I think they’ll keep instakill mechanics, but I feel like they’re going to have enough unavoidable (well MOSTLY unavoidable) damage that you’ll need to have defensive stats present on at least a few of the raid members so they either 1) tank mobs for the squishier members 2) can live long enough to Rez the squishier members or 3) to do something common in other MMOs where you have to stack to absorb a hit (damage spread equally)
I feel like we will see at least one of those used enough to stop the WHOLE raid from running zerker. I do hope they allow zerkers to still be a thing though. I personally like to play Jack of All trades res builds (celestial + mercy runes) which work really well at babysitting zerkers (at the moment in PvE it only helps bad ones) , which may become a real thing in the “raid meta” if they make much needed changes.
Also, didn’t they say they were changing fractals to be less instakill? I thought I read that in the blog, but I could be mistaking what people are hoping for with what’s been said.
I somewhat believe that if defense becomes relevant – conditions will become the source of damage. Those only need 1 stat to do their job to the fullest unlike Direct.
If Power builds find themselves in need of defense – I believe mix of crusader-like stats would be the answer (Power>Tough>Fero>healing). Especially for Necros and Rangers since they don’t really need much precision.
If they make content where you need healing – you’ll need lots of it. That amount from Celestial would not be enough (we are talking about raids difficulty, let’s be real).
Vitality is not really helping at all. It’s job and role is taken by Toughness.
The only place where Vitality might seem relevant is conditions – and cleanse just beats it to the ground.
So one way or another, I still don’t really see celestial any worth since that’s already 2 stats that you “waste”.
I think it really depends on the build, for example, a build that has AoE regen or invigorating bond could benefit from the healing power by making the healing not as bad (it’s certainly not a focus of the build otherwise you’d use clerics or nomads), not to mention healing power ALWAYS benefits you as a ranger, every point of healing power is another point of health you get from your HP since our heals pretty much all have a 1:1 ratio.
Vitality helps a little since our condi removal is pretty bad in most builds, so it can give you just a little bit more health to help deal with it and allow your AoE condi cleanses to not have to be blown just because you may have kittened up and got hit by condis when the rest of the group hasn’t and you know you’ll want the cleanse(s) later or something.
Essentially, celestial is a solid choice if your build actually takes advantage of all the stats, i think you need to utilize at least 5 of them for it to be worth thinking about, and then if you utilize ALL of them it’s better than everything else. But those builds aren’t that common, and normally require you to be pretty jack of all tradesy, which MOST people don’t even like to play, let alone actually play.
That being said, i’m pretty sure you’re right with the stat our damage builds would use, hell we might even be able to get away with zerker even if there IS unavoidable damage just by using a longbow build. I mean we can already outrange most dangers, and i’m almost positive a full zerker longbow build would outdamage a more melee focused build that has to use mixed stats.
They sing dark, delicious notes about power and family.
As their mother, I have to grant them their wish. – Forever Fyonna
