Can someone summarize Combat/ Skill changes Chris mentioned while the R49 PM Telethon

as in the title, i heard about changes for combat and skills etc. in the Telethon, but my english isn't good enough to follow this while just heraing, need to read it.
Can someone explain - thank you.

 

Defensive skills will have no cast time, but instead have a 30 second cooldown.

They will likely give less overall, but instead give a huge burst up front for the first few seconds allowing players to use their own skill to determine the best time to use them instead of just spamming them before every fight.

Think of it this way: You will take less damage when you really really need to take less damage, and take slightly more damage the other times.

This is slightly speculative on my part but it's what I gathered from the discussion.