Guild Wars 2

The questions is not how to redesign Guardian but why? Guardian does have weakness and some weapons/skills are outdated, but overall, it is the most versatile class with the most options. It is also effective in every game mode.

If there is a redesign needed Rev are right there —-—→

I played a couple of ranked games and many unranked games since the update. Revs are extinct and rightfully so. Unless you are playing with an organized team Rev is obsolete. Rev used to bring easy boon buffs, rez stomp and burst damage. Damage is gone and the in solo que boon and rez stomp are not very useful.

Now Revs are:
- Weak solo.
- Highly susceptible to conditions.
- Lacks damage (burst or sustained).
- Highly susceptible to CC.
- Lacks diversity.

So Rev is now a support class?! It will still be used for that specific reason in team ranked or tournaments, but it is highly unbalanced and should not be played solo in its current iteration.

Since the devs seems to be reading this thread, I will comment on Guard and Rev changes.

The piercing light change is a buff not a nerf. Contrary to the believe the daze was not what made the traps strong it is the damage. Now it gains utility. I assume it offsets that guard as a class has no rez stomp now.

The changes to core guard will not make support role viable. If that was the objective, it surely wont work. The changes to virtues though are good for burn guard, which should be viable with these changes. With the exception VoJ, why were not the changes to virtues implemented in PvE as well? VoR and VoC are pretty pathetic in PvE compared to WoR and SoC.

Rev, since season 4 end rev lost any form of stability, easy access to reg, shiro heal nerfed, 33% damage nerf to the skill where majority of the sword damage is and 50% on staff 5 and 3 increased CD on a block. These changes have been branded as slight nerf.

The funny part is rev excel at lame game play, that sees most of its functionality in organized competition, which is boon bot and rez stomp, and everything else is being nerfed to oblivion. It would still be used in organized competition as boon bot and rez stomper. Every where else in sPvP (which is the 99.99999999% of game play) it will suck. You devs have been running around the bush for a year now, and what made Rev over performing is not addressed and nerfed every single other aspect of the class. Instead of these non logical changes, nerf the AOE CCs and Glint. Problem solved.

As far as I understand the balance philosophy is Rev should be only used as a boon bot.

steelheart.7386:

I wouldn’t be playing Guardian next season if I was you. DH is a noob killing class and the dazes were a big part of that. Support DH is not as good as ele not sure why anyone plays one and with the big increase to virtue of resolve there is less reason to play one instead of a vanilla support build. Burn has been and will always be a noob killer that isn’t really usable against good players. Not trying to be negative but there it is.

Using burn guard to nuke opposition is surely not a smart idea against good players. With the changes VOJ though could be used to put constant pressure offensively while maintaining decent defense. I do not see though how the new amulet will help out. Both the precision and experts are bad stats for burn guard. Mage amulet will be better.

I currently play burn guard med/virtues/valor with mage amulet and it is reasonable. That will probably be top burn guard build after the changes. Anything with torch and zeal will be one trick pony.

Do you mind elaborating in a power build how torch 5 outdps scepter AA?

Assuming same stats, I had scepter dealing nearly 53% more damage than torch. Within 3.25 seconds time scepter does 6.5 atks. Even if you factor in after cast, you need to get below 4.5 atks from scepter within 3.25 time frame for torch to outdps scepter AA.

I did not factor in 15% extra critic chance for scepter AA, assuming you use Zeal line. I also did not factor in spear of justice burn procs, because if you are a DH, you are casting spear of justice on CD.

On single target it is not close. I might have missed something, but the scepter AA in a power build, on a single target should deal substantially more damage. While torch 5 will deal more damage against 2 or more targets, sword will still deal better aoe damage.

Torch 5 needs work. It should either be a utility skill, better support condi builds or flat out deal a lot more damage.

Ghotistyx.6942:

Ezrael.6859:

It is still a bad skill.

Torch is our only off-hand that is all offensive, but it’s offense is severely lacking.
It should offer some serious damage for going all offense vs the utility, damage and defense offered by Focus and Shield.

3.25 seconds to channel the damage still results in less damage than any of the 1H auto-attack chains.

Change it to be more like Elementalist’s Drake’s Breath – 2.25s cast time, same damage but over 4 hits.
Add 4 stacks of Burning for 2s.

It beats Mace and Scepter in Power and beats Sword in Hybrid or Condi. Its no longer a dps loss unless you’re only doing power sword.

I did not do the math, but scepter AA on one target does better damage. Beating mace is kind of pointless considering that mace is a healing/survivability weapon and there would be no reason what so ever to run torch with it anyway.

For sPvP, it is useless in every type and/or form.

It is okay that it has no place in sPvP, but it needs to be better than where it is in PvE. Fixing it could make condi builds much better.

I am not expert, but what I like about guard:

PvE:
High damage, high burst, several viable weapons, flexibility of role and strong ranged options. You can switch easily between being tanky or dealing high damage. I do not do end game PvE, but guard is one of the top dps.

sPvP:
It works well for queing solo in sPvP. You can deal with almost any form of enemy, cuz you do not have any hard counters. Like PvE, guard has a range of viable builds that do work.

Cosmetically, I like guard animations and light blue color on skills.

I currently have armor smith, weapon smith and artificer maxed out (500). What is the best way to utilize crafting to make gold (and trying to not use Vial of Powerful Blood as much as possible)?

I think LS3 will have less episodes than LS2 and LS 1 did, considering that each episode is longer and has a map (so far at least). My prediction is next expansion will be late 2017, so 3 more episodes 2-3 month apart with a 4-5 month break before the expansion hits.

Aurene section was pretty cool. It does not keep up for the rest of the chapter though. Too many fetch quests that were neither fun nor interesting in Bitterfrost. The last part with Braham and Rox had too many mobs with too much HP pool. They were not hard (I was not downed even once) just tedious.

Surely the weakest of LS3 episodes so far. Hopefully it is not the trend.

Rev is not missing weapon, but weapons. Compare total weapon skills with any other class and you will realize that Rev is some where between 10-15 skills behind and not F1-5 skills aside from Glint.

Rev is an incomplete class.

It has to do with the concept that Guard is slow and highly survivable combatant when originally designed. Is that true nowadays? Not really.

I think it would be a cool addition to Zeal or Radiance lines, as these do not get used in PvP and 25% movement speed could give them some love their. In PvE it would be nice, so I do not have to slot Retreat from time to time. Though several classes do obtain their movement speed buff from a utility, thus DH would be at an advantage obtaining it nearly for free.

Torch 5 is still nearly useless. The cleansing is useless any PvP format. In PvE if you are using condi build it should be used on CD, since it provides more ticks within the time frame than AA. For power builds still mostly useless.

This is one of these situation where devs did not address why the skill with problematic and made a random buff that did not resolve the issue so the skill remains useless.

Its tough. Power mesmer in my opinion works better against DH. Given unlimited amount of time and space condi mesmer should win against DH, but that is never the case in sPvP and as mesmer it will be difficult to stay on point. TBH, as someone who plays primarily DH I struggle to kill good mesmers, but mesmers rarely can put enough pressure to kill me in time before I can get support. I can also push them easily off point.

If you are defending a point take shot fighting the DH. If I am entrenched on the point do not waste your time.

Skills 3, 4 and 5 are good they way they are.

AA, remove the heal/orbs and buff damage. The healing is useless. Even if buffed will remain useless in sPvP and WvW. More damage would be far more viable in every game mode.

Skill 2, remove the 2 skills. Make it one skill with either .25 daze or the weakness and reduce the cost to 5 energy.

Not sure what would be area(s), I want to see them all

For things I hope for in the new expansion:

- New elite specs are not stronger than the current elite specs. We need diversity not power creep.

- More maps. HoT had 4 maps, which were fairly decent and large. Still, were not enough. Maps are integral part of GW. More maps will be great. In addition, Fire Isles and Blood Fen were better in design and accessibility than HoT maps, which hopefully will be the trend going forward.

- Accessibility. On the maps subject, the navigation of HoT maps without mastries was a major turn-off early in HoT. Obtaining the mastries as well, was not a fun process.

- Story. LW3 so far has been good. Hopefully that will continue in the next expansion. Hopefully we have much longer story than HoT.

- Mastries. Hopefully we get something as cool as gliding.

- No more adventures.

- New class. We need a well developed fully fledged class, unlike Rev.

- Rev. Please devs spend time to add more weapons to Rev. Currently they are the class with the least number of skills and the least diversity of builds among all classes. They have one solid build and that’s it.

- Diversity. More on the sPvP side of the world, it seems devs have been fixated on having one viable build per class centered around elite spec and that is about it. We need more diversity.

As Guard running symbol build, easy to hard:

Elementalist: I wont be able to chase them, but they cant be enough damage to pose threat for a high sustain build.

Revs: I always hear that they counter DHs. Considering I play Rev second most after DH I find that statement to be somewhat true, however, more true against medi trapper, not so much against symbol build.

Eng: Annoying, but same as elementalist, cannot deal enough damage. On point I will outdps them and with correct use of blocks you can sustain long enough.

Necro: It is usually a race on defensive CDs burn, which considering symbol guard amount of condi cleansing not so much in favor of Necros. In addition, there is little to no unpredictability.

Mesmer: this is a hyperbole. I think that top tier condi Mesmer will win against symbol guard given infinite amount of time, which is almost never the case. Power builds actually stand a better chance, but are riskier for the Mesmer, cuz if I mitigate the first two shatters, it is over for the Mesmer.

Thief: At full HP and CDs DP or condi solo has almost no chance. Staff on the other hand can win. It still require quite a bit of time.

Warrior: condi can be a pain in the butt, power on the other hand is formidable. The key is to avoid/block the right attacks, which is easier against condi than power. If I cannot pressure them enough early it is a lost cause.

Medi trapper guard: particularly with precision blades, are very difficult to fight. They play some what like symbol, but with better range and worse sustain. If the battle lasts more than 30 sec, Symbol build will win.

Rangers: on normal conditions they are way down in the list, but some elements if successfully hit correctly, will provide the ranger the upper hand. Ranger has range advantage and can trigger traps using pets. Aligning the burst at an unanticipated time is key for ranger. If ranger is condi, or plans to out sustain me, will lose.

It is viable, but strongly reliant your team mates now more than ever. You won’t carry a team, but you provide strong support through Glint and provides strong power burst damage. Stay away from trying to solo and you should be good.

Well the nerfs are hyperbole. For solo play, the nerfs limit Rev significantly. No consistent access to stability and significantly weak against conditions. On the other hand, in a team format, Retribution is usually dropped in favor of Devastation and you rely on your team mates for condi removal for the most part.

So, if you are queuing solo as Rev GL without stability and condi counter. Might as well use Devastation and Bersrker amu and play mostly like dagger thief. With a team, Rev is pretty much the same.

TBH, for F2, if the skill goes on 4 second interruption CD, instead of losing on the heal and the passive, that will make more sense, since all other healing skills (and all none channeling skills), just go on 4 second CD if they get interrupted.

CutesySylveon.8290:

Hammer has no real purpose other than spamming CoR in a backline. As a ranged weapon, it’s complete garbage, and reverting hammer 2 to what it was before would just be accepting its current state, and tossing out the chance for a proper rework.

Pretty much. It is a sucky weapon unless there is a large number of enemies that you can easily hit. Reverting back CoR screw WvW without making the weapon viable anywhere else. It needs to back to the drawing board.

Rev is detintely an incomplete class and has mechanics issues as well.

One of the major problems is variety. Just looking at heavy armored classes weapon count:
Guard: MH 3, OH, 3 Dual 4. Total 10. Total number of skills 38.
Warrior : MH 3, OH 6, Dual 3. Total 12. Total number of skills 36.
Rev: MH 2, OH 3, Dual 2. Total 7. Total number of skills 21.
More is not necessarily better, but it is clear that Rev has much less weapons and significantly less skills than it counter part heavy armored classes. In addition, Guard has 3 virtues, warriors has 6 burst skills. Rev only facet of nature.

On the weapons subject, Guard has 2 ranged weapons same as warrior. Rev only 1, which is arguably the worst on all these 5 weapons, except in WvW.

As for viability, without too much elaboration, both Guard and Warrior have more viable builds in various game modes. If you go in GW 2 meta website, excluding fractals (which are same as raids), Guard has 9 builds, Warriors has 13 (some here are not really meta though) Rev has 6.

As for class mechanics, the energy + CD while cumbersome mechanics do work for some legends, not so much for other. The three legends that are under performing, Jails, Mallyx and Venatri, all have skills with very high energy cost. It is not a coincidence that they are under performing. Jails and Ventari rarely see the day of light in PvP and Mallyx is rarely used. In PvE everyone uses Glint, and either Mallyx or Jails just to use one skill.

While in terms of utilities Rev in terms of quantity is only 3 skills behind other classes, the limitation is an issue. Take sPvP as an example, most classes rely heavily on utilities to provide conditional cleanse, CC break and stability if you fight in melee range constantly. Only two legend have a CC breaker, so no brainier everyone uses them in sPvP (obviously not the only reason to use glint). Only one legend has stability, Jails, which is a pretty terrible skill with rectangular aoe and ridiculous resource cost. Mallyx is only used with condi build, which is on the weaker side anyway.

While sPvP and Raiding tend to limit viable builds, Rev is surely has the least diversity. Rev has one strong build that plays nearly the same in every game mode with very similar weapons and skills configuration.

lastly, the devs patch changes to Rev are baffling at best. Yes, some of the nerfs are warranted, but the question is considering that Ventari was patched three times why is it still not remotely viable for anything? Why was Inspiring Reinforcement patched recently? No one uses this skill outside of WvW, which is a clear indicator that it has issues. Did that change make the skill any better, worse or more viable? No, so why was time spent for nothing.

I think Rev is a hopeless case. It will continue to have one strong build, revolving around sword and shire, everything else is filler and the rest is junk. The class is surely incomplete and the devs are too arrogant to admit it or fix.

Saiyan suggestions are good.

Couple of suggestions for PvE:
Since torch 5 was buffed, it is pretty good for condi build. It is still weaker than AA for power builds. The power damage can be lowered and add burn to the skill. If it scales well with condi damage would be a great addition.

Purging Flames, base CD from 35 to 30 (24 instead of 28 traited).

As for PvP I think it is a hopeless cause. The damage is there and it works, but the survivability is not. The condi build does not work well with DH line and Valor is required in any PvP build. The condi build requires Virtues and Radiance. If we could use Wings of Resolve and Shield of Courage without DH line, (virtues + radiance + valor) condi build will definitely work. Unfortunately that wont happen

BlaqueFyre.5678:

Buran.3796:

Eval.2371:

Buran.3796:

Meanwhile take a look at the Ranger…
The ArenaNet balancing team needs some internal coherence…

I get that your frustrated and need something to attack, but to be frank, shortbow is still useless outside of pve. Anything you can do with short bow, is much easier with longbow

I mean that the change gives them swiftness regadless the skill (which needs a target) hits or not, whereas Unwavering Avoidance (which doesn’t need a target) now demands to actively evade an attack in order to gracefully grant stability. In the same patch.

Previously we can call stability before performing a valuable task (reviving, finishing, starting a slow and powerful attack which we want to protect against interrupts as happens with Chaotic Release or Jade Winds, etc.). Now we have to relegate our inititative, we need to let the enemy to attack first, to command the pulse of the fight if we want to get stability. It’s not viable, doesn’t let me play aggrressively, leading the way in wich we start a fight, and is utterly useless if you face classes with broad access to stealth.

Even worse: before we have the choice to get stability and tank attacks and exchange hits against, lets say, a Berserker with mace + shield + Head Butt if we want, and it was arguably a better option than rely on breakstuns, because we have no access to 3 breakstuns in short term. Now you can’t and if you miss one single evade you will eat a chainstun while having at most a couple of breakstuns. Is even more funny because as a Herald our viable ranged weapons are 0.

Look at traits that are actually similar instead of looking at a weapon skill that’s no where near the same. The exact same trait almost is the best example Perfectly Weighted does the exact same thing needs and Evade to grant stability, Escapist absolution must successfully evade an attack to remove a condition, Evasive Mirror needs to Evade, ineptitude needs to evade and so on all traits that give something on Evade, and there are quiet a few more, not on dodge, all they did was make Unwavering Avoidance consistent with similar traits.

While this is correct, you are giving stability equal importance to removing one condition and blocking a ranged attack, which are not remotely as important. However there is a key issue unique to Rev, since you do not get to choose utilities as you are stuck with what each legend offers. So if I need stability I have to take exclusively one legend; Jails, 3 utilities + heal + elite that have limited uses outside of one skill (even the stability skill sucks).

Unwavering Avoidance gave all legends accessibility to stability. Now in order to get it, you have to rely on gimicky mechanics, that do not allow you to access it on demand or when CCed and is on longer CD. Compare Rev with other classes that play the melee dps role in sPvP: warrior, guard and eng all have easy access to stability either through traits or one utility. Considering the number of CCs you eat in an sPvP, Rev in sPvP will probably be left out for more reliable classes to fulfill its role, unless that being a boon bot, which is not worth it in sPvP.

Unwavering Avoidance is near death of Rev in PvP. Was it over tuned? Yes, but with this nerf it is near obsolete and Rev has no source for stability aside from Jails, which is for all purposes in PvP a dud. Considering that PvP now is a CC and stability wars, having a melee class with no reliable source of stability is not going to work.

The sad part is there is no kittening way that condi, hammer, Jails, Mallyx, Ventari are balanced. So the effective built is now being neutralized while the non-effective skills/weapons are probably even worse off. I seriously question the credibility of the Rev devs.

The 100% up time on Quickness seems unintended. It messes with balance badly as many skills do not work well with Quickness. Same can be said about Stability and Protection in WvW. These boons are not meant to have any where remotely close to 100% up time, and it seems the devs are going to change that.

The question is when the dust settles, Ranger and Mesmer, which are played primarily for support, will they have viable dps options? They currently do not. As for Rev, with or without F1, Rev will remain one of the most viable dps, but also is the least diverse class in terms of viable builds. Will see if any of that changes. TBH, considering that most of these issues have been there since HoT release, I am not optimistic.

apharma.3741:

Ghotistyx.6942:

PvE as it stands now mostly just cares about trash clearing and sustained damage. Sustained damage for mesmer is either Conditions or Phantasms. If Mesmer had an easier time setting up Phantasms, or having them persist for a bit after a target dies (so phantasms would also be useful in high killrate scenarios) would pay dividends towards a damage spec existing.

Burst is more effective in PvP and is already pretty good.

You still end up in the situation where more than half your damage is AI controlled and for the most part single target. You also end up at odds with the class mechanic of shatters as you don’t want to kill them, that’s just straight up bad design.

The above quote always comes to mind regarding Mesmer. Regardless of what the weapon is, if the new elite spec revolves around phantasm and shatter it will suffer from the same issues Mesmer as a class suffer from.

I keep hearing nerf rumors, while some are likely others are not and they do not even make any sense.

Traps: TOF may get some base damage reduction, but beyond that it will be demoted to useless. It’s primary use is interruption. If they add a cast time no one will run it. Other traps range from marginal to useless, so nerfing them makes little sense. Yes, idiots walk in Dragon Maw and get trampled, but how does that work out against mildly skilled opponents (forget top tier play here). TBH, I would love that trap duration is reduced from 180 secs to 15 secs to prevent stacking, which is the biggest problem in low level play.

Purification: I keep hearing that the healing this skill does is so magnificent, and my first impression is have you ever played druid, rev or engineer? How is 8K heal requiring someone to walk in it with 24 sec CD too strong? It is the best option between Guard heals, but hardly OP compared to the sustainability that some other classes can muster.

Symbols: Damage in sPvP (and sPvP only) is a bit strong. A slight nerf in sPvP would be okay.

Finally class stacking: as someone who has been on both sides of playing with 3 or more guard and against 3, more than two on one team is a huge disadvantage, especially if no one else is providing swiftness. Your team becomes too immobile, and this whole trap stacking concept is not an advantage at all considering what you are sacrificing. You are better off with a rev dishing boons or druid with off healing, than multiple Guard setting traps.

So lets talk about Guard issues: mobility and outside symbolist build weak sustainability. Just a reminder: https://forum-en.gw2archive.eu/forum/professions/guardian/Why-is-DH-not-competitive-at-esl-level, is just talking about why Guard is not performing well enough on high level of play. The game balance is not designed about a noobie walking into aoe damage cluelessly.

The episode was great, Ember Bay on the other hand not so much. It is not a bad map, but pretty bland with not much to do. Too much was hanging on the repeated hearts, which got old by the third round and metas are limited. The volcano mastery was a complete waste. The map looked okay, and that is what I give it credit for. The design of Blood Fen was significantly superior in every respect.

OriOri, I agree with what you said, but lets say without making any changes, the devs increased sword AA damage by 100% (yes x2) what difference will that make to sPvP and WvW? Almost negligible. Even if the fundamentals of Mesmer as a class do not change, there are so many easy changes that can be implemented making none support and none conditional builds functional in all game modes.

Since HoT was released, all none condition builds in PvP and none support builds in PvE have been sucking without any action taken.

Ranael.6423:

apharma.3741:

Ranael.6423:

I am not sure everyone has the same definition of open PvE, that is, random mobs around the corner which you need to kill to fill the event bar.
I don’t get the impression that mesmer lacks in term of burst damage. I always go around with clone on dodge and double clone utility so I can spam my shatter with 3 illusions even before the mobs started to move towards me. With Sw/focus you can play the invuln burst then move them thanks to the field of focus 4…. I even play the might on GS attack traits, pop 3 clones and when might is high, shatter to maximize the F1 damage. It goes as fast as many other profession with a unique difference that mobs don’t jump on me because they are more attracted by illusion. I spend much less time healing than on my Ele when played solo.

You’re not going to like this but it needs to be said, if this is indeed true then you’re just bad at ele and this comes from someone with 3.5k+ hours on ele. On staff ele most mobs die in 2 hits, for D/X 2 lightening whips will do the trick, no might stacking needed and that’s without talking about air overload. It’s at the point where I use the glyph heal not because I need a heal but because it gives permanent swiftness in air.

In addition if you truly are using the GS trait to stack might you will be waiting a few seconds before shattering as you described. During that time most other classes have already killed the mobs and moved on. You are also playing a shatter build, even assuming 100% alacrity and illusions line you’re looking g at a 7.5s cool down on your burst while most other classes will kill an extra 1-3 mobs while you’re plinking away with attacks that do half what other professions do.

I simply say that for what is required in open PVE there is no big difference in moving forward or completing events with a mesmer. I may be bad at Ele or you bad at mesmer, who cares… do you really feel impaired with mesmer progression in open world PVE, a.k.a loot party by following a train or chain killing weak mobs to fill an event bar?

I do feel impaired playing solo. Yes, it is doable, but compared to the three other classes I play the most: theif, rev and guardian, the damage and the survivability are pathetic at best. Even as part of group, yes PvE open world content is extremely easy, but unless I am playing support, my contribution to the group is nearly worthless.

The questions are:
- Why do all Mesmer builds require a long build-up to deal damage (except power shatter, which suffers from CD issues)?
- Why do all Mesmer build lack strong/decent AOE?
- Why does Mesmer have to rely on mechanics that clearly do not work well in PvE environment (shatter and phantasms).
- Why do all Mesmer condi builds rely on the two conditions that work very poorly in PvE?
- Why does Mesmer ranged weapons damage fall way behind all classes?
- Why is Mesmer’s survivability heavily reliant on one trait?
- Why are all Mesmer’s builds way behind most other classes in dps?

So far I have not seen logical explanation for any of the above.

BrotherNumsie.8123:

I think they are doing a reverse order of the GW1 campaigns while still filling out the map for the original GW1 game. So this next expansion fill out the Ring of Fire Islands while going up to Eye of The North areas so we will be facing Primordus and Jormag at the same time. Which will then lead to Crystal Desert and Elona, where we will have to deal with the after effects of our deal with Palawa Joko back in GW1, and Kralkatorrik. Then on to Cantha, the Deep Sea Dragon, and whatever mess they have going on there.

After that I wouldn’t be surprised if Abaddon somehow returns.

I think the game line will follow that order as well. I am hoping we continue to get more maps, between 8-10 per expansion including its living season(s).

Obtena.7952:

otto.5684:

Rev damage is balanced around constant 10 stacks of might and 100% up time on fury. Rev mobility is balanced around having 100% up time on swiftness.
Rev sustain benefits significantly from 100% up time on reg.
You cannot play without the above, and for the above you need Glint.

You can absolutely play without any of the above. Just think about it … Rev’s can’t play without 10 stacks of might? That statement doesn’t even make sense.

I know people like to ignore anything not DPS in this game and pretend it’s not relevant, but that’s a cherrypicked way of thinking. BTW, how awesome is your condition cleansing and energy regain rate with all those things you say you need on Glint? They suck, that’s what …

So there is balance here, even if people want to not acknowledge the ‘useless’ non-DPS parts of a build.

Hmm.. I will assume you have no idea what you are talking. Energy regain?! Have you used Glint before?! I can maintain 100% uptime on fury and 12 might will using sword skills 2 & 3 on CD. If you do not this a question of class knowledge, which you probably lack since you mentioned condition cleanse as an issued related to energy management and Rev has only 2 active skills of conditional cleanse outside Ventari, which is staff 4 and Jails heal.

As for the non-dps part, to make it simple, you must have Glint and Herald in any game mode doing anything. If you do not you lose substantial damage, mobility and survive ability. Even if damage is not your thing you need Glint. If you are playing solo PvE without Glint, good for you. If you are in any PvP form or PvE group format do not ever show up without Glint and Herald.

Lastly, Glint for Rev is the equivalent of Virtues for a Guard, shatter for Mesmer, Shroud for Necro, etc.. Hate it or love it, the class is designed around Glint. Is it a good design? Probably not, but it is reality.

I know it is not optimal, but what would be the recommended:
Gear
Armor runes
Weapon sigils

I assume the traits will be use virtues, zeal and radiance.

Part of it cuz of the novelty of last season died. The were FOTM last season and it died out. It is the same for DH, I used to see too many of them beginning of this season, but not as much now, and probably much less next season. Everyone seems to jump on the class that gets most recently buffed.

Aside from the FOTM dying out, while warrior is strong, the berserker elite has a weakness in the time build-up of rage, which impacts both damage and survivability. It is not a major issue with decent support, but can be in the lack of thereof. It is much safer to play DH, eng or Rev is solo que as power build. For condition, while warrior is definitely up there, necro is preferred due to aoe cleave.

Rev damage is balanced around constant 10 stacks of might and 100% up time on fury. Rev mobility is balanced around having 100% up time on swiftness.
Rev sustain benefits significantly from 100% up time on reg.
You cannot play without the above, and for the above you need Glint.

Lucentfir.7430:

I think what probably has to go, after thinking about it a long while is Hunter’s Determination. It’s a big contributing offender of skilless play, not to mention it does too much for a passive on CC’d proc. You stunbreak, you leave a trap, that damages and dazes and gives stability. On top of that it does provide aegis up to 5 you can pick up, From what I can see it straight out denies CC openers for a long time. The trait needs to be replaced with something else.

Traps need to start cooldown on trigger. Giving them a manual activation with some added benefits like shorter cooldown, or lingering AoE damage or boons would help out a bit for compensation.

I think that reducing the duration of traps from 3 minutes to 15 seconds will go along way in reducing their domination in low level of play.

If Hunter’s Determination is nerfed to lets say making the CD 60 secs, everyone will probably use Bulwark. It may not be a bad idea though. Ironically that major master is the most powerful in all of guardian lines, considering that the third skill is Zealot’s Aggression.

Azukas.1426:

The problem with the DH build currently being used (it abuses symbols) is that it’s too easy to play. You don’t need a ton of skill to get really good results from playing that build. THAT’S a problem.

The OP can easily just jump on DH and do almost just as good as ANY guardian player in this thread. That’s a huge problem, and warrants a hefty nerf in my book.

What Anet needs to do is somehow figure out how to infuse a higher skill floor into DH. Look at the high skill floor classes in this game….granted there aren’t many anymore lol, BUT you have to dump serious time into learning how to play these classes at a high level. DH you do not.

I would say 90% of the DHs I see in sPvP do exactly what you mentioned and absolutely suck. Yes, if you have a game of full below average players DH will do well, but who gives a flying kitten or balance around how noobies perform?! Balance is done almost exclusively at high end of play. Is DH currently dominating high level of play?! They are viable, but so is every class.

And the argument about class difficulty is bullkitten. Anyone with 1K plus games in sPvP with bound keys playing any class with any build from meta battle will do well. No exceptions on any class.

For the most part Mesmer is just support. It is a unique support, but still just support with not much else offered. PvE wise probably the worst solo. Can be survivable but damage mechanics (shatter and phantasms) are pretty terrible. PvP and WvW things are a bit better, but again one viable build that relies on moa and portal while bing a strong solo.

Compared to pre hot I think mesmer after the 6/23/15 update was in decent spot, but with hot most other classes gained major damage upgrade, while Mesmer damage did not improve much.

Curunen.8729:

Would it be reasonable or too powerful?

I believe it would be fine but of course can’t see the whole picture.

I would love to see it get a damage upgrade instead. Considering its CD, AOE and requirement to be stationary to cast, its damage is pretty weak.

While some hearts are fun, majority are not, and gating map completion is not fun for anybody. As other posters mentioned, Anet probably do not see much return on investing time in hearts.

Bloodstone Fen is probably the direction the game is going towards for incoming content.

I played a couple of MMO, but the longest I played are SWTOR and GW2. GW2 strengths:

- GW2 has great interactive combat system compared to majority of MMOs. It plays more like an ARPG.
- Best maps/zones in all MMOs I have seen, and probably in all games I played.
- Great lore, which is also original.
- Between quest system and NPCs interactions, the world feels alive.
- Great quest/mission system.
- Good graphics.

Staff is a good weapon for Rev, but not for dps. It is mostly for support. In PvP it is used for the block and skill 5. In PvE it is mainly used to break stun bars. You can use staff as a dps weapon in PvE, but it pales in comparison to sword, and it is a significant difference.

For a quick comparison between Rev and Guard, Rev is mobile, with great power based damage, mediocre conditional damage, weak ranged options and limited build diversity. Guard is slow, strong power damage, okay condition damage, strong ranged options and great build diversity. Both are fully viable in every game mode. If you are hoping for purely staff Rev, you will be disappointed.

I play both thief and guard. It is defiantly an uphill battle. The key usually is to force the DH to blow there defenses uselessly. Easier said than done against skilled opponents. You want to drag on the battle and try to force incorrect use of traps/defenses.

In my experience staff works best against DHs. P/P can work against melee DHs (common for symbol build), but playing at range against DH with LB or scepter is not advisable.

As a counter to thief on DH, since most thieves initiate with steal , I respond to steal right away with smite, which removes both the weakness and the poison. Then test of faith to daze and provide protection. it is usually a lost battle for the thief if they continue to play offensive from that point. The key is to play defensive not offensive. Offensive does not work well against DH.

Generally, as a thief, I would not waste my time fighting a fully loaded DH with all defenses and traps ready. Even if you can win, it will be a long draged out battle.

Tissitra.4153:

Svarty.8019:

Fashion Mage.3712:

Svarty.8019:

TL;DR GW2PvP is about spike damage.

It’s also about being invulnerable 70% of the time, typically using overpowered utility skills and the like.

If there was no invulnerability, everybody would have to have around 50k HPs.

Blanket statement that is wrong because it is a) based on a wrong assumption and b) draws from that wrong assumption a wrong conclusion.

Take thieves as an example: zero invulnerabilities in the standard builds (and a single block from a utility that is often omitted), yet a very small healthpool. As the opposite of the spectrum, take a necro who can have a large healthpool sitting on marauder. Yet when focus fired upon by say three people the necro WILL go down immidiately no matter what he does. A DH (running the standard meta build) in the same situation will not – at least not before he can deal quite a bit of damage.

In a high burst/low sustain meta that we have right now, the value of both hp and toughness is minuscule compared to that of blocks and invulnerabilities.

There is so much misinformation in this quote.

First, you are trying to fight on point as thief. I do not care what you are fighting that is not possible. The whole concept of thief is to play hit and run.

Necro with Marauder? There is not one meta necro build run marauder. Plus Necro can fight on point. Other classes can do it better, but Necro is no push over.

Lastly high/burst low sustain meta. While the survive-ability of most classes went down from last patch, trust and believe HP and toughness are significantly important. There is a reason why no uses berserk ammy. Also, go fight eng, rev and druids then come back to tells us how HP, toughness and healing are “minuscule.”

Considering how many times devs tried to patch Ventari and it still did not work, it is safe to say the healing concept is never going to work. It is a good time to ditch it.

Its funny how this thread is going, almost like majority of Mesmer threads:

Someone logically explains how and why Mesmer damage is abysmal and far behind majority of classes.

Someone goes: “Mesmser support is so OP.”

Logically someone explains that other classes providing similar or stronger support and still out dps Mesmer by a large margin.

Someone goes: “Mesmer deals ultra mega burst.”

Logically someone explains how and why the burst build (shatter) has mostly gone extinct since HoT release, because most classes survive-ability went through the roof, including some classes that deal better burst than Mesmer.

Someone goes: “if they buffed Mesmer they will own everyone and their dog in sPvP and WvW,” without any explanation of how or why.

=_=

Defiantly a great map with much better accessibility than HoT maps and the stupid long meta events.

And air combat