Will you be making a Specter when EoD Launches?

[Vidit.7108]

I'm interested in if you are interested in Specter.

Feel free to wait until after the last beta concludes or until the next update from Arena Net on what to expect from Specter. 

If you change your mind later let me know here why.

[RyuDragnier.9476]

I chose Other. I will make my Daredevil a Specter spec, if, and ONLY if they actually make it a good support. Which means as of right now it's not likely unless they revert the changes they did to Specter's support and actually buff Shadow Shroud.

[Tails.9372]

Currently no, shroud feels extremely underwhelming especially given that they said that it is supposedly still adhering to that "aggressive gameplay thief is known for" which I don't see reflected in it at all.

Scepter is acceptable but could have been and should have been better in some areas. The AA is ok, weapon skill 2 should have been a 600 range ground targeted shadow step as I found the current weapon skill to be rather uninspired and underwhelming and that it doesn't really add anything of greater value to the weapon set. On the other hand we have Measured Shot which I think should get its shadow step removed as it's more of an annoying detriment than a useful utility.

Didn't really care that much for wells but ok, my only real gripe with them is that the offensive ones shouldn't have been shadow steps but that's about it for them.

The trait choices, especially now after the recent changes, for all but the Master ones are extremely lackluster as I generally get the feeling of having to choose the least bad option (especially for the Adept ones) instead of picking between multiple options I would have wanted but can't have at the same time.

Unlike most players seem to be I'm not against the theme they're going for but specter is way too altruistic for how limited the support is. This is supposed to be a single target and not a ten target support so the spec benefitting from all of its own support skills should have been a given.

All in all I would be willing to play the spec if they actually address the major issues people constantly bring up in a way that is mindful of why people see them as issues in the first place but sadly as of right now they seem to be more interested in fighting the symptoms of problems they don't fully understand than anything else and if on release they haven't made big improvements to what it is rn then I can't see myself playing this spec at all which is a shame as I thought that it had quite a lot of potential which I guess is still rather fitting as "having potential" ultimately just means that something "could be better".

Edited November 30, 2021 by Tails.9372

[Za Shaloc.3908]

I am interested in it, but admittedly I am a lot less hyped about it now after seeing the patch notes. Was my favorite beta espec to play and thematically and hypothetically fits everything I would want in a spec, but I do fear that they are going to be too conservative with it. I can't help but think that it's going to be a victim of its own uniqueness when the rest of the game follows different rules, and that it will see limited play because of this. Was hoping for some more substantial changes in regards to the tether mechanic and supporting allies while in shroud. Still time before EoD launch so we'll see. At the end of the day it is probably something I will just casually play in WvW for fun, provided they work on the UI and allied targeting integration. 

Edited November 29, 2021 by Za Shaloc.3908

[Zacchary.6183]

Already have a build lined up ready to tweak. I don't see myself using scepter much though, probably as a backup set for extra healing.

[kash.9213]

I'll have a Specter template and realistically I'll probably end up playing that more than other builds. I thought the Dawn's Repose dash was a little jankey but if the new version is more fluid to use then it will be an even better mid to large scale brawler. It felt best to top off friends and then to build Shadow Force quickly on enemies instead of staying tight on one of ours the whole time. 

[TwiceDead.1963]

I will be trying it. Out of boredom if nothing else.

[Graeaw.6329]

I wanted to do two things with Specter:

Play in group WvW

Play in Raids

So basically organised group-play (you know, the thing where Thief always fell short, and when it was good, it got nerfed)

 

With the current iteration, there isn't a single group that is going to say: guys, we need a Specter.

[Blood Red Arachnid.2493]

Of course I'm going to give Alacrithief a shot.  There's still a lot I'd like fixed on the spec (inconsistent wells, janky targeting system, forced movement, etc), but I can see myself using a Plaguedoctor set to make a high-damage healer spec.  

[DeanBB.4268]

I have Alts of each core profession already waiting with their 250 hero points, so will be making one of each new elite. I'll reserve judgement on each until then.

[Lucinellia.9247]

Yes, since I am a Thief main and love Condi Deadeye. Sc/D seems like it was made to directly replace that. However, I am going to make my statics suffer through Specter support until they start to complain, so that more voices can raise the fundamental problems with the mess that is single target healing in Guild Wars 2.

[Will.9785]

Thief main, and I won't be bothering with it.  I tried it during the first beta and again last night and its clear they are not listening. 

The profession is still nearly unplayable with action camera enabled, with many of the skills either not firing off at all, or not healing when they are supposed to.  The support is crap.  It's literally the worst support in the game and by a wide margin.  But you can give barrier to the WvW commander who already has barrier and every boon in the game, I guess?  It's complete garbage in PVE.

Oh and the new key binds.... yes, that's exactly what this game needed.  More key binds!!!!  This was like slapping a Band-Aid on a gunshot wound.

Support should be ground targeted or AOE like every other support, but they won't listen.  They have it in their head that this is what they want to do so this is what's happening.  Nevermind the fact that literally NO ONE was asking for this type of support.  Some thief players asked for support and ANET did a monkey's paw on them.

Edited December 1, 2021 by Will.9785

[Vidit.7108]

I want to take a little bit of time to make sure I thank everyone who has responded in this topic and voted in the poll. I read every post.

Some thoughts after three days and nearly 50 votes:
"Yes, I have a thief and will be trying it out" took an early lead but since yesterday when beta 4 went live it's been losing a lot of ground to Maybe and No.
People interested in PvP aspects of the build were late to the party but have filled out a lot more.
There has been since the poll started high interet in using Specter for "Healing" but not a lot of people have said "Single Target Healing" interests them.

All of this could change of course if the next 50 votes are different.
Some flaws on my end: I realize I should have put raids/strikes as an option.
There were some others but I already forgot them.

Edited December 1, 2021 by Vidit.7108

[Zacchary.6183]

17 minutes ago, Vidit.7108 said:

"Single Target Healing" interests them.

Its a good thing there is aoe healing they like to ignore.

[Will.9785]

1 hour ago, Vidit.7108 said:

Some flaws on my end: I realize I should have put raids/strikes as an option.
There were some others but I already forgot them.

 

I chose "other" for question 2 because "nothing" wasn't an option.

[Antycypator.9874]

I have played thief for 5 years, and I'm not interested in specter.

First: It's condi. I always belived thief should be able to kill things fast, so power is the best choice.

Second: I can't support myself, so this is a failed spec already.

Third: Single target again. Rifle deadeye does enough in terms of being a single-target damage dealer... and which party/squad will ask for single target support?

[Zacchary.6183]

15 hours ago, Antycypator.9874 said:

I have played thief for 5 years, and I'm not interested in specter.

First: It's condi. I always belived thief should be able to kill things fast, so power is the best choice.

Second: I can't support myself, so this is a failed spec already.

Third: Single target again. Rifle deadeye does enough in terms of being a single-target damage dealer... and which party/squad will ask for single target support?

It and scepter have a lot of torment application, but all of Shadow Shrouds skills have a power scaling of 1 or more and most of the traits have synergy with core power and hybrid weapons.

Your self-support comes from Shroud HP, barriers and burst healing. Specters have so much of it in fact deft use will help you survive a lot of punishment. Check out these vids for some examples: https://en-forum.guildwars2.com/topic/105476-just-a-couple-power-spectre-scd-gameplay-raw-clips

You have Well of Gloom, Traversing Dusk/Shadow Savior and Consume Shadows which are all AoE heals. Shadestep will let you share your barrier with allies on shadowstep and therefore works well with TD/SS. Panaku's Ambition turns Shadow Refuge, Blinding Powder and blasting smoke fields into an AoE barrier provider because it makes stealthing allies grant a base 2k barrier. It also has built in +20% outgoing healing. And the best part about it is you don't really need a dedicated support build to accomplish any of this.

Edited December 4, 2021 by Zacchary.6183

[Infusion.7149]

If you have a thief and don't want to port around with d/d daredevil or pistol dagger on deadeye, specter is a fine choice for condi.

The bonus is unlike normal thief builds you are able to do something about when people are dying, much like scourge/cFB.

[Jugglemonkey.8741]

I think the single biggest issue I have with specter is the forced traitline choices. It feels to me like you must choose trickery and SA, or if you drop SA you must have D/P as your alt set, and that's not amazing from a buildcrafting PoV. 

[Borked.6824]

My formula for most classes is pretty simple:

If there's an alternative that can do this profession's job better and with more finesse, it goes in the trash.  This spec is not a jack of all trades or a master of anything.  It's getting binned.  Sticking with the DD, and I'll haul out the Firebrand if I want to do some proper support.

[Lex.3975]

Not interested at all. This is not why I chose to main thief all these years. Flavor wise, thief is a dps. You want a healer, you go for other classes. I understand that something new was needed to make thieves desirable in parties, but a healer spec was not it. They could have gone for something unique, like a debilitator, someone that puts hexes or something on enemies, making allies' attacks more potent against them. Or giving offensive boons like alacrity, quickness or might, though I prefer the first suggestion.

[Chrysaliss.8720]

As it stands now specter is really not fun to play. I think I will be making Bladesworn instead.

[Vidit.7108]

Now that it's been nearly twice as many votes and about a week since the beta:

"Yes" still is getting new votes but it has lost a lot of ground to "maybe" and "no"
A lot of votes that came after the beta show some changes in what people were interested in. Support and DPS have gotten a lot more votes while healing has gone down. (thought it is still increasing)
WvW/PvE interest is flat. 
Notably there isn't like a strong plurality in what's interesting about the Specter Specialization to respondents. Most respondents are people who already have a thief and we're not particularly like minded. Though there is obviously some bias being all thieves.
Closest to a majority of responses right now is Support 41/86, it was not always that close though.

It will be interesting to see as we get closer to release (maybe some patch notes? 5th beta?) if new votes shift the results further.

[nobleboivin.4102]

Got my thief to 80 and ready to go specter.  Only reason why  I remade my thief 😄

[Yumenei.7943]

I'm thief main and I will try Specter since it doesn't hurt but TBH there's no WOW!-effect for me. What intrests me is how it will fare in PVE and WvW group environment - anything that makes thieves more welcome in group content is a welcome change for us. As for sPvP I will probably stick to my regular builds (so long as they remain viable) coz I like this playstyle more.