Guild Wars 2

There are currently 2 Skills that come to mind when bars need breaking:

Revenant’s Surge of the Mists (Staff #5)
Engineer’s Slick Shoes (Utility Skill)

The reason is that these proc Multiple instance of Knockback/Knockdown respectively, and since the distance/duration isn’t taken into consideration when calculating Break Bar Damage (To my knowledge), Multiple Procs trumps Stronger CC skills. (This, however, isn’t true for Duration-based CC such as Dazes and Stuns).
Aside from those two, Fear is the most powerful CC condition, more so than Taunt or Slow.

So in your case, I’d play either Revenant, Engineer or Necromancer.

My guess?

Polearms (Two-handed), being a catch-all name for Battle-axe/Scythe/Spear/Halberd skins. Given to Warrior as an Offensive Condi weapon, Revenant as a Defensive Condi Weapon and Necromancer as a Defensive Direct-Damage weapon.

Whips (One-handed), being a Medium-ranged (300-600) Main-hand weapon. Given to Rangers as an Offensive Condi-weapon, Thief as a Defensive Condi Weapon and Mesmer as an Offensive Direct Damage weapon.

Javelins (One-handed), lighter 1-handed Spears that could either be Melee or Ranged. Given to Guardians as a Ranged, Defensive Weapon, Engineers as a Melee, Offensive Hybrid weapon and Elementalist as a Melee Defensive Weapon.

Do events in the map that is currently rewarding Charged Lodestones as part of its Map Bonus Reward. (As of writing, this week it’s Straits of Devastation). Also, do Crucible of Eternity whenever opportunity arises for chance to drop Cores and Lodestones.

http://wiki.guildwars2.com/wiki/Map_bonus_reward

Save all the Cores you come upon and transform them into Lodestones using the Mystic Forge.

http://wiki.guildwars2.com/wiki/Charged_Core

http://wiki.guildwars2.com/wiki/Charged_Lodestone

Or, just Farm Silverwastes or any other profitable PvE map and buy cores/lodestones on the TP with Buy Orders.

The Immobilize is pulsing from roots that appear. Cleave it with some melee autoattack and you’re good to go.

I can’t think of a single profession that isn’t bringing a melee weapon to cleave with in this meta. Except Shoutbow Druids. Who have the trait themselves instead.

I love the fact that TD is actually difficult to navigate, a labyrinthian depth of winding tunnels and caverns where patience is the key to finding your way, not the amount of swiftness you can stack. Well, until you get smart and figure out that there is a hub from which you can travel in either direction.

Maybe I’m just more adventurous than the average player, but I like it when maps aren’t just big, wide, empty and harmless stretches of land that seemingly go on and on forever. Like, you know, the rest of Core Tyria. Sure, the big wide meadow with the sunset on the horizon has its charm, but variation is key.

VB and TD are perfect examples of variation. Unlike Auric Basin which is basically one city surrounded by a giant circle (Divinity’s reach in the jungle, basically) or Dragon’s Stand which is literally just 3 lanes. (Although, this was in the design so not gonna complain about that.)

TD is my default map whenever I feel like doing some PvE, simply because of the design. Even if I now know it by heart, I still feel like I’m lost in the jungle and on a grand adventure when I enter that map. So it’s definitely doing something right.

I made a thread like this sometimes back, so just gonna toss up what I suggested back there, down here:

TheSwede.9512:

What if each Elite Specialization could unlock their very own Glider skin somehow? Like a collection of sorts.

As following:

Dragonhunter: Wings of Resolve
Fly on the wings of Love and Righteous Fury, teaching all those Mordrem the important lessons of peace, understanding and (very) aggressive foreign exploitation politics.

Druid: Wyvern Flight
Trusty Wyvern spreads his wings and takes you on a ride through the skies. Scratchmarks, bitemarks and any for of damage to apparel or clothing not covered by the warranty. Malnourished specimen are prone to breaking up mid-flight.

Scrapper: Gyrocopter
Because whenever you run out of Endurance you get to shout “Black Hawk down! Black Hawk Down!” Humming “Flight of the Valkyries” is optional. Screaming it at the top of your lungs is highly encouraged.

Herald: Wings of the Dragon
Dragon’s got your back. LITERALLY!

Tempest: Furious Winds
Today’s weather forecast is windy with a great risk for Awesome. Mordrem and other dragon critters are suggested to stay indoors.

Daredevil: Assassin’s Kite
It’s like the movie about Flying Kites, just involving more action, fighting, daring stunts and definite death from above! … Actually, it’s nothing at all like the movie.

Daredevil ALTERNATE: Cape
Not the Hero Tyria deserves, but the one it… Wait, wrong hero. Wrong company, even. Man, I screwed this one up pretty bad…

Reaper: Reaper’s Flight
Clad yourself in the Reaper’s robes and soar the night skies. Noone defies death. Unless it’s you, and the kind of Death is by gravity. But you kinda ARE Death so… perks of the job? Let’s go with that.

Chronomancer: Illusionary Wings
Maybe it’s a mind trick and you’re actually down on the ground all along? Maybe you’re suspending yourself in air through manipulating time and space? Maybe it’s Maybelline.

Berserker: An angry stare at the Ground
Gravity simply fears the implications of simultaneously making you angry and propelling you towards the earth at terminal velocity, so it let’s you stay afloat until you’ve found that perfect spot for a vacation home. And it Better!

I have suggested that the Scepter AA in Water will apply a short-duration Chill with each of it’s 3 Projectiles. (1/4s per Projectile, total of 3/4s Chill). It wouldn’t be OP, as the Projectiles deal very little damage and are pretty slow and inaccurate, not to mention that the Chill from this wouldn’t last very long after Attuning out of water unless the Ele spends time building it up.

However, it -would- synergize with Shatterstone, mixing it and AA up would let you hit with the skill more reliably than before.

To answer why you’re feeling Guardian to be more difficult than Warrior:

Warrior has mostly Passive Sustain through High Health, High Armor and Auto-Procs. They’re built to simply take punishment, and dish out more in the same timespan. Running up to a PvE enemy as a Warr means you’re basically gonna take what it gives and return it threefold.

Guardian focuses on Active Sustain. You gotta Micromanage all your Boons, Blinds, Active Defenses such as Blocks, Cleanses and Projectile Defense as well as consistently make sure to heal back up, because while Guardian has heavy armor they have the lowest base health among professions alongside Elementalists and Thieves.

As for what Guardian does best in PvE, it’s Defensive Boons. No other Profession can hope to match them in that field. AoE Aegis, Stability and Protection is their fief and due to being able to support pretty well even when geared out for Max DPS, Guardians are almost always a welcome addition to any group, although not always Optimal.

I enjoy support roles. Makes me feel important.

In most games, that relegates to Healing, but through GW2 I’ve also gained a penchant for Buffing. So naturally, I gravitate towards Druid and Chronomancer, but since most professions got some kind of Support I don’t feel pidgeon-holed into a specific Profession or Playstyle. (One of the things I really enjoy with GW2)

Self-Regulating Elixirs needs to go. It’s one of those “Passive Procs” that aren’t really connected to skillful play at all. Not to mention it can be punishing since Elixir S means you have 4s where you can’t cap, attack or anything else but running away.

Hammer should remain as it is, untouched. It’s got a few cracks in the supposed armor that can be easily capitalized on if you just learn how to fight Scrappers. Primarily, it’s the Long Activation Times (#2 and #5) and Animation Lockdown (#3, also it only evades during the leaps. Hit them as they hit you and CC them out of it). A carefully placed Headshot from a Thief, Glyph of Equality from a Druid or Diversion from a Mesmer will pull a Scrapper straight out of their stride.

The reason Scrapper feels so powerful right now is because they’re a Bruiser-style Profession. They shine in fights against Glass Cannons the likes of Daredevils and Dragonhunters who rely heavily on bursting down enemies quickly. It’s the same reason Druids are still around, because they’re also Bruisers that mix Damage with Sustain.

1) Will we see more enemies with more “specified” roles from here on?
I love the fact that there are so many different kinds of enemies in HoT that focus on different things, such as Floppers, Menders, Healers, Punishers etc.
I hope you keep going down this route, and maybe even split enemies up more to make them even deadlier in groups.

2) Will enemies get more Boon Hate and Boon Distribution?
Currently, AI enemies deal a lot with Conditions, CC and supporting eachother, however there are very few enemies that grant Boons to eachother or remove Boons from players. I’m hoping this will play in more as boon-stripping can be devastating for Players and thus add a challenge to encounters that doesn’t constitute More HP or Damage.

3) Are you actively working to improve AI of Core Tyria mobs? Will they be given similar behaviour as HoT enemies or remain as they are right now?
Core Tyria is supposed to be easier, yes. However, I don’t think an AI overhaul would hurt since the enemies won’t really get new stuff added to their kitten nals. It’d be a refreshing change, for sure.

4) What new, nefarious mechanics do you have in store for us for LS season 3?
Give us a sneak peak! There’s gotta be something new we haven’t seen before.

Bosses that One-shot generally one-shot more than just “Glass Cannons”. A little Toughness or a litte Healing Power won’t save you if you miss the giant killer move tell.

People who drop are running around in everything from Zerker to Carrion to soldier, cavalier, dire or just some juxtaposed mish-mash of whatever they could afford on the TP. Half of those think they can just tank a hit because they run some Toughness in their build and then get a rude awakening when they’re suddenly downed in a Mordrem Sniper’s Arrow Field.

Noone thinks it’s funny to rush in and die. People who play Glass Cannons in open-world PvE play it like that because they know how to, and if they die occasionally due to an unforseen event, missed Dodge call or sudden latency spike, then they’re no more “exploiting” than anyone else who dies.

You need to have the Druid Specialization Line equipped. It can only be fitted into the bottom slot in your Specializations window.

The tradeoff used to be that Chill had very few applications, and generally wasn’t applied for as long as Cripple is.

Then Reaper came about and now throws out Chill like wintersday gifts, and Tempests with AoE Frost Aura on a 20-25% uptime means your cup runeth over. They need to either curb Chill’s efficiency (And then increase the uptime of some other professions) or curb the Uptime of some of the Elite Specs such as Reaper.

Defense
(First Line focuses on Weakness, Second line on Passive Sustain, Third line on Weapon/Utility Skills)
Minor

• Thick Skin – You gain 150 extra Toughness while above 90% HP.
• Adrenal Health (Merged Partly with Cleansing Ire) – Gain Health regeneration based on Adrenaline level. Remove 1 Condition for each Bar of Adrenaline spent when you hit with a Burst Skill.
• Spiked Armor – Remains the Same.

Adept

• Intimidating Glare – Weaken (6s) nearby Enemies and gain Retaliation (3s) when you’re Stunned, Dazed, Knocked, Launched, Feared or Taunted. Radius: 360. ICD: 15s.
• Dogged March – Remains Unchanged.
• Shield Master – Remains Unchanged.

Master

• Cull the Weak – Moved to Master. Weaken (3s) enemies when you strike them while they have Vulnerability Stacks over the Threshold. Weakness you apply additionally reduces Outgoing Condition Damage by 20%. Threshold: 8.
• Robust (Replaces Armored Attack) – Regeneration you Apply removes Poison and increases Healing on affected Allies by 15%. ICD: 10s.
• Stance Master (Replaces Defy Pain) – Changed Functionality. Stances now grants Boons to you when they end.
  • Defiant Stance – Regeneration (5s)
  • Frenzy – Retaliation (5s)
  • Balanced Stance – Vigor (6s)
  • Endure Pain – Protection (4s)
  • Berserker’s Stance – Fury (5s)

Grandmaster

• Exhausting Pain (Replaces Cleansing Ire) – Weakness you apply Deal Condition Damage over time.
• Rousing Resilience (Merged Partially with Cleansing Ire) – Gain Adrenaline (1) when struck. Gain Toughness (Up to 1000), Adrenaline (10) and Health (Base: 2600) when you break out of Stun.
• Last Stand – Activate Balanced Stance when you’re Stunned, Dazed, Knocked, Launched, Taunted or Feared more than Once within the Time Threshold. Stances last 25% Longer and grants you Superspeed (3s) on Activation. Time Threshold: 3s. ICD: 40s.

Reasoning
The Defense was, in many ways, where all the Warrior’s sustain was centered without even as much as dipping into other fields. It also had a lot of passive sustain in Defy Pain, which I felt was prudent to a change that rewards active use of Utilities rather than a Double Take when you get careless. I also changed up Last Stand to rather counter-act CC chains than acts as an Auto-prompt, meaning it has A/ Counterplay (Enemies need to space out their CC rather than spam it) and B/ Selective Activation (It will no longer be wasted on say a Thief’s Headshot.) Also added some serious buffs to Weakness that might be interesting to Condition or Hybrid Warriors.

Tactics
(First Line focuses on Soft CC, Second line on Weapon/Utility Skills and Third on Party Support)
Minor

• Determined Revival – You gain up to 400 Toughness while reviving an Ally. You Revive Allies 10% Faster.
• Beacon of Hope (Replaces Reviver’s Might) – Remove Damaging (Bleeding, Poison, Burning, Confusion, Torment) Conditions from an Ally while reviving them. Conditions removed: 1. Intervall: 1s.
• Inspiring Presence – Might you apply also grants Healing Power (10).

Adept

• Leg Specialist – Immobilize (1s) your target when you Cripple them. Movement-impairing Conditions last 33% longer. ICD: 5s.
• Quick Breathing – Warhorn skills convert 1 Condition into Regeneration (4s) on each affected Ally. Warhorn skills recharge 20% faster.
• Empowered – Remains the same.

Master

• Surprise Maneuver – Blind nearby Enemies when you swap Weapons while in Combat. Radius: 180. ICD: 9s.
• Inspiring Battle Standard (Replaces Shrug it off.) – Moved from Discipline. All Banners grant Regeneration (3s) to nearby Allies with each Pulse, has their Radius increased by 60 and Maximum Ally limit increased to 15.
• Empower Allies – Remains the Same.

Grandmaster

• Art of War (Replaces Powerful Synergy) – Blind you Apply lasts 1 additional attack.
• Vigorous Shouts – Shouts recharge 20% faster, Heal (Base: 1200) nearby Allies and Grant you Adrenaline (5). Healing and Adrenaline is increased for each affected Ally. Increase per Ally: 20%.
• Phalanx Strength – Remains the Same.

Reasoning
Tactics is the Team Support tree for the Warrior, but it was pretty much the same deal all-in-all. I decided to add some more play on Soft CC such as Blind, in order to give the Warrior a different approach to team support than simply being “That guy with Shout Heals” if he so wishes.

Discipline
(First Line focuses on Mobility, Second on Weapons and CC and third on Boons/Adrenaline.)
Minor

• Versatile Rage – Remains the Same.
• Brawler’s Recovery (Replaces Fast Hands) – Remains the Same.
• Brutal Arms – Reduces Cooldown on Weapon Swap by 50% When you swap to Hammer, Rifle or Mace Main-hand in combat. Stun duration is increased by 25% for 3s after swapping weapons while in combat. ICD: 4s.

Adept

• Warrior’s Sprint – Remains the Same
• Crack Shot – Rifle and Harpoon Gun Skills Pierce and Recharge 20% faster. Striking a target outside of the Range threshold with a Rifle or Harpoon Gun grants you Might (1 stack, 6s). Threshold: 600.
• Adrenal High – Whenever you gain a Full Bar of Adrenaline, you gain Stability (3 stacks, 3s) and Swiftness (10s). ICD: 20s.

Master

• Powerful Synergy (Replaces Inspiring Battle Standard) – Remains the Same. Now additionally affects Whirl Finishers as well.
• Blunt Force (Replaces Sundering Mace) – Hammer and Mace Damage is increased against Stunned, Dazed, Knocked or Launched enemies. Reduces Cooldown on Hammer and Mace skills by 20%. Damage increase: 20%.
• Destruction of the Empowered – Remains the Same.

Grandmaster

• Burst Mastery – Remains the Same.
• Attack of Opportunity (Replaces Heightened Focus) – Gain Quickness (2s) when you disable a foe. Duration is doubled if you Interrupt them. ICD: 15s.
• Insurmountable (Replaces Merciless Hammer) – Your Boons cannot be Stolen, Stripped or Corrupted while you have Stability stacks over the threshold. Threshold: 3.

Reasoning
Aside from shifting focus onto CC a bit more, I also wanted to work with all venues that a Warrior is supposed to cover when I tailored this Spec Tree, to give it more of an identity besides the Adrenaline Fixation (Which, honestly, I felt lacking in any case). The biggest thing to note is that I suggest that Fast Hands instead be spread across different Spec Trees, affecting weapons that primarily work with those Spec Trees in order to take the pressure away from Discipline as an absolute “Must-have”, while still retaining usefulness with some builds.

Sometimes earlier, I posted a thread about some changes I’d like to see to baseline Warrior. Now that a Warrior change is on the newsletter, I figured I might as well reintroduce it with some changes.

Strength
(First Line focuses on Direct Damage, Second on Low-HP Fighting/Comebacks and third is Weapon/Utility Skills)
Minor

• Reckless Dodge – Remains as is.
• Building Momentum – Remains the Same.
• Powerful Arms (Replaces Stick and Move) – Reduces cooldown on Weapon swap by 50% When you swap to Greatsword, Spear or Main-Hand Axe in combat. Damage is increased by 10% for 3s after Swapping weapons while in Combat (Regardless of Weapon). ICD: 4s.

Adept

• Death from Above – Damage and Launch enemies when you take Falling Damage. Reduces Damage from Falling by 50%. Reckless Dodge now Cripples (3s) Enemies.
• Restorative Strength – Gain Might (5 Stacks, 6s) and Vigor (4s) when you use a Healing Skill. Using a Heal Skill while below the Threshold removes 2 Conditions. Threshold: 50%.
• Collateral Damage – Critical Hits while wielding a Greatsword or Spear now deal AoE Damage around your target. Greatsword and Spear skills recharge 20% Faster. Base Damage: 208. Radius: 180. ICD: 3s.

Master

• Excessive Force (Replaces Forceful Greatsword) – Gain Might (1 stack, 6s) when you Critically Hit with a Melee Weapon. Deal 10% more Damage when you have Might Stacks over the threshold. Threshold: 10.
• Great Fortitude – Increases Vitality by 10% of your Power. While below 50% HP, Healing and Damage is increased by 15%.
• Axe Mastery (Replaces Body Blow) – Moved to Master Tier. Remains the same.

Grandmaster

• Berserker’s Power – Remains the Same.
• Second Wind (Replaces Axe Mastery) – When you strike an Enemy with a Level 3 Burst Skill, enter into Berserker’s Stance. Duration: 8s. Cooldown: 60s.
• Peak Performance (Replaces Distracting Strikes) – Physical Skills all Break Stun and are enhanced:
  • Mending – Now Converts Conditions into Boons rather than removing them.
  • Kick – Additionally Cripples (4s) affected Targets. Knockback distance is increased.
  • Bull’s Charge – Additionally Destroys Projectiles while Charging.
  • Bolas – Now also Pulls the target towards you.
  • Stomp – Is now Ground-Targeted at 600 range.
  • Rampage – Now Pulses Might (2 stacks, 15s) with each Pulse.

Reasoning:
Strength overall was a Spec Tree that was pretty good, but very narrow and offered limited venues for offense. There was little choice to be had as Adept, Master and Grandmaster were all dominated by a single trait in different game modes. I aimed to make things a bit more diverse, offering two distinct paths towards offense: One that is reliant on constantly pumping out damage, and one that focuses on relentless recovery so that the assault can continue on even if the Warrior is pushed to the brink.

Arms
(First Line focuses on Condition Damage, Second on Critical Hits/Fury and third on Weapon/Utility Skills)
Minor

• Precise Strikes – Remains the Same.
• Bloodlust (Moved to Master) – Remains the Same.
• Precise Arms (Replaces Rending Strikes) – Reduces Cooldown on Weapon Swap by 50% When you swap to Longbow, Harpoon Gun or Sword Main-hand in combat. Duration of outgoing Conditions is increased by 25% for 3s after swapping weapons while in combat (Regardless of Weapon). ICD: 4s.

Adept

• Body Blow (Replaces Berserker’s Fury) – Bleed (3 stacks, 4s) and Weaken (2s) An enemy when you Stun, Daze, Knock or Launch them.
• Opportunist – Striking a Crippled, Chilled or Immobilized target grants Extra Adrenaline and Fury (10s). Adrenaline: 8. ICD: 10s.
• Signet Mastery – Remains the Same.

Master

• Distracting Strikes (Moved from Strength) – Interrupting a Target causes Confusion (4 stacks, 8s).
• Deep Strike – Fury you apply grants Condition Damage. Critical Hits while under the effects of Fury have a 50% Chance to stack Vulnerability (1 Stack, 8s).
• Blademaster – Remains the same.

Grandmaster

• Furious – Remains the Same.
• Dual-Wielding – Attack Speed is increased by 15% when wielding a Sword, Axe or Mace in your Off-hand. When you critically hit while Dual-Wielding, Impale your target with your weapon, stacking Conditions over time. ICD: 15s.
  • Sword – Torment (1 Stack, 6s x5)
  • Axe – Vulnerability (2 stacks, 6s x5)
  • Mace – Weakness (2s x5)
• Trick Arrows (Replaces Burst Precision) – Dual Shot now Bleeds (1 Stack, 4s x2) your target, while Arcing Arrow and Smoldering Arrow now Burn (1 stack, 3s) enemies struck. Longbow Skills Recharge Faster.

Reasoning:
In order to bring some more viability to this line, I decided to focus all the Condition Damage into this line so that Condition Builds for Warriors won’t have to pick out several lines where they only need a single Trait to work. I moved Body Blow and Distracting strikes here in order to open up another venue for Condition Damage builds as well, making it synergize with CC more if that’s the path the Warrior wishes to take.

Mesmer – Trickster
Weapon: Shortbow
Skills: Tricks (Duh)
Mechanic: A new meter, Guile Meter is displayed behind the Shatter Skills, activated by F5. The meter increases with every use and Hit of a Shatter Skill, meaning more Illusions and frequent shattering is rewarded. Activating this mode is called “Ego Surge” and While in this mode, the total amount of Clones and Phantasms that the Trickster can have out is increased to 5, obviously also increasing the effectiviness of their Shatter Skills. Ego Surge doesn’t last long, but the meter doesn’t detoriate out of Combat.

Mechanic: Ego Surge:

• Ego Surge (F5) – Activate Ego Surge, increasing the number of Illusions you can have active from 3 to 5.
• Deactivate Ego Surge – End Ego Surge prematurely. When Ego Surge ends, any excess Illusions are immedietally shattered.

The new Weapon they get, Shortbow, isn’t just a ranged weapon. That’s right, true to their nature of deception and trickery, Tricksters get Melee Shortbow. Or well, rather it’s a Hybrid mix as follows:

• Illusionary Arrow/Illusionary Blade → Trickster’s Treat → Mind Render – Fire an Illusionary Arrow at your target, dealing damage and randomly applying Vulnerability or Weakness. If your target is closer than 130 units, conjure an Illusionary dagger to strike them with, first and second strike granting Vulnerability if the target has a Boon, and Third dealing extra Damage for each Boon on the target.
• Double Entandre – Fire an illusionary arrow that teleports you to your target, leaving behind a Clone that uses Illusionary Arrow.
• Twisting Thought – Teleport around your target, evading attacks and striking them with a Backstab. If you hit from the front, you Cripple your target. If you hit from behind, you stack Vulnerability and deal increased Damage.
• Illusionary Acrobat – Summon a Phantasmal Acrobat that will Attack Foes while Evading attacks. (Uses Death Blossom Animation).
• Chaotic Trap → Trickster’s Bounty – Fire a Spread of Illusionary Arrows connected by etheral webbing, Immobilizing enemies caught. Activate again to Pull all enemies caught towards you, Stealing 1 Boon from each Enemy.

As for their Tricks, they wouldn’t be Physical Tricks like the Thief has, but Mind Tricks, Magic and Illusions, of course! Furthermore, these Tricks use your clones to step in and help out, giving the Trickster an even stronger mindgame (see what I did there?)

• Vanishing Act – Healing Skill. Heal, Remove Immobilize from and Grant Stealth to yourself and all Your Clones. Your clones will change Positions while stealthed.
• Levitation – Break Stun, shatter your clones and gain “Levitation” for each Clone Shattered. “Levitation” causes you to pulse Superspeed and Stability while making you immune to Movement-impairing Conditions.
• Mirage – Gain 1 Mirage Charge for each Clone, causing you to Teleport away when attack, gaining Blur and generating a Clone.
• Hypnosis – You and your illusions to channel Lulling energies at your target, pulsing Blind, followed by Immobilize and finally Stun them depending on the number of illusions alive.
• Telekinesis – You and your clones will lift your respective targets into the air, stacking Vulnerability for each clone and the Launching the target away. Launch distance and Damage depends on number of Clones per target.
• Amnesia – Shatter all your Clones, causing 1 random Utility skill per clone on your target to be put on a 10s Cooldown. While Ego Surge is active, this skill can also Affect Healing and Elite Skills.

Since the topic seems to be Revenants, might as well toss up my own idea for it:

Revenant – Martyr
Weapon: Greatsword (Ranged Condi DPS/Soft CC focused)
Legend: Legendary Revolutionary Kalla Scorchrazor. Her legend’s thematic is all about turning the Tide of battle and sacrificing your own better health for the sake of Victory.
Mechanic: A new F2 skill called Sacrifice, which is an upkeep skill that causes all Energy Costs to be replaced with an HP cost instead, allowing the Martyr to keep fighting even when their Energy runs out. In this mode, any healing they recieve is reduced, but when they Deactivate it they let loose a surge of energy that Heals them and nearby allies depending on how long Sacrifice was active, allowing them to turn the tide of battle.

Sacrifice Mechanic:

• Sacrifice – Activating Sacrifice causes all skills with an Energy Cost to instead reduce your HP by a %, depending on the Energy Cost. While Sacrifice is active, Upkeep Skills continously cost HP rather than Energy and all Incoming Healing is greatly Reduced.
• Resurgance – Deactivate Sacrifice, causing a surge of Mist Energy around you that will Heal you and all Nearby Allies depending on how long Sacrifice was active.

Weapon Skills:

• Decisive Strike -> Avenging Cross -> Proud Sacrifice – Slash twice through the air, creating a Rift at your target’s location that Torments enemies with each strike, before piercing through the mists and collapsing the Rift, Burning enemies within range.
• Demoralizing Blow – Spin around, avoiding attacks and Sending out a shockwave that Weakens enemies struck. Acts as a Whirl Finisher.
• Great Divide – Strike downwards with your blade, creating a vertical shockwave that Knocks back enemies and leaves a line behind. Enemies who cross it stacks Torment and Blindness. Combo Field: Dark
• Pierce the Veil – Stab the ground, summoning a giant blade from the Mists to strike down at the target Area, creating a Shockwave that Immobilizes enemies struck and leaves them Vulnerable. Acts as a Blast Finisher.
• Reaving Mists – Spin forwards through the mists while evading attacks, tearing open a Rift at each target you strike. The Rift pulses Chill before it collapses and Burns every nearby enemies. Acts as a Whirl Finisher.

Utility Skills:

• Second Wind – Heal Skill. Heal yourself and gain Energy. Healing and Energy gain is increased the lower your Health is.
• Undying Defiance – Upkeep Skill. Pulse Boons on yourself every 3s, dependant on current HP level. Always pulses Stability, followed by Retaliation and lastly Protection.
• War Cry – Break Stun for yourself and nearby allies, while Knocking Back and Weakening nearby Enemies. Knockback distance and Weakness duration is dependant on HP level.
• Rain of the Mists – Call in a hail of arrows from the mists to barrage the target area, Immobilizing enemies on creation and pulsing Burning. Condition duration is dependant on your Health level. Acts as a Fire Field.
• Revolution – Elite skill. Call an echo of Scorchrazor’s allies from the Mists to rush forwards, Knocking down and Damaging all enemies in their path, while Rallying any downed Allies.

I’m gonna be honest, but Racial Legends aren’t gonna work. Why? Because they’d mean different races have different Advantages and Disadvantages while being a Revenant, which is something ANet wants to avoid.

Unless the differences a purely cosmetic, they won’t implement something like that. Even then it’d be more work than just slapping 1 New legend on and call it a day, which is probably what they do.

Also, don’t forget that Elite Specializations require a change in playstyle, aside from merely adding something to a profession.

KestrelGirl.9267:

Elementalist

The Spellweaver: gains access to physical skills (?), main-hand sword (used for evasion), and a “spellweaving” F5 skill that combines the skills of any attunements on cooldown.
Depending on which elements are on CD, the Spellweaver may become:
Elemental Storm (Fire/Water/Air) – Rain fire, hail and lightning upon the target area, inflicting significant damage to enemies within.
Elemental Annihilation (Fire/Air/Earth) – Stomp the ground, pulling your target towards you with a shockwave that cripples and dazes them. Then raise a pillar of fire that launches enemies around it. Finish off with a lightning strike that inflicts massive damage and defeats downed enemies in the area.
Elemental Calamity (Fire/Water/Earth) – Encase enemies in the target area in rock prisons, immobilizing them. As this wears off, cause an explosion that burns and chills foes… and then smash the rocks apart to bleed them and knock them back!
Elemental Sanctuary (Water/Air/Earth) – Surround the area with rocks that push back enemies, winds that destroy projectiles, and pouring rain that heals allies and removes conditions.
Convergence of Elements (Fire/Water/Air/Earth all on CD!) – Unify all elements, covering yourself and nearby allies with an elemental sheen. You and all nearby allies stack conditions on foes and gain boons with each attack, depending on your current attunement.

WOAH. The F5 skill is overpowered as kitten. I suggest that only the Convergence of Elements be used, and with a hefty cooldown too. Also, having an ele spec use physical skills is a bit… wrong. Do Eles have shouts already?

Since I was the one who cracked this idea, I’ll go ahead and answer these concerns.

On Spellweaving
As all forms of Spellweaving are done with the the same key (F5), this of course also means they share a Cooldown. The reason I didn’t post numbers are because that is where the Balance comes into play. Damage, Healing, Cooldown, Activation Time, Duration, Range, Radius, all these factors are what decides wether a skill is Balanced or not. Not to mention, all of these would be Channel Skills, meaning they can be interrupted.
There’s also the fact that the Spellweaver would have to carefully choose which Element to jump to, meaning they’d have to stay one step ahead of their Opponent at all times or risk being forced into Water or Earth at an inopportunate time.

On Physical Skills
Spellweaver’s theme, which possibly wasn’t clear from the front post because the Layout was jumbled, is all about Dance, and their Physical Skills wouldn’t be the Brutal kind that Warriors have, or the Lethal kind that Daredevils have, but rather the Rythmic and Empowering sense of Dance and Movement. Also, for an Elementalist it’s true that Physical Skills would be weird, but for a Spellweaver it’s a whole different story.

And that’s what Elite Specializations are for! They’re supposed to take the Base Profession and toss it on its head, looking at it from a new angle. And the angle for Spellweaver is heated, physical contact. That’s why I designed Sword as a primarily Defensive Weapon, rather than offensive, in order to keep the Spellweaver up and in the opponent’s face despite the Elementalist’s Low HP and Armor.

EDIT
I see now that Elemental Annihilation is worded as an AoE, which is indeed OP. I thought I changed that over to be Single Target… Hmm, well, it’s supposed to be!

Guardian – Crusader
Weapon: Mainhand Axe
Utility Skill: Glyphs. These Glyphs change properties depending on wether the Crusader is aligned to Redemption, Punishment or Neither.
Mechanic: Adds a new Alignment Scale mechanic that shifts right to left depending on wether the Crusader focuses on Group Support or Offense. They also gain a new F4 skill that ties in with this, called Alignment Shift.

Mechanic: Redemption vs Punishment
Above the Crusader’s Virtues is a new scale that always starts in the middle. This Alignment scale will shift to the right or the left depending on the Crusader’s actions, and in doing so it changes the properties and abilities of his Virtues’ passive effects. There would also be a plentiful of Traits in the Specialization Line that grants different Bonuses depending on the Crusader’s current Alignment.

• Redemption:
  Whenever the Crusader Heals, Cleanses or Revives an Ally, the scale tips towards the right path, Redemption.
  When the Scales tips towards Redemption, the Crusader’s Virtues and Glyphs become increasingly more focused on Defense and Support. This happens at Intervals of 30%, 60% and 90% Redemption.
• Punishment:
  Whenever the Crusader Burns, CC’s or Defeats an enemy, the scale tips towards the left path, Punishment.
  When the Scales tips towards Punishment, the Crusader’s Virtues and Glyphs become increasingly more Focused on Offense and CC. This happens at Intervals of 30%, 60% and 90% Punishment.

Alignment Shift (F4)
However, the Crusader knows that one cannot solely rely on neither Redemption nor Punishment in order to do the right thing. When Activating Alignment Shift, as the name might imply, the Scales are immedietally Shifted to mirror the current Alignment. If the Crusader were 50% into Redemption upon activation, they will instead end up 50% into Punishment when Alignment Shift is activated. This can be used to quickly Switch between Offense and Support as needed.

Virtues:

• Virtue of Justice
• Passive: Burn enemies with every 5th Attack.
  • As you Scale towards Redemption, Burning Duration is decreased but you will grant Might, Retaliation and lastly Fury to Allies around your target whenever this effects Activates.
  • As you scale towards Punishment, you will additionally cause Vulnerability, followed by Weakness and finally Taunt (Every other Activation) whenever this this effect Activates.
• Virtue of Resolve
• Passive: Regenerate Health
  • As you scale towards Redemption, the Passive Healing from this skill will become gradually larger, eventually pulsing an AoE Heal around you that Cleanses Conditions at a set intervall.
  • As you scale towards Punishment, the Passive Healing will become smaller but you Will start to deal Passive Damage towards nearby enemies with Each pulse, which will eventually also cause Burning at an increasing frequency.
• Virtue of Courage
• Passive: Gain Aegis every 40s.
  • As you scale towards Redemption, Virtue of Courage’s passive effect will cause you take less damage from incoming attacks and Conditions with increasing Magnitude, eventually sharing the pulsing Aegis and Damage Resistance with nearby allies.
  • As you scale towards Punishment, you will eventually stop pulsing Aegis and instead pulse Retaliation, followed by Stability and lastly Unblockable attacks.

Weapon:

• Dawn Strike -> Radiant Cross -> Strife Eternal – Combo Attack. Dawn Strike and Radiant Cross both stack Vulnerability, while Strife Eternal will Teleport the Crusader after the Target it they try to escape.
• Symbol of Zeal – Leap at the target are and Immobilize all enemies with a shockwave, creating a Symbol of Zeal that grants Fury to nearby Allies.
• Skyfall – Teleport into the air and descend with a mighty blow, sending out 3 vertical shockwaves in a cone pattern, dealing damage to all foes. While in the air, you evade attacks.

Utility Skills:

• Glyph of Light
  • Neutral – Draw a Glyph that will cover you in a Protective veil, restoring health and granting Protection over time.
  • Redemption – Draw a Glyph that Heals and Cleanses Conditions in an Area around you,before covering you in a Healing veil that restores health to nearby Allies.
  • Punishment – Draw a Glyph that Heals you and covers you in a Burning veil, causing you to stack Burning and heal yourself when attacked.
• Glyph of Justice – All versions act as a Blast Finisher.
  • Neutral – Draw a Glyph that will create a Fiery explosion at the target Area, Burning Enemies and granting Might to Allies.
  • Redemption – Draw a Glyph that will create an explosion of Cleansing fire at the target Area, Removing Conditions from allies and Healing Them.
  • Punishment – Draw a Glyph that will explode in a Fiery inferno, severely damaging, Burning and Knocking Back enemies caught in the blast.
• Glyph of Resolve – All versions acts as a Light Field.
  • Neutral – Draw a Glyph that creates a Circle at the target area that increases Healing to Allies and Damage to enemies within.
  • Redemption – Draw a Glyph that creates a Circle at the target area that continously Heals allies and pulses Resistance to them. Downed allies within are Periodically Ressurected.
  • Punishment – Draw a Glyph that creates a Circle at the target area that Weakens and Chills enemies within. Downed enemies within are periodically Damaged for % of their HP.
• Glyph of Courage – All versions Break Stun.
  • Neutral – Break Stun for nearby Allies and grant them Protection.
  • Redemption – Grant Stability and Resistance to all nearby Allies.
  • Punishment – Taunt and Weaken all nearby Enemies.
• Glyph of Zealotry
  • Neutral – Draw a Glyph that grants nearby allies Unblockable Attacks.
  • Redemption – Draw a Glyph that grants Might, Fury and Retaliation to nearby Allies.
  • Punishment – Draw a Glyph that Blinds, Burns and Immobilizes nearby enemies.
• Glyph of Absolution
  • Neutral – Damage nearby enemies and Heal nearby Allies. Effects increase for each target struck.
  • Redemption – Draw a Glyph that creates a Mobile ward around Allies that enemies cannot Cross.
  • Punishment – Draw a Glyph that sends out chains of Light to nearby enemies, tethering them to you. If they try to move beyond the tether distance, they’re pulled towards you.

Ranger – Beastwalker
Weapon: Dagger Main-hand (Heavy CC and Condition Damage Focus)
Utility Skill: Mantra. Differs from Mesmer Mantras in that they create a Unique Pulsing effect on the Ranger and the Pet both. Each Mantra can be used Twice after Charging.
Mechanic: New F5 skill called Spirit Fusion, which causes the Beastwalker to merge his soul with his pet, transforming the pet into an enhanced version and gaining full control over it. Like this, the Beastwalker gains all Pet Trait and Skill Effect bonuses but loses access to any Utility Skills. The Beastwalker also takes on the Pet’s Attributes and HP, however they’re enhanced further while Transformed. If the Beastwalker loses all Health while transformed, they’re forcefully split from their Pet and the Pet is defeated, while Spirit Fusion goes on Cooldown. While transformed, their 1-5 Skills are replaced with the Pet Family’s skills, however they’re enhanced, carries lower cooldowns and have slightly different functionality.

Example: Felines

• Slash – Slash your foe, Leaving them Vulnerable
• Bite – Bite your foe for severe damage. While transformed, this skill deals increased Damage from Stealth.
• Maul – Slash a foe Multiple times to make them Bleed. While transformed, this skill also Immobilizes if used from Stealth.
• Pounce – Pounce at your foe, Crippling them.
• Stalk – Break out of Stun and gain Stealth.

Example: Canines

• Bite – Bite your foe.
• Crippling Charge – Leap at your foe and Cripple them. While transformed, Cooldown is reduced by Half.
• Run with the Pack – Gain Stability and Swiftness, as well as Might for each nearby Ally.
• Brutal Charge – Leap at your Foe to Knock them Down. Combo Finisher: Leap. While Transformed, Cooldown is reduced by 25%.
• Alpha’s Howl – Howl, Fearing and Immobilizing all nearby enemies. While transformed, acts as a Blast Finisher.

Weapon Skills:

• Claws – Stinger – Fangs – Bleed your target Twice, then Poison them with a quick Stab, before Weakening them with a Final, brutal strike.
• Feral Stride – Dash forwards in a Sig-zag pattern, stacking Cripple and Vulnerability on Enemies with several Strikes while evading attacks.
• Predator’s Prowl – Leap forwards with a quick strike, Dazing your target. If you connect, you and your pet gain Stealth. Acts as a Leap Finisher.

Utility Skills:

• Mantra of Nature – Concentrate, charging a Buff that will Cleanse Conditions from you and your Pet, while causing you to Regenerate Health at a rapid rate. ”We are the Serenity of Nature!”
• Mantra of the Flock – Concentrate, charging a Buff that pulses Superspeed and Reveals enemies around you and your pet. ”We Soar freely across the lands!”
• Mantra of the Wild – Concentrate, charging a Buff that will Break Stun, pulsing Stability and Resistance to you and your pet. ”We are the Unyielding Wilderness!”
• Mantra of Rage – Concentrate, charging a Buff that causes you and your pet’s attacks to become Unblockable and cause AoE Bleeding around your target. ”We Roar with Feral Rage!”
• Mantra of the Stampede – Concentrate, charging a Buff that causes you and your pet to Knock Down enemies you Run into. ”We are the Unstoppable Horde!”
• Mantra of Predation – Elite Skill. Concentrate, charging a Buff that pulses Stealth to you and your pets, while Removing Revealed and causing attacks from Stealth to Blind and Daze your target. ”You are nothing but Prey!”

I have not the faintest clue, it entirely depends on how Powerful the Minions are, their cooldown Times and of course Cast Times.

If you’re considering the Visual Clutter, that too could be an issue however I am personally hoping that a Minion-focused Elite Spec would have ANet look over Pet AI to kill two birds with one stone, so implementing something like standard Models for Pets and Minions could be a thing of the Visual Clutter makes Competative play difficult.

That aside, we’ve seen Necromancers run around with a horde of undead minions. I personally could see a Warrior run around with a squad of trained Pact soldiers (They could have matching uniforms!)

Elementalist – Spellweaver
Weapon: Sword Main-hand
Skills: Physical
Mechanic: A new F5 skill called “Spellweaving”, which combines the elements of any Attunements currently on Cooldown.

Can you feel the rythm of magic? The Spellweaver sure can, weaving it into deadly elemental dances that simultaneously entrance and terrify those who bear witness to it. As they dance through their attunements, they accumulate the magical power into powerful “Spellweaving” techniques.

Whenever the Spellweaver exits an attunement, they empower a new F5 skill with the respective element of that attunements, which stays active until the Spellweave is activated, however they can only be gained while the elementalist is in combat. The Spellweave becomes available once 3 or more Attunements have been “added” to it, resulting in 1 of 4 different forms:

• Elemental Storm (Fire/Water/Air) – Rain Fire, Hail and Lightning upon the target area, inflicting significant damage to enemies within. Acts as a Lightning Field.
• Elemental Annihilation (Fire/Air/Earth) – Stomp the ground, pulling your target towards you with a shockwave that Cripples and Dazes them, followed by raising a Pillar of Fire upwards that Launches them upwards, then finish off with a Lightning strike that inflicts massive damage and Finishes Downed targets.
• Elemental Calamity (Fire/Water/Earth) – Immobilize enemies in the Target Area in rock Prisons, before colliding Intense heat and cold that causes an Explosion that simultaneously Burns and Chills them, while also smashing the rocks and Bleeding them with the sharp remains, Knocking Back all targets.
• Elemental Sanctuary (Water/Air/Earth) – Surround the area with rocks that pushes back enemies, winds that destroy projectiles and pouring water that Heals allies and removes Conditions. Acts as a Water Field.
• Convergance of Elements (Fire/Water/Air/Earth) – Unify all elements, Covering yourself and nearby allies with an elemental sheen. You and all Nearby Allies stack Conditions and Gain boons with each attack, depending on your Attunement.
  • Fire: Burning/Might
  • Water: Vulnerability/Regeneration
  • Air: Weakness/Quickness
  • Earth: Bleeding/Protection

The Spellweaver’s choice of weapon is the Sword, which they use for a close-quarters, defensive fighting style built around quick, dance-like attacks involving evades, lunges and mobility.

Weapon Skills:
Fire

• Scorching Blade → Voracious Flames → Incinerate – Powerful Chain Combo that Burns all enemies on the Final Attack.
• Trailblazer – Draw a scorching trail of fire that rushes your target, exploding on Impact. Leaves behind a Fire Field.
• Torrent of Flames – Spin forwards with a trail of fire at the tip of your blade, evading attacks while damaging and burning enemies caught in your way. Acts as a Whirl Finisher.

Water

• Crystal Blade → Piercing Frost → Diamond Dust – Graceful chain combo that Chills the target on the second strike, and deals AoE Damage around your target on the final attack.
• Deluge – Flurry with your blade, sending out ripples of water that Damage enemies and Heal Allies in the splash area.
• Dancing Ice Blades – Channeled Skill. Conjure several Ice blades around you that attacks nearby enemies and destroy projectiles. Acts as a Whirl Finisher.

Air

• Winding Blade → Roaring Storm → Rolling Thunder – Quick chain combo that twirls the blade around during the last strike, damaging enemies multiple times.
• Gale Kick → Weaving Winds – Kick your target while evading attacks, before leaping towards them and striking out with a powerful gust that destroys projectiles.
• Stormcaller – Raise your blade into the air, calling down a Lightning strike to damage and weaken nearby enemies. Acts as a Blast Finisher.

Earth

• Dust Blade → Whipping Sand → Erosion – Powerful chain combo that bleeds your target, and the final attack leaves behind a whirl of sand that damages nearby enemies.
• Earthrender – Pierce the ground with your blade, sending out a shockwave that Cripples nearby enemies while granting Protection to Allies. Acts as a Blast Finisher.
• Bombardment – Conjure 3 Rock Axes above your head that fly towards your target in rapid Succession, Bleeding enemies near the impact zone. Each Axe is a Projectile Finisher.

Ok, that took a lot of space. Let’s quickly mention the Physical Skills that the Spellweaver would get. As some might’ve guessed, the Physical skills are not the brutal kind that Warriors have, or the lethal kind that Daredevil uses. Rather, they’re based around Dance and rythm, tailored after the elements.

Utility Skills:

• Harmonic Resonance – Peform a harmonizing movement, Restoring Health to yourself and reducing the Cooldown on Attunements and Spellweaving by 20%.
• Trial of Fire – Advance forwards with dancing flames that lash out and attack nearby enemies, granting them a debuff that causes them to act as a Fire Field and constantly stack Burning for a short time.
• Windrider – Dash forward on powerful gales, removing Movement-impairing conditions from Allies, Destroying projectiles and Knocking down enemies in your path.
• Rain Dance – Call forth a downpour that continously Heal and remove conditions from nearby allies, building up a torrent of water that will Knock Back enemies and Chill them when the channel finishes.
• Mountain Caller – Break stun and stomp down, creating powerful shockwaves that Cripple enemies and grant Stability to allies. Each Shockwave is a Blast Finisher.
• Expulse Impurities – Remove all Conditions from yourself, Reset all Attunement Cooldowns and gain All Attunement Bonuses for a short time.

Next up is Warrior on my list. Yep, I’m going through them all. Considering that the last iteration was the Damage-focused Berserker, I decided to go with a Support-focused Commander this time around, that primarily focuses around teamplay. And yes, I realize it’s AI involved with Troopers here, but it just fit better.

Warrior – Commander
Weapon: Pistol Off-hand
Utility Skill: Troopers (Minions). Differ from Necro Minions in that instead of an Activated Ability, they have 2 different Modes.
Mechanic: F2 becomes a Rally Skill, which Pulses a Unique Effect to nearby Allies depending on the Off-hand Weapon or Two-handed weapon that the Commander currently has equipped. Rally skills gradually cost Adrenaline to have active and can only be activated with full Adrenaline.

Weapon Skills:

• (Pistol Skill) Magnum Caliber – Fire a powerful shot that Knocks Back all enemies before you, while granting Might and Fury to nearby Allies. Acts as a Blast Finisher.
• (Pistol Skill) Wild Barrage – Quickfire your pistol several times, damaging and stacking Vulnerability in a cone before you, before launching a high-power shot that leaves a Fire Field behind, burning enemies. Acts as a Projectile Finisher.

Rally Skills:

• (Pistol) Rain Lead! – Fire a signal shot in the air and pulse a unique buff to nearby allies that causes their next Critical Hit to mark their Target for a High-damage Sniper Shot, while this Rally is active.
• (Shield) Phalanx Formation! – You and nearby Allies take decreased Damage and Condition Damage for each nearby Ally while this Rally is active.
• (Warhorn) Rally to Me! – You and nearby Allies Regenerate Health and have increased Endurance Regeneration while this Rally is active.
• (Axe) Cleave through them! – Pulse a unique buff to nearby allies that causes their next attack to deal AoE damage around their target, while this Rally is active.
• (Sword) Raise your Blades! – You and nearby Allies deal increased Condition Damage and have increased Condition duration while this Rally is active.
• (Mace) Crush Their Resolve! – Pulse a unique buff to nearby allies that causes their next attack to apply Vulnerability and Weakness, while this Rally is active.
• (Greatsword) Run Wild! – You and nearby Allies deal increased Damage and Attack Faster for each nearby Ally while this Rally is active.
• (Longbow) Suppressive Fire! – Pulse a unique buff to nearby allies that causes their next Critical hit to mark their target for an AoE Crippling Barrage, while this Rally is active.
• (Hammer) Break their Line! – Pulse a unique buff to nearby allies that causes their next attack to Knock Back their target a short distance while this Rally is active.
• (Rifle) Cannons! – Pulse a unique buff to nearby allies that causes their next Critical hit to mark their Target for an AoE Cannonball strike, while this Rally is active.

Utility Skills:

• Medic – Heal yourself and Summon a Quaggan to Heal Nearby Allies. Ressurect mode switches its focus, and the Medic will instead attempt to seek out and Rally Downed Allies.
• Archers – Summon 2 Tengu Archers to attack your target with precise Arrow Strikes. Barrage mode switches their focus, and they’ll attack less frequently but will now Barrage the area around their target with Bleeding Arrows.
• Demolitionist – Summon a Skritt bomber to hurl Explosives at enemies. Bomber mode switches its focus, and it will instead chase down enemies to plant a Bomb that Launches them and acts as Blast Finisher.
• Phalanx – Summon a High-HP Ogre Standard-bearer that absorbs Damage aimed at nearby Allies. Sentinel mode switches its focus, and it’ll move to the target Area, Blocking Projectiles and pulsing Stability to Allies, while rapidly Regaining HP.
• Lancer – Summon a Centaur Lancer to attack enemies with Crippling Strikes. Charge mode switches its focus, and it will now Trample enemies in its wake, Knocking them Back and pulsing Swiftness to allies.
• Assassin – Elite Skill. Summon a Largos Assassin to attack your target with flurries of swift attacks, causing Vulnerability. Stealth mode switches its focus, causing it to disappear from view and attack less frequently, but with devastating backstabs.

And next up is gonna be Necromancer. This one I themed heavily around the idea of Witches and Warlocks, the good ol’ kind with cooky cottages, cats, crows, nasty brews and curses, but I also wanted to bake in the idea that oftentimes the people called out as Witches were often just clever old people good at herbalism and house remedies, which is reflected in the Supporting nature of this Elite Specialization:

Necromancer – Witchdoctor
Weapon: Torch
Utility Skill: Conjurations (Consecrations)
Mechanic: Death Shroud is replaced with Witch’s Shroud, which focuses heavily on Ground-targeted AoE Condition Damage and Group Support. They also gain access to a new Condition called Lethargy.

• Lethargy – Boons currently on you are Ineffective. Stacks Duration.

Weapon Skills:

• Witchpyre – Scatter green wisps that chase down enemies, causing them to become Mobile Fire Fields and continously stack Burning if they hit.
• Poltergeist – Conjure an evil spirit that will Haunt the enemy, Damaging them and granting Lethargy with each Pulse. After a while, the Poltergeist will explode and Heal all nearby allies, Stealing up to 3 Boons from the target and granting it to nearby allies.

Shroud Skills:

• Life Curse – Torment and Weaken enemies at the target Area, while Healing allies. This skill inherits traits from Life Blast.
• Broomstick – Fly forwards on your trusty Broomstick, stealing Boons from enemies hit and Poisoning them. This skill inherits traits from Dark Path.
• Transmogrification – Transform your target into a Toad for a brief time, leaving them defenseless. This skill inherits traits from Doom.
• Ill Omens – Transform into a Murder of Crows, evading attacks while Bleeding Enemies and Sharing Boons on yourself with nearby Allies. Gain Life Force for each enemy struck with each Pulse. This skill inherits traits from Life Transfer.
• Witch’s Kettle – Create a boiling Miasma around you that Burns and Poisons enemies struck with each Pulse, while Healing and removing Conditions from Allies. Acts as a Poison Field.

Utility Skills:

• Thaumaturgy – Create a circle that Heals all nearby Allies, then pulsing Damage to nearby enemies, stealing Health from them and healing allies whenever it does. Acts as a Light Field.
• Will-o’-the-Wisp- Conjure forth a wall of dancing lights at the target Area that Chills enemies passing through while Reflecting Projectiles that Cause Burning. Allies passing through the field become a Mobile Ice Field, Chilling enemies that come too close. Acts as an Ice Field.
• Dark Garden – Conjure forth a Garden of lethal blooms, Corrupting Boons on enemies into Poison and Converting Conditions on Allies to Regeneration. Acts as a Poison Field.
• Condemnation – Conjure forth a dark void that drains enemies of their will to fight, pulsing Lethargy and Weakness. Allies are Imbued with dark power, causing them to deal 10% more damage and grant you Life Force with each Attack. Acts as a Dark Field.
• Unholy Pact – Call otherworldly spirits to your aid, increasing the Stats of all Allies within the Area while decreasing the stats of all enemies. Acts as a Dark Field.
• Burial Grounds – Elite Skill. Condemn the target area, raising the Dead to Immobilize enemies within. Enemies Downed within the area are immedietally defeated and creates a Vengeful Shade that applies Lethargy to enemies they attack.

So yeah, expect me to post here a lot, and expect my posts to be lengthy too. First up is my idea for a Sniper Specialization for Thief. Now, the most difficult part was to come up with a way to curb Thief’s insane mobility, as that’s what primarily kept them from getting a Long-ranged DPS weapon. I think the mechanic that came to mind actually works, so let’s check it out!

Thief – Sniper
Weapon: Rifle (Long-ranged mixed Direct/Condi Damage, focusing on AoE’s when not in stealth or prone mode)
Utility Skill: Gadgets.
Mechanic: Snipers gain a new F3 skills called Prone Stance, in which they drop into a hunched stance. While Prone, they can only move at Walking Speed and any Endurance Regeneration is stunted. Dodge-rolling and Shadowstepping will also break Prone. In return, Stealth Duration is increased while Prone and the Sniper gains access to Devastating Prone Skills which can be used both within and outside of Stealth for different effects. Prone Stance also changes Dual Skills while dual-wielding, which will become Devastatingly more powerful in return for cancelling out Prone stance and putting it on cooldown. Prone Stance carries a Cooldown, similar to Steal.

Prone Stance Skills:

• (Dagger #1) Assassinate – Strike down your target, dealing a Set % of their Max HP while ignoring Armor rating. While Stealthed, this skill will automatically Finish a player that’s defeated by this skill, and any enemy below Elite Rank.
• (Sword #1) Lethal Crescendo – Flurry with your blade, Immobilizing your target and Rending them with several deadly attacks while destroying projectiles. While Stealthed, this skill will also Daze your target.
• (Pistol #1) Dirty Shot – Roll away from your target, firing several piercing Bullets at your target that Blind and Bleed them. While Stealthed, this skill will also Knock Back enemies struck.
• (Shortbow #1) Sky Shot – Fire several arrows into the air over the target area, causing them to rain down and cause Poison, Bleeding and Cripple over the area.
• (Dagger/Dagger) Blooming Lotus Dance – Spin upwards, evading incoming attacks while stacking Immobilize, Bleeding and Vulnerability on nearby enemies. Using this skill from Stealth increases Condition Duration.
• (Dagger/Pistol) Shadow Barrage – Barrage your target with Unblockable shots from your gun, before rushing forwards with a dagger strike, damaging and Blinding your target. If This skill is used from Stealth, you remove Revealed and regain Stealth if you hit with the Dagger strike.
• (Sword/Dagger) Twisting Shadows – Dash quickly between enemies at the target area, Blinding and Stealing a Boon from each enemy you hit while Damaging them. Using this skill from Stealth causes you to Evade attacks while channeling.
• (Sword/Pistol) Thug Combination – Strike forwards with an Immobilizing sword strike, follow up with a kick that Knocks back your target and finish with a Pistol Shot that deals massive damage. If used from stealth, the attacks become Unblockable.
• (Pistol/Dagger) Wildcard – Throw your dagger at your target, before Firing your gun and ricochetting the bullet off the dagger, stacking Torment and Bleeding on all nearby targets. If used from Stealth, the number of bullets are doubled.
• (Pistol/Pistol) Two Smoking Barrels – Leap away from your target while Unloading your guns at them, dealing damage to all enemies in a cone before you while evading attacks. If used from Stealth, this skill additionally Bleeds and Cripples with each shot.

Weapon Skills:

• (Stealth Skill) Wounding Shot – Fire a Precise Shot that will Bleed, Cripple and Leave your foe Vulnerable. Stacks increase the further away from the target that you are.
• (Prone Skill) Deadshot – Fire a Long-charged shot aimed at the targets head, dealing Massive Damage. Deals more damage if your target is Vulnerable. If used from Stealth, this skill will deal less damage but also Stun your target.
• Sniper Shot – Fire a carefully aimed shot at your target, dealing more damage the further away you are.
• Piercing Shot – Fire a Shot that pierces through Enemies, stacking Vulnerability. Initiative Cost: 2.
• Flechette Rain – Fire shrapnel into the Air to rain down at the target Area, Bleeding and Crippling enemies with each Pulse. Initiative Cost: 3.
• Smoke Dud – Fire a Smoke dud at the target area, creating a Smoke Field that Blinds enemies. Initiative Cost: 5.
• Bullet Barrage – Fire a hail of bullets that ricochet forwards, Bleeding all enemies in their path. Initiative Cost: 6.

Utility Skills:

• Painkillers – Heal Skill. Heal yourself and gain a Heal-over-time buff, gaining Resistance with each Pulse.
• Zipline – Throw a Zipline at the target Area and pull yourself to the target area. If you strike an enemy with this skill, pull yourself towards them and Knock them Down. Acts as a Leap Finisher.
• Scope – The range of nearby Allies’ Projectiles are increased by 300, and all Projectiles cause Vulnerability for a short time.
• Bottle o’ Pick-me-up/Bottle o’ Put-you-down – The Sniper downs a little something, Breaking Stun and increasing Initiative Regeneration for a short time. The bottle can then be thrown at the target area, exploding in flames that Burn and Stun enemies, becoming a Fire Field.
• Decoy Doll – Drop a Decoy doll at your location that Taunts nearby enemies, exploding and Launching nearby enemies when destroyed. Acts as a Blast Finisher.
• Gillie Suit – Elite Skill. The Sniper dons a Gillie Suit which applies Camouflage, stealthing them as long as they don’t move or remain in Prone stance. Gillie suit continously drain Initiative while active.

I think we need some more Runesets similar to Pack Runes and Durability Runes, aka Runes that grants +175 to One Stat, +125 to Another and still has some sort of Bonus that affects playstyle. They mash very well with 4-Stat Amulets because they can add both to Strengths and Weaknesses depending on how you play it. (Pack runes were pretty popular before the Sustain Meta, and Durability Runes are basically what allows Scrapper to run Marauder over Celestial.)

We could use a few more combinations, perhaps something like:

+175 Power
+125 Condition Damage
+ (Specific) Condition Duration/Application

+175 Condition Damage
+125 Expertize
+ (Specific) Condition Duration/Application

+175 Healing Power
+125 Toughness
+Outgoing Healing/(Specific) Boon Duration/Application

+175 Precision
+125 Ferocity
+(Specific) Boon Duration/Application

Overall, stuff like that. One idea would be to rework less used Runes such as Melandru Runes, Dwayna Runes, Fire Runes, Orrian Runes etc.

Spectral Wall being just that, a Wall, makes it shine in large-scale engagement as it lacks an AoE Limit, much like Line of Warding and Veil. I think lowering to 35(28)s CD is a bit too much, but 40(32)s is a good number IMO.

Well of Darkness needs to go down to 30s yes, considering all it does is AoE Blind which frankly is kinda weak. The Well lost a lot of potential when Chilling Darkness was given an ICD.

Staff does good as a Condi/Utility weapon.

Buff Axe to respetcable levels instead. Change its functionality to be Projectile-Based rather than Hit-scan based if that’s an issue.

I know a lot of people prefer Chrono Tank (And I can figure why: Mad support, lots of Evades and Invulns, doesn’t lose a whole much from being the tank etc) or no Tank at all, but I’d like to take a look at these two professions to see what they bring to the table (I’m considering either simply because I love their playstyles).

For the Scrapper, the pros seem to be:

1. Great Personal Protection uptime
2. Great Personal Healing
3. Evade and Block Deals Damage on Hammer, allowing you to sustain and damage at the same time
4. Decent to Awesome CC depending on Utilities

I’m not sure what Specs a Scrapper tank would run though. Explosives/Tools/Scrapper?

For Reaper, the pros seem to be:

1. Can run Valkyrie and still output Optimal DPS (For a Power Reaper) with a proper team setup, allowing them to facetank more and dodgeroll less.
2. Has 2 HP bars
3. AoE Fear and Stun, loads of Chill.
4. Possibly one of the easiest rotations to get down.

One question about this: How would a Viper/Carrion + 1 Rabid/Vigilant piece setup work for a Reaper Condi Tank? Would it work at all since you have to give up Death Perception for Dhuumfire?

Thanks in advance for any advice.

Ok, so I’m back with a scenario this time:

Imagine a Mirror match where everyone are PuGs of equal skill level in actual fights. Setup is Chrono, Tempest, Rev, Reaper and Scrapper. Map is Forest.

At the start of the match, you notice that the Scrapper is gonna head far and he doesn’t listen to /t. What should you do in this case?

A/ Ignore him, go 3 to mid and hope to hold out long enough for your Home-point capper to reinforce and make it a 4v4?
B/ Send 1 other player with him in a 2-2-1 split, hoping they’ll be able to decap or steal the opponent’s Home Point despite you obviously losing Mid?
C/ Abandon Mid completely and rush people to far?
D/ Sigh, count a lost pip and just fight a losing battle as you normally would cause there’s no saving that?

So, according to the Wiki, the Revenant Sword Combo has the following Activation Times:

1/2s – 3/4s – 1/2s with the total number being 2.05s, meaning an aftercast of Approx 0.3s in total.

Let’s see about switching things up:

First Chain – Normal Sword Swing (130 Range, 1/2s AT, No Aftercast)
Second Chain – Normal Sword Swing #2 (130 Range, 1/2s AT, 0.1s Aftercast)
Final Chain – Heartseeker Animation (180 Range, 1/2s AT, 0.5s Aftercast, 1s Delay for Rift)

Whole Sequence would take 2.1s to complete, with the Rift delayed by 1s, pretty much identic to the former with a miniscule range buff for kiting enemies, while also putting a lot more weight into the final blow and hopefully giving a more fluid animation than what is currently provided.

At least that’s the idea, might look weird on Charr still.

EnderzShadow.2506:

Rym.1469:

Whenever descreption lists damage as hit per attack and not damage combined (i.e. 2000 (x6) ), it procs damage with each hit.

That’s the reason why Confusion has been so strong against Revenants since beginning and it’s always been like this. Intended.

Except you wouldn’t be biased, right?

Does anything in game proc 6-7 of any condi in one button press?

Hundred Bladed (Only Twice, though)
Unload
Poison Dart Volley

Are the only ones that come to mind. Should be noted that, far as I know, this only goes for Channeled Skills that does not summon an Object which does the damage. (Such as Meteor Rain isn’t affected by this, AFAIK).

Since elite Specializations aren’t available without HoT and before you hit 80, Dragonhunter won’t be his first choice since Vanilla Guardian is primarily Melee/Mid range Focused.

Ranger brings a Longbow, Max Range and high Burst Potential against single targets, with a good AoE skill in barrage.

Elementalist brings Staff, High DPS and a LOT of AoE damage, mixed with good support and CC.

Engineer brings Rifle or Pistols, Grenade spam/Mortar for AoE damage and loads of DoT through conditions.

Necromancer brings AoE DoT and CC with Staff, Steady mid-to-range DPS with Death Shroud, great Self-sustain and Wells for AoE Spiking.

So, judging from this thread, heading far is very situational? Hmm, makes me think my team needs a re-evaluation.

From personal experience, my team of 3 (Which is the oh-so-cheesy Herald/Chrono/Tempest combo. Bite me, I’ve mained Ele/Engi since a year before HoT.)
So far, our splits have generally consisted of sending Chrono/Herald to mid, while a snatch one of the PuGs and head far, leaving the last to cap home and then reinforce mid.

The reasoning for this split is to Contest Far long enough for us to gain a headstart from capping Home, while Chrono/Herald bunkers mid 2v3 or 2v4 until our homeboy comes in. Depending on enemy reactions, one of the Far team guys run back to Mid to make it a 4v4 there, or 1/2 of their guys return to their Home node to fight us 2v2 or 3v2 (if it’s the latter, we’ve generally counted the game as a win). Once Home and Mid are capped, we retreat and bunker up until the timer goes off.

So far, we’ve won most our games this way (Even against other meta combos), the few times we’ve lost has been because, and believe me I hate to say this, we’ve had a Thief on our team. Or the enemy team was simply better than us, happened too.

Have we just been insanely lucky to get this far? For comparison, our Herald’s in Diamond League, while Chrono/Tempest are Sapphire, sniffing on Ruby. Will we positively crash and burn later on?

I’m currently at an impasse. I cannot decide what profession to play in Raids.

When raids did hit, I was certain that I was gonna be playing Druid, so I made some Ascended Zealot armor and slapped it on.

Theeeeeen it suddenly started feeling like whatever my Druid was doing, A Ventari Herald or Auramancer did better. I’m still told that Druid’s useful, but with the trends we’ve seen in their balancing lately I’m not sure how much longer that’ll last.

So I’ve been looking at Engineer instead. I do love Scrapper and have been toying with the idea of playing the tank, but I could also consider playing Conditions (Despite the daunting rotations and insane price for Viper Stuff).

What I’m wondering is, as I’m the kinda guy that probably won’t make a second ascended Armor set (Ever), is which one is the safest bet to go with? Which profession will have more universal need between Zealot Druid, Tank Scrapper and Condi Engi? Where should I sink my money without having to worry about needing to sink more money in 3 months?

Thanks in advance.

Thanks for the kind words everyone! I’m by no means some sort of Master Warrior, but I feel I know enough to recognize some of the problems that the Warrior faces in competative gameplay.

Second Wind is particularily well received, and I kinda figured. I’m not quite certain making Cleansing Ire’s actual Cleansing portion into a minor is the right way to go about, but I wanted to present alternatives that wouldn’t pidgeon-hole Warriors into Defense and Discipline as much as its been in the past. Since both are skill-based (You need to actively hit a target in order to benefit from both) there’s still counter-play against each trait.

That’s also the reason I split up Fast Hands and threw portion of it into different Spec Lines, where the particular weapon in question comes to shine. Direct Damage Weapons in Strength, Condition Damage Weapons in Arms and CC-focused weapons in Discipline. I personally think Fast Hands is important, but also too powerful to be made entirely baseline. I feel the solution I’ve presented with Powerful Arms, Precise Arms and Brutal Arms works well as a middle ground between the two of the choices.

Looking at the feedback, I’ve gone in and made a few changes:

Peak performance
This skill used to give a set Damage buff to what was essentially a Control Skill Set, which struck me as a bit odd after going back to look at it. To keep in line with the overall feel of the set while making it useful still, I changed around the bonuses from the Trait to be unique to each Physical Skill.

Dual-Wielding
While supposed to be a Crit-based Trait, this was solely useful for Condition Builds in the former iteration I suggested. Now it’s been changed to accomodate whatever Off-hand weapon’s thematics that you run with it.

Unstoppable – Powerful Synergy were sometimes useful, but often too niche to see proper use. Unstoppable on the other hand will be very useful for Warrior Sustain, allowing them to move unhindered across terrain and easily close gaps against kiting enemies, making a Melee Fighting Style more viable to Warriors and increasing In-Combat Mobility.

Blunt Force – While useful, the set Damage bonus was kinda boring and didn’t last very long. The current iteration is much more Powerful but also requires active Playing and Skill from the Warrior to actually land CC on enemies, rewarding them by letting each consecutive blow hit harder and last longer. The addition of Condition Duration also helps with sustain (Weakness) and synergizes well with Distracting Strikes, for those who wish to try a Condi-CC build.

Tactics
(First Line focuses on Soft CC, Second line on Weapon/Utility Skills and Third on Party Support)

• Determined Revival – You gain up to 400 Toughness while reviving an Ally. Allies you actively revive gain up to 200 Toughness.
• Leg Specialist – Immobilize (1s) your target when you Cripple them. Movement-impairing Conditions last 33% longer. ICD: 5s.
• Quick Breathing – Warhorn skills convert 1 Condition into Regeneration (4s) on each affected Ally. Warhorn skills recharge faster.
• Empowered – Remains the same.
• Avenger’s Promise (Replaces Reviver’s Might) – When an Ally is downed near you, you gain Quickness (2s). When you’re downed, nearby Allies gain Quickness (2s). Radius: 360. ICD: 20s.
• Surprise Maneuver – Blind nearby Enemies when you swap Weapons while in Combat. Radius: 180. ICD: 9s.
• Inspiring Battle Standard (Replaces Shrug it off.) – Moved from Discipline. All Banners grant Regeneration (3s) to nearby Allies with each Pulse and has their Radius increased by 60.
• Empower Allies – Remains the Same.
• Inspiring Presence – Might you apply also grants Healing Power (10).
• Art of War (Replaces Powerful Synergy) – Blind you Apply lasts 1 additional attack.
• Vigorous Shouts – Shouts recharge 20% faster, Heal (Base: 1200) nearby Allies and Grant you Adrenaline (5). Healing and Adrenaline is increased for each affected Ally. Increase per Ally: 20%.
• Phalanx Strength – Remains the Same.

Discipline
(First Line focuses on Mobility, Second on Weapons and CC and third on Boons/Adrenaline.)

• Versatile Rage – Remains the Same.
• Warrior’s Sprint – Remains the Same
• Crack Shot – Rifle and Harpoon Gun Skills Pierce and Recharge 20% faster. Striking a target outside of the Range threshold with a Rifle or Harpoon Gun grants you Might (1 stack, 6s). Threshold: 600.
• Adrenal High – Whenever you gain a Full Bar of Adrenaline, you gain Fury (5s) and Swiftness (8s). ICD: 10s.
• Brawler’s Recovery (Replaces Fast Hands) – Remains the Same.
• Unstoppable (Replaces Inspiring Battle Standard) – Movement Skills now Destroys Projectiles and grants Stability (1 stack, 3s) when Activated.
• Blunt Force (Replaces Sundering Mace) – Hammer and Mace Skills recharge 20% Faster. Disabling an enemy while wielding Hammer or Mace grants a stacking buff that increases Damage, Stun and Condition Duration by 5% Per stack, for each target disabled. Max Stacks: 5. Duration: 8s.
• Destruction of the Empowered – Remains the Same.
• Brutal Arms – Reduces Cooldown on Weapon Swap by 50% When you swap to Hammer, Rifle or Mace Main-hand in combat. After swapping weapons while in Combat, your next attack will Daze (1/2s) your target. ICD: 4s.
• Burst Mastery – Remains the Same.
• Attack of Opportunity (Replaces Heightened Focus) – Gain Quickness (2s) when you disable a foe. Duration is doubled if you Interrupt them. ICD: 15s.
• Insurmountable (Replaces Merciless Hammer) – Your Boons cannot be Stolen, Stripped or Corrupted while you’re above the Health Threshold. Threshold: 90%.

Berserker

• Primal Rage – Remains the Same
• Last Blaze – When you use a Rage Skill or Activate Berserk Mode, Burn (2 stacks, 5s) nearby enemies.
• Savage Instinct – Break Stun and Remove 1 Condition when you enter Berserk Mode. Take 10% less damage while Berserk.
• Smash Brawler – Remains the Same.
• Always Angry – Remains the Same
• Blood Reaction – Remains the Same
• Dead or Alive – Taking Fatal Damage while in Berserk mode will Heal you (5.200 Base) and Remove All Conditions (13). ICD: 25s.
• Heat the Soul – Reworked. Reduces recharge of Torch Skills (20%). Bleeding an enemy while in Berserk Mode also Burns (1 stack, 3s) them.
• Fatal Frenzy – Remains the Same.
• Bloody Roar – Remains the Same.
• Eternal Champion – Remains the Same.
• King of Fires – Burning an enemy grants you Might (1 stack, 8s) for each stack of Burning you apply. Burning you apply Lasts 33% Longer. ICD: 1s.

Strength
(First Line focuses on Direct Damage, Second on Low-HP Fighting/Comebacks and third is Weapon/Utility Skills)

• Reckless Dodge – Remains as is.
• Death from Above – Damage and Launch enemies when you take Falling Damage. Reduces Damage from Falling by 50%. Reckless Dodge now Cripples (3s) Enemies.
• Restorative Strength – Gain Might (5 Stacks, 6s) when you use a Healing Skill. Using a Heal Skill while below the Threshold removes 2 Conditions. Threshold: 50%.
• Peak performance – Enhances Physical Skills.
  • Kick – Now additionally Cripples (5s) and Weakens (5s) Enemies struck.
  • Bull’s Charge – Now grants Stability (3 stacks, 3s) on Activation.
  • Bolas – Now also Pulls the enemy towards you.
  • Stomp – Is now Ground-Targeted. Range increased to 600.
  • Rampage – Now grants pulsing Might (3 stacks, 9s).
• Building Momentum – Remains the Same.
• Excessive Force (Replaces Forceful Greatsword) – Gain Might (1 stack, 6s) when you Critically Hit with a Melee Weapon. Deal 10% more Damage when you have Might Stacks over the threshold. Threshold: 10.
• Great Fortitude – Increases Vitality by 10% of your Power. While below 50% HP, Healing and Damage is increased by 15%.
• Axe Mastery (Replaces Body Blow) – Moved to Master Tier. Remains the same.
• Powerful Arms (Replaces Stick and Move) – Reduces cooldown on Weapon swap by 50% When you swap to Greatsword, Spear or Main-Hand Axe in combat. Damage is increased by 7% for 3s after Swapping weapons while in Combat. ICD: 4s.
• Berserker’s Power – Remains the Same.
• Second Wind (Replaces Axe Mastery) – When you strike an Enemy with a Level 3 Burst Skill, enter into Berserker’s Stance. Duration: 8s. Cooldown: 60s.
• Collateral Damage (Replaces Distracting Strikes) – Critical Hits while wielding a Greatsword or Spear now deal AoE Damage around your target. Greatsword and Spear skills recharge 20% Faster. Base Damage: 408. Radius: 180. ICD: 3s.

Arms
(First Line focuses on Condition Damage, Second on Critical Hits/Fury and third on Weapon/Utility Skills)

• Precise Strikes – Remains the Same.
• Body Blow (Replaces Berserker’s Fury) – Bleed (3 stacks, 4s) and Weaken (2s) An enemy when you Stun, Daze, Knock or Launch them.
• Opportunist – Striking a Crippled, Chilled or Immobilized target grants Extra Adrenaline and Fury (10s). Adrenaline: 8. ICD: 10s.
• Signet Mastery – Remains the Same.
• Bloodlust (Moved to Master) – Remains the Same.
• Distracting Strikes (Moved from Strenght) – Interrupting a Target causes Confusion (4 stacks, 8s).
• Deep Strike – Fury you apply grants Condition Damage. Critical Hits while under the effects of Fury have a 50% Chance to stack Vulnerability (1 Stack, 8s).
• Blademaster – Remains the same.
• Precise Arms (Replaces Rending Strikes) – Reduces Cooldown on Weapon Swap by 50% When you swap to Longbow, Harpoon Gun or Sword Main-hand in combat. Condition Damage is increased by 7% for 3s after swapping weapons while in combat. ICD: 4s.
• Furious – Remains the Same.
• Dual-Wielding – Increases Attack speed by 15% When wielding a Sword, Axe or Mace in your Off-hand. Whenever you critically strike a target while wielding a Sword, Axe or Mace in your Off-hand, stack Conditions over time, depending on Off-hand weapon. Duration: 5s. Pulses: 5 ICD: 15s.
  • Sword – Torment (1 Stack, 8s)
  • Axe – Vulnerability (2 stacks, 8s)
  • Mace – Weakness (2s)
• Trick Arrows (Replaces Burst Precision) – Dual Shot now Bleeds (1 Stack, 4s x2) your target, while Arcing Arrow and Smoldering Arrow now Burn (2 stacks, 3s) enemies struck. Longbow Skills Recharge Faster.

Defense
(First Line focuses on Active Sustain, Second line on Passive Sustain, Third line on Weapon/Utility Skills)

• Thick Skin – You gain 150 extra Toughness while above 90% HP.
• Health Freak – Healing reduced while suffering from Poison is lower (Down to 20%, from 33%). Whenever you gain Regeneration, you remove Poison from yourself. ICD: 5s.
• Dogged March – Remains Unchanged.
• Shield Master – Remains Unchanged.
• Adrenal Health (Merged Partly with Cleansing Ire) – Gain Health regeneration based on Adrenaline level. Remove 1 Condition for each Bar of Adrenaline spent when you hit with a Burst Skill.
• Cull the Weak – Moved to Master. Weaken (4s) enemies when you strike them while they’re below 25% HP. Weakness you apply additionally reduces Outgoing Condition Damage by 20%.
• Robust (Replaces Armored Attack) – Decreases incoming Condition Duration by 2% for each 100 Points in Healing Power. Increases Healing Power by 10% of your Toughness.
• Defy Pain – Remains Unchanged.
• Spiked Armor – Remains the Same.
• Indomitable (Replaces Cleansing Ire) – Gain Adrenaline (1) When struck. When you Block or Evade an attack, you gain Extra Adrenaline (5) and gain a buff that increases healing from Adrenal Health by 100% For 6s. ICD: 9s.
• Rousing Resilience – Gain Toughness (Up to 1000) and Health (Base: 2600) when you break out of Stun. Level 3 Burst Skills now Break Stun.
• Last Stand – Remains Unchanged.

I personally love the Adventures. They’re a great source of experience, you get mastery points for doing them and they breath fresh air into the game by giving you access to stuff you can’t do elsewhere.

Sure, I get frustrated when I end up running myself off a cliff for umpteenth time, but nothing to do but bite down and deal with it.

Among my favorites are Sanctum Scramble (Ah, the good ol’ platforming. Not as easy on a keyboard, but I got gold after 23 attempts so it’s all good), Drone Race, Ley-line Run (Though that one’s just an easy Gold medal) and Haywire Punch-o-matic (Can’t get gold on that one, though.)

I don’t like Shooting Gallery. Not really that good at FPS stuff, even with Action Camera silver is a challenge.

If you’re having trouble, just hang on a bit until Dulfy posts a guide about Adventures, once you know the routes, tricks and shortcuts it’s quite easy to get gold on a lot of them.

How about giving players a shot to “Stop the clock” so to speak, by for example Breaking their Break Bar or beat spawned enemies within a set sub-timer?

By playing for another year, collecting things as you go and play the game, obviously.

Seriously, Legendaries are hard work, they were designed to be a long-term goal for players to work towards… Not something handed out as a participation award to every bloke who hit 80.

There is no grind involved. Legendaries are not substantially better than other gear, they’re on par with Ascended weapons. The one thing they have going for them is Stat Changing, and that’s nothing short of a QoL addition that rewards those who work towards it. Legendaries are not required to play the game anywhere, or to progress past some sort of wall. They’re vanity items. Bragging rights for those who worked towards them. And that’s it.

Don’t forget Lunar Impact and Natural Convergence while in Celestial Form. Former is a 3s Daze (6s with Moment of Clarity, it’s one of the -the- best Break Bar Breakers, ESPECIALLY coupled with Quick Draw.) while the latter pulses Soft CC and ends with Pulsing Immobilize.

Marauder is expensive to craft, the Ebony Orbs used in the crafting process are crazy Expensive. But at the very least you’ll have access to it from the Master Crafter, as they sell Marauder and Crusader recipes for Karma.

Now Viper’s is Auric Basin-based. Gotta buy the Insignia/Inscription/Jewels recipes from the Exalted Vendors and find Armor/Weapon recipes in the Chests beneath Tarir after the Meta-event has been done.

This isn’t some kinda design fault, this is purely on the players.

7-8 Challenges in Verdant Brink are Solo’able.
4-5 Challenges in Auric Basin are Solo’able.
6 Challenges in Tangled Depths are Solo’able.
All 3 Tower Challenges in Dragon’s Stand are Solo’able.

In total, at Optimal Conditions, 24 Solo’able challenges, you need 25 in order to fully develop an Elite Spec. Gathering 10 SP in core Tyria is so easy you could fall asleep doing it, it’s all 8 in Queensdale + 2 in Ebonhawke for humans. Takes you what, 10 minutes tops to get done. Even if you miss the one in Auric and the 3 in DS because of Meta Event requirements, you’re still 200 HP into your Elite spec, 80% Done.

If you leveled entirely through Tomes and have absolutely 0 remaining Hero Points at 80 well guess what? Tough luck. You took the easy way up, and now you’ve got the hard way further. Fair’s fair, deal with it.

Swift.1930:

Zelkovan.2630:

Swift.1930:

EsarioOne.9840:

I’m seeing alot of discussion about how mastery relates to burn out, that’s not the case.
Mastery = Millions of experience
Millions of experience = time buffer so people don’t realize the mastery system is non-beneficial and shallow character progression.
At its core, mastery is just something to keep consumers occupied. You aren’t doing anything original or unique. It’d be a different story if the player actually learned the itzel language (etc.) by doing related activities.

Ah, I just made a comment to this effect on another post – you’re exactly right; if mastery was related to trying to do the things you are mastering, it would make sense and wouldn’t be a 9999999999999999XP grind (which is a lot of veteran spiders, by the way). Like trying out jumping mushrooms ~40 times before it actually takes you in the right direction and doesn’t get you nearly killed, or something like that.

The issue with that is it’s easily bypassed. I could literally just stand next to one mushroom in one corner of a map and jump on it over and over again until I unlock that mastery. Same thing with Itzel lore, just talk to the same npcs over and over again. So how do you slow people down so they don’t unlock all the masteries instantly and devalue the point of masteries meaning to be the long-term horizontal progression?

I mean, that’s a viable way of leveling a skill… it’s not a bypass. As the game currently stands, you can stand in one corner and bash a single dinosaur over the head until you unlock every single mastery.

If you want to slow down masteries presented in that fashion, you just need to make sure the people can only gain, for instance, a certain number points in a mastery level from a single NPC or mushroom per day. They can always come back and do it again tomorrow, but if they want it quicker they will need to seek out other NPCs/mushrooms. Gliding would be slightly trickier, but I see nothing wrong with a “total flight time” being the requirement. Makes a lot of sense for glider players, and also encourages using gliders more.

So here’s the real question: why don’t the Guild Wars 2 devs seem to care that the leveling system is completely detached from the actual masteries? I could be leveling mushroom jumping without ever even SEEING a mushroom. By hitting a dinosaur with a pointy stick. In that abandoned little corner you mentioned.

That’s another problem though: Time-gating.

GW2 players don’t like Time-gating, so sadly your solution would get as much flack as the current one because players couldn’t do it all in one day.

It’s rock and a hard place, this community can’t be pleased. It’s spoiled rotten and beyond help, nothing ANet will do or can do is going to change that.

Different mobs require different tactics.

Pocket Raptors, Stonetails, Mushroom Chargers etc will always be moving and deal a lot of damage, but CC them once and they’re toast. For warriors, Hammer is a great Weapon to deal with them (Especially the Burst and #4). If you have Berserker, using Bloody Roar to taunt enemies on Berserk can be really useful to round up trash mobs.

Stonetails are just huge CC beasts and health sponges, generally harmless but annoying to have around. Ranged them.

If you have the Pact Commander MAstery R2, crafting a discipline from 0-400 now nets you about 10-11 Levels, rather than 7 as before. Worked wonders for me when I was working on my Revenant.