So, Skill Changes

[KingOfPain]

Yes it is also an elite.... But it isn't going to be easy to get enough energy to totally disable a mob for the whole duration (about 20 seconds, and hopefully down to 6 nrg lost per sec) and still have a few mana left. I don't even know if I can pull it off yet, and even if it can be pulled off, it will be technically difficult to play. So I am looking at anything that can help me do it, including stealing elite(s) from partners )

Oh well, such is the life of a variant scum - See something interesting and just go for it, for no other purpose than to DO IT.

KoP

[Lurker Wyrm]

The "truth" is that almost no matter how much testing you do you'll never be able to generate the amount of data you need to balance everything until after release. After release you'll have a lot more people (if you're successful) poking around and finding unexpected combos. You have near limitless options for an 8 player team and some of these will have unforseen consequences. You can't reasonably expect the developers and testers to test every possible combo if you want the game released.

I'll agree that you can't make a perfect game on release, but I still really don't like seeing major skill balances several months after releasing a game. It makes me feel like I'm still playing a beta. I suppose more of this griping is routed in problems I have with Diablo 2, where builds were continuously nullified patch after patch, putting months of work down the toilet. It's not as bad in Guild Wars since you can completely start the character over from scratch thanks to refund points and the skill system being used.

It's still irritating because you spend a lot of time getting used to a build and customizing it to your own style only to have it ripped away because someone can whine and complain and get other people to do the same and have that influence the developers. I think that's what's bothering me more than the actual changes.

NR was changed because you could make enchantments & hexes almost completely obsolete with a couple of Rangers spamming Oath Shot & Nature's Renewal. That's not just Protection Monks but also many Mesmer and Necromancer builds being nullified. Something like that isn't good for the game and should be changed.

NR was the only form of mass enchantment/hex removal in the game. When you get around the abuses that were associated with it, it was one of the only ways to keep mass enchantment/hex teams honest. Now it's just Rend and Lingering Curse. Imo, if they were so worried about Oath Shot abuses they should just have changed that skill to work more like Flourish. There are still way too many abuses that can be associated with Oath Shot even with spirits changed.