Guild Wars 2

The recent announcements from Anet that they are going to be changing a lot of how the skills in this game works has gotten me both intruiged and worried.

I have multiple characters that I am not afraid for, except one.

It’s the character where I have plowed everything I earn into how he plays.

His traits balance perfectly with my highly hard-to-get/rare/expensive armour, back item, etc. to the point that his spread of skills and traits and armour are like a flowing coral reef system, if one thing is changed, it will crush the point of another and why I got it in the first place.

What I am worried about is specifically the part where Anet says (in reference to traits) :

“First off, we’ve got a ton of trait changes coming up. Many traits that were less than desirable have been brought up in effectiveness, while others have been shuffled around and merged together to make room for new traits to be introduced.”

Now to me this says two things, a lot of less useful traits will be enhanced, but also that they are going to get moved around, possibly into other “categories” (like down power line instead of condition damage line, etc).

If this is the case, my build, and indeed all the work I have put into my character, getting specific gear, will be potentially renderred useless to me as I will have to rebuild my character and his gear almost from scratch.

Am I being oversensitive or is this something I am just going to have to deal with? Will the changes be as great as I am forseeing?

(the class i specifically refer to is mesmer)

It’s pretty much impossible to say without knowing exactly what your build is and exactly what changes Anet are planning.

In the past, across both GW1 and GW2 they’ve done both minor updates which mostly consisted of relatively trivial changes to skills (like increasing/decreasing cool downs) and major updates which completely changed how skills or traits worked.

But I would say even if you do find your build is completely unuseable I wouldn’t abandon the character. I’ve been fairly lucky so far – that only happened to me once, with the big Dervish update in GW1, but I was really disappointed at first when I realised literally nothing in my build would still work. Until I got to work on creating a new build and discovered I could make something I actually liked even more.

im wondering if this will affect the armor stats… how will they fix it? is it the new gw2 endgame? gear your character and then have it become useless? nvm, there is plenty of ways to get new ascended for your character… not for all 8 of them, but you cant have it all:P

can wvw stats be patched to existing armor?

i don’t even think it’s possible to create such a delicate build…

This change of build (armor/trinkets/weapons) that costs gold/laurels is something I referred to in a thread about “do we want ascended armor”.
It will be costly to gear out your character and then have to change gear once a major balance patch negates your build’s effectiveness.
On a positive note at least we aren’t having to re-gear ascended weapons & armor, locked behind a time gate.
At the worst you may have to replace ascended trinkets and possibly transmute armor/weapons to save expensive runes/sigils. It could be much worse.

I personally have only purchased 2 celestial ascended amulets for my main Ranger and alt guardian. It was not a decision based upon their current build. That decision was made because I know there will be plenty of balance patches and I like to try different builds.

Celestial is the safety-net piece. It is not good at any one thing but encompasses them all. Until Anet is finished with the major balancing, I am going to stick with the safe items.

I hope that Anet will have ascended fully implemented by the time weapons are introduced. That way ascended pieces can be: crafted, bought with laurels, or rarely received as loot, much like exotics are now but more expensive of course.

Equilibriator.8741:

anybody have any thoughts?

Aside from changing your gear, which is costly & possibly time consuming, changing your traits will take ~3silver.
Theory crafting a new build will take you some time, but there is nothing you can do to ‘fix’ your build (if you even need to) until the patch notes are officially released.

thoughts = just try to relax and breathe until we know what’s really going to happen?

I too am more curious, than worried, about the changes that are coming up. I have a very unique, and possibly even one of a few, who use this build on a thief. But I don’t think it will require me to get new gear for my character. I’ll most likely just have to choose different traits, at most, retrait my character.
I highly doubt they will drastically change things in such a way that make my build unplayable.

Honestly, if they add any ascended armor that goes with a certain build, it would be asking too much for a player to invest all the time and money into it all, then for them to take it all away from an update that changes a few “less than desireable traits.”
Even with the current time it takes to get full exotic gear, I don’t think they’d change that too much.
I’m not saying it hasn’t happened, or won’t happen. (As it has before, not that I’ve seen in GW2, but in many other MMOs.) But at this point in time, I don’t see it happening for GW2.

Amadan.9451:

i don’t even think it’s possible to create such a delicate build…

you’d be surprised, my traits are literally exact, not one point is wasted and all “skill traits” are relevant to each other.

Simple things like mind wrack damage up 20%, clones when i roll, regeneration from popping clones, confusion on all clones, these traits are specfic to make as much damage as possible, the confusion i get on all clones for example, is why i have increased my condition damage with my set of lyssa runes, the clones being very easy to produce.

If i dont get the regeneration on endurance, i cant produce clones as fast.
If i cant produce clones as fast I leave much more openings than previous, because rolling is also a form of defence.
If i dont have confusion on all clones, my condition damage becomes very much useless by comparison as only one skill that comes around a lor more slowly that all of them isn’t worth it.

vice versa, if i cant produce clones as fast, but stil lhave regeneration. I cant get the boost from regeneration as constantly as i curreently do, the result again being consistant weakness where before there was very small openings.

My armour is designed at full damage, cos that was easier to get, my backpack, accessories, etc are a lot more specific to balance my build as the traits are also all damage. Essentially, my rings, etc are my defence but as i upgraded from piece to piece, i made sure i was only ever increasing a stat without sacrificing another by changing another piece of gear.

It was all very carefully done and the product has been very enjoyable to play.

Infernia.9847:

Equilibriator.8741:

anybody have any thoughts?

Aside from changing your gear, which is costly & possibly time consuming, changing your traits will take ~3silver.
Theory crafting a new build will take you some time, but there is nothing you can do to ‘fix’ your build (if you even need to) until the patch notes are officially released.

thoughts = just try to relax and breathe until we know what’s really going to happen?

In other games I’ve played, when they do a big skill/traits overhaul, the usually reset everyone’s build (or talent, or whatever is called) for free so you can rebuild as you see fit.

Well hopefully in your case you won’t have to suffer as engineers have. We asked for certain traits to be worked on for almost a year now including scope and turrets and a few months ago they completely broke the kit refinement trait. They said they did that because not enough people were using gadgets, but they failed to buff gadgets to make them useful.

So we’ll see what’s around the corner here. Hopefully they won’t break anything else.

I read the notes on the Mesmer and cant see much broken about it. Quite the contrary, there are some huge buffs in there for various builds.

Infernia.9847:

Equilibriator.8741:

anybody have any thoughts?

Aside from changing your gear, which is costly & possibly time consuming, changing your traits will take ~3silver.
Theory crafting a new build will take you some time, but there is nothing you can do to ‘fix’ your build (if you even need to) until the patch notes are officially released.

thoughts = just try to relax and breathe until we know what’s really going to happen?

The problem being that changing gear means i will need a lot of transmute stones to keep my unique look, changing traits means i lose my specific “trait skills”.

Idk, lifes an adventure and i guess ill just have to find another build if this one breaks, but it just kinda seems like this level of unpredictability and change will forever break my favourite character whenever I’m finally happy with them.

Dawdler.8521:

I read the notes on the Mesmer and cant see much broken about it. Quite the contrary, there are some huge buffs in there for various builds.

yup, but i find it hard to believe that the mesmer is only gaining boosts, it doesnt make sense to me considering aparently the thief stealth is being nirfed to some extent.

i guess for now you can call me a pesimist, i cant believe that things are actually gonna get good for me, because i already felt like i was great.

tigirius.9014:

Well hopefully in your case you won’t have to suffer as engineers have. We asked for certain traits to be worked on for almost a year now including scope and turrets and a few months ago they completely broke the kit refinement trait. They said they did that because not enough people were using gadgets, but they failed to buff gadgets to make them useful.

So we’ll see what’s around the corner here. Hopefully they won’t break anything else.

I used to have an engineer…..

…used to

locoman.1974:

Infernia.9847:

Equilibriator.8741:

anybody have any thoughts?

Aside from changing your gear, which is costly & possibly time consuming, changing your traits will take ~3silver.
Theory crafting a new build will take you some time, but there is nothing you can do to ‘fix’ your build (if you even need to) until the patch notes are officially released.

thoughts = just try to relax and breathe until we know what’s really going to happen?

In other games I’ve played, when they do a big skill/traits overhaul, the usually reset everyone’s build (or talent, or whatever is called) for free so you can rebuild as you see fit.

I’m not so much concerned about cost as much as I am scared i will have to change my build completely, a build i am already very happy with and love to play.

I’m worried about the same on my warrior but only because i grinded ascended jewelry on it otherwise i wouldn’t care and just move on to whatever gets better.

Equilibriator.8741:

locoman.1974:

Infernia.9847:

Equilibriator.8741:

anybody have any thoughts?

Aside from changing your gear, which is costly & possibly time consuming, changing your traits will take ~3silver.
Theory crafting a new build will take you some time, but there is nothing you can do to ‘fix’ your build (if you even need to) until the patch notes are officially released.

thoughts = just try to relax and breathe until we know what’s really going to happen?

In other games I’ve played, when they do a big skill/traits overhaul, the usually reset everyone’s build (or talent, or whatever is called) for free so you can rebuild as you see fit.

I’m not so much concerned about cost as much as I am scared i will have to change my build completely, a build i am already very happy with and love to play.

If you expect everything to even remotely stay the same , you in a for a rude awakening. Every balance patch you’re going to more than likely have to make minor tweaks , so is the way of life.

So what’s the alternative here?

Don’t make changes to classes after release?

Keep having certain classes/skills/builds OP while others collect dust forever and ever?

Vol.5241:

So what’s the alternative here?

Don’t make changes to classes after release?

Keep having certain classes/skills/builds OP while others collect dust forever and ever?

Making Laurels more accessible would be a start. If your running all 8 classes these are a nightmare and if they are make significant changes that make your build weak then its a nightmare in hell. I think Laurels need to be a reward per level or X amount of levels so players can actually keep up to date with the characters.

Vol.5241:

So what’s the alternative here?

Don’t make changes to classes after release?

Keep having certain classes/skills/builds OP while others collect dust forever and ever?

Fix everyone’s build except mine, leave it alone.

PetricaKerempuh.7958:

im wondering if this will affect the armor stats… how will they fix it? is it the new gw2 endgame? gear your character and then have it become useless?

Yes, that’s exactly the idea behind the hard to get ascended eq.

Vol.5241:

So what’s the alternative here?

Don’t make changes to classes after release?

Keep having certain classes/skills/builds OP while others collect dust forever and ever?

make ascended much easier to acquire, so that forced build changes won’t necessitate months of regearing.

The thing that alot of people need to remember, rather than shouting about how broken their current is its a lot more important getting the game into a balanced state in which every class has multiple of viable builds.

I personally couldnt care less if my current builds were unviable after the update, so long as the classes become more balanced for the sakes of the future health of the game.
I mean, after all, I had to learn my current build and this is a ever changing game, I can just as easily learn another one if i have to.

Man i feel your pain. As a mesmer myself i’m a HUGE fan of MrPrometheus build.
Subscribed to his Youtube channel, but thing is, he has been missing for awhile, not sure if he is still playing or not.

I hope he is tho, and can maybe provide a guide on how this nerfmageddon is gonna affect my mesmer.

Tho if he is really not playing anymore, i guess i’ll use his build as a template and slowly work out from there. Just worried about having to re-grind all my cond dmg gear

Depends OP…. did you go through all this ‘Symmetry’ trouble just for a PVE avatar?

If so then maybe you should feel a bit slighted… But you’re also bordering on the OCD which isn’t entirely Anet’s fault either.

Vol.5241:

So what’s the alternative here?

Don’t make changes to classes after release?

Keep having certain classes/skills/builds OP while others collect dust forever and ever?

I totally agree with the sentiment. The game needs balance. People have complained for a long time that some trait trees are broken or useless.
This balancing patch is a good thing.
Yet there are many that have invested a lot of time for ascended trinkets for a specific build. And a lot of gold has been sunk to produce exotic pieces with runes and sigils for a specific build. The patch may or may not make the particular build ineffective.

Is there an alternative to the pain it will cause players that must re-spec gear/weapons/runes/sigils (not traits since that cost is very minor) ?
I have not played GW1 but I have seen others comment on a way that Anet handled runes & sigils that would allow players to keep costs down. Someone please enlighten me on this because maybe it is the alternative.

Equilibriator.8741:

The recent announcements from Anet that they are going to be changing a lot of how the skills in this game works has gotten me both intruiged and worried.

I have multiple characters that I am not afraid for, except one.

It’s the character where I have plowed everything I earn into how he plays.

His traits balance perfectly with my highly hard-to-get/rare/expensive armour, back item, etc. to the point that his spread of skills and traits and armour are like a flowing coral reef system, if one thing is changed, it will crush the point of another and why I got it in the first place.

What I am worried about is specifically the part where Anet says (in reference to traits) :

“First off, we’ve got a ton of trait changes coming up. Many traits that were less than desirable have been brought up in effectiveness, while others have been shuffled around and merged together to make room for new traits to be introduced.”

Now to me this says two things, a lot of less useful traits will be enhanced, but also that they are going to get moved around, possibly into other “categories” (like down power line instead of condition damage line, etc).

If this is the case, my build, and indeed all the work I have put into my character, getting specific gear, will be potentially renderred useless to me as I will have to rebuild my character and his gear almost from scratch.

Am I being oversensitive or is this something I am just going to have to deal with? Will the changes be as great as I am forseeing?

(the class i specifically refer to is mesmer)

Exactly why I think having stats tied to gear is the dumbest thing ever (rune system from GW1 >).

Anyways, I enjoy a game where the meta (pvx) is constantly shifting. If it sits stagnant too long it is so boring to me.

I feel for you since you play way more than I do and you’ve geared out your characters more, but this is what happens when gear becomes so important to builds. :/

Also, in light of the situation, I’d just like to say that in no way is there a gear grind in GW2 since gear is purely cosmetic in function.

(lol)

Infernia.9847:

Vol.5241:

So what’s the alternative here?

Don’t make changes to classes after release?

Keep having certain classes/skills/builds OP while others collect dust forever and ever?

I totally agree with the sentiment. The game needs balance. People have complained for a long time that some trait trees are broken or useless.
This balancing patch is a good thing.
Yet there are many that have invested a lot of time for ascended trinkets for a specific build. And a lot of gold has been sunk to produce exotic pieces with runes and sigils for a specific build. The patch may or may not make the particular build ineffective.

Is there an alternative to the pain it will cause players that must re-spec gear/weapons/runes/sigils (not traits since that cost is very minor) ?
I have not played GW1 but I have seen others comment on a way that Anet handled runes & sigils that would allow players to keep costs down. Someone please enlighten me on this because maybe it is the alternative.

Basically gear in GW1 had no inherent stats on it (except for armor value and the helm usually had a +X to attribute). You would buy/find insignias and runes and apply them to your armor.

e.g. I could find a ’Survivor’s Insignia’ (+X health) and apply that to any armor piece that I wanted to.

More on the topic here:

http://wiki.guildwars.com/wiki/Insignia
http://wiki.guildwars.com/wiki/Runes

For what it’s worth in my experience it’s usually people with “cookie cutter” or “flavour of the month” builds who are most affected by updates, because those are exactly the builds it’s intended to shake up.

If you’ve made your own build from scratch you’re more likely to be unaffected, or only marginally affected.

In some cases it’s because a build is popular because it’s obviously overpowered and a lot of people want to take advantage of that. These ones Anet will want to nerf for obvious balance reasons. In other cases it’s not necessarily better, sometimes not even the best, but for whatever reason it’s the most popular to the point where people will see your profession and expect you to have that build. In these cases I think it’s more just giving the game a shake-up. It’s extremely boring when everyone knows exactly what everyone else is using and how to support/counter it (depending on what you’re doing).

Generally if you don’t use those builds it won’t have a big impact.

For example one of the major “nerfs” to rangers that allegedly caused a lot of people to rage-quit the profession was some change to quickening zephyr. I don’t even remember what it was because I’d never used the skill before, I think I pretty much skipped past it in the patch notes, decided my build wasn’t affected and went back to playing. Occasionally I’ll swap out a skill or trait, but it’s often more curiosity than anything.

Danikat.8537:

For what it’s worth in my experience it’s usually people with “cookie cutter” or “flavour of the month” builds who are most affected by updates, because those are exactly the builds it’s intended to shake up.

If you’ve made your own build from scratch you’re more likely to be unaffected, or only marginally affected.

In some cases it’s because a build is popular because it’s obviously overpowered and a lot of people want to take advantage of that. These ones Anet will want to nerf for obvious balance reasons. In other cases it’s not necessarily better, sometimes not even the best, but for whatever reason it’s the most popular to the point where people will see your profession and expect you to have that build. In these cases I think it’s more just giving the game a shake-up. It’s extremely boring when everyone knows exactly what everyone else is using and how to support/counter it (depending on what you’re doing).

Generally if you don’t use those builds it won’t have a big impact.

For example one of the major “nerfs” to rangers that allegedly caused a lot of people to rage-quit the profession was some change to quickening zephyr. I don’t even remember what it was because I’d never used the skill before, I think I pretty much skipped past it in the patch notes, decided my build wasn’t affected and went back to playing. Occasionally I’ll swap out a skill or trait, but it’s often more curiosity than anything.

My build is my own, no guides looked at, even once. Not much for trying to follow someone elses character lines, half the fun is trying to make your guy ace on your own.

tbh ive thought about it and i dont really care anymore. Whatever comes, ill figure it out.

more good should come from this update than bad, so ill just hold my tongue till everything is out of the way

in the end it would seem that nothing has changes for my mesmer, nothing at all

Danikat.8537:

Generally if you don’t use those builds it won’t have a big impact.

Yup indeed, I’m sure all those BM Rangers who focused their build on their pets, you know, because a Ranger IS a per-using class, entirely agree, no big impact here .. a 50% nerf to damage is, after all, unnoticeable.

While zerker GS warriors (you now, that original, rarely seen and undervalued build) didn’t really need to change anything.

after extensive testing wvwin and a little pvping i can now say that my mesmer is ruined seemingly. Now coniditon damage is near poitnless to me yet every thing i wear has a little condition damage in it, to recreate my build i would have to reearn everything i have harvested, more or less, as condition damage no longer holds any use to my mesmer.

A real shame but looks like this character will now just be a pretty skin because i would rather play with new characters than expensively redo my old character all over again (transmutation stones, etc).