Curse

Jetdoc · Jan 22, 2007, 08:43 PM // 20:43

Skill Name: Bloodsong
Impressions: The move of Bloodsong to Channeling really kills the offensive communing ritualist. It and Pain are the only two spirits in the Communing line that last long enough to make the offensive communer viable.

I agree with others that since Channeling does need a more functional spirit, moving Anguished Was Linguah to Channeling is a better fit. Anguished was rarely used by communers, so it's a natural fit.

Condition Name: Weakness
Impressions: Definitely need to consider removing the -1 attribute impact to weapon, offhand, shield and armor (i.e. Sentinel's) requirements. The impact to the passive effect of attribute breakpoints also needs to be considered (e.g. Expertise, Death Magic for minions, etal).

VendingMachine · Jan 22, 2007, 08:59 PM // 20:59

Skill Name: Sharpen Dagger
Impressions: I loved it when it was Bleeding on Critical because it has a longer duration which gives up for the 2 sec cast but now its too long cast and a short amount. I rather have it back to normal then 1 second cast BTW.

Skill Name: Assassin's Remedy
Impressions: Same as Sharpen Daggers but the 2 second cast thing since Assassin's Remedy doesn have it

Thanks

Lodurr · Jan 22, 2007, 10:16 PM // 22:16

HA: Murder Ball
The name "Murder Ball" is really out of place in Guild Wars. It sounds like it belongs in Gears of War or Unreal Tournament, not a medieval fantasy CORPG. "Murder" is not what "heroes" do.

Skill: Lightning Hammer
I like the 2 second recharge, it starts to maybe justify the incredible energy cost.

Skill: Rampage As One
Glad to see this nerf. It didn't make sense to nerf thumpers and then to buff them back.

Skill: Blinding Surge
Not quite nerfed enough. The prevalence of blind really hurt the GvG meta. The recharge should be doubled to 8s. Then maybe people will try to take advantage of the AoE blind effect rather than forgetting about it completely.

Skill: Avatar of Grenth
Clearly the skill makes enchantment ripping too easy. The mechanic should be kept intact, but it should be costlier to run. I'm in favor of a 5% health sac for each enchant removed.

Skill: Avatar of Lyssa
This was hardly a buff at all. It should have a built in attack speed boost. In competitive PvP you won't have many opportunities to get a hit in during spell/skill use. And for spikes, the Avatar has no use at all because the spike target is generally not using skills.

Skill: Eruption
Love the constant blinding, but blind duration should be lowered. 10s is very long for any blind skill, let alone a reapplying one.

Skill: "You're All Alone!"
Dangerously close to over-nerfing this skill. How about a 10s duration and 12s recharge?

Class: Paragon
It was hard enough to justify a Motivation Paragon before. Now it's pretty much dead. There are so few uses for a Paragon in GvG now. Every single Paragon will still run "Stand Your Ground!" no matter how much it costs, not because it's overpowered but because it's the most useful of a mostly useless skill set. Please make Paragons the team leaders and party buffers they were supposed to be.

Remeard · Jan 22, 2007, 10:48 PM // 22:48

I definitly agree with a lot of you. I'll add my own input. Just two skills, but they need some discussion.

Wither, now with only -1 energy degeneration... It doesn't have that much of a use, sure, once the enemy gets to 0 they get delt so much damage, but considering that it's an elite.... It's a waste of a slot now.

Suggestion: Keep it at two and maybe lower how long it lasts or a longer cast time.

Maliase: Alright, this one definitly needed a nerf, but I think doing the whole "When energy reaches 0, foe takes damage" is the wrong way to go. Maybe keep it at two, but raise the energy cost a good deal. I think all of us can agree that -2 energy degeneration for a cast of 5 is way too low.

Patccmoi · Jan 22, 2007, 10:55 PM // 22:55

Skill Name : Assault Enchantment
Impressions : Very good change. Comparable to Grenth right now.

Skill Name : Dark Asostacy
Impressions : This skill needs to be buffed to be comparable to the other options now
Suggestion : Lower cast time to 1s. Will help with the constant recasting a LOT

Skill Name : Exhausting Assault
Impressions : Nice change. Goes very well following a lead attack

Skill Name : Black Mantis Thrust
Impressions : The recharge is nice, but for 10E the damage is definitely too low to justify taking it. Cripple is nice, but considering most useful assassin hexes are snares and that what this does is cripple, you might as well use Unsuspecting.
Suggestion : Raise damage to +10..26

Skill Name : Blades of Steel
Impressions : WAY too good. Even with only 3 attacks it's stronger than all other duals damage-wise.
Suggestion : Lower the +damage to 3..13 per skill recharging and change the cap at 60. 4 dagger skills will be +52 while 5 dagger skill can go up to 60. Considering 5 is a big skill slot investment, i think it'd be fair.

Skill Name : Assassin's Remedy
Impressions : Worse than it was before. Can't say i like it at all considering other comparable options and the fact that it can't work against blind.
Suggestion : Put it back like before or reduce recharge to 10s

Skill Name : Beguiling Haze
Impressions : Great now. Finally viable.
Suggestion : None

Skill Name : Critical Defenses
Impressions : Really good buff. Definitely improves assassin survivability in combat
Suggestion : None

Skill Name : Dancing Daggers
Impressions : Good buff, but i'm not sure it's enough considering it's half range and Deadly Arts sins have no real emanagement option to spam it
Suggestion : raise damage to 13..28

Skill Name : Heart of Shadow
Impressions : Very good buff, but i think the biggest thing hurting the skill is the recharge. It can't be used often enough
Suggestion : Recharge lowered to 10-12s

Skill Name : Shroud of Distress
Impressions : Good change to the block ratio, but the recharge time is too high. Enchantments with 45s recharge, especially defensive, are incredibly hard to use with all the heavy enchant removal.
Suggestion : lower recharge to 20s, lower duration to 20..44s

Skill Name : Avatar of Grenth
Impressions : Still too strong compared to other enchant removal option
Suggestion : -2E or 10% health sacrifice when removing an enchant (meaning you lose 2E, if you can't cause you're at 0 you sac 10%)

Skill Name : Water Trident
Impressions : Really nice change! Definitely MUCH more viable now
Suggestion : None

Skill Name : Discord
Impressions : Might be a little overboard. A Necro with Weapon of Quickening on his back can use Discord every second for crazy armor ignoring damage
Suggestion : Tone down damage to 30..90

Skill Name : Hexbreaker Aria
Impressions : This nerf is not called for. It's one of the few non-elite skills allowing to face mass hex and it increases elite slots options
Suggestion : Cast time back to 1s, add 5s recharge to the skill so that it can't be spammed with adrenal buffs

Skill Name : Cruel was Daoshen
Impressions : This skill is too energy heavy. It's like having Flame Burst without access to an atunement and you can't use AwS with it.
Suggestion : Reduce energy cost to 10E, raise recharge to 10s

Skill Name : Grasping was Kuurong
Impressions : Ditto. 15E is too much, it's an elite after all, the damage isn't that high and the recharge is already fair to prevent spammability
Suggestion : Reduce cost to 10E

Skill Name : Nightmare Weapon
Impressions : INCREDIBLE change. This skill is now one of the best support the Channeling line has to offer.
Suggestion : Don't touch it if possible ^^

Skill Name : Preservation
Impressions : Good change on the recharge/duration, but the area limits mobility too much. I understand that you keep it low to prevent too much randomness, but i think that it's a sacrifice to be made to make this skill viable
Suggestion : Raise AOE to Earshot and it's a perfect elite

Skill Name : Tranquil was Tanasen
Impressions : Good change, but the skill faces a problem. Resto Rt don't need it, Communing do, but the duration/ratio is bad without high investment in Restoration and also ends up very energy heavy to the point where investing in Mantra of Resolve is just better.
Suggestion : Move the skill to Communing OR make it 10..30s duration so that it's maintainable with ~8-9 in Resto

Skill Name : Armor of Unfeeling
Impressions : This skill is just bad. It's too little defense that is too situational. Added utility would be great
Suggestion : Grants 5..50% chance to resist interruption when activating a binding ritual

Skill Name : Weapon of Quickening
Impressions : This change is dangerous. I love it, i REALLY do and if it stays like it is i'll use it tons, i already did. But consider that this allows to reduce all 2s recharge to 1s recharge (Searing Flames, Discord, Lightning Hammer...) and being usable on others makes it extremely prone to be abusable
Suggestion : Undecided, but keep an eye on it

Skill Name : Death Pact Signet
Impressions : This change goes in the good direction, but 120s is really long in the end, and considering to buff to other rez cast times it's not THAT interesting anymore.
Suggestion : Move the signet to Channeling or Communing. If party member dies within 120..60s, so do you.

Hope this help a bit. Very gj on the update imo, i really like the direction the game is going with less emphasis on prot monks and more on counters.

frojack · Jan 22, 2007, 11:34 PM // 23:34

Name: Weakness
Impressions: A great and exciting change. However, the attribute point reduction should not affect weapon or armour requirements. This would be too strong in my oppinion.

Skill Name: Beguiling Haze
Impressions: A little too good. I like the idea of it but I feel at a loss as a caster to find ways to defend against it and Assassins in general with a lot of the new skill improvements (Blades of Steel being an alarming example).

Skill Name: Avatar forms
Impressions: Not enough. Grenth needs a conditional factor or a penalty of some kind for removing enchantments as easily as it does. It's just too strong. Dwayna was a good change. As was Lyssa.

Skill Name: Arc Lightning
Impressions: A good change. A recharge improvement to 5 seconds may promote more dual/multi-element singular and team builds.

Skill Name: Blinding Surge
Impressions: An understandable change, if a little harsh. Before it functioned as damage+blind. Now the energy considerations force it into just 'blind' status. Relegating it to Blinding Flash territory, and thus inferiority. A conditional energy cost increase (similar to Star Burst or Healing Burst) for the area of effect blinding would be more appropriate. Or a recharge increase somewhere between 5 to 8 seconds.

Skill Name: Churning Earth
Impressions: Not good enough. The recharge time of this spell dwarfs the duration far too much and the damage is easily countered (move away). The cast-time is also too long. 2 seconds for this is more reasonable. One of the main reasons Sand Storm is popular and thus successful is the good duration length. Since this is not elite, the duration is fine, but the recharge should be 15 seconds or 20.

Skill Name: Unsteady Ground
Impressions: Not good enough for similar reasons to Churning Earth. as an elite spell, this pales next Sand Storm simply because while the stat's may be similar, the duration is too short for the conditional effects work. An elementalist really needs the time with Area of effect spells. Since the effect on attacking foes is superior to Sand Storm, a 10 second duration would justify a 25 energy cost.

Skill Name: Eruption
Impressions: Again, same as Churning Earth. However a 20 second recharge is more reasonable than 15, due to the attractive secondary effect. (Incidentally, all DoT - AoE earth and Fire spells should have similar changes to these here).

Skill Name: Flame Djinn's Haste
Impressions: An exceptional change. Perhaps a little too good. Star Burst style conditional cost of 5 energy for multiple foes struck would better justify this.

Skill Name: Glowing Gaze and Searing Flames
Impressions: A surprisingly insightful adjustment. Very well done.

Skill Name: Grasping Earth
Impressions: A good adjustment, however it needs it's scaling adjusted to not provide such good benefit at zero Earth magic.

Skill Name: Shockwave
Impressions: A step in the right direction but still not attractive enough to warrant your elite slot. a 12 to 15 second recharge would work well with this.

Skill Name: Stone Daggers, Stoning
Impressions: Great changes. Earth feels stronger now. However Ebon Hawke could use a faster cast time or better conditions for applying weakness. Magnetic Aura could also really use a recharge reduction.

Skill Name: Mind Freeze
Impressions: Not good enough. 24% extra slow hex is not good enough to justify exhaustion and your elite slot. The damage should be increased significantly (Shatterstone style) or the exhaustion removed.

Skill Name: Icy Prism
Impressions: A good change. However, in exchange for 2-3 additional seconds in recharge, a 1/2 second cast would be even more attractive.

Skill Name: Icy Shackles
Impressions: A good effort but still far too weak to take up the elite slot. Freezing Gust is dependable 66% speed reduction every 5 seconds, it's dual purpose, and it's not elite. I would recommend a recharge reduction to 10 seconds, a maximum slow hex reduction to 6 - 8 seconds, and a damage amount with increased effectiveness against Enchanted foes...

Icy Shackles 5 (or 10) energy, 1 second cast , 10 second recharge
Target foe is struck for 10..54..69 cold damage and is slowed by 66% for 2..5..6 seconds. If target for foe is under the effects of an enchantment, that foe takes an additional 5..26..31 cold damage and is hexed for and additional 0..1..2 seconds for each enchantment on them.

Skill Name: Mark of Rodgort, Incendiary Bonds, Laval Arrows, the Aoe spells etc.
Impressions: Great changes. Notably Smoldering Embers interests me a lot as an experimenter with dual builds. I'd also like to see Elemental Flame changed to trigger burning on the application 'and' the ending of elemental hexes...

Skill Name: The Lightning changes
Impressions: Good changes all round. Lightning Hammer is well balanced by cast-time and energy demands. Lightning Touch could use a recharge reduction and Gust really needs justification for it's elite status. Suggestion...

Gust: 5 energy cost | 1 second cast | 10 second recharge
If target foe is under the effects of an Elemental Hex, that foe is struck for 10..54 damage (untyped) and is knocked down for 3 seconds, otherwise target foe is struck for 10...54 cold damage (50% failure chance with Air Magic 4 or less.)

All in all, better synergy between all elements would be more interesting.

Skill Name: Spiritual Pain
Impressions: A good change. If a little too conditional for the area of effect damage. Saying that however, this spell had made ritualist spirits almost unusable.

Skill Name:Hex Eater Vortex
Impressions: A good change.

Skill Name: Unnatural Signet
Impressions: A good, change (if Spiritual Pain is left as it is).

Class: Necromancers
Impressions: I really like a lot of the changes made to their hexes (Barring Discord. Even though it's heavily conditional, the damage is too high). Wither and Malaise for example are really exciting now. I don't even mind Spoil Victor only lightly being touched (it's still quite over-bearing). However if these improvements remain, hex removal/mitigation skills need to also improve...

Class: Paragons
Impressions: I feel the Motivation line didn't need the adjustments it was handed. Especially the Elite, Song of Restoration. However I can understand if the reason was to shorten PvP matches by reducing their effectiveness. The Spear mastery line could do with improvements.

Skill Name: Rampage as One
Impressions: Acceptable. If a little too much of a weakening. With the need to re-apply so often, energy becomes a serious issue, which I guess is the point. A dependency on pet health would be better. For example, if the pet goes below a certain percentage in health the skill ends. Or even if the skills was given cast-time similar to Dervish Avatar forms. It's effect mirrors them so well, it could function as an Avatar Form.

Skill Name: Incendiary Arrows, Feral Lunge, Trappper's Focus & Speed
Impressions: All great changes.

Ritualists & Earshot range
Impressions: Fantastic! I feel like the binding chains have finally been removed . Thank you.

Skill Name: Bloodsong
Impressions: A great improvement. Moving it to Channeling was also good. The line desperately needed more spirits. However a few people have suggested moving Anguished Was Lingwah instead. This would be also be fine as long as the cost was reduced.

Skill Name: Blind Was Mingson
Impressions: A good change, but the recharge is too long. 15 seconds is a good compromise point.

Skill Name: Caretaker's Charge
Impressions: An attractive change. The original skill was a good idea but the damage was rather weak. This is much better.

Skill Name: Channeled Strike
Impressions: A good change, but not really necessary.

Skill Name: Cruel Was Daoshen
Impressions: A fantastic change! Melee range is dangerous for a soft armour class. Especially when health and energy fluctuates so much when holding an item. It almost feels like your suffering from Deep Wound. This makes it more worth it.

Skill Name: Death Pact Signet
Impressions: Another awesome change.

Skill Name: Destructive Was Glaive
Impressions: An interesting change. Initially the damage was alarmingly broken (more 40% than 25). The mid-weekend change to 5% armour penetration made the skill not worth using anymore. The 5% increase was too little gain to warrant the elite slot. Also energy became an issue in protracted battles because of constant holding and re-casting. Something that a Channeling Ritualist can't really afford to worry about too much.

Skill Name: Displacement. Empowerment, Explosive Growth, Flesh of My Flesh, Ghostly Haste, Life, Mighty Was Vorizon, Offering of Spirit, Preservation, Spirit Light, Spirit Rift, Weapon of Quickening, Weapon of Shadow, Weapon of Warding, Vital Weapon
Impressions: All great changes. Really improves the profession.

Skill Name: Tranquil Was Tanasen
Impressions: A good change. In fact, a great change. Makes this far more attractive to use. Especially in conjunction with Empowerment.

Skill Name: Nightmare and Splinter Weapon Spells
Impressions: Fantastic Changes! Adds an extra layer of exciting and uniquely weird offense to Channeling Ritualists. Something they really need to distinguish themselves. I don't see how Nightmare Weapon can be considered over-powering next to Blood magic or Ranger-enhanced necromancer touching. Especially when considering all the melee/ranged attack mitigation rules also apply to this.

Skill Name: Wailing, Warmonger's, Brutal, Guided, Weapon spells
Impressions: Great changes. Makes multi-weapon spell builds more viable. Although Wailing could use improvement in recharge and Warmonger's might be too good for 10 energy.

Skill Name: Resilient spells
Impressions: Great proposed changes. Makes the potential up and coming hex pressuring easier to handle.

Skill Name: Protective Was Kaolai
Impressions: An amazingly good improvement for Ritualists. This skill was really over-looked but this has change turned it around impressively.

Skill Name: Lamentation
Impressions: Much needed. Thank you. Even a drop to 15 seconds wouldn't be too much of an improvement.

the only bad changes/improvements...

Skill Name: Spirit Light weapon
Impressions: Getting better but still not worth using as your elite and the '1' weapon spell usable on an ally and nowhere near the quality of Weapon of Remedy. Needs to do more than just provide average healing over time. That is not a problem for Ritualists. Adding 50% Blocking instead on the extra healing if near a spirit would be a good thing to add. Or adding 1 point of energy every 1 or 2 seconds would be even more desirable.

Skill Name: Weapon of Fury
Impressions: Not that good an improvement. It's a fairly ok skill for other professions, but not much use to primary Ritualists. Also working on spells would make more sense and a good start to making this a good elite.

Skill Name: Signet of Spirits
Impressions: The only really, really bad change for Ritualists. There is little difference to Offering of Spirit to ever warrant the use of this instead with the changes. If the energy gain was better (18 like Offering of Spirits) then this would still be an attractive option. However I still think it's for too similar to Offering of Spirit to be changed like this. It's original form was far more conditional, yet stronger, so ultimately more appropriate.

All in all, a very good Ritualist update. A few things need considering about spirits however. I'll just say this; What spirit really justifies a 5 second creation time? They are far too fragile and costly to have such a penalty.

This open beta is a lot of work for you guys, but a great idea. Well done...

There it is. Apologies for the length.

.

Door Knewb · Jan 22, 2007, 11:51 PM // 23:51

Spititual Pain: overnerfed, the spiking damage was a little overpowered considering the cast time, but current nerf has caused it to lose its effectiveness against spiritspammers. Bump current damage to 85, add 25 additional dmg if in the area of a spirit, and change the AOE to apply to spirits only. Keep the instant recharge time if in the area of a spirit would be my recommendation to keep the skill viable. Or make the pre nerf form an elite.

Energy Surge: why change that now, especially when SP was nerfed?

Empathy: Needs a buff to provide more of a anti melee deterrant for the mesmer class, currently with the powerful attacks and self healing in melee classes empathy really can barely touch them let alone stop them except in situations that are far too conditional.

Gladiators Defense: Again, why now? Now its useless, shouldnt even take up an elite space, will never be used again the way it is.

Distortion: although it wasnt nerfed this time, it needs to be changed back to the way it was before it was nerfed a while back.

Avatar of Grenth: wasnt nerfed enough the recharge time and interruptability really do nothing to weaken this skill.

Searing Flames: Not nerfed enough, with all this power the energy cost should have went up more, or the power should come down.

Patccmoi · Jan 23, 2007, 12:18 AM // 00:18

Skill : Caretaker's Charge
Impression : I used this all the time before when i needed an elite just providing a small energy buff to sustain my casting while having another use (damage, self-heal) since i didn't need a full emanagement elite. Now, this doesn't work and it's just a free small nuke-self heal which imo doesn't justify the elite slot
Suggestion : raise energy gained back to 7E

Skill : Signet of Spirit
Impression : This is seriously horrible for an elite now
Suggestion : raise max energy gained to 1..16E

Tiddles · Jan 23, 2007, 01:12 AM // 01:12

Let me first begin by saying that all of the following suggestions and complaints are based on the HA metagame. That is, I will not be considering the effects of changing skills on PvE, and I may neglect how certain skill buffs or nerfs may change the GvG and other PvP metagames.

I will first state what I feel are the "big" problems with HA. Then, I will move on to specific skill suggestions.

In order to move back to a "balanced" HA, I think it is important that we ask ourselves what a "balanced" HA entails. I feel that a team of 6 experiences players with a synergetic and well-balanced build as well as a stronng tactics caller should, against any other given team in 1v1, have a chance against that team. Lately, HA has become the opposite of this. The metagame has become so distinct from itself that a single team of 6 players cannot expect to go into HA without thinking, "Well hopefully we won't run into THIS build." This is because no single team can fit all the counters that would be necessary to survive all of the types of flavors in today's metagame without sacrificing the essence of the build itself. This rock-paper-scissors type of HA, I think, is not what ArenaNet is aiming for, and before we can hope to get back to an HA that is balanced, I think that there are a few things in particular that need to be changed.

Paragons
There are two very unbalanced types of builds I have seen in HA that involve paragons: Zergway (3 steady stance warriors and 3 paragons) and what I call Paraway (6 paragons).

Both of these builds are extremely difficult to counter with a balanced build. This is because most counters to these builds require teams to devote too much of their build towards countering. For instance, let’s say that I decided to bring a roaring winds ranger to counter Paraway and Zergway. There are two problems with this. First, if I do this, then that also means that I pretty much have to avoid bringing paragons in my build altogether. Secondly, the ranger who carries roaring winds will also have to carry oath shot in order for his spirit to really do anything to these builds, because both builds will simply take down the spirit immediately when it is cast. So already this build has devoted an otherwise useful elite slot (and attribute points) towards countering a single build. This same concept can be applied vocal minority/hexes. Everyone knows that in order for long-lasting hexes to be effective, they need to be accompanied by an overload of hexes (basically, a hex build. additional complaints on hexes below) that offsets the standard amount of hex removal. I mean sure, maybe an N/Me will be good against Zergway and Paraway, both of which usually have little hex removal, but against a regular two-monk team, that N/Me will be useless unless accompanied by other hexers. This “all or none” concept completely clashes with the goal of a balanced HA.

Another problem with Paraway and Zergway is that they are so completely different from balanced teams with two monks that they make a lot of builds that would have otherwise had some play completely useless. For instance, say I wanted to run a choking gas ranger or a migraine mesmer in HA because I think that they are effective against enemy casters. A major problem, though, arises if I run into Zergway or Paraway. These builds include no casters and render a choking gas or migraine mesmer completely useless. Why would anyone ever run a Power Block mesmer in HA if he or she knew that his or her team could encounter Zergway or Paraway and not have a chance in hell to win? Consider also the concept of having ONLY 96 armor targets in a build. This completely screws over teams which focus even minorly on armor-dependent damage. In these ways, and others, paragons in general make HA more unbalanced than any of the other classes combined.

Suggestions to fix this problem:
• Nerf Paragon Armor Rating (or give them something other than a shield)
• Make certain chants easily interruptible
• Make chants interruptible by anything that interrupts spells or make most things that interrupt spells able to interrupt chants
• Introduce a new condition, deafness, into the game (while under the effects of this condition, every shout that you would have heard you do not hear)
• Fix hexes, which would fix vocal minority (see below).

Hexes
The PvP metagame has reached the point at which hexes are no longer useful unless used in bulk. Enemy monks are expected to have a certain amount of hex removal. If a team cannot surpass that amount by hex stacking and overloading, then there is pretty much no point to bringing certain hexes. Granted, some short-lived or AoE hexes are still useful, like diversion and ice spikes, b/c they usually last for most of their durations without being removed. But this concept of hex overloading severely limits the hexes people can bring (thus limiting counters to unbalanced builds and unbalancing the game even more) and hurts hexes like stone sheath & tease, which would be very useful in hex builds but useless if a team could not provide cover hexes.

Suggestion to fix this problem:
Make more skills which (or modify current skills to) remove all or nearly all hexes from the party and/or target ally. This will punish those who base their entire builds on hexes (thus balancing the game), and restore the concept of having hexes do what they are meant to do without having to have cover hexes.

For instance, withdraw hexes:

Withdraw Hexes [E] (Monk, Divine Favor)
5 En, 1 Sec, 50 Re
Remove all hexes from all party members. This skill takes 1 second less to recharge for each hex removed in this way. (100% failure with Divine Favor 7 or less).

A skill such as this would allow monks to bring this skill and not have to worry about extremely hex heavy teams. They would, however, have to worry about moderately-heavy hex teams, as the recharge is very long, especially if there are a limited amount of hexes on the party. Other skill modifications that could counter “heavy hex” builds:

Empathic Removal [E] (Monk, No Attribute)
5 En, ¼ Sec, 10 Re
Target other ally loses one hex. For each remaining hex on that ally, you also lose one hex.

Deny Hexes (Monk, Divine Favor)
5 En, 1 Sec, 18 Re
Remove one hex from target ally. For 0…3 seconds, all hex spells against that ally fail.

Reverse Hex (Monk, Protection Prayers)
5 En, 2 Sec, 10 Re
Remove one hex from target ally. If a hex is removed in this way, all remaining hexes on that ally expire 10…33% faster and that ally gains 0…2 energy.

I think that fixing these two main problems, hexes and paragons, will result in a more balanced HA metagame and thus happier players.

In addition to these major changes to the metagame, I would also like to a see a few specific skill changes. My suggestions are below.

~~Completely Revamped Skills~~

Elementalist

Icy Shackles [E] - Water Magic
5 En, 1 Sec, 15 Re
Hex Spell. For 4…10 seconds, target foe’s movement is slowed by 50%. If that foe is under the effects of an Enchantment, target’s movement is slowed by 75% instead. If this hex is removed prematurely, this skill recharges instantly.

Mesmer

Overload - Domination
5 En, ¼ Sec, 5 Re
Spell. Target foe takes 10…25 damage. If that foe is casting a spell, that foe takes an additional 30…90 damage.

Monk

Release Enchantment (remove ‘s’) – Divine Favor
5 En, 1 Sec, 10 Re
Spell. Lose 1 enchantment. If an enchantment is lost in this way, your party is healed for 5…50.

Watchful Spirit – Divine Favor
5 En, 1 Sec, 10 Re
Enchantment Spell. While you maintain this enchantment, target ally gains +0…2 health regeneration and +10 armor. When this enchantment ends, that ally is healed for 30…80. If that ally’s health drops below 25%, this enchantment ends.

Zealot's Fire - Smiting Prayers
10 En, 1/4 Sec, 30 Re
For 60 seconds, every time you cast a monk spell on an ally, attacking foes near that ally take 0...40 fire damage.

Ranger

Magebane Shot – Marksmanship
5 En, ½ Sec, 12 Re
Bow attack. If this attack hits, then your target is interrupted. If your target is interrupted, you strike for +5...15 damage and this skill recharges instantly.

~~Adjusted Skills~~

Dervish

Avatar of Grenth [E] – Mysticism
<lose 2 energy whenever an enchantment is removed>

Elementalist

Rust – Water Magic
<increase recharge to 25, expand AoE to in the area>

Second Wind [E] – No Attribute
<change to ¼ sec cast time>

Energy Boon [E] – Energy Storage
<change to ¼ sec cast time, 10 recharge>

Mind Blast [E] - Fire Magic
<change to 1/4 sec cast time>

Necromancer

Rip Enchantment – Curses
<change to ¼ sec cast time>

Mesmer

Power Flux [E] – Domination
<change from hex spell to regular spell (cannot be removed)>

Power Block [E] – Domination
<change energy cost to 5>

Ignorance - Domination
<change energy cost to 5, recharge to 15>

Tease [E] – Inspiration
<change to skill (cannot be removed)>

Shared Burden [E] – Illusion
<change energy cost to 5, cast time to 1>

Air of Disenchantment [E] – Illusion
<change AoE to nearby>

Signet of Illusions [E] – No Attribute
<change to 1 sec cast time>

Lyssa's Balance - No Attribute
<change to 1/4 sec cast time>

Monk

Divine Healing/Heaven's Delight – Divine Favor
<change to 1 sec cast time>

Word of Censure [E] – Smiting Prayers
<change to 5 energy, ¾ sec cast time, and 1 recharge>

Resurrect – No Attribute
<change to 5 energy>

Vengeance - No Attribute
<change duration to 60 seconds and keep the 15% damage bonus. enchant removal is so prevelant these days anyways...>

Ranger

Conflagration – Wilderness Survival
<make this spirit also affect spears>

Warrior

Steady Stance [E] – Tactics
<change to 12 second recharge and 20 second duration>

Burst of Aggression - Strength
<change minimum duration to 2 seconds (0 in strength)>

As I continue to look at various skills in the game, I will try to continue to edit this list.

If Gaile Gray or one of the GWGuru moderators wishes to move this post to a different thread because it does not pertain to this topic enough, I would not have any objection. I was unsure of where to post this, so I thought that this would be a good place to try. If you do move this post, please let me know.

~Tiddles
In-Game Name: "I Tiddles I" or "Mr Tiddles"

Sirkl · Jan 23, 2007, 01:39 AM // 01:39

Skill Name: Icy Shackles

Impressions: I personally liked the skill as it was. With the nerf it doesn't last the recharge of 15 sec, now 10 energy. Imo this isn't really worth the rank of elite skill.

jinruze · Jan 23, 2007, 03:34 AM // 03:34

Quote:

Originally Posted by Dr Imperial

Skill: Shadow of Haste
Impressions: Argh! Why did you turn the duration time down??!

Overall I am not liking what you have done. Then again, I am not the biggest PvPer, but I would like to see things put back to normal. I'm sure you made a lot of people happy, but you have definitly made alot of people mad

-Dr Imperial

I actually liked the balance changes.. cept for a few things.
Like stated above, Shadow of Haste should remain how it was prior to the test weekend.

Same thing for Bloodsong... Bloodsong should REMAIN communing.
Its too much of a drastic change, attribute to attribute, and i think it should remain the same.

But heres what i liked..
-Beguiling Haze: increased Energy cost to 15, increased recharge time to 20 seconds. Functionality changed to "Shadow Step to target foe. That foe is interrupted and becomes Dazed for 5..11 second[s]."
-Blades of Steel: increased damage per recharging dagger attack to 5..20, up to a maximum bonus of 80.
-Critical Defenses: changed block rate to 75%. Duration now scales 4..10 based on the Critical Strikes attribute.
-Critical Eye: increased critical strike bonus to 3..15%.
-Critical Strike: now gives 1..3 Energy per critical hit, based on Critical Strikes attribute.
-Death Blossom: decreased recharge time to 4 seconds.
-Flashing Blades: increased block rate to 75%, increased duration to 5..30, and increased recharge time to 30 seconds.
-Nine Tail Strike: decreased Energy cost to 5.

These should definitely help make the assassin useful again, and hopefully end all that "Assassins suck" drama. I liked these the most, it would make the assassins have better chances, if used in the right build, to get invited to more missions.. and just overall be more effective.

-Jinruze

Bioharzard X · Jan 23, 2007, 03:50 AM // 03:50

I will just list skills I believe should change. I am more in favor of improving skills that are not used rather than nerfing skills that are used. Nerfing is only needed if the skill is shown to be widely abused.

Mesmer

Skill Name: Price of Pride
Impressions: I still think this skill is inferior to Signet of Humility. I think energy loss for using an elite skill should increase.

Skill Name: Sympathetic Visage/Ancestor’s Visage
Impressions: The only two use of these skills before was for farming purpose and illusionary weapon Mesmer. If the duration is shortened at least decrease energy cost to 5 energy. Otherwise, this skill will not be used at all.

Skill Name: Conjure Phantasm/Images of Remorse
Impressions: These skills need a duration buff. They are severely underpowered in that they have shorter duration and no secondary effects compared to the necromancer line of life degeneration.

Skill Name: Mirror of Disenchantment:
Impressions: Decreasing the recharge time is not a buff as energy cost is still a limitation. Decrease energy cost to 15.

Skill Name: Conjure Nightmare
Impressions: The suggestion I propose is increase spell duration, reduce energy cost of this skill to 15 and increase recharge to 10 seconds. The amount of degen/energy is much to low.

Skill Name: Soothing Images
Impressions: Decrease energy cost to 5 as this skill only have impact on warriors and paragon otherwise it is completely useless.

Skill Name: Ignorance
Impressions: 15 energy cost is more of a punishment to the Mesmer than the foe. Decrease energy cost to 10 and increase duration of this spell.

Skill Name: Mantra of Persistence
Impressions: Decrease energy cost to 10 and increase duration to 45 seconds as none of the illusion hexes last anywhere as long as the curse line of the necromancer. Without this stance the whole illusion line will remain shadowed by the curse line and Reaper’s Mark.

Skill Name: Diversion
Impressions: With the change in Mantra of Recovery this skill will become overpowered. Reduction in the additional recharge will be a great balance.

Necromancer

Skill Name: Depravity
Impressions: The change to the recharge will make this skill much too overpowered. To balance I propose decrease energy loss.

Skill Name: Reaper’s Mark
Impressions: This skill’s degen is high and the duration is much too long. I think duration should be decrease to 20 seconds.

Skill Name: Rip Enchantment
Impressions: Sacrifice is still too high to make this skill usable. Dervishes have lots of enchantments with short recharge and low energy cost. I believe this skill should remove multiple enchantments.

Skill Name: Signet of Agony
Impressions: Damage should increase to 18-86.

Skill Name: Chilblains
Impressions: The main reason this skill is not used is because of the high energy cost and low damage. Reduce energy cost of this skill to 15. Increase damage of this spell to 30-80 damage.

Skill Name: Jagged Bones
Impressions: This skill makes a necromancer almost invincible with no energy problem once he/she has a minion by continuously cycling through Jagged Bones, Death Nova and Taste Pain. Increase energy cost to 10 energy.

Skill Name: Dark Fury
Impressions: This skill is hardly used anywhere. Change the spell range to all party member and decrease adrenaline gain to 20-70% more hits of adrenaline.

Skill Name: Oppressive Gaze
Impressions: Change this spell to curse spell. No one is allocating points between two attribute just for a 15 energy spell. Change the range to nearby foes.

Skill Name: Dark Pact
Impressions: Decrease health sacrifice to 5% to make this skill more in par with Blood of the Aggressor.

Skill Name: Well of Weariness
Impressions: Increase the energy degen of this skill to -2 now that Wither and Malaise do less energy degen.

Skill Name: Verata’s Sacrifice
Impressions: 60 seconds recharge is too long. Decrease recharge of this spell to 20 seconds. This skill will still give time for minons to receive natural health degen.

Skill Name: Cultist Fervor
Impressions: Health sacrifice is much to high. Decrease health sacrafice will make this skill more usable.

Skill Name: Lingering Curse
Impressions: No one will use a skill with both high energy cost and health sacrafice. Decrease energy cost to 10 and increase health sacrafice to 15%.

Skill Name: Wail of Doom
Impressions: Simply disabling a foe’s attacking skill does not shut them down at all. To make this skill worthwhile as an elite with health sacrifice it should also prevent the foe from attacking for that duration.

Skill Name: Virulence
Impressions: This skill is primarily used by the Mesmer for fragility spike otherwise it is not used at all. I recommend increasing the condition’s duration and decrease the recharge time.

Skill Name: Vampiric Bite/Vampiric Touch
Impressions: This skill is severely abused by touch Rangers and not used enough by Necromancers. I propose decreasing energy cost of this skill to 10 energy and give it a condition where if you target a foe with less health than you then the amount of life steal will decrease by 66%. This will encourage touch rangers to throw in Touch of Agony and Wallow Bite to their skillset.

Skill Name: Pain of Disenchantment
Impressions: 15-51 damage is not enough to affect a Dervish with Mystic Regeneration.

Ritualist

Skill Name: Cruel Was Daoshen
Impressions: Decrease energy cost to 10 and increase recharge time to 10 seconds.

Skill Name: Lamination
Impressions: This skill is still too conditional. Make this skill automatically recharge when target is a spirit or undead minion.

Skill Name: Nightmare Weapon
Impressions: Keep the weekend changes but increase recharge to 12 seconds.

Skill Name: Spirit Boon Strike
Impressions: Reduce Recharge to 10 seconds. Now that Bloodsong is in Channeling this spell is less useful there. Put this skill into the Communing line.

Skill Name: Restoration
Impressions: Give this spirit an effect like give +2 health regen to allies within spirit range.

Skill Name: Guided Weapon
Impressions: 10 energy for a 5-10 seconds is not worth it. Lengthen the spell duration.

Skill Name: Xinrae’s Weapon
Impressions: High energy cost and long recharge make this spell a waste of a slot. Decrease energy cost to 15 and lengthen duration of the spell to 4-25 seconds.

Skill Name: Defiant Was Xinrae
Impressions: Decrease recharge to 15 seconds. Decrease energy cost to 10 energy and lengthen spell duration to 5-28 seconds.

Skill Name: Dulled Weapon
Impressions: Add on an additional effect like foes attacks deal 50% less damage.

Skill Name: Shelter
Impressions: Decrease energy cost to 15 energy. This skill was severely overnerfed. The Nightfall update already nerfed Ritual Lord and Boon of Creation, and increased damage taken by Shelter. Energy cost should not have skyrocket to 25 energy.

Skill Name: Displacement
Impressions: Reduce the evasion rate to 60% and decrease the damage taken by this spirit. This spirit dies way to fast to be worth 15 energy and a slot

Skill Name: Ghostmirror Light
Impressions: Increase healing to 25-105 HP.

Skill Name: Binding Chains
Impressions: Make this skill last the whole duration without the end when hit condition.

Skill Name: Armor of Unfeeling
Impressions: No one uses this skill because it is too conditional. Give a 1-16 damage reduction as long as this enchantment is on and is in earshot of a spirit.

Skill Name: Tranquil Was Tanasen
Impressions: Long casting time and short duration make this skill do the opposite of preventing interruption. This skill will get interrupted most of the time if ever used in HA. Reduce casting time to 1/2 seconds and prevent knockdown.

Skill Name: Resilient Weapon
Impressions: Keep the energy cost at 10 energy but give +1-4 unconditional health regeneration and +1-2 health regeneration for each condition or hex on the ally.

Skill Name: Consume Soul
Impressions: Increase range of healing to all allies and increase recharge to 6 seconds.

Barbus · Jan 23, 2007, 04:21 AM // 04:21

here is what i think of the skill changes :P

Blades of Steel : overpowered didnt really need a change to start with.

Lightning Hammer: not a bad change tho maybe a 8 sec recharge is more suited.

Searing Flame: prefect change for this skill, and should remain that way.

All the mesmer skill updates are fine except for Mantra of Recovery, i mean come on, if this is to be kept like this then diversion needs a longer recharge.

Energy Surge: this was never an over powered skill, it only seems that way cause of the spiritual pain builds.

As for necromancer skill Spoil Victor need to deal less dmg, duration is not much of a factor, so this skill still is over powered. also jagged bones didnt get any changes, which is kinda one of the main skills that needs nerfing, minion build run in GvG, TA, and HA. so maybe taste of death could have a 10 sec recharge if jagged bones is not getting any changes.

yay for paragon changes

Rampage as One: this skill is useless with this change, and will most likely never get used again.

All RT skills seems fine, but Splinter Weapon is to much dmg.
Resilient Weapon: good change IMO, should be kept like this.

and on the warrior Critical Chop didnt need a change IMO, Power attack got a good change for the Kinghts in GvG.

Fear Me or Steady Stance need to Change, and am sure many people agree.

also water magic on the ele could get more of a dmg buff

xiv · Jan 23, 2007, 04:24 AM // 04:24

Skill: soa
Impressions:really bad nerf takes purpose of it away in general. example meant to counter sins and can't really now with 1 second cast.

skill: shadow of haste
impresions: another bad nerf. it was just perfect how it was.

skill: avatars
impressions: seems like a good general nerf it really powers down dervishes considering how powerful they became could have nerfed a few more of the skills though

skill: roa
impressions: was a bit too much considering the energy cost i think it should be more like 15 nrgy but the speed reduction was suitable.

skills: malaise and wither
impression: little bit of a wierd change big change really but works now because it hurts weapon swaps.

skil: mor
impression: loved it now its worth using.

skill: critical chop
impression: the recharge a bit much but was good call on toning it down.

skill: skull crack
impression: would be used a lot more if adren cost was lower in my opinion

skilll: steady stance
impression: needs bad nerf like up recharge because zergway because of it is rediculious

skill:wild blow
impression: very horrible dervishes needs toned down a lot. 100+ damage every 5 seconds aoe is a bit redicuious. i suggest recharge or cost should be uped to 10

Barbus · Jan 23, 2007, 04:43 AM // 04:43

Tiddles i cant not agree more with these:

Avatar of Grenth [E] – Dervish, Mysticism
<lose 2 energy whenever an enchantment is removed>

Tease [E] – Mesmer, Inspiration
<change to skill (cannot be removed)>

Steady Stance [E] – Warrior, Tactics
<change to 15 second recharge and 20 second duration>

i would like to see Dicapitate changed also, it could cost 10 adrenaline, but u either lose all energy or adrenaline, but not both.

Door Knewb · Jan 23, 2007, 05:27 AM // 05:27

I am going to make this as short and simple as I can, but its an idea about how powerful skills in general that are really good skills for thier class the way they are, but they end up having to be modified beacuse of cheap and abusive styles of play, thus ruining them for the other styles of play. Just wanted to mention it here because I really want one of the real gurus at anet to look into it.

1) Teams need to be balanced more than the skills do. There is always such a huge issue over "balancing some powerful skill" that is related largely to the abuse of the skill by an "extremely unbalanced team." If the mechanics of the game were able to fix that balancing of skills wouldnt be such a tremendous issue.

2) If balancig of the teams seems like it would be too much of a problem maybe something could be put in the mechanics of the game to prevent abuse of the skill.

I started two threads in the forum that go into more detail about this "Team Balance Needed More Than Skill Balance" and "Game Mechanics to Balance Spiking Skills " (should have been titled game mechanics to prevent the abuse of high powered skills) anyway I just really want to make sure that someone at anet sees those because I think some of the issues related to why certain skills have to be balanced could be helped in those ways.

Saider maul · Jan 23, 2007, 05:48 AM // 05:48

I have alot of mixed opinions on the overall skill changes. Most I liked in general.

Monk

Divert hexes:
Impression:This skill was reverted after day 1 of trial and still needs addressed. More along the lines of RC but strictly Hex removal with healing.

Sheild of absorbtion:
Impression: An odd change. personally I feel SoA should go unchanged from original form.

Necromancer

Spoil Victor:
Impression:This skill is still Very strong dispite the balance. I Personally feel the dmg needs reduced by 20dmg but would prefer to have the damage type turned to cold dmg.

Depravity:
Impression: I luv the skill Update here.The new recharge made this a very viable skill for pressure. Played on a mesmer for fastcast and this brings a nice form of AoE Edenial to competative play.

Price of Failure:
Impression: A rather nice buff to the cast time. However if this skill is changed I feel Spirit of failure should match its stats.

Jagged Bones:
Impression: I have seen this skill in conversation alot over the weekend. Please do not change the way soul reeping is counted here. Reguardless of how the minion is raised soul reaping comes from death.

Mesmer

Price of pride:
Impression:The 10 second recharge/5 energy reduction actually made this skill worth using. very nice for appling moderate pressure to multiple foes.
how ever a 5/2/10 would be optimal.

Soothing/ancestrial visage:
Impression: This was strictly a farming Nerf. I understand the need to curb goldfarming exploitation ( i.e. Ebay ) But we should have the ability to build a PvE character to the spec of a PvP character with Some ease financially. If you limit the ability to earn an income you need to address accessability to mods, skins, and materials to obtain them. ATM you give PvE Squat and greif it in trying to deck out primary characters with Armor/weapon skins not avalible on the PvP Equipment.
( Maybe make rare weapon skins a reward not a drop and add a crafter for mods )

Ranger

Rampage as One:
Impression: A rather odd change but this has not curbed the Thumpers. I would really like to see this a stance or shout so it can be countered.

Warrior

Power attack:
Impression:I am glad you finally showed some attention to one of the worst skills in GW. However 40dmg and 2 second recharge is overkill. maybe a 4-5 second recharge and yes this would be quite viable.

Critical chop:
Impression:The axe line has no real damage dealers. Axe works strictly off deep wound and this nerf was way to strong.

Elementalist

Lightning hammer:
Impression:a 2second recharge on this was a bit strong dispite the casting cost-4-5 seconds recharge and this will be a balanced skill.

Seering Flames:
Impression: I feel the burning should cap at 6 seconds with a 4second recharge on this skill. The nerf to energy managment really didn't scratch this build.

Blinding surge:
Impression:I still see warriors and sins using this skill. Only a slight deturant.

Paragon:
Impression: Aside from the change to " stand your ground " I dont understand why you would nerf a steadily weakening class.
( Care to Explain? )

Assassins:
Impressions: This class in general has to be the crowning acheivement and the biggest blunder of GW. This class did not need a buff to Dmg output and is nothing like what it was originally portrayed as in pre faction testing.
( This class does require addressed as to how I do not know )

Ritualist:
Impressions: One of my favorite classes. So versital yet so incomplete. I would really like to see this class get more usage.
Buff it more please.

Dervish:
Impressions:By far one of my favorite classes. The avatars I feel do need nerfed a bit in general beyone what you did with recharges.
The Dervish ATM allows several other classes to tank like never before.
Several of the healing abilities the dervish has should be moved to mysticism to prevent this exploitation.

All in all I liked the changes and hope Anet listens to the community as well as get in the driver seat as well.

Poise · Jan 23, 2007, 06:33 AM // 06:33

I generally like the changes for Monks and Mesmers, and I like that Assassins and Rits both got general buffs.

Skill: Augury of Death
Impression: A step in the right direction, but not enough.
Suggestion: Make it an elite - 15e/.5cast/20recharge "Shadow step to target foe. For 1...8 seconds, if target foe's health drops below 50%, that foe suffers from a deep wound for 5...10 seconds, this hex ends, and all of your attack skills are recharged."

Skill: Impale
Impression: I love the added deep wound, but I liked it better back when it was a hex.
Suggestion: 5e/.25cast/15recharge "Hex spell. For 5...15 seconds, the next time you hit target foe with a dual attack, that foe takes 10...50 damage and suffers a deep wound for 1...12 seconds".

Skill: Beguiling Haze
Impression: A just-shy-of-beautiful change. I love the idea, but at 15e I'm just not sure a melee class can make it work.
Suggestion: I barely had a chance to start testing this. Possibly make it 10e, .5cast.
Edit: I'm not sure an ASSASSIN can make it work. An adren warrior could probably abuse it easily. Maybe put it in Crit Strikes line.

Skill: Black Mantis Thrust
Impression: Again, step in the right direction, but not quite enough for it to be really useful.
Suggestion: Make it 5e, 8recharge.

Skill: Blades of Steel
Impression: Excellent. The only dual attack that strictly does damage, it should do a lot. It has plenty of conditions (high dagger mastery, 3 other attack skills before it, etc) to justify the damage, especially with Sins so easy to shut down.
Suggestion: Make the max damage scale with Dagger Mastery, max of +50...75.

Skill: Critical Eye
Impression: Good change, but still not enough to put it in anyones skillbar in pvp.
Suggestion: Increase percentage to 2...24%.

Skill: Heart of Shadow
Impression: Good, but again, not enough to get in any pvp skillbars.
Suggestion: Change to 5e/.25s/10recharge, x...120 health.

Skill: Deadly Haste
Impression: Wasnt changed in this update.
Suggestion: This quite clearly should be in Deadly Arts, not Critical Strikes.

Skill: Hidden Caltrops
Impression: Wasnt changed in this update.
Suggestion: Change cast time to 1/2.

Skill: Wastrels Collapse
Impression: Wasnt changed in this update. Currently uselss. Too easy to remove, and an untimeable KD from far away isnt very useful.
Suggestion: Link it to Deadly Arts. Change to 10recharge. Change to "After 6...3 seconds, target foe is knocked down and you shadow step to that foe. This Hex ends prematurely if that foe uses a Skill."

Skill: Nine Tail Strike, Shadowy Burden
Impression: Love it.

Skill: Antidote Signet
Impression: The 1s cast is good, but it still needs more.
Suggestion: If weakness stays with -attributes, Signet should also remove weakness. If weakness reverts back to the old form, Signet should also remove bleeding.

Skill: Rampage As One
Impression: Perfect.

Skill: Searing Flames
Impression: Combined with the nerf on glowing gaze, this might work.
Suggestion: Decrease a hair more to 1...4 seconds burning.

Skill: Avatars
Impression: Not a useful fix at all.

Skill: Avatar of Grenth
Suggestion: Change to either "whenever you use an attack Skill, if target foe has more than one enchantment, you also remove 1 Enchantment from your target" OR "whenever you use an attack Skill, you also remove 1 Enchantment from your target and lose 12...6 energy".

Skill: Avatar of Melandru
Suggestion: Change to "conditions expire 75% faster (stacking)".

Condition: Weakness
Impression: I think the idea was to make this condition dangerous for casters as well as melee, but I don't think it accomplishes it. Additionally, it now poses a huge danger selectively against Rangers and Assassins, as it can kill their energy management.
Suggestion: Causes -3 to all non-primary attributes. Remove the -damage effect.

Attribute: Deadly Arts line
Impression: Despite multiple attempts to buff various skills in this line, it will never see any serious use because it has no synergy whatsoever with other Assassin skills. Deadly Arts skills do not give critical hits, and therefore have no energy management. Deadly Arts skills have no dual attack, therefore it cannot replace Dagger Mastery or match it for damage and conditions. Deadly Arts skills (mostly) require many points in Deadly Arts to be useful, so you have to go all-or-nothing.
Suggestion: If you want Deadly Arts to be useful its skills should generally not require a ton of points to be usable, and it should contain skills that give movement speed buffs (stances, not hexes), attack speed buffs, snares, disruption, shadow stepping, enemy shutdown, etc. Good examples of skills that fit this are Crippling Dagger, Disrupting Dagger, Shadowy Burden, Shroud of Silence, Locusts Fury, Shadow Prison, Beguiling Haze.

Racthoh · Jan 23, 2007, 07:37 AM // 07:37

Warrior Stances
Impression: They're being balanced to better suit a warrior secondary than a warrior primary. When you consider revisions made to the Inspiration line, or thumpers for example, this change to the warrior stances makes them better for a secondary as opposed to a primary (since in PvP no serious warrior will every use them anyway). Balance them for a warrior primary, whether you have to base it around PvE or PvP, just make it work for one of them.

Zazoo · Jan 23, 2007, 09:34 AM // 09:34

Character PvE A/W

Skill Name: Flashing blades
Love the change, just right.

Skill Name: Critical Strike
With this as your duel attack and 2 other skills with it energy is never a problem.

Character PvE Warrior

Stances: Takes a bit of getting used to but they are great.