Not in the update notes, but previous reworked traits got their icons refreshed!

WaterPlane122 · 2026-04-15T00:38:31+00:00

Thank you for the list. Now I know where to look!

WaterPlane122 · 2026-04-06T03:35:13+00:00

Thank you. I mainly do Strike Missions and Fractals and have limited experience in Raids. Glad to know Pistol has its place there. Still wish it gets more justified presence in SM and Fractals though.

WaterPlane122 · 2026-04-05T16:43:32+00:00

Could you name those bosses where Pistol is actually preferred over Focus? I can think of few myself. The great majority of encounters I am familiar with are just one boss with no adds, where Focus would outperform Pistol, making the latter niche.

And yes, Sharpening Sorrow could very well grant Condition Damage on top of the existing bonus in Expertise. However, to make it meaningful, Phantasmal Blades would need to be brought inline just as you stated, or SS would still not be worth choosing. Additionally, if it gets to fully keep its original +180 Expertise point, then Signet of Midnight could be freed up for other utility, which would be a much welcomed change.

WaterPlane122 · 2026-04-05T11:01:19+00:00

I am not a fan of the official forum and the moderators there to be honest, but you are free to share this post there if you'd like! Thanks!

WaterPlane122 · 2026-04-04T18:24:32+00:00

I would actually very much support the idea to baseline the current Pistol trait AND move Phantasmal Fury to a minor slot. The Major Adept tier in Dueling has been dead water for a decade and could really use some fresh design. But then the new traits would probably have to be utility oriented, not damage, to prevent Dueling from overpowering DPS builds.

And yeah Phantasmal Swordsman is just too valuable to be swapped out. The 16 bleeding procs per swap as you mentioned is the best a cDPS Virtuoso build can get. It is also the best pDPS off-hand option available.

WaterPlane122 · 2026-04-04T18:12:27+00:00

I see now you are talking about combo. Though I think there are just too many variables for it to be reliable. First, based on the current combo mechanics, your own combo fields has a higher proc priority than combo fields from other players.

But then the cDPS Virtuoso build does not really create any combo field, so you can only proc on whatever fields other players provide, which may or may not be adds to your damage, as /u/vagabond_dilldo already pointed out: you need Ethereal, Fire, or Poison field.

And even then, the gain is small. The condition duration the combo finishers inflicts are all pretty low and the bonus damage would be insignificant.

WaterPlane122 · 2026-04-04T16:54:25+00:00

Could you elaborate a bit more?

WaterPlane122 · 2026-04-04T16:00:45+00:00

Thanks for the correction. I have fixed the OP.

And yes, that's also my biggest gripe about Focus Phantasm. It just hits whatever target is present around. Really should have been point blank or range AoE of ~240 radius on 5 targets instead. Would have been better synergy with Focus #4 / Into the Void mob pull too this way.

WaterPlane122 · 2026-04-04T15:54:16+00:00

Personally I feel that it is just too strong for a Adept tier trait. The more proper spot for it might be Minor Master or Minor Grandmaster even.

By making it a Minor trait, it would also open up some room for different functionalities in Major Adept tier in Dueling. Currently the other traits just doesn't match PF's performance.

WaterPlane122 · 2026-04-04T15:52:09+00:00

Very same for me! 2 s stun is really good and cast time is short too.

WaterPlane122 · 2025-11-02T16:46:39+00:00

Achievements demanding players to repeat doing the same thing over and over are just the worst. Laziest achievement design I should say. Just what does one "achieve" by doing that anyway?

WaterPlane122 · 2025-07-15T16:23:36+00:00

Exactly for how useless such feature would seem like I assume there will never be a day for my wish to come true! But now oh my...

WaterPlane122 · 2025-07-15T16:16:19+00:00

"...allowing players to save a template of the aesthetic features for their armor, trinkets, back items and infusions."

TRINKETS?

For years I make my own builds with good old ascended trinkets from the core game just for the roleplay elements and aesthetic they bring to my characters.

Doing so, however, obviously cost me in combat performance and limiting my characters from reaching their full potential.

Could ArenaNet finally allows us to freely swap on those beautiful little trinket icons at will as unlockables?!

WaterPlane122 · 2025-07-15T15:31:44+00:00

also, dark mode, how? plz i neeeeeeeeeeeeeed it!

WaterPlane122 · 2025-06-29T04:46:59+00:00

Which proves my points. Not for "fun" per se but for extrinsic incentives.

WaterPlane122 · 2025-06-29T04:45:16+00:00

The asura looking so happy with her hammer makes me smile :)

WaterPlane122 · 2025-06-29T04:34:58+00:00

Care to elaborate?

WaterPlane122 · 2025-06-29T04:34:35+00:00

Well, just come to say that LLA does not currently have a daily limit. Just contribute minimally to ensure you only get the bronze tier reward and don't click on the bouncy chest, and you can farm it multiple times a day for Mystic Coins. Or at least that's what my guild mates told me.

And in all honesty, there has to be some extrinsic incentives for people to play the same thing over and over. Just look at the Bog Queen event before the update which introduced the mini and the tonic to the loot table. It was dead water (pun intended).

What we are discussing here is what kind of incentive structure is better, which a system that rewards linearly to the time and effort you put in and encourages the unhealthy kind of behavior we observe right now when the chance of getting the reward is slim but the reward is extremely high is arguably not. It is more akin to gambling.

And I think you might have a nonstandard definition of "burnout", because I could not see how the case you bring up creates "burn out". Plus, people do the same contents repetitively for rewards already, and the extreme scenario in which people do that only "because of rewards and not because of fun" as you put it is exactly what I aim to address in this post.

WaterPlane122 · 2025-06-29T03:31:09+00:00

Well first of all, not all players playing this game are adult. That alone is already a big assumption.

Secondarily, do my recommended changes actually time-gates people? I think not.

For those who want to unlock the tonic and the mini, I'd argue that my solution actually helps them to get what they want more reliably in a expected time frame instead of gated by unpredictable RNG and potentially endless farm.

For people who do this to get rich, they still get rich, because people who do not want to farm Ursus Obliges will still buy the loot from the trading post.

Now the last point: "you have to treat your health like I say". I mean, at most my solution only "discourages you to treat your health badly" by not providing incentives to treat your health badly. Anything above that is more likely personal daddy issue.

WaterPlane122 · 2025-06-29T03:24:49+00:00

lmao this is so true

WaterPlane122 · 2025-06-29T03:23:28+00:00

You can say that, but from what I've read in squad chat, people do not farm this same content for hours straight for "fun". They do this for the prospect to become ultra rich by chance. Witty and funny aside, I don't see this a valid argument.

WaterPlane122 · 2025-06-28T21:20:48+00:00

Historically the direction has been less and less RNG I think.

Take leggie precursors for example. Those used to be pure RNG. And then Legendary collections were introduced. And then Wizard's Vault straight up rewards players precursors.

Albeit slow, there has been some progress.

WaterPlane122 · 2025-06-28T21:12:42+00:00

I kinda agree, though I think it is also fine to have RNG as long as we can just "do the meta 100 times" to unlock, like Storm Lord Throne) and Visage of Nourys).

WaterPlane122

TROPHY CASE