I play guardian and I think their traits need a second balance pass, so here’s some feedback
I tried spacing these to be more readable but the forum doesn’t like multiple spaced paragraphs
This will not include every trait, just those that need to be looked at
Zeal
- Major Adept - Wrathful Spirit: Aegis gives retaliation when it ends.
Retaliation isn’t a fun thing to put on a trait, and should be replaced with something… fun.
- Minor Master - Symbolic Exposure: Symbols apply vulnerability to foes.
The vulnerability is one stack for 3 seconds, which is barely anything considering how short symbols last. Maybe a hammer could get more than 5 stacks of this, maybe.
- Major Master - Binding Jeopardy: Immobilizing or blinding a foe also applies vulnerability to them.
3 stacks for 8 seconds, not bad. With Dragonhunter soon being a thing, I’d suggest this be changed to “Movement-impairing effects or blinds” so that the autoattack bounce cripple on the longbow can also apply vulnerability.
- Major Grandmaster – Expeditious Spirit: Spirit weapons burn foes they strike. Spirit weapon summon and command skills have reduced recharge.
The burning only lasts three seconds, which isn’t much given that you have to sacrifice all your utilities to make it work. I haven’t seen a spirit build since the specialisation patch.
Radiance
- Major Adept – Healer’s Retribution: Gain retaliation when using a heal skill.
Again with the retaliation. The other two traits in this category give fury when you hit someone with more than 3 stacks of burning, or 15% increased critical chance with one-handed weapons. Compared to that, retaliation on heal doesn’t contend at all.
- Major Master - Radiant Fire: Gain zealot’s flame when you critically hit an enemy. Burning duration is increased. Torch abilities recharge faster.
Trait is bugged; even when not on cooldown, applies randomly on critical hits. Unreliable, but aside from that bug I enjoy it.
- Major Master - Retribution: Gain increased damage while under the effects of retaliation.
Bugged; erroneously grants bonus damage to spear and sword damage. May just be a tooltip error, but it’s another retaliation trait so I hate it.
- Major Grandmaster – Amplified Wrath: Burning damage is increased. Burn enemies whose attacks you successfully block.
Has a one second cooldown, which guts it quite handily. If it was a one second cooldown per target it would be more satisfying to use, like the mesmer blind-on-dodge/block trait.
- Major Grandmaster – Perfect Inscriptions: Gain light aura when activating a signet.
Signets recharge faster and have improved passive effects.
Light aura? That grants retaliation. Come on, give me something fun!
- Major Grandmaster - Radiant Retaliation: Retaliation damage scales from condition damage instead of power.
This trait has a completely gamebreaking bug: it still exists. Maybe if this applied bleeding to people who hit you while you have retal you would start seeing some retal specs, but as it stands this trait needs to go away.
Valor
- Major Master – Stalwart Defender: Gain additional toughness while wielding a shield. Shield ability recharge is reduced.
Guardian shield is bugged already; the absorbing dome doesn’t last the full 4 seconds. I have no idea what to do with this trait, but it needs some love. Maybe put its skills into the Ward category along with Line of Warding on staff and Ring of Warding on hammer, and make this trait affect those too? Or let us move around instead of channeling the absorb dome, and have it channel itself in place? Something.
- Minor Grandmaster – Might of the Protector: Gain might when you block attacks.
Like Amplified Wrath, has a one second cooldown that should be per target instead of just a cooldown. If I’m blocking lots of attacks from lots of targets, I deserve more than two stacks of might.
- Major Grandmaster – Retributive Armor: Gain toughness for a period of time when blocking an attack. Gain ferocity based on your toughness.
Kind of a weird one, feels like it was slotted in because nobody could think of what to put here. Bunker guardians use Altruistic Healing, so I’m not sure who this trait is for.
Honor
- Major Adept - Invigorated Bulwark: Gain increased healing power for a period of time each time you block an attack while wielding a mace. Stacks up to 10 times. Mace abilities have reduced recharge.
Doesn’t contend with the next trait:
- Major Adept – Protective Reviver: Activate a shield of absorption when you begin reviving an ally. Upon successful revival, you and ally each gain aegis, protection and regeneration.
This should be a grandmaster for how good it is.
- Major Adept - Protector’s Impact: Create a Symbol of Protection when you take falling damage. You take less damage when falling.
This trait is critically bugged; every other profession has a cooldown on the effect they create when taking fall damage (e.g. warrior’s Death From Above has a one second cooldown, the elementalist skills each have a 5 second cooldown, etc.). The guardian’s is 8 seconds, but this doesn’t just apply to the created effect – it applies to the fall damage reduction. This means if you take fall damage, it gets reduced by 50%, but if you take fall damage again within 8 seconds it is not reduced at all. No other class has their trait bugged like this; you can even see the cooldown on the trait. There’s one for the created skill, and one for the trait. Please remove the one on the trait so that it’s normalised between classes.
- Major Master - Empowering Might You and nearby allies gain might when you land a critical hit.
Has a one second cooldown, but the might only lasts five seconds. I get that you don’t want staff/hammer guardians giving 25 stacks of might to an entire group (only warriors are allowed to be that overpowered) but the cooldown should apply per attack. I use this trait with a staff and it applies at most every 2 seconds, because a staff attacks slightly faster than once per second.
These next two I’ll do together:
- Major Grandmaster - Pure of Voice: Allies affected by shouts have conditions converted to boons. Shout abilities have their recharge reduced.
- Major Grandmaster - Writ of Persistence: Symbols last longer, are larger, and heal allies.
I like to run shout hammer in dungeons. Because these two traits conflict, I can’t do that. Please rename Writ of Persistence to Writ of Exaltation (which is a better name that was removed with the specialisation patch) and swap it with Protective Reviver, so that people who don’t use symbols or shouts have something to do with this line.
Virtues
- Minor Adept – Inspired Virtue: Virtues now also apply boons to allies when activated.
Bug: Tooltip erroneously reports a 1200 range; range is actually 600.
- Minor Master – Virtue of Retribution: Gain retaliation when you activate a virtue. Retaliation you apply lasts longer.
Retaliatiooooon!
Everything else in this line is actually pretty good.
Dragonhunter
- Major Adept - Piercing Light: Trap hits bleed enemies.
A mere 6 seconds of a single stack of bleeding. Should be 2-3 stacks, and the trait should reduce trap cooldowns, especially given that traps are a core feature of this elite specialisation.
- Major Adept - Soaring Devastation: Wings of resolve deliver an attack upon landing.
This should at least increase the range and maybe even the radius or cooldown.
- Minor Master - Defender’s Dogma: Blocking an attack causes justice to reach its maximum charge.
What if justice is already at maximum charge? This trait should do something else.
- Major Master - Dulled Senses: Enemies you knock back are crippled.
What knock backs does guardian have? Staff 5?, hammer 4, hammer 5?, shield 5, longbow 5?, downed skill 2 – a 4 second cripple isn’t useful here, and if you’re using a longbow your autoattack already cripples. There’s a grandmaster trait that turns you into a bearbow ranger (automatic knockback) but again – your longbow already cripples.
- Major Master - Hunter’s Determination: True shot grants stability for each enemy struck.
There shouldn’t be traits for one specific skill. Stability is fine, but extend this trait to other skills that aren’t specifically longbow 2.
- Major Grandmaster - Heavy Light: Longbow arrows knock back when enemies are within the range threshold.
120 knockback, 7 second cooldown. I don’t see the point, you’d switch to a melee weapon.
Major Grandmaster - Hunter’s Fortification: Apply protection in an area when activating a virtue.
Has a one second cooldown – why? Radius is also 240, which is less than the Virtues minor trait.
A few bugs
- Hammer 2 – Mighty Blow: Being immobilised while jumping with this skill will lock you in the air and prevent you from using any of your skills.
- Greatsword 3 – Leap of Faith: See above
- Any leap with any class, really: See above
- Utility – “Retreat!” (shout): Can’t be used while airborne, despite having no cast time. No other utility shouts have this bug.
- Staff 2 – Orb of Light: Has a target limit of 5, but is not separated between allies and enemies; if there are 5 allies between you and your target, it will heal all of them, but not deal damage to the enemy.
edit: more bugs
- Torch 4 – Zealot’s Flame: The secondary activation of this skill fires a ground projectile (like hammer 3) rather than being tossed overhead like other projectiles. This means that it can’t hit enemies over short gaps.
- Scepter 3 – Chains of Light: Range is 900, compared to the other scepter skills that are 1200.
- Hammer 1 – Symbol of Protection: In narrow corridors, the symbol created by this ability can occasionally fail to spawn. I think it might be hitting the roof or something, but it doesn’t appear, or deal damage, or grant protection.
And for now, that is enough writing.
(edited by Dreggon.6598)