The NEW DE and why I am liking it

[babazhook.6805]

As far as FFE goes, I am finding it pretty suited to a Condition build. Condition builds do not really ramp up the Malice fast enough to take advantage of MALI 7 as compared to a power build and Bqobk bonuses do not help a lot. With FFE given condition builds use the stolen items to greater effect , you can assure you always have Might stacked for harder ticks.

With the changes to Potent Poison , I find I am going more heavily into torment. I can still load on plenty of poison and bleed but Torment adds are up in p/d condition (I got as many as 33 stacks loaded on single target). Mights effects are magnified here because each of torment/Bleed and poison all tick higher. The INI add and those other boons out of Mali 7 are not as useful in condition.

To premed. Right now initial impressions is it a decent spot. Were it just a bonus add to Power it might be a tad weak, but it does have added Concentration. If you can get some sort of boon duration this a 5 percent add easy. If you compare to warriors like trait this a tad stronger as whole it one tier up in he traits it does have a Concentration add. Power of the Virtous in the Guardian traits is about the same overall so I see no reason for this needing further tweaks.

[Caligrafers Blade.3871]

@Nyona.8571 said:DE was the reason why i bought Path of Fire and now i'm enjoying with my rifle so much.

Ditto. And I was so disappointed. I had stacked it away and sulked. I pulled it out recently just to suck it up and play. What timing! Funny thing though. I'm finding D/D much better than the rifle in open world now.

[saerni.2584]

@babazhook.6805 said:As far as FFE goes, I am finding it pretty suited to a Condition build. Condition builds do not really ramp up the Malice fast enough to take advantage of MALI 7 as compared to a power build and Bqobk bonuses do not help a lot. With FFE given condition builds use the stolen items to greater effect , you can assure you always have Might stacked for harder ticks.

With the changes to Potent Poison , I find I am going more heavily into torment. I can still load on plenty of poison and bleed but Torment adds are up in p/d condition (I got as many as 33 stacks loaded on single target). Mights effects are magnified here because each of torment/Bleed and poison all tick higher. The INI add and those other boons out of Mali 7 are not as useful in condition.

To premed. Right now initial impressions is it a decent spot. Were it just a bonus add to Power it might be a tad weak, but it does have added Concentration. If you can get some sort of boon duration this a 5 percent add easy. If you compare to warriors like trait this a tad stronger as whole it one tier up in he traits it does have a Concentration add. Power of the Virtous in the Guardian traits is about the same overall so I see no reason for this needing further tweaks.

My computer broke randomly so I was barely able to test out my build before I lost the ability to test.

My initial thoughts are to agree that FfE and OitC remain useful —but somewhat more clunky — for condi builds. Payback is very strong and improves the cooldowns significantly.

I’m mostly ignoring the stealth on stolen skills gimmick. It’s cute, but for a build that already stealths a lot there isn’t much benefit. Once in a while it can be used to get stealth but there’s no sense in holding back because the skills add might and fury.

Again, my chief issue is the lack of condi, precision, vitality as a gear stat. Condi builds that need precision and vitality suffer quite a bit in this area.

[reddie.5861]

@Asahi.1487 said:Payback + dagger storm + on hit heals in WvW Zergs. Try it

meteor in ur face and ur dead in 1 hit. but your dead in a flash anyway core thief + de doesnt survive in blob fight if u do your not in middle of action either.

[kash.9213]

@reddie.5861 said:

@Asahi.1487 said:Payback + dagger storm + on hit heals in WvW Zergs. Try it

meteor in ur face and ur dead in 1 hit. but your dead in a flash anyway core thief + de doesnt survive in blob fight if u do your not in middle of action either.

You can mitigate through most of it until other squad puts a target on you and you get focused. Between dodges and un-targeted flanking strike you're as good as any really and you can pad that with Shadow Arts if you want to stay put for a few seconds for when you're up to something but most of zerg play for thief is slowing yourself down so you can actually see what is dropping around you, most of it you actually don't need to react to right away but people see red stuff and scramble.

As to the OP, I still like the original DE, it just played better and had more control. Last round of changes simply sucked but I can see the obvious strength of the rotation for this round of changes and while powerful for that sequence, DE now plays how devs of other classes want thief to play. Some dev will get a couple of quick DJ's with Binding Shadow and malice builders that will feel like one shots and we'll get patched more even if DE Elite as a whole is doing less with fewer build options.

[Sir Vincent III.1286]

I have to say. The fix on the Kneel/Free Action makes a big difference. By binding my Skill #5 to Mouse 4 (button next to my thumb), I can kneel/stand almost flawlessly.

However, melee is still clunky, but it's not a bad fix for ranged builds.