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Gameplay updates for GWF
ioannides5
Member, Neverwinter Beta Users Posts: 0 Arc User
Just finished reading this; am I the only 1 particularly unhappy with the upcoming GWF changes?.. nothing really seems that good. They buffed wicked strike damage, so yay.. instigator GWFs will do more dps... but nothing really happens for destroyer build gwfs. No repeating strike buff? No weapon master's strike buff? Sure, they reduced a few cooldowns... big deal?
All this patch is going to do is is FORCE all GWFs into the instigator build for dps, and make destroyer not viable. If you're going to buff the at-wills, please buff them all! Weapon master's strike and reaping strike need some love too!
All this patch is going to do is is FORCE all GWFs into the instigator build for dps, and make destroyer not viable. If you're going to buff the at-wills, please buff them all! Weapon master's strike and reaping strike need some love too!
Post edited by ioannides5 on
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I'm excited to see how much they buffed the damage of it with the Intimidation Feat as well!
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So yes, Reaping Strike just went from a good enough pick to a not good enough pick. It was on the edge of not good enough before, but it's solidly in the skip-it pile now.
I will say this though, I can't wait to see how the 100% deflection chance from Spinning Strike works out. Combined with Unstoppable I wonder if you can actually become immune to damage. (I have a feeling there's a cap in place, but 50% from Unstoppable paired with 50% from Deflect and you get...100%.)
Overall grade: meh
wouldn't running the class feature (the name escapes me atm) that gives 5 seconds of immunity after a daily be a better option than using a <font color="orange">HAMSTER</font> poor daily ?
Cons: Unstoppable Force no longer remove all impairment debuffs. As if it isn't already hard enough to catch CWs.
As long as the damage boost in SS is significant, I would be happy with this patch. It seems like you people are expecting way too much.
Maybe I wasn't clear: The changes to spinning strike are completely unimportant and completely useless. It merely changes Spinning Strike from something that was 100% useless into something that's 95% useless. Ergo, still useless. Even if it did somehow stack with Unstoppable to make you 100% resistant to damage, it would still be useless since the damage output is abysmal and who cares if you're unkillable if you can't do anything meaningful while you're immune. Perhaps with the new threat mechanics Sentinel's will be able to get AoE aggro with this ability, but with the damage being where it's at I'm not holding my breath.
The more times I reread the 'balance' notes the more angry I get. It does pretty much nothing to address all of my issues with GWF, and even makes some of my issues worse. (I.E. Reaping Strike getting the shaft.) At least we didn't get a nerf like CW and TR, but even TR's nerf is barely a nerf. They reduced Shocking Execution's damage by 60%, but didn't even touch Lurkers Assault? WTF? Maybe with the overall crit damage nerf TR received Lurkers will be slightly less OP, but it's still blatantly OP.
I hate to say it, but this patch is pretty much a slap in the face to not only GWF but also to pretty much every class in the game. It tells us that GWF is exactly where it's supposed to be, the bottom of the pile.
I think this changes will put up closer on par with CW/TR DPS.
It's not so much the class as it is dungeon mechanics.
Agreed 100%
If we are to be an AoE DPS class, then we need to hit EVERYTHING in our damage cone. No caps AT ALL to number of mobs affected. Even our so-called single-target skills like SS need to hit multiple mobs if they are in the swing zone.
deflect applies after damage reduction
so if you have 50% dr and you deflect---from the dr you shrug off 50% of the dmg and then the deflect reduces the remaning 50% dmg by 50%, which means you take 25% of it not 0%
Instigator is the AoE DPS spec, and it recieved a buff to make it even better. I don't know what the damage buff is, obviously, but any damage buff at all is a good thing. Instigator is already the #1 performer for GWF, so it getting a buff is good. Sentinel was at the bottom of the pile, so the new toys may or may not help things out. Sentinel getting some feat fixes will help with that.
Destroyer, however, is screwed. I'm going to use my powers of future telling to see that Executioners Style is going to be 100% skippable given that hardly anyone uses Reaping Strike as things currently stand. You're going to see Destroyers dropping ES in favor of anything else and using WMS/SS as their combo attack.
The irony here is that Destroyers are going to do even less AoE damage than they did before, since absolutely no one will use the at-will attack that was obviously intended for Destroyers. (I.E. Reaping Strike) Oh well, I guess we should just respec into using Sure Strike and ignore our class role that already didn't exist in T2 and beyond. So, in essence, GWF players will nerf themselves and say they're doing it right by ignoring AoE damage completely beyond their tap of WMS to recieve their Sure Strike buff.
Substandard single-target damage class, HO!
That's what I figured, I was being stupid when I suggested that Spinning Strike would result in 100% damage resistance, but even if it did people would still skip Spinning Strike. We'll see when the test servers go live, but like I said I'm not holding my breath.
Although you should have at least 30% resistance from armor, and 50% from Unstoppable, so base 80% then toss in another effective 25% from deflection and you get...pretty darn close to 100% damage resistance effectively.
Obviously there must be a damage resistance cap, but knowing Cryptic I'd say there's the possibility for exploit when this goes to test server. It's definitely something I'm going to look at personally.
They are reducing the cooldown on almost all of our encounter powers and improving the damage of Sure Strike. How much is reduced or improved we'll never know until the test servers are up. For now I reserve judgement.
The patch notes pretty much guarantee that you're going to need to switch to Instigator build if you intend on being useful in PvE. It was already true, the patch notes just make sure that this is what you need to do to be at all competitive.
I think pretty much everyone would agree with that assessment.
Fortunately I can use my free respec to change to Instigator, which is exactly what I intend on doing when the changes go live. I'll make sure it's a good idea when test server goes up, but I already know that this is what the end result will be.
I think it all comes down to a lack of vision, game design-wise, on the developer's part. As it has been said over and over again, the melee classes are not wanted/needed for endgame, for the most part. If you're going to make a game that has clearly defined classes, then those classes need to have clearly defined roles to play that matter for 100% of the content. The paragon paths should be specializations for certain class features that play into that greater picture and refine them. If you like using certain skill combos that work off of each other, then make a paragon path reward those particular skills vs. a different combo set-up. But the paths should NOT detract from the big picture that is the main class "duty" in the party.
We are supposed to be DPS mass-mob killers. We have gigantic swords for that purpose. Every paragon path should reflect that, but go about it slightly differently from each other, for "flavor".
This class needs a basic overhaul at the roots... not a couple of tweaks.
I entirely agree. The problem here is that GWF is still not going to be needed for end game content.
Here is what the new end-game lineup is going to be for 100% of dungeons past T1.
1 GF / 2 CW / 1 TR / 1 DC
This isn't me being snarky or mean or pissed, it's just a fact with the changes they're implementing. GWF is still a non-starter, as none of the things that were holding the class back are addressed, or they are addressed but only with a single Paragon path. (I.E. Instigator)
Even with Instigator getting a leg up it's pad damage not effective damage. The CW doesn't need the extra AoE from Instigator when you can slap in another CW to do the same job better. The CW nerfs may, or may not, change that dynamic but we shall see.
Maybe Destroyer will remain viable with WMS/SS as their primary at-will rotation, but lets be honest the TR nerf doesn't look big enough to make Destroyer with Sure Strike a contender in single-target damage. Unless they straight up double the damage Sure Strike does, but that seems incredibly unlikely.
No, this is Cryptic, those notes are final. I have never once seen Cryptic change a patch because of Test server input. It always get pushed out as-is unless there is truly a massive game breaking bug that's easily reproducible.
the notes read to me like your pve spec is supposed to be offtank.
realistically a GF cannot tank everything. they have target limits and they can only take so much damage.
seems like they are aiming to have GWF be the pve offtank.
considering clerics low output, but almost all aoe, healing, it sort of makes sense.
I don't know... bleed for TR was hit pretty hard... We may see 1GF/2 CW/2 DC (So while the defense buff doesn't stack the clerics can heal each other since AS counts as a HoT now and so is reduced on the caster by righteousness).
Though CW's got a bit of a PvE nerf as well in areas... My renegade for instance will be hurt and with effects no longer stacking 2 CW's could get in each others way, just not as much as 2 TRs... Really... I'm not sure what class actually liked the changes... Except maybe GF...
Yes that's what sentinel build is all about offtanking. While GF tank the big boss.. we tank the adds hence all of those AOE threat generation tools at our disposal.