Guild Wars 2

Honestly, i figured Dagger would always be better in PvP. It has good, fast damage, lf generation, and a cool little evil face animation at the end. GS could be good as an off weapon spec, but it would operate like staff, used in certain situation (and staff would probably still be better since with reaper it gives you 2 sources of chill). What reaper offers in pvp is more chill, damage reduction from chilled foes, better might stacking and lf generation on chilled foes, and a different shroud that has some mobility and a stun that might be more your style. But in pve its all about pure damage, right? Where having the choice between using your shroud and upping the groups damage through vuln stacking if that isn’t there or using your higher damage weapons is a good one, since choice is good. I don’t think we should be encouraged to sit in any shroud, we should be encouraged to use it strategically and carefully, so it shouldn’t be the best source of constant damage (any issues with GS are separate from that statement and are even worse sometimes if that is the intent).

Thanks for explaining. It sounds like the biggest issue is that gravedigger isn’t good enough in single target situations. I have no problem with dagger being better in single target with >50% health, i think it should be better. But it sounds like gravedigger is kinda lackluster as an execute skill. I was also thinking that RS may be the best as a way to gain might/vuln stacks, which would be nice. That way we would have to choose between more damage now or more damage later, which isn’t a bad choice to have to make, since it forces you to weigh your options.
This is, of course, assuming I’m understanding everything. I might not (in which case I really appreciate the clarification you guys are providing).

So, based on those numbers, dagger would be better <3 opponents over 50% health, RS would be better >=3 opponents over 50%, and Gravedigger for anything under 50% health? If so, that sounds pretty good.
BTW, I’m asking if i’m right, i’m not certain on the animation times.

So everyone is super angry right now, cause a bunch of stuff is all messed up, and I thought I’d just write down, not what kittened me off about this patch, but the things I miss from the last one. I think this is important ‘cause I actually like the idea of this patch, faster, more exiting pvp is, if only in my opinion, fun. I just felt like we lost some stuff and that makes me sad. I’m not sure if we even can get these builds back, but whatever.

Quick note, I’ve never started a topic before and I don’t play obsessively, so I might just be missing stuff. Please don’t be too mean. And I play a necro, so there will be nothing bout that class here, since I’m biased.

My biggest issue with the engineer bug is that now, all engis are running the same thing, and what made engis a lot of fun to play against was their variety. Toolkits gave them enough options that I had to figure out how to fight most of them individually. I miss that. Now i just watch out for red circles and I’m mostly okay unless they’ve stealthed, in which case there was nothing to do about it in the first place. RIP
I really miss shield warriors. They were a ton of fun to play against. Well timed, they lasted forever, and with mh sword or gs their damage seemed pretty good, I could be wrong about that, it was just my impression. I not sure i’ve seen any since the 23rd. You are missed.
I also really mis sb hunters. I’m pretty certain they ran condi. There weren’t ever many of them, but now they seem to be extinct. Wish you were here.
Staff eles. I think its cause d/d has more mobility/survivability, but whatever. I miss pure, glass cannon, staff eles. When they worked, it was super impressive, kinda like watching a thief wreck me, since it seemed to be all about managing range, which was fun because the fight was decided our ability to handle position, not unlike pew pew rangers, just better. They’re still there, I think just rarer. Thinking of you.
Low damage CC bunkers. Now we just have glass cannon high dps ccers, which is stupid cause that everything you need to win in a single player. Low damage cc bunkers were awesome cause, you couldn’t kill them, but you had to kill them. They had good sustain (I think thats the word) on their own, and were deadly in team fights which made picking out targets more complicated since you could only kill them if everyone focused them (which took teamwork), and getting the dps classes first was more dangerous since that hammer was there, just about to smash you. That play style added complexity to team fights, and i know people like being able to cc and cps, but I think it takes away depth.

All of this being said, its just an obituary. I do think I like this style of pvp more (once all the wrinkles are worked out, which will take time, but I’m supposed to be working anyway), I’ll just miss the role these tankier builds played.

Look, I’m saying the result should have been that condition-mancers ended up with as much or more bleeds, I just think they should come from somewhere else, not on crit traits which synergies better with hybrid/power builds. The problem isn’t the trait, its that scepter isn’t good enough at putting on condis by itself

I actually agree with the nerf, because by itself the skill is just too good at stacking bleeds for non-condi builds. However, think that to balance out the nerf condition-mancers should have gotten other sources of bleeds buffed so they didn’t loose anything, and only power/hybrid builds were punished (on purpose it seems)

But if this applies with, say dagger, plus the 5% on focus trait, plus 20% for foes under 50, thats pretty good. In fact, I would take it all the time for pve (when reaper spec comes, some sacrifices might be made for more vuln stacking). But if it only applies to axe skills, ill never take it.

What I’m asking, is does that apply with or without axe. Cause it doesn’t say ‘axe deals 10% more damage’.

I was reading the spite tree, and it says:

Unholy Fervor: Reduces recharge of axe skills by 20% and deal 10% more damage to vulnerable foes.

This isn’t 10% damage to foes with vulnerability in general, right? Cause the tooltip is unclear.

I actually really like the idea of a power signet necro, with SoV and Plague Sig, with blood magic and soul reaping till expansion comes, when I replace blood magic with reaper.