Showing Posts For kappa.2036:

Skull Grinder.

in PvP

Posted by: kappa.2036

kappa.2036

Let’s talk about the skill that is carrying all the warrior meta-builds, both condi and power.

Right now this skill provides:

  • Good base power damage;
  • Blind (5 sec);
  • 4 stacks of Bleeding;
  • 4 stacks of Confusion;
  • Cripple (8 sec);
  • Daze (1 sec);
  • Blast finisher;
  • 300 range (basically, a small leap. Eviscerate has the same range but is a leap finisher.);
  • Spammable every 5 seconds.

Is possible to have all these things in a single skill?
Anet nerfed the #5 revenant staff skill because of his damage-evade-cc triple effect, which is perfect. So why this skill remains untouched?

Ranger PvP Build Compilation s5

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Posted by: kappa.2036

kappa.2036

I think with this patch we have received an indirect “buff”. The 2 important news are definitely the removal of daze on dh traps and the big nerf to rev damage. Without perma-dazes on point we can ress people without being interrupted everytime (and ranger is really good at this), and also i’m seeing less revenants than the other season, which means less powercreep (that is still high but nevermind), encouraging bunker builds. So in my opinion Ele and ranger seems to be the best supporter right now, i think we will see them together in ESL teams since their support combined is really strong. Maybe. We will see.
Btw i’m back to Gliph of Equality and personally, i prefer it to “Protect Me!”. The istant interrupt + damage, combined to Ancient Seeds is really powerful and can interrupt enemies’s focus, rezzes and stomps.

Ranger PvP Build Compilation s5

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Posted by: kappa.2036

kappa.2036

@ anduriell
Very similar to the Allmighty Build that i’ve posted above. Nice build but personally, i wouldn’t run it without Signet of Stone. In wvw roaming Quickening Zephyr instead of SoS works because you don’t need to contest a point, but in pvp that signet makes the difference. Without it you can be spiked easily.

Btw guys, just another build:
Tanky Druid: http://gw2skills.net/editor/?vNAQNAW3YjUqQLLWyCOsAXLWyEMnD3pqxBPTzpB1mkVA4AUyzSD-TpBFABqfEAEZ/hFOIAEcBA6vMAAPAAA
Perma dodge build with high protection uptime and perma weakness through axe #3 and Protective Ward. Pick Alli’es Aid if you want to go more supportive.
PRO & CONS:

  • perma vigor + 20% endurance regeneration + energy sigil will make you dodge everything;
  • 25 stacks of Might are reachable (axe auto, Smokescale assault, SotP + Bristle F2);
  • not much condi cleanses but you can dodge/evade a lot while CA is on cooldown;
  • less damage than the meta build;
  • less mobility than the meta build since you are not using sword;
  • less swiftness/regen AoE than the meta build but really selfsustainable and many defensive boons uptime.

Keep up these nice suggestions guys, thanks to those who contributed to the post

Ranger PvP Build Compilation s5

in Ranger

Posted by: kappa.2036

kappa.2036

Just a list of Ranger/Druid pvp build that I’ve tried in the past months.
If you guys want to share an opinion about these builds or you simply want to contribute with your own build for the upcoming Season 5, this is the right place to do it

Meta Leadership-Variant Build: http://gw2skills.net/editor/?vNAQNAW8YnUqA1CiNsA+rActglZB7JAUn+WOVt5UWD+fWQbolI9zA-TpBFAB9XGggLAQDHBAAeAAtv/wCHEAA
Just a rune change. Nothing else.
PRO & CONS:

  • higher boon duration;
  • 2 Condi removal AoE on the Elite skill;
  • slightly lower AF regeneration;
  • lower defensive stats.

Allmighty Bunker Build: http://gw2skills.net/editor/?vNAQNAW8YnUqA1Ci9CCOsActglZB7JAUn+WOVt5UWD+fWQbolI9zA-TpRGABIcBAA4BAA0+DGcQAS4IAgfZAA
Might-stacking build with a lot of damage reduction. Basically, it’s a Shoutbow build…but without the bow
PRO & CONS:

  • more might than the meta build;
  • pet hurts really hard;
  • really good against power-type builds;
  • heavy condi pressure can be a problem;
  • works good with lb aswell.

ConditionHealer Druid Build: http://gw2skills.net/editor/?vNAQNAW8fnUqAVsiFsCOsActgFMBrZZV4CAw10daR95GsqqYl8s0A-TpRHAB3eBAuvMAAHBAy3fQgDCABPAAA
A condi-hybrid build that can heal aswell. Verdant Etching instead of Celestial Shadow for better cooldowns on gliphs/more condi removal. You can take sigil of geomancy if you do this. I still prefer stealth.
PRO & CONS:

  • good AoE cleave with gliphs and torch;
  • almost perma poison on enemies;
  • less healing and less rezzing potential;
  • suffers heavy condi pressure/chain cc.

Zerker Druid Build: http://gw2skills.net/editor/?vNAQNBjYD7kSFoWQsfFwhFgrFs8HYLvuMQA4JN0tOawn126dtEpfG-TpBFABA8AAa4IAQwFAQ8yAtv/wCHEAA
Something new from the last patch (warhorn changes). Strenght or Pack runes works good aswell.
PRO & CONS:

  • really good single-target damage/cc ’s;
  • unblockable pet;
  • really dependant on good positioning.

Survival Healer Druid Build:http://gw2skills.net/editor/?vNAQJAWTjEqQLLWyCOsAXLWyEMnE3pqxBPTzpD1mkVA4AUyzSD-TpBFABAfBAA4IA0wDAggDBQ/lBaf/BA
Perma-protection build with high hp regen and support abilities. Can work also with Marauder/Seeker/Diviner amulet if you want to go damage.
PRO & CONS:

  • solid against power/condi damage;
  • really tanky pointholder if running sword/dagger instead of longbow;
  • no beastmastery so > no permaspeed/regen/pet heavy burst.

I hope this can be helpful if you want to try something new
Any new build/comment is appreciated, good season everyone

Season 5 looks terrible

in PvP

Posted by: kappa.2036

kappa.2036

@ Evan Lesh
We will see a balance patch also on the 13th december?

How to nerf condis in PvP/WvW

in PvP

Posted by: kappa.2036

kappa.2036

Power can also be countered by dodges,blocks,evades,protection,weakness, and other skills that reduce temporarily the incoming damage, what’s the point?

I completely agree that the main problem is the general powercreep (both condi AND power). Power needs some adjustments aswell, absolutely, same thing about the amount of cc’s and blocks/invulns/evades that we have now compared to how it was before HoT, but if you want to complain about these things there are a lot of other posts where you can discuss your arguments.

The fact that now i’m posting something about conditions doesn’t mean that i’m for a full power pvp meta.
Both power and condition needs some adjustments, and thats it.

How to nerf condis in PvP/WvW

in PvP

Posted by: kappa.2036

kappa.2036

@ Crinn
You’re definitely one of those who plays condicancer. You are defending your playstyle and I can understand very well your point of view since I play condi with certain classes aswell.
But let’s say it like it is: look at WvW roaming for example.Trailbrazer chrono, with Perplexity Runes maybe, and condi duration food. Many people just avoid them because they are the most annoying broken cancer in the game. 15+ stacks of confusion + random condis for 10+ seconds oneshotting you if you try to press 2-3 skills. Loads of blocks, invulns, teleport and evades since this is not enough.

PvP? Warrior pressing the elite skill with Kraith Runes: AoE torment, bleeding and poison AoE for 8 seconds, regardless if it hits the enemy or not. Then f2 with mace, other 4 condis, then weapon swap, longbow burning,immobilize,bleeding, and more burning, weapon swap again and repeat.
That’s just an example, we have necros and mesmers that can apply an insane quantity of different conditions just pressing 1 skill. Most of the time those skills are AoE. Spam and more spam. Like you on this post, basically.

The fact that the meta right now is mostly power-type damage means nothing, the devs can change to a condi-meta even tomorrow if they want, and the current condi cleanse system that gw2 has is not efficent since we can’t cleanse the conditions that we want in a certain situation. Cleanses are just "random"in this game, this is why in my opinion we need a more active-logical condi cleanse system. Obviously many things would be modified to obtain the right-balance beetween damaging, non-damaging and movement-impeding condi cleanses since, as i have already mentioned, I don’t want to delete the condi-type damage from the game. Just less condi spam s***t.

How to nerf condis in PvP/WvW

in PvP

Posted by: kappa.2036

kappa.2036

-THE PROBLEM IN GW2 RIGHT NOW-
If we have 15 stacks of Burning, 2 stacks of Bleeding and 1 stack of Vulnerability and we use a skill that clears 1 condition, very often we will clear that 1 stack of vulnerability instead of those 15 stacks of lethal burning.
Another example would be this: if we are Immobilized and we have 1 stack of Bleeding and 3 stacks of Vulnerability our priority is to remove that immobilize, but very often we will clear Bleeding or Vulberability, rimaining Immobilized.
This system promotes free “ticks” of damaging condies and powerful cc’s like Immobilize.
Obviously we don’t want conditions become useless, so, here are my proposals:

-CLASSIFICATIONS-
First of all, we should make a distinction between:

-Damaging Conditions: Burning, Torment, Confusion, Bleeding, Poison;
-Non-Damaging Conditions: Vulnerability, Weakness, Blind, Slow, Taunt, Fear;
-Movement-Impeding Conditions: Cripple, Chill, Immobilize;

At this point the condition-removal should be adapted to these 3 classifications.

EXAMPLE:

“Shake it off!”: Cure a condition on yourself and nearby allies. Also breaks stuns.

will become

“Shake it off!”: Cure a Damaging Condition and a Movement-impeding Condition on yourself and nearby allies. Also breaks stuns.

Simple,right? Another example can be:

Cleansing Wave: Heal yourself and nearby allies, curing a condition.

can be

Cleansing Wave: Heal yourself and nearby allies, curing a Damaging Condition.

And so on….

Therefore there will be very useful skills/traits to remove Damaging Conditions, other skills/traits very useful to remove Movement-Impeding conditions and other skills/traits perfect for Non-Damaging Conditions.

-CONDITION PRIORITY-
Another important thing is the “condition removal priority”. If we have 10 stacks of burning and 2 stacks of Torment of course we want to remove the Burning. This is why conditions should be removed in order of “dangerousness”. This will include the base damage of the condition and the number of stacks, of course.

1 stack of Burning is more damage than 1 stack of Bleeding SO a skill that removes a Damaging Condition will remove the Burning.
1 stack of Burning is less damage than 10 stacks of Bleeding SO a skill that removes a Damaging Condition will remove the Bleeding.

In my opinion this will promote less condi spam, especially in pvp and roaming, and more reliant condition removals for everyone.

-RESISTANCE BOON-
Resistance: "Conditions currently on you are ineffective; stacks duration. "

can be

“Damaging-Conditions and Movement-Impeding Conditions currently on you are ineffective; stacks duration. "

This means that you are still maintaining a good defense against condies, but you can also be taunted or feared if you are not running with Stability. This seems right to me.

What do you guys think about these ideas?

Ranger/Druid Not part of Current Meta

in WvW

Posted by: kappa.2036

kappa.2036

I play druid in pvp as my main and also in wvw both gvg and pug zerg.

First of all, I really don’t understand why 80% of the people who have written in this post continue to talk about the longbow. I don’t want to say that longbow is a bad weapon, i would prefer to call it situational. Speaking about wvw, it works great in duels and also in small scale roaming. In large groups, however, as someone has already mentioned, the pewpew-ing doesn’t work at all cuz all of those skills that counters projectiles. Also Barrage can kill yourself if enemies have retalation. So I strongly advise against that pewpew kitten, except if you want to do something like a “focus party” or what is called.

So druid is useless? I don’t think so. We are the best healers in the game, bois. I have ele also and there’s no way that an ele can heal better than a druid. As an ele you don’t give only heals, that’s true. Auras, boons, fields, condi cleanses and so on. Yeh.
But druid can only heal? Nope. We can bring a lot of things to the table.

If you want to run in a gvg/zerg, staff and Celestial Avatar are your best friend. Heals, blasts, mobility, aoe stealth, aoe dazes and immobilize, mobile waterfields, aoe condi cleanses, projectiles converted in healing for you and your mates. Pets are better in passive mode, near you, but you can yolo them for cc or good burst/marks procs if needed. For your secondary weapon, you can run something like sword-warhorn for mobility and more boonz/blast, or greatsword if you want better mobility, blocks and cc’s. You can also buff allies damage with Spotter or Grace of the Land (7% free crit chance and 10% increased damage in aoe).

I’m still trying various things after the last patch, but this is what I run atm:

for Guild Raid: http: http: http://gw2skills.net/editor/?vNAQNBmYD7kSFoWQsnFwhFgrFsMLYw/zC6D1pqNn+XPBg60W7kWl+YA-TlyHAB0pEsV1fOSpX+HEA00BAwRAAl9HIXzA4PAgfUGEAAB4m3Mb2mBu5Nv5Nv5NLFgfDtA-w

for Open Raid: http://gw2skills.net/editor/?vNAQNBmYD7kSFoWQsXQwhFgrFswIYMhrvVA45JMsaZwN1paW9kXbVaA-TVyHABopDAgjAA5aGaV9n8PIA6s/A4PAgjU+RnSwNDBALSArqkCwvhWA-w

Equip stats can be changed on personal preference.
Guild raid version focus hard on fast rezzes and cc’s. Zerg version basically drop out nature magic since Spotter and Quick Draw seems more impactful. Zerg version also drops cc for quickness > fast heals.
You can swap Mercy runes for Troopers or Durability and take “Guard” instead of Search and Rescue or Signet of renewal for moar aoe damage reduction/aoe condi cleanses.
Ancient Seeds are also a good cc option.
Greatsword is better than s/w in certain situations.
This build exploits the massive boonshare that your allies can give to you, basically if you use “We heal as one” in a fight you will gain every kittenin boon in the game.

HEALING ROTATION:
For Ranged: CA #3 or staff #5+3 should be enough.
For the melee train: Strenght of the Pack> enter in the melee train> enter CA form> CA skills 3-4-3-2> exit CA form> go out of the melee train with staff#3 or Sword #2 or GS #3> wait cooldowns> repeat. (if you are taking too much damage in the process, activate Signet of Stone for a 6 seconds damage immunity)

OTHER THINGS:
-Warhorn 5 + F2 can be an unblockable aoe taunt.
-If an ally is hard focused, stealth him with Celestial Shadow.
-You can ress very fast thanks to Allies Aid, even faster if you are running Mercy runes

The build works even in 1v1 but is kitten. lol. Don’t do it. Only if needed. You get it.
My guild leader, that lead both gvg and pug zerg, never asked me to change class. He likes druid if played right ;D

I hope this can help a bit, for those who have lost hope lol. Just don’t pewpew against a 50 men zerg bois.

Every Dev Should Read This

in PvP

Posted by: kappa.2036

kappa.2036

@ Shadowstep (thieves say hi, 11k HP, forced into trickery, forced into DD, SA is garbage – get hit one time → enjoy spawn time)

You said exactly what I was trying to make people understand.
Thief can be another example in addition to necro. Lot of mobility and evades, but at the same time you have low hp pool and you cant hold a point. Also a lot of traits that you have mentioned are meant to improve damage. You NEED those traits if you want to kill ppl.
Now look for example at the warrior longbow/mace-shield build:
DEFENSE, DISCIPLINE and BERSERKER.
-Shield Master, Defy Pain, Cleansing Ire
-Warrior’s Sprint, Brawlers Recovery, Burst Mastery
-Smash Brawler, Dead or Alive, Eternal Champion

Not a single trait meant to improve damage/condi damage. Only Burst Mastery maybe, but in a condi build that 7% dmg increase doesn’t matter.

Let’s look at the skills:
-Healing Signet
-Endure Pain
-Berserker Stance
-Shattering Blow
-Head Butt

Except the elite skill that is a cc, nothing is meant to improve damage. Damage and condi immunity and blocks.

Weapons: Mace/Shield and Longbow.
On core Warrior, this setup can’t do damage at all. But with zerker spec you can eat ppl alive with this weapons.
Don’t forget high hp pool and heavy armor.
This is what i’m saying. Everything based on defensive and passive skills while doing a lot of damage. The “necro balance” is another thing that should not be discussed here.

Every Dev Should Read This

in PvP

Posted by: kappa.2036

kappa.2036

@ Supreme
The funniest thing is that you haven’t understood anything about the post.

I wasn’t trying to say “Necro is bad”, I was trying to make people understand that the necro (necro is only an example btw) to do damage must be builded with offensive traits and skills while other classes can do a lot of damage while maintaining defensive traits and skills because they can rely on passive invulnerabilities, blocks,etc.

I’m sorry if I have not explained well

Every Dev Should Read This

in PvP

Posted by: kappa.2036

kappa.2036

Almost every meta pvp build has the following features:
-the greatest possible number of blocks, evades, and invulnerabilities;
-the best damage they can inflict while keeping those invulns, blocks,etc;

Now, let’s consider one of the few exceptions: the Reaper.
Let’s take, for example, the 2 “defensive” traitlines: Blood Magic for support/sustain and Death Magic for increased tankyness + condi removal. With those traitlines, the Reaper can’t do damage at all, even if we take utilities that grants damage combined with those traitlines (both minions and wells are not that great in a pvp scenario).

So, let’s try with a defensive traitline + an “utility” traitline, like Blood Magic + Soul Reaping. Now maybe we can be more efficent, we have lifesteal, unblockable marks, good life force generation, better cooldowns on reaper shroud. BUT we still lack on damage. We don’t have boonstrip, condi pressure, or good power burst. Let’s face it: we don’t even have a good defensive capabilities, we can’t tank at all. In 1 v 1 maybe.

So we need damage. And what we need for damage? We need Spite/Curses/Soul Reaping. Now we can boonstrip, apply condi pressure AoE, and so on. We can combine Spite with Blood Magic instead of Soul Reaping for a more “teamfight oriented” build, yes. But we are still offensive and squishy.

Basically, if you are a necromancer, you must choose between damage and tankyness. You CAN’T HAVE BOTH. If you take offensive traitlines, you will do damage but you are squishy. If you take defensive traitlines, you can survive better but you can’t do damage. Or crappy damage. Well, you get it.

Now, let’s see warrior, for example. You can take mace and shield for blocks, endure pain (x2) for damage immunity, resistance with berserker stance, blocks and break stuns with rage skills, and Discipline and Defense, that are basically “utility” and “defensive” traitlines. Not a single utility/trait is meant to do damage. So, how the hell I can perma cc / condi burst enemies with 10+ stacks of bleeding+confusion+burning while having 1k hp/s regen with invuln and blocks?? What kind of balance is this??

The same goes for other classes, like power dh, condi chrono, etc: really good damage under passive/defensive utilities,weapons and traits.
I haven’t written here to say “anet nerf this, anet nerf that” since i use both necro and warrior for example. The fact is that, currently the game is based only on those who have more passive defensive skills and don’t need utilities to do damage. It makes no sense, for example, to remove celestial amulet when this condicancer berserker has x3 moar damage than the old shoutbow warrior with almost the same survivability. I know that the celestial was OP for some classes, yes, I just want to make it clear that the most important things aren’t the stats itself but the utility that you have available. Cele reaper was good but not op since it was counterable, especially in teamfights. Cele tempest didn’t had counterplay – CUZ WHAT?- passive defenses/invulns/cleanses AND damage. This game is all about broken mechanics. It always has been, sadly!

All classes should have the right balance between offensive skills and defensive skills, you could not have it all in a single build.

Thank you all for reading

Necromancers have a high skill floor!

in Necromancer

Posted by: kappa.2036

kappa.2036

I dueled with Flow months ago, and he’s one of the best necromancers I’ve ever fought
Flow has also taught me a few tricks, but the problem is this:
In 1 v 1, necro has good adaptability, and a vast kitten nal of skills ready to counter different builds. But in a teamfight, there is not always time to change skills according to the enemies that you are going to face. And while, for example, warriors,mesmers, or guards, are able to counter both power and conditions thanks to their invulnerabilities, necros are easy target in a teamfight since they have 0 mobility, invulnerabilities and so on. That’s why in most cases other classes have better performance and are easy to pick.

@Flow
-What build you recommend for 1v1? What kind of choices you make according to the enemy that you’re going to deal with?
-What build you recommend in a small scale teamfight? And in large scale?
-What do you think about the meta necro in spvp? That’s real the best build around?
-Often I see you using base necro. When is better to use Necro and when the Reaper in wvw/pvp?

Thanks in advance if you answer it’s always nice to hear the opinion of a necro masterclass

Problems with the new CA cooldown

in Ranger

Posted by: kappa.2036

kappa.2036

I spent years fighting for the ranger acceptance in WvW/PvP teams. Was not easy to convince the commander to take a ranger, especially when other classes could offer a lot more things, so basically, for years, I was “forced” to play other classes in wvw raids.
Many rangers will understand me.
After three years I was finally able to get a spot in WVW raids thanks to the support that the druid was able to provide. I’ve spent a lot of time and golds to find a build that could be recognized as useful from my team. With my healing build I was able to keep alive my allies, stealth them, remove conditions, make aoe cc’s, and so on: I finally had a role as ranger
The 18 October patch has literally killed the role of the support druid.
I can understand the base healing nerf, especially for those roaming builds that don’t run healing power at all. That was a good nerf. I can also understand the WhAO nerf, sometimes is spammed too much for boons.
But the nerf of the celestial avatar is not acceptable, especially when it comes to an increase in the cooldown by 50%. YAY, FIFTY PERCENT. This means not only less survival for us, but especially less heals and support for our allies. Entering in CA every 10 seconds was essential to cover our role of supporter in the group. What if necromancers could enter in DS after 15 seconds instead of 10? That will be a death sentence. This is what is happened to druid, sadly

Summary: Now we are forced AGAIN to play other classes that can support better (talking about wvw raids) and in pvp we will probably be replaced by elementalists since our survability is very much worse than before, especially under focus.

I would suggest a reduction of celestial avatar cooldown to 12 seconds in pvp/wvw since all CA abilities got nerfed hard already. But 15 seconds are really so much.

Thanks all for reading but this patch has disappointed me a lot

Necromancer October Balance Patch Changes

in Necromancer

Posted by: kappa.2036

kappa.2036

Thank you all for the feedback bois

Here are some things that I thought:
-The new Soul Eater would combine perfectly with blighter’s boon, providing more sustain while using the greatsword;
-I imagined the new Death Spiral as a similar skill to Flashing Blade (# 2 guardian sword skill). Other options may be: 12 stacks of torment instead of vulnerability (for some sort of power/condi hybrid builds) or a 2 seconds block while you cast the skill.
-The new flesh wurm teleportation while you are casting gravedigger for the deadly combo ;D
-Spectral mastery for a even longer Spectral Armor and a lot of superspeed with Spectral Walk. Also don’t forget Last Gasp (soul reaping minor trait) for something like the engineer double invulnerability.
-The new Signet of Undeath will be a very situational skill. Not OP, but certainly very strong in certain situations. We are not the lords of death?:)

Necromancer October Balance Patch Changes

in Necromancer

Posted by: kappa.2036

kappa.2036

Traits
Soul Eater: Gain stability while wielding a Greatsword (1 stack for 3 seconds; Boon interval: 3 seconds). Reduce richarge of Greatsword skills by 20%.

Blighter’s Boon: Increased the health gained from this trait by 50%.

Weapon Skills
Death Spiral: This skill now will teleport you to your target.

Nightfall: This skill now apply Blind every second instead of every 2 seconds. Removed cripple.

Skills
Spectral Armor: Using this skill now will allow you to become a ghost, evading attacks for 3 seconds. Gain life force (5%) every time you evade an attack while this skill is active. This skill no longer grants protection.

Spectral Walk: This skill now grants you 15 seconds of swiftness and 6 seconds of superspeed. You may return to your initial position by using spectral recall. Reduce recharge to 40 s.

Spectral Wall: This skill now grants stability instead of protection. Projectiles that pass through the wall will get destroyed and grants life force to you (2%).

Summon Flesh Wurm: This skill now will istantly teleport you to the target area, leaving a flesh wurm to your initial location. Necrotic Traversal remains unchanged.

Signet of Undeath (active): Revive up to three target allies /finish up to three downed enemies in the target area.

Ok, sorry for the troll title
Unfortunately, these are only suggestions. Let me know what you guys think.

(edited by kappa.2036)