Guild Wars 2

• bonding with pets don’t bring the F2 skill from the pet. That’s bad as for example players use the drakehound for the immobile effect. Same for the Wolf or the spiders. We need those. If i bond with the bristle i need the spike barrage. And the smokecloud from smokescale can be a lot of fun in wvw and make that class more competitive in pvp\wvw . Henna F2 right… why can’t we get a clone of us? That would be fun too.

• some stances last for too short and have ridiculous cooldowns. Bear instance for example last 4 seconds in a 25 cd, 2 condis per second, it would need to be around 8 seconds so it can compare to some sort of TU for condis. Grifon instance could have the CD easily halved, it’s mostly a might generator and 25% vigor gain in 45cd. The elite needs better and more impactful effects. A second strike one second later is really lame for a 60cd.

• i thought Anet learned their lesson with the glyphs. 360 radius for sharing anything is too small. They should increase GM trait leader of the pack radius to 400\450. And remove the halved duration, we are talking here full duration is 8 seconds at best.

• 90 secs for Eternal bound is bad. The healed hp is going to be eated in 2 thief autos and that’s literally half a second. 60 seconds would be the magic number i think.

• still i did not see any pet which brings anti-projectile support. The trent thing brings more healing which is very welcome, but a pet which could make a bubble like the guardian shield could be very useful too.

I like that the pet F2 is not part of the beastmode, that way the pet is not completely redundant and it also allows for a bit of combo play, going in and out of beastmode, rather than just permanently being in it.

I think the radiuses from the stance sharing should be more like 600, as per Powerful Aura.

Even 60s would make Eternal Bond terrible. For a GM, 30s is more like it. See Dead or Alive thread.

F2 in beastmode would be ridiculously op with some pets, especially the smokescale.

Eternal Bond needs a 45s or 60s CD, 30s is too low. You can play around Dead or Alive but not Eternal Bond.

Heimskarl Ashfiend.9582:

I like that the pet F2 is not part of the beastmode, that way the pet is not completely redundant and it also allows for a bit of combo play, going in and out of beastmode, rather than just permanently being in it.

I think the radiuses from the stance sharing should be more like 600, as per Powerful Aura.

Even 60s would make Eternal Bond terrible. For a GM, 30s is more like it. See Dead or Alive thread.

I agree, You supposed to play in and out beast mode. It’s being replaced with new pet type skill. Great design

Miellyn.6847:

F2 in beastmode would be ridiculously op with some pets, especially the smokescale…

Care to elaborate on why?

Heimskarl Ashfiend.9582:

Miellyn.6847:

F2 in beastmode would be ridiculously op with some pets, especially the smokescale…

Care to elaborate on why?

5 seconds evade on 16 second cooldown.

Miellyn.6847:

Heimskarl Ashfiend.9582:

Miellyn.6847:

F2 in beastmode would be ridiculously op with some pets, especially the smokescale…

Care to elaborate on why?

5 seconds evade on 16 second cooldown.

Oh yes, forgot about the evade. Ok, that’s one. What others?

Heimskarl Ashfiend.9582:

Miellyn.6847:

Heimskarl Ashfiend.9582:

Miellyn.6847:

F2 in beastmode would be ridiculously op with some pets, especially the smokescale…

Care to elaborate on why?

5 seconds evade on 16 second cooldown.

Oh yes, forgot about the evade. Ok, that’s one. What others?

Consuming Flames from the Fire Wyvern, also an evade (5 seconds) and Stalk from the Jaguar (+critical strike, + critcal damage, stealth that doesn’t break on attack). While Consuming Flames does not let you perform other actions it is still an evade and would be extremly strong in PvP as it doesn’t prevent capture point contribution.

Miellyn.6847:

Heimskarl Ashfiend.9582:

Miellyn.6847:

Heimskarl Ashfiend.9582:

Miellyn.6847:

F2 in beastmode would be ridiculously op with some pets, especially the smokescale…

Care to elaborate on why?

5 seconds evade on 16 second cooldown.

Oh yes, forgot about the evade. Ok, that’s one. What others?

Consuming Flames from the Fire Wyvern, also an evade (5 seconds) and Stalk from the Jaguar (+critical strike, + critcal damage, stealth that doesn’t break on attack). While Consuming Flames does not let you perform other actions it is still an evade and would be extremly strong in PvP as it doesn’t prevent capture point contribution.

Bristleback’s F2 already does large amounts of damage. Imagine if you’re doing that damage based on your power/precision stat rather than the power stat of the pet, and you can easily hit 30k+ bursts. The tiger skill can currently be buffed with a highly specific build to do 25k+ in a single attack (Check Boots Bad Builds) and is on a very low cooldown.. there is no way people don’t find a way to make Soulbeast OP with this if the F2 is available.

Miellyn.6847:

Heimskarl Ashfiend.9582:

Miellyn.6847:

Heimskarl Ashfiend.9582:

Miellyn.6847:

F2 in beastmode would be ridiculously op with some pets, especially the smokescale…

Care to elaborate on why?

5 seconds evade on 16 second cooldown.

Oh yes, forgot about the evade. Ok, that’s one. What others?

Consuming Flames from the Fire Wyvern, also an evade (5 seconds) and Stalk from the Jaguar (+critical strike, + critcal damage, stealth that doesn’t break on attack). While Consuming Flames does not let you perform other actions it is still an evade and would be extremly strong in PvP as it doesn’t prevent capture point contribution.

I forgot about those evades, it’s been nearly a year since I played. But they could obviously just tune the evade times for the beastmode. And the Stealth on Stalk would obviously break stealth on a player. I don’t think these skills are the reason there is no F2, I think it’s so that it doesn’t make the pet completely redundant.

Sojourner.4621:

Miellyn.6847:

Heimskarl Ashfiend.9582:

Miellyn.6847:

Heimskarl Ashfiend.9582:

Miellyn.6847:

F2 in beastmode would be ridiculously op with some pets, especially the smokescale…

Care to elaborate on why?

5 seconds evade on 16 second cooldown.

Oh yes, forgot about the evade. Ok, that’s one. What others?

Consuming Flames from the Fire Wyvern, also an evade (5 seconds) and Stalk from the Jaguar (+critical strike, + critcal damage, stealth that doesn’t break on attack). While Consuming Flames does not let you perform other actions it is still an evade and would be extremly strong in PvP as it doesn’t prevent capture point contribution.

Bristleback’s F2 already does large amounts of damage. Imagine if you’re doing that damage based on your power/precision stat rather than the power stat of the pet, and you can easily hit 30k+ bursts. The tiger skill can currently be buffed with a highly specific build to do 25k+ in a single attack (Check Boots Bad Builds) and is on a very low cooldown.. there is no way people don’t find a way to make Soulbeast OP with this if the F2 is available.

In your own words, you can already do it, if it’s so epic, why don’t we see it in play?

Plus, you can already burst at the same time as the pet, this is a favorite tactic with bristleback and LB, will down plenty of classes in one go. If it was part of the soulbeast, then it’s only you to do it. It would be easier for a player to avoid as they are already looking at you, most people don’t need to pay much attention to a pet.

I’m not saying there wouldn’t be issues with implementing it in a balanced way. I don’t even want it to be the case, I just couldn’t remember all the pet skills.

Anyway, no F2s is fine, I didn’t want to lose the pet completely.

I have yet to see the trait tree fully only partials from youtube videos so far, but my concern with soulbeast is with mobility and damage mitigation. If one were to go with condition removals from stances and entirely leave the shout system, is there a speed boost anywhere? Stances seem interesting but the cooldowns are too long for condi-cleanse effectiveness.

For a medium armor class, I have seen no evades, blocks, defy pain, stealth or aegis built in anywhere. I did see a stance for endurance return and regen, but I don’t think that will be enough to even counter current hard-hitting elites.

I don’t think that bunker healing is going to keep up with damage even though I did see some decent heals in stances (cd so long tho). Anet seems determined from the pvp aspect to make bunker less attractive. Melee dagger does not seem a viable option as of yet from the small glimpses I’ve seen.

Heimskarl Ashfiend.9582:

Sojourner.4621:

Miellyn.6847:

Heimskarl Ashfiend.9582:

Miellyn.6847:

Heimskarl Ashfiend.9582:

Miellyn.6847:

F2 in beastmode would be ridiculously op with some pets, especially the smokescale…

Care to elaborate on why?

5 seconds evade on 16 second cooldown.

Oh yes, forgot about the evade. Ok, that’s one. What others?

Consuming Flames from the Fire Wyvern, also an evade (5 seconds) and Stalk from the Jaguar (+critical strike, + critcal damage, stealth that doesn’t break on attack). While Consuming Flames does not let you perform other actions it is still an evade and would be extremly strong in PvP as it doesn’t prevent capture point contribution.

Bristleback’s F2 already does large amounts of damage. Imagine if you’re doing that damage based on your power/precision stat rather than the power stat of the pet, and you can easily hit 30k+ bursts. The tiger skill can currently be buffed with a highly specific build to do 25k+ in a single attack (Check Boots Bad Builds) and is on a very low cooldown.. there is no way people don’t find a way to make Soulbeast OP with this if the F2 is available.

In your own words, you can already do it, if it’s so epic, why don’t we see it in play?

Plus, you can already burst at the same time as the pet, this is a favorite tactic with bristleback and LB, will down plenty of classes in one go. If it was part of the soulbeast, then it’s only you to do it. It would be easier for a player to avoid as they are already looking at you, most people don’t need to pay much attention to a pet.

I’m not saying there wouldn’t be issues with implementing it in a balanced way. I don’t even want it to be the case, I just couldn’t remember all the pet skills.

Anyway, no F2s is fine, I didn’t want to lose the pet completely.

You don’t see pet spike very often because in order to make it more competitive I’ve lowered to maximum spike (yet my tiger will still pounce for 10k+ upwards of 15k with might stacks). Normally I try to only add one or two bonus damage buffs per tiger F2, that way it’s not a one and done deal. Also, relying on pets for damage is pretty bad, between kiting and evades and blocking, Its just hard to guarantee a hit.

It’s hilarious to see a thief get chomped on by kittie for 15k+ in sPvP tho.

1) F2 will not work in beast mode which is the right decision. Ont only it’s a balance nightmare, it’s also giving you some incentive to get out of beastmode for full potential.

2)Some of the base pet skill will change in scale in beast mode. You see for example – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lhFrgfUw2c4 (0:18-0:25) How the wyvern wing buffet is different in beast mode. Almost sure some skills will be weaker(smoke assult) and some will be stronger(moa frezined attack).

3)Nevertheless, the potential is great. Wolf for example is giving you 2 high dmg leaps which also can be used as pure movement skills and finishers(not to talk about the take down). Tail swipe is big aoe dmg+blast, chomp attack is healing you. Lots of cool options, it can bring back rarely used pets. That’s why I think soulbeast is great for both pet lovers and pet haters.

LughLongArm.5460:

1) F2 will not work in beast mode which is the right decision. Ont only it’s a balance nightmare, it’s also giving you some incentive to get out of beastmode for full potential.

2)Some of the base pet skill will change in scale in beast mode. You see for example – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lhFrgfUw2c4 (0:18-0:25) How the wyvern wing buffet is different in beast mode. Almost sure some skills will be weaker(smoke assult) and some will be stronger(moa frezined attack).

3)Nevertheless, the potential is great. Wolf for example is giving you 2 high dmg leaps which also can be used as pure movement skills and finishers(not to talk about the take down). Tail swipe is big aoe dmg+blast, chomp attack is healing you. Lots of cool options, it can bring back rarely used pets. That’s why I think soulbeast is great for both pet lovers and pet haters.

Pretty much this. It’s precisely what so many of us asked before in the CDIs before HoT. Seperating the pet F2 gives pet-haters a reason to use pets more, Beast-mode gives us all the pet downtime we need in certain fractals and dungeon runs, where the pet becomes an actual hinderance. I’m really pleased about the expansion for just this. Not even remotely interested in any other PoF Elites, the engi one looks like it will suffer horribly from a lot of the usual problems that have never been fixed with engineer, just as scrapper does. In fact it it’s pretty much a cavalcade of everything that has been and continues to be wrong with Engi.

Beast mode though, this looks much more what I had in mind and what druid really should have been. Definitely needs work though, the stance-share range is pretty shoddy and smacks of a failure to learn from mistakes and neither of the other GMs look fun or GM worthy.

Naah, It’s good they gave themself more work for any pets that will come after this expansion and they probably will forget that they will have to add new thing to this e-spec each for each.

It will be fun you’ll see! I’m already laughing thinking how their heart will die a little more for each new pet, thinking : “Oh god no! we have to add another new skill and buff to the Soulbeast! When will we be freed from this d*** spec!!!!”

wolfyrik.2017:

LughLongArm.5460:

1) F2 will not work in beast mode which is the right decision. Ont only it’s a balance nightmare, it’s also giving you some incentive to get out of beastmode for full potential.

2)Some of the base pet skill will change in scale in beast mode. You see for example – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lhFrgfUw2c4 (0:18-0:25) How the wyvern wing buffet is different in beast mode. Almost sure some skills will be weaker(smoke assult) and some will be stronger(moa frezined attack).

3)Nevertheless, the potential is great. Wolf for example is giving you 2 high dmg leaps which also can be used as pure movement skills and finishers(not to talk about the take down). Tail swipe is big aoe dmg+blast, chomp attack is healing you. Lots of cool options, it can bring back rarely used pets. That’s why I think soulbeast is great for both pet lovers and pet haters.

Pretty much this. It’s precisely what so many of us asked before in the CDIs before HoT. Seperating the pet F2 gives pet-haters a reason to use pets more, Beast-mode gives us all the pet downtime we need in certain fractals and dungeon runs, where the pet becomes an actual hinderance. I’m really pleased about the expansion for just this. Not even remotely interested in any other PoF Elites, the engi one looks like it will suffer horribly from a lot of the usual problems that have never been fixed with engineer, just as scrapper does. In fact it it’s pretty much a cavalcade of everything that has been and continues to be wrong with Engi.

Beast mode though, this looks much more what I had in mind and what druid really should have been. Definitely needs work though, the stance-share range is pretty shoddy and smacks of a failure to learn from mistakes and neither of the other GMs look fun or GM worthy.

Ya, Soulbeast GM traits appear to be underwhelming at them moment, for some other specializations, way over tuned(remember the days ancient seeds had no ICD?).
The revive GM trait looks cool.

anduriell.6280:

• bonding with pets don’t bring the F2 skill from the pet. That’s bad as for example players use the drakehound for the immobile effect. Same for the Wolf or the spiders. We need those. If i bond with the bristle i need the spike barrage. And the smokecloud from smokescale can be a lot of fun in wvw and make that class more competitive in pvp\wvw . Henna F2 right… why can’t we get a clone of us? That would be fun too.

• some stances last for too short and have ridiculous cooldowns. Bear instance for example last 4 seconds in a 25 cd, 2 condis per second, it would need to be around 8 seconds so it can compare to some sort of TU for condis. Grifon instance could have the CD easily halved, it’s mostly a might generator and 25% vigor gain in 45cd. The elite needs better and more impactful effects. A second strike one second later is really lame for a 60cd.

• i thought Anet learned their lesson with the glyphs. 360 radius for sharing anything is too small. They should increase GM trait leader of the pack radius to 400\450. And remove the halved duration, we are talking here full duration is 8 seconds at best.

• 90 secs for Eternal bound is bad. The healed hp is going to be eated in 2 thief autos and that’s literally half a second. 60 seconds would be the magic number i think.

• still i did not see any pet which brings anti-projectile support. The trent thing brings more healing which is very welcome, but a pet which could make a bubble like the guardian shield could be very useful too.

For your first point, that is an intentional mechanic decision. SoulBeast is not supposed to make your pet irreverent. If you want to use those skills, have your pet out and use them.

As for all your other points, I think I agree.

Your details on Griffon Stance are off, unless I’m reading the screenshots wrong. You get 25% of your endurance back immediately, and then for the duration, you proceed to have 100% endurance regen per second (essentially the old vigor boon before it was reworked).

Also, I’ll just address this here, but 600 range isn’t the only range in which support classes support. WvW in organized groups has moved heavily towards favoring Chronos as support, and their support (healing from mantras and additional mantra effects) is only 360 range as well. Will it be annoying to pug with and even PvP with? Yes. But it’s doable now and will still be doable when it’s a mechanic we have to make use of on our class.

Bear Stance is strong if I’m reading it right. You lose 8 conditions over 4 seconds. Sharing that out to allies is 4 conditions removed from allies. That’s one of the strongest removal options in the game, though I’ll be the first to admit the when I see Spellbreakers heal, I wonder if maybe we’re on the short end of the power creep stick this time around.

Nothing else for now. I have my own worries that are very much in line with the OP.

i see no issue with losing pet f2’s while in beastmode. if you want to use it, exit beastmode. you have better skills to use while in BM.

we dont need more projectile hate in the game. if anything, Whirling Defense needs to be castable while moving…but we’ve been asking for that for years.

Eternal Bond is potentially really strong. it’s a second life. ranger has never had this before. why dont we wait to see how it’s gonna interact with the rest of the toolkit?

sharing radius is sort of a non-issue. when it matters, like in organized raids and WvW, people will stack.

even with stance durations, we dont know how theyre gonna interact with the rest of the spec. bear and dolyak are OP as is. and some of them trigger every 0.5s.

i understand you think that you’re already foreseeing problems. but you should probably wait until trying out the spec in its entirety.

jcbroe.4329:

Your details on Griffon Stance are off, unless I’m reading the screenshots wrong. You get 25% of your endurance back immediately, and then for the duration, you proceed to have 100% endurance regen per second (essentially the old vigor boon before it was reworked)…

You are correct, but, it gives 25 endurance on use, not 25%. Although since most classes have 100 endurance pool, it IS 25%, but for a Daredevil, it is only 17%.

Over the duration, it will restore 105 endurance, including the initial 25. So it’s worth 2.1 dodges over 45s and likely will not stack with Vigor. When shared with Leader of the Pack it’s one dodge per 45s for allies.

I think it needs a CD reduction tbh.

True.

Again, I just don’t think we know enough at this point, not that I’m not worried. But specifically, without knowing all of the traits related to everything or seeing exactly how everything will work, it’s hard to say anything along the lines of what I think needs to be nerfed or buffed just yet.

For example; we don’t even know if it’s just the stance portion of the the stances that get shared, or if it will be all of the moving parts (a good example being that dolyak stance gets a lot less strong if the boons don’t get shared).

We don’t know what the interacting traits will be like (stance cooldown trait, etc) or anything along those lines.

Looking at the other classes that have more of their information readily available, I’m hopeful, but I’m also cautious because we don’t have that information yet, and even looking at other classes I can already see all the best in slot traiting options for different gamemodes, and that concerns me because I also see that situation as well with Soulbeast with just the GMs.

Let’s all face something here.

The Expansion isn’t out yet, and we all know or should know that, there will be umpteen patches/new builds that will change several things, and what we know now, won’t exist the way it was presented a few days ago.