Thief Buff of the Day: Reset On Entering Combat

[Kageseigi.2150]

Buff:If Out of Combat, when the Thief strikes an opponent, the Thief gains 12 initiative and 100 endurance (refilling a non-Trickery initiative bar and a non-Daredevil endurance bar).

Reasoning:The Thief is unique in its design. It relies on a single initiative pool (cooldown) to use all of its non-auto-attack weapon skills. It also relies on its evasion (dodges) to survive. The Thief is also pigeon-holed into playing the mobility role in PvP. In order for the Thief to fulfill that role, it must use its precious initiative (and endurance if Daredevil or Acrobatics) when Out of Combat. This results in a Thief with no-to-low resources left for combat when arriving at a fight, leaving the Thief much more handicapped than every other profession attempting to do the same (the Thief having ALL weapon skills on cooldown as opposed to only one or two mobility skills on cooldown). Recent initiative cost increases have compounded the problem.

By implementing this change, a Thief will be free to use its mobility in order to get to a needed point/fight as quickly as it needs to (the purpose of the Thief), but will also be able to fight effectively once the Thief arrives... if, and only if, the Thief makes the first strike on the enemy.

Defense:

This change will NOT allow a Thief to escape a fight. Once engaged, everything operates as normal. This only affects the beginning of combat. And it only affects a Thief that successfully gets the first strike. If the Thief gets hit first (directly by an enemy attack, a random trap, etc.), then this "reset" does not take place.

This also does NOT allow a Thief to reset while In Combat even if it jumps from fight to fight, but enough time or distance has not been achieved to exit combat.

This does allow a Thief to close in to combat with an enemy by use of skillful dodging. For an example, if a Thief is on open ground closing in on a Ranger, a Thief may avoid Rapid Shot by dodging twice, and then regain the lost endurance by striking the Ranger first.

This is a reward for skillful play by a Thief. The Thief MUST be the first to get a strike in on the enemy. It must plan ahead or be quick to react in order to secure this reset. There is always a risk that something will go wrong, and the Thief may be left without initiative and/or endurance at the beginning of the fight, so the risk must be weighed against the reward.

[Sobx.1758]

The change that would encourage ""passive"" (from the point of view of the opponent) playstyle, where you stack everything out of combat -after this change pretty much for free- and then still receive an initiative refill allowing you to front-load even more dmg (or make escaping easier, dealer's choice). Doesn't sound like a reasonable change at all.

[Kageseigi.2150]

@"Sobx.1758" said:The change that would encourage ""passive"" (from the point of view of the opponent) playstyleA predator doesn't concern itself with the opinion of its prey... especially when the prey is throwing bricks in their own glass houses.

where you stack everything out of combat -after this changeFirst, what can a Thief even stack out of combat through 12 initiative and 100 endurance?

1. 12 ini: Black Powder + Heartseeker/Cluster Bomb allows 6 seconds of Stealth for D/P or x/P + SB
2. 6 ini + 100 end: Bounding Dodger + Black Powder allows 6 seconds of Stealth for Daredevils
3. 10 ini: Sniper's Cover + Death's Retreat allows 3 seconds of Stealth for Deadeyes
4. 100 end: Silent Scope allows 2 seconds of Stealth for Deadeyes (4 seconds with Shadow Arts)
5. 8 ini: Infiltrator's Strike/Return allows for 6 seconds of Swiftness for S/x
6. 100 end: Expeditious Dodger allows for 12 seconds of Swiftness with Acrobatics
7. 100 end: Unhindered Combatant allows for 20 seconds of Swiftness with Acrobatics

That's basically what a Thief can stack without hitting a target. A lot of Stealth and Swiftness.

Stealth stacking only allows for the Thief to have more opportunity to choose the best moment to engage. It doesn't matter if the Thief has 3 seconds of Stealth or 20 seconds, as soon as he strikes the target, all benefits of Stealth stacking disappear. Being able to get the first strike in is very important for a Thief, and should not be discouraged.

Swiftness stacking for combat just allows for kiting and pursuing targets, exactly what a Thief should be able to do. While Swiftness can help to disengage, dashing Daredevils are already loaded with Swiftness in excess to do just that.

Yes, there are other benefits that can be gained be resetting initiative (mainly first-strike on-hit bonuses or having an initial 4-seconds of a Daredevil's dodge benefits... they don't stack), but those are very niche.

pretty much for free-Possibly free, but at a risk. If the Thief does NOT make the first strike, then the Thief does not get the initiative and endurance back.

and then still receive an initiative refill allowing you to front-load even more dmgExactly. That is the way of the Thief. To hit hard and to hit fast. If you can hit hard enough fast enough, you may be able to panic your target into making mistakes. That has been the philosophy ever since I started playing this game... the longer the fight goes on, the more of a disadvantage for the Thief.

(or make escaping easier, dealer's choice).A Thief can always escape, but a Thief cannot always kill. By resetting the Thief's initiative, you're giving the Thief more ability to actually fight, and by resetting the Thief's endurance, you're allowing the Thief to extend the fight before having to decide whether to press the attack or to withdraw.

Doesn't sound like a reasonable change at all.Beauty is in the eye of the beholder. Many Thief players (including myself) believe that many unreasonable changes have been made against the Thief. For example...

1. It was unreasonable to increase Infiltrator's Arrow's initiative cost by 33%
2. It was unreasonable to add a daze to Choking Gas and increase its initiative cost by 75%
3. It was unreasonable to destroy Feline Grace in order to give Daredevil a third dodge (and make people pay for it)
4. It was unreasonable to remove the ability to shorten Heartseeker's leap
5. It was unreasonable to remove the ability to jump-cast Infiltrator's Strike
6. It was unreasonable to double the interval time of Black Powder blinding
7. It was unreasonable to make Swipe unblockable and halve the range compared to Steal
8. It was unreasonable to remove Lead Attacks' ability to stack Out of Combat

Many seemingly unreasonable things have happened against the Thief. It's about time for something good, whether reasonable or seemingly unreasonable, to happen in the Thief's favor.

[pureskullz.7536]

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