so on: good. Baby steps, but we're approaching PvE-useful balancing changes.

They need to split the balance and focus on both. There's a large chunk of the playerbase that plays and enjoys sPvP and WvW so discounting them doesn't work, and saying they should be playing other games if they enjoy those modes is kinda rude.

Everything needs more substantial balance changes, Anet have let older skills and traits fester whilst tinkering with the ones that are being used. It certainly didn't help that for years they were balancing the game as a PvP-style game (for eSports) and not as an MMO.

[rank eleven monk.9502]

@reikken.4961 said:This is insane. Condi mesmer--the burstiest condi class in the game, arguably even above necro (which is more sustained)--was actually buffed. In a patch meant to reduce condi burst. Someone at anet is trolling hard.

I expected like, ineptitude reduced to 1 stack for 10s, like what everything else got. But no. Axe burst increased. End list. ???You are confusing two things here. Condi mirage in pvp was not buffed. Noone uses axe there, the change solely impacts PvE.

[reikken.4961]

@Carighan.6758 said:

@psizone.8437 said:Expect to see more Condi Mirages in WvW and much more complaints until the next balance patch.

As a condi class which only applies Torment and Confusion, that's going to stick how long? 0,1s to 0,3s?

huh?Cry of Frustration by itself applies cripple, blind, confusion, and torment, and it's instant cast (ie can be combined with literally anything). Torch adds burn to that combo. Then you have a few sources of bleed and vuln you can throw in as well. Condi mirages routinely apply 6+ conditions nearly instantly.

edit: and staff applies weakness, poison, and chill. You can even apply slow now if you want.