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Elder Dragon Passive Should Trigger From Any Dragonknight Ability
CannedChicken
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The Elder Dragon passive feels outdated and unnecessarily restrictive in its current form.
Right now, the passive requires you to cast a Draconic Power ability to gain Minor Brutality. In PvE, this has generally been manageable because Minor Brutality could be provided by other sources, such as the Dawn’s Wrath Templar line. With the upcoming changes, however, this is going to put much more pressure on DK tanks to actively use a Draconic Power ability every 20 seconds purely to maintain the passive.
The problem is that many DK tank builds don't naturally use a Draconic Power ability within that timeframe when main tanking. This means you can end up casting an ability solely because you need to refresh Minor Brutality, rather than because the ability is actually useful at that moment.
That feels awkward and contrary to good combat design.
Change Elder Dragon so that casting any Dragonknight class ability activates the Minor Brutality portion of the passive.
This would preserve the intended identity of the passive while removing the unnecessary requirement to use a specific skill line.
I would also suggest applying this philosophy to the other class passives that require abilities from a specific skill line to maintain group buffs. If the purpose is to reward playing your class and actively using class abilities, requiring a specific skill line every 20 seconds is unnecessarily restrictive.
A DK tank should be able to maintain their class passive by playing their class, not by being forced to slot and periodically cast an ability they otherwise wouldn't use.
This would also make the passive much more flexible across different builds and roles without meaningfully increasing its power.
TL;DR: Elder Dragon should trigger from any Dragonknight class ability, rather than specifically requiring a Draconic Power ability. The current requirement is outdated and creates unnecessary buff-maintenance gameplay, especially for tanks.
Right now, the passive requires you to cast a Draconic Power ability to gain Minor Brutality. In PvE, this has generally been manageable because Minor Brutality could be provided by other sources, such as the Dawn’s Wrath Templar line. With the upcoming changes, however, this is going to put much more pressure on DK tanks to actively use a Draconic Power ability every 20 seconds purely to maintain the passive.
The problem is that many DK tank builds don't naturally use a Draconic Power ability within that timeframe when main tanking. This means you can end up casting an ability solely because you need to refresh Minor Brutality, rather than because the ability is actually useful at that moment.
That feels awkward and contrary to good combat design.
Suggested Change
Change Elder Dragon so that casting any Dragonknight class ability activates the Minor Brutality portion of the passive.
This would preserve the intended identity of the passive while removing the unnecessary requirement to use a specific skill line.
I would also suggest applying this philosophy to the other class passives that require abilities from a specific skill line to maintain group buffs. If the purpose is to reward playing your class and actively using class abilities, requiring a specific skill line every 20 seconds is unnecessarily restrictive.
A DK tank should be able to maintain their class passive by playing their class, not by being forced to slot and periodically cast an ability they otherwise wouldn't use.
This would also make the passive much more flexible across different builds and roles without meaningfully increasing its power.
TL;DR: Elder Dragon should trigger from any Dragonknight class ability, rather than specifically requiring a Draconic Power ability. The current requirement is outdated and creates unnecessary buff-maintenance gameplay, especially for tanks.
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Erickson9610✭✭✭✭✭
✭✭✭✭I think every Class passive which requires you to use an ability from that particular Class skill line should proc with the use of any ability belonging to that Class. If you're already a Dragonknight, and you haven't swapped away the skill line which grants the group minor buff, you should be continually proccing it whenever you use your Dragonknight abilities.
Further, the group buffs should probably only proc if your base class matches the skill line which procs it, e.g. only a base class Templar could proc the group minor buff found in the Dawn's Wrath skill line. That would reinforce the idea of the Templar group minor buff as being the "unique Templar group buff" rather than the "unique Dawn's Wrath group buff".
Why are we letting people who Subclass source up to three different Class minor buffs for their group? What's the point of bringing people of different base classes into the group composition if only two people can source every group minor buff for the group?PC/NA — Lone Werewolf
Werewolf Should be Allowed to Sneak Prowling added in Update 50!
Please give us Werewolf Skill Styles (for customizing our fur color) Added in Update 50!, Grimoires/Scribing skills (to fill in the holes in our builds), and Companions (to transform with).1 -
CannedChicken✭✭✭20 seconds is generous enough for a group wide buff. It justifies comitting a GCD.
The problem is that Elder Dragon specifically requires a Draconic Power ability. There are plenty of situations where a DK tank simply doesn't need to use one of those abilities during that 20-second window. At that point, you're not really making a meaningful gameplay decision or "committing a GCD" for a useful effect—you are pressing an otherwise unnecessary button because the passive tells you that you have to.
That's especially awkward on a tank, where your GCDs are already being used for things like maintaining taunts, debuffs, resources, buffs, and responding to mechanics. Adding "cast a Draconic Power ability every 20 seconds" isn't particularly interesting gameplay if the ability itself isn't needed.
If Elder Dragon triggered from any DK class ability, the 20-second duration could remain exactly as it is. You would still have to actively play the class and use abilities to maintain the buff, but you wouldn't be forced into a specific skill line just to satisfy the passive.
A 20-second window is generous. A forced, otherwise pointless GCD isn't necessarily good gameplay just because the window is generous.0 -
Luneca✭✭✭✭✭No. If someone wants a temporary buff to be up, then they should have to manage its uptime or it needs to be cut down in uptime and value like all other buffs that aren't conditional on being linked to a specific skill or skill line.
What you're asking for is a MASSIVE buff in PvP to eliminate a problem no one else is complaining about in PvE?
Also groups could always run someone dedicated for the buff. Wasn't that the idea behind taking minor sorcery away from templars? That groups would run someone dedicated to keeping the buff up so it was better to remove redundancy?
Double no.1 -
Vaqual✭✭✭✭✭
✭CannedChicken wrote: »20 seconds is generous enough for a group wide buff. It justifies comitting a GCD.
The problem is that Elder Dragon specifically requires a Draconic Power ability. There are plenty of situations where a DK tank simply doesn't need to use one of those abilities during that 20-second window. At that point, you're not really making a meaningful gameplay decision or "committing a GCD" for a useful effect—you are pressing an otherwise unnecessary button because the passive tells you that you have to.
That's especially awkward on a tank, where your GCDs are already being used for things like maintaining taunts, debuffs, resources, buffs, and responding to mechanics. Adding "cast a Draconic Power ability every 20 seconds" isn't particularly interesting gameplay if the ability itself isn't needed.
If Elder Dragon triggered from any DK class ability, the 20-second duration could remain exactly as it is. You would still have to actively play the class and use abilities to maintain the buff, but you wouldn't be forced into a specific skill line just to satisfy the passive.
A 20-second window is generous. A forced, otherwise pointless GCD isn't necessarily good gameplay just because the window is generous.
Between Chains (taunt, pull, cowardice, potentially free cast), Dragon Blood (heal and team support) and Disintegrating (aoe breach) the coverage of the skill line is quite good, even without using leap. Wings and Talons can be too situational to maintain the buff, that is true.
Most other group buffs have the exact same restriction (Templar, Sorc) or are otherwise specific (only heals for Warden, crit for NB). Arcanist is really the exception, but there it is somewhat understandable, since there lines have the hardest role splits.
I think this is more of a design preference than a real necessity. In a 4 player group 1 GCD is a quarter of the groups GCD budget for a total of 4x20s minor brutality. That is a good enough return to implement a specific skill in a 20s rotation.
The fact that the redundancy is being removed and group buffs are artificially elevated is however something that I personally dislike. In that regard I agree, that wasn't necessary and artificially forcing people into Draconic Power for that isn't really making the game any better. There are many passives that were in a more dire need of being reworked.Edited by Vaqual on August 21, 2026 12:42PM0