Warrior
In addition to moving some utility skills to the new ammo system, we’re also taking a look at the Strength and Arms trait lines. These lines have several adjustments aimed at making each choice more meaningful and less conflicting with other choices in the same tier while also focusing the purpose of each trait line into areas that make the most sense. One important trait that changed in this process was Berserker’s Power, which is an important trait for warriors who rely on Power damage. This trait previously granted a damage bonus based on the tier of adrenaline you were at when you used a burst skill. We’ve updated this trait to better scale with the amount of adrenaline you use so that warriors can feel good about using lower-level bursts consecutively rather than always waiting for the level 3.
Profession:
Primal Burst: These skills now count as level-1 bursts for the purposes of traits that scale on adrenaline level.
Weapon Skills:
Throw Axe: This skill now uses the ammo system. Ammo count has been set to 2 with a 10-second count recharge. There is a 1-second recharge between uses.
Combustive Shot: Fixed a bug that caused the projectile created by this skill to be destroyed without creating the damaging area when fired at enemy gates in WvW.
Scorched Earth: Fixed a bug that caused this skill to fail to hit some gates in WvW.
Flaming Flurry: Increased projectile speed by 66%.
Aimed Shot: This skill has been unsplit from PvP and now uses the higher damage values and vulnerability stack amounts in all game modes.
Flames of War: This skill has been unsplit from PvP and now uses the higher burn duration and burning stack values in all game modes.
Blaze Breaker: This skill has been unsplit from PvP and now uses the higher condition durations in all game modes.
Utility Skills:
“On My Mark!”: This skill now uses the ammo system. Ammo count has been set to 2 with a 30-second count recharge. There is a 5-second recharge between uses.
Kick: This skill now uses the ammo system. Ammo count has been set to 3 with a 30-second count recharge. There is a 3-second recharge between uses.
Throw Bolas: This skill now uses the ammo system. Ammo count has been set to 2 with a 25-second count recharge. There is a 1-second recharge between uses.
Bull’s Charge: This skill now evades for the duration of the charge. Increased damage by 267%. This skill now goes on full recharge if interrupted.
Traits:
Berserker’s Power: This trait’s functionality has been changed. It now provides a stacking 7% damage-increase enhancement for 10 seconds for each bar of adrenaline used when a burst skill hits. Maximum 3 stacks.
Axe Mastery: This trait has moved to the Discipline line and takes the slot previously taken by Merciless Hammer.
Merciless Hammer: This trait has moved to the Strength line and takes the slot previously taken by Axe Mastery. In addition to its previous functionality, this trait now also causes interrupts to inflict 4 stacks of confusion for 8 seconds.
Death from Above: This trait has been removed and its functionality moved to Peak Performance. It has been replaced with Brave Stride.
Brave Stride: Your first attack when entering combat grants 1 stack of stability for 4 seconds.
Peak Performance: This trait now increases the damage of all physical skills by 30% regardless of your adrenaline level. Additionally it now also reduces fall damage by 50% and causes you to launch foes when you take fall damage.
Distracting Strikes: This trait has been removed and its functionality combined with Merciless Hammer. It has been replaced with Might Makes Right.
Might Makes Right: Whenever you apply might to yourself, heal a small amount and gain 5 endurance.
Determined Revival: Now reduces incoming damage by 25% while reviving, instead of granting increased Toughness.
Precise Strikes: This trait has been reworked and its functionality moved to Bloodlust. This trait has been renamed to Furious Burst and causes burst skills to grant 5 seconds of fury with a 15-second internal cooldown.
Berserker’s Fury: This trait has been reworked, and it has been renamed Wounding Precision. It now grants +120 Precision at level 80 and converts 7% of Precision to Expertise.
Signet Mastery: This trait now grants Ferocity instead of Precision when a signet is used.
Opportunist: This trait now grants 5 adrenaline when immobilizing a foe in addition to fury.
Deep Strikes: This trait has switched places with Rending Strikes and is now in the Master Minor slot.
Unsuspecting Foe: This trait now provides a bonus critical-hit chance against foes that are disabled by any hard crowd-control effect rather than just stun.
Rending Strikes: This trait has switched places with Deep Strikes and is now in a Master Major slot. Increased vulnerability duration to 10 seconds.
Blademaster: This trait now increases condition duration by 20% for sword skills instead of increasing sword critical-hit chance against bleeding foes by 20%.
Bloodlust: This trait no longer increases damage against bleeding foes. Instead, it causes your critical hits to have a 33% chance to inflict 1 stack of bleeding for 5 seconds and increases duration of outgoing bleeds by 33%.
Dual Wielding: Increased attack speed bonus from 15% to 20%. Updated description for clarity. This trait gives an attack speed bonus when a main-hand weapon is wielded in the off-hand slot.
Shrug It Off: Fixed a bug that could cause this trait to go on a 30-second internal cooldown under some circumstances instead of its listed cooldown.
Cull the Weak: Increased bonus damage from 5% to 7%. Increased health threshold from 33% to 50%. Increased weakness duration from 3 seconds to 5 seconds. This trait now applies weakness to foes regardless of if they already have weakness on them, but it has a 5-second internal cooldown.
Sundering Mace: This trait has had its functionality changed. It now causes stuns, dazes, and knockdowns inflicted by mace skills to last 20% longer against vulnerable foes, and it reduces the recharge of mace skills by 20%.
Reviver’s Might: In addition to granting might, this trait now also heals nearby allies. This trait now triggers when you successfully revive someone or when you rally.
Inspiring Presence: This trait no longer grants Healing Power to outgoing might but instead grants bonus Healing Power to the warrior for each stack of might.
Structured Player vs. Player
League Vendors have had some tab consolidation.
Glorious armors, earned from PvP Reward Tracks, now have Heart of Thorns stat combinations as selectable options. Heart of Thorns required.
The Champion’s Crown has been swapped with the Champion’s Sun for winning first place in the Monthly PvP Tournament.
Stealth Attacks: Fixed a bug that caused thief stealth attacks to treat the PvP lobby as a PvE area when determining the duration of Revealed to apply.
PvP Stat-Swappable Armor:
The PvP ascended armors Ardent Glorious and Glorious Hero’s can now be upgraded into stat-swappable armor.
The Ascended Armor League Vendor now sells items needed to upgrade ascended PvP armor into stat-swappable armor.
Since this is an upgrade, the stat-swappable armor does not include a new unique skin but is instead the same skin as the ascended piece that was upgraded.
World vs. World
Territories:
Each objective now has a territory associated with it that is outlined on the map. An objective’s territory will display the team color of the team that owns it. The WvW score UI now displays the objective of whatever territory you are in.
Gliding:
The new War Gliding Mastery has been added to WvW. The War Gliding skill allows gliding in territories that your team owns in the Mist War maps. You will be kicked from your glider if you enter a territory that you do not own.
With the addition of gliding, several small map adjustments have been made to the Eternal Battlegrounds, Desert, and Alpine borderlands to better accommodate gliding. Along with map changes, several out-of-bounds areas have been added that will teleport players back to the spawn point if they get outside of the playable game area. This is a test for gliding in WvW. We can disable gliding in WvW if we do not find it appropriate for the game mode.
Ability-Point Reset:
A new ability-point reset vendor, the World Ability Master, has been added to each portal keep (team starting area). One free sample ability-point reset is available per character. Ability-point resets can be bought with spirit shards that will instantly reset your WvW ability points.
Siege Balance:
Ballista:
Ballista’s damage to siege has been increased.
Ballista’s 4th skill has been replaced with an antiair bolt that shoots people out of the air and immobilizes them.
Catapult:
Catapults’ boulder shots now deal damage based on their charge level. The longer the catapult is charged, the more damage it deals.
WvW Stat-Swappable Armor:
The WvW ascended armor Triumphant Hero’s and Mistforged Triumphant Hero’s can now be upgraded into stat-swappable armor.
Commander War Razor now has a new Legendary Components tab that sells items needed to upgrade ascended WvW armor into stat-swappable armor.
Since this is an upgrade, the stat-swappable armor does not include a new unique skin but is instead the same skin as the ascended piece that was upgraded.
Reward Changes:
Being in first place with war score now grants 5 pips instead of 3.
Being in second place with war score now grants 4 pips instead of 2.
Being in third place with war score now grants 3 pips instead of 1.
The Superior Siege Blueprint Case choice from the Skirmish Chest now grants 2 superior siege instead of 1.
WvW Skirmish Claim Tickets have been reduced in the last chest of each division but have been added to every chest.
The Triumphant Armor Box and Legacy Armor Box exotics now give Heart of Thorns stats if you own Heart of Thorns.
If you already chose stats on the exotic gear, you will need to earn the exotic gear again to choose different stats.
Mistforged Hero’s ascended weapons now have infusion slots.
BLACK LION TRADING COMPANY GEM STORE
New Items and Promotions
A new Rival Skies Package with the Fiery Blade Axe and the Icy Blade Axe is available in the Style category of the Gem Store for 1,000 gems.
The new Black Lion Instant Level 80 Ticket is available in the Upgrades category of the Gem Store for 2,000 gems. Using this item will grant a Level-80 Boost, allowing players to test their characters before boosting one to level 80.
A new Path of Fire Preparation Pack is available in the Utility category of the Gem Store for 3,500 gems. It contains 1 Character Slot, 2 Bag Slot Expansions, 1 Black Lion Instant Level 80, 1 Unbreakable Gathering Tools Container, and 10 Black Lion Chest Keys.
With the improvement to the Mistlock Sanctuary lounge, the Permanent Mistlock Sanctuary Passkey is available in the Utility category of the Gem Store for an additional week for 1,000 gems.
The Guild Wars 2 Fifth Year Anniversary Sale starts soon. Check back every day for your favorite items on sale.
Improvements
Updated the Dynamics Glider Module to appear less detached on asura when deployed.
The Mistlock Sanctuary’s portal to Tyria has been updated with additional teleportation options. Players may now choose to return to the location where they used their Mistlock Sanctuary Passkey.
The Black Lion Exclusives Chest has been added as a rare drop in the current Black Lion Chest for a limited time. Players can choose one of the nine exclusive items released previously in the Black Lion Chest, including the Grasping Phantom Glider, Mini Celestial Rooster, Infinirarium Glider, Candelabra Staff, Bitterfrost Vantage Point, Noran’s Safe Room Pass and Key, Elemental Sword, Sworn Zaishen Helm Skin, and Hounds of Balthazar Mail Carrier.
For a limited time, the Maguuma Jungle, Kryta, and Ranger’s Miniatures are available when using Black Lion Miniature Claim Tickets.
Ranger’s Miniatures: Mini Brown Bear, Mini Devourer, Mini Jungle Stalker, Mini Toxic Spider Queen, Mini Salamander Drake, Mini River Drake, Mini Swamp Drake, Mini Polar Bear, Mini Lynx, and Mini Snow Leopard.
Maguuma Jungle Miniatures: Mini Colocal, Mini Forest Spider, Mini Green Moa, Mini Jungle Stalker, Mini Skritt Forager, Mini Skritt Bottle Lobber, Mini Tiger, Mini Chickenado, Mini Tizlak, Mini Forest Grub, and Mini Lynx.
Kryta Miniatures: Mini Brown Bear, Mini Ettin, Mini Modniir Berserker, Mini River Drake, Mini Swamp Spider, Mini Wind Rider, Mini Black Wind Rider, Mini Blue Drake Hatchling, Mini Swamp Drake, Mini River Drake Broodmother, and Mini Black Moa.
Bug Fixes
Removed the Agony Resistance filter when searching for armor or weapons on the trading post.
Updated the Guaranteed Wardrobe Unlock to correctly unlock permanent finishers while players have limited-use versions of that finisher equipped.
Fixed an issue in which players could become stuck midair in the Mistlock Sanctuary when simultaneously manipulating gravity and untransforming.
Fixed the Merchant Express to prevent summoned merchants floating in midair.
MAC CLIENT
Adjusted