Guild Wars 2

I would like to see Defiant changed to where powerful, raw damage attacks charges it but conditions and condition damage weaken it. As Defiant grows, champions will hit harder and nondamaging conditions like slow, cripple and immobilize will have shortened durations until, at max defiant stacks, they no longer work. On the other hand, an all condition team could apply enough of them that Defiant turns into Enfeebled; a state where champions do a lot less damage and all condition durations are eventually doubled.

My thought process behind this is to give players the opportunity to fight as they see fit. For instance, a hardcore team wearing full berzerker armor will be able to kill a champion in seconds but at the risk of one-hit downs and one mistake potentially causing a team wipe. On the other hand, those whom go full condition damage will severely weaken champions, thus making their defensive stats more useful but, since condition damage naturally isn’t as potent, the cost is a prolonged fight.

I see this implemented in a few very simple steps. First, all champions have their HP lowered as huge health bars won’t be as necessary and those whom decide to stack defiant shouldn’t be exposed to prolonged fights. In my personal opinion, heavy hitters should be able to kill a champion in 15 to 45 seconds while those that favor conditions take 75 to 120 seconds. Second, Defiant is rebalanced to allow conditions but shorten their durations when it has higher stacks. Third, higher stacks changes enemy AI to where they go after the damage dealers, not those with the most toughness. And Fourth, Enfeebled, working as stated above

Best of all is that the rewards for this are superficial but still worthwhile. Those whom wish to play hard and fast can and brag about how fast they can do particular pieces of content. Those whom prefer a safer and slower approach can do so as well with the benefit of knowing that their defensive stats serve a purpose.

The only foreseeable issue is what happens when players from these two aspects try to party together. The only answer I have for this is to balance the way defiant works so that it takes a lot more effort to push from 24 stacks to 25 than it does from 10 to 11 and likewise with enfeebled. This will allow a mixed team to reach an equilibrium suitable for them.

I’m looking for constructive criticism on this. Do you see issues that I don’t? Would you prefer this method?