Kneeling, skills tracking us into stealth, and Soulbeast

[Tinnel.4369]

Until any movement breaks kneeling, various classes skills can't track us into/kill us in stealth, and Soulbeasts don't make us look like girl scouts throwing cookies from a one wheeled wheelchair.......meh.

I LOVE the concept of the spec......plotting, stalking, and ultimately assassinating your prey from range, but for now it doesn't really seem to live up to it. The klunkiness of kneeling may well be a learn to play issue, but I still don't see the point of it anyhow. You kneel, you get the bonus. You move or dodge you stand up and lose the bonus. I'd rather rekneel after shadow step or dodge than remember to stand up after or when something is about to shat all over me.

Days of stealth is pointless when multiple classes have skills that will just track you into it.

Soulbeasts are walking around with ridiculous power, precision, and ferocity while easily maintaining 24-2600 armor and 20k health and days and days of mobility with the same range we have.....

:angry:

[tongpo.3184]

@Tinnel.4369 said:Until any movement breaks kneeling, various classes skills can't track us into/kill us in stealth, and Soulbeasts don't make us look like girl scouts throwing cookies from a one wheeled wheelchair.......meh.

I am personally fine that sniper mode is a commitment upon using it. However, what is not fine is how weak it feels when I am not in sniper mode. Everything you do while not kneeling is a waste of initiative which forces us to find a place to kneel, or weapon swap because standing with rifle is just awful. That to me is the biggest problem. Its not much that drawbacks of kneeling, but feeling forced to kneel makes it feel even worse. They wanted sniper mode to be a "thoughtful decision", but currently, its mandatory if you want to do anything with the rifle for which I think makes sniper mode feel even worse because I always have to be kneeling, which means, I always need to gimp my own mobility. There is never a instance where I feel that run and gun with a rifle is the correct course of action.

My solution was: sniper mode abilities should be standard for DE in general. No more gimped versions of 2 and 3 and a mostly useless 4. We have access to everything no matter standing or kneeling. This way, using 2 and 3 while standing won't feel so terrible when I need to move and shoot stuff, and then I can still pop a big DJ if I have enough stacks of malice up.

Kneeling then offers other utilities: auto attacks pierce, abilities when they hit will refund 1 initiative, ranged increases to be 100+ that of a longbow (because a longbow should not out range a sniper gun... just saying), and increases your chance to add a stack of malice.

Therefore while Sniper Mode has a clear buff for dps, when I am standing, I can still do all the things I can do while kneeling - just less of it. This way, Kneeling is an actual decision. Do I need the range, do I need the aoe, do I need the extra imitative, do I need more malice... or do I want mobility instead? Because right now, run and gun with a rifle feels like a waste of time, and it shouldn't be that big of a discrepancy.

As for the Soulbeast stuff... umm, I play Soulbeast too and I will tell you, it ain't so sunny on that side of the field either. Its a boring spec, none of my stances feel good to use and I feel naked without my pet most of the time. I prefer to use a standard ranger build or druid in pvp. Soulbeast doesn't really offer me much over the other 2 in pvp. The issue with DE dealing with Soulbeast would be same when a Dare Devil or Spellbreaker jumps on me because I am screwed either way. My standing abilities don't do enough for me to fight back and if I kneel to get the better abilities, I am going to die way before I get anything substantial off. My choice is to weapon swap and try to get away, or kneel and choose to die. Its dumb.

[Tinnel.4369]

@tongpo.3184 said:As for the Soulbeast stuff... umm, I play Soulbeast too and I will tell you, it ain't so sunny on that side of the field either. Its a boring spec, none of my stances feel good to use and I feel naked without my pet most of the time. I prefer to use a standard ranger build or druid in pvp. Soulbeast doesn't really offer me much over the other 2 in pvp. The issue with DE dealing with Soulbeast would be same when a Dare Devil or Spellbreaker jumps on me because I am screwed either way. My standing abilities don't do enough for me to fight back and if I kneel to get the better abilities, I am going to die way before I get anything substantial off. My choice is to weapon swap and try to get away, or kneel and choose to die. Its kitten.

Google Soulbeast roaming Stawk. Entertainment aside, that build does insane damage with, sustain, and mobility. I don't find it all that fun either, but the point remains that it makes Deadeye look meh AND will annihilate a Deadeye at 1500 range with unblockable shots that track you into stealth.