Hey, as always after patches we've been busy testing out new builds,team compositions and of course, updating our DPS benchmarks.

Our new site is still in progress, but we are very close to being done. I can safely say that our new site will be a HUGE improvement on the old enjin format
and we're really eager to get it finished to we can share it!

Since a lot of people are waiting on updated builds or new numbers for benchmarks, we decided to post the benchmarks here so people don't have
to wait until the site is finished, which might take a few more days!

With the changes to druid's GOTL affecting 10 people, We have decided to use the following for realistic buffs(we're leaving our unrealistic this time)

Power class Buffs: 5 GOTL stacks, Spotter, Frost & Sun spirit, Banner of strength + discipline, Empower Allies,Alacrity. 5 Boons(quickness,fury,might,regen,swiftness)

Condition class Buffs: 5 GOTL stacks, Spotter, Frost & Sun spirit,Pinpoint distribution, Banner of strength + discipline, Empower Allies,Alacrity. 5 Boons(quickness,fury,might,regen,swiftness)

Realistic DPS numbers are slightly higher because realistic buffs are now better than before, Unrealistic is lower because full buffs are now worse, both due to GotL changes.

Now onto balance changes!

So what changed following the 22/02 patch?

The biggest changes were defintely Druid's GOTL and warrior's banners affecting 10 people. This opens up some variants for the meta composition, but in general for 99% of cases, 5-5 Mirror comp still remains meta. Since Tempest was nerfed quite badly
condi subgroups are a very strong option now, pulling similar damage on large hitboxes, and pulling far ahead on small hitbox bosses. Tempest and other power classes are still very strong and in some cases still better, so overall this patch just closed the gap between tempest and other dps classes!

Engineer: Engi got some really nice damage boosts in the patch, namely Blowtorch, but Shrapnel, shaped charge and static discharge all got some buffs too.
The most significant change for Engi was the change to pinpoint distribution now becoming a group-wide condition damage buff. Along with engi's already high DPS and damage boosts in the patch,
this condition damage buff is a huge boost to a condi subgroup and strongly puts engi into the meta when running condition subgroups!

Power Engi got some nice damage boosts too, and is quite competitive with other power DPS builds!

Warrior: Condition PS warrior got some really nice damage boosts, the third chain of the sword Auto was buffed, as well as Deep strike being changed to give the warrior a permenant 150 condition damage boost.
For great justice was also buffed, meaning warrior can now always use the old Pizza+geomancy sigil setup instead of smoldering+dumpling setup, which is another nice boost to it's dps.
Since banners now affect 10 people, each warrior can run 1, and then take another utility depending on what your groups needs. For the most part, shattering blow for more DPS is the best option.
Power warrior really has a hard time to keep up with condi PS now after all the buffs it received, however if you run power warrior still you can take signet of might instead of the second banner slot!

Thief: Nothing changed for thief,It's still a really strong option for small-medim hitbox targets. vault was really buggy with quickness and now that they reverted it, nothing changed at all, hopefully they will add it back at some
stage and maybe it will become part of the rotation! Staff Daredevil is much stronger than D/D on fights like KC and Gorseval, since revealed training will give you 200 power for free. At other encounters D/D or Staff both work fine.

Druid/Ranger: 2 Druids can now upkeep pretty much 5 GOTL, since it affects 10 people now. 1 full healer druid is also viable and can maintain ~4 gotl, however you won't
have spotter on every Profession in this case, so it's not optimal but still a decent alternative.

Condi Druid had a small DPS decrease due to the nerf on sharpened edges.

Condi ranger also was nerfed due to the sharpened edges change, but the buff to sharpening stone made up for that, Sylvari ranger still remains stronger due to take root!

Power: Greatsword got some small buffs but it's still quite bad. DPS was also nerfed slightly due to sharpended edges trait nerf. Power druid is rather irrelevant now,
since condi druid with A/A can provide the same utility, with more damage. double condi druids or 1 magi+1 condi druid are the best options to run.

Tempest: All Staff builds suffered from the Meteor Shower nerf, F/A Staff suffered so much that it falls completly out of the meta, both for big and small hitbox.
 S/Wh F/A build takes its place and is on the same level as normal Staff for big hitboxes.
 D/Wh F/A stays best for small hitboxes(S/Wh not far behind) but overall Tempest is not optimal at any small hitbox boss.
considering most condi builds overtake it by quite a bit in the testing area already,and in a real raid scenario that gap will just widen even more.

Necro: Unfortunately the damage is too low as well as necro bringing nothing special, to justify bringing either condi or power necro in optimal cases.
Even hammer guardian and power engineer do more damage, and provide Protection(guard) or really high soft and hard CC(engi).

Guardian: With the recent balance patch guardian greatsword recived a small buff buff (20% damage boost to Whirling Wrath GS2) with this guardian has for the first time since HoT release, a viable greatsword build for raids utilizing greatsword and scepter/torch on swap.
 This build is even slighty better than the previous Scepter/Sword/Torch DPS build in a DPS area setting.
 Through the greatsword 4 symbol and shares from mesmers Signet of Inspiration and Illusionary Inspiration this build will also have a very high uptime on retaliation in a real raid scenario,
 to utilize the trait Retribution for another 10% damage modifier which other builds struggle with after the recent changes to light fields.

Rev: Revenant got a small buff with this patch. Jalis hammers deal 100% more damage now.
 But the current meta is kind of based on condition damage so Revenant is not a good choice for most cases since AP will be practically useless in condi compositions.
Alacrity from the ventari tablet is not enough to replace a chrono since quickness won't be perma then, and Rev will lose a lot of damage by trying to maintain alacrity.
However this buff is really nice for the Hand Kiting build at Deimos!

Mesmer: