Guild Wars 2

To be more specific I would like to reflect upon what I would regard as the disservice done to Mist Form and Elixir S, which were undoubtedly very powerful skills both alone and traited. Rather than completely neutering both of these game changing skills, it would have been more acceptable to simply adjust their availability to match the time frames of existing similar skills.

Guardian- Renewed Focus makes yourself invulnerable for 2-3s (90s cd). Sure, RF is a channel based action, but it is generally regarded as something to be used in anticipation of large spikes and its end effect.
Warrior- Endure Pain grants no damage from attacks for 4s, with the possibility of an additional 4s at 25% health when traited (90s cd).
Ranger- “Protect Me!” (60s/48s cd) and Signet of Stone (80s/64s cd) can grant an astonishing 12s of 0 damage, granted SoS requires extensive traiting to do so.
Thief- Stealth says it all, even with the implementation of “Revealed”, 3-4s isn’t much of a window if someone knows what a dodge or a heal is for.
Mesmer- Distortion 3-4s evading damage (60s/46s cd) coupled with 2s of Blur evasion every 8-10s; adding stealth only bestows this class with more impressive survivability.

Aside from Stealth, none of the above have a genuine negative drawback when calling upon their respective “Oh kitten!” buttons. However, after this most recent update it would appear that the term “balancing” is little more than a polite way of saying one does not know how to fix a problem, therefore I should remove it completely. The general consensus obtained from the above examples reveals cool down pattern ranging from 80-90s, 90 being the most frequent. At least in my opinion, the changes wrought upon Mist Form and Elixir S were tasteless and lazy from an objective point of view. I am curious as to what others might think of this particular portion of the update.

So what you’re saying is all invulnerability skills need to function like Endure Pain?

DO IT!
LET THE TEARS FLOW!

Judge Banks.9018:

So what you’re saying is all invulnerability skills need to function like Endure Pain?

DO IT!
LET THE TEARS FLOW!

As tempting as that may sound, and despite my desire to witness it, that is not what I intended. I was implying something more to the effect that Mist Form at the very least should have had its cd increased to 90s+ and Elixir S should have been made more difficult to double its passive with utility while increasing the utility’s cd to ~100s since traiting would drop that to 80s. If Elixir S were to function much like Endure Pain, then Self-Regulating Defenses should have been swapped with Backpack Regenerator in the trait tiers to compensate for its compatibility with both 409 and HGH.

yes do that

Give also any class 100Blades heavy armor and max HP so people can play pve….

LordByron.8369:

yes do that

Give also any class 100Blades heavy armor and max HP so people can play pve….

If you find offense in the minor alterations suggested for adjusting a couple skills so that they remain comparable to their similar or one might even say better counterparts, then what would you prefer to see happen instead? In the case of Elixir S the tier change of SRD with Backpack Regenerator seems like a fair compromise to further limit its synergy, while allowing it to remain an “Ace in the Hole” even after an increased cool down duration. One would be required to “spec” into this particular utility to bring it to its fullest potential just like Endure Pain, Stealth, and Distortion/Blur. All I suggest is that there were certainly better ways of handling this particular section of the skill updates than simply gutting a major function of 2 popular utilities. I do not believe they were intended to be used as effectively as they have been and that was largely on the fault of their being too readily available combined with their overall potential and synergy.

Mnemesis.8257:

Guardian- Renewed Focus makes yourself invulnerable for 2-3s (90s cd). Sure, RF is a channel based action, but it is generally regarded as something to be used in anticipation of large spikes and its end effect.
Warrior- Endure Pain grants no damage from attacks for 4s, with the possibility of an additional 4s at 25% health when traited (90s cd).
Ranger- “Protect Me!” (60s/48s cd) and Signet of Stone (80s/64s cd) can grant an astonishing 12s of 0 damage, granted SoS requires extensive traiting to do so.
Thief- Stealth says it all, even with the implementation of “Revealed”, 3-4s isn’t much of a window if someone knows what a dodge or a heal is for.
Mesmer- Distortion 3-4s evading damage (60s/46s cd) coupled with 2s of Blur evasion every 8-10s; adding stealth only bestows this class with more impressive survivability.

Aside from Stealth, none of the above have a genuine negative drawback when calling upon their respective “Oh kitten!” buttons.

Wut? Are you joking?

Guardian – RF – can’t do anything while channeling, only move. ELITE.
Warrior – Endure Pain – does not block CC, does not block conditions.
Ranger – Pet can’t attack. CC gets through.
Thief – Stealth does not make immune to damage, not the same class of ability.
Mesmer – Distortion – destroys all clones and Phantasm (pretty heavy drawback of you ask me). Blurred Frenzy – you are rooted and unable to act.

So basically, as you see – every for of invulnerability HAS a drawback. Why should Mist Form be special then?

Gaidax.7835:

Mnemesis.8257:

Guardian- Renewed Focus makes yourself invulnerable for 2-3s (90s cd). Sure, RF is a channel based action, but it is generally regarded as something to be used in anticipation of large spikes and its end effect.
Warrior- Endure Pain grants no damage from attacks for 4s, with the possibility of an additional 4s at 25% health when traited (90s cd).
Ranger- “Protect Me!” (60s/48s cd) and Signet of Stone (80s/64s cd) can grant an astonishing 12s of 0 damage, granted SoS requires extensive traiting to do so.
Thief- Stealth says it all, even with the implementation of “Revealed”, 3-4s isn’t much of a window if someone knows what a dodge or a heal is for.
Mesmer- Distortion 3-4s evading damage (60s/46s cd) coupled with 2s of Blur evasion every 8-10s; adding stealth only bestows this class with more impressive survivability.

Aside from Stealth, none of the above have a genuine negative drawback when calling upon their respective “Oh kitten!” buttons.

Wut? Are you joking?

Guardian – RF – can’t do anything while channeling, only move. ELITE.
Warrior – Endure Pain – does not block CC, does not block conditions.
Ranger – Pet can’t attack. CC gets through.
Thief – Stealth does not make immune to damage, not the same class of ability.
Mesmer – Distortion – destroys all clones and Phantasm (pretty heavy drawback of you ask me). Blurred Frenzy – you are rooted and unable to act.

So basically, as you see – every for of invulnerability HAS a drawback. Why should Mist Form be special then?

I don’t think it should be special, if anything I agree that an additional penalty should be placed for using the skill, though being completely unable to do anything is a bit of an extreme for 3 seconds at a time. Perhaps adding -50% endurance (or drain endurance bar) recharge would help even the playing field or even disabling skills for 1-2 seconds AFTER the utility has been used. What I do not agree with is these skills rendering a player unable to react to any external factors while during their effects. Hell, I would even be grateful for being susceptible to CC while in either Mist Form or Elixir S rather than being completely helpless for the duration. Before the update Elixir S was bugged in that you could use it while knocked down and the stun breaker wouldn’t trigger at times, leaving you on the floor prone, which is largely how it feels right now.

Imho, elixir S (and mist form, maybe, assuming there isn’t something more appropriate lore-wise) should give some seconds of stealth as well, allowing for tactical repositioning. Sure, you are unable to damage the opponent or heal yourself, but you can prepare yourself to do so.
As it stands now, you’re simply delaying your death.

Manuhell.2759:

Imho, elixir S (and mist form, maybe, assuming there isn’t something more appropriate lore-wise) should give some seconds of stealth as well, allowing for tactical repositioning. Sure, you are unable to damage the opponent or heal yourself, but you can prepare yourself to do so.

I like where you are going with this. If the 2 skills remain as they are now, then it could possibly warrant an alteration of sorts to compensate for the loss of their tactical application(s).

From a personal perspective this would essentially be turning them into an overpowered stealth that could not be countered, as you would still be invulnerable to damage and CC. Based upon the comments I have received thus far it was not the damage mitigation that others found over powered, but rather the invulnerability factor. If the invulnerability were to be replaced with a “no damage” clause, then the 2 skills would be susceptible to CC and be on par with their counterparts. This alternative could potentially bridge the gap that was siphoning the “Elite” status of RF, which would effectively make it the only invulnerability skill; restoring its Elite status in the process.

Manuhell.2759:

As it stands now, you’re simply delaying your death.

This is without question the most aggravating part of the recent change, rather than being a utility, for which they were named, it has become an inevitability.