Breaking Stun

[DrakeWurrum]

So, I've noticed that many utility skills will say "Breaks Stun" on it in the tooltip. And I've been thinking about this for quite a while...

Stun is the least dangerous of all the CC effects in the game, imo, specifically because of how short it lasts. I keep trying to pick abilities in builds in such a way that I know I can break Stuns, but I'm also thinking about Stuns based on my WoW experience. Most Stuns in GW2, however, don't actually last that long.

The Mesmer Pistol Trick Shot: 2 seconds
The Ranger Shortbow skill Concussion Shot: 1 second
Thief Pistol Whip: 1 second
Elementalist Shocking Aura: 1 second

I could go on, but as I go down the list, the longest Stun in the game comes from the Warrior with the Mace Burst Skill, at 4 seconds.

So all these skills that break Stun seem almost pointless to me... unless it's the case that they don't just break stuns specifically. (that being said, most CCs that prevent actions are just as short as these Stuns)

Does anybody know more about this? Am I over-thinking this? O_o

I feel like it would be a silly idea to blow a 60-second CD ability to break a 1-second Stun, ya know?

[Fencers]

I view it like having Tenacity or Break Free; that 1 second could save your life. I am not sure what DR is like in GW2 though.

[Squirrelbanes]

In a world where combat is very fast paced and dynamic...I think 1 sec will often make the difference between life and death. For high end pvp certainly.

But yh...I see ur point. GW2 builds seem to me to be very heavy on diminishing returns and, in particular, opportunity cost. Balancing these kinds of things is going to be very intricate.
And as you can often see what you're about to be hit by in GW2...maybe there will be many times that you will say...ok, need to get out of this.
I worry about reaction time though lol.

[Fencers]

Worry more about latency, lol.

[zardon3001]

Yeah latency could really hurt if you are trying dodge abilities or break out of stuns. Hopefully it isn't horrible.

[DrakeWurrum]

In a world where combat is very fast paced and dynamic...I think 1 sec will often make the difference between life and death. For high end pvp certainly.

But yh...I see ur point. GW2 builds seem to me to be very heavy on diminishing returns and, in particular, opportunity cost. Balancing these kinds of things is going to be very intricate.
And as you can often see what you're about to be hit by in GW2...maybe there will be many times that you will say...ok, need to get out of this.
I worry about reaction time though lol.

Well we'll have to see, yeah, but I'm finding myself thinking right now that the "break stun" aspect is just a nice little bonus that means, if I feel like I'm in danger of death, I can always use that skill. It's just that... I doubt that 1 extra second will actually matter that much.

That being said, it says "Break Stun"
What about Knockdown? Launch? Daze? :S

[Squirrelbanes]

Worry more about latency, lol.

Yh lol. My main concern with GW2 tbh. High latency and very situational and fast paced combat = megadeath and rage.

---------- Post added 2012-04-04 at 03:39 AM ----------

Well we'll have to see, yeah, but I'm finding myself thinking right now that the "break stun" aspect is just a nice little bonus that means, if I feel like I'm in danger of death, I can always use that skill. It's just that... I doubt that 1 extra second will actually matter that much.

That being said, it says "Break Stun"
What about Knockdown? Launch? Daze? :S

As stun is a specific control effect, I think skills that explicitly state it, or any such effect, would be just for that. They'll either be "blanket" and say something like "all effects" or state of number of specific effects i think.

I guess if ur combat style and build is very much based on mobility you may want it..otherwise maybe not so much.

[DrakeWurrum]

As stun is a specific control effect, I think skills that explicitly state it, or any such effect, would be just for that. They'll either be "blanket" and say something like "all effects" or state of number of specific effects i think.

I guess if ur combat style and build is very much based on mobility you may want it..otherwise maybe not so much.

That honestly... bothers me greatly, if it's true. Knockdown and daze are just as crippling (harhar) as Stun is, as far as preventing you from taking action.

[Lucky_]

In GW1, 3 second gale knockdown (equivalent of stun) was massively overpowered even with exhaustion mechanic. Most knockdowns were 1 sec baseline (2 sec with warrior gloves) and included exhaustion mechanic on top. They were considered mandatory to have on several people in GvG, as they were the only proper "CC" that removed control of character and prevented movement/casting/attacking.
Game also had one 4 second knockdown, which was a hammer elite with extreme adrenaline cost, and if you took a hammer warrior to GvG, you could expect to be a spike magnet of epic proportions. In fact, quite a few people who I know to have tried it ended up playing with sword and shield to build up adrenaline, and swap to hammer only for the spike which made you worthless for anything but CC (no pressure) but let you get those backbreakers (the name of the skill) at somewhat reasonable rate.

If GW2 is as fast paced as GW1, even 1 sec stuns will be a huge thing again. If it will be slower, then it won't matter as much.

---------- Post added 2012-04-04 at 05:18 AM ----------

That honestly... bothers me greatly, if it's true. Knockdown and daze are just as crippling (harhar) as Stun is, as far as preventing you from taking action.

Daze doesn't prevent you from dodging out of harm's way. Knockdown does. It will most likely be mandatory to KD spike victim even more so then in GW1.

[Glytch]

I view it like having Tenacity or Break Free; that 1 second could save your life. I am not sure what DR is like in GW2 though.

non existent

i imagine the "breaks stun" clause refers to all movement impairing conditions/effects but i find it rather out of place in GW2

[Fencers]

non existent

i imagine the "breaks stun" clause refers to all movement impairing conditions/effects but i find it rather out of place in GW2

Wow, really? No DR at all or just in PVP?

[Glytch]

Wow, really? No DR at all or just in PVP?

98% sure its at all

excluding certain enemies who will be immune to certain things

[terrahero]

Wow, really? No DR at all or just in PVP?

From several pvp vids i understand that there is no DR, and one commentator even claimed he got that from a dev. So as things stand now, it doesnt look like a DR. As someone commented "There is no DR, but CCs last incredibly short so you only get chained if you get ganged up. And then you got more problems to worry about".

But, we will have to see how things turn out. Personally im not to worried about it as CCs last short and you do not get taken from 100->0 in the blink of an eye (atleast, if you arent 10 v 1-ing). But i will have to wait and see how it turns out after ive tried it myself for a bit before i really feel comfortable giving my opinion on this matter.

[Lucky_]

DR exists as a necessity in games where CC lasts long time, and there are a lot of CC effects.

As I noted above, GW1 (and GW2 seems to be using same system) only has one CC, knockdown (stun equivalent, character cannot move or take most actions), which only lasts a second or two.

GW's control has traditionally been through means of forcing an unpleasant choices on the enemy rather then just removing ability to act all together.

[Deleted]

1 sec stun? within that time I don't even think I can get to the Un-stun abillity fast enough

[Glytch]

one note to OP: KD and stun counts as an "effect" not a condition so you cant increase the duration on it.

[DrakeWurrum]

one note to OP: KD and stun counts as an "effect" not a condition so you cant increase the duration on it.

Well, that much is good.

---------- Post added 2012-04-04 at 03:26 AM ----------

Daze doesn't prevent you from dodging out of harm's way. Knockdown does. It will most likely be mandatory to KD spike victim even more so then in GW1.

Well yeah, Daze isn't quite as crippling in the sense that you can still move (actually, can you still dodge?), but it's still bothersome.

---------- Post added 2012-04-04 at 03:28 AM ----------

1 sec stun? within that time I don't even think I can get to the Un-stun abillity fast enough

Yeah... that's exactly how I feel. It's great that there's some defensive utility skills that I can still always use in a pinch, but I just find it odd. It'll be difficult to break out of the mindset of "OH GOD I'M STUNNED, MUST "TRINKET" NAO!" and instead specifically save the skills when I actually am in danger of death.


Except when facing a Mace/Shield Warrior.

[Deleted]

Yeah... that's exactly how I feel. It's great that there's some defensive utility skills that I can still always use in a pinch, but I just find it odd. It'll be difficult to break out of the mindset of "OH GOD I'M STUNNED, MUST "TRINKET" NAO!" and instead specifically save the skills when I actually am in danger of death.


Except when facing a Mace/Shield Warrior.

Looking at most of the Stun breaking utility skills, a lot of them have another effect on them save for the stun part. An engineer for instance gets a 3 second evasion buff after breaking a stun. Which tells me that the stun breaking part is just so you can use it whenever you want, at any time. That 3 second evasion part would be useless if i'd eat a stun or two and dont get to use it before i drop dead. I could still put this ability to great use even if im not stunned, because it will ALWAYS work, no matter what. I suspect most people will keep these abilities for the most dangerous time, and not just to remove 1 second stuns. And personally i dont think that'd be all too hard to get used to. Its not like you use your WoW trinket at the first stun or CC 100% of all games. Difference is we'll be using our 'trinket' skill at as low hp as possible now, not to avoid an instagib.

[Deleted]

How about dodging the stun in the first place? (y) ^^,

On a serious point though, the stun-breaker is a necessary deal on higher PvP levels, an 1-3 second stun which controls you for 100% so you can't pop any defensive CDs will be able to land a kill on you. If you check up an Elementalists traits for example you can see they even get 20% more damage versus stunned/knock-downed targets.
So if you're in a stun you're a "nuke target" that'll die quick (if the other team is smart enough to actively switch and adapt to the friends usage of abilities in their team).

So in conclusion; Stun-breakers have their place in the game, and they should indeed be there.

[Deyadissa]

Stuns are probably used more for an interrupt more than anything else.