Ward against Foes in Relic Runs/ MurderBall

Heya,

When Ward against Foes is used in Relic Runs and MurderBall, I find that it slows the gameplay down to a level that is considerably less fun. Unlike a snare Hex or cripple, Ward against Foes can't be removed. Because a relic holder is naturally slower, it's not difficult to maneuver a caster right beside the runner and put one up, thus delaying the relic for another solid 10-15 seconds. The Ward is no longer "Against Foes", but "Against Escape". All other earth wards are explictly defensive, but Ward against Foes is not.

So I propose a change. Please don't flame me too hard. If you have an argument against this, post it clearly and consicely.

-Reduce cost from 15 to 10
-You create a Ward Against Foes at your current location. For 8...18 seconds, non-Spirit foes and foes not holding items in this area move 50% slower.

Alternatively:

-Reduce cost from 15 to 10
-You create a Ward Against Foes at your current location. For 8...18 seconds, foes holding martial weapons in this area move 50% slower.

Whatcha think?

The problem skye then becomes, what about rits who are holding ashes, which are not weapons, but can be used to do some pretty nasty things.

While it would make things a bit more interesting, I suppose, the whole reason for having Ward Against Foes up in these matches is so that you can slow the team before they get to the relic, and if this fails, they are used to slow the person carrying the relic so your team can catch and kill them. I do agree the wards can be annoying, but I think that's the point.

personally, I'm all for making wards act like spirits, one ward goes up, another goes down. Have two routes to run and you can't block them both.

Its on a 20 second recharge. Interrupt it.

Shadow Step.. teleport... there are ways around these things.

-Rits holding items haven't really been a threat in the past, asside from Destructive was Glaive in the last event, but that's mostly because of the armor pentration, and that hits all foes in an area.
-You can't shadow step while holding a relic or flag. You'll drop what you're holding.
-The biggest strength of Ward against Foes is that it can't be stripped.
-There is no second path in the first relic running map. A ward under the bridge will still work on anyone trying to run over the bridge.
-Interrupts is a good idea.

You can always help out your ally by giving him LOTS LOTS of speed buff


Unstripable ones:
"Make Haste!" thats 33% increase
"Lead the Way!" Thats another 25% increase
"Fall Back!" Thats 33%
Godspeed (assuming the relic carrier is probably the most heavily enchanted guy on th map.)
"Charrrge" 25% (probably not gonna see one anywhere since its an elite)

Stripable ones:
Windborn Speed Thats 33% increase

The fact that you can give your ally a butt load of unstripable boast just owns. I'm not sure if its is possible to exceed normal movement speed while carrying relic. Of course, muddy terrain would screw the runner.

Speed boosts are capped at 50%, IIRC.

Cripple can be mended, Hexes can be removed, wards can be interrupted.

Learn to interrupt... rather than making stupid suggestions about wards.

How about pre-emptive strike: drop the ward first, then the poor caster will not catch up to you.

If it's eles dropping them, well, eles are casters, usually quite weak and vulnerable. If it's other classes, then they either sacrified a lot of points, or the wards are short.

But the answer to your problem lies not in the skill itself, but in this:
1) Caster needs to get in range
2) Caster needs to cast the ward

So the $60 question is, is there really nothing else to be done about this, except nerfing the skill?

Actually, it's 33%. Trust me, I've tested, many times.

Example: Dodge + Windborne Speed = same speed as just dodge

Dash is one of those skills that is permitted to jump over the max, much like how Lingering Curse can reduce healing by 50%, when the max healing reduction is at something like 33%.

The speed boost do not stack past 33% ( but that compares to normal speed). So if your speed is reduced X%, other speed boosts still stack till your current speed equals 133% of normal speed.

Ward foes is perfectly fine. Don't fix what's not broken.

*points anet's attention to avatar of grenth instead*

If you have problems on relic runs:
- Speed boosts
- Kill the runner/the people blocking you
- Kill the enemy ghost
- Run faster/block the enemy runner
- Interrupts
- Diversion
- Corpse control (necro teleports work)