itspomf.9523

After delving through the news archive and finding the original post for the expanded weapon proficiency beta, it turns out these are only for people who bought Secrets of the Obscure. Regardless of whether or not locking basic content like new weapons behind a paywall is acceptable or not, I'm disappointed I didn't even get the chance to see if the changes lived up to what was discussed on the 14th. Ok, I guess.

While I'm very excited for the other changes to Thief (I might finally be able to feel useful while running a dual-pistol build!), the change quoted above is really a poor decision. Acrobatics has already been gutted twice, and you're now taking away one of the last sources of Vigor (and related improvements) from core Thief after Endless Stamina was removed in June of last year in the continued push to turn it into yet another damage-oriented trait line, which it historically is not. Worse, these sorts of changes also mean that Thieves (and particularly Daredevil) have fewer sources of additional dodges, greatly inhibiting their survival. With this change, the only non-weapon skill sources of Vigor will be: Well of Bounty (locked to Specter) Consume Plasma (stolen skill from Mesmer-type foes) Detonate Plasma (raiding only) Steal Warmth (locked to Deadeye, but unavailable when using Fire for Effect) Likewise, the only trait-based sources of Vigor will be: Feline Grace: gain vigor on successfully evading an attack Bountiful Theft: gain vigor when you steal Following the very, very significant loss of 240 Concentration from Endless Stamina in addition to the +50% Vigor effect, we're now looking at a trait line which no longer meaningfully synergizes with one of the few boons core Thief could reliably provide itself.

I believe this is already the case, and Specter receives a hidden 33% damage reduction, equivalent to Necromancer, while in shroud. If not, then it was removed in an undocumented change after Anet brought it back following a very dark period last year when it was removed completely. The problem is that this was reduced from ~66% initially (intended to compensate for the fact that Thief has about half the base Health), but Shroud scaling was never adjusted to compensate, resulting in why your Shroud now gives you less effective health than you have outside of it (still 69% of Health, which in this one case is not "nice"). All of this occurred due to Specter being considered "oppressive" in PvP at the time, which can probably be translated into "I couldn't burst them down on my soulbeast instagib build so teef op plz nerf."

Haven't actively been playing in a few months, but wanted to share my own experiences with the story. Notice: spoilers for the main campaign abound. I know a few of you touched on it already, but I feel that the core story leading up to the Zhaitan fight (and, well, Arah Dungeon as a whole) was honestly the highlight of the game -- which is sad, considering the amount of love and energy put into latter stories and expansions. You can really tell the team has poured their hearts into things, but I feel that Guild Wars 2 has lost sight of what left such an immense and lasting impact on veteran players such as myself. I started playing a scraggly little Charr Thief called Geppa (don't ask, it's an obscure reference) shortly after midnight of the Headstart access. For the next several days and weeks, I would be exploring Tyria, the Plains of Ashford, and Diessa Plateau in a state of wonder for the sheer amount of storytelling that wasn't in a dialogue box or told to me through a cutscene. Looking around, there was history and little secrets everywhere, and I immediately fell in love with exploring (often to my untimely demise. We all remember our first encounter with a jumping puzzle). Yet it was my Honorless Gladium of a sire who had perhaps the greatest influence on me. At the time, I'd decided I wanted to soft roleplay Geppa. Here's a young, scrawny Thief whose sparring partner is Dinky, the big dumb guardian with a heart of slightly tarnished silver. Brains and Brawn kind of outfit. And mentally? It worked. The levity was amusing, it kept me engaged, and I could honestly see these two nerds looking out for one another and sharing a close bond. But then the word came in that my sire had Done Something Real Bad. And as the story unfolded and I watched his desperate efforts to not only save his warbandmates but defy his Centurion in doing so -- at the risk of his own life and limb -- I went from hunting him to trying to help him. I still remember the experience of having the story suddenly grip me with this moral dilemma: do I uphold everything I've learned about Charr society, or do I do what a part of me knows is right? When I finally cornered him and got a chance to talk -- particularly after my very unfortunate run-in with his Centurion in the process -- I chose the latter. I still remember reading the dialogue there in the brig, hearing his pleas and his fervor to spare the people closest to him. It resonated with me not just because of that drive alone, but because it likewise embodied everything I knew about the story insofar; more, were I to deny him, it would mean turning my back on the warband I was myself desperately trying to mend after losing them in Barradin's Vaults. It was the first time I shed tears playing the game. It was also the moment when I decided I and Geppa both were willing to turn our backs on the Black Citadel if it meant that at least one life would not be senselessly lost. Fast-forward to the Orders and consequences which, at first, hardly seemed that consequential. I've gotten in with the Order of Whispers (hey, Geppa's a Thief after all and it felt the most fitting ... particularly after encountering the Priory scholars and that chicken), and things are going well. Or so I thought. Instead (and this is back in the days of Old Lion's Arch, when splinters and tetanus were a daily concern), I'm put on desk duty with some guy who doesn't seem to have seen combat more than the fight of trying to reign in his punmastery on a daily basis. Tybalt Leftpaw. The "Apple Guy." By Ash, I was suddenly thinking Rytlock had it out for me and I was being punished. And yet somewhere between drinking pirates under the table and having increasingly more surreal escapades, I found myself growing closer and closer to this beautiful misfit who only ever wanted to prove that he could make it. That he wasn't just some failed agent, but someone capable, to be respected. That his life finally meant something. And he did that, by sacrificing himself so that I and others could live. Going to be honest, that scene on Claw Island absolutely devastated me. I cried. I told a video game character no, he didn't need to do this, he had meaning, he didn't need to die, we could get out of here together. I still remember feeling shell-shocked afterward, as we escorted the survivors to the ships and I furiously cut down anything that moved. I still remember how frantic everything had felt beforehand, lighting the warning beacon prior and watching them swarm over the walls. It kept replaying through my mind: what could I have done differently? For a brief while, a game left me feeling something like survivor's guilt. And then it did it again and again and again. By the time I had reached the Gates of Arah and stared at the yawning portal of the last fight I would ever have to face, I'd waded through more death and loss than I cared to recall. Everyone I and Geppa had met seemed to meet an ill end, whether it was Demolitionist Tonn sacrificing himself to stop the Bone Ships or the fury of his lover learning he had died in the line of duty (and I'd effectively killed him), or Apatia being lost to the Krait, or any that one Golemancer who was cut down near the end of our mission -- they were all gone. From the very start of the story, to finally reuniting with (and then saying goodbye to) my sire, to losing the one mentor I never knew I needed, to watching more and more people who touched my life be snuffed out, my and Geppa's adventure through Tyria was one beshadowed by death, loss, and despair every step of the way. The humorous moments were a welcome respite and made the journey worth surviving (even if in my head, Geppa left the Pact and never made it to Zhaitan in Arah, and not just because I was afraid of pugging that last fight back in the day). And strangely? I've not felt that since. The storytelling is good, even when it's a little grating (what? I liked the Power of Friendship nonsense because it really gave us a look into the lives of some woefully underdeveloped characters), but nothing has seized hold of me and made me question my decisions and everything I've done like the core story had. Sure, Heart of Thorns had its moments, but it was overwhelmed by the diametric landslide of terror that was just trying to get enough mastery points to get enough mastery points to not die horribly to everything ever -- when it wasn't completely overshadowed by the Exalted, Aurene, and the blind trust hurled at a Charr who had been pulled out of retirement after drinking enough Firewater and Whiskey to drop 10 dolyaks with a single breath (and permanently alter her vocal cords!). Sure, Path of Fire was an epic battle, but it felt more like the skirmishing of heroic beings rather than the struggles of mere mortals fighting a fallen god. The tone was there, but the notes were flat and I connected more with the Olmakhan than I did the Sunspears I was supposed to be helping. ... and I'll be honest: End of Dragons started out strong. It really had me hoping for a revival of that nostalgia up there, and the possibility of not only exploring Mai Trin's character and her obvious redemption arc, but forcing us (and Marjory and Kasmeer) to have to face our own biases as we learned ever more of the horrors she had faced in getting here, let alone just how much she had come to hate herself for what she had done when she literally had to face herself in more than the mirror for years. Only to have her written off for a two-bit villain's finale and barely given a handful of lines at the end (I confess, I'm camp "Joon Should've Been the Big Bad and The Dragonvoid an Allegory for the Corruptive Influences of Unbridled Power"). I've not played Secrets of the Obscure and I'm not sure I will, but I wanted to share this with you and the team.

If the recall were skill 5, I'd say it would make the most sense to make the effects depend on specific scenarios: a solid power basis would serve the weapon well, but be able to scale with conditions by adding additional damage (either through Strike or additional Condition stacks) based on the amount of Bleed/Poison on the target. Either would complement Pistol or Dagger, and Sword could benefit from already having higher damage and being a pure power weapon (with the only potential downside of the former being that Dagger loses easy access to stealth unless Dagger/Axe 3 becomes a variant of Cloak and Dagger). I would, however, want offhand axe recall to not teleport, since I'd rather be able to position myself for maximum versatility in when and where I use the skill.

I like this idea. I think it would help garner better feedback and more organic gameplay experiences to draw from.

Agreed. Played around with it in open world yesterday to see how the new reflect works, and I landed it once out of a good dozen attempts. The wind-up is too long, the timing is too indistinct, and you have to essentially start the skill as your enemy fires for it to actually work -- I say this because the only projectile I reflected was done entirely on accident. Overall thoughts and recommendations to the balance team: Remove Helmet Breaker, as it's not helping: the current interaction of Debilitating Arc (staff 3) into Helmet Breaker feels bad; it's too clunky and awkward, and we already have a bunch of gap-closers (Bound, Weakening Charge, [old] Dust Srike, Bounding Dodger, and shadowstep utiltiies). Moreover, locking out Debilitating arc for a period of time means your built-in escape is now shut down, overall weakening the weapon's versatility and survival margin. Revert and upgrade Dust Strike to handle Defiance: I would much rather see the Daze added to the original Dust Strike (staff 4), such that "enemies within the range threshold are instead Dazed for 2 seconds," and set that to about one-half its range (so 240~300u), as this would give staff a much-needed method of handling Defiance whilst retaining its ability to inflict blinds and tag enemies from afar. But seriously, revert the changes to Dust Strike: the new Dust Strike is honestly awful, too long, and way too hard to land the reflect. Being rooted in place has caused me more problems than it has solved. I'd rather it be reverted and a short Block or Evade added to staff's auto-attack's third hit, Punishing Strikes, to make the brawling feel of staff more ... well, brawler-y. After all, Ranger's greatsword had this until late 2019, when its third hit became Enduring Swing. And if not, then at least make Dust Strike a radial sweep to inflict a brief area of pulsing blind and allow staff the ability to self-combo. While this last little addendum is my own personal opinion, this and other recent changes feel to have been made outside of the spirit and purpose of the weapons to which they've been applied. They legitimately don't feel like they address what they're set out to do.

Instead of addressing all the shortcomings of pistol (no inherent pierce despite everyone but elementalist getting it, poor damage, single target, etc.), the entire weapon has been reduced to a power "Spam 3" build with zero downside beyond needing to stay within range. I just took down 2 veterans and 4 or 5 other filler enemies using a single skill and a little basic strafing.

I'm trying to decide whether this is Catalyst hammer 2.0 or just a clunkier version of scepter, but whatever it is, this ain't it, captain.

Had this been a revision to Guardian's scepter, I'd have said you had finally given them a good ranged condition damage weapon (even if Bleeding feels a bit out of place on a profession historically focused around Power and Burning damage). What we got instead is a flashy, hot mess that seems more interested in making pretty blue animations than really feeling like it's doing much of anything.

Had this been what Specter's scepter was originally, I'd say we had a decent setup for a supportive pseudo-caster role that could reasonably fill in for minor damage as well. Unfortunately, it's not, and the skills lack any sense of impact or purpose, beyond being weirdly flashy. It's hard to tell what's happening or what they're doing, even after reading the tooltips, and that's not a very good feeling.

Had this been a revision to Revenant's staff, I'd honestly say we had a nice front-line healer with amazing tank potential (which yes, Warrior could be in a mix of Power/Toughness/Healing/Contentration type gear, such as Wanderer/Cleric). Damage is overall good and the skills feel versatile and reasonable (the charge move, however, is too reminiscent of Greatsword), and even on the default Marauder's gear and a Might-generation / Shouts loadout, the weapon alone can keep me alive. Unfortunately, it doesn't feel like I'm playing a Warrior anymore, which is probably the biggest let-down of this weapon. It's an absolute identity crises with some really, really great [self-]support potential.

Had this been a revision to Mirage's axe, I'd have said you were spot on and had a brilliant idea. Instead, it feels cumbersome, out of place, and like Pistol ... *checks notes* ... v4.0, only this time with even worse general synergy.

I am ... not impressed. So rather than providing us a non-utility power cleave weapon (to act as a counterpoint to sword), we got ranger axes. Rather than a ranged AOE condition weapon (to act as a counterpoint to pistol or scepter), we got ... a confused mess? Thief's biggest problem since inception is that it has an identity crisis of trying to be both power and condition damage at the same time. Please just pick one or the other and not something that changes based on one of only two off-hand choices (which themselves are already highly limiting).

You say that like they've been listening to us at all in the last several months.

Here's a few off the top of my head (for best experience, read aloud in your best worst "I Are Devloper" [sic] voice): Nerfed thief again because one of those little kittens ganked me in wvw and I hate that why did we ever make this class and not put in basic limits on stealth or even break the Black Powder -> Heart Seeker self-combo for stealth? Decreased the damage coefficient on some warrior skill or another from 1.3 to 0.7 in PvP and WvW because honestly I'm just tired of people using the weapon we vaguely buffed a while ago. Also they hit me really hard and that's not cool (I'm a developer, I'm supposed to win. That's why I have the little ArenaNet guild tag!) Decided to completely redo a core necromancer skill because look, it was overperforming in maybe like, one or two raids and also PvP, but it's just easier to not use the tech we reintroduced (after literal years of player backlash) from GW1 to have competitive mode splits, kind of like when we completely gutted Specter shroud for being "too oppressive" (my feelings were really hurt that day, ok? Do you know how close I was to a perfect KDR? Foo on you BigThom76 and your discount necromancer nonsense.) Someone (not me) got kitten in competitive modes again, so we just plain nerfed everyone. That's cool, right? Yeah, definitely. Raiders keep breaking the new raid wing boss because someone (it was me, not like I'm going to admit to it) left a skip in that keeps messing with the encounter mechanics. Also Elementalist isn't supposed to perform well, so yeah, nerfed elementalist. Again. #downstatemeta Players were enjoying the new loot too much, so loot has been nerfed. Yes, you read that right, we nerfed the loot. Deal with it, casuals. I AM FEELING REALLY OPPRESSED RIGHT NOW I uh ... I mean, thief is still too oppressive in competitive, so more nerfs, lol. We feel Soulbeast is in a good place, so we're just going to nerf druid instead. What do you mean it's overpowered? No its not, I like it. It's fun ganking noobs. Turns out people are enjoying a previous "nerf," so we nerfed the nerf so it nerfs harder. Nerf nerf nerf. Stop having fun. Errr ... bigger balance patch coming in 2 months! Also, someone posted a new speed record to SnowCrows, so we need to nerf that build really hard, because holy crap, they're way better than me.

Picked specter back up despite the recent nerf to Torment damage and condition durations (which really haven't done much of anything for someone at my skill level, mind) and after muddling through the tooltips and weird interactions with accidentally targeting NPCs or other players, it got me thinking: scepter is an awesome idea, but its execution leaves much to be desired. Particularly when you encounter more than a single enemy at a time. But the more I think about it, the solution is actually a rather simple one, and something I mused on a bit last night: ally-targeting and the split in skill functionality is the source of disparity. So ... why not be rid of it? Now, before you get rightly upset, hear me out. The solution isn't to take something away, but to meld it together into something that just works, like a lot of other things do. To that end, I drew inspiration from Elementalist's scepter, specifically in Fire attunement, and had an epiphany: splashing effects, something which the allied versions of scepter attacks already do. Moreover, it would finally allow specter to engage multiple foes without swapping weapons! What follows are proposals on what scepter would look like if its enemy and ally effects were combined into a single, coherent projectile. Each will be listed with relevant skill facts. Full disclosure: I'm using the wiki for numbers, as of Thursday, September 28, 2023. Apologies if anything fails to reflect the Sep 26 update. Shadow Bolt (1a) Fire a projectile of shadow magic which torments foes and bolsters allies with Barrier. Effectiveness is decreased for allies which are not the original target. Damage: 121 (0.33) Torment (4s): 88 Damage, 127 Damage if Foe Is Stationary Barrier: 522 (0.1) Effectiveness decreased: 50% Number of targets: 5 Radius: 240 Range: 900 The changes: strike damage applies only to the struck target, while Torment is applied to the targeted foe and up to 4 additional foes within the radius of effect. Likewise, barrier is applied as it used to be, with a 50% penalty to adjacent allies. Double Bolt (1b) Fire two projectiles of shadow magic which torments foes and bolsters allies with Barrier. Effectiveness is decreased for allies which are not the original target. Damage: 138 (0.375) Torment (4s): 88 Damage, 127 Damage if Foe Is Stationary Barrier: 522 (0.1) Effectiveness decreased: 50% Number of targets: 5 Number of impacts: 2 Radius: 240 Range: 900 The changes: this would operate in precisely the same manner as Shadow Bolt (the first skill in the autoattack chain, above), splashing torment onto foes and barrier onto allies. Triple Bolt (1c) Fire three projectiles of shadow magic which torments foes and bolsters allies with Barrier. Effectiveness is decreased for allies which are not the original target. Damage: 165 (0.45) Torment (5s): 110 Damage, 159 Damage if Foe Is Stationary Barrier: 522 (0.1) Effectiveness decreased: 50% Number of targets: 5 Number of impacts: 3 Radius: 240 Range: 900 The changes: pretty much the same thing here: splashing effects but otherwise just a 3-hit attack. Shadowsquall (Stealth attack) Unleash a barrage of shadows at your target which inflict poison on foes and heals allies, granting them Regeneration. Effectiveness is decreased for allies which are not the original target. Damage: 73 (0.2) Poison (3s): 101 Damage, -33% Heal Effectiveness Healing: 624 (0.11) Regeneration (2½s): 325 Heal Effectiveness decreased: 50% Number of targets: 5 Number of impacts: 8 Radius: 240 Range: 900 The changes: you guessed it, basically nothing differs, but now nearby enemies get poisoned and nearby allies get healed and gain Regeneration in an 8-hit barrage. Effectiveness is decreased for allies which are not the original target. Shadow Sap (2) Hurl a bolt that weakens foes and applies Barrier and Protection to allies. Effectiveness is decreased for allies which are not the original target. Damage: 282 (0.72) Weakness (3s): -50% Endurance Regeneration, +50% Fumble (Unrestricted) 5x Self Might (10s): 150 Condition Damage, 150 Power Barrier: 1420 (0.5) Protection (4s): -33% Incoming Damage Effectiveness decreased: 50% Number of targets: 5 Radius: 240 Range: 900 The changes: so Shadow Sap is a weird one since it already splashes weakness. Changing it to a single 240u radius would arguably be a nerf to weakness application, but would certainly help with the approach of simple, unified skill facts (and making everything easier to read. Really, that red and blue text isn't the easiest on the eyes) -- while also following the form of pretty much every other scepter skill. Twilight Combo (3: offhand dagger) Seize control of the shadows, which chills and poisons foes and grants allies Swiftness and Barrier. Then, draw it inward, tormenting foes and heals allies. Effectiveness is decreased for allies which are not the original target. Initial attack: 550 (1.5) Secondary attack: 183 (0.5) Chilled (3s): -66% Skill Recharge Rate, -66% Movement Speed Poison (5s): 168 Damage, -33% Heal Effectiveness 3x Torment (5s): 330 Damage, 477 Damage if Foe Is Stationary Barrier: 2,576 (0.5) Secondary Healing: 714 (0.2) Swiftness (5s): +33% Movement Speed Effectiveness decreased: 50% Number of targets: 5 Radius: 240 Range: 900 The changes: okay ... Wombo Combo I mean, Twilight Combo is a huge mess. It does a bunch of things, but its projectiles are wonky, their tracking isn't great, their acceleration is variable based on initiation distance and enemy size (maybe), and sometimes it's a huge pain waiting for it to finally, you know ... hit. So instead, and following the theme of Specter being a shadowy something or other, why not just tear open a pool of shadow under your enemies (or allies) in a quick one-two ground-targeted AOE? Solves the problem of radii otherwise being invisible, and reduces the effect delays considerably. (I'd leave it up to ANet to figure out fair timings, likely though I am to regret that) Measured Shot (3a: offhand pistol) Shadowstep to within range and launch a bolt that immobilizes enemies and heals allies. Effectiveness is decreased for allies which are not the original target. Damage: 121 (0.33) Immobilize (1s): Unable to move. Healing: 2,151 (0.444) Effectiveness decreased: 50% Number of targets: 5 Radius: 240 Range: 900 Maximum distance from target: 120 Maximum travel distance: 300 The changes: and then there was ... this, which for some reason does different things depending on who you target. To that end, now you just shadowstep to them, since placing yourself at the limits of your attacks is pretty stupid, allowing it to be used as a gap-closer (or a quick way to get back into the ballpit boonsphere). Useful, and more coherent than accidentally flinging yourself in the other direction (and into something you can't see behind you). Endless Night (3b: offhand pistol) Fire a beam which slows and torments foes, while granting allies barrier and boons. Effectiveness is decreased for allies which are not the original target. Damage: 121 (0.33) Slow (1½s): Skills and actions are slower. Torment (6s): 132 Damage, 191 Damage if Foe Is Stationary Barrier: 645 (0.22) Regeneration (3s): 390 Heal Vigor (1s): +50% Endurance Regeneration Effectiveness decreased: 50% Number of impacts: 7 Number of targets: 5 Radius: 240 Range: 900 The changes: ... yet for some reason, this one stays effectively the same. The radius here is only for the allied portion, obviously, since the beam's intersection is used to apply effects (much like Mesmer's Confusing Images skill), though a radius at the end of the beam would certainly be nice. Anyway, as a quick tl;dr: give scepter skills splash effects for conditions as well (but NOT its strike damage components!) to allow the weapon to engage with multiple foes, and fold allied effects into the splash as well (you could still target an ally, obviously, but this way you no longer need to stop attacking).

Definitely agreed, and it's still nuts to me that there should ever be the potential for a 10k (or of late, 20k or 30k) delta between players. Within a role / profession / whatever, you'd think most similar loadouts would be on a similar level of performance, yet I feel that hasn't been the case in many years. And yeah, the new expansion didn't really create diversity, so much as it just made it easier to glom onto a few high-performing options with little (to no) tradeoff.

Ugh, yeah. As much as I loved it for the free dodge (back when sword was good), dancing around the target just ... isn't great. Zip me behind them as a great setup for tactical strike? Heck yeah. Fling me to their front because oopsy doopsy, I needed some boon-strip? No thanks, that's what I'm trying to avoid. And yeah, a major thief update is ... *checks wiki* ... 7 years overdue. Most stuff hasn't been touched since 2016, if not earlier.

Yes, and the "build crafters" are the ones championing it. It's the same slow rot you see in Path of Exile.

I don't even have the new expansion, so thus no weapon master training, and thus things are just worse everywhere for me. Really fun, that. By which I mean it sucks to watch everything get slowly ground down because "oops, all DPS!"

So I don't know when this rolled out, and I imagine others have talked about it before, but it's been really bugging me since the first I encountered it. As such, story time: A few days back, I had "Complete 3 Events" as a daily objective. I happened to be in the Crystal Oasis at the time, which usually has some good events near one another, and paid things no mind. After nearly completing one of them, and realizing a fair amount of other players were roaming about nearby (we'd just finished up with the Corrupted Facet bounty), I decide to leave it incomplete, since I was the only person participating in it and it seemed pretty cruddy of me to potentially prevent other players from getting a chance at their own daily objectives. Thus I went to go help the captured Zephyrites being held captive in the mines right nearby. Imagine my surprise when, barely inside the mines not 30 seconds later, the "collect supplies" event greys out and tells me I've become inactive and won't receive credit! And worse, someone had come by and found the last few supplies they needed, so it was going to clean up in a few seconds. Now imagine my frustration when I realized there was literally no way for me to get credit for doing 80% of the event because the game decided I wasn't actually pulling my weight (or, you know, "active"). I had this happen before, too, in Shing Jea, and pretty aggressively so, where accidentally leaving an event zone to evade some Kappa (and going outside an open fence by maybe 200 units) automatically disqualified me as the event cleaned up. Several minutes of frantically rushing repairs on an event no one was minding, and the only thing I had to show for it was wasted time. (Or I guess the warm and fuzzy feeling of un(der)paid contract work for a faceless conglomerate, but that might be a bit too existential for a game like Guild Wars 2.) While I get that this was probably intended to discourage AFK "participation" and unwanted event scaling, as well as people "leeching" rewards, it sure isn't helping when it means your only choice is to stick to the event and push it to completion for fear of losing credit and potentially preventing others from participating as well. It also certainly isn't keeping people on their Skyscale from grabbing goodies while completely out of reach of enemies (and thus having to actually, you know ... participate). So maybe this one could get rolled back and we can all just enjoy playing the game again?

Remember when they said they would consider letting Specter have 12 Initiative, rather than all but forcing the use of Trickery to be able to do anything worthwhile?

Thank you, as I think this actually answers why it ever happened. It also further underscores why it feels like Thief has had to suffer simply because a few players are able to achieve really high damage.

Don't worry, one of your core traitlines will be only completely reworked to provide better synergy with this new elite spec, and definitely not (it will) undermine or even completely gut a number of builds which rely upon the features it has provided since specializations were first added to the game. Oh, and that one utility skill you like? Yeah, that's getting changed, too. But we promise you'll love it (if you do raids using meta builds).