Should Staff Weaver (pve) be nerfed?

[Feanor.2358]

@Refia Montes.3205 said:Sidenote: I play Staff Weaver as well, but I really think its better if Ele had more variability if Staff wouldn't be better than every weapon even on small targets.

That's a valid concern indeed, but I'm not sure how do you address it without rendering staff useless. I mean, if anything, the balance team has been moving in the opposite direction, closing the gap between small & big targets with MS ICD and icebow changes. So as it is, there likely will always be a single best weapon. Nerf staff, and it will just be replaced by another weapon.

[Bladestrom.6425]

Staff's advantage is aoe, which is offset with poor performance v moving targets so its natural that it will be most powerful against non moving/large targets. The balance is concerned with how often in GW2 game play you are in a position where this negatively impacts the game play of yourself and especially others. This is really low, so staff is ok. In terms of raiding, performance should reflect diverse boss fight styles and balance out, i.e high movement/low movement fights etc. If someone takes a tank n spank fight out of context then it will obviously look OP.

The issue is with other weapon types., i.e sceptre = awful kiting gameplay style, and dagger/sword = bruiser (with no armor) which is over subscribed already with other profession/classes and counter to classic archetype gameplay which is cc/ranged/cannon/buff.

[Lunateric.3708]

I would say it's fine for most situations since it has some level of complexity and its main source of vulnerability was removed. It has crazy potential but most players aren't good enough mechanically to get there. As an engi player I'd like condi engi to be up there (the 4 kit variant) too since imho, complexity should be rewarding.

If you pay attention to gw2raidar over time you'll notice it tops DPS charts but not by a huge margin as benchmarks and reality are different things.

[reikken.4961]

Weaver is the only dps class that brings literally no utility. Of course it has to have top dps. If any class beat it, it would be useless. There would be no reason to ever play one.

The only thing I would change is reduce how much it scales with hitbox size.

[Refia Montes.3205]

@reikken.4961 said:Weaver is the only dps class that brings literally no utility. Of course it has to have top dps. If any class beat it, it would be useless. There would be no reason to ever play one.

The only thing I would change is reduce how much it scales with hitbox size.

@reikken.4961 said:Weaver is the only dps class that brings literally no utility. Of course it has to have top dps. If any class beat it, it would be useless. There would be no reason to ever play one.

The only thing I would change is reduce how much it scales with hitbox size.

implying utility is important for a dps class.Mirage: no utility, single target, long ramp up.Phant build has some utility in hectic fights, ie Matthias.Soulbeast: no utility, requires enemies to stand on their trap's duration reliant, a bit of ramp upFirebrand: provides some utility through some quickness, but never brought for that as Chrono will cover 100% quickness anyways.Renegade: could pulse out Alacrity, but that comes with a large dps loss.Scourge: Barriers and boon corrupts, but that's never always useful.CDaredevil: Single target, long ramp up, good CC built in.Holosmith: Has 2 CC skills as part of the rotation, but primarily brought for the burst.DH: Good burst, but powercreeped by PoF specs.

[Bladestrom.6425]

@"Lunateric.3708" said:I would say it's fine for most situations since it has some level of complexity and its main source of vulnerability was removed. It has crazy potential but most players aren't good enough mechanically to get there. As an engi player I'd like condi engi to be up there (the 4 kit variant) too since imho, complexity should be rewarding.

If you pay attention to gw2raidar over time you'll notice it tops DPS charts but not by a huge margin as benchmarks and reality are different things.

indeed and gw2raider is focused on the 5% of GW2 gameplay - dps on a raid boss , aka rotations based gameplay(created by ex wow so as expected) furthermore these stats are skewed by dps whoring in squads who optimise to tank/dps/heal triad, which does not happen outside raiding.

https://www.gw2raidar.com/global_stats

[Genesis.5169]

No, nothing should be nerfed in PvE.

Your all on the same team.You all are trying to accomplish the same thing.This isn't a competition its cooperation.Nerf should be meant for PvP only, because that's an actual competition.

And no don't tell me if 1 class is the best at dps, that they will get a slot that's only true if they fill a very niche position like banners/chronos. Ele's have been top dps for ever and were not seeing comps with 4 ele's.

Please stop asking to nerf your ally in battle holy crap, ask you buff your own class so you can be as awesome as your ally why my god why do you want you allies who are on your team who are helping you accomplish what you want to be weaker i will never ever understand this.

[Refia Montes.3205]

@Genesis.5169 said:No, nothing should be nerfed in PvE.

Your all on the same team.You all are trying to accomplish the same thing.This isn't a competition its cooperation.Nerf should be meant for PvP only, because that's an actual competition.

And no don't tell me if 1 class is the best at dps, that they will get a slot that's only true if they fill a very niche position like banners/chronos. Ele's have been top dps for ever and were not seeing comps with 4 ele's.

Please stop asking to nerf your ally in battle holy crap, ask you buff your own class so you can be as awesome as your ally why my god why do you want you allies who are on your team who are helping you accomplish what you want to be weaker i will never ever understand this.

Gj, man. Totally didn't think of that. Buffing 7 other dps classes sound like a really elegant solution that would be a lot more easier than nerfing an outlier. I mean giving out some buffs are much easier than giving out nerfs. That would make raids/fractals so much easier with higher dps on everyone. Raids/fractals are like so hard you know. We definitely need to have more bloated dps.

Yeah 4 ele comps are not a thing, totally.

[reikken.4961]

@Refia Montes.3205 said:implying utility is important for a dps class.Mirage: no utility, single target, long ramp up.Phant build has some utility in hectic fights, ie Matthias.Soulbeast: no utility, requires enemies to stand on their trap's duration reliant, a bit of ramp upFirebrand: provides some utility through some quickness, but never brought for that as Chrono will cover 100% quickness anyways.Renegade: could pulse out Alacrity, but that comes with a large dps loss.Scourge: Barriers and boon corrupts, but that's never always useful.CDaredevil: Single target, long ramp up, good CC built in.Holosmith: Has 2 CC skills as part of the rotation, but primarily brought for the burst.DH: Good burst, but powercreeped by PoF specs.

every class has better CC, for starters, and then they either get some utility for free or can make a few minor adjustments to bring whatever is neededex:Mirage: moa, feedback, and lots of utility optionssoulbeast: strong CC options, and can bring spiritsrenegade: assassin's presencescourge: good CC, epidemic, free AoE condi cleardaredevil: great CCholosmith: pinpoint distributionguard: AoE aegis, stunbreak, stability

[Genesis.5169]

@Refia Montes.3205 said:

@Genesis.5169 said:No, nothing should be nerfed in PvE.

Your all on the same team.You all are trying to accomplish the same thing.This isn't a competition its cooperation.Nerf should be meant for PvP only, because that's an actual competition.

And no don't tell me if 1 class is the best at dps, that they will get a slot that's only true if they fill a very niche position like banners/chronos. Ele's have been top dps for ever and were not seeing comps with 4 ele's.

Please stop asking to nerf your ally in battle holy crap, ask you buff your own class so you can be as awesome as your ally why my god why do you want you allies who are on your team who are helping you accomplish what you want to be weaker i will never ever understand this.

Gj, man. Totally didn't think of that. Buffing 7 other dps classes sound like a really elegant solution that would be a lot more easier than nerfing an outlier. I mean giving out some buffs are much easier than giving out nerfs. That would make raids/fractals so much easier with higher dps on everyone. Raids/fractals are like so hard you know. We definitely need to have more bloated dps.

Yeah 4 ele comps are not a thing, totally.

Yes, imagine if encounters were actually difficult and classes got buffed based on how many of said classes were clearing the content instead of nerfing classes that you fight beside. Nerfing the outlier? There is no Outlier here just a bunch of people crying about why there numbers aren't has high as some one elses numbers while on the same team is moronic.

Your on the same team how about you help your team member out and ask for buffs for them?I hear heralds want buffs, so do warriors how about instead of crying a sea of salt about a guy doing more damage then you on a boss you want dead how about you fight for people to get better more unique skills or damage buffs to help them compete.

It's PvE, its static and scripted there aren't as many moving parts as pvp so yea you can rebalance pvp by buffing the 7 other classes you PvE folk need to get of your cloud thinking the content you do is complicated and not some glorified memorization game.

[Bladestrom.6425]

@Genesis.5169 said:

@Refia Montes.3205 said:

@Genesis.5169 said:No, nothing should be nerfed in PvE.

Your all on the same team.You all are trying to accomplish the same thing.This isn't a competition its cooperation.Nerf should be meant for PvP only, because that's an actual competition.

And no don't tell me if 1 class is the best at dps, that they will get a slot that's only true if they fill a very niche position like banners/chronos. Ele's have been top dps for ever and were not seeing comps with 4 ele's.

Please stop asking to nerf your ally in battle holy crap, ask you buff your own class so you can be as awesome as your ally why my god why do you want you allies who are on your team who are helping you accomplish what you want to be weaker i will never ever understand this.

Gj, man. Totally didn't think of that. Buffing 7 other dps classes sound like a really elegant solution that would be a lot more easier than nerfing an outlier. I mean giving out some buffs are much easier than giving out nerfs. That would make raids/fractals so much easier with higher dps on everyone. Raids/fractals are like so hard you know. We definitely need to have more bloated dps.

Yeah 4 ele comps are not a thing, totally.

Yes, imagine if encounters were actually difficult and classes got buffed based on how many of said classes were clearing the content instead of nerfing classes that you fight beside. Nerfing the outlier? There is no Outlier here just a bunch of people crying about why there numbers aren't has high as some one elses numbers while on the same team is moronic.

Your on the same team how about you help your team member out and ask for buffs for them?I hear heralds want buffs, so do warriors how about instead of crying a sea of salt about a guy doing more damage then you on a boss you want dead how about you fight for people to get better more unique skills or damage buffs to help them compete.

It's PvE, its static and scripted there aren't as many moving parts as pvp so yea you can rebalance pvp by buffing the 7 other classes you PvE folk need to get of your cloud thinking the content you do is complicated and not some glorified memorization game.

meter wars is important.

[Josre.5924]

Should PvE A.I. be improved instead...? :/

[Emberheart.8426]

@"Celtus.8456" said:Should PvE A.I. be improved instead...? :/

Yes it should. With better designed A.I. PvP and PvE will actually be way closer in terms of design and balancing will be way easier. Imagine if boon corruption was actually useful in PvE. Imagine if you couldn't keep your enemies stationary and DPS them so easily. If that were to happen, all of the elementalist's weaknesses would be suddenly exposed and it would probably become pretty bad even in PvE. All that ele has in PvE at the moment is a crutch that is based on the design of the A.I. and even with that crutch it relies more heavily on being supported than any other profession.

Edit: Thinking about it a little more, there is another reason why ele does so well in DPS meters. It's called alacrity. It increases everyone's DPS but for elementalists it doesn't only affect skills but also attunements, which makes the rotations quicker. Overall ele benefits the most from alacrity, which means that it gets a bigger DPS bonus in raid groups even if outside them it doesn't perform as well. This is a major problem with balancing it across game modes in my opinion. I think it would be for the best if alacrity and chill did not affect attunement cooldown any longer and elementalist was buffed accordingly, so that they are less reliant on it and can perform better in other parts of the game. This could become a net nerf in raids, while being a buff everywhere else if done properly. Removing the effect of chill on attunements would be very welcome for PvP too.

[Feanor.2358]

@Refia Montes.3205 said:

@reikken.4961 said:Weaver is the only dps class that brings literally no utility. Of course it has to have top dps. If any class beat it, it would be useless. There would be no reason to ever play one.

The only thing I would change is reduce how much it scales with hitbox size.

@reikken.4961 said:Weaver is the only dps class that brings literally no utility. Of course it has to have top dps. If any class beat it, it would be useless. There would be no reason to ever play one.

The only thing I would change is reduce how much it scales with hitbox size.

implying utility is important for a dps class.Mirage: no utility, single target, long ramp up.Phant build has some utility in hectic fights, ie Matthias.Soulbeast: no utility, requires enemies to stand on their trap's duration reliant, a bit of ramp upFirebrand: provides some utility through some quickness, but never brought for that as Chrono will cover 100% quickness anyways.Renegade: could pulse out Alacrity, but that comes with a large dps loss.Scourge: Barriers and boon corrupts, but that's never always useful.CDaredevil: Single target, long ramp up, good CC built in.Holosmith: Has 2 CC skills as part of the rotation, but primarily brought for the burst.DH: Good burst, but powercreeped by PoF specs.

Yes it is.Mirage can take Moa, the best bar-breaking skill in the game, and Feedback if needed (Matthias). Both for a minor dps loss.Soulbeast can take Healing Spring for the condi cleanse.Firebrand gives Quickness, shares Aegis and if needed - Stability, for a minor dps loss.Scourge gives some barriers, which are useful to keep Scholars up, but its primary utility is Epidemic.Renegade doesn't have much unless it goes full support. But still it has some niche options - heal that reduces condi damage, sharing lifesteal, giving stab.

But the real issue is calling for nerfs based on golem benchmarks.

[Refia Montes.3205]

@Feanor.2358 said:

@Refia Montes.3205 said:

@reikken.4961 said:Weaver is the only dps class that brings literally no utility. Of course it has to have top dps. If any class beat it, it would be useless. There would be no reason to ever play one.

The only thing I would change is reduce how much it scales with hitbox size.

@reikken.4961 said:Weaver is the only dps class that brings literally no utility. Of course it has to have top dps. If any class beat it, it would be useless. There would be no reason to ever play one.

The only thing I would change is reduce how much it scales with hitbox size.

implying utility is important for a dps class.Mirage: no utility, single target, long ramp up.Phant build has some utility in hectic fights, ie Matthias.Soulbeast: no utility, requires enemies to stand on their trap's duration reliant, a bit of ramp upFirebrand: provides some utility through some quickness, but never brought for that as Chrono will cover 100% quickness anyways.Renegade: could pulse out Alacrity, but that comes with a large dps loss.Scourge: Barriers and boon corrupts, but that's never always useful.CDaredevil: Single target, long ramp up, good CC built in.Holosmith: Has 2 CC skills as part of the rotation, but primarily brought for the burst.DH: Good burst, but powercreeped by PoF specs.

Yes it is.Mirage can take Moa, the best bar-breaking skill in the game, and Feedback if needed (Matthias). Both for a minor dps loss.Soulbeast can take Healing Spring for the condi cleanse.Firebrand gives Quickness, shares Aegis and if needed - Stability, for a minor dps loss.Scourge gives some barriers, which are useful to keep Scholars up, but its primary utility is Epidemic.Renegade doesn't have much unless it goes full support. But still it has some niche options - heal that reduces condi damage, sharing lifesteal, giving stab.

But the real issue is calling for nerfs based on golem benchmarks.Mirage - single target dps with long ramp up, and is clunky to play with multitargets thus not recommended on most enco-

You know what, I'll stop there, this is getting nowhere.

I mean I could argue that the current Meta Weaver uses Lightning Hammer now as part of its rotation and Weave Self in place of fgs at times and water fields from water wouldn't hurt, but I don't know, I feel no point to push otherwise, since you claim that I only called for nerf because 'golem' benchmarks. I mean you could probably look at Snowcrow's or Qt's site for optimal comps for every encounter and see it's beyond the benchmarks. My argument definitely was only focused on benchmarks. smh

[Despond.2174]

Given the complexity of ele builds, I don't mind if they pull ahead a bit. Nerfing the dmg and making them simpler would destroy a unique profession. Builds that have complex rotations when performed optimally should yield great rewards, and the downside should be they are very susceptible to dps losses with only a small mistake. Then on the flipside, build with very simple rotations should still do ok damage but not the best, with the otherside being they are a lot more forgiving with mistakes and dmg output is more consistent.

[Kundry.1249]

@Refia Montes.3205 said:

@Feanor.2358 said:

@Refia Montes.3205 said:

@reikken.4961 said:Weaver is the only dps class that brings literally no utility. Of course it has to have top dps. If any class beat it, it would be useless. There would be no reason to ever play one.

The only thing I would change is reduce how much it scales with hitbox size.

@reikken.4961 said:Weaver is the only dps class that brings literally no utility. Of course it has to have top dps. If any class beat it, it would be useless. There would be no reason to ever play one.

The only thing I would change is reduce how much it scales with hitbox size.

implying utility is important for a dps class.Mirage: no utility, single target, long ramp up.Phant build has some utility in hectic fights, ie Matthias.Soulbeast: no utility, requires enemies to stand on their trap's duration reliant, a bit of ramp upFirebrand: provides some utility through some quickness, but never brought for that as Chrono will cover 100% quickness anyways.Renegade: could pulse out Alacrity, but that comes with a large dps loss.Scourge: Barriers and boon corrupts, but that's never always useful.CDaredevil: Single target, long ramp up, good CC built in.Holosmith: Has 2 CC skills as part of the rotation, but primarily brought for the burst.DH: Good burst, but powercreeped by PoF specs.

Yes it is.Mirage can take Moa, the best bar-breaking skill in the game, and Feedback if needed (Matthias). Both for a minor dps loss.Soulbeast can take Healing Spring for the condi cleanse.Firebrand gives Quickness, shares Aegis and if needed - Stability, for a minor dps loss.Scourge gives some barriers, which are useful to keep Scholars up, but its primary utility is Epidemic.Renegade doesn't have much unless it goes full support. But still it has some niche options - heal that reduces condi damage, sharing lifesteal, giving stab.

But the real issue is calling for nerfs based on golem benchmarks.Mirage - single target dps with long ramp up, and is clunky to play with multitargets thus not recommended on most enco-

You know what, I'll stop there, this is getting nowhere.

I mean I could argue that the current Meta Weaver uses Lightning Hammer now as part of its rotation and Weave Self in place of fgs at times and water fields from water wouldn't hurt, but I don't know, I feel no point to push otherwise, since you claim that I only called for nerf because 'golem' benchmarks. I mean you could probably look at Snowcrow's or Qt's site for optimal comps for every encounter and see it's beyond the benchmarks. My argument definitely was only focused on benchmarks. smh

Your original post was indeed based entirely on benchmarks.

SC has Weaver in the optimal comp for 7 out of 13 bosses. Holosmith is in 11. Renegade in 6.

[Feanor.2358]

@Refia Montes.3205 said:

@Feanor.2358 said:

@Refia Montes.3205 said:

@reikken.4961 said:Weaver is the only dps class that brings literally no utility. Of course it has to have top dps. If any class beat it, it would be useless. There would be no reason to ever play one.

The only thing I would change is reduce how much it scales with hitbox size.

@reikken.4961 said:Weaver is the only dps class that brings literally no utility. Of course it has to have top dps. If any class beat it, it would be useless. There would be no reason to ever play one.

The only thing I would change is reduce how much it scales with hitbox size.

implying utility is important for a dps class.Mirage: no utility, single target, long ramp up.Phant build has some utility in hectic fights, ie Matthias.Soulbeast: no utility, requires enemies to stand on their trap's duration reliant, a bit of ramp upFirebrand: provides some utility through some quickness, but never brought for that as Chrono will cover 100% quickness anyways.Renegade: could pulse out Alacrity, but that comes with a large dps loss.Scourge: Barriers and boon corrupts, but that's never always useful.CDaredevil: Single target, long ramp up, good CC built in.Holosmith: Has 2 CC skills as part of the rotation, but primarily brought for the burst.DH: Good burst, but powercreeped by PoF specs.

Yes it is.Mirage can take Moa, the best bar-breaking skill in the game, and Feedback if needed (Matthias). Both for a minor dps loss.Soulbeast can take Healing Spring for the condi cleanse.Firebrand gives Quickness, shares Aegis and if needed - Stability, for a minor dps loss.Scourge gives some barriers, which are useful to keep Scholars up, but its primary utility is Epidemic.Renegade doesn't have much unless it goes full support. But still it has some niche options - heal that reduces condi damage, sharing lifesteal, giving stab.

But the real issue is calling for nerfs based on golem benchmarks.Mirage - single target dps with long ramp up, and is clunky to play with multitargets thus not recommended on most enco-

You know what, I'll stop there, this is getting nowhere.

I mean I could argue that the current Meta Weaver uses Lightning Hammer now as part of its rotation and Weave Self in place of fgs at times and water fields from water wouldn't hurt, but I don't know, I feel no point to push otherwise, since you claim that I only called for nerf because 'golem' benchmarks. I mean you could probably look at Snowcrow's or Qt's site for optimal comps for every encounter and see it's beyond the benchmarks. My argument definitely was only focused on benchmarks. smh

I mean, you could probably pug a few weavers in your group. What qT and SC do is of little use to me, as I don't get to play with these guys.

[ArthurDent.9538]

@Feanor.2358 said:

@vesica tempestas.1563 said:

@ghettogenius.9174 said:See this is why ele is in such a bad place. Theoretical dps? Please. These stats are generated from crunched numbers assuming perfect rotations in the best gear available - these just aren't practical scenarios. So this profession gets balanced around some mystical zen like level of performance that most players come nowhere near meeting. Sounds legit.

exactly so, 'rotations' is raid play, and if you balance around that then you are going to have significant problems everywhere else in the game. Reactive/open world pvp is the best starting point for balancing since this is where the balance of classes can have a

direct

affect on the enjoyment of other people, i.e OP class A smashes class B. Person Y enjoys class B, but the experienced is ruined.

You still don't get that some people

do not

play PvP and as such the balance there is irrelevant

for them

. ANet needs to balance for all game modes. And they do.

If the last balance patches taught us anything it is that they don't balance for pvp.

[Feanor.2358]

@ArthurDent.9538 said:

@Feanor.2358 said:

@vesica tempestas.1563 said:

@ghettogenius.9174 said:See this is why ele is in such a bad place. Theoretical dps? Please. These stats are generated from crunched numbers assuming perfect rotations in the best gear available - these just aren't practical scenarios. So this profession gets balanced around some mystical zen like level of performance that most players come nowhere near meeting. Sounds legit.

exactly so, 'rotations' is raid play, and if you balance around that then you are going to have significant problems everywhere else in the game. Reactive/open world pvp is the best starting point for balancing since this is where the balance of classes can have a

direct

affect on the enjoyment of other people, i.e OP class A smashes class B. Person Y enjoys class B, but the experienced is ruined.

You still don't get that some people

do not

play PvP and as such the balance there is irrelevant

for them

. ANet needs to balance for all game modes. And they do.

If the last balance patches taught us anything it is that they don't balance for pvp.

Right, because balancing is a trivial task. Everyone and their mother can do it on a napkin while having lunch, except the devs tasked with it. Yet somehow said devs end up tasked - and paid - for it, not the everyone else who apparently are more qualified. Go figure.

[Bladestrom.6425]

@Feanor.2358 said:

@ArthurDent.9538 said:

@Feanor.2358 said:

@vesica tempestas.1563 said:

@"ghettogenius.9174" said:See this is why ele is in such a bad place. Theoretical dps? Please. These stats are generated from crunched numbers assuming perfect rotations in the best gear available - these just aren't practical scenarios. So this profession gets balanced around some mystical zen like level of performance that most players come nowhere near meeting. Sounds legit.

exactly so, 'rotations' is raid play, and if you balance around that then you are going to have significant problems everywhere else in the game. Reactive/open world pvp is the best starting point for balancing since this is where the balance of classes can have a

direct

affect on the enjoyment of other people, i.e OP class A smashes class B. Person Y enjoys class B, but the experienced is ruined.

You still don't get that some people

do not

play PvP and as such the balance there is irrelevant

for them

. ANet needs to balance for all game modes. And they do.

If the last balance patches taught us anything it is that they don't balance for pvp.

Right, because balancing is a trivial task. Everyone and their mother can do it on a napkin while having lunch, except the devs tasked with it. Yet somehow said devs end up tasked - and paid - for it, not the everyone else who apparently are more qualified. Go figure.

Balancing can be extremely trivial and safe, if you have a fast release cycle. A fast release cycle is usually the goal of every dev house because 1) you can apply tiny increments safely and 2) you can react immediately. The opposite to this is balancing patches that take months - that's obviously never going to work.

for e.g https://techbeacon.com/doing-continuous-delivery-focus-first-reducing-release-cycle-times

[Feanor.2358]

@vesica tempestas.1563 said:

@Feanor.2358 said:

@ArthurDent.9538 said:

@Feanor.2358 said:

@vesica tempestas.1563 said:

@"ghettogenius.9174" said:See this is why ele is in such a bad place. Theoretical dps? Please. These stats are generated from crunched numbers assuming perfect rotations in the best gear available - these just aren't practical scenarios. So this profession gets balanced around some mystical zen like level of performance that most players come nowhere near meeting. Sounds legit.

exactly so, 'rotations' is raid play, and if you balance around that then you are going to have significant problems everywhere else in the game. Reactive/open world pvp is the best starting point for balancing since this is where the balance of classes can have a

direct

affect on the enjoyment of other people, i.e OP class A smashes class B. Person Y enjoys class B, but the experienced is ruined.

You still don't get that some people

do not

play PvP and as such the balance there is irrelevant

for them

. ANet needs to balance for all game modes. And they do.

If the last balance patches taught us anything it is that they don't balance for pvp.

Right, because balancing is a trivial task. Everyone and their mother can do it on a napkin while having lunch, except the devs tasked with it. Yet somehow said devs end up tasked - and paid - for it, not the everyone else who apparently are more qualified. Go figure.

Balancing can be extremely trivial and safe,

if

you have a fast release cycle.

A fast release cycle is usually the goal of every dev house

because 1) you can apply tiny increments safely and 2) you can react immediately. The opposite to this is balancing patches that take months - that's obviously never going to work.

for e.g

https://techbeacon.com/doing-continuous-delivery-focus-first-reducing-release-cycle-times

Nuh-uh.Tiny changes aren't safe, because they'd often end up overlooked by players and you'll still end up overbuffing stuff, often more severely.Immediate reaction is only needed when something is outright broken.And most importantly, fast release cycle requires a lot more work on balancing. Which could make sense if you're trying to be an e-sport, but for your average ARGP and/or MMO is an overkill. You're better off spending this effort on content creation. PvP is going to suffer, but then again, in my opinion, you can never have PvP on a level matching the PvP-only games in a non-PvP-only game.

[Bladestrom.6425]

It is indeed safer, e.g you increment a skill by 0.1% per week and evaluate over time. read the article, it talks about your very perspective where people think more change = > risk when it is now accepted to be the opposite (see 'Optimizing for short cycle time drives good behaviors'. edit - or 'Reducing cycle time to improve everything')