September 2014 Feature Pack/Balance changes

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Warrior icon small.png Warrior [1][edit]

“

In this update, we’ll be adjusting how the warrior uses and loses adrenaline. We felt that the warrior maintained their adrenaline a little too well, in that there wasn’t a real consequence to missing with an adrenaline skill or simply keeping it from fight to fight. We’ll be adjusting adrenaline so that it’s lost if you miss with a burst ability as well as draining slowly when you exit combat. With these changes, however, we will be updating the greatsword’s adrenaline burst ability to be a cleaving, execution-style attack more fitting for the weapon. In addition to this, we’ll be updating multiple skills and traits, increasing and decreasing some adrenaline-gain abilities, and addressing multiple traits to have better effects.

— Balance Changes in the September 2014 Feature Pack

Skills[edit]

  • Adrenaline will be lost whenever using a burst skill (even if the skill misses) and will drain while out of combat.
Weapon skills
  • Axe
    •  Whirling Axe.png Whirling Axe: Increased damage by 17%. Reduced recharge from 20 seconds to 15 seconds.
  • Mace
  • Sword
    •  Impale (warrior sword skill).png Impale: Reduced torment duration from 12 seconds to 8 seconds.
  • Greatsword
    •  Hundred Blades.png Hundred Blades: Decreased damage from channeled strikes by 5%. Final strike remains the same.
    •  Whirlwind Attack.png Whirlwind Attack: Decreased damage by 5%.
    •  Arcing Slice.png Arcing Slice: Strikes up to 5 targets. Deals twice as much damage to foes below 50% health.
  • Rifle
    •  Fierce Shot.png Bleeding Shot: No longer causes bleeding, but deals 20% more damage. Renamed to Fierce Shot.
      • Fierce Shot: Gives bonus adrenaline when striking a foe suffering from vulnerability.
Utility skills
  • Banners
    •  Sprint.png Sprint: Removed the strike. Removes crippled and chilled.
  •  Berserker Stance.png Berserker Stance: Reduced adrenaline gain by 40% (3 full bars of adrenaline overall instead of 5 bars).
  •  Signet of Might.png Signet of Might: Grants unblockable attacks for all attacks in the next 6 seconds instead of for the next 5 attacks.
Elite skills
  •  Rampage.png Rampage: Reduced direct damage received by 25%. Incoming crippled, chilled, and immobilized duration reduced by 33% (stacks with Dogged March).
  •  Signet of Rage.png Signet of Rage: Reduced duration of boons from 30 seconds to 25 seconds. Increased passive adrenaline gain by 50%.

Traits[edit]

Guardian icon small.png Guardian [2][edit]

“

With the guardian, our intent for this balance update is to improve some of the less popular utility skills and open up some build diversity in both support and offense. The active skills of some of the spirit weapons have been reworked to include more supportive functionality. One change we’re excited to tell you about is Spirit Bow’s command ability, which will now heal in a targeted area rather than just around the bow itself. We’ve also adjusted the guardian’s elite skills; the tomes have received considerable number changes and quality-of-life updates.

— Balance Changes in the September 2014 Feature Pack

Skills[edit]

Utility skills
Elite skills

Traits[edit]

  • Elite Focus Elite Focus: Also grants stability while using tome skills.
  • Eternal Spirit Eternal Spirit: Functionality changed and renamed to Expeditious Spirit.
    • Expeditious Spirit: Reduces the recharge of spirit weapon command skills.
  • Glacial Heart Glacial Heart: Reduced cooldown from 30 seconds to 15 seconds. Reduced chill duration from 4 seconds to 3 seconds.

Engineer icon small.png Engineer [3][edit]

“

In this balance pass, we’ve focused on giving some love to lesser-used kits and several non-kit utilities. With this update, you’ll see some changes to a few of your elixirs that will give them a bit more functionality, like Elixir R, which we’ve altered to also remove immobilized. Likewise, we’ve looked at a few of the gadgets and updated them to have a more defined purpose and a clear use.

— Balance Changes in the September 2014 Feature Pack

Skills[edit]

Weapon skills
Healing skills
  •  A.E.D..png A.E.D.: Also remove damage conditions (burning, bleeding, poison, and torment) taking fatal damage.
  •  Med Kit.png Med Kit
    •  Throw Antidote.png Drop Antidote: Removes immobilize from the player when used.
Utility skills

Traits[edit]

  • Accelerant-Packed Turrets Accelerant-Packed Turrets: Reduced knockback from 300 to 150 range.
  • Always Prepared Always Prepared: Also causes an oil slick to knock down nearby foes.
  • Elite Supplies Elite Supplies: No longer increases the duration of Elixir X but increases movement speed by 50% instead. Tornado now causes a lightning field around the user.
  • Power Wrench Power Wrench: Functionality changed to increase damage for Tool Kit skills by 10%.

Ranger icon small.png Ranger [3][edit]

“

The balance team has given the ranger a lot of love during this balance update. Rangers will be seeing a rework of Signet of the Beastmaster, which will be replaced by a new trait entitled Predator's Onslaught. With this change, Signet of the Beastmaster’s effects will be rolled into the baseline signet skills. We’ll also be updating several Beastmastery traits to remove pet specificity, allowing you to choose which pets you’d like to use rather than the traits themselves requiring a specific family. Along with these improvements, we’ll be updating quite a few weapon skills to improve their base functionality and responsiveness.

— Balance Changes in the September 2014 Feature Pack

Skills[edit]

  • Signets affect pets and rangers by default
Weapon skills
  • Axe
    •  Ricochet.png Ricochet: Grants might for 3 seconds for each foe struck.
    •  Path of Scars.png Path of Scars: Increased the velocity of the projectile by 25%.
  • Longbow
    •  Long Range Shot.png Long Range Shot: Increased damage.
      • 0-500 range: Increased by 17%.
      • 500-1000 range: Increased damage by 7%.
      • 1000+ range: Unchanged.
    •  Rapid Fire.png Rapid Fire: Reduced activation from 4½ seconds to 2½ seconds.
    •  Barrage.png Barrage: Reduced activation by ½ second.
  • Greatsword
    •  Enduring Swing.png Enduring Swing: Increased damage by 10%.
    •  Maul (ranger greatsword skill).png Maul: Increase number of targets hit from 3 to 5. Increased range from 150 to 220.
    •  Swoop.png Swoop: Evades on attack portion of the skill.
    •  Counterattack.png Counterattack: Reduced aftercast.
    •  Hilt Bash.png Hilt Bash: Stun and daze duration has been increased from 1 second to 1½ seconds.
Utility skills
  •  "Sic 'Em!".png "Sic 'Em!": Increased duration of reveal from 4 seconds to 6 seconds.
Elite skills
  •  Entangle.png Entangle: Decreased recharge to from 150 seconds to 60 seconds. Decreased duration of roots from 20 seconds to 5 seconds.
Pet skills

Traits[edit]

Thief icon small.png Thief [1][edit]

“

The goal for the thief during this balance pass has been to improve upon the new grandmaster traits that were recently added and increase the overall value of a few other traits through small tweaks. For example, Venomous Aura will now use your own stats rather than your allies’, so if you’re a master of condition damage, your shared venoms will be more effective than ever. As with the necromancer, you’ll be seeing increases to the number of targets that your dagger auto-attacks can strike. Additionally, we’ll be introducing a small range increase for pistol attacks when using the Ricochet trait.

— Balance Changes in the September 2014 Feature Pack

Skills[edit]

Weapon skills

Traits[edit]

  • Assassin's Equilibrium Assassin's Equilibrium: Increased stability duration from 1 second to 1½ seconds.
  • Invigorating Precision Invigorating Precision: Increased health gain percentage from 5% to 8%.
  • Panic Strike Panic Strike: Reduced immoblized duration from 5 seconds to 2½ seconds. Reduced cooldown from 30 seconds to 20 seconds.
  • Ricochet (trait) Ricochet: Also increased range of pistol skills from 900 to 1050. Fixed some related bugs to more reliably trigger.
  • Venomous Aura Venomous Aura: Venom effects use the user's attributes instead of the allies' receiving the effects. Basilisk Venom still allows allies to gain effects that trigger on interrupts.

Elementalist icon small.png Elementalist [4][edit]

“

The elementalist’s cantrips are popular in all parts of the game, and in the interest of promoting build diversity, we’ll be using the feature pack as an opportunity to work on other types of utility skills. For example, the fire and air storms from the Glyph of Storms will now apply conditions of their own. In addition, we’ll rework some of the new grandmaster traits that currently don’t have enough of a payoff or are too difficult to use. Finally, we’ll be addressing the Tornado and Fiery Greatsword elite skills; we’ll make some usability improvements and tone down some of their unintended functionality.

— Balance Changes in the September 2014 Feature Pack

Skills[edit]

Weapon skills
  • Dagger
    •  Burning Speed.png Burning Speed: No longer creates multiple fields at the same location when used against a wall.
  • Staff
    •  Burning Retreat.png Burning Retreat: No longer creates multiple fields at the same location when used against a wall.
Utility skills
Elite skills
  •  Conjure Fiery Greatsword.png Conjure Fiery Greatsword
    •  Fiery Rush.png Fiery Rush: Reduced damage by the line of fire by 70%. Increased damage by final strike by 140%. No longer creates multiple fields at the same location when used against a wall.
  •  Glyph of Elementals.png Glyph of Elementals: Now has skill commands when summoned and will be used with the elementals' next attack.
    • Flame Barrage (Fire Elemental): Burns multiple targets.
    • Crashing Waves (Ice Elemental): Knocks back a target then heals and removes a condition from nearby allies.
    • Shocking Bolt (Air Elemental): Stuns a target.
    • Stomp (Earth Elemental): Applies cripple to nearby foes and protection to nearby allies.
  •  Tornado.png Tornado and Whirlpool: Removed attribute bonus to power. Increased damage for transform skills.
Downed skills

Traits[edit]

  • Blinding Ashes Blinding Ashes: Applies blind to all foes struck when used with an area of effect burning skill.
  • Elemental Contingency Elemental Contingency: No longer has a global cooldown and instead split cooldowns depending on attunement.
  • Lightning Rod Lightning Rod: No longer requires an interrupt and instead triggers on any disable effect.

Mesmer icon small.png Mesmer [4][edit]

“

The mesmer has seen adjustments in a few areas. For this update, we’re looking at improving multiple traits, utility skills, weapon skills, and illusions. We’ve taken a look at some of the new grandmaster traits and improved upon their original implementation. We’ve altered the scepter a bit, pushing it more toward the condition role we would like it to have. In addition, you’ll see some awesome improvements to offensive mantras and a rework of the Mimic skill, which will now copy all boons on your target to yourself.

— Balance Changes in the September 2014 Feature Pack

Skills[edit]

Weapon skills
Utility skills

Traits[edit]

Necromancer icon small.png Necromancer [2][edit]

“

Our focus for necromancers in this balance update has been on improving their survivability through utilities and traits as well as improving the overall effectiveness of their melee and skirmishing weapons. You’ll see that the dagger auto-attack will now hit two targets, while the axe’s animations have been tuned to be more fluid. Along with weapon skill updates, your utility skills have been updated to provide more survivability over time.

— Balance Changes in the September 2014 Feature Pack

Skills[edit]

Mechanics
  •  Death Shroud.png Death Shroud: Players can now interact with objects while in Death Shroud
Weapon skills
Healing skills
  •  Signet of Vampirism.png Signet of Vampirism: Increased duration of the activated effect from 5 seconds to 6 seconds.
Utility skills
  •  Corrupt Boon.png Corrupt Boon: Increased activation to ½ seconds and reduced aftercast by ¼ second.
  •  Spectral Armor.png Spectral Armor: Reduced recharge from 60 seconds to 50 seconds.
Elite skills
  •  Lich Form.png Lich Form: Reduced duration from 30 seconds to 20 seconds. Removed attribute bonus to power. Increased damage for transform skills.

Traits[edit]

  • Last Gasp Last Gasp: Reduced recharge from 60 seconds to 50 seconds. Now categorized as a spectral skill.
  • Unholy Sanctuary Unholy Sanctuary: Now also activates Death Shroud when taking fatal damage. Requires life force, activates even when Death Shroud is recharging, and has a 30 second cooldown.

References[edit]

  1. ^ a b Ready Up: Episode 19 — The Skill Bar
  2. ^ a b c d e f Ready Up: Episode 21 — The Skill Bar
  3. ^ a b Ready Up: Episode 18 — The Skill Bar
  4. ^ a b Ready Up: Episode 20 — The Skill Bar
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