Reposted here, partly because sPvP forums are dead, and because it’d be nice if balance devs could read the feedback…
So for warriors… Toughness on stunbreak looks strong… So does sigil of intellect on a hammer… Discipline trait sounds useless (if you made it 1 second of immunity to counter blinding powder it’d be better though). With the nerf to strength 15 we could see more players run into Arms, we’ll have to see if it’s GM gets any play. 0/0/20/30/20 hambow-wambow aoe might stacking could be funny.
For the guardian, not too happy with the grandmasters.. We needed a boost in zeal and radiance GM for power builds, as the ‘meta’ on dps guard was 10/5/30/5/20 (I run a variation but that 20 in virtues is pretty clutch).
The idea of a viable condition guard that can make best use of retal too scares me. You could change the radiance grandmaster to reduce incoming condition duration by 20% while affected by retal. THAT would be cool, as it’s the vulnerability to condition pressure (spam) that makes radiance builds unviable (hence the need to go 20 virtues for added condi removal).
Anyway on a phone right now so hard to type any more…
Edited: 21/03
For ranger..
#Powerranger2014 meta
If only. What I’d love to see is a balanced survivalist build emerge along the lines of
30/0/10/30/0, as the new GM is cool. This probably won’t be the case however, as (if this nature magic trait works reasonably) then 10/30/0/30/0 could be taken purely for statistical reasons. Unless Mesmers force us into running piercing ofc.
Like the guardian traits, the skirmishing GM really falls down IMO. A 15% chance to block ranged attacks isn’t a cool mechanic, and wouldn’t be much fun to play with/against.. That GM could of been the last piece of the puzzle for running a 30/30X signet build, but alas no…
I’m not the most experience bunker ranger, but I’d imagine a X/X/30/30 job will probably be the only thing people run anyway, even if they swap spirits for survivalist utilities…
For elementalist it’s a tricky one. They’re so up in the air (literally) at the moment it’s hard to suggest builds that will fall out. I’ll just go through each trait instead.
Fire: I love the fire trait line, and this trait is cool. I was (rather fruitlessly) trying to get across in the balance forums how using the fire attune (scepter 4) to reveal thieves would make glass ele more viable. This is a better mechanic, if a tad weak.
Edit: however combine it with burning precision and it could be fairly brainless.. :p
Basically an ele at skillcap could place an (unblockable) flame wall at their feet to counter a thief elite steal etc. It’s cool, but if the ICD was reduced or removed it would push 30 fire eles into the realms of viability.
Air: no good, but nobodies going to stop running fresh air unless it was broken OP. If you need confirmation that it won’t be used see how players don’t bother running glyph of elements, despite that applying perma weakness.
Earth: interesting… 0/0/30/30/10 bunker ele could get some play now. Earth bunker eles already have to rotate carefully around earth attune, this might place a bit too much emphasis on it… But if it works it’ll be a cool mechanic. Bring the res trait in arcana back to adept tier and we could finally see a shift in mid bunker meta.
Water: cleansing water has basically been reborn. That’s exciting. Hope it’s strong enough to survive the power creep of condition builds. The new trait won’t be run over cleansing water, unless people are counter comping with full power teams (because CW is OP).
Arcana: didn’t really want a reason to run 30 arcana, and didn’t get one…
I’ll add some more musings in a bit
Phaatonn, London UK
(edited by Phaeton.9582)