First of all there is nothing unreliable about the “bug”. It works exactly the same way, every time. Arcane Wave is in no way more reliable than Arcane Brilliance. Just because something may be a bug does not mean it is unreliable. I think you may have the wrong idea about how coding works. There are bugs that only affect abilities in very certain situations, which can create unreliability, and then there are bugs that affect abilities in a very consistent manner. Arcane Brilliance is an example of the latter, and there is nothing unreliable about it.
Second, pressing escape does not stop your movement unless you are using autorun. If you are using autorun in a high pressure environment then you are already doing something wrong, so you can’t complain about it breaking up your flow. And even if you are using autorun, just hold W before you hit escape. It’s not hard, it’s not distracting, and complaining about it is just silly.
Third, complaining about the extra half second needed to press escape directly contradicts your later suggestion to make Arcane Brilliance a ground targeted skill. Even with Instant Ground Targeting enabled, you still need to take the extra half second to position your mouse properly before you can use the skill. Arcane Brilliance was originally a ground targeted skill when it was first released, and it was changed to a targeted skill due to the above issue, as well as underwater issues.
Fourth is the use of autotarget. In a PvE environment it doesn’t matter if you use autotarget, mainly because GW2 PvE is such a joke that it doesn’t really matter what you do with anything. Aside from high level fractals, all you need in PvE is a full set of zerker gear and party members who are not completely idiotic and you will roll through everything. Even high level fractals are not a huge deal as long as you have a beneficial group composition. I mean seriously, people solo entire fractals, they’re really not that challenging. Even though GW2 has PvE, the only truly competitive aspect of it is the PvP. Using autotarget in WvW or sPvP is a great way to screw yourself over. There are plenty of times where you need to use charges such as RtL without a target, and with autotarget on this becomes incredibly difficult to do.
From your words, it sounds like you mainly PvE. While there is absolutely in no way anything wrong with that (I love PvE), there is also no question that there are no high pressure scenarios in PvE if you have even the slightest idea what you’re doing. Everything is scripted and predictable, and bosses give you plenty of time and warning to do what you need to do. Like I said above, people can solo many dungeons and fractals, and the ones that can’t be soloed are only because they have mechanics that require multiple people, not because they are too difficult. Because of all of this, I really don’t understand how you can be complaining about such an insignificant little mechanic. There is no situation in PvE where a half second delay of hitting escape before hitting AB will cost you the fight (unless of course you spent the first second of a warning telegraph just standing there not paying attention).
Regardless, this is all a moot point. The skill is either bugged or it isn’t, it will either be changed or it won’t. Our little debate here is not going to do anything to change the course of the skill, and the OP’s question has already been answered. The rest of this is just a waste of energy between two people with differing ideals who don’t even know each other. Time to put this to rest, don’t you think?
