xblankk.4207

I do feel like rewards should change, but I don't think exclusively more rewarding, maybe just something to deter AFKs and reward actually playing the game...and adding pips to unranked would be cool too lol. Win = 5 pips Top 1 of X stat = 3 pips Top 2 of X stat = 2 pips Top 3 of X stat = 1 pip Top 1 of Y stat = 3 pips Top 2 of Y stat = 2 pips Top 3 of Y stat = 1 pip etc... Max of 15ish pips/game I'm aware that these are not the best determiners of who is playing better than who, but I feel like this would eliminate AFKs, maybe lessen bots idk, give better rewards for continuous play, and better rewards for trying when losing. Maybe even less toxicity as a byproduct of people still getting their pips for being more active players. Also, all of this functionality is already in the game, it would just need to be rebalanced, which I think makes it a more solid and reasonable solution.

This, but I've been playing Specter as support since it released, and with the changes to Shadow Arts and Specter - support Specter has also been getting worse and worse. Like, I don't care if they nerf Condi Specter to the ground. I want to play it as a support, but that's getting nerf right along with DPS.

Haven't got to actually playing, but I did hop on and try to make some builds with the changes... I think they may have killed thief completely in all game modes lol. From a PvP perspective: Daredevil - maybe can do something with Acro, but I doubt it. I think Trickery and SA are still better picks and that fell out of the meta with EoD. Specter - likely dead now. Deadeye - probably survived, but it got the small nerf on superspeed stealth with SA. Core - lol.

I was just reading the last couple replies and started thinking this as well lol - then I got the GW2 forum notification you responded. I should have added that as a third option I guess. I still would be cool with removing either, honestly. I've been playing other games lately and queues in all of them are usually less than 30 seconds... and the matches less toxic lol.

Just curious.

I originally appreciated the direction of Shadow Arts, but this makes me feel a bit worse, honestly. You added exactly what I wanted most in thief support (ally condi cleanse), but cleansing only damaging conditions on ally stealthing just doesnt make enough sense. There's only 2 barely reliable ways to do this in combat - shadow refuge and blinding powder... honestly, because of the changes, only blinding powder. Shadow refuge - what is the point of this ability anymore anyway? We're not wanting to stack stealth anymore. It's way too much of a niche ability to be one of the only options for a support build to clear conditions off allies. What irritates me about the quoted text and the actual changes (attempting to make thief support more viable?) is that the changes don't make support thief a viable option against a guardian who can just stand their and scream continuously cleansing ALL condis on allies, in a range over 2x the size, almost passively, using a rune... put the condi cleanse on wells and it would be much better while still being more active and engaging gameplay than the golden-blue child. The additional support in Shadow Arts on ally stealthing just doesn't cut it, there are not enough options for this to make sense, especially on a spec that gets -3 init. Interesting combat, good balance, and gameplay is failing and I'm just fishing now... I appreciate you Grouch and love GW2, but kitten, these explanations and changes don't seem to line up with the overall goals, the idea of a viable support thief, or apparently any of the other class changes.

I was mostly excited to try Specter support in PvP because I was playing a lot of it before the patch, but I'm having trouble adjusting to the changes. I feel like this was much more of a buff to D/P Daredevil than to support. Losing the stealth on both steal and heal hit my support build pretty hard and there just aren't enough options for stealth on scepter to really take advantage of how the new SA traits work. Setting up combo fields to cleanse allies or grant prot (and then lose the ini trait - not worth imo), just doesn't feel feasible considering how small the fields are and that you have to swap to shroud to blast the fields that also don't last particularly long enough to let sit and wait for allies to enter. Also, you could Pistol 5 > Shortbow 2 (not that I take SB anyway)... use all your ini to cleanse 2 condis from an ally. It all seems like a lot of effort for low payout when Rune of the Soldier does large range, easy, and basically passive condi cleanse for the support king Core Guard. I just feel like the options to stealth allies to trigger those support traits aren't quite enough. I'm running Shadow Refuge and Blinding Powder, and I thought about trying Deadly Arts for Improv to get the util recharge ( also, because you can't get stolen skills, maybe give +5% shroud regen on this trait) - and while I agree that Trickery isn't necessary for D/P anymore, I still feel obligated on Specter support. I'm just not seeing much synergy outside of SA and Trickery on Specter. Anyway, they should have just added a trait in Specter that cleanses condis on Wells. I'd feel more inclined to take the support specs utils than being shoehorned into taking Deception skills.

Dude, I literally JUST made a build with Seal Area for the first time and was going to try it out and play around this weekend. Saw the notes... nvm I guess lol.

I'm somewhat excited for the changes and I actually think they made some changes that are constructive in creating the kind of thief gameplay that both thief players and people who hate fighting them can appreciate. I like that you are rewarded for quick in and out stealth gameplay and I think they actually did a solid job with reworking Shadow Arts - 8/10. That said, I think they still didn't quite hit the mark for Specter support, but they did alright I guess. Thaaaankfully they did add some ally condi-cleanse via: Shadow's Embrace: This trait now removes a damaging condition when entering or exiting stealth instead of at every interval while in stealth. This effect also applies to stealth granted to allies. I do wish there were more options to stealth allies, though - or the ally condi-cleanse was attached to a different mechanic like wells maybe. Lastly, I'm of course disappointed the focus was almost entirely on Shadow Arts and Deception. Acro, 300s traits... plz 😢 Also...big F to all the Wars and Eles out there ❤️

My Specter healbot build, I personally enjoy it a lot more than Core Guard. Press 3, the second part, Endless Night, gives a really solid Regen with Dwayna Rune as well. http://gw2skills.net/editor/?PagAsqlFwEZpsNWLeOXnxeA-z5YXG9mAVXAiMA

I've been playing other classes for Ascension and I dropped down to G1 and then had Naru in my game the other day - luckily on my team, so I just sat back and watched him win for us. Matchmaking 👌

Hey guys, what are your favorite and most effective bruiser team fighter classes and builds? Looking to try another role and interested in this - answers doesnt have to be 'meta'.

When using Scepter/Pistol 3 with Skill Retargeting enabled and changing target during Endless Night, the beam visually stays on the original target while affecting the new target. https://imgur.com/a/loubkJ1 edit: Hey, @Asur.9178! I just went through some of this thread and found you had brought this up. I think they may have fixed the target swapping, but it's just not visual. Or is that what you meant? In your video it looked to me as sometimes it was doing damage to the new targets after swapping. I've been using this mostly as support and it seems to swap allies fine, but just the visual beam never swaps .

I'm just kidding, man. I agree with you 10000%. Engi's weren't really significant in MATs, no one is complaining about them on the forums, and I personally feel like they were in a fine place, and lastly, the way they nerfed it just digs a deeper hole for Core. It's bonkers. On the other hand, every team in the MAT had at LEAST one guardian, every game I'm in there's usually 1 or 2 per team as well, everyone complains about Guardian being over-tuned on the forums... and they didn't touch it or even mention it. Again, bonkers.

Engi is not Guardian, so it has to be nerfed, dude. Sorry.

Hey OP, here is the main D/P build: http://gw2skills.net/editor/?PawAgqVlFwEZbsLGJeWXntUA-z5IeKZKE6VEEvCogJgGGA Some notes/tips: For beginner thieves, I recommend using Marauder Amulet and Rune of Divinity. Once your more comfortable, swap Rune of Divinity for Scholar. Then when you're even more comfortable, swap Marauder for Berserker and swap the rune back to Divinity. - Your role is roaming around the map and decapping the nodes and +1 fights. If you see your teammate is 1v1ing on a node somewhere, get over there quick, get the kill, and move along. - Most of your damage is backstab. Watch your revealed status, when you come off revealed do Pistol 5 > Heartseeker > Backstab. You can do this long range as well by doing Pistol 5 > Heartseeker > (Shadowstep if you want/need) > Steal > Backstab. - D/P 3 is good for sparring a little bit as it lets you stay on your target and blinds them, but 1v1ing generally is not recommended on Thief. - Use your bow to poke around team fights if you don't feel safe going in melee. Otherwise use it to zip around the map with SB 5. - Signet of Agility is a your condi cleanse, Shadowstep and Blinding Powder are your stun breaks. Have fun!

I can understanding liking conquest more, even as a new player. However, I would argue that a strong player is still going to destroy newcomers there as well (I got dunked on hard last night by a Weaver for 3 games in a row lol), new players just might not understand it because there's so much else going on (map rotations, node responsibility, map objectives). I think that also depends on your role as well. If I'm playing a Core Ranger Valk and dueling, and the enemy team has a duelist who is better than I am (the Fire Weaver last night) and I can't beat them - I have to adapt my playstyle and know how to do so effectively, I may have to start team fighting more, or using more communication to get help on side nodes from a roamer, I have to know/understand if our Rev even is a roamer. I think because those extra layers are not in 2v2, it's objectively simpler to get into and understand. edit: I've also had 2 friends this year that are new to GW2/PvP and only enjoy the 2v2/3v3 modes when we play together. I don't really understand your position on changing how queues work, though. I think unranked queues are fine and people can queue however they want there. I think how Conquest ranked queues should work is up for debate on this forum, but I also don't think enough people are playing PvP with full teams that making ranked allow full teams would be very fruitful. But honestly, with 5 man ranked queues I don't really have a strong opinion either way, I just don't want to add more queues that don't add significant value to the current player base.

It would also make it sooo much easier and more fun to get a friend to try out PvP if you can just go and 2v2 with them whenever, and consequently bringing more players into the fold.

I understand these concerns, which is why I feel like I've accounted for them. Just adding one new queue of smaller teams would be the best solution to keep queues in check, and adding pips to unranked will keep the people who don't care about their rank out of ranked. However, ranked will still offer rewards based on your rank (maybe make it a chest of +X pips, so you get a huge bump at the end of the season for pip rewards, idc - just not ranked exclusive), but it will also promote a desire to actually care about what your rank is and potentially create better and more competitive matches. Even if we still alternated 2v2 and 3v3 seasons, but in tandem with the ranked seasons so just one of them was always available it would be great. Again, it's only one more queue and it's smaller teams with a lesser player requirement. Like @CalmTheStorm.2364 said, something needs to be done. These changes require minimum development (particularly compared to many other suggestions) because everything here already exists and I think these changes would have a really significant impact on PvP as a whole and for the better in the long run. I would love for us to unite as a PvP community and ask ANet for something reasonable that we can agree on and I hope I've provided something that reflects that. ❤️

I think 90% the stuff people request is way too much, there's a thread every week (2 or 3 this week with mine included now, sorry). But we all know that Conquest is not newbie friendly, rotations and roles are complicated to grasp as a new player, understanding how the kitten you died is still complicated to me after almost a year in PvP (I suck, whatever), and honestly fighting other players is a different rhythm than PvE, it takes more (very unforgiving) time to learn your class and role in PvP than in PvE. The thing is, we have new players coming to GW2 lately. We're also getting WoW players who actually PvP, and WoW has a successful PvP scene, we have an opportunity to capitalize on building this game mode. If we add one or two other modes, and they fail, okay - we can revert it back again. It just needs to be small, simple, and gradual- everyone asking Anet for these crazy modes with separate balancing and rules will never be taken seriously. We just have to keep our expectations realistic and simple. 1. Just kittening add 2v2 and/or 3v3 all the time. It's so much easier getting into this as newb and learning how to just play and fight against other players while getting comfortable and more confident. And, you only need one or two friends to join you to not get flamed by your team of sweaty unranked randoms for your first 50+ games. 2. Reward pips in unranked and ranked. There shouldn't be exclusive currencies to ranked. Too many people who don't care about winning or their rank play ranked because you have to to get meaningful rewards, it's dumb; it's literally why I play ranked. If I got pip rewards in unranked, I'd never touch ranked. Give a decent gold reward, title, or whatever depending on rank at the end of the season, just not exclusive currencies. 3. Again, to make it as simple as possible and keep from creating too many queues - Ranked Conquest should still be the ONLY ranked mode. 2v2/3v3 would not have ranked queues because, 1 - less queues, and 2 - I think Conquest should be THE ranked mode. Basically, because 2v2 and 3v3 already exists, I feel like these changes are the easiest and smallest development resource options we have to revitalize PvP and make it more welcoming at the same time. Again, sorry for the 84th how to change PvP post. 🙂

Oh man, the amount of times I can't kittening click the guy breaks my soul watching them go down in the middle of a shitstorm lol (which is where I think practicing using ally targeting key binds is going to help a lot). If/when my ally does go down, I usually drop my Elite well, heal well, and sometimes Shadow Refuge/Blinding Powder on them and I can more often than not get the rez. I usually have around 3 rezzes per game too, which I think is decent.

Yeah, I hadn't played Specter support in awhile and you starting this thread made me really want to get back into more consistently because I think it does have potential that a lot people don't seem to want to recognize because it's unconventional and different. I totally agree with your weapon choices, I'm usually running the same and I'm having a lot of fun. How have your games been going? I think it's hard to compare healing output numbers with other supports because Specter healing is so much more focused instead of just running around your team spamming AOEs. My top healing so far was around 450k and I think and I usually end up close to 300k on average. I also have a bit of trouble when there's a lot of tight spaces with obstacles and elevation changes (mid on Kyhlo I struggle a lot with positioning pretty hard). I also keybound ally targetting to be very accessible and I'm still trying to get used to using those.

I feel like it's decent and that with practice it's fine for ranked. I think players also need to get used to having a Specter support too, especially on the rezzing side. Again you just have to tell your team to not attack in downstate and you can get some great rezzes. Another nice thing with a Shadow Refuge rez is they're stealthed after they get up for a good chunk of time giving them time to readjust and reposition. And I sometimes like to throw a ranged Shadow Refuge out right when they go down. @Curennos.9307 I still like the idea of using traits for the wells because it let's you customize them a bit depending on what type of build you're running instead of directly overloading them... they could use a buff though. Also, like the scepter skills, it would be cool if they had innate effects for both allies and enemies - like you said, moving some of the boons from the boon well into other wells. That said, all I really want on this spec is some AOE condi cleanse, I'd be more than happy to take a rune like Soldier for wells lol

Yeah, essentially what @Lithril Ashwalker.6230 and @Overworld.9613 said. Have you played other classes, OP? They often have more clear and direct damage mitigation compared to thief. Most of what you're focused on is much more active damage mitigation. You have a lot of blind, dodge/endurance options, and stealth. It's super enjoyable feeling out how the better that you get at encounters, pvp matchups, and when to most effectively use your tools - the more aggressive and diverse you can play. Feel free to add me as well. I mostly PvP and I'm G3 - so I'm not great, but not too bad lol.

Nice, I like the strat of swapping targets between Sc/P 3 skills like that. I agree the wells lack a little bit, I personally like them mostly for the shadowstep synergy than the actual effects of them. I've been thinking a lot lately that they could add a trait somewhere to remove a condition from allies in the radius of the wells. I think that's honestly the one thing that makes Specter support not really meta or a serious option over Guardian or Ele is good condi removal - and like you said, they pretty much shredded it from the Shroud cleansing.