Good PvP Patch - Blue Tracker

#1 - Oct. 15, 2013, 12:53 p.m.

I honestly think the patch did quite a bit and is helping the balance.

Warrior: It helped get rid of a lot of the broken stun mechanics that could be used. I think stun-locking will still be viable, but not nearly as broken as it was.

Thief: S/D evades are still a bit unreasonable, but their boon strip has been knocked down to 1 for LS which definitely helps. Perhaps we’ll see a pistol main hand build in the meta now for the lockdown (I believe there already was one for condi-damage but I’ve never seen in it a team queue before).

Necromancer: Not a whole lot done aside from QoL things and siphoning. I still believe a previous patch fixed necros mostly; I don’t find them to be broken at all.

Elementalist: Just a lot of changes in general to support ele support. I’m unsure of whether or not they’ll be viable, but I think you’ll see a lot of testing with them and in general more gameplay (for tournaments though? That’s up in the air and will really be determined by what Demise and other ele’s think).

Engineer: Some good buffs for them. I feel like the bomb kit buff was necessary but I think overall they’re pretty strong right now which is good.

As for other classes…I don’t think much changed (edit: aside from ranger, which I didn’t look too deep into aside from pet changes; AND Guardian; lots of good stuff with them that will better their overall play which is great!), which can be good or bad.

I just want to post this so I can see how many people reply with their complaints about broken classes; because right now there is no “one” “God-Like” class that shines above all else.

EDIT: I got a reply for this in another thread about the Warrior. This was in reference to the paralyzation sigil that was absolutely broken, especially on a build like Crysis runs. I think escaping stun-locks like such will be easier, especially with the fix on getting out of launches/knockbacks immediately after you pop your stun break (which was very annoying previously).

JonathanSharp

#44 - Oct. 15, 2013, 7:14 p.m.

Just wanted to say that you guys are having a similar discussion to what we’re having internally.

Yes, the Warriors are pushing some of the condition builds out of the meta, but with our sigil of para fix, those same warriors will now be losing a little damage and a little control.

We need to give it a little while to see how the meta settles. Then we’ll be putting in trait improvement and skill improvements.

We felt the Warrior would eventually rise up to become the class it is now (it took a while for people to catch on), but once you guys figured it out, they did what we expected them to do.

Now we need to see where you guys (and the meta) go next.

JonathanSharp

#47 - Oct. 15, 2013, 7:54 p.m.

Asuka Shikinami.5462:
Jonathan, don’t you think Warriors are just a little over the top at the moment? Such as the amount of sustain available even when playing glassy? The mobility/escapes from the gap closers in sword/GS where most classes require targeting for those skills to work? How short the cooldown is on some of the cc? Zerker stance stopping all condi’s instead of negative duration (isn’t this a bug, if so why isn’t it fixed?)

I know you guys like to look at the metrics and let things settle… but seriously, it’s been months… Surely you guys are aware of how much this has also affected wvw with increased stats…

Thanks for the thoughts!

Yes, Warrior is pretty beefy right now, and can dish out strong aoe CC with some specs. We’ll have to watch to see if any counters crop up to deal with it in the next few weeks. I do think the build is strong, and we’re watching it very closely.

If you’ll recall, Berserk’s stance was brought in at a 6s duration (and very few people ran it), and then went to an 8s duration. This was enough to get people to start trying to make a build around it, and this lead to the current sustain/cc Warrior that’s so powerful right now.

That duration may need to come down, now that their traits align and give them VERY strong sustain due to multiple sources or regen. It’s working as it’s intended right now, but the duration is longer than it was previously.

TL:DR – We’re watching Warriors very closely right now and waiting to see how the meta adjusts.

JonathanSharp

#51 - Oct. 15, 2013, 8:08 p.m.

I think the description needs to be worked on. Already talked w/ the other balance guys about this, we’ll look at it again!