Taken from my response in this post. Felt it warranted it’s own post as it addresses a very specific suggested addition to this skill beyond the more generalized discussion found in the referenced thread.
I have np with Mesmers getting Torment tbh (Specially after Confussion Nerf) but Thieves.. wtf Seriously ? A class so burst/melee heavy gets a Condition that hurts ppl trying to get away or catch up with thief. This is on paper plain wrong, Il wait 5days and see but sounds broken now.
All other things looks & Sounds promising but ofc have to wait and see what all these changes to Traits will be about. The DS do more dmg up close most likely be one.
Exactly.
This makes a fight with a thief even worse for necros. The thief steals from you, applies Torment, then fears you for 3 or more seconds. Way to go, ArenaNet. They didn’t learn the first time around when Fear was to be a necro-only skill. Now they throw Torment on top of it, giving a movement-punishing skill to the highest mobility profession who applies the most pressure on opponents to remain mobile in combat themselves. Seriously?!?! And they call this “balanced”?
/facepalm
I see one way of salvaging the “balance”, though. Make our DS#5 Tainted Shackles an instant cast immune to control effects (just like Doom). We get hit with a Fear/Torment combo, we DS, and pop Tainted Shackles. Now the thief pursuing us suffers Torment, as well. The thief then has to make cost : benefit choices; pursue us and take damage, blow condition removal, or disengage.
Making Tainted Shackles instant cast is appropriate beyond being a one-trick-pony counter to a thief’s Fear/Torment combo. If it will indeed inflict a form of control on nearby enemies, then being instant cast makes perfect sense.
We’re supposed to be this low-mobility, facetanking, attrition class with no disengage mechanic, right? Fine, we accept we’re not going to be able to escape from a fight once started. All we want is the ability to prevent our opponents from escaping, as well, should they be foolish enough to wander too close to us. You don’t accomplish that with some long-casting, high-telegraphing animation for a control skill. You make it instant cast so an opponent is caught by surprise.
We should not be doubly punished with both low mobility AND skills with long cast times that telegraph themselves to our enemies. Making Tainted Shackles instant cast is not OP, unfair, nor unbalanced with regards to other professions. The necromancer, as stated by the devs, is supposed to be the profession difficult to escape from once engaged and which WILL kill you if you remain too long in their control zone.
Since they tout mobility, movement, and positioning as core to their combat system, then the counter to a necro should be to use proper positioning to keep your distance to begin with. The counter should NOT be “Oh, look! A necro is winding up to cast a skill. Quick! Dodge, blink, teleport, or leap away.” The opponent had their chance to “counter” by not getting within our kill zone to begin with. If they make the mistake of crossing into that zone, too bad, so sad for them.
From a lore perspective, this is wholly appropriate, as well. I can agree with the concept that – as an attrition class and a profession dedicated to dark arts, necromancy, et al. – that we can be thought of as slowly but inexorably grinding our opponents down much the same way that death eventually claims everything in the end; even if it takes a long time. However, death can also come swiftly and completely unexpected, taking an opponent by surprise.
Throwing us a bone by making Tainted Shackles instant cast does not break with our lore, the flavor of the profession, or our intended combat style. Especially as it synergizes well with our more conventional attrition style. It becomes, “SURPRISE! You just got shackled and aren’t going anywhere. Now I begin the process of slowly grinding you to dust.”
Sadly, that’s not how it plays out. Our long casts give enemies plenty of time to use their multiple escape options to avoid us; already one of the slowest and most easily avoided professions. I do hope they consider making Tainted Shackles instant cast.
Bad idea giving Torment to thieves, but it’s obviously too late to do anything about it. Short of a quick correction such as suggested above or some other solution, it will be back to the drawing board yet again to balance what is going to become the latest imbalance after the 25th.