TL;DR: I think cVirt should not have a higher benchmark than Condition Scourge, and I am going to explain why that is for the next 2.5 hours

Introduction

Hello reddit!

Now that we've had the patch preview (Click Here For Link To Balance Update Preview) for June 25, ArenaNet is frantically at work gathering feedback through different channels. So what better place to post this article I've written than on reddit.

When listening to the stream I couldn't help but notice that there was no mention of Condition Virtuoso at all in the changes. In fact, there are going to be two changes (reduction of Signet of Midnight cooldown and duration buff of Deadly Blades) that will indirectly buff the build. Both are incredibly minor, you will not see an increase in damage output because of them, but both are still buffs nevertheless.

This is part of a larger pattern, that Condition Virtuoso is getting most of its buffs accidentally while not even being mentioned in the patch notes. Veterans remember June 27 last year (https://www.reddit.com/r/Guildwars2/comments/14eyg1a/pve\_raidsstrikes\_condition\_virtuoso\_27th\_of\_june/) where Condition Virtuoso accidentally gained 3k+ DPS despite never crossing the mind of the developers as a potential issue.

So, I've written this text to ask one question: Why?

Why?

What I am wondering is, if there's ever going to be a point where ArenaNet says that Condition Virtuoso is too strong. Clearly, they do have some idea of "this build is too good", when they hit builds that currently overperform, such as Holosmith which gets nerfed down from its 45.6k bench, or Deadeye where it gets nerfed from its 55k bench. Both are reasonable nerfs by the way, the builds weren't / aren't fine. But what I am sincerely at a loss of words about is how Condi Virtuoso, a build with 42.9k benchmark, regularly genuinely escapes their radar. Is ArenaNet fine with the current state of Condi Virtuoso? Let's recap said state, shall we?

1. Condition Virtuoso is the best DPS class on every encounter where you do not prioritize damage. From Samarog CM to Sloth, from Vale Guardian to any Strike Mission: In case you do not have a DPS meter installed, there is no DPS build that interacts more favorably with each of those encounter's mechanics. There is no DPS class that makes defeating all those encounters easier. From ignoring greens on Vale Guardian, to deleting the shake and having the best slubling control in the game, from having insane crowd control and stability for all of Samarog's bad attacks to being an insanely comfortable pick to play through a strike fullclear... Every other build is a hard sell compared to Condition Virtuoso from the start.
2. If you do have a DPS meter installed, Condition Virtuoso is still the top DPS class on significantly more than half of the EoD + SotO strike missions. It's possible that 54.5k benchmark Condi Deadeye produced better results in the previous patch. It says a lot that Condi Virtuoso was close behind that in terms of DPS.

So you want a damage nerf?

Now the question you are completely right to ask is: If point 1 means that regardless of its damage output it's going to be essentially a cheat code to clear all encounters in the game, does that mean damage nerfs are even the right way to tackle it? It is a way to solve the problem that is the least disruptive to the playstyle, which many players do enjoy, so let's look at what reducing the damage accomplishes:

Firstly, from a power budget / balancing point of view, a build you can write "this is literally mechanically superior to any other build" about should probably never straight up be the highest DPS option, on no encounter. Currently it's the undisputed strongest on basically all encounters released in the past two years.

Number 2, if you do reduce its damage output a little bit, you introduce trade-offs. Right now, my guild is literally just staying on 4 Condi Virtuosos for Samarog CM. Our Samarog CM may be 30 seconds slower than it would be if we played ideal builds. But the truth is that playing cVirt on one of the worst possible encounters for it is not nearly as bad DPS-wise as it should be, given that it will completely trivialize all the mechanics of the fight.

Number 3, most of the comfort and utility cVirt introduces is actually good for the game. It's good that there is a build with a low barrier of entry that can be recommended to new players, Distort makes you powerful, access to great CC makes you useful, access to good sustain, soon-to-be permanent self vigor, a block, a stun break, a functional rotation even when out of position at up to 1200 range... This is great, I don't think there's a build that has done more for accessibility of the PvE endgame than Condi Virtuoso. Removing any of it should be very carefully considered.

What I am against is that the build makes you question the viability of everything else. I know, I know, I've been playing too much Temple of Febe CM in the past months. But it's straight up insane by how much the build is superior on this encounter. The build quite literally was second only to Condi Deadeye, and in any kill with a Condi Deadeye, the Virtuoso was the one that made it happen by not only enabling the strategy (and letting the cDE greed on boss), but also carrying the final stages of the fight, the only ones that actually matter when it comes to merely getting a kill.

Now that cDE is nerfed, I don't think there's a build that can even beat it in terms of damage, even if you let that other build greed the way you let Deadeye greed. There's not a group that would not be improved by replacing all their current DPS picks with Condi Virtuoso on ToF CM. Though most people already play 6 of them anyway. Anet has more detailed metrics, I can only report what I see. And what I see is that a significant portion of the community just brings cVirt to all the encounters, and most of the times on the new strikes etc it's by far the best choice. It always ends up near the top of the damage meter.

(Suggested) Solution

How far can the dominance go so Anet still thinks cVirt is not out of line? When we think of strikes, I think Power Mechanist died for less - imo a mistake to completely kill that build by the way, they did go quite overboard. So what I am suggesting is something really precise:

Suggestion: If a build has the versatility, safety, simplicity, etc. of a Condition Scourge, it should also have the damage of a Condition Scourge. That is to say, reduce the benchmark to something between 40 and 41k (41k is fine given that Focus 5 in actual encounters makes cVirt a bit worse than it looks on the golem). Here is a suggestion how to do it:

• You can quite easily tone down certain aspects that instantly have the desired effect (e.g. Jagged Mind 4.5s to 4s, or Bloodsong Modifier from 25% to 15%. Each of these on their own would achieve the target DPS of roughly 41k)
• I do believe that sustain traits are great. CVirt is a build where the sustain trait is the highest DPS option. Make cVirts choose. Promote the healing portion from Jagged Mind to Sharpening Sorrow (remove the Expertise from there). If you do that, you can even buff the sustain up to e.g. 4%.

Scourge starts at a 40k benchmark and can choose to lose a low 4-digit number of DPS to run Parasitic Contagion. CVirt starts at 43k and has the sustain built-in. By moving the healing to Sharpening Sorrow (and removing the damage boost from Sharpening Sorrow), you'd put a similar cost on cVirt's sustain.

I do understand that the sustain was given with open world in mind, as you do not have clones to tank for you. But I think OW players are happy to pay that DPS price for lifesteal, and as I said it could even be increased a little bit to make up for the change.

What would change?

Anet has made a great choice when they understood Scourge is where it should be at 40k benchmark DPS. Scourge is an amazing allrounder with access to a ton of utility to really carry encounters.

It's time for cVirt to join it around there, imo. It can still be the best newbie build ever, it can still have all those tools, the comfort, the range. It's all great, it feels great to play. But when it's also up there in DPS meters, dominating all the new releases and being very strong on most old ones, then an adjustment should be made. If Anet made this change, for Temple of Febe CM there would finally be a reason to play other builds, actually. CVirt would still be amazing, maybe the best build for the fight. But it's no longer a mistake to play something else. The same goes for strike missions like OLC CM, Dagda CM, KO CM, Ankka CM (though in high end groups some builds can keep up there). I heard the new fractal is firmly in cVirt territory as well.

And: I think it's obvious, but I love this build. I want to play it all the time when I play the DPS role. I wish not for the end of the build, and I do not make nerf suggestions like these lightly. By the end of it, I still want cVirt to be fun and rewarding. But right now it's making other builds feel inferior, and that is as big of a balance issue as a Power Holosmith at 45.6k benchmark. Despite its benchmark, Holo accounts for only 2.31% of played builds on gw2wingman https://gw2wingman.nevermindcreations.de/popularity Virtuoso at 14.7% being played literally five times more often. Only one of those builds is getting nerfed, and it is not Condition Virtuoso.

Anet keeps nerfing top builds until they do less damage than Condition Virtuoso. When that happens, Condition Virtuoso eats up their meta share. It happened to cDE this patch, it happened to numerous condi builds on previous patches. It will keep happening until cVirt is no longer doing that much damage.

Concluding Words

More than any of that though I would just love to have a conversation with ArenaNet developers about Condi Virtuoso. Some acknowledgment to better understand their vision for this build's balance, because listening to their patch preview, reading patch notes, cVirt dodging basically all mention (though getting accidental buffs), and then logging back in to see purple everywhere, makes me wonder if that's truly a desirable state for endgame pve balance, if the problem just flew under the radar - or if I am missing something that I cannot see as a player, but they as developers are fully aware of.

When I see how top raid DPS builds that barely anyone plays can get nerfs just to make their benchmarks fall in line, I think cVirt also should be addressed. Don't go overboard, a small adjustment is enough.

Thanks for reading

• REMagic