ZEAL
Mostly fine. So much Symbol emphasis limits the traitline appeal.
Fiery Wrath seems the undisputed choice for the majority of builds. With Burning stacking in time it might be harder to maintain in PvE, otherwise I would suggest to reduce it to 5% (As I would do with any easy to maintain damage multiplier).
Wrathful Spirit has niche uses for PvP and it’s not bad at all.
Scepter does not have true AoE capabilities and Zealous Scepter requires a ridiculous amount of hits (even with Supreme Justice) to build decent might. Even if that’s the case, the Power increase you would get is somewhat lined up with the burn upkeep you would achieve and the effectiveness of Fiery Wrath.
Fiery Wrath, on the other hand, can benefit from different sources of burning (sources you probably have if running the kind of hybrid build which could make better use of might stacks) and works for both weapon sets, which makes it a better pick for almost any scenario.
Since might stacks can be handled and capped by different means in PvE and a multiplier would increase their effect even further, the trait is lackluster even when facing the kind of large hit box static enemy that could make scepter shine.
I would introduce a possible replacement further on.
Zealous Blade is fine for any GS centered build.
Kindled Zeal can be useful for hybrid builds but feels rather boring. I would swap it with Expeditious Spirit and rework it as a Grandmaster.
The remaining trait should be much more generic than Binding Jeopardy, as it should try to cover almost any non-GS build. Neither Mace nor Staff, both symbol weapons that fit into Zeal, have blinds or immobilizes.
I would move Binding Jeopardy to the free slot we got on Adept tier after removing Zealous Scepter, and rework it to “Immobilizing a foe also applies vulnerability (5 stacks, 5 seconds). Immobilizing skills recharge 20% faster”.
The utility gain from reduced CDs on top of the higher amount of vulnerability could make it a serious contender for Fiery Wrath when building around burst and teamplay.
The last trait in Master should bring something generic, somewhat useful for almost any build and any game mode. This can be a good place to reallocate and improve Healer’s Retribution from Radiance, which is just a terrible trait.
My suggestion: Burn nearby foes (3s) and gain retaliation (3s) when you use a healing skill. Gain additional retaliation (2s), swiftness (3s) and reduce your healing skill CD (5%) for each enemy hit (For Shelter, the burn blast should happen at the end of the channel).
Symbolic Avenger is a good option for sPvP. It enhances area denial of symbols and promotes a good burst set up.
For PvE, where enemies won’t avoid fighting on top of symbols, it’s too powerful and can easily bring autoattack hammer builds to a ridiculous and undeserved damage level.
The trait should be shaved to 10% for PvE. The mechanic remains the same and there are no CDs or timings involved, so the split shouldn’t cause any confusion.
There’s a nice synergy between Expeditious Spirit and Shattered Aegis in small scale PvP which is lost by placing them in the same tier. I would downgrade the first one to master tier in the place of Kindled Zeal.
On top of that, it would be great if Expeditious Spirit would provide further (big) enhancement if only one Spirit Weapon were slotted. A competitive petting zoo build will never be welcomed, but a single spirit weapon could be tolerated and allowed to exist at competitive levels as long as the active part is what makes it great.
The remaining trait slot should bring something useful for hybrid builds (but better than Kindled Zeal) and no symbol based PvE power builds which invest in both Zeal and Radiance.
Something that makes the Guardian deadlier as the end of the fight approaches could make sense for Zeal. “Gain condition damage (7% of Power) and deal increased damage (4%) for every Virtue on CD” could work.
(edited by Vargamonth.2047)