Guild Wars 2

Im not starting as every one else saying its OP or enyfing im saying it from Mesmer point of view as it is right now it feels like im forced to spam everything regardless of what my opponent is doing bc hell with all free skills bc there is very limited time.
What my idea is to double the time you get per illusion but lock us out from some skills like elite (it is used to double cast elite what makes this mechanic cind a booring actually)

It might me just me but this is how i feel.

I agree. Currently, continuum split is the only reason left why chronomancer is too strong compared to core mesmer. So rework it, maybe by preventing elite skills? or change it so that it only reduces cooldown used by 20s? I don’t know. Then try to improve the rest of the chronomancer line to make it still worth using.

Also as you say, if one cannot use elites, it makes it more skillful, since there will be more choice of what skill to use it on.

One thing to mention though: this is a good idea only if all other elite specs get nerfed massively to core spec level.

It’s not the Chronomancer, nor Continuum Split that is the problem. It’s the Mesmer. Chrono is balanced, yet Mes is just too weak.

Xyonon.3987:

It’s not the Chronomancer, nor Continuum Split that is the problem. It’s the Mesmer. Chrono is balanced, yet Mes is just too weak.

Power Mesmer has its problems yes but continuum split atm can last 5 seconds max with 3 illusions meaning you have no real time to do real decisions you precast ur elite split spam, shatters and that’s it its not Mesmer at all …

What if the split lasts longer lets say 2.5 seconds per illusions giving you 10 seconds max but you can’t use elite in split. It would lets you actually make intelligent decisions.
Also the whole counterplay to split is non excisting ATM were you destroy rift bc there is no point to do it.

lol what? if split lasted 10 secs, every mesmer would just spam their entire skill bar for free recharge.

there would be literally zero downside to spamming all your skills.

when you run across an adrenal mushroom, you don’t think about which of your skills you want to use twice, you just empty your entire bar.

There are two main issues with continuum split as i see it:

• The first is that it forces every single mesmer to go chronomancer traitline regardless of build- two moas is always better than one.
• The second problem is that continuum split is only ever used for doubling down on the elite skill, the repositioning aspect for instance is almost gone entirely as it is basically never worth it to use continuum split and not use elite (moa).

Off-the-cuff i see two types of changes that could be made;

• One is to move portal to F5 for core mesmer only, thus making is compete with continuum split- with double elite etc. This, however, retains the problem of continuum split only ever being used to double down on the elite skill.

• The other is to remove/alter the cooldown reset portion of it and balance accordingly. For instance, shorten the cooldown by alot (to 30 seconds?), and only allow one (or more?) weapon skill(s) to be reset. Something along these lines might make it be used as a high-skill repositioning tool (jump down a ledge to kite etc.) and essentially as a semi-invulnerability that would benefit not only quick decisionmakers but also high-risk high-reward builds as is welcome right now.

I’m in favor for this only because of the value proposition offered of double elite vs what adds up to “a bit of set up” if your not already in the ideal situation to attempt double speed burst.
(although there is some play for misdirection but only people who get lost in clones don’t realize the we HAVE to wind up back at the previous location)

However a few things I’d like to add:

1. Have CS function like Mimic if a elite is cast. Instantly breaking CS but with ONLY the elite skill being refunded.
-This still allows for double elite plays but at some cost.

2. Have CS and Alacrity effect weapon swap + cooldown.

3. Have an option to remain in current time line.
-With increased duration have it be required that intentional activation will allow the reset OR the curtain must be broken (with some visible indication of HP on the UI). Along with the aforementioned elite skill activation.

4. Have skills cast near the end of the curtain be refunded to an extent of 1/2 after returning.

Daishi.6027:

3. Have an option to remain in current time line.
-With increased duration have it be required that intentional activation will allow the reset OR the curtain must be broken (with some visible indication of HP on the UI). Along with the aforementioned elite skill activation.

I’ve always wanted something like this. Being able to choose to ignore continuum shift in moments where returning to your previous position is disadvantageous despite the cooldown reduction.

what if continuum shift duration had nofting to do with how meny illusion you shatter lets say its static 10 seconds and for every illusion you shatter you get static amount of lets say action points what you can use to activate your skills lets say per illusion you get 2 points and activateing elite costs 6 points , utility is 2 points shtters and wepon skills from 2 to 5 are 1 point (autoattack free) it would make it a lot more interesting.

baylock.1703:

what if continuum shift duration had nofting to do with how meny illusion you shatter lets say its static 10 seconds and for every illusion you shatter you get static amount of lets say action points what you can use to activate your skills lets say per illusion you get 2 points and activateing elite costs 6 points , utility is 2 points shtters and wepon skills from 2 to 5 are 1 point (autoattack free) it would make it a lot more interesting.

Although I don’t dislike technical design and plays as a whole… This just seems unfun and difficult to program.

It’s not terrible tho. I am curious under your suggestion’s rules does the duration end at the end of the action point use/duration?

Or

Only at the end of duration/Continuum Shift and it ONLY refunds the skills under the conditions of the action points, still allowing you to cast beyond it’s action point value with a kind of Infiltrator’s Return + previous health reset?

Honestly conceptually I am a bit disappointed in the effect.

I would have thought it undoes as much as possible. Any damage dealt (to players not yet dead) is re-healed, any healing done is lost again, boons and conditions are restored and removed, etc.

Then make it last a fair bit longer and make it not be a shatter.

So we get a second timeline, but we have to win or it’s all back to where we were. Likewise if we get killed, there’s no going back.

Am I the only one here who thinks CS is perfect as it is?

I like that, despite it being a complex skill, there are no weird exceptions or tradeoffs. It puts me in a new timeline, I can do whatever I want in that timeline, and when the time is up, it phases me back to the original timeline with everything how I left it, no questions asked, no elites excepted, etc.

To be honest, the suggestions offered in this thread are things I deeply hope ArenaNet don’t consider. I think CS is an extremely elegant and dynamic skill with a LOT of uses that aren’t even given credit for in this thread, and adding a whole bunch of exceptions or weird systems to somehow balance the shatter will ruin it in my opinion. Some things I’ve done with CS:

1.) Using the GS knockback twice to push someone in the Temple PvP area down into one of the holes near Stillness, allowing me to secure the buff. One knockback wasn’t enough, and I knew that, so I used CS to land two and get the enemy away from the buff without even needing to lay a finger on him in terms of damage.

2.) Hitting CS right before I see that I’m going to get knocked off from somewhere (Skyhammer in PvP is a good example), so that I’ll fall down and then just hit CS again to port myself back up.

3.) Duplicating Mimic, allowing me to cast three or even four of a single ability without even needing a single illusion out. Triple blinks, quadra feedback, etc.

4.) Leading from the above point, duplicating various stealth skills and Mimic using CS allows for near permanent stealth uptime.

5.) Using it as a makeshift Signet of the Ether, casting a phantasm once inside CS and then casting it again outside CS.

6.) Using it as a makeshift Shadowstep (CS + blink). Useful in PvE whenever you need to port somewhere, do something really quickly, and port back.

7.) Using it along with Portal, Mimic, and alacrity to maintain a portal between two locations almost indefinitely. Great in WvW.

8.) Popping CS in advance when I’m anticipating a burst to mitigate the damage.

And I can go on. These may seem like “on paper” applications that might not be as practical in a real scenario, but I can tell you from now that I am very often using CS for the above applications. If you’re using it just to double your elite or spam skills, then you are doing a disservice to the skill and to your own creativity.

What I will concede is that it’s absolutely true that CS has big implications on the balance decisions of the class. Whenever ArenaNet tweak something in Mesmer’s kit, they’re going to have to think about its interactions with CS. Personally, I am more than happy to suffer some balance consequences for the sake of keeping the skill as it is, because it’s a really awesome mechanic.

Step.1285:

…
What I will concede is that it’s absolutely true that CS has big implications on the balance decisions of the class. Whenever ArenaNet tweak something in Mesmer’s kit, they’re going to have to think about its interactions with CS. Personally, I am more than happy to suffer some balance consequences for the sake of keeping the skill as it is, because it’s a really awesome mechanic.

While elite specs have power creep across the board, which class do you think has it the worst when it comes to the elite spec being the reason to nerf the base class? While thieves can complain about S/D acro, that was one trait line. Bomb heals on engineer? maybe 1 GM trait. CS, as you said, means that any potential buff to base mesmer, besides our terrible auto attacks, has to be considered with CS in mind. Nothing else compares to that.

In the AMA initiated by Mo, they announced that an expansion is in the works and elite specs only come with expansions. Which classes future elite spec gets shafted because of the first elite spec that came out? Only Mesmer because the base has to be held in check to prevent CS making it OP.

DuckDuckBOOM.4097:

While elite specs have power creep across the board, which class do you think has it the worst when it comes to the elite spec being the reason to nerf the base class? While thieves can complain about S/D acro, that was one trait line. Bomb heals on engineer? maybe 1 GM trait. CS, as you said, means that any potential buff to base mesmer, besides our terrible auto attacks, has to be considered with CS in mind. Nothing else compares to that.

In the AMA initiated by Mo, they announced that an expansion is in the works and elite specs only come with expansions. Which classes future elite spec gets shafted because of the first elite spec that came out? Only Mesmer because the base has to be held in check to prevent CS making it OP.

I mean, I won’t disagree, CS makes balance a lot more difficult. However, let’s consider that CS is a max of six seconds – that fact alone already gives it counterplay. If you CC the Mesmer, break line of sight, blind, etc, then you can basically totally negate any effect CS has. You can also attack/cleave the rift to end it early.

Plus, very few Mesmer abilities actually have a huge impact when cast multiple times with CS. Nobody’s going to be up in arms because the Mesmer cast Mind Stab or Decoy twice. Of course, there are some exceptions to non-elite skills that do have a big impact, such as Signet of Domination’s pretty ludicrous 3-second stun, but they are outliers. I’m a firm believer that the main “offenders” when it comes to questionable balance with CS are the elites, and right now, I think most of Mesmer’s elites have decent counterplay, even with CS. The only exception to this is Moa, which is a ridiculous and extremely binary skill, and I wouldn’t oppose a nerf to it in return for a buff to other areas, so that Mesmers aren’t pigeon-holed into taking that skill.

May I also remind you that doing something like removing elite usage in CS will have huge implications on PvE, especially in the way of Time Warp. It’d be a massive nerf to quickness Chronomancers, which wouldn’t reflect well for their viability since so many classes benefit heavily from quickness.

Lastly, other elite specs aren’t in danger of being toned down in power due to Chronomancer. A future elite spec will have to replace Chronomancer’s trait line, so it won’t be balanced around CS.

Anyway, the point is, yes, balance will be difficult with Continuum Split around, but I think it’s absolutely worth it, and I also think that it’s not impossible to balance around CS while still keeping Mesmer respectably strong when it’s on cooldown. CS has counterplay, which already helps to keep it in check. On the bright side, it greatly rewards play-making, foresight, and pinpoint combos. That’s a healthy skill in my books.

DuckDuckBOOM.4097:

In the AMA initiated by Mo, they announced that an expansion is in the works and elite specs only come with expansions. Which classes future elite spec gets shafted because of the first elite spec that came out? Only Mesmer because the base has to be held in check to prevent CS making it OP.

Fooled me once, I am not buying the next expansion because Anet proved they are incapable of properly balance class in all game modes.

Step.1285:

Am I the only one here who thinks CS is perfect as it is?

I like that, despite it being a complex skill, there are no weird exceptions or tradeoffs. It puts me in a new timeline, I can do whatever I want in that timeline, and when the time is up, it phases me back to the original timeline with everything how I left it, no questions asked, no elites excepted, etc.

To be honest, the suggestions offered in this thread are things I deeply hope ArenaNet don’t consider. I think CS is an extremely elegant and dynamic skill with a LOT of uses that aren’t even given credit for in this thread, and adding a whole bunch of exceptions or weird systems to somehow balance the shatter will ruin it in my opinion. Some things I’ve done with CS:

1.) Using the GS knockback twice to push someone in the Temple PvP area down into one of the holes near Stillness, allowing me to secure the buff. One knockback wasn’t enough, and I knew that, so I used CS to land two and get the enemy away from the buff without even needing to lay a finger on him in terms of damage.

2.) Hitting CS right before I see that I’m going to get knocked off from somewhere (Skyhammer in PvP is a good example), so that I’ll fall down and then just hit CS again to port myself back up.

3.) Duplicating Mimic, allowing me to cast three or even four of a single ability without even needing a single illusion out. Triple blinks, quadra feedback, etc.

4.) Leading from the above point, duplicating various stealth skills and Mimic using CS allows for near permanent stealth uptime.

5.) Using it as a makeshift Signet of the Ether, casting a phantasm once inside CS and then casting it again outside CS.

6.) Using it as a makeshift Shadowstep (CS + blink). Useful in PvE whenever you need to port somewhere, do something really quickly, and port back.

7.) Using it along with Portal, Mimic, and alacrity to maintain a portal between two locations almost indefinitely. Great in WvW.

8.) Popping CS in advance when I’m anticipating a burst to mitigate the damage.

And I can go on. These may seem like “on paper” applications that might not be as practical in a real scenario, but I can tell you from now that I am very often using CS for the above applications. If you’re using it just to double your elite or spam skills, then you are doing a disservice to the skill and to your own creativity.

What I will concede is that it’s absolutely true that CS has big implications on the balance decisions of the class. Whenever ArenaNet tweak something in Mesmer’s kit, they’re going to have to think about its interactions with CS. Personally, I am more than happy to suffer some balance consequences for the sake of keeping the skill as it is, because it’s a really awesome mechanic.

I’m sorry but none of these are good uses of CS. You should use it for 90- second cooldown on moa. The 8. is the only “good” thing out of these.

Quadox.7834:

I’m sorry but none of these are good uses of CS. You should use it for 90- second cooldown on moa. The 8. is the only “good” thing out of these.

Come on now. Moa doesn’t have to always be tied to CS, simply because Moa isn’t a be-all and end-all ability that works in every situation. What would you have suggested I do in situation 1.) for example? Use Moa? I was alone; a Mesmer alone can’t kill a full-health Moa that knows how to dodge. I used CS to double my knockback and secure Stillness for my team. Also, I question why you consider 8.) a good way to use CS to avoid death, while in 2.) I use it to avoid death too, just in a different way.

Lastly, Moa isn’t even used outside PvP. A lot of the uses I mentioned are still completely viable in PvE and WvW. I’ve used the pseudo-Shadowstep in the Cliffside fractal to hit the seal and port back, an otherwise dangerous manoeuvre at high scales without CS. I’ve used triple blinks for mobility and quadra Well of Recall for out-of-combat alacrity. I’ve used perma stealth to solo certain fractals/dungeons. Etc.

Yes, doubling your elite or putting your elite on a 90s/72s-cooldown is a strong way to use CS, but that’s not the only way to use it. The sooner you start applying it to different uses, the sooner you’ll realise what a dynamic skill it can be.

Step.1285:

Quadox.7834:

I’m sorry but none of these are good uses of CS. You should use it for 90- second cooldown on moa. The 8. is the only “good” thing out of these.

Come on now. Moa doesn’t have to always be tied to CS, simply because Moa isn’t a be-all and end-all ability that works in every situation. What would you have suggested I do in situation 1.) for example? Use Moa? I was alone; a Mesmer alone can’t kill a full-health Moa that knows how to dodge. I used CS to double my knockback and secure Stillness for my team. Also, I question why you consider 8.) a good way to use CS to avoid death, while in 2.) I use it to avoid death too, just in a different way.

Lastly, Moa isn’t even used outside PvP. A lot of the uses I mentioned are still completely viable in PvE and WvW. I’ve used the pseudo-Shadowstep in the Cliffside fractal to hit the seal and port back, an otherwise dangerous manoeuvre at high scales without CS. I’ve used triple blinks for mobility and quadra Well of Recall for out-of-combat alacrity. I’ve used perma stealth to solo certain fractals/dungeons. Etc.

Yes, doubling your elite or putting your elite on a 90s/72s-cooldown is a strong way to use CS, but that’s not the only way to use it. The sooner you start applying it to different uses, the sooner you’ll realise what a dynamic skill it can be.

The reason i didn’t consider (2) was just because i don’t play skyhammer Of course you can use in that situation to survive, but you should not get yourself into those situations in the first place- the ideal way to use F5 is always with moa. If it was something like 40 (30?) second cooldown and no elite reset the uses would indeed be diverse and interesting. I really really want all these uses to be viable.

Step.1285:

DuckDuckBOOM.4097:

…

…
Plus, very few Mesmer abilities actually have a huge impact when cast multiple times with CS. Nobody’s going to be up in arms because the Mesmer cast Mind Stab or Decoy twice. Of course, there are some exceptions to non-elite skills that do have a big impact, such as Signet of Domination’s pretty ludicrous 3-second stun, but they are outliers. I’m a firm believer that the main “offenders” when it comes to questionable balance with CS are the elites, and right now, I think most of Mesmer’s elites have decent counterplay, even with CS. The only exception to this is Moa, which is a ridiculous and extremely binary skill, and I wouldn’t oppose a nerf to it in return for a buff to other areas, so that Mesmers aren’t pigeon-holed into taking that skill.

@ Bolded: That’s the huge problem with the base class. Why? Portal, moa, veil, TW. Those skills are “so strong”, it’s “warranted” all the nerfs/weakness of the rest of the class. CS turbo charges these strong skills and a now a new round of “nerf mesmers!” has emerged.

Step.1285:

May I also remind you that doing something like removing elite usage in CS will have huge implications on PvE, especially in the way of Time Warp. It’d be a massive nerf to quickness Chronomancers, which wouldn’t reflect well for their viability since so many classes benefit heavily from quickness.

Lastly, other elite specs aren’t in danger of being toned down in power due to Chronomancer. A future elite spec will have to replace Chronomancer’s trait line, so it won’t be balanced around CS.

https://forum-en.gw2archive.eu/forum/info/updates/Game-Update-Notes-January-26-2016/first#post5957898
But it will be balanced around CS/chrono. Just look at the defensive trait nerfs. Do you think any of them were actually justified at all to base mesmer? For the most part, all those traits were considered weak and underused before chrono happened. They deserved buffs. Chrono happens and instead of only heavy nerfs to chrono, base mesmer traits are gutted. That’s on top of the alacrity and quickness/slow stomping nerfs. Chrono CS is the excuse/reason to nerf even those strong skills. So what are future elite specs left with? A weak base to build off of.

If they nerf the double TW etc with CS, we can demand reduced CD and/or increased duration on TW. Alternatively, ask for a pve/pvp split to bring back the 100% increase to PvE only. Less duration but strong effect is fine.

Quadox.7834:

The reason i didn’t consider (2) was just because i don’t play skyhammer Of course you can use in that situation to survive, but you should not get yourself into those situations in the first place- the ideal way to use F5 is always with moa. If it was something like 40 (30?) second cooldown and no elite reset the uses would indeed be diverse and interesting. I really really want all these uses to be viable.

But… they are. Really – all those uses have achieved very real and successful results to me. Granted, most of them are WvW or PvE. I will concede that in PvP, yes, in most scenarios you’d want to cast your elite in CS, but to me that makes sense. The elites of every class are designed to be skills that make the biggest impact. Why wouldn’t you try to use them? If they make the elites unusable in CS, then they’ll just get replaced by some other powerful skill from a Mesmer’s kit as the “ideal skill to use”. Fact of the matter is, a total of six seconds isn’t much time, and you’ll want to use it wisely.

However, that shouldn’t stop you from using CS creatively. Sure, use it to double your elite, but why stop there? Why not use CS to follow up your elite with a double greatsword burst? Or maybe to cast Shield 5 twice in a teamfight for the AoE stun and the double cooldown refund? Or maybe to start a stomp, blink away, and then use CS to blink back and safely secure the stomp? A maximum of six seconds isn’t a lot of time, but it’s more than enough to cast your elite and leave you with plenty of time for some more dynamic/creative play.

Step.1285:

Quadox.7834:

The reason i didn’t consider (2) was just because i don’t play skyhammer Of course you can use in that situation to survive, but you should not get yourself into those situations in the first place- the ideal way to use F5 is always with moa. If it was something like 40 (30?) second cooldown and no elite reset the uses would indeed be diverse and interesting. I really really want all these uses to be viable.

But… they are. Really – all those uses have achieved very real and successful results to me. Granted, most of them are WvW or PvE. I will concede that in PvP, yes, in most scenarios you’d want to cast your elite in CS, but to me that makes sense. The elites of every class are designed to be skills that make the biggest impact. Why wouldn’t you try to use them? If they make the elites unusable in CS, then they’ll just get replaced by some other powerful skill from a Mesmer’s kit as the “ideal skill to use”. Fact of the matter is, a total of six seconds isn’t much time, and you’ll want to use it wisely.

However, that shouldn’t stop you from using CS creatively. Sure, use it to double your elite, but why stop there? Why not use CS to follow up your elite with a double greatsword burst? Or maybe to cast Shield 5 twice in a teamfight for the AoE stun and the double cooldown refund? Or maybe to start a stomp, blink away, and then use CS to blink back and safely secure the stomp? A maximum of six seconds isn’t a lot of time, but it’s more than enough to cast your elite and leave you with plenty of time for some more dynamic/creative play.

If you are talking WvWvW then feel free to ignore my entire comment, i don’t play it.

DuckDuckBOOM.4097:

@ Bolded: That’s the huge problem with the base class. Why? Portal, moa, veil, TW. Those skills are “so strong”, it’s “warranted” all the nerfs/weakness of the rest of the class. CS turbo charges these strong skills and a now a new round of “nerf mesmers!” has emerged.

https://forum-en.gw2archive.eu/forum/info/updates/Game-Update-Notes-January-26-2016/first#post5957898
But it will be balanced around CS/chrono. Just look at the defensive trait nerfs. Do you think any of them were actually justified at all to base mesmer? For the most part, all those traits were considered weak and underused before chrono happened. They deserved buffs. Chrono happens and instead of only heavy nerfs to chrono, base mesmer traits are gutted. That’s on top of the alacrity and quickness/slow stomping nerfs. Chrono CS is the excuse/reason to nerf even those strong skills. So what are future elite specs left with? A weak base to build off of.

If they nerf the double TW etc with CS, we can demand reduced CD and/or increased duration on TW. Alternatively, ask for a pve/pvp split to bring back the 100% increase to PvE only. Less duration but strong effect is fine.

OK, I see your point, but don’t you think that’s a problem every class has? Every elite spec builds off of the base class, so every base class is vulnerable to nerfs due to their elite specs. In fact, in the very same patch notes that Mesmer got nerfed, other classes such as Elementalists saw nerfs to their base kit too. Oh, and those Mesmer nerfs in particular were largely targeted towards the bunker Mesmer build, which was so oppressive that it deserved nerfing. CS wasn’t necessarily what made bunker Mesmer so strong. Well of Precognition, alacrity, copious access to chaos armour from ethereal fields, and great res/stomp control is what made it strong.

I’m not saying I agree with how they handled the nerfs (especially how they gutted Well of Precognition, but that’s a story for another day), but those nerfs aren’t any indication that CS is an unhealthy part of the game. In fact, I’d argue that the fact that base Mesmer saw no nerfs on the same day Chronomancer was released is a stronger argument that CS isn’t affecting base Mesmer too heavily. Hell, aside from those nerfs that were clearly targeted towards bunker Mesmer, we haven’t even seen any other nerfs to base Mesmer… we even saw buffs.

Now, yes, I can’t deny that it has balance implications on all of Mesmer, but this brings me back to what I said at the start of this post – it is a problem that every class will run into. Reaper got a trait that added a damage component to chill, and that has balance implications on every application of chill on base Necromancer to say the least. Herald gets a +50% boon duration increase so that has balance implications on every application of any boon in the Revenant’s kit. Tempest gets new aura traits, so now every aura application on base Elementalist needs to be kept in check. And so on and so forth.

Granted, none of my examples have as much of an overarching impact on a base class as CS does, but don’t forget that CS has counterplay and is on a large cooldown. Like… sure, the confusion stacking on double Scepter #3 using CS is really strong, but you can always interrupt/CC the Mesmer to stop him from doing that, or break the rift object that spawns. That’s healthy counterplay right there.

Step, I wonder if you didn’t answer your own question when you made that list.

The sum of recent changes (including the introduction of CS) has put the class into a position of more gimmicks and less redundancy. The class has always been a rather gimmicky class and those of us who play it has kind of accepted that. The way CS stresses big plays and how the class has lost out in other aspects has just sorted of tilted over that feeling into what many players (going by the surmise of this thread) look upon negatively – both Mesmers themselves and players who meet them.

It is interesting to note that recent trends are a bit of a throw-back to the very first months of the game when skills like mimic, mirror images and signet of illusions saw more use. The time since then has, arguably, been more entertaining even if there have been other onedimensional builds.

I’m not too fuzzed about it, but given the choice, I would probably prefer to see a rework of the elite with a treatment similar to other classes who had their f-skills replaced with a new theme. There is alot you could do replacing existing shatters with time-oriented effects instead (slow, alacrity, cs etc.) – that would make the build less prone to just window spam of long cooldowns and shatters that quickly gets boring or hated upon.

The most pressing issue with chrono is probably to do something about wells since people generally just use the elite well in the cc spam. A rework of the f-skills could work in tandem with that – providing effects that synergizes with wells without forcing someone who picked chrono up to use wells. As noted, any such change really requires wells to be changed first though since they are a prenerfed and mismatched mess now.

That is a simple way out anyway and in line with what you said about limiting the effect even further to certain abilities. It would obviously be even better to make a full overhaul of something far more user friendly and QoL-retaining that doesn’t shoehorn the class into either gimmicks or builds for playability, but that is hard to comment on or put in concrete words for now.

I suggest you start the elite, press f5 just a millisecond before it is compleatly casted and now you can do 1-2 other things – that way i learned to double whatever i want no matter how much illusions are active…