Guild Wars 2

Hi there,

I recently contacted support with this issue, and was told that the best way to attract developer attention would be to create a thread in the suggestion forum. In my eyes, this is clearly a bug. I have not offered any suggestions, as I trust the developers to make the right decisions here.

However since I was told it would be a good idea, I am starting a thread here as well. So let me offer a few suggestions to solve this problem:

1. Before adding things to the game, make sure that the language used is consistent with language previously used in the game. Things should be referred to using the same terms with the same meanings, so as not to obscure communication to the players.
2. With this specific issue, I suggest that each trait that triggers on-shatter be reworded and reworked to trigger “when a shatter is performed” OR “when a shatter skill is successfully activated”, and have that stated clearly in the tooltip. What’s the difference, you say? This change would mainly be to make all shatter-related traits function consistently with regards to the Illusory Persona trait. Note that a “successful shatter skill activation” requires at least one illusion out, and/or Illusory Persona active. Consider the following scenarios, and how they should work:

• I shatter with zero illusions and no Illusory Persona. Nothing happens, and my shatter skill goes on the 3 second “failed cast” cool down.
• I shatter with 1-3 illusions and no Illusory Persona. Every illusion creates the desired effect at the location of its shatter, when it shatters. For traits that involve self/ally buffing, perhaps all trait effects should be applied as soon as the shatter is used. The main concern here is how to deal with illusions that do not properly shatter (illusion destroyed before it reaches its target, or the target becomes invalid). Either way it should be clearly outlined in the tooltip how the trait will trigger.
• I shatter with 0-3 illusions and Illusory Persona active. The main choice here is whether or not the player counts as “an illusion” or “the location of a shatter”. Draw this distinction, and there should not be much difference between a player creating a shatter, and an illusion immediately shattering upon use of a shatter skill (like with Distortion, which instantly shatters all illusions). Additionally, all traits that trigger “on shatter” should trigger when Illusory Persona is active.

Let’s take a look at the 5 traits I mentioned, and how they would now function with Illusory Persona active:

Restorative Illusions:
“Heal a small amount when you shatter illusions.”

0 illusions: The player is healed by the base amount + an extra amount for having one shatter. This is how it currently works.
1+ illusions: They player is healed by the base amount + an extra amount for each shatter, including the player’s shatter. This is how it currently works. At the moment, the player heals the full amount immediately. This makes sense functionally as the heal is small and would be much less powerful if you had to wait for your illusions to successfully shatter. If you changed it so that each illusion had to successfully shatter to create a heal, the heal must be increased in turn. Either way, clearly outline it with language such as “when a shatter is performed” or “when you successfully activate a shatter skill”.

• Vigorous Revelation: same as above, replace heal with vigor.
• Shattered Strength: same as above, replace heal with might.
• Shattered Conditions: same as above, replace heal with remove condition. May be limited to one condition removed for balance.
• Confusing Cry: same as above, replace heal with retaliation.

As you can see, all the traits now function under the same guidelines, but may individually be changed to trigger on successful shatter skill activation, or when an illusion/player shatters (your choice).