Guild Wars 2

This profession suffers from more channels and cast times than any other profession.

This is a problem because cast times are detrimental to the user in a fast paced twitch style competitive game.

Some of the abilities that are very powerful (like corrupt boon, epedmic) dont have long cast times, but then we look at (almost every offhand weapon ability, pet ability, etc) and we see incredible cast times.

Cast times = you can be interrupted before you cast your spell.
You cannot dodge untill your spell finishes.
You can not do any other auto attack or ability while you are channeling/casting. Your target could dodge before you finish.
Your target could heal before you finish.
Your target could go around or out of your line of site before it finishes.
Your target could turn invisable before it finishes. Etc…etc.

I suggest taking the cast times off any ability that has a longer cast time than 1 second, and dropping it. The only reason to have something like this is if its like some of the elementalist large AE attacks, and the end result is amazing (also noted, we have EXTREMELY limited access to stability for a profession that has so many channel/cast times).

I dont care if you have to nerf stuff (though i dont think you will that heavily). The cast times result in annoying gameplay and should be dropped.

One of my biggest gripes with the Necro. Our condition removing heal takes forever and a day to get off compared to some other classes. Etc etc etc…..

I think the cast times are fine. They are annoying, but they need to be there. It is a “Caster” class.

I do agree though that since it is a caster class it should have a wider range of abilities that can protect you during a cast and make sure you will kill your target effectively.

Fraeg.9837:

One of my biggest gripes with the Necro. Our condition removing heal takes forever and a day to get off compared to some other classes. Etc etc etc…..

Negative, the elementalist one is a 2.5 second cast and is interrupted repeatedly which is why they don’t use it haha. Engineers either have to go turrent drop now click or swap to medkit quickly hit the right button now go pick it up.

I could list a few others, but you get the idea.

The curruptin skills are strong and worth their cast. Problematic are:

- DS #1 ,#2 , Staff #1, axe #2 …..they suffer from LoS cz theyre projectiles

-Signet fo locust/spite : 1st is the long CD for not so good effect. Locust should be faster cz its an emergency button, Spite is for power —→ melee --→ fast paced combat
and even with 25 curse minor trait its only +12% dmg for 5sec

-Focus #4 … its good, i personaly put it here, cz its a skill thats more effective when ur closer for more bounces. therefore as a semi-melee could be 1/2s long like warhon #4

-focus #5 … 3/4 or 1s would fine

Other like dagger#3 / Consume conditions are strong and need the cast time.

Cast times are awful, the window for an interrupt is really long, and I’ve been dropped countless times while channeling Consume Conditions. I really wish I could trait Dark Armor, but as a condimancer I just can’t afford to give up Greater Marks or Staff Mastery.

vesta.3170:

I think the cast times are fine. They are annoying, but they need to be there. It is a “Caster” class.

I do agree though that since it is a caster class it should have a wider range of abilities that can protect you during a cast and make sure you will kill your target effectively.

You clearly haven’t played mesmer or DD ele then. Both of those are “caster” classes that are full of instant cast skills and abilities that make for a fluid and enjoyable playstyle. Necro has a painful lack of instant cast abilties. DS3 is our only really accessible instant cast ability.

Rennoko.5731:

vesta.3170:

I think the cast times are fine. They are annoying, but they need to be there. It is a “Caster” class.

I do agree though that since it is a caster class it should have a wider range of abilities that can protect you during a cast and make sure you will kill your target effectively.

You clearly haven’t played mesmer or DD ele then. Both of those are “caster” classes that are full of instant cast skills and abilities that make for a fluid and enjoyable playstyle. Necro has a painful lack of instant cast abilties. DS3 is our only really accessible instant cast ability.

Not to mention that using one of our “instant casts” still interrupts any other cast (start lich form cast, use corrupt boon, lich goes on cd without transformation and 60% chance that CB missed) since noone of them are actual instants on-target effects (like scepter 1), but invisible projectiles (reason why there is a minior damage on doom/CB/Plague Signet and proccing vampiric).

Rennoko.5731:

vesta.3170:

I think the cast times are fine. They are annoying, but they need to be there. It is a “Caster” class.

I do agree though that since it is a caster class it should have a wider range of abilities that can protect you during a cast and make sure you will kill your target effectively.

You clearly haven’t played mesmer or DD ele then. Both of those are “caster” classes that are full of instant cast skills and abilities that make for a fluid and enjoyable playstyle. Necro has a painful lack of instant cast abilties. DS3 is our only really accessible instant cast ability.

Agreed. Being a “caster” class doesnt necessarily mean we have to sit and wave our arms for ever to do anything. Thats simply role play mindset that you adopted from other games-fantasy storys. Truth is like mentioned other professions are casters and they dont seem to need as many wind-ups, and necromancer already has a few that dont have casting times (the corruptions casting times are short ironicly for how powerful they are).

The end point is its not fun, its frusterating. The game is so built around fast twitch style combat that putting in all these sluggish abilities just leaves you not wanting to use them. Staff 2-5 are all super fast and powerful, why are they allowed to be and not other weapon skills?

Point is, you could cut a lot of the cast times down, and all it would do is make the proefssion more fun, if something really stuck out as being OP because of this, you could tone down that ability. There is no UP side to long cast times.

Epidemic, Focus5, DS1, DS2 cast times bother me the most.

Its terrible to see a target loaded with conditions melt before Epidemic takes its eternal time to cast.

Focus5 is ridiculous. The cast time essentially cuts its effective range by about 1/4-1/3.

DS1/DS2 are essentially lag-simulation cast times.

Spinal shivers, it makes me shiver how long the cast time is!
1 1/4 IIRC, it takes soo bloody long to cast!

Honestly? The problem is that other classes need long cast times as well.

This game is supposed to have counterplay.
So many powerful abilities have no wind-up cough backstab.

Ruufio.1496:

Honestly? The problem is that other classes need long cast times as well.

This game is supposed to have counterplay.
So many powerful abilities have no wind-up cough backstab.

It wouldnt matter since you can only cast it from stealth… also thats (sadly) not how the initiative system works.
Also i do have to agree with TheAgedGnome.7520, but add dark pact to it, for a medicore damage and single target immob, its 1 second cast + snap animation are too long, 1/2 would be better.
For focus 5 a 1 1/4, Life Blast a 3/4, DS 2 to be instant shot and Epidemic (and corrupt boon since no matter if no cast time or with one it still cant be used mid other channels like other classes instants) 1/2.

I’ve forced stability into my build because of this heh. Nothing worse than getting ready to let loose with the big guns and getting knocked all over the place. Just wish they would up it (foot in the grave) to 4 or 5 seconds, 3sec is just a bit stingy.

Ruufio…ruufio..ruuuufiiooooooo!! sorry had to do that.

Not gonna lie the abilitys people pointed out recently are exactly the ones i’m most frusterated with. Doesnt feel like the cast times are justified on these abilitys.

Kilger.5490:

I’ve forced stability into my build because of this heh. Nothing worse than getting ready to let loose with the big guns and getting knocked all over the place. Just wish they would up it (foot in the grave) to 4 or 5 seconds, 3sec is just a bit stingy.

Or return it giving the Shade effect (perma effect stability and unstoppable while in DS).

While I also am not keen on long cast times, not everyone has a sub 60ms latency connection. For remote players (Oceanic etc) there is a inherent network infrastructure overhead sometimes as much as 180ms resulting in overall pings between 250ms and 400ms. Cast times at least give these players a fair shake….although when you add in culling we can have a kitten hard time with the reflex based fights…our dodges are “post mortem”. I don’t know what the answer is though.

Cast times are mostly fine. The problem is projectile speed. See: Dark Path, Spectral Grasp, Staff autoattack…

Draehl.2681:

Cast times are mostly fine. The problem is projectile speed. See: Dark Path, Spectral Grasp, Staff autoattack…

^This.
I have no problem with cast times. Think about it, we are pretty hard to kill (yes, I know we have no escapes at all, only damage sponge) so having fast cast skills will result on something pretty OP…
But having slow movement projectile speed is something really bad in a game with fast combat like this, since people can make you fail those skills simply by walking away without dodging at all.

Draehl.2681:

Cast times are mostly fine. The problem is projectile speed. See: Dark Path, Spectral Grasp, Staff autoattack…

Some casts are okay in my opinion, but not all of them. Epidemic is insanely powerful in certain cases, and therefore lives up to its required cast time (which really isn’t that bad to me). It is also somewhat of a skill shot, in the sense that you have to really pre-cast it to make sure it goes off on mobs/players before they drop.

DS2, Enfeeble, CPC, DS1 (to a certain degree), pretty much every minion summon; all have prohibitive wind-up times, and/or animations after wind-up. I have no problem with the design decision to make powerful skills have long cast times.

I feel like for what it does, sceptor 2 is a good cast time for example. It is a big AOE, a nice damage hit, 3 long bleeds, and a fairly short cooldown. CPC on the other hand has a horribly long wind-up for what it does.

Also as far as marks are concerned, and I can’t remember if this is just because of the Greater Marks trait or not, but Chillbains (3) always casts much faster (tooltip at 1/4 second) than the other marks. If they all had that speed or possibly 1/2 second it would be better than it is now.

Faster casts help to up the skill cap on the class, which is always a good thing.

Ithir Darkleaf.7923:

Draehl.2681:

Cast times are mostly fine. The problem is projectile speed. See: Dark Path, Spectral Grasp, Staff autoattack...

^This.
I have no problem with cast times. Think about it, we are pretty hard to kill (yes, I know we have no escapes at all, only damage sponge) so having fast cast skills will result on something pretty OP...
But having slow movement projectile speed is something really bad in a game with fast combat like this, since people can make you fail those skills simply by walking away without dodging at all.

Lack of reliable long terms stability as a class that should scale better with fight duration *cough unlike the yang to our yin, the guardian* long cast times are pretty problematic.

One that’s confused me is Bone Minions… On land, they have a cast time (summoning animation)… In water, they have no cast time (instantly summoned)

The slow staff projectiles is really annoying. Skill 1 is way too slow.

Mad Queen Malafide.7512:

The slow staff projectiles is really annoying. Skill 1 is way too slow.

Ya, slow projectiles, slow cast times, lots of channels.

TheAgedGnome.7520:

Epidemic, Focus5, DS1, DS2 cast times bother me the most.

Its terrible to see a target loaded with conditions melt before Epidemic takes its eternal time to cast.

Focus5 is ridiculous. The cast time essentially cuts its effective range by about 1/4-1/3.

DS1/DS2 are essentially lag-simulation cast times.

Cast focus 5 before you’re in range – you can guess fairly accurately how long it will take for you to get in range based on your speed and what the target is doing.

War Mourner.5168:

TheAgedGnome.7520:

Epidemic, Focus5, DS1, DS2 cast times bother me the most.

Its terrible to see a target loaded with conditions melt before Epidemic takes its eternal time to cast.

Focus5 is ridiculous. The cast time essentially cuts its effective range by about 1/4-1/3.

DS1/DS2 are essentially lag-simulation cast times.

Cast focus 5 before you’re in range – you can guess fairly accurately how long it will take for you to get in range based on your speed and what the target is doing.

Except that you really want to save it for when they have three buffs up, and/or a dangerous buff like stability. Unless its a warrior/ranger, it likely isn’t running into the fight guns blazing buffed to the teeth. It is a reactive spell by design, but the cast time is so long, it makes using it reactively very difficult.

but if you’re using it reactively then you’re in range to begin with so that ‘cutting down the range’ doesn’t matter, no?

Didn’t see the quote. I don’t agree with the range comment from Gnome. I find the long cast skills easier to get in range with because of your comment about pre-casting. I was simply pointing out if you are using or starting that skill OOR, it means you haven’t engaged yet, in which case why are you blowing your buff remover for just a chill and low damage.

The long windup gives people more then ample time to react, which I think is the bigger problem. Also they can dodge roll through you and break facing, causing it to fail.

alternatively they’ve simply moved out of range, the fight is alright started between other people, or you’ve just switched from staff at long range, but yeah.