Guild Wars: Skill Update (4/17/08)

The game that dare not speak its name was updated the other day, if you're the sort of silly person who cares about that sort of thing.

I think I'll refrain from any sort of detailed commentary this go-around since I'm so far out of touch, I forgot Hex Breaker had even been changed into a skill instead of a stance in the first place. Too wrapped up in other games and other projects at the moment.

This is also a temporary update, for the latest - and, I take it, last - tournament which will be rolled back at the start of last month. I suspect some of the changes that prove successful may stick around in some way, shape, or form but I wouldn't count on it.

Still, some quick hit impressions.

Dark Pact is insane now.

Wards no longer affecting GvG NPCs is huge. Along with the nerfs to Splinter Weapon and Ancestors' Rage and others they really hammered that whole VoD farming thing that I so despise.

Surge/Burn getting stronger along with Chaos Storm (probably really brutal in the Tombs these days) means e-denial makes a big comeback. You know, I've long thought that the best way to deal with the passive webs of defenses (Also hit with the changes to the Resto chants and Aegis.) that have so clogged the game is to give e-denial some teeth again so I like it.

And I like upping the cast time on skills like Harrier's and Ermite's. What that does is cut down on the damage compression that makes for wicked spikes in the middle of your pressure.

Cutting back on the efficiency of the frontline is probably why B-Surge got a slight nerf, too. It's now much more energy intensive to keep someone blindlocked - but easier to race removal - for long periods of time making it much more situationally tactical, so that's all to the good, too. It goes along the same lines as the change to Disarm - you want to be able to screw someone over but the developers don't want you to be able to do it for too long. Landing that disruption in the small window you have for it to be effective is one of, if not the, basis for skilled play.

Anyhow, that's enough for me, if you want more you can check out the developer's own notes. If I'm not mistaken they were written - or at least posted - by a certain new community manager. Let me just say, since I think that's exactly the kind of feedback the developers should be providing: Heck of a job, Brinny.