Gunbreaker: thoughts and suggestions

[Novak_04]

I have very much enjoyed my time on the Gunbreaker. I think they have the potential to be a formidable tank. However, there are a few things that I feel need to be addressed in order for this to happen. Disclaimer: this thread is about Gunbreaker. I make no comparisons to other tanks -- I'm sure they have their own problems.

Brutal Shell: This buff could use some tweaking. My suggestion would be to make the cure and shield effect based on damage dealt, rather than a low (and weak) static potency. Given its combo potency in the rotation, I can’t foresee this ability dealing overpowered levels of damage at higher gearing. As it is, the effect is less-than-lackluster.

Superbolide: There has been a ton of commentary where this ability is concerned. It’s a bad design in general. While the logic of “you’re supposed to use your emergency buttons when you’re low health anyway” holds true in most cases, there’s a side of the coin that isn’t factored into the argument: healers have emergency buttons too. A quick anecdote to fortify my position here: I was in Akaedemia Anyder… as I was tanking a group of mobs, one of the dps accidentally pulled an adjacent group; I picked them up as well. The healer (White Mage) was struggling to keep me alive at this point because my defensives were on CD already. My hp dropped exceptionally low, so my invuln had to be used. I pressed the button merely a fraction of a second too late. The healer used Benediction on me, healing me to full…. You can imagine my exasperation when Superbolide hit immediately after. Aside from the wasted Benediction, the healer had to spend extra time healing me to full afterward wasting mana and time that could have been better spent doing other things. Other healers have similar emergency-level healing abilities (Lustrate and Essential Dignity) that could end up in the same wasted category due to this design. I have a suggestion I would like to throw out that would alleviate a lot of design issues surrounding this ability: have it heal for the damage taken while it’s active. This would dampen the burden on the healer to compensate for the hp lost when using it and justify the already-ridiculous CD on such an underwhelming ability.

Danger/Blasting Zone: For a lvl 80 ability, this is lack-luster. What “zone” am I blasting exactly? Make this a conic ability!

Camouflage: I’ve tried and tried to give this ability a fair shake… I’ve used it on as many trash pulls as possible hoping to see some sort of return. Thus far, I haven’t even noticed it’s active. I would like to see the parry increased to 100% with an increase of at least 5% on the damage reduction (100% parry, 15% damage reduction). This would make it useful on so many levels.

Sonic Break: It’s odd that this is on the GCD while Bow Shock is oGCD. My suggestion would be to remove it from the GCD to allow it to be weaved or buff the potency and make it share a CD with Bow Shock – allowing for the decision of ST vs AoE DoT effect. Either way, GCD needs to go.

Tenacity: This isn’t a Gunbreaker issue specifically, however I felt it necessary to discuss. This is pretty much a dead stat. While I understand it has merit, it serves no purpose in decision making where melds and gearing are concerned. I would suggest buffing the damage output and intake coefficients to at least allow it to compete with Determination… or just remove the stat altogether. As it stands, it is bait for new tanks (for which I have – in the past – fallen victim) to stack for little-to-no return. In SB, I fully stacked Tenacity… as much as I could muster. It resulted in roughly 12% damage reduction. While this may sound like a lot over the course of a fight, given the amount of external and internal CDs we have, it’s inconsequential.

I understand that many of these issues don’t apply in every situation – for instance, the Superbolide issue wouldn’t be a problem in organized groups with solid communication. Unfortunately, very few people fall into this category, and the changes recommended would not impact that circle at all. Furthermore, I acknowledge that not everyone will agree with the aforementioned. I encourage discussion and debates regarding the topics.

All in all, I’m loving the Gunbreaker. Despite everything you just read, I find them thematically pleasing. I'm currently in the process of grinding out the Sabertooth mount and loving every minute! I look forward to what (if anything) changes in 5.1. While we're on the topic, how is everyone else fairing in their travels with the Gunbreaker. I'd love to hear your experiences!

[MagiusNecros]

Solution to Superbolide. Healers can wait 3 seconds after the Superbolide animation goes off. End of discussion.

[Novak_04]

Solution to Superbolide. Healers can wait 3 seconds after the Superbolide animation goes off. End of discussion.

That's far from a solution though... the issue many people are having with Superbolide is that it shifts the responsibility of the cooldown from the tank to the healer. This shouldn't be the case. A tank CD shouldn't burden a healer -- or anyone else.

[MagiusNecros]

I quite agree. Just look at Dark Knight and Living Dead. Also burdens the healer. And wasn't touched this xpac.

[Vashramire]

Brutal Shell seems fine to me so far. Not underwhelming not overpowering at least to me. I think a lot of people underestimate it as is even though it's hidden strength is that it's only the second keystroke in a combo for this heal/shield. Spamming this two button combo sacrifices damage for sustain when a healer goes down. Now it may not make a difference in a some raids or activities but it can mitigate a lot over a long period of time.

Superbolide is odd. Wasting healer CD's sucks and it's not fun if that CD would be needed later. I suppose the only way I can think it would be usable is if after it's used you stay at 1 hp for the duration but all the heals get stored as a shield so at the end it gets turned to HP. Accidentally using Benediction on them wont be a total waste.

Danger/Blasting Zone is just filler and our aoe is already pretty strong.

Camouflage isn't great. 10% damage redux for all damage but parry is literally hit or miss. If they made it 100% though they'd have to look at the balance of Sheltron.

Sonic Break is annoying to fit in with it being a weaponskill. Taking it off the GCD will be a much loved QoL.

Tenacity is a passive stat people just ignore. Needs removed or reworked.

[Ekimmak]

Maybe Superbolide could be "Halves current HP" rather than a full reduction to 1 HP.

That way, poor timing isn't going to utterly kill your soul inside, but it also still fills that role of "you don't just use it for funsies"

[Dortharl]

Camouflage is very lack lustre I won’t say it’s useless but it’s close. Brutal shell is not great either but it would be very difficult to balance if they made it more powerful. The heal isn’t enough to negate trash mob auto attacks but if it was buffed I can see it getting too potent very easily. SB is basically a troll ability great if you want to fudge some mechanics or scare your healer but aside from that it’s largely counterproductive.

DPS wise according to fflogs they are top, I doubt this will last as WAR will get their spot back, I don’t see them changing BS or SB but hopefully they look at camouflage and make it a bit more effective in mitigation.

[Jandor]

Camouflage is fine. It's 10% DR with a chance of another 15% on top.

It doesn't blow you away with its awesomeness, but not everything is meant to.

[Tint]

Camouflage is fine. It's 10% DR with a chance of another 15% on top.

It doesn't blow you away with its awesomeness, but not everything is meant to.

It also has 20 seconds duration, wich is fairly long. Only Rampart can match that duration. It is a nice fluff mitigation tool for autos and dungeon pulls.

If the effect was stronger the duration would be shorter. This skill also has to be compared to Dark Mind and Thrill of Battle, and in this comparsion Camouflage doesn't look too bad.

[ReiMakoto]

Personally im very happy with gunbreaker, it does everything it needs to do, and trades off power on camouflage for slightly higher dps. Ive seen a few people suggest bow shock and sonic break share a cd and im like, why? Sonic Break is great on the gcd as you can pop it and weave blasting zone and bow shock before going into the gnashing combo where you'll be weaving the combo/ rough divide.