Guild Wars 2

Going to try to make these ideas as simple and “realistic” as possible. By realistic, I mean they could actually be implemented w/o too much trouble. But, these are just my ideas. I’ll also give alternative change ideas for some skills.

Fire (Almost perfect as is IMO)

Fireball Change 1 : Splash Radius increased to 300 from 90.
Fireball Change 1 : Reduced base dmg by 10%.
Fireball Change 1 : Reduced cast time to 3/4 second, from 1 second.

Fireball Change 2 : Splash Radius increased to 180 from 90.
Fireball Change 2 : Reduced cast time to 3/4 second, from 1 second.

Reason : Basing my change on the idea that Fire = AoE dmg while Air = Single Target dmg.

Lava Font : Radius increased to 180, up from 120. (Blasting Staff boosts by 60)

Reason : The radius is incredibly small w/o blasting staff is can be hard to aim accurately as a ground targeted skill that ALSO takes 4-5 seconds to do full dmg. Same reason Necro Marks base radius were increased.

Water

Water Blast : Increased Heal Radius to 600 from 120.

Reason : This should be obvious, the current heal splash radius is worthless

Ice Spike Change 1 : Reduced cast time to 1/2 seconds from 1 second.
Ice Spike Change 1 : Increased cooldown to 5 seconds from 4 seconds.
Ice Spike Change 1 : Increased vulnerability stacks applied to 8 from 5.
Ice Spike Change 1 : Is now a blast finisher.

Reason : Cast time reduction is necessary to make it less clunky. The cooldown increase is to balance it for being a blast finisher, with the slight vuln increase to make up for the new cooldown. Blast finisher adds utility and synergy with your own water fields.

Ice Spike Change 2 : Reduced cast time to 1/2 seconds from 1 second.
Ice Spike Change 2 : Increased base dmg by 10%.

Reason : Gives it a boost in offensive power so it become a solid primary attack for the water tree since it is it’s only offensive option when you’re ever stuck in this attunement.

Geyser : Increased radius to 180 from 120.
Geyser : Duration increased to 3 seconds from 2 seconds, overall healing is the same.

Reason : Radius increase is desperately needed, same reason as Lava Font. Duration nerfs the upfront healing a bit but buffs it’s water field utility.

Frozen Ground : Reduced cooldown to 35 seconds from 40 seconds.

Reason : The spell doesn’t deserve a full 40 seconds IMO, I’d reduce it to 30 seconds but went with 35 seconds just to be safe.

Air

Chain Lightning : Tooltip renamed to “Lightning Bolt”.
Chain Lightning : Now only hits 1 target, down from 3.
Chain Lightning : Increased base dmg by 60%.

Reason : Reinforces the idea of Air = single target dmg, and the 60% dmg boost puts it just slightly above where the current Fireball dmg is.

Lightning Surge Change 1 : Tooltip renamed to “Chain Lightning”.
Lightning Surge Change 1 : Now chains to up to 5 targets (can bounce between 2 targets)
Lightning Surge Change 1 : Reduced cooldown to 8 seconds, down from 10 seconds.
Lightning Surge Change 1 : Reduced base dmg by 30%.

Reason : Between the animation and having an instant chain lightning effect makes this incredibly satisfying. The reduced dmg makes up for it being able to hit the primary targets 3 times (bouncing off 1 other target), as well as the reduced cooldown. Letting it bounce between 2 targets allows single target “spike dmg” and is fitting thematically.

Lightning Surge Change 2 : Tooltip renamed to “Chain Lightning”.
Lightning Surge Change 2 : Now chains up to 5 targets (1 hit per unique target)
Lightning Surge Change 2 : Reduced cooldown to 8 seconds, down from 10 seconds.
Lightning Surge Change 2 : Reduced base dmg by 10%.

Reason : Turns this into a solid aoe attack with blind utility, the reduced cooldown brings in line with the other #2 attunement abilities, plus this and the auto are the only attacks in Air Attunement.

Gust Change 1 : Is now a frontal cone aoe instead of a projectile.
Gust Change 1 : Range reduced to 600.
Gust Change 1 : Now cripples for 2 seconds.

Reason : This was always a very awkward ability to use defensively on targets up close, and the knockback isn’t as useful on targets far away. The cripple just makes the short knockback more useful by itself. Overall makes this more of a defensive skill

Gust Change 2 : Increased projectile speed by 30%.
Gust Change 2 : Increased projectile aoe width by 50%.
Gust Change 2 : Cooldown reduced to 25 seconds, down from 30 seconds.
Gust Change 2 : No longer triggers Air auto attack.

Reason : Alternative change that’s easier to implement and is in line with the current version, the projectile speed and width increase helps make it more reliable to hit and a slightly better aoe knockback. It also is a bit clunky to use when you have #1 on auto.

Gust Change 3 : Tooltip renamed to “Vortex”.
Gust Change 3 : Is now a ground targeted ability that pulls enemies toward the point.
Gust Change 3 : AoE radius set to 600.
Gust Change 3 : Now has a 3/4 second cast time, up from 1/4 second.

Reason : A more extreme change, not only makes it more fun, but very useful for comboing with staff aoe’s and especially Static Field. Would be just like Temporal Curtain for Mesmers, and would have a growing vortex animation on the ground while being cast as a telegraph.

Windbourne Speed : Increased radius to 600, up from 240.

Reason : The aoe is way too small as is making it a chore to buff allies with it, especially when you try to use it as a clutch “cripple/immob/chill” cleanser. Alternatively could be 450 radius.

Static Field : Adjusted animation border to match the effect border.
Static Field : Now does dmg each time an enemy passes through the border.

Reason : The border doesn’t seem very accurate in a lot of situations, the extra damage helps to punish people for running through it constantly and gives it some extra offensive capability.

Earth

Eruption : Cast time reduced to 1/2 seconds, down from 1 – 1/4 seconds.

Reason : The cast time is absurdly long, and it already takes a good 3 seconds to detonate so it’s not necessary, reducing it makes it far less clunky to use especially with such a short cooldown.

Magnetic Aura : Reduced duration to 3 seconds, down from 5.
Magnetic Aura : Reduced cooldown to 15 seconds, down from 30 seconds.

Reason : Allows for more skillful reflect opportunities, as well as makes it more useful for Aura related traits with the lower cooldown.

Unsteady Ground : Now applies 3 stacks of Torment (6 seconds).
Unsteady Ground : Now applies 4 seconds of Cripple.
Unsteady Ground : Now refreshes its conditions on pulse instead of apply.

Reason : Other posters have suggested adding Torment to UG and I think it’s a great idea. The refreshing conditions means it will only ever apply 3 stacks of Torment or 4 seconds of cripple and staying in the aoe only refreshes them to that point. This makes it better for when enemies only walk through briefly, and gives extra dmg on enemies that continue standing on it by keeping Torment on longer. Of all the abilities that would be changed, this needs a change the most it’s the weakest staff skill.

Shockwave Change 1 : Tooltip renamed to “Grasping Earth”
Shockwave Change 1 : Is now a targeted ability.
Shockwave Change 1 : Now applies 3 bleeds (10 seconds), up from 1 bleed (20 seconds).
Shockwave Change 1 : Now uses the animation from downed skill “Grasping Earth”.

Reason : Makes this a solid and reliable single target immobilize, and also is vastly cooler than the original.

Shockwave Change 2 : Increased projectile speed by 30%.
Shockwave Change 2 : Increased projectile aoe width by 30%.
Shockwave Change 2 : Now applies 2 bleeds (10 seconds), up from 1 bleed (20 seconds).

Reason : Same treatment as Gust change, just makes it more reliable and a slightly better aoe ability, not to mention the extra impact.

Extra change ideas for traits.

My goal here is to eliminate the significance of the Arcana trait line bonus : Attunement Cooldown Reduction, which restricts Ele builds too much.

Attunement Bonus Rework

Fire Attunement : Tooltip now includes information about it’s attunement bonus “Raging Fire”
Water Attunement : Tooltip now includes information about it’s attunement bonus “Soothing Mist”
Air Attunement : Tooltip now includes information about it’s attunement bonus “Zephyr’s Fury”
Earth Attunement : Tooltip now includes information about it’s attunement bonus “Stone Flesh”

Raging Fire : Gain 1 might (6 seconds) every 2 seconds. Lingers for 4 seconds after leaving attunement.
Soothing Mist : Heal x amount every second. Lingers for 4 seconds after leaving attunement.
Zephyr’s Fury : Gain 15% movespeed and 1 precision per level. Lingers for 4 seconds after leaving attunement.
Stone Flesh : Gain 2 toughness per level. Lingers for 4 seconds after leaving attunement.

5 Point Minor Trait Reworks (The current Attunement Bonuses)

Flame Barrier : Tooltip renamed to Improved Raging Fire.
Flame Barrier : Now applies Fire Attunement bonus “Raging Fire” to nearby allies.

Zephyr’s Speed : Tooltip renamed to Improved Zephyr’s Fury.
Zephyr’s Speed : Now applies Air Attunement bonus “Zephyr’s Fury” to nearby allies.

Stone Flesh : Tooltip renamed to Improved Stone Flesh.
Stone Flesh : Now applies Earth Attunement Bonus “Stone Flesh” to nearby allies.

Soothing Mist : Tooltip renamed to Improved Soothing Mist.
Soothing Mist : Now applies Water Attunement Bonus “Soothing Mist” to nearby allies.

Arcana 15 Point Minor Trait Rework (Currently Lingering Elements)

Lingering Elements : Tooltip Renamed to “Prismatic Elements”.
Lingering Elements : Now gives you 3% extra dmg for each Attunement Bonus affecting you.

Final Changes

Attunements : Base cooldowns reduced to 10 seconds, down from 16.

Arcana Trait Bonus : Now increases Attunement Bonus duration by 5% per point.

With these changes, Attunements now have a 10 second cooldown baseline, and each Attunement has their bonuses built into the Attunement itself w/o traits. The 5 point traits in each tree allow you to share those bonuses with allies.

And finally, you can get up to 150% duration increase on attunement bonuses with 30 in Arcana making 4 second bonuses last 10 seconds. With enough swapping, the 15 point minor trait “Prismatic Elements” can give you up to 12% bonus dmg when you maintain all 4 lingering bonuses.

This makes it so you no longer HAVE to go 20-30 into Arcana to have manageable attunement cooldowns which can otherwise be crippling to be without, but going deep Arcana is still a very attractive option.