October 8 Balance Update Preview

[RidleyDay.3056]

6 minutes ago, Araska.9370 said:

I gave a looooong break a while back because Necro was routinely left in an awful place, because they were considered too good in WvW, which I didn't play much. Then there was the announcement that WvW and PvP and PvE would all have things balanced in just those places, and it worked out well from what I could tell.

So why, for Necromancer here, are the spear and pillar changes being done globally? Is Extirpation *really* that big of an issue in PvE? I found it neat to use in the fractals where the enemies would gain boons, but is that case really enough to justify literally deleting a new mechanic from the game entirely? Or are we just not willing to spilt balancing anymore? Same for Transfusion. Getting rid of 2 unique necromancer mechanics entirely, one of which is brand new, at the same time, is absolutely insane. Especially when it could just be balanced in the places where its actually a problem. 

CmC buffs and nerfs depending on his experiences with WvW, I guess. "To hell with the game being fun, interesting or balanced, X thing bothers me in the niche gamemode I play and I'm going to make everyone suffer for it."

Fire this clown already, jesus christ.

[Yuudachi.6450]

8 hours ago, Joie.6084 said:

Necromancer

Extirpate: This skill no longer inflicts Extirpation and instead inflicts weakness.

 

As a veteran player, I’m frustrated by Anet’s decision to remove a new key mechanic from the expansion just a month after release. This mechanic was a major selling point for me and many players. I bought it expecting meaningful, long-term changes.

To remove such a feature so quickly feels like a betrayal of trust. Expansions aren’t cheap, and we deserve the content we were promised. Anet needs to be more transparent and accountable for decisions like this. It’s unacceptable to sell an expansion and strip away its new core mechanic so soon. 
 

[MedievalThings.5417]

8 hours ago, Nefras.7314 said:

• Celestial equipment will no longer grant concentration or expertise while in a WvW map.

BOIS WE ARE EATING GOOD TONIGHT LETS GOOOOOOOOOOOO!

Everyone losing over and over to cele is still going to lose to those same players.  What stats will they ask to be nerfed next?

[Nefras.7314]

2 minutes ago, MedievalThings.5417 said:

Everyone losing over and over to cele is still going to lose to those same players.  What stats will they ask to be nerfed next?

we just go back to what we did before ... complain about TB ofc

KACHOW

[Kulvar.1239]

5 minutes ago, MedievalThings.5417 said:

Everyone losing over and over to cele is still going to lose to those same players.  What stats will they ask to be nerfed next?

Berserker because thieves destroy them from stealth.
Marauder/Ritualist/Plaguedoctor/Trailblazer/Minstrel because "too much health points".
Ritualist/Plaguedoctor/Minstrel because "too much boons".

You'll only be allowed to play with gear that let them kill you. (which won't happen because bad players always lose to good players)

[Lunarbased.6324]

Transfusion: This trait no longer teleports downed allies to the user. This trait no longer increases the cooldown of Garish Pillar in WvW.

 

Please... Please.... PLEASE!!!!!

Do not remove the teleport from this trait.... it is one of the very few things that makes heal scourge worth bringing over the other healers.

 

Other healing classes can flat out heal the scourge 10 times over all while providing more boons and support...

 

PLEASE ANET, I'M BEGGING YOU.....

[Captain Bofa.5981]

Transfusion nerf may be the best change we've gotten in the 2 years since I started playing again. Ultimately, HS isn't dead, it still has the ungodly barrier and damage mitigation potential, on top of heals, alacrity, and other boons. However - I will say I wish we would get stability on healscourge. Trail of anguish simply isn't enough stability for the vast majority of encounters. Maybe the transfusion nerf could be mitigated by giving it some stability? HS is a very solid healer on most fronts though, and the trivialization of content from transfusion has been a pain point in many attempts to teach people raids/strikes - because ultimately they get saved from things that should have killed them - by pulling them out of the bad and ultimately rewarding bad positioning/play. Also, warrior rifle still needs significantly more love. As it stands right now I am pretty sure longbow will still be a stronger power option (AS A CONDI WEAPON) for warrior than rifle. Ultimately though, good changes, hope to see more soon!

 

[Dreamonology.8362]

No willbender nerfs really? solar flare on spear+wb is like 1 shotting people, 90% Of people in wvw are willbenders its cringe

[Dreamonology.8362]

29 minutes ago, Kulvar.1239 said:

You'll only be allowed to play with gear that let them kill you. (which won't happen because bad players always lose to good players)

yeah what game are you playing? a random person with 20 hours into the game can pick up wb, put cele gear on, and kill vets with ease lol this aint 2012 where skill mattered, its power creep garbage that needs to be balanced. 

 

elite specs need to be nerfed across the board on lot of classes to. Same in Pvp, can watch the top best players in the game on twitch stating that its a balance issue, not muh "skill" u think you have in this power creeped game.

[Kulvar.1239]

11 minutes ago, Captain Bofa.5981 said:

Transfusion nerf may be the best change we've gotten in the 2 years since I started playing again. Ultimately, HS isn't dead, it still has the ungodly barrier and damage mitigation potential, on top of heals, alacrity, and other boons. However - I will say I wish we would get stability on healscourge. Trail of anguish simply isn't enough stability for the vast majority of encounters. Maybe the transfusion nerf could be mitigated by giving it some stability? HS is a very solid healer on most fronts though, and the trivialization of content from transfusion has been a pain point in many attempts to teach people raids/strikes - because ultimately they get saved from things that should have killed them - by pulling them out of the bad and ultimately rewarding bad positioning/play. Also, warrior rifle still needs significantly more love. As it stands right now I am pretty sure longbow will still be a stronger power option (AS A CONDI WEAPON) for warrior than rifle. Ultimately though, good changes, hope to see more soon!

 

It's not dead, it's just inferior to every other healer.

[Awn.1327]

Good changes for quickness catalyst. Thank you!

Please consider increasing the boon radius of Jade Sphere (to 600).

I know this has been requested a hundred times already but please rework the energy mechanic. Make Jade Sphere an ammo skill (3 charges, 10 sec recharge, keep current cooldown per element) ... or just have energy regenerate at a fixed rate passively. This would solve a couple of problems: 1) more weapons become viable for catalyst (e.g. for quickness heal cata) 2) quickness is available at the start of a fight 3) quickness is available after invulnerable phase transitions, movement etc. 4) the current energy bar is so tiny and judging how much energy you have is hard unless full or empty. ammo counter would be much easier.

Edited Saturday at 05:01 AM by Awn.1327

[Whilyam.9356]

Adding my voice to the "at least let transfusion teleport ONE body" argument. I don't think this is any more game-breaking than Search and Rescue.

[Vegeta.2563]

Extirpate was the whole reason to use Spear on necro.  Now with Extirpation being changed to Weakness.. there's no point.  You had to get into melee to make use of it so you were already  taking a risk as is.  Wtf happened to risk / reward gameplay??

[Daniel.2719]

9 hours ago, Joie.6084 said:

Necromancer

• Extirpate: This skill no longer inflicts Extirpation and instead inflicts weakness.

By all means, instead of taking a look at this new and interesting mechanic and tweaking it to better align with a game mode, since we thought it was too strong - we'll just remove it entirely and replace it with something completely useless. ~ Anet probably.

Please do better Anet.

[Drarnor Kunoram.5180]

3 minutes ago, Daniel.2719 said:

By all means, instead of taking a look at this new and interesting mechanic and tweaking it to better align with a game mode, since we thought it was too strong - we'll just remove it entirely and replace it with something completely useless. ~ Anet probably.

Please do better Anet.

The thing is, I can't see how it could be too strong.  Enemies with boons are rare in PvE, which is the only mode the 3 stacks don't instantly get eaten up by Might or Stab being applied 5 stacks at a time.

[Maria Murtor.7253]

Adding more to my prior post. 

Heal Scourge is the one and only healing class which has no healing weapon choice. You could say the same about Mechanist/Scrapper, even though mace is a thing (not really great). But they also have their med kit. So, this leaves Heal Scourge or Necromancer in general to the only class with no healing weapon. The class itself sits in a weird spot. The barrier is strong – no doubt. But the healing got nerfed in previous updates to a under performing state (Well of Power, resurrection speed, maybe even more). Transfusion also got nerfed hard with the requirement of downed players needed to be in range of Transfusion (which is okay and reasonable in my opinion). To make this profession really shine you want to bring the Relic of Mercy. This makes the Heal Scourge real powerful. But it also cuts them out of other nice relics. But, oh well. The pain of choice, I guess. No matter how you look at it, Heal Scourge currently has strong barrier, awesome recovering potential with Transfusion, plenty condition cleanse, nice Alacrity, boon removal, but also lackluster healing. The other boons are abysmal. One source for aegis, two sources of stability (if I remember correctly) and a bit here and there. The lack of stability is so much noticeable, that you will think twice if you want to bring Heal Scourge to specific encounters. And in general: Heal Scourge is still more a profession you want to bring when people struggle. There are simply way better options for the most time.

Which brings me to the second thing I want to talk about: How about you make other healer options more palatable? Here are three great examples for under performing healers:

- Untamed Healer: This profession suffers especially from the lack of stability. The condition cleanse could also be better (healing spring and pet are options with very long cooldown periods though). Almost no good combo fields like light or water, the Untamed utility skills are not even in the slightest helpful when playing it as a healer. Good thing about this healer is the natural boon strip this class has and the easy access to quickness.

- Specter healer: Seriously, do I even have to talk about this healer? When did you see someone playing this if not for the sake of nostalgia? Consume Shadows is such a pain to play, which was the biggest hitter in this build. It was necessary to tune it down, no doubt. But in this state it's abysmal. Siphon got nerfed hard with its ability to (partly) resurrect one single target, which was pretty much the nail in the coffin. Right now we do have decent barrier options. However, other classes simply outshine this class in each and every way. Why should I bring this class, if Mesmer can literally do everything better without real effort? Same goes for Druid, even though Druid has not these barrier benefits. But, oh well … Compare how easy it is to heal with each and every other healing class in comparison to the awkward mechanics of the Specter. 

- Willbender healer: This niche healer is a some sort of "poor man's choice" if you need an Alac Healer. The Heal Firebrand is superior in each and every way due to its versatile F1 - F3 tool kits. Willbender especially lacks aegis, stability. Also, no barrier. Luckly, you can compensate with your utility skills like "Stand your Ground!" or "Advance!". But that's an options the Heal Firebrand also has, and still has many other reliable skills for every situation needed.

Honorable mention is: Warrior healer: I think Warrior is very powerful in terms of the sheer healing output. But like many other healers under performs at range healing. The one aegis source on staff is nice. But stability is not that great.

 

 

 

 

[Kuma.1503]

Cele is extremely busted in its current state, but it's also acting as a band-aid that helps somewhat keep thieves in check. 

If you're going to rip off the band-aid, address how oppressive thieves are in roaming. 

We can start by giving every class access to reveal somewhere in its kit. 

 

 

[Maria Murtor.7253]

I also like to address the fact, that Ranger with spear is currently the only class not mentioned in the Raid build section of snowcrows. Literally every other class has at least one spear build. We already talked a bit in the Ranger section about spear under performing. At it's true. And it's reflected by the snowcrows story I just said (it's not that this is the holy bible of builds. But you know what I mean: It's a  good reflections of how good or not good or popular a class/build is).

You said, Ranger is in a good spot. Generally, I agree. With one single exception: Ranger is currently the only – and I want to emphasize: THE ONLY – class without a Alac DPS build. Every other class has at least one option. Personally, I wouldn't want to play Alac Bladesworn. But that's just me. At least Bladesworn has the option. But Ranger? It's unplayable. Druid was never a power DPS class in PvE. We are lucky that it performs pretty well now on the condition side. But you simply can not combine the alac factor with a DPS build. It ruins it, pushes it to the ground without any recovery option.

[GuiAzzi.8653]

10 hours ago, Joie.6084 said:

• Spectacular Sphere: Increased the quickness duration from 2 seconds to 2.5 seconds in PvE only. Increased the might stacks from 5 to 8 in PvE only.
• Sphere Specialist: Increased the boon duration increase from 100% to 150% in PvE only. This trait now also allows the catalyst to gain energy while a jade sphere is deployed.

QDPS catalyst is very real, and I love it.

Edited Saturday at 05:55 AM by GuiAzzi.8653

[X KON.4236]

Anet is Nerfing "Transfusion" and "Extirpate"....any backlash you guys get will be well deserved!

[Drarnor Kunoram.5180]

13 minutes ago, Maria Murtor.7253 said:

 two sources of stability (if I remember correctly)

 

Only Path of Anguish for group stability, and its single stack is a pain to apply to others as you need to run through them for them to benefit.  The only notable thing about it is that it can in theory hit all 10 members of a raid/strike squad, even if in practice it's too much of a hassle to attempt it with.

[Maria Murtor.7253]

What about Well of Power? A bit awkward. But it's there.

Edited Saturday at 06:00 AM by Maria Murtor.7253

[Morgrim.4891]

Hello, ArenaNet, please finally, after so many years, give the Necromancer the ability to control his minions (no matter how many he summons) in the same way that the Ranger can control his single pet from the beginning or as the Mechanist can do with his mech. 

Edited Saturday at 06:38 AM by Morgrim.4891

[reapex.8546]

6 hours ago, Barraind.7324 said:

Heal Scourge without alacrity isnt playable in the current PvE game. 

 

It is playable, currently, I've been in several groups where a heal scourge was used with 2 dps boons people for subgroups. 
There is nothing that stops anyone from going pure heals, if the group has boons covered already. 
So, saying a Heal Scourge without alacrity isn't playable is false. 

Edited Saturday at 06:33 AM by reapex.8546

[reapex.8546]

4 hours ago, jozze.9532 said:

You are talking in the past. I did not say it wasn't used before alacrity.

My original post was talking about the past and present. 

4 hours ago, jozze.9532 said:

The only place where people still care about the pull is on boneskinner. 

Incorrect, the pull is useful in many game modes and scenarios. ANet mentioned this in their original post.

5 hours ago, jozze.9532 said:

The change had to happen for years, because it is broken, and it invalidates mechanics way to hard.... same honestly goes for things like distort... but this is about scourge.

Mechanics are still done even with a Heal Scourge, the pull has various limitations. It has to be used strategically or you could risk harming your teammates.  Even then a pull doesn't mean your team is saved.