Guild Wars 2

Source: http://www.tentonhammer.com/news/guild-wars-2/guild-wars-2-heart-thorns-specializations-and-jon-peters-qa

Note that all the changes listed are experimental and may or may not make it to live when HoT is realeased so don’t get panic yet if you do not like the changes, post your concerns about the new changes below.

Changes to Minor Traits:
* Soothing Mist and Healing Ripple will stay the same.
* Bountiful Power will become a Grandmaster Trait and replaced with Aquatic Benevolence.

Changes to Major Traits: we will have 3 of each Adept, Master, and Grandmaster traits to choose from. These new traits are either the same as live or new or combination of existing traits.

Adept Traits:
* Soothing Ice: Gain regeneration and Frost Aura when you critically hit. (this is new)
* Piercing Shards: While attuned to water, your spells deal more damage to vulnerable foes. Vulnerability lasts longer. (Water IV + new)
* Stop, Drop, and Roll: Dodge rolling removes burning and chilled. (same as Water VII)

Master Traits:
*Soothing Disruption: Cantrips grant you regeneration and vigor. Cantrip recharge is reduced. (Water III + Water IX)
* Cleansing Wave: Remove a condition from you and your allies when attuning to water. (same as live)
* Aquamancer’s Training: Deal extra damage when your health is above the threshold. Reduces recharge on all water weapon skills. (Water VI + Water XIII)

Grandmaster Traits:
* Cleansing Water and Powerful Aura will stay the same
* Bountiful Power: Deal more damage for each boon on you. (this is my own expectation but I think if Anet is going to make this a major Grandmaster trait, it should be reverted back to 2% damage increase for each boon)

These are the traits that are currently on live but missing from the new Water Traitline:
* Arcane Abatement: Take less damage from falling. Create a spell when you take falling damage, based on your attunement. (This trait may get moved somewhere else)
* Shard of Ice: Arcane and signet skills cause vulnerability when activated.
* Soothing Wave: Gain regeneration when critically hit.

Do you think that each trait is viable and strong enough to compete with with other now? If not, why?

Given that it’s called “Soothing Ice” I imagine it’s just a typo and means we gain that when get Critically Hit rather than when we Critically hit. Not sure why we’d gain Frost Aura and Regeneration when we critically hit others. Either scenario it’s a great survivability tool

Master Traits are about the same choices from what I already choose when I go 4+ Water.

As for Shard of Ice that was removed, they mentioned adding some old traits to the Core unlock sections. Maybe Shard of Ice was added to Signets or Arcane automatically?

If you look at the official post Soothing Ice is the same as Soothing Wave. They just added Frost Aura to its existing functionality.

https://www.guildwars2.com/en/news/specializations-part-one-a-primer/

For Cele D/D this is a straight buff. You get all of the cantrip traits and Soothing Ice. Curious if the Frost Aura gets the boons from Zephyr’s Boon and similar traits. Aquatic Benevolence also makes team support stronger at a slight damage loss.

The standard cleansing water path got solid buffs. Soothing ice + soothing disruption +cleansing wave = what’s a condi?

Water magic has always tried to provide a hybrid dps+vulnstack+healer niche. I guarantee you the moment the content calls for a healer of sorts, zealots 66060 will pop up everywhere. Staff with Piercing shards, Aquamancer’s training and bountiful power. Camping mainly water attunement. Stacking vuln and doing reasonable dps with Ice spike spam, providing excellent sustained healing with water auto, burst healing with Geyser.

these are buffs to standard d/d. Bountiful power being traded for aquatic benevolance is a good trade. Soothing ice might be the thing that makes aura builds viable in the meta. Combining the traits is a good idea. +1 for anet

Taiyetos.3260:

Curious if the Frost Aura gets the boons from Zephyr’s Boon and similar traits

Passive auras do not currently trigger this, only skill-activation ones (normal o signet related)

Kodiak.3281:

Given that it’s called “Soothing Ice” I imagine it’s just a typo and means we gain that when get Critically Hit rather than when we Critically hit. Not sure why we’d gain Frost Aura and Regeneration when we critically hit others. Either scenario it’s a great survivability tool

Seems indeed like a typo: in the French version they say it’s when you are critically hit ^^

FrownyClown.8402:

these are buffs to standard d/d.

While it seems like everyone is being power-creeped like crazy, we’ll have to see what the ICD’s on skills are. If getting critically hit, for example, gives you regen AND frost aura I think it’s safe to assume that it has a much higher than 10s ICD, for instance.

I would also expect elemental attunement to get murdered.

With the new system, can you take 2 masteries or are you forced into taking 1 master and 1 grandmaster trait?

I find the grandmaster traits rather lackluster especially in wvw settings.

If you look at the UI, you get to choose only 1 from each tier. There are good options regardless of your build in water (either taking cleansing water for group support/self cleanse) or bountiful power (for more dps). I think powerful aura will remain rather lackluster, especially since they clarify that it is ONLY from weapon skills (thus preventing a full fire/earth/water signet aura-share build).

Gaaroth.2567:

Taiyetos.3260:

Curious if the Frost Aura gets the boons from Zephyr’s Boon and similar traits

Passive auras do not currently trigger this, only skill-activation ones (normal o signet related)

Powerful Aura is the only trait that does not proc on combo fields. Zephyr’s Boon will proc on any aura, including from combos.

http://wiki.guildwars2.com/wiki/Powerful_Aura
http://wiki.guildwars2.com/wiki/Elemental_Shielding
http://wiki.guildwars2.com/wiki/Fire%27s_Embrace

I don’t think that you will be able to take more than one major/master trait.

It will go like this:
Minor1->Major->Minor3->Master->Minor5->Grandmaster

Most of the traits are good choice, the two issues I’d have is that ‘lowers recharge on water skills’ is combined with the wrong trait, it could possibly be it’s own adept trait instead of ‘Stop, Drop and Roll’, which is still not a great choice, or a better fit would be to add it to ‘Cleansing Wave’. If some kind of endurance regen was added to ‘Stop, Drop and Roll’, increased endurance regen if movement is impaired (i.e. crippled, chilled, immobilized, slowed), it could be made a viable choice, I doubt arcana will keep all the endurance traits so adding one to water would be nice.

Valderro.6389:

Most of the traits are good choice, the two issues I’d have is that ‘lowers recharge on water skills’ is combined with the wrong trait, it could possibly be it’s own adept trait instead of ‘Stop, Drop and Roll’, which is still not a great choice, or a better fit would be to add it to ‘Cleansing Wave’. If some kind of endurance regen was added to ‘Stop, Drop and Roll’, increased endurance regen if movement is impaired (i.e. crippled, chilled, immobilized, slowed), it could be made a viable choice, I doubt arcana will keep all the endurance traits so adding one to water would be nice.

I actually disagree with your assessment of stop, drop, and roll. At the adept slot, this skill is VERY strong, allowing cleanse of burn and chill without swapping to water. If you are worried about condis, you take stop, drop, and roll, cleansing wave, and cleansing water. That is 3 condis cleared every 8.7s and a cleanse of burn/chill every 10. SDnR is highly underrated, and probably the best pvp-specific choice at that level.

It seems like a waste that they made Powerful Auras only work with weapon skills at the same time they decided to give frost aura to soothing wave/ ice. It would have made for some great synergy there, but perhaps they do not want to balance both traits around each other. If so, Powerful Auras will need some sort of direct buff instead.

DiogoSilva.7089:

It seems like a waste that they made Powerful Auras only work with weapon skills at the same time they decided to give frost aura to soothing wave/ ice. It would have made for some great synergy there, but perhaps they do not want to balance both traits around each other. If so, Powerful Auras will need some sort of direct buff instead.

Its always been like that it was just never said.

I doubt Anet would remove the fall damage reduction trait. I think they’re going to move it to another line. Looking at all the names of the arcane line, I suspect both arcane abatement and arcane lightning will be moved to the arcane line.

BlackBeard.2873:

I actually disagree with your assessment of stop, drop, and roll. At the adept slot, this skill is VERY strong, allowing cleanse of burn and chill without swapping to water. If you are worried about condis, you take stop, drop, and roll, cleansing wave, and cleansing water. That is 3 condis cleared every 8.7s and a cleanse of burn/chill every 10. SDnR is highly underrated, and probably the best pvp-specific choice at that level.

Outside of pvp though it’s not at all a compelling choice. None of the adepts seem all that great now unless you’re running a lightning hammer build (Piercing Shards). Soothing Ice COULD be good, depending on the cooldown and how long the frost aura is. But Stop, Drop and Roll? I would happily take Cleansing Wave in it’s place if I could…

Why must Anet keep screwing with our trait choices in water magic?

Please put that knife down!

Nothing is written in stone now (haha). We will see more balances later.

I agree that S,DaR is a kind of lackluster now but it only takes a lil’ bit of adjustment and it will be on par with the others.

This official information wasn’t about the traits individually. It just presented the new system.

Very nice, from the stream they will buff Bountiful Power back to 2%

Edit: Arcane Abatement will be in Arcana Tree

I love the new soothing ice a LOT as I imagine it will sync with elemental shielding I really hate the idea of HAVING to take aquatic benevolence over the old bountiful power I mean if you’re going to make us choose between cleansing water and bountiful power at least give us something as good as the old bountiful power in it’s place. I wouldn’t mind it as much if the 25% healing benefitted you as well as your team mates.