To make GS PvP viable...
The dagger simply outperforms it damage wise in PvP, the only thing the greatsword is really good for (in my opinion) is nightfall and the extra target it can cleave.
Even in PvE i simply do not like it, it’s too slow, i know it’s meant to be that way, as it’s meant to feel like a bit lumbering beast, but it just doesn’t seem to put out the numbers i’d expect from a slow attacking weapon.
I mean, compare it to the revenants hammer, same sort of feel, slow weapon, except it can be used from range, and hits roughly twice as hard.
Greatsword just simply needs a damage boost so as to stay with the theme Roy/Robert wanted the weapon to have.
Warrior 80 | Guardian 80 | Ranger 80 | Engineer 80 |
Thief 80 | Elementalist 80 | Mesmer 80 | Necromancer 80 | Revenant TBA
Thief 80 | Elementalist 80 | Mesmer 80 | Necromancer 80 | Revenant TBA
I do think in terms of “feeling” the AA is the main offender. When you see the frost on your sword, you actually wonder if it didn’t freeze you too. Increasing the attack speed by maybe 10%, especially on the last hit, would be amazing, even if the damage is decreased by 10% too. It’s just this kitten feeling of being frozen.
Else, I think GS is great in the middle of a messy fight.
I feel GS auto is the biggest problem with GS. Auto attacks shouldn’t swing this slow, and the slower 3rd attack should have the same swing imer as the first 2 attacks. It’s hard enough to get 1 hit in, you simply can’t get a 3rd, slower hit in unless you’re fighting someone afk. Overall GS auto should either swing faster, have longer range, or hit harder. Any one of the 3 would be a welcome boost to make GS more viable.
The utilities part of GS 3, 4, and 5 are ok, they have their uses. GS 5 still needs to be more reliable. Thank you Robert Gee for giving it a longer range. But it still doesn’t connect often on moving targets, and when it does connect, it rarely pulls the target to you. It’s just a kiting nightmare when the one pull that’s supposed to make GS more viable to use does not function more consistently.
People have learned the animation of Gravedigger, it’s harder and harder to land now as compared to beta weekends. This is disheartening because we can only do damage with GS 1 and 2, and both of these attacks are slow, unreliable, and GS 2 goes on a cooldown when you miss so you’re left with lackluster GS auto.
Fixing GS auto and making GS 5 more reliable will go a long way to make GS viable in PvP.
I don’t feel like greatsword is unusable in pvp, gravedigger offers some of the best downed cleave in the game. If I was playing a marauder build or something I would probably take it. It’s just that I play cele signets and you need the shroud generation from dagger and staff.
I do think in terms of “feeling” the AA is the main offender. When you see the frost on your sword, you actually wonder if it didn’t freeze you too. Increasing the attack speed by maybe 10%, especially on the last hit, would be amazing, even if the damage is decreased by 10% too. It’s just this kitten feeling of being frozen.
Else, I think GS is great in the middle of a messy fight.
This is what our Major I trait should be instead of Soul Eater.
Alright meow, where were we?
Not everything in this game has to be fast. Keep the speed as it is and increase its damage.
GS is fine except for its trait, AA, and 2 aftercast. The 2 aftercast makes a great skill extremely clunky to use, the trait is bad, and then the AA is just super slow, especially since its on a weapon that only wants to use it as filler.
Not everything in this game has to be fast. Keep the speed as it is and increase its damage.
This is PvP, players unlike npc’s, don’t stand and let you hit them like test dummies. Slow swings just don’t work in a game with fast paced, active dodge roll combat. It’s either players evade GS auto, or I’m forced to dodge/cast something else and end up interrupting my own swings.
Super annoying and it’s one major thing holding GS back.
If you ever used the GS in a large teamfight when people are clumped and possibly disorganised, it can be a beast. Problem is, these fights do not happen all the time, and in those cases the dagger is safer damage.
In addition to that AA damage is a bit too low and Gravedigger aftercast seems to bug the reset sometimes. A reduction on that might be necessary.
Gee, thanks, you let the reaper out of the basement.
It’s not that everything needs to be fast, but GS is worthless when it’s impossible to land the two most important PVP GS skills (1 and 5).
If Anet doesn’t want to touch the speed of GS 1, then they should just reduce it to two hits OR allow chill on the first hit.
I find that the last hit on GS1 misses so much not so much because people dodge it, but because the ramp up is so long that enemies move out of range and thus reset the GS1 auto chain back to the first hit. I basically run around and perform the first or second hit of GS1 over and over.
The problem arises even in team fights where there is a lot of movement. I heard it’s even a problem in PVE.
GS1 is the only reliable source of chill, and with so many of our mechanics tied to it, it’s pretty class-breaking to have it so impossible to land the final hit.
What’s even worse is that the only other GS skill which applies chill is even more broken. The claws are shot straight ahead and go through uphill terrain instead of pulling enemies.
What’s worse is this skill is slow because there’s a delay between the time the claw is sent out and the starting of the backwards pulling part of the claw. What this means in a PVP setting is that you will shoot out the claw, and because people are moving all the time, the pulling part never connects because the enemy already moved out of the area.
GS1 and GS5 both suffer the same problem of being too slow.
Cut the initial animation from GS5 and it might be useful even though it will miss everytime on uneven terrain. Or increase the aoe size (hit box) meaning increase the range AND the size of the cone.
Reduce GS1 auto to two hits and perhaps give the chilling strike a bigger aoe or cone aoe to make it easier to land.
Honestly, ideally I’d like the GS1 auto chain to have movement attached to it. I think the Scapper has something like this. With each button press, the reaper will make a small leap towards the enemy and then strike. Make the chain not dependent on having a target. Increase the size of the aoe on the last hit.
Think Riven from League of Legends.
As for GS 5, ideally, I think I’d like Anet to just scrap the pulling mechanic. If GS1 is working as intended (landing chills) then there’s not that much of a need for a claw pull. Maybe a short ranged stun or knockdown or whatever.
As for the notion of GS only being viable in “team fights,” I dunno, even in team fights people move around. People don’t just clump up for you to wail on them. So if GS1 is broken, I think I’d rather save my self the trouble and use dagger.
(edited by Anubris.8591)
I would do one of two major things to the auto attack:
>Increase the attack speed to be on par with dagger
>Increase the range to (300?) to be similar with ele dagger air auto
Decrease the chill duration/(damage?) to compensate.
I would do some other major/minor things:
Gravedigger – cast this skill and be able to activate the damage part of it within 5 seconds. Reflect projectiles, increase cd by 2 sec decrease damage a notch.
>3 Im not too sure yet how this skill works but it seems like the (cone aoe?) is very small and should be increased.
>4 Increase the radius to be on par with wells. Unless youre standing completely still in the center, most melee autos will reach you. Or keep the radius and have it be ground targeted.
>5 Idk, I think its fine, maybe decrease the cast time to 1/4sec
Team Deathmatch for PvP – Raise the AoE cap for WvW – More unique events for PvE
Regarding GS4, yeah, I think they should increase the radius and get rid of the growing bigger and bigger part.
The radius feels too tiny initially, and towards the end, feels too large… I would just make it the size of the radius after the first increase/growth.
Two main issues with greatsword
- Damage and utility are lacking Right now, greatsword feels like a utility weapon that you only use for specific abilities. You don’t want to sit in it. However, the utility which it provides is lacking compared to staff or even off-hand weapons. For starters, I would increase the range on Death Spiral to ~400 and increase the damage on the auto-attack chain by 5% (if it was increased by about 12%, it would roughly match MH dagger DPS).
- Gravedigger While it seems interesting, it’s annoying or boring in practice. In PvE, you just spam 2 against high HP mobs for several minutes. In PvP, it’s hard to land if when you use it against someone to them under 50% HP, it feels frustrating to have to wait out the cooldown. The after makes the down state cleave not that impressive against most targets.
Kirrena Rosenkreutz