Curse

Liquidius · Jan 23, 2007, 10:21 AM // 10:21

Condition change: weakness
Makes it a condition that all classes have to worry about a nice change but it messes with requirements of weapons and on some chars (ranger and assassin) with their energy management

Skill Change: Splinter and nightmare weapon
Great changes gives new applications and is of greater use to secondary rits (can u say Barrage?)

Skill change malaise and wither
Like the changes on them used to be way over powered (esp. in RA and TA)

Skill Changes: General Necro
Damage increases seem to be uncalled for esp if weekness is to be changed to the -1 attribute level

Skill Change: Divert Hexes
casting time increase is uncalled for and is easily interruptable esp. by the mesmers that are hexing giving them a great advantage over the monks using this skill

Skill Change: Hard rezes
Like the decreased cast time, but the long recharges seem to be uncalled for

Skill Change: trappers speed
Liked the increase so now it can be constantly upkept

Skill change: antidote sig
good change with the reduced cast time, but still useless (maybe if it removed say weekness?)

Skill Change: ranger class in general
changed a bunch of useless skills to make them less useless but still not worthy of placing in a skill bar
Suggestions: change punishing shot either increase damage or reduce energy cost to 5 or lower the recharge, make Melandru's arrows last 24 seconds

Skill change: sympathetic visage and ancestor's visage
keep them the same as they used to be no need to waste more energy to constantly upkeep them

Skill Change:Gladiator's defense
keep skill as it used to be new change makes it better for a constant up keep, but it wont take the pressure of the monks like it used to

Skill Change: Paragon class
...for the love of god unerf it, lessend the healing and damage reducing capabilities while increasing the damage output, effectively nerfing 1/2 of the paragons skill set, fix so they can actually benefit the team instead of being a wannabe ranger

Skill Change: mind freeze
increased slow duration lasts too long maybe 1...8 seconds

Gun Pierson · Jan 23, 2007, 11:00 AM // 11:00

Skill Name: Shield of Absorption
Impression: leave the skill as it was. The 1 sec casting time has almost no effect in pvp, but hurts pve.

Skill Name: Signet of judgement
Impression: Better, it's at the same casting time as bane signet now and that was needed as the 2 secs casting time was often too long. Smiting in general could use some more damage output.

NeHoMaR · Jan 23, 2007, 11:06 AM // 11:06

- Shield of Absorption: A fast look at Protection Prayers, and all useful skills are fast-casting, excluding Guardian that IMO should be faster too. I am not farmer, I play PvP 90% of the time; Anyway, farm "a little" could be funny, you know, when you need to buy something, or just for fun. The only reason I could think why is 1 second cast time is prevent farming, I don't see how is this decision balancing PvP at all, could someone tell me? Are not this test weekend for balance skills thinking in PvP?

This is my suggestion about Shield of Absorption:
For 2...8 seconds, damage received by target ally is reduced by 5 each time that ally is hit while under the effects of this enchantment. Cast time: 1/4 or 1/2 second. Cost: 5 or 10 energy. Recharge: 5 to 8 seconds.

- Searing Flames/Glowing Gaze combo: Even when I LOVE that combo for my own use in PvP/PvE, I think even with the skill change, that combo is still overpowered.

- Vengeance: 15% damage buff to the target? why not add also 25% attack speed and 25% run speed? and what about Unyielding Aura, is an elite!

- About Paragons: Thanks for the decreased healing, still overpowered, IMO the heal should be like Heal Party 16...67, I don't think people will stop playing paragons even with 16...67 healing (could be fixed to 25...70)

- About Ritualists: I think they should be buffed a lot more in the direct damage skills, like adding: You make 25% more damage with two or less spirit in the area, etc. I think the balance should help in the popularity of NO spirit spammer Ritualists.

Pandora's box · Jan 23, 2007, 04:04 PM // 16:04

Paragon - general: Team-shouts and -chants should be better. Its the main benefit to use a Paragon in a team. Otherwise it would become a useless class.

Shield of absorbtion: Casting time should be <1 second. 3/4 at most.

Narcism · Jan 23, 2007, 04:40 PM // 16:40

SoA isn't about being alike to other prot prayers.
55 Monks use it like mad, and it's not uncommon for guilds to have 2 copies of SoA. I refuse to believe people exist that think the original SoA was balanced.

in PvP, the best way I can generalize is.. 1/4 cast = proactive and reactive. 1 cast = proactive.

Barbus · Jan 23, 2007, 04:43 PM // 16:43

Main Changes should be to the following skills:

Avatar Of grenth: Still overpowered, devish needs to lose energy for enchantment removed.
Spiritual Pain: kinda useless now should have a lower recharge or just leave it as before but lower the dmg it deals.
Jagged Bones: Total Rework or give it a higher recharge.
Rampage As One: If kept with this change the energy should be lowered a bit.
Blades of Steel: to much dmg.
Mantra Of Recovery: will make diversion the metagame of GvG.
Splinter Weapon: the damage needs to be cut down.
Steady Stance: must have a higher recharge, as well as longer duration.
Energy surge: should have not been changed at all.
Gladiator Defence: never needed a change, main use was pve, now useless elite.
Wild Blow: needs a higher recharge as it is abused by dervishes.
Glimmer of Light: need a little buff IMO, as it is not much better than orison of healing.
Distortion: Should go back to what it was.
Water Trident: why not make the cast time lower also.
Decapitate: Lose either energy or adrenaline not both, and upper the adrenaline cost for the skill.
Protective Bond: should be reworked.

Kratos Angel · Jan 23, 2007, 04:44 PM // 16:44

Well, Shield of ABsorption : actually one of the only skills that can save you for wild spikes o_O, prot spirit and bond being often too "weak" on a longer spike. It is a nice "energy management" too, as you can save a bit your mana when your target is being attacked, it should not be nerfed, 10 sec reload is already a good way to reduce his power

Searing Flame + GG : Still not enough, area of SF should be reduced imo

Vengeance : still a useless skill, too much reload lol

Parangons : Nice way to buff damage, however just take a look to turkish elite in gvg or other guidls in hoh like Clan Detained, using spike parangon, need to buff "Shield's up" reload in this way

Ritualists: I hope the elite skill will stay at 5% AP, otherwise, you'll see many spike Rt

Warriors : WOW power attack, Stefan's favourite skill, is too much overpowered ~+30 damage with only 10 in strenght, for 2 sec reload, it's the same in axe for 14 points o_O, however stance changes are nice

Eles : I would say all is ok, for now at least, to be watched however

Necros : Ok for hexes, very nice, however, buff some hex removals (non elites of course)

Mesmers : Nice ideas, especially on MoR, it will help for e.m too

Dervich : Avatar of Grenth is really GODMODE, defintely need to be fixed, just add a sacrifice of energy, sacrifice of health wouldn't be enough

doomfodder · Jan 23, 2007, 04:45 PM // 16:45

skill: Energy Surge
impressions: bad nerf... E surge already has limited utility, basically at the start of a battle in PvE while foes are bunched. Foes quickly unbunch so AoE damage is lessened. Also E surge will do VERY little AoE damage when the foe has little E. Using a hanakus focus & wingstorm (40/40 dom set) combined with archane echo a Mes is lucky to get 3 Esurges in 20 sec. Mes already have difficulty getting on teams in PvE beacuse they don't have many DPS opportunities. I think this nerf lowers the value of mes will get onto PvE pick up teams that need AoE. If the AoE range stays reduced, I recommend that the damage be increased accordingly or change so that damage is sustained even when foe energy is low. I suppose that the change was made to reduce the damage PvE foes inflict on allys...

Narcism · Jan 23, 2007, 05:14 PM // 17:14

-Armor ignoring
-Range
-No LoS/can't be dodged.
-Low Cost
-Low Recharge
-Favorable Attribute Line
-Favorable Secondary Effect (edenial)

Valindria Salias · Jan 23, 2007, 05:22 PM // 17:22

I did not read others comments and for that I am sorry. The following is what I experienced with the changes this weekend (PvE only).

---Mesmer---
Skill Name: Mantra of Recovery
Impressions: Perfect change. This makes the elite worth using. Prior it was hard on energy to use.

Skill Name: Energy Surge
Impressions: I'm not a fan of the changes, but I could live with it.

Skill Name: Spiritual Pain
Impressions: I liked the old way better. The damage to target nerf is ok, but I like the non-conditional AoE better.

Skill Name: Thievery (all 3)
Impressions: Better but it could be too much for a PvP setting.

Skill Name: Unnatural Signet
Impressions: Better

---Paragon---
Skill Name: "Stand Your Ground!"
Impressions: Overly Nerfed! I liked armor bonus to NPCs and low energy cost. Improved armor helps with missions where you are requred to keep an npc alive.

Skill Name: Song of Restoration
Impressions: Overly nerfed.

Generally with the Paragon I liked the skills better before. I will take more healing with longer recharges of attacks (Slayers, Vicious, etc). While I like doing more damage I usually think of paragon most as support, and would like to see the skills stay that way.

---Necro---
Skill Name: Chilblains
Impressions: This skill is overpowered for PvE.

---General---
Weakness now causes -1 to all attributes.
Impressions: Overly nerfed! This could mean you fail reqs for armor/items while suffering from this condition.

Thank you for asking for feedback.

reverend moonie · Jan 23, 2007, 05:34 PM // 17:34

skill name....beguiling haze.....love it...way too over powerd

soli · Jan 23, 2007, 05:47 PM // 17:47

-- Paragon --

Quote:

Skill Name: "Stand Your Ground!"
Impressions: Overly Nerfed! I liked armor bonus to NPCs and low energy cost. Improved armor helps with missions where you are requred to keep an npc alive.

Skill Name: Song of Restoration
Impressions: Overly nerfed.

Generally with the Paragon I liked the skills better before. I will take more healing with longer recharges of attacks (Slayers, Vicious, etc). While I like doing more damage I usually think of paragon most as support, and would like to see the skills stay that way.

same for me !

-- Ritualist --
Spirit Rift: -> great changes
Bloodsong: -> great changes
Weapon of Quickening: -> great changes
Splinter Weapon: -> great changes
Destruction: -> great changes
Flesh of my Flesh: -> great changes

- thank you for a great game

-

YukiShinzo · Jan 23, 2007, 05:54 PM // 17:54

rits: the more you buff, the more ridiculous they will become

monk:
-Shield Of Absorption: 1 sec cast time maybe too much. Increase recharge time if anything.
-Shielding Hands: I miss the 15 sec recharge already =*(
-Divert Hexes: Increase the recharge time if your still thinking about balancing it.

ele:
-Searing Flames: Even with the decreased duration of burn, this spell is still unbalanced. I suggest decreasing the AoE or even making it "target foe"

Thomas.knbk · Jan 23, 2007, 05:58 PM // 17:58

First of all, I'd like arenanet to read this thread. Team-iQ.net is not on the fansite forum listing, but some really good things are said in here. (and on the forum in general)

As for the skill changes:

Feigned Neutrality
Good Change. Now you can't keep it up permanently with Deadly Paradox with moderate atrribute investment. I would've liked a change to DP more (let the reduction scale with attribute), but this is OK

Shadow of Haste
OMGOMG ANET NERFED FARMING (lol)
Was needed as well. Ganking with this was overpowered. Good Change.

Beguiling Haze
An unconditional daze every 20 seconds with a shadow step built in is asking to be used in a spike. I have yet to test it, but this could very well be overpowered.

Ebon Dust Aura/Harrier's Grasp
Both good changes. Those skills were very strong with hardly any investment (though they were stronger with investment), and now they scale which makes them less strong.

Searing Flames
Good. This was exactly what this skill needed.

Glowing Gaze
A nerf on this was not needed. The combination of SF/GG was overpowered in certain situations, but you already nerfed SF so I don't think GG needed to be changed.
GG is an extremely nice skill which makes the entire fire line much, much stronger. With the buff to immolate fire could've been a viable line in PvP but this nerf deletes fire from the scene once again.

Eruption
this is insane in HA. It's a dust trap, but you can cast it on someone.

Blinding Surge
Overnerf. I like the option to remove AoE blind better.

Energy Surge
Why was this suddenly imbalanced? It's been fine since prophecies first came out, and I haven't seen Nightfall introduce any builds that heavily abused it.

Mantra of Recovery
As much as I enjoyed playing a mesmer this weekend, Diversion spam with this is insane. Energy is not an issue, because you've got a power drain that recharges in 12 seconds. I hate to say it, but I think it should have a downtime with less that 11-12 fast casting.

Power Block
Love it in HA. in GvG people are often not centred around one attribute to let this skill actually make a difference, but a WoH or an RC is often completely removed from the game if you use this.

Rebirth
I think it's bugged now. When I use it I seem to lose all energy (lol)

Hard resses in general
Good. This may open them up to other options than Glyph of Sacrifice/hard res.

Balthazar's Pendulum
Nothing will ever make this skill see play. It's hopeless

Shield of Absorption/ Shielding Hands
Nice. The two are comparable now and have their own strengths and weaknesses. SoA is still godmode, but at least it's not an uninterruptable godmode anymore.

Shield of Deflection
Finally. About time.

Shield of Regenration
Still an elite Healing Breeze. Healing Breeze is a bad skill to begin with, and I'm not gonna pay 5 energy+my elite slot for a side effect of 40 armor. It's a start, but this skill is still far from competitive.

Vengeace
A skill that gets owned so hard by enchant removal should have a stronger side effect.

Word of Healing
Good. I've been wanting this exact change for a long time.

Depravity
Look at this in a pure hex build. It's insane.

Rend Enchantments
It's still a huge health sac. Not too impressed.

Insidious Parasite
Once again, look at this in a pure hex build. (the only way you should look at any hex really, very few exeptions)

Wither/Malaise
I like the fact that focus swapping them off now comes at a price, but I doubt -1 regen is enough to devote your elite slot to it.

Rampage as One
This is a beast on your energy now. It's almost imossible to keep it up permanently.

Critical Chop
While this was admittedly too strong in an adrenaline spike build, this nerf is going to keep it. Restore dmg to former value but keep 15 sec recharge imo.

Power Attack
I'll have to stop laughing at wammos. Good one.

Stances
Good. If adrenaline spike stays the metagame (which it will most likely not, but if) we're gonna see a lot of Mo/W's.

You're All Alone
this would've been overpowered with the new weakness. It's still an incredibly strong skill, but not as almighty as it was.

Overall I'd like to say Good Job Anet

EDIT:

I almost forgot to be negative
JAGGED BONES
Where is the change to Jagged Bones? It's been f'ing up HA (and GvG, though less) for quite some time now, and instead of nerfing it into oblivion you decide to BUFF it with new hexes?
Anyway, read the thread at the top of my post for some exellent suggestions

EDIT II
Immobility was the biggest problem of ritualists. The 'within earshot' change reduced this problem a great bit. (though admittedly not entirely). GJ Anet

clawofcrimson · Jan 23, 2007, 06:04 PM // 18:04

please understand that my input is from an AB,RA,TA and pve perspective

[card]Aria of Restoration[/card]: (and all the motivation nerfs)
-although a minute change not sure why these were lowered... the healing power of the paragon isnt that great anyway

[card]Mighty Throw[/card]:
-excellent change... this was getting no use because of the casting time... i would love to see the adr req. increased for some high damage spike power

[card]"Stand Your Ground!"[/card]:
-one of the benefits of the paragon class is that it can support other allies not in its party...why limit this?

~~suggested change: perhapse you could make the paragons primary attribute affect the amount affected by a shout, or remove these effects from minions,npc depending where the problem is

[card]Wearying Spear[/card]:
~~~suggestion: I would rather pump up the damage and increase the weary

skills that should have been adjusted imho

[card]"help me!"[/card]
~~~suggestion: change to "help us" and let it effect party. this skill is useless as is

[card]"the power is yours!"[/card]
~~~suggestion: take off elite status or buff the gain and lower the amount of time without energy

~~~ASSASIN~~~~

[card]shadow of haste[/card]
-needed the nerf...but now it is annoying to be warped back without being able to cancel it out with itself (without 16 in shadow step).... lower the recharge please

[card]beguiling haze[/card]
-its now an awesome skill...perhapse even overpowered

lord of shadow · Jan 23, 2007, 06:04 PM // 18:04

Purely PvP perspective

Avatars in general: Not enough done
I really liked the way that these were dealt with (recharge making them dangerous to use in the frontline because of interrupts). While the concept was sound dervishes are still able to put avatars up before engaging, meaning little has changed.

Suggestion:
60s disable on avatars but halved duration. This will mean that dervishes will have to withdraw more frequently, meaning it actually makes a difference.

Shield of Absorption
For a skill that was especially good at punishing one dimensional play through a faliure to target switch i feel this was a bit strong.

Suggestion:
It not working as a reactional skill is fine, but i think an extra second on the duration or a 3/4 cast would help this skill

Reaper's Mark
The nerf to this was a joke, nobody used it because of the energy gain.

Rampage as one
Overnerf here, it was too good before, but there is very little reason to run it now.

Suggestion
15s recharge and a corresponding duration adjustment would bring it up to scratch

Jagged Bones
How on earth could you not touch this skill?

Suggestion
Jagged horrors do not give soul reaping when they die.

Alias Thrasher · Jan 23, 2007, 06:09 PM // 18:09

Spiritual Pain

There is only one reasonable explanation as to why this skill needs to be changed it is because for many reasons it was too powerful of a spike. Was it a good skill for the mesmer class in general the way it was? Absolutely. Is it right that the skill should be changed because what I agree is cheap and abusive use by spike teams thereby ruining the skill for the many other things that it was good for in pvp as well as pve aside from spiking? FLAT OUT NO. Wrong or right with the current state of the game the skill has to change so my proposal for change would be

1) Best Option in my opinion: use the game mechanics to somhow prevent the skill from being abused by spike teams, or reduce the damage by 50% from its original form if used in a spike while keeping the skill the way it was if not used for spiking.
>add a function to many powerful skill descriptions including this one that says "skill can not be used in a spike." Or maybe somthing like "if skill is used in a spike all damage is reduced by 33%" (spike being cast by more than 1 person against a single target within a certain time frame)

2) If that is not possible, change the skill in the following ways from its original form.
>reduce damg of the skill to around 85 but add a condition that adds 20 extra damage if IN THE AREA of a spirt, get rid of within earshot.
>Keep the AOE damage the same but make it apply to spirits only.
>Keep the instant recharge if the target is in the area of a spirit.

GloryFox · Jan 23, 2007, 06:36 PM // 18:36

My response is only to skill changes I strongly disagree with.

Assassin
· Assassin's Remedy:
Keep as is please, don’t limit this to the next “X” number of skills.
· Sharpen Daggers:
Please leave this skill alone as the Critical Barrage is a legitimate build for many Assassins just trying to get through the PvE area of Factions.

Elementalist
· Eruption:
Instead of blindness being placed on each pulse for 10 seconds make the Blindness conditional to the Earth attribute score.

Paragon
· Aria of Restoration:
I think your jumping the gun a bit since the healing is conditional.
· Aria of Zeal: decreased Energy gained to 1..6.
I think your jumping the gun again since the energy is conditional.
· Ballad of Restoration:
Nothing wrong or unbalanced with this skill.
· Chorus of Restoration:
Nothing wrong or unbalanced with this skill.
· Hexbreaker Aria:
Instead of increasing the casting time to “X” amount of time. Give this skill duration of “2-10” based on the leadership attribute. In this way its not a good party hex removal for secondary paragons.
· Mighty Throw:
Try one second instead of two.
· Song of Restoration:
This ELITE skill is just fine as is please leave the Motivation Skill line alone. Allow people to come up with their own counters. I don't think you have given the public enough time to come up with a counter. Please don't do to the Paragon what you did to the Ritual Lord build.

Ritualist
· Anguished Was Lingwah:
The buffs are fine try moving this skill instead of Bloodsong to the channeling attribute.
· Bloodsong:
Energy cost should stay at 15, decrease the skill casting time to 3 and please leave in the communing attribute.
· Brutal Weapon:
You might consider moving this skill to Channeling to buff the damage skills of the channeling attribute.
· Destructive Was Glaive:
Please don’t make Channelers compete with Elementalists in the lighting attribute. How about changeing the damage to dark damage instead?
· Displacement:
Bad idea as the skill was fine as is. The amount of health it loses more than satisfies its duration.
· Offering of Spirit:
Keep the 17% sacrifice and move this skill to the Communing area or even Spawning Power as it makes more sense and might get used more often.
· Signet of Ghostly Might:
Instead of increasing the damage how about increasing the duration since the damage is only good for about 4-5 attacks anyways.
· Signet of Spirits:
How about moving this skill to Spawning Power or Communing Attribute instead. It would make sense since there are few Spirits needed in the Channeling attribute. Destruction + Signet of Creation more than makes up for Channeling skills requiring spirits.

Cirian · Jan 23, 2007, 06:55 PM // 18:55

Ritualist

All spells changed to “within earshot of a spirit.”
Greatly aides spirit use, excellent.
Bloodsong: decreased Energy cost to 5, decreased casting time to 3 seconds, decreased recharge time to 30 seconds. Skill moved to the Channeling Attribute.
I love the move to chanelling - a self-healing vampiric spirit that fits well with the chanelling theme of nightmare weapon, and provides a good source of life for Gaze from Beyond and Spirit Transfer. The communers could do with an affordable replacement though... Anguish reduced to 15e for example.
Brutal Weapon: increased duration 5..35.
I like it.
Death Pact Signet: changed to: “Resurrect target party member with your current Health and Energy. If that party member dies within 120 seconds, so do you.”
I love this, but 60s would be more tempting - if people don't start taking this, just keep dropping the timer until they do!

Destruction: decreased Energy cost to 5, decreased recharge time to 15.
Great!
Empowerment: decreased recharge time to 30 seconds.
It's just not that great. If it were on a 5-10s recast and was just fodder for Spawning spells that sacrificed a spirit, then it'd be interesting.
Explosive Growth: decreased Energy cost to 5 Energy.
More minion bombing goodness, I like it.
Flesh of My Flesh: decreased casting time to 4 seconds.
Very nice indeed - still my rez of choice.
Gaze from Beyond: decreased the amount of Health lost to 10..30, increased damage done per Health lost to 4.
Excellent with the move of Bloodsong, which heals itself!
Grasping Was Kuurong: decreased casting time to 1 second, decreased recharge time to 20 seconds.
A good spell with armour-bypassing damage and KD there.
Guided Weapon: reduced recharge time to 5 seconds.
A very nice buff to have..!
Lamentation: decreased recharge time to 20 seconds.
The damage looks great, but the timer still keeps me away. 10s?

Life: decreased recharge time to 20 seconds, decreased duration to 20 seconds, increased healing-per-second it was alive to 1..7.
I like the quicker recast, it makes it more mobile. I'd prefer 30s duration, 10s recast though for more convenient timings.
Mighty Was Vorizun: increased Energy gained to 30.
I like this more now, if I need a bigger mana pool this is how to get it. Works well with herald insignias too.
Nightmare Weapon: now works on the next 2..5 attacks.
Too good on multi-hit attack skills. It should only add to the first attack in a multi-hit, so the effect comes out over consecutive attacks rather than in one big spike. I really love the idea of the effect lasting for up to 5 attacks though. It's also possible to combine this with Wielder's Boon now, definately worth taking it.
Preservation: decreased recharge time to 20 seconds, increased duration to 90 seconds.
The randomness is a pain still, but it's very efficient.
Protective Was Kaolai: now adds 24 armor when held, and heals the party for 10..85 when dropped.
Awesome, really good change. A recast in hand for a double-drop makes for some nice party heals indeed, and the initial armour boost is great too.
Resilient Weapon: decreased Energy cost to 5.
Didn't see the change in game, but it would be an even better pressure sponge than it is now.
Spirit Light: increased healing to 60..180.
Very powerful if there's a spirit, still ok if there isn't. I like it.
Spirit Rift: decreased Energy cost to 10, decreased casting time to 1 second.
Good fun to use

Splinter Weapon: now works on the next 1..5 attacks.
Great, but it has the same issues as Nightmare Weapon.
Tranquil Was Tanasen: decreased casting time to 1 second.
Much nicer now that this anti-interrupt skill doesn't have a 3s cast - oh the irony of it all

Vital Weapon: decreased recharge time to 2 seconds, increased duration to 15..45 seconds.
A great companion to Wielder's Boon. Good!
Wailing Weapon: decreased Energy cost to 5.
A very cool skill and now very affordable too.
Warmonger's Weapon: decreased Energy cost to 10.
I never thought this incredible skill would be buffed, but here we are.
Weapon of Fury: increased duration to 5..20.
Weapon of Quickening: increased recharge bonus to 33%.
Weapon of Shadow: increased Blindness duration to 5 seconds, decreased recharge time to 20 seconds.
These skills look good, but niche - but only because I'd pick other skills first most of the time. They do look ok.
Weapon of Warding: decreased casting time to 1 second.
Delivers protection in good time now, excellent.
Wielder's Boon: decreased casting time to .25 seconds.
1/4s cast is an excellent change that makes setting up a weapon spell first less of a problem. Plus it makes a great reflex heal.

So overall, I really like most of the changes. Some skills are a bit broken in their current form though, as noted above.

- Cirian.

Haijiibirdhead · Jan 23, 2007, 08:38 PM // 20:38

Skill Name: Rampage as One

Impressions: A Nerf was probably needed , but this is too far imo. While it is possible to use with a TON of expertise and a zealous weapon , its too fragile now imo , any kind of energy denial and it breaks down , This skill wont be used in PvP - or PvE It adds the final nail in the coffin for proper Beastmasters. Not all of us in Guild Wars are Thumpers. It needs to be nerfed for them , but also left not as not just viable , but good for proper beastmasters , as it is an elite skill after all.

Skill Name: The Avatar of Grenth.
Impressions: Horribly Broken, When I look at observer mode , i see every team with an Acolyte of Grenth dervish on their side,

Every

Last

One.

I think a good way to tone this down would be to get rid of the guaranteed critical hit that Wild blow etc gives. Otherwise its just free for all enchant stripping insanity.

Skill Name: Splinter Weapon.
Impressions: I think this is a good buff and I disagree that this is too powerful on multi attack skills , as really they arent used that sucessfully in PvP where people tend not to fight adjacent to each other anyway.

Skill Name: Charm Animal/ Comfort Animal
Impressions: Previous posters speak for me also, I would like to see these two skills merged. A quarter of your skill bar wasted on just carrying a pet, is another reason why using your pet as the designers originaly intended and (not as minion food / a sheild) is fubar. (Does this suit the backstory of a Ranger and her beloved animal companion to you?). Reducing The pet to the level of a minion all the time is why true beastmastery is pretty dead.

Skill Name: Antidote Signet.
Impressions: A useless skill and a useless buff. The inherent flaw in this skill simply isnt in its energy cost or its duration so much , but simply what it cures , and more importantly what it DOESNT cure like weakness and/or cripple. Which is why this skill will never ever see play. Regardless of how short you make the charge/ recharge.

Skill Name: Power Shot.
Impressions: This needs to be brought up to the same level as The warrior's power attack. The skill is deadweight when compared to penetrating shot. If you change power attack , then power shot must change accordingly imo.

Skill name - Searing Flames.
Impressions: Its ok as it is now. Any more change an you will start to seriously hurt PvE players in the toughest areas. You cannot just decrease the powers of the main team build for the Domain of Anguish Elite area because of a few complaining PvP 'ers, Not while leaving the monsters at the same level of power. Or else it will make completing the area either extremely wearisome or indeed , nigh on impossible.

Glowing Gaze- If you lengthen the recharge time to prevent prolonged spiking damage with it , then the energy regain needs to be increased too.

Skill Name: Warrior stances.
Impressions: Just No, Doesnt work. Warriors cant afford to be paying for "on demand" , yet energy hogging stances , and Gladiators defence with a 5 second duration is pretty laughable.