Here’s to hoping I don’t get flamed for this idea, but it seems to me that condition clearing isn’t enough because conditions are being applied way more often than was the case prior to release…due mostly to players understanding their immense power and playing the game better.
Instead of just giving a flat nerf to condi duration or coming up with some sort of new boon that eats condition duration (like we need any more boons/conditions), why don’t we implement a specific playstyle condition clearing system. When you play a certain way, it counters specific conditions. These would be outside of your class or build.
Some conditions have exceptions, but here’s a quick list of what I think you could make as hard condition counters:
- Weakness – Landing attacks reduces Weakness duration
- Vulnerability – Getting hit reduces 1 stack of intensity
- Torment – Moving reduces Torment duration
- Poison – Receiving HP reduces Poison duration
- Immobilize – Attempting to jump reduces Immobilize duration
- Fear – Exception Condition, counts as both a condition and a control effect
- Cripple – Moving reduces Cripple duration
- Confusion – Using a skill reduces 1 stack of intensity
- Chilled – Acquiring Burn condition negates both
- Burning – Dodge roll reduces burning duration
- Blind – Already hard-countered with attacking
- Bleed – Exception Condition, no counter but to clear
Fear, Chilled and Bleed are slight exceptions and here’s why. Bleed just straight-up does damage. There’s really no reason to hard-counter a condition that was meant simply to damage, not to control the way you play. Fear is always short, won’t stack, is removed by stunbreakers and you’re immune to it with Stability up. There’s enough counter to Fear.
Chilled should only last for short periods of time and classes who frequently apply Chilled are not without burning. The ele is a prime example here. If you have a Chilled target, it creates a situation where you don’t want to immediately swap to your Fire attunement and hit him with Burning. If you’ve just used a Freeze Grenade on your engi, you want to avoid the Flamethrower kit or stack Blowtorch with Rocket Kick. The necro would have to think about whether he’s building for crit and damage with burning or fear and chill…sort of a ‘hot’ necro or ‘cold’ necro.
Well you get the idea. I understand there would have to be a few skill tweaks and trait tweaks with classes that have specific applications and removals…that comes with the territory of a change like this.
I also realize that it might be too late in the game’s life for a change of this caliber…and if it is, its just too bad. This is exactly the kind of gameplay countering that should have existed in the first place.
Good, bad, thoughts, etc below…just please don’t flamewar about the condi meta, we’ve got enough of that.