Guild Wars 2

One of the nice almost relaxing parts of Orr is cc works again. Went back to Draconis and it didn’t take long for the breakbars to ruin fun. A few mobs with them OK but seriously there is soo many mobs that have them it’s the main reason HoT is headache. Then there’s the condition heavy destroyer mobs that not only hit hard but can tear down toons fast. They’re no longer susceptible to chill in DM and that makes them even more ridiculous.

Though I’ve purchased the expansion a focus on less break bars (cc denial) would be a good return to normal mechanics. It’s really hard to feel heroic when every cc takes you out of the fight, yet many mobs ignore cc altogether. Strangely this explains why I like Bitterfrost and now Orr the best of LS3, both avoid break bar heavy mobs and instead rely on you using your cc and skills to overcome multiple mobs. Hopefully the expansion will take note of this and not turn into HoT 2.0.

Agree. Fewer gimmicky annoying mechanics would yield more fun. HoT++ is my greatest fear with PoF. Man, I hope nothing from HoT beyond gliding creeps into the expansion. Let that thing die a peaceful death.

I find break bars to be a fine replacement for the Defiance mechanic on Champions and up. I think it’s over-used on veterans, and either silly or unnecessary on normal mobs. It wouldn’t bother me if the new armies’ mobs had bars only on Champs and up.

I think the break bar is fantastic. There are only a handful of encounters you have to think about it on (Bat Guano, Vinetooth Prime, Ignus and Aethus) but on most creatures it’s not that big a deal. Makes this a little faster, but doesn’t matter if you don’t care about it.

Every encounter doesn’t have to be kitten easy.

I would beg to differ on it being used sparingly. Every arrowhead, rolling devil, mushroom stomper, Jade construct/bow, Mordrem smasher, and there is more just can’t think of them atm. It would be alright if a few mobs had them, but that’s not the case in HoT nor the LW3 maps. As I said Bitterfrost fun, Orr fun. You can play your class not deal with hamfisted mechanics in abundance that really drag down the fun.

Vayne.8563:

I think the break bar is fantastic. There are only a handful of encounters you have to think about it on (Bat Guano, Vinetooth Prime, Ignus and Aethus) but on most creatures it’s not that big a deal. Makes this a little faster, but doesn’t matter if you don’t care about it.

Every encounter doesn’t have to be kitten easy.

The bar and the ability to break it makes a great deal of sense on mobs which have mechanics that need to broken, or on million plus HP mobs meant to be group targets.
On vet or lower mobs which don’t, it can be kind of silly. Removing Jade Construct invulnerability? Great. Non-vet Bloodstone Elementals? The mob is easy to kill regardless, it’s otherwise easy to evade its attacks. Yet it has a way more robust bar than many vets or even Champs (unless zerg-scaled). What’s the point, other than to frustrate a player who sees the bar and tries to break it only to find their hard cc barely dents the bar which then regens to full faster than a mob that leashed regens HP?

If a normal mob with ~10K health is supposed to be immune to CC unless you have a lot of CC, just make it immune. If you’ve got enough players to break the BS Elementals bar it’s going to be dead before you can blink anyway.

I love the breakbar mechanic. I think it makes most combat much more interesting and appealing. So I’m hoping there are just as many uses for it going forward.

IndigoSundown.5419:

Vayne.8563:

I think the break bar is fantastic. There are only a handful of encounters you have to think about it on (Bat Guano, Vinetooth Prime, Ignus and Aethus) but on most creatures it’s not that big a deal. Makes this a little faster, but doesn’t matter if you don’t care about it.

Every encounter doesn’t have to be kitten easy.

The bar and the ability to break it makes a great deal of sense on mobs which have mechanics that need to broken, or on million plus HP mobs meant to be group targets.
On vet or lower mobs which don’t, it can be kind of silly. Removing Jade Construct invulnerability? Great. Non-vet Bloodstone Elementals? The mob is easy to kill regardless, it’s otherwise easy to evade its attacks. Yet it has a way more robust bar than many vets or even Champs (unless zerg-scaled). What’s the point, other than to frustrate a player who sees the bar and tries to break it only to find their hard cc barely dents the bar which then regens to full faster than a mob that leashed regens HP?

If a normal mob with ~10K health is supposed to be immune to CC unless you have a lot of CC, just make it immune. If you’ve got enough players to break the BS Elementals bar it’s going to be dead before you can blink anyway.

Non vet bloodstone elementals AND vet ones break with a single hit of unstable bloodstone 100% of the time… thats the mechanic… They are a toughness stacked monster and it is meant to make you splay smart or play condi.