Core profession balance [suggestion]
What about classes whose elite spec replaces their mechanic instead of adding a new one (DH, Reaper)?
The best thing ANet could do is to heavily nerf all elite specs. Bring them in line with core traitlines, don’t allow an elite spec to be good at everything, make them compromise on some aspects, just like core lines do. Reduce their boon and condi output, reduce their damage modifiers to that of core traitline levels, reduce their utility to slightly above that of a core traitline.
Elite specs should always have been an optional playstyle, not a buffed up traitline that is almost always better than core lines.
What about classes whose elite spec replaces their mechanic instead of adding a new one (DH, Reaper)?
The best thing ANet could do is to heavily nerf all elite specs. Bring them in line with core traitlines, don’t allow an elite spec to be good at everything, make them compromise on some aspects, just like core lines do. Reduce their boon and condi output, reduce their damage modifiers to that of core traitline levels, reduce their utility to slightly above that of a core traitline.
Elite specs should always have been an optional playstyle, not a buffed up traitline that is almost always better than core lines.
You say this…But as someone who plays engineer it’s quite possibly one of the most frustrating things in the game that scrapper is a literal dumpster fire.
I know it sounds counter-intuitive now, but if they want specializations to feel good they all need to be strong. The downside is yes core feels like garbage (unless engineer) the brightside is you can only ever use 1 elite specialization. In that regard nothing will ever be as OP as people want to believe because you’re still heavily limited by the base professions existing lines.
Scrapper is in a special situation where ANet doesn’t even know what they want to do with it. It was very clearly designed with PvP in mind, and designed for PvP. This wouldn’t be a problem if all classes had gotten at least 2 elite specs, or if elite specs had been on the same level as core specs from the start. But neither of those were true.
So Anet ended up in a position where each elite spec was horribly OP, and had to hand out huge nerfs to all of them. Unfortunately since Scrapper was designed with PvP in mind and also the devs have no idea what they want from it, it was left in this weird limbo state after the PvP nerf bat was aimed at it.
As far as I understand elite specializations were designed with full intention of making them better than core specializaions. Hence the Elite part of the name. I think we’re supposed to feel better about having elite specs once we actually have a few to choose from for each profession. You’re right that it feels really odd and imbalanced right now, though. I look forward to having more options.
Bloodcovered Backstabbin’ Blackjack the Blade, at your service.
If no mechanic is added then no counter-balance is need I guess, but having a second mechanic would help if any future elite spec adds a mechanic instead of replacing it.
Elite Specializations should get as Feature rebalanced through the implementation of a “Talent System” which allows them Core Classes to learn and to master Elite Specializations.
Once you learned an Elite Specialization with your Core Class, then you unlock this way the access to the new Weapon, new Class Mechanics, new Heal/Utility Skills and new Traits that are until then only useable by activating the Traits of the Elite Specialization you want to be.
Once you have mastered the Elite Specialization, should be the Weapon, and the Skills be useable by the Core Class as well and only the Elite Skill, the Traits and the changed Gameplay Mechanics from the Elite Specialization should stay useable only to the Elite Specialization when you activated their Traits.
This will balance Core Classes and bring them nearer to the Elite Specs, without letting them become too close to them.
Personally I like the idea behind sub classes ~ quoted from Chris Whiteside