Curse

FoxBat · Jun 13, 2007, 03:34 PM // 15:34

I think at the least, Anet has shown once and for all that "dumb, passive play" is fine as a competitive option. As Ensign would call it, a variety of play including some very shallow archetypes is actually what they intended to do with nightfall. They only bother to nerf things that seem overused. Ritspike is an insanse, stupid spike, but everyone and their dog stopped running it once it started taking minimal coordination. SF spam is mindless, but is only particularly effective on a few maps. Hexes demolish melee presssure but as far as I can tell from observer, people have brought enough hex-hate and caster-spike-ish builds that hexes are less common and successful. It's still a meta warped by the power of hexes, but not one where hexes are the only things winning, thus they are "OK" balance-wise.

I think they must have M:TG in mind as a model here. 40+ viable Type 2 archetypes, 35 of which take minimal skill to play.

linh · Jun 13, 2007, 03:38 PM // 15:38

An expected update comes with little to nothing big useful. ATS feels like in beta, people complains about high require for ATS, but that ATS change is insane.
They try to push Hero Battle so hard ( even make player profile with first person is HB player), but then do hardly anything to improve it, while everyone can see it is so broken and boring.
Seriously, I feel like ANet totally gets lost and doesn't know what to do now. They can't decide which is priority, which is need to invest time and effort to improve and keep players to the game.

Retribution X · Jun 13, 2007, 03:54 PM // 15:54

Heh.

Melee hexes are being monitored? They were last year too. wow. we feel special...

Recall, hmm, lets nerf the crap out of it, so it will be a skill nobody ever uses, instead of making it an elite, as it should be.

Searing flames, Well, it's supposed to make big numbers over the targets head! It's perfectly fine! It makes things go boom, and we like it that way!

shadow prison is overpowered, so lets nerf one if the skills they run the build with, but we'll keep the recharge pretty short.

Smiting prayers suck, so lets reduce the cast time...

If I got anything wrong, Call me. 1-800-Nerfnow...

Despozblehero · Jun 13, 2007, 04:20 PM // 16:20

I cannot believe rit spike isnt being dealt with in any way... a simple skill balance could make HA more bearable until somethings done about killcount. This "skill balance" isnt it. I was so hoping for HA to be based on some skill again. It was so easy to remove, and only maybe one of those skills/builds that annoy, umm anyone with even a minor level of skill, was addressed.

Aragiel Cz · Jun 13, 2007, 04:29 PM // 16:29

Well.. actually the biggest issue is in AT´s
First idea was to reduce smurfing... and now we will see a lot of smurf guilds in AT. gg Anet.. again. I thing that they still dont know where the problem is and why guilds are not playing AT´s. It is simple.. because of time... 5,5hours online is for hardcore players only.. normal player is online every day let say for 2-3hours? And second problem who will play at midnight?

Probably half of players what i know are looking for new game.. so maybe is really time to quit with GW.. it was fun but it seems end is comming quickly

Lorekeeper · Jun 13, 2007, 05:50 PM // 17:50

LOL @ Ensign's post.

Its quite a humorous yet poignant representation of how I and probably most PvPer's feel when they look over these ''balances''.

I like the following changes for the following reasons.

@ Soul Reaping - I think this change goes a very long way in getting rid of the Necro backlines in HA and GvG that rely on spirits being spammed by allies. Now that necros can only gain energy from spirits they control... this is no longer a viable tactic. I have a little sympathy for those who liked this tactic as an alternative to the mainstream monk backlines but in terms of what is 'best' for the game all I have to say to these players is ''learn how to monk now''.

@ Recall - Makes the annoying recall gank much harder and possibly impossible to pull off as effectively. Recall gankers will have to anchor the recall on one of the gankers with the ability to escape well... and to wait for him to withdraw to a safe position before recalling out of harm. I think limiting the recall gank to this tactic makes it far more manageable for the average defensive split than before when the recall gankers could teleport back to the flagstand and create a 8vs5 situation.

@ Expose defenses - its a nice nerf, balances the recharge alongside hex removal recharges. Not sure it was THAT necessary since assas already got quite a big nerf in the last balance update and in conjunction with the recall nerf this makes assa ganks quite significantly more difficult to pull off.

@ Armour buff stacking limit - This is a much needed nerf, it is most relevant to the builds which contain mainly Warrior and Paragons using multiple armour buffs raising their armour levels to over 110-120 each. At this level physical dmg becomes obsolete and pressure becomes negligable.

What could have been done as an alternative would be to add debuffs if armour buffs reach a certain point on certain classes. For example... if a warrior gets armour buffed above 110 or 120 his movement speed is reduced by 5-15%. If a caster gets armour buffed 30-40 above his natural armour level spells take xx% longer to cast. Not so sure about the specific numbers but this kind of cost benefit mechanism would be interesting maybe.

I have concerns for the PvE side of the game, in many areas armour buffed tanks are relied upon in order to soak up the high dmg found in hard mode... dolyak signet alone MIGHT not be adequate. Will have to wait and see if the PvE'ers complain.

@ Mesmer changes (Interrupts) - very good buff... the game lacked a range of counters to the paragons buffs. Only way to counter them was to

1) bring vocal minority and therefore run a hex build to cover it
2) interrupt chants with a ranger or with a limited amount of mesmer skills like Pd or cry
3) kill para

now at least we have a wider selection of interrupts meaning we can more reliably counter paragons without specialising a build to that purpose.

@ Yeti Smash - I have always liked this skill... for the rare times i go PvE... this on a hammer warrior with splinter weapon is so fun! Ive used it a couple of times in HA too for fun.

@ Strength of Honour - hmmm might see some smite bonders being run by the Americans who love their physical dmg builds.

@ Crippling Shot - I have always liked this skill... will be great to see it come back as an alternative to burning arrow. I would like to see it used more in HA too.

@ Weapon of warding - this is now less overpowered if run on rit secondaries now it might be possible to kill flag runners as they approach the stand instead of them being nigh on invincible.

@ Defensive Anthem - This is a good change and bring the skill in line with aegis which also has a 2 second cast. In conjunction with the mesmer interrupt changes this will make dual defensive anthem tank builds less imbalanced.

Things i didnt like

@ Mesmer buffs - illusion skills

Arcane conundrum now affects adjacent foes but with a 20s recharge is this really going to make much difference? In PvE, i supposed mobs do tend to ball up so a well timed casting of this will do wonders against caster mobs. However, in hardmode didnt PvE monsters get a 50% faster cast buff? If so... this might help a little but it wont make a huge impact on the mesmers role in PvE. This is only 1 skill in a skill line that contains mainly Single target spells, With only a couple of AoE spells the illusion line just cant compete with the Elementalist in terms of Mob management.

The clumsiness buff is quite silly imo... im thinking in terms of HA now versus the zaishen. The mesmers are notoriously good at spamming ineptitude and clumsiness on melee characters... ive seen many warriors frenzy themselves to death in my long history in HA. Clumsiness every four seconds... lol
And if 2 or 3 mesmers spawn? /Resign if you run warriors of any kind. 2 mesmers can clumsiness a war every 2 seconds, a 3rd mesmer can make sure a warrior is constantly hitting himself. Imagine what happens if a human team decides to be extremely evil and bring a Manta of Recovery mesmer with clumsiness and signet of clumsiness. Its like choking gas for warriors lol.

Useful in PvE sure... against single targets but mobs of melee char wont be manageable by a clumsiness spammer. Yet in PvP it will be very effective indeed at locking down troublesome melee chars. And its quite uncounterable... apart from diversioning the skill. go go illu mes meta!

@ Spawning Power - I dread to see warmongers weapon with a increased duration. Weapon of warding on a rit primary will be horrible to fight against too.

@ Spiteful Spirit - so when was this needed? We only see 1 elite being run in GvG as it is, if this is being nerfed with regards to PvE since necros now get a more steady stream of energy... think about the impact this will have on PvP. The SS bar is already nrg intensive as it is... and it currently a favoured hex solution to iway and thumperway teams in HA... with steady stance fear me warriors as they are (unnerfed) making the shutdown hexes cost more energy is just a bad idea.

@ Neglected skill balances

steady stance - needs recharge increase or nrg cost increased

searing flames - increase recharge please

Frozen Burst - 1s cast or 12s recharge

Vital Weapon - increase recharge time please and reduce duration

Spirit burn - 10e cost or 10-15s recharge

gasmaskman · Jun 13, 2007, 05:58 PM // 17:58

Absolutely nothing was touched that should've been; ritspike, paraspike (OMGDEFENSIVEANTHEMSCASTTIMEOMG), hexes, assassin spike...then they buff shit like Battle Rage!? Is Izzy this STUPID?!!? Wow, this is the last time. I'm pretty much done with this game. Off to WoW!!!!weeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee eee

Divineshadows · Jun 13, 2007, 06:26 PM // 18:26

I was thinking I might start playing the game again after having read the changes to soul reaping and the buff to crippling shot, but then I read....

Quote:

Originally Posted by Ensign

Expose Defenses has a 15s recharge now.

Thomas.knbk · Jun 13, 2007, 07:09 PM // 19:09

btw does strength of honor stack with conjure?

oh never mind. Who would ever run a smite bonder?

Shendaar · Jun 13, 2007, 08:22 PM // 20:22

Why would SoH not stack with conjure?

ideologue · Jun 13, 2007, 08:27 PM // 20:27

Quote:

Originally Posted by Gaile Grey

Ritualist

* Spawning Power: each rank now adds 2% to weapon spell duration.
* Weapon of Warding: Decreased duration to 3..8 seconds.

We decided to be conservative with Ritualist changes in this update. We continue to monitor them in Heroes' Ascent, and we want to see how the Soul Reaping changes affect them.

since when does soul reaping affect ritualists in HA?

and again, Ensign's post wins this thread.

Sentience · Jun 13, 2007, 08:45 PM // 20:45

Unbelievable.

And so I find myself asking the question (Again), "Why do I still play this game?"

Ensign · Jun 13, 2007, 08:55 PM // 20:55

Quote: