Specter Feedback Thread

[kash.9213]

13 hours ago, Nimbus Nomad.1237 said:

Twilight combo's animation needs a complete rework. It's extremely slow, clunky, and bugs out WAY too much.

Scepter skills make me feel like I'm playing an old mmo like Starwars Galaxies with it's combat queue that I have to break to start healing someone else. It would almost be fine if the animations felt more like unarmed combat and if the animations appropriately fit the cast time like Flanking Strike. It was a real missed opportunity not giving thief the Focus with a more unarmed combat/spell weaving look for animations, especially when Shroud skills and Wells actually fit that theme. Everything about Scepter feels like I picked up an Environmental Weapon (top quality at least) during an event phase. 

Edited May 21, 2022 by kash.9213

[Malthurius.6870]

This is more of a vanity/extra thing, but I *really* wish Specter gave access to Focus in addition to Scepter for multiple reasons. This is probably more of a wishful request than actual feedback, but I have a hard time imagining a future elite spec for thief ever granting them access to focus, so I figured I'd do a little lobby for it here in this thread.

 

The targeted support mechanic is on a main hand, it pigeon holds primary support into that weapon for the elite specialization. An off hand option would allow many more builds with the targeted support mechanic by allowing any main hand to also have access to the mechanic via off-hand focus. Yes, the shroud gives access to the mechanic on any set theoretically, but being able to run a sword with an off-hand for support would be very awesome. This would require development of 2 focus skills and 4 new dual skills. I don't think this is completely unreasonable for an elite spec either; in the past Spellbreaker on warrior was given a main-hand and off-hand, and professions like elementalist and elite specs like firebrand have gain way more unique buttons from an elite spec.

 

Otherwise, if in the future additional weapons are added to core, focus wouldn't be a bad choice due to the shadow magic theming in thief's core kit, but then it couldn't fill the same targeted support niche that is unique to Specter. (and low key, the Binding of Ipos legendary focus would look on sick on a Specter.)

 

This certainly isn't needed, this is very "extra". I doubt anyone would be upset over more weapons and options, except maybe non-thieves.

[Adonaj.7932]

5 hours ago, Malthurius.6870 said:

This is more of a vanity/extra thing, but I *really* wish Specter gave access to Focus in addition to Scepter for multiple reasons. This is probably more of a wishful request than actual feedback, but I have a hard time imagining a future elite spec for thief ever granting them access to focus, so I figured I'd do a little lobby for it here in this thread.

 

The targeted support mechanic is on a main hand, it pigeon holds primary support into that weapon for the elite specialization. An off hand option would allow many more builds with the targeted support mechanic by allowing any main hand to also have access to the mechanic via off-hand focus. Yes, the shroud gives access to the mechanic on any set theoretically, but being able to run a sword with an off-hand for support would be very awesome. This would require development of 2 focus skills and 4 new dual skills. I don't think this is completely unreasonable for an elite spec either; in the past Spellbreaker on warrior was given a main-hand and off-hand, and professions like elementalist and elite specs like firebrand have gain way more unique buttons from an elite spec.

 

Otherwise, if in the future additional weapons are added to core, focus wouldn't be a bad choice due to the shadow magic theming in thief's core kit, but then it couldn't fill the same targeted support niche that is unique to Specter. (and low key, the Binding of Ipos legendary focus would look on sick on a Specter.)

 

This certainly isn't needed, this is very "extra". I doubt anyone would be upset over more weapons and options, except maybe non-thieves.

specter is like shadow priest so huge + for focus legendary.

[FreshF.5793]

On 3/16/2022 at 8:33 PM, FreshF.5793 said:

Here are some points I hope the developers consider to change/improve:

1. Make the Shroud more impactful. Damage-wise and Support-Wise. The Damage does not feel strong at all. Maybe you could make it more rewarding using the shroud instead of waiting 5 secs and using Consume Shadows and spamming 3 Scept/Dagger again. Enemies should be feared of Shadow-Shroud instead of waiting until the next burst from weapon skills comes:
   1. Haunt Shot:
      Give Might to the entire group instead of 1 ally. Since The generation of might for my group is capped at 3 Stacks with Thrill of the Crime, give the Specter other options to stack might for the group. Haunt Shot could be one of them. Also the condi-dmg is pretty low right now.
   2. Grasping Shadows:
      The only Condi-Cleanse-skill you gave the specter which cleanses only 1 Condition. Change the Condi-Cleanse to 5 targets instead of 1 and increase the amount of condis removed so it can compete with skills e.g. from the firebrand (Mantra of Lore or Chapter 2: Radiant Recovery). Firebrand skills cleanse 2 or 3 condis per use and have multiple charges. So why not make the condi-cleanse on the shroud of specter strong as well, since you have limited time to use it. The damage of this skill is not impactful as well right.
      I would suggest increasing the radius of the field, since I found myself in many situations where I put the field off target. Also increase the duration and the cooldown.
      
      Alternatively besides increasing the radius I thought about a game-mechanic like the revenant has one:
      Adjust the skill equal to "Project Tranquility" which is a field that is permanently active, but can be moved when using the skill. Change it to a pulsing field, that cleanses condis every second, and puts damage on enemies every second. Since you dont have unlimited time in Shadow-Shroud this is something special, which makes staying in Shadow-Shroud more appealing.
       
   3. Dawn's Response:
      Inflicting Fear fits the Style of Shadow Shroud pretty well. Though i would suggest here to give 5 Allies a Minimum-Barrier of 1605 instead of 1 Ally. Also the ranges of it could be a little higher (600 leap, 240 barrier).
       
   4. Eternal Night:
      It has a surprisingly high power-dmg but and good condi-dmg (4 Stacks of Poison), which is only useful, when you are playing the deadly-arts traitline. From a support-perspective there is nothing besides a heal for 1 group-mate (change it to 4 allies). Please consider adding some supportive boons to it. Maybe quickness would fit it pretty well, as it looks like a very aggressive skill. But i would actually suggest stronger defensive boons like protection and resolution, or even aegis to the teammates.
   5. Mind Shock:
      A mediocre AoE stun which gives stability for 1 groupmate. I would consider changing the the stability to 5 Targets. What i really do not like about this AoE skill, is the yellow field below me. I have no idea how long it takes to be activated since it is not mentioned in the skill-tooltip. It feels like 3-4 seconds which is way too long. Reduce the activation time please. Also the stability-base-duration should be at least 5 seconds. Since the skill takes so long to activate it is very hard e.g. in pve-boss encounters to time the stability to the correct time (remember you are also time-capped due to being in shadow-shroud). The Duration-Increase-Per-Target is also very strange because if there are more enemies who can cc you, you need more stability instead of a longer duration. I would rather suggest giving the skill 3 base stability for 5 seconds + extra Stability per target struck. Since it is hard to land because of the activation time, it should be worth it.
       
2. Scepter-skills from the specter. Still funny. So first of all. I like the animations from skill 1 and 3. Graphic and Sound-Design-wise they are awesome. But gameplay-design-wise I there are downsides I would like to see changed:
   1. Shadow-Bolt:
      I can not say they do much damage, but that is ok. They are auto-attacks. They should do less damage then e.g. dagger or a staff with auto-attacks, since it they are melee. Giving barrier to 1 player is also okay, though the targeting in strike/raid-content really sucks: → *A pretty important QoL-Update would be adding health-bars above the players heads. Give it a toggle-option in settings and everybody is happy. Many other MMOs got it too. For Single-Target Support this is in my eyes essential!* 
   2. Shadow Sap:
      This skill does not deal damage, neither does it support your group. This skill needs to be changed entirely in my opinion.
      
      Proposals:
      Change Skill 2 to a ground-targeted AoE, which gives 5 might to all allies in the radius (300 radius should be enough) + Barrier. Since you would have to use all of your 12 initiative to give only 20 might to your group, i would upper the duration of might or give even more stacks of might then just 5. We do not want to spam 2, since it should be fun, shouldn't it? 
      When we talk about the condi-side of this skill, I would add at least vulnerability to it, since the specter it self does not bring any vulnerability-skills.
      To make this skill also interesting for DPS-builds I would add a damaging condition like Bleeding (since there is no bleeding-condis at all, though we have a super new trait now for this) and burning or torment.
      The reason why adding burning is a proposal of the skill-design. Use the existing Projectile animation but make it explode on the ground, leaving a dark-purple fire-field with taller dark flames at the edges of the radius. As a sample I imagine it like the flames from the amaterasu in the anime naruto. Here is a picture of the flames (https://naruto.fandom.com/wiki/Amaterasu).
      Besides looking like a fire-field, the skill should be a Fire-field and a Blast-Finisher (not the first skill that has to combo-uses, referring to "Black Powder"). This would help generating additional might, while also showing the people how to do some easy combos.
   3. Twilight-Combo:
      The main dmg-skill which is spammed by every dps-player until there is no initiative left. The graphic-design is very nice. The damage-side is good as well. Boosting 1 teammate with barrier is also okay. But what I really do not understand is giving 5 secs of Swiftness to 1 ally. Especially since every build has to use the Trickery Traitline because of iniative. Thrill of Crime gives swiftness for 5 ppl. That is enough. 
      The animation looks like it should be accelerating your group. Change it, so the projectile accelerates 4 allies that are near to the user and near to the impact. Give them either superspeed or quickness. Swiftness is not useful at all here. 
   4. Measured Shot:
      It has low power dmg and immobilizes. That is ok. What should be changed is the travel-distance to heal allies. The travel-distance to allies is 300. Compared to a staff 2 from guardian which has 1.200 it is way to low. A guardian can stand at his position and heal without any risks. If a specter ports to a location to support an ally it is higher risk (maybe the ally is standing in dmg-field or whatever). And if the specter is too far away, he uses the initiative but without healing someone, cause the ally is still to far away. My proposal would be increasing the travel-distance at least also to 900 when used on an ally, which is still less then the staff 2.
      Another suggestion is to changing it to a pulsing heal-field, when using it on allies. The burst-healing might be okay for specter, but there is no sustained healing. Leaving a waterfield-combo when porting to an ally would be very useful and help with the sustained healing.
   5. Endless Night:
      Speaking of sustained healing. Currently the only skill, that gives sustained healing to only 1 ally is Endless Night. Channelling the skill for 2.5 seconds gives 5 seconds of regeneration for 1 ally. In its current state Endless Night is useless. Same goes for the quickness part. About 3 seconds of quickness with full boon-duration for a cast-time of 2,5 seconds for only 1 ally is not useful for a support class, since you want to other stuff too, right?
      So what should be changed. Give regeneration and quickness around the target and around the user (e.g. like scourge) in a radius of 300. Alternatively you just give the caster+allies regeneration, but while targeting an enemy, since other support classes can heal+attack the enemy.
      They are 2 options:
      1. Targeting an ally should be more impactful, because the specter looses dps when targeting an ally with his skills (Regeneration and Quickness). 
      2. Targeting an enemy gives a little dps but also Regeneration to allies even when I do not target them directly.
         
         Besides the Support-Side the Damage of Endless Night needs to be increased by a lot. Increase the Tormet-Duration. Add bleeding-damage so dps-builds see a use in "Deadly Ambush" from Trickery.
          
3. Combo-Finisher? In the new Expansion EoD we were introduced to Combo-Finishers. It was required to progress. But when I started EoD I was surprised there were no finisher for the Scepter-Skills. Here my suggestions to Scepter-Skills:
   1.  Shadow-Bolt-Chain: Projectile Finisher (maybe 20% like Shortbow for example)
   2. Shadow Sap: Fire-Field, Blast-Finisher
   3. Twilight Combo: Whirl-Finisher
   4. Measured Shot: Water-Field at the ally who the caster teleported to, Dark-Field left at position where you teleported away  from, when enemey targeted
   5. Endless Night: Projectile-Finisher or nothing
       
4. Utility skills. Wells. Graphic design is nice. But the cast-time of some of them is too long. Also I find my self not being able to use them, when I am targeting a boss. Maybe because shadowstepping to that location is not possible. What's totally missing is a stunbreak. Here a my suggestions:
   1. Well of Gloom:
      This skill has good healing. What should be deleted is the Cripple. When I use a heal-skill I want to stealth and get out of fight (at least in open world). Pulsing Cripple and Targets does not help here. 
      Addionally I would either give this skill a group condi-cleanse (1 condi) or area-stealth so it can benefit from the trait "Panakus Ambition". The current group-stealth utility-options are Shadow Refuge with 60 second cooldown or blinding powder with 40 seconds.
   2. Well of Bounty:
      A nice idea which helps the group filling gaps in boon-uptime for some boons.
      Though I would change the order a little. Resistance is most of the time not needed in PvE and could be lower priority. 
   3. Well of Silence:
      A pulsing CC skill which is not really needed because of the cc the Ultimates have. This woud be the skill i would give a stun-break to. But also it would need rework, since it would make more sense puting the aoe-field on the location you left with a shadowstep, then the target location. Also condi-cleanse or barrier together with a stunbreak would be nice.
   4. Well of Sorrow:
      This skill could use a little more condi-damage. Also it does not apply burning, even though the tooltips says "inflicts foes with any damaging condition they don't already have".
   5. Well of Tears:
      A power-version of Well of Sorrow. Have not used it a single time. Might be more useful if you play alac-support with harrier stats, since you have more power.
   6. Shadowfall (Elite): 
      I do not see any use for this skill, besides pulling mobs together or giving extra alac/heal. Since the cooldown with 75 seconds is way too high and does not provide more cc than basilisk venom (40 seconds cooldown) I would consider a rework. 
      Since this should be a support spec, it should get a support elite. 
      Proposals/Ideas:
      - all allies in the area siphoned for 10 seconds and get the heal from shroud-skills (maybe 60 seconds cooldown)
      - pulsing healing/ barrier to your group (+ stealth for 20 seconds)
      - a unique boon, that increases healing or condition-damage for group, or reduces incoming damage
      - the next 5 seconds you gain increased shadow-force or a passive that increases shadow-force gain, or refill shadow force when skill is used
      - regain initiative
      
      There are many options.
       
5. Siphon (Steal-Ability):
   A great idea. Brings some damage (though torment should be added), soft-cc and and 3x might, fury, swiftness (with Thrill of crime). Downside on this is that it currently only works, when you siphon on a foe. You do NOT give your group boons when you siphon on an ally. This needs to be changed very soon, since this should be a support-specialization.
    
6. Traitline of the Specter. Next to the traitline of the specter, the other traitlines need to be adjusted as well. Especially Acrobatics (which gives +240 Concentration, but only self-sufficient traits) and Shadow-Arts (Shadow-Saviour [360 Range] from SA and Traversing Dusk [240 Range] from Specter both give healing when shadow-stepping. Same effect but different range. Also only 3/12 traits in this traitline are helping the group. Merciful Ambush. Shadow-Saviour. Meld with Shadows). But lets focus on the specter traitline here:
   1. Specter (minor):
      You don't get too much Shadow-Force from spending initiative (1%). Additionally it is lowered by 3 initiative. Having only 9 initiative lets you use 3 skills and your initiative is gone. This leads to being forced to take the Trickery traitline → lower variety because you can either take acrobatics for more boon-duration or shadow-arts for more stealth. Not both.
      Proposal:
      Remove the decrease of initiative.
   2. Second Opinion (major):
      I used this rarely. This trait bring only +120 healing power, which already has a bad scaling (compared to Firebrand with "Imbued haste" giving +250 Condi, +250 Vitality, +250 Healing Power). Additionally you get 7% of you Condition Damage converted to healing power. Which would force you to take a plague-doctor, since there is no Prefix available that brings Condition Damage, Healing Power, Boon Duration. This includes, that when you want to play a support-build you have to bring condition damage? Seems contradictory to me. 
      Unless you execute some of the changes of the weapon-skills I mentioned before more healing power will not be useful. 
      Compared to Consume Shadows it is underperforming, whereas my suggestion would be changing it to a trait, that brings damage to the table, adds more initiative or more shadow-force.
      Or make this a trait, so you can siphon more then one ally (2 charges of siphon) at the same time.
   3. Shallow Grave (major):
      Did not use this trait. It would be useful, when you would change the elite in a manner, that you can tether 5 allies instead of 1 for a short duration.
   4. Consume Shadows (major):
      Very nice heal+barrier trait. Since the current Shadow Shroud is not strong everybody picks it for some extra healing and barrier. When the shroud-skills get buffed, this might not be that interesting anymore. Also it takes quite a bit to get fully shadow force why I don't think it is overperforming right now. You also can not use it instantly, which requires you to think some steps ahead. Good trait.
   5. Dark Sentry (minor):
      Since the venom got nerved and you dont have many skills to apply barrier to a group right now, it is a good trait. Though I would like to see it profiting from the Shadow Arts Trait "Leeching Venoms" to get lifesteal for your allies.
      20% Heal increase is good.
   6. Larcenous Tormet:
      A DPS-Trait. From 20% → 10% torment-damage decreased. Quite a lot. 15% would have been fine, since thief has low hitpoints (higher risk, higher reward). Alternatively add a "Inflict Torment when Crit" section to this. Making the autoattack stronger as a compensation does not feel like more fun in my opinion. 
   7. Amplified Siphoning:
      Besides increasing the barrier on siphoning an ally it should heal at first and barrier when the ally has 100% hp. Giving Specter 2 charges of siphon would also fit here pretty well. The increase shadow-force-gain is not that exciting since it only works on foes and you either want to play DPS (Larcenous Torment) or Support (Traversing Dusk). 
   8. Traversing Dusk:
      Heal on Shadowstep + Alacrity on Wells. What I do not like about this trait is
      1. that Alacrity does currently NOT increase Initiative-Generation. Please connect initiative to alacrity. This would mean the world the world to me.
      2. the instant Alacrity. If allies are outside of the well and step inside, they do not get Alacrity. Make it to pulsing Alacrity instead. 
   9. Panaku's Ambition:
      Cool Trait. Maybe you could add lifesteal to the Rot Vallow Venom in here.
   10. Strentgh of Shadows:
       Nice trait.
   11. Hungering Darkness:
       The Condition-Transfer is currently only useful for 1 ally. Change it to maximum 4 allies with a radius of 360. Would be way more useful then and actually be taken over "Shadestep".
   12. Shadestep:
       So much fun. I love helping people. 33% revive-potential is nice. Though I do not understand why the caster does not get barrier when targeting an ally. Sharing barrier is also nice, though right now you don't get a lot of it. Mostly it is around 500-1000 Barrier per ally. 

I hope this finds its way to the developers of the game so they at least read it and maybe consider some of these changes/ideas.

These proposals are from a thief-main with 1.700h thief-playtime. Not much but also not few. If you have questions just contact me.

 

Have a good day. 

 

Sincerely yours, 

Robin Grooth
(ingame name)

Hope you devs consider some of the changes that are suggested here for the Balance Update! 🙂

[Gibson.4036]

I’ve only been playing specter for a short while, but noticed how it’s lack of cleave came up quite a bit when I was reading up in preparation for playing.

With Endless Night and good positioning I can target a veteran or champ and still damage trash mobs, but it’s pretty finicky. What if the width of the beam’s impact area was widened to allow better cleave if we can keep enemies between us and our target?

[Phewlm.3148]

I would like to see these changes:

•  
  • Scepter 2 skill changed into something useful. Hopefully an aoe with like a dmg condition, slowing condition and a maybe a friendly boon/barrier. The projectiel looks cool tho.
  • Focus as a support off-hand weapon. With some aoe healing abilities. Maybe experiment with a 5th skill that uses all initiative but in return gives solid aoe cleansing and healing. This will help fledge thief out as a better healing option for group content.
  •  Sc/p dual skill feels clunky to me and should be made smoother. Thief skills usually feels responsive and quick, but this does not. Less wind up and aftercast, if not removing the first shot or something.
  •  Let us use wells without the mandatory shadow step.
  •  Healing well should not cripple foes, but instead give regen or condi cleanse.
  •  Equal cast time on wells would be nice.

 

I really like the shadow theme of this spec, and I am glad thief got the ability to play a more supporty playstyle. And I am really happy that I can play group content without just aa'ing and dodging for maximum dps. 🙂 

Sorry if some points are mentioned too much in the thread!

[FreshF.5793]

Suggestion for Wells-Mechanic

Make it two-part Skills.

1st time button pressing: Place and Activate Well on targeted Location.

2nd time button pressing: Shadowstep to Location of the Well.

 

[Violetspawn.6421]

Specter as a CDPS is fine. Boring to play, but fine. The on ally target scepter skills hardly see any use, not useless but it's whatever.

The ability to burst a big barrier/healing frequently is great. 

However as a support the class feels very finnicky and laborious to play. 

Why do some support generate quick/alac through instant cast abilities and others are tied to wells, and the specter's alac is tied to wells with a cast time and a forced movement? - Sure you can spam down your wells in place, but it FEELS terrible to do so. Wells in general are uninteresting game design, set and forget is a lazy and unimaginative in any game.

The on ally scepter skills if you are trying to play as a heal/support actually isn't terrible (it's not great though) in small scale PvP but as soon as you compare it to what other heal/supports bring to the table it's flaws become evident. In large scale WvW it's a PITA and in 10man PvE, it's just not worth using them. I don't know what the intended use for them were outside of 2-3 player groups and even then other classes will do a better job. It's such an oddly designed spec that seems to try and fill a non-existent niche. I'd love to hear the discussions that led to it's creation. 

Some fixes I think would make the spec fun to play, dynamic and keep some of the flavor in tact. 

TETHER: 

Tether no longer requires you to be in Shadow Shroud but being in Shadow Shroud empowers tether.

Siphon has a 10 second duration and retains its 18 sec CD.

If no target is selected on Siphon use and you are in combat, tether to Ally in range with lowest HP. 

You can no longer siphon enemy targets.

Scepter skills generate more Shadow power to compensate. 

WHILST TETHERED TO AN ALLY

- When using scepter skills 1-3 on an Ally target that you are NOT tethered to, you pulse conditions/dmg from that ally in an AOE radius around them - 5 Target cap. 

- When using scepter skills 1-3 on an Ally target that you are ARE tethered to, you pulse healing and boon application from that Ally in an AOE radius around them - 5 Target cap. 

WELLS:

Get rid of Well of Tears. It's the most dull of a dull set of utilities.  

New Ability - Shadow Scepter. 

"Increases the damage and healing of your scepter abilities for x duration and increase the range of these abilities to 1500 during this period"

Get rid of Shadowfall Ult.
New Ability. Shadows Embrace:

If Ally is targeted:

"Tether to the target and 4 other Ally's with the lowest HP, be forced into Shadow Shroud and generate maximum Shadow power. A % of all damage received by tethered allies is redirected to the Specter at a reduced value so long as they remain in Shroud. Lasts X duration. Ends early if shroud breaks. Direct damage (non AoE) received from any other source deals twice as much Shadow Power damage to you" 

If Enemy is targeted:

"Tether to the enemy target and 4 other enemies in range dragging them into the Shadow Realm with you, be forced into Shadow Shroud and generate maximum Shadow power. Pulse x damage and periodically apply conditions. Exit shroud to sever the tethers dealing more damage the more Shadow Power you have. Shadow Power drains steadily whilst this ability is active and direct damage received deals twice as much Shadow Power damage to you."

Consume Shadows

Get RID of Consume Shadows. It's too powerful for an adept trait and it shapes the spec far too much for such a low level trait. The above changes would allow far more consistent healing to be applied similar to other heal support classes. I don't care what this trait is changed to but it has to go in order for the spec to feel interesting in any way. Either that or reduce its power substantially. 

Alacrity

As I said, the current way Specter generates alac is annoying and not enjoyable. Change Traversing Darkness to interact with tether. 
"Apply alacrity to your tethered target and 4 others around them."

This way, tether becomes a foundational part of how the spec plays. It makes Alac less annoying to apply - boons should never be annoying to apply and it also means you will WANT to use siphon off CD in order to provide AoE healing or AoE damage, and also apply Alac.  Instead of the current use of just spamming siphon off CD to generate shadow power 90% of the time.

Suddenly it becomes far more interesting when your siphon comes off CD. 

Do I want to use this tether window to churn out heals and boons or do I want to use it for damage output. 

Your ultimate likewise becomes a choice of, do we need help soaking a big incoming dmg spike or are we in an add phase where the AoE damage will help. Do I stay in shadows embrace to generate more condi damage or do I sever as quickly as possible to burst out a big chunk of power damage to phase the encounter. 

TARGETTING

This is so easy it hurts. 

Whilst tethered and Siphon is on CD, pressing Siphon again will target your currently tethered Ally... Boom. Sorted. Thank you. 

Tether is such a cool mechanic, let it be what makes the spec interesting to play. Have it as the cornerstone mechanic the rest of the spec dances around.

Anyway, I doubt most will read all this so. Just my 2 cents.

Edited June 19, 2022 by Violetspawn.6421

[Dante.1508]

Its an awesome class leave it as it is.. only make targeting players a switch skill.

[FreshF.5793]

After seeing the upcoming balance-patch it seems like the devs do not read this thread at all 😢

[Vidit.7108]

I frankly, no longer feel confident about discussing or recommending changes to thief/Specter, until we are some point given confirmation that devs are looking here in this topic, or in the forum. Again I don't say this because I feel specifically ignored, but because since this Elite Spec was previewed up to this most recent balance patch, changes to thief/Specter have been scarce and rarely if at all actually addressed issues players have repeatedly expressed in this forum. 

Getting into some of the problems with the changes to SA meant to help Specter upkeep protection (in PvE) are not really worth the time until it's clear that there are personnel available to act on that feedback.

Edited June 28, 2022 by Vidit.7108

[LoreChief.8391]

The changes with today are terrible for Scepter, Specter, and Stealth as a whole.  I've written my thoughts in their own thread, but honestly todays patch was a huge loss for Thief playstyles and interesting mechanics as a whole.

[Ivaldi.5076]

Did they ever fix specter to be playable with Action Camera?

[Solstice.5790]

I can only talk about Specter as I don't really enjoy DE and DD a lot, and mostly for WvW raid groups to that.

 

Adding support aspects to stealth entry / exit in Shadow Arts did little to nothing for support Specter, since we simply do not use stealth utilities - losing stealth on heal / steal skills dropped the previously great synergies from pre-patch SA even more.

The new personal heal on Shadowstep is pointless with ~400hp on celestial at around 20k max.

So to benefit from the new SA traits personally and as group support, we're pretty much forced to drop yet another class defining well utility for Shadow Refuge. Shadowstep to gap close and stun break being the first.

 

Relatively long casts for short range Shadowsteps that put you right in the middle of trouble, if you're not interrupted by any CC or insurmountable obstacles (like steps, or grass...), make the class just as clunky to play as recoiling yourself away from the target you're trying to chase down.

There are still simply better alternatives to support a group, that don't have that many strange quirks and limitations.

Edited June 29, 2022 by Solstice.5790

[FreshF.5793]

5 hours ago, Solstice.5790 said:

losing stealth on heal / steal skills dropped the previously great synergies from pre-patch SA even more.

This!

[FreshF.5793]

Also the following is really not sophisticated for a PvE-Support Specter:

"Hide in Shadows: Reduced cooldown from 40 seconds to 30 seconds in PvP only.

Blinding Powder: Reduced cooldown from 50 seconds to 40 seconds in PvP only.

Shadow Refuge: Reduced cooldown from 60 seconds to 48 seconds in PvP and WvW"

 

...but PvE stays the same.

 

The only two skills, that can give allies instantly stealth, do no longer have a reduced cooldown anymore, since "Hidden Thief has been reworked.", whereas also the player himself has less stealth options to stealth due to Hidden Thief no longer grants stealth when using a heal-skill. 😕

 

That means the only options to grant your allies (5 Targets) stealth as a specter / thief are:

1. Blinding Powder (40s CD)
2. Shadow Refuge (60s CD)
3. Shadow Portal (60s CD) - which needs to be accessible from both sides for PvE (in my opinion)
4. Combo Blaster Finisher of Smoke Field (e.g. 25s CD on smoke screen)

 

But the Devs created traits , that ONLY trigger when allies get stealthed:

1. Merciful Ambush: "Heal (439 Health) when you enter or exit stealth (also granted to stealthed allies). Stealth yourself and your target when reviving an ally."
2. Shadows Embrace: "Remove Conditions when you enter or exit stealth (also granted stealthed allies)."
3. Cover of Shadow: "Gain Protection (3 seconds) when you enter or exit stealth (also granted to stealthed allies)."
4. Panakus Ambition: "When you apply stealth to allies, you also grant them barrier".

Why do You (@Devs) make these traits, when they are accessible only every 40 seconds (e.g. Blinding Powder)?

How do You (@Devs)   think Protection of 3 seconds every 40 seconds can make sense in PvE when other classes can easily maintain100% uptime?

 

Reduce Cooldowns, increase the uptime, and give support-thief more boons, e.g. Regneration, Stability, Aegis, Resolution.

 

I don't know if You (@Devs) know about it, but I have heard there is another traitline somewhere called Acrobatics, that would love to meet You (@Devs). Must be hidden in the shadows... 🤭

 

Another Point:

You (@Devs) put Shielding Restoration and Shadows Embrace in the same Major-Column, where the player has to decide between granting condi-cleanse (e.g. every 40s with blinding powder) or granting 1.044 barrier by using a heal skill.

Why can't thief have both? Support-Specter is already lacking condi-cleanse for 5 targets,  since there is only a sigil, that cleanses condis of 5 allies. Please reconsider this. 😛 

 

If devs really wanted a support-thief to come alive, they should have thought more about this..

 

Really disappointed, the Devs did not read all these great ideas the people share in this forum. 😢  

 

I dont wanna make advertise for myself... but I have invested a whole day thinking and writing about Reworks, Tweaks & Options to improve Gameplay with Specter (check it out

On 6/14/2022 at 12:02 AM, FreshF.5793 said:

Here are some points I hope the developers consider to change/improve:

1. Make the Shroud more impactful. Damage-wise and Support-Wise. The Damage does not feel strong at all. Maybe you could make it more rewarding using the shroud instead of waiting 5 secs and using Consume Shadows and spamming 3 Scept/Dagger again. Enemies should be feared of Shadow-Shroud instead of waiting until the next burst from weapon skills comes:
   1. Haunt Shot:
      Give Might to the entire group instead of 1 ally. Since The generation of might for my group is capped at 3 Stacks with Thrill of the Crime, give the Specter other options to stack might for the group. Haunt Shot could be one of them. Also the condi-dmg is pretty low right now.
   2. Grasping Shadows:
      The only Condi-Cleanse-skill you gave the specter which cleanses only 1 Condition. Change the Condi-Cleanse to 5 targets instead of 1 and increase the amount of condis removed so it can compete with skills e.g. from the firebrand (Mantra of Lore or Chapter 2: Radiant Recovery). Firebrand skills cleanse 2 or 3 condis per use and have multiple charges. So why not make the condi-cleanse on the shroud of specter strong as well, since you have limited time to use it. The damage of this skill is not impactful as well right.
      I would suggest increasing the radius of the field, since I found myself in many situations where I put the field off target. Also increase the duration and the cooldown.
      
      Alternatively besides increasing the radius I thought about a game-mechanic like the revenant has one:
      Adjust the skill equal to "Project Tranquility" which is a field that is permanently active, but can be moved when using the skill. Change it to a pulsing field, that cleanses condis every second, and puts damage on enemies every second. Since you dont have unlimited time in Shadow-Shroud this is something special, which makes staying in Shadow-Shroud more appealing.
       
   3. Dawn's Response:
      Inflicting Fear fits the Style of Shadow Shroud pretty well. Though i would suggest here to give 5 Allies a Minimum-Barrier of 1605 instead of 1 Ally. Also the ranges of it could be a little higher (600 leap, 240 barrier).
       
   4. Eternal Night:
      It has a surprisingly high power-dmg but and good condi-dmg (4 Stacks of Poison), which is only useful, when you are playing the deadly-arts traitline. From a support-perspective there is nothing besides a heal for 1 group-mate (change it to 4 allies). Please consider adding some supportive boons to it. Maybe quickness would fit it pretty well, as it looks like a very aggressive skill. But i would actually suggest stronger defensive boons like protection and resolution, or even aegis to the teammates.
   5. Mind Shock:
      A mediocre AoE stun which gives stability for 1 groupmate. I would consider changing the the stability to 5 Targets. What i really do not like about this AoE skill, is the yellow field below me. I have no idea how long it takes to be activated since it is not mentioned in the skill-tooltip. It feels like 3-4 seconds which is way too long. Reduce the activation time please. Also the stability-base-duration should be at least 5 seconds. Since the skill takes so long to activate it is very hard e.g. in pve-boss encounters to time the stability to the correct time (remember you are also time-capped due to being in shadow-shroud). The Duration-Increase-Per-Target is also very strange because if there are more enemies who can cc you, you need more stability instead of a longer duration. I would rather suggest giving the skill 3 base stability for 5 seconds + extra Stability per target struck. Since it is hard to land because of the activation time, it should be worth it.
       
2. Scepter-skills from the specter. Still funny. So first of all. I like the animations from skill 1 and 3. Graphic and Sound-Design-wise they are awesome. But gameplay-design-wise I there are downsides I would like to see changed:
   1. Shadow-Bolt:
      I can not say they do much damage, but that is ok. They are auto-attacks. They should do less damage then e.g. dagger or a staff with auto-attacks, since it they are melee. Giving barrier to 1 player is also okay, though the targeting in strike/raid-content really sucks: → *A pretty important QoL-Update would be adding health-bars above the players heads. Give it a toggle-option in settings and everybody is happy. Many other MMOs got it too. For Single-Target Support this is in my eyes essential!* 
   2. Shadow Sap:
      This skill does not deal damage, neither does it support your group. This skill needs to be changed entirely in my opinion.
      
      Proposals:
      Change Skill 2 to a ground-targeted AoE, which gives 5 might to all allies in the radius (300 radius should be enough) + Barrier. Since you would have to use all of your 12 initiative to give only 20 might to your group, i would upper the duration of might or give even more stacks of might then just 5. We do not want to spam 2, since it should be fun, shouldn't it? 
      When we talk about the condi-side of this skill, I would add at least vulnerability to it, since the specter it self does not bring any vulnerability-skills.
      To make this skill also interesting for DPS-builds I would add a damaging condition like Bleeding (since there is no bleeding-condis at all, though we have a super new trait now for this) and burning or torment.
      The reason why adding burning is a proposal of the skill-design. Use the existing Projectile animation but make it explode on the ground, leaving a dark-purple fire-field with taller dark flames at the edges of the radius. As a sample I imagine it like the flames from the amaterasu in the anime naruto. Here is a picture of the flames (https://naruto.fandom.com/wiki/Amaterasu).
      Besides looking like a fire-field, the skill should be a Fire-field and a Blast-Finisher (not the first skill that has to combo-uses, referring to "Black Powder"). This would help generating additional might, while also showing the people how to do some easy combos.
   3. Twilight-Combo:
      The main dmg-skill which is spammed by every dps-player until there is no initiative left. The graphic-design is very nice. The damage-side is good as well. Boosting 1 teammate with barrier is also okay. But what I really do not understand is giving 5 secs of Swiftness to 1 ally. Especially since every build has to use the Trickery Traitline because of iniative. Thrill of Crime gives swiftness for 5 ppl. That is enough. 
      The animation looks like it should be accelerating your group. Change it, so the projectile accelerates 4 allies that are near to the user and near to the impact. Give them either superspeed or quickness. Swiftness is not useful at all here. 
   4. Measured Shot:
      It has low power dmg and immobilizes. That is ok. What should be changed is the travel-distance to heal allies. The travel-distance to allies is 300. Compared to a staff 2 from guardian which has 1.200 it is way to low. A guardian can stand at his position and heal without any risks. If a specter ports to a location to support an ally it is higher risk (maybe the ally is standing in dmg-field or whatever). And if the specter is too far away, he uses the initiative but without healing someone, cause the ally is still to far away. My proposal would be increasing the travel-distance at least also to 900 when used on an ally, which is still less then the staff 2.
      Another suggestion is to changing it to a pulsing heal-field, when using it on allies. The burst-healing might be okay for specter, but there is no sustained healing. Leaving a waterfield-combo when porting to an ally would be very useful and help with the sustained healing.
   5. Endless Night:
      Speaking of sustained healing. Currently the only skill, that gives sustained healing to only 1 ally is Endless Night. Channelling the skill for 2.5 seconds gives 5 seconds of regeneration for 1 ally. In its current state Endless Night is useless. Same goes for the quickness part. About 3 seconds of quickness with full boon-duration for a cast-time of 2,5 seconds for only 1 ally is not useful for a support class, since you want to other stuff too, right?
      So what should be changed. Give regeneration and quickness around the target and around the user (e.g. like scourge) in a radius of 300. Alternatively you just give the caster+allies regeneration, but while targeting an enemy, since other support classes can heal+attack the enemy.
      They are 2 options:
      1. Targeting an ally should be more impactful, because the specter looses dps when targeting an ally with his skills (Regeneration and Quickness). 
      2. Targeting an enemy gives a little dps but also Regeneration to allies even when I do not target them directly.
         
         Besides the Support-Side the Damage of Endless Night needs to be increased by a lot. Increase the Tormet-Duration. Add bleeding-damage so dps-builds see a use in "Deadly Ambush" from Trickery.
          
3. Combo-Finisher? In the new Expansion EoD we were introduced to Combo-Finishers. It was required to progress. But when I started EoD I was surprised there were no finisher for the Scepter-Skills. Here my suggestions to Scepter-Skills:
   1.  Shadow-Bolt-Chain: Projectile Finisher (maybe 20% like Shortbow for example)
   2. Shadow Sap: Fire-Field, Blast-Finisher
   3. Twilight Combo: Whirl-Finisher
   4. Measured Shot: Water-Field at the ally who the caster teleported to, Dark-Field left at position where you teleported away  from, when enemey targeted
   5. Endless Night: Projectile-Finisher or nothing
       
4. Utility skills. Wells. Graphic design is nice. But the cast-time of some of them is too long. Also I find my self not being able to use them, when I am targeting a boss. Maybe because shadowstepping to that location is not possible. What's totally missing is a stunbreak. Here a my suggestions:
   1. Well of Gloom:
      This skill has good healing. What should be deleted is the Cripple. When I use a heal-skill I want to stealth and get out of fight (at least in open world). Pulsing Cripple and Targets does not help here. 
      Addionally I would either give this skill a group condi-cleanse (1 condi) or area-stealth so it can benefit from the trait "Panakus Ambition". The current group-stealth utility-options are Shadow Refuge with 60 second cooldown or blinding powder with 40 seconds.
   2. Well of Bounty:
      A nice idea which helps the group filling gaps in boon-uptime for some boons.
      Though I would change the order a little. Resistance is most of the time not needed in PvE and could be lower priority. 
   3. Well of Silence:
      A pulsing CC skill which is not really needed because of the cc the Ultimates have. This woud be the skill i would give a stun-break to. But also it would need rework, since it would make more sense puting the aoe-field on the location you left with a shadowstep, then the target location. Also condi-cleanse or barrier together with a stunbreak would be nice.
   4. Well of Sorrow:
      This skill could use a little more condi-damage. Also it does not apply burning, even though the tooltips says "inflicts foes with any damaging condition they don't already have".
   5. Well of Tears:
      A power-version of Well of Sorrow. Have not used it a single time. Might be more useful if you play alac-support with harrier stats, since you have more power.
   6. Shadowfall (Elite): 
      I do not see any use for this skill, besides pulling mobs together or giving extra alac/heal. Since the cooldown with 75 seconds is way too high and does not provide more cc than basilisk venom (40 seconds cooldown) I would consider a rework. 
      Since this should be a support spec, it should get a support elite. 
      Proposals/Ideas:
      - all allies in the area siphoned for 10 seconds and get the heal from shroud-skills (maybe 60 seconds cooldown)
      - pulsing healing/ barrier to your group (+ stealth for 20 seconds)
      - a unique boon, that increases healing or condition-damage for group, or reduces incoming damage
      - the next 5 seconds you gain increased shadow-force or a passive that increases shadow-force gain, or refill shadow force when skill is used
      - regain initiative
      
      There are many options.
       
5. Siphon (Steal-Ability):
   A great idea. Brings some damage (though torment should be added), soft-cc and and 3x might, fury, swiftness (with Thrill of crime). Downside on this is that it currently only works, when you siphon on a foe. You do NOT give your group boons when you siphon on an ally. This needs to be changed very soon, since this should be a support-specialization.
    
6. Traitline of the Specter. Next to the traitline of the specter, the other traitlines need to be adjusted as well. Especially Acrobatics (which gives +240 Concentration, but only self-sufficient traits) and Shadow-Arts (Shadow-Saviour [360 Range] from SA and Traversing Dusk [240 Range] from Specter both give healing when shadow-stepping. Same effect but different range. Also only 3/12 traits in this traitline are helping the group. Merciful Ambush. Shadow-Saviour. Meld with Shadows). But lets focus on the specter traitline here:
   1. Specter (minor):
      You don't get too much Shadow-Force from spending initiative (1%). Additionally it is lowered by 3 initiative. Having only 9 initiative lets you use 3 skills and your initiative is gone. This leads to being forced to take the Trickery traitline → lower variety because you can either take acrobatics for more boon-duration or shadow-arts for more stealth. Not both.
      Proposal:
      Remove the decrease of initiative.
   2. Second Opinion (major):
      I used this rarely. This trait bring only +120 healing power, which already has a bad scaling (compared to Firebrand with "Imbued haste" giving +250 Condi, +250 Vitality, +250 Healing Power). Additionally you get 7% of you Condition Damage converted to healing power. Which would force you to take a plague-doctor, since there is no Prefix available that brings Condition Damage, Healing Power, Boon Duration. This includes, that when you want to play a support-build you have to bring condition damage? Seems contradictory to me. 
      Unless you execute some of the changes of the weapon-skills I mentioned before more healing power will not be useful. 
      Compared to Consume Shadows it is underperforming, whereas my suggestion would be changing it to a trait, that brings damage to the table, adds more initiative or more shadow-force.
      Or make this a trait, so you can siphon more then one ally (2 charges of siphon) at the same time.
   3. Shallow Grave (major):
      Did not use this trait. It would be useful, when you would change the elite in a manner, that you can tether 5 allies instead of 1 for a short duration.
   4. Consume Shadows (major):
      Very nice heal+barrier trait. Since the current Shadow Shroud is not strong everybody picks it for some extra healing and barrier. When the shroud-skills get buffed, this might not be that interesting anymore. Also it takes quite a bit to get fully shadow force why I don't think it is overperforming right now. You also can not use it instantly, which requires you to think some steps ahead. Good trait.
   5. Dark Sentry (minor):
      Since the venom got nerved and you dont have many skills to apply barrier to a group right now, it is a good trait. Though I would like to see it profiting from the Shadow Arts Trait "Leeching Venoms" to get lifesteal for your allies.
      20% Heal increase is good.
   6. Larcenous Tormet:
      A DPS-Trait. From 20% → 10% torment-damage decreased. Quite a lot. 15% would have been fine, since thief has low hitpoints (higher risk, higher reward). Alternatively add a "Inflict Torment when Crit" section to this. Making the autoattack stronger as a compensation does not feel like more fun in my opinion. 
   7. Amplified Siphoning:
      Besides increasing the barrier on siphoning an ally it should heal at first and barrier when the ally has 100% hp. Giving Specter 2 charges of siphon would also fit here pretty well. The increase shadow-force-gain is not that exciting since it only works on foes and you either want to play DPS (Larcenous Torment) or Support (Traversing Dusk). 
   8. Traversing Dusk:
      Heal on Shadowstep + Alacrity on Wells. What I do not like about this trait is
      1. that Alacrity does currently NOT increase Initiative-Generation. Please connect initiative to alacrity. This would mean the world the world to me.
      2. the instant Alacrity. If allies are outside of the well and step inside, they do not get Alacrity. Make it to pulsing Alacrity instead. 
   9. Panaku's Ambition:
      Cool Trait. Maybe you could add lifesteal to the Rot Vallow Venom in here.
   10. Strentgh of Shadows:
       Nice trait.
   11. Hungering Darkness:
       The Condition-Transfer is currently only useful for 1 ally. Change it to maximum 4 allies with a radius of 360. Would be way more useful then and actually be taken over "Shadestep".
   12. Shadestep:
       So much fun. I love helping people. 33% revive-potential is nice. Though I do not understand why the caster does not get barrier when targeting an ally. Sharing barrier is also nice, though right now you don't get a lot of it. Mostly it is around 500-1000 Barrier per ally. 

I hope this finds its way to the developers of the game so they at least read it and maybe consider some of these changes/ideas.

These proposals are from a thief-main with 1.700h thief-playtime. Not much but also not few. If you have questions just contact me.

 

Have a good day. 

 

Sincerely yours, 

Robin Grooth
(ingame name)

)

... whereas I should have continued to write my Bachelor Thesis during that time 😄 

 

PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE, let the Devs read this Thread to help them make Specter better ❤️ 

Edited June 29, 2022 by FreshF.5793
Spelling

[Lithril Ashwalker.6230]

5 hours ago, FreshF.5793 said:

Also the following is really not sophisticated for a PvE-Support Specter:

"Hide in Shadows: Reduced cooldown from 40 seconds to 30 seconds in PvP only.

Blinding Powder: Reduced cooldown from 50 seconds to 40 seconds in PvP only.

Shadow Refuge: Reduced cooldown from 60 seconds to 48 seconds in PvP and WvW"

 

...but PvE stays the same.

 

The only too skills, that can give allies instantly stealth, do no longer have a reduced cooldown anymore, since "Hidden Thief has been reworked.", whereas also the player himself has less stealth options to stealth due to Hidden Thief no longer grants stealth when using a heal-skill. 😕

 

That means the only options to grant your allies (5 Targets) stealth as a specter / thief are:

1. Blinding Powder (40s CD)
2. Shadow Refuge (60s CD)
3. Shadow Portal (60s CD) - which needs to be accessible from both sides for PvE (in my opinion)
4. Combo Blaster Finisher of Smoke Field (e.g. 25s CD on smoke screen)

 

But the Devs created traits , that ONLY trigger when allies get stealthed:

1. Merciful Ambush: "Heal (439 Health) when you enter or exit stealth (also granted to stealthed allies). Stealth yourself and your target when reviving an ally."
2. Shadows Embrace: "Remove Conditions when you enter or exit stealth (also granted stealthed allies)."
3. Cover of Shadow: "Gain Protection (3 seconds) when you enter or exit stealth (also granted to stealthed allies)."
4. Panakus Ambition: "When you apply stealth to allies, you also grant them barrier".

Why do You (@Devs) make these traits, when they are accessible only every 40 seconds (e.g. Blinding Powder)?

How do You (@Devs)   think Protection of 3 seconds every 40 seconds can make sense in PvE when other classes can easily maintain100% uptime?

 

Reduce Cooldowns, increase the uptime, and give support-thief more boons, e.g. Regneration, Stability, Aegis, Resolution.

 

I don't know if You (@Devs) know about it, but I have heard there is another traitline somewhere called Acrobatics, that would love to meet You (@Devs). Must be hidden in the shadows... 🤭

 

Another Point:

You (@Devs) put Shielding Restoration and Shadows Embrace in the same Major-Column, where the player has to decide between granting condi-cleanse (e.g. every 40s with blinding powder) or granting 1.044 barrier by using a heal skill.

Why can't thief have both? Support-Specter is already lacking condi-cleanse for 5 targets,  since there is only a sigil, that cleanses condis of 5 allies. Please reconsider this. 😛 

 

If devs really wanted a support-thief to come alive, they should have thought more about this..

 

Really disappointed, the Devs did not read all these great ideas the people share in this forum. 😢  

 

I dont wanna make advertise for myself... but I have invested a whole day thinking and writing about Reworks, Tweaks & Options to improve Gameplay with Specter (check it out

)

... whereas I should have continued to write my Bachelor Thesis during that time 😄 

 

PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE, let the Devs read this Thread to help them make Specter better ❤️ 

two*

[Fang.8291]

The Removal of the AoE Indicator on Spectre Shroud Skill 5 "Mind Shock" makes the blast component of the skill 

unnecessarily hard to use in situations where you want to line them up with Pistol 5 "Black Powder".

[FreshF.5793]

17 hours ago, Fang.8291 said:

The Removal of the AoE Indicator on Spectre Shroud Skill 5 "Mind Shock" makes the blast component of the skill 

unnecessarily hard to use in situations where you want to line them up with Pistol 5 "Black Powder".

Totally agree. It is very irritating. Change the color to purple or sth. Would fit the theme 😛 

Edited July 2, 2022 by FreshF.5793

[Ghin.1653]

I don't know if it's been brought up at all but there is actually an opportunity here for an amazing piece of synergy in the trait tree that doesn't exist yet.

 

Thrill of the Crime - Fury, might & swiftness when you steal.
Bountiful Theft - Rip boons from your target and grant them to allies (Steal)

As a Spectre, you can "Siphon" allies (Steal)

 

This would essentially allow spectre's to take 3 boons from an ally and regrant it to the group. It would need some tweaks for how it does this exactly so as to not straight up steal boons from an ally and leave them vulnerable but it would make it amazing for spectre's. Thrill of the crime should also trigger when targeting an ally.

 

Rot Wallow Venom is interesting but lacking. If it wasn't consumed when an ally attacks but just stacked so allies applied multiple stacks of torment as you barrier them it could be an interesting way to play. Also considering its a venom, I believe it should synergize with Leeching Venoms, so that players that attack with stacks of Rot Wallow Venom can siphon life. Barrier allies to allow steal healing if you will.

 

I also think any negative effect that steal would apply to enemies should apply the reverse effect to allies. There's a legit conversion list for what boons corrupted into conditions and conditions purified into boons become and it would be a great opportunity to make unique usage of it. Unsure of what daze could reverse into other than quickness. That or cause allies siphoned from to apply these ailments via Rot Wallow Venom, such as Deadly Ambition causing the dual attack to add poison to the next stack of Rot Wall Venom.

 

There are a few inconsistencies with radius on both the thief and spectre trait tree's. 

Shadow Savior - Heal after completing a shadowstep, heal allies for greater amount. 360 radius

Traversing Dark - Heal allies in area around you when you shadowstep - 240 radius

Similar concept, worse healing radius on Spectre? Why?

 

Improvisation currently has no synergy with Spectre as no stolen skills are obtained.

 

Spectre is a weird mix idea of applying ailments & barrier with occasional healing, but unlike other elite specs is heavy on the single target on weapons. If its gonna be single target heavy, it needs to give good chunks to the target player. One way you could set him apart is perhaps Barrier applied from Spectre lasts longer? Or perhaps has a higher healing co-efficient when applying Barrier (more effective).

 

That's all my current thoughts on it for the moment.

[Valisha.8650]

1. Getting an option to disable targeting allies would be great.

2. Well of Gloom should heal at least 1 condition.

[Dante.1508]

7 hours ago, Valisha.8650 said:

1. Getting an option to disable targeting allies would be great.

2. Well of Gloom should heal at least 1 condition.

3 would be on par with other classes.

[nopoet.2960]

With the changes to SA, one change that could really help support Specter is putting a 1 sec. stealth on Well of Bounty. 

[Phewlm.3148]

How about adding a trait that increased the number of tethered allies to 4? 

This will give the specter more of a similar healing capacity to that of druids and scourges. It can be limited to first 5 sec in shroud or something like that, if needed.🤔

 

Additionally reducing after-cast on especially dual skills would help with the slugginess feeling on both sc/d and sc/p. What I cherish about thief is that it feels fast and smooth, and I want specter to feel more like a thief elite spec.

[Lithril Ashwalker.6230]

3 hours ago, Phewlm.3148 said:

How about adding a trait that increased the number of tethered allies to 4? 

This will give the specter more of a similar healing capacity to that of druids and scourges. It can be limited to first 5 sec in shroud or something like that, if needed.🤔

 

Additionally reducing after-cast on especially dual skills would help with the slugginess feeling on both sc/d and sc/p. What I cherish about thief is that it feels fast and smooth, and I want specter to feel more like a thief elite spec.

improvisation was already suggested by myself and many others since we dont have stolen skills we have access to while using specter