Yea I don’t really understand. They designed the weapon without a niche to fill. It excels at nothing. Dagger has more damage and utility and it’s only a 1h weapon. It’s seriously stupid. Speed up the #1 attack speed, increase damage, add utility like boonstrip, do SOMETHING.
Watch greatsword damage in PvE while surrounded by mobs. Total damage gets very high. Only one mob needs to be below 50% health for a Grave Digger recharge and shouts give great sustain when used in a crowd.
A cleave weapon (power-based AoE) was a massive hole in Necro capability and forced Arenanet to add a single cleave to dagger.
Greatsword has a niche. That niche is PvE crowd control. Expect its usefulness to decrease the farther you go from that niche. Look hard at the traits, too. Every one of them scales up in a crowd.
Is it really though? Marks hit 5 targets instead of 3 and refresh before you have to drop out of shroud again. Traited a full round of marks fills up your shroud faster AND applies poison, vuln, chill, condi xfer and bleed. What was that niche again?
I get what you are saying. That’s what it was intended to excell at, but it just falls short. I don’t think power is even close to condi damage output for PvE anyway so that makes the whole thing moot anyway.
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I read a lot of these replies as “We are finally good, don’t take this away and make us bad again”.
The only time GS is viable is for parts of the game where it doesn’t really matter what you bring.
This person gets it.
Also the idea of a slow hulking unstoppable weapon doesn’t even fit the current GS. It is slow/easy to avoid but it’s easily stoppable. If the weapon gave CC immunity on attacks then it would fit the description. As it stands it simply fails in all modes. Yes even PVE
Yea I don’t really understand. They designed the weapon without a niche to fill. It excels at nothing. Dagger has more damage and utility and it’s only a 1h weapon. It’s seriously stupid. Speed up the #1 attack speed, increase damage, add utility like boonstrip, do SOMETHING.
I think management said something akin to “PvP matches are taking too long and are boring to watch, fix it” and the result was a reduction to passive damage mitigation across most classes (Rise! and I’m sure others). I can understand that logic but with the fixed health of the drone already being low this was basically a double nerf.
They really need to start using some kind of metrics to balance around b/c their “gut” balance decisions are pure kitten.
GW2 is a reworked GW1. They are dealing with a lot of legacy code. I imagine that leads to some fantastic spaghetti code when it comes to bugs. That makes everything take forever to develop and test properly.
Here’s hoping they learned their lesson for GW3!
Tool-tips can calculate how much (potential) damage a condition is going to do factoring in stacks and duration. That leads me to believe that they could change condi cleanse mechanics to clear the highest priority (most damaging) condi’s first. Might really help things, might potentially end up breaking things in the other direction. Either way it would require testing.
I think I was very clear in my statement that WvW and PvP were vastly different environments. There are, however, correlations between broken mechanics in each game mode, being able to compress all of condition damages’ offensive power into a single stat leaves enough room where no sacrifices have to be made for survivability. Power builds have to make a choice between the two while condi builds can have their cake, and eat it too as it were.
My point was that they acknowledged this problem in PvP by taking that stat choice option away, but a more permanent fix is still required. I’ve seen many good suggestions already in other threads such as allowing condi’s to crit, then rebalancing damage such that condi builds will need to incorporate precision and furosity putting them more on equal terms with power builds.
At the end of the day, with no changes being made, WvW will devolve into nothing but condi cancer wars.
Yes, solo and small group roaming condition builds might outperform power builds (not might, pretty sure most do). Large scale that is a very different picture though. Conditions get cleansed a lot faster in wvw thanks to blasting of fields all the time. There is a reason why condition duration is a lot less valuable in wvw zerg fights than it is in pve for example (by the way, this is the 2nd damage stat for condis which you ignored in your comparison).
Powerbuilds do sacrifice damage for survivability. Then again direct damage can’t be mitigated or removed by cleansing. If you’d pit 2 equal sized groups of experienced wvw players against each other, if group direct damage keeps cleansing, group condition damage will get overrun.
I do agree in that I find the disparity between condition damage with one stat and direct damage a bit in favor of condition damage. It’s no where as bad though as you paint it out to be, especially in the wvw enviroment.
I think, historically, you are correct but lately there has been a dramatic shift towards conditions even at larger scales. I’m hearing a lot more “oh don’t fight those guys they are mostly condi” in commander chat and it saddens me.
Edit: As far as condition duration goes what if it was coupled with a damage modifier? Then it would have a reason to exist even in heavy condi clearing environments?
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I think I was very clear in my statement that WvW and PvP were vastly different environments. There are, however, correlations between broken mechanics in each game mode, being able to compress all of condition damages’ offensive power into a single stat leaves enough room where no sacrifices have to be made for survivability. Power builds have to make a choice between the two while condi builds can have their cake, and eat it too as it were.
My point was that they acknowledged this problem in PvP by taking that stat choice option away, but a more permanent fix is still required. I’ve seen many good suggestions already in other threads such as allowing condi’s to crit, then rebalancing damage such that condi builds will need to incorporate precision and furosity putting them more on equal terms with power builds.
At the end of the day, with no changes being made, WvW will devolve into nothing but condi cancer wars.
Ok, so back on May 17 the mercenary amulet got removed from PvP (PVT + condi damage is unbalancing, shocking huh?) and I thought “Finally they’ve acknowledged the problem, went with the quickest obvious fix, and will get around to making adjustments in other game modes (WvW) later”.
Well, it’s July now. I fully understand that PvP is a very different beast than WvW but the same issue (defensive stats coupled with condi damage) that caused them to make this change in PvP still persists within WvW in all its cancerous glory. I understand that fixing this issue is very complicated and nuanced but I worry that they’ve thrown in the towel and are content with just bandaid fixes within the vacuum of PvP.
This is really not ok. Not if they want to retain the players that stick around for WvW content or expect older players to come back for whatever future expansions they have planned.
[Question] If matched against only power builds, is greatsword still considered to be “not viable”?
If yes, then the weapon set itself needs some love, if no, then it’s conditions in general that need some looking at.
I’m not partial to Anets style of balance via tweaking the amulet stats in PvP. That just ends up as bandaid balance in the vacuum of PvP while letting the problem run rampant in WvW. I understand that may be a much easier fix, but it does not help the health of the game in the long term.
That’s a very glassy build for WvW. Will work with havoc sized groups but you might want to have some soldiers weapons in your backpack if you need to get into larger fights.
I wouldn’t say “massive” but it needs a bit of love to be more widely utilized in PvP. I imagine if they ever get around to balancing conditions it may end up looking better simply in contrast.
After seeing dyeable gliders in action I believe that Anet has the tech to add dye channels to animations. With that said how much work would it be to add dye channels to each classes’ core animations? Being stuck with a default color scheme seems kind of limiting considering how heavily skins and dyes are valued in this game.
I imagine this is a direct result of the AB meta multi-map (exploit?). It’s flooding the market with gold (thus the gem ratio went bonk).
Dagger > GS. I use GS though b/c I got sick of my damage being less in shroud if I switched when dagger was out.
1. low population server can have 1 guild grp runing around and still own the other servers with pugs b/c they cant get more ppl in? bad idea.
2. prevent keep rush, bad idea.
3. stop the high population server from playing the game, bad idea.
1. Did you notice I placed numbers far enough apart (max 50 threshold 30) that the higher population servers will still have a 20 man advantage? If a guild group can overcome those odds then they should be owning.
2. Same point as #1, the higher pop server will still have a numbers advantage, nearly double as much, if they can’t fight off an organized push with 2x the players then they deserve to lose the keep.
3. There has to be a downside to bandwagoning to a high pop server or this whole system will never have any kind of balance. Want to be on the “winning” side? Get in line.
Each Map Capacity Increases from Low to High based on All 3 Worlds reaching equal numbers…
Still trying to dissect your reply but I intended the map capacity for each map to be independent. If blobs jump around maps it will leave population imbalance behind in its wake but that will naturally adjust.
Example for clarity:
In EBG there are 60 players on each server (60 from green, red, and blue). The max is currently 70 and the threshold is 50.
40 players from the green server go to their home borderlands to defend leaving 60 players the red and blue team with only 20 left on the green team. The new max is 50 with the new threshold of 30.
This means that even though red and blue have 60 players on the map (10 over the current max), no new players from those teams can join until the population is reduced to 50 or more players from green join.
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Friends and I were attempting to think-tank up some ideas for handling server population imbalance. One possible solution that was floated was adaptive queues. Simply put the maximum number of players allowed into a given map is set artificially low until all three servers have met a threshold which then raises the upper limit. If a server’s map population drops below that threshold then the upper limit adjusts accordingly. It would not kick out players that were in before the limit was dropped but it would not let new players back in until the population dropped back under the limit.
The net result would be a more balanced population between the matchups and higher queue times for overpopulated servers. That last little bit isn’t that great so putting in a system like this in before server transfers are opened back up would probably not be a good idea.
The TLDR version:
Max population cap per server per map is 40 players until all servers have at least 20 players on the map. When each team has at least 20 players the max is raised to 50 with the new threshold being 30 ect. (numbers obviously open to fudging)
This will raise queue times for over populated servers and incentivize the natural re-balancing of populations/timezones. Would be much more effective coupled with temporary free transfers until the dust settles.
I know it’s silly to say but it took a while for me to really realize but the best “sustain” that we have is getting out of combat and just healing back up. With our mobility in WvW this is surprisingly easy even if you are blobbing. Just drop back for a couple seconds then reengage.
The distance on dash is a problem for me, puts you too far away from the fight when all you were attempting to do is dodge. Makes it really hard to dodge within shadow refuge as well without going over the edge. Honestly if I could get the old dodge animation/distance back with the bonus’ of dash that’d be my ideal.
I don’t think players actually want to have a winning 1v1 matchup for every class. Just that they feel the need to whine for a class they perceive as weak. And that for some reason or another that whining usually takes the form of 1v1 complaints.
Also I’ve actually watched your stream, and will likely be picking up HoT because I want to try the DD build you run. From my impression the build was strong, and you definitely did the job you set out to do very well. But I’m from my limited viewing and experience with HoT it seems like other classes are able to do the job(s) they set out to do even better. If I had too I guess I would put it as: “This looks like it should be meta, but I don’t think it is because other things are just better at the moment?”
Actually I’m kinda curious how you deal with condi-clear. Because it seems as if your build would have problems with condi’s. Didn’t get to watch enough to see if you do have problems with condi’s though or tell how you dealt with it if you didn’t.
I won’t deny that playing thief in the current meta is not easy, but neither was playing a proper shatter mesmer pre all trait buffs before HoT etc. Same goes for if you played necro way back in the days.
The only condiclear source I have is dash against chill and then signet/shadowstep. Most of the gameplay comes from knowing when to engage and not to engage, including how to manage blind against revs as an example.
But yes you are very right with “This looks like it should be meta, but I don’t think it is because other things are just better at the moment?”
Thief is high risk and not enough reward at the moment compared to other classes, but there is no doubt in my mind I could see thief comp work, hell i’d even be interested in bringing back thief/shatter mesmer
This Sounds Like You Received A Bonus From ANET. But Ill give you the benefit of the doubt. IF Tourney’s are not somewhat balanced 1v1, then whats the point? Look at nearly every sport in existence; In Basketball the guard goes up against the center, the center has height, the guard has speed and ball handling. They both have strengths but it is anybodies game. and yet it is a team dependent game. You cannot simply negate the importance of 1v1.
Look at nearly every Tourney Video Game in History
Jedi Knight II: notice how the announcer says “Darthnut has cornered Obiwub whats going to happen folks this could get exciting” and DOES NOT SAY “Darthunut has cornered Obiwub, darthnut is a Force Lightning user which means Obiwub is dead”
This is like elementary. The concept is you make balanced, skill-driven combat, and then those individuals come together and work as a team. Most every sport and esport seems to grasp this while ANET doesn’t or doesn’t care.
Think about it even if things are not perfectly balance you always here something like this. “Jeff is at an disadvantage here, but ITS STILL POSSIBLE”
Seriously what kinda Kool-Aid Are people drinking? People need to wake up.
^ So this. Everyone is so caught up in thieves “role” of decaping but that “role” is simply emergent game-play based on our movement abilities. It should NOT DEFINE THE CLASS. The profession would be in a lot healthier position if it had less mobility and more combat ability so that pre-determined situations stop being a thing.
As much as I love to play MMOs I’d absolutely hate to be a developer for one as it is impossible to ever create enough content to satiate your audience. This is just a fact that, from the very onset, will create a general malaise of discontent.
At launch I thought that Anet had come up with a novel solution to the problem that being all the seasonal events. I thought to myself “wow that’s really thinking long term as while removing content from the game is going to be viewed negatively (see SAB) as long as they can continue to reintroduce that content later it will keep things fresh”. As long as new content is added to the rotating carnival of events then new players to the game are going to just be floored by the amount of things to.
. . . or so I thought. The problem is that every event seems to be reimagined instead of just having the rewards updated. While a lot of that content does get recycled it does seem like significant effort is put into reinventing the wheel every time that event comes back around. I’m not necessarily saying that this is a bad thing but when it comes at the cost of NEW events being added, then yes I do think that it is a bit overdone.
It may be a bit late to change how things are being run at this point but in future projects it may be something worth considering. Imagine the effort of rebuilding lions arch multiple times refocused into 3 or 4 more yearly events. Suddenly the game seems more lively yes?
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I think they mentioned before that they have to jump through some serious hoops to post here. Early on a few devs that were not the best at communicating went all molyneux on them and ruined it for everyone.
The real issue is our ability to survive/sustain has not kept up with the power creep of other classes. Adding in mechanics to disable our primary defense didn’t help at all but even if revealed (inflicted by enemies) wasn’t in the game it would still be a uphill battle to win against equally skilled opponents.
I don’t mind fights being a challenge but the walls on this house of cards have gotten too thin.
Shadowstep is blocked just about everywhere on the outer parapet and you can’t HS through BP more than once without getting revealed (when enemy controlled).
Something has changed and not in a good way.
I would gladly welcome them going to a mega-server system if it actually populated the maps. Server pride isn’t something that’s worth letting the game die over.
I’d like to hear a few more people say it’s actually broken before letting lose the full on freak out.
The quick fix was a very welcome change. The fact that this wasn’t caught before it was released is still damming.
Like here
WvW revamp = New EB map with as much z axis BS as the new borderlands maps.
Mesmer’s have too much stealth lets fix this by giving everyone and their brother revealed as counter-play.
Revenant has too many evades, lets make skills that ignore evade to balance it out.
*Thief community cowers in the corner slitting wrists.
I really am giving the game till the next balance patch then if they don’t address things I’m out too. I am optimistic as it seems lots of PvP teams are dropping their thieves and that’s all Anet seems to balance around. We may actually see some love with the balance patch due to it being so glaringly obvious.
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The only manner of protest I can think of that might actually get some notice is to bomb the meta-critic reviews of HoT. Just saying “I’m not going to spend any more money until they fix this” is worthless as it’s invisible but meta critic reviews make bosses ask questions.
I main reaper because my thief is now a walking joke.
- Raids are not in the game yet. They will be added after the raid UI is implemented.
- Gold is hard to acquire in this game by design. It’s really the only reason that inflation hasn’t crushed the market.
- As many other posts have pointed out the armor itself is only a 2% boost. The boost from ascended weps and jewelry is much higher. Consequently weapons and jewelry can be obtained without cost via Fractals, Guild Missions, Collections etc…
My advice is make sure you have ascended weapons and jewelry and then just slowly make your armor as money naturally accrues by just playing the game.
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When you pick Canah as a party member then fight his vision when he gets down to about 20% his break bar does not get reduced by the reflected grenades and he remains permanently invulnerable. The same mechanic worked twice earlier in the fight but when he starts his “flee” mechanic at low health something breaks. I’ve tried 3 times now and it’s blocking me from completing the story.
Edit: Finished it by just redoing it and just not picking Canah.
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So we’ve got 2 condi clears (heal + staff) but that still doesn’t seem to be enough on demand clear to deal with any condi builds. What have you guys been doing to counter condi builds as a power reaper?
I hear a lot of talk about how GS is not a good weapon in sPvP. So I’m wondering, if this is true, what needs to be done to give it a place.
Would speeding up the AA chain while reducing the damage and chill duration work? As long as it has the same overall dps that wouldn’t mess with PvE and I don’t think that would invalidate dagger as an option as it has its own niche utility.
Thoughts?
Give them the weekend at least. They’ve been in crunch time for a long time already.
Only one thief should be allowed per team in rankedq (unless a party has more than one thief). Any more than one thief when enemy team doesn’t is 98% chance loss.
Yes this will fix the “problem”.
Axe is just outdated. Even dagger cleaves now. They just need to rework the auto entirely to fall in line with other melee weapons. Unique is not always good.
Really good changes but I noticed all the love was falling into the Daredevil specialization. It needed this attention, but I am concerned about the continued viability of baseline thieves.
I posted on this like 6 months ago.
only lifesteal and unholy sanctuary can heal you through shroud, so no.
I know that’s what the wiki says but I’m not sure if that’s the case anymore. I mean look at [Blighter’s Boon]
Gain life force when you gain a boon. If you are in reaper’s shroud, gain health instead.
The tooltip clearly indicates that you gain health while in shroud. Just wondering if that applies to any other abilities as well.
Does anyone know if [Spiteful Renewal] will heal you while in reaper shroud? [Bitter Chill] pairs really well with [Decimate defenses] making that the obvious choice but I have a real hard time dealing with condi removal on the reaper…
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Yea coming out of plague with low health trying to jump directly into shroud gets me killed when I mistakenly hit it twice (usually due to lag).
For WvW group play Cele wep/jewelry + zerk armor. With the right food that gets you like 24k health 2200 power 2400 armor 38% crit and 200% crit damage. Power is a little low but with might helping both the condi and power side of things it seems silly to ignore all the extraneous conditions we apply.