March BWE- new changes

Well, I'm not sure if I'll get all of them off the top of my head, but here's some of the things that have changed or been added since the February BWE.

Economy Changes:
Gold prices have been multiplied 10x. All the gold on your character should have been similarly increased, and gold drops from creatures and via item sales are also higher. However, now you can get drops like 13 gold, which would have been rounded down to 1 gold previously.

Crafting Materials are dropping again- Some of you might have noticed that no crafting materials dropped from monsters last month, making some materials such as pelts and fibrous tangles impossible to find. They are dropping again, though the rate might be lower than it was previously.

Skill Charm Crafter, Trader, and Gambler have been removed. I'm not sure what is intended for this system, but unfortunately, that means that it may be impossible to create charms to have your friends learn skills that you have, and some skills are likely impossible to find currently in the game with the removal of the charm gambler.

Merchant interfaces have changed: Instead of dragging items from your inventory to the sell window in order to sell them, the merchants now have lists of the items in your inventory which you can choose the items to sell from. Above the list, there's several buttons which you can use to toggle which containers(and items on your character) that you can see in the trade window. Likewise, the merchant's inventory is listed similarly. When you select an item to buy or sell, a box comes up in the sell window, letting you see the stats of whatever item you have selected, so you can double-check if it's something you wish to buy or sell.

Identification Kits now have 25 charges.


Character Creation Changes
You can no longer create a level 20 role-playing character, and PvP character creation has changed significantly. When you create a PvP character, you can choose to make a Ready-Made character as in the previous events. However, you can also choose to make a "Custom" character, who has access to any skills and runes that you have bought or identified with your role-playing characters. You can choose between the different top-level armors available for your class, and apparently you can choose between some different item modifiers, though that appears to be locked right now. We'll have to see what ArenaNet does with that, but it should be great, allowing people to make PvP characters on the fly that have access to the skills and runes (and hopefully items) that they have unlocked.

The character creation process has changed considerably, and I'd recommend everyone look at creating a new character, just to see the new menus and options available.

PvP Changes
There are now 6 different Guild Halls, which you can preview by talking to the Canthan Ferry Captain at the docks at the Southwest side of Lions Arch. They are:

Warriors Isle: basically the old GvG map- oriental architecture with a flagstand in the center.

Hunter's Isle: Similar layout to the old GvG map, but with Krytan-style architecture.

Wizard's Isle: Again, a similarly layed-out map to the old GvG, but with pre-searing Ascalon appearance.

Frozen Isle: Very different map layout- the flagstand is far to the east, while paths lead to the enemy base either via the flagstand, along the western edge, and there's a path down the center that is origionally locked off by doors. If you go east, there's a staircase up to the center of the map, where you will find two gear levers- one will open the center door on your side of the map, and close the corresponding door on the western path. The other will do the same, but on your opponents side of the map. This can lead to some interesting strategy concepts, determining the accessibility of the opponents base.

Druid Isle: Jungle setting, interesting map layout. I will have to play some games on this map to find out all the different possibilities of the map, but it promises to be quite different from the old GvG matches.

Isle of the Dead: A very different map than the others, with a pre-searing Ascalon catacombs-like appearance. Lots of little corridors running through a large Labrynth, with a flagstand off to one side. Again, I'll need to play this map to find out all it's quirks.

All of these maps appear to have an attacker and defender side, rather than the two forts facing each other. You still have a defensible position as the defenders, and still get your NPC's and have the Guild Lord that you have to protect, but instead of having a castle, you might have some barricades thrown up along the beach, or a ship to defend. I would assume that in a match, one team is assigned as attackers and the other as defenders, and the map that you play on will likely be determined by which guild hall the defenders own.

Along with the new GvG features, there are 2 new Arena areas. The first is off the Yak's Bend outpost, which offers 4vs4 action for level 15 and lower characters. The Arena on the island south of Lions Arch is now the Coastal Arena, and the old Gladiator's Arena is now near Denravi(there's a NPC in the far reaches of Denravi who will take you there).

Miscellaneous Changes

The skill list now lists skills in a similar method to the merchant interfaces. There are now options to sort skills by name, recharge time, cast time, energy cost, and linked attribute.

Monster levels in Post-Searing Ascalon and the Shiverpeak Mountains have been increased(probably due to characters being higher-level after leaving pre-searing Ascalon)


I'm sure there's several changes that I missed, but here are some of the highlights. Feel free to post anything else that you've found that has changed, or ask questions about any of the changes!

<3 Great post. Very helpful Freyas.

Many skills have been changed, and hopefully we'll be able to get them all updated this weekend. One big change, however that I feel is worth mentioning is that Nature Rituals have undergone a large change. They no longer give you death penalty, but instead have a longer recharge time. When you cast a nature ritual, a spirit will appear where you're standing, and so long as that spirit stays alive, the nature ritual is in effect within a fairly large radius of the spirit. Your enemies can kill the spirit, however, so you might need to pay attention to where you cast the ritual- close enough to the battle so that you get it's effect, but not so close that the other team can kill the spirit and remove your ritual.

Thanks for this writeup... so many things have changed!

The new custom pvp char thingy looks like an awesome idea that will totally work great in retail, with the skills anyway, don't really understand how it will work with items yet.... you have to find the items you want your pvp char to have, you can't trade for 'em?

Pity about the charm traders... how will I get BiP now?

Exhastion bug has been fixed it does now actually affect your maximum energy

Arcane echo hex stacking was fixed. When you cast an archane echoed hex on a target that has already been hit with that hex it has no affect on the timer whatsover and does not hex the target again.

Ranger Rituals dont cause death shroud and are similar to the elementalist wards now, except they have a much larger range than is shown by the graphic. (can the spirit be attacked?)

casting times can be displayed as fractions! 1/2 woot

Here's some more. Spirits count as creatures for the purpose of soul reaping, so low spec spirit spam will give a team of necros whole tons of energy.

All the sacrifises are % based now, so no confusion about Awaken the Blood as the text on Dark Pact has been changed to: Sacrifise 10% of your max HP, do 51 damage(at 16 blood for instance).

Caps have been put on effects that stack:
Run Buffs: 33%
Run debuffs: 50%
Attack speed debuffs: 50%
Casting speed debuffs: 150%
healing reduction: 66%

That means shadow of fear doesn't stack with faintheartedness any more.

Here are some mesmer changes:
Energy Drain: 1s cast
Ether Lord: 5 energy



Here's a short list of necro changes off the top of my head:
- Plague sending now transfers condition into adjacent AoE of the target
- Necrotic Transversal is now bound to death magic and not only teleports you but also poisons nearby enemies for x..20(at 15 death magic) seconds.
- Putrid explosion AoE increased
- Minion spells now have cast time of 3 sec and their level has been increased by 2.
- Verata's sacrifise now gives minions 10 regen instead of direct heal. Regen lasts 20 sec at 15 death.
- A lot of touch spells(vile touch, blackout, vamp touch,...) are now skills instead of spells
- Vampiric gaze now has 1 sec cast time, cost 10 en
- bunch of cast times decreased

- Throw dirt no longer elite
many more..I'm too lazy and will leave it to these guys to update them all.

Voice is in, at least for the intro cinematic when you start a new RP char.

Other skill cahnges:
-Hundred blades is elite
-Conjures now only work if the weaopon damage type is the same as the conjure damage type, so for Conjure Frost you need an Icy sword edc.
-Wards have their casting time and cooldown decreased, much more spammable now
-Warriors Cunning no longer adds base armor penetration - instead your attacks can't be blocked or evaded

...and many many more small changes.

Some more skill changes:

Healing Touch- less healing, but double divine favor bonus when you use it. Now useable on self too!
Orison of Healing- reduced healing(and seems to take longer to cast)
Remove Hex- 5 second recharge
Divine Spirit- reduced duration, minimum cost now 3 energy
Blessed Signet- 2 second cast time
Life Bond- works on all damage, not just physical
Shield of Deflection- now 15 energy
Holy Veil- now only affects hexes
Purge Signet- 3 second cast

Order of Pain/Vampire- only trigger on physical damage
Grenth's Balance- Only takes effect if you have less health than enemy, if used on a target with more hp(guild lord, etc), it only deals the amount of damage that it takes to heal you to your maximum health.
Offering of Blood- reduced cast time


Shields up- now gives % chance to evade projectile attacks along with armor bonus.
Bonetti's Defense- now 8 adrenaline
Pure Strike- now 5 energy
Deadly Riposte- lower recharge
Thrill of Victory- no longer heals- instead does extra damage if you have more life than your opponent

Arcane Mimicry- copies the elite skill of an ally
Blackout- lengthened time opponents skills are disabled
Spirit of Failure- now works on every miss(including ones caused by blind, etc)

Obsidian Flame- now 5 energy(still has exhaustion for 10, though)
Lightning Touch- now a skill, deals extra damage if enemy is suffering from water magic hex
Ward against Harm/Melee/Foes/Elements- cast time reduced to 1 second, recharge reduced to 20 seconds.

Quick Shot- now elite, no longer disables skills
Greater Conflaguration- now elite
Blizzard- now "Winter", and is no longer elite


If I find any more changes, I'll post them here, as well as the values that I can find. I've found the best way to find out is to get the skills that have changed unlocked, and look at them in the PvP creation menu- you can play around with your attributes to get the stats at different attribute levels without worrying about refund points.

Can't u simply look at them on the dev server?
If you can't, I can probably list all changes lately it is only the matter of looking into some dev posts.
Watch Yourself is 4 adren now.

Have any other necromancers noticed the life siphon no longer stacks if you keep casting it on a single target they will not gain anymore degain bars.

... but I dont remember this stacking on the same target at the last BWE. It only stacked your health regen if you cast it on different targets with a cap of +10.

- Iczer

I always thought that they stacked but i could be wrong.

Don't forget that you signed an NDA
You should know what you are allowed to do and what not.

The conjure thing makes sense...in effect what it means is you can only get one conjure...unless you want to carry around and equip a variety of swords.

but erm...hundred blades is elite?...I really don't see...how 1 extra attack, which for sword users means what...35-40 damage max can be an elite skill. Some illusionary weapons characters are gonna have to reconsider their choices...

They have also removed auto-run. So you can no longer type while running.

It's still there, just hit "r" instead of double tapping.

Dunno if it's just me, but I could have sworn you used to get 10 attribute points per level, and I'm only getting 5.

And the PvP character creation system's pretty good, though I wish you didn't have to BUY a skill to unlock it, only see a skill trainer who has it, or have its skill charm, or something... *sigh*

you can always capture it

Many times skills can be made elite to protect a potential dominant combo from being used. In the case of Hundred Blades, it now does full damage, hit's twice, and hits everyone around you twice. It's probably the best skill I have on my sword Warrior. If you have two people in front of you that's 4 instant attacks + 4 strikes of adrenaline, it is quite powerful. Also, swords didn't have an elite before.

Matt

As Spooky said the default shortcut is now 'r'. If you want to re-enable double tap auto-runnin you have an option for it in the controls setup window.

As has been pointed out, Hundred Blades was an issue with combos. It's not just one extra attack - it's potentially an extra attack on your main target and potentially 4 (or more) free attacks on other enemies if you know what you are doing.

This made Hundred Blades an awesome skill to combo with Illusionary Weaponry or any damage add skills (eg Conjure <element>). It's also an excellent skill for powering up your big Adrenaline attacks; a single attack can net you 2, 4 and sometimes 6+ strikes worth of Adrenaline.

As noted by others here, if you look into the details you'll see that the skill itself received some buffing up as well. The weapon damage on each hit is no longer reduced, for example.

Play around with the skill, let us know how it affects your builds. And ... might I suggest that IW users try Cyclone Axe as an alternate?

I was considering Fourish as my Elite simply so I could have an extra HB every 11 seconds or so HB is that good.

Matt

Am i just a klutz or is it easier to cancel spells now?

Cyclone Axe isn't possible, axes attack considerably slower than swords, and I'm sure you know that IW is all about the speed. I don't actually have a pass so I can't "play around" with hundred blades as such. All I can do is sit and hope they made the right decision.

Heres my take on it, basically theres two main reasons why Hundred Blades should not be elite.

1) Yes it lets off attacks on all angles, and you can hit 4 people with 2 attacks each, making 8 strikes total. But to be honest, its not about how much you hit, but where. For a warrior, all you'd get are 4 annoyed guys staring at you. I'm assuming cooldown has not been changed, and even if the cooldown is 5 seconds, I would still say that those extra two attacks do not go a long way. The swordsman is very much focused on 1v1 combat, with the inclusion of nice burst attacks and conditions. To put is simply, after you do your 80 damage to everyone around you...what then?...Theres nothing to follow it up with, and I daresay the enemy is quite capable of healing at a rate of 10hp a second...negating its usefulness.

2) What we're getting here, is a variation on an AoE attack thats quite toned down. This is not what fighters are all about. Their job is to deal out high DPS to one character or to soak up high quantities of damage. The Hundred Blades skill simply does not synchronise well enough with their job to be considered in a Guild vs Guild match where everyone is specialised. 2 more attacks per 8 seconds to 1 guy and perhaps some bystanders was worth a skill slot in some builds, if only because they had nothing else to put in there...but I don't believe it deserves an elite status. Also this shuts off possible builds by making Illusionary weapons impossible to use with it...while obviously the conjure stuff still works. Elementalists are much better equipped to deal out this kind of AoE damage, I'd feel much more comfortable if I had a nuker dealing out Rodgort's Invocation than some warrior with Hundred Blades. Invocation deals more damage...and isn't an elite.

Rellok's comment about taking flourish as an elite is a demonstration of one of my points. As a basic attack it had certain combos which were very interesting, for example flourish and Hundred Blades meant 4 hits on everyone next to you. Thats some good nuking. But none of that is possible now.

It is true that Hundred Blades was not perfectly executed before, but making it into an elite also makes it completely out of place. Perhaps it could have been toned down. As an elite, its completely out of place. I'm not saying its a bad skill, but look at the other elites such as Illusionary Weapons (creating entirely new playing styles), Water Trident (coupled with arcane echo is devastating)...or even Energy Drain that can give you 18 energy while taking a Warrior/Monk out of the game. Next to those, Hundred Blades seems weak, if the developers are ABSOLUTELY intent on keeping it as an elite (which IMO is a bad choice) then at least beef it up more, and actually make it dependent on the Swordsmanship skill.

MY FIX

Simply making it dependent on the Swordsmanship skill would fix a lot of the feeling that it was overpowered. Previously you had ele and mesmers bringing along swords and using it without any skill in swordsmanship. Something like giving it a 60% chance that any guy standing next to you is struck twice, with the percentage chance increasing by 3% with every level of swordsmanship. Suddenly people find that as a Mesmer Primary or an Elementalist, they must invest in swordsmanship to compete. This would make the skill harder to use, deter the people who want to simply exploit it for cheap shots while keeping open the strategic choices, and keeping the builds balanced.

I think that hundred blades is fully deserving of its elite slot. The fact that it can compete with frenzy for extra damage with no detrimental effects shows you its power, nevermind the potential for hitting more than one person and hitting a windfall of adrenaline. The fact that people will continue to use Hundred Blades is a testament to its power.

Also, as of the last chronometer test, axe and sword were identical in speed, at 1.33 seconds each.

As for Quick Shot mentioned above, it still disables attack skills for 2 seconds. I used to love Quick Shot, I might still use it if the build doesn't call for a specific elite.

About the skill charms being removed - I hated them and am happy to see them gone. But leaving us with no available alternative is just cruel.

Why wouldn't I just buy the skill from the skill trainer, then, instead of getting Signet of Capture and run around trying to find a boss with it?

The base attack speeds are the same yes.

But at the last Beta Weekend I attended I noticed that there were far more swords offering a + attack speed enhancement. I'm not sure if this makes a difference at level 20, as I may have found an axe that offers the same. But it sure makes getting to level 20 a lot easier for someone relying on illusionary weapons.

Using frenzy you can get in 56.3 shots per minute. Using hundred blades you can get in 52.6 shots per minute (or 60 if it dosen't interrupt the standard attack), with the old system it was only 75% damage. Considering the standard sword does 45.1 shots per minute...thats an increase of 5 hits worth of damage per minute (or 10 per minute if it dosen't interrupt standard attack). As a stand alone skill as I've said before, it dosen't fit in with the warrior repetoire and dosen't do enough damage to be considered used alone.

The windfall of adrenaline is redunant, as PR have said, the main reason behind this change is the devastating illusionary weapons combo. With illusionary weapons you didn't gain adrenaline anyway.

will?...how do you know that they - will? I know many people who've stopped using this skill, and think the change is uncalled for. True people still use it now...but then again, people used to drink irradiated water for "good health".

Few more things I noticed:

1) Skull crack no longer tied to tactics, 15 second duration

2) Flourish no longer needs a sword equipped.

3) Plague Signet now transfers all conditions to target foe

4) Determined shot deals +5-17 damage and recharges all your skills if it misses.

We're updating our skill listings here to reflect the recent and abundant changes. So far, the Warrior and Ranger lists should be up-to-date and accurate as of tonight, but let us know if you spot anything new. The changes to rituals have already been noted but check out the new "Pet Attacks" added to the Beastmastery line. Overall, it looks skills got abit more damaging at low attribute levels and a lot of recharges went down or became adrenal. Anyhow, for those who don't feel like hunting around, here's a list of changes by skill line. More to follow.

-------

WARRIOR
AXE
Disrupting Chop - Unlinked. Formerly under Axe Mastery although no variable.

Executioner's Strike - 10~34 damage. Formerly 1~32.

Swift Chop - 4 recharge. Formerly 8 seconds.

HAMMER
Counter Blow - Unlinked. Formerly under Hammer Mastery although no variable.

Irresitible Blow - 4 recharge. Formerly 8 seconds.

STRENGTH
Battle Rage{E} - 4 adrenaline, 5~17 duration. Formerly 2 adrenaline and 10~20 second duration.

Power Attack - 10~26 damage. Formerly 5~25.

Shield Bash - 5~10 duration (buff, not lock), no longer elite. Formerly 8~10 seconds and an elite skill.

Warrior's Cunning - Now reads "For 5~10 seconds your melee attacks cannot be "blocked" or "evaded"." 10 en, 60 recharge. Formerly added 18% base armor penetration for 5~24 seconds, 10 energy, 40 second recharge.

SWORDS

Gash - 5~9 damage. Formerly 1~8.

Pure Strike - 5 en, 8 recharge. Formerly 8 adrenaline.

Seeking Blade - 4 recharge. Formerly 8 seconds.

Sever - Bleed 5~21 duration. Formerly 3~21 seconds.

TACTICS

Bonetti's Defense - 8 adrenaline. Formerly 10 energy and 60 second recharge.

Deadly Riposte - 10 recharge. Formerly 30 seconds.

Disciplined Stance - Now reads "For 5~10 seconds, you gain +24 armor and have a 75% chance to "block" attacks. Disciplined Stance ends if you use an adrenal skill". Formerly prevented adrenal gain.

Fear Me! - 1~3 energy lost. Formerly 1~6.

Shields Up - Now reads "For 8~18 seconds you and nearby allies gain 50 armor against piercing damage and 10~34% chance to block incoming projectile attacks." Formerly added +50AL vs. piercing to anyone using a shield.

Watch Yourself! - 4 adrenaline. Formerly 5 energy and 15 second recharge.

UNLINKED

Distracting Blow - Wording changed. (and the actions of foes adjecent to your target)... 1/2 casting time. Formerly listed as 1 second cast.

Flourish{E} - Now reads "All of your attack skills become recharged. You gain 5 Energy for each skill recharged by Flourish." Formerly required a sword to use.

For Great Justice! - Now 10 energy. Formerly 15 en.

Hundred Blade{E} - Now reads "Swing Twice at target foe and foes adjacent to your target". Moved to Unlinked. Elite. Formerly normal skill and dealt 75% reduced damage and listed under Swordsmanship.

Skull Crack{E} - Now reads "If this attack hits while target foe is casting a spell, that foe is Dazed for 15 seconds." Formerly linked to Tactics for a Dazed duration of 5~17 seconds.

Thrill of Victory - If this blow hits and you have more Health than target foe you strike for +10 damage. 5 en 5 recharge. Typo - "then" instead of "than". Dmg is a green variable but no linked skill

Wild Blow - No cast. Now reads, in part, "If Wild Blod is "blocked" or "evaded" any "Stance" being used by your target ends". Formerly 2 second casting time and could be evaded.


-------------

RANGER

BEASTMASTERY

*NEW* Beastial Pounce - Your animal companion's next attack is a Bestial Pounce that deals +2~20 damage. If the attack strikes a foe who is casting a spell that foe is knocked down. Pet Attack. 10 energy, 0 cast, 10 recharge.

*NEW* Feral Lunge - Your animal companion's next attack is a Feral Lunge that deals +2~20 damage. If the attack stikes a foe who is attacking that foe suffers from Bleeding for 3~21 seconds. Pet Attack. 10 energy, 0 cast, 10 recharge.

Call of Ferocity - 60 duration. Formerly 30 second duration.

Energzing Wind - Reads "Create a level 1~8 Spirit. For creatures within its range, all skills cost 15 less energy (minimum cost 10 energy) and skills recharge 25% slower than normal. This Spirit dies after 30~126 seconds." 60 recharge. Formerly global and simply reduced all costs to 10.

Feritle Season - Reads "Create a level 1~8 Spirit. For creatures within its range, maximum Health is increased by 50~474 and they gain +24 armor. This Spirit dies after 30~78 seconds." 30 recharge. Formerly global and didn't add armor.

Predatory Season - Reads "Create a level 1~8 Spirit. For creatures within its range, all healing is reduced by 20% if any of yourattacks hit you gain 5 Health. This Spirit dies after 30~126 seconds." 60 recharge. Formerly global and healed 50~474 on a killing blow.


EXPERTISE

Debilitating Shot - Moved to Unlinked.

Distracting Shot - 3/4 cast. Formerly listed as 1 second cast.

Point Blank Shot - +13~25 damage. Formerly +8~24.

Throw Dirt - No longer elite.

MARKSMANSHIP

Called Shot, Dual Shot, Penetrating Attack, and Quick Shot - Moved to Unlinked.

Concussion Shot - 3/4 cast. Formerly listed as 1 second cast.

Determined Shot - Now reads"If Determined Shot hits, you strike for +5~17 damage. If Determined Shot fails to hit, all your attack skills are recharged." No longer elite. Formerly locked bow attacks on a miss and dealt no extra damage but could not be blocked or evaded with a miss chance with Marksmanship below 8.

Power Shot, Precision Shot, and Punishing Shot {E} - +13~25 damage. +13~25 damage. Formerly +8~24.

Read the Wind - +5~15 damage. Formerly +3~15.

WILDERNESS SURVIVAL

Antidote Signet - Moved to Unlinked.

Blizzard - Now "Winter". Reads "Create a level 1~8 Spirit. For creatures within its range,all elemental damage is cold damage instead. This Spirit dies after 30~126 seconds." 60 recharge. No longer elite. Formerly global and elite.

Greater Conflagration {E} - Now Reads "Create a level 1~8 Spirit. For creatures within its range, all physical damage is fire damgae instead. This Spirit dies after 30~126 seconds." Elite. 60 recharge. Formerly global and normal.

Melandru's Resiliance - Instant cast. Formerly listed as 2 second cast.
recharge.

UNLINKED

Penetrating Attack - 10 energy. Formerly 5 en.

Quick Shot {E} - 5 energy, 3 recharge. Now elite. Formerly 10 energy and 5 second recharge and a normal skill.



RITUALS (*has altered effect)-
Edge of Extinction
*Energizing Wind
Favorable Winds
Fertile Season
Frozen Soil
*Greater Conflagration
Muddy Terrain
Nature's Renwal
Quicking Zephyr
*Predatory Season
Primal Echoes
Winnowing
*Winter

All now create Spirits with limited areas of effect. Spirits can be killed or will dies after a set duration. Formerly Rituals were global enchantments that caused Death Penalty when used.


--------

NECROMANCER


BLOOD

Blood is Power {E} - Sacrifice 33% maximum health. 1/4 cast. Formerly 32~134 blood cost and listed as 1 second casting time.

Blood Ritual - Sacrifice 17% maximum health. 2 recharge. Formerly 16~67 blood cost and instant recharge.

Dark Fury - Sacrifice 17% maximum health. Formerly 16~67 blood cost.

Dark Pact - Now reads "Sacrifice 10% maximum health and deal 10~40 shadow damage to target foe." Formely 10~37 blood cost and equivalent, untyped damage.

Offering of Blood {E} - Sacrifice 10% maximum health. 1/4 cast, 15 recharge. Formerly 14~43 blood cost with 3 second casting and 20 second recharge time.

Shadow Strike - 10 energy. Formerly 15en.

Signet of Agony - Sacrifice 10% maximum health. 3/4 cast. Formerly 14~43 blood cost and listed as 1 second casting time.

Strip Enchantment - 1 cast. Formerly 2 second casting time.

Touch of Agony - Sacrifice 10% maximum health. Target touched foe takes 20~50 shadow damage. Skill. 3/4 cast, 3 recharge. Formely 1 second casting, 5 second recharge time spell with a 13~43 blood cost and equivalent, untyped damage.

Vampiric Gaze - 10 energy and 1 cast. Formerly 15 energy with a 3 second casting time.

Vampiric Touch - Skill. 3/4 cast. Formely a spell with a 1 second casting time listed.

Well of Power - 15 recharge. Formerly 20 second recharge time.

CURSES

Chilblains - 3/4 cast. Formerly listed as 1 second casting time.

Mark of Pain - 10~34 damage. Formerly 3~42.

Plague Signet {E} - 50% chance of failure with Curses 4 or less. Formerly unlinked.

Plague Sending - Sacrifice 10% maximum health. Conditions transfered to target foe and all adjacent. Formely a single target and 14~43 health sacrificed.

Soul Barbs - 15~27 damage. Formerly 3~25 damage.

Suffering - Wording changed.

DEATH

Animate Bone Fiend, Animate Bone Horror - lv 1~14 minion. 3 cast. Formerly level 1~12 minion and 5 second cast.

Animate Bone Minions - lv 0~10 minions. 3 cast. Formerly lvevel 0~8 minions and 5 second casting time.

Aura of the Lich {E} - Now heals for 50~202 health when ends. Formerly had no healing.

Consume Copse - Gain 25~85 health and 3~7 energy. Formerly only "stole" health. Typo "corpses location" instead of "corpse's location".

Deathly Chill - 5 recharge. Formerly 15 seconds recharge time.

Malign Intervention - Now reads "For 5~17 seconds target foe recieves 20% less benefit from healing. If target foe dies while hexed with Malign Intervention a level 1~14 masterless Bone Horror is summoned." 10 energy, 1 cast, 20 recharge. Formerly didn't affect healing, had a flat 30 second duration, and created a level 1~12 minion, with 25 energy cost, 3 second casting, and instant recharge times.

Necrotic Traversal - Linked to Death Magic. Now reads "Exploit target corpse, you teleoport to that corpse's location and all nearby foes become poisoned for 5~17 seconds. " 3/4 cast. Formerly no poisoning and listed as 1 second casting time. Typo - "corpses locations" instead of "corpe's location".

Taste of Death - 5 recharge. Formerly instant recharge time.

Verata's Aura - Sacrifice 33% maximum health. 120~264 duration. Formerly 32~134 blood cost and 15~39 second duration.

Verata's Sacrifice - Now reads "Sacrifice 10% maximum health. For 8~18 seconds, all undead allies gain 10 Health regeneration. All "Conditions" are removed from those allies and transfered to you." 30 recharge. Formerly 14~43 blood cost and healed adjacent undead allies for 10~95 with a 5 second recharge time.

Vile Touch - Skill. 3/4 cast. Formerly a spell with a 1 second casting time listed.

Virulence {E} - Disease and Weakness duration the same (3~13). Formerly Weakness duration unlisted.

Well of Suffering - Typo - "Degeneration of -1~4" means health regeneration of 1~4.


UNLINKED


Grenth's Balance - Now reads, "If target foe has more Heath than you, you gain half the difference (up to your maximum health), and that foe loses an equal amount." 1/4 cast. Formerly health differential and caster's health didn't matter and listed as 1 second casting time.

Plague Touch - Skill. 3/4 cast. Formerly a spell with a 1 second casting time listed.


SACRIFICIAL SKILLS - Changed from flat ealth loss to a percentage of overall health. Note that the descriptions of this loss differ a bit, we've gone with a standardized "Sacrifice x% of maximum health" but the developers haven't yet. Of note are those that say, "Sacrifice up to x% max health" or similar which may mean that at low health you cannot kill yourself with such skills but would instead drop to 1 health while with others you might. This bears some testing, though, as it's unconfirmed and we all know how accurate skill descriptions can be. The follow are the percentages of health, the skills changed to that percentage, and their former health loss :
10% - Barbed Signet, Lingering Curse, Offering of Blood, Plague Sending, Signet of Agony, Verata's Sacrifice (14~43), Blood of the Master (16~35), Dark Pact (10~37),
17% - Blood Ritual, Dark Fury, Order of Pain, Order of the Vampire (16~67)
20% - Defile Flesh (26~85), Demonic Flesh (24~101),
33% - Blood is Power, Verata's Aura (32~134), Blood Renewal (20~134)

And the following is the amount of health a character will lose with 480 or lv20 health:
10% - 48
17% - 82
20% - 96
33% - 160

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MONK


DIVINE FAVOR

Blessed Signet - 2 cast, 10 recharge. Formerly 1 second cast and 20 second recharge times.

Contemplation of Purity,
Divine Boon, Divine Intervention , Healing Hands {E}, and Infuse Health - 1/4 cast. Formerly listed as 1 second casting time.

Healing Hands - 1/4 cast.
Infuse Health - 1/4 cast.

Divine Spirit - 1~13 duration. Minimum 3 energy. 1/4 cast. Formerly 7~45 second duration, minimum energy cost of 8, and 2 second casting time.

HEALING

Heal Area - 1 cast. Formerly 2 second casting time.

Heal Other - 35~151 health. 10 energy, 3/4 cast, 3 recharge. Formerly 15 energy and listed as 1 second cast and 30 second recharge.

Healing Breeze - 3~8 regeneration. Formerly 2~8.

Healing Touch - "Heal target touched ally for 16~51 points. Health gain from Divine Favor is doubled for this spell." 3/4 cast. Formerly 22~116 heal on touched target other ally and no increase to Divine Favor, listed as 1 second cast.

Orison of Healing - 20~60 health. Formerly 26~67 healing.

Word of Healing {E} - 3/4 cast. Formerly

PROTECTION

Amity, Draw Conditions, Reversal of Fortune - 1/4 cast. Formerly listed as 1 second casting time.

Mend Ailment, Mend Condition,
Restore Condition - 3/4 cast. Formerly listed as 1 second casting time.

Life Barrier - Ends on 70~46% health. Formerly a flat end condition of 50% of caster's health.

Life Bond - Wording changed.

Protective Bond - Lose 6~3 energy. Formerly a flat loss of 5 energy.

Shield of Deflection - 15 energy. Formerly 10 energy.


SMITING


Balthazar's Aura - Corrected error in listing. Full page had energy cost at 15 rather than the proper 25.

Bane Signet - 26~50 damage. Formerly 10~47 damage.

Holy Strike - Skill. 3/4 cast. Formerly a spell with a listed 1 second casting time.

Retribution - 19~31% of damage redirected. Formerly 19~30%.

Smite Hex - Corrected error in listing. Full page had energy cost at 15 rather than the proper 5 energy.

Symbol of Wrath - 8~27 damage. Formerly 6~27 damage.

UNLINKED

Light of Dwayna - 4 cast. Formerly a 6 second casting time.

Martyr {E} - 1/4 cast. Formerly listed as 1 second.

Purge Conditions - Moved to Unliked. 1/4 cast. Formerly under Protection and listed as 1 second casting time.

Purge Signet - 3 cast. Formerly a 2 second casting time.

Remove Hex - 5 recharge. Formerly 7 second recharge time.



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MESMER

DOMINATION

Power Block, Power Leak, Power Spike, Wastrel's Worry - cast 1/4. Formerly listed as 1 second.

Cry of Frustration - 3/4 cast

Backfire - 35~119 damage. Formerly 22~116 damage.

Blackout - 2~6 second lock. Formerly 2~4.

Signet of Weariness - 3~9 energy lost. 1 cast. Formerly 1~6 energy and a 2 second casting time.

ILLUSION

None

INSPIRATION

Leech Signet, Power Drain - 1/4 cast. Formerly listed at 1 second casting time.

Energy Drain - 1 cast. Formerly 2 seconds casting time.

Ether Lord - 5 energy. Formerly 10 en.

Mantra of Recall {E} - Flat 20 duration. Formerly 30~78 second duration.

UNLINKED

Arcane Mimicry - "For 20 seconds, Arcane Mimicry becomes the Elite spell from target other ally." 60 recharge. Formerly became a random spell from target foe with a 10 second recharge time.

Signet of Midnight - 3/4 cast. Formerly 1 second casting time.

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ELEMENTALIST



AIR

Lightning Damage spells now list 25% armor penetration - Chain Lightning, Enervating Charge, Lightning Javelin, Lightning Orb, Lightning Strike, Lightning Touch, Mind Shock, Shock.

Blinding Flash - 3/4 cast, 4 recharge. Formerly listed as 1 second cast and 20 second recharge time.

Chain Lightning - 10~82 damage. 2 cast, 20 recharge. Formerly 14~73 damage with 4 second cast and 15 second recharge times.

Enervating Charge - 5~41 damage. Formerly 7~37 damage.

Gale - 50% failure chance with Air Magic 4 or less. Formerly no miss chance.

Lightning Javelin - 15~43 damage. 5 recharge. Formerly 6~30 damage.

Lightning Orb - 10~82 damage. Formerly 14~83 damage.

Lightning Strike - 5~41 damage. 5 energy. Formerly 12~41 damage and 10 energy cost.

Lightning Touch - Now reads "Target foe and all adjacent foes are struck for 10~34 lightning damage. Foes suffering from a Water Magic "Hexe" are struck for an additional 10~34 lightning damage. This spell has 25% armor penetration." Skill. 15 energy, 3/4 cast. Formerly a spell where touched foe took 8~53 damage with 10 energy cost and 1 second casting time listed. Typo - "this spell" instead of "this skill"

Mind Shock {E} - Now reads "Target foe suffers 10~42 lightning damage. If you have more energy than target foe, that foe suffers 0 additional lightning damage and is knocked down. This spell has 25% armor penetration and causes Exhaustion." 10 energy. Formerly 5 energy and dealt 14~73 damage but only if you had more energy. Error - 0 additional damage?

Shock - 15~51 damage with knockdown. Skill. 3/4 cast. Formerly a spell that dealt 10~37 damage and "stunned" target foe with a 1 second casting time listed.

Thunderclap {E} - Lose 15~9 energy. Formerly lost 15~7 energy.

Whirlwind - 15~51 damage. 3/4 cast. Formerly 5~47 damage with a 1 second casting time.

Windborne Speed - Move 33% faster. Formerly moved 25% faster.


EARTH

Aftershock, Armor of Earth, Grasping Earth - 3/4 cast. Formerly listed as 1 second casting time.

Grasping Earth - 5 energy. Formerly 15 en.

Ward Against Elements, Ward Against Foes, Ward Against Melee - 1 cast, 20 recharge. Formerly 3 second casting and 30 second recharge times.

Crystal Wave - 10~82 damage. 3/4 cast. Formerly 14~83 damage and listed as 1 second casting time.

Iron Mist - Target moves 90% slower. Formerly 66%.

Obsidian Flame - 22~94 damage. 5 energy. Formerly 20~94 damage and 10 energy cost.

Obsidian Flesh {E} - Now reads, "For 8~18 seconds, you gain +20 armor and cannot be the target of enemey spells, but move 50% slower." Formerly merely "reduced damage from attacks" and "move more slowly".

ENERGY STORAGE

Aura of Restoration - 1/4 cast, 20 recharge. Formerly listed as 1 second casting and 30 second recharge times.

Ether Prodigy {E} - Regeneration of 4 for 10~22 duration. 1 cast. Formerly 5~15 duration of 3 regeneration with a 2 second casting time.

Ether Renewal {E} - Gain 1~4 energy and 5~17 health for each enchantment. Formerly only gained energy.

FIRE

Fireball, Meteor, Meteor Shower, Phoenix, and Rodgort's Invocation - Formely where dealt 20~94 damage now deal 7~91 damage. - 7~91 damage.

Flame Burst - 7~91 damage. 3/4 cast. Formerly 20~94 damage with a 1 second casting time listed.

Flare - 16~40 damage. Formerly 10~39 damage.

Immolate - 5~41 damage. Formerly 2~42.

Inferno - 15~99 damage. 3/4 cast. Formerly 18~100 damage and a listed casting time of 1 second.

Mind Burn {E} - Now reads "Target foe takes 10~50 fire damage. If you have more energy than target foe, that foe takes an additional 10~50 fire damage and is set on fire for 1~3 seconds. This spell causes exhuastion." 15 energy, 20 recharge. Formerly caused 24~101 damage only when you had more energy and cost 10 energy with a 5 second recharge time.

WATER

Armor of Mist - Now reads "For 8~18 seconds, you gain +10~34 armor and move 33% faster." Formerly prevented you from beign the target of any skills and ended on an attack or skill.

Frozen Burst - 10~70 damage. 3/4 cast. Formerly 10~76 damage and a 1 second casting time listed.

Ice Spear - 10~46 damage. Formerly 5~28 damage.

Mind Freeze {E} - Target foe suffers 10~34 damage. If you have more energy than target foe, that foe suffers an additional 10~34 damage and moves 50% slower for 2~5 seconds. This spell causes exhaustion. 20 recharge. Formerly caused 14~83 damage and slow only when you had more energy with a 15 second recharge time.

Mist Form {E} - Cannot take or deal damage from attacks. Formerly limited to physical damage.

Rust - Now reads "For 6~35 seconds, target foe and all adjacent foes take 3 times as long to activate signet rings." Formerly only affected target foe.

Swirling Aura - 8~18 duration. Formerly 5~10 second duration.

Ward Against Harm {E} - 1 cast, 20 recharge. Formerly 3 second casting and 30 second recharge times.

----------

There are also some changes which aren't apparent in skill descriptions :

Conjures - Only work with a weapon with same elemental type.

Some increased AoE - Putrid Explosion, others?

Lightning Damage spells now list 25% armor penetration rather than it being hidden- Chain Lightning, Enervating Charge, Lightning Javelin, Lightning Orb, Lightning Strike, Lightning Touch, Mind Shock, Shock.

Mind...Something Elementals - Deal half damage when you have less energy and double damage with a side-effect when you have more now.

Orders - now work on physical damage only.

Several touch range spells turned into skills.

Interesting to note that a lot of damage ranges were tweaked slightly. Seems a lot were simplified so there's little rounding but not all of them.

Bump because all the skills should be updated now. The list of what got changed is exactly one post above this one.

Also, since *someone* managed to look ove all 450+ skills and all 450+ skill pages here at the Guru to make sure everythign was accurate, here's a list of puzzling things I encountered. You can bug them or send them to the text correctors or whatever you wish because, for me, it's Miller time (followed shortly by drunken pwnage time)...

Skills which say they're linked but have no variables listed, meaning they're most likely unlinked - Balthazar's Spirit, Dark Fury, Defensive Stance, Hammer Bash, Penetrating Blow, Plague Sending

Oath Shot is listed under Expertise but tied to Marksmanship.

Typos :
Consume Corpse - "corpses location" instead of "corpse's location".
Lightning Touch - Typo - "this spell" instead of "this skill"
Necrotic Traversal - "corpses locations" instead of "corpe's location".
Thrill of Victory - "then" instead of "than".

Also, on Thrill of Victory the damage is a green variable but no linked attribute means you'll never be able to raise it, so it's really flat.

And finally, Mind Shock says it does a flat 0 additional damage to targets with less energy, although you do get that all-important knockdown!

Thanks Saus. Consolidation, and more importantly, site updaing all of that is major to me, and likely others.

Major kudos, knock one of those back on me.

You don't have to ask twice! Bartender, another, and make it a double! I've got a *duty* to get piss drunk now.

Seriously, if you spot anything we've missed (and there was more involved to updated things than just me. THX, Spooky, and others are hard at work updating things. Witness the New Players section or Freyas starting this thread right off the bat to get the word out there. I'm far from alone in thing here, so all credit due to eveyrone else helping to make things here possible.) we want to know about it so we can make sure we're as accurate and detailed as possible. IF you use a skill and the description is off, let us know. If you find there's something about a skill not mentioned in the description, let us know. We don't stand still here, we're always trying to update and improve.

And, for that matter, here's a table of what should be the approximate blood costs of the new percentile based sacrificial Necromancer skills - I can't claim to have tried out each and every data point, but it should be fairly close -as you can see, most sills actually got a bit more costly for people to use and now there's no easy way around it. Remember, kids, Scourge Sacrifice is your friend and a boot to the face of any Necro.

Well, to let everyone know, it looks like with the removal of the charm system ArenaNet has put in the effort to try to make all of the skills available via trainers. We're working on getting the pages on the site updated to show what all is acquireable where, but if you're looking for those nifty skills that have been unavailable except from the exotic charm trader in the past, you might want to check out the skill trainers in the outposts on the western half of the world(Temple of the Ages, Quarrel Falls, Ventari's Refuge, etc). After popping into several of them with my characters, they all have several(4-5 or more) new skills for each profession.

The Isle of the dead map has a huge area of tar in the flag stand area. Your flag runner better have Sprint or somthing similar.

I may be wrong but I think Expertise now does 4% per a point rather then the 5% you have listed on the site

Another change: with attribute points, when leveling up, you now get 5 per level from 1-10, 10 per level from 11-15, and 20 per level from 16-20. The way it used to be, you got 5 per level until 15, then 25 per level until 20. This makes it much nicer for level 11-15 characters, who can now afford to boost attributes more than once every 2-3 levels now!

You're right. It's 4% and affects attack skills, shouts, stances, preparations, traps, and glyphs (Basically everything that's not a "spell" or a "skill", it used to affect Rituals but I'm not sure now that rituals have been changed, anybody out there know?). Some parts of this site probably have it listed incorrectly as they were written when it *was* 5% and we need to update them. Although you can find the accurate costs for things here.

not sure if these were mentioned:

maximum attribute refund points are now at 24 instead of 10

pet death penalty is back at 5% (although you do not receive death penalties during the pre-searing tutorial)

But we are allowed to talk about content in BWE and the skill list is identical to the one on Dev server at the time of BWE.

As an IW mesmer for the last 3 BWE's I second this. With 100 blades and the right build you could put together an IW build that could easily take on 2 warriors at the same time and win. That's much harder if not impossible to do now.

Still good for anti caster though which is what I think the purpose of IW was in the first place.