Guild Wars 2

Now don’t get me wrong, I am excited as anybody for the new Arcing Slice changes but I feel like the skill is being way overhyped and let me tell you my reasons why.

#1: This skill alone won’t bring Greatsword the viability it has long sought in higher level tPvP, this is especially not the case after damage nerfs to whirlwind and hundred blades, no matter how small the nerfs, any nerfs bring that reality further away.

#2: I don’t see myself or many people using this skill over say, a 2 second AoE stun that still does pretty OK damage, and is easier to land, or a fire field that can cover most nodes, freely clear conditions, and generate lots of might stacks and fire auras for you and your teammates.

#3: It has a low range of 150, if you know how short the range Skull Crack or Flurry is, then you know how really close you need to be to your opponent to make it successful. I don’t see this skill hitting more than one person at a time unless in a zerg. Other than that, it would very rare for even 2 players to be standing right beside you at the same time (barring dodges, blinds, aegis, etc) for you to even land this skill. That and your opponents need to be less than 50% HP and the attacks need to crit. Those are quite the conditions that need to be met for this skill be be successful. You also probably require some sort of CC for you to guarantee a land of this attack.

#4: High Risk/Low-Mediocre reward. Especially due to the adrenaline changes which causes you to expend all of your adrenaline on a miss, people will be very reluctant to use this skill. It is going to be difficult to land this skill in many circumstances and you risk not clearing 3 conditions and not having adrenal health, for damage you can probably achieve with 1-2 skills with the hammer or 2-3 greatsword autos, which are risk free. And back to my previous point. Why would you use a high risk low reward skill over a no risk high reward skill like Combustive Shot?

Another note: Although you can’t really make conclusions and this is just speculation, but if this skill roots you in place like Hundred Blades, it pretty much makes this skill useless because you will have almost no chance of landing it on a decent opponent. In the Ready Up Episode the Warrior casting this skill didn’t move, but that isn’t to say that the skill roots you in place. If you can move while using this skill, it would make it better, but not by a huge margin whatsoever.

And before the anti-warrior police come to this thread and spout highly illogical and emotional based comments in the form of crying. Ex: YOU GUYS SHOULD BE NERFED WARRIORS OP I TRIED EVERY BUILD AND I CAN’T KILL THEM IT ISN’T BECAUSE I NEED TO IMPROVE OH NO THAT CAN’T POSSIBLY BE THE REASON. I intend for this thread to be one of positive discussion.

And please also, be at least a person that is very well informed and has a lot of experience on the warrior, not just somebody who plays hot-joins from time to time and somebody who actually takes the time to test different builds as opposed to blindly rolling with FotM. That way we can have a cleaner and proper discussion.

If not, at least have the decency to consider that this isn’t a thread asking for nerfs or buffs to anything. I refrain from posting this in the Profession Balance forums because I feel like this opinion won’t be taken seriously by many who are out on a anti-warrior tirade, will be misunderstood as asking for buffs and I don’t feel like sifting through 80% QQ and losing IQ points just to get some valuable insight from 1 or 2 people.

And again, this is just my opinion of how I think the skill will play out in practicality. I feel like people are getting caught in the hype of a long awaited revamp of an Arcing Slice and don’t really consider or analyze how this skill will play out.

Eh. It’s better than what we had.

It cleaves and does improved damage whether or not they are under 50%.

It may not bring GS completely into viability, but it’s a step upward from the single target burst we had before.

It is definitely better than what we had that can’t be argued. However I am just trying to look at the bigger picture in light of the nerfs/buffs we will recieve. And how a change in that skill will contribute to overall gameplay.

One can buff a skill like Kick, although it is better than what it used to be, doesn’t mean it will have any effect on how the class is as a whole. I’m just trying to not view this skill in a vacuum.

I’m having super fun using ultra poke of death with zerk build, what could be better than having DOUBLE the fun?

Is the new GS going to replace Ham/Bow….. nope. The patch did nothing to Ham/Bow, it will still be as powerful as it is.

But I think AS is a pretty big buff for any build that uses GS. GS is primarily a utility weapon. So far the only way for it to do damage is to pair it with some sort of CC weapon. The introduction of new AS changes that. How this will affect the warrior’s standing will be hard to measure before actually trying it out.

bigmonto.4215:

Is the new GS going to replace Ham/Bow….. nope. The patch did nothing to Ham/Bow, it will still be as powerful as it is.

But I think AS is a pretty big buff for any build that uses GS. GS is primarily a utility weapon. So far the only way for it to do damage is to pair it with some sort of CC weapon. The introduction of new AS changes that. How this will affect the warrior’s standing will be hard to measure before actually trying it out.

I don’t think a new AS changes that GS needs to be paired with a CC weapon to deal damage. The only thing that changed was that it is now a small AoE around you, and a extra damage below 50% HP threshold. It still seems to need to be paired with CC for a decent chance to land. It’ll only see it’s true effectiveness in certain situations, which means in many situations it will still be a normal Arcing Slice.

I think the damage nerf to whirlwind and hundred blades offsets this new revamp

killahmayne.9518:

bigmonto.4215:

Is the new GS going to replace Ham/Bow….. nope. The patch did nothing to Ham/Bow, it will still be as powerful as it is.

But I think AS is a pretty big buff for any build that uses GS. GS is primarily a utility weapon. So far the only way for it to do damage is to pair it with some sort of CC weapon. The introduction of new AS changes that. How this will affect the warrior’s standing will be hard to measure before actually trying it out.

I don’t think a new AS changes that GS needs to be paired with a CC weapon to deal damage. The only thing that changed was that it is now a small AoE around you, and a extra damage above 50% HP threshold. It still seems to need to be paired with CC for a decent chance to land. It’ll only see it’s true effectiveness in certain situations, which means in many situations it will still be a normal Arcing Slice.

I think the damage nerf to whirlwind and hundred blades offsets this new revamp

I just watch the video, it might root you or might not, but I felt that the activation is really fast. So I doubt the target really can see it coming. I am welling to bet you can land it more often than not. Probably easier than Flurry, which I don’t have that much issue landing. Since AS doesn’t have a lead-in like a leap from earth shaker or evis, I think it will be a game changer for GS especially we have many gap closer for the GS. The troubling fact is that above 50%, AS doesn’t do a huge damage, but at least we can use it to proc CI. Of course we will see how well it actually works after the patch release. It is unlikely Anet will change its mind anyways.

It is way better than what we’ve have now. Especially someone who build the warrior to a swordsman like me. I won’t use a hammer, a mace, an axe as melee no matter how better they are compare to great sword and sword.

This stays true for all the MMO i’ve played.

And one point of new AS i’ll have to bring up, which is the damage don’t tide to adrenaline spent. The fury duration is a very minor effect to our concern. That means whenever we use on our 2nd set, if we’ve already land a burst skill as a lead attack, switch GS, CC then 100B or WWA, or inspiriting shout, you can quickly burst with AS with just 1 bar is filled.

What i was saying is, AS is more easy to launch as long as CD is finished, you don’t need 30 adrenaline to bring its full damage benefit as long as target is below 50% hp. Anytime you can switch to GS and hit F1 as long as you have 1 bar of adrenaline and target is below margin.

Suddenly pops up to me, it is a very good burst skill to use with burst mastery, you can launch a burst consume 2 bar of adrenaline then switch GS for a AS finisher.

Better roll GS/Ax. Way more reliable than having to use final failure.

I actually like it, a lot. Let me explain why.

1; it is AoE. Thus, you can still ‘accidentally’ hit something like a clone or a minion, even though you wanted that primary target. This may not help you killing your target, but it will definitely make GS F1 good for cleansing.

2; the cast seems quite fast. Faster then Final Thrust, while it essentially does the same damage, but in an AoE that grants you Fury.

3; It gives you Fury. Fury is awesome. One might argue that we have enough skills and traits supplying that boon, but, we don’t… Furious reaction is awesome, but there are better options in different trait lines for me to consider. FGJ is decent, but who plays shouts in PvP other then condicheese? SoR was our best bet, but that is receiving a totally uncalled for nerf. I must say that I don’t see the new Arcing Strike as a skill used to get Fury, but you do get it nonetheless.

4; it is usable. It may not be a life altering skill. It may not win you every fight. It may not fit the playstyle of your current build. But it will still be usable, thus the warrior has gained more diversity.

I see the skill solely as it is intended, an execution skill. For example, Sword F1 > Hundred Blades > Arcing Strike. The added benefits (AoE thus better synergy with CI, Fury) are just bonus.

Another option is for the warrior to go something like Bull’s Rush>Evis>Arcing Strike. I definitely see possibilities.

Don’t forget that this skill has the potential to do massive damage if it crits (which the warrior has sufficient ways to ensure), but it does not have a 3,5 sec channel or a 3/4 sec activation, or any of those drawbacks.

If it roots the warrior, however, it will be way worse. Hammer used to be unusable when #3 and #4 rooted you. Still, for the combo, it will be interesting to say the least.

Cygnus.6903:

If it roots the warrior, however, it will be way worse. Hammer used to be unusable when #3 and #4 rooted you. Still, for the combo, it will be interesting to say the least.

Correct me if I’m wrong, but doesn’t the current Arcing Slice root you in place during the animation of the skill ?

And if so, why one earth would Anet change this when buffing the skill to something useful for a change ?

Anyway based on the Ready Up video it seems to have a very fast cast time so I wouldn’t worry about it too much.

Hexalot.8194:

Cygnus.6903:

If it roots the warrior, however, it will be way worse. Hammer used to be unusable when #3 and #4 rooted you. Still, for the combo, it will be interesting to say the least.

Correct me if I’m wrong, but doesn’t the current Arcing Slice root you in place during the animation of the skill ?

And if so, why one earth would Anet change this when buffing the skill to something useful for a change ?

Anyway based on the Ready Up video it seems to have a very fast cast time so I wouldn’t worry about it too much.

Current arcing slice doesn’t root you. It just has horrible range and single target.
Good for perma fury on Bosses, but not much else.

Soon you can move with your 100b. Dont worry

It’s a step in the right direction, and it shows that Anet recognizes the problems that GS has in PvP.
I’d rather have them carefuly tweak stuff like this, rather than give a huge nerf or a huge buff all at once which usually ends up badly.