Guild Wars 2

I don’t really know why Maul only gives 3 stacks of 6s vulnerability.
It is only 3% damage increase at best, which doesn’t really make sense considering that the highest damage booster via trait for GS is only 5%.

I think that increasing the duration/stacks of Maul’s vulnerability won’t make it OP while pushing GS further into viability.

5 stacks for 12 seconds seems more reasonable to me.

sorrow.2364:

I don’t really know why Maul only gives 3 stacks of 6s vulnerability.
It is only 3% damage increase at best, which doesn’t really make sense considering that the highest damage booster via trait for GS is only 5%.

I think that increasing the duration/stacks of Maul’s vulnerability won’t make it OP while pushing GS further into viability.

5 stacks for 12 seconds seems more reasonable to me.

For the DPS lost when the skill lost it’s bleed stacks, even untraited, the small amount of vuln the skill now applies is kinda pointless. It’d be nice to have a raise in damage dealt or much more vuln applied. As it is right now, the skill is almost not even worth using anymore.

sorrow.2364:

5 stacks for 12 seconds seems more reasonable to me.

I was gonna say that’s too much, but you know what? If you compare to longbow, it’s about right.

Traited Maul has a 4.8 sec cooldown. With a .75 sec activation time, that’d be 5 stacks every 5.55 sec. So you’d be bouncing between 10 and 15 stacks of vulnerability on a target, with an average of 10.8 stacks.

Greatsword has two defensive skills (block on Counterattack, evade on autoattack). Likewise, longbow has two defensive skills (stealth, knockback). Traited longbow lets you apply 10 stacks of vulnerability for 10 sec every 8 sec, or an average of 12.5 stacks.

i agree the stack of vulnerability is too weak also i always thought it should be a blast finisher from the gfx it has on activation, would make sence

akallou.9704:

i agree the stack of vulnerability is too weak also i always thought it should be a blast finisher from the gfx it has on activation, would make sence

Not on such a short timer. That’d be a bit OP. Well … more than a bit.

SynfulChaot.3169:

akallou.9704:

i agree the stack of vulnerability is too weak also i always thought it should be a blast finisher from the gfx it has on activation, would make sence

Not on such a short timer. That’d be a bit OP. Well … more than a bit.

Mighty Blow from Guardian Hammer would like to say hello.

Ars Valde.8693:

SynfulChaot.3169:

Not on such a short timer. That’d be a bit OP. Well … more than a bit.

Mighty Blow from Guardian Hammer would like to say hello.

And it’s quite powerful there as well. But rangers put out quite a few more useful combo fields than guardian including a fire field from torch (if you run it) and the game’s longest lasting water field.

I just don’t think the vulnerability should be on Maul. It hits, and then does damage I believe (as opposed to calculating the damage through the vulnerability that would be applied).

That makes sense, of course, but what the leads to is just more skill spam, to do damage. Your damage rotation for cooldown skills is now Maul → Maul → Maul. If you have Moment of Clarity, then you’re just using Greatsword 5 into Maul into Maul. Point being, you have to use Maul to make Maul better….

Why doesn’t swoop apply vulnerability? Why not an attack in the auto chain? How about the greatsword block. Just something to make the damage output a little different, and less Maul on cooldown.

Give swoop 10 vulnerability and maul 1’s knockdown if target is crippled.

SynfulChaot.3169:

Ars Valde.8693:

SynfulChaot.3169:

Not on such a short timer. That’d be a bit OP. Well … more than a bit.

Mighty Blow from Guardian Hammer would like to say hello.

And it’s quite powerful there as well. But rangers put out quite a few more useful combo fields than guardian including a fire field from torch (if you run it) and the game’s longest lasting water field.

It gives the weapon one really powerful (honestly too powerful) way to self-synergize but doesn’t address core problems the weapon faces, which is awkward animations and bad base damage. If they prioritize a blast finisher over fixing the weapon’s main problems, it will still only see major play in PvE because they will be forced to nerf other aspects of the weapon to compensate for the finisher.

The whole greatsword skill chain needs to be changed to flow better. Hilt bash>maul is fine, and made better with moment of clarity. But you can’t really do anything with that measly 3 stacks of vulnerability, since all of the weapon’s burst damage is on the skill which applied it.

My suggestions: Add a clause to power stab (3rd hit in the auto chain) that says “deals 25% more damage to vulnerable foes”

Alternatively, change the moment of clarity trait to “you and your pet deal 30% more damage to stunned or dazed foes, increase stun and daze durations by 50%.”

Edit: I just had another thought. Change hilt bash to: “Stun your target (1s). If you strike them from behind, you and your pet gain quickness for 2 seconds. Your pet’s next attack deals +50% damage.”

Quarktastic.1027:

The whole greatsword skill chain needs to be changed to flow better. Hilt bash>maul is fine, and made better with moment of clarity. But you can’t really do anything with that measly 3 stacks of vulnerability, since all of the weapon’s burst damage is on the skill which applied it.

My suggestions: Add a clause to power stab (3rd hit in the auto chain) that says “deals 25% more damage to vulnerable foes”

Alternatively, change the moment of clarity trait to “you and your pet deal 30% more damage to stunned or dazed foes, increase stun and daze durations by 50%.”

Auto attack chain needs an attack speed buff and a slight damage increase. The evade should be a small bonus to staying on the weapon, not your incentive to even use it, so decreasing it slightly in favor of more dps will help the weapon in the long run while still retaining some defensive function.

Leuca.5732:

SynfulChaot.3169:

And it’s quite powerful there as well. But rangers put out quite a few more useful combo fields than guardian including a fire field from torch (if you run it) and the game’s longest lasting water field.

It gives the weapon one really powerful (honestly too powerful) way to self-synergize but doesn’t address core problems the weapon faces, which is awkward animations and bad base damage. If they prioritize a blast finisher over fixing the weapon’s main problems, it will still only see major play in PvE because they will be forced to nerf other aspects of the weapon to compensate for the finisher.

Which is why I don’t think that it needs to become a blast finisher. Maul’s old role was as a DPS spike. I feel that is how it what it should become again. The rest of the weapon is pretty balanced, if a bit low on the damage scale.

SynfulChaot.3169:

Leuca.5732:

SynfulChaot.3169:

And it’s quite powerful there as well. But rangers put out quite a few more useful combo fields than guardian including a fire field from torch (if you run it) and the game’s longest lasting water field.

It gives the weapon one really powerful (honestly too powerful) way to self-synergize but doesn’t address core problems the weapon faces, which is awkward animations and bad base damage. If they prioritize a blast finisher over fixing the weapon’s main problems, it will still only see major play in PvE because they will be forced to nerf other aspects of the weapon to compensate for the finisher.

Which is why I don’t think that it needs to become a blast finisher. Maul’s old role was as a DPS spike. I feel that is how it what it should become again. The rest of the weapon is pretty balanced, if a bit low on the damage scale.

I would argue that maul needs to hit 5 targets. I wouldn’t mind a damage/attack speed increase on the auto chain either.

SynfulChaot.3169:

Which is why I don’t think that it needs to become a blast finisher. Maul’s old role was as a DPS spike. I feel that is how it what it should become again. The rest of the weapon is pretty balanced, if a bit low on the damage scale.

I should have clarified that I was agreeing with you; sorry for that. I think most of the weapon’s problems are in basic skill flow. Its animations are clunky and the auto attack is too slow to pump damage; even if the base values were increased it wouldn’t mean much. Anet placed way too much value in the evade when it should have just been a neat little bonus.

Quarktastic.1027:

I would argue that maul needs to hit 5 targets. I wouldn’t mind a damage/attack speed increase on the auto chain either.

I wouldn’t necessarily disagree with you on that change, but GS needs a lot more QoL improvement than on just the first two skills.

Leuca.5732:

SynfulChaot.3169:

Which is why I don’t think that it needs to become a blast finisher. Maul’s old role was as a DPS spike. I feel that is how it what it should become again. The rest of the weapon is pretty balanced, if a bit low on the damage scale.

I should have clarified that I was agreeing with you; sorry for that. I think most of the weapon’s problems are in basic skill flow. Its animations are clunky and the auto attack is too slow to pump damage; even if the base values were increased it wouldn’t mean much. Anet placed way too much value in the evade when it should have just been a neat little bonus.

That evade is what keeps me alive in any protracted melee fight. The flow of the auto-attack is pretty good. Unfortunately, there is little reason to break the auto-attack most of the time. Only when you need a block or a CC. Maul is kinda useless atm.

Leuca.5732:

Quarktastic.1027:

I would argue that maul needs to hit 5 targets. I wouldn’t mind a damage/attack speed increase on the auto chain either.

I wouldn’t necessarily disagree with you on that change, but GS needs a lot more QoL improvement than on just the first two skills.

Mostly with damage buffs, I think. A two-handed melee weapon should out-DPS a single-handed weapon. But our sword outshines our greatsword in damage, which is completely opposite of all other classes that can wield both.

SynfulChaot.3169:

That evade is what keeps me alive in any protracted melee fight. The flow of the auto-attack is pretty good. Unfortunately, there is little reason to break the auto-attack most of the time. Only when you need a block or a CC. Maul is kinda useless atm.

I don’t think they should shorten it that much, but keeping all the sequences of the chain at the same speed and then increasing the attack speed slightly would keep the defensive utility while adding to damage. Your evade will be noticeable but it won’t be the only thing you rely on. (if the weapon actually gets needed adjustment)

Think of it this way: If you are doing more damage while still retaining some defense, your opponent will have more reason to avoid you, decreasing your need for the evade in the first place. It should have been the greatsword’s counter pressure ability, but instead it pretty much became a low damage survival tool.

SynfulChaot.3169:

Mostly with damage buffs, I think. A two-handed melee weapon should out-DPS a single-handed weapon. But our sword outshines our greatsword in damage, which is completely opposite of all other classes that can wield both.

I mean things like the awkward counter attack that can be completely sidestepped due to activation time or even ignored if you are using something like Whirlwind Attack, which completely messes with how your counter attack is supposed to work because you block only the initial attack then fail to counter because the warrior is moving through you and is not where the initial hit took place. The counter attack also doesn’t push them back far enough to put comfortable space, nor does it put them at an optimal range to use Hilt Bash, which has its own set of problems.

Leuca.5732:

— snip —

Neither would be too bad, but the lessening of the evade isn’t necessarily needed. Not in PvE, anyways. Maybe in PvP, but letting PvE continue to be dictated by the needs of PvP will only continue to drive players away.

As for the block? Probably pretty useless in PvP, but it can be quite useful in PvE. Probably could use some improvement, but it should remain a block/counter instead of getting replaced IMHO.

SynfulChaot.3169:

Leuca.5732:

— snip —

Neither would be too bad, but the lessening of the evade isn’t necessarily needed. Not in PvE, anyways. Maybe in PvP, but letting PvE continue to be dictated by the needs of PvP will only continue to drive players away.

As for the block? Probably pretty useless in PvP, but it can be quite useful in PvE. Probably could use some improvement, but it should remain a block/counter instead of getting replaced IMHO.

I think finding a happy medium between damage/relevant evade will greatly help GS’s auto attack flow. The block’s counter/throw functions need to be sped up, and the counter needs to follow its target better. An adjustment to either the knockback distance (or better imo slightly increasing the potential distance you move when using Hilt Bash) would also be good.

SynfulChaot.3169:

Ars Valde.8693:

SynfulChaot.3169:

Not on such a short timer. That’d be a bit OP. Well … more than a bit.

Mighty Blow from Guardian Hammer would like to say hello.

And it’s quite powerful there as well. But rangers put out quite a few more useful combo fields than guardian including a fire field from torch (if you run it) and the game’s longest lasting water field.

You should check out Elementalists some time.

Solandri.9640:

You should check out Elementalists some time.

I play one too. *Points down to sig.* Ele’s easily have the next best water fields, but no other water field lasts as long as Healing Spring.

And yes, they can combo well in their own fields, but their blast finishers are on pretty long timers. No sub-10 second blast finishers.

SynfulChaot.3169:

Solandri.9640:

You should check out Elementalists some time.

I play one too. *Points down to sig.* Ele’s easily have the next best water fields, but no other water field lasts as long as Healing Spring.

And yes, they can combo well in their own fields, but their blast finishers are on pretty long timers. No sub-10 second blast finishers.

False, on staff they have Eruption which is on 6s cooldown. It is the main blast finisher of staff eles. Scepter eles have 2 blast finishers on fire. One is at 6s cooldown, the other is at 20s cooldown.

Plus, arcane elementalists have a blast finisher on 10s cooldown when in earth.

sorrow.2364:

SynfulChaot.3169:

I play one too. *Points down to sig.* Ele’s easily have the next best water fields, but no other water field lasts as long as Healing Spring.

And yes, they can combo well in their own fields, but their blast finishers are on pretty long timers. No sub-10 second blast finishers.

False, on staff they have Eruption which is on 6s cooldown. It is the main blast finisher of staff eles. Scepter eles have 2 blast finishers on fire. One is at 6s cooldown, the other is at 20s cooldown.

Was referring more to the melee weapons as we’re comparing it to a melee weapon on the ranger. And the melee weapons don’t have such short cooldowns. Their cooldowns there are much longer at 30 and 45 seconds on dagger or 25 and 25 for focus.

And again, the ele doesn’t have that long-lasting of a water combo field so as to self-combo quite so well.

SynfulChaot.3169:

Was referring more to the melee weapons as we’re comparing it to a melee weapon on the ranger. And the melee weapons don’t have such short cooldowns. Their cooldowns there are much longer at 30 and 45 seconds on dagger or 25 and 25 for focus.

And again, the ele doesn’t have that long-lasting of a water combo field so as to self-combo quite so well.

Nobody said it is a melee comparison.
Staff elementalist is all about water fields and blast finishers.

The only difference between melee and ranged is that on ranged you can blast finish also at a safe distance. Even better, then.

SynfulChaot.3169:

Was referring more to the melee weapons as we’re comparing it to a melee weapon on the ranger. And the melee weapons don’t have such short cooldowns. Their cooldowns there are much longer at 30 and 45 seconds on dagger or 25 and 25 for focus.

And again, the ele doesn’t have that long-lasting of a water combo field so as to self-combo quite so well.

Dagger and focus aren’t the set the water fields, either, so I don’t really see what you’re getting at. On top of this, the elementalist doesn’t use long duration fields. They have access to many blast finishers that they chain together rapid fire for huge power spikes, rather than triggering a field repeatedly every so often like guardian does. The two aren’t very comparable.

I feel like the vuln on maul was just a “we don’t want the bleeds on this anymore, but we don’t know what else to do with it” move. This is pretty obvious by the underwhelming duration and stacks. Adding a blast finisher won’t help it, it would just be a bandaid fix to give the illusion that it’s a useful attack again. A skill’s sole purpose and use should not just be “it’s a blast finisher, that’s about it”.

Look at the guard’s hammer 2. It’s a blast, has solid damage, a decent aoe for melee, and serves as a small leap. He uses it for quick bursts of damage, stick to targets, and hurt things all around him. When there are no fields under him, it’s still a nice skill.

Now think about if maul were a blast, is there any scenario you would bother using it when not just triggering a field? If not, the skill still needs work.

Brienson.7319:

SynfulChaot.3169:

Was referring more to the melee weapons as we’re comparing it to a melee weapon on the ranger. And the melee weapons don’t have such short cooldowns. Their cooldowns there are much longer at 30 and 45 seconds on dagger or 25 and 25 for focus.

And again, the ele doesn’t have that long-lasting of a water combo field so as to self-combo quite so well.

Dagger and focus aren’t the set the water fields, either, so I don’t really see what you’re getting at. On top of this, the elementalist doesn’t use long duration fields. They have access to many blast finishers that they chain together rapid fire for huge power spikes, rather than triggering a field repeatedly every so often like guardian does. The two aren’t very comparable.

I feel like the vuln on maul was just a “we don’t want the bleeds on this anymore, but we don’t know what else to do with it” move. This is pretty obvious by the underwhelming duration and stacks. Adding a blast finisher won’t help it, it would just be a bandaid fix to give the illusion that it’s a useful attack again. A skill’s sole purpose and use should not just be “it’s a blast finisher, that’s about it”.

Look at the guard’s hammer 2. It’s a blast, has solid damage, a decent aoe for melee, and serves as a small leap. He uses it for quick bursts of damage, stick to targets, and hurt things all around him. When there are no fields under him, it’s still a nice skill.

Now think about if maul were a blast, is there any scenario you would bother using it when not just triggering a field? If not, the skill still needs work.

Hey, you brought up eles. I’m not sure what the reason for it was.

And I totally agree on Maul. The skill is the only greatsword skill really in need of work. And the removal of bleed did seem like it was done for no reason that to remove condition damage from the weapon. The vuln did seem like it was just put in as a weak attempt at replacing the bleeds with something.

Now all I’ve really said is that I don’t think that it should necessarily get a blast finisher. There is much more it could do. AoE. Larger amounts of vuln. More damage. Maybe a blast finisher. But it’s current state is so weak as to be practically useless. I don’t even bother with it most of the time as it doesn’t really raise my DPS and it lowers my survivability as it lowers how often I evade on the auto.

I honestly love the guardian hammer 2. It’s wonderful in so many ways. It would be a great skill for the designers to look at to model ranger greatsword 2 after. It’s powerful without being too powerful. It gives many reasons to use it over the auto-attack when it’s cooldown is up.

SynfulChaot.3169:

sorrow.2364:

SynfulChaot.3169:

I play one too. *Points down to sig.* Ele’s easily have the next best water fields, but no other water field lasts as long as Healing Spring.

And yes, they can combo well in their own fields, but their blast finishers are on pretty long timers. No sub-10 second blast finishers.

False, on staff they have Eruption which is on 6s cooldown. It is the main blast finisher of staff eles. Scepter eles have 2 blast finishers on fire. One is at 6s cooldown, the other is at 20s cooldown.

Was referring more to the melee weapons as we’re comparing it to a melee weapon on the ranger. And the melee weapons don’t have such short cooldowns. Their cooldowns there are much longer at 30 and 45 seconds on dagger or 25 and 25 for focus.

The thing is that with this reasoning we shouldn’t really consider both fire fields Ranger has access to as something that can work in synergy with GS either. The sources of fire field are: torch and trap. Both are strongly tied to condition builds (although some could argue traps can be used with hybrid builds), while GS is at this point a power weapon, even more than before since the bleed on Maul is gone (which I miss greatly ever since I started experimenting with GS as a hybrid weapon). Essentially Healing Spring is the only combo field that is not tied to condition builds.

On an unrelated note – mods took down 3rd thread in a row. I would be getting the “challenge accepted” vibe by now, if I felt it was worth the effort in any way…

Searban.5984:

The thing is that with this reasoning we shouldn’t really consider both fire fields Ranger has access to as something that can work in synergy with GS either. The sources of fire field are: torch and trap. Both are strongly tied to condition builds (although some could argue traps can be used with hybrid builds), while GS is at this point a power weapon, even more than before since the bleed on Maul is gone (which I miss greatly ever since I started experimenting with GS as a hybrid weapon). Essentially Healing Spring is the only combo field that is not tied to condition builds.

On an unrelated note – mods took down 3rd thread in a row. I would be getting the “challenge accepted” vibe by now, if I felt it was worth the effort in any way…

No. We probably shouldn’t. The water field is about the only one I see rangers use with any regularity. And only the good rangers. Some dungeon rangers insist on Troll Unguent instead. I never understand them…

And I miss the bleed on Maul as well as I did use it with a hybrid build for months. You’re right in that it’s now solely a power weapon. But a weak power weapon as it really doesn’t have the power a power weapon needs. Mostly due to a weak #2 attack. The other attacks are either good (#1 and #3) or just need refinement (#4 and #5).

As for the deleted thread? I must not have posted in it because I didn’t notice. >.<

SynfulChaot.3169:

Searban.5984:

The thing is that with this reasoning we shouldn’t really consider both fire fields Ranger has access to as something that can work in synergy with GS either. The sources of fire field are: torch and trap. Both are strongly tied to condition builds (although some could argue traps can be used with hybrid builds), while GS is at this point a power weapon, even more than before since the bleed on Maul is gone (which I miss greatly ever since I started experimenting with GS as a hybrid weapon). Essentially Healing Spring is the only combo field that is not tied to condition builds.

On an unrelated note – mods took down 3rd thread in a row. I would be getting the “challenge accepted” vibe by now, if I felt it was worth the effort in any way…

No. We probably shouldn’t. The water field is about the only one I see rangers use with any regularity. And only the good rangers. Some dungeon rangers insist on Troll Unguent instead. I never understand them…

And I miss the bleed on Maul as well as I did use it with a hybrid build for months. You’re right in that it’s now solely a power weapon. But a weak power weapon as it really doesn’t have the power a power weapon needs. Mostly due to a weak #2 attack. The other attacks are either good (#1 and #3) or just need refinement (#4 and #5).

As for the deleted thread? I must not have posted in it because I didn’t notice. >.<

My guess would be that the reason some people choose TU over HS is the fact that HS is the only heal that won’t benefit the pet fully by default. For that you need to invest 15 points into Nature Magic. I admit I used to switch to TU in Fractals when my PUG was turning out to be a really bad one and I was finding out I’m waisting my time trying to be a team player.

GS is weak power weapon, no argument there, and that’s also generally consistent with how comparison between condi and power Rangers is, sadly. Even though I still prefer it over the 1-handed sword, for the reason of play style (which is a bit unfortunate, because I love warhorn, but can’t stand 1-handed sword). But the way I see it at this point to make it on par with others Anet would have to either buff the damage across the board, increase greatsword’s utility (by giving it a blast finisher, strengthening vulnerability on #3, and so on…) or accept that it’s going to be a hybrid weapon of sorts.

The deleted thread was that 1 about the previously deleted ones ;p

I think you guys are out of focus.

The point of vulnerability is not just so you can have more damage, its so everyone attacking that target does more damage, which enhances the spike.

Searban.5984:

The deleted thread was that 1 about the previously deleted ones ;p

Ech. I hate it when you don’t even get a PM when they delete your posts when the thread gets deleted. That’s just irritating. >.<

Kilger.5490:

I think you guys are out of focus.

The point of vulnerability is not just so you can have more damage, its so everyone attacking that target does more damage, which enhances the spike.

We know the point of the vuln. Unfortunately the amount of vuln that Maul applies is so kitten small that it’s not worth using. It does little to replace how much potential damage was removed with the bleed stack removal and it applies few stacks of vuln compared to the other ‘power’ weapon, the longbow.

SynfulChaot.3169:

Kilger.5490:

I think you guys are out of focus.

The point of vulnerability is not just so you can have more damage, its so everyone attacking that target does more damage, which enhances the spike.

We know the point of the vuln. Unfortunately the amount of vuln that Maul applies is so kitten small that it’s not worth using. It does little to replace how much potential damage was removed with the bleed stack removal and it applies few stacks of vuln compared to the other ‘power’ weapon, the longbow.

This, and the fact that the classes are supposed to be self-sufficient to a point. In this case, vulnerability on Maul hardly enhances our spike, when Maul is the only potential source of such spike anyway.

Searban.5984:

This, and the fact that the classes are supposed to be self-sufficient to a point. In this case, vulnerability on Maul hardly enhances our spike, when Maul is the only potential source of such spike anyway.

Pretty much. Like I said, I don’t really use the skill anymore as it isn’t worth using. The damage spike isn’t really much larger than the auto-attack chain. And for that to be true of the ‘spike’ attack? Sad.

gs damage needs to be upped so that it’s not only viable with zerker gear. maul needs to do 10 stacks of vuln to be of any use. if ranger could spam vuln in a cone, frontline rangers could become a semi-viable prof in high tier wvw.

Add Torment to Maul.

say 2 or 3 Stacks.

Xsorus.2507:

Add Torment to Maul.

say 2 or 3 Stacks.

An interesting way to punish people for kiting, but GS is not a condi weapon and you will be wasting stats if you try to gear for that.

Leuca.5732:

Xsorus.2507:

Add Torment to Maul.

say 2 or 3 Stacks.

An interesting way to punish people for kiting, but GS is not a condi weapon and you will be wasting stats if you try to gear for that.

Well… Runes of Perplexity + Torment on Maul + Hybrid Build… Now, that does sound interesting. And fits the weapon to a point, with GS being half about damage, half about control.

Searban.5984:

Leuca.5732:

Xsorus.2507:

Add Torment to Maul.

say 2 or 3 Stacks.

An interesting way to punish people for kiting, but GS is not a condi weapon and you will be wasting stats if you try to gear for that.

Well… Runes of Perplexity + Torment on Maul + Hybrid Build… Now, that does sound interesting. And fits the weapon to a point, with GS being half about damage, half about control.

No it doesn’t; that’s a completely niche use.

Adding a different condition to Maul doesn’t seem to alleviate the problem at all, since the weapon isn’t a condition heavy weapon. If anything, the Vulnerability stacks need to be doubled.

If people would prefer Maul to be a blast finisher, then that alone would be the secondary effect on top of damage, and the vulnerability can be applied to Swoop.

Third suggestion; Maul inflicts a hefty cripple. Remove the cripple on the Greatsword 4 throw, and replace it with an immobilize. Now, we have a weapon much more dedicated to control, which then justifies having a semi-low damage output on the autoattack. It would also help a ranger stick to the target better when using the greatsword, which would make it even more viable.

Leuca.5732:

Searban.5984:

Leuca.5732:

Xsorus.2507:

Add Torment to Maul.

say 2 or 3 Stacks.

An interesting way to punish people for kiting, but GS is not a condi weapon and you will be wasting stats if you try to gear for that.

Well… Runes of Perplexity + Torment on Maul + Hybrid Build… Now, that does sound interesting. And fits the weapon to a point, with GS being half about damage, half about control.

No it doesn’t; that’s a completely niche use.

Well, I speak only for myself, it does look interesting for me, even if it’s a niche. Torment would still be better than those 3 stacks of Vulnerability we have now. GS is a niche weapon at this point anyway. It is power-based, but a lot of it is about defense and control, instead of spike. To provide spike, GS would have to see its damage increased, probably even across the board. And I doubt that will ever happen with the way Anet chose to balance Ranger weapons.

jcbroe.4329:

If people would prefer Maul to be a blast finisher, then that alone would be the secondary effect on top of damage, and the vulnerability can be applied to Swoop.

Third suggestion; Maul inflicts a hefty cripple. Remove the cripple on the Greatsword 4 throw, and replace it with an immobilize. Now, we have a weapon much more dedicated to control, which then justifies having a semi-low damage output on the autoattack. It would also help a ranger stick to the target better when using the greatsword, which would make it even more viable.

Are we talking about both cripple and blast finisher? Because as much as I like the idea, that would probably end with “it’s so OP” cry.

Searban.5984:

Are we talking about both cripple and blast finisher? Because as much as I like the idea, that would probably end with “it’s so OP” cry.

That cry would be completely justified. GS doesn’t need a blast finisher; it already has two other finishers. It needs better base damage and better execution of its skills.

Leuca.5732:

Searban.5984:

Are we talking about both cripple and blast finisher? Because as much as I like the idea, that would probably end with “it’s so OP” cry.

That cry would be completely justified. GS doesn’t need a blast finisher; it already has two other finishers. It needs better base damage and better execution of its skills.

And a complete redesign of Maul, as right now it’s practically useless with it’s token vuln.

SynfulChaot.3169:

Leuca.5732:

Searban.5984:

Are we talking about both cripple and blast finisher? Because as much as I like the idea, that would probably end with “it’s so OP” cry.

That cry would be completely justified. GS doesn’t need a blast finisher; it already has two other finishers. It needs better base damage and better execution of its skills.

And a complete redesign of Maul, as right now it’s practically useless with it’s token vuln.

I don’t think it needs a complete redesign; it has potential to be a valid source of burst damage/somewhat sustained dps. The activation time should be reduced by about a fourth and the damage/vuln should be increased, so that it doesn’t break even with auto attacks. As it is, the base damage is actually equivalent to two auto attacks before the lowsy coefficient.

@Searban; No not at all, it would definitely be OP. Maul either needs to be 1) Damage and a blast finisher or 2) damage and a decent cripple. At least in the suggestion I was making.

Maul + Blast Finisher = more love for ranger in melee trains

Terkov.4138:

Maul + Blast Finisher = more love for ranger in melee trains

Blast finisher will also make them nerf other functions of the weapon, which we don’t want. Give it better base damage and more fluid/effectively hitting skills.

For people complaining that putting a blast finisher on GS #2 would be too OP due to Healing Spring:

Yes, maybe, it would be powerful if the ranger were to stay in the field, but would any good player just let a ranger do so? No. They would move away, and force the ranger to follow. How often do you stay in the field for the full duration? An engi, for example, could possibly just stand away and pepper the field with grenades. You’d be at a disadvantage to stay in such a deathtrap.

Razor.9872:

For people complaining that putting a blast finisher on GS #2 would be too OP due to Healing Spring:

Yes, maybe, it would be powerful if the ranger were to stay in the field, but would any good player just let a ranger do so? No. They would move away, and force the ranger to follow. How often do you stay in the field for the full duration? An engi, for example, could possibly just stand away and pepper the field with grenades. You’d be at a disadvantage to stay in such a deathtrap.

Balance shouldn’t be done solely around PvP, you know. And in PvE that would be quite powerful.

Try thinking about all game modes more.

Razor.9872:

For people complaining that putting a blast finisher on GS #2 would be too OP due to Healing Spring:

Yes, maybe, it would be powerful if the ranger were to stay in the field, but would any good player just let a ranger do so? No. They would move away, and force the ranger to follow. How often do you stay in the field for the full duration? An engi, for example, could possibly just stand away and pepper the field with grenades. You’d be at a disadvantage to stay in such a deathtrap.

Healing Spring+Maul+Swoop+Auto+Maul and leave field.

Let’s do some math with this relatively quick set of actions, with 0 healing power.

Healing Spring+3 finishers is 4920+(1320×3)=8880 health. If you are contesting a point it will be much more than this, and if the Engineer wants to stay off the point and use grenades, he’s losing the point.

With un-traited cd greatsword, you can use Maul x 3 and Swoop x 2, which is 6600 health at 0 healing power. That’s a ridiculous amount of healing.

SynfulChaot.3169:

Balance shouldn’t be done solely around PvP, you know. And in PvE that would be quite powerful.

Try thinking about all game modes more.

Stop spreading such blasphemies Synful, you’ll get another thread deleted ;p

In all seriousness, I would happily accept blast finisher on Maul in exchange for giving up the leap finisher on Sweep, for the sake of improved group utility which Ranger is unfortunately still lacking. Even Jonathan Sharp acknowledged Rangers can have problems getting into groups (although the logic that followed this acknowledgement was fundamentally flawed in my opinion).

Although cripple on Maul is not a bad idea either, if we can’t get the blast finisher. As for the increase of base damage, I’m not against it, I simply see this as the least probable thing that could happen.