Guild Wars 2

Hi anet,

There’s a lot of speculation about an incoming port change and it’s impact on Mesmer, Thief, Elementalist, and Necromancer.

The questions people have vary. But I think if you could just provide some information as to whether or not this is going into the live build that would be great!

If it is going into the live build some information on the idea behind the changes would be great.

One of the main Concerns I’ve seen is that power Rangers reaching positions that can’t be ported to will push all other Zerkers out of the meta.

Another concern I’ve seen is that ports that have out of range targets won’t be viable because you won’t be able to port to targets out of range. Infiltrator’s Signet, Infiltrator’s Strike, eFlashing Blade, Judges intervention, and Flesh Worm utilize this mechanic often.

So to ease the rampant speculation, fears, and concerns it would be great if you could engage the community in some conversations about these potentially meta changing mechanics.

Thanks
:)

The ther half of me worries about escape routes and the guardian half of me worries about catching people running away. (Out of range flashing blade / JI )

Guardian will become slower to engage and easy to run from.

I find it really interesting that the biggest balance change in the past 2 years is sneaking its way into the game without any community discussion. We love talking about a bunch of negligible number changes to get people hyped but not something that’s going to actually change the game dynamics.

If this is true, this is going to change so many things. Thief is gonna be pushed out hardcore because no longer is fast backcapping an option on most of the maps. Medi Guard loses the gap closer. Mesmer and Necro can’t kite nearly as well as before (Flesh Wurm is ruined?)

I just hope that a) teleports aren’t completely broken after this (because face it, they don’t work half the time anyway) and b) it doesn’t reward static play sitting behind doing jack-all because nobody can reach you anyway.

Ya, I’d also like clarification on what this change entails. Currently, my s/f burst ele would suffer greatly, since Lightning Flash is his only ability that can completely remove his as the focus target. It allows re positioning, which is one of the most important aspects of gw2 pvp. Now this is true for many specs that rely on teleports. Obviously Thief come to mind.

The general idea is this would be a huge shift in the balance of pvp. It could decrease the viability of any burst build who relies on teleports to stay alive. And slightly damage survival builds.

I hope you guys can take some time this coming week to explain, if fixing teleport is only to prevent mesmers from entering keeps in wvw or something. Which would be nice. I just captured stonemist 3 days ago, due to a mesmer getting lucky and porting into the keep. Once his portal went down, the tides of battle shifted in our favor, and we easily captured the Castle.

Thanks in advance,
Loboling.

changes are already implemented on chinese servers… :|

From what I’ve read there:

Teleports that require a target will no longer activate when the target is out of range.

This means inflitrator’s signet, and #2 with sword wont move you when out of range (reducing their ability to chase and play with range on sword) also steal wont go on cooldown when used out of range (I think)

No changes for elementalist or mesmer, not sure of necro as I’ve never rly played.

Guardian are getting hit with this, 2 in sword and their teleport meditation wont allow them to move as easily.

OK change… Not sure if they felt thieves were too mobile, and medi guards. I don’t see many other classes being heavily affected.

Poor Thieves. Unless, I’m not understanding the changes.

Loboling.5293:

From what I’ve read there:

Teleports that require a target will no longer activate when the target is out of range.

This means inflitrator’s signet, and #2 with sword wont move you when out of range (reducing their ability to chase and play with range on sword) also steal wont go on cooldown when used out of range (I think)

No changes for elementalist or mesmer, not sure of necro as I’ve never rly played.

Guardian are getting hit with this, 2 in sword and their teleport meditation wont allow them to move as easily.

OK change… Not sure if they felt thieves were too mobile, and medi guards. I don’t see many other classes being heavily affected.

Poor Thieves. Unless, I’m not understanding the changes.

I see this as good for everybody except thieves and mesmers but mesmers are already in kitten, so it wont make them less kitten.

In accordance with https://forum-en.gw2archive.eu/forum/game/pvp/HoT-Demo-Possible-bad-news-for-thieves/first 90% of ports spots are broken (in HoT only?)

It’s sad ppl are so desperate for balance changes now they get excited over this from a meta game perspective.

Personally this will have no impact on my guard, but really enjoyed the use of blinks on ele mes and thief.

Any z axis changes will hit mes and zerk ele really hard, but as mes is already good at range on the flat the buff to compensate could be irritating… Unless they just turn it into another brawler..

Phaeton.9582:

Personally this will have no impact on my guard, but really enjoyed the use of blinks on ele mes and thief.

I’ve read somewhere ports will require LoS (China patches), which means Judge’s will be affected aswel if I understand it correctly

Terrorsquad.2349:

Phaeton.9582:

Personally this will have no impact on my guard, but really enjoyed the use of blinks on ele mes and thief.

I’ve read somewhere ports will require LoS (China patches), which means Judge’s will be affected aswel if I understand it correctly

LoS would be a pain tbf….

Still nothing on how z axis would impact zerkers that rely on it for survival, do you have a link to the chinese notes?

If you ask me this change will be positive for anyone who wants to be the zerker on their team and isn’t a teef. The ability to abuse the Z-axis gave them a mobility that other classes have no access to.

I play a decent amount of Mesmer, and I think this change will end up being a positive change overall because now their (often times) hardcounter will be more limited in terms of mobility so we may end up seeing less of them. Less teef = less risk to playing a Mes. Especially if this means teef Sword 2 needs LoS in order to work, no more retreating behind cover when things look bad. Now, when they use that skill they still have to be exposed to some sort of risk when they return. Same with other shadowsteps.

Is this change bad for teefs? Yes. Is this good for classes that lack teleports? Yes. It’s not OK to have only 2 classes (MediGuard) dominating the Zerker spot of a team.

EDIT: This will also help Necros I would imagine. Before, someone could just port up to them and ruin their positioning, now that may not be possible so good Necros who know where to stand will be rewarded. So once again, bad for some, good for most.

You can’t just Sword 2 from one side of the building to mid floor and hunt zerkers like you used to.

man up and deal with it, stop getting carried and get skill

BurrTheKing.8571:

Is this change bad for teefs? Yes. Is this good for classes that lack teleports? Yes. It’s not OK to have only 2 classes (MediGuard) dominating the Zerker spot of a team.

I think u can be right that this fix can move thieves ltl out of meta and free spot because of less map mobility. But you are not right for fight situation IMO. Thieves can loose some initial burst positioning advantage, but still keep same chasing ability. So probably still pretty hardcounter to mesmer and other zerks in battle meaning (except medi guard ofc and we assume thief is for +1 to fight). But now zerk mesmer (zerk ele,..) could be chased by any class with some gap closers (or even usual range attack is enuf to finish lows cause harder to LOS now), what devaluate zerk mesmer more.
So mb ltl less danger from thief, but more from all other classes.
Necro port could be broken too btw.

exactly, i highlt doubt that thief will be out of the meta just because a some kitteny blink spot is gone, that’s not even the reason they are meta any way, and not like D/P can abuse those spots in fight to begin with.

it’s mainly OOC mobility in certain map and S/D.

Loboling.5293:

From what I’ve read there:

Teleports that require a target will no longer activate when the target is out of range.

This means inflitrator’s signet, and #2 with sword wont move you when out of range (reducing their ability to chase and play with range on sword) also steal wont go on cooldown when used out of range (I think)

Guardian are getting hit with this, 2 in sword and their teleport meditation wont allow them to move as easily.

Booms.3952:

as someone who mains sword medi guardian at top level pvp I can pretty much gurantee this will completely OBLITERATE this weapon set. Like literally unusable. I want to talk to a freaking anet dev before they do something like this because this is just making a rarely used weapon COMPLETLEY UNVIABLE and theres NO POINT in doing it. LIKE IM SERIOUSLY kittenG kittenED OFF.

This is the kind of reaction us Guardians have.

Not being able to teleport out of range will effect us the most. I’ve had several clutch plays where I targeted out of range to peel off. I don’t know why Guardians, PvP and WvW both, aren’t fighting against this particular change.

We’re not QQing about Virtical Ports. It’s the global removal of range teleports. It will have a HUGE effect on our Sword #2 skill weapon set, making its very limited range unusable.

Guardians will be kited around all day long. Can’t wait to get people to 15% and watch them LOLOLOLOL away from me across the map. ( I’m looking at you FGS)

Mak.2657:

BurrTheKing.8571:

Is this change bad for teefs? Yes. Is this good for classes that lack teleports? Yes. It’s not OK to have only 2 classes (MediGuard) dominating the Zerker spot of a team.

I think u can be right that this fix can move thieves ltl out of meta and free spot because of less map mobility. But you are not right for fight situation IMO. Thieves can loose some initial burst positioning advantage, but still keep same chasing ability. So probably still pretty hardcounter to mesmer and other zerks in battle meaning (except medi guard ofc and we assume thief is for +1 to fight). But now zerk mesmer (zerk ele,..) could be chased by any class with some gap closers (or even usual range attack is enuf to finish lows cause harder to LOS now), what devaluate zerk mesmer more.
So mb ltl less danger from thief, but more from all other classes.
Necro port could be broken too btw.

I agree with u 100%. This change is just the stake through the heart for Mesmer in tPvP viability (which is not much these days).

MB I’m really overdramatic. Will see.
But anyway I would miss that ports and adrenaline gain of such play style in case of fix.

I remember talking to someone about at PAX EAST but forgot the exact reason for the teleport changes. I think it was meant to be a technical change rather than an intended balance change. Something about casting a teleport (and having it go on cool down) and not going anywhere because of LoS issues is confusing for players. With the change, you’ll be told whether or not you could go there before actually casting the port.

P.S. They didn’t find ALL the spots ;]

Yes necro port would most likely also be broken, except spectral return

Thieves might as well reroll as Rangers. LoS’ing them was already awful but do-able with sword 2 and such, but now….Nope.

choucs.4507:

You can’t just Sword 2 from one side of the building to mid floor and hunt zerkers like you used to.

man up and deal with it, stop getting carried and get skill

Yep, because replacing sword for scepter and melting you with auto attacks/Chains of Light/Smite burst takes soooo much more skill…

ArenaNet already was able to make that a class with a shield and a mace as main part of his depicted concepts not longer uses shield or mace in any place of the game; sword 3 is already useless, I guess that nerfing 2 is the final nail in the coffin for that weapon.

Saiyan.1704:

Loboling.5293:

From what I’ve read there:

Teleports that require a target will no longer activate when the target is out of range.

This means inflitrator’s signet, and #2 with sword wont move you when out of range (reducing their ability to chase and play with range on sword) also steal wont go on cooldown when used out of range (I think)

Guardian are getting hit with this, 2 in sword and their teleport meditation wont allow them to move as easily.

Booms.3952:

as someone who mains sword medi guardian at top level pvp I can pretty much gurantee this will completely OBLITERATE this weapon set. Like literally unusable. I want to talk to a freaking anet dev before they do something like this because this is just making a rarely used weapon COMPLETLEY UNVIABLE and theres NO POINT in doing it. LIKE IM SERIOUSLY kittenG kittenED OFF.

This is the kind of reaction us Guardians have.

Not being able to teleport out of range will effect us the most. I’ve had several clutch plays where I targeted out of range to peel off. I don’t know why Guardians, PvP and WvW both, aren’t fighting against this particular change.

We’re not QQing about Virtical Ports. It’s the global removal of range teleports. It will have a HUGE effect on our Sword #2 skill weapon set, making its very limited range unusable.

Same with Thief sword 2. :’<

Yes it will make impact on Mesmer, Thief, Elementalist, and Necromancer but will kill Guardians only viable build (medi).

BurrTheKing.8571:

If you ask me this change will be positive for anyone who wants to be the zerker on their team and isn’t a teef. The ability to abuse the Z-axis gave them a mobility that other classes have no access to.

I play a decent amount of Mesmer, and I think this change will end up being a positive change overall because now their (often times) hardcounter will be more limited in terms of mobility so we may end up seeing less of them. Less teef = less risk to playing a Mes. Especially if this means teef Sword 2 needs LoS in order to work, no more retreating behind cover when things look bad. Now, when they use that skill they still have to be exposed to some sort of risk when they return. Same with other shadowsteps.

Is this change bad for teefs? Yes. Is this good for classes that lack teleports? Yes. It’s not OK to have only 2 classes (MediGuard) dominating the Zerker spot of a team.

EDIT: This will also help Necros I would imagine. Before, someone could just port up to them and ruin their positioning, now that may not be possible so good Necros who know where to stand will be rewarded. So once again, bad for some, good for most.

Sorry, but if you think Medi Guards dominate the Zerker spot of a team, you Should to try other builds. I can outdamage every MediGuard with my Mesmer. (I main Guard and Mes). Played Necro a few Weeks and even he did more damage.

MandJ.8965:

BurrTheKing.8571:

If you ask me this change will be positive for anyone who wants to be the zerker on their team and isn’t a teef. The ability to abuse the Z-axis gave them a mobility that other classes have no access to.

I play a decent amount of Mesmer, and I think this change will end up being a positive change overall because now their (often times) hardcounter will be more limited in terms of mobility so we may end up seeing less of them. Less teef = less risk to playing a Mes. Especially if this means teef Sword 2 needs LoS in order to work, no more retreating behind cover when things look bad. Now, when they use that skill they still have to be exposed to some sort of risk when they return. Same with other shadowsteps.

Is this change bad for teefs? Yes. Is this good for classes that lack teleports? Yes. It’s not OK to have only 2 classes (MediGuard) dominating the Zerker spot of a team.

EDIT: This will also help Necros I would imagine. Before, someone could just port up to them and ruin their positioning, now that may not be possible so good Necros who know where to stand will be rewarded. So once again, bad for some, good for most.

Sorry, but if you think Medi Guards dominate the Zerker spot of a team, you Should to try other builds. I can outdamage every MediGuard with my Mesmer. (I main Guard and Mes). Played Necro a few Weeks and even he did more damage.

Ok just to give a bit more info on this, for anyone who thinks my posts are lacking qualitative information….

Firstly on Guard… frankly I found sword to be much weaker than scepter for my personal play style over a year ago. The added mobility just isn’t worth it vs the huge positional advantage of the scepter coupled with the ability to burst/cleave/LoS with scepter 2. Sword is better for pressuring mesmers (but scepter is already v strong), and chasing thieves but vs thief you just have to learn to lay scepter 2 at your feet in order to pressure them with this weapon set 1v1. Ofc those that still run sword will find it hugely hindered by the patch however.

As for Judges Intervention, although it can be used for mobility it’s a definite trade off, sacrificing sustain/burning pressure and stunbreak (crucially) means if my gameplay up to scratch I won’t be wasting it on the initial engage unless its a pure gank on a zerk/rabid, and only for very clutch rotations OOC. It’s can also be unreliable with z axis for porting (less so than sword 2 however), with the exception of khylo, so there’s only a few spots I would ‘abuse’ (lol) this (and only BoK where it has a substantial impact on rotations beyond a neat way to ninja points on keep/temple/alter).

Basically it’s not the end of the world on Guard by any means. As I’ve said before personally I’m more disappointed about limiting the use of verticality on mes/zerk ele/theif. On thief, sword mh will be hit much harder than d/p, but their mobility is so high anyway that they will still easily be able to chase down other zerk classes (sorry guys).

Mes on the other hand loses a major get out of jail free card, as well as some really interesting staff ports which were a great mechanic for the class, the kind of skill cap stuff which we should be asking for all professions, not removing…..

Zerk ele is fundamentally flawed due to CD reliance anyway, but as has been pointed out it will at least limit the mobility on Cele ele somewhat.. I don’t think it’ll affect its role in the meta however, as it’s more their in-combat ability which gives them the edge, not their ability to port onto ledges…

Hope this wall of text was a bit more illuminating…