Guild Wars 2

https://www.guildwars2.com/en/news/upcoming-skill-and-trait-changes/

“Necromancer Death Shroud 5

As the professions in Guild Wars 2 continue to grow, we will continue to find ways to augment them and add potency to their arsenal of abilities. With the next balance update, necromancers will be unlocking their fifth ability within Death Shroud: Tainted Shackles. This skill will cause nearby enemies to be inflicted with conditions and controlled if they don’t take very quick action.

New condition

With the introduction of Tainted Shackles, we’ll also be adding a new condition to the game: Torment. This condition is designed to play around with movement, one of our fundamental combat mechanics. Enemies under Torment will take damage periodically; as they move, they’ll take even more damage. In looking to expand the condition diversity of thieves and mesmers, we decided to include Torment skills for those two professions as well."

I’m really curious now. A counter-movement condition. Who expected that? How do you think it helps necros?

Interesting… It’s hard to say without seeing numbers. I wonder if this is triggered on distance moved (So if a thief teleports from 900 range are they going to take a bunch of damage?) or on simply walking/runnning around. If it’s the former it could be quite powerful at keeping people in the fight (Like they hinted at as Necro’s “role”).

While we may not be able to disengage ourselves we probably can keep others from disengaging from us. Seems like a decent way to give us more control over the battlefield.

Of course, cleanses are still really plentiful so I don’t know how this will address that.

Really hoping it is purely distance based; that would be the best way to keep the classes with teleports and charges locked into fighting unless they want to eat a large chunk of damage.

sounds like this is going to be fun.

Sounds very interesting. The confirmation that weakness will effect crits is also very encouraging and really should help with attrition (has the potential to make us very tough to take down considering our AoE weakness capabilities, very exciting!)

Well if they wouldn’t give us mobility the least they could do was make it so that our foes cannot escape quickly either. What remains to be seen though is once we have em tethered (so to speak) are we going to be able to do anything with them before the condition wears off.

Time will tell i guess, but at least it looks like this update will finally add something meaningful to our class other that tooltip changes.

crosses fingers on distance traveled

Just an off-note, thank you Devs for giving us something really easy to talk about on the podcast tonight :P

As long as the Condition isn’t “easy access” to the other 2 professions then i think it will be balanced.
I can imagine Torment with Mesmers being OTT though on top of confusions builds (not being able to do anything at all without dying).

So i’m assuming it’s cast and random coniditons start flying off on the target and all nearby targets if the victim moves at all.
Overall it’s a kick in the nads for mobile proffesions which is a step in the right direction for us.

I am curious though how power will affect this ability (if at all) i’m guessing it will be a pulse effect (Well damage) on movement while its active.

I just wonder why they gave it to thieves who is the most mobile of all (aka requiring the most chase)… Seems… not smart. It better not be on a FotM lolspam build. T_T

I bet that thieves and mesmers have easier access to this new condition than necromancers since it is DS 5.

So, they are giving the class with the most mobility that is nearly impossible to catch an anti-mobility condition that will damage people trying to catch them?

Brilliant.

We need something unique to draw people to play necromancers. How many thieves and mesmers do you think will drop their class to roll necro if they have access to this new condition as well?

I’d hope for a decent base damage with O.K. scaling on power and average/low on cond.dmg (maybe around how much poison gets per tick?). That way it will be equally effective any kind of build.

Yep. That’s my thoughts too Oozo. I’m not too thrilled about this unless they do some serious bringing down of other things for thieves/mes.

ronpierce.2760:

I just wonder why they gave it to thieves who is the most mobile of all (aka requiring the most chase)… Seems… not smart. It better not be on a FotM lolspam build. T_T

I’m guessing they’ll be putting it on a lesser used weapon or utility.

I’m quite excited and intrigued by the numbers we will see on this, as well as its functionality. Perhaps it will:

a) Deal damage based solely on distance traveled, so moving at all would tick damage every 300" or 600" with increasing damage the further they moved.

or

b) “Tether” a foe to a spot (the place they were standing when the condition was cast), and the farther the foe moves from that spot, more damage they take every 300" or 600" or something.

I really like (b), but I don’t think it can happen. It would cause issues with reapplication of the condition with non-communicating teammates, since it could potentially mess up foe positioning. So I’m left to believe that (a) is the likely choice.

Now, could this change (along with others) make Necro an “off-node” node defender? That is, we defend a node by disallowing foes from ever reaching it through Torment, Chill, Cripple, Immobolize, etc. You can’t neut a node if you can’t reach it And even if they do reach it, perhaps a well-placed Dark Path would put you right onto the node, allowing further defense. I dunno, I’m just spewing out thoughts.

Have a nice day folks! Stay awesome!

Pandabro.8743:

ronpierce.2760:

I just wonder why they gave it to thieves who is the most mobile of all (aka requiring the most chase)… Seems… not smart. It better not be on a FotM lolspam build. T_T

I’m guessing they’ll be putting it on a lesser used weapon or utility.

Pistol 2.

If it’s on a single weapon skill, I bet you it will be on Pistol 2.

Edit: It could make it onto unload, maybe, but that seems far less likely. Seeing it on a trap (Tripwire is kind of terrible) and a venom is also probable.

Thieves, to my knowledge (and I’m not an amazing thief mind you), need some help sticking to targets in certain builds without being forced to use their escape mechanics (shadowsteps) to do it. Mesmers, idk, maybe in some of their less used builds.

Edit: also, this will be interesting due to the forced movement we can cause with fear. You can Torment someone, then chain fear them and they are forced to eat the damage. MWAHAHA… but yeah, this will be interesting for sure.

Nothing here to help our PvE problem.

Sounds like Confusion, but movement based.

Sebyos.4089:

Nothing here to help our PvE problem.

Honestly, I don’t think PvE will be fixed until they revamp PvE boss mechanics.

The description of “This skill will cause nearby enemies to be inflicted with conditions and controlled if they don’t take very quick action.” gives an impression of another long CD ability. A lot of people mentioned that we need something that can be reliably put into a rotation and doesn’t have a long CD, will have to see what the whole picture is going to look like in the end.

leman.7682:

https://www.guildwars2.com/en/news/upcoming-skill-and-trait-changes/

“Necromancer Death Shroud 5

As the professions in Guild Wars 2 continue to grow, we will continue to find ways to augment them and add potency to their arsenal of abilities. With the next balance update, necromancers will be unlocking their fifth ability within Death Shroud: Tainted Shackles. This skill will cause nearby enemies to be inflicted with conditions and controlled if they don’t take very quick action.

New condition

With the introduction of Tainted Shackles, we’ll also be adding a new condition to the game: Torment. This condition is designed to play around with movement, one of our fundamental combat mechanics. Enemies under Torment will take damage periodically; as they move, they’ll take even more damage. In looking to expand the condition diversity of thieves and mesmers, we decided to include Torment skills for those two professions as well."

I’m really curious now. A counter-movement condition. Who expected that? How do you think it helps necros?

GREAT. thieves get it. can’t wait for the thief try hards to say their class isn’t overpowered now.

IM SOOOOO HAPPY ABOUT THESE!!!!!!

Is anet playing with necromancers???
they said they give this new cond to necros to balance professions, but since it wold be fair to have the new condition only in necros, they decided to give it away to the 2 most mobile/ivasive profession in the game aka tiefs and mesmers.
I realy hope this is a joke from anet

ninao.1208:

Is anet playing with necromancers???
they said they give this new cond to necros to balance professions, but since it wold be fair to have the new condition only in necros, they decided to give it away to the 2 most mobile/ivasive profession in the game aka tiefs and mesmers.
I realy hope this is a joke from anet

Not to mention if its only on DS 5, it’ll likely have a REALLY long CD, where as if it even so much as looks at a thief weapon skill, they have it up 100% of the time.

It mentions a way to control those afflicted with Torment, I wonder if they mean just generally controlling the fight or the Tainted Shackle skill will flip to something else once the condition is applied.

Awesome, this was an idea I posted awhile back. Will be very handy from keeping warriors, thieves and eles from running without some sort of punishment.

Bhawb.7408:

Sebyos.4089:

Nothing here to help our PvE problem.

Honestly, I don’t think PvE will be fixed until they revamp PvE boss mechanics.

For the first time I can completely agree with Bhawb.

But tbh, I run fractals 50+ and while there are problems (downed state anyone?) the necro isn’t bad. I contribute with my necro in many interesting ways.

It will only be awfully strong on thief if it’s on a weapon skill… How likely that is, I don’t know. Bonus points if it’s on the pistol/dagger weapon set – torment them, then shadow strike all day for giggles.

Same thing with mesmers and staff, with phase retreat.

I am very much looking forward to this – hopefully it will allow me to keep people in wells and get a couple dagger auto attacks off

You should also mention that in that same post it says that Necros will get burning from a grandmaster trait as well as weakness causing glancing blows from all hits instead of non-crits.

Huge buffs inc, it seems.

Do you think they’ll add the burning to the condition line? I’m expecting a slap in the face and having the power line given the burning trait.

Guys need to chill about it being accessible to other classes. For all we know it’s on a 30 point trait in a god forsaken trait line that no one will take anyways.

Devil is in the details for all of this and it’s not really worth getting angry over until we know more.

I would just like to hop in here and maybe quell the amount of paranoid necros out there. As it is right now, the only skill known to cause Torment is DS #5… we don’t know what other skills have access to this condition in any of the classes (necro, Mesmer, or thief).

Also, we don’t know how this condition works. Do teleports cause instant increased damage of Torment based on how far the character travels? Is it only movement skills like RTL and Rush that will cause more damage of Torment than just running? Is Torment capped to do increased damage based on max run speed? Does it hurt people with swiftness more? Does it hurt crippled people less?

My point is, we have no idea how Torment will cause increased damage beyond it will hurt more while moving. While mesmers and thieves will have Torment, the condition could effect them much more than other classes if it is applied to them as well. Maybe wait until the 25th to see the effects of Torment rather than making paranoid speculations.
I think necros are getting a well deserved buff in this upcoming patch, with Torment and access to burning now too. Pretty powerful imo.

One more thing: How many condi Mesmer and thieves do you see now-a-days? Food for thought.

leman.7682:

But tbh, I run fractals 50+ and while there are problems (downed state anyone?) the necro isn’t bad. I contribute with my necro in many interesting ways.

We aren’t bad in PvE, we just aren’t ideal. Debuffing is the one thing we do best, and it isn’t rewarded (and in fact discouraged) by most dungeons/bosses.

As for Torment. Remember it is a condition, and it is on three classes, two of which are going to be hit hard by it. What can Necros do with conditions? Throw them back on enemies. I am not worried by a thief getting torment, because it means I now have two ways to Torment a thief; my own, and throwing his back at him.

I’m curious if we’ll get this condition in other skills too, considering it says thieves and mesmers do. Attaching it to just Death Shroud would make necromancers the worst at using this new condition, which I doubt is the intent.

osif.8673:

I think necros are getting a well deserved buff in this upcoming patch, with Torment and access to burning now too. Pretty powerful imo.

What wat? Do you have a source for this?

NVM I found it:

First off, we’ve got a ton of trait changes coming up. Many traits that were less than desirable have been brought up in effectiveness, while others have been shuffled around and merged together to make room for new traits to be introduced. In doing this, we’ve created several new grandmaster traits for quite a few trait lines. For example: elementalists have a new grandmaster Air trait that allows them to recharge their air attunement, necromancers now have access to the burning condition, and warriors will have an option to remove conditions when using burst abilities.

Also, regarding the topic – everyone should notice that DS#5 provides Torment on top of some other effects! This is the necro flavour I guess.

Bhawb.7408:

leman.7682:

But tbh, I run fractals 50+ and while there are problems (downed state anyone?) the necro isn’t bad. I contribute with my necro in many interesting ways.

We aren’t bad in PvE, we just aren’t ideal. Debuffing is the one thing we do best, and it isn’t rewarded (and in fact discouraged) by most dungeons/bosses.

Agree. I think we are fine in casual/normal pve. Especially rabid conditionmancer, the 3 stats in fact sync perfectly. High defense, ok damage makes us in pretty good place.

But once you move on to high end pve which rely mostly on dodge/raw direct damage/reflect, our weaknesses come up and like you said, just not ideal.

leman.7682:

Also, regarding the topic – everyone should notice that DS#5 provides Torment on top of some other effects! This is the necro flavour I guess.

This. Tainted Shackles sounds like it’s going to be more dramatic than just dotting a guy with this new condition. I’m thinking once it’s used to apply the dot it will flip into another skill that we can use to manipulate the movement of whoever we applied the condition to. Should be fun. A bit of a gimmick in PvE but with burning being introduced to us, I’m not entirely disappointed.

Hehe – I can just see a sweet bursty rotation forming….

(while running in) Focus 5, Focus 4, Axe 3, Axe 2, DS5, WoC, WoS, Dagger 1

kitting condimancer with worm + spectral walk anyone ? :p

Sepreh.5924:

Hehe – I can just see a sweet bursty rotation forming….

(while running in) Focus 5, Focus 4, Axe 3, Axe 2, DS5, WoC, WoS, Dagger 1

I see it synergizing with well power builds VERY well. Right now there’s not loss for stepping out of a well, but the new condition has potential to put people in a lose/lose situation.

I think the “Tainted” part means there will be some sort of condition transfer. Like “tainted flesh” in GW1 that gives disease to enemies hitting you.

I was hoping to hear some news of the new changes that were coming to the necromancer and I’m very pleased with how it’s all coming together.

Am I the only one who thinks that torment will be on a mantra for mesmers and on a venom for thieves?
They say they want more build diversity, I have not seen many(if any) trap/venom thieves + mantra mesmers, while Pistol on mesmer is all over the place already.

This skill will cause nearby enemies to be inflicted with conditions and controlled
This is what scares me the most. If torment is dealing damage while the enemy is moving, any form of CC(daze/chill/cripple/immo/stun) will actually reduce the potential damage(slower movement or no movement at all).
I had made a suggestion in the past (“Ethereal Chains”) where I was suggesting an AoE immobilize for DS5, but I didn’t had in mind the torment, this would screw up things.

Thoughts?

Pandabro.8743:

Sepreh.5924:

Hehe – I can just see a sweet bursty rotation forming….

(while running in) Focus 5, Focus 4, Axe 3, Axe 2, DS5, WoC, WoS, Dagger 1

I see it synergizing with well power builds VERY well. Right now there’s not loss for stepping out of a well, but the new condition has potential to put people in a lose/lose situation.

And can you imagine with the buff to weakness, combining this with weakening shroud and offhand dagger (with the mainhand dagger) to mitigate damage when you have them trapped in a well and are dagger auto attacking!

I’m excited

I’m really curious to see how upcoming changes affect power-based necro builds. Will we be falling by the wayside?

We can drop entire mobile zergs with a well placed epidemic depending on how potent this condition is.

Pandabro.8743:

Sepreh.5924:

Hehe – I can just see a sweet bursty rotation forming….

(while running in) Focus 5, Focus 4, Axe 3, Axe 2, DS5, WoC, WoS, Dagger 1

I see it synergizing with well power builds VERY well. Right now there’s not loss for stepping out of a well, but the new condition has potential to put people in a lose/lose situation.

You just blew my mind man, wells + DS5. Didn’t come to mind before.
Im blown. High hopes.