[Dev Update] Skill Balances and Hero Battles

Again a PvP event has a permanent effect on PvE

Please stop hammering the mesmer skills...i thought you wanted to improve them?

This doesn't stop the holding builds, it makes them even stronger. This solution would work if the holding builds were holding *only* the center, but this is not the case. They usually have 3 characters spamming spirits at the center and an assassin running around capping the shrines. What you've done now is make them stronger, the extra shrines the assassin is capping will only make them win faster. Sure, maybe now I could make a 3 Mo/A build + Rt/A and control three heroes at once who do nothing but run around and teleport all over the map. Sounds like fun. The real problem is the fact that you only need to hold shrines to win, which will always encourage a defensive build since you don't need to kill to win. If you want this to work just include the TA/RA maps into rotation so running/holding builds are at a disadvantage.

As for the other changes: the SP/BoA assassins still need a real nerf imo, I don't think the SP/BoS nerf is going to change anything. Like most people already said discord was nerfed in the wrong way but the changes for ritualists are good. I do hope to see more of these smaller updates in the future instead of the previously huge skill updates.

Ohhh you suck... Not 'you' Gaile, but the person who made the balance changes...

I've been using a build that uses a combination of those skills since factions first came out, I was doing very well then, and 'now' its overpowered? What really pisses me off is that it took a lame-ass build like the following, to nerf these skills;

Wanderlust
Pain
Painful Bond
Spirit Burn
Lamentation
Gaze From Beyond

^ - whoever invented this build is an idiot, but I should thank the person, because had that one discovered that channelling outpowers communing in terms of damage, alot more skills could have been nerfed.

I'll get over it in like a week, in the mean-time... Anet you suck!!!

[dev] update pvp balances

anet I fixed it for you

The change to Discord is really bad. And there is no nerf to Burst of Aggression.

At least some skills were nerfed

Repeated again so Gaile or Izzy won't miss it
I would like also to point out good Patccmoi post, where he proposes needed changes to sin elites:
http://www.guildwarsguru.com/forum/s...4&postcount=58

As for SP: it's obvious for me that this was done for W/A, and big TY AN for that. Maybe this will severe overusing this skill by warriors(they shouldn't be able to use shadowsteps as effectively as sins).

Thanks for the update, but you forgot some major problems. Jade Isle and BoA still unchanged? Unbelievable!

Big ARGH at what they did to discord, but probably necessary. Too bad I found good uses for it in PvE paired with mark of rodgort . If it was me i would have changed the recharge but it's still a nasty spike then, especially if combined with a SP sin.

I like what they did to SP, especially after getting owned by a warrior using it in TA. like, hello, i just ignore the rest of your team and bash you over the head with no drawbacks. Some people say that they should nerf BOA instead, but there are more warrior stances and you can't nerf all of those IMO.

You do realize what the mesmer's primary attribute is?

Wrong. Think about it. If you have an assassin that has capped the center shrine they get 2 pips for morale boost. If you hold the other 3 then you get 3 pips. An assassin is not going to be able to cap all 3 other points because my team of 4 will be pwning his ass - thereby netting me points for kill on the assassin for the time it took me to cap the points. Now I have greater kills and 3 pips of morale vs 2 pips. GG me. I would suggest bringing speed buffs and snares however.

The changes to discord and the rit skills are good in my opinion not perfect in the way they were done but at least changes have bene made.

I would have loved to see changes come to HA as well as/rather to hero battles

If you can't beat down a single assassin with four heroes, you wouldn't win even if there were no shrines.

The change really will break holding builds, but unless they also significantly reduced the morale speed to offset the additional pips it'll just switch to a gimmick of running four characters with teleports and micromanaging.

apparently you have not heard of the skill shadow meld

Somebody uses Shadow Meld?

=O

At least one thing anet got right ...

makes changes AND explain why they were made.

Recall, shadow of haste, shadow meld,... You run to one shrine to pwn the assassin and when you get there he teleports back to the center and heads for another shrine. You cap one shrine, he's capping the center and another shrine. What do you do?

Realize that his build is crap and can't do damage because he decided to bring all teleport skills....

Then split...

Good work on the Rit and Discord nerfs, it was definately needed. However, I cannot understand for the life of me why ANET didn't hit the BoA Assassins where it would hurt! The BoA skill, the BoA skill! Come on guys, simply change the duration to 0..9 based on your Strength attribute.

.....WHEN ARE WE GOING TO GET INFORMATION ON HA????????????????? ITS A WEEK OVER DUE. (even though we have been waiting months)

It may be crap in any other PvP format, but here he's winning.

A few observations:
- player assassin >> heroes
- player assassin >>>>> moving heroes (they don't use skills while running, easy target)
- center morale boost > all other shrines -> he only needs to cap the center and one other shrine to win.