Guild Wars 2

Kind of like the functionality Legendary weapons have. However, players can choose which stats to unlock. In addition to this, Legendary weapons would automatically unlock the Sigil changing ability.

In the interests of not forcing players into a particular game mode, the game would have a variety of ways to do this:

• OWPvE – Craft to 400 for Exotic, and 500 for Ascended, and then using Discovery, combine the piece of equipment, one of the relevant upgrade components (Sigil, Rune, Inscription, Insignia) and 2 other items (say, 10 Thermocatalytic Reagent and a Greater Rune of Holding) They aren’t serious suggestions for items, just something I pulled out of my backside. In addition to this, special crafting stations would be hidden in the world, each of which has a specific set of stats and upgrades attached to it.
• Dungeons – Can unlock a stat combination for 60 of each dungeons’ token (so 60 AC + 60 CM etc etc, making it one path of every dungeon), while Upgrades cost 20. This is available after completing the Dungeon Master achievement.
• Fractals – When Fractal Instabilities start, every Boss Fractal would have a hidden boss. These hidden bosses drop Spectral Essence, which can be traded in to unlock an Upgrade, or trade in 2 for a stat combo unlock. However, a player can only get
• WvW – After Rank 120, players can unlock a stat combo every 10 ranks, and a Sigil every 5 levels.

Why the high requirements? It’s to basically stop players simply taking the path of least resistance, while adding some form of progression to the mode they enjoy.

Skill modifiers are basically modifications to a skill. For example:

• Brute Force – In exchange for any condition, healing, boon or control effect the skill applies, this skill does 20% more damage.
• Cruelty – In exchange for 5% damage of this skill, any conditions applied by this skill have their durations and damage increased by 5%.
• Hope – In exchange for 10% of the damage of this skill, any healing done by this skill is increased by 20%, and any boons applied have their duration increased by 20%
• Subjugation – In exchange for 50% of the damage of this skill, all control effects have their durations increased by 100%.
• Greater AoE – In exchange for 10% of the skills damage, this skills radius is increased by 10%.
• Focused AoE – in exchange for 10% of the skills radius, this skill does 10% more damage.

How does this help? Someone who whats to do pure damage can sacrifice any other things they apply, leaving other players to specialise in these areas. For condition players, that means that their conditions aren’t being over-written by other players, for control-oriented people, Defiant isn’t being triggered, and so on.

With skill modifiers, Defiant would be less likely to be triggered. As such, Defiant wouldn’t need as much as a rework, since a) it could be triggered on demand by an organised group without the group being required to remove stacks of Defiant and b) those control-oriented players are more likely to increase the duration of their CC, thus making it less worthless to apply CC.

As such, Defiant could be reworked as:

• Defiant stacks build up. Every stack reduces the duration of the CC by 1 second. At, say, 5 stacks, the target becomes Enraged, and gains Stability, Might, Fury and Bonus Toughness for, say, 20 seconds.
• Defiant stacks don’t build up if the target gets interrupted.
• Defiant stacks decay at a rate of 1 stack every, say, 20 seconds.

Why do I feel this would be engaging for Control-players?

• Control players are rewarded more by using their CC to interrupt, rather than simply spamming it.
• Control players will need to manage stacks of Defiant for themselves and their team to be effective.

While it isn’t as much of a problem in organised groups (i.e. taking one person that does condition damage), in the open world, condition damage on large bosses is useless, because of the amount of people applying it.

My understanding is that they can’t uncap conditions because of data transference and conditions being calculated at such a fast rate because of other conditions (Might, who’s applying them ect).

While I feel skill modification can help a little (since conditions aren’t being over-written by those who want to do pure damage), it still doesn’t help when you have, say, 10 people wanting to do CD.

One suggestion could be introducing a few new conditions, tied to existing conditions, that deals damage based on the average condition damage of all those who applied the condition over, say , 5 seconds (with the duration re-settable), and resets the stacks. For example:

• Bleeding at 25 stacks > Hypovolemic Shock
• Torment at 25 stacks > Trauma
• Poison at 9 stacks > Venom
• Burning at 9 stacks > Scorched
• Confusion at 25 stacks > Befuddlement

What is the advantage of this? These new conditions would fire off, while the server wouldn’t need to continuously calculate based on changing conditions. It also means that conditioners would benefit more from making sure that their CD is maintained as high as possible.

This wouldn’t be applied to WvW or SPvP, since it seems that conditions are OP in them areas of the game.