Alacrity - buff/rework?

[Narrrz.7532]

Up until now, alacrity has basically been a mesmer class mechanic, but with renegade getting access to it, I wonder if it should be converted into a boon, and extended so that other professions also have access to it.

However, as boons go, it's really really ludicrously weak. Renegade f4 gives 4 seconds of alacrity - at a 33% increase this means a whopping 1 1/3 seconds is shaved off your cooldowns. That 33% is fine for a buff with high uptime but is utterly absurd for a skill with less than 15% uptime.

Thus if alacrity is made accessible to other professions, I suggest it be boosted to give 100% cooldown recovery and be changed so that maintaining the effect for any length of time is difficult, impractical or simply unachievable.

[zealex.9410]

Idk if calling alacrity weak is apropriate. Esp in the scenrario where its a boon affected by boon duration.

[CptAurellian.9537]

I wouldn't mind turning alacrity into a boon and giving it to more professions, but it is anything but weak. Keep in mind that chronos can have close to 100% uptime.

[Panda.1967]

Alacrity is a very powerful buff. In fact, as far as boons go it would be overpowered...

Anyways... you appear to have missed the fact that core Revenants got access to Alacrity at the start of the year through Serene Rejuvenation... so many mesmers were ticked off when it happened, claiming that the change was going to cost them their space in parties since Revenants could support the party in a greater capacity than them due to that one trait alone. Since Natural Harmony has a 2 second CD and Serene Rejuvenation gives 3 seconds of Alacrity, they could have permanent upkeep while providing better damage and healing everyone...

Honestly, I say give more professions access to Alacrity, leave it as a buff, don't convert it into a boon. Add it to the core mesmer elite, Time Warp, and call it a day.

[TexZero.7910]

Can we...do this for a month please Anet ? I want to see people complain about alacrity even more than they currently do now when it gets converted to a boon that is influenced by boon duration.

[OriOri.8724]

We don't need more professions to have access to it, we just need to balance the access better. Core mesmer needs to get alacrity on 1 skill (preferably time warp) and 1 trait in a core traitline. That puts mesmer on par with revenant in that we no longer have to be a chrono to give out alacrity, but if we wanted to maximize our alacrity output, we would still need to take chrono. If done properly, it could also allow core mesmers to take a bit of alacrity with them, and now that revs also have alacrity this could, if balanced well, mean that you could provide high (>80%) alacrity uptime without a chronomancer at all if your group was coordinated enough.

[zealex.9410]

Also i dont think it belong in a flawed system like boons its much more controlable as an effect.

[Redfeather.6401]

Orders from Above bleck. I don't like it at all. It feels pointless. I just don't understand why it is there.

[Veprovina.4876]

@OriOri.8724 said:We don't need more professions to have access to it, we just need to balance the access better. Core mesmer needs to get alacrity on 1 skill (preferably time warp) and 1 trait in a core traitline. That puts mesmer on par with revenant in that we no longer have to be a chrono to give out alacrity, but if we wanted to maximize our alacrity output, we would still need to take chrono. If done properly, it could also allow core mesmers to take a bit of alacrity with them, and now that revs also have alacrity this could, if balanced well, mean that you could provide high (>80%) alacrity uptime without a chronomancer at all if your group was coordinated enough.

So basically, just balance all the professions to have access to each others special abilities differentiating them by nothing other than the name, and revolve everyting around 1 type of content? Yeah, Anet will give everyone alacrity, core mesmer, warrior, engineer, guardian. Screw it, let's give chronos pets, and let revenants summon and shatter clones for burst damage.

Cause screw differences, lore and unique mechanics, let's just give every profession everything so that we can DPS the raids and not be obligated to put effort into it.

If you want to play meta content, play meta builds. There's a reason different profession shave different mechanics, and when anet introduces new stuff into the game, the current meta will change and people will start whining that "Profession A" needs to have access to "Unique skill B" that the new "Elite C" introduced to the game.

No.

Mesmer is fine as it is and neither mesmer or mirage need alacrity.Want alacrity? Play the current meta of the few professions that have it.

[castlemanic.3198]

@Veprovina.4876 said:

So basically, just balance all the professions to have access to each others special abilities differentiating them by nothing other than the name, and revolve everyting around 1 type of content? Yeah, Anet will give everyone alacrity, core mesmer, warrior, engineer, guardian. Screw it, let's give chronos pets, and let revenants summon and shatter clones for burst damage.

Cause screw differences, lore and unique mechanics, let's just give every profession everything so that we can DPS the raids and not be obligated to put effort into it.

If you want to play meta content, play meta builds. There's a reason different profession shave different mechanics, and when anet introduces new stuff into the game, the current meta will change and people will start whining that "Profession A" needs to have access to "Unique skill B" that the new "Elite C" introduced to the game.

No.

Mesmer is fine as it is and neither mesmer or mirage need alacrity.Want alacrity? Play the current meta of the few professions that have it.

What?

@OriOri.8724 said:We don't need more professions to have access to it, we just need to balance the access better. Core mesmer needs to get alacrity on 1 skill (preferably time warp) and 1 trait in a core traitline. That puts mesmer on par with revenant in that we no longer have to be a chrono to give out alacrity, but if we wanted to maximize our alacrity output, we would still need to take chrono. If done properly, it could also allow core mesmers to take a bit of alacrity with them, and now that revs also have alacrity this could, if balanced well, mean that you could provide high (>80%) alacrity uptime without a chronomancer at all if your group was coordinated enough.

How?

@OriOri.8724 said:We don't need more professions to have access to it, we just need to balance the access better.@Veprovina.4876 said:

So basically, just balance all the professions to have access to each others special abilities differentiating them by nothing other than the name, and revolve everyting around 1 type of content?

I don't.

I don't understand. Someone, please help.

[Veprovina.4876]

@castlemanic.3198 said:I don't.

I don't understand. Someone, please help.

Sarcasm.

[castlemanic.3198]

@Veprovina.4876 said:

@castlemanic.3198 said:I don't.

I don't understand. Someone, please help.

Sarcasm.

So it's a slippery slope fallacy.

Giving one skill and one trait alacrity to core mesmer would be nice. Could be one or the other as well instead of both to give core mesmer alacrity without it being overpowered.

[Veprovina.4876]

@castlemanic.3198 said:

@Veprovina.4876 said:

@castlemanic.3198 said:I don't.

I don't understand. Someone, please help.

Sarcasm.

So it's a slippery slope fallacy.

Giving one skill and one trait alacrity to core mesmer would be nice. Could be one or the other as well instead of both to give core mesmer alacrity without it being overpowered.

But if you give it to core mesmer, you also give it to mirage. And then what? Mirage new meta for all bosses ever? Lol, core classes should be left alone in my opinion, elite specs bring their own unique mechanics to the game, that's why they're there.

[castlemanic.3198]

@Veprovina.4876 said:But if you give it to core mesmer, you also give it to mirage. And then what? Mirage new meta for all bosses ever? Lol, core classes should be left alone in my opinion, elite specs bring their own unique mechanics to the game, that's why they're there.

I mean, and this is just off the top of my head, they'd balance it so that it wouldn't make mirage overpowered?

Just because core revenant got alacrity doesn't mean it suddenly became every meta ever, and according to a recent thread revenants aren't even allowed in raids.

This slippery slope you're imagining is really really far fetched.

[Panda.1967]

@Veprovina.4876 said:

@castlemanic.3198 said:

@Veprovina.4876 said:

@castlemanic.3198 said:I don't.

I don't understand. Someone, please help.

Sarcasm.

So it's a slippery slope fallacy.

Giving one skill and one trait alacrity to core mesmer would be nice. Could be one or the other as well instead of both to give core mesmer alacrity without it being overpowered.

But if you give it to core mesmer, you also give it to mirage. And then what? Mirage new meta for all bosses ever? Lol, core classes should be left alone in my opinion, elite specs bring their own unique mechanics to the game, that's why they're there.

It really wouldn't. There are several ways to add it to Core that will in no way turn Mirage into the new meta for all bosses ever.

1) Only put it on Time Warp. Due to the long cooldown time of this elite skill it would be impossible for a Core Mesmer or Mirage to have 100% uptime on Alacrity. They would have ~14seconds of Alacrity every 162 seconds.

2) Add it as a self-applied buff through a trait. This option removes it as a team utility for Core Mesmers and Mirages since they will only be able to keep alacrity up on themselves.

3) Add it through a trait with a very low uptime. This option just like with Time Warp makes it impossible for Core Mesmers and Mirage to have 100% uptime on Alacrity as their uptime would be strictly capped by the trait.

[Veprovina.4876]

@castlemanic.3198 said:

@Veprovina.4876 said:But if you give it to core mesmer, you also give it to mirage. And then what? Mirage new meta for all bosses ever? Lol, core classes should be left alone in my opinion, elite specs bring their own unique mechanics to the game, that's why they're there.

I mean, and this is just off the top of my head, they'd balance it so that it wouldn't make mirage overpowered?

Just because core revenant got alacrity doesn't mean it suddenly became every meta ever, and according to a recent thread revenants aren't even allowed in raids.

This slippery slope you're imagining is really really far fetched.

I'm not imagining any slippery slope, and don't take exagerations as fact they only serve to illustrate the point.And you just made mine. Introducing alacrity or any other mechanic to the core profession would require reworks of the elite porfessions, and the balance is already all over the place without the core professions being altered. So not only would we get this thread, but 100 other one like it asking for this or that...

But changes will come inevitabely, and wether it's what you want here (alacrity on mesmer) or something else, and there will be new threads asking for buffs, nerfs and reworks of the professions.

So really, this whole conversation is pointless... :tongue:

[castlemanic.3198]

@Veprovina.4876 said:I'm not imagining any slippery slope, and don't take exagerations as fact they only serve to illustrate the point.And you just made mine. Introducing alacrity or any other mechanic to the core profession would require reworks of the elite porfessions, and the balance is already all over the place without the core professions being altered. So not only would we get this thread, but 100 other one like it asking for this or that...

But changes will come inevitabely, and wether it's what you want here (alacrity on mesmer) or something else, and there will be new threads asking for buffs, nerfs and reworks of the professions.

So really, this whole conversation is pointless... :tongue:

Not sure how I proved your point, considering that you said giving core mesmer (and therefore, mirages) alacrity would mean the meta would suddenly include mirages everywhere.

Your entire point, from the very beginning, sarcasm or slippery slope, was that introducing alacrity here would begin a process that would homogenise every class, and then you made the point that suddenly mirages would become every meta ever. You also point to simply leaving the core classes alone while improving solely on elite specs because of their unique mechanics.

Your point was never about 'reworking elite professions'. And giving core mesmer alacrity on a single skill/trait would not require the entire chronomancer elite spec to be reshuffled into something else. Balance doesn't mean reworking the entire elite spec to something else, balance means that if core mesmer gains alacrity, it doesn't suddenly become every meta ever and replaces chronomancer as the alacrity spreader. One skill, an example aptly included is time warp, on a 180 second cooldown that provides a few seconds of alacrity, would not so completely unbalance chronomancer as to make sure it needs to be reworked.

Balance=/= rework

We also DO get a million threads asking for this or that, relating to a thousand different things but also including buffs to core classes.

And the conversation isn't pointless, because it's brought to the devs attention as an idea. Debate has merit, even if no side changes their mind.

[OriOri.8724]

@Veprovina.4876 said:

@castlemanic.3198 said:

@Veprovina.4876 said:

@castlemanic.3198 said:I don't.

I don't understand. Someone, please help.

Sarcasm.

So it's a slippery slope fallacy.

Giving one skill and one trait alacrity to core mesmer would be nice. Could be one or the other as well instead of both to give core mesmer alacrity without it being overpowered.

But if you give it to core mesmer, you also give it to mirage. And then what? Mirage new meta for all bosses ever? Lol, core classes should be left alone in my opinion, elite specs bring their own unique mechanics to the game, that's why they're there.

I never said give core mesmer good alacrity generation. You made that up and ran with it. But why is it ok with you for core rev to get alacrity ,giving it to every rev specialization, but not core mesmer? Even though it was originally introduced as a chronomancer only buff? Clearly you don't think its a problem that a core profession gets access to alacrity in small amounts, otherwise you'd be protesting core rev having it instead of one of their elite specs.

Core mesmer needs some access to alacrity. I never said a lot, and I clearly said it should be balanced so you'd need several people in order to get high alacrity uptime. Somehow from that you read that core mesmer should get 100% alacrity uptime, so you clearly put some words in my mouth somewhere.

[Panda.1967]

@Veprovina.4876 said:

@castlemanic.3198 said:

@Veprovina.4876 said:But if you give it to core mesmer, you also give it to mirage. And then what? Mirage new meta for all bosses ever? Lol, core classes should be left alone in my opinion, elite specs bring their own unique mechanics to the game, that's why they're there.

I mean, and this is just off the top of my head, they'd balance it so that it wouldn't make mirage overpowered?

Just because core revenant got alacrity doesn't mean it suddenly became every meta ever, and according to a recent thread revenants aren't even allowed in raids.

This slippery slope you're imagining is really really far fetched.

I'm not imagining any slippery slope, and don't take exagerations as fact they only serve to illustrate the point.And you just made mine. Introducing alacrity or any other mechanic to the core profession would require reworks of the elite porfessions, and the balance is already all over the place without the core professions being altered. So not only would we get this thread, but 100 other one like it asking for this or that...

But changes will come inevitabely, and wether it's what you want here (alacrity on mesmer) or something else, and there will be new threads asking for buffs, nerfs and reworks of the professions.

So really, this whole conversation is pointless... :tongue:

You must have completely missed my post... I outlined 3 ways they can add alacrity to the core mesmer that won't require reworking of anything with the elite specs.

[Hashberry.4510]

What is the distinction between a buff and a boon?

[keyokku.5412]

Please no unless Mesmer is buffed for more possibiliies in group / team compositions. Right now the only thing keeping mesmers in team is alacrity and quickness support plus some tanking . Without alacrity being mostly exclusive to mesmer, especially with that pink purple fire, there is no longer any way mesmers are useful in teams unless it can compete with top tier dps or other functions. Our damage, reflects ,boons, heals, whatever are not competitive at all. Do not take alacrity away from mesmer unless Anet is willing to rework mesmer and find a good spot for it.

[Panda.1967]

@Hashberry.4510 said:What is the distinction between a buff and a boon?

A buff is a short duration but powerful beneficial effect that is not affected by stats.

A boon is a variable duration beneficial effect that's strength is determined by stack number &/or certain stats.

Generally, Buffs are much stronger than boons.

[Arzurag.7506]

Well, Alacrity is not tied to the chronomancer only. Actually, every class has access to it with superior sigil of frenzy.https://wiki.guildwars2.com/wiki/Superior_Sigil_of_Frenzy