SW feedback 2026/7/23 Patch Nite

[Orontes]

reminder that people said the same thing last time SW was undergoing big changes and after those changes (which everyone thought to be hard nerfs that would ruin the class) SW proceeded to be the strongest aoe dps throughput on order for like 2 years and fester continued being one of the strongest surfing/ST builds in the game for pug farming and routine gameplay

for reference about my thoughts - SW is my 2nd highest RR character and I've played it quite a lot. I have 65% SC winrate on it and a 7+ KD ratio.

aoe skirm nerf was justified. the aoe throughput of skirm when played in an organized setting with proper party buffs such as winds was obscenely high. i understand that at uncoordinated pug level most players did not realize this or have never seen it but most top farming 12/18/24mans in open rvr have been abusing aoe skirm for a while now. it does feel a little too heavy handed but it was deserved overall.

ASW buffs were justified - it got a lot of interesting buffs overall. i'm not concerned with the survivability changes - getting an aoe detaunt is amazing.

scout (fester) changes were justified but based on some basic mathematics and a little testing it still looks very strong - just the burst will have more counterplay now. it's VERY easy to reach 10 stacks of the fester buff and using the tactic for it is necessary. it's a bit more like ST sorc/ST BW style now with a focus on timestamping the damage which gives enemy some time to react instead of just blasting them for 3-4k fester damage on impact combined with an auto and execute to add another 2-3k. it was fun while it lasted and i enjoyed deleting unguarded pugs with ease but it was toxic for the game and needed the rework

The above is not a serious comment. It can be dismissed in total as farce.

[Nauht]

reminder that people said the same thing last time SW was undergoing big changes and after those changes (which everyone thought to be hard nerfs that would ruin the class) SW proceeded to be the strongest aoe dps throughput on order for like 2 years and fester continued being one of the strongest surfing/ST builds in the game for pug farming and routine gameplay

for reference about my thoughts - SW is my 2nd highest RR character and I've played it quite a lot. I have 65% SC winrate on it and a 7+ KD ratio.

aoe skirm nerf was justified. the aoe throughput of skirm when played in an organized setting with proper party buffs such as winds was obscenely high. i understand that at uncoordinated pug level most players did not realize this or have never seen it but most top farming 12/18/24mans in open rvr have been abusing aoe skirm for a while now. it does feel a little too heavy handed but it was deserved overall.

ASW buffs were justified - it got a lot of interesting buffs overall. i'm not concerned with the survivability changes - getting an aoe detaunt is amazing.

scout (fester) changes were justified but based on some basic mathematics and a little testing it still looks very strong - just the burst will have more counterplay now. it's VERY easy to reach 10 stacks of the fester buff and using the tactic for it is necessary. it's a bit more like ST sorc/ST BW style now with a focus on timestamping the damage which gives enemy some time to react instead of just blasting them for 3-4k fester damage on impact combined with an auto and execute to add another 2-3k. it was fun while it lasted and i enjoyed deleting unguarded pugs with ease but it was toxic for the game and needed the rework

The above is not a serious comment. It can be dismissed in total as farce.

I disagree with you.

And so do the devs.

[Orontes]

The openning post explains exactly what all players who have a high renown SW as main feel.

It seems that there is no one in the balance team playing SW and able to contest this patch.

When you look summary notes for each range dps class, you can see the diffrence between all and SW.

Sorcerer :
- The balance team has decided to not make significant changes to the core mechanic of the Sorcerer. Sorcerer is already the most squishy class on Destruction and we felt that if we would add a more complex mechanic to the class, it would become too niche.


SW is fragile too, and the new Festering seems a complex mecanic to play.

BW
Same analysis.
plus:
- The area of effect damage of the Bright Wizard is already rather strong. Additionally the balance team feels that the spec already feels good and fun to play.

I agree for the same for AE SW, AE effects are rather strong and fun to play, so why nerf it ?

For AE dps Class with pet, there is improvement of pet utility.
- Daemonic Minions have been reworked to feel more rewarding to play around and use

- Turrets have been reworked to feel more rewarding to play around and use

- The Path of Big Shootin' has been improved by increased synergy with Gas Squig and a reworked Poison Arrer. Offering a more competitive alternative next to the current ranged "meta" playstyle revolving around Quick Shootin' abilities and tactics combined with Finish Em Off.
In this, we understand that a build is very strong and that the patch will up other build to be as strong as it.
Strangely on the SW they nerf the build instead.

- We've slightly reduced the size of the game's largest toolkit, but done so in a way we think doesn't take away from the overall feel and fun of the class or its versatility.


Good, I hope to keep the same overall felling and fun to play on my AE SW; but i fear not.

- AP costs have been equalized between many of the near-mirror abilities shared with the Shadow Warrior.


But the pet doent use action points of the SH; so that, whith the same pool SH+pet do +-150% damage compared to same SW,with the complexity to defend vs SH and the pet. This is why at the beguining ability costs where differents.

After all that said, all SW hope that the part of the patch concerning the SW will not be on live server. If change are necessary, that doent meen to kill the class, SW players will agree changes similars at all others range class, but not changes destroying all builds.

P.S. Sorry for my poor english, this is not my mother language.

I agree with the above.

[Orontes]

reminder that people said the same thing last time SW was undergoing big changes and after those changes (which everyone thought to be hard nerfs that would ruin the class) SW proceeded to be the strongest aoe dps throughput on order for like 2 years and fester continued being one of the strongest surfing/ST builds in the game for pug farming and routine gameplay

for reference about my thoughts - SW is my 2nd highest RR character and I've played it quite a lot. I have 65% SC winrate on it and a 7+ KD ratio.

aoe skirm nerf was justified. the aoe throughput of skirm when played in an organized setting with proper party buffs such as winds was obscenely high. i understand that at uncoordinated pug level most players did not realize this or have never seen it but most top farming 12/18/24mans in open rvr have been abusing aoe skirm for a while now. it does feel a little too heavy handed but it was deserved overall.

ASW buffs were justified - it got a lot of interesting buffs overall. i'm not concerned with the survivability changes - getting an aoe detaunt is amazing.

scout (fester) changes were justified but based on some basic mathematics and a little testing it still looks very strong - just the burst will have more counterplay now. it's VERY easy to reach 10 stacks of the fester buff and using the tactic for it is necessary. it's a bit more like ST sorc/ST BW style now with a focus on timestamping the damage which gives enemy some time to react instead of just blasting them for 3-4k fester damage on impact combined with an auto and execute to add another 2-3k. it was fun while it lasted and i enjoyed deleting unguarded pugs with ease but it was toxic for the game and needed the rework

The above is not a serious comment. It can be dismissed in total as farce.

I disagree with you.

And so do the devs.

The Devs deciding model is the game is designed around group play. Based on that, what will the post patch SW bring to a WB that isn't bettered by another RDPS?

[ponko22]

reminder that people said the same thing last time SW was undergoing big changes and after those changes (which everyone thought to be hard nerfs that would ruin the class) SW proceeded to be the strongest aoe dps throughput on order for like 2 years and fester continued being one of the strongest surfing/ST builds in the game for pug farming and routine gameplay

for reference about my thoughts - SW is my 2nd highest RR character and I've played it quite a lot. I have 65% SC winrate on it and a 7+ KD ratio.

aoe skirm nerf was justified. the aoe throughput of skirm when played in an organized setting with proper party buffs such as winds was obscenely high. i understand that at uncoordinated pug level most players did not realize this or have never seen it but most top farming 12/18/24mans in open rvr have been abusing aoe skirm for a while now. it does feel a little too heavy handed but it was deserved overall.

ASW buffs were justified - it got a lot of interesting buffs overall. i'm not concerned with the survivability changes - getting an aoe detaunt is amazing.

scout (fester) changes were justified but based on some basic mathematics and a little testing it still looks very strong - just the burst will have more counterplay now. it's VERY easy to reach 10 stacks of the fester buff and using the tactic for it is necessary. it's a bit more like ST sorc/ST BW style now with a focus on timestamping the damage which gives enemy some time to react instead of just blasting them for 3-4k fester damage on impact combined with an auto and execute to add another 2-3k. it was fun while it lasted and i enjoyed deleting unguarded pugs with ease but it was toxic for the game and needed the rework

The above is not a serious comment. It can be dismissed in total as farce.

I disagree with you.

And so do the devs.

Is a skill that need 2 dedicated TACs, takes 2 seconds to unleash, and has a chance of missing, the strongest skill? Could you please explain this more logically?

Also, please provide evidence that the developers have stated this. Your opinion is not needed.

[Dekata]

Teefz in balance team? Ahaha... Rip shadow warrior. Time back to bw.

[ponko22]

I still think this adjustment is very strange.

The distance for Skirmish has been adjusted to 65FT, meaning that SH, Magus, and Engineer are now on par. I understand that kiting at too far a distance would be unbalanced. However, SH, Magus, and Engineer have multiple utilities (Pet, AoE CC, ST Punt , defensive buffs, wounds buff from eating pets, AoE Punt, escape ability, defensive ability from Squigarmor, etc.), giving them many countermeasures at dangerous distances.

In the case of SW, there was escape via Whirling Pint, single-target knockdown, and defensive ability from Scout, but the defensive ability has been removed. If that's the case, shouldn't the damage for Skirmish also be kept high? Even if I accept the weakening of AoE damage, I cannot accept the reduction in AoE DoT and ST damage.

[Lazz]

I was testing the new Festering Arrow and noticed something weird. Shouldn't the 3rd hit be the biggest? I was running the new No Quarter and Accelerated Decay tactic. Am I missing something?




https://ibb.co/RGfGgCdQ

[siglade]

If you use VoN before FA, it will run off before last hit.

[Lazz]

Ahhh right. And why is the second hit so much bigger than the first one? They both had VoN on.