Skill Balances, HA Update, VoD Changes

If you need Aegis in THK, you have problems. If your monks can't run up to heal someone without dying, you've got even more problems. And those problems aren't with skills.

You countered your own complaint in that statement. Players do change targets in PvP, monsters don't in PvE. By that statement, making hexes worse in PvE would destroy them in PvP. Hexes still deserve a place in PvP.

WOW.....the Whole Channeling line got beat to Death with the nerf bat...

I would rather change it now, than have to worry about it later.

Adding exhaustion means you get to use virtually 1 exhaustion causing skill every 30 seconds. This means that, out of this large batch of skills, any build may only take one, maybe two, of the "exhaustion" skills. This also effectively neutralizes the effect of the recharge timers of individual skills. If there were pre-existing ways for a rit to maintain exhaustion, that woudl be one thing, but as is, channelling has now become a near impossibility to run without using an Elementalist Elite, and it's rather clear to see why people are upset.

I'm fine with nerfing ritspike, but once again, this is not the way it should have been executed.

actually I was referring to the comments that nothing in pve requires specific skills, when that is quite obviously false to anyone who has done high end stuff

Assassin
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BSS/Shadow Prison/Expose Defenses --> one step to Assassins being more diverse

Dark Prison/Death's charge --> one step to Assassins using other shadow step skills

Golden Phoenix strike --> actually helps more in PvE, with critical agility...

Mesmer
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Arcane echo --> nonelite echo for spells :O

Echo --> other than enchantment stripping, not much difference

Cry of Frustration --> given that the limiting factor is the energy it doensn't change much

Spirit Shackles --> Since it is in the inspiration magic attribute line and people tend not to put many points in a utility line like inspiration magic, I don't see how it needs anymore nerfing (especially when it is easy to d-shot a 3 cast time spell)

Panic --> a needed nerf to duration since Glyph of lesser energy and Auspicious Incantation makes this ridiculous.

Spirit of Failure --> with Glyph of Lesser energy/Auspicious Incantation this isn't really a big issue

Monk
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Remove Hex finally has a use...on a nonmesmer!

Blessed light --> dropping the recharge form 5 to 3 does little since the problem is the 10 energy cost

Guardian --> the removal of the % block scale means this thing is a monster

Elementalist
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Chilling Winds & Arc Lightning -->these buffs makes Air/water hybrid builds shine more

Blinding Surge --> given the prevalence of Melandru Dervishes + Restore Condition + Mending touch, this doesn't do much (it probably shouldn't have been touched)

Glyph of Renewal --> other than Meteor Shower there are few times it has been used because few spells deserve lowering to 10 recharge. The energy cost is typically the hindrance (at least in the realm of elementalists) save for Divine Spirit...

Rodgort's Invocation --> whoa! 5 recharge, 2 cast time... it is like a super fireball without needing line of sight if you have dual attunements

Blurred Vision --> until hex removal becomes less recharge, this will be the bane of any melee heavy team. There is essentially a 2 second downtime and none if on a Mantra of Recovery Mesmer (10 energy means a mesmer can use it with no problem)

Necromancer
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Reckless Haste ---> like Blurred Vision, on a Mantra of Recovery Mesmer it is easy to upkeep

Plague touch --> a nice step to seeing more use (especially with rarely used skills like Headbutt)

Plaguesending --> this got a buff, but for it to see use the sacrifice has to be less heavy... mending touch removes the same amount of conditions (at least for lower attribute levels) for no sacrifice and less energy.

Price of Failure --> less powerful with high miss chances from block + blind...but still usable

Poisoned heart --> poison in itself is not that powerful and this is adjacent range. The degen doesn't help at all either and there isn't a reason for it to be an enchantment (unless of course there is a secondary effect like a dervish enchantment).

Plague signet --> without a secondary effect (let's say damage on the target and + damage per condition transferred) this ends up being a costly single-person condition remover...unless you run N/Mo with draw conditions to make it a party wide condition removal

Rip enchantment --> the only difference between lose and sacrifice is the Scourge Sacrifice hurts less and Aura of the Lich/Dark Aura don't work with it.

Shadow of Fear --> It has 3 times the duration compared to recharge...and adjacent range.

Warrior
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Crude swing --> given the limited applications in PvP, I don't see what warranted the -40 armor clause. Not to mention it becomes not +1...20 but only 1...20 damage. Not like anyone used it...but still.

Beserker stance --> the constraints are very restrictive... the only use is for attacks with high adrenaline cost and at best you have 50% coverage if you use the skill at the end of the stance

Flourish --> has seen use, but the elite attack skills are more attractive and energy attacks tend to be bland

Savage Slash --> might actually see use for once but 15 recharge is restrictive

For Great Justice --> add enduring Harmony (even at 0 attribute) and you have a 100% uptime double adrenaline hammer/spear monster...beats Focused Anger by miles if you put it on a Paragon/warrior

Ranger
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Nobody noticed that with 15+ BM , run as one gives 100% uptime speed boost? The only saving grace for it compared to other 25% speed boosts is the need for Charm animal and an alive pet. Granted enchanted haste /featherfoot grace have been updated similarly, with only 10 wind Prayers needed for 100% uptime.

Flame Trap --> makes this a pure damage dealer

Point Blank Shot/Zojun's Shot --> the half range is extremely binding but the 5 energy cost makes it a decent damage dealer since it can be spammed on its 3 recharge

Punishing Shot --> as long as Magebane shot is around, this pales in comparison for caster shutdown...bit to mention Incendiary arrows gets the job done in other situations provided you can get an IAS up with Serpent's Quickness. It's going to have to have like 3 recharge for it to be worthwhile...or 5 energy cost.

Escape --> might see use on a flagrunner...other than that? not likely seeing that there are btter ranger elites than a running/blocking skill

Storm Chaser --> a pure running skill, this has no practical applications other than running since you cannot expect to get hit with elemental damage enough to make the energy gain from this appreciable

Dervish
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Attacker's Insight --> R/D Concussion shot.
Rending touch --> on a warrior , 5 recharge will be the bane of all the prot users.

Ritualist
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Ancestor's Rage --> along the lines of Chain Lightning. A nice change.

Exhaustion on spirits cannot be removed via Glyph of energy, so we'll have to see how this pans out. Ultimately it might lead to the vaporization of the use of these Ritualist spirits.

Wielder's Strike should have probably been made to have a longer cast time and larger energy cost (like lightning hammer). Exhuastion cannot be dealt with by a ritualist.

Sight Beyond sight is extremely narrow in use... it could use a buff to include other effects?

Splinter Weapon: even on 20 recharge a target can get off their 5-6 swings on a hammer/scythe/bow so I don't see how this is a change (at least in PVE)

Spirit rift on 2 cast is pretty iffy if people step out of it. I pretty much notice when people cast it due to the effect. This didn't need a 2 cast time, it really needed a energy increase to 15 or so.

Spirit Burn is still cheap, it is roughly 90 damage on a 1 cast and 6 cooldown with the easy to meet condition of having a spirit (pain/bloodsong/etc).

Wielder's strike is okay but then it doesn't remove its spike potential...just its chaining potential. Might as well bump energy cost to 10 and remove exhaustion.

Paragon
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Awe --> 10 recharge means you can spam daze. P/W hammer user anyone?
Signet of Aggression --> actually useful now.

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will update as skills are fooled around with...

Which moron decided Splinter Weapon should have a 20 second recharge? The skill has no need of a nerf. Grats Anet, you just ruined my main source of income.

Splinter weapon was godly in Altar Maps, and added great pressure to any team.

Ouch My rit is feeling major pain from the exhaust additions.

I am talking about it being chained in PvP not that there are many that use it in PvE unless you use it like I do.It is not monk doing it as I have observed in OB mode.It is hardly worthy of using it or taking hench with it.I have been using this skill since starting my Monk.PvP Monk thqat do abuse it are less exprienced in its use and I do see nervouse PvP Monk on OB mode.I was using Aegis in THK as an example like heal party did you read my post.This is vital in The Gates of Madness mission in order to get masters.You can try with heal party or Lod but it is best to have to full protect Monks in that mission.

gg expose defenses 25 sec recharge. Now anet needs to buff fox's promise.

Until now, elementalists were the only profession that had self-inflicting exhaustion skills. But they also had a massive energy pool to make that manageable. Can we expect to see some changes in the energy resources for ritualists now? Because slapping exhaustion on to 8 skills (6 of which are in one attribute line) seems a bit harsh. Communing has become par with Air Magic, in terms of exhaustion causing skills, acutally surpassing it due to the conditional exhaustion from Invoke Lightning. Ele's have large resources to balance out the penalties for exhaustion, will ritualists be seeing something to help them deal with this ugliness in the near future?

Someone asked how these changes will affect a farming build (as though all PvEers to is farm). Well, this particular change will cause some serious discomfort in a spirit farming build I used to be quite fond of. From a PvE point of view (yes, I know dev's care little about skill use in PvE) this exhaustion fix doesn't sit very well.

And why should a great help in PvE be nerfed because of one imbalanced map? This ruins a lot of stuff... R/Rt tomb runs, the Margonite farm... as I said, there goes my only ways of making GW cash.

Gogogogogogogoggo Guardian!!! Exactly what I've QQ'd for for ages! <3 it.

Splinter Weapon:

Izzy has clarified that it is duration and not recharge that is decreased to 20s.

Ouch... that's an awful lot of dead skills for rits, without much in the way of buffs to soften the blow.

On the plus side, now nice buffs to eles and monks, probably a good time to go give those characters some more love.

I can live with that. I'll just have to time it a little better before heading into a mob. I feel a little better now.

QFT. Great update. A nerf to aegis, hexes, and rit spike. Awsome.

I love when being able to farm with a skill is used as justification for leaving it alone.

When does a skill become overpowered in PvE? Serious question. How much shit do you have to be able to solo before you'll concede your favorite cash tool just might be too good?

Attacker's Insight: functionality changed to: For 20 seconds, your next 1..3 attack Skills cost 5..20 less Energy.


So exactly which dervish attack skills cost 20 energy? Or more than 10 energy for that matter? It's good to see it buff from one attack to ... more than one, but the whole scaled energy saving is just a bit silly, don't you think?

I don't get it . . .

Why do rangers always get buffs? Just curious.
Rits with exhaustion? Wtf? They really got run over by the nerfdozer.
Avatar of Melandru still exists.
Paragon elites still suck.

Guess my warrior is going through GWEN first, if I bother getting it.