Doctor Hide.6345

Right now , pistol is being considered for all condi sets for Ele atm from my understanding. I only know of tempest one since it was posted on main site, but I am sure the others will follow suit once they are done with the rounds. So despite all the hate it is getting, pistol is actually doing quite well damage wise which I am ok with because I like the pistol. The issue is how bad the nerfs will be to bring it down in line with others because we know they are coming. Hell, thief axe/pistol is doing like 54k at the moment with group and about 50k without or something. We know that will also get hit hard. Probably along with Guardian pistol as well which is at 46k.

Well, I admit I skipped through a lot of it because I am not a fan of the soundtrack, but all the video is WvW which makes me think well duh. Projectiles have always really sucked in PvP and WvW which has always been my problem with those modes. Too much block from players make them stink. So, it makes sense that it would stink from a competitive stand point. For PvE, aside from the normal problem eles have in general with boss fights, I don't see the pistol being that bad. Show me a video of the PvE side in instanced content, and you might actually convince me it is bad. As it stands now, I still think it is a decent weapon for PvE. As for WvW and PvP, I never cared for those modes to begin with, so it is what it is there.

That's good to know it exists at least. I was already planning to use it on condi weaver since I find that version most fun, so that part is good news to me at least. I am ok though with slightly above average with pistol. As long as it is not doing like 35k dps, I will be happy with it.

I never said it was good in those modes. I am talking purely PvE here. Not every weapon designed is good in every mode here, so it if it bad in PvP and WvW, my response is so what? I don't really care for those modes. I only really care for the PvE side of things. /shrug

Here is the thing. Even if the damage is low, and all the tests I saw were inaccurate, I am still not worried because that is the condi dps weapon now. So, they will buff it until it is good if that is the case because they want to make scepter the power ranged weapon. That leaves only really pistol for the condi ranged. Might be bad now, but that is easily fixed with number tweaks.

I am never worried about that. I have no problem telling people to kitten off a cliff before I move onto the next group if it ever happens. And for the record, it has not happened to me at all yet, so I am not worried about it at all.

I do have understanding. I know golem benchmarks isn't everything, but it shows the potential of the weapon. I don't care if other professions have it easier. I really kitten don't. I think that is a personal cop out answer a lot give here. If you don't want to put forth the work, then you shouldn't play the profession. Go play the easier ones. There are still people here who like the challenge of learning it. Because it is possible to achieve those numbers. It just takes more work which I am ok with. You are acting like it is not possible at to even reach even close to those numbers. As for the actual pistol itself, I am not saying it is perfect because I think the Bullet UI needs some work to make it easier to see, but overall I am happy with it.

And I plan too. I am currently working on getting the rotations down to memory because I do enjoy the weapon. 🙂 I am not saying it is an easy weapon, but it is a weapon I can stand behind.

Imagine defining if a weapon is good or bad based on fickle emotional feelings which have no bearing in actual logic. 💀

So, what I hear you saying is you want Engineer shortbow instead because the weapon is so bad. Got it. Also, according to some the pistol is doing about 44k dps which is pretty good. So realistically if the numbers are true, it is dong more dps than the sword atm. 🙂 So, it is not cheap at all.

I have not played with the weapon in WvW or PvP, so the weapon might actually be bad there in those modes which I am ok with tbh. Not every weapon is made for every mode. For PvE though, I have been having fun with it. I don't think it is trash tier there. And if benches are true, it can do about 44k dps which makes me happy. Not every weapon is made for competitive modes though.

To answer your question, it would maybe feel better depending on how it is done? So, I can see where you are coming from with your suggestions. I think some stuff on it can be improved, but I don't think it is trash tier because it doesn't have those distinct skills which I guess is one of the major things I disagree with here for some peeps. If they made it more skill distinct eventually, I wouldn't be complaining which is why I am not really fighting those ideas with people. I am ok with that. The main people I have a beef with is people who think it should be changed to an off hand when the chance of that is 0. They will build an off hand separately eventually for it if they keep this route up for weapons. But back to the main point which is I think it is an ok weapon. I think some stuff on it can be improved like bullet UI and some other tweaks. It is not a train wreck though like a lot make it out to be.

So, I have been thinking about this all day. And basically, I came to the conclusion I like the pistol so much aside from its theme of being a Spellslinger is because of the ammo mechanic. I don't see it as a gimmick at all. I think if they didn't do the ammo bullet mechanic like they did; it would have been an even more boring weapon to use. I don't think just adding spells for fire 1 2 3, water 1 2 3 etc... would have made it fun in my opinion because they would have no interaction. Now, I am not saying it is totally perfect because I do agree the showing the ammo needs some work to make it more visually different to see it easier. But that us more an UI problem than a pistol problem. The gun itself I am ok with because I think the ammo mechanic makes it interesting especially on weaver. And, I am also ok with the damage of it coming out if the 44k stuff is true. I am all for them making scepter the power range if that is a true statement on their end. I am ok with pistol being the ranged condi weapon.

Well, I actually don't mind the pistol. I like what they did with the animations, and I plan to use it as my main weapon from now on. The reason I started getting heavy into Ele was because I know pistol was coming for that spellslinger feel. And I am happy that it balances well at like 44k or 45k which makes it icing on the cake for me. I know the idea of it was never well received though by the community here. I frankly don't care for bows now, the idea of a longbow for ele is just as boring in my mind as the pistol is for others here. I am just happy it won out even some don't like it. I still plan to use it. /shrug

Yeah, I sincerely doubt that. Engi was not built with weapon swap in mind. It would totally skew the kit balance as well with how they operate making it much more a headache. But you can continue to believe in yourself that will come to pass all you want. 🙂 I will be here with popcorn waiting.

And I play Cmech. I am totally fine with just my dual pistols and grenade kit. I would not want to use the mace in a million years since I don't like using maces in this game. I am totally ok not being able to switch to it. I prefer things as they are now. Stinks to be you, but things are fine as they are mostly. I am not saying that the rifle needs some more love again to be used as a primary weapon, but weapon swapping is not the way.

How about no. Main reason I picked Engi was because it has no weapon swap. I think weapon swapping in general looks stupid as hell animation wise. So, I main both Engi and Ele because they don't allow weapon swapping. I barely contain my annoyance at kit swapping(has gotten better), but I at least know that my twin pistols are my main weapon making it feel like a true gunslinger/bounty hunter theme wise. Weapon swapping would ruin that immeasurably. If you want to weapon swap, go play all the other professions that have it. Just leave this kitten idea behind for Engi. I am getting tired of seeing it pop here with people thinking it is some grand idea. When in reality, it would make a lot of us who like engi as is not enjoy it anymore.

Well, I voted no on the premise I like the idea of the pistol and how it should work. I just think it needs some TLC with how some the skills work like with air to make it good. The graphics are coming I hope, so I am not worried about that as well. Overall, I like the general direction of it. It just needs some more oven time.

I am against this because I picked Engineer( and Ele) because they had no weapon swap. Yes, I know Engineer has the kits, but switching is not as bad in my opinion as the normal weapon swaps. Especially for condi mech which only uses grenade kit. I always thought the idea of weapon swaps is kitten, and I still do on the other classes that I play that have it. I just accepted it for them begrudgingly even though I hate it. I think weapon swapping looks stupid as hell in combat. It just looks janky. So, I am against this idea 100%. If you want to weapon swap, go play another profession that can do it. There is more than enough.

Being a new player now though is easier than before... The WV practically gives you ascended gear and almost all the mats you need to start making it. There are builds now that are easier to play than some years ago to do decent at group content. If someone is struggling that much to get into a game because of MMO basics which are not deep, then I am sorry to say but MMOs should not change how they do stuff because of them. The 15 second attention spam mobile target audience is not who I want to be playing with. No good MMO should be catering to that crowd who thinks they don't have to work for anything. MMOs may not be making as much as they used too, but I would rather have people that actually respect MMOs for what they are even it is less money compared to the ADHD mobile crowd which is the newer generation of gamers.

Umm why are you posting this in the Ele pistol section and not in the actual thief section.....

That is because what you suggest is even more work on their end to totally change fundamental coding to the class to be that way. It is a lot easier to just make 18(or 16 with weaver) skills then to change all that internal work for the class and hope it works. It would be an even buggier mess than we have now. Changing core class mechanics is not as simple you think it is. Hell, I imagine just getting weaver to work took some time. Adding animations can take more time, but overall it is a lot less work to just re do or add new animations instead.

So, after messing around with the pistol for a few days, I am overall ok with it theme wise. There are a few issues though that I have a problem with even though I like it as a whole. The first one is you have to do something with elemental unload. That skill is pure useless the way it is. It is a dps loss to even use it compared to the time it takes to even make it. The second issue is something I am not sure is an issue. I am talking about the combat animations. I am generally fine with the AA and some of them, but a lot of them lack a punch feeling. I am not sure if that is because they are not finished yet or not, but as much as I love shooting bullets, you can at least make some of the bullets firing look more magical like you did with the guardian pistol animations. Number wise I am sure a lot will be adjusted, but I do agree with most that the attacks need more pierce or something to them even if I like single target damage a lot. I also think the bullets need to travel faster as well since they seem kind of slow. Overall though I am ok with the general direction the pistol is going, but it does need some more time in the oven to cook properly. I should mention I spent all my time in condi weaver since if I am to use it, it would be on my condi weaver dps build. So, water 3 attack was just a normal ice bullet basically along with all the other ones. It might just be that weaver needs a lot more special animations added for it to actually feel weighty in combat.

So, I am still in the process of messing around with the pistol, but even with my love of guns, I don't see the point of elemental unload. To get there is such a dps loss because you have to switch so much and just hit 2 and rely on AA because if you hit 3 on weaver there goes the bullets. So, it is not much of a build up when you have all 4 bullets out for elemental unload because of the loss it took to get there.

I do get the complaints others and yourself have brought up, and they are valid. I am just trying to be positive here I guess with my obsession aside with what is coming. I think Harbi pistol also went through some major changes as well from the beta to live? I am just saying there is hope for those not happy with it since it will be 2-3 months still before it comes to us. I know by a long shot I will be in the minority here with my takes on it. I guess time will tell.