Suggested Changes for (Heal) Alacrity Specter

[Lucinellia.9247]

Hello! I'm one of the few people who really want to see Heal Alacrity Specter as a more viable choice in endgame PvE. I've contributed to some guides, and while I am far from the best player at this, I do feel I have a reasonable grasp on what is needed to make Heal Alacrity Specter be in a slightly better place. With the upcoming balance patch, and hopefully feedback being considered after the preview on Friday 27th October, I thought it might be worthwhile outlining some minor changes that can be made that would substantially improve the QoL and viability of Heal Alacrity Specter in endgame PvE.

I remain of the firm opinion that healing and providing boons via single ally targeting in Guild Wars 2 is a mistake, but given the pace at which major design problems with Thief are rectified, I don't see an overhaul anytime soon. Therefore, my suggestions are on the basis that we will continue to use ally targeted abilities.

Currently, Heal Alacrity Specter is arguably the hardest healer to play mechanically. Heal Alacrity Specter is not held back by a lack of raw healing or barrier output (such as Mesmer and Warrior heal variants) but rather due to the complex combination of providing healing, barrier and boons through spending initiative with allies targeted, the tether elite profession mechanic, targeted area of effect abilities with forced movement, and spending initiative with enemies targeted.

Of these, targeting allies and the tether mechanic are particularly punishing since they necessitate a chosen ally behaving in a manner that is both predictable and conducive to boon uptime and distribution. This is not always the case and it is highly possible that an ally who otherwise stacks and positions well may need to handle a randomly selected mechanic in Strikes, Raids and Fractals. My suggested changes therefore look to alleviate these issues. Another major problem that currently faces Heal Alacrity Specter is Protection uptime, especially after losing the 6-piece Rune bonus associated with either Superior Rune of Durability or Superior Rune of the Herald. Without a viable Relic to replace these, changes are needed to ally Shadow Sap and the decreased effectiveness on allies to allow for better Protection uptime.

With that in mind, I suggest the following changes that will retain the current identity of Heal Alacrity Specter and also improve coherency of boon support mechanics on Thief:

1. Ally Shadow Sap Protection increased from a baseline of 4 seconds to 5 seconds.
2. Reduced effectiveness for non-targeted allies from Scepter abilities of 25%, instead of 50%. This would mean that the new splash baseline Protection on allies would be 3.75 seconds when considering the change suggested above. This also improves group barrier, Regeneration, Vigor and Swiftness (the latter if a player is running a Scepter/Dagger offset).
3. Increased range of ally targeted boon application via Scepter abilities to 480 units because you can't control where other players go and, with a smaller radius, boons are typically splashing to other subgroups.
4. Increased range of Alacrity and boon application from Shadestep to 480 units around the tether. Similar reasoning to the above - we can't control what other players do and this is a unique constraint for Specter.
5. Alacrity application around the Specter and the tethered target. The application around the Specter can likely get away with being smaller in area (even down to 240 to prioritise the tether as the main source), as it is mainly to compensate for the tether needing to leave the group. This would also improve consistency for boon application between Specter and Deadeye, affording better coherent identity to Thief boon supports.

These changes are primarily QoL improvements. They do not fix issues such as the ally target cap on Shadow Squall and Shadow Sap, nor do they help with Specter self-boons when there are no allies nearby (for example, kiting the Sniper shot on Kaineng Overlook Challenge Mode). These are aspects that should be considered too for future updates. Similarly, the "Nearest Ally", "Next Ally" and "Previous Ally" hotkeys still require attention to be useful for Heal Alacrity Specter as "Nearest Ally" can still select fully dead players, Mesmer clones and phantasms while "Next Ally" and "Previous Ally" extend this to issue to also selecting mini pets, NPCs and gizmos.

Thank you for considering this post.

Edited October 29, 2023 by Lucinellia.9247

[Lucinellia.9247]

A further advantage to making these changes is that points 4 and 5 also improve the QoL situation for DPS Alacrity Specter, who cannot as easily overcap on Alacrity due to lower boon duration.

[Caesium.4916]

I would like to agree with Lucinellia's suggestions. They are really good ideas to improve the specter in PvE without making it directly overpowered. Additionally, I'd like to express a few ideas here on how to improve the heal specter in largescale WvW.

1) The main problem with the Specter in WvW is that he cleans too few condis as a supporter. Compared to all other (support-)classes, there is a very clear disparity here. My idea here would be to rework Shallow Grave and make it similar to Abrasive Grit from Scourge: When distributing barrier, condis are removed. Here you could think about an internal cooldown if necessary.
2) To improve the healing of the Specter in WvW I would recommend to slightly increase the heal increase of Dark Sentry (currently it is at 10% in WvW; maybe increase it to 12% or 15% - you have to be sensitive here to not make it overpowerd). This would significantly improve all healing abilities.
3) Unlike in PvE, protection is not a problem in WvW. The reason is that Shadestep does not spread Alacrity in WvW, but Protection. But here I think that Alacrity is the better boon and would say that in WvW Alacrity should also be given instead of Protection. I think Alacrity will make Specter much more useful than it is at this point. But this point can be discussed, which boon is now more useful.

[Lucinellia.9247]

22 hours ago, Caesium.4916 said:

I would like to agree with Lucinellia's suggestions. They are really good ideas to improve the specter in PvE without making it directly overpowered. Additionally, I'd like to express a few ideas here on how to improve the heal specter in largescale WvW.

1) The main problem with the Specter in WvW is that he cleans too few condis as a supporter. Compared to all other (support-)classes, there is a very clear disparity here. My idea here would be to rework Shallow Grave and make it similar to Abrasive Grit from Scourge: When distributing barrier, condis are removed. Here you could think about an internal cooldown if necessary.
2) To improve the healing of the Specter in WvW I would recommend to slightly increase the heal increase of Dark Sentry (currently it is at 10% in WvW; maybe increase it to 12% or 15% - you have to be sensitive here to not make it overpowerd). This would significantly improve all healing abilities.
3) Unlike in PvE, protection is not a problem in WvW. The reason is that Shadestep does not spread Alacrity in WvW, but Protection. But here I think that Alacrity is the better boon and would say that in WvW Alacrity should also be given instead of Protection. I think Alacrity will make Specter much more useful than it is at this point. But this point can be discussed, which boon is now more useful.

These would be great changes to have too! They would result in a legitimate option between Shallow Grave and Consume Shadows within PvE too, adding a bit more depth to choices for Heal Alacrity Specter. Dark Sentry being buffed a small amount would also be reasonable in PvE, since we can already achieve a whole host of modifiers through food, sigils and utilities.

[Antrix.4512]

ANerf, if you don't listen to her, then... I don't even know... at the very least, I'll finally be fully convinced that you don't value the opinions of players who actually know the class and play your game.

[kash.9213]

On 10/28/2023 at 6:38 AM, Caesium.4916 said:

I would like to agree with Lucinellia's suggestions. They are really good ideas to improve the specter in PvE without making it directly overpowered. Additionally, I'd like to express a few ideas here on how to improve the heal specter in largescale WvW.

1) The main problem with the Specter in WvW is that he cleans too few condis as a supporter. Compared to all other (support-)classes, there is a very clear disparity here. My idea here would be to rework Shallow Grave and make it similar to Abrasive Grit from Scourge: When distributing barrier, condis are removed. Here you could think about an internal cooldown if necessary.
2) To improve the healing of the Specter in WvW I would recommend to slightly increase the heal increase of Dark Sentry (currently it is at 10% in WvW; maybe increase it to 12% or 15% - you have to be sensitive here to not make it overpowerd). This would significantly improve all healing abilities.
3) Unlike in PvE, protection is not a problem in WvW. The reason is that Shadestep does not spread Alacrity in WvW, but Protection. But here I think that Alacrity is the better boon and would say that in WvW Alacrity should also be given instead of Protection. I think Alacrity will make Specter much more useful than it is at this point. But this point can be discussed, which boon is now more useful.

I definitely need the protection output in WvW. It would be super hard to keep up with enemy output rate without what we have now with only healing and Barrier and even that will only maybe keep that small radius around you up through during a drive or bomb. 

I feel like we could also have Alacrity though, even if it's a little labored or staggered. It used to be helpful for siege users and during a fight, especially when it comes down to which side is maintaining a better pace while still being accurate. Even if the blob is lucky enough to be fully comp'd, you're Specter is going to have to respond to one disaster after another and I don't know if Anet knows those blobs actually split pretty often. I don't know what's overpowered about having Protection and Alacrity when neither is realistically sustained for the duration. 

Edited October 30, 2023 by kash.9213

[Micah.3789]

Hello fellow heal specter appreciator! You make some really great points and in such a respectful and eloquent way. I just hope the devs appreciate it as much as I do. I've noticed a lot of the same issues as you and have some thoughts of my own.

I actually think ally targeting was a good idea, though overly ambitious, poorly implemented and over taxed. Initiative cost skills are already trickier to balance than CD skills, but then scepter adds not only healing/support effects but also double the effective skills through split ally/enemy targeting. As you've mentioned, Shadow Sap is especially problematic. While a bit more protection duration would help, I think a rework would be better for healthy balance. Shadow Sap's potential potency and efficiency is limited by its spammable nature. With other initiative spenders, channel times and flip skills prevent the user from rapidly stacking the desired effects of a skill, but rather than more of the same, Shadow Sap could get a unique mechanic that better suits its theme. 

1. I suggest reworking Shadow Sap into a pulsing area effect around the specter. The specter would gain 3 sec of this unique effect per cast, stacking up to 10 sec, and pulsing every second. If targeting an ally, the gained effect would pulse barrier and protection. If targeting an enemy, the gained effect would pulse might and perhaps damage/weakness/torment? This would make ally targeting massively easier to manage as it wouldn't affect the aim of the skill; just targeting any ally at all would reliably give the same effect around you. Additionally, the stackable pulsing effect would allow for initiative to be spent at convenience without an abusably spammable result. A skill that's harder to abuse can safely be tuned up: 1-1.5 sec of protection per pulse would be reasonable I think. Enough to free up some initiative for actually healing. This skill would also have the added benefit of reliably proccing Rot Wallow Venom, opening up the possibility of a venom healing build with Leeching Venoms. All around good for QoL and unique class identity.

2. Ally targeted scepter skills should have no reduced effectiveness on additional allies, but the skills should be tuned down to compensate; probably about 20% or so.

3/4/5. I completely agree that beneficial effects should be given around both the specter and the target, but I would add the scepter skills to this and possibly leave out the extra radius. A modest radius around the specter plus the target would be more than enough to alleviate a lot of grief. It's downright painful that specter basically can't heal itself unless it's standing on top of an ally, and even then it's at 50% effectiveness. In the same vein, Endless Night shouldn't have facing requirements when targeting allies. I can't tell you how many times I've had my channel canceled by an ally suddenly moving behind me.

 

[Za Shaloc.3908]

What would make me the happiest is to have Siphon proc all of the core Steal traits when using Siphon on an ally. Some traits would have to be adjusted as simply as halving the duration/effectiveness due to the reduced cooldown on Siphon ally, others would necessitate unique "inverse" effects that capture the intention of the trait. Regardless, I want to feel encouraged and incentivized to use Siphon on an ally if I am playing support. It would allow for better control and more forgiveness over your tether target's positioning since you'd be able to freely swap your target every X seconds without sacrificing all of those important core Steal trait peocs. It is so jarring to have 2 traits in Specter to proc when using it on an ally, but have no other core traits proc. I'd also like to see Siphon ally grant (reduced) shadow force when used on an ally.

[Lucinellia.9247]

On 11/1/2023 at 5:57 AM, Micah.3789 said:

Hello fellow heal specter appreciator! You make some really great points and in such a respectful and eloquent way. I just hope the devs appreciate it as much as I do. I've noticed a lot of the same issues as you and have some thoughts of my own.

These are all excellent points and would work really well to alleviate the issues that we face. I do disagree slightly on ally targeting being a good idea - we lose out on so much awareness of boss HP, CC bar and boons compared with other healers - but we have it, Arenanet don't seem to want to change it, so we need to work with it! I think the suggestions and thoughts you've shared would also be a very viable way of improving Heal Alacrity Specter. I especially agree with the Endless Night channel requiring facing - that is super annoying! Thank you for sharing!

[Lucinellia.9247]

2 hours ago, Za Shaloc.3908 said:

What would make me the happiest is to have Siphon proc all of the core Steal traits when using Siphon on an ally. Some traits would have to be adjusted as simply as halving the duration/effectiveness due to the reduced cooldown on Siphon ally, others would necessitate unique "inverse" effects that capture the intention of the trait. Regardless, I want to feel encouraged and incentivized to use Siphon on an ally if I am playing support. It would allow for better control and more forgiveness over your tether target's positioning since you'd be able to freely swap your target every X seconds without sacrificing all of those important core Steal trait peocs. It is so jarring to have 2 traits in Specter to proc when using it on an ally, but have no other core traits proc. I'd also like to see Siphon ally grant (reduced) shadow force when used on an ally.

Another excellent point and something I would definitely like to see considered for QoL beyond the issues with Protection and boon radius! Ally Siphon already gets used quite a lot if a player is frequently jumping between nearest and personal targets, or needs to reset the Tether due to distance issues, so improving this would definitely add to the flow of the build in regards to forced target swapping. Thank you also for sharing!

[Lightsbane.9012]

maybe speed up the channel of endless night? or would that be too OP?

 

also would be nice if the shadow arts grandmaster traits had a better synergy with support options.  As they are now you -need- to enter or exit stealth, which heal specter has very little of.

Edited November 3, 2023 by Lightsbane.9012
I LIKE CRAYONS

[Za Shaloc.3908]

On 10/31/2023 at 10:57 PM, Micah.3789 said:

In the same vein, Endless Night shouldn't have facing requirements when targeting allies. I can't tell you how many times I've had my channel canceled by an ally suddenly moving behind me.

 

I'm glad I'm not the only one to feel this way lol. Since its inception this has been a really big pain point for me. I very often have to just stop moving my character so I can auto-rotate to track the target mid-channel, but that in itself poses a large potential risk in positioning because...you have to be stationary for that to work. My thought is that as long as you are facing the target at the beginning of the channel, you should no longer have to face them for the remainder. This skill is so important as a support tool in WvW and is the cause of so much backpedaling. Doesn't really feel good despite the skill being amazing.

Also I'd like the same to apply for Shadowsquall when used on an ally. In addition to its weird lack of upwards verticality being fixed. 

Edited November 3, 2023 by Za Shaloc.3908

[emtea.6931]

Number 5 - yes so much! no reason for it not to work this way (alac around the specter and the tethered player).. gives the player much more control and helps when players have to spread.

also, can we get aegis? most other healers have aegis now... having it on 1 of the wells would be nice

[FrancisN.9276]

There should be an UI icon to inform you that Ally Targeting is on, because in a fast-pace boss fight with lots of mechanics and everyone running around, it is hard to heep track of whether you are on Ally Targeting mode or Enemy Targeting mode.

[merdesa.5086]

Maybe I skimmed through the post too quick but I think they gave the revenants scepter the fixes for thief scepter...

[fatnorn.3065]

Leaving a reply for the sake of bumping this thread up.

I love every suggestions here, especially the radius increase and lesser penalty on the ally targeted scepter skill benefits. 
 

Please make these changes happen, Arenanet. 
I was aggravated when the healing radius for mantra mesmers were increased in the recent update but not the specter’s healing radius.

[Mhina.1827]

On 11/13/2023 at 2:42 PM, merdesa.5086 said:

Maybe I skimmed through the post too quick but I think they gave the revenants scepter the fixes for thief scepter...

This is a common trend for anet, right? 😄 Looking at you, vindicator...

[fatnorn.3065]

~ Week 1 of bumping this thread until Arenanet notices it ~

To prevent this reply from being pointless, I shall fill it with a summary of the OP's suggestions that could bring Heal Specter in line with other healers.

1. Increase the baseline of Protection from Ally Shadow Sap to 5 seconds.
2. 20%-25% reduced effectiveness for (Scepter) non-targeted allies. 50% is too punishing. No reduced effectiveness at all would be even better because no other healers in the game have to go through this penalty.
3. Increase the radius of ally-targeted boon application via Scepter abilities to 480 units because we are not in control of our tethered allies and their movements.
4. Increase the radius of Alacrity and boon application from Shadestep to 480 units around the tethered ally. Same reason as above.
5.  Benefits of Shadestep trait to be applied around the Specter and the tethered ally (it does not stack). The application around the Specter to be smaller than the tethered ally is fine too (240 radius by default).

And if I could add a suggestion of my own:

1. Give the Specter some percentages of incoming damage reduction while in shroud in PvE only. That way, it will be easier to maintain healing and Alacrity uptime in high intensity situations. Preferably in Shadestep trait, so it will only benefit Heal/AlacDPS Specters.

[itspomf.9523]

11 hours ago, fatnorn.3065 said:

 And if I could add a suggestion of my own:

1.     Give the Specter some percentages of incoming damage reduction while in shroud in PvE only. That way, it will be easier to maintain healing and Alacrity uptime in high intensity situations. Preferably in Shadestep trait, so it will only benefit Heal/AlacDPS Specters.

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."

Edited February 12 by itspomf.9523
clarification

[Lithril Ashwalker.6230]

On 2/12/2024 at 3:19 AM, fatnorn.3065 said:

~ Week 1 of bumping this thread until Arenanet notices it ~

To prevent this reply from being pointless, I shall fill it with a summary of the OP's suggestions that could bring Heal Specter in line with other healers.

1. Increase the baseline of Protection from Ally Shadow Sap to 5 seconds.
2. 20%-25% reduced effectiveness for (Scepter) non-targeted allies. 50% is too punishing. No reduced effectiveness at all would be even better because no other healers in the game have to go through this penalty.
3. Increase the radius of ally-targeted boon application via Scepter abilities to 480 units because we are not in control of our tethered allies and their movements.
4. Increase the radius of Alacrity and boon application from Shadestep to 480 units around the tethered ally. Same reason as above.
5.  Benefits of Shadestep trait to be applied around the Specter and the tethered ally (it does not stack). The application around the Specter to be smaller than the tethered ally is fine too (240 radius by default).

And if I could add a suggestion of my own:

1. Give the Specter some percentages of incoming damage reduction while in shroud in PvE only. That way, it will be easier to maintain healing and Alacrity uptime in high intensity situations. Preferably in Shadestep trait, so it will only benefit Heal/AlacDPS Specters.

dude #5 was awesome suggestion - i want  Blighter's Boon to work for specter when we apply torment within shroud. we had a shroud reduction in wvw/spvp so we have to find niches to make it work...so why not have us gain health within shroud while we apply torment?!

[Lucinellia.9247]

I'll add on a little here. In the recent update to the new weapons, it was noted that the logic on axes was being changed to make them behave in a manner more expected of projectiles. It would be good if ally Shadow Sap and Shadowsquall could both have their logic updated too.

Ally Shadow Sap currently "misses" if the projectile travels through too many friendly entities before reaching the selected target. Instead of stopping at the target it simply keeps going and has no effect. Heal Specter targeting and positioning requirements are taxing enough without this ally Shadow Sap either forcing movement within a melee stack to reduce the allies the projectile moves through or needing to select a different target entirely if at range, which in turn necessitates the use of either the UI (poor UX and usability) or hotkeys beyond take personal target (which suffer from prioritisation problems of allied players against phantasms, gizmos, miniatures and creatures in a player's stable). 

The projectile from Shadowsquall functions in a manner very similar to how the axes did during the beta test weekend. They trace terrain, which means that using the ability next to walls can result in the projectiles being lifted upwards and missing the targeted ally. Their intended path is also disrupted by gizmos and interactable objects, such as Mistlock Singularities.

Finally, both of these skills have further aiming and connection issues when using Action Camera and consistency between different camera modes for ability function is preferable from an accessibility and overall understanding standpoint.

Finally, there was a very telling line in the weapons update post:
 

Quote

Sometimes ally targeting is not a good match for a skill, and this is one of those cases.

https://www.guildwars2.com/en/news/new-weapon-proficiencies-beta-feedback-update/

I disagree with the use of "sometimes" here. It is actually always because no attempts have been made at any point to consider the UI of Guild Wars 2, the manner in which hotkey effects are implemented or existing encounter design in shoehorning ally targeting into a game that does not have any sort of foundation to support it in a reasonable manner. This applies doubly so for skills which have a split in efficacy between the targeted allies and those receiving splash effects.

[kash.9213]

1 hour ago, Lucinellia.9247 said:

I'll add on a little here. In the recent update to the new weapons, it was noted that the logic on axes was being changed to make them behave in a manner more expected of projectiles. It would be good if ally Shadow Sap and Shadowsquall could both have their logic updated too.

Ally Shadow Sap currently "misses" if the projectile travels through too many friendly entities before reaching the selected target. Instead of stopping at the target it simply keeps going and has no effect. Heal Specter targeting and positioning requirements are taxing enough without this ally Shadow Sap either forcing movement within a melee stack to reduce the allies the projectile moves through or needing to select a different target entirely if at range, which in turn necessitates the use of either the UI (poor UX and usability) or hotkeys beyond take personal target (which suffer from prioritisation problems of allied players against phantasms, gizmos, miniatures and creatures in a player's stable). 

The projectile from Shadowsquall functions in a manner very similar to how the axes did during the beta test weekend. They trace terrain, which means that using the ability next to walls can result in the projectiles being lifted upwards and missing the targeted ally. Their intended path is also disrupted by gizmos and interactable objects, such as Mistlock Singularities.

Finally, both of these skills have further aiming and connection issues when using Action Camera and consistency between different camera modes for ability function is preferable from an accessibility and overall understanding standpoint.

Finally, there was a very telling line in the weapons update post:
 

https://www.guildwars2.com/en/news/new-weapon-proficiencies-beta-feedback-update/

I disagree with the use of "sometimes" here. It is actually always because no attempts have been made at any point to consider the UI of Guild Wars 2, the manner in which hotkey effects are implemented or existing encounter design in shoehorning ally targeting into a game that does not have any sort of foundation to support it in a reasonable manner. This applies doubly so for skills which have a split in efficacy between the targeted allies and those receiving splash effects.

Gotta keep a tighter cone with those kind of skills in Action Cam for the duration of the skill like playing a shooter, and turn into the ally target if they move, turning into them matching their same trajectory. It's really not forgiving enough for people in general and that's kind of compounded by it being tricky to acquire ally targets in Action Cam. You have to condition yourself to click target, or right click in Action Cam, when your eyes catch the highlighted character Health Bar on mouse rollover. The hitbox points I have an easier time fishing for are above shoulders mostly on the right side or their foot print, like when you look for the character highlight foot print when you want to know when Scorpion Wire will be able to pull someone off a wall. 

I might not use it a lot, but I kind of wish Anet had some kind of small hold key/toggle radial menu on or near the reticle/curser that would give you target options you can grab with normal mouse movement while that menu is toggled to select from targets within a certain range or radius or Alert Target on them if they're in trouble. 

Edited February 14 by kash.9213

[Lucinellia.9247]

10 minutes ago, kash.9213 said:

You have to condition yourself to click target, or right click in Action Cam, when your eyes catch the highlighted character Health Bar on mouse rollover. The hitbox points I have an easier time fishing for are above shoulders mostly on the right side or their foot print, like when you look for the character highlight foot print when you want to know when Scorpion Wire will be able to pull someone off a wall. 

I really wouldn't recommend frequently clicking through the world to try and grab a specific target - certainly not in instanced PvE. The issues that impact Action Camera are kind of related to the "cone" with those skills, but also the coding for how characters move their line of sight with the two different control schemes. Ideally, these would be balanced out but fixing some of the connection issues with the projectiles would be a sufficient start.

[kash.9213]

8 minutes ago, Lucinellia.9247 said:

I really wouldn't recommend frequently clicking through the world to try and grab a specific target - certainly not in instanced PvE. The issues that impact Action Camera are kind of related to the "cone" with those skills, but also the coding for how characters move their line of sight with the two different control schemes. Ideally, these would be balanced out but fixing some of the connection issues with the projectiles would be a sufficient start.

I know what you're saying, but in large blob fights or anywhere, that can be a lot faster than fishing with hot keys or clicking on group window. You definitely have to condition to it and sometimes the game will just deny you and you have to deselect everything and get a fresh look. 

Connecting projectiles toggled in Action Cam again is a conditioning thing, but you're right that the game is finicky with connection and with like all thief projectiles except shortbow auto. I've visually seen Shadowsquall graze and miss targets and I'm thinking, if it was that close on target why didn't it just land? 

[Vidit.7108]

3 hours ago, Lucinellia.9247 said:

I disagree with the use of "sometimes" here. It is actually always because no attempts have been made at any point to consider the UI of Guild Wars 2, the manner in which hotkey effects are implemented or existing encounter design in shoehorning ally targeting into a game that does not have any sort of foundation to support it in a reasonable manner. This applies doubly so for skills which have a split in efficacy between the targeted allies and those receiving splash effects.

I couldn't agree with you more on this. My only hope at this point is that adoption rates of scepter on rev are so low they finally revisit this idea.