NorthernRedStar.3054

Dragonhunter has to trade off so much sustain and vitality it cannot by any slimmer of hope manage a meta spot. It could prey on necros to an extent, but gets melted by revenants, +1 from thieves, and lich form. 11k health, even in a "damage neutered" meta is not enough when you combine it with the actual lackluster sustain.

It doesn't even have to be completely removed. Just transitioned into the 2nd hit instead of the bullet portion of the skill.

Dropping zerker amulet could be viable for some matchups, but been running it for the time and doing just fine. Outside the first game getting used to the new skill functions, I've had no issues staying alive.

I'd wager it has value as one of the few necromancer "counters" right now. Most of the ranged burst builds, which used to help at keeping the necro population under control, have been neutered. Melee in general has lost a lot of its value, because they can't hang against the AoE and CC spam while being unable to take anyone down in just a few rotations - except for Revenant of course, the class whose heal doubles as a burst (lol). Trapper DH is fine. The stealth is not a problematic part, if there's ever going to be a shave it will be the superspeed portion. It trades off passive defense traits and flat health for conditional %-modifiers and power damage. It is very squishy, and requires you to land your stuff on a consistent basis in order to have an effect. Trust me, outside the short stealth-and-speed bursts, it does not have a lot of survivability going on. Not to mention a grand majority of the people playing it are playing it poorly - I played a lot of meditrapper back in the day, and there's a lot of fun stuff you can do w/ an off-hand shield for example. Anyways, for my build, I traded some of the CC-related %-traits for better cleanse (F2) and hence swapped around the cripple-sigil, as it lost most of its value, for intelligence. PS. Revert Puncture Shot from being a boring pierce into a bouncy arrow, again. The latter being far more skill-testing and unique.

Remember folks, investing into more memory now is an investment far into the future.

2020 Feb patch pretty much took that away, though, as could be seen in the immediate developments of the meta that ensued. We've been slowly getting some re-compensation, though, but the days of hard-hitting setup combinations and skills are largely over.

Revolutionary.

"Best players" - hackers and win traders. "Former pro league" - washed up noobies who only play duo.

This, the build very much relies on active defenses; movement and positioning, alongside F3 and F2 (which can be interrupted and overtaken, respectively). It's a high risk / reward noob stomper build and, to be honest, we need more builds like this in the game. I, for one, value timing-based gameplay over mindless AoE spamming.

I actually quite like this build (made some changes, myself, to better accommodate my playstyle and the meta). It's a high risk / high reward newbie stomper build. Actually reminds me of the good ol' meditrapper. Granted, that dealt more damage while being bulkier. More builds should be like this, forcing both you and your opponent to use their brains a bit.

Thematically speaking, probably off-hand sword.

Reflect's a great mechanic, punishes bad players and rewards good ones. It's the exact kinda thing Anet should avoid removing.

I can kill a DH 1v1 on support. Not even joking. It's just annoying and will take time. A lot of these cheese-ish builds, anyways, rely on emotions taking control over the opponent, preventing rational and smart decision making.

Pretty much. At least ranger has that cheese, random utility and burst going for it. Warrior is just kinda ... There, trying to kill something. Dead weight. Mobile dead weight, but dead none the less.

You want boon removal (spellbreaker's thing)? Get a scourge or core necro. You want damage that hits just as hard as berserker, and in a constant AoE, without survivability penalties and negative modifiers? Reaper. You want a support? Scourge, scourge, scourge. Guardian, guardian, guardian. Warrior gets outdone by necromancer, and other classes, in every single one of its niches, without similar trade-offs.

Take all the time you need to develop, but be sure to communicate with us in the meanwhile. Very hopeful for the future, if not outright hyped. You can deliver when you want, and we believe in you.

High risk, average/mediocre reward. Wonder why the non-ini based backstab builds remain the most relevant of the bunch, hmm. Imagine if the actually telegraphed "burst" skills didn't hit like a wet noodle - unlike stealth skills (which should be utility/setup based imo, not burst - safe for DE.).

True, but that's why you use it on the nearest clone/pet/NPC-acting player who isn't reflecting/blocking/dodging. I like the dodge roll + stealth idea. The 2nd portion is obviously something to look at. And the stealth should be 3 seconds, max.

Considering how garbage thief is in PvE and PvP, probably.

Thief's damage is garbage even w/ zerker rune. The 10% dmg reduction is strictly melee.

Not after the nerfs. They shaved off quite a bit of the healing and boon duration. Supports don't make games bunker-y - bad targeting / focus and bunkers do.

Pre-nerfs was S-tier teamfighting for sure, but nowadays I'd say you have to be really good at it (and supporting in general) to pull off the same impact. Sure, rez signet is nice, but how you carry your team outside those is what makes or breaks a shoutguard. Line of Warding and Signet of Mercy are the easiest to notice, but there's a lot of nuance outside those that goes largely unutilized by many players. Hence my own A-grade. It's not as easy to have an impact on a fight as with, say, necro.

Mobility: E w/o sword, C with sword. Burst: agreed. Team-fighting (post-nerfs): A On node 1v1: horrible, LoS and timing are your friends. C against some builds, D or even E against others. Off-node 1v1: what is considered 1v1 here? Because let's be honest, 1v1'ing off-node with this build is about as rare as an icicle hitting you in the head.

Monki stronk togetha!

I'd argue side noders carry harder than thieves. Yes, thief has a wide array of decisions and ways to carry with - but they're generally connected to their teammates' decision making, and ability to take advantage, and snowball those advantages properly. On the other hand, 4v3 cuts off a lot of options (negative ones prominently included), and is generally far more reliant on your own awareness and mechanical ability to execute for reliable and, oftentimes, far more consistent gains. A great side noder can turn a losing game, with a mediocre team, into an even one. A great thief will remain a strong hindrance in the same scenario, albeit one that is ultimately unable to actually offer a chance at comeback. Obviously, tournament play is a different beef - but I'd never recommend thief for a player interested in solo queue ladder experience.