Guild Wars 2

I’m sure it’s been suggested many times before, but it would be really neat if Mace 3 could be activated a second time to trigger the AoE damage on command. It’s no secret that mace is very underwhelming in PvE, and although it has its merits in PvP/WvW, the mace still feels very clunky overall. Changing Protector’s Strike would make the mace much more RELIABLE as a weapon, as it gives the mace an active way to dish out damage instead of hoping that your enemy screws up.

As far as balance goes, I don’t think it’ll be broken at all. PvE-wise, mace right now deals lower damage than the other melee weapons without providing as much utility as higher-damage alternatives. PvP-wise, the burst would be balanced by the mace’s inherently low mobility and long, easily telegraphed animations.

What do you guys think?

it sounds logical since it will offer a bit to active gameplay
i find mace to be useful in spvp where the pressure is granted with traited symbols
but i would never use it in an out of it for any reason at the moment
i hope new patch gives guardian something different ..

I’d rather have the protection triggerable on-demand than the damage, personally. Having to wait 3 seconds and not get hit just to get protection is strange. That would be more in-line with all the other blocks in the game as well. With other blocks you get the block and counterattack or you trigger early and get a different effect. In this case block and you get AoE damage, or trigger for protection.

Electro.4173:

I’d rather have the protection triggerable on-demand than the damage, personally. Having to wait 3 seconds and not get hit just to get protection is strange. That would be more in-line with all the other blocks in the game as well. With other blocks you get the block and counterattack or you trigger early and get a different effect. In this case block and you get AoE damage, or trigger for protection.

I feel protection should be activated at the beginning of the channel instead of the end. Of course being able to activate protectors strike at will would be a huge plus too. But lets face it, Anet hasn’t touched the mace for nearly two years. I doubt they will make any changes to make mace more attractive.

Yeah, not having any form of cancel with that ability always kind of annoyed me, especially when all (or at least almost all) similar abilities can be cancelled (i.e. counterblow, illusionary counter, riposte, illusionary riposte, counterattack, static shield, &c.). Heck, even underwater weapons allow you to cancel out of those block-type moves.

IMO I feel it would be better to have it cancel into the protection boon than the damage. If they had it cancel into the damage, then the incentive to try and use it as a block would diminish because you would just pop it in people’s faces all the time. The only time you wouldn’t is if you’re trying to get the protection in the first place. If your opponent chooses not to attack you, you would just pop it and hit them anyways if you wanted the damage.

By having it cancel into the protection, you basically to forfeit the damage, meaning your opponent could always choose not to attack and thereby prevent the damage (but give you protection).

Although they should maybe shorten the protection duration a bit if it’s prematurely cancelled… I think the warrior ones do that with the adrenaline, in that they give more adrenaline if the ability is held for longer, even if it is eventually cancelled.

The other nice thing about making it cancel into the protection ability this way is that you could use the whirl finisher on demand. Currently the protection portion of the skill (pretty sure it doesn’t apply to the damage portion) has a whirl finisher effect, but it’s virtually unusable since you have to wait until the channeling period is over. Making it cancellable would allow the mace to have an on-demand whirl finisher, giving it a bit more utility (although I don’t feel whirl finishers are that good in general anyways).

I like it as is. It’s means other players can avoid triggering it which means both you AND they do no damage for the duration. This allows regen to heal you up for 3 seconds. This stinks versus HS warriors, obviously.