Is This...Normal?

[Gotejjeken.1267]

Random unranked game and see this:

I know thieves can do some things, and usually in stealth--but I've never seen that before.  

 First port looked like shadow step, especially since it breaks stun and they had just been PBS'd.  

The second one though...that's some distance.  I know shadow portal goes super far but thought you get stealth off it (maybe they didn't as rapid fire was finishing?), and not sure it can be used in combat like that? As in, shouldn't you see the icon on the bar for more than a split second? 

I'm just suprised I haven't seen it used more often--or is it more like a college type play in an NFL game? As in it doesn't get run often because while very effective it's somehow risky to run it? 

[KingJake.6529]

looks like shadow portal to me

[bq pd.2148]

1 hour ago, Gotejjeken.1267 said:

The second one though...that's some distance.  I know shadow portal goes super far but thought you get stealth off it (maybe they didn't as rapid fire was finishing?), and not sure it can be used in combat like that? As in, shouldn't you see the icon on the bar for more than a split second?

an icon can be seen for a split second right before the port. 
the portal itself has an icon for the thief themself on the bar but not for others, didnt test in spvp but outside it wont even show to allies.

[Azure The Heartless.3261]

yep, shadow portal. Slow the replay down, you can see when the portal is up. 

The reason they took damage at the end there is because if there's a projectile currentlty in transit that would have  hit them where they stood, that projectile specifically ignores whether or not they shadowstep out of range. 

It doesnt see a lot of play because not only does it have a high cooldown, it has arm time and only persists for like 30 seconds iirc. When you set it, you're basically gambling that

• you will be in trouble within the next 30 seconds
• the place you set the portal will be safe for your return

to get value out of it. That's like 2 steps too many for lots of people. 

Edited February 29 by Azure The Heartless.3261

[Gotejjeken.1267]

8 hours ago, bq pd.2148 said:

the portal itself has an icon for the thief themself on the bar but not for others, didnt test in spvp but outside it wont even show to allies.

Ah...yeah that would be nice if they'd update that to be seen (like signets can), especially in competitive.  

Just thinning out loud--wonder if you can chain thief and mesmer portal gun together then? Say a thief use a shadow portal back to home (like in vid), but mesmer gun portal was also home and mesmer far--so they could port thief right back?

[Azure The Heartless.3261]

2 hours ago, Gotejjeken.1267 said:

 

Just thinning out loud--wonder if you can chain thief and mesmer portal gun together then? Say a thief use a shadow portal back to home (like in vid), but mesmer gun portal was also home and mesmer far--so they could port thief right back?

This is the basis for stonemist single thief castle flip strat. 

If the range of rifle portal allows, this will work.

Quote

Ah...yeah that would be nice if they'd update that to be seen (like signets can), especially in competitive.  

No? 

Why do you need to see whether or not thief has a portal on their bar (or whether it's set or not outside of them actively using it)? The whole point of it is making plays where it's difficult to know where you went, or to facilitate escape from a decoy play (since you have a 30 second timer to take the portal, you have to commit to this).

The current blip of "this thief has an active shadow portal open" is plenty. Just enough to know the thief left legitimately, and what they used to do so.

Edited February 29 by Azure The Heartless.3261

[Eddbopkins.2630]

What's the real problem here?the porting or the onslaught of projectile barfing?

[Gotejjeken.1267]

6 hours ago, Azure The Heartless.3261 said:

No? 

Why do you need to see whether or not thief has a portal on their bar (or whether it's set or not outside of them actively using it)? The whole point of it is making plays where it's difficult to know where you went, or to facilitate escape from a decoy play (since you have a 30 second timer to take the portal, you have to commit to this).

The current blip of "this thief has an active shadow portal open" is plenty. Just enough to know the thief left legitimately, and what they used to do so.

Why do you need to see signets on a bar then? For me as ranger it'd be better to obfuscate my unlockable, but I currently cannot because signet of hunt shows.  

30 seconds is also a pretty long time considering the number of ports a thief has to get back to said portal; here for instance the thief could commit twice, once to the far => home portal and once to attack me.  The latter is the problem here, if I had known a portal was active, I wouldn't have PBS and taken them most of the way back to it.  

[Azure The Heartless.3261]

12 hours ago, Gotejjeken.1267 said:

Why do you need to see signets on a bar then? For me as ranger it'd be better to obfuscate my unlockable, but I currently cannot because signet of hunt shows.  

30 seconds is also a pretty long time considering the number of ports a thief has to get back to said portal; here for instance the thief could commit twice, once to the far => home portal and once to attack me.  The latter is the problem here, if I had known a portal was active, I wouldn't have PBS and taken them most of the way back to it.  

Being able to instantly activate a mechanic like unblockable that interferes with your opponent's defensives is more impactful to skirmishes than an activation that allows you to leave the fight in several ways, especially if the latter has prerequisites that you need to fulfill well in advance and a time limit before it goes on cooldown, whether or not it's used.

Nvm

It should be obvious why these two things are weighted differently when it comes to telegraph, especially when the latter one would just be waited out if it were visible on the bar to enemies. I'm not going to get into some debate about why a thief escaping your longbow burst with a rarely-taken skill requires balance changes either way.

Edited March 1 by Azure The Heartless.3261