Guild Wars 2

I recall that a while ago svanir rune was considered being op and broken by saving people too easily, therefore the cooldown got increased. Now Vampirism rune even allows you to move, enter portals, safestomp/rezz, use toolbet skills while it has actually strong small effects with leech procs and power stats.

So I don´t understand the mentality when you say Svanir was broken and nerfed it, yet Vampirism exsists in its current form with a lower cooldown, better stats and effects and lower cooldown.

I don’t agree with the direct comparison, as Svanir also effected chill which is arguably the strongest condi in the game. To have that plus some toughness and an invuln was too much, let alone that the invuln was bugged so you could do things like use a stunbreaker to end the frozen form and still be invulnerable for 5 seconds.

The vamp runes are only strong since the health steal fix, although admittedly the mistform plus that is very strong. It’s also usable on a number of classes and builds, so arguably no more imbalanced than strength runes, traveller, hoelbrek.

It is a OP on cele engies, esp since they can use toolbelt skills. Cele engies are already INCREDIBLY tanky and hard to take down, and this rune really shores up their one weakness. I don’t mind it on burstier classes, as this is strictly a meta pick. With so many people able to burst you down, being able to get out is very strong. It is a problem absolutely on stronghold, as defenders will be invincible with the ability to waltz right back through the portal anytime they get low.

On engies especially, this helps fill in the small gaps you have between gear block, and healing turret, and removes the susceptibility to strong concentrated burst (the only real weakness of the build).

I think vamp runes are fine, I’ve actually been running them in a medi guardian build for a while with success. The extra healing is nice to have, as well as the invuln to fill in a gap between medi cooldowns. Also an interesting source of a safe stomp mechanic. But it doesn’t feel broken in any sense, the invuln comes with its downsides and needs to be played correctly. It just becomes a problem in some builds, same as everything “broken”. A free mist form/60s + shield block/16s, elixir S/60s, and a healing turret/20s and you might as well have 100% uptime of invuln. I’ve only seen a small handful of vamp engi players though, so it doesn’t bug me. They also give up plenty of powerful offensive runes for it.

Vampirism feels really weird indeed, you can finish stomps, use class skills while in it which makes it look buggy but it is also an interesting mechanic.
I’d try buffing the other runes first instead of limiting the viable choices.

Most of the runes are clearly underpowered, or have very specific stats plus a unique effect like rune of the adventurer (effect: gain endurance and might; stats: condi and power – why only hybrid builds can have the effect?)
+7% damage increase against chilled foes effect is ridiculous, when u gain 5% from strength runes which has only useful stats and effects. Chill and Might are not even close to be in the same category in terms of easy of upkeep. Plus curing conditions is way easier removing all the might -> Chill damage bonus should be at least double or more or just replaced by a different effect.
There are many other runes that have really good ideas in them but due to their weird stat combos or bad balancing they are simply unviable. Hope Arenanet will polish them soon. Also new ideas are welcome!

enjoyed facing turret engi with vapmirsm rune on defensive lane…

As far as I remember Svanir Rune was OP because it made you Invulnerable while also holding the point. Guardians would use it with the Mace block bug and basically hold the point against full teams without getting decapped.

That was a long time ago, now lol #memorylane