Guild Wars 2

Okay, so not really. But its close. Far closer then the necromancer’s Death shroud. You can use this on low or high health and give yourself a shot to do some damage before dying. The difference between this is if you take lethal while Continuum Split is active you just return back to your original spot while with Death shroud you just die. I find it kinda odd that the mesmer would be given such an extremely powerful offensive and defensive attrition mechanic with all their existing blocks, evasions, stealth and in combat movement yet refuse to do the same for necromancer.

I may be blowing it out of proportion. But it is interesting how much attrition Continuum Split gives to the mesmer.

Lily.1935:

Okay, so not really. But its close. Far closer then the necromancer’s Death shroud. You can use this on low or high health and give yourself a shot to do some damage before dying. The difference between this is if you take lethal while Continuum Split is active you just return back to your original spot while with Death shroud you just die. I find it kinda odd that the mesmer would be given such an extremely powerful offensive and defensive attrition mechanic with all their existing blocks, evasions, stealth and in combat movement yet refuse to do the same for necromancer.

I may be blowing it out of proportion. But it is interesting how much attrition Continuum Split gives to the mesmer.

For referece: http://dulfy.net/2015/05/01/gw2-chronomancer-points-of-interest-livestream-notes/

Some points:

- Looks like the effect for Continuum split is 3 seconds, which is not a lot of time to do things.
- No official source has said that death while split is active will send you back. I’d expect that dead is dead, but who knows. Dies, Dying, Will Die. It’s all a matter of perspective.
- If you split at the wrong time, you’ll go back to low health and/or cooldowns recharging rather than the other way around. You can kill yourself as easily as save yourself.

Palindrome.8904:

Lily.1935:

Okay, so not really. But its close. Far closer then the necromancer’s Death shroud. You can use this on low or high health and give yourself a shot to do some damage before dying. The difference between this is if you take lethal while Continuum Split is active you just return back to your original spot while with Death shroud you just die. I find it kinda odd that the mesmer would be given such an extremely powerful offensive and defensive attrition mechanic with all their existing blocks, evasions, stealth and in combat movement yet refuse to do the same for necromancer.

I may be blowing it out of proportion. But it is interesting how much attrition Continuum Split gives to the mesmer.

For referece: http://dulfy.net/2015/05/01/gw2-chronomancer-points-of-interest-livestream-notes/

Some points:

- Looks like the effect for Continuum split is 3 seconds, which is not a lot of time to do things.
- No official source has said that death while split is active will send you back. I’d expect that dead is dead, but who knows. Dies, Dying, Will Die. It’s all a matter of perspective.
- If you split at the wrong time, you’ll go back to low health and/or cooldowns recharging rather than the other way around. You can kill yourself as easily as save yourself.

Not really different then DS. You enter DS at low health you exit at low health. I mean it is, but it has that similarity. Plus you can get about 3 activation from it rapidly. Drops you health below 50%, recharge your shatters, signet to recharge your shatters. Seems good to me.

Except Split has a lengthy recharge, while DS can be flickered through in seven second intervals without any shenanigans. Or recharged instantly, if it runs dry before you swing your dagger again. Much easier to restore life force for Shroud than to restore the cooldown for Continuum Split as well, even with Alacrity. And more importantly, Split requires illusions to shatter in order to function, which means its activation can be partially controlled by an alert enemy, and also that the Chronomancer give up some resources to hit Split, as per Robert’s commentary. Necromancers hit F1.

That and might I remind you that while Continuum Split is an elite specialization ability that requires one to give it their Elite slot (which may be important when we have more specializations), Necromancers get Death Shroud by being Necromancers? They can stack whatever their own elite spec ends up being on top of their Shroud and gain the benefits of that elite specialization (very likely) without sacrificing their second health bar.

Don’t get me wrong, the Chronomancer looks lik an excellent upgrade to the Mesmer and just what I needed to make this class actually work for me…but no, Continuum Split does not outperform Death Shroud in terms of second health bar-ness.

DevilLordLaser.8619:

Except Split has a lengthy recharge, while DS can be flickered through in seven second intervals without any shenanigans. Or recharged instantly, if it runs dry before you swing your dagger again. Much easier to restore life force for Shroud than to restore the cooldown for Continuum Split as well, even with Alacrity. And more importantly, Split requires illusions to shatter in order to function, which means its activation can be partially controlled by an alert enemy, and also that the Chronomancer give up some resources to hit Split, as per Robert’s commentary. Necromancers hit F1.

That and might I remind you that while Continuum Split is an elite specialization ability that requires one to give it their Elite slot (which may be important when we have more specializations), Necromancers get Death Shroud by being Necromancers? They can stack whatever their own elite spec ends up being on top of their Shroud and gain the benefits of that elite specialization (very likely) without sacrificing their second health bar.

Don’t get me wrong, the Chronomancer looks lik an excellent upgrade to the Mesmer and just what I needed to make this class actually work for me…but no, Continuum Split does not outperform Death Shroud in terms of second health bar-ness.

We don’t know yet. But we can get 3 uses out of it in rapid succession. This can potentially be a 12 second up time where attacking them doesn’t matter in the slightest. This is huge. And considering this isn’t their primary means of defense like Death shroud is for necromancer you will be seeing some rather powerful attrition based mesmer builds.

I wouldn’t call it a second health bar myself.

Using Continuum Split is more of a way to negate death memorially, with a small chance to turn the battle round. I think its more comparable to a Warrior using Endure Pain just before its about to die, in which time they could stun me and heal up. The same applies to Chronomancer.

and like Rob said, using Continuum Split/Shift is a double edged sword, in the sense it carries a high cooldown, as well as the fact the Continuum Rift can be destroyed by enemies, which will automatically activate Continuum Shift.

Not so much a second health bar, more a “Im going to avoid death for a few more seconds, hoping I can heal.” style tactic, akin to Endure Pain, Unholy Sanctuary, etc.

Lily.1935:

We don’t know yet. But we can get 3 uses out of it in rapid succession. This can potentially be a 12 second up time where attacking them doesn’t matter in the slightest. This is huge. And considering this isn’t their primary means of defense like Death shroud is for necromancer you will be seeing some rather powerful attrition based mesmer builds.

At which point that Chronomancer has devoted a significant chunk of their build, as well as two long-duration cooldowns, to accomplish this trick, whereas a Necromancer doesn’t need to do anything at all to benefit from Death Shroud. As well, the Chronomancer’s skills are fluctuating wildly during this time – any cooldown they fired before starting the Continuum Split dance is basically increased by 12 seconds, since none of the recharging those skills do while the Chronomancer is timey-wimeing is going to matter either.

And again – Split doesn’t look like it breaks stuns whereas Shroud is an instant-cast that can absorb/mitigate damage dealt while stunned, and Shroud is immensely more durable than Split. Moreover, if the Chronomancer can manage a powerful attrition build by devoting most of their resources to Continuum Split shenanigans…cool? Isn’t that what they’re supposed to be able to do, if they learn their class/build well and execute properly? Someone skilled enough to pull off a triple Continuum Split in ideal circumstances against their enemies might, mayhaps, deserve the advantage it gives them?

Now if you’re complaining that Necromancers are bad, that’s one thing. I don’t PvP since PvP people are generally…unpleasant…but from what I gather Tankromancers with scepters make for highly unpleasant fights in PvP as it is. The class is weak in PvE if you’re one of those who figures PvE consists of nothing but blasting Fire fields in corners, but my Necromancer is one of my strongest characters as much because Death Shroud is boss as anything else. if a Chronomancer wants to spend a utility skill and an elite specialization trying to do what Ryn does by existing, awesome. That’s a utility skill and an elite specialization I get to use to do something else.

Argon.1563:

I wouldn’t call it a second health bar myself.

Using Continuum Split is more of a way to negate death memorially, with a small chance to turn the battle round. I think its more comparable to a Warrior using Endure Pain just before its about to die, in which time they could stun me and heal up. The same applies to Chronomancer.

and like Rob said, using Continuum Split/Shift is a double edged sword, in the sense it carries a high cooldown, as well as the fact the Continuum Rift can be destroyed by enemies, which will automatically activate Continuum Shift.

Not so much a second health bar, more a “Im going to avoid death for a few more seconds, hoping I can heal.” style tactic, akin to Endure Pain, Unholy Sanctuary, etc.

Using Death shroud is a Double edged sword as well. And I also started the post off with “Okay not really.” Its really tongue and cheek to people who say Death Shroud is a second health bar when it really isn’t.

It’s really not close to a second health bar at all. It’s a pre-planned reset button.

Lily.1935:

Using Death shroud is a Double edged sword as well. And I also started the post off with “Okay not really.” Its really tongue and cheek to people who say Death Shroud is a second health bar when it really isn’t.

DS doesn’t really have any way of screwing over your recharges/healing the way Continuum Split does. Also it’s a bar which takes damage when enemies hit it in lieu of your main health bar when you’re Shrouded up.

Heh…I get what you’re saying Lily, I do, but this isn’t the way to try and point out issues with the Necromancer. Necromancers already get practically double a Massmore’s health, and you’re comparing a base Necromancer without traits to half a Chronomancer build. Expecting a necromancer to just facetank everything on its fat health bar without any extra dodges, blocks, evasions or mobility sucks, yeah, especially when Massmores get all of those and Chronomancers get all of those plus a TARDIS – but complaining about a Necromancer’s health is kinda the last thing people pay attention to.

DevilLordLaser.8619:

Lily.1935:

Using Death shroud is a Double edged sword as well. And I also started the post off with “Okay not really.” Its really tongue and cheek to people who say Death Shroud is a second health bar when it really isn’t.

DS doesn’t really have any way of screwing over your recharges/healing the way Continuum Split does. Also it’s a bar which takes damage when enemies hit it in lieu of your main health bar when you’re Shrouded up.

Heh…I get what you’re saying Lily, I do, but this isn’t the way to try and point out issues with the Necromancer. Necromancers already get practically double a Massmore’s health, and you’re comparing a base Necromancer without traits to half a Chronomancer build. Expecting a necromancer to just facetank everything on its fat health bar without any extra dodges, blocks, evasions or mobility sucks, yeah, especially when Massmores get all of those and Chronomancers get all of those plus a TARDIS – but complaining about a Necromancer’s health is kinda the last thing people pay attention to.

I wouldn’t call it “Screwing it over” seeing as you know what is going to happen. Effectively anything that’s done to you while you’re using Continuum Split doesn’t matter. While Death shroud it really does. The Mesmer is going to be even more tricky to fight because of it.

And do remember that Necromancers gain zero benefit from healing outside of unholy sanctuary while in Death shroud. They will have to leave death shroud to benefit from any heals that are coming toward them or to use their own heal, stun break, utility or elite. While the Chronomancer will basically just double all of that. Yeah, its on a longer cool down, by at minimum of 6 times but its leagues stronger then death shroud in its entirety. If you Burn down a necromancer in Death shroud, it matters. If you burn down a chronomancer while using Continuum Split, it doesn’t so much.

I’m not saying this will be a faceroll mechanic, because its not. its nuanced and very complex. What I am saying though is that this can easily make the mesmer feel as though they can’t be killed. Far more so then the necromancer is currently. Though this could change with the necromancer’s specialization.

On top of this, Death shroud doesn’t scale. Something that people often forget about death shroud. While it seems great in a 1v1, it gets far weaker the more people are in the fight. While other mechanics such as evade skills, invulnerability and even blocks have a greater tendency to scale up in potential defense. When you take this into account along with Continuum Split their defenses are insane.

Roe.3679:

It’s really not close to a second health bar at all. It’s a pre-planned reset button.

Neither is Death shroud

Also, its Tongue-in-cheek.

Lily.1935:

Roe.3679:

It’s really not close to a second health bar at all. It’s a pre-planned reset button.

Neither is Death shroud

Also, its Tongue-in-cheek.

Your whole post was tongue in cheek? Because you were right when you asked if you’re blowing it out of proportion. If anything, it’s a super spectral walk, except not a reactive stun break.

I also want to point out that, Mesmer is not getting a “second health bar”. Chronomancer is. That’s important because if you nerfed these things across the board, the Mesmers who haven’t specialized in Chronomancer would be completely destroyed. Of course, we have no reason to believe that Elite Specializations lose anything, but it’s something to think about (and not necessarily because of this, but balance in general going forward).

Roe.3679:

Lily.1935:

Roe.3679:

It’s really not close to a second health bar at all. It’s a pre-planned reset button.

Neither is Death shroud

Also, its Tongue-in-cheek.

Your whole post was tongue in cheek? Because you were right when you asked if you’re blowing it out of proportion. If anything, it’s a super spectral walk, except not a reactive stun break.

Just the name of the post. Trust me this is all in good fun. Also, spectral walk doesn’t make you immune to death while its active. It can make you immune to fall damage though. Similar?

Jokubas.4265:

Of course, we have no reason to believe that Elite Specializations lose anything, but it’s something to think about (and not necessarily because of this, but balance in general going forward).

Actually we have no reason to NOT believe they loose anything. First of all we know for a fact they will only be able to use 2 of their core specs instead of all 3 if you go elite spec, that already there is a bit of a loss (albeat a minor one, but still a loss in some sense). On top of that unless things changed, they said at the intial HoT announcement at PAX, that specialisations (since been renamed to elite specialisations) will loose access to some utilities as well that the base class had)

What i’ve learned from this thread is that most people don’t really understand how DS works anymore than they know how CS works…

They seem to think it’s some magical bar that gives us a full second health bar… lol

ZudetGambeous.9573:

What i’ve learned from this thread is that most people don’t really understand how DS works anymore than they know how CS works…

They seem to think it’s some magical bar that gives us a full second health bar… lol

I share the sentiment.

Jokubas.4265:

I also want to point out that, Mesmer is not getting a “second health bar”. Chronomancer is. That’s important because if you nerfed these things across the board, the Mesmers who haven’t specialized in Chronomancer would be completely destroyed. Of course, we have no reason to believe that Elite Specializations lose anything, but it’s something to think about (and not necessarily because of this, but balance in general going forward).

The idea is less “Hey, let’s #rekt the Massmore’s blocks/dodges/evasions/invulns because the Chronomancer gets a second health bar like Necromancers do with CS!”

And more “Necromancers don’t get any blocks/dodges/evasions/invulns at all and are supposed to just take everything to the face because they have high base health and Death Shroud…that’s both not really fair and also not really very effective…q_q”

Which is a valid point to be made, even if this isn’t the best way to go about it.

Now I see why the Developers compared this Specialization feat to Dual Class feat from GW1.

Chronomancer is Mesmer/Necro dual class.

Mesmer gets Necro Wells and DS in Mesmer theme..

Well, except that back in GW1 you would have hardly seen a Me/N with well. Mesmer class was used for 2 things in dual class builds : fast casting and echo. And well were spamable and already had a good cast time.

If anything, this “chronomancer” don’t give any taste of Me/N from GW1.

Lily.1935:

Okay, so not really. But its close. Far closer then the necromancer’s Death shroud. You can use this on low or high health and give yourself a shot to do some damage before dying. The difference between this is if you take lethal while Continuum Split is active you just return back to your original spot while with Death shroud you just die. I find it kinda odd that the mesmer would be given such an extremely powerful offensive and defensive attrition mechanic with all their existing blocks, evasions, stealth and in combat movement yet refuse to do the same for necromancer.

I may be blowing it out of proportion. But it is interesting how much attrition Continuum Split gives to the mesmer.

It’s situational really, a bit like the warrior heal stance.