New Thief Elite Spec - Gang Leader

EDIT: MOVED TO: https://en-forum.guildwars2.com/discussion/113340/new-elite-spec-gang-leader#latest

I had an idea for a new thief elite spec and want to hear your guy's opinions.

Given the fact that Kaineng had a slum with many gangs and criminals back in GW1, I like the idea of becoming a gang leader as thief. You would be able to "collect" gang members like a ranger can collect pets. So the espec is connectes to the open world as well. Maybe you have to do short quests to get those members or you have to pay them like mercenaries or speak to them, I don't know. More important: you collect them. Apart from the normal f1 and f2 skill of a thief for stealing and using that skill, you get two more f skills, f3 and f4. You can choose two of your collected members and by using f3 and f4 you summon the member you chose and they will stay at your side a certain amount of time. Some members may be good at healing or giving boons or doing damage. So through your choice of members you can choose if you want to play a healing/boon/damage oriented build.New skills could be shouts. For example one shout to give orders to the gang members currently summoned. The healing skill could be that your gang members currently at your side give some of their life force to you - meaning that they would probably vanish earlier when their life force is empty.

Concerning the weapon, probably everything could be fit into this. But if we get completely new weapons, a fist bandage would be great, so that you would fight with your bare hands, maybe Kung Fu style.

What do you guys think of this?

we have a thief subforum btw :)https://en-forum.guildwars2.com/categories/thief

I'll post it there :)

Instead of making the gang members a class mechanic like ranger's, I would make them utility skills.Thief is one of just 2 classes left which doesn't have any type of minions to summon to get the minionmancer playstyle.

I would replace steal with another summon of a gang member that is stealing for you, enabling you to use special stolen skills at range. Maybe these stolen skills could alternate the attacks of that gang member for the next seconds it is active.

one small thing, what you will do if no any new elite come ? for exsample rework signets as was reworked traps can bring more than yours suggestions ..so will hope the thief will stay as is

I agree with kodama, make the minions summoned by utility skills, like the necromancer. I would replace steal with a 'command' type ability that temporarily empowers your 'minions' and orders them to attack your target, giving us some control over the pet ai.

I dont particularly like the name "gang leader" for the elite spec, but I'm sure there's other options that could get the same feeling across. Crimelord, for example.

What could be the spec's new weapon? Scepter perhaps as a symbol of status? or Torch for some Arsonist flavoring?

With four utility skills for a new elite spec, I'd make each one summon a different type of minion. Minions should last until killed, like necromancer minions.

1: Pickpocket. A street rat minion (could be a skritt, even! that'd be fun) that doesnt attack enemies, but every few seconds (maybe 8-10s interval?) will run to your enemies and back, granting you a random boon, and possibly removing a boon from the target. Activating the 'command' ability mentioned above would cause a ranged steal effect when this guy is active.

2: Brawler. A brass-knuckles muscleman minion that engages enemies in melee combat. Activating the 'command' ability would cause him to taunt your current target and act like a tank pet. In PvP, rather than a taunt, he could do a knockdown or stun, like a backhand slap on the enemy. This guy could be a norn or charr character.

3: Duelist. An agile, sword/dagger wielding melee minion that bleeds enemies with his attacks. Activating the 'command' ability would cause him to cripple the target. This guy could be a human character.

4: Gunslinger: A dual pistol wielding ranged minion that sticks near your character and shoots enemies. Activating the 'command' ability would cause him to fire a precision shot that deals additional damage (maybe a critical strike that ignores armor/protection?). This character could be an asura.

Healing Skill: Sawbones. A "medic" minion that runs around bandaging you and your other minions if they get below the health threshhold (75%), providing regen. Activating the 'command' ability would cause him to throw a potion at you that provides burst healing to all allies at your location. This character could be a sylvari, or possibly norn if charr is used for the brawler.

Elite Skill: Bonus Contract. Instantly revives/summons any minions you have equipped on your utility/ability bar, and temporarily summons those that are not on your bar. Empowers all of your minions, granting them boons (Might, Fury, and Swiftness/Speed) for 30 seconds.

@"Lynx.9058" said:I agree with kodama, make the minions summoned by utility skills, like the necromancer. I would replace steal with a 'command' type ability that temporarily empowers your 'minions' and orders them to attack your target, giving us some control over the pet ai.

I dont particularly like the name "gang leader" for the elite spec, but I'm sure there's other options that could get the same feeling across. Crimelord, for example.

What could be the spec's new weapon? Scepter perhaps as a symbol of status? or Torch for some Arsonist flavoring?

With four utility skills for a new elite spec, I'd make each one summon a different type of minion. Minions should last until killed, like necromancer minions.

1: Pickpocket. A street rat minion (could be a skritt, even! that'd be fun) that doesnt attack enemies, but every few seconds (maybe 8-10s interval?) will run to your enemies and back, granting you a random boon, and possibly removing a boon from the target. Activating the 'command' ability mentioned above would cause a ranged steal effect when this guy is active.

2: Brawler. A brass-knuckles muscleman minion that engages enemies in melee combat. Activating the 'command' ability would cause him to taunt your current target and act like a tank pet. In PvP, rather than a taunt, he could do a knockdown or stun, like a backhand slap on the enemy. This guy could be a norn or charr character.

3: Duelist. An agile, sword/dagger wielding melee minion that bleeds enemies with his attacks. Activating the 'command' ability would cause him to cripple the target. This guy could be a human character.

4: Gunslinger: A dual pistol wielding ranged minion that sticks near your character and shoots enemies. Activating the 'command' ability would cause him to fire a precision shot that deals additional damage (maybe a critical strike that ignores armor/protection?). This character could be an asura.

Healing Skill: Sawbones. A "medic" minion that runs around bandaging you and your other minions if they get below the health threshhold (75%), providing regen. Activating the 'command' ability would cause him to throw a potion at you that provides burst healing to all allies at your location. This character could be a sylvari, or possibly norn if charr is used for the brawler.

Elite Skill: Bonus Contract. Instantly revives/summons any minions you have equipped on your utility/ability bar, and temporarily summons those that are not on your bar. Empowers all of your minions, granting them boons (Might, Fury, and Swiftness/Speed) for 30 seconds.

I pretty much like your ideas. As to the command ability, I could imagine that every gang member skill on my skill bar has a passive and an active mode. Passive mode is activate when i summon them and is what you said above. When I use f1 for command, the skills on my skill bar change their appearance and when I use them again, the active skill triggers. I'm thinking a little bit of Druid's ghost amd glyph skills here. So when my medic is crirrently at my side and I use f1 I can press the medic skill again and get instantly healed.

I would like a few more gang members so that a player really can switch up a little bit.

One member could blind the foe every so often and could use a smoke bomb when active skill is triggered so that thr player and all gang members enter stealth mode.

I haven't thought about the traits yet. One can obviously be that the cooldown for command/summon gang members is lower. But others I haven't thought about. Any ideas?

We used to have a minion type of utility. (Thief Trap). If you guys don't remember that, you may have caught Thief when traps were removed :c

@AikijinX.6258 said:We used to have a minion type of utility. (Thief Trap). If you guys don't remember that, you may have caught Thief when traps were removed :c

Well, we don't have it now, so it's missing nontheless :)

Healings skill=1minion3 utility skills=3 minionThieves guild=3minionGolemancer runes=1golemPretty sure if i also use double daggers and a condi build it would outperform minionmancer builds lol

So basically thieves guild but as a class? sounds a bit cheesy to me but could be fun to play with in pve.I'm praying that anet release something like a shadow mage type class with scepter.a new one hand weapon would bring versatiliyy through the dualwield system that hasnt been used by anet yet since we got 2 handed weapons on both expacs.shadow mage type could bring burning to the thief class and make it viable condi in pve or be more support based able to conistently stealth allies

I would love to get a elite soec that made thief a bit more viable in Raids. I mean we got thief as a good dps on some bosses and as boon thief on a rare occasions, but I would love to be able to play thief as heal or support in raids, too. There are some classes you can actually play at every boss (sometimes in different roles) like mesmer, ranger or guardian. But I would like to have viable options for every class at every boss.

Not gonna lie, I think as a concept this is super neat!

@Lurana.7506 said:I would love to get a elite soec that made thief a bit more viable in Raids. I mean we got thief as a good dps on some bosses and as boon thief on a rare occasions, but I would love to be able to play thief as heal or support in raids, too. There are some classes you can actually play at every boss (sometimes in different roles) like mesmer, ranger or guardian. But I would like to have viable options for every class at every boss.

Thief can be taken on most raids, as a DPS it provides one of the most reliable classes, its incredibly forgiving and only relies on initiative to burst. thief gets kicked out as soon as condi is needed such as Cairn. thief needs a reliable condi dps spec. i think something like shadowmage with a scepter.dagger with a decent condi shadow attack could work.

Truthfully, the concept sounds stupid and would never happen.

BUT I do like the idea of collecting gang members like pets.I did enjoy Assassin's Creed for abit before it went to shyt.

Had a similar thought I was playing around with

Almost all of the professions have a dps or support based build except thieves. While I'm aware that boon or venomshare thieves are a thing, even in raids, thieves cannot truly compete with the levels of support other professions can provide. A thought that occurred to me was "Thieves Guild". It's a decent skill, gives thieves the support they need in a pinch, but it's just one elite skill--the rest of the time a thief, daredevil, or Dead Eye run solo. So what if a thief could sacrifice his personal initiative (DPS) to help allies? (Some Am Fah/Jade Brotherhood influences)

Guild Lord - F3-F5 summons a Guild Mate who costs some Initiative and locks it out (IE. that initiative used for the Guild Mate cannot be used until Guild Mate is dismissed/defeated), but Guild Mate stays until defeated. If defeated, does not restore the "locked" Initiative. If dismissed restores half of the "locked" Initiative. Pulses boons in 360 Unit range for up to 5 allies (Guild Mates are not counted towards this limit).

F3 - 2 Initiative. Summons Healer. Pulses 1 second Regeneration every 1 second. Provides additional 84 Health/Second for Guild Mates & Guild Lord permanently. 12 Second Cooldown if Defeated.

Idea behind this is an ongoing heal. Having the extra minion running around already takes a bit of heat away from the thief, and 2 Initiative isn't going to be widely missed. The additional healing helps top up what the regeneration doesn't, with its effectiveness increasing with great boon duration. The drawback is obviously less damage due to Initiative.F4 - 3 Initiative. Summons Fighter. Pulses 2 second of 5 Might every 1 second. Provides 0.5 seconds Fury for Guilds Mates & Guild Lord every 1 second. 20 Second Cooldown if Defeated.

Idea behind this is increasing strength. Again, weight of numbers is key for defense, but provides ongoing boons and damage for the thief to try and recoup. The semi-perma-fury is intended as the tradeoff so less Precision is needed for nearly 100% critical hits (dependent on boon duration). Less initiative but every hit you land is stronger. The 2 seconds of Might is intended so you're always starting up with 10 might in a fight (after a couple seconds)--because you have only 1/4th of your normal Initiative, you have to rely on power/crits to make up the deficit.F5 - 3 Initiative. Summons Assassin. Pulses 1 second Vigor every 1 second. Provides 0.5 seconds Quickness for Guild Mates & Guild Lord. every 1 second. 30 Second Cooldown if Defeated.

This one I hummed and hawed about. Dodging has always been a Thief special for defense. It's integrated into various traits, skills, and an entire Elite Spec is based around it. This Guild Mate doesn't provide much to the rest of the Guild, but helps out with the Thief and player allies. The secondary effect is the bread and butter. Thieves' autoattacks are pretty decent, and quickness helps us shore up when we run low on Initiative. So, pulsing 0.5 seconds of initiative every 1 second lets us keep a decent amount of damage up while having less Initiative. If you go for boon duration, you're sacrificing Power/Prec/Fero, which is the tradeoff for perma-quickness.The skills of the Guild Lord would be Shouts. These affect a decent number of allies, are quick to pop off, and are pretty good for support from other classes.Heal Skill - Rallies all Guild Mates currently active. Restores 2500 Health.

Since Guild Mates are first downed, this heal skills trades personal healing for supporting your guild (and your allies by the boons the guild provides). By keeping your Guild Mates in the fight longer, you're providing better boon support for your party as well as personally keeping yourself safe by having minions keeping the enemies distracted.(Edited)Utility 1 - 1/2 Second Cast Time, 30 Second Recharge. For 15 Seconds, regain 84 hp per hit by Guild MatesUtility 2 - 1/4 Second Cast Time, 45 Seconds Recharge. Gain Protection 12 Seconds.Utility 3 - 1/4 Second Cast Time, 3 Charges, 5 second Charge Recharge Time, 30 Second Full Recharge. Damage Enemies & Gain Might and Swiftness.

Elite - "For the Undercity" - 3/4 Second Cast Time, 90 Second Recharge. For 15 Seconds, unlock & regain all Initiative & all skills cost only 1 Initiative.

This skill is your burst, allowing thieves to suddenly burst out an obscene amount of personal damage. There's no tradeoff beyond it costs an Elite Skill slot, and it's designed so that a Thief goes from sacrificing personal DPS to suddenly being a whirlwind of activity. While it might not seem like a lot, suddenly being able to trounce out 12 Heartseekers in a row would be an insane burst.Traits - Undetermined; figured some that allows the 2nd effect of each Guild Mate to apply to allies (up to 5), reducing the Initiative Cost of each guild mate, increasing the Guild Mates personal DPS/survivability, or increasing boons/boon duration.

Just thoughts as I was driving home from work. Any ideas on Traits or reworking what's mentioned above?

I have returned to gw2 not a while ago, and see there was a big wave of espec suggestions. So i will just put it here, it was well criticized but maybe someone will find it interesting. And yes, i understand devs made their minds about new especs (if there will be at all) already.