fluidmonolith.3584

I have mixed thoughts about GS for the next thief elite spec weapon. On one hand, it would be visually awesome. On the other hand, thief could really use another one-handed weapon to permit more dual-wield skills. I would personally be happy with GS or off-hand sword. I don't want to see a magic-themed weapon, like scepter or focus. But what role does thief need for the next elite spec? We have an offensive, mobile melee brawler (in theory) in Daredevil, and single-target ranged damage in Deadeye. I don't think Thief needs another high-damage melee elite. I can think of the following possibilities: healing / support (I don't prefer this idea for thief, but it is an option)defense/CC, like Reaper or Scrapper (this is my preference, and I think GS or off-hand sword could fit fine here. OH sword or GS could have a weapon skill that consumes initiative to block attacks, for example)condition damage (I don't really think thief would need this if the existing condi weapon sets were fixed: D/D, P/D, shortbow)If we want GS for the next elite, what role should it play? How should it be differentiated from Daredevil?

I was skeptical of the addition of mounts to GW2, and even now I would still prefer not to have them. I prefer having full-time availability of the animations and skills/utilities of my character, rather than a few simplified skills and a common animation of a mount. And going around on foot makes the world more dangerous generally (I prefer a challenging game rather than a casual game). Further, some of the mounts are simply not fun to use (e.g. Springer, Skimmer), and are only used when the terrain demands it. I do thoroughly enjoy the glider and other movement capabilities added in HoT (e.g. mushrooms, leylines). And despite my dislike of mounts, GW2's implementation of mounts is the best I've seen in any MMO.

I like the action camera. I use it as well.

I like the removal of evade from Vault. But to balance it, i think some other changes would need to be made, such as:-reduce aftercast on Vault, and reduce cost to 5 ini in pvp.-increase responsiveness of Debilitating Arc, and maybe increase distance travelled. It could be a mini Withdraw. I think Dust Strike is actually ok, but could perhaps use a reduction in cast time to 0.5 seconds. They removed the evade from vault?I meant that I liked Shiyo's idea to remove evade from Vault (but only if they buff to compensate in other areas). Vault hasn't changed, it still evades.

I like the removal of evade from Vault. But to balance it, i think some other changes would need to be made, such as:-reduce aftercast on Vault, and reduce cost to 5 ini in pvp.-increase responsiveness of Debilitating Arc, and maybe increase distance travelled. It could be a mini Withdraw. I think Dust Strike is actually ok, but could perhaps use a reduction in cast time to 0.5 seconds.

If it is going to add unblockability, then it needs to also make the next strike unblockable... or make everything unbloackable for the next 4 seconds like Unstoppable Union. Or grant Haste on Swipe, and make attacks for the next the next 2 seconds unblockable. I really do like the idea of a pulsing Weakness AoE, though. Maybe even a stronger version of Weakness that guarantees denial of all crits. My goodness, there are just so many great possibilities! Why can Anet not see them??? PS. I really, really want to be nice to Anet. As a whole, they are great, and GW2 is an amazing game! But whoever is balancing professions and making design decisions... they are seriously dropping the ball. I like the idea of adding a short buff to make attacks unblockable after steal. It could be similar to Revenants' Phase Traversal. Adding weakness can always be fitting for synergy with the new Weakening Strikes minor trait. I don't know that Swipe would need both of these simultaneously.

I would like to see: Updating of Venom skills/traits to be useful in situations other than just group PvE (except Basi venom, which is fine)Updating of Deception skills to be usable in general (except Shadow Step, which is already very strong). These skills are generally just weak, and could use any combination of reduced cooldown, ammo counts, or increased effectsUpdating of Traps skills to be usable in general - these skills are generally weak and could use, e.g. better traits, reduced cooldowns, or ammo.Change DrD Swipe to be different than steal, rather than just a shorter-range version of the same skill. I don't think the range necessarily needs to be increased though.Revising Cantrips - they are generally kind of weak.Revisiting the design for shortbow - it provides excessive mobility (which we all like) but is, for the most part, a weak weapon in combat, and limits the mobility that can be given to the rest of the thief's toolkit. I would like to see shortbow mobility reduced a bit, and damage increased a bit. Some of that mobility could be spread to other skills or weapons that are currently lacking mobility (e.g. P/P, D/D, and P/D). Thief could use more ground-target or leap mobility rather than just 'shadowstep-to-target' mobility. Thief already has great mobility, I'm not asking for an increase, but rather a redistribution of that mobility between types (enemy-targeted vs ground target vs leap) and weapon sets.

I'd rather see no cooldown on weapon swap, but instead a 0.5 sec cast time. Warrior's Fast Hands can reduce it to 0.25 sec.This would make it more like an action or fps game.

I voted no because i would rather see a new type of pvp match with larger maps and teams (e.g. 10v10v10). These would have discrete beginnings, endings, winners, and losers. A perpetual 20v20v20 wvw map would be almost impossible to get into because of queues.

I am interested in Ele and am primarily focused on WvW. I typically play solo, either roaming or PUG grouping. I really like the fluid gameplay and high APM of the Ele, but one and only one feature has really turned me off for WvW: the range dilemma. If I get caught in a 1v1 (as can happen when roaming), the Staff is highly non-optimal.If I join an improv group, getting into melee range or near melee range (sword or dagger) in group vs group combat is also highly non-optimal.I guess I could play scepter, but I'm not really interested in it (I mostly prefer dagger, sword (weaver), and staff). I have tried Conjures to help slot in for combat ranges unavailable on my weapon, but haven't had much success.I could try weapon swapping OOC, but that sounds very clunky and I don't want to need to resort to that.I guess I could also try to like scepter too. Are there any other options? If you play Ele in mixed roaming/group WvW, how do you handle the range dilemma?

Population - too many maps and tiers. I often log in to WvW and spend most of my time running around looking for other players.Lack of updates - I play WvW because I enjoy large-scale, non-uniform combat, but the slow introduction of new content and updates to mechanics has caused it to become stale. Maps (except Desert) very plain and largely unchanged since 2012.Big zergs and excess use of siege - Gameplay mechanics that encourages each team playing in a single, massive zerg. Gameplay mechanics that encourage turtling (ratherthan fighting), and otherwise minimizes player-to-player combat. This is a big issue that likely has multiple causes that would take too much space to discuss here.That's mainly it. I could name other things, but these are the primary offenders, in my mind.As an honorable mention (not as impactful as the above three: Downed state - PvP removed the temporary immunity upon entering downed state, IIRC. I think WvW would benefit from this as well. Too much rallying.

I agree. I initially proposed a lower cooldown on Swipe to offset the range reduction, but ultimately I think there are too many traits that trigger on Steal that would become broken.

I've been thinking a bit more about Swipe, and I would rather see it differentiated more from Steal (like Deadeye's Mark), rather than just being a mini-Steal. There are many, many ways to do this. I will give one example: For Daredevils, Steal becomes Swipe: dash forward and disarm your opponent 600 range leap: no longer a shadowstep; because it's a leap, you can now use it to cover distance even without a target in range, though loses the functionality of being able to teleport to targets above you.unblockable, 0.5sec cast, 30sec cooldownGrants the thief 3sec super speed after the leap, even if the attack misses. This to help close distance since Daredevil is intended to be a melee fighter.Does 400 damage and weakens the enemy for 2 seconds (synergy with Weakening Strikes)No longer gives stolen skills instead gives 1 charge of 'throw weapon', a 900 range attack that causes 800 damage and weakens enemy for 4 seconds, 0.5sec cast. Improvisation gives an extra charge.I think this would make Daredevil feel very much like a melee skirmisher, and it would still be useful for closing distances (again, unless the target is above you). It would have a clear tradeoff vs Steal, since it loses range and is no longer an instant shadowstep. While it retains the unblockable that ANet added, since it's a leap, it's possible for opponents to see it coming and dodge it if they can react quickly enough (PvP, WvW).

It seems odd to me considering many elite specs were designed to have three different 'roles' they could play - one for each row of traits. For example, rather than making DrD choose from one of three defensive traits at Adept, it could choose either a defensive trait, an offensive skill, or a CC / Physical one. And the same type of choice would be available at Master. Then you could build a 'tankier' DrD by choosing two defensive traits or an aggressive DrD by choosing two offensive ones., or a CC-oriented one with the third trait selection. Here's my recommendation: Major Adept:Staff MasterMarauder's ResilienceBrawler's Tenacity Major Master:Havoc SpecialistEscapist's AbsolutionImpacting Disruption Minor and Grandmaster traits unchanged.