Elite spec concept: Shadowbuilder

[Squeesidhe.4761]

One of the things I really liked when playing my Engineer was positioning my turrets to "shape" the battlefield. I don't know if it was effective or not, but I liked putting my rocket on high ground to make it harder to take out, my thumber in chokepoints, etc. 

 

That got me thinking: I'd love it if this concept of "shaping the battlefield to your advantage" was the theme of the next Thief Elite spec. I understand that this idea is just for fun; whatever the next spec is is well under way at Anet and is probably locked in. But regardless, this is what I was thinking:

 

Shadowbuilder: the Thief is able to sculpt the shadows themselves into offensive and defensive turrets.

 

Essentially, while Specter is "borrowing" from Necromancer, Shadowbuilder will borrow from Engineer. Whereas the main skills for Specter are all shadowsteps/wells, the main skills for Shadowbuilder would be permanent turrets. They'd probably look like columns of shadow or floating shadow orbs or something, and have a variety of effects like shooting at any enemy that came near, slowing enemies, applying boons to self / allies... the usual.

 

Pressing the skill button again should destroy the turret and teleport the Thief to its location, and create a short-lived Well under her feet. The wells would do the usual well-type things: healing, applying condition or boon effects, etc. 

 

So, the idea here is for the Thief to prepare a killing ground. Take the time and do it skillfully and it should be deadly; do it less skillfully and, meh. You're probably going to die. So, like pretty much most Thief things. 

 

If you want mobility or the well effects, you have to dismantle your killing ground. So, there's a tradeoff to consider.

 

Maybe playing into the "sculpting shadows" theme, maybe other skills could create shadow weapons or something. Probably not pets, though one day I'd love a Thief pet class.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Squeesidhe.4761]

It occurred to me that shadowstepping to a turret by destroying it could be really annoying if you want to quickly clean up after a battle, reset your cooldowns, and move on. An Engineer can clean up her turrets by blowing them all up, but in this Shadowbuilder concept you'd end up teleporting all around your killing field before all your turret skills were on cooldown.

 

Maybe the solution to this likes in the F1/F2 class utility. Pressing F1 would instantly detonate every turret you have out, granting one of five progressively more powerful F2 skills (assuming one turret is an elite skill, for a total of five). F2 would then use that skill. 

 

So again, fun tradeoffs maybe? If you end a battle with all of your turrets out, your F2 skill can be the most powerful. Destroy turrets during a battle for boons or mobility, you might still be able to do an F2 skill, but it won't be the best one. Likewise if you mix other Thief skills in with your turret skills; you'll maybe have more flexibility but will have tradeoffs in other ways. 

Edited September 30, 2022 by Squeesidhe.4761

[Kulvar.1239]

Sounds more like something a Mesmer would do. Creating illusory element on the battlefield.

[Squeesidhe.4761]

On 10/1/2022 at 10:33 AM, Kulvar.1239 said:

Sounds more like something a Mesmer would do. Creating illusory element on the battlefield.

I would say it's more like what an Engineer does. Actually, it's pretty much Necro Flesh Wurm, except with Wells instead of poison. 

[Kulvar.1239]

3 minutes ago, Squeesidhe.4761 said:

I would say it's more like what an Engineer does. Actually, it's pretty much Necro Flesh Wurm, except with Wells instead of poison. 

I'm not talking about where the inspiration come from, but which class is more likely to create illusory constructs.

[Squeesidhe.4761]

On 10/3/2022 at 8:42 AM, Kulvar.1239 said:

I'm not talking about where the inspiration come from, but which class is more likely to create illusory constructs.

Elite specs are no longer that stringently defined. Specter borrows a lot from Necro, for example (until the spec was destroyed today).

 

Also, I'm not sure why you're assuming the shadow turrets would be illusory. Thieves are able to manipulate shadows; it has nothing to do with illusions or mesmers. 

[Kulvar.1239]

1 hour ago, Squeesidhe.4761 said:

Elite specs are no longer that stringently defined. Specter borrows a lot from Necro, for example (until the spec was destroyed today).

 

Also, I'm not sure why you're assuming the shadow turrets would be illusory. Thieves are able to manipulate shadows; it has nothing to do with illusions or mesmers. 

Thieves use the same magic school than mesmers.

[Doggie.3184]

Can I build jumping puzzles in middle of battle out of shadow-walls/floors/ceilings, build turrets on roof and shadowstep between floor levels?

[Squeesidhe.4761]

1 hour ago, Kulvar.1239 said:

Thieves use the same magic school than mesmers.

Interesting, that makes sense. I always thought Mesmers shared some kind of DNA with Thieves. But if that's the case, then I see even less of an issue with a "Shadowbuilder" class making Mesmer-like structures. 

[Squeesidhe.4761]

7 minutes ago, Doggie.3184 said:

Can I build jumping puzzles in middle of battle out of shadow-walls/floors/ceilings, build turrets on roof and shadowstep between floor levels?

Sure, why not. Honestly, I've lost my enthusiasm for "fun" thought games like this one. Whatever Elite Spec Anet comes up with next expansion, within a year they'll have nerfed it into the dirt.