Balance Update Coming: 2/26/2019

[Conqueror.3682]

I just want to hit my tab key ONCE and target the real mesmer, nothing more.

[IReadYaoi.3789]

Hello there!

These are my suggested balanced patched based on professions:

• Mesmur:
  1) Infinite Horizon: This trait line should have at least a 3 second interval. Due to Sigil of Energy , Vigor upkeep, and Mirage Mirrors, Infinite Horizon encourages players to play the game based on dodge and not based on precise tactical skills. It is also frustrating for other professions to dodge many ambush skills that is being pumped out by clones and Mirage players. Furthermore, Mirage Cloak should not be grant to illusions or phantasm. Other professions should be able to destroy illusions easily in order to counter play Mesmur.2) Desert of Distortion: Mirage already has many invulnerability from mirage cloak, stealth, break target, and distortion, I do not see why this trait line is needed. Combined with Auspicious Anguish (Under Chaos trait line) , this makes mirage basically immortal.3) Mirage Cloak: This boosted dodge should have a draw back. Can't dodge while stun can be implemented.4) Illusionary Ambush: Please increase the CD of this utility. With Jaunt, Blink, and combined with IA, other professions can't keep up with a high mobile professions that breaks targets and stealth.

• Thief:1) Assassin's Signet: 20s CD is a bit low. I would increase it to 25s.2) Silent Scope: Gain stealth when you dodge. This should have a interval.3) Death's Retreat (Rifle 4): This should not grant Lead Attacks.

• Ranger:1) Lighting Reflexes: I would remove the vigor granted in this utility.2) Juvenile Siamoth: This pet grants plasma based on a 30s interval (Forage). This should be increase in between a 45s - 90s interval.3) Companion's Defense (under Wildness Survival): While in combat, dodge grants protection. This should have a interval. Maybe 3 seconds?

• Engineer:1) Over Shield (under Inventions): Protection grants a 40% damage reduction. This should be changed. Maybe protection grants a 20% condition damage reduction or just remove the protection buff.2) Iron Blooded (under Alchemy): "Reduce physical and condition damage for each boon you have." This should be changed from 2% to 1%. If there is 13 boons in this game, a 13% should be a good buff from this trait. 26% buff from iron blooded with the addition of protection and light aura does not sound that pleasant to play against.3) Holographic Shockwave (Holosmith): The CD for this CC is only 15s. This should be increase into 20s or 25s interval.
  4) Gleam Saber (sword auto): "Unleash a burst of stored energy with your sword and recharge your other sword skills. This auto chain should not grant the ability to reduce the CD of sword attacks. The CD on Refraction Cutter (9s) and Radiant Arc (14s) is already a reasonable interval.

• Elementalist:1) Twist of Fate: The dodge frame should be changed from 1s to 3/4s.I honestly don't play Elementalist that much so I do not know what should be nerf. But what I have noticed is that Weaver has too many dodges and Tempest is under performing in PVP.

• Revenant: I also don't play this profession that much and I do not have any players in my circle that players it. But what I have noticed is that it hits like a truck. However, please find a way to make Renegade viable in PVP.

• Warrior:1) Bull's Charge: The knock down and the evade frame on this is a bit high. Evade should be 1s and knockdown should be 2s.

.......Room for Edit and Ill add more.

[Henri Blanche.8276]

There is one unassailable truth about balance patches. The more complaints, the better the patch.

[Jski.6180]

I am not sure how this game come back from this wvw balancing is about to go comply crazy with the new mounts. Good luck devs all i can say.

[TheAndoman.9317]

I always appreciate updates and patches, even when I don't see the point of the changes. Two things that I've been hoping, for some time, that would be fixed are the cluster that is "line of sight" and the Tab key targeting and "Target Closest" priority.

It gets frustrating when you can't use a skill because of "no valid path" or not having line of sight. Which would make sense, if there actually was no line of sight to your target. However, many of these issues are on relatively flat ground and your attacks or movement skills are unable to be used because a six inch tall mound is obstructing your line of sight.

It also gets frustrating that in wvw, while in combat, if I use Target Closest (my C key), often the first target selected is a wall or enemy siege piece. Is there a way that you can change targeting priority so that anything red is targeted before the yellow things? Or just remove the yellow things from the rotation entirely? I really wouldn't mind having to click on a wall or siege piece to target it.

Thank you for your time,

[Ayrilana.1396]

@DeceiverX.8361 said:

@Ayrilana.1396 said:I’m looking forward to the one week plus of complaints about the balance patch, how it didn’t meet up to so and so’s expectations, how out of touch Anet apparently is, and so on. This all coming after people wanting it in the first place. You know, the typical scenario we’ve seen with every other balance patch.

I think the problem is that most of the powercreep and nonsense that got us here to begin with was not wanted. At least, not by the existing playerbase, which mostly quit, which is why ANet's stock figures have continuously nosedived since HoT.

The existing player base hasn’t mostly quit. Unless you have facts to back that up, I’d consider it made up. You should look at the numbers against as they haven’t nosedived. That is, unless you’re exaggerating.

I appreciate the communication from Irenio, but one of the major contention points can be seen in the OP itself: ANet is looking for discussion after doing all the work to release these changes, meaning any instances where they miss the mark will just be wasted time and effort.

People have different opinions on what they want. Anet has an idea on how they want their classes. It may “miss the mark” for you, but not necessarily for them.

[Min Min.9368]

Every time I see the word ' balance', I know it means buff Mesmer and nerf everyone and everything else...

[DeceiverX.8361]

@Ayrilana.1396 said:

@DeceiverX.8361 said:

@Ayrilana.1396 said:I’m looking forward to the one week plus of complaints about the balance patch, how it didn’t meet up to so and so’s expectations, how out of touch Anet apparently is, and so on. This all coming after people wanting it in the first place. You know, the typical scenario we’ve seen with every other balance patch.

I think the problem is that most of the powercreep and nonsense that got us here to begin with was not wanted. At least, not by the existing playerbase, which mostly quit, which is why ANet's stock figures have continuously nosedived since HoT.

The existing player base hasn’t mostly quit. Unless you have facts to back that up, I’d consider it made up. You should look at the numbers against as they haven’t nosedived. That is, unless you’re exaggerating.

I appreciate the communication from Irenio, but one of the major contention points can be seen in the OP itself: ANet is looking for discussion

after

doing all the work to release these changes, meaning any instances where they miss the mark will just be wasted time and effort.

People have different opinions on what they want. Anet has an idea on how they want their classes. It may “miss the mark” for you, but not necessarily for them.

WvW queue numbers are lower in the combined servers per-tier than they were before the tier merges. Anyone who plays even remotely often in the format will tell you this. Queue times have dramatically increased and quality of matchups in the PvP modes because there are few active players enough to make balanced teams game-wide. The PvP-style community in this game has absolutely fallen.

In WvW alone, based on the numerical queue data, that alone suggests at minimum they've lost half their playerbase for the mode, and many heavy higher-ranking sPvP'ers will be more than happy to supply you with how much their queue times have increased in recent years.

ANet's major revenue shares have been defined by their expansion box sales with rapid next-quarter falloff, with sales numbers never recovering prior to the HoT launch. Graph is sketchy with some repeats as these are directly taken from NCSoft's public earnings reports, so pay attention to the X-axis definitions. Overall, net earnings are stabilized roughly at about a 25% drop post-expansion, which is demonstrably shown by the deteriorated PvP scene since.

Telling me the numbers aren't there is nonsense. ANet won't reveal its exact player data because that stuff is sensitive, but the PvP/WvW base as a whole has quit this game.

[Yasi.9065]

Well, I guess at least saying that theres gonna be a balance patch next week is some information, so thanks.

Ive got to say though, that GW2 has the worst balancing process Ive ever had the displeasure to experience in an mmo. Take ESO for example. They have a PTS there and when the balance team over there wants to make some changes, they implement them first on PTS so players can test them. Then they finetune for weeks/months until they are happy with the results. And only then do they add the changes to live servers. So that players on live servers get the end result, and dont have to suffer through the finetuning process....

In GW2 on the other hand theres no in advance information, no roadmap, no PTS, nothing. We often dont even know the general direction next balance patch is going to be, or which areas its going to focus on. Knowing next week will be a balance patch causes me - as leader of a raid static - already a panicky, angsty feeling that robs me of any enjoyment left when playing gw2 - little as it is considering my favorite content is raids in mmos.In GW2, live servers are the testservers, again, causing me to look towards balance patches with dread and anxiety. Will some change break pathing again? Is there going to be problems with CC, dps, boons, you name it, because of some unannounced change?

I implore you, Anet, PLEASE... re-think your balancing process and information policy. Thanks.

[Yannir.4132]

I'm pretty sure that if this Balance patch doesn't fix key issues in PvP and it gets more fun to play it, I'm gonna forfeit the season, finally get into WvW and get myself a warkitty.

[Nimon.7840]

@"Irenio CalmonHuang.2048" said:

We look forward to playing with you and discussing the changes to skills and traits once they’re available next week!

Definition of the word discussion from a dictionary:"-the action or process of talking about something in order to reach a decision or to exchange ideas.-a conversation or debate about a specific topic."

Making patch notes public and talk about them with the players before they go live would be really nice and would prevent some broken things (broken skills, interactions,...) To go live

But there's no such thing as a discussion, the patch goes live, and players have to deal with the consequences.

Just an example: necro players have asked for focus4 changes for ages. I think over 90% of necro player think, that the skill is completely useless.We were asking for changes, giving possible solutions but yet, nothing happened. Noone says: "we are working on/investigating it" or "no, we want this skill to be exactly as it is" (which makes me wonder why guard focus 4 got changed, as it worked the exact same way necro focus4 still does)

And I bet that's not only a necro problem.In my opinion the official forum isn't used properly like it could be used (make official polls,...)

[DragonFury.6243]

@Obtena.7952 said:

@DragonFury.6243 said:

@Dahkeus.8243 said:

@DragonFury.6243 said:why every thing must happen in a single day in a single patch ???????

kitten, the first comment in reply to us actually getting some communication

and

a balance patch and this is the salty kitten that someone says to the dev?

This is why we can't have nice thing!

@Irenio CalmonHuang.2048 Thank you for giving us the heads up and for bringing a balance patch.

and because teacher's pet like you we can't have nice thing

Yeah, it's players that prevent Anet from changing classes, especially the ones that are appreciative like him. You're so insightful. ><

do you have life other than follow me around that is creepyhave a life have a kit kat

[Dadnir.5038]

This feel that everybody will have when they will discover that this patch won't address what they ask but focus on "boons" like said in a previous AN thread...

[InsaneQR.7412]

@""Aaralyna.3104"LB AA on ranger is the same. Quiet dumb design. IMO should be reworked.

[The Ace.9105]

@incisorr.9502 said:It's the moment of truth

will arena net nerf a sub-50% win rate profession (mirage) only due to peer pressure from low elo and bad players and biased propaganda or will arena net nerf actually broken specs that are over-played and dominate due to how overpowered they are?

not gonna lie, i'm very curious myself

Mirage: Scepter/Pistol, Axe/Torch - 60%, Mirage: Sword/Sword, Greatsword - 58%. Mirage play rate is also high.

Here's some statistic. Time to stop the delusions.

[The Ace.9105]

@RisenHowl.2419 said:

@incisorr.9502 said:It's the moment of truth

will arena net nerf a sub-50% win rate profession (mirage) only due to peer pressure from low elo and bad players and biased propaganda or will arena net nerf actually broken specs that are over-played and dominate due to how overpowered they are?

not gonna lie, i'm very curious myself

Mirage is absolute cancer in any 1v1 scenario but lacks team fight utility. If you think it's fine in a 1v1 please put up a video of you beating a top rated one.

He is a mirage player.

[Dediggefedde.4961]

@ProverbsofHell.2307 said:Can we see the notes in advance? In respect of the community being pretty unsettled by this mount business, it would provide some peace of mind.

Haha. ^^ Balance patches providing peace of mind is a nice joke. ^^

I don't think there ever as a balance patch that was welcomed by everyone. Usually, some good things are introduced together with some nerfs and very often something potentially game-changing is announced. We have already two pages of discussion here without being given any information. So even if everything in the patch would be satisfying there is a big chance people will complain about the things missing.

So, I'm fine with waiting until I can try out the announced things. ^^

@Iustitian.9176 said:I hope they will

• nerf mirage (especially endless horizont!)
• improve both ele elite specializations and arcane skills
• give a better mechanic to the scrapper
• nerf the holosmiths mechanic skills 4 and 5 and improve sword 2
• rework the soulbeast traits
• rework the druid glyphs
• improve the two defensive thief trait lines (who is using them?!)
• rework dragonhunter bow skills
• improve berserker specialization
• improve spellbreaker dagger and meditation skills

And buff all the skills and traits that never a player would even take (and there are enough of them).Somehow I doubt any of this will be addressed. ^^

[felincyriac.5981]

Mirage is fine, I can beat a mirage on my mirage. So just make a mirage , duh

[Skobel.6920]

@reddie.5861 said:remove mounts from WvW

I'm so proud of this community

[mov.1246]

My thoughts about Engineer:Core engi and scrapper als in every gamemode completely outplayed and outshined by holosmith.PvE? take holo!PvP? take holo!WvW? take holo!

The Problem of Holo:The problem is that holo just provides too much without any real downsides. (Sorry to all holo lovers who defend this spec, but i am an engi main with over 4k hours expierence and we all know this spec is too strong in comparsion)You have free perma stab from PF #3 and elixir U, you have free heal due to heat therapy together with heal on dogde, and you have soo crazy damage with high CC. Core and Scrapper cant provide ALL of this at one time.Holo should get a nerf in sustain, and also i think the kit lockout isnt enough, holo shouldnt even be also to use kits. (this might be an unpopolar suggestion for most holo players).

The Problem of Core:To reach high DPS in PvE you need very much class knowledge and cooldown management. And even if you have it, the old core condi engi cant reach the DPS which the holosmith have with less skill. Much skill should reward the player, but holo rewards the player with much more DPS with less skill in comparsion.Pistols and Kits are too weak in PvP and WvW because there is so much condi cleanse flying around and condidion builds are outshined by other classes like scourge and mirage. You are forced to take a explosiv Kit (grenades or Bombs, or even both) this means you have to take explosive and firearms traitline, and here we are again. You got lot of damage but sacrifice sustain.Want more sustain? Well cut your condi output by a lot...

The Problem of Scrapper:This spec has no really use except some supportive builds in WvW. But Scrapper is not taken because its good or necesarry, it is taken because there isnt a better alternative trailine to go. Scrapper has a lot of defensive aspects, but in a world where oneshots and burst builds dominate, a defensive build is forgotten. Hammer need a damage buff and gyros need a way that they dont instand destroyed in a battle. Function gyro could need an additional effect. And with the buff of kits scrapper would be also better.

[InsaneQR.7412]

Hope boonbeast gets adjusted. Condi ranger playstyles improved. Druid reasonable reworks of certain aspects and pets overhauled.A man can dream.

[EthanLightheart.9168]

Finally some transparency =)

[Nightmare.1234]

I love balance patches, hoping for nerfs to mirage, soulbeast and holo mainly with minor nerfs to core guard and spellbreaker and core ranger. Some reworks for underused weapons and utilities be nice as well.

[Vlad Filen.8049]

please give a massive nerf to scourage in WvW or make it a healer

[hugo.4705]

Balance patch really appreciated.Hope Scrapper is stronger, enough of giving only vulnerabilities, need a rework... and core rifle engie slighty better. Re-add overcharge turrets skills?I don't use kits and hate them, could turrets and gyros become more useful? Increased damages for hammer/rifle ? At least 20% recharge reduction for hammer.

For Bow Dragonshunter maybe more boons or damages but a little. Buff it to make it okay.Strangely my toon I feel the weaker is my sword weaver fire-earth whereas skill deal correct damages... maybe decrease recharge. Buff arcane skills.I'm okay with holo/deadeye/any necro/Renegade revenant currently. -> Fix WvW Scourge.

Buffs > Nerfs, don't ruin Holosmith. That is the template, classes should be powerful like holo in their way.Currently I put Holosmith sword-shield in the same bag as Renegade Shortbow, Scourge torch and Berseker Greatsword. Those four can survive and deal correct damages. Dragonshunter bow, Deadeye Rifle and Weaver Sword feels weak.

Only speaking of the specs I play.