Guild Wars 2

Confusion is pretty much worthless in pve. since the 50% dmg nerf it’s even worse. No one uses confusion builds in pve. the only reason my mesmer has a torch is for stealth, so i can skip certain enemies.

I can see anet’s concept of changing the traditional system of dmg vs healing into a very agile playstyle that focuses more on dmg prevention than healing (which I think is great). To do so they implemented a dodge mechanic and very slow but forceful enemy attacks.
Problem: confusion will barely trigger. Some enemies attack so slowly, it might not even trigger once. In that case it doesn’t even matter if it were 1 or 8 stacks. it is just wasted.
Casting etheral fields (for the sake of finishers, not their main effect) is usually a bad idea since they steal the finishers from previous fields which are way more useful.
another rather bad condition in pve is torment (you usually want the enemy to stay in place). But even if the enemy did not move, the DoT effect dealt some dmg.

Solution: add a DoT effect to confusion. that way the chance for the application doing nothing is removed.

Note: this is about pve. also the trigger effect dmg would probably need to be lowered. but I’m not talking numbers, this just about the concept.

Discuss!

I think that would confuse players too much.

Dahkeus.8243:

I think that would confuse players too much.

Making the Confusion do DOT just change completely the nature of the condition. I would prefer that the confusion make dmg proportional to the attack the ennemy perform. Right now it a fix amount of dmg per stack.

This way a big attack from a PvE boss would make huge dmg to him, forcing player applying confusion at the right time for maximum efficiency. Basically, you time you confusion at the biggest attack.

Thaddeus.4891:

Making the Confusion do DOT just change completely the nature of the condition. I would prefer that the confusion make dmg proportional to the attack the ennemy perform. Right now it a fix amount of dmg per stack.

This is a really good idea. 1 stack at 0 Condition Damage = 1% “reflect” of damage. Like Retaliation, but a Condition version.

I’d just prefer that enemies attack faster (with less powerful hits) as this would also help the game be more than Zerk or Go Home, but this would certainly be a way to make Confusion viable.

I can’t remember what I was going to write…

Oh, now I remember!

Characters with more than 2000 hours played should randomly get confusion stacks out of the blue.

timmyf.1490:

Thaddeus.4891:

Making the Confusion do DOT just change completely the nature of the condition. I would prefer that the confusion make dmg proportional to the attack the ennemy perform. Right now it a fix amount of dmg per stack.

This is a really good idea. 1 stack at 0 Condition Damage = 1% “reflect” of damage. Like Retaliation, but a Condition version.

I’d just prefer that enemies attack faster (with less powerful hits) as this would also help the game be more than Zerk or Go Home, but this would certainly be a way to make Confusion viable.

If confusion were to be the condition version of retaliation but with a percentage of damage per stack, then how will condition damage come into play?

As for enemies attacking faster but with less damage per hit, that seems to be the way to go. Combat would require players to have better timing with blinds and blocks for the big and easily telegraphed attacks. As for confusion, faster attacks would make confusion a much better condition.

DanteZero.9736:

If confusion were to be the condition version of retaliation but with a percentage of damage per stack, then how will condition damage come into play?

At 0 Condition Damage: 1% Damage Returned
At 250 Condition Damage: 1.25% Damage Returned
500: 1.5%
750: 1.75%

etc.

for me it is simple :

PvE : play direct damage, or some people say DPS
PvP : play condition damage.

so, if you playing PvE, go straight zerker build.

the issue with confusion being bit rubbish in pve is mobs attack so slowly like 1 attack every few secs, where as players can attack and use skills multiple times within 1 sec, combined with mobs having higher health pools, its very easy to conclude that confuse and some other conditions are largly ineffective in pve, if mobs behave more like players then confuse would be far more useful, ie more attacks at lower damage, also makes dodge the big hit less effective too as a defence, encouraging tougher builds even.. maybe

Confusion is a Damage/Control mechanic to be specific.

You are taking control of the enemy’s action simply by making him deal damage to himself/herself for every skill the enemy uses against you. It’s a pretty solid condition.

I don’t recommend sticking with 1 type of skill as it gimps your ability when you have other skills you need to utilize at certain times given. However, if spamming dps skill is all you do, I’d probably be mad too.

Thaddeus.4891:

Making the Confusion do DOT just change completely the nature of the condition. I would prefer that the confusion make dmg proportional to the attack the ennemy perform. Right now it a fix amount of dmg per stack.

This way a big attack from a PvE boss would make huge dmg to him, forcing player applying confusion at the right time for maximum efficiency. Basically, you time you confusion at the biggest attack.

so you’re in favor of a buff to perplexity runes. making confusion automatically tick would make them stronger than burns and probably ridiculously overpowered.

My suggestion for confusion is to give enemies more rapid attacks, which can let confusion tick more often.

Blood Red Arachnid.2493:

My suggestion for confusion is to give enemies more rapid attacks, which can let confusion tick more often.

so how would this apply to players? perma-quickness? aka insta dead?

Lightsbane.9012:

Blood Red Arachnid.2493:

My suggestion for confusion is to give enemies more rapid attacks, which can let confusion tick more often.

so how would this apply to players? perma-quickness? aka insta dead?

Confusion wouldn’t cause faster attacks. Mobs would always attack faster (although the fast attacks wouldn’t do the same amount of damage like the slower ones of course).