Guild Wars 2

Hey, Just wanted to get people’s opinions. I only roam WvW and duel in SPVP and rune of the strength would be perfect for my build. But im wondering if it may end up being a waste of 100g in case they get nerfed. Do you guys think they are worth the 100g?

Runes of Strength are good…..but not THAT good for Thieves.

Thieves can’t stack Might like Warriors or Eles. Sure, we have a few sources of Might and won’t have a problem maintaining a few stacks at all times….but we don’t roll in 15+ stacks all the time like some other classes.

So I would say that, while certainly a good choice, maybe even the best for hardcore players, other Rune sets can be equally viable. Hoelbrak Runes, Runes of the Pack and Runes of the Mesmer are all reasonable choices for a fraction of the price.

I also thing that there is a fair chance they might be nerfed a little. They do seem excessively good and popular. I wouldn’t be surprised to see a nerf to Might duration.

I’ve already bought them and I can foresee a nerf coming for sure… ^^ :-[
As to where the nerfs are going to hit, it’s definitely the might duration and the bonus might be changed to 5% instead of 7%.

Just test the build you think you want to run with it and check how much might you generate, use video capture like Open Broadcaster, Fraps, Afterburner or something similar. Runes of strength will multiply that by 1.5 – so 8 stacks becomes 12. Take the difference, multiply with * 35 power or 1.5% damage per extra stack. Add the 7% and that is what Runes of Strength add, in the example 4*1.5% + 7% = 13%. Compare that to the alternatives. For reference, Fury adds approx 15% damage.

You can test in PvP as the runes are free there. I was lucky to have them, as before the update they were like 70 silver a piece. Wish I’d bought a spare stack

Evalia.7103:

I’ve already bought them and I can foresee a nerf coming for sure… ^^ :-[
As to where the nerfs are going to hit, it’s definitely the might duration and the bonus might be changed to 5% instead of 7%.

Didn’t Anet just buff the damage from 5 to 7%? It would seem silly (‘we don’t do whack-a-mole balancing’) to just change it straight back.

Also, it’s far from overpowered in PvE, so I don’t see why the heck they would change it there as well. But then again, Anet seems adamant on balancing the game on PvP but make most of the updates in PvE.

The +7 percent damage needs only one stack of might to work. one stack of might is easy to get.

I can build 14 stacks of might with just a sigil of strength and NO OTHER sources using this rune in a p/p set. This number is way harder to achieve without that extra duration. I had bought two sets prior to the changes.

>>Compare that to the alternatives. For reference, Fury adds approx 15% damage.

You also have to consider having both. A person using Strength runes is not precluded from fury and can get it at the same rate as one using runes with a source of Fury.

The opposite also true but then it becomes a much more nuanced issue as which is easier to obtain and what must be sacrificed to get it.

Xae Isareth.1364:

Evalia.7103:

I’ve already bought them and I can foresee a nerf coming for sure… ^^ :-[
As to where the nerfs are going to hit, it’s definitely the might duration and the bonus might be changed to 5% instead of 7%.

Didn’t Anet just buff the damage from 5 to 7%? It would seem silly (‘we don’t do whack-a-mole balancing’) to just change it straight back.

Also, it’s far from overpowered in PvE, so I don’t see why the heck they would change it there as well. But then again, Anet seems adamant on balancing the game on PvP but make most of the updates in PvE.

Uh, it was more than just 5%→ 7%. AFAIK this rune used to be bugged so the 5% doesn’t even trigger if you have a might stack. It also used to give less power, less might duration, and less % to trigger might upon getting hit.

The rune pretty much got an exponential increase in terms of usefulness. It went from never used to always used.

babazhook.6805:

The +7 percent damage needs only one stack of might to work. one stack of might is easy to get.

Yes, it is and it’s one of the easiest conditions to meet, especially for +7% damage.

I can build 14 stacks of might with just a sigil of strength and NO OTHER sources using this rune in a p/p set. This number is way harder to achieve without that extra duration. I had bought two sets prior to the changes.

That would, even with 2 procs from the #4, require hitting a critical almost as soon as the sigil comes of cooldown ends, and thus a critical chance close to a 100% , which in itself is not trivial to achieve.

You also have to consider having both. A person using Strength runes is not precluded from fury and can get it at the same rate as one using runes with a source of Fury. The opposite also true but then it becomes a much more nuanced issue as which is easier to obtain and what must be sacrificed to get it.

And you can get Might with Fury (and Fury runes). The reference is to the Fury runes, whose #4 proc is relatively more powerful, combined with either Furious Retaliation or the Bountiful trait you could easily get see a 100% fury uptime.

Carrying Runes of Strength determines a lot of your build choices, you will want to get a high crit chance to proc Sigil of Strength, and either 25 SA or 10 Acro (and maybe the endurance food), or both – to get the most out of it. You’ll probably not be running Hidden Killer with Valkyre gear, while a Rune of Rage fury oriented build would want Ferocity along with Power and some Precision.

Tachii.3506:

Xae Isareth.1364:

Evalia.7103:

I’ve already bought them and I can foresee a nerf coming for sure… ^^ :-[
As to where the nerfs are going to hit, it’s definitely the might duration and the bonus might be changed to 5% instead of 7%.

Didn’t Anet just buff the damage from 5 to 7%? It would seem silly (‘we don’t do whack-a-mole balancing’) to just change it straight back.

Also, it’s far from overpowered in PvE, so I don’t see why the heck they would change it there as well. But then again, Anet seems adamant on balancing the game on PvP but make most of the updates in PvE.

Uh, it was more than just 5%-> 7%. AFAIK this rune used to be bugged so the 5% doesn’t even trigger if you have a might stack. It also used to give less power, less might duration, and less % to trigger might upon getting hit.

The rune pretty much got an exponential increase in terms of usefulness. It went from never used to always used.

It’s far from always used for PvE. For a start, if you can hold 90%+ HP enough and you’re in an organised speedrun which holds 25 might, Scholar’s better.

Strength: +45% might duration, +7% damage.

vs

Hoelbrak: +30% might duration, -20% condi duration

vs

Pirate: +10% might duration, + burst party might, + bird (which can hit like a truck)

It seems like these are all relatively balanced compared to each other, people just go for the +personal damage part which can be wiped out with a single boon strip rather than the other bonuses which are pretty strong as well. The might nerf strength runes, but they may also consider them fairly balanced.

Maugetarr.6823:

Strength: +45% might duration, +7% damage.

vs

Hoelbrak: +30% might duration, -20% condi duration

vs

Pirate: +10% might duration, + burst party might, + bird (which can hit like a truck)

It seems like these are all relatively balanced compared to each other, people just go for the +personal damage part which can be wiped out with a single boon strip rather than the other bonuses which are pretty strong as well. The might nerf strength runes, but they may also consider them fairly balanced.

Even if you strip the might, Eles, Thieves and Warriors can get another stack back in 5s (not counting the 4th bonus from this runeset).

Dee Jay.2460:

Runes of Strength are good…..but not THAT good for Thieves.

Thieves can’t stack Might like Warriors or Eles. Sure, we have a few sources of Might and won’t have a problem maintaining a few stacks at all times….but we don’t roll in 15+ stacks all the time like some other classes.

So I would say that, while certainly a good choice, maybe even the best for hardcore players, other Rune sets can be equally viable. Hoelbrak Runes, Runes of the Pack and Runes of the Mesmer are all reasonable choices for a fraction of the price.

I also thing that there is a fair chance they might be nerfed a little. They do seem excessively good and popular. I wouldn’t be surprised to see a nerf to Might duration.

Actually using Strength Runes you can be sitting with a lot of Might stacks throughout a fight.

Using this viable build.

Signets of Power x5 stacks
Stealth x2 Stacks (multiple)
Dodge x1 Stacks (multiple)
Superior Sigil of Strength x1 stacks (multiple)
Superior Rune of Strength x1 stacks

x2 stacks from stealthing last for 23~ seconds. That’s more than enough time to build more through standard rotations.

@OP:

We will see. My hope is that rune of strength are removed from PvP but left as-is in PvE and WvW. In PvP, they are currently OP. They are not over the top in PvE or WvW.

I’d guess that there’s a 95% chance that either PoI or Runes of Strength will be nerfed for sPvP within the next two balance patches, with PoI probably being the more likely one to get nerfed. If PoI gets nerfed in sPvP, it’ll also be nerfed for PvE/WvW. Of RoS gets nerfed, I’d give it an 80% chance of being nerfed in PvE/WvW too.

So it’s probably not worth it if it’s really that expensive.

It doesn’t really matter what you use in wvw… there is no competitive there while in spvp yea … but it’s free anyway

Xae Isareth.1364:

Tachii.3506:

Xae Isareth.1364:

Evalia.7103:

I’ve already bought them and I can foresee a nerf coming for sure… ^^ :-[
As to where the nerfs are going to hit, it’s definitely the might duration and the bonus might be changed to 5% instead of 7%.

Didn’t Anet just buff the damage from 5 to 7%? It would seem silly (‘we don’t do whack-a-mole balancing’) to just change it straight back.

Also, it’s far from overpowered in PvE, so I don’t see why the heck they would change it there as well. But then again, Anet seems adamant on balancing the game on PvP but make most of the updates in PvE.

Uh, it was more than just 5%-> 7%. AFAIK this rune used to be bugged so the 5% doesn’t even trigger if you have a might stack. It also used to give less power, less might duration, and less % to trigger might upon getting hit.

The rune pretty much got an exponential increase in terms of usefulness. It went from never used to always used.

It’s far from always used for PvE. For a start, if you can hold 90%+ HP enough and you’re in an organised speedrun which holds 25 might, Scholar’s better.

Stay in context please. The OP is using in WvW roaming and sPvP.

being an s/d 5/6/0/3/0 thief i love hoelbrak for the condi duration since i don’t have that much condi remove in this condi/str rune meta we are in. i have tried out str and they do hit hard but i believe the balance given in the hoelbrak set is perfect for me. try them out in pvp with the same build and see how you like it