Feedback:User/Khomet/Paragon skill suggestions

I have compiled a list of paragon skill suggestions that have been discussed on Guild Wars Guru and they have been generally well received there. Some of these are my own creation and some are based on ideas posted in various threads on GWG. I think most of these suggestions can be implemented with minimal effort since many of the changes involve tweaking the numbers or copying existing skills. Taken as a whole I believe they will address every area where the paragon needs assistance, and will allow the paragon to have multiple viable roles within a group. These suggestions were developed in a PvE context, and while I think it would be great if they are adopted for PvP I understand that the differences in the PvE/PvP formats will probably require these skills to continue to have different versions for PvE and PvP.

The list is changing slightly according to ongoing discussions so I think it would be better to post a link to the page rather than paste the content. Thanks for making a great game, and thanks for listening!

Best regards, Khomet

http://wiki.guildwars.com/wiki/User:Khomet/Paragon_skill_changes

Lots of discussion about these skill suggestions in this thread on Guildwars Guru.

http://www.guildwarsguru.com/forum/dear-arenanet-please-expedite-paragon-t10441769.html

Summary
Updated 2011-03-16

Major issues to be addressed:
 * ineffectiveness of offensive buffs compared with other professions
 * many skills are so conditional that they are not suitable for general use
 * overall weakness of Motivation skills
 * lack of multi-attack skills and area effect damage
 * lack of maintainable shouts to power skills such as Soldier's Fury, Soldier's Defense, Soldier's Stance, Centurion's Insignia, etc.
 * energy management problems in 4-man environments (both PvE and PvP)

The paragon has a number of deficiencies compared to other professions, this is an attempt to balance the skills without major changes to the profession itself. I have attempted to make the skills more useful and less conditional while respecting the original intent of the skills involved. The changes described below improve Spear Mastery skills so that the paragon is more competitive with the ranger in terms of ranged damage and improve Anthems so that the paragon is more competitive with the necromancer in terms of buffing physical attackers. These suggestions also make many of the Leadership skills more useful and improve the Motivation skills so that they are viable again. Many of the motivation skills provide benefits over time; this means that the motivation skills will provide party support rather than being direct competition to the monk and ritualist. These changes may also help to solve PvP balance issues with paragons because these motivation skills will not stack and teams with multiple paragons would gain no benefit from bringing multiple copies of these skills.

Some anthems were changed so that they provide benefits on every attack instead of ending on an attack skill. This was done intentionally so that paragons can achieve physical buffing similar to what Necromancers do with Orders. Other anthems were changed to provide minor AoE effects so that they are more useful in PvE. In PvP this would mostly be irrelevant since foes rarely cluster within Adjacent range.

Spear mastery skills are mostly the same; some are less conditional, one does minor area effect damage and two of them are copies of existing skills (Volley, S&M Slash) that will allow the paragon to deliver multiple hits and make him more competitive with other damage dealers in PvE. Rangers and melee professions still have more damage buffs available (e.g. preparations, Strength of Honor, Aura of Holy Might) as well as multi-attack skills (Barrage, Triple Shot, Whirlwind Attack, Cyclone Axe, Crude Swing) so they will still be superior damage dealers.

Credits: I'd like to thank Lanier, Commander Kanen, Dame Laureline, Smarty, Warcry of Truth, MidnightOokami, belshazaarswrath, and chuckles79 from Guild Wars Guru for their help.

Command

 * Shout. (5..17..20 seconds.) Allies within earshot that are not moving cannot be knocked down.
 * Compare to Ward of Stability. Coding for this should be trivial as Stand Your Ground uses the same mechanic.  Has the same cost, duration, and recharge as Stand Your Ground.


 * Shout. (5..17..20 seconds.) Target ally deals +5..41..50 damage and inflicts Deep Wound condition (5..17..20 seconds) with the next attack.
 * Reduced energy cost to 5. This skill is great but the energy cost is too high; because it is a single target shout Leadership only returns 1 energy.  The current version of this skill ends up costing the same or more energy than powerful group-affecting shouts and chants such as There's Nothing To Fear, Defensive Anthem, etc.


 * Shout. (10 seconds.) Other allies' spells targeting you cast 50% faster. You gain 50..98..110 Health.
 * Increased duration and healing; balanced against Lion's Comfort. If this is a maintainable shout it can be used to power Soldier's Fury, Soldier's Defense, Soldier's Stance, Centurion Insignia, etc.


 * Shout. For 5..17..20 seconds, target ally moves 33% faster. This skill ends if that ally successfully hits with an attack.
 * Change from "target other ally" to "target ally".


 * Shout. (15 seconds.). Allies in earshot gain +1 energy regeneration. (5e over 15s)
 * This change means less energy overall, but it has two major advantages over the existing skill... it always works and it can be used to power Soldier's Fury, Soldier's Defense, Soldier's Stance, Centurion Insignia, etc.


 * Chant. (0..12..15 seconds.) Allies in earshot interrupt an action whenever they use an attack skill.
 * If this sounds scary consider what Panic and Cry of Frustration do already.


 * Elite Chant. (0..8..10 seconds.) Attacks from allies within earshot become unblockable.
 * The anti-Aegis. If skills like this existed in GvG perhaps there would have been no need for all of the nerfs to defensive teams with Aegis, Ward Against Melee, Weapon of Warding, block stances, etc.  Lesser version: attack skills are unblockable rather than all attacks.


 * Chant. For 8 seconds, the next attack skill used by each ally within earshot also causes Weakness for 1..13..16 second[s] on target foe and all adjacent foes. In PvE heroes tend to attack the same target as the player, so the Weakness condition is simply reapplied to the same target until it dies.  Giving this a small AoE effect makes it much more useful though it is still outclassed by other skills such as Enfeebling Blood. Also change hero AI so that this skill will be used outside of combat and thus can be used to maintain Aggressive Refrain.  Compare to Enfeebling Blood or Ward of Weariness.


 * Echo. (20 seconds.) Target ally has 10..33..40% chance to block attacks. Has no effect if target ally is enchanted. Renewal: Whenever a chant or shout ends on that ally. Cannot target spirits.
 * Doubled the block chance to make this worth bringing in PvE. Possibly move this to Leadership.


 * Echo. (10..30..35 seconds.) Inflicts 5..17..20 damage to adjacent foes whenever a chant or shout ends on target ally.  Renewal: Whenever a chant or shout ends on that ally. Cannot target spirits.
 * Desert Rose suggested this variant; this is vaguely similar to Whirling Defense.


 * Echo. (20 seconds.) Target ally takes 0..12..15 less damage from physical attacks. Renewal: Whenever a chant or shout ends on that ally. Cannot target spirits.


 * Chant. (10 seconds.) For 10 seconds, the next attack skill used by each ally within earshot removes a stance and causes Crippling for 5..13..15 seconds.
 * Added stance removal so that that this can be more useful and elite-worthy.


 * Shout. (5..17..20 seconds.) Allies in earshot move 25% faster while not enchanted.
 * I think this fits the paragon much better than the original. Paragons don't have any enchantments, and other paragon skills (signet of synergy, natural temper) don't work if the paragon is enchanted, and there aren't any generally useful and maintainable party-affecting enchantments to power this.  Instead what we see is all-assassin perma-shadowform speedclear teams using this to breeze through dungeons, like the speedclear I was in last night. :-\


 * Shout. (0..12..15 seconds.) Allies within earshot attack 25% faster while not enchanted.
 * This is an interesting idea that Lanier and I developed together. Paragons already have numerous skills which increase running speed, probably too many. This change would make Godspeed a unique type of skill and could be very interesting.  The restriction against enchantments will help prevent abuse by some gimmick teams (shadowform, vow of silence, etc.).


 * Chant. (10 seconds.) Allies in earshot are uninterruptible with their next 0..1..2 skills.
 * Lowering the adrenaline cost and activation time makes this a viable general purpose skill that the paragon can use to gain energy.

Leadership

 * Shout. Target ally moves 25% faster for 1..4..5 seconds (maximum of 20 seconds) for each ally in earshot.
 * Reduced energy cost so this is more equivalent to "Make Haste".


 * Shout. You gain one adrenaline (maximum 1..4..5) for each party member in earshot.
 * Reduced cost and recharge to make this more equivalent to the warrior skill "To The Limit!"
 * TTL is still superior because it gives more adrenaline, adds health, and has a long duration (powers Centurion's Insignia, Soldier's Stance, etc.)


 * Echo. (5..21..25 seconds.) You attack 25% faster. Renewal: whenever a chant or shout ends on you.
 * Removed armor penalty and decreased energy cost. Rangers have a skill (Rapid Fire) which provides long-lasting improved attack speed with no drawbacks and I see no reason why it would be imbalanced for the paragon to have a similar skill.  The high energy cost of the existing Aggressive Refrain is meaningless in PvE since it is maintained forever, it only annoys the player and causes problems if the character or his heroes acquire death penalty.  Compare with the ranger skill Rapid Fire.


 * Elite Chant. (10 seconds.) Allies within earshot cannot lose more than 10% maximum Health from a single attack; ends for each ally after preventing damage 0..2..2 times on that ally.
 * This is balanced against Shelter plus Armor of Unfeeling and provides similar spike resistance to the entire group. This change would make this skill generally useful and help to lessen the ubiquity of the Imbagon.


 * Elite Chant. (10 seconds.) Damage and life steal received by allies within earshot is reduced by 3..15..18. When Angelic Bond ends, each ally is healed for 5..41..50 health.  This is an alternate version that works like mass Shielding Hands.  Compare to Shielding Hands and Union.


 * Shout. (5..20..24 seconds.) Target ally cannot lose more than 10% max Health due to damage from a single attack or spell.  This works like Protective Spirit, it costs less but has longer recharge so that the paragon cannot protect more than one person with it.


 * Shout. (10 seconds.) Damage and life steal received by target ally is reduced by 3..15..18. When Angelic Protection ends, target ally is healed for 5..41..50 health.  This is an alternate version that works like Shielding Hands.


 * Chant. (6 seconds.) Allies within earshot deal +3..13..16 damage whenever they hit a foe with physical damage. Has no effect on allies that are enchanted.
 * Moved from Command to Leadership to prevent use by other professions and because the elite version of this skill (Anthem of Fury) is also in Leadership. This was balanced against the Necromancer skill Order of Pain, and this change would allow the paragon to deliver the same damage buffing to physical attackers instead of being completely outclassed by the Necromancer. The restriction against enchantments prevents this from stacking with Orders.


 * Chant. For 10 seconds, the next attack skill used by each ally within earshot causes Burning for 1..3..3 second[s] and deals 3..15..18 fire damage to target and all adjacent foes.
 * This skill has been modified to deliver minor AoE damage; the effect is based upon the ranger skill Ignite Arrows.


 * Elite Chant. (6 seconds.) Allies within earshot deal +3..13..16 damage and gain an additional strike of adrenaline whenever they hit a foe with physical damage. Has no effect on allies that are enchanted.
 * This is a blend of Dark Fury and Order of Pain. You could argue that Order of the Vampire is still better but I think this would be a great addition to the game.  The restriction against enchantments prevents this from stacking with Orders.


 * Skill. Inflicts Dazed condition (5..13..15 seconds). No effect unless target is knocked-down.
 * Lowered energy cost and removed range restriction. Knockdown is a difficult condition for paragons to meet as it is.  Compare to Overbearing Smash.


 * Echo. (20 seconds.) When target ally hits a foe, inflicts Burning condition (1..3..3 seconds) on target foe and all adjacent foes. Renewal: Whenever a chant or shout ends on that ally. Cannot target spirits.
 * Paragons and Warriors are likely to have more health than anyone else on the field which makes the previous version of this skill useless in most situations. This change provides good synergy with They're On Fire, Glowing Signet, etc.  Lesser version: Cause burning on target and cause burning on foes adjacent to that target when landing a critical hit.  Compare with Mark of Rodgort, Blazing Finale, Balthazar's Rage, etc.


 * Skill. (0..12..15 seconds.) Inflicts Burning condition (0..4..5 seconds) on all adjacent foes whenever a foe hits you with a melee attack. You take 5..17..20 less damage from foes that are Burning. No effect unless you are wielding a shield.  Compare to Armor of Sanctity; unlike Armor of Sanctity this can't be abused by secondary paragons.


 * Elite Chant. (5..12..13 seconds.) Allies within earshot have 50% chance to block.
 * Unlike Aegis, this cannot be echoed or lengthened and HSR mods do not apply to it; compare to the non-elite skills Aegis and Displacement.
 * The duration is the same as Aegis with +20% enchanting mod. The reduced recharge and unstrippability justify its elite status.


 * Elite Chant. (20 seconds.) Allies within earshot have 75% chance to block. Ends on each affected ally after blocking 1..6..7 hits.
 * Blocking is counted separately for each ally. This version is modeled on Displacement; the number of blocks is based on the health of a displacement spirit with 15 communing, 13 spawning, and Armor of Unfeeling.


 * Signet. You gain 5..13..15 Energy if target foe is Burning.
 * Reduced recharge slightly to make this more attractive. At 12 Leadership this might give the paragon 26 energy in two uses (30 seconds) if the target is Burning.  By way of comparison, Glyph of Lesser Energy @ 12 Energy Storage makes the next 2 spells cost 16 less energy, so the net energy gain is 27 (32-5) over the same 30 seconds.  This change would make the two skills almost evenly matched though Glowing Signet's energy gain is still conditional.


 * Echo. (8..20..24 seconds.) Target ally moves 33% faster and is no longer Crippled. Renewal: every time a chant or shout ends on this ally.
 * Increased movement speed and increased duration so that this refrain has a decent chance of being refreshed before it ends.


 * Chant. (10 seconds.) Allies within earshot lose one hex when activating their next 0..1..2 skills.
 * Lowering the adrenaline cost and activation time makes this a viable general-purpose chant for paragons to use to gain energy, and making any skill trigger this means the paragon can benefit from it as well. Secondary paragons cannot abuse this since it has no effect when they use it.  This skill would help to counter hexway teams in PvP as well as helping to deal with hex heavy areas in PvE.  The current version of the skill is ineffective at both.


 * Skill. (8..18..20 seconds.) You gain 50% more adrenaline and deal +0..8..10 damage with physical attacks. Has no effect if you are enchanted.
 * Doubled duration and increased adrenaline gain to make this more attractive. The conditional effect still makes this difficult to use.


 * Elite Echo. For 10..30..35 seconds, if you are under the effects of a chant or a shout, you attack 33% faster and gain 33% more adrenaline.
 * This is the same as the existing skill except that there is no armor penalty; I don't feel that there is any justification for it especially in PvE. All other physical attackers have permanent IAS skills with no drawbacks (Soldier's Stance, Onslaught, Way of the Assassin, Expert's Dexterity, Rapid Fire) so I don't think this is unreasonable at all.

Motivation

 * Elite Shout. Remove all conditions from target ally. That ally becomes immune to conditions for 1..8..10 seconds if a condition was removed.
 * This gives IJAFW a unique and interesting effect. Compare to Peace and Harmony and Restore Condition.


 * Elite Shout. (3 seconds.) Allies within earshot gain 0..2..3 Energy regeneration.
 * Balanced against Blood Is Power. At 15 motivation this would be +3 energy for each ally over the duration, or 24 total energy divided among 8 allies.  Blood Is Power at 15 blood magic would give +24 energy to a single target over the duration (12s with +20% enchanting weapon).  Of course BiP can be cast repeatedly (thus affecting many allies) so it would still lead to more energy gain than TPIY.


 * Chant. (10 seconds.) Allies within earshot are healed for 100..180..200% of the Energy cost of any spells they cast while this chant is active.
 * This is a weaker version of Aura of Restoration that affects all within earshot; balance-wise it could be better because this version prevents chaining. Best case: 2 high energy spells (25e), 3s casting time for each plus aftercast: heals for 100.  Worst case: 5 low energy spells (5e), 1s casting time each plus aftercast: heals for 50.  We assume that no spells are interrupted.  The original skill heals for 90 @ 15 motivation, so we might need to play with the numbers on this one, such as healing for X plus a smaller percentage of the spell cost with each spell that is cast, that way the minimum and maximum benefit are more similar.  Alternatively we can just heal for X (say 0..18..22) with every spell cast, but this favors spell spamming while providing less benefit for normal spell usage.


 * Chant. (10 seconds.) Allies within earshot gain 0..1..2 energy each time they cast a spell.
 * This provides a small amount of energy when a spell is cast, similar to Aura of Restoration. In the best case scenario you can cast about 5 spells within 10 seconds (remember aftercast), so this might give up to 10 energy.  More likely it will affect only 3 spells, giving up to 6 energy.  This benefit is roughly comparable to the existing version of the skill.


 * Chant. (10 seconds.) Allies within earshot are healed for 0..12..15 each time they take damage. (max 0..x..y?)
 * This is similar to Healing Hands or Union; it provides healing over time instead of a larger mass heal.


 * Echo. (10..30..35 seconds.) Target ally gains 1 Energy whenever a shout or chant ends on that ally. Cannot target spirits.
 * Reduced cost and increased recharge so that this can only be maintained on a few characters.


 * Chant. (10 seconds.) Allies within earshot are healed for 0..12..15 each time they attack.
 * This is a weaker version of Vigorous Spirit but it affects everyone in the group; it provides healing over time instead of a larger mass heal.
 * Compare to Blood Bond.


 * Chant. (5..17..20 seconds.) The next 1..3..3 signets used by each ally within earshot remove 1 condition from that ally.
 * Increased effect to make this more similar to Song of Purification. The difference is that Song triggers on any skill whereas this only triggers on signets.


 * Skill. You gain 0..8..10 energy plus 1 energy for each ally within earshot (maximum of 16 energy).
 * This has been modified to work more like Leader's Comfort; the original skill used a range of 'nearby' which made it nearly useless in many situations including 4-man PvP where it is needed most. Leader's Comfort draws power from allies within earshot and logically this should as well.  Additionally Leader's Comfort gives about half of its benefit unconditionally with the remaining part being based on number of allies.  I have emulated this behavior in this suggestion for Leader's Zeal.  With these modifications Leader's Zeal should be able to provide a maximum of 32 energy gain over 30 seconds, minus 10 energy to activate it two times, for a net energy gain of 22 in 30 seconds.  For comparison, Glyph of Lesser Energy at 0 energy storage gives a net energy gain of 15 in 30 seconds.  Compare to the dervish skill Eremite's Zeal.


 * Chant. (10 seconds.) Allies in earshot gain 1..7..8 energy the next time they activate a signet.
 * Reduced adrenaline cost.


 * Echo. (20 seconds.) Target ally has +2..3..4 health regeneration. Renewal: whenever a chant or shout ends on that ally. Cannot target spirits.
 * Duration and effect increased slightly to make this more attractive; in other words, revert Mending Refrain to its pre-nerfed state. ZOMG it can counteract poison or disease :-\  I tested this along with Aggressive Refrain and Burning Refrain with the intent of having heroes maintain all of the refrains indefinitely by using Anthem of Flame on recharge.  The hero AI was unable to maintain Mending Refrain over a long period of time because the duration is too short.  The refrains with a duration of 20 seconds or more (burning, aggressive) were maintained without human intervention.
 * Compare with Mending and Recuperation.


 * Signet. Heal target ally for 40...88...100. You are also healed for 40...88...100 if you are not enchanted. Cannot self-target.
 * Reduced recharge slightly. The conditional effect still makes this less desirable than Signet of Rejuvenation and Ghostmirror Light.


 * Chant. (5..17..20 seconds.) Allies in earshot gain +4 Energy regeneration. Ends when using a skill.
 * Reduced energy cost. The energy is regenerated before the chant ends (even on a paragon) so the high energy cost is a needless annoyance.


 * Elite Chant. (20 seconds.) The next 1..3..3 skills used by each ally within earshot remove 1 condition from that ally.
 * This is the current version of the skill with reduced activation time.


 * Elite Chant. (10 seconds.) Allies within earshot gain 0..24..30 Health when activating skills. (max 0..3..4)
 * A variant that provides healing over time instead of a large mass heal.


 * Chant. (6 seconds.) Allies within earshot gain 0..1..1 strike of adrenaline and 0..1..1 energy when dealing physical damage to foes.
 * This would be useful in areas with energy denial, including environmental effects; it triggers on every attack so it is useful even if allies don't have enough energy to activate an attack skill.

Spear Mastery

 * Spear Attack. Inflicts Deep Wound condition (5..17..20 seconds) if target foe has Cracked Armor; otherwise inflicts Cracked Armor condition (5..17..20 seconds).
 * Aside from making the skill more useful in general, this change allows Chest Thumper to satisfy its own condition with multiple hits.


 * Elite Spear Attack. Deals +1..25..31 damage and inflicts Deep Wound condition (5..17..20 seconds).
 * Removed conditional effect; compare to Eviscerate, Dismember or Vicious Attack.


 * Spear Attack. Interrupt an action and deals an additional +5..17..20 damage if target was casting a spell.
 * Removed conditional effect and added conditional damage. Compare with Savage Shot and/or Savage Slash.


 * Spear Attack. Deals +5..17..20 damage and deals an additional 5..25..30 damage if target is moving.
 * Reduced energy cost.


 * Spear Attack. Deals +5..17..20 damage. Deals 15..75..90 holy damage and inflicts Burning condition (3 seconds) to nearby foes if target is a demon, a summoned creature, or undead.
 * This skill is fantastic when it triggers, unfortunately the trigger condition is fairly rare in PvE. Making this trigger when hitting any demon or undead as well as summoned creatures makes it into a more general purpose skill.  PvP would be unaffected since players are all human.


 * Spear Attack. Deals +5..17..20 damage. Inflicts Crippled condition (5..17..20 seconds) if target foe is Bleeding.
 * Added bonus damage. Compare to Axe Rake and Black Mantis Thrust.


 * Spear Attack. Inflicts Deep Wound condition (5..17..20 seconds).
 * Removed conditional. Compare to Dismember.


 * Spear Attack. Deals +5..17..20 damage to target and 10..34..40 damage to all adjacent foes.
 * Removed 3s activation time, halved bonus damage, added AoE damage, increased cost slightly. This is less than half of the damage delivered by Death Blossom but it does give the paragon some area effect damage capability.


 * Spear Attack. Deals +1..8..10 damage. Hits up to 3 foes adjacent to your target.
 * This is a clone of Volley; it gives paragons the ability to attack multiple targets like the ranger.
 * I chose Slayer's Spear for this functionality because the original skill is useless and the skill icon fits this idea pretty well.


 * Spear Attack. Deals +5..17..20 damage and removes a condition.
 * Removed conditional condition removal.  :-)


 * Elite Spear Attack. Deals +5..25..30 damage and interrupts target and all adjacent foes. Inflicts Dazed condition (4..9..10 seconds) if target has a condition.
 * Added AoE interrupt capability, reduced cost slightly.


 * Spear Attack. Attack target foe twice. These attacks cannot be blocked.
 * Removed 3s activation time, removed bonus damage completely, changed to deliver two hits instead of one. Compare with Sun & Moon Slash.

No Attribute

 * Elite Signet. All party members lose all conditions.  Target and nearby foes begin Burning (one second for each condition removed).
 * Aside from removing conditions from the party, this punishes enemies that use condition spam and has good synergy with They're On Fire, Glowing Signet, etc.


 * Elite Signet. All party members lose all conditions and one hex.  You begin Burning (one second for each condition and hex removed).
 * MidnightOokami from guildwarsguru suggested this. I like it because it would be an elite version of one of the proposals for Remedy Signet (see below).


 * Signet. You lose 1 condition and 1 hex.
 * This option would make this skill interesting and unique. It would also allow the skill see some use.  :-)


 * Signet. Removes 1 condition from target ally and 1 condition from you. (If targeting self, removes 2 conditions.)
 * This is similar to Signet of Synergy, providing minor condition removal on the target and on self. If used on self it will remove two conditions.  The paragon does not currently have any direct non-elite condition removal skills and this suggestion would fill the gap.


 * Signet. Removes bleeding, burning and deep wound from yourself plus one additional condition.
 * This last suggestion was made by Bathory some time ago; I like it a lot so I am reproducing it here. http://wiki.guildwars.com/wiki/Feedback:User/Bathory/Remedy_Signet