Guild Wars 2

So, I’ve been considering recent class balances, and my impression is that a lot of it arises from utility.

Mesmers are useful in sPvP and WvW because of portal. They would be useful even if they had no other skills at all. Because of that, some people will keep playing Mesmers no matter how much they get nerfed.

So, move portal to engineer. Without portal, barring diehards and people who hang on because of gear commitment, no one will play Mesmer anymore. At that point, possibly, someone will realize they could use a bit of a buff.

Anyone with me in this?

Agree even if I will never play engineer anyway… Engineers should be able to cast a portal similar to mesmer skill based on asuran technologies that makes sense. I would even imagine that portal way out surrounded with an invulnerability dome that would last 3sec (like the dome that guardians can cast).

I would be perfectly happy with this, would finally shut up the people who QQ about mesmers being “mandatory” due to their utility.

I’m not sure Engineers will be to happy with getting even more of their skills nerfed though.

Richard Nixon.6573:

I would be perfectly happy with this, would finally shut up the people who QQ about mesmers being “mandatory” due to their utility.

I’m not sure Engineers will be to happy with getting even more of their skills nerfed though.

and then you would be kitten at everyone QQing over wanting engis and also QQing over wanting mesmers, its not portal that most people are after its the timewarp

Lol, Anet giving engis something useful?
Right….

+1 for aperture science

its not portal that most people are after its the timewarp

Timewarp is useless in WvW: it rotates who it buffs and it’s too small a buff for its cooldown.

greyblue.4962:

its not portal that most people are after its the timewarp

Timewarp is useless in WvW: it rotates who it buffs and it’s too small a buff for its cooldown.

it is still great in a zerg for adding that little bit of extra burst to take down towerslords etc help build the siege and rez. Even more effective in small groups

It may not be good in open field zerg v zerg but thats why we have multiple choices in elites to swap out for different situations

What the Engineer SHOULD get however is a viable siege elite – mortar. The kittenty kitten poor excuse of a crappy thing that it currently is. There are good working mortars in the game (ie catapult style, aim and hold), yet the Engineer mortar work like a short range arrow cart shooting 1 arrow.

McNuggetBandit.8376:

Richard Nixon.6573:

I would be perfectly happy with this, would finally shut up the people who QQ about mesmers being “mandatory” due to their utility.

I’m not sure Engineers will be to happy with getting even more of their skills nerfed though.

and then you would be kitten at everyone QQing over wanting engis and also QQing over wanting mesmers, its not portal that most people are after its the timewarp

No, no I would not. I couldn’t give two kittens about what people want me to do, I play the way I find fun. And I don’t care if Time Warp gets given to someone else either; I personally find the ability to borderline bad because of the cooldown. Let some other class have to deal with having their kitten nerfed because of it.

Heh – as a Condition Mesmer from 1-day headstart:
Go on, give that cursed utility to someone else. All it’s done for us, is be one of the major things that; 1.) Pidgeonhole the class into “Role X,” and 2.) Act as a roadblock to the class’ issues being worked on.
Seriously. How many threads have existed, RE: Mesmer bugs and fixing then, only to be drowned out by “But you have Portal and Time Warp, hurrr duuuur!”? I’m over it.
Especially with the Confusion mod. Cool, I’m still rolling Condi-build. But, there are some problems left to fix. Thank you.

But, back to the original point. You want it, Engis? You want the Curse of Portal? Go for it, bro.

Advent.6193:

Heh – as a Condition Mesmer from 1-day headstart:
Go on, give that cursed utility to someone else. All it’s done for us, is be one of the major things that; 1.) Pidgeonhole the class into “Role X,” and 2.) Act as a roadblock to the class’ issues being worked on.
Seriously. How many threads have existed, RE: Mesmer bugs and fixing then, only to be drowned out by “But you have Portal and Time Warp, hurrr duuuur!”? I’m over it.
Especially with the Confusion mod. Cool, I’m still rolling Condi-build. But, there are some problems left to fix. Thank you.

But, back to the original point. You want it, Engis? You want the Curse of Portal? Go for it, bro.

I WANT IT BRO!!!!

I REALLY DO WANT IT BRO!!!!!

Do people actually still use portal except for when a mesmer has hidden inside a keep?

Genev.2450:

Do people actually still use portal except for when a mesmer has hidden inside a keep?

Nope

Genev.2450:

Do people actually still use portal except for when a mesmer has hidden inside a keep?

Yep, siege golem portal train.

They should just make the portals like in portal. If you go over it, you don’t have a choice but to go through it. Same with projectiles. Give engi a portal gun from portal

Oh I like that! Drop a portal that only the opponent can go through in front of a zerg and they have no choice but to go through it… Muauauaua that’s ripe for all kinds of trolling! Portal to cliff!

They should just make the portals like in portal. If you go over it, you don’t have a choice but to go through it.

They were like that in BWE1. It took less than two days for trolls to realize they could put one outside an asura portal and the other end somewhere where a single step forward would make you fall to your death.

I think there could be two cool portal changes:

1) Give engi’s their own “portal”, which would be an elite skill that would build an Asuran gate that maybe lets in 10-15 people
2) Remove the cap on portals for people, HOWEVER, make portals become “unstable” after a set amount of people. This instability would become worse, and make it so there is a higher and higher chance of the people being portal somewhere totally random on the map. I think that’d be an interesting, and effective, nerf.

But I don’t think any mesmers would hate engi’s getting their own, as long as kept our own, since some of us use them in PvE, for glamour field blinds, etc.

Yeah,
I would be glad to see other classes get Portal.

I hate being asked to do portals. It’d be nice to see another class than Mesmers start getting portal duty.
I’ll portal people into a keep/tower I’ve hidden in,
Or to speed up supply runs (Those ones are just as much for me and just happen to help everyone else),
SOMETIMES I’ll lay down a single portal in the EB JP before I leave, but usually I just leave.

I slot my utility skills for combat, drives me insane to have a slot wasted with Portal.

let them build mini asura gates

Back in the old Bugs Bunny cartoons ACME had perfected the portable hole. I suggest that for Asuran Engineers only, a class skill to create a portable worm hole. It however, like all ACME products has one critical flaw. The user of the portable worm hole is teleported to some random spot on the map they are currently in.

Meh, engineers already have decent group support. Why not give it to a class that lacks group support, like rangers? You can call it in animal trail, or gopher tunnel!!!

I got a better idea to achieve the same result: don’t give it to Engi’s, take it away from Mesmers.

Johje Holan.4607:

I got a better idea to achieve the same result: don’t give it to Engi’s, take it away from Mesmers.

One of the auto-attacking zerglings who doesn’t want any sort of dynamics except open field skill spamming in WvW is surfacing O:

EnRohbi.2187:

Johje Holan.4607:

I got a better idea to achieve the same result: don’t give it to Engi’s, take it away from Mesmers.

One of the auto-attacking zerglings who doesn’t want any sort of dynamics except open field skill spamming in WvW is surfacing O:

Lol, you’re so pro.

Sorry, engineers are mechanical types… portals require being able to tap into chaotic magics like only a mesmer can. Mesmers tweak reality. Engineers make things go bang. It makes no sense to nerf mesmers, especially in such a silly way.

Johje Holan.4607:

EnRohbi.2187:

Johje Holan.4607:

I got a better idea to achieve the same result: don’t give it to Engi’s, take it away from Mesmers.

One of the auto-attacking zerglings who doesn’t want any sort of dynamics except open field skill spamming in WvW is surfacing O:

Lol, you’re so pro.

Why thank you for the acknowledgement.
It’s so nice to be recognized without even having to boast ;D

Anyway,
I was joking.
Portal is a good skill to have in the game, and it adds a lot of layers to combat, mobility and tactics in WvW. Taking it out completely would be a bad decision.

Having it exclusive to mesmers is also a bad idea, hence me supporting this thread.
And Anet talked unofficially a few months ago about doing exactly this anyway; giving Portal mechanics to other classes. So I think it’s likely we’ll see it eventually. Engineers are probably a good bet.

VOLKON.1290:

Sorry, engineers are mechanical types… portals require being able to tap into chaotic magics like only a mesmer can. Mesmers tweak reality. Engineers make things go bang. It makes no sense to nerf mesmers, especially in such a silly way.

Saying that completely ignores one side of Engineering. Namely, the quantum/magitech side utilized by the Asura. An Engineer “Portal” would logically be based in Asuran technical progress. Hell, all they need to do, is shrink down their
Waypoint Generators. Sure, the power requirements would be hellish (i.e. C/D and/or # of targets concerns), but it is definately doable.

silkysoft.6749:

They should just make the portals like in portal. If you go over it, you don’t have a choice but to go through it. Same with projectiles. Give engi a portal gun from portal

Portals used to be like that. When you dropped a portal you dropped it in front of you, not under you. You’d run into it and automatically come out the other side behind the other end. (Watch the original Portal skill demo to see it working like that.) Why they nerfed it to require interaction I don’t know… maybe it was because we could chain portals for auto-transit large distances, maybe because we could portal yaks… who knows. I wish it were like it was however.

Well that’s bad news – more profs with portal.

Actually I’d be happy if they just make it so it cannot go through walls. That is the stupidest thing ever. (And is responsible for probably half the accusations of exploiting on the forums)

Advent.6193:

VOLKON.1290:

Sorry, engineers are mechanical types… portals require being able to tap into chaotic magics like only a mesmer can. Mesmers tweak reality. Engineers make things go bang. It makes no sense to nerf mesmers, especially in such a silly way.

Saying that completely ignores one side of Engineering. Namely, the quantum/magitech side utilized by the Asura. An Engineer “Portal” would logically be based in Asuran technical progress. Hell, all they need to do, is shrink down their
Waypoint Generators. Sure, the power requirements would be hellish (i.e. C/D and/or # of targets concerns), but it is definately doable.

By that logic portals should be a racial skill then? You’re not making sense. Portals are using chaos magic to go from point “A” to point “B” while skipping the points in between. While in the normal dimensions the shortest distance between two points is a straight line, when a mesmer tweaks reality the shortest distance between two points is nothing.

VOLKON.1290:

By that logic portals should be a racial skill then? You’re not making sense. Portals are using chaos magic to go from point “A” to point “B” while skipping the points in between. While in the normal dimensions the shortest distance between two points is a straight line, when a mesmer tweaks reality the shortest distance between two points is nothing.

How do I not make sense, when I come up with an in-game “science” variation of a pre-existing skill? Sure, a lot of Engineer skins borrow their look from Charr aesthetics. But, look at crap like Elixirs – that’s obviously some “Mad Science” business, and -logically- reflects a more Asuran scientific methodology. With that in mind, logically the profession borrows its Science from both races’ setups. As such, it’s not
unreasonable that an Engineer -period- could pull such a thing off. Heck, let’s not discuss what Elixir S does to the idea of Conservation of Mass, for crying out loud.

The Reader’s Digest Version:
From a tech standpoint, Asura Waypoints create a wormhole between points “A” and “B”. Given that, the technology exists. Since the technology exists, it’s only a matter of time before other parties figure(d) it out. Problem solved.

Advent.6193:

VOLKON.1290:

By that logic portals should be a racial skill then? You’re not making sense. Portals are using chaos magic to go from point “A” to point “B” while skipping the points in between. While in the normal dimensions the shortest distance between two points is a straight line, when a mesmer tweaks reality the shortest distance between two points is nothing.

How do I not make sense, when I come up with an in-game “science” variation of a pre-existing skill? Sure, a lot of Engineer skins borrow their look from Charr aesthetics. But, look at crap like Elixirs – that’s obviously some “Mad Science” business, and -logically- reflects a more Asuran scientific methodology. With that in mind, logically the profession borrows its Science from both races’ setups. As such, it’s not
unreasonable that an Engineer -period- could pull such a thing off. Heck, let’s not discuss what Elixir S does to the idea of Conservation of Mass, for crying out loud.

The Reader’s Digest Version:
From a tech standpoint, Asura Waypoints create a wormhole between points “A” and “B”. Given that, the technology exists. Since the technology exists, it’s only a matter of time before other parties figure(d) it out. Problem solved.

Portals and waypoints are completely different. Waypoints require some form of mechanical anchoring between the ends of the wormholes. Portals poke holes in reality via chaotic magics. Mesmers understand chaotic magics. Asura understand magitechnical anchoring and tuning. A charr engineer makes things go boom. Asuran mesmers understand everything and are the intellectually dominant forms of life on the planet.

VOLKON.1290:

Portals and waypoints are completely different. Waypoints require some form of mechanical anchoring bwtween the ends of the wormholes. Portals poke holes in reality via chaotic magics. Mesmers understand chaotic magics. Asura understand magitechnical anchoring and tuning. A charr engineer makes things go boom. Asuran mesmers understand everything and are the intellectually dominant forms of life on the planet.

Love the last line. Snaff, who?
But from a game-mechanics point, it could still work. An Engineer “Portal” or “Micro-waypoint” would logically require two devices placed at both ends of the resultant wormhole. This would replicate the mechanics of Portal Entre/Portal Exeunt in a
“technological” fashion.

And let’s be honest here. Mesmers are closer to Psionicists than Magicians, when one
looks at their ability list. The only reason they’re classed as “Magic-users” is due to GW
Lore.

Genev.2450:

Do people actually still use portal except for when a mesmer has hidden inside a keep?

Yes we do. To transport golems faster towards the destination. In fact that is exactly what we did to capture an enemy keep not so many days ago. The golem rush is still alive and doing well.

Engineer has several lackluster utilities e.g. utility goggles (too weak), rocket boots (too long cooldown and doesn’t work underwater), so engineers would surely love to have something powerful, which would suit their professions. Not to mention turrets, which are still more or less useless in WvWvW. Anet gives a nerf bat to the least played profession with every update and gives back something useless, like buffs to turrets. They think circa 5900 health healing turret is gonna be a big hit in WvWvW? It will be destroyed in less than 1 second in any zerg encounter.

Engineers should logically be masters of siege, but in fact none of their trait lines offers anything useful for using siege weapons. Unlike warriors, who have the totally overpowered adept trait Leg specialist. Combine that with arrow cart and 1 s tick cripples become immobilized as well. Like the others already said the Mortar elite skill utterly sucks and I don’t know any good engineer who uses it.

Portal? Feh! We need teleporters!

Portal bomb is an amazing tactic its quite common too

Oh, yeah, Golems, knew i forgot something…..
Still, both the keep thing and the golem thing are very specific situations, it’s not like “the olden days” where portalbombing was THE thing to do for attacking and Mesmers pretty much had to have portal equipped all the time.