Deadeye still seems imbalanced in a boring way

It still seems like the Deadeye's abilities are generally not very well balanced to all be equally viable. And it makes the class comparatively boring to play since, you basically just kneel then autoattack and three round burst until everything is dead. It doesn't really seem like the developers actually took into account the effectiveness of all the other abilities.

Crippling shot, even when used against an enemy that's far away, only slows it down for a brief while. Yet, in that situation where crippling shot actually would have an effect; the Deadeye could just obliterate most enemies with raw damage and probably won't be getting targeted that often either. And if they do, the enemy will probably be so close that crippling shot will make no actual difference. It seems like the crippling element of the attack is just cosmetic, it slows the enemy down but not actually enough to make a difference so you really only use it when you want to believe stopping the enemy in place for one second is the smart thing to do but in reality you could of just used that initiative to deal a bunch of damage. And the buffs it provides are also negligible since, you only need stamina regeneration if you're actively getting swarmed which is what the Deadeye is trying to avoid to start with, and on my build at least I have fury perpetually so an ability that gives fury is redundant.

The game says Sniper's Cover lasts five seconds, but it doesn't. It lasts for two seconds. And again, the chances of the Deadeye being targeted at all, the chances of the Deadeye being targeted by a ranged enemy, the chances of the Deadeye being targeted by an actually dangerous ranged enemy that you can't just obliterate, is small. In like thirty hours of playing since I got back, I only have ever used sniper's cover once in that one situation where I was getting spammed by a powerful ranged enemy. I don't know how the ability fairs in PVP but it seems to be essentially worthless in PVE, even if it actually lasted five seconds.

Death's Judgement seems to basically be a single shot version of three round burst, that requires ammunition and stealth to activate. Even with maximum malice, Death's Judgement usually hits a comparative amount to double three round burst, and it's been like that since the beginning. And it doesn't even stack any kind of debuffs, or buffs, and three round burst does. So it takes longer to activate, requires more to activate, does comparable damage, but doesn't provide any buffs, to three round burst.

And then since the developers made it so all the non-kneeling abilities are fundamentally weaker, there is pretty much no advantage to not kneeling so that fifth slot is consumed just for the ability the Deadeye has to use to make their own attacks fully effective.

Just seems like they were like "Okay the Deadeye is ranged, so let's give them an attack that slows enemies down and blocks projectiles for two seconds. Okay the Deadeye is a sniper let's give them a super shot and have them kneel in order to be able to fight properly" yes this all sounds logical in concept but in practice none of it really is.

How about crippling shot actually adds more debuffs onto the enemy, buffs to the player, or even just longer immobilize time. Death's Judgement deals significantly more damage at higher malice or stacks debuffs onto the enemy. Kneeling and non-kneeling attacks have the same effectiveness but have different modifiers which give them their own advantages. And sniper's cover gets replaced with, honestly anything else. And no I don't care about PVP balance at all, I'm talking PVE here.

Immobilizing a target for one second, blocking projectiles for two seconds, dealing the same amount of damage in the same amount of time using a more tedious to activate attack, and having an attack slot consumed by a mandatory class ability; doesn't really work in PVE and I've really not seen any other Deadeye's using any of it either.

Thanks. I am going to gear up my DeadEye Thief, always wanted to feel OP.

About Skirmisher's Shot, it's not primarily designed for single target DPS but for kiting multiple enemies (hence the AoE effect).

first of all deadeye is a thief.thieves do have initative to not use all their skills on cd, but use the one skill that is the best in a given situation if needed even 'spamming' it.some skills might have a wide use and others are more situational.i use every rifle skill frequently based on situation, they all have their use. maybe not in PvE but class mechanics are not just there for PvE purposes as Anet tries to keep mechanics consistent between the modes and differ them just in numbers.

snipers cover is there for 5 seconds when i use it but there is a bug if you quickly double use it, it will be visible but no combo field might not even block projetiles then. but altho i didnt like it at first, it is an awesome skill. one could argue about the position of the field when cast but it has the advantage that you can hide the smokefield, disadvanntage that your opponent might walk around it. putting it on the deadeye would prevent hiding the screen but grand the deadeye 360° projectile hate. this is a change that could be done however they see fit :)

@VanWilder.6923 said:Thanks. I am going to gear up my DeadEye Thief, always wanted to feel OP.

i think his post is more about the imbalance of rifle skills to each other, not about imbalance of the profession to other professions

I used to think skirmisher's/spotter's shot was underpowered compared to three round burst, but honestly they're stronger than you think once you play with them more. The attack speed of skirmisher's shot makes it a pretty nice spike ve say a mesmer that's on low health, and spotter's shot is excellent against stuff you want to keep distance from or to force heals or dodges etc (scourge, soulbeast after swap to melee, daredevil to force exhaustion or get free damage from the immob, rev on herald to force glint heal before getting to melee range, etc). At close to max range you can also use spotter's shot for the immob and fire off a DJ before it hits and reveals you, this is even more reliable with quickness for obvious reasons.

The fact they pierce is also very good, as marked targets will usually try to body block your shots so both standing and kneeling 2 are good ways to build malice and get some incidental damage to whatever is trying to help. The damage isn't small, I usually average 4-5k hits on it, so piercing one target to hit another will often leave both weak when you execute your mark.

Three round burst is more useful vs single targets because of this, or in group fights where you know the marked target can't defend itself so the higher damage is reliable.

Sniper's cover is immensely useful, I can kneel, place sniper's cover, and dodge as it expires for stealth. It covers you for the full duration of your spike if placed carefully.

Edit: just seen your post was primarily about PvE, I can't really comment there. For WvW the spec works well tho.

shoot spotter right before DJ

DeadEye will be always a mess on both pve/pvp no matter what,All it's core ideas fails to have a good execution, is a toxic elite and Anet still don't get why it's bad.

Kneeling is costly and not always appropriate - if you can, go for it, but it is a luxury (or a reward of clever position). DJ costs no Intiative. So you can DJ off the back of 2/3RB . And DJ is a bonus, not an essential - within the context of Open world/Fractal trash mob PvE, your 2/3RB gets them below 50% and max Malice, then DJ finishes them off, with Skirmish acting as control and the piercing offering limited but much need AOE.

Agree on Sniper's Cover - tbh, it can be a coin flip as to what it blocks. (Mob/boss firing projectiles? I mean.. they move like projectiles so this will work, right? Nope! Damn.)

Rifle fires relatively slowly - and we have two weapon setups to switch between. While camping rifle has its place, so does switching to your melee option to finish mobs off.

Death's Retreat with the right camera and About Face keybind setup lets us cover areas very quickly. Great with Trickery builds, tho even without its still a useful tool. Takes practice to pull off, especially under pressure.

A lot of the above is from solo experience, but as much is from running with a small group. Skirmish & Spotters work well with folks that like to slap down AOEs.

Now, regardless of all this - how exactly is the Deadeye 'imbalanced'? Can you give an example of a class setup that is balanced? Its a tricky word that seems to say something but rarely says anything due to so much ambiguity surrounding it.

@MUDse.7623 said:

@VanWilder.6923 said:Thanks. I am going to gear up my DeadEye Thief, always wanted to feel OP.