Guild Wars 2

Was messing around with signets and I thought to myself:

Signet active effects should be instant cast and instead be auras associated with the element the signet belongs to. (excluding restoration)

For instance:

Earth Signet active > Magnetic Aura 3-5 seconds
Lightning Signet active > Shocking Aura 3-5 seconds
Etc.

Remove Fire’s Embrace completely
“When you activate a signet, you gain a fire shield for 3 seconds”

If something like this were implemented not only would signets become more attractive in general but signet aura builds would also become a lot more practical IMO.

……………..
At the very least rework Fire’s Embrace so that it applies corresponding auras as a secondary effect along with the signets main effect.

No, I want my earth signet’s root. The problem with it is that the cast time is too long for how obvious the animation is (the visual shows so clearly, and with a 3/4 activation time most of the time it will be dodged).

i mean.. i would like to see that too. this would be cool. but signet builds are very viable.. just no one uses them

the issue with signets is more the lack of a stunbreak, cantrips are just too good at covering our weaknesses.

More access to all auras would be nice(not depending on weapon choice). I think the way their changes are headed is making auras grant boons as well as cause conditions to make them stronger in their own right rather than just a bonus.

Fire shield recently got might on hit and Frost aura got the 10% protection most recently.
Shocking aura is just a stun so far, maybe they could add weakness or something depending on how they revamp that condition in the next patch.
Magnetic aura is a reflect so it might be difficult to change it without hurting existing playstyles. Maybe cause blind on reflected skills if they hit?

If Signets do get changed I’d want them all to be insta-cast stunbreaks before simply becoming aura-triggers. Or at least some of them, like air.

Everybody uses cantrips because without them you have no mobility outside d/d. And no mobility means death.

On my staff I either run all cantrips, or my team needs to babysit me. Scepter is a bit better but it’s useless in wvw because it has little useful aoe.

The biggest problem with Signets is the lack of Stun Breaker. If there was a Stun Breaker it could really open up some Condition based Earth Builds. As is stands without a Stun Breaker you kinda have to “tank” the damage instead through Toughness/Vitality which doesn’t always work out.

I would like the fire trait that makes signets into fire auras, make the signets into auras of their element, with arcane aura (possibly) for heal (because 2 x frost aura would be a pain).

I agree on making signets or other utilities stunbreaks but with the way signet actives and some of the passives (cough air cough water) are now….

cantrip stunbreak > signet stunbreak

Even if signets were made into stunbreaks no one would take them because t the actives are lackluster and redundant. (Not to mention that they can’t compare to the defense a cantrip brings)

Eles already have huge access to burning no need for a fire signet that is single target.

Scepter lightning #3 is an instant single target blind on a 10 sec cooldown + Evasive arcana dodge roll in air for aoe blind every 10 sec + The ele surge trait with arcane spells in air for instant blinds aoe and single target that auto crits no need for air signet.

Good access to chill + ele surge trait etc. no need for a water signet that is single target.

Immobilize with dagger #3 earth + ele surge trait etc no need for an earth signet that is single target.

Could you imagine how awesome it would be to be able to choose an aura you apply based on the situation regardless of wep set. Now imagine this new function being applied with traits like zephyrs boon, elemental shielding, and powerful auras. That to me screams versatility.

Day dreams about a 0/10/10/30/20 build with perma group fury, protection, swiftness with insta group auras of all flavors for any situation.

Benji.9203:

I agree on making signets or other utilities stunbreaks but with the way signet actives and some of the passives (cough air cough water) are now….

cantrip stunbreak > signet stunbreak

Even if signets were made into stunbreaks no one would take them because t the actives are lackluster and redundant. (Not to mention that they can’t compare to the defense a cantrip brings)

Eles already have huge access to burning no need for a fire signet that is single target.

Scepter lightning #3 is an instant single target blind on a 10 sec cooldown + Evasive arcana dodge roll in air for aoe blind every 10 sec + The ele surge trait with arcane spells in air for instant blinds aoe and single target that auto crits no need for air signet.

Good access to chill + ele surge trait etc. no need for a water signet that is single target.

Immobilize with dagger #3 earth + ele surge trait etc no need for an earth signet that is single target.

Could you imagine how awesome it would be to be able to choose an aura you apply based on the situation regardless of wep set. Now imagine this new function being applied with traits like zephyrs boon, elemental shielding, and powerful auras. That to me screams versatility.

Day dreams about a 0/10/10/30/20 build with perma group fury, protection, swiftness with insta group auras of all flavors for any situation.

So go, 20 10 30 0 10. Selfish Aura with perma fury, protection, swiftness, and almost insta auras.

As to huge access to burning so fire is useless, true

As to Good access to chill + ele surge trait, true (good to see someone else using this) but you can never have too much chill.

As to immobilize with dagger 3 making earth useless, true for a bit, see the next one

As to Sceptre air 3 blind and EA blind, air is useless. But above, dagger earth 3 makes earth useless, can’t have a sceptre and dagger main at the same time. There for, an imob with a sceptre would be good (see dragons tooth and phoenix) and a 2nd blind with dagger could be good (assuming d/d EA build here).

I have run the Selfish aura build (with S/F) before and I quite enjoy it. With the right gear set you can even beat mediocre D/D daphoenix build players though it will take a lot of time to achieve.

The signets can find a place in your build, but there are better options (as you said cantrips). The only traits that signets get is the 20 Fire, fire auram cool down reduction, signets effect stay when activated, 25% endurance regain on use and apply vunerability. Where as cantrips can get vigor, regen, might and c/d reduction, not to mention the 30 water trait that makes the regen remove a condition and the trait spread is very thin. Though with a heavy investment you can get swiftness, fury and protection from your signets (with the 20 fire, signets get auras trait)

Signet buffs:
Fire Aura | Fury, Swiftness, Protection (requires fire aura)
20 Fire + 10 air + 10 earth = 40 investment
20 Fire + 10 air + 20 earth = 50 investment get 20% cd on signets
20 Fire + 10 air + 30 earth = 60 investment get 20% cd on signets and their passive stay when activated.
These don’t mention the 20 arcane or 10 water traits either.

The other 10 points for fire is waisted as there is no real good trait to get here, best bet is 5% (pfft why not 10%?) more damage to burning targets. Not to mention the lack of stun breaks in the signets (so you have to drop a signet to get a stun break)

Cantrip buffs
Stun Break, Might, Vigor, Regen | Condtion Removal (requires regen)
Default +10 Fire + 10 Water + 30 water = 40 with the might (not many use this
30 without the might (most people use this, and can get 20% cd on cantrips). In this 1 tree you have almost all of the cantrip related traits (except might). And with your cantrips you have 3 stun breaks, no need to sacrifice any skills.

I believe there needs to be more synergy between the other utilities and traits. Cantrips can be almost fully buffed in 20 trait points within the same line, a line that everyone uses to gain enough survivability to not just die instantly, an additional 10 in fire will secure all the traits for cantrips. The signets require 30 points in earth + 20 in fire + 20 in arcane + 10 in water (leaving 10 fire and 10 arcane free) to gain all of the benefits of signets. But then once you have signets that grant auras, its almost silly to not spec into the auras as well, using all your trait points and not allowing you to take either 20 arcane or 10 air or 10 water.

Just let me know any traits I may have missed.

zephyr’s boon 24/7

@ Razor,
With 20 10 30 0 10 yes, if you cast the auras at the right times. The 10 in arcane you can put elsewhere if you wish, I just like the attune swap to be faster.

Fire: Whatever + Fires Embrace
Air: Zephyr’s Boon
Earth: Signet Mastery + Elemental Shielding + Written in stone
Water:
Arcane:
10 points to spare, I usually go 10 arcane for Elemental Attunement

And I run S/F. Personally I like this build, but it is not as fun/fast as the D/D and doesn’t have as much condition removal (1 auto per 10 sec + 3 on focus earth 4 [25 sec cd] still better then my other builds)

Zenith.7301:

No, I want my earth signet’s root. The problem with it is that the cast time is too long for how obvious the animation is (the visual shows so clearly, and with a 3/4 activation time most of the time it will be dodged).

3/4 isn’t that bad. Necros would kill to get their animations down that low.

Ok, first off, to the OP: I really don’t think we need more access to Auras, at least not in a x/D spec (I don’t really play staff, I can’t comment). Speaking of x/D builds, specifically D/D (though I think it applies to x/F builds as well… but that just gives you an extra fire aura… which isn’t bad per se, but it lacks some variety) with Fire’s Embrace trait you always have access to 3 Auras, enough for perma fury/swiftness and a good access to Protection (and a minor access to might through fire aura).

I agree, however, that a stunbreak on signets would be nice, it would add diversity and I am all about that.

What I want to do now, is argue with you, TGSlasher (not in a bad way):

I disagree with your points that signets and cantrips are uneven on a trait level, because when you factor in actual CD time between cantrips and signets, you can actually reduce the points “needed” to invest in either build down to a comparable level. Now, the build I am talking about is that same personal aura signet build (I really don’t like the term “selfish”… it makes it sound negative), and the main point of the build usually is to use signets, Zephyr’s Boon and Fire’s Embrace to maintain fury/swiftness and all that. Great. Taking that into account, you don’t NEED signet CD reduction or the perma passive bonus in order to match a cantrip build.

Having said that, I argue you can take 20 in Fire, 10 Air and 10 Earth and get all the benefits you “need” from this build, leaving you 30 points to invest for either the perma passive bonuses, OR something like 30 in Arcane for EA (my personal favorite, though Water for shared auras might make this a rather potent option for support). As an example, this is a link to the build I use currently: http://gw2skills.net/editor/?fEAQJAoYhMmcbtx4wjEABFCgwogIiCPUeMTO2A (I will decline from explaining my elite and cantrip choice, still on the fence about both, and I never use my elite* (see below))

Now, I would call this comparable to cantrips for this reason: signet CDs are already much shorter than cantrips, making cantrip CD reduction more “necessary” in a build

If we look at recharge times (I’m not gonna quote them all) cantrips run from 36-72 seconds with those 40 points, and signets run 20-30 seconds with the same 40 point investment.

Benefits for both are as follows:
Cantrips: Might, Regen, Vigor, Condition Removal
Signets: Fury, Swiftness, Protection, Fire Aura (might when hit, burning)

and signets grant those boons on a shorter CD than cantrips, even with the added CD reduction. (And as a reminder, what you can gain in one area, you can then sacrifice in another area to compensate: for example, I sacrifice condition removal from traits and instead use skills to take care of that (water signet))

Benefits: as I see it, are a little strange. Since cantrips grant an innate stun break, that puts them higher on the priority list than signets, but if I include stun break as a benefit, then I have to include the signet effects as benefits, which in turn means you need to consider the cantrip’s effects with benefits as well, which then makes the comparison problematic, since the usefulness of all those benefits becomes hard to judge with the added complexity. (So to accurately compare the specs, I chose to reduce them to the benefits from traits, and compare them purely on that level, if you want to compare the two specs on a build level, then I would argue that you need to take the complete build, weapon, traits, sigils, to whatever level you feel is necessary, then ennumerate every benefit you get from every skill and trait in that build, then judge whether either is lacking)

The intuitive answer I get that makes Cantrips preferable is Stunbreak as a dealbreaker. I agree with the consensus in this thread that adding stunbreak to signets (even just ONE signet) might make them “acceptable”, but I dont think a signet/aura build is as nonviable as people think. (I say this because I have never needed more than the three signets I carry to keep perma swiftness and fury up, and I only ever pop lightning signet regularly, preferring to let water signet tick away at conditions, and resto signet as a sustained healing/emergency heal)

End Note: I have not used this build in PvP of any kind (*and so not tested the efficacy of my cantrip or elite choice). I do plan to in the near future, but doubt with my limited experience (and skill) that I would be able to argue effectively how this build compares to the other meta builds currently. If someone wants to dash into a few arenas and tell us the results, I would get the biggest kick out of that.

Mainly I call it a selfish aura build because it doesn’t include aura share. But you are right to include the cool downs of the skills. It appears as though our prayers may have been answered, looks like Air signet may be getting stun break. I never really was bothered by stuns in the past as with the /F you get reflect (in case a pesky ranger has a go) and obsidian flesh (instant invulnerable, better then mist form though no stun break).

The S/F Self Aura (if that is a better name for you) build I run, 20 10 30 0 10 is one that I have had some experience with in Hot Join and with in lower ranked tPvP (nothing high end, I don’t play near enough for that). I have been able to beat D/D dapheonix players with zerkers (from memory) and thieves with shamans, guardians with knights. I switch and swap ammys for duels / practice against certain builds. Unfortunately I am yet to find an ammy to be on ground with all of the classes and builds at the same time.

My build uses S/F. I would like to use d/f but the lack of movement skills I find limiting the build. Sceptre allows you to engage your foes at range and the focus offers some very nice defensives for lack of cantrips. Currently earth 4 (almost better then cleansing fire, personally I think it is * see below for more on this) earth 5 better then mist for (no stun break), Air 4? swirling winds, good for downing foes and stopping ranged engagements, giving you the starting hand.

As to your D/D build, it opens doors for you to drop one signet (I run with 4 signets) and gain the 2 auras from the weapons. As to using cleansing fire, if you have that for your stun break, you may want to think about switching it as I believe it will be losing it’s stun break come next patch (though its cd should be shorter). *This is where the sceptre’s earth 4 will become better, remove 3 conditions and reflect projectiles. Since you already have air signet (I’m pretty sure that will be the stun break) unless you need the condition removal you now have a free space for another signet. However, you will have to test this in pvp to see if you need the condition removal or not as the new conditions look nasty (revamped weakness and torment)

The other door opened by 30 earth is that you will be able to use the heal signet as an aura generator and still get health from its passive. Not to mention the 1 condition per 10 and near swiftness speed when not using swiftness (very useful for focus). As the majority of damage from my build is stacking up bleeds and burning (from fire aura), earth 30 adds some nice damage. Unfortunately I cant spam attunements as much and don’t get EA.

Finally, the 20% signet c/d with fire sig and air sig (hoping they don’t increase this cd) allow me to maintain 100% protection uptime (including earth swap) when all sigs (including heal) are timed well. This means the sigs are usually on cd at all times during battle.

A final change I would like to see would be for Elemental Surge to work on signets and arcane (as most related traits work on both of these).

My build from memory: http://gw2skills.net/editor/?fEAQJArdhMmcbsx2wjEABFCgw4BIiQiowDlCzA-ToAAzCpI+S9l7LzXyvsfNWY2B

Gear my be incorrect