Slayer is fine in a vacuum. But they exist in a game where there are other DPS besides Slayers. And in this context, slayer is not fine. They're not even fine compared to Choppa, which also is not fine.
- Converted a tunnel damage dealer into a primarily burst damage dealer, forgetting that the -50% defense mechanic doesn't work well for such things.Somehow forgot to adapt slayer sufficiently to compete successfully with other burst damage dealers. Too slow, too mortal, have too few opportunities to catch/escape—and, as a result, too unsuitable.
- Did I mention competition? Slayer has high damage, but there's a catch—all MDPs from the patch have it.
All MDPs received a damage boost, and under these conditions, reducing slayer survivability (which is exactly what happened in the patch) was a far below-average decision. I don't even know who could have decided that a save with a cooldown of one minute and a duration of 5 seconds could justify -25% (later only physical) defense in the yellow zone. In a game with "cool" WEs, Marauders, DPS Doks, and ranged SHs with insane damage for an archetype like a "kiting archer with high utility" (which, by the way, has always been a straightforward counterpick for a slayer). If you're being shot at with a shotgun, cover yourself with cardboard—that's pretty much what this save looks like, which also has a drawback lol.
I understand that the idea was to allow the slayer to effectively manage their rage through a series of finishers and to prevent the slayer from ignoring their main "double edge" mechanic, was added this debuff, but come on, it doesn't look good in the real world. DPS and utility are comparable to others, but survivability and all the associated risks are not. Where are the corresponding benefits? Against this background, it was still more profitable to take a WH/WL/DPS WP in a party—it's easier and more effective to play with them. A good "group" character is in the same room as a BW.
- The "carrot and stick, but no carrot" method. Regarding dual sl If you use a 2h weapon, you get effect X. If you use a dual-wielding weapon, you get "nothing"—we'll even nerf you. Nerfs of Spinecrusher, Pulverize, Relentless Strike for Path of the Giantslayer instead of Trollslayer, ID with 50% damage on the main target... So, we can't/don't want to make a 2h spec competitive, but you shouldn't use a duals one for smallscale either. Less variety, less variability, and all this against the backdrop of other DPS characters not being forced into such a framework, with the exception of Choppa (the latest fix with the GTDS and FS 10/10 swap).
Solutions:
- Revert the nerf to Spinecrusher. Bring Relentless Strike back to Trollslayer. Make ID deal 100% damage on the main target. You can also swap Shatter Limbs with ID – it will open up more options and reduce AoE pressure from an incomplete AoE slayer.
- Remove the debuff in the yellow zone.
- Spellbreaker – Spellbreaker now always deals full damage as if the target had the three necessary buffs. The purge effect only works in Berserker, purge doesn't do any damage ofc. Personally, I don't think slayer need deal more damage, but the damage stable of this is lack. And that's a good decision to fix it.
- Even the odds - 5s activity cd 40-50-60 sec, no drawback. If berserk - 40s, furious- 50s, no rage - 60s
- Overall, shift the focus to rewarding berserker behavior. See the spellbreaker and Even the odds example above. This is also management of the rage mechanics, just from a different angle—more appropriate, I think, for the current situation.
From now on, just test it.
Too strong? Just add ID to the exeptions for cd reducers like ap st heal for wp/dok for dual sl, or slight reduce spellbreaker dps component for 2h.
Too weak? Add more stuff for rage mechanic like "Deathblow has +25% crit chance damage if target 50% or lower,when berserk", or "when berserk, your speed is up on 20%-30% for 3-5 seconds after Break loose" etc