I'm enjoying deadeye now

Now that I'm used to the changes and my muscle memory isn't killing me, it's in a pretty good spot for roaming in WvW and it's enjoyable. I hated the changes when they came in, and I still think spamming three round burst for malice is kinda dumb design, but overall I'm actually enjoying it.

Just a spot of positivity :)

I'd be ok if they just changed back dj to work in and out of stealth. Getting used to the changes was one thing, but now my playstyle is more spammy than ever. I don't mind if they don't put cursed bullet back in exchange for getting dj to work in and out of stealth.

@DemonSeed.3528 said:I'd be ok if they just changed back dj to work in and out of stealth. Getting used to the changes was one thing, but now my playstyle is more spammy than ever. I don't mind if they don't put cursed bullet back in exchange for getting dj to work in and out of stealth.

Honestly yeah, cursed bullet being removed was my main grievance originally, as now the best option is almost always to use three round burst from stealth and save DJ for punishing blocks or to force dodges. Especially considering that a hit gets one malice and a crit gets two and only one of the three bullets need to hit for the max malice generation per skill use, makes it the most efficient skill against everything really.

That said outside of an initial +1 I rarely landed DJ against a good player before, and the dodge on stealth actually works nicely for setting it up. A nice feature is that the rifle only needs to be equipped at the time stealth would be applied, so I can build malice with S/D, force a block, dodge then weapon swap mid dodge, get stealth from the trait then immediately use DJ, pretty nice with agility signet on rifle. Feels a lot faster and more fluid than before once you're used to it.

The projectile block from sniper's cover is pretty useful in fights involving multiple rangers and DH as well, makes spiking when outnumbered a lot easier if you're careful with your positioning.

It's also pretty funny to get taunted in stealth only to one shot someone with a DJ they forced themselves lol.

I don't know. I know a lot changed and people are unhappy especially for PvE, but there's good here too.

Fun tip: try using scorpion wire with DJ. May not be the most effective choice but it's pretty amusing haha :D

Aye, I hear you.

Shadow Gust needs a tweak - suffering the same problems of Silent Scope pre-'fix'.

Else, all is well in the land of rifle wielding murder monkeys.

@Jugglemonkey.8741 said:

@DemonSeed.3528 said:I'd be ok if they just changed back dj to work in and out of stealth. Getting used to the changes was one thing, but now my playstyle is more spammy than ever. I don't mind if they don't put cursed bullet back in exchange for getting dj to work in and out of stealth.

@MUDse.7623 said:

i mostly open with spotter into trb because with just trb most dodge after the first hit, in case of most mesmer you will recieve the bullets right back. for mesmers i only use spotters till malice is up a bit then swap to dagger with gurateed crit and onehit :DHonestly, given that mirage can dodge even when immobed I rarely bother with spotter's shot unless I'm being body blocked or immobing lone players in front of our group, especially since most chrono die easier as they have less evades as it is. It's not a bad strategy tho, and at close to max range you can fire off a spotter's shot then DJ before the first shot reveals you. Dagger is more effective you're right, I dislike D/P so I run S/D instead. Strengths and weaknesses to both I guess ^^i still miss the corrupt from CB , i mainly used it to get rid of protection but now as uninterruptable stealth access lets us play more aggressive i dont need to get rid of protection anymore,Yup, I do miss timing CB and three round burst at close to max range tho. It all hit at once due to the slow projectile speed on CB which made it a one shot vs most thieves. That said I miss it less than I would have before the auto nerf, that really helped deadeye out vs daredevils in the long run.if the opponent was not a thief/mesmer i really loved even against good trying to hit DJ, because there was allways a way to make them take it with baiting dodges and reflects or baiting a movement skill.

Yeah, it's always fun to try to hit something evasive with a telegraphed skill. Especially so since you only had to land it once hahawhile the projectile block is nice the setup IMO is stupid as you need to aim the direction and it is placed on a distant , i would prefer it being cast on the deadeye similar to smoke screen so you would have a 360° projectile protection and wouldnt be forced to move around the wall while kneeling.I think a 360 block might be slightly too much given how spammable it is. It's clunky you're right, but it lasts long enough for you to spike, wait out revealed and stealth, so it's not the worst I guess? It's not something I'd use at close enough range that moving is a problem, only if the ranger is trying to stay at max distance all the time. Never mind, I misunderstood

Don't get me wrong, deadeye could definitely still use tweaks, PvE is a mess but so is thief in general for that game mode. I'm just saying it's not the end of the world, I guess ^^

What build are you using?

I am liking the setup much better as well now. CB missed but the fact DJ no longer blockable is a big plus. Baiting dodges and then dropping stealth for a DJ is quite reliable. I also find I am missing that cleanse we had on Kneel before but I always trhought it a bit much for 1 ini.

I really think number 4 needs an autoplace of the screen. Clunky as heck, clean that up and the set just about there.

Loading up on stealth skills, grab your go-to Condition clear and a hunting we will go!

Kneeling still feels sticky. Cast times on a few skills are a PITA but hey, it kinda all works together.

The more I play DE, the more I think cantrips should be F3/F4/F5. Not maybe all, but when I look at others class they all have a lot of utilities build in. And since Signet of Agility and Shadowstep are mandatory on any rogue build, I feel like I do not have a choice in skill slot. I speak for Pvp and Wvw obv.

@"doomknife.7498" said:What build are you using?

I'm using this: http://gw2skills.net/editor/?vZAQNAsYUn0MBFOhlOB+OBUGjFkCzLHcD6BcNgAwCg/S2JLlA-jlSBQBXZ/hFcCAokKIZUZgZUCiFle57QA6D0wDAIhqfAgjAQAAEgb2mt5NDczbezbezbWbezbezbezbezbezSBUlEM-w

Works for me, and with the exception of instant reflexes I don't miss acro on S/D anymore really. S/D is pretty reliable for building up malice against slow things, bait dodges, then dodge>weapon swap mid dodge>Quickness DJ. I fight on rifle vs most things when outnumbered, I just find sword 2 really really handy for quickly securing stomps etc haha

@Scud.5067 said:Loading up on stealth skills, grab your go-to Condition clear and a hunting we will go!

Kneeling still feels sticky. Cast times on a few skills are a PITA but hey, it kinda all works together.

Honestly I get enough stealth through managing dodges, kneeling and marking. I was using shadow gust or refuge before the silent scope change tho. It's slightly strange to feel like I'm playing an evade build without using the evade based specialisations tho. You know the trick about holding 5 to kneel then immediately get back up in one action right? :)

@Specialka.7290 said:The more I play DE, the more I think cantrips should be F3/F4/F5. Not maybe all, but when I look at others class they all have a lot of utilities build in. And since Signet of Agility and Shadowstep are mandatory on any rogue build, I feel like I do not have a choice in skill slot. I speak for Pvp and Wvw obv.

I agree tbh, especially mercy, I don't know why that's not an F3 quite honestly. Apparently thieves aren't the forgiving type :PI wasn't using signet of agility before the last patch but since stealth and dodges are linked on rifle now it's better than blinding powder I think.

I also hated the changes at first, but i'm finding no initiative unblockable DJ to be very good for pvp :)

Also the changes to stealth on dodge made it much more reliable.

Like other have said, remove the ground target from kneel 4 (I still get fail messages all the time) and I'm pretty happy.

@Jugglemonkey.8741 said:You know the trick about holding 5 to kneel then immediately get back up in one action right? :)

I do now! Cheers! Even moooore stealth! I like having Stealth options for use when there's minimal or no room to maneuver and while moving as well.

With that and the rest I can get a good 25 seconds of Stealth with the rifle up and ready, probably more if I juggle better, without needing to take Shadow Arts.

I'm currently using the gates of Amnoon as the starting line and can to the bridge, over and to the collection of clay structures beyond. In combat the distance traveled would be even further due to swiftness. Even further with Shadowstep.

I personally love how the knew system makes number 2 and 3 weapon skills more relevant.Before, weapon skills competed with each other. Now you have to use the skills to build up the charges for the "finisher".I wish all thief weapon sets benefited with that kind of approach (don't know how though).

Also now smoke screen has become my new favorite utility. Paired with standing number 4 it feels so good.

I still haven't figured out a way to make kneeling number 4 work for me though. In fact, I don't even kneel anymore with this iteration of the spec.

@"Tabootrinket.2631" said:I personally love how the knew system makes number 2 and 3 weapon skills more relevant.Before, weapon skills competed with each other. Now you have to use the skills to build up the charges for the "finisher".I wish all thief weapon sets benefited with that kind of approach (don't know how though).

Also now smoke screen has become my new favorite utility. Paired with standing number 4 it feels so good.

I still haven't figured out a way to make kneeling number 4 work for me though. In fact, I don't even kneel anymore with this iteration of the spec.

See that's the problem, you had to opt for smokescreen in a slot instead of the kneeling one. Deploying smoke field on kneeling rifle 4 needs rethinking/redoing. I'm glad it's working out for you at the moment, there are some of us that are still feeling the awkwardness of the changes and think they really need to be looked at. Atm I am feeling bored just spamming rifle 33333333333 and ocassional 1 and 2. For me I don't feel the excitement anymore, just feels like a generic lesser daredevil. Well, they will get it right somewhere down the line, I just hope the fun factor is brought back. The identity factor is lost for me on rifle deadeye, other than that the other weapons just make it feel like a different lesser daredevil. Not sure if I should be excited for any changes that will come or if they will be left as is, good thing I enjoy multiclassing.

@Scud.5067 said:I do now! Cheers! Even moooore stealth! I like having Stealth options for use when there's minimal or no room to maneuver and while moving as well.

You're welcome haha xD And yeah, I prefer non-SA thief myself but with the food, stealth on dodge and stealth on mark plus cleanse from SA I'm finding it hard to justify other lines now. As long as you're having fun with what you use it's all good haha

@Tabootrinket.2631 said:I personally love how the knew system makes number 2 and 3 weapon skills more relevant.

I hadn't actually thought of it like that, but I guess you're right ^^ I do feel like we have better tools now (stealth on dodge) but less tools overall tho.And yeah, the smoke wall on kneel 4 is clunky. I don't fully know how to make it less clunk without making it follow the player like the DH shield or rev hammer shield do tho.

I get where people are coming from with the identity thing, but honestly I'm surprised they left the stealth sniper thing in here as long as they did. ANet seem to want thief to be a skirmisher, not an assassin, for better or for worse.

@Jugglemonkey.8741 said:I'm using this: http://gw2skills.net/editor/?vZAQNAsYUn0MBFOhlOB+OBUGjFkCzLHcD6BcNgAwCg/S2JLlA-jlSBQBXZ/hFcCAokKIZUZgZUCiFle57QA6D0wDAIhqfAgjAQAAEgb2mt5NDczbezbezbWbezbezbezbezbezSBUlEM-w

Works for me, and with the exception of instant reflexes I don't miss acro on S/D anymore really. S/D is pretty reliable for building up malice against slow things, bait dodges, then dodge>weapon swap mid dodge>Quickness DJ. I fight on rifle vs most things when outnumbered, I just find sword 2 really really handy for quickly securing stomps etc hahai would advise to run energy sigil on rifle aswell as you can allways enter stealth when switching over from s/d then wich will help you to reduce pressure in outnumbered fights, probably replacing the force sigil. while i did play exact same traits with little different stats initially after the patch, i feel alot stronger with a dagger in off set over s/d. i mean i liked the sword 2 to chase or go for stomp but with that setup imo opposing mesmers if they were good felt like an uphill battle, you cant attack them with rifle much and i never expected DJ to hit anyway so i was then up against them with s/d lacking acro. with d/p +rifle now and more offensive stats/traits i now build up malice with a few shots and then stealth, swap to dagger and put the opponent in downstate with a malicious backstab, then i am already in melee and can start stomping so i dont need that sword port here and this makes mesmer rather easy to kill opponents compared to the other build.interesting note: people QQ whisper alot more on the s/d build that was not oneshotting then the one with d/p, they now ask more for the build then being toxic. their main issue with the s/d build was while i was often visible they felt like i was still untouchable as i entered stealth as soon as pressured , repositiond and continued to pew pew, so i kept my range advantage that i got against most. but they seem fine if i hit a warrior with 30k+ MBackstabs.. :3@Jugglemonkey.8741 said:I get where people are coming from with the identity thing, but honestly I'm surprised they left the stealth sniper thing in here as long as they did. ANet seem to want thief to be a skirmisher, not an assassin, for better or for worse.try malicious backstab and you will see the assassin :D

@Jugglemonkey.8741 said:

@Scud.5067 said:I do now! Cheers! Even moooore stealth! I like having Stealth options for use when there's minimal or no room to maneuver and while moving as well.

Like quickly Death's Retreating forwards, its a little fiddly but at least its another option, a tool in the 'ole tool belt.

Yeah, I was running SA but really, 25 secs of Stealth is enough for me. With SA I found stealth become the focus rather than the support of my play, especially since the update, tho I certainly here you on the cleanse. Much prefer a little less stealth & defence and a whole lot more punch!

My only gripe with the changes is I am tired of the delay on stealth after the dodge. The number of times I have went to death's justice and actually auto attacked and broke stealth is frustrating.

Also, for some reason, DJ likes to autoattack on its own. I'll be spamming 3, dodge to dodge, and next thing I know it's auto kneeling and DJing when I don't want to. I have had to turn autoattack off on rifle now.

Death's Judgment as a malicious stealth skill doesn't work though. Rifle has no means of applying stealth.

It's forced to trait for stealth (losing out on 1% damage per boon, which is big), AND we have to dodge roll.

How does dodging into an aimed shot make any sense? Not to mention we already have a spec that uses dodges to attack (Daredevil)

@Kain Francois.4328 said:Death's Judgment as a malicious stealth skill doesn't work though. Rifle has no means of applying stealth.

It's forced to trait for stealth (losing out on 1% damage per boon, which is big), AND we have to dodge roll.

How does dodging into an aimed shot make any sense? Not to mention we already have a spec that uses dodges to attack (Daredevil)

for pve right, for WvW roaming wich the opening post was about that 1% damage per boon doesnt matter and having stealth on dodge has the advantage that it is uninterruptable, wich is a huge buff to before the patch in that mode.

@Kain Francois.4328 said:Death's Judgment as a malicious stealth skill doesn't work though. Rifle has no means of applying stealth.

It's forced to trait for stealth (losing out on 1% damage per boon, which is big), AND we have to dodge roll.

How does dodging into an aimed shot make any sense? Not to mention we already have a spec that uses dodges to attack (Daredevil)

Yep, as I say, it needs help in PvE. But so does daredevil and core thief. I don't understand why we don't have top (or at least competitive with the top) dps in raids etc, considering we bring no team utility you'd expect us to be best in slot for damage at least. Oh well.

@MUDse.7623 said:

try malicious backstab and you will see the assassin :D

Yeah, I've been meaning to properly try D/P with assassin signet since the changes, S/D is my favoured set but it feels very hit and miss on DE now. The thing I like is the unblockable hits for building malice, but yeah, just ending those annoying mesmers that sit there waiting to reflect would be fun haha. Malicious backstab hits for around 17k without assassin's signet on my build so I prob wouldn't have to change much either.

@Jugglemonkey.8741 said:@MUDse.7623 said:

try malicious backstab and you will see the assassin :D

@babazhook.6805 said:I am liking the setup much better as well now. CB missed but the fact DJ no longer blockable is a big plus. Baiting dodges and then dropping stealth for a DJ is quite reliable. I also find I am missing that cleanse we had on Kneel before but I always trhought it a bit much for 1 ini.

I really think number 4 needs an autoplace of the screen. Clunky as heck, clean that up and the set just about there.

Yep, #4 in kneel definitely needs some work. Way too slow and clunky...

Usually I tend to solo roam or roam with small groups but over this past weekend I joined up with a Zerg for a good deal of my time using the Rifle DE spec. I hav to say that from my POV this build is solid in those large scale fights and probably one of the more effective that I have taken into the same. It really of great use at chokepoints where previously I could do little due to all the red circles between me and the target. You can selectively pick out your targets as they push towards you in their circles and when you down them switch to a DJ for a quick finish before the enemy players rez. It has great survival with the stealth and dodges and moreso then the previous kneel for stealth as you can maintain your mobility. SA really works well as it has hidden thief with is significant along with the Cleanses . Given I dropped trickery I use RS for boon theft in a DA/SA/DE build. (Yes you CAN drop trickery.)

I have went through an iteration of runes and finally settled on Spellbreaker , this allowing me to get that 7 percent bonus for no boons after a DJ (as it rips 4 with the RS). It also gives that litle boost to precision so I can ensure more crits. Rifle works real well in chasedowns now. You do not always want to port in when you chasing as you will be far in front of your group and suddenly be caught by 3 or 4 guys turning on you , and skirmishers applies quickness even as it cripples. As some others have mentioned I am using ALL of the Rifle skills more, this including kneel and non kneel versions of each skill.

Smoothing out number 4 would go a LONG way here so that screen auto applied on a kneel.