RyuDragnier.9476

It's more the order. Imagine if instead of the order we got, it started with the funeral, but when we went to see Taimi, she mentions then that Primordus is active, and we start Rising Flames. Then it goes to A Crack in the Ice. After that THEN we do Out of the Shadows, to The Head of the Snake. We'd have a better flowing story leading into Flashpoint. Keep in mind said order would also include having dialogue moved around a little so there's nothing conflicting with it. With such an order, the story would start escalating, with the Elder Dragons for the first two episodes, the White Mantle for episodes 3 and 4, then events from both would combine into dealing with Balthazar and the loose ends for Episodes 5 and 6. Saddens me that Lazarus was a loose end along with Livia, but I have a feeling the writing team was mostly working on PoF at that time.

I personally loved it, and find it kinda funny how people complain about it, especially when Caithe is pretty kitten OP in that instance. FFXIV does this from time to time too with other NPCs, and every time it's pretty awesome, because you get to see just how cool they can be without the main character there.

IMO it wasn't. LS3 in general for me was pretty bad. It had a good start, but then all of a sudden we're jumping all over the place. There wasn't really an overarching plot as much as it was multiple subplots jumping all over the place. Compare that to LS4 where the first half is a single arc and the second half is another arc.

Having played through it for the first time, can definitely agree it was the high point of the game's story. Especially the final instance. That was just perfection, and was practically the stage bow to everything up to then. The only way it could have been better would have been if they had somehow combined all the character select screen themes into a single theme that had played during the final battle for it.

I like it, makes it easier to keep track of initiative due to how it's set up.

Counterargument: Mesmers literally were created with using Illusions/Phantasms in mind, and Virtuoso doesn't use them like the others. The mechanic itself will stock one of their Blades for their new mechanic, but the Illusions/Phantasms won't stay on the field like they once did. This proves Anet is willing to adjust the class design for elite specs, and thus a support build that adjusts stealth into something else is completely possible.

They would actually mix rather well if the support is linked to stealth. Remember, we have a ton of stealth giving utility skills, and making it so the new spec trades stealth for something else powerful can create a support build on its own. Because if it's only that elite spec that trades stealth on Thief, then no other build on Thief is nerfed. If the Scepter is condi-focused on top of that, then we have offensive support and we have another DPS build option on top of that. You don't need initiative to create support after all, that's what the utility slot skills and traits are for.

Or they're losing stealth for some new spec mechanic that synergizes with the traits.

Druid in general doesn't really do damage, nobody takes it for that, it's taken to buff/heal everybody else so they do the damage. It doesn't even really have builds that it could use for decent/good damage. You'd be better off with a base Ranger or Soulbeast if you wanted damage compared to Druid right now.

One idea I had for it is that they forsake stealth for a unique boon. Any time the thief or their allies would normally enter stealth from a Thief's skills, they'll instead gain that boon, along with other ones both defensive and offensive. So instead of living through stealth and evasion, you'll live by using the shadow magic to increase the defenses and power of yourself and your allies.

Why? Almost every spec for Thief is DPS, why on Tyria do we need another one?

Swimsuits are a definite must have for us. It wouldn't kill them to add some to the game. Or just add something like an "Underwater Exploration" Outfit to the game. Wetsuit, fins, mask and goggles, maybe an air tank being worn with it. Seriously, just something water related would be really nice, I don't think we've EVER gotten a water related outfit in this game (please tell me if I'm wrong, I'd like to see it on the races).

It's something I hope they can somehow pull off in the future. Spirits shouldn't be the defining feature in a Druid's repertoire, but they also shouldn't be useless utility skills.

Like I said, if they WANTED to get rid of that particular way into stealth. I could see how people who haven't played Thief or lower skilled players could see that combo as an issue, but I personally don't see it as one just due to the amount of initiative you're using for that particular combo. Especially when there are other easier and less costly ways to enter stealth on a Thief.

Thieves get hated because stealth. The problem with stealth is just how easy it is to get on a thief. I can throw down a Smokescreen and Evade in it as Daredevil and get Stealth. I can use Pistol 5 and then Dagger 2 through it to get stealth. I can use Dagger 5 to stealth, I can use my heal to get stealth, I can throw down Blinding Powder to get Stealth, I can use Shadow Refuge to get stealth. Stealth is just so easy to get on Thief that it isn't funny, and it isn't exactly fun to play against for some. Though IMO if they really wanted to take care of the problem, they could just turn Pistol 5 from a Smoke field to a Dark field, eliminating one of the non-utility ways of stealth. The fact that Anet has yet to do it means they probably don't think of stealth as a problem.

It's a Catch-22. People don't play Charr because clipping, Anet won't fix clipping unless more people play Charr.

I sadly haven't felt it in years. Remember back when Ranger traps could be thrown far off and set in advance? Those were the good old days. When they took that from us, I hung up my traps for good. 😢

Likely answers to be given in End of Dragons, assuming they don't just drop those plot points like they're prone to do in the story.

I'm excited about mainhand scepter and the elite spec if true. This gives a chance of delving more into our Shadow Magic, and giving Thief the one thing it has never had, a viable support spec.

Overall an improvement on my end. Faster loads, way better picture, better FPS. I was running 24FPS in a packed LA when before I was getting around 14FPS. Definitely an overall improvement. My only complaint is that I'm getting quite a lot of crashes, especially during boss fights in open world.

I feel like the main things Druid need are the following. Our healing abilities in CA need to be doing damage (even if low amounts) when they hit an enemy to give us offense while supporting. The glyphs of alignment and unity should be reversed, so we send damage back to our enemies while in CA and heal others while out of it (since you're likely taking Lingering Light if you're wanting to go heavy healing anyway). This is gonna be controversial, but lower the targets on the utility spirits to 5 people even with Nature's Vengeance on or make them give regular boons instead of special ones so they're not so mandatory all the time, SERIOUSLY. Water and Nature are fine because they're healing, but the rest? No, Druid cannot be brought back up or have any kind of build variety until these spirits are less valuable, and I personally cannot stand being shoehorned into having both Sun and Frost spirits on my bar at almost every encounter in a raid.

The question then becomes "Why play Harbinger, which focuses on risk/reward with Blight, if you don't want to use the things that give you Blight?"

The idea they're floating with how it works currently seems to be that Shroud is high risk high reward. Your defensive ability isn't being in Shroud, it's being OUT of Shroud, where your life force is constantly degened to heal you back up. And the healing is rather substantial at high health, I'm talking over 1K per tick here since it's (seemingly) based on max HP. This spec is reversing the norm and making it so being out of Shroud is in fact safer than being in it, because being in it you have no defenses, no safety net, just pure damage coming at the cost of your Max HP.

Was talking with a friend about this, perhaps the 3 adept traits should be changing how elixirs associate with blight at high numbers. Such as the power line having explosions/blasts with it, the condi line throwing the condi equivalents of the boon at the enemy as well, and the support line healing nearby allies based on how much blight you've accumulated. The healing elixir should instead dump all blight and heal you depending on how many stacks were consumed (meaning the traits wouldn't effect this one).

Not to mention said Elixir is the worst heal in Necro's kit atm, you wouldn't take it over Well of Power or Consume Conditions. But change it so it heals you more for each Blight stack devoured, and it can become rather powerful.