Guild Wars 2

A lot of changes for us (including duelist’s discipline though somewhat nerfed). Most are very good and long awaited!

• Shatter Skills: Updated the description of these skills to include the effects added when Illusionary Persona functionality was made baseline.
• Arcane Thievery: Updated this skill to transfer blindness.
• Chaotic Dampening: Increased the recharge reduction from 2% to 2.5%.
• Duelist’s Discipline: Fixed a bug that prevented this trait from granting a bleeding chance to your Illusionary Duelist. Lowered bleeding stacks applied by this skill from 2 to 1.
• Fencer’s Finesse: Fixed a bug that caused this trait to apply ferocity when reflecting projectiles. Fixed a bug that could cause the ferocity boon to be applied when attacking with weapons other than swords.
• Harmonious Mantras: Increased the duration from 8 seconds to 10 seconds.
• Inspiring Distortion: Updated this trait to prevent the distortion granted from being applied to objects.
• Null Field: Updated the skill description and skill facts to reflect that this skill removes boons and conditions on pulses.
• Phantasmal Disenchanter: Reduced the attack recharge by 2 seconds. The attack from this phantasm is now referred to as “Disenchanting Bolt” in the combat log.
• Portal Entre: Updated this skill to show an icon for the duration that you have to place the exit portal. Fixed a bug that could cause a noninteractable portal entrance to remain in the world if the mesmer died before casting the Portal Exeunt skill.
• Prismatic Understanding: Fixed a bug that prevented this trait from functioning while downed. Reduced the stealth duration increase from 100% to 50%.
• Signet of the Ether: Updated this skill to include an additional pulsing heal when no illusions are present.
• Temporal Curtain: Removed functionality that prevented the swiftness applied by this skill from applying to allies that already had swiftness. Now applies 12 seconds of swiftness to allies the first time they cross the wall and 1 second of swiftness to allies that cross it again after receiving the initial swiftness.
• The Pledge: Fixed an incorrect skill fact that displayed the recharge reduction as a percentage instead of a duration.
• Mind Slash: Increased damage by 10%.
• Mind Gash: Increased damage by 10%.
• Mind Spike: Increased damage to targets without boons by 10%.

No changes for Sceptre, and Duelist’s Discipline is dead on arrival. Welp.

They did say there’s more to come so here’s hoping for Sceptre fixes/buffs.

The pledge xD my sides

Anyway, nerfed DD is still better bleeding than phant fury buuuuut yeah, not great.

I like the buff to the disenchanter though. That sucker is going to be attacking crazily fast.

I’m not overly surprised of the nerf to DD. DD + sharper image made iDuelist a bleed-god. Each duelist would have stacked bleeds better than a necro :p

The Duelist Discipline change just killed that trait… I can’t justify taking that over Phantasmal fury now.

Everything else looks great. Its very obvious that Robert actually reads the forums.

Thank you Geesus <3

Problem with nerfing DD is it really isn’t much better than Phant Fury for the purposes of Bleed stacking now, and when you take into account that Fury also boosts direct damage it becomes even more questionable.

Disenchanter attacks really fast, which is interesting.

Silverkey.2078:

• Temporal Curtain: Removed functionality that prevented the swiftness applied by this skill from applying to allies that already had swiftness. Now applies 12 seconds of swiftness to allies the first time they cross the wall and 1 second of swiftness to allies that cross it again after receiving the initial swiftness.

How you know it was never “working as intended” as previously stated :p

Signit Heal now with no clone heal pulse. Somemesmer somewhere might be happy.

The Pledge – :o

Well I’m not complaining!

Disenchanter buff sounds great on paper – I just wish the cast time would also be lowered a fraction of a second.

Pistol trait so strong that had to be nerfed before we could use it :°)

and the bounce and the fact that it still spawns somewhere but not next to you …

overall great changes!

Me centaur runes don’t work ;_;

Ross Biddle.2367:

Silverkey.2078:

• Temporal Curtain: Removed functionality that prevented the swiftness applied by this skill from applying to allies that already had swiftness. Now applies 12 seconds of swiftness to allies the first time they cross the wall and 1 second of swiftness to allies that cross it again after receiving the initial swiftness.

How you know it was never “working as intended” as previously stated :p

Signit Heal now with no clone heal pulse. Somemesmer somewhere might be happy.

One streamer I know plays cele Mesmer with blurred inscriptions and sw/p staff. I’m sure he’s overjoyed, and also that duelists discipline finally works for his build, which he was complaining about for a while.

nearlight.3064:

Ross Biddle.2367:

How you know it was never “working as intended” as previously stated :p

Signit Heal now with no clone heal pulse. Somemesmer somewhere might be happy.

One streamer I know plays cele Mesmer with blurred inscriptions and sw/p staff. I’m sure he’s overjoyed, and also that duelists discipline finally works for his build, which he was complaining about for a while.

I’m also playing cele mesmer with DD. Happy I finally gain more than just cooldown reduction.

Ana.2415:

Me centaur runes don’t work ;_;

confirmed, with no heal skill whatsoever…

DD tweak is justified Imo. 3x bleed stacks per hit is not fun on the duelist.
Full rabid gear on pvp pre patch can let you proc 8-9 stacks bleed with duelist using only sharper images (assuming they hit)

Silverkey.2078:

• Phantasmal Disenchanter: Reduced the attack recharge by 2 seconds. The attack from this phantasm is now referred to as “Disenchanting Bolt” in the combat log.

Disenchanter attacked every 4 sec with PH pre patch. Does that mean he’ll attack every 2 sec now? If so, that’s borderline OP… and I like it

StickerHappy.8052:

DD tweak is justified Imo. 3x bleed stacks per hit is not fun on the duelist.
Full rabid gear on pvp pre patch can let you proc 8-9 stacks bleed with duelist using only sharper images (assuming they hit)

It was 2x on a 33% chance. And Bleed stacks really aren’t that strong in the current meta.

StickerHappy.8052:

DD tweak is justified Imo. 3x bleed stacks per hit is not fun on the duelist.
Full rabid gear on pvp pre patch can let you proc 8-9 stacks bleed with duelist using only sharper images (assuming they hit)

I would consider it justified if they had also adjusted bleed scaling… post spec patch bleed damage is pathetic.

frifox.5283:

Silverkey.2078:

• Phantasmal Disenchanter: Reduced the attack recharge by 2 seconds. The attack from this phantasm is now referred to as “Disenchanting Bolt” in the combat log.

Disenchanter attacked every 4 sec with PH pre patch. Does that mean he’ll attack every 2 sec now? If so, that’s borderline OP… and I like it

With its cast time and all the Shattering we do I don’t see it as being close to OP. Yeah you can get a lot of boon stripping and condition cleansing… provided you don’t Shatter.

Fay.2357:

I like the buff to the disenchanter though. That sucker is going to be attacking crazily fast.

It’s pretty good ! I was using Disenchanter in PvP sometimes. Good bye booners !

Silverkey.2078:

• Fencer’s Finesse: Fixed a bug that caused this trait to apply ferocity when reflecting projectiles. Fixed a bug that could cause the ferocity boon to be applied when attacking with weapons other than swords.

I had fun with Sc/Sw.

So Blurred Frenzy is now a dps loss?

I also have no idea why they think Condi Mesmer is so strong when its one of the worst condi builds.

StickerHappy.8052:

DD tweak is justified Imo. 3x bleed stacks per hit is not fun on the duelist.
Full rabid gear on pvp pre patch can let you proc 8-9 stacks bleed with duelist using only sharper images (assuming they hit)

8-9 stacks of bleed from an attack that hits 8 times? 3x bleed stacks per hit, what?

I understand you’re trying to make a point, but points are generally accepted better when you’re not blatantly falsifying your examples.

from dungoneers pov:

mantras still “not useable” more a accidental side effect…

portal…first i read about i thought nice, but this little sign i need to hoover my mouse to…erm, ok, i prefer good old clock!
rly, its a joke! what a mesmer want is a little counter like skill recharge, where you can see one view whats going on, not take vision off battle and mouse on kitten icon!

sword is great, but i guess it’s still to low compared to other classes

vail finally!!!

pu…sad,just sad
rip option to “replace” a thief or do realy fancy portal action at dungeons which made us enjoy this class so much

The disenchanter is absurd XD

Fay.2357:

8-9 stacks of bleed from an attack that hits 8 times? 3x bleed stacks per hit, what?

I think he’s factoring both Sharper Images and DD to get the 8-9 Bleed stacks. But, yeah, if that’s his assumption then he should be up front about it.

Uhm, if I recall accurately the Duelist has a “chance” to apply bleeds. I found this phant not very useful. Am I missing something?

Ithilwen.1529:

Uhm, if I recall accurately the Duelist has a “chance” to apply bleeds. I found this phant not very useful. Am I missing something?

Now that duelists discipline is functional, there are 2 ways for a duelist to apply bleeds. If you’re traited in dueling, crits from illusions (including the duelist) will bleed. Additionally, if you trait ’duelist’s discipline’, every shot from the duelist has a 33% chance of applying a bleed.

Pre-patch it was 33% chance of applying 2 bleeds…but was broken, so it didn’t actually work.

Hmm…I’m gonna have to give Phantasmal Disenchanter a try. Didn’t Irenio saidthat there’s more to come soon? If so, I hope there’s a scepter buff.

Ithilwen.1529:

Uhm, if I recall accurately the Duelist has a “chance” to apply bleeds. I found this phant not very useful. Am I missing something?

If you “found” it not very useful, that may be because DD wasn’t working at all before (that is, they didn’t actually apply the bleeds).

Regarding the Math behind DD vs Phantasmal Fury:

• Sharper images = bleed on crit
• Phantasmal Fury = +20% crit = 20% chance to bleed per hit
• DD now = 33% chance to bleed per hit
• 8*.2 = 1.6 bleeds, 8*.33 = 2.64 bleeds, so nerfed DD averages 1 more bleed per volley than PF.
• At 7.6s volley spacing (per frifox), you need 52% bleed duration for that extra bleed to be a persistent stack, so with 3 iDuelists and 52% bleed duration, you’ll have 3 extra persistent bleeds per target, or 633 more bleed dps than Phantasmal Fury (and you’ll lose physical dps). Burst dps will be higher, obviously.

As for why you’d take DD over PF, isn’t it obvious? You take DD so you can get the bleeds and also get cooldown reduction on pistol! Even if DD gave the same bleeds as PF, it’d still be worth considering DD.

All we need is for interrupt traits to proc on breakbar targets and DD will be a viable competitor for PvE dps.

Edit: Also, Rampager hybrids who’re near the crit cap could potentially see more value out of DD just straight up.

Wow I love the Disenchanter. :o

Might actually take it with Chronophantasma this weekend.

Pretty satisfied, for the most part. PU nerf was sad, but probably inevitable. Duelist’s Discipline also still useless. Chaotic Dampening is still weak, but I know they’re very scared of how it might stack with Alacrity. Other than that though, some nice targeted buffs and quality of life changes. Still waiting for a complete Scepter overhaul.

Levetty.1279:

So Blurred Frenzy is now a dps loss?

I also have no idea why they think Condi Mesmer is so strong when its one of the worst condi builds.

They were so stingy with the autoattack buffs, a 10% buff is marginal when mesmer mainhand sword is so far behind, and the fact that pistol whip is blurred frenzy on steroids, and Unrelenting Assault does roughly three times as much damage as blurred frenzy, teleports you, and stacks might is a joke.

Necro also got a pitiful 10% on axe auto, when the weapon is so behind the other classes, their scepter changes amount to less ramp up but the same mediocre condition dps due to nerfs to lingering curse that still make engineers and rangers and guardians far better condition classes.

Meanwhile thieves got buffs on the line of 25%+. A total joke, considering most thief weapons vastly outdamage mesmer and necromancer autoattacks and other skills. But I fear this is all done with pvp balancing in mind where they don’t want to buff mesmer or necro.

And rangers, the class with some of the worst autoattacks, including all their power weapons besides longbow, got no buffs to the autoattacks.

If they think raids will release with anywhere close to fair class representation at this level of power imbalance between classes, they got a surprise coming to them.

Zenith.7301:

Levetty.1279:

So Blurred Frenzy is now a dps loss?

They were so stingy with the autoattack buffs, a 10% buff is marginal when mesmer mainhand sword is so far behind, and the fact that pistol whip is blurred frenzy on steroids

Last time I tested using BF on cd was somewhere around 2% dps increase over aa. 10% buff to aa will put BF into dps-loss category (unless used in place of dodging). I’ll re-test the new coefficients and attack rates tonight just to be sure.

AlphatheWhite.9351:

Ithilwen.1529:

Uhm, if I recall accurately the Duelist has a “chance” to apply bleeds. I found this phant not very useful. Am I missing something?

If you “found” it not very useful, that may be because DD wasn’t working at all before (that is, they didn’t actually apply the bleeds).

Regarding the Math behind DD vs Phantasmal Fury:

• Sharper images = bleed on crit
• Phantasmal Fury = +20% crit = 20% chance to bleed per hit
• DD now = 33% chance to bleed per hit
• 8*.2 = 1.6 bleeds, 8*.33 = 2.64 bleeds, so nerfed DD averages 1 more bleed per volley than PF.
• At 7.6s volley spacing (per frifox), you need 52% bleed duration for that extra bleed to be a persistent stack, so with 3 iDuelists and 52% bleed duration, you’ll have 3 extra persistent bleeds per target, or 633 more bleed dps than Phantasmal Fury (and you’ll lose physical dps). Burst dps will be higher, obviously.

As for why you’d take DD over PF, isn’t it obvious? You take DD so you can get the bleeds and also get cooldown reduction on pistol! Even if DD gave the same bleeds as PF, it’d still be worth considering DD.

All we need is for interrupt traits to proc on breakbar targets and DD will be a viable competitor for PvE dps.

Edit: Also, Rampager hybrids who’re near the crit cap could potentially see more value out of DD just straight up.

If i recall correctly, the phantasms also scale from your Precision hence greater crit chance.

frifox.5283:

Zenith.7301:

Levetty.1279:

So Blurred Frenzy is now a dps loss?

They were so stingy with the autoattack buffs, a 10% buff is marginal when mesmer mainhand sword is so far behind, and the fact that pistol whip is blurred frenzy on steroids

Last time I tested using BF on cd was somewhere around 2% dps increase over aa. 10% buff to aa will put BF into dps-loss category (unless used in place of dodging). I’ll re-test the new coefficients and attack rates tonight just to be sure.

Yeah, it’s why I compared Blurred Frenzy to Pistol Whip and Unrelenting Assault, both skills that evade and do SO MUCH MORE DAMAGE on top of their own perks (like stunning the target or stacking might and acting as a gap closer too).

The fact that our autoattacks are weak and noncompetitive with other classes and YET they are a DPS gain over blurred frenzy is a problem.

But they started in the necromancer forums that the reason they’re conservative is PvP reasons, so it confirms my suspicion of our classes being held in PvE hell boil down to a game prioritized in PvP balance with PvE taking a backseat because they won’t do PvP/PvE splits.

It just does not bode well for raids when obviously classes won’t be earnestly balanced in PvE because PvP is all that matters.

They don’t care for balancing DPS across classes in PvE, and when raids turn out to be more of the same usual stacking of ele/guardian/warrior, they can’t act surprised.

I’m just moving from irritated to just tired and lacking any hope that this rampant class discrimination in PvE will ever be fixed because they so far won’t do anything to fix PvE if it conflicts with PvP.

What sort of message are you sending to PvE people when it’s so obvious their concerns are secondary to esports.

StickerHappy.8052:

If i recall correctly, the phantasms also scale from your Precision hence greater crit chance.

Yes, but that’s completely irrelevant to the comparison.

Fury, the buff, applies exactly 20% crit chance every single time, regardless of your own precision.
The only time this changes is when your personal crit chance from precision is already over 80% (hence why I mentioned Rampagers hybrids, rabid doesn’t get anywhere close to the limit), because crit chance caps at 100%.

So, unless you are completely decked out in precision gear, your Duelist will always get exactly a 20% increase in bleed chance from Phantasmal Fury via Sharper Images.

AlphatheWhite.9351:

Yes, but that’s completely irrelevant to the comparison.

Fury, the buff, applies exactly 20% crit chance every single time, regardless of your own precision.
The only time this changes is when your personal crit chance from precision is already over 80% (hence why I mentioned Rampagers hybrids, rabid doesn’t get anywhere close to the limit), because crit chance caps at 100%.

So, unless you are completely decked out in precision gear, your Duelist will always get exactly a 20% increase in bleed chance from Phantasmal Fury via Sharper Images.

Yup. Understanding what you’re comparing is super important. Some folks should try that out.

frifox.5283:

Zenith.7301:

Levetty.1279:

So Blurred Frenzy is now a dps loss?

They were so stingy with the autoattack buffs, a 10% buff is marginal when mesmer mainhand sword is so far behind, and the fact that pistol whip is blurred frenzy on steroids

Last time I tested using BF on cd was somewhere around 2% dps increase over aa. 10% buff to aa will put BF into dps-loss category (unless used in place of dodging). I’ll re-test the new coefficients and attack rates tonight just to be sure.

My math says it was about 12% improvement before, and should be about 3% now.

Ross Biddle.2367:

Signit Heal now with no clone heal pulse. Somemesmer somewhere might be happy.

Hey, that’s how I won that first duel with you and Chaos.
Ya’ll were looking for interrupts, and I was trying hard not to give you any, especially on my heal.

AlphatheWhite.9351:

frifox.5283:

Zenith.7301:

Levetty.1279:

So Blurred Frenzy is now a dps loss?

They were so stingy with the autoattack buffs, a 10% buff is marginal when mesmer mainhand sword is so far behind, and the fact that pistol whip is blurred frenzy on steroids

Last time I tested using BF on cd was somewhere around 2% dps increase over aa. 10% buff to aa will put BF into dps-loss category (unless used in place of dodging). I’ll re-test the new coefficients and attack rates tonight just to be sure.

My math says it was about 12% improvement before, and should be about 3% now.

Your math probably neglected after cast. Frifox numbers are derived from ingame dps testing.

Fay.2357:

AlphatheWhite.9351:

frifox.5283:

Zenith.7301:

Levetty.1279:

So Blurred Frenzy is now a dps loss?

They were so stingy with the autoattack buffs, a 10% buff is marginal when mesmer mainhand sword is so far behind, and the fact that pistol whip is blurred frenzy on steroids

Last time I tested using BF on cd was somewhere around 2% dps increase over aa. 10% buff to aa will put BF into dps-loss category (unless used in place of dodging). I’ll re-test the new coefficients and attack rates tonight just to be sure.

My math says it was about 12% improvement before, and should be about 3% now.

Your math probably neglected after cast. Frifox numbers are derived from ingame dps testing.

My times were taken directly from Frifox’s spreadsheet.

Dug up my old “math”. Those calcs included phantasm dps in the equation which is why BF was only a small dps increase over AA. I mistakenly assumed that my old spreadsheet excluded phantasm dps and the overall drop would be 10%, which once you do include phantasm dps is not the case.

Excluding phantasms (and assuming coefficients changed only for AA and by exactly 10%), using BF on CD is a now a 4.5% increase (vs 6.6% pre patch). The more phantasms you have the less that increase becomes. Basically, BF is a dps increase but only a minor one especially with the AA buff. Might as well just stick to AA and save BF for when you need to dodge.

Also, Disenchanter is nuts. Attack every 2.46 seconds with PH, which is more or less the same as sword AA rate! 2xDisenchanters (with mimic) with your sword AA now strips 2 boons every second!

frifox.5283:

Also, Disenchanter is nuts. Attack every 2.46 seconds with PH, which is more or less the same as sword AA rate! 2xDisenchanters (with mimic) with your sword AA now strips 2 boons every second!

Why wasting mimic when u can use healing signet? Much faster CD

If only we had a trait that spawned one so I wouldn’t have to burn a utility slot on it.

EDIT: The real question is, does pDisenchanter with pFury give more Bleed stacks now than iDuelist with dDiscipline, assuming pHaste on both?

FJSAMA.2867:

frifox.5283:

Also, Disenchanter is nuts. Attack every 2.46 seconds with PH, which is more or less the same as sword AA rate! 2xDisenchanters (with mimic) with your sword AA now strips 2 boons every second!

Why wasting mimic when u can use healing signet? Much faster CD

If I require utility in the other 2 slots, probably. Otherwise, I save signet for cases when I need to re-summon either disenchanter or my 3rd dps phantasm after they die or get insta gibbed. Can’t predict phantasm deaths so can’t predict if I should blow mimic for re-summon or save it for later.

Did pledge bug get fixed?

Lyger.5429:

Did pledge bug get fixed?

Did you try reading the notes?

frifox.5283:

Also, Disenchanter is nuts. Attack every 2.46 seconds with PH, which is more or less the same as sword AA rate! 2xDisenchanters (with mimic) with your sword AA now strips 2 boons every second!

Those cute necromancers in the necromancer forums who say necro does boon strip best

tobascodagama.2961:

EDIT: The real question is, does pDisenchanter with pFury give more Bleed stacks now than iDuelist with dDiscipline, assuming pHaste on both?

iDuelist is a 8xhit attack, and looking at sharper images, its obvious answer.

Better than the rest dps phantasms, for sure.