Guild Wars 2 Previews Major Balance Changes Coming In Next Week’s Update
Guild Wars 2 is due for a major balance patch next week which will mainly include PvP nerfs to various classes. Balance Lead Cal Cohen and Game Designer Roy Marks says that they won’t be nerfing PvE as much but will instead focus on quality-of-life tweaks for each class. These include adjustments to buff cooldowns and timers as well as baseline changes to several trait buffs to increase build variety.
The highlight of the balance patch is that both Mesmers and Firebrands will have their mantra skills reverted back to the way the were in 2021. This will apply to both PvE and PvP. Prior to May 2021, mantra skills had to be charged up first to gain three charges that could be used one after the other with no cooldown in between. The mechanic was later removed and mantras were converted to basic ammo skills.
“We feel like a lot was lost in the previous rework,” said Cohen. “We went back and we thought about ‘are there other ways we can solve these problems?’” The team will also be adjusting the bonuses given when charging up mantras on the Mesmer and using the final ammo on the Firebrand.
The Vindicator and Elementalist will also have their damage outputs reeled back while the Deadeye’s Shadow Meld skill will no longer remove the Revealed status effect when used. This means that the Deadeye will no longer be able to activate stealth instantly after they’ve been revealed.
Details can be found in the full patch notes on the Guild Wars 2 official forums. The patch itself is slated to hit the live servers on February 14th.
