Guild Wars 2

During the last State of the Game, Jonathan Sharp indirectly hinted that he was concerned about Weakness in its new form, when spread with Epidemic.
I think Zombify stated he didn’t see it as overpowered, but I am concerned Sharp does not share the same view.

I have concerns about changing Epidemic to not spread Weakness. Much of the current game seems to encourage a mass zerg onto one point. Epidemic+Weakness, at the very least, is a powerful deterrent to this gameplay.

Additionally, it’s one of the few ways to help slow down the focus train on necromancers in the current game.

Removing Weakness from Epidemic appears, in my opinion, to amplify some of the current problems with the game and Necromancers.

Noone is really bothered by weakness epis, bleed, chill and torment ones are way stronger, even poison is. If you want mass weakness on a group cpc and plague form do the job for longer and probably better than a epidemic on a weakned target.

I do think we have tons of weakness, but I don’t see Epidemic being the problem.

Personally, I think we don’t have enough weakness. Thieves are capable of easily 100% up-time on weakness with a spam attack. If the goal is for Necromancers to be powerful at attrition, lowering our burst while increasing overall effectiveness of conditions, buffing vampiric traits and abilities, giving greater access to weakness, and also buffing torment, would be steps in achieving that goal.

What skills do thieves have for 100% uptime on weakness?

Lorkmir.6580:

Personally, I think we don’t have enough weakness. Thieves are capable of easily 100% up-time on weakness with a spam attack. If the goal is for Necromancers to be powerful at attrition, lowering our burst while increasing overall effectiveness of conditions, buffing vampiric traits and abilities, giving greater access to weakness, and also buffing torment, would be steps in achieving that goal.

Putting in condi duration runes with the 30/30/x/x/x builds with a veggie pizza can easily enable a condimancer to juggle 100% weakness up time with the withering precision grand master trait. To top it off, it enables more up time on burning. Spread it with epidemic and you can always have weakness spread about on 5 players with other conditions as well. I don’t think that’s the real problem though. I think the real issue is that Anet is really out to tone down AoE’s and any excuse that can be given to nerf an AoE is an excuse they’ll take. Epidemic basically IS necromancer aoe, nerfing it severely cripples necro utility. Ignoring the bleed and burning damage it enables disabling conditions to be spread which is helpful to any necro.

Debuffs are our thing, keeping them up on as many targets is what we do.

Classes can spread AoE Protection to allies, so we can spread AoE Weakness to enemies.

go solo the ogre eventchain. then tell us constant weakness isn’t OP ;-) the first champ takes at least 50% longer to solo than before the weakness buff (yes, it can be avoided, but if you fight the same way as before it takes a lot longer).

I like the weakness change, but if they change a condition so dramatically, they really should’ve gone over all the skills causing it – on players as well as mobs.

Oranisaugu,

To some extent they did change the skills that cause weakness, at least for some classes. An example would be that skale venom no longer causes weakness but torment.

VidurrRedhands.1964:

What skills do thieves have for 100% uptime on weakness?

dagger auto-attack + Lotus Poison trait.

VidurrRedhands.1964:

What skills do thieves have for 100% uptime on weakness?

What skills do Necromancers have for 100% uptime on stealth?

Drarnor Kunoram.5180:

VidurrRedhands.1964:

What skills do thieves have for 100% uptime on weakness?

dagger auto-attack + Lotus Poison trait.

That trait has a 20 second cooldown, unless the ICD was removed.

Roe.3679:

Drarnor Kunoram.5180:

VidurrRedhands.1964:

What skills do thieves have for 100% uptime on weakness?

dagger auto-attack + Lotus Poison trait.

That trait has a 20 second cooldown, unless the ICD was removed.

Now it does, yes. Before the last balance patch, though, thieves had a stupidly easy time making sure you didn’t dodge much.

http://wiki.guildwars2.com/wiki/Crippling_Strike
thief has cripple + weakness on the same auto attack.

Drarnor Kunoram.5180:

Roe.3679:

Drarnor Kunoram.5180:

VidurrRedhands.1964:

What skills do thieves have for 100% uptime on weakness?

dagger auto-attack + Lotus Poison trait.

That trait has a 20 second cooldown, unless the ICD was removed.

Now it does, yes. Before the last balance patch, though, thieves had a stupidly easy time making sure you didn’t dodge much.

…
…
…
that was before it was buffed then; so no one cares

VidurrRedhands.1964:

What skills do thieves have for 100% uptime on weakness?

They don’t, anymore. [Mad cackling]

Anyways, I’d bet on nerfs to Necro weakness application, possibly a shift to making their weakness come in smaller (but slightly more frequent?) durations. I’m thinking of withering precision (Still mad about the change they made there) and corrosive poison cloud specifically. I expect enfeebling blood / shroud to get hit with no specific compensation.

Honestly I thought a lot of the weakness application nerfs were going to be applied in the same patch that buffed the condition, so I’m not too surprised to hear they might just get around to it.

Edit: Oh wait, we’re talking about the SotG from three weeks ago or so? Then take my predictions with a few extra grains of salt, I thought there had been another one I just missed or something.