Guild Wars: Balance changes galore!

A lot of balance changes are in store for those who play NCSoft‘s Guild Wars, and when I say a lot, I mean A WHOLE FREAKIN’ LOT. On the official Guild Wars website, Christian Brellisford posted that the past few weeks have given the dev team “a new strategy for balancing skills” in the game.

“We have had the opportunity to test changes before they become permanent,” said Brellisford, adding that players can now “provide feedback on ongoing efforts for game balance.”

Since there really are a lot of changes (I wasn’t just making it up, y’know), let’s just take a brief look at some of them. First up, Weakness’s effect has changed so that it not only does it reduce attack damage, but also reduces all of a character’s attributes by one. Players may have to invest a few extra attribute points to guard against Weakness, and its usefulness can now cover all character classes and not just physical attackers.

The evade mechanic has also been given the boot. Any skill that previously added an evade now counts as a block instead.

As for skill changes, necromancers have gained boosts to their mediocre skills. Quite a few Minor Hexes have been given reduced casting times, recharge time, and Energy costs. Says Brellisford, “The Necromancer has now gained a stronger position in pressure builds because it can more effectively apply pressure and complement a team with AoE degeneration Hexes.”

Ritualists also got a boost, with most of the skill buffs improving the Channeling line. The Ritualist spell Bloodsong has also been moved from Communing to Channelling.

All in all, there are over 150 skill changes. To read more about them, click on the “read” link below.

A lot of balance changes are in store for those who play NCSoft‘s Guild Wars, and when I say a lot, I mean A WHOLE FREAKIN’ LOT. On the official Guild Wars website, Christian Brellisford posted that the past few weeks have given the dev team “a new strategy for balancing skills” in the game.

“We have had the opportunity to test changes before they become permanent,” said Brellisford, adding that players can now “provide feedback on ongoing efforts for game balance.”

Since there really are a lot of changes (I wasn’t just making it up, y’know), let’s just take a brief look at some of them. First up, Weakness’s effect has changed so that it not only does it reduce attack damage, but also reduces all of a character’s attributes by one. Players may have to invest a few extra attribute points to guard against Weakness, and its usefulness can now cover all character classes and not just physical attackers.

The evade mechanic has also been given the boot. Any skill that previously added an evade now counts as a block instead.

As for skill changes, necromancers have gained boosts to their mediocre skills. Quite a few Minor Hexes have been given reduced casting times, recharge time, and Energy costs. Says Brellisford, “The Necromancer has now gained a stronger position in pressure builds because it can more effectively apply pressure and complement a team with AoE degeneration Hexes.”

Ritualists also got a boost, with most of the skill buffs improving the Channeling line. The Ritualist spell Bloodsong has also been moved from Communing to Channelling.

All in all, there are over 150 skill changes. To read more about them, click on the “read” link below.