gww>Wikichu: Developer Updates/20070306 moved to ArenaNet:Developer updates/20070306: namespace import

2008-05-29T23:17:00Z

Developer Updates/20070306 moved to ArenaNet:Developer updates/20070306: namespace import

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<noinclude>{{dev update}}</noinclude>

==[Dev Update] Skill Updates and Hero Battles -- 06 March 2007 ==
It's time for another official [[Dev Update]], straight from the Guild Wars Design Team. This week, we'll be making some changes, including a modest number of [[skill balance]]s and an alteration to Hero Battles. So here's the latest news, with an outline of the upcoming changes and a note about the why's and wherefore's of each.

Upon reviewing the first half of the [[Celestial Tournament]], we’ve decided to balance some skills to improve the competitive environment. These changes will take effect after 12:01 PM PST on Wednesday, March 7 to allow completion of Round 4 of the tournament.

This permanent update addresses critical balance issues within the tournament and is not a temporary weekend implementation. We are still working on a larger play balance review in preparation for next weekend’s event.

'''[[Ritualist]]'''

The following skills have changed:
:* [[Gaze from Beyond]]: increased [[casting time]] to 2 seconds.
:* [[Spirit Burn]]: increased [[recharge time]] to 8 seconds.
:* [[Lamentation]]: increased casting time to 1 second; reduced [[damage]] to 15..75.

:When these skills were first implemented, they required the caster to be very close to a [[Spirit]] in order to use them effectively. We recently changed all such skills to work at a much greater distance, though they became too powerful. Our intention is for these skills to remain effective but not be out of scope with other damage-dealing options.

'''[[Necromancer]]'''

The following skill has changed:
:* [[Discord]]: increased casting time to 2 seconds.

:We have been pleased to see Discord useful in a variety of [[PvP]] and [[RP]] situations, but its rate of sustained damage output is excessive. Increasing the casting time lowers the damage output to a reasonable amount while giving opponents an opportunity to use general purpose counters such as [[interrupt]]ion and [[Condition]]/[[Hex]] removal.

'''[[Assassin]]'''

The following skills have changed:
:* [[Shadow Prison]]: increased [[Energy]] cost to 10.
:* [[Blades of Steel]]: decreased maximum damage bonus to 60.

:Shadow Prison was simply too powerful for its cost, thus the increase to its Energy cost. The damage from Blades of Steel was out of scale with that of other [[dual-attack]] skills. We hope that these skill changes will encourage build diversity for Assassins and [[Warrior]]/Assassins, and we believe both of these skills will remain viable but not superior to other options.

'''[[Mesmer]]'''

The following skill has changed:

:* [[Wastrel's Demise]]: increased casting time to 1 second.

:With a ¼ second casting time, this skill was too fast and powerful as a source of follow-up damage.

'''[[Hero Battles]]'''

We’re taking this opportunity to make a change to Hero Battles. Currently, very defensive builds are capable of holding the center shrine, needlessly slowing down games and homogenizing strategies. As a result, we’ve made the following change:

:* Capturing and holding any or all shrines on the map now contributes to your [[morale]]. The center shrine now grants twice the amount of positive “pip” arrows on the morale meter than other capture points. The secondary benefits associated with these shrines will remain unchanged.

:We feel this change will impact movement, tactics, and build creation in a positive manner and will generally make battles more competitive and interesting. With the upcoming Hero Battles ladder on the horizon, we felt a need to improve this format before the ladder is put into place. We will continue to monitor this venue and adjust this mechanic as needed.

So that's it! As I mentioned, this update will be streamed into Guild Wars sometime tomorrow afternoon. As always, your thoughts are welcome, and we invite your feedback on these changes after you've had a chance to try them out and see how they function in the game. We'll be reading the fansite forums and gleaning your input. --[[User:Gaile Gray|Gaile Gray]] 20:58, 6 March 2007 (EST)

[[Category:Developer Updates|20070306]]

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gww>Wikichu: Developer Updates/20070306 moved to ArenaNet:Developer updates/20070306: namespace import