Thread: Stacking Bonuses

One of my big expectations coming into this update was the system where a number of our skills in determination provided additional defensive buffs that could be stacked to greater magnitude, such as using safeguard for a minor block buff, and then stacking Celebration of skill to increase the potency of the block buff (and duration). I thought this was a great addition since it added a new wrinkle of complexity, and gave me further versatility and options in how to try to keep myself alive.

The implementation for this has been a huge disappointment for me. Even if brink of victory was applying its bonus correctly, there is no reason to use it or maddening strike, when doubling up on DoW or SoD provides more threat and the same stacked bonus. Furthermore, we are shoehorned into following a specific pattern for building these buffs. We must either start with the shorter gambit and build the longer one next to achieve the top tier bonus, or double up on longer gambit for the same result. Why can't we start with the longer gambit that provides the larger potency, and then follow with the shorter one to gain the duration buff? This seems like a needlessly strict order of operations.

Furthermore, once we have gotten the top tier bonus, it is impossible to refresh or override that bonus or its duration. If I have enduring expert shieldwork active, i cannot hit a CoS and refresh the duration, and even more frustrating, if I have 1 second left on enduring expert shieldwork, when I hit CoS, i still will not get the expert shieldwork bonus, which at this point, has the same +block and a greater duration. Even building both safeguard and CoS while the previous buff is active will not refresh the duration. This seems completely counterintuitive to our other Buffs/DoTs/Bleeds/Lifetaps which will happily re-apply and renew duration.

So yeah, I just wanted to confirm that other than brink of victory this mechanic is working as intended, and if that is the case, express my disappointment with such a rigid system in an otherwise extremely flexible class, boohoo.

i think a dev did say its not WAI that you cant refresh buff durations

However, the order of stacking is WAI. It works the same as bleed removal...you build the smaller, and then the larger, or you just use the larger. The intention was always to encourage Wardens to use all their gambits, even after they get better versions. You have the option of building up a chain, or just repeating the top-level skill - but you're not forced into either mode, both end up the same.

The intention was never that you use the better gambit once, and then use the smaller, faster gambits to extend and refresh the duration for the rest of the fight....

The long T2 buffs don't refresh and that's a pity. There are several ways to deal with it:
* Use a rotation that cycles through buffs every 20s, you'll renew just after the long T2 buff expires
* Use the T0 version of the buffs (War Cry, Impressive Flourish, Persevere) They last for 50s and can be refreshed.
* Use battle memory to create the long version of the buff whenever it expires.

I've got a rotation in my thread that keeps up the +block buff without having to worry about timing. Follow the rotation and you'll get 350-500 HPS and the T2 block buffs, T2 crit buffs, T0 evade buff, and DoW evade buff.

--Harper

Originally Posted by droid

i think a dev did say its not WAI that you cant refresh buff durations

I guess i missed that, thank you.


With regards to my issue over having to stack the bonuses in 'order': its a minor quibble compared to the current inability to refresh the buff duration; and i don't care if i have to use the longer gambit to refresh the duration of the fully stacked buff, i just don't want to be forced into going small then large or doubling the large gambit to initially achieve the stacked bonus. I'd even rather have it so doubling up on the large gambit bonus doesn't provide the stacked bonus, i just dislike a fixed order and/or having to repeat gambits back-to-back.