Guild Wars 2

Currently, Banners are clunky and encourage a more stationary playstyle than Shouts, which limits their usefulness in most situations. It’s a shame, given that they are the most support-oriented part of the Warrior’s design.

My rework is this. May need rebalancing.

Banners now work like pseudo-kits, applying a constant passive effect

Equipping banners throws them on your character’s back, turning him into a minor mobile aura. The buffs wouldn’t be quite as powerful as signets, but they would be noticeable.

Something along the lines of +25 to each attribute granted by the non-elite banners and 1 second of fury, might, swiftness that pulses every 3-5 seconds for the elite banner.

Banners now have no cooldown

Placing them at your current location converts them into a stationary aura, increasing their aura effects to the current numbers.

Once placed, Banners have secondary actives

Yes, once you place your banner, it now gains an active ability, much like the actives of Engineer turrets. Unlike the Banners themselves, the actives actually do have a cooldown.

Battle Standard revives downed allies, grants AoE stability and performs a Blast finisher with its active. Huge cooldown of 240 seconds.

Banner of Defense pushes foes away from it and performs a Blast finisher with its active. (30 second cooldown)

Banner of Discipline grants AoE fury and performs a Blast finisher with its active. (30 second cooldown)

Banner of Strength deals AoE damage and vulnerability and performs a Blast finisher with its active. (30 second cooldown)

Banner of Tactics performs an AoE heal and a Blast finisher with its active. (30 second cooldown)

Note that banner actives have had their cooldowns increased to balance their other reworked effects and their added convenience. The Battle Standard active now has the cooldown that Battle Standard itself used to, but has also been greatly buffed to carry the primary purpose of Battle Standard).

New Banner Traits

Powerful Banners (Strength, Adept)
Banners increase the damage output of allies in their radius by 5% while placed.

Inspiring Banners (Tactics, Adept)
Banners apply their bonuses to a larger area. Banner active abilities recharge 20% faster.

Inspiring Battle Standard (Tactics, Master)
Banners now apply regeneration to allies while placed.

Banner Field (Tactics, Grandmaster)
When Banners are placed, they now radiate a constant combo field over a small area. This combo field does not do anything but serve as a combo field for the sake of finishers.

Battle Standard = Light
Banner of Strength = Fire
Banner of Discipline = Lightning
Banner of Defense = Ice
Banner of Compassion = Water

New Tactics Minors (current ones are now Majors)

Adept – Empower Allies

Grants allies +70 power.

Master – Empowered

Increases damage for every boon on you.

Grandmaster – Desperate Power

Deal 20% extra damage while under 25% health.

I don’t like your change to how banner’s work.

Powerful Banners is a great idea. Banner Field is too OP

Keep banners how they work now or place them on back. Banners now have an active ability.

All these abilities are instant and have a 30 second cool down

Banner of Strength: Allies in range of this banner gain 5 might for 10 seconds.

Banner of Discipline: Inflict 5 Vulnerability on foes with in range of the banner of 8 seconds.

Banner of Defense: Allies in range gain 4 seconds of Protection.

Banner of Tactics: Allies in range are healed for 1500 + .8 Healing Power (maybe less)

Battle Standard: Allies gain Vigor and Stability for 10 seconds

A few good ideas, but permanent combo field? C’mon that’s OP to the max, even passively buffing your teams damage by 25% is OP. I still say keep banners as an easy drop and pick up bundle (be able to pick them up on the fly, WITHOUT THEM PUTTING MY WEAPON SWAP ON COOLDOWN!)

However giving them active skills is a very good idea to add to their versatility.

Also someone else mentioned making the regen a separate boon like Soothing Mist so it doesn’t get snuffed out by other’s healing. The whole point of having no Trinity is so that everyone can contribute to each role in their own way, having our healing overwritten because someone else has can heal defeats the whole purpose of sharing roles.

Powerful Banners just needs a damage buff and AoE blowout effect added.

Duke Blackrose.4981:

Currently, Banners are clunky and encourage a more stationary playstyle than Shouts, which limits their usefulness in most situations. It’s a shame, given that they are the most support-oriented part of the Warrior’s design.

My rework is this. May need rebalancing.

Banners now work like pseudo-kits, applying a constant passive effect

Equipping banners throws them on your character’s back, turning him into a minor mobile aura. The buffs wouldn’t be quite as powerful as signets, but they would be noticeable.

something along the lines of +25 to each attribute granted by the non-elite banners and 1 second of fury, might, swiftness that pulses every 3-5 seconds for the elite banner.

Banners now have no cooldown

Placing them at your current location converts them into a stationary aura, increasing their aura effects to the current numbers.

Once placed, Banners have secondary actives

Yes, once you place your banner, it now gains an active ability, much like the actives of Engineer turrets. Unlike the Banners themselves, the actives actually do have a cooldown.

Battle Standard revives downed allies, grants AoE stability and performs a Blast finisher with its active. Huge cooldown of 240 seconds.

Banner of Defense pushes foes away from it and performs a Blast finisher with its active. (30 second cooldown)

Banner of Discipline grants AoE fury and performs a Blast finisher with its active. (30 second cooldown)

Banner of Strength deals AoE damage and vulnerability and performs a Blast finisher with its active. (30 second cooldown)

Banner of Tactics performs an AoE heal and a Blast finisher with its active. (30 second cooldown)

Note that banner actives have had their cooldowns increased to balance their other reworked effects and their added convenience. The Battle Standard active now has the cooldown that Battle Standard itself used to, but has also been greatly buffed to carry the primary purpose of Battle Standard).

New Banner Traits

Powerful Banners (Strength, Adept)
Banners increase the damage output of allies in their radius by 5% while placed.

Inspiring Banners (Tactics, Adept)
Banners apply their bonuses to a larger area. Banner active abilities recharge 20% faster.

Inspiring Battle Standard (Tactics, Master)
Banners now apply regeneration to allies while placed.

Banner Field (Tactics, Grandmaster)
When Banners are placed, they now radiate a constant combo field over a small area. This combo field does not do anything but serve as a combo field for the sake of finishers.

Battle Standard = Light
Banner of Strength = Fire
Banner of Discipline = Lightning
Banner of Defense = Ice
Banner of Compassion = Water

New Tactics Minors (current ones are now Majors)

Adept – Empower Allies

Grants allies +70 power.

Master – Empowered

Increases damage for every boon on you.

Grandmaster – Desperate Power

Deal 20% extra damage while under 25% health.

Good idea and certainly better than the current system. What I like most about your idea is how you bring a solution to the lack of combo fields in an interesting way while creating a more innovative and energizing reword to banners.

I also support your idea of giving each banner an active ability, but those active abilities are somewhat shallow and lack in depth synergy and tactical use. If they were implemented into the game, the warrior’s thought process wouldn’t go any further than just spaming their active abilities as soon as the cooldown is up. My suggestion is to give all the banners new abilities that will halt their active stat bonus while their active ability is on cooldown.

Banner of Defense
Grants AoE Protection, aegis and blocks incoming projectiles at its location for 5 seconds. 30 second cooldown.

Banner of warding (Added banner)
Grants pulsing blowout and retaliation (2seconds) at it’s location. Pulses 3 times over 6 seconds.

Banner of tactics
Remove a condition, keep as is.

Banner of Strength
Keep as is.

Banner of Discipline
Your next 2 attacks interrupt your foe. Grants fury to allies.

Battle Standard
Also gives a buff that causes conditions to expire 100% faster and friendly boons to last 50% longer for 15 seconds. Cooldown shortened to 100 seconds.