Voramoz.6790

I may not entirely agree with your later suggestions, but this bit. Bravo. Shortbow needs an identity of its own. Engi cannot weapon swap. So without unique buffs that engi did not have access to before (as it had chaor field, and now has dark field) it really is a pointless weapon. I’m having fun with it because it is new and different, but it is nowhere near what it has to be in order to stand out.

The biggest issue with all weaponmaster training has been addressed by every streamer/youtuber/Influencer. Teapot said it, Nike said it, Laranity said it, etc. Weaponmaster training flattens the plane for weapons so that there is generally a best in slot for each class based on the type of damage whether power, condi, or support. The answer moving forward is not to buff or change the DPS of weapons to keep weapons viable. The answer moving forward is, as influencers have said, to move supportive options onto weapons to make them more viable. No class needs a DPS competition between weapon sets, such as Engi Rifle vs Hammer. What classes need is compelling boons and support styles of gameplay on different types of weapons that allow them to tailor their class to each encounter.

Multi-Kit Engineer been normative forever now. That's a huge problem for every skill that isn't a kit. As the game gets older, the roles of the real meta in PVE, WVW, and PVP have become more solidified. Even heal Mech and heal Scrapper run double kit via MedKit and Mortar. So, Engineer utilities become difficult to balance because kits are so important and effective. In a way, almost every Engineer skill, with the exception of Holosmith and Mechanist skills, needs balance in order to become relevant compared to kits. Holosmith skills still suffer because they rely on the ramping heat mechanic, so it makes more sense to cycle kits than to run Exceeds. Mechanist is in a fine place because of the mech, but triple kit condi-mech has become more of a thing. Scrapper gyros received some love in recent years, but they've dipped in and out of relevance. More relevance from other utilities could reduce over-reliance on kits and really should be the priority for Engi moving forward. That said, Engineer is in a very strong place in every meta right now, and we have to respect that fact, but only specific builds with a limited range of utilities compared to Turrets, Elixirs, and Gadgets, which overall are not seeing much play by comparison.

Yes. 100%. From the beginning, we saw the triple dodge removed from Acrobatics in order to make room for Daredevil. Daredevil as an elite Spec has never been a thing. Daredevil has also further slipped out of the pvp meta, and really every game mode, with far greater improvements to Deadeye and Specter. There is no question that Daredevil has never had a class identity.

Daredevil is the single worst elite specialization in the game. I think most people know this if they really think about it. Before I get into it, let me set the table just a little bit. I am an Engineer Main, and Engi is in a great place overall. In fact, I've played Engi for so long that I've really started to multiclass more into Revenant, Warrior, Ranger, Guardian, Necromancer, etc. In all, I think I have played the Thief class the least, but more so recently with Deadeye and Specter. I notice that the discussion of "class fantasies" has become a hot button for streamers and influencers lately. Daredevil was launched as a brawler style of thief (thief/warrior). There is no Elite Specialization or Class that lives up to its class fantasy or efficacy less than Daredevil. Daredevil is the most tremendous flop in terms of delivering on its fantasy presentation to players. This thread is not merely an appraisal of the E-Spec as it is now but over its entire history since Daredevil's HOT launch. In PVP, Daredevil does not exist. From launch, Thieves have continued to run pre-HOT Dagger/Pistol Thief and taken Daredevil as a triple dodge trait line. That's not Daredevil, that's just Thief taking Daredevil as a trait line for what it adds to core D/P Thief. At no time has Staff or Brawler Thief crossed into the meta in PVP, nor have their Physical Skills. Staff Daredevil has only had the most fringe roamer potential in WVW, which does not address the core WVW experience. Deadeye and Specter completely outclass Daredevil, really in every game mode, but definitely in PVE, especially now that Deadeye and Specter are the quickness and alacrity specs for Thief. Now, with the addition of weaponmaster training, staff could become a thing for the entire class, to the detriment of the fantasy and features of the rest of the Daredevil E-Spec. Daredevil is a trait line taken to trait triple dodges and nothing more, and it's always been that way. In short, Daredevil does not exist. What's more, it never has. There is no such thing as Daredevil, and there never has been. I want to reiterate that this post is not merely about the state of Daredevil right now but of its entire history since its launch with Heart of Thorns. I am not here to bash Devs, or the balance team, or to be disrespectful. I am also not here to suggest what needs to be done by the Devs, or how to implement it. I am not a Thief main, so maybe my opinion matters less than that of Thief mains. I only hope that Thief mains might appreciate this post as coming from the less biased perspective of a main Engi, from the outside looking in, who would love to see Daredevil actually come to fruition. I completely understand if people disagree. But I think if we seriously consider it, we will realize that there is no E-Spec or class in greater need of some form of rework than Daredevil. But I don't know what Daredevil is. After all, Daredevil does not exist.