Guild Wars 2

The new balance patch has been released. I’m leaving out the changes to Spirit Watch, Skyhammer, Foefire, Forest, and Stronghold and focusing on game balance. Below are some of my brief thoughts.

TLDR: Great changes overall. A mix of nerfs and QoL changes without any real powercreep. It’s hard to say how things will play out with the new amulets. Unfortunately this patch won’t fix the powercreep from the elite specs, which remain much stronger than there core spec counterparts.

Highlights
New amulets introduced.
Scrapper sustain overall nerfed.
SnR range nerfed and CD increased.
Reaper Deathly Chill and RS pressure nerfed.
Warrior sustain buffs which might help depending on the adrenal health numbers.
DH true shot and hunters ward given appropriate nerfs: HW ward is now dodgeable.
No real revenant nerfs.
No mesmer Moa/continuum split nerfs, but some QoL buffs.

Sigil of Nullification:
Reduced the internal cooldown from 10 seconds to 5 seconds.

Added two new amulets:
* Destroyer:*
1050 Power
1050 Precision
560 Ferocity
560 Condition Damage
Demolisher:
1050 Power
1050 Precision
560 Ferocity
560 Toughness

Looks great. Demolisher will be the go-to amulet for power necros, power warriors, and probably a replacement for paladins for scrapper, though not DH.

Damage Changes
These damage modifiers were reduced, as they applied too much spike damage to targets at range and didn’t allow for enough counterplay. We do want to keep ranged combat viable in WvW scenarios, but we don’t want it to be the best option in open-field combat. As with the other changes, we’ll continue to watch and make adjustments where it’s deemed necessary.

True Shot: The damage of this skill has been reduced by 20%.
Gun Flame: The physical damage of this primal burst has been reduced by 20%. Fixed an issue that allowed this burst to hit enemies twice. This burst no longer pierces but still delivers the area-of-effect attack. Fixed a bug that caused the tool tip to show a decrease in damage when the Burst Mastery trait was in use.

Great change to True Shot and Gun Flame, which were overperforming on very low CD’s.

PROFESSION SKILLS
General
snip
Rune of Vampirism: Life stealing now scales properly with power.
Fixed improper life-stealing damage values for consumables, increasing damage by 10.
Stability: The frequency at which stability can be removed by control effects has been increased from 0.05 seconds to 0.75 seconds. A brief effect will now play on the character when stability is removed via control.
Quickness/Slow: The formula for animation-speed increases and decreases has been modified. Quickness is normalized to behave the same as before, while Slow has had its effectiveness reduced. However, due to the formula change, Slow will continue to have a negative impact while Quickness is in effect. The table below indicates how this change works.

Skill Cast With Old Quickness With Old Slow With Both Old With New Quickness With New Slow With Both New
10 seconds 6.66 seconds 20 seconds 10 seconds 6.66 seconds 15 seconds 11.66 seconds

This change allows for more fluidity, as the previous animation-speed formula caused slowing effects to be stronger than we desired. As an added benefit, we have not reduced the effectiveness of any trait that modifies attack speed, so these traits will see a boost in speed given.

Stability can now only be removed 1 stack per 0.75 seconds. This is a big change and will probably help. Instead of removing the CC from the elite specs, all of it is being indirectly nerfed. For classes with limited stability access, prepare to continue being thrown around like a ragdoll. Slow has been nerfed by 50%.

Elementalist
We’re continuing to watch the elementalist and its tempest specialization, and we’ll look to make improvements in lesser-used areas. For this update, we’ll be looking at weapon skills that promote both scepter and dagger. Scepter changes include some modification to casting times and damage increases for both physical and condition damage. The dagger’s abilities have been adjusted to be both more frequently usable and pack a bigger punch for both main-hand and off-hand use.

Glyph of Storms: This skill now has new icons for each attunement for better visibility.
Glyph of Elemental Power: This skill now has new icons for each attunement for better visibility.
Glyph of Elemental Harmony: This skill now has new icons for each attunement for better visibility.
Glyph of Renewal: This skill now has new icons for each attunement for better visibility.
Flamestrike: The cast point of this skill has been reduced by 0.2 seconds. The aftercast delay of this ability has been reduced by 0.38 seconds.
Ice Shards: The damage applied by this skill has been increased by 33%.
Shatterstone: The damage of this skill has been increased by 22%.
Water Trident: The healing contribution per level of this skill has been increased by 27%.
Arc Lightning: The damage of this skill at all levels has been increased by 33%.
Rock Barrier—Hurl: This skill now applies 1 stack of bleeding for 8 seconds when striking an enemy.
Dust Devil: The cast point of this skill has been reduced by 0.15 seconds. The aftercast delay of this ability has been reduced by 0.3 seconds.
Lightning Touch: The damage of this skill has been increased by 66%.
Churning Earth: The damage of this skill has been increased by 7%.
Fire Grab: The recharge time of this skill has been reduced from 45 seconds to 30 seconds.
Frozen Burst: The recharge time of this skill has been reduced from 15 seconds to 12 seconds.
Fireball: The effect of this skill has been returned to its previous state. The damage of this skill has been increased by 17%.
Gust: The recharge time of this skill has been reduced from 30 seconds to 25 seconds.
Windborne Speed: The recharge time of this skill has been reduced from 30 seconds to 25 seconds.
Static Field: The number of times this skill can be used to attempt to stun an enemy has been capped at 10.
Unsteady Ground: The number of times this skill can be used to attempt to knock back an enemy has been capped at 10. The duration of this skill has been increased from 3 seconds to 4 seconds.
“Eye of the Storm!”: This skill can no longer be used to attempt to stun-break NPCs who aren’t already in combat.

Nothing I can see here will change the current meta. Elementalist remains powercreeped bunker guard 2.0.

Engineer
Our goal for this quarter has been to reduce a bit of the scrapper’s survivability while updating the base engineer with multiple weapon and utility quality-of-life changes. Some increases have been based around physical and condition damage increases for the pistol, to help its viability as a hybrid condition option. From the utilities side, we’ve made several adjustments to damage and recharge for underutilized skills. One of the bigger notes is that Slick Shoes are now only able to affect a target once per skill activation.

Fixed a bug that prevented certain engineer kits from becoming hidden while gathering.
Fragmentation Shot: The damage of this skill has been increased by 14%.
Static Shot: Confusion duration has been increased from 3 seconds to 4 seconds. The number of confusion stacks has been increased from 2 to 3. The recharge of this skill has been reduced from 15 seconds to 12 seconds.
Blowtorch: The recharge time of this skill has been reduced from 15 seconds to 12 seconds.
Bomb Kit: Fixed a bug that caused the explosions of this skill to behave oddly and not occur where the bomb was originally laid.
Toss Elixir C: The recharge time of this skill has been reduced from 25 seconds to 20 seconds.
Toss Elixir R: The recharge time of this skill has been reduced from 100 seconds to 90 seconds.
Toss Elixir S: The recharge time of this skill has been reduced from 50 seconds to 45 seconds.
Elixir U: The recharge time of this skill has been reduced from 50 seconds to 45 seconds.
Healing Turret: The casting time of this skill has been increased from 0.5 seconds to 0.75 seconds.
Throw Mine: The recharge of this skill has been reduced from 18 seconds to 15 seconds. The damage has been increased by 20%.
Rocket Kick: The recharge time of this skill has been reduced from 17 seconds to 15 seconds. The damage has been increased by 33%.
Launch Personal Battering Ram: The cripple duration from this tool-belt skill has been increased from 5 seconds to 6 seconds.
Slick Shoes: This skill is now limited to knocking each enemy down once. The number of enemies that it can affect remains unchanged. The recharge time of this skill has been reduced from 45 seconds to 40 seconds.
Rocket Charge: This skill now executes two leaps instead of three. This skill now charges straight forward rather than angling slightly on the initial two leaps.
Equalizing Blow: Increased the number of might and vulnerability stacks applied from 1 to 3.
Sneak Gyro: This skill now has a 0.75-second casting time.
Rapid Regeneration: The base healing of this trait has been reduced from 150 to 20 when under the influence of superspeed and from 25 to 5 when under the effects of swiftness. Level and healing values continue to scale the same for superspeed. Swiftness’s scaling with levels has been increased by 20%.
Shredder Gyro: The damage caused by this skill has been increased by 600%. The duration has been reduced by 50%. Removed the initial strike.

Scrapper survivability has been nerfed. Condi engi has been buffed. Elixer CD’s lowered quite a bit. Healing turret cast time increased, which is good. MAJOR slick shoes nerf: you can only be knocked down once. Excellent change. Rocket Charge was nerfed down from 3 leap finishers to 2, and Sneak gyro has been given a casting time. All appropriate changes. I was dissapointed by the lack of nerfs to the hammer damage coefficients. Scrapper’s are going to be pumping out the same insane DPS, and can make good use of the new Destroyer amulet.

Guardian
A large portion of the changes occurring for the guardian are aimed toward reducing the dragonhunter’s group controlling and killing capacity in WvW while toning down its ranged spike damage capability prevalent in other areas. With that being said, we want to keep the dragonhunter competitive and still dealing high damage, but we want the damage dealt a little less instantly than before. The guardian is also going to be receiving some of the same target caps on its wall abilities while seeing some cooldown reductions on its base virtues.

Virtue of Justice: The recharge time of this skill has been reduced from 25 seconds to 20 seconds.
Virtue of Resolve: The recharge time of this skill has been reduced from 50 seconds to 45 seconds.
Virtue of Courage: The recharge time of this skill has been reduced from 75 seconds to 60 seconds. This skill will no longer attempt to break stun for NPCs who aren’t already in combat.
Ring of Warding: The number of times this skill can be used to attempt to knock back an enemy has been capped at 10.
Line of Warding: The number of times this skill can be used to attempt to knock back an enemy has been capped at 10.
“Save Yourselves!”: The recharge time of this skill has been reduced from 60 seconds to 50 seconds.
“Hold the Line!”: The recharge time of this skill has been reduced from 35 seconds to 30 seconds.
“Retreat!”: The recharge time of this skill has been reduced from 40 seconds to 30 seconds.
“Stand Your Ground!”: The duration of stability this skill applies has been increased from 5 seconds to 6 seconds.
True Shot: The damage of this skill has been reduced by 20%.
Deflecting Shot: The base damage of this skill has been increased by 17%.
Symbol of Energy: The damage of this skill has been increased by 25%.
Hunter’s Ward: This skill now creates barriers on enemies only if they are struck by the final attack. Barriers created by this skill now only stop enemies who have been marked (struck) by the final attack. The final attack damage has been increased by 33%. Ring duration has been reduced from 6 seconds to 5 seconds. The cooldown of this skill has been reduced from 45 seconds to 40 seconds. Added a red ring for enemies so they can be identified as hostile.
Test of Faith: The number of times this skill can be used to attempt to strike an enemy has been capped at 10, after which the trap will disappear. The damage of this skill has been reduced by 7%.

We’ve been asking for the Hunter’s Ward change for a long time, and they’ve implemented it. We can now dodge the final hit and avoid the “ring of warding”. .Excellent nerf to Hunter’s Ward and True shot. Shout CD’s have been reduced, and the core guardian virtue CD’s have been reduced. Good changes.

Mesmer
This quarter, we’ll be looking a bit at the scepter and pushing it toward more hybrid capabilities. There have been several animation changes and recharge reductions, along with general damage increases. Additionally, due to the change made in how attack speed increases are calculated, Malicious Sorcery provides a higher attack speed bonus (though the tool-tip value will not change). The chronomancer has had a few changes, with well recharge reductions and improved access to personal alacrity.

Feedback: Fixed an issue that prevented the combo ring for this skill from displaying.
Ether Bolt: Reduced the aftercast delay by 0.16 seconds.
Ether Blast: Reduced the aftercast delay by 0.28 seconds.
Ether Clone: Reduced the aftercast delay by 0.45 seconds. This skill no longer fires a missile but is a direct attack instead.
Counterspell: The cooldown of this skill has been reduced from 10 seconds to 8 seconds. The damage from this skill has been increased by 50% when an attack is blocked. The attack activation time has been reduced by 0.2 seconds. The aftercast delay has been reduced by 0.24 seconds.
Confusing Images: The damage output of this skill has been increased by 20%.
Illusionary Riposte: Reduced the cooldown of this skill from 15 seconds to 12 seconds. The attack activation time has been reduced by 0.4 seconds. The aftercast delay has been reduced by 1 second.
Restorative Mantras: This trait now displays a blue ring effect while channeling a mantra, indicating the trait’s effective area.
Well of Action: The recharge time of this skill has been reduced from 30 seconds to 25 seconds.
Well of Precognition: The recharge time of this skill has been reduced from 45 seconds to 30 seconds.
Well of Recall: The recharge time of this skill has been reduced from 40 seconds to 35 seconds.
Flow of Time: The alacrity applied by this trait has been increased from 0.75 seconds to 1 second per illusion shattered.

Major scepter auto-attack buff, which its needed for a long time. Alacrity uptime for shatters has been increased, and well CD’s have been reduced. Disappointing was the lack of nerfs for the continuum split—Moa interaction.

Necromancer
Necromancers have been reaping their way across the game, far and wide. It’s been a glorious sight. With that being said, there are a few areas that we feel need to be balanced, specifically chill application and survivability. In this update we’ll be reducing the overall duration of chill that the necromancer can output by reducing it from their base abilities. Players will also see a reduction in the uptime of Infusing Terror, though the functionality will remain the same. Baseline necromancers will be seeing some off-hand weapon updates as well as well recharge reductions.

Well of Corruption has undergone an audio rework to make it sound like it is bursting from the ground, better matching its visual effects.
All Bone Fiend projectile skills have undergone an audio rework to make them sound more like projectiles.
Lich Form—Mark of Horror: Added a strike to the area when this mark is triggered by an enemy.
Spectral Wall: The number of times this skill can be used to attempt to apply fear to an enemy has been capped at 10.
Reaper’s Touch: The recharge time of this skill has been reduced from 18 seconds to 15 seconds.
Spinal Shivers: Increased the damage when removing two and three boons by 25% and 40% respectively.
Deathly Swarm: The missile velocity of this skill has been increased by 100%. The casting time of the projectile has increased by 0.2 seconds.
Well of Power: The recharge time of this skill has been reduced from 50 seconds to 40 seconds.
Well of Darkness: The recharge time of this skill has been reduced from 50 seconds to 45 seconds.
Well of Blood: The recharge time of this skill has been reduced from 40 seconds to 35 seconds.
Ritual of Life: The cooldown of this trait has been reduced from 40 seconds to 35 seconds.
Infusing Terror: Reduced the active duration of this skill from 8 seconds to 5 seconds. The recharge time has been increased from 20 seconds to 25 seconds.
Unholy Sanctuary: Fixed a bug that caused this skill to go on cooldown even when the necromancer has less than 10% life force.
Soul Spiral: Reduced the number of whirl combos during the course of the skill from 11 to 6.
Executioner’s Scythe: Reduced the freezing field duration from 6 seconds to 4 seconds.
“Chilled to the Bone!”: The chill duration from this skill has been reduced from 6 seconds to 4 seconds.
Chilling Nova: The chill duration from this trait has been reduced from 2 seconds to 1.5 seconds.
Shivers of Dread: The chill duration from this trait has been reduced from 3 seconds to 2 seconds.
Deathly Chill: This trait no longer causes chill to inflict damage but instead applies 8 seconds of bleeding each time you apply chill to an enemy.

Focus buffs are a small buff for the spite line for power necros due to spinal shivers damage increase. Well CD’s have been reduced. Major nerf to reaper stability: stability duration is 5 seconds down from 8. This is a good thing thematically to keep necro’s being susceptible to CC.

Small RS4 nerf should curb poison stacks a bit, RS5 nerf to the ice field duration reduction are good things to reduce RS pressure. CTTB has been nerfed to half the chill duration, which is totally appropriate.

The big one folks: Deathly chill no longer makes chill do damage, but instead applies 8 seconds of bleeding each time you apply chill to an enemy. Folks, this is a HUGE nerf to condi reaper. Chill damage now requires ramp-up just like any other condition. Now that the condition damage coefficient is much lower, we can also say goodbye to insanely high (1k) deathly chill ticks, which was a symptom of might-stacking. RS4 in RS5 will provide 6 bleeds, so that combo is the same DPS as before. Hopefully this means power reaper can make a comeback. Overall, excellent changes.

The only thing I was disappointed by was the lack of a nerf to the scepter AA boon corrupt and lack of any buffs to GS (QoL) or axe (dps).

Ranger
It’s been a long time in the making, but we’re pleased to announce that the main-hand sword autoattack no longer removes control from players and has an all-new animation. In addition to that, we’ve been going through and updating a few of the underused weapons available to the ranger. Short bow has received a physical damage upgrade as well as some improved secondary effects on various skills. Main-hand axes have had some animation and condition improvements while receiving some quality-of-life improvements when wielded in the off hand. “Search and Rescue!” has been great to see used, but it’s been observed to be a bit too strong at its current levels. We’ll be making this a more tactical choice by reducing its range to standard shout range and increasing its recharge time.

Sublime Conversion: Fixed an issue that caused the combo ring for this skill to be visible to enemies.
Viper’s Nest: Fixed an issue that caused the combo ring for this skill to display at an offset time.
Kick (Sword Combo 2): This skill has been renamed Crippling Thrust. The animation of this skill has been modified, and the ranger will now be able to move while activating the skill.
Leap (Sword Combo 3): This skill has been renamed Precision Swipe. The animation of this skill has been modified, and the ranger will now be able to move while activating the skill.
Poison Volley: Increased the poison damage duration applied by this skill from 4 seconds to 5 seconds. The physical damage per strike has been increased by 150%.
Quick Shot: The swiftness duration of this skill has been increased from 3 seconds to 9 seconds. The damage has been increased by 20%. This effect is now only able to be triggered once per shot (it previously would trigger multiple times if the Light on Your Feet trait was in use).
Crippling Shot: The cripple duration has been increased from 3 seconds to 4 seconds. Base damage has been increased by 100%. The pet bleeding duration has been increased from 6 seconds to 12 seconds.
Concussion Shot: The stun and daze durations have been increased from 1 second to 2 seconds.
Ricochet: Might duration applied by this skill has been increased from 3 seconds to 5 seconds. Increased the cast point by 0.1 seconds. The aftercast delay has been reduced by 0.16 seconds.
Winter’s Bite: The chill duration of this skill has been increased from 3 seconds to 4 seconds and now also applies 3 stacks of bleeding for 5 seconds. The aftercast delay has been reduced by 0.32 seconds.
Path of Scars: This skill is now ground targeted and can be cast at a shorter distance than the maximum.
Whirling Defense: The active portion of this skill has had its speed increased by 50% and will now scale with quickness. The damage per strike has been increased by 100%.
“Search and Rescue!”: The radius of this shout has been normalized and now affects a radius of 600, down from 1200. The recharge time of this skill has been increased from 45 seconds to 60 seconds.
Fortifying Bond: The fury duration applied to the ranger’s pet has been increased from 3 seconds to 5 seconds. The protection duration has been increased from 2 seconds to 3 seconds. The regeneration duration has been increased from 5 seconds to 6 seconds. The swiftness duration has been increased from 3 seconds to 6 seconds. The quickness duration has been increased from 2 seconds to 2.5 seconds. The stability duration has been increased from 3 seconds to 5 seconds.
“Protect Me!”: This skill will no longer attempt to break stun on NPCs who aren’t already in combat.
Fixed a scaling and placement issue with the Celestial Avatar skill icon after the druid elite specialization is equipped.
Vine Surge: Fixed a bug that allowed this skill to strike a target more than once.

As you all know, sword auto doesn’t lock you in anymore, and neither does sword 2. Expect to see this weapon more. Shortbow is finally receiving much-needed buffs. SnR was justfully nerfed by reduce the range to 600 to bring it inline with Transfusion, and increased the CD to 60. Some axe QoL changes: reduced aftercasts, which it has needed for awhile. Overall great changes.

Revenant
This quarter’s balance changes are focused on improving Ventari and the off-hand sword while slightly lowering the defensive capabilities of the Shiro legend. Legendary Assassin Stance is expected to be offensive and elusive but was too survivable overall.

Protective Solace: Fixed an issue that prevented the combo ring for this skill from being visible.
Riposting Shadows: The endurance gain of this ability has been reduced from 50 to 25.
Precision Strike: Increased the recharge time of this skill from 4 seconds to 5 seconds. The range of this skill has been reduced from 600 to 450.
Duelist’s Preparation—Shackling Wave: The immobilize duration has been increased from 2 seconds to 2.5 seconds. This skill is now available naturally during the course of Duelist’s Preparation. Blocking an attack will extend the availability of the skill beyond the blocking duration.
Grasping Shadow: This skill now grants 6 seconds of fury to the revenant and 3 seconds of chill to an enemy when the attack hits.
Enchanted Daggers: The healing from these daggers has been reduced by 5%.
Project Tranquility: The cost of this skill has been reduced from 10 energy to 5 energy.
Ventari’s Will: This skill is now instant. The recharge time of this skill has been increased from 2 seconds to 4 seconds.
Natural Harmony: Reduced the delayed time to heal from 1.5 seconds to 1 second. Increased the healing power contribution of this skill by 33%.
Energy Expulsion: This skill is now instant but has a 1-second delay for the explosion.

Sword 2 has been given a paltry nerf that probably will go unnoticed, but the endurance nerf on Riposting Shadows was much-needed. Overall I was dissapointed by the lack of a major hit to the Revenant dps/sustain.

Thief
The thief has had numerous changes in the vein of quality-of-life upgrades. We’ve made improvements to help pistols play nicer with their hybrid nature while also improving the dagger and sword weapons. Survivability has been boosted a bit, with healing skills and traits working to provide more condition removal, vigor, and healing. Larcenous Strike and Bountiful Theft now remove additional boons, with Lead Attacks receiving a large rework that promotes spending initiative rather than holding it. We’ll continue to monitor the effectiveness of Lead Attacks and adjust it accordingly as needed.

Vital Shot: Reduced the aftercast delay of this skill by 0.6 seconds.
Body Shot: Reduced the aftercast delay of this skill by 0.16 seconds.
Unload: This skill now grants 1 stack of might for 8 seconds when striking an enemy.
Heartseeker: This skill is now able to be affected by quickness and slow.
Weakening Charge: This skill is now able to be affected by quickness and slow.
Dust Strike: This skill now applies 5 stacks of vulnerability per hit. Fixed a bug that caused this skill to strike more than once. Fixed a bug that caused this skill to blind for only 3 seconds instead of the full 5 seconds.
Larcenous Strike: The number of boons stolen by this skill has been increased from 1 to 2. The initiative cost has been increased from 1 to 2.
Withdraw: This skill now removes torment in addition to its other removals.
Hide in Shadows: This skill now removes confusion in addition to its other removals. Increased the duration of regeneration from 4 seconds to 6 seconds.
Skelk Venom: The base healing modifier for venom strikes has been increased by 40%. The healing contribution for both the initial heal and venom strikes has been increased by 50%.
Expeditious Dodger: Increased the swiftness duration from 4 seconds to 6 seconds.
Pain Response: The internal cooldown of this ability has been reduced from 20 seconds to 16 seconds.
Vigorous Recovery: Increased the vigor duration of this trait from 7 seconds to 10 seconds.
Swindler’s Equilibrium: Damage while wielding a sword has been increased from 5% to 7%.
Lead Attacks: This trait has been reworked and now grants 1% damage and condition damage per initiative spent for 15 seconds. This effect has a maximum of 15%.
Bountiful Theft: The number of boons stolen has been increased from 2 to 3 in addition to applying vigor.
Consume Plasma: This stolen ability now grants resistance for 2.5 seconds, but it will not apply quickness. Updated the skill facts.
Throw Gunk: This skill is now ground targeted. Added the radius to this skill’s description. Added an allied combo-field effect and enemy ring effect to this skill.

Shrug, nothing of note.

Warrior
We’re generally happy with the offense and damage potential of the warrior, but survivability and durability in PvP have been observed to be lacking, even when defensive measures are taken. We’re looking to boost defense in areas where the warrior specializes in it. Stability-granting utilities have been refocused and reworked with the new stability cooldown specifically in mind, and the Defense line has gained significant increases. Within this line, Adrenal Health has been transformed from an adrenaline-holding minor trait into one that grants a much stronger healing effect when landing burst abilities.

Dual Shot: The damage of this skill has been increased by 33%.
Fan of Fire: Increased the burning duration from 2 seconds to 3 seconds. Physical damage has been increased by 10%.
Smoldering Arrow: The recharge time of this skill has been reduced from 15 seconds to 12 seconds.
Pin Down: The damage of this skill has been increased by 10%.
Eviscerate: Updated this skill to not be affected by movement-impeding effects.
Gun Flame: The physical damage of this skill has been reduced by 20%. Fixed an issue that allowed this skill to hit enemies twice. This skill no longer pierces but still delivers the area-of-effect attack. Fixed a bug that caused the tool tip to show a decrease in damage when the Burst Mastery trait was in use.
Dolyak Signet: The cooldown of this signet has been reduced from 60 seconds to 40 seconds.
Balanced Stance: This skill now periodically applies swiftness and two stacks of stability for 3 seconds every 3 seconds that the stance is active.
Throw Bolas: The cooldown of this skill has been reduced from 20 seconds to 16 seconds.
Kick: The cooldown of this skill has been reduced from 20 seconds to 12 seconds.
Bull’s Charge: Increased the knockdown duration from 2 seconds to 3 seconds.
Stomp: This skill is now ground targeted and will move the warrior from a distance of 450 to a target area. This skill now grants 1 stack of stability for 5 seconds per target struck in addition to its own initial stack of stability, which has been increased from 1 second to 5 seconds. The cooldown of this skill has been reduced from 45 seconds to 40 seconds.
Thick Skin: The health threshold of this trait has been decreased from 90% to 75%. The toughness this trait applies has been increased from a maximum of 120 to 180.
Dogged March: The regeneration duration applied by this trait has been increased from 3 seconds to 6 seconds.
Cull the Weak: Increased the health threshold for weakness application from 25% to 33%.
Defy Pain: The threshold for activating Endure Pain has been increased from 25% health to 50% health.
Quick Breathing: Increased the number of conditions removed on warhorn-skill use from 1 to 2.
Burst Mastery: Fixed a bug that prevented this trait from appropriately increasing damage.
Adrenal Health: This trait has been reworked. For each level of adrenaline spent, the warrior will gain an instance of Adrenal Health that will heal over the course of 15 seconds. This effect stacks up to 3 times.

Good buff to eviscerate and nerf to gun flame. Dolyak signet received a hefty CD reduction, and Balanced Stance is receiving a large buff in the form of pulsing stability, akin to berserker stance. Stomp is now ground-targeted for a 450 range, which is pretty cool. Defy pain auto-proc now activates at 50% health, and a huge change to Adrenal health: using a burst skill now provides a stacking healing buff. Hard to say how this will all play out until I see the numbers on Adrenal health.

TLDR: Great changes overall. A mix of nerfs and QoL changes without any real powercreep. It’s hard to say how things will play out with the new amulets. Unfortunately this patch won’t fix the powercreep from the elite specs, which remain much stronger than there core spec counterparts.

lol what in the hell are you talking about?

when was the last time you saw a shout guardian or a guardian using only base virtues in pvp?

a 5 sec cooldown reduction and you consider those “good”?

Salamander.2504:

TLDR: Great changes overall.

Agreed, although those Mesmer changes look quite strong but we will see.

Darknicrofia.2604:

lol what in the hell are you talking about?

when was the last time you saw a shout guardian or a guardian using only base virtues in pvp?

a 5 sec cooldown reduction and you consider those “good”?

It’s a step in the right direction—at least they knew there was a problem. Unfortunately the DH virtues are still powercreeped by comparison.

Salamander.2504:

Darknicrofia.2604:

lol what in the hell are you talking about?

when was the last time you saw a shout guardian or a guardian using only base virtues in pvp?

a 5 sec cooldown reduction and you consider those “good”?

It’s a step in the right direction—at least they knew there was a problem. Unfortunately the DH virtues are still powercreeped by comparison.

you think the problem with guardians is that their base virtues and shouts have too long of a recharge?

Good changes? really?

Herald not nerfed
Reaper buffed
Mesmer/Chrono buffed

Scrappers nerfed (they needed it)

but why DH nerf…they are worse than Warriors now. I understand lb#5 changes cause it was needed but LB2 , seriously? And you buffed shouts? Again seriously??

While having worse sword skills and worse hammer skills.

Time to switch to revenant/herald.

OP is fishing for Guardian rage, don’t give in. Just realize this thread is garbage and move on.

Some good changes, especially to Hunter’s Ward and Necro chill damage. But Seems like a missed opportunity to not reconsider the interaction of Chrono continuum split with Moa and the over performance of Precision Strike on Herald.

@Above posters and

you think the problem with guardians is that their base virtues and shouts have too long of a recharge?

Changes are good—I’m not saying they perfected the balance. Also, yes the CD discrepancy between DH and guard virtues was an issue since DH virtues are so much stronger.

@ Ragnarox: Reaper took a huge nerf, by the way. And yeah, the lack of rev nerfs was really dissapointing. I think we can all agree that the elite specs will still be OP compared with core specs, but they did make good changes (just not enough of them).

Kronicle.4652:

OP is fishing for Guardian rage, don’t give in. Just realize this thread is garbage and move on.

The last hit in HW needed to be dodgeable, and True shot had a damage coefficient that was 43% higher than mighty blow’s. I’m not fishing for anything—those things needed a nerf.

Simonoly.4352:

Some good changes, especially to Hunter’s Ward and Necro chill damage. But Seems like a missed opportunity to not reconsider the interaction of Chrono continuum split with Moa and the over performance of Precision Strike on Herald.

Agreed.

Just gonna throw out that the counter to the Meta Chrono Season2 build is power warrior.

Only trouble is nobody was running war.

this patch was about simply nerfing the things that mindless zerglings in WvW die to.

I generally agree with OP.

My biggest/only real gripe is the double moa is still here…

It still baffles me that people have only recently been complaining about CS/Moa when it’s been like that since the start of HoT. Just because some pvp players talked about on a stream…

Wells needed to have their cooldowns shaved after they nerfed them last patch so this was a much needed update. They just need to stop trying to make scepter happen but nonetheless, good changes to it.

Engineer nerfs were definitely needed but I’m not sure slick shoes change was. With the change to stability, I’d expect to see it go untouched. Hammer 3 still leaps three times but only gives two leap finishers which is fine – I don’t think I’ve seen 3 leap finishers hit with it anyways. But good change by making it go in a straight line.

DH changes are baffling to say the least.

Overall I’m happy with the changes but I think they missed the mark on a few classes/abilities but looks to be more of the same now.

Darknicrofia.2604:

this patch was about simply nerfing the things that mindless zerglings in WvW die to.

Maybe you missed the scrapper sustain and slick shoes nerfs? The change to stability? Guys, a lot of changes went into this patch, don’t get tunnel vision because rev and CS/Moa wasn’t nerfed. Balance won’t be perfect and the elite specs remain OP, but it’s hard to see these changes not improving overall gameplay.

Salamander.2504:

The last hit in HW needed to be dodgeable, and True shot had a damage coefficient that was 43% higher than mighty blow’s. I’m not fishing for anything—those things needed a nerf.

Okaaaaay so why does nobody use Hammer? You compare useless weapon that nobody use to weapon that had slight chance in pvp. Guess you dont know anything about game balance.

Im kinda refreshing the patchnotes. Maybe they just forgot to add the obviously needed changes reducing powercreep.

Power reaper is trash.
Condi reaper is easier to land dmg thus actually viable.

Gutt the condi dmg – now power reaper can make comeback.

….
….
This is not how logic works.

P.S.
im overall ok with nerfs, tho buyhotenant and moa spam need same gutting, then were close to base levels.

Ragnarox.9601:

Salamander.2504:

The last hit in HW needed to be dodgeable, and True shot had a damage coefficient that was 43% higher than mighty blow’s. I’m not fishing for anything—those things needed a nerf.

Okaaaaay so why does nobody use Hammer? You compare useless weapon that nobody use to weapon that had slight chance in pvp. Guess you dont know anything about game balance.

Before the June 23rd patch hammer was the most popular weapon since Tage went medi-hammer. Hard to say it’s useless—it used to be meta before the powercreep.

Flumek.9043:

Power reaper is trash.
Condi reaper is easier to land dmg thus actually viable.

Gutt the condi dmg – now power reaper can make comeback.

….
….
This is not how logic works.

Condi reaper was one of the things actually keeping power reaper in the dirt, fyi. That’s how logic works.

Salamander.2504:

Before the June 23rd patch hammer was the most popular weapon since Tage went medi-hammer. Hard to say it’s useless—it used to be meta before the powercreep.

That was almost a year ago…..you are serious right? I mean…right?

Ragnarox.9601:

Salamander.2504:

Before the June 23rd patch hammer was the most popular weapon since Tage went medi-hammer. Hard to say it’s useless—it used to be meta before the powercreep.

That was almost a year ago…..you are serious right? I mean…right?

I don’t know what else to tell you man. True shot is a ranged (and rooted) 2.5 dmg coefficient attack on a 4s CD. It’s over 66% more efficient DPS than ranger’s (long channeled) rapid fire. Also, share with me your logic that you feel Hunter’s Ward shouldn’t be dodgeable?

Salamander.2504:

Ragnarox.9601:

Salamander.2504:

Before the June 23rd patch hammer was the most popular weapon since Tage went medi-hammer. Hard to say it’s useless—it used to be meta before the powercreep.

That was almost a year ago…..you are serious right? I mean…right?

I don’t know what else to tell you man. True shot is a ranged (and rooted) 2.5 dmg coefficient attack on a 4s CD. It’s over 66% more efficient DPS than ranger’s (long channeled) rapid fire. Also, share with me your logic that you feel Hunter’s Ward shouldn’t be dodgeable?

40s CD that takes 3 second to cast which makes it incredibly easy to walk out of the radius.
/argument

Booms.3952:

Salamander.2504:

Ragnarox.9601:

Salamander.2504:

Before the June 23rd patch hammer was the most popular weapon since Tage went medi-hammer. Hard to say it’s useless—it used to be meta before the powercreep.

That was almost a year ago…..you are serious right? I mean…right?

I don’t know what else to tell you man. True shot is a ranged (and rooted) 2.5 dmg coefficient attack on a 4s CD. It’s over 66% more efficient DPS than ranger’s (long channeled) rapid fire. Also, share with me your logic that you feel Hunter’s Ward shouldn’t be dodgeable?

40s CD that takes 3 second to cast which makes it incredibly easy to walk out of the radius.
/argument

Really, you want there to be undodgeable attacks and CC in this game? As if the game hasn’t been dumbed down enough. Fundamentally, you think because a skill has counter-play, it shouldn’t be dodgable…What kind of argument is that? Smells like powercreep to me.

Salamander.2504:

Booms.3952:

Salamander.2504:

Ragnarox.9601:

Salamander.2504:

Before the June 23rd patch hammer was the most popular weapon since Tage went medi-hammer. Hard to say it’s useless—it used to be meta before the powercreep.

That was almost a year ago…..you are serious right? I mean…right?

I don’t know what else to tell you man. True shot is a ranged (and rooted) 2.5 dmg coefficient attack on a 4s CD. It’s over 66% more efficient DPS than ranger’s (long channeled) rapid fire. Also, share with me your logic that you feel Hunter’s Ward shouldn’t be dodgeable?

40s CD that takes 3 second to cast which makes it incredibly easy to walk out of the radius.
/argument

Really, you want there to be undodgeable attacks and CC in this game? As if the game hasn’t been dumbed down enough. What kind of argument is that? Smells like powercreep to me.

Just look at his post history.

Salamander.2504:

Booms.3952:

Salamander.2504:

Ragnarox.9601:

Salamander.2504:

Before the June 23rd patch hammer was the most popular weapon since Tage went medi-hammer. Hard to say it’s useless—it used to be meta before the powercreep.

That was almost a year ago…..you are serious right? I mean…right?

I don’t know what else to tell you man. True shot is a ranged (and rooted) 2.5 dmg coefficient attack on a 4s CD. It’s over 66% more efficient DPS than ranger’s (long channeled) rapid fire. Also, share with me your logic that you feel Hunter’s Ward shouldn’t be dodgeable?

40s CD that takes 3 second to cast which makes it incredibly easy to walk out of the radius.
/argument

Really, you want there to be undodgeable attacks and CC in this game? As if the game hasn’t been dumbed down enough. What kind of argument is that? Smells like powercreep to me.

Ok fair enough.
So let’s just nerf everything else that’s kittened so guardian isn’t the worst class in the game now because of this change. I’ll be ok with that too. But right now we went from 7th best to who the kitten knows what, but we definitely didn’t go up in the rankings.

Salamander.2504:

I don’t know what else to tell you man. True shot is a ranged (and rooted) 2.5 dmg coefficient attack on a 4s CD. It’s over 66% more efficient DPS than ranger’s (long channeled) rapid fire. Also, share with me your logic that you feel Hunter’s Ward shouldn’t be dodgeable?

Cause you dont know that’s the problem, you dont know anything. Saying that Hammer was good year ago does not justify lb2 nerf. You cant compare 1 shot while rooted to rapid fire channeled while walking at all. Its unrealistic just like comparing LB range to melee MB. And You didn’t even read what I said before about LB5 right? Guess you are just flaming.

Salamander.2504:

Flumek.9043:

Power reaper is trash.
Condi reaper is easier to land dmg thus actually viable.

Gutt the condi dmg – now power reaper can make comeback.

….
….
This is not how logic works.

Condi reaper was one of the things actually keeping power reaper in the dirt, fyi. That’s how logic works.

? are you working at Anet with that logic?

Booms.3952:

Salamander.2504:

Booms.3952:

Salamander.2504:

Ragnarox.9601:

Salamander.2504:

Before the June 23rd patch hammer was the most popular weapon since Tage went medi-hammer. Hard to say it’s useless—it used to be meta before the powercreep.

That was almost a year ago…..you are serious right? I mean…right?

I don’t know what else to tell you man. True shot is a ranged (and rooted) 2.5 dmg coefficient attack on a 4s CD. It’s over 66% more efficient DPS than ranger’s (long channeled) rapid fire. Also, share with me your logic that you feel Hunter’s Ward shouldn’t be dodgeable?

40s CD that takes 3 second to cast which makes it incredibly easy to walk out of the radius.
/argument

Really, you want there to be undodgeable attacks and CC in this game? As if the game hasn’t been dumbed down enough. What kind of argument is that? Smells like powercreep to me.

Ok fair enough.
So let’s just nerf everything else that’s kittened so guardian isn’t the worst class in the game now because of this change. I’ll be ok with that too. But right now we went from 7th best to who the kitten knows what, but we definitely didn’t go up in the rankings.

Well, yeah, I agree that they didn’t nerf everything that needed to be nerfed (looking at revs and CS/Moa)—but all the nerfs they did do were good.

Ragnarox.9601:

Salamander.2504:

I don’t know what else to tell you man. True shot is a ranged (and rooted) 2.5 dmg coefficient attack on a 4s CD. It’s over 66% more efficient DPS than ranger’s (long channeled) rapid fire. Also, share with me your logic that you feel Hunter’s Ward shouldn’t be dodgeable?

Cause you dont know that’s the problem, you dont know anything. Saying that Hammer was good year ago does not justify lb2 nerf. You cant compare 1 shot while rooted to rapid fire channeled while walking at all. Its unrealistic just like comparing LB range to melee MB. And You didn’t even read what I said before about LB5 right? Guess you are just flaming.

I don’t think we’re going to resolve our disagreement. First I showed that the True Shot damage coefficient is way higher than a comparable melee damage coefficient. That wasn’t good enough since hammer isn’t in the meta, so I compared it to the ultimate ranged burst attack, which has over double the CD and triple the cast time of True Shot (but isn’t rooted), but that isn’t good enough either. I’m not flaming, and I did reread your LB5 comment. Gotcha.

Flumek.9043:

Salamander.2504:

Flumek.9043:

Power reaper is trash.
Condi reaper is easier to land dmg thus actually viable.

Gutt the condi dmg – now power reaper can make comeback.

….
….
This is not how logic works.

Condi reaper was one of the things actually keeping power reaper in the dirt, fyi. That’s how logic works.

? are you working at Anet with that logic?

I sure hope ANet uses that logic: when you nerf the counter, the countered build gets breathing room. That’s a fundamental principle of game balance.

There was nothing wrong with nec survivablity imo. We have no blocks, no teleports built into our weapons, or evades other then the two we’re all given. But whatever. Also the deathy chill change wasn’t really a nerf.

Crimson Shi.5047:

There was nothing wrong with nec survivablity imo. We have no blocks, no teleports built into our weapons, or evades other then the two we’re all given. But whatever. Also the deathy chill change wasn’t really a nerf.

As far as I can see, there wasn’t any changes to necro survivability. Also, I do think deathly chill got nerfed. Consider Suffer: ~4s of chill translates into ~2.4k damage over 4 seconds. Compare that with 8s of bleeding, which translates into ~1.2k damage over ~10 seconds (with curses). It’s definitely a dps loss on an individual basis, except now reaper(s) can stack their deathly chill DPS because bleed stacks in intensity. RS4 in RS5 field is going to continue to hurt though: the 6 bleed stacks from the combo field is the same thing as having the old chill damage. One of the main things is that now the condition damage coefficient is much lower so we can say goodbye to insanely high (1k) deathly chill ticks, which was a symptom of might-stacking.

Ranger had serious buffs to core weapon department but they won’t be used because Staff/Shout Regen is still a requirement to keep up. Why? Because of how celestial force gain works “mostly through raw heals, not damage dealt” and amulet selections “there are no adequate condi versions of mender’s”.

Good patch overall but it won’t change much for ranger viability outside of the existing meta.

Celestial Force gain needs to be fixed to enable viable DPSing on a Ranger/Druid:

• Turn down gain from raw heals “slightly”
• Turn up gain from DPS dealt “slightly”

Salamander.2504:

I sure hope ANet uses that logic: when you nerf the counter, the countered build gets breathing room. That’s a fundamental principle of game balance.

You miss his point.

The point is that power necro on it’s own, completely excluding the existence of condi reaper, is total kitten.

Power necro suffers from being constrained to melee range even while out of shroud.

Crinn.7864:

Salamander.2504:

I sure hope ANet uses that logic: when you nerf the counter, the countered build gets breathing room. That’s a fundamental principle of game balance.

You miss his point.

The point is that power necro on it’s own, completely excluding the existence of condi reaper, is total kitten.

Power necro suffers from being constrained to melee range even while out of shroud.

Before the Nov. 4 Deathly Chill buff, almost everyone was running power reapers and they managed just fine. Some combination of axe/dagger/staff and the new destroyer amulet should be cool. I’m not calling the new meta, just saying what might pop up in ranked/unranked. A lot of players miss playing power reaper, and the nerf to condi reaper and introduction of a power/precision/ferocity/toughness amulet is gold for those folks.

Flumek.9043:

Salamander.2504:

Flumek.9043:

Power reaper is trash.
Condi reaper is easier to land dmg thus actually viable.

Gutt the condi dmg – now power reaper can make comeback.

….
….
This is not how logic works.

Condi reaper was one of the things actually keeping power reaper in the dirt, fyi. That’s how logic works.

? are you working at Anet with that logic?

OK, salamander.

power reaper is a 6/10 for reason that its dmg is easily avoidable
condi reaper is a 9.5/10 for reason that its dmg is easy to land and unavoidable

U then completely remove condi dmg from condi reaper, making it a 6-7/10

How does that make power reaper “more viable” ?
How does that “bring back power reaper” into a 5man party where everyone is a 9-11 out of 10.

Ofc in low tier soloq everything is viable but dont use that logic pls.

Flumek.9043:

Flumek.9043:

Salamander.2504:

Flumek.9043:

Power reaper is trash.
Condi reaper is easier to land dmg thus actually viable.

Gutt the condi dmg – now power reaper can make comeback.

….
….
This is not how logic works.

Condi reaper was one of the things actually keeping power reaper in the dirt, fyi. That’s how logic works.

? are you working at Anet with that logic?

OK, salamander.

power reaper is a 6/10 for reason that its dmg is easily avoidable
condi reaper is a 9.5/10 for reason that its dmg is easy to land and unavoidable

U then completely remove condi dmg from condi reaper, making it a 6-7/10

---

How does that make power reaper “more viable” ?
How does that “bring back power reaper” into a 5man party where everyone is a 9-11 out of 10.

Ofc in low tier soloq everything is viable but dont use that logic pls.

The introduction of a power/precision/ferocity/toughness amulet allows you to do marauder damage but with cele/wanderers toughness. With the extra ferocity, you can use the axe to replace the scepter (neither are projectiles) with Close to Death and even potentially Decimate Defenses, which frees you up for FitG, which should help alleviate the infusing terror duration nerf. Without Deathly Chill or Chilling victory, you’re freed from suffer to take NCSY, which is killer in the current scrapper/rev/chrono playing field. Like I said, I’m not calling the meta, just saying power reaper might end up working for much of the playerbase if the condi reaper nerfs play out in the way we’re thinking. On the other hand, power reaper might remain trash, but it’s fun to speculate.

Salamander.2504:

Flumek.9043:

Flumek.9043:

Salamander.2504:

Flumek.9043:

Power reaper is trash.
Condi reaper is easier to land dmg thus actually viable.

Gutt the condi dmg – now power reaper can make comeback.

….
….
This is not how logic works.

Condi reaper was one of the things actually keeping power reaper in the dirt, fyi. That’s how logic works.

? are you working at Anet with that logic?

OK, salamander.

power reaper is a 6/10 for reason that its dmg is easily avoidable
condi reaper is a 9.5/10 for reason that its dmg is easy to land and unavoidable

U then completely remove condi dmg from condi reaper, making it a 6-7/10

---

How does that make power reaper “more viable” ?
How does that “bring back power reaper” into a 5man party where everyone is a 9-11 out of 10.

Ofc in low tier soloq everything is viable but dont use that logic pls.

The introduction of a power/precision/ferocity/toughness amulet allows you to do marauder damage but with cele/wanderers toughness. With the extra ferocity, you can use the axe to replace the scepter (neither are projectiles) with Close to Death and even potentially Decimate Defenses, which frees you up for FitG, which should help alleviate the infusing terror duration nerf. Without Deathly Chill or Chilling victory, you’re freed from suffer to take NCSY, which is killer in the current scrapper/rev/chrono playing field. Like I said, I’m not calling the meta, just saying power reaper might end up working for much of the playerbase if the condi reaper nerfs play out in the way we’re thinking. On the other hand, power reaper might remain trash, but it’s fun to speculate.

Power reaper will always be trash in small scale pvp environments considering how bad axe is damage wise and you need to be in melee to do damage. If you pop lich it’s a moa me/hit me/run away sign. Lack of mobility/active defense means you’re just an hp sponge and will be focused and cc’d to death for the most part. It might be a little a better if we ever get a power ranged weapon, but staff is what we’re always forced to take.

L Step.8659:

Salamander.2504:

Flumek.9043:

Flumek.9043:

Salamander.2504:

Flumek.9043:

Power reaper is trash.
Condi reaper is easier to land dmg thus actually viable.

Gutt the condi dmg – now power reaper can make comeback.

….
….
This is not how logic works.

Condi reaper was one of the things actually keeping power reaper in the dirt, fyi. That’s how logic works.

? are you working at Anet with that logic?

OK, salamander.

power reaper is a 6/10 for reason that its dmg is easily avoidable
condi reaper is a 9.5/10 for reason that its dmg is easy to land and unavoidable

U then completely remove condi dmg from condi reaper, making it a 6-7/10

---

How does that make power reaper “more viable” ?
How does that “bring back power reaper” into a 5man party where everyone is a 9-11 out of 10.

Ofc in low tier soloq everything is viable but dont use that logic pls.

The introduction of a power/precision/ferocity/toughness amulet allows you to do marauder damage but with cele/wanderers toughness. With the extra ferocity, you can use the axe to replace the scepter (neither are projectiles) with Close to Death and even potentially Decimate Defenses, which frees you up for FitG, which should help alleviate the infusing terror duration nerf. Without Deathly Chill or Chilling victory, you’re freed from suffer to take NCSY, which is killer in the current scrapper/rev/chrono playing field. Like I said, I’m not calling the meta, just saying power reaper might end up working for much of the playerbase if the condi reaper nerfs play out in the way we’re thinking. On the other hand, power reaper might remain trash, but it’s fun to speculate.

Power reaper will always be trash in small scale pvp environments considering how bad axe is damage wise and you need to be in melee to do damage. If you pop lich it’s a moa me/hit me/run away sign. Lack of mobility/active defense means you’re just an hp sponge and will be focused and cc’d to death for the most part. It might be a little a better if we ever get a power ranged weapon, but staff is what we’re always forced to take.

Axe is actually surprisingly good damage with destroyer ammy, DD and CtD because it isn’t a projectile. It worked with marauder but the lack of toughness killed it, and the dps was trash with paladin. Destroyer ammy is the perfect fit. Hopefully no one is dumb enough to run lich.