FluffyFox.2756

Let me start by saying I'm not the best player out there and I tend to lack innovation, so I look towards more competent players to get an idea of how a class -should- be played. That being said, I don't feel like this class "works" as implemented. What I mean by that is that targeting allies is a massive chore and difficult to do, and there are no real good ways to do it. There is a tab target ally keybind but it does not work very well, which leaves the only real option of left-clicking an ally... it feels cumbersome and hard to do in a fast-paced combat. Additionally, this does not work -at all- in action cam with enemies present, as right-clicking to target in action cam always prioritizes enemies, so you click through allies and target enemies instead. For reference I play exclusively in action cam as I find it the most engaging and comfortable to use. I feel like needing to target allies with skills at all adds a layer of difficulty that is not present in other support specs - almost all support skills are fire and forget AoEs, where you just press a button and allies get boons or heals. Occasionally you'll get something like a cone or directional attack that requires more precise positioning in order to give support to allies, and I feel that is more of a direction that Specter can lean into so it still requires more finesse than other support specs without feeling clunky or having to completely redesign how targeting works on allies. Maybe not a cone, but maybe piercing projectiles that can, at most, hit one ally and one enemy (and doesn't necessarily need a target) so your main focus is on positioning rather than constantly clicking between allies to try and maximize your support potential. Shroud also needs a better targeting system outside of click ally > cast, and currently it's implemented to target a -random- nearby ally if one is not selected. Why not at the very least follow boon target priorities (party > squad > summons > proximity) or even better yet, (party (lowest hp%) > squad (lowest hp%) so on and so forth). It was brought up to me by another player that such precise non-targeted casting could make the class 'play itself' so to speak, but as mentioned earlier in this post, other supports already have a plethora of skills that require no greater thought than push button > give support. Even if the support is really good on Specter (which it absolutely is) it's still a pretty massive handicap to not be able to support a whole team at once and puts a huge burden on the Specter to juggle targets. Overall I love the idea, the theming, and the uniqueness of what Specter can offer, but I believe it can be delivered in a way that also makes it a joy to play and not overly cumbersome.

I know this is mainly a PvP/WvW update, but I had a suggestion for the Daredevil elite skill, Impact Strike. The third strike, Finishing Blow, has almost no purpose in PvE. I was wondering if for a PvE only change that it could deal significantly increased damage to foes with 25% or less HP? Considering its rather lengthy cast time of 1.5s, I feel this would at least add some utility to an otherwise useless ability.