Guild Wars 2

While I’m not somebody who cries “DH is OP, I die everytim Q.Q”, I still wonder what makes the DH so ridiculously popular and – let’s be honest – incredibly easy to play.
It requires only mediocre reactions to pop everything on time and the current meta build simply has an answer to everything.
- getting focussed? Throw F3 or invuln-elite
- condi burst? Throw F2 or your heal to remove tons of condis
- one strong burst class trying to kill you? Throw Longbow 4 for Blind or use one of your blocks
- enemy not triggering your traps? Throw shield 5 or F1
- wanna stomp or rez safe? Throw F3
- wanna kill stuff? Throw your traps
- Wanna hard CC stuff? Throw longbow 5 or trade elite for Dragons Maw

Funny thing: Except for “kill stuff” none of these depends on your build or stats Since so much utility is placed on the class skills F1-F3 everything else can be used for damage. DH is a top damage dealer atm – and if I remember it right, it was designed as protective, supportive class. Death is best CC eh?

My opinion: DH should be tweaked. Not nerfed but tweaked. I’d love to see some more skill factors on that class. The Conquest game mode revolves around capture points and this alone removes some of the best counterplay to sitting ducks – you HAVE to engage on them. The fact that they can just lay traps, deal heavy damage and still have the survivability of an engi or even more, makes it far too easy. Not to mention the pull if someone wants to use mobility (DHs only weakness) against you.

That’s it with the thread – /discuss!

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If you are bored: I have some ideas for tweaks. Nothing great and maybe not the solution to the problem, but I was bored and wanted to get this of. Maybe I can underline my point, that I don’t want plain nerfs on the DH. I want to make it harder to be a good DH.

Tweaks (ideas)
- remove some of the effects of the key skills and add them to clashing traitlines, e.g. remove the pull on F1 and add a trait “you can pull if you hit with F1”, but also do the same with e.g. the AoE block of F3 and put the traits in the same line so you can just have one of those
==> removes some of the flexibility and “I have a tool for everything no matter what I build”
- remove stacking of traps from multiple DHs. If one DH lays a trap where any ally DH already placed one, the first traps will be removed without effect
==> greatly removes the effectiveness of multiple DHs or at least requires more coordination / skill
- increase scaling of offensive & defensive skills based on build, e.g. greatly decrease the healpower of a berzerker/marauders build (looking at you, F2). In the same way, greatly decrease the damage of a healer build
==> no “jack-of-all-trades” is possible anymore without some sacrifice

Make traps usable only offpoint (either that or reduce trap damage)

I will add to the discussion here why it’s so popular right now.

- It’s pretty easy to pick up, not gunna lie about it. It only gets difficult when you start fighting against people that know how to play and force you to blow your defenses.

-We’re in a glass meta, guardian is the easiest to play at the moment. Back a few seasons how others would describe as faceroll were Necros, condi mesmers and warriors and scrappers. Condi specs had mercenary amulet which was [Power,Condi,Vit,Toughness] and Scrappers had lower CDs, heavier health regen with Rapid Regn and were able to do good damage with paladin amulet. Eles back then also had cleric amulet and much higher healing with elemental bastion and Wash Away the pain. I think it might be a amulet problem, that extra health cushion goes a long way for guardians.

-DH when it was designed, was designed to be a offensive damage class core guardian was designed fore support and defending. If we were going to go off based on this design I’d rather have the DH virtues be true to what they were designed for. Being selfish. F3 could only protect the DH himself and no one else. F2 has a higher base heal then core, so it’d probably be better if it didn’t heal anyone else. F1 is fine with it’s pull but I’m on the fence about it, if you want it to be eve more reactable giving it a 0.5s cast time would be good while keeping it unblockable and at current speed would be better, the other way would be to keep it at 0.25s cast time but nerfing the speed it travels, adding Hunter’s Verdict to a trait requirement would just make the trait a mandatory trait which limits choice, not a good way to go about things either.

Trap stacking, either I’d vouch for diminished damage when triggering multiple of the same kind. Otherwise you could just lower the damage on them like PoB and such. Also giving them active portions like Shadow Trap so they don’t have CD start as soon as you put it down that way you can’t double up on them with one person. Removing a trap if another player of the same type places a trap isn’t the way to go about it, it’s like if someone in zerker’s places down a trap then then another person in Paladin’s or magi’s places down another one and removes the other’s trap, you see how that can screw things up? You’re asking for some deep coordination in solo queue which frankly is a really bad idea since it hardly ever exists unless you’re in voice coms.

Tiefsee.3647:

Make traps usable only offpoint (either that or reduce trap damage)

Fairly sure that wont happen.

off & def in a same time this go though whole HoT GW2
Not problem of DH. You can see same thing in staff/condi thief , mes , rev ,warrior…..

every class needs a 1200 range skill with damage adjusted to class for a true DH balance…me thinks

Gwaihir.1745:

Tiefsee.3647:

Make traps usable only offpoint (either that or reduce trap damage)

Fairly sure that wont happen.

I know, but just imagine that for a second – on courtyard

If only thieves can have a stealth Disable Device skill to disarm one setted trap.. or make the trap harm the trapper

ignore trap trait on thief sounds funny. If traited a thief won´t trigger a trap. Of course a teammate can trigger and kill the thief … oops ^^. Maybe add this to improvisation :-).