Guild Wars 2

There was a time where we were swamped with suggestions on how to improve the practically useless Greatsword burst. A few months ago ANet did appear to be messing around with some ideas (the tooltip changed to gaining Might) but then apparently totally forgot it existed. Recently I started finding myself bored with using Longbow in most of my builds. Most Warriors that play WvW and PvP have accepted that you’re going to have at least 20 points into Defense for Cleansing Ire, and bow is the best way to get almost guaranteed cleanse. With that thought in my head I got an idea, why not have Arcing Slice be an alternative to LB?

Arcing Slice: Send out a blade of unblockable air that strikes your foe.

A reasonable range would be probably be around 1000, same as most LB attacks. The key is the fact that it is an unblockable ranged attack on what is mostly a ranged weapon. This would hopefully allow for more build diversity. As for damage, it might just be best to leave it as is, anything higher when it’s unblockable risks being OP. Even with this new functionality you probably would only use it if you aren’t in melee range and have a high number of condis on you. If if pierced like Bladetrail it would also add a bit more situational utility. This would still run the risk of being blinded but it’s still fulfilling a similar role to LB.

I know these types of suggestions never really get any notice form the devs but a few Warrior friends I’ve mentioned it to seemed to like the concept. Someone also mentioned that it sounded a lot like the signature attack of Ichigo from Bleach and that your character should shout “ARCING SLICE” when using it…hearing Nolan North scream it on my human Warrior would be pretty hilarious.

Great suggestion, it could be like Bladetrail, with no target needed.

Something like:
Arcing Slice
Send out a blade of air in cone (60-90°) that strikes your foes.
Damage: ~1400 (full zerker)
Number of targets: 5
Range: 900

I LOVE this idea.
However Unblockable and 1000 range is way too strong.

If you want it to 100% cleanse, you better add it a support functionality, like applying fury(or might idc) to yourself and allies, which will always work regardless if you hit your foe or not.
1000 range is too much for the GS, 400-600 range would make more sense.

Make 100 Blades the Burst skill, let the Warrior move at 50% speed while doing it, making each level of burst determine the number of swings.

Make Arcing Slice the new skill 2 for more reliable fury stacks.

Now Warriors won’t be quite as OP in PvE, and GS will be more reliable (and viable) in PvP.

While we’re talking about greatsword, one of the Devs also mentioned 100b was kinda meh and implied that he/she was looking into getting it better.

Just thought I’d mention that. I can’t find it at the moment.

I totally see where you’re coming from with this, but I am a little worried that you’re pigeon-holing warriors into CI even more. I’d love to see a GS burst fix that makes it a worthy competitor to using for CI, not enhancing it, if that makes sense.

McFribble.2349:

Make 100 Blades the Burst skill, let the Warrior move at 50% speed while doing it, making each level of burst determine the number of swings.

Make Arcing Slice the new skill 2 for more reliable fury stacks.

Now Warriors won’t be quite as OP in PvE, and GS will be more reliable (and viable) in PvP.

This is a terrible idea.
Warriors are NOT op in PVE. You’re thinking about eles and the insane burn they do with FGS.

Ruining GS for warrior isn’t a fix here. HB is fine. AS needs a rework.

Having it give might would be worthless cause you know that greatsword trait…

Just make it so it’s unblockable and like 400 range.

I really like FLiP’s idea of making it a skill shot. That would make it a lot more satisfying to use and would make hitting multiple targets more reliable. As for being forced into CI, I think the only way that’s going to change is if Mending gets a 15 sec CD. That way, if you combine it with Restorative Strength you’ll have a good amount of cleanse and you can run more glassy builds without having to worry about condis instantly destroying you.

I’d prefer that AS have some new effect that warriors can’t get otherwise, instead of pure damage. Maybe an unblockable single-target boon stripping attack, number of boons removed and damage depending on adrenaline level.

voidwater.2064:

I’d prefer that AS have some new effect that warriors can’t get otherwise, instead of pure damage. Maybe an unblockable single-target boon stripping attack, number of boons removed and damage depending on adrenaline level.

The problem with that is that Warriors like boons on their target because Destruction of the Empowered gives higher DPS. Taking away those boons might not be in our best interest. Sure you don’t HAVE to take that trait but it is useful.

Even if you have the trait, stripping boons can sometimes be more useful than more DPS, it’d be a situational skill. e.g., You could get rid of stability, or even increase DPS by removing protection.

Always like reading your suggestions Burr. I like the idea of making Arcing Slice a ranged attack, although it would take some getting used too. Arcing Slice right now to me feels great with the Fury it gives so I’d hope that would stay in there somehow. On another note, call me insane, but I feel the same about AS as I do about HB – there’s sort of a magic in landing it at the right time and it’s like yeah man, nice timing on that one.

voidwater.2064:

Even if you have the trait, stripping boons can sometimes be more useful than more DPS, it’d be a situational skill. e.g., You could get rid of stability, or even increase DPS by removing protection.

At a 7 and 3/4 second CD that would probably end up being really OP even if it just removed one buff. It sounds cool but I don’t see it being possible to balance.

When I first started messing with GS, I thought the GS Burst was useless, but after doing plenty of PvP, you start to see the uses of the skill. The problem is most builds just do not utilize it for it’s purpose.

-Blitzpaw

Harper.4173:

McFribble.2349:

Make 100 Blades the Burst skill, let the Warrior move at 50% speed while doing it, making each level of burst determine the number of swings.

Make Arcing Slice the new skill 2 for more reliable fury stacks.

Now Warriors won’t be quite as OP in PvE, and GS will be more reliable (and viable) in PvP.

This is a terrible idea.
Warriors are NOT op in PVE. You’re thinking about eles and the insane burn they do with FGS.

Ruining GS for warrior isn’t a fix here. HB is fine. AS needs a rework.

HB is a sad joke just like anyone that says its fine. But i guess some ppl enjoys watching his toon moving in a place for 4 seconds in slow motion.

McFribble.2349:

Because full Zerker Warrior teams aren’t a thing for dungeon speedruns, amiright?

Lets not pretend Banner + 100Blades spam isn’t one of the most effective forms of clearing dungeons out there.

You’ll clear dungeons quickly with 5 zerker warriors, but as others have mentioned, 5 warriors is not the fastest, you’ll want eles in your group, for example.

Please, can we get back on topic here. This is about improving Arcing Slice and nothing else. If you want to argue about Warrior DPS please do so via private messages. Dev’s aren’t going to pay attention to a thread if it’s mostly full of irrelevant arguments. Not to mention it runs the risk of a mod shutting it down.

Good suggestion for it, maybe lower the fury duration for the extra range and have it burn adrenaline whether it hits a target or not to make up for unblockable? simplest way I can think of for a CI proc with it.