This will probably be a fairly divisive topic judging from what my guildmates had to say, but I’d like to know where everyone stands on Prismatic Understanding. Also a really long post, but if you’re not willing to read it I can’t really force you.
I personally think it is fine as is for a few reasons. Way back before several changes, 1 second of extra stealth really didn’t mean much(hell, thieves got that in a minor trait), but the boons were strong since they were all defensive. Then Swiftness and Might got thrown in, making it a lot less reliable kitten seconds of might when you’ve just entered 4 seconds of stealth is kinda…not useful. So adding Might and Swiftness to the mix was(IMO) a nerf. Increasing the duration to 100% was a good decision because now all the Chaos Grandmaster traits actually feel like build defining traits. It is actually a tough decision to pick one of them, which is how it should be for all trait lines. I’d much rather have tough choices to make instead of entire trait lines that are only really worthwhile if you’re going in for one specific trait. I think this is how all GM traits should be, build and playstyle defining, but not inherently more powerful than the others.
I understand a lot of people’s qualms with PU have to do with stealth. Mesmers, stealth, conditions and clones were all things that made for an annoying fight that didn’t require much risk on the mesmer’s part. This strategy was only really viable and common in WvW roaming(which is btw not a gamemode the game is balanced around) and was essentially useless in 2 of the 3 gamemodes(SPvP and PvE). Long duration stealth doesn’t help you kill your opponent, that’s why those mesmers relied on clone condition application. With the nerf to maim, this strategy is a lot less viable, especially now that burning has become king of dmg conditions and mesmers have almost no way to apply it, let alone stack it.
I’ve started using PU in SPvP as sort of an offpoint harasser and sidecapper. I can say from experience that while 100% duration is a lot, I almost never stay in stealth for that long. Staying in stealth for that long just gives your opponent time to regain cds and prepare. I use stealth for re-positioning, which the added duration is great for. If it were reverted to its previous iteration of 1 extra second and random picks from 5 boons, 2 of them being almost useless at that point, I’d probably never consider PU on tier with the other GM traits again. Giving my opponent a chance to recover and coming out of stealth with 2 stacks of might, some swiftness and maybe one of the defensive buffs really doesn’t seem worthy of a GM trait and if I really wanted boons that badly, I’d just go for Bountiful Disillusionment.
Also keep in mind that Anet seems to be moving towards more reveal access for certain classes. Engi’s lock-on, the spoiled guardian trap, ranger shout and WvW’s stealth trap are all good sources of reveal, so please don’t come to this thread just to complain about stealth. I want to hear opinions on Prismatic Understanding on MESMERS, not stealth in general and not cross class comparisons.