Guild Wars 2

SolarDragon.7063:

Secondly, balancing around expertise is actually a better option as it means that condi builds start having more than one stat influencing their potential damage-similar to the power/prec/fer triad for power builds.

I like this. Balancing around Expertise and Condition Damage (Precision as well for "on crit traits/sigils) will bring things closer to being manageable. Maybe trimming base condi duration in general would be a good start to really make Expertise a worthwhile investment over an additive bonus.

I found Scarlet scarier, if only because she was an incredibly unpredictable genius. It also says a lot that she managed to make alliances between groups who despised or had little to do with each other and actually had a very damaging effect on Lion’s Arch….and awoke one of the greatest threats to Tyria much sooner than it would have awoken without her involvement.

Guardians are already considered as the weakest profession at high level play. Maybe you shouldn’t walk into their traps unprepared?

Bunker Guardian isn’t all that great either, especially if you’ve got unblockables to pressure with. The only “completely Invulnerable” state that comes to mind is their meditation elite, and its not only brief, but it gives up the capture point

No.

ITT: Lets just nerf everything, even on core specs, without buffing/compensating other things to make alternative traits/builds viable.

The only thing I agree with is build templates.

I’m not entirely sure about Zerker vs Marauder on a Revenant. The extra HP is nice, but the extra precision doesn’t seem all too useful with Rolling Mists giving you 40% critical rate when under Fury while losing out some Power+Ferocity for vitality.

Maybe something like a few Valkyrie trinkets can add to your health without taking away too much from your offense?

http://gw2skills.net/editor/?vlAQNAsemn3guNSuQ7JRboVlsP0rS4IaWJ4EdskFNFyugJshsj5MtpdABICA-TlSBQBMSJ4GOCAA4EAgH9BiUJGlU/5BPAgro8gDHCA+t/AA-w

Making PvP “Great Again” is something that will require a lot of changes to the way things currently work.

-Conquest needs new maps, and some tweaks to the old ones.

-There needs to be a new mode that is more than just point capture w/ secondary objectives

-Stronghold needs to be revamped significantly. New objectives, new maps, and changes to the old, especially when it comes to healing escorts.

-Profession Balance, which is a huge deal, needs to be re-evaluated regarding both core and E-Specs.

-Maybe a new PvP exclusive Reward Track, much like WvW’s Gift of Battle track. League tickets and Shards of Glory should also have another use to purchase things there also.

Lastly, this is just personal opinion:

The Metagame needs to be adjusted/shaken up more regularly. I dont agree with 3 months waiting for sweeping changes. I’d rather see at least a small amount of tweaks at the end of every month or two months.

Player feedback should be considered carefully to avoid heavy-handed buffs/nerfs when not warranted, but the Balancing Team also need to make their stances known on certain matters when it comes to how they handle professions.

In regard to shaking things up, a more involved method would be something like this:

Its a bit of a shoddy idea, and it likely will have some issues, but its something…

S Tier
Auramancer Tempest
Condi/Corrupt Reaper
Power Scrapper
Condi Warrior

A Tier
Condi-Chronomancer
Power Shiro Herald
Daredevil

B Tier
Condition Herald
Power Warrior
Bunker Druid

C Tier
Meditrapper/Bunker Dragonhunter
Marauder/Power Survival/Shoutbow Druid
Power-Shatter Chronomancer

D Tier
Trapper Ranger
Offensive (Power or Condi) Tempest
Condi-Engineer

E Tier
-Most Non-HoT setups

It depends on what sort of build you play.
Something like Power Shiro is Thief-esque, where you’re able to hound a target with a good amount of damage/CC, but still have some party support due to Glints boon pulsing.

Something focused on Mallyx is more unique. It can be a hybrid (Mallyx+Shiro) damage dealer with Confusion, Torment, Burns, and physical damage mixed in, or it can be a bit more supportive (Mallyx+Glint). You churn out resistance, strip boons, and apply condition pressure with the above effects.

Overall, you’re tankier than a Thief and more suited to teamfights, but I wouldn’t say that the average Revenant is a point bunker like the common Elementalists are (at the cost of most of their damage, anyway) these days. Jalis and Ventari exist, but most dont use them in the current meta since they’re underwhelming at what they’re supposed to do.

PvEwise, I dont think anything outdamages Elementalist, though Daredevils come close. You do bring an additional 50% boon duration for parties and decent damage+CC for breakbars, though.

I personally use this:

http://gw2skills.net/editor/?vlQQNAsemnvN2gS6JvQRVlbosryPUYW5IKYs8EllNFyegHchtB4APgNMlZNA-ThSBQBA4EBgC9EXRp3GOEA3Q9nMqMYRKBfwDEgf7PMhjAApAyToF-e

17k HP felt about right for me, though one can easily get by with less. Air+Force means easy damage from lightning strikes with Sword/Shield, and Blood Sigil on Staff adds a pinch of extra sustain on top of Assassin’s Annihilation and its own block/heal/AA..

Runes are a personal preference – Strength/Rage also work really well if you want more Might/more gain from your Fury. You can always slot in Swift Termination if you’re cleaving through trash and dont need the extra siphoning or Radiant Revival in places where you feel your allies will struggle avoiding getting downed.

…You had time to acquire all those boxes, but none to work on your magic find?
Why not just open some of them not only to get some inventory space, but to salvage the Masterwork/Fine stuff for more Luck?

I guess the different box “types” have their own item reward lists, so it was decided to give different boxes as you progress through a track over rewarding a single box type. For example, The Kryta Reward Track has Boar Loot Box and Raptor Loot Box. which have very different rewards despite being on a similar track.

Ragion.2831:

honestly asking for something like that is extremely dangerous. Knowing Anet they will increase the cooldowns by at least 50% once they remove the energy requirments without having the players test just the energy removals first. I dont think that is a risk people want to take.

I doubt they’d increase the cooldowns of the weapon skills seeing that a number of them already have reasonable cooldowns, and unlike other professions, we don’t have traits to reduce weapon skill recharges.

Still, its Anet, so you never really know what sort of heavy-handed change they’d pull off with it if they did make such a change.

Such a trait would end up becoming 100% mandatory and likely limit build diversity further because playing without that trait would be considered sub-optimal.

We’ll probably never see a Revenant attribute, but in regards to energy management, I still hope that they just take away the energy requisite from weapon skills someday.

They’re really, really strong now (at least, Condi Warrior is). Adrenal Heal’s really easy to keep going, and its not like they don’t have the means to pin a target down to land their regular/primal bursts. Many Ive come across also know how to use their Resistance well to prevent getting wiped with condition pressure and Cleansing Ire further assists with Condi management. I honestly wouldn’t be surprised if Adrenal Heal got a small ICD to prevent constant stacking after this season, though.

I usually feel filled with dread about patches.
Sure they buff some things, but its often not the things that really need that much attention, or a knee-jerk nerf. More often than not, the devs dont even consider or offer feedback about what many suggestions players offer also.

It doesn’t help that build diversity has declined a lot over the course of these updates either. I always find myself asking “Which Amulet/Rune are they going to remove next” when a balance patch comes, and what options will that leave us with to pidgeonhole the limits of the next “Meta” build for each profession that comes to the fore later down.

Yet, there’s no mention of how ludicrous conditions are at the moment in the current metagame…

>I’d like to see the meta without ele bunkering/supporting a point.

Their outgoing healing/cleansing just needs to be weakened a little. There’s nothing really wrong with their personal sustain since they often have to give up a lot of their offensive edge to play like this.

Scrappers still need a slight shave in their personal sustain since they can have their cake and eat it too by running an offensive build and still being fairly tanky. Nothing too excessive, though. I also think their Shrink Elixir and Mist Form shouldn’t allow Stomps while transformed.

>Rev staff mobile/knockback/insane DPS skill destroyed.

Staff 5 was weakened by 20% before. Its still good for CC and does OK damage, so it wasnt such a harsh decrease. I dont think they really need another set of nerfs on top of it. Certain aspects of their profession actually need fixes/buffs (or at least compromises) at this point.

I never really had an issue with EtD. Even if you couldn’t tell about the icon difference, its the only effect on Mallyx that’s an upkeep, so watching your energy bar’s regen can be a quick indicator of it being active if you couldn’t tell otherwise.

I dont think Celestial should have been taken. If anything, it probably wouldn’t be so bad after the nerf to Quickness Rally/Stomping and (maybe) Durability runes being removed. Soldier didn’t seem so bad without the above, either.

-None of your utilities are traited…why?
-Both Zephyr and Lightning Reflexes seem like a lot in the Stunbreak department, also.
-Why Wolf over Bristleback? I mean, if you’re going for additional CC for Breakbar, sure, but it doesn’t seem to be a big part of that build.
>No Grace of the Land

I use this:
http://gw2skills.net/editor/?vNAQJATWnUqAtqg1CC2sCctgFGB75JMsaZwP1raWlJc9tCAlI8zA-ThSBQBP4JAgFleZUZAFOEACSTQ+0BsIlgPZ/hEq+DAuAAAA-e

Staff camp (petswap+SotP+WHaO w/ Bristle) to build Might, AF (with Shout Regen also) and deal reasonable damage, swap to LB to burst with double Rapid Fire. Most trash mobs dont even last that long, so I just use GS/S+A over Staff while roaming in the open world. For more sustained damage, I’d just swap Skirmishing out for Nature Magic, and LB for another weapon (especially in cases where someone else brings Spotter when it comes to group content) just because Muh Boons/Boon Duration.

One can swap GoE for Tides, Protect Me for Equality, and slot in V.Etching, which also gives you/your allies GotL for breakbars.

I chose Marauder over Zerker for comfort’s sake more or less. I also keep a secondary Staff with Sigils of Water/Life for places like Dragon’s Stand where I know there will be lots of mob waves to fight through, should I want more effective healing during.

It already has a 5 second cooldown, the energy increase wasn’t necessary.
I wouldn’t mind the cost as much if weapon skills didn’t require energy also and it was reduced to 30 energy, though.

Cant go wrong with Weapon/Armorsmith since the former lets you make Swords, Shields, Maces, and Axes. You can also make some foods as a Weaponsmith also, so thats a plus.

In most of the matches I’ve been in, a bunker Tempest isn’t a guaranteed win, but its a substantial advantage if they know how to stay alive while contributing in team fights if the enemy team has one. The group without is much more likely to lose a large team fight unless the enemy’s Elementalist is killed -very- quickly.

As mentioned before, you also have easy point-squatting since some comps can’t quickly 1v1 a bunker Ele and pressure them hard enough to force a retreat or death. It gets further complicated with other boon heavy bruisers (Scrappers in particular) tossed into the mix, who can ensure that even downed Eles can quickly get back up if they’re downed

Ryanbossxx.1824:

Josh Davis.6015:

Thanks for the suggestions. Anyone else have any alternate proposals for Momentary Pacification?

I have some ideas such as giving the revenant profession some more weapon variaty such as allowing them to wield greatswords or dual wield two maces or dual wield two axes i mean they can dual wield swords why not maces and axes like i just said. I like to see what you can do with that with awesome melee greatsword skills.

Its the same reason Rangers don’t Dual Wield Swords or Daggers despite being able to MH/OH one or the other.
Wouldn’t expect a new weapon (possibly with a legend/spec) till the next expansion, though.

Lettuce.2945:

This is my suggestion in regards to pvp. Buff cleansing channel minor on the invocation line to remove 2 to 3 condis on swap and allow shield skills to remove 1 or two on use. Maybe one if you buff cleansing channel. This will bring revs more up to par versus condis. Done. /balanced. It’ll force the rev to be smarter about swapping legends. Swap too soon and condi bombed.

This seems like a reasonable suggestion.
Yes, condition cleanse can be found with Ventari or Jalis (though its more like weakening conditions than cleansing. Wont save you from getting bombed), but everyone needs to remember that compared to other classes, we cant just swap out our legend specific utilities to build against condition damage.

We swap out a legend to address conditions? We swap out our ENTIRE toolkit and have to spec for them via traitline to get the most out of it also. Lets face it, Shiro w/o Devastation, Ventari without Salvation, and Mallyx without corruption are garbage.

Every legend should have some answer to conditions, even if some are better than others at addressing it, unless we’re allowed to choose the utilities/elites regardless of an active legend like another class can, or gain access to 3 legends to swap to.

I still want to believe…

Well, there’s no reason not to use Herald, but even without, Invocation/Devastation can be used with Retribution all the same.

Kehlian.4380:

Hey I was thinnking about the vanilla rev, trying something without Glint, for once. Just thought about something around those lines:

http://gw2skills.net/editor/?vlAQNApXmnXNeNSqJvJR/kHlsgykS4Q5SJYrsrklTFJNwhHqb6cid5zpA-TpBHABHcEA2d/BwLDU2DAAgDBACnAAA

What do you guys think ?

http://metabattle.com/wiki/Build:Herald_-_Condition_Mallyx

At lest with Shiro over Jalis, you’ll have a stunbreak and a means of pursuing/disengaging.

Pretty interesting. I was hoping to see a bit more 1vX roaming, but your group play was also enjoyable to watch.
Got a link to your armor/trinket setup?

Burtnik.5218:

Many skills are dps loss. Theres no reason to cast sword 3 for example as it is not affected by quickness+it bounce off random kitten around your target so its actually a huge dps loss vs target, same goes to strike.

Yes, those are definitely DPS losses since they’re affected by multiple targets being present (or Sword 2 just going after objects…ugh). I still think that nerfing the AA isn’t necessary to fix them so much as just adjusting those skills to work better against single targets (as sword skills were intended to “single out enemies”) and to remove their energy costs so they’re an option off of cooldown without the detriment of energy loss when elites/utilities already drain it.

If Precision Strike only focused on whatever you’re targeting and UA only concentrated its bounces about on a single foe, then they would be better without having to buff their damage dealt.

Edit: The quickness thing also affects Mace AA 3, right? How quickness works on these attacks needs to be looked at in general. They really should at least make skill bug-fixes independent of balance patches.

I understand your sentiments. I actually deleted mine for awhile when I didn’t have the character slots to play Warrior as well, but ultimately when I purchased another slot, I remade my Revenant.

I really love the idea behind them, but it feels like their potential is heavily stifled by bugs and balance problems. I still play mine because I can find it interesting, and I still hope that something changes for the better each patch.

I wouldnt say that you should re-roll, but feel free to take a break from your Rev if needed. Play one of the other professions and explore their abilities. Make use of your Rev for crafting stuff if needed. Maybe sooner or later you’ll feel a tug to play him/her again, but until that time, do what brings you the most enjoyment.

TokyoGhost.6492:

I advise lowering damage on AA and boosting damage on other skills. Also making them utilise and preserve energy the more balanced way.

This class has insane fun potential but its not done imo, rather its in broken paralysed state.

We’ve already had our AA nerfed before. We don’t need another one on top of it. I honestly think the skill damage is fine (though Anet might disagree seeing that Staff 5 lost a bit of its bite and they increased Precision Strike’s cooldown/decreased its effective range), but the energy issues are from both weapon skills and utilities being tied to it.

Remove the energy cost from weapon skills and let them be cooldown oriented instead of CD+Energy and people wont be as inclined to spam AA over skills.

The timers are enough. Anyone with enough map awareness can glance to observe them. You even get an announcement saying that Stillness/Tranquility have appeared if you weren’t watching, anyway.
Nothing more’s needed, imo.

I’m playing with it also. Here’s a few observations about Glint/Ventari
Mender is working well since you get the vit and healing power without losing all of your damage.. Cleric might be better unless you can constantly keep up Hardening Persistence (or don’t take it in favor of Radiant Revival) against power-heavy comps.

The Good:
+Shield 4/5 are a bit better for sustain with your healing power, and there’s quite a bit of access to regeneration and some protection (Glint/One with Nature) to keep you going.

+The Tablet’s Expulsion is great for disrupting stomps/Rallies if you can manage to bring it over a downed ally/enemy in time. With Glint, you have two disruptive Elites to do this if needed.

+Daze and Knockback on both elites make them a little more reliable at succeeding against stability

+It can catch players by surprise since its not the usual Glint/Shiro or Mallyx

The Not-so-Good

-I feel the biggest annoyance is having to summon the tablet when Switching from Glint to Ventari. Ventari’s Will also feels like it needs to be reduced to 2 seconds. Would be nice if it auto-spawns when swapping into Ventari, also.
Chill is NOT your friend when it comes to tablet movement.

-Getting focused/CC’d really sucks

-There’s not much to do against getting CC’d+Condi-Bombed. Staff 4+Purifying essence can help if you’re quick about it, though thats 45 energy burnt.
Might consider Lyssa Runes for further survival against conditions. Leadership can also work if you want the boon duration. You’ll be blowing up the Tablet fairly often, so surely you can convert a condi-bomb work for you at some point.

-Still pretty energy intensive and somewhat difficult to manage (especially under pressure), but it could just be me having to get used to handling Ventari in general

All in all, its an interesting way to play. Its still best to use the usual means of damage avoidance to avoid getting wrecked by conditions off the bat, but at least you’re not totally helpless against them if you mess up.

I dont have a problem with passives beyond how prevalent they are (or in some cases, how potent they are). However, every profession has had some for a long time now – HoT introduced a lot more.

Also:
>Ancient Seeds
You’ve gotta be kidding me. How is this passive? You have to actually CC and strike someone while they’re under the effects of it to trigger the root.

>Beastly Warden
You have to choose when to activate the taunt. What’s passive about this?

>Continuum Split/Shift
You have to destroy your illusions to get the most benefit of this skill. Its not like it just happens on its own :V

>Shared Anguish
I think every profession has their own “1 time Anti CC” effect (Balanced Stance, Shared Anguish, Gale Song, Eye for an Eye, Hunter’s Determination, Reaper’s Protection, ect). I dont see a big deal with this since most have a kitten cooldown and only work on one control skill. All it means is that you;re less likely to get messed up by the start of a constant CC chain if you take that trait over something else that could have been beneficial.

>Chill of Death
Obligatory bonus for striking a target below the threshold. Literally nothing new. Predator’s Onslaught, Swift Termination, and so on also do extra stuff to targets below health thresholds.

I dont see what’s wrong or different about those at the very least. The big catch about a lot of them is that the other options when it comes to competing with passive traits, are often not worth considering over a passive defense imo.

>Season 5 happens next year
>Anet decides to make Ranked for team comps only and unranked for solo quenuers
>Ranked Conquest becomes the next Ranked Stronghold where its only played by a few guilds/teams
>Some adapt and start making premades, many just play unranked or stop PvPing in general
>People still wonder why Ranked play is lowly populated and the discussion starts anew about how solo/pre-mades ruin(ed) everything

Its like poetry.

Kylden Ar.3724:

I got sick of the backpiece grind and sPvP so I gave up entirely

I really feel like this weapon could have been reworked to be our “In” to boonplay/boonstrip…

>The first reason is that solo Q is not making people better , only salty and worse

Ive seen duo and trios get kittened at other solo quenuers who aren’t playing well on their team, or even their own teammates sometimes. Being solo doesn’t equal being salty – thats a player issue. People just get frustrated at getting outplayed/those who play poorly in general, but that doesn’t mean that there aren’t solo queue players who cant take things in stride.

>The second reason is the majority of people is soloqing so the more people you have in your team the more time its the time q for you ! I have witnessed when in team of 5 time qs extending from 10 to 50 minutes ! This is a waste of time honestly !

Can you rephrase this? If you’re talking about queue times, I think it has more to do with the matchmaking system’s current format and the active individuals accessing it within your parameters more than them being solo or whatever.

>The third reason is that I always believed Guild Wars was about war between guilds

Nothing’s stopping you from running with guildmates, either in a queue or in a custom arena/room. That doesn’t justify taking the option of PvPing alone from those who prefer playing solo. If anything, it could give you an advantage if you’re all communicating well. I would rather see a separation between premades (3+ team queue) vs “Solo” (1~2 queue) in sPvP so that guilds/teams can fight others set up that way, and soloists can fight other PUGs

>Removing Ascension
That item’s one of the few reasons I and possibly a significant number of others even bothered with this mode (and trying to get better at it) from the get-go. I don’t think removing some item that requires significant effort (which can be attained alone or with a group’s efforts over the seasons) is a smart move. If anything, there ought to be more collectibles and rewards to gain and “show off” from PvPing and division climbing to encourage more people to try that game mode (and to keep playing for those who’ve already reached Legendary.)

A lot of this game is focused on PvE (Story, Map completion/World Events, Raids, Dungeons, Fractals) over PvP (WvW/sPvP) and its likely that most don’t want to even bother with the latter for various reasons as is. Its why things get so quiet after a season ends. Removing something that can entice some PvErs to give PvP a try wouldn’t help things at all.

>PVP “Farming”
There are probably some ways to control/deter this, but I imagine that its a nightmare for them at the moment to implement proper fixes. I’ll have to wait and see what they do after Season 4 to address it before commenting further.

I agree with your sentiments.
Ventari/Jalis do still need some fixes and improvements, as does Mallyx and its traitline. I doubt they’d give us a weapon swap trait, but I wouldn’t mind seeing Resistance on Legend Swap added in Invocation.

As for why weapon skills cost energy and have cooldowns? Who knows why its like this. I’d rather just deal with cooldowns on weapons without energy cost and leave energy drain to utility/elites. with low/no cooldowns. At least that would justify their current costs some.

I also think something needs to be done to Crystal Hibernation/Soothing Bastion. Its bad enough that a shield skill roots you in place with all the unblockables flying around these days, and the heal’s been gutted. The trait’s also not that great since it can trigger at a bad time and root you. Meanwhile, Warriors and Mesmers can move about freely with their defenses…

If we’re meant to be stuck this way, at least Soothing Bastion should reduce Shield recharge and have some additional effect. Maybe gaining small healing for every attack you block or something. Anything from what it currently is.

messiah.1908:

ths sigil isnt available in the pvp btw

U wot m8?
Edit: Might Sharing is one thing, but you can also be a source of Fury and a fair amount of Protection also if your comp’s lacking either. Still, I’m curious about what you find. I might give both builds a shot in unranked later myself and see what happens also.

I think Glint would be more useful overall than Jalis. I get that you want to use Taunt, but outside of Eye for an Eye, Jalis’ taunt is kinda weak for its cost. Maybe if Forced Engagement chained multiple enemies close to the target, it could have been better.

Hammers also still has terrain issues, and you wont be able to sustain very well when you’re under heavy pressure. Disengaging also isn’t likely since you have very little mobility.

At the very least, Glint can support you/your allies with boons, give you additional sustain with Infuse Light, and give you some extra mobility with Swiftness.

Maybe something like this?
http://gw2skills.net/editor/?vlAQNAsemn3gmNSuQzJRboNlsP0oS4I6UJ4ENsklZlxO6q/e9iPKRNgCaA-TZRIABEcGAOf/BvPEAA8AAgvMAA

-You can get some Protection uptime from Herald Rune’s effect on heal skills (in addition to Bolster Fortification), One with Nature, and Facet of Chaos’ upkeep.

-A Sigil of Transference on Staff for more outgoing healing for allies, and Energy on Sword for more evades (and therefore, more Stab/Condi Removal). Purity on both to try to keep conditions to a minimum (Generosity might not be a bad choice…)

I’d like to see this in action against other players.

Combat Medic got me to Diamond, where I’m currently stuck at the moment. Saved a lot of lives with it, and ended many due to interrupts to stomp with, too. Felt more Bunkerish than the “Meta” Mender’s build with all the toughness it had.

I used Cultivated Synergy pretty often, also. Of course, conditions fry me quickly, and 1v1/hard CCs felt like struggle sometimes, especially against Warriors, but it felt just right in Teamfights somehow.

They could just make it the effect of a Major Trait without having to add it on a GM, much like Jalis does with Taunt on non-player targets.

>SnR
Yes to the range increase, no to the revive speed nerf. Its already able to be countered by focusing/cleaving the pet (which will likely also hit the player being resurrected) and if the pet dies, that’s half of the revive speed gone already. It gets worse if the ranger’s right next to them all the while.

>Revenant stuff
In all honesty, I dont think the AA needs (MORE) nerfs. The reason we’re so AA heavy is because between utilities, elites, and skills, everything is so heavily energy reliant that its difficult to spare energy to do more without the risk of not having an option available.

The weapon skills should not require energy, but still have their cooldowns. The Utilities/Elites can keep their current energy expenses and low/no cooldowns. If Phase Travel gets an energy reduction, it can have its Unblockable effect trimmed to 3 seconds, limited to “Your next attack” or removed.

So basically….if you cannot solo quenue well enough, find a strong player/group and make premades to smash randoms and other solo quenuers?
That’s nothing new.

Its strong, but not OP. There’s already a small ICD where your next dodge wont give you more Stability, so heavy CC can still strip your stability and set you up for a burst. Boon Corruption/Stripping’s also still a thing if you’ve got those capable of it focusing you.

A stronger/more effective Ventari/Jalis/Mallyx would really help with our Condition spam issues, but I dont think that this needs yet another nerf seeing that its our only access to stability stacks.

No it doesn’t. It already had its fair share of nerfs in terms of range and CD. If anything, it needs to be upped to 900 range with its current CD of 48 seconds.

Its mostly for emergency sustain/spamming GotL’s bonus to your party, along with a few small things like Natural Stride for movement and Ancient Seeds for extra CC. If you can live without it, you can live without slotting Druid.

Your party might not like that, though, since they will likely expect you give them GotL with Frost Spirit/Spotter.

This build looks interesting.
I’m curious though – wouldn’t Sigil of Transference for more outgoing heal effectiveness be preferred to Bloodlust on your Shield? Or is the effect not notable enough to warrant a more offensive option?