Guild Wars 2

So, here I am, again, making another rant (sort of), but bear with me please. I want to adress the issue I have seen appearing in recent time, regarding (mostly) PvP balance. To be clear though, I would appreciate construcitve criticism, instead of blind hate. To the point though. You may have noticed how some builds/traits become way too OP, while some are nerfed to oblivion. For example, Reaper has trait Deathly chill, which added damage to the chill condition. It made condi Reaper really powerful, even a bit too much. (Or a lot? I am biased, necro is my main.) It had to be nerfed, but instead of lowering the damage, anet turned it into single stack of bleed per chill application (8s base duration), which is, quite frankly underwhelming. Instead they could have reduced it a bit, leaving it powerful Grandmaster trait, but not op. Or make it deal maybe 2 stacks of bleed per chill applied. (Granted we may see it yet. Who knows what “balance, ehm” changes are coming?) This single re-work brough reaper more in line with other specs though, I have to admit that. But then there is warriors Adrenal health, which is, quite frankly OP as…well, OP. You get 165hp/sec per stack for 15s. You can stack it up to 3 times, which nets total grand of 495hp/sec, and I am not counting healing signet here. Why not make it 200-ish hp/sec at 3 stacks? Still viable, and not OP. Or at least less OP, in my opinion. (Another issue here. Is anybody even using any other heal on warrior? Im getting off track again, kitten!) Which not only is ridiculous sustain, but it allows decently skilled warriors (read condi cancer/zero skill required) run around almost immortal, while dealing crapton of condi dmg. So, my question is, what is the point of nerfing one profession trait to bone, while making another OP? This just shifts the OPness to different proffesion, instead of creating balance. So, my final question(s) is, what do you people think traits/profession/skill balance should be approached? Any thoughts on useless traits and how they can be changed? (Lets face it, there are plenty traits gathering dust in all professions.) How can utilities be changed to bring some diversity? (Hello there spirit weapons, and all other proffesion skills currently gathering dust as well.) Bear in mind, this is my opinion, so dont bash my skull in, just for voicing it. (Note to self, I vented my anger here. It really helped.) Lets make this constructive, aye? Let the ideas flow. Thank you.

all it takes for anet is to look back at gw2 pre HoT. maybe even pre June patch 2015. those weren’t the best times but still.. atleast more then 1 or 2 builds were viable for each class. zerker mesmer? sure. go for it. condi mesmer? sure. as good as zerker. condi guard? sure. OP. medi guard? sure. even better. anyway no idea tho.. anet has to figure things out somehow. but i guess looking back at stuff is the way to go. like.. maybe bring old trait system. make more choices available and mixed up builds/traits. changing trait system would be a start.

Dave.6819:

all it takes for anet is to look back at gw2 pre HoT. maybe even pre June patch 2015. those weren’t the best times but still.. atleast more then 1 or 2 builds were viable for each class. zerker mesmer? sure. go for it. condi mesmer? sure. as good as zerker. condi guard? sure. OP. medi guard? sure. even better. anyway no idea tho.. anet has to figure things out somehow. but i guess looking back at stuff is the way to go. like.. maybe bring old trait system. make more choices available and mixed up builds/traits. changing trait system would be a start.

Indeed, you have a point there. I too, stated before (In a different post) that since HoT PvP became significally less balanced. The number of aviable builds has shrunk. (From 2-3 to 1, which is, always the current meta. No putting it mildly, it is just plain bad balance of traits/skills.) The way I see it condi builds are easier to play, offer wide variety of advantages (Being chilled, or weakened is especially deadly for a power build.) and deal similar, if not more damage than power builds, while requiring less stat combinations. (Condition damage vs. Power/precision/ferocity.) I would suggest anet tones down condition damage, or rather condition application to bring more viability to power builds. You can easily see the huge difference in power vs condi on mesmer. A power mesmer mostly utilizes F1 shatter and some phantasmas to deal damage, while F2, F3, and F4 are more of an utility. He also has a window when he cant spike you down, wheter he has F1 or phantasms on cooldown. If you manage to dodge those skills, it opens up a potential window for your own attacks. On the other hand condi mesmer deals conditions with each of his shatters, and pumps out so much condition damage, that dodging becomes redundant, you will get hit anyways. There is no spike to dodge, his damage is constant. Compare that to Necromancer, who, despite having condition build has to land his attack properly, and the cast times are VERY telegraphed, except for staff. You can clearly see what is he doing, and act accordingly. Maybe a bit too easy to dodge, during those painfully slow cast times. So to compare, mesmer has more ways to apply conditions, does it from safe distance, and constantly, while confusing you with his clones, has invisibility, and other utilites. Necromancer has to properly time his attacks to land conditions effectively, for example signets are easily dodged, scepter attacks slowly, and if he misses these attacks, he is without life force, and becomes easy target in close range. This causes one proffesion to apply conditions much faster, easier, and is punished way less (Or not at all) for missing his attacks, and not timing properly. Also traits could be more streamlined. My idea is, each triatline would offer a set of traits tailored to certain build, while still following certain theme. For example, top traits could be power, middle traits could condi, and bottom support/healing. Not to mention some core specializations are just plain WORSE than others. (Hello, Warrior Discipline, Elementalist Arcana, Guardian Honor, Necro Blood Magic, etc. What happened to you? Or, should I ask what did not happen?) It seems to me as if the devs have this mentality, where they overhaul some core specs, and pretty well, (Give credit where credit is due.) but leave others terribly underpowered. This leaves other specs useless, becuase nobody uses them? Or what is the excuse here? Well, duh! Of course nobody touches them when they are underwhelming. The best balance (At least in my opinion, because we all know perfect balance is very hard to achieve, if at all.) would be that each class has three avaible builds at all times (Power, Condi, Support/Heal) with some variations on them. (For example there could be condi Necro with corruptions, or Signets, one with spite, the other with curses traitlines.) Each triatline would offer traits for the specific playstyle, but each with different flavour and function to them. An example for necromancer Spite traitline here:

Minor Adept: Reaper’s Might – Shroud skill 1 grants might.

Minor Master: Death’s Embrace- Inflict vulnerability when you strike a foe below the health threshold. Deal more damage while downed.

Minor Grandmaster: Siphoned Power- Gain might when you strike a foe below the health threshold. (1 sec ICD)
(Minor traits pretty much as they are now.)

Major Adept: Spiteful talisman- Focus skills recharge faster (20%), Reaper’s Touch now grants 2 stacks of might (5sec) to allies, and 2 stacks of vulnerability (5s) to enemies it bounces to. (No regeneration). Spinal shivers now additionaly causes weakness, instead of chill. (2s per boon removed.)

Major Adept: Spiteful Renewal- Focus skills recharge faster (15%), regeneration lasts longer (20%). Reaper’s Touch now grants regeneration (5s) and removes 1 condition per bounce on ally. Spinal shivers now additionaly pulses healing around foes (300 radius) per boon removed. (400 hp/pulse, 3 pulses max, 1 sec interval.)

Major Adept: Blight Talisman- Focus skills recharge faster (15%), conditions applied by your focus skills last longer (10%). Reaper’s Touch now burns foes it hits (1 stack for 3s) and removes 1 boon. Spinal shivers now convert boons to conditions, and grants you resistance. (1s per boon removed).

Major Master: Unholy Fervor- Reduce recharge of axe skills.(20%) Axe skills deal increased damage to vulnerable foes. (10%) Rending claws now send out a wave that damages foes in front of you. (3 targets max. 600 range) Unholy Feast now deals more damage (3%) and grants retaliation (3s) for each foe it hits. (It no longer converts boons.)

Major Master: Torment Cleaver- Reduce recharge on axe skills. (15%) Rending claws now apply bleeding, and bounce bethween foes. (5 sec per strike, 2 bounces) Unholy feast now converts 2 boons to conditions, and applies torment (5s) per condition converted. Torment lasts longer. (10%)

Major Master: Vampiric Axe- Reduce recharge on axe skills. (20%) Rending claws and Ghastly claws now additionally siphon health from foe. Unholy feast now heals around you (360 radius) for each enemy it hits.

Major Grandmaster: Signets of power- Signets recharge faster, (20%) grant you might (3 stacks for 15s) and cause vulnerability on foes. (5 stacks for 10s) Signet of Spite now pulses Unholy feast 3 times, with 30% reduced effectivness (damage), instead of causing conditions. Signet of undeath now finishes downed foes, as well as reviving allies (3 targets max, 120 radius), and grants life force per foe finished and ally revived. (10% per target).

Major Grandmaster: Signets of suffering- Signets recharge faster (15%), and convert 2 boons into conditions. Signet of spite now deals damaging conditions. (Pretty much as it is now.) Cast poison nova (2 stacks of poison for 7s, 360 radius) around you when you use a signet. Poison lasts longer. (10%)

Major Grandmaster: Signets of renewal- Signets recharge faster (20%), and remove 2 conditions from you. Signet of spite now pulses 5 times, removing 1 condition per pulse from you and nearby allies. Last pulse now also heals allies (240 radius). Plague signet now additionaly removes 1 condition from nearby allies every 10s, and grants you resistance (1s) per condition sent when cast.

I know what you think…this is over the top! But if all professions were altered in such a way, that each traitline upgrades/alters weapons/skills, and focuses on either Power, Condi, or support/heal playstyle, it would open up new quite a few new builds. It would be a lot to rework though, no kidding. Adept and Master traits would improove upon certain weapons, while Grandmaster traits would improove upon specific type of skills (In this example, signets.) I used necromancer as an example, becuase I am most familiar with him. Each profession could be improoved upon in this sense, however.

Rastislav.1652:

Dave.6819:

all it takes for anet is to look back at gw2 pre HoT. maybe even pre June patch 2015. those weren’t the best times but still.. atleast more then 1 or 2 builds were viable for each class. zerker mesmer? sure. go for it. condi mesmer? sure. as good as zerker. condi guard? sure. OP. medi guard? sure. even better. anyway no idea tho.. anet has to figure things out somehow. but i guess looking back at stuff is the way to go. like.. maybe bring old trait system. make more choices available and mixed up builds/traits. changing trait system would be a start.

Indeed, you have a point there. I too, stated before (In a different post) that since HoT PvP became significally less balanced. The number of aviable builds has shrunk. (From 2-3 to 1, which is, always the current meta. No putting it mildly, it is just plain bad balance of traits/skills.) The way I see it condi builds are easier to play, offer wide variety of advantages (Being chilled, or weakened is especially deadly for a power build.) and deal similar, if not more damage than power builds, while requiring less stat combinations. (Condition damage vs. Power/precision/ferocity.) I would suggest anet tones down condition damage, or rather condition application to bring more viability to power builds. You can easily see the huge difference in power vs condi on mesmer. A power mesmer mostly utilizes F1 shatter and some phantasmas to deal damage, while F2, F3, and F4 are more of an utility. He also has a window when he cant spike you down, wheter he has F1 or phantasms on cooldown. If you manage to dodge those skills, it opens up a potential window for your own attacks. On the other hand condi mesmer deals conditions with each of his shatters, and pumps out so much condition damage, that dodging becomes redundant, you will get hit anyways. There is no spike to dodge, his damage is constant. Compare that to Necromancer, who, despite having condition build has to land his attack properly, and the cast times are VERY telegraphed, except for staff. You can clearly see what is he doing, and act accordingly. Maybe a bit too easy to dodge, during those painfully slow cast times. So to compare, mesmer has more ways to apply conditions, does it from safe distance, and constantly, while confusing you with his clones, has invisibility, and other utilites. Necromancer has to properly time his attacks to land conditions effectively, for example signets are easily dodged, scepter attacks slowly, and if he misses these attacks, he is without life force, and becomes easy target in close range. This causes one proffesion to apply conditions much faster, easier, and is punished way less (Or not at all) for missing his attacks, and not timing properly. Also traits could be more streamlined. My idea is, each triatline would offer a set of traits tailored to certain build, while still following certain theme. For example, top traits could be power, middle traits could condi, and bottom support/healing. Not to mention some core specializations are just plain WORSE than others. (Hello, Warrior Discipline, Elementalist Arcana, Guardian Honor, Necro Blood Magic, etc. What happened to you? Or, should I ask what did not happen?) It seems to me as if the devs have this mentality, where they overhaul some core specs, and pretty well, (Give credit where credit is due.) but leave others terribly underpowered. This leaves other specs useless, becuase nobody uses them? Or what is the excuse here? Well, duh! Of course nobody touches them when they are underwhelming. The best balance (At least in my opinion, because we all know perfect balance is very hard to achieve, if at all.) would be that each class has three avaible builds at all times (Power, Condi, Support/Heal) with some variations on them. (For example there could be condi Necro with corruptions, or Signets, one with spite, the other with curses traitlines.) Each triatline would offer traits for the specific playstyle, but each with different flavour and function to them. An example for necromancer Spite traitline here:

Minor Adept: Reaper’s Might – Shroud skill 1 grants might.

Minor Master: Death’s Embrace- Inflict vulnerability when you strike a foe below the health threshold. Deal more damage while downed.

Minor Grandmaster: Siphoned Power- Gain might when you strike a foe below the health threshold. (1 sec ICD)
(Minor traits pretty much as they are now.)

Major Adept: Spiteful talisman- Focus skills recharge faster (20%), Reaper’s Touch now grants 2 stacks of might (5sec) to allies, and 2 stacks of vulnerability (5s) to enemies it bounces to. (No regeneration). Spinal shivers now additionaly causes weakness, instead of chill. (2s per boon removed.)

Major Adept: Spiteful Renewal- Focus skills recharge faster (15%), regeneration lasts longer (20%). Reaper’s Touch now grants regeneration (5s) and removes 1 condition per bounce on ally. Spinal shivers now additionaly pulses healing around foes (300 radius) per boon removed. (400 hp/pulse, 3 pulses max, 1 sec interval.)

Major Adept: Blight Talisman- Focus skills recharge faster (15%), conditions applied by your focus skills last longer (10%). Reaper’s Touch now burns foes it hits (1 stack for 3s) and removes 1 boon. Spinal shivers now convert boons to conditions, and grants you resistance. (1s per boon removed).

Major Master: Unholy Fervor- Reduce recharge of axe skills.(20%) Axe skills deal increased damage to vulnerable foes. (10%) Rending claws now send out a wave that damages foes in front of you. (3 targets max. 600 range) Unholy Feast now deals more damage (3%) and grants retaliation (3s) for each foe it hits. (It no longer converts boons.)

Major Master: Torment Cleaver- Reduce recharge on axe skills. (15%) Rending claws now apply bleeding, and bounce bethween foes. (5 sec per strike, 2 bounces) Unholy feast now converts 2 boons to conditions, and applies torment (5s) per condition converted. Torment lasts longer. (10%)

Major Master: Vampiric Axe- Reduce recharge on axe skills. (20%) Rending claws and Ghastly claws now additionally siphon health from foe. Unholy feast now heals around you (360 radius) for each enemy it hits.

Major Grandmaster: Signets of power- Signets recharge faster, (20%) grant you might (3 stacks for 15s) and cause vulnerability on foes. (5 stacks for 10s) Signet of Spite now pulses Unholy feast 3 times, with 30% reduced effectivness (damage), instead of causing conditions. Signet of undeath now finishes downed foes, as well as reviving allies (3 targets max, 120 radius), and grants life force per foe finished and ally revived. (10% per target).

Major Grandmaster: Signets of suffering- Signets recharge faster (15%), and convert 2 boons into conditions. Signet of spite now deals damaging conditions. (Pretty much as it is now.) Cast poison nova (2 stacks of poison for 7s, 360 radius) around you when you use a signet. Poison lasts longer. (10%)

Major Grandmaster: Signets of renewal- Signets recharge faster (20%), and remove 2 conditions from you. Signet of spite now pulses 5 times, removing 1 condition per pulse from you and nearby allies. Last pulse now also heals allies (240 radius). Plague signet now additionaly removes 1 condition from nearby allies every 10s, and grants you resistance (1s) per condition sent when cast.

I know what you think…this is over the top! But if all professions were altered in such a way, that each traitline upgrades/alters weapons/skills, and focuses on either Power, Condi, or support/heal playstyle, it would open up new quite a few new builds. It would be a lot to rework though, no kidding. Adept and Master traits would improove upon certain weapons, while Grandmaster traits would improove upon specific type of skills (In this example, signets.) I used necromancer as an example, becuase I am most familiar with him. Each profession could be improoved upon in this sense, however.

You wrote more than I did in my whole semester