Guild Wars 2

Dear ANet,

The change to standardise which boons and conditions are converted to which conditions and boons by such skills is a reasonable change that makes sense and makes the game a bit less arcane to players who aren’t highly seasoned veterans. I’m on-board with this part.

But changing such skills to randomly select which boons or conditions to convert is a very ill-conceived change. You’re taking something which was a huge component of skilled gameplay and leaving it entirely to chance. GW2’s “big thing” has always been skill-based combat, so I can’t see what would motivate a change that can only negatively impact the skill factor involved. As it is right now, there are lots of opportunities for the predictable manner in which these skills select which boons or conditions to convert to facilitate skilled play. For example, one way for great Shoutbow Warriors to distinguish their play from the rest is by trying to optimise their condition removal so as to generate Protection (from Vulnerability), Aegis (from Burning), or Regeneration (from Poison) with the Quick Breathing conversions as appropriate for the situation. Similarly, the manner in which Thief Steal with Bountiful Theft prioritises Protection and Stability is a key component to how teams coordinate burst against a tough target. Or, on the other side of the equation, knowing how Path of Corruption prioritises the boons it corrupts allows you to “cover” certain boons when fighting a Necromancer.

I’m not sure what’s wrong with the way most of these skills are working right now, but if you’re not happy with the current ways in which skills prioritise boons or conditions, by all means, make some changes here. But please choose any other method besides sheer randomness. Regardless of whether it’s the same for every skill or peculiar to each individual ability, as long as there is some predictable rule according to which these skills prioritise their conversions, there will be an element of skill to making optimal use of them. Random selection is the one option that deprives us of the opportunity for skilled play. This seems to run directly counter to the core principles that have made GW2 such a great game. Please reconsider.

Cheers

100% Agree. I can’t believe this isn’t seeing more attention right now. The place for RNG is NOT for rare-use high-impact cases like condiconversion. Either set in stone a global order of conversion, or make first in-first out the universal constant. There was play around timing condition conversion right after big condis/boons were applied, and there was play around throwing on cover boons/cover conditions.

This change removes elements of skilled play and replaces it with RNG. Do not let it go live.

Don’t worry, quick breathing is apparently just going to remove conditions now, instead of converting them.

So its just going to be a straight up necro nerf. Perfect.

Linnael.1069:

So its just going to be a straight up necro nerf. Perfect.

How so most interesting boons are prioritzed last and a lot of the corrupting we do got buffed. So al these changes are for the better.

Agree with OP. Why remove an avenue of skilled play by making removals and conversions random? It seems at odds with the notion of counter play, which is a very good goal you’ve expressed with other recent changes.

Please stick with some sort of order to the removal/conversion mechanism, whether it’s what’s in place now or something else, if you feel what’s there now isn’t sufficient. It brings more depth to the game without erecting any sort of skill wall for newer players.

I can’t +1 the OP enough.

Serval.6458:

Don’t worry, quick breathing is apparently just going to remove conditions now, instead of converting them.

True, but ultimately beside the point. Regardless of what any individual skill does, the point is a more global one. Any skill that converts conditions to boons or boons to conditions becomes less skillful if the prioritisation is randomised.

With respect to Quick Breathing, I personally hope they reconsider that change, because that aspect of play is particularly skill-based for classes that have both removal and conversion abilities, and Shoutbow Warriors are such a build, thus that build will lose an avenue for skilled play either way. But you can take any example you want here. I don’t want to squabble over the tuning of individual abilities or classes here. Now is not the time or place for that.

The point is that, on a global scale, a core mechanic of the game, which affects many abilities across many classes, is being changed in a way that decreases the opportunities for skilled gameplay. This runs counter to the design philosophy that has made Guild Wars 2 into the fantastic game that it is.

Slein Jinn.8173:

Any skill that converts conditions to boons or boons to conditions becomes less skillful if the prioritisation is randomised.

While this is true, the current working favours classes that can apply damaging conditions in large stacks with a single skill and then cover it with something. Classes that rely primarily on their autoattacks to apply condis and/or a single condition will keep bringing their main damage source to the front of the removal queue by attacking.

Serval.6458:

Slein Jinn.8173:

Any skill that converts conditions to boons or boons to conditions becomes less skillful if the prioritisation is randomised.

While this is true, the current working favours classes that can apply damaging conditions in large stacks with a single skill and then cover it with something. Classes that rely primarily on their autoattacks to apply condis and/or a single condition will keep bringing their main damage source to the front of the removal queue by attacking.

Which is a thing that easily can be—and always has been—tuned around, still positively factoring into skilled gameplay. There is no upside to making this random that can’t equally be achieved along another, better avenue. The downside is that one element of a game that prides itself on being skill-based is becoming unquestionably less skillful.