Update- Thurday January 28

man if people are crying this much over some changes that mean next to nothing, I can't wait for the massive QQfest that will be the SF nerf.

lolol

Nice update, besides buffing Crip Shot. Too bad certain things which were addressed in this update weren't implemented a year ago.

So, basically you want PvE to be EASIER than it already is? Yeah that makes sense.
That's not a assessment based on history. Look how popular spirit spam has become or ER infuse or discord or.... All due to buffs to weak skills.You play perma-sin in PvP too? I thought I was the only one!

i lol'ed at this for a while, dont forget they have the ability to run REALLY fast and pick up their Spear and go back to throw it again without anyone noticing.

The Codex is changed at 05:01 AM, 11:01 AM, 05:01 PM, and 11:01 PM Pacific. (If you can't figure it out, its changed at the same time that it used to be, and then add 6 hours to get each successive codex change time)

i like the part they finally did something about b-spike

i do not like the part they did not touch ranger/sin skills, and their unlimited energy spamming 12345 skills

The Illusion of Pain change I'm unsure of since I'm likely one of the few who uses it in PvE...

Ebon Dust Aura. o.o;

Curious if any of these life steal changes will help with DoA or not.

FYI: Sundering/Penetrating definitely ate the aftercast delay in PvE too. Net nerf for them.

Good update! Death to pewpew Rangers! May they never return. I'm just worried about Cripshot, it's just super strong now. Unblockable, undodgable longbow ranged crippling FTW?

PvE and PvP were recognized by Anet as two completely different parts of the game a long time ago. They stopped seeing them as one, as it was just too hard to balance the game skill-wise for PvE as well as PvP with one skillset. Every nerf that was meant for PvP had it's consequences in PvE and vice virsa. It's easy to understand that such a thing nearly always upsets one half of the community.

As a result PvE / PvP skill split. It allowed for more skills to be altered, and as a result it makes balancing both aspects easier, as you don't have to worry about the other side. Whether or not you think PvE and PvP are two different things, you need to stop having the idea that both gamemodes require the same skillset.

In regard to the update, I find the workaround for life stealing completely ridiculous. I mean Life Draining WTF?!? They should've just converted all life stealing skills to "You do ..x.. damage, you get healed for ..x.."

I was afraid, thought it was the nerf!!

If I understood right what they did this skill is kinda useless in pvp, cause of the part in bold. I don't really see the use of this skill in pvp, helping leechers maybe (usually they are the one that don't attack).

L.E.:

Good and bad change. It's easier to intrerupt this is the good part. The rest of the changes are kinda bad fast casting + duration 8s + recharge 5s is not really a good thing.

Nice update. I for one welcome widespread nerfs. It's good to see some of that power creep countered .

Also, did Shielding Hands always have that healing when ending condition? Or did they buff that for no reason? I'm not sure where exactly to look for this info and don't fee like scouring wiki for it.

They buffed it recently.

Casters generally don't attack in PvP. There are usually more pressing concerns to attend to, or adjusting positioning.

The end-effect of Shielding Hands is a somewhat new addition. It was buffed because it had fallen out of favor and was generally weaker than Shield of Absorption, even with its shorter casting time.

EDIT: Ninja'd

They did not justify why they nerfed EDA in PvE.

They did not use their PvE/PvP skill split system (as usual).

I do not believe Rangers were overly hurt. The attack skills that were nerfed were not used frequently in PvE. The 3/4 activation times on the dual penetration attacks is good.

I believe Soldiers Fury is consistent with Aggresive Refrain. Has no one thought about Paragons being ranged attackers with a shield? However, this balance was not needed and technically made them even more underpowered.

RtL already has a significant draw back in exhaustion which discourages spamming. Warriors only have 20 energy, although experienced warriors should be able to manage their energy. Again, the PvE/PvP skill split was not utilized.

They did say IIRC that they would change 600/smite and SF after this update... but I'm not holding my breath.

Lol PvE/PvP split. You have more than enough broken skills in PvE, no need to go all "BAWWWW" when you lose one.

RtL was used on Axe Warriors because it was the only Shadow Step without a skill disable or aftercast. That's broken. It's a good thing this has happened. Let's face it, what good play could possibly emerge from a skill like this?

Since somone decided to volunteer as the face of Anet's lack of communication, i feel i should reply.

I guess it was your personally suggestion to.

Make keen arrow do a whopping 4 damage on non critical hits?Might as well swap to my wand,at least i can be of more use to the guild.

The place this caused problem is where the critical hit was almost guaranteed anyways,so the only person your hurting is the person not putting extra effort to get that crtical hit out every time.

Did you not think to suggest to Anet to make the damage a either/or , you know where it does some decent damage when you dont get a critcal and do more damage when it is a critical, no aditional damage simply damage or more damage.

Decrease the damage 20% and increase the recharge bye 100%,you forgot to also increase the energy by 100%

But good job on Hunter's Shot,now i really want to use this skill, it doesn't matter that Screaming Shot does more damage and recharges faster.

Congratulations on nerfing the most useless ranger elite,I know that think of a functionality change would have been too hard.

Easily interruped.

Those are the big ones I have a problem with, I also dislike Lightning Reflexes and Sloth Hunter's Shot,but I dont need to add those.

None of these skill lead to good play. I would be ok with it if Anet had just completely nuked them as well.

Even as a now retired PvP player, currently playing PvE only, I completely agree with these.

Good update IMO.