This topic is basically a proceed of a conversation. However in order to prevent it from derailing i created this topic. Feel free join as well as post your own thoughts and idea’s.
Guardian does already have access to frequent burning. Adding a condi spec specialization will bring serious balance issues to guardian. Maybe not in Pve, but i can definitely see it happening in PvP and WvW.
I can see this being an issue in PvP and WvW. But as we’ve seen in recent updates Anet has been balancing class skills for specific modes, I’m sure they can tone down it’s damage and balance in such a way that can make it viable but not too strong in PvP/WvW (i.e. tuning down burn damage given by specialization).
I dont see it becoming a problem in WvW because of the same reason the current burn guardian isn’t a threat, and, though decent its not the favored build. The lack of varied conditions makes it pretty easy to shut down the burning. Though builds that carry absolutely zero condi clear would see it as a big problem. Compare it to thief or mesmer condition wise and they will still have the upper hand since most condi clear skills dont allow you to remove all conditions, and having varied kinds would make it harder to cleanse.
I get what you mean with the burn stacks going up to fast but as Phantom said, that can be toned down in different game modes as they have been doing so far.
That said, im not an expert in pvp :P
Hmm.. I have been thinking about (proper) tuning condi guardian in PvP or WvW. But i still think this would be problematic. Ill show where i am going with this as i explain my point of view.
First i’ll say that i find condi guardian interesting myself. So in that regard i can honestly say that i have one myself using this setup (WvW variation, my PvE version is slightly different). I have been testing it on the Golem in the testing area at Aerodrome in Lions Arch. I didn’t note down the exact numbers behind it. But i can tell that i had stable burn stacks from 5 all the way up to ~15 when spiking. Doing an average dps around 15k.
In direct comparison you would look at the condi war which does WAY more damage. But there is an important difference that needs to be addressed. Warrior does its burning damage by his weapon / burst aoe skills. Guardian does PASSIVE burning frequently. And this where the problem relies. Here is why:
Yes this can be counter played with condi removal. But that barely changes anything. I have been fighting condi guardians/dh’s in wvw more often. The condi spec tends to be more populair lately. The problem i find with that spec is that i usually get to know if my opponent is condi geared AFTER i get the burn spike. As where fighting other classes i can usually see that beforehand by the equipped weapons. For guardian this does not matter cause again, burning is mostly a passive effect. Using condi removal is nice but 2 seconds later he has reapplied it to you. so not that much of a use.
Now realize what a new condition based elite specialization would mean on top of what i just explained. That would basically boost it up by adding more conditions or increasing the burning aspect of the class of what it is already capable of. Don’t get me wrong. I’m not saying that Anet shouldn’t/can’t. I just believe that guardian needs someone kind of rework as in how burning functions for the class combined with careful tuning for future condition based spec.