Guild Wars 2 got a pretty solid skill and balance release today.

Guild Wars 2 got a pretty solid skill and balance release today. In particular, the ArenaNet team notes that this update is intended to ease frustration with the benefits and conditions. These include new duration limits for benefits and conditions, gold, reworking the benefits of retribution and resistance, and more.

Updates to the Benefits and conditions include the following for resistance, torment, and resolution:

Resistance

• The unharmed conditions currently on the player are ineffective. The duration of the stacks.

Permission

• The benefits of Retribution were renamed the Resolution.
• Incoming State damage is reduced by 33%. The duration of the stacks.
  Unless otherwise specified, skills and traits that previously granted or used retribution now use permission.

Torment

• Deals damage every second. Deals additional damage to enemies that don’t move. Stack intensity.

Skills also received an upgrade pass. For example, the engineer’s scraper will see the following:

• The kinetic stabilizers were redesigned and renamed. Now these are Kinetic Accelerators.
• Kinetic accelerators: When you grant superspeed to a target, also grant quickness (2 seconds).
• The applied force has been redesigned to provide stability instead of speed, and to provide additional strength from power. Players now gain stability when they gain strength above the threshold. It can give a bonus power (10 per stack).

The rest of the update affects almost all professional skills. Looking to the future, the third expansion is called “The End of Dragons” and has a live stream on July 27, where more details should be revealed.