Guild Wars 2

Going through the portal should daze you for 4 seconds and put on a 3 second revealed debuff.

Thats all, it needs no nerfs.

Xavi.6591:

digitalfodder.5086:

Portal does the exact opposite, it prevents “creative dynamic” because its the only thing thats being used.

So Portals are being used every time they are off cooldown during sieges? Hardly.

So you think a creative dynamic will be knocking down a gate/wall and then defending that hole every time via zerg vs zerg until attrition takes it’s toll on those that have the farther res point and the other side pushes through and wins? Sounds like a very “creative dynamic” to me.

There are a lot of people posting in this thread that I bet have never even been in a portal bomb or been portal bombed more than once per week and for the sake of adding noise, they just cry that it is OP because everyone else is crying that it is OP.

100B is OP. Spin2win is OP. D/D Elementals are OP. Thieves are OP. Lets all nerf those as well.

I’ve seen it enough to get pissed off by it, granted the culling problem is the real problem here but that will never get fixed. Whats the harm in limiting it to groups members only? No one here is complaining because they can, more likely the other way around as Mesmers see it as a nerf, which it isn’t. I have no idea why you brought up the other skills, they don’t nearly have as much affect in WvW as a portal, but i guess you’re just out of argument? Stealth cap preventing was removed, that was the only one that came close.

portal is used for one reason, it works with culling to give the portal team an advantage. What we could do is give high priority rendering to all Mesmers so we can see you running in a mile away, I would be okay with that.

Daecollo.9578:

Going through the portal should daze you for 4 seconds and put on a 3 second revealed debuff.

Thats all, it needs no nerfs.

No that is quite clearly a nerf. It would be useless in PvE and as an escape mechanic. Limiting it to group/5 people is fine.

digitalfodder.5086:

Daecollo.9578:

Going through the portal should daze you for 4 seconds and put on a 3 second revealed debuff.

Thats all, it needs no nerfs.

No that is quite clearly a nerf. It would be useless in PvE and as an escape mechanic. Limiting it to group/5 people is fine.

Your escaping a fight, why would you need to attack back? Dazing doesn’t hinder your movement one bit.

It wouldn’t nerf its use in getting places, you can still get to a place inside a keep and wait for 4 seconds. (for example, getting people to a place in PVE, it wouldn’t nerf you there, we always wait before we strike bosses or kill NPCs anyways.)

It wouldn’t nerf you for running away, you can still use it to get far away.

It would however, nerf portal bombing.

digitalfodder.5086:

Daecollo.9578:

Going through the portal should daze you for 4 seconds and put on a 3 second revealed debuff.

Thats all, it needs no nerfs.

No that is quite clearly a nerf. It would be useless in PvE and as an escape mechanic. Limiting it to group/5 people is fine.

The problem of limiting Portal to your 5-man group now becomes a problem where every 5-man group should require a Mesmer, and this then excludes or diminishes the need for other professions being in the group.

Party-only Portals is not the answer.

Daecollo.9578:

digitalfodder.5086:

Daecollo.9578:

Going through the portal should daze you for 4 seconds and put on a 3 second revealed debuff.

Thats all, it needs no nerfs.

No that is quite clearly a nerf. It would be useless in PvE and as an escape mechanic. Limiting it to group/5 people is fine.

Your escaping a fight, why would you need to attack back? Dazing doesn’t hinder your movement one bit.

It wouldn’t nerf its use in getting places, you can still get to a place inside a keep and wait for 4 seconds. (for example, getting people to a place in PVE, it wouldn’t nerf you there, we always wait before we strike bosses or kill NPCs anyways.)

It wouldn’t nerf you for running away, you can still use it to get far away.

It would however, nerf portal bombing.

No, it would be useless.

Portal is also a kiting mechanic. You can re-enter until it disappears, so if it’s stretched out enough you can use it to relieve pressure off you from melee classes by entering, attacking from the other side, going back through, and so on.

If you made it daze it would literally never be used again.

And limiting it to five players would make it just as terrible. I know personally I’d never use it again. I mean, I’d have to group with anyone I wanted to portal, I could only take 4 people at a time… what if I’m not grouped and I want to save that teammate over there? That’s dumb, and I’m going to use the other side of the argument everyone likes to throw around here… if other 5 target limit spells don’t require a group, why should portal?

I suspect due to Anet’s eventual caving in of all the misinformed/bad players/players who don’t understand higher gameplay, that it will eventually be nerfed in some way. I’ll have a lot of respect for them if they don’t, but I just don’t see that happening. If anything, it should be reverted to 60 seconds and allow a limit of 15 players. However, something like that will prove difficult to implement as (and this is why I say people don’t ‘get it’) portal isn’t just a one way destination even though that’s what people want to see it as. As oftenas not it’s used to jump back and forth between two locations. So, how do you add a 15 player use limit if they want to go back and forth?

Anyway, as far as portal being used so much as an argument that it’s too powerful, makes me laugh. The game is still quite young and by no means have people exhausted all options. This game has a lot of depth and there’s nobody who’s mastered the tactical side of it yet, even if they like to think they have. Right now portal is just the fotm tactic that was once used to by a few and is now more mainstream. The counters already exist, but they’re slowly catching on. Eventually, someone will come up with something else, and that too will transition into being the next fotm tactic. This will only become especially more true as Anet adds (not takes away) new dynamics to the game.

It is WAY too early to judge this stuff. It kills me how people think this already.

ok, it doesnt have to be group only, but 5 people max (i.e group) should only be allowed through the portal. that completel negates your argument.

I shall put this idea forward: Anet buff the engineer Mortar to the point where it has a huge impact on the gameplay of WvW. Monster range that can damage walls and gates -cough- like a real mortar -cough- then we will see is get constantly moaned about.
—OR—
An engineer that can repair siege weaponry (with tool kit). These would have a huge impact on gameplay only available to one class.

I’m fine with them adding more ‘team oriented’ roles to classes. If you ask me, I think engineers should be able to package up and move deployed immobile siege. Or repair it. Either way.

I am just against the removal of depth, which despite what people say, portal adds.

Also, that only negates a small section of my argument which that part was really just intended to be sarcasm, not really the whole part of it.

I also like the engi being able to repair siege (it makes sense to me) just have it require supply.

I do agree that portals must be addressed as they are leeching fun out of wvw. For one, they give a further advantage to those with already superior numbers. It removes any risk factor in attacking a fortified position and getting used to the point of ridiculousness. Not 2 days ago I’ve seen 20 people portal bomb a supply camp with 2 defenders. I cannot find any reason how this shows smart gameplay.

I would like to see the portal being used for smaller scale infiltration though if I had my way I wouldn’t have it at all. I don’t want to nerf the mesmer too much though and I suppose some people may like hiding in a keep but the requirement to sweep a keep for 1 person of 1 class or else you will be in danger of losing it is dumb. Sure, in wvw one person can make a difference but the difference should be his intellect, leadership, or skill not through the grace of being a specific class.

I am doubtful that any change will happen that would make everyone happy but at least change the color of an enemy portal so visually we can tell if we’re going to be ripped apart soon…

If they nerfed my portals, I would honesty go crazy. It makes we mesmers even more of a threat. It keeps everyone on their toes since a sudden golem makes things fun. The problem is that if the plan relies to heavily on the portal, lag can kill everything.

digitalfodder.5086:

ok, it doesnt have to be group only, but 5 people max (i.e group) should only be allowed through the portal. that completel negates your argument.

LOL and how do you choose which 5 people portal? Let’s say you are tying to portal your group and some stray pugs walk onto the portal and take it instead.

No thank you.

Infinite numbers of anything is inherently imbalanced.

Limit the amount of people per portal to 10 would merely mean that you’d need to get 2 mesmers in for 20 people, 3 for 30, etc…

What, that’s too difficult for you?

Well, now we know who truly has a problem adjusting to game difficulty.

Okay, after tonight I know why people are having such a hard time and as a Mesmer I say LIMIT portals to 15-20 people MAX until Culling and AOE issues are fixed. Up against a zerg that has portalling down to a T but once they reach their location they pick everyone off in a turtled formation so AOE does not work.

Decklan.7540:

Hi,
As the author of this thread I feel I need to chime in now as it’s gotten out of control in regards to class balance / threats / learn to play / trolling / you suck / etc.

One point is common among the masses though; portal is pretty much the most used tactic in world vs world.

I will now reveal a few things.

Yes I am in the T1 bracket. I have been in T1 for months now. I always thought T1 was a lot of fun and never complained about zergs, or thieves, or warriors, or anyone. To me everything seemed balanced. Then, and I hate to say it because I can’t stand calling servers out, but Sea of Sorrows came by and started portalling everything. Every strat they dished out was based around portal, both Defensive and Offensive. And you know what? They won. And they won handily for three weeks.

As they did it more and more for three weeks straight you started seeing more people leave world vs world. The leader of WM, one of the largest guilds I have seen, made an impassioned plea that world vs world was getting “boring.” The bitter truth though is that he failed to mention one of the caveats as to why it was getting boring; which I believe to be Portal.

T1 is so riddled with Portal now that you can’t go five minutes without someone in /t saying “watch out for Portal bomb.” It’s extended far beyond every other tactic employed in the game. All sides would like to do it too, and I do see all three sides employ the tactic, but the matches suddenly become stale speed zerg rushes with 1 second wipes.

There are very little drawn out defenses, very little battles where the offense can turn the tide, it’s all black or white, hit or miss, do or die, win or lose, and it’s all over in a matter of seconds.

This IN MY OPINION (and by the way the mod changed that title I never use the words in my opinion, it’s like saying “in conclusion,” redundant and shallow) is why Portal needs to change. It needs to change so more strategies can grow, battles become longer or more interesting again, defense is not “wait on the wall until mesmer gets down then portal and wipe their siege,” offense is not two zergs hovering around until one can get the first strike with a portal bomb.

I am not posting this to call out SoS. They are a good server and they have definitely shown the world that you can portal your way to absolute victory. The problem is that is pretty much what wins right now, and people are getting bored out of their minds.

To all those who think I want to nerf mesmer.
I do not. My wife plays a mesmer. Why would I want to hurt a class that my wife plays? In fact, I think mesmers could use a buff, but its not happening because so many people quickly turn to how powerful portal is and you guys get left in the dust. Portal is actually pigeon holing your class more than you would believe.

To all those who think Portal is some brilliant strategy that only the most organized can do, it’s not. It is a strategy entirely based around the skill of the mesmer. If they are good and get in a good flank spot you will win, if they are bad you will wipe. There is no communication involved other then waiting for the commander to type “click portal.”

To those who think I have no skill and that I need to learn to play. Well a wise man once said to just admit you have no skill so those who call you out can learn the skill of coming up with a better argument.

That is all.

Being SoR, and playing SoS as they moved up, (and considering the bit I posted from Sirlin.net), you are completely on the money with this. THE post on this issue.

there are some guilds that over use portals but i dont get why you would have people using /t to remind people about it. We call when we see a mesmer make a break out of the lines or shadow refuge and then unless severly outnumbered attack the portal site before they even come out.
I would like to see portals colour coded to friendly and enemy to help when its chaotic
but feel that the 5 person limit on heals and buff really made a difference to us fighting portal zergs

Portal wouldn’t be so bad if while in WvW Engineers could repair siege, Guardians could revive a ton of people in a large radius or maybe add some sort of Light based strength to walls/doors or something, Rangers could call on the help of the local wildlife, Necromancers could raise defeated players, Elementalists could set enemy siege engines on fire, Thieves could rapidly transport allies across the map unseen, Warriors could plant banners that provided strong buffs to a whole battlefield, and Mesmers could could portal unlimited people short distances for precision strikes and making golems arrive at unprecedented speeds (oh wait, we have that one already).

What I’m saying is, it would be cool if one specific skill on one class wasn’t the ONLY skill in the game that provided such a large benefit to WvW. So much so that pretty much any battle expects mesmers to provide that service, armies have to spend time searching around a keep because that one skill could be their undoing otherwise, etc. If other classes had some large benefit to WvW then portal wouldn’t seem like such a huge issue.

Then there could be more strategies to develop. More variation in battles than…

Step 1: Portal bomb/be on the look out for portal bomb
Step 2: Hide mesmer in keep/make everyone run around frantically looking for that devious mesmer you know is hiding somewhere after you take the tower/keep

Rinse and repeat…