Guild Wars 2

I think most of us can agree that after the patch, our [known] dependance of celestial shows ours inherent weaknesses. I dont want to dwell too much on the specific but the damage/defense ratio isnt there, so instead I would like to propose some changes that could help the class be brought up in line with other professions;

I think it is no secret that there was a power creep with the expansion, so these changes would fit in line with the changes to other classes.

These are suggestions on how to improve the staff skills, not all of them should be included, please discuss how to improve said suggestions and why. I know this doesnt solve the defense issues with the class, but at least it could help polish one of the best designed and fun to play with weapon in the game!

> Fire 1: Casting speed and projectile needs to be increased, reduce aftercast. (restore visuals, please). Reduce damage to compensate but make it have same DPS as before, just more attacks and the ability to actually land them on someone.

> Fire 2: Damage needs to be instant, reduce after cast, feels clunky and only catches AFK people.

>Fire 3: Make it cast a “bomb” that would explode after 2 seconds (like rev’s sword 1 third aa from chain), damage scales at 50% hp, 25%, a “finisher”.

>Fire 4: Skill is mostly ok, but perhaps it should have a functionality similar to shiro’s retreat, or at least make it be a stunbreaker or remove all movement impairements on self.

>Fire 5: Mostly ok, could use larger meteorite AoE radius, but this one is perhaps the best one out of all.

Water 1: Higher projectile speed. Base healing less, much higher scaling.

Water 2: After cast needs to be reduced, by a lot. Needs to drop faster, blast finisher, same damage but increase CD.

Water 3: Higher healing scaling, same base heal.

Water 4: Needs to last 2 seconds longer for combos.

Water 5: Condi cleanse every 1 second. (as with guardian’s smite changes, condi cleanse needs to keep up with condi reapplication)

Air 1: increase projectile speed. Less after cast. If it hits a single target, higher damage (like rev sword 2).

Air 2: Finisher effect to it, 50% hp, 25% hp. Reduce CD by 2 seconds.

Air 3: Revamp functionality; make it so that everyone in a large cone (90-120 degree) is blown out. Reduce distance to 900 units.

Air 4: Remove slow

Air 5: People inside cage receives a “static charge” damage per second inside, nothing crazy, something like fire 2 damage would be ok. UPDATE: damage inside would only tick once per second per attacker, with a medium amount of damage (350 base, .7 scaling?)

Earth 1: Increase projectile speed and aftercast.

Earth 2: Decrease after cast. new functionality like mesmer’s curtain. After 1 second, you can detonate for less damage.

Earth 3: Copies 3 conditions on you to nearby enemies or grants 2 seconds of resistance.

Earth 4: Enemies blown into it are immediately knocked down.

Earth 5: Reduce bleed duration to 6 seconds from 20, make it be 4 stacks. Increase projectile speed and decrease after cast.

Staff should be more about chaining skills, and less about waiting for clunky aftercasts to end so that you can cast the next skill that will be strafed.

Traits suggestions:

Fire: Blinding Ashes need ICD back to 5, and it needs to be a per-target

As far as other trait changes, I will be talking with people and see what other suggestions we can come up with.

Earth 4 needs to keep it skillful component, so I do not agree with that change.

I do not agree with the gust change either. A line of air seemed reasonable.

Earth 3 should send condition away instead of granting resistance.

Air 5. The static charges could be an extra tick of damage upon being struck while inside the field, though, I would be careful when adding too much stuff.

Pick one : Either improve usability of the Ice Spike and Eruption, or improve usability of auto-attacks.

Alekt.5803:

Earth 4 needs to keep it skillful component, so I do not agree with that change.

I do not agree with the gust change either. A line of air seemed reasonable.

Earth 3 should send condition away instead of granting resistance.

Air 5. The static charges could be an extra tick of damage upon being struck while inside the field, though, I would be careful when adding too much stuff.

Pick one : Either improve usability of the Ice Spike and Eruption, or improve usability of auto-attacks.

Agree with the air 5 too, will update it. As far as auto attacks, I think it should be baseline for all clases to have a decent AA, look at revs and now thieves, or scepter necro. As far as water 2 and earth 2 they need some polishing and the proposed changes would be good, at the aftercast part.

I was just about to make a similar thread, so i’ll just hop on this one.

Nice proposals, but I doubt any will ever see the daylight… Staff would definitely be op with these changes

I just thought of these:
Fire 1 – agree
Fire 2 – agree
Fire 3 – fine as it is, but revert it like it was before; make it so you don’t have to face the ennemy. As long as i can remember, your toon used to autoturn to cast the spell.
Fire 4 – make it a leap finisher, if no field, the fire wall acts as a fire field and thus grants a fire aura.
Fire 5 – I’d be happy with a smaller radius. Keep meteor radius as it is.

Water 1 – fine as it is
Water 2 – needs to be a blast finisher. Staff has many fields but only one blast unless you slot appropriate utilities.
Water 3 – fine as it is, but make field duration match with the animation.
Water 4 – reduce cd or increase field duration to 6s. Make it pulse 2s chill every 2s.
Water 5 – Make it pulse every 2s, 6s duration, first pulse instant.

Air 1 – If only one foe, make it rebound on yourself. On last strike, transfer one condition if it crits.
Air 2 – make it pulse 1/2s blind around yourself during the chanelling. 360 radius.
Air 3 – make it hit. Should be like those blowing faces on the fractal which i forgot the name.
Air 4 – reduce cd.
Air 5 – ennemies in the field are weakened.

Earth 1 – agree
Earth 2 – agree
Earth 3 – fine as it is, maybe could use a slight cdr.
Earth 4 – make it like guardian’s line of warding.
Earth 5 – agree

Overall, staff needs: more reliable aas, one more blast finisher, another mean to get an aura (without blasting ice field), more active/reliable damage mitigation.

Staff is fine
if mobs you kill,
all this whine
takes zero skill.

Esport dreams now come around,
sparked by petty greed,
but we rise and stand our ground,
so our warning heed:

Take a dagger,
get stuff done,
but don’t rush
to ruin our fun.

Lampshade.7569:

Staff is fine
if mobs you kill,
all this whine
takes zero skill.

Esport dreams now come around,
sparked by petty greed,
but we rise and stand our ground,
so our warning heed:

Take a dagger,
get stuff done,
but don’t rush
to ruin our fun.

A lot of changes proposed do not even affect PvE. PvE rotation is Lava Font, Fireball and Overload Fire.

Alekt.5803:

A lot of changes proposed do not even affect PvE. PvE rotation is Lava Font, Fireball and Overload Fire.

Most of the proposed changes sound rather overpowered. If the staff is too strong in pvp, whining for nerfs will commence and the nerfs will be made in a way that does affect PvE, even if the buffs don’t, because that’s how they seem to roll.

Lampshade.7569:

Alekt.5803:

A lot of changes proposed do not even affect PvE. PvE rotation is Lava Font, Fireball and Overload Fire.

Most of the proposed changes sound rather overpowered. If the staff is too strong in pvp, whining for nerfs will commence and the nerfs will be made in a way that does affect PvE, even if the buffs don’t, because that’s how they seem to roll.

Silly me. I was not referring to the OP’s. I was mostly concluding from a meta analysis of multiple thread. The help staff needs is on usability. If Focus received quality of life changes, I don’t see why staff doesn’t get quality of life changes.

For instance, an immediate tick of lava font does not affect PvE since the damage remains the same. This sort of change is directed toward the damaging capacity of staff against players.

I do not advocate for massive overhauls.

Honestly, I believe in minor changes. Shockwave aftercast, damage adjustments (Condi and Power); Add something to Magnetic aura (favorably in the form of a minor condition clear because the only source of clear on staff is on a 45 seconds cooldown); Slight reduction of Healing Rain cooldown and cast time reduction (You have no time to cast it while focused by necro and you need to stay on field to gain the effects for over 6 seconds); Lava Font instant. That’s about it.

Alekt.5803:

Honestly, I believe in minor changes. Shockwave aftercast, damage adjustments (Condi and Power); Add something to Magnetic aura (favorably in the form of a minor condition clear because the only source of clear on staff is on a 45 seconds cooldown); Slight reduction of Healing Rain cooldown and cast time reduction (You have no time to cast it while focused by necro and you need to stay on field to gain the effects for over 6 seconds); Lava Font instant. That’s about it.

That sounds mostly reasonable, staff really is very weak to condi. Though you should specify what you mean by “lava font instant”. The first tick? That’s still too weak. The total damage? That’s a one-shot button on 4s cooldown. I’d be okay with having first two ticks happen instantly and the remaining ones adjusted to keep the total damage the same.

Overall though, my point is that I would prefer to not invite dev attention at all x)

Lampshade.7569:

Alekt.5803:

Honestly, I believe in minor changes. Shockwave aftercast, damage adjustments (Condi and Power); Add something to Magnetic aura (favorably in the form of a minor condition clear because the only source of clear on staff is on a 45 seconds cooldown); Slight reduction of Healing Rain cooldown and cast time reduction (You have no time to cast it while focused by necro and you need to stay on field to gain the effects for over 6 seconds); Lava Font instant. That’s about it.

That sounds mostly reasonable, staff really is very weak to condi. Though you should specify what you mean by “lava font instant”. The first tick? That’s still too weak. The total damage? That’s a one-shot button on 4s cooldown. I’d be okay with having first two ticks happen instantly and the remaining ones adjusted to keep the total damage the same.

Overall though, my point is that I would prefer to not invite dev attention at all x)

Lava Font instant means the first tick is immediate. That’s the usual saying in the forums. And it’s quite very strong if you played enough staff.

reduce cast time of Eruption by 1 second
bam, staff is now godlike

https://forum-en.gw2archive.eu/forum/support/bugs/Avalanche-of-ele-bugs-still-ing-rising/first#post5958943

I made manual of el’bugs, is something that I missed or exaggerated?

PS. What you think about Trident autoattacks?
I would remove Staff 2 Air and Insert Forked Lightning.
I would replace Staff 2 Water into position number 5 and make it cause frozen ground at landing (cd the same of frozen ground). In new free slot number 2 put Water Missile.

Now we have 2 aa in Staff air and 2 aa in staff water.
Both aa in air hits multiple targets, but 1st do it through bouncing while 2nd if close enough to hit with all the projectiles.
1st aa in water have heal reasoning while 2nd is just normal attack, pretty reliable, but my opinion can be invalid, cuz ‘water gamplay experience’ can differ at bit.

Is that change huge? yes. Is that change hard work? nope. Will it improve quality of our experniece. Maybe (at least I think it will improve mine).

Mem no Fushia.7604:

Trident

Trident needs more condi
if running a condi build and then you go underwater, you can’t do anything
only weapon skill with burn has a 40 (!) sec cooldown