Does the entire ball group run Snow Treaders

Genfe · August 1

I know nothing of ball group spec comps or setups.
I’m just a lowly nightblade. I find it strange they never get immobilized. I don’t even see them dodge roll. Is this what’s going on. Generally curious.

Just_Attivi · August 1

I dont ball group, playing in groups bigger than 4-6 is generally not my cup of tea (honestly, 1-2 is my norm lol). But from what I have gathered, it entirely depends on the group comp.

these are broad statements that probably change every update, but:

most ball groups I've encountered and dealt with seem to have about 6-8 members with treaders. I seem to semi reliably be able to immobilize 4-6 of a ball group. Its how I fish out first targets normally.

Generally, members without treaders run snare/immoblization immunity skills ( think warden wings or RAT). But maintaining these skills does leave downtime in all but perfect rotations.

obviously as stated above, these are generalizations from experiences, different groups/different updates/different metas, it always changes, but the last 1.5 years or so, the above seems to be mostly accurate.

WaywardArgonian · August 1

It depends on the group. Sometimes only healers/supports do, but sometimes the entire group will run them. Players who don't use Snow Treaders run snare removal skills which they will refresh frequently, so snaring them might still not be all that straightforward.

Minnesinger · August 3

At least when I was ballgrouping in order to sprint (moving fast) the Snowtreaders were not favoured. Like pointed out by a previous commentator only heals/ support used that. The fast movement is the key for victory or survival.

evLRise · August 14

Genfe wrote: »

I know nothing of ball group spec comps or setups.
I’m just a lowly nightblade. I find it strange they never get immobilized. I don’t even see them dodge roll. Is this what’s going on. Generally curious.

Yes. Reasoning is rather simple.

1. It helps you stay tightly together. What makes ballgroups strong is stacking. People are generally under the impression that the heals in a ballgroup are millions per second. That's not the case. What makes you tanky is the fact that 90% of pugs use single target skills. Since they can't focus the same person consistently, that damage gets distributed evenly and its easier to heal with AoEs. As soon as 1 person falls behind and eats all the focus, he'll die if the whole group doesnt stop to help them and start burst healing.

2. Most coordinated groups use strictly AoE damage, which is unblockable. Roll dodging vs that will only show your enemy that you're not blocking and make you a primary target. You don't want to get immobilized and forced to dodge in a bad spot.

Einstein_ · August 14

evLRise wrote: »

Genfe wrote: »

I know nothing of ball group spec comps or setups.
I’m just a lowly nightblade. I find it strange they never get immobilized. I don’t even see them dodge roll. Is this what’s going on. Generally curious.

Yes. Reasoning is rather simple.

1. It helps you stay tightly together. What makes ballgroups strong is stacking. People are generally under the impression that the heals in a ballgroup are millions per second. That's not the case. What makes you tanky is the fact that 90% of pugs use single target skills. Since they can't focus the same person consistently, that damage gets distributed evenly and its easier to heal with AoEs. As soon as 1 person falls behind and eats all the focus, he'll die if the whole group doesnt stop to help them and start burst healing.

2. Most coordinated groups use strictly AoE damage, which is unblockable. Roll dodging vs that will only show your enemy that you're not blocking and make you a primary target. You don't want to get immobilized and forced to dodge in a bad spot.

This is 100% true. We (PC/EU Nova) don't have more than 15-25k HPS. That may sound like a lot, but if you consider that one siege weapon does 10k DPS and oil/meatbags reduce healing significantly, you'll quickly realize that we are, in fact, not invincible. As soon as someone is isolated at the back and can't roll dodge back into the group, they are 100% dead. Taking single-target damage from 10-20 players is almost an instant kill.

And the long waited and good!! Undeath nerf is gonna hurt the Ballgroups the most!!

YandereGirlfriend · August 28

evLRise wrote: »

Genfe wrote: »

I know nothing of ball group spec comps or setups.
I’m just a lowly nightblade. I find it strange they never get immobilized. I don’t even see them dodge roll. Is this what’s going on. Generally curious.

Yes. Reasoning is rather simple.

1. It helps you stay tightly together. What makes ballgroups strong is stacking. People are generally under the impression that the heals in a ballgroup are millions per second. That's not the case. What makes you tanky is the fact that 90% of pugs use single target skills. Since they can't focus the same person consistently, that damage gets distributed evenly and its easier to heal with AoEs. As soon as 1 person falls behind and eats all the focus, he'll die if the whole group doesnt stop to help them and start burst healing.

2. Most coordinated groups use strictly AoE damage, which is unblockable. Roll dodging vs that will only show your enemy that you're not blocking and make you a primary target. You don't want to get immobilized and forced to dodge in a bad spot.

You absolutely can block AOE damage.

You can't block DOTs.

Kickimanjaro · August 29

Yes.