Shadow Arts changes are huge nerfs.

[Nomad.4301]

@Helicity.3416 said:

@Nomad.4301 said:

@Lonewolf Kai.3682 said:Has anyone tested Concealing Restoration with Hide in Shadows heal yet? When I tried it awhile ago, it didn’t seem to stack the stealth you gained from that trait and Meld with Shadows. I should be counting 6s, but am only seeing 4s.

If you're running SA, Hide in Shadows should give you 7s of stealth 3s from base heal skill + 1 from Meld + 3s from concealing restoration = 7s total. It works for me, you can test it yourself by looking at HiS's Cooldown it should be at 22-23 seconds when the stealth wears off depending on latency.

I tested, and it works for me, hide in shadows last super long and I love it

Yeah Hide in Shadows is probably the best heal thief has now if you run SA, running Leeching Venoms + Shadow's Rejuvenation and staying in stealth for the full 7s + stealth attack at the end gives:

9943 healing (if you include the life leech),3 initiative,removes 4 conditions,7s of stealth,50% increased movement speed for 7s,2 stacks of Spider Venom

And for the adept trait you have a choice of:Reducing the CD from 30 >24Removing 3 extra damaging conditions for a total of 7Healing for an additional 130 per second for a total of a possible 10853 healing over 7 seconds

This is all running without any healing power, so at least SA seems to supercharge Hide in Shadows the same way trickery supercharges steal.

[dDuff.3860]

@bluri.2653 said:SA as a whole has absolute zero use. You cant create a support traitline when theres no weaponset/design to help where it needs help. Essentially they are wasting time on changes that will end up being useless ?

It looks like a reworked traitline for synergy with the upcoming add-on.

[Leo Schrodingers Cat.2497]

@Nomad.4301 said:

@Leo Schrodingers Cat.2497 said:

@"LadyKitty.6120" said:Kitty now got to testing the new Shadow Arts and it looks...nice. The Dark Saviour-trait actually provides the teef with huge amount of outgoing heals if you decide to spam Infiltrator's Strike and Return. And if you combine that spam with Deadeye's Fire For Effect and Trickery's boons...nyahahahaha...

Hey kitty, do you know if that outgoing heal applies to ALL shadow steps? It seems like people are only looking at it in combo with shortbow. And not taking into account that a massive chunk of the thiefs kit has some form of shadowstep.

Infiltrators arrow. Shadow Shot. The S/D. Infiltrators signet. Shadow portal. Shadow step. Steal. Deaths Retreat. The shadowstep from downed state.

If there was a good way to mix power and healing for thief, I can see it being used for WVW, as thieves do a lot of shadow stepping in combat. It would certainly offset the low HP Pool and may save DD if ANET does something about initiative cost and trickery

Yes it does work for ALL shadowsteps, but it's still not usable without investing heavily into healing gear/sigils/runes/food etc... If you try to use it in combat for personal sustain without healing power you're going to be healed for a whopping 300 per shadowstep, at which point you might as well take Invigorating Precision in CS as that gives more damage then SA and more sustain.

Edit* Actually even WITH around 1300 Healing Power the self-heal is still only around 500 which is NOT worth the stat investment IMO.

Thats still worth something. Remember, as a thief in duels, you -do- shadow step quite a bit. Its not a regen from other classes. But it can support the dip in and out nature of the class and help them shrug off a blow. Or a third/fourth of one.

I think the scaling for healing power is a bit poor. But without it, its quite decent.

And its infinitely better than the master trait that grants healing based on ini spent.

Id imagine if a thief is decent enough to be hard to hit, that might extend their milage quite a bit. Especially when combined with healing roll and the trait that cloakd when a heal skill is used. Or hide in shadows for the stealth stack.

[LadyKitty.6120]

Kitty's just dropping this here:

[kash.9213]

@dDuff.3860 said:

@bluri.2653 said:SA as a whole has absolute zero use. You cant create a support traitline when theres no weaponset/design to help where it needs help. Essentially they are wasting time on changes that will end up being useless ?

It looks like a reworked traitline for synergy with the upcoming add-on.

Even if it's not, the changes push more modifiers out side of stealth or into revealed so we should end up with more frequent quick stealth shots to pop things off instead of prepping for hanging out in stealth longer. Even the new revive ally trait lets you keep on the move instead of putting you in the most vulnerable situation. Still you could be right, wouldn't be the first time a traitline has been plundered.