Guild Wars 2

Just something for Anet to ponder if they’re reading… how many of us actually get to use our useful downed skills before the stomp? Not talking to you Eles

I’m a Ranger, so it’s not even like mine would even help vs stomps without outside support or specifically chosen pets to buy me time, (and even then probably not) but other classes feel free to input here. I get the sense from reading forums that no one is actually using their useful downed skills in WvW. They seem like they were made with only PvE in mind.

Of course, would making them more accessible just make fighting irritating? Zerg battles impossible and eternal as hordes of people delay the stomps and get up? Don’t know. But I do know that it’s already irritating to know you can’t use a skill because there’s no way you’ll last long enough to do it.

Most of the 2 skills are about interrupting the first stomp. Most of the 3 skills are about buying time.

If you get to use your 3 skill when downed on the ground, then you did a clutch play, the other team failed, or your own team saved your kitten Reducing the cooldown of the 3 abilities will just make downed players harder to kill, which is already a problem when outnumbered.

I agree that not being able to use that lifesaving skill in time is annoying, but it’s designed that way for a reason. The players around you just have to do better at defending you while you’re downed. Sanctuary on a downed player goes a long way.

TLDR; Working as intended.

The entire downed-system was designed around PvE. Not an ounce of time was spent balancing or conceiving it for PvP.

Honestly I think all the skills should have a minimum 4 second cooldown so an instant stomp right after being downed cannot be interrupted.

Stomps need to be made easier, not harder.

It’s not just about stomping though, sometimes you can’t get into range to stomp for whatever reason. Plus you can use various abilities to negate the attempt at interrupting the stomp.

I still think the best way to nerf downed state is to remove the invulnerability buff you get for a second or two when downed. This clears off all existing boons and conditions (annoying as hell for condition builds) and blocks damage for a few seconds to boot.