Guild Wars 2

I’m not asking if it will see a buff a braindead monkey can see it needs one, I’m not making suggestions for what it needs (already hundreds of threads about that im sure) I’m just asking when do you think we will see it’s buff?

Because Anet seems to really be dragging their feet, are there any teams at all out there working on ele class balance?

The balance team for PvP is considerably smaller than the rest of the team if I recall correctly. Also their current priority is not QoL improvements but to attempt to balance this ridiculous meta. I feel your pain; I love the focus and would really enjoy seeing it get the buffs it needs in fire/water.

I’m really not sure if they know that we can use a focus.
I think that it was supposed to be a defensive weapon but without any heals and bad/no scaling on the rest of the abilities it’s really situational at best.

Wryog.5073:

I’m really not sure if they know that we can use a focus.
I think that it was supposed to be a defensive weapon but without any heals and bad/no scaling on the rest of the abilities it’s really situational at best.

Focus is supposed to be a catalyst weapon for whichever mainhand the ele is using. Unfortunately, two of its elements fail to augment mainhand abilities in any meaningful way. Its hard cc is limited to a 50 sec cd ranged knockdown, leaving the only saving grace its ability to counter projectiles (that aren’t unblockable; see signet of might) and Obsidian Flesh.

I use Focus as an anti-range defense weapon. Chaining Swirling Winds, Magnetic Wave, Obsidian Flesh, and Arcane Shield is the only way I can defeat enemies that fire tracking pojectiles.

Aside from that one defensive niche, Dagger has better off-hand synergy with every other single-hand weapon. But without Focus, there are several fights I would not be able to win, simply because you can’t avoid or tank ranged incoming attacks another way.

Dagger water to focus water and vice versa. Revert RTL CD.
Change cd for Fire Shield (or do something else with the skill, same cd as frost aura and the latter is much better).

Ele can wield focus? ;-)

In all seriousness, we just need some damage in fire and some buffs in water. The anti-range is pretty nice, and using the reflect against karkas is hilarious as they just take themselves out!

BlackBeard.2873:

Ele can wield focus? ;-)

In all seriousness, we just need some damage in fire and some buffs in water. The anti-range is pretty nice, and using the reflect against karkas is hilarious as they just take themselves out!

Gale has a higher base recharge than Updraft for considerably less effect, and double the base recharge of Magic Bullet, a mesmer skill that stuns one person, dazes another, and is a projectile combo finisher. Air is a good element for the focus, but it still needs a little help.

I still don’t understand why cd’s and power have to be so much more worse. Despite having more 20 skills, other classes can still spam a hell lot more. Maybe a slightly higher cd, but literally more than twice of any skill on another profession? Godkitten . And we can’t make use of our CDR traits.

Azunai.5974:

I still don’t understand why cd’s and power have to be so much more worse. Despite having more 20 skills, other classes can still spam a hell lot more. Maybe a slightly higher cd, but literally more than twice of any skill on another profession? Godkitten . And we can’t make use of our CDR traits.

Gale could be on a 30 second base cooldown and still not be overpowered. It does no damage or secondary utility effect. Updraft is aoe, acts as an evade that provides swiftness (meaning you gain something even if you hit nobody with the skill) and puts the ele at a perfect distance to combo into other skills.

Leuca.5732:

Azunai.5974:

I still don’t understand why cd’s and power have to be so much more worse. Despite having more 20 skills, other classes can still spam a hell lot more. Maybe a slightly higher cd, but literally more than twice of any skill on another profession? Godkitten . And we can’t make use of our CDR traits.

Gale could be on a 30 second base cooldown and still not be overpowered. It does no damage or secondary utility effect. Updraft is aoe, acts as an evade that provides swiftness (meaning you gain something even if you hit nobody with the skill) and puts the ele at a perfect distance to combo into other skills.

I’d feel a lot better about it being 30 and not 20 or 25 if all other skills (or at least offhands) were similarly reduced. /:

Azunai.5974:

Leuca.5732:

Azunai.5974:

I still don’t understand why cd’s and power have to be so much more worse. Despite having more 20 skills, other classes can still spam a hell lot more. Maybe a slightly higher cd, but literally more than twice of any skill on another profession? Godkitten . And we can’t make use of our CDR traits.

Gale could be on a 30 second base cooldown and still not be overpowered. It does no damage or secondary utility effect. Updraft is aoe, acts as an evade that provides swiftness (meaning you gain something even if you hit nobody with the skill) and puts the ele at a perfect distance to combo into other skills.

I’d feel a lot better about it being 30 and not 20 or 25 if all other skills (or at least offhands) were similarly reduced. /:

I’m not sure what you’re referring to here, do you mean offhand skills across the board for all professions? You definitely hit the nail on head with the 20 skills in a weapon set issue; it kind of necessitates a slightly higher base recharge, but the amount so is excessive right now.

Leuca.5732:

Azunai.5974:

Leuca.5732:

Azunai.5974:

I still don’t understand why cd’s and power have to be so much more worse. Despite having more 20 skills, other classes can still spam a hell lot more. Maybe a slightly higher cd, but literally more than twice of any skill on another profession? Godkitten . And we can’t make use of our CDR traits.

Gale could be on a 30 second base cooldown and still not be overpowered. It does no damage or secondary utility effect. Updraft is aoe, acts as an evade that provides swiftness (meaning you gain something even if you hit nobody with the skill) and puts the ele at a perfect distance to combo into other skills.

I’d feel a lot better about it being 30 and not 20 or 25 if all other skills (or at least offhands) were similarly reduced. /:

I’m not sure what you’re referring to here, do you mean offhand skills across the board for all professions? You definitely hit the nail on head with the 20 skills in a weapon set issue; it kind of necessitates a slightly higher base recharge, but the amount so is excessive right now.

All offhands, yeah. Skills like uodraft have slightly reasonable cd’s for the utilities it provides. Skills like firegrab and churning earth should, in my opinion, have lower cd’s.

Azunai.5974:

All offhands, yeah. Skills like uodraft have slightly reasonable cd’s for the utilities it provides. Skills like firegrab and churning earth should, in my opinion, have lower cd’s.

I think there are some exceptions to that, but I see what you’re saying. As for Churning Earth, I’d rather it get the cast time reduced; it’s already really obviously telegraphed, so keeping the cast time and reducing recharge will not really increase its efficacy while in combat.

Leuca.5732:

Azunai.5974:

All offhands, yeah. Skills like uodraft have slightly reasonable cd’s for the utilities it provides. Skills like firegrab and churning earth should, in my opinion, have lower cd’s.

I think there are some exceptions to that, but I see what you’re saying. As for Churning Earth, I’d rather it get the cast time reduced; it’s already really obviously telegraphed, so keeping the cast time and reducing recharge will not really increase its efficacy while in combat.

I agree! Also, churning earth should have its cast time reduced to two seconds or less, so it combos well with CC’s. Otherwise people will just grow accostumed to the new cast time and dodge it. At least with cc, it’d be a lot better with reliably hitting with it.

Firegrab, gahh, should be lowered for sure.

And then anet adds more weapons and buffs our traits to make alacrity traits more accessible and worth taking but sigh, one can dream.

Azunai.5974:

Leuca.5732:

Azunai.5974:

All offhands, yeah. Skills like uodraft have slightly reasonable cd’s for the utilities it provides. Skills like firegrab and churning earth should, in my opinion, have lower cd’s.

I think there are some exceptions to that, but I see what you’re saying. As for Churning Earth, I’d rather it get the cast time reduced; it’s already really obviously telegraphed, so keeping the cast time and reducing recharge will not really increase its efficacy while in combat.

I agree! Also, churning earth should have its cast time reduced to two seconds or less, so it combos well with CC’s. Otherwise people will just grow accostumed to the new cast time and dodge it. At least with cc, it’d be a lot better with reliably hitting with it.

Firegrab, gahh, should be lowered for sure.

And then anet adds more weapons and buffs our traits to make alacrity traits more accessible and worth taking but sigh, one can dream.

I could see them adding Sword (possibly duel wield?) and torch, but not too much else. Thinking about the torch is an interesting prospect; I can already imagine what some of the skills would be called. (Incinerating/Frozen/Windborne/Earthen Flame)

Getting a little off-topic there, but it’s hard not to imagine having other weapons when your favorite offhand has two elements that make you cry at night.

Leuca.5732:

Azunai.5974:

I still don’t understand why cd’s and power have to be so much more worse. Despite having more 20 skills, other classes can still spam a hell lot more. Maybe a slightly higher cd, but literally more than twice of any skill on another profession? Godkitten . And we can’t make use of our CDR traits.

Gale could be on a 30 second base cooldown and still not be overpowered. It does no damage or secondary utility effect. Updraft is aoe, acts as an evade that provides swiftness (meaning you gain something even if you hit nobody with the skill) and puts the ele at a perfect distance to combo into other skills.

Unfortunately, this is one of the so many inconsistencies in skill balance that is rampant in game. Weapon to weapon comparison, and profession to profession comparison, there is just so much that does not make sense when it comes to how and why they came up with such numbers for cooldowns, and multiple effects/uses in a particular skill.

I mean, look at the Auras itself. Clearly Frost and Shocking are far more useful than Flame Aura even with the latter being buffed a few patches ago however Shocking Aura has 25 seconds CD while the other 2 have 40sec CD. Why?? Even if Flame Aura CD was changed to 15 seconds, I still doubt Focus would ever be used outside of goofing around in PVE or in dungeons where projectiles are abundant.

Gallrvaghn.4921:

Unfortunately, this is one of the so many inconsistencies in skill balance that is rampant in game. Weapon to weapon comparison, and profession to profession comparison, there is just so much that does not make sense when it comes to how and why they came up with such numbers for cooldowns, and multiple effects/uses in a particular skill.

I mean, look at the Auras itself. Clearly Frost and Shocking are far more useful than Flame Aura even with the latter being buffed a few patches ago however Shocking Aura has 25 seconds CD while the other 2 have 40sec CD. Why?? Even if Flame Aura CD was changed to 15 seconds, I still doubt Focus would ever be used outside of goofing around in PVE or in dungeons where projectiles are abundant.

The weapon slotted Fire Shield (meaning excluding combo finishers) could additionally do damage when struck (or apply retaliation for its duration). I would advocate for the former, because there’s too much boon stealing going around these days and Auras have a distinct advantage in that regard.