Mesmer autoattack alone may not purge boons, but paired with phantasmal disenchanter and phantasmal haste it most certainly can.
I think most mesmers haven’t tried out the buffed iDisenchanter, no class can compete with the mesmer’s boon removal if they take that.
Unfortunately it also comes at the cost of easy permanent alacrity uptime that having 3 iavengers would provide alongside a well or two with the AWtEW trait.
I personally think that mobs SHOULD have ample methods of boon removal and CC to disrupt stacking and the easy power spike boon stacking provides (capping might and maintaining it is way too easy for the enormous benefit it provides, same for perma fury uptime).
But I think that same principle should apply to mobs, and not be like the dredge where boon removal is pointless thanks to the rate of application.
That’s why I like the ascalonian fractal, because as a mesmer I feel rewarded for bringing utilities like null field which I would never consider using otherwise, and the results of that choice show in the greatly reduced damage my party takes. Same applies to necro with well of corruption.
I’m also NOT in favor of returning to the incredibly inflated damage spikes of some bosses ala old fractal 50.
Mossman/Archdiviner/dredge at Fractal 50 did such obscene damage with mere autoattacks. Some of those tells were covered in visual clutter since these were small humanoids, so things like Mai Trin’s twirl were hard to even see in time with an elementalist or guardian in the party, especially with male norns and charrs instead of the 5 tiny female human party.
It’s totally OK when spoonfed aegis by a CD guardian or playing a kitten class like warrior who can eat and autoattack or two without being one shotted, but they are NOT fun as a 12k HP berzerker elementalist who chooses to not run staff, and the same goes for a thief not running sword/pistol for evade spam.
Dredge have little tells on their autoattacks and instant, long kitten dazes that would take off 2/3 of a berk elementalist’s HP, that was just silly when that and cultists made life as an elementalist miserable while warriors and guardians and now revenants don’t mind because they have way more spike absorption.
So, NO, I’m not in favor of increasing difficulty by tuning up damage. That’s just dumb.
Make difficulty by making the MECHANICS more demanding. The game should not be just about dodging, it should be about performing tasks in a fight, make it like Priestess of Dwayna in P4 where the idea was to have multiple tasks performed.
Make the failure to execute interesting mechanics in the fight wipe you, like that lightning strike on the raids, etc.
Not some ridiculous boss whose autoattacks spike for ridiculous amount of damage, favoring heavily the heavy armor/high HP classes while pigeonholing classes like elementalist into staff.
More damage & HP= Difficulty is BAD, LAZY DESIGN.
