Guild Wars 2

At the moment, very few, if any, consider using the Signet of Inspiration for its
passive effect because the boon given is random. I consider this to be an elegant
fix to such randomness. This is how the description should read.

Signet of Inspiration

Passive: Grants a boon every ten seconds, based on equipped weaponry.
Active: Copy all of your boons to nearby allies.

Greatsword: Might (1 stack/10s)
Focus: Swiftness (6s)
Pistol: Retaliation (5s)
Scepter: Vigor (3s)
Spear: Fury (5s)
Staff: Protection (3s)
Sword (Mainhand): Fury (3s)
Sword (Offhand): Aegis (10s)
Torch: Regeneration (5s/650 health)
Trident: Protection (3s)

Number of Targets: 5
Range: 600

This allows players to choose which boon they want by which weapon is currently
equipped. That will increase the signet’s usefulness without changing its purpose.
I matched boons up by their weapon’s skills and/or the traits that affect them but
other players may see things differently.

While normally I oppose most signet of inspiration changes, I really quite like this!

I kind of like the idea, but how does this work for sword + focus?

Do you just get one randomly or do you get both?

Good on paper, but a little bit too, not RNG. Having you pewpew on GS gets you might 1 might every 10 secs, 3 Every Gs2 untraited. 6 on swap, Runes of strength Duration and 1 more stack + might shatter so basically staying on greatsword gives you perma might. I think you didnt mention that it will only work in combat. so you can stack might OOC?

Miku.6297:

I kind of like the idea, but how does this work for sword + focus?

Do you just get one randomly or do you get both?

Both, which is the reason I cut down the boon’s length. I also kept boon duration increases in mind. I don’t want it to be overpowered but it has to be useful enough to consider the passive alone.

StickerHappy.8052:

Good on paper, but a little bit too, not RNG. Having you pewpew on GS gets you might 1 might every 10 secs, 3 Every Gs2 untraited. 6 on swap, Runes of strength Duration and 1 more stack + might shatter so basically staying on greatsword gives you perma might. I think you didnt mention that it will only work in combat. so you can stack might OOC?

I’ve thought about all of that too, which is why i suggested cutting down the original 20 seconds to ten. As for the insane might comboing, that’s really more of an issue with Strength Runes being so good while alternatives are rather lackluster. I don’t want to jump on the “nerf all runes” train because I like how we can make builds with them as a keystone. Personally, I want them to buff barely used runes and add more good ones so Strength isn’t so much of a given. Counterplay, I feel, needs to come from making boon-stripping/corrupting more valid. I’m working on a thesis for that but the essence of it is, once you strip an opponent of a boon, they can’t get it back for a few seconds.

1.) The numbers don’t work out:

1 Aegis every 10 seconds is too strong. Comparing to every other possible sources of aegis, you’ll that aegis is very rare.

3s Protection every 10 seconds on Staff is also too strong; with boon duration you’d come to ~50% uptime. With the signet alone.

10s of might every 10 seconds on GS, so basically 1-2 Stacks of might for using the signet is not strong enough. => + of 70-140 stats, some signets give you 180 of a certain stat, but you are still only going to use those, if the active effect is strong enough.

=> good for defense, not good for offense.

2.) The passive should be very very week, but the active really strong. We don’t want passive play, but support a more active playstyle.
I’d suggest to improve the active ability further; cd reduction; maybe some addition benefits for sharing your boons (f.e. how about also refreshing the duration of the boons to 10 seconds for might/protection/regeneration and 5seconds for stability?)

Teutos.8620:

1.) The numbers don’t work out:

1 Aegis every 10 seconds is too strong. Comparing to every other possible sources of aegis, you’ll that aegis is very rare.

3s Protection every 10 seconds on Staff is also too strong; with boon duration you’d come to ~50% uptime. With the signet alone.

10s of might every 10 seconds on GS, so basically 1-2 Stacks of might for using the signet is not strong enough. => + of 70-140 stats, some signets give you 180 of a certain stat, but you are still only going to use those, if the active effect is strong enough.

=> good for defense, not good for offense.

2.) The passive should be very very week, but the active really strong. We don’t want passive play, but support a more active playstyle.
I’d suggest to improve the active ability further; cd reduction; maybe some addition benefits for sharing your boons (f.e. how about also refreshing the duration of the boons to 10 seconds for might/protection/regeneration and 5seconds for stability?)

I agree with you about Aegis but I’m hard-pressed to think of an alternative. Perhaps the application could be cut down to 3 seconds but that would make it feel random. I couldn’t think of anything better so I left it alone.

I see your point but don’t agree with you on Protection. Yes, it can be doubled to 6 but that takes dedication in pvp and comes at the cost of potential damage in WvW. Maybe it can be dropped to 2 seconds but any lower and I feel the signet wouldn’t be attractive to staff users.

Might’s duration isn’t even an issue because of how many other ways you can gain it and how easy it is to increase its duration. It’s really there as a consolation.

As for the active use of the signet, I’m not balancing it against what the signet gives alone because it can transfer boons that it didn’t generate. I’m balancing it against its potential. There have been situations where a mesmer has stolen a minute or more of stability and this signet allows them to give that to their allies. I personally have used it to double the duration of 25 stacks of might that an ele gave me. The cooldown is something I’m also mindful off. The boons have to be just strong enough to consider if the active is worth it. Again, might is the only one that falls short because of how easy it is to get might from other sources.

I think the idea is pretty meh. Why would I need SoI to provide Swiftness if I got a Focus equipped. Mind you, that procced swiftness would block Focus-swiftness!

Carighan.6758:

I think the idea is pretty meh. Why would I need SoI to provide Swiftness if I got a Focus equipped. Mind you, that procced swiftness would block Focus-swiftness!

That’s a problem with Anet’s bandaid fix. I can’t believe it’s still in place even after 2.5 years.

Crossplay.2067:

That’s a problem with Anet’s bandaid fix. I can’t believe it’s still in place even after 2.5 years.

Even if they implement the same “proper” fix as for Guardian Symbol, that’d mean instead of my full Swiftness I get 6s from the Signet + 1s from running through the field. Not what I wanted.

Ofc, the proper way would be to set Swiftness to the new duration if lower. Yeah. I know that much. :P
But given how the Guardian symbol works that’s unlikely.

Even then, I’m not sure I’d want Inspiration to provide only one buff per-weapon. Unless we can guarantee that the buff is useful when having the weapon equipped in all situations, it just forces uses for weapons you may not otherwise want, or deny you use SoI because the passive would be even less useful than now, given the situation.

A better implementation would be to adapt proc weights dynamically.
The lower your health is, the higher the chances for Protection, Aegis and (I’d add that!) Stability. Out of combat, Swiftness gets a higher chance. Power attacks hitting you add to Protection and Retaliation, etc.

I still wouldnt take it.

Decoy
Blink
MoD/AT/Mantra Cleanse/Portal/WhaEvaaaa

Carighan.6758:

Even if they implement the same “proper” fix as for Guardian Symbol, that’d mean instead of my full Swiftness I get 6s from the Signet + 1s from running through the field. Not what I wanted.

Ofc, the proper way would be to set Swiftness to the new duration if lower. Yeah. I know that much. :P
But given how the Guardian symbol works that’s unlikely.

Even then, I’m not sure I’d want Inspiration to provide only one buff per-weapon. Unless we can guarantee that the buff is useful when having the weapon equipped in all situations, it just forces uses for weapons you may not otherwise want, or deny you use SoI because the passive would be even less useful than now, given the situation.

A better implementation would be to adapt proc weights dynamically.
The lower your health is, the higher the chances for Protection, Aegis and (I’d add that!) Stability. Out of combat, Swiftness gets a higher chance. Power attacks hitting you add to Protection and Retaliation, etc.

I have to admit, weighted procs sound tempted, if done correctly, but I’m against RNG. I prefer to know what I’m going to get, even if it’s not what I need than hope I’ll get what I need. I’m also extremely bias since I’ve lost count of how many times I’ve been at a Tequatl raid and still haven’t gotten an ascended chest.

Ross Biddle.2367:

I still wouldnt take it.

Decoy
Blink
MoD/AT/Mantra Cleanse/Portal/WhaEvaaaa

This point isn’t for it to be a sure “must have”. It just have to be tempting enough for you to think about it. That being said, what values would it have to have for you to be interested?

I like your idea but I wouldn’t take it either. To be fairly honest, the last thing we need it buffs on utilites that are underpowered at the moment.. :<

Besides, the 1 stack on gs is kinda… err… 1 stack is nothing so at least 2 stacks would fit a lot more.

Swiftness on focus seems rather pointless seeing temporal curtain doesn’t stack with normal swiftness. There’s a pretty big chance you will waste your temporal curtain cause you randomly get the swiftness just before you walked over it. I’d say give focus either retaliation or regen and give something like torch swiftness.

BlackDevil.9268:

I like your idea but I wouldn’t take it either. To be fairly honest, the last thing we need it buffs on utilites that are underpowered at the moment.. :<

Besides, the 1 stack on gs is kinda… err… 1 stack is nothing so at least 2 stacks would fit a lot more.

Swiftness on focus seems rather pointless seeing temporal curtain doesn’t stack with normal swiftness. There’s a pretty big chance you will waste your temporal curtain cause you randomly get the swiftness just before you walked over it. I’d say give focus either retaliation or regen and give something like torch swiftness.

This is a better idea. It would mean taking this signit would make builds that otherwise have shortcomings more filled out.

Crossplay.2067:

Ross Biddle.2367:

I still wouldnt take it.

Decoy
Blink
MoD/AT/Mantra Cleanse/Portal/WhaEvaaaa

This point isn’t for it to be a sure “must have”. It just have to be tempting enough for you to think about it. That being said, what values would it have to have for you to be interested?

• Decoy = Stealth + stun break
• Blink = teleport/mobility + stun break
• MoD = daze = interrupts = interrupt effects
• AT = Condi cleanse + boon steal
• MoR = Short CD insta cast condi cleanse
• Portal = Portal

• Signit of Inspiration = random boon every 10s, but the purpose is to boon stack + share.

This is good on paper but has little practical application on the Mesmer class. SoI is something you take in PvE when there’s nothing else really good to put on the bar. So how do you make it better? I’ll make it instantly better.

SoI, 30s cd
Passive: Grants a random boon every 10s (weapon dependent or not).
Active: Copies all boons to allies in range, Grants 10s Stability to mesmer. max target 5. (stabos can activate before copy or not, doesnt matter)

Passive worth a kitten , active that gives the mesmer something, and also works in team play. More-over it has a home in place of decoy or blink as stability can compete with stun breaks, stealth, and teleports.

Omg Ross that simple change of giving Mesmer stability would make it ten times better!

10s Stability on a 30s CD, prior to (or even with) boon duration, is silly OP.

alanis.6094:

10s Stability on a 30s CD, prior to (or even with) boon duration, is silly OP.

You mean 36seconds if S. Inspiration is traited. 45 without.

MailMail.6534:

alanis.6094:

10s Stability on a 30s CD, prior to (or even with) boon duration, is silly OP.

You mean 36seconds if S. Inspiration is traited. 45 without.

The proposed change above specifically states 30s. HTH.

alanis.6094:

MailMail.6534:

alanis.6094:

10s Stability on a 30s CD, prior to (or even with) boon duration, is silly OP.

You mean 36seconds if S. Inspiration is traited. 45 without.

The proposed change above specifically states 30s. HTH.

Oh fair call, i got the durations wrong. Keep the duration the same as is now/traited

Crossplay.2067:

I have to admit, weighted procs sound tempted, if done correctly, but I’m against RNG. I prefer to know what I’m going to get, even if it’s not what I need than hope I’ll get what I need. I’m also extremely bias since I’ve lost count of how many times I’ve been at a Tequatl raid and still haven’t gotten an ascended chest.

Understandable, though we have significant RNG concepts in the Mesmer class (Staff, Chaos-line, SoI). I doubt “removal” is what ANet is going to do with them. :P