Guild Wars 2

So, some people are now believing that thief will get melee staff as their elite spec, not rifle.

I personally think this would be a mistake

First off, Revenant already has melee staff, and it would be more than a bummer to get what is basically the same thing on thief.

Second, and more importantly, thief has plenty of melee options, some of the best melee options in game (if not the best), so they really do not need yet another melee weapon. The area where thief is severely lacking is ranged options. They are the only class in game that has no means of attacking a target beyond 900 range, and giving them rifle with 1200 range would perfectly fill that gap in thief’s abilities.

Lastly: rifle can only be used by two classes in game currently, Warrior and Engineer. Engineer rarely actually uses the rifle, other than as a ’stat-stick" and for two attacks in melee range. And warrior rifle is severely under-powered (yeah, it has a place in PvP for some burst damage, but is still mostly outmatched by longbow) so it would be very nice to see a class make use of the rifle as a primary weapon.

Well, even if Thief doesn’t get a rifle in this Elite Spec, there is always a chance it will eventually get it as a weapon in future specs.

Personally I think it’s highly unlikely thief will get a staff and that the rifle will be what it ends up with. Personal preference aside, it just makes more sense. Melee staff may be new but both Revenant and Ranger will be getting one which will mean that if thief gets it to than literally every class but warrior and engi will have a staff, 7/9, which is very unlikely considering the few that have access to rifle. Personally I think rifles and kits are far more likely to gain a place and sorry to all you people wanting staff but I don’t see it happening.

Your love for getting a rifle clouds your reason.

Thief already have dual pistols. What difference would rifle make? More powerful so Thief end up with another useless weapon set ?

Staff is more than fine, and no I don’t play thief anymore.

Gern.2978:

Second, and more importantly, thief has plenty of melee options,

Thief has melee Dagger and Sword. Sword has three melee skills, dagger has 4.

Ranged skills a thief has are Shortbow & Pistol skills. Shortbow has 5, Pistol has 5, plus 1 dagger throwing skill. There’s already more ranged skills than melee skills for thief.

(Underwater it’s 50/50)

Edit: Other than point and shoot, what other moves can a rifle thief offer over the fine martial arts style of a melee staff? A staff can offer both good ranged, melee and magical skills for thief that we would have never in the past have even conceived.

each class gets 1 new weapon, if a class already gets that weapon for their elite spec, another class will not be getting it for their spec, rest assured that thief is getting rifle

Ninja>>>>>Sniper

About the 1200 range: Thief have great mobility to close that difference in range

Snipers in real life have powerfull but long recharged shots compared to other guns.
Theres a chance you could get a slow atacking thief, thats weird for the class and its like warriors shotgun: Hit hard but too slow and not much people use them.

Arobain.8274:

each class gets 1 new weapon, if a class already gets that weapon for their elite spec, another class will not be getting it for their spec, rest assured that thief is getting rifle

And where did ArenaNet announce this exactly?

Gern.2978:

So, some people are now believing that thief will get melee staff as their elite spec, not rifle.

I personally think this would be a mistake

First off, Revenant already has melee staff, and it would be more than a bummer to get what is basically the same thing on thief.

Second, and more importantly, thief has plenty of melee options, some of the best melee options in game (if not the best), so they really do not need yet another melee weapon. The area where thief is severely lacking is ranged options. They are the only class in game that has no means of attacking a target beyond 900 range, and giving them rifle with 1200 range would perfectly fill that gap in thief’s abilities.

Lastly: rifle can only be used by two classes in game currently, Warrior and Engineer. Engineer rarely actually uses the rifle, other than as a ’stat-stick" and for two attacks in melee range. And warrior rifle is severely under-powered (yeah, it has a place in PvP for some burst damage, but is still mostly outmatched by longbow) so it would be very nice to see a class make use of the rifle as a primary weapon.

I guess our sword is exactly the same as warrior’s sword. They’re melee and swords, right?

Oh hey, what if they actually had different skills? I wonder…

The Ranger already got the staff,so i doubt the thief will get it as well.

It could, be a staff that extends. (1200 range)

Comes with a free nimbus cloud!

Lucius.2140:

Ninja>>>>>Sniper

About the 1200 range: Thief have great mobility to close that difference in range

Snipers in real life have powerfull but long recharged shots compared to other guns.
Theres a chance you could get a slow atacking thief, thats weird for the class and its like warriors shotgun: Hit hard but too slow and not much people use them.

and that mobility heals you jackkitten in wvw when there is an enemy on top of wall, with current weapons only being 900 range, you basically have 1-2m distance to stand at to hit ppl on the wall, while not being in range of the oil as well. And no dont give me the scorpion wire argument, sure its 1200 but it on a lengthy cd, takes up a utility slot and have a slow projectile that is very easy to avoid. And yeah as you said thief already have a LOT of mobilty, and one of the usually assosiaty things with a melee staf is mobility and evasiveness, the one point where thief already excels, and elite specs are supposed to give classes something unique, not more of what they already got tons of things of

Scar.1793:

Your love for getting a rifle clouds your reason.

Thief already have dual pistols. What difference would rifle make? More powerful so Thief end up with another useless weapon set ?

Staff is more than fine, and no I don’t play thief anymore.

I think you’re forgetting that P/P is garbage now!

Thief doesn’t need anything. The elite specialization functions as a separate class not a class upgrade. If they wanna make a sniper class out of the thief I’m sure they’ll give thief rifle. But based on the staff artwork and datamined kunai they want to make a ninja elite specialization for thief. So, in my opinion rifle doesn’t suit a ninja too well so we’re getting melee staff. Plenty of room in the future for a sniper elite specialization to be made for thief.

Gern.2978:

So, some people are now believing that thief will get melee staff as their elite spec, not rifle.

I personally think this would be a mistake

First off, Revenant already has melee staff, and it would be more than a bummer to get what is basically the same thing on thief.

Second, and more importantly, thief has plenty of melee options, some of the best melee options in game (if not the best), so they really do not need yet another melee weapon. The area where thief is severely lacking is ranged options. They are the only class in game that has no means of attacking a target beyond 900 range, and giving them rifle with 1200 range would perfectly fill that gap in thief’s abilities.

Lastly: rifle can only be used by two classes in game currently, Warrior and Engineer. Engineer rarely actually uses the rifle, other than as a ’stat-stick" and for two attacks in melee range. And warrior rifle is severely under-powered (yeah, it has a place in PvP for some burst damage, but is still mostly outmatched by longbow) so it would be very nice to see a class make use of the rifle as a primary weapon.

Learn other class’s before you claim things like Thief being the only class with limited ranged weapons, Go play Guardian and tell me how playing at range works for you then come back and amend your claims.

yakuza snowdragon.4639:

Gern.2978:

So, some people are now believing that thief will get melee staff as their elite spec, not rifle.

I personally think this would be a mistake

First off, Revenant already has melee staff, and it would be more than a bummer to get what is basically the same thing on thief.

Second, and more importantly, thief has plenty of melee options, some of the best melee options in game (if not the best), so they really do not need yet another melee weapon. The area where thief is severely lacking is ranged options. They are the only class in game that has no means of attacking a target beyond 900 range, and giving them rifle with 1200 range would perfectly fill that gap in thief’s abilities.

Lastly: rifle can only be used by two classes in game currently, Warrior and Engineer. Engineer rarely actually uses the rifle, other than as a ’stat-stick" and for two attacks in melee range. And warrior rifle is severely under-powered (yeah, it has a place in PvP for some burst damage, but is still mostly outmatched by longbow) so it would be very nice to see a class make use of the rifle as a primary weapon.

Learn other class’s before you claim things like Thief being the only class with limited ranged weapons, Go play Guardian and tell me how playing at range works for you then come back and amend your claims.

Guards are getting longbows.

sebradle.7034:

Thief doesn’t need anything. The elite specialization functions as a separate class not a class upgrade. If they wanna make a sniper class out of the thief I’m sure they’ll give thief rifle. But based on the staff artwork and datamined kunai they want to make a ninja elite specialization for thief. So, in my opinion rifle doesn’t suit a ninja too well so we’re getting melee staff. Plenty of room in the future for a sniper elite specialization to be made for thief.

First you say:

sebradle.7034:

Thief doesn’t need anything. The elite specialization functions as a separate class not a class upgrade. ….

Then you say:

sebradle.7034:

… But based on the staff artwork and datamined kunai they want to make a ninja elite specialization for thief. So, in my opinion rifle doesn’t suit a ninja too well so we’re getting melee staff. …

Because, yeah, a ninja/assassin is currently not how a thief is played at all. Or at least not one of it’s facets. And making it function more like a ninja opens up a whole new class…

/sarcasm

Truth be told, the specs are nothing revolutionary so far… They’re essentially extensions of what’s existing. At least that’s my opinion.

Their intention (originally – cuz, ya’know, stuff changes all the time…) was to have elite specs fill a gap of a some sort. A rifle would fill a 1200 range gap. A staff (or a greatsword…) would (hopefully) fill a melee beefy stealth-less fighter.

But yeah, based on the data-mined stuff and from what we’ve seen so far, a melee staff is the most probable – as unfortunate as that is. So yeah most likely a squishy pole-dancer for us!

Yeah, I don’t really know what Anet’s thinking, I can’t think of anything a melee staff would offer that none of the existing weapons do.

Especially when thieves are really hurting for a good ranged weapon (pistols are garbage and shortbow’s not much better, and neither exceeds 900 range), even more than guardians, whose elite spec was literally “here’s a ranged weapon that doesn’t suck”.

Idk, could be wrong but the picture of the thief with what looks like a staff could possibly not be a staff at all, maybe him going about while holding the rifle. Idk I could be wrong

MCHarris.5648:

Idk, could be wrong but the picture of the thief with what looks like a staff could possibly not be a staff at all, maybe him going about while holding the rifle. Idk I could be wrong

Or… better yet… It’s a stolen weapon…!

New class mechanic:

Steal now “steals” (copies) the weapon of whom you stole it from. So if you stole it off of a ele with a staff, you get a staff with thief staff skills, stole a great sword you get great sword skills.

But something like that would only be implemented in year 2059, considering how many skills they would have to make.

Zero Day.2594:

MCHarris.5648:

Idk, could be wrong but the picture of the thief with what looks like a staff could possibly not be a staff at all, maybe him going about while holding the rifle. Idk I could be wrong

Or… better yet… It’s a stolen weapon…!

New class mechanic:

Steal now “steals” (copies) the weapon of whom you stole it from. So if you stole it off of a ele with a staff, you get a staff with thief staff skills, stole a great sword you get great sword skills.

But something like that would only be implemented in year 2059, considering how many skills they would have to make.

That would make for some awesome gameplay, tbh I likethat more than a rifle , give me the staff and the chance to make the enemies toys hurt them, but if its a rifle that would be fine anyways

@ OP:

Revenant has not Melee Staff, Revenant receives SUPPORT STAFF with some little Melee/Magic hybrid skills, thats a complete difference to a full melee DPS Staff that most likely the Thief will receive as the absolute TRUE martial artist of all playable classes, where something like a DPS Melee Staff belongs too. They have the acrobatic moves that you have to expect from a true martial artist that fights with quarterstaffs in melee combat like this:

(begins around minute 1)
Thats a level of martial artistical melee staffing, that you will NEVER ever see with a Revenant, but what is absolutely realistical and fitting for a Thief Specialization called “Ascetic” as a synonym for Monk theoretically for thieves, which prefered to atone for their sins of stealing and murdering and chose as a new path for their lives to become Ascetics, living alone in temples and striving through the lands in seek of salvation by practicing martial arts.

Yes, Thief has a problem with havign no 1200 range, but thats a problem, that musn’t be solved right now with the very first set of Elite Specs. Every class will receive more Elite Specs in the future, and the Thief can still receive with the second round a new E-Spec with 1200 range, like the Longbow hopefully, or ANet could make a much better and simpler solution and fix the crappy new Trait System that has way too less build diversity and improve it by changing it to a system that provides instead of 3×3 traits + 3 fix traits instead 4×5 traits with no fix traits and puts then into one of the fitting trait lines a trait, which increases the range of Shortbows and Pistols from 900 under certain situations, like when under a buff, to 1200 like in that line, that gives us might, when using a signet, so that thieves theoretically have to use their signets to get maximum range for their sb and pistol for a while, as long might is active.
Much easier solution, that doesn’t require to implement an E-Spec for it.

And people who really think that weapon in the picture is a rifle, are absolutely blind.
Its clearly a quarterstaff and no rifle, a rifle does look completely different, has a short thick grip with a trigger at its end to shoot with it – nothing of that is in that picture.
Also the whole concept art looks like some kind of Ninja/Assassin, something like that wouldn’t ever wield rifles.

I honestly can’t also think of a good rifle gameplay for Thief that isn’t totally horribly lame, boring and absolutely Op at the same time…
If you want snipers, go play rifle warriors and kill shot as much as you want with that rune set that gives you in certain situations stealth…

anythign other than that would be absolutely OP, stealth at will, high range and super burst damage at the same time is an absolute no go and already also basically exists with longbow raangers gatling gunning out of stealth from 1200+ range every few seconds…

I would love a staff for my thief. Love it.

The term ‘clutching at straws’ is starting to spring to mind with these ‘Thief gets rifle’ threads now.

Arobain.8274:

each class gets 1 new weapon, if a class already gets that weapon for their elite spec, another class will not be getting it for their spec, rest assured that thief is getting rifle

Too bad we have mesmer and rev elite specs getting a shield already.

Scar.1793:

Your love for getting a rifle clouds your reason.

Thief already have dual pistols. What difference would rifle make?

1200 range option

skowcia.8257:

Arobain.8274:

each class gets 1 new weapon, if a class already gets that weapon for their elite spec, another class will not be getting it for their spec, rest assured that thief is getting rifle

Too bad we have mesmer and rev elite specs getting a shield already.

“rev elite is a shield” is also a speculation for now.

GummiBear.2756:

Lucius.2140:

Ninja>>>>>Sniper

About the 1200 range: Thief have great mobility to close that difference in range

Snipers in real life have powerfull but long recharged shots compared to other guns.
Theres a chance you could get a slow atacking thief, thats weird for the class and its like warriors shotgun: Hit hard but too slow and not much people use them.

and that mobility heals you jackkitten in wvw when there is an enemy on top of wall, with current weapons only being 900 range, you basically have 1-2m distance to stand at to hit ppl on the wall, while not being in range of the oil as well. And no dont give me the scorpion wire argument, sure its 1200 but it on a lengthy cd, takes up a utility slot and have a slow projectile that is very easy to avoid. And yeah as you said thief already have a LOT of mobilty, and one of the usually assosiaty things with a melee staf is mobility and evasiveness, the one point where thief already excels, and elite specs are supposed to give classes something unique, not more of what they already got tons of things of

• Ok, in some contexts thief mobility have problems and for wvw fort/fortress its on need of a weapon with more range (also in zerg or organized group play a weapon of this kind will help thief). – Can agree and i think you did a very good job stating the point.

• About the dinamics, i think a sniper concept will be to slow but rifle its more unique than staffs atacks, however the elite specialization been unique not only depends of the weapons but also the utilities.

The utilities are tied to the elite specialization concept and if its sniper it will probably be about stealthing to not been seen and move to another place, ninjas have a larger pull of things to get, so imo the gameplay could be more unique on ninja.

penelopehannibal.8947:

The term ‘clutching at straws’ is starting to spring to mind with these ‘Thief gets rifle’ threads now.

How so? From a logical point of view, it makes far more sense than staff because of all the reasons I listed originally.

Orpheal.8263:

@ OP:

Revenant has not Melee Staff, Revenant receives SUPPORT STAFF with some little Melee/Magic hybrid skills, thats a complete difference to a full melee DPS Staff that most likely the Thief will receive as the absolute TRUE martial artist of all playable classes, where something like a DPS Melee Staff belongs too. They have the acrobatic moves that you have to expect from a true martial artist that fights with quarterstaffs in melee combat like this:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZHvvEKpkLw4

(begins around minute 1)
Thats a level of martial artistical melee staffing, that you will NEVER ever see with a Revenant, but what is absolutely realistical and fitting for a Thief Specialization called “Ascetic” as a synonym for Monk theoretically for thieves, which prefered to atone for their sins of stealing and murdering and chose as a new path for their lives to become Ascetics, living alone in temples and striving through the lands in seek of salvation by practicing martial arts.

Yes, Thief has a problem with havign no 1200 range, but thats a problem, that musn’t be solved right now with the very first set of Elite Specs. Every class will receive more Elite Specs in the future, and the Thief can still receive with the second round a new E-Spec with 1200 range, like the Longbow hopefully, or ANet could make a much better and simpler solution and fix the crappy new Trait System that has way too less build diversity and improve it by changing it to a system that provides instead of 3×3 traits + 3 fix traits instead 4×5 traits with no fix traits and puts then into one of the fitting trait lines a trait, which increases the range of Shortbows and Pistols from 900 under certain situations, like when under a buff, to 1200 like in that line, that gives us might, when using a signet, so that thieves theoretically have to use their signets to get maximum range for their sb and pistol for a while, as long might is active.
Much easier solution, that doesn’t require to implement an E-Spec for it.

And people who really think that weapon in the picture is a rifle, are absolutely blind.
Its clearly a quarterstaff and no rifle, a rifle does look completely different, has a short thick grip with a trigger at its end to shoot with it – nothing of that is in that picture.
Also the whole concept art looks like some kind of Ninja/Assassin, something like that wouldn’t ever wield rifles.

I honestly can’t also think of a good rifle gameplay for Thief that isn’t totally horribly lame, boring and absolutely Op at the same time…
If you want snipers, go play rifle warriors and kill shot as much as you want with that rune set that gives you in certain situations stealth…

anythign other than that would be absolutely OP, stealth at will, high range and super burst damage at the same time is an absolute no go and already also basically exists with longbow raangers gatling gunning out of stealth from 1200+ range every few seconds…

No one said you have to play the elite spec. If you find the sniper concept boring that’s fine, you don’t have to play it. And no, neither ranger nor warrior comes close to the kind of gameplay that a sniper type specialization would provide.

As far as the lore side of things: everyone saying that the monk type of ascetic fits thief seem to be the ones grasping at straws and trying to make a type of lore and gameplay fit on a class that it doesn’t work on at all. Just because the thief wears medium armor and fights in close quarters doesn’t make them like a monk. Monks are humble and religious, typically own no property, and care nothing for fame or fortune. All of which is the exact opposite of what a Thief is. The only similarity that a monk has with a thief, is that they are both patient, which is also the similarity they both share with a sniper. But, by becoming a sniper, a thief doesn’t have to give up stealing or seeking fame.

why not shuriken i dont see the connection with rifle and rogue archtype…
Not with staff either tbh land spear would be cooler

Astralporing.1957:

Scar.1793:

Your love for getting a rifle clouds your reason.

Thief already have dual pistols. What difference would rifle make?

1200 range option

skowcia.8257:

Arobain.8274:

each class gets 1 new weapon, if a class already gets that weapon for their elite spec, another class will not be getting it for their spec, rest assured that thief is getting rifle

Too bad we have mesmer and rev elite specs getting a shield already.

“rev elite is a shield” is also a speculation for now.

Glint themed shield is a speculation? K.

Gern.2978:

How so? From a logical point of view, it makes far more sense than staff because of all the reasons I listed originally.

This sounds to me like what you’re saying is “My point of view is above everybody else’s and only I have a logical opinion”.

I’ve already said earlier that the thief already has more ranged attacks than melee. So in my opinion, it makes more sense for thief to get staff rather than rifle.

Anything can happen though, even with the picture of a specialisation background, that’s clearly a thief holding a [&C6EXAAA=], anything can still happen. Thief could end up with a focus yet. Imagine running around as a thief with the Inquest key-shaped focus!

penelopehannibal.8947:

Gern.2978:

How so? From a logical point of view, it makes far more sense than staff because of all the reasons I listed originally.

This sounds to me like what you’re saying is “My point of view is above everybody else’s and only I have a logical opinion”.

I’ve already said earlier that the thief already has more ranged attacks than melee. So in my opinion, it makes more sense for thief to get staff rather than rifle.

I think you are taking this a bit too personally. I obviously wasn’t implying that my point of view is “above everyone else’s.” This is a discussion, and in discussions people are going to disagree, otherwise there is no discussion but rather just a bunch of people agreeing with each other. Someone disagreeing with another person doesn’t mean they think they are better than them, and everyone believes that their own opinions make more logical sense than other people’s.

Yes, thief has more ranged attacks, but this isn’t about sheer number of attacks; all of the thief’s ranged options are limited to 900 range. No one seriously believes that the thief is lacking in melee capability, they are the highest melee DPS in the game, possibly highest DPS overall. Their ranged DPS however, is severely lacking in both range and DPS. Shortbow puts out good DPS, but only in Melee range. It’s highest damaging ability is cluster bomb, which loses DPS the farther away you are (because it takes longer for the slow cluster bomb to land and detonate so you can shoot another one.) Really, shortbow is more of a utility weapon than anything else. Dual Pistols are generally good, but lacking in range and damage.

skowcia.8257:

Astralporing.1957:

Scar.1793:

Your love for getting a rifle clouds your reason.

Thief already have dual pistols. What difference would rifle make?

1200 range option

skowcia.8257:

Arobain.8274:

each class gets 1 new weapon, if a class already gets that weapon for their elite spec, another class will not be getting it for their spec, rest assured that thief is getting rifle

Too bad we have mesmer and rev elite specs getting a shield already.

“rev elite is a shield” is also a speculation for now.

Glint themed shield is a speculation? K.

Until that shield actually makes it into the game, then yes, it is. There were other cases of things that were in data files but were never introduced.

Now, that doesn’t mean that this won’t happen – just that treating it as a 100% given may be a mistake.

Thieves could get rifle, yet it may act like a Shotgun, better the closer you are, and damage falloff as distance between you and your target widens.

Don’t hold you breath about rifle ever being a viable weapon for any profession.

Zero Day.2594:

It could, be a staff that extends. (1200 range)

Comes with a free nimbus cloud!

Like Monkey Magic?

Vavume.8065:

Zero Day.2594:

It could, be a staff that extends. (1200 range)

Comes with a free nimbus cloud!

Like Monkey Magic?

Like a god kitten super-saiyan.

Ranger wants a rifle, not a stupid staff.

Lucius.2140:

GummiBear.2756:

Lucius.2140:

Ninja>>>>>Sniper

About the 1200 range: Thief have great mobility to close that difference in range

Snipers in real life have powerfull but long recharged shots compared to other guns.
Theres a chance you could get a slow atacking thief, thats weird for the class and its like warriors shotgun: Hit hard but too slow and not much people use them.

and that mobility heals you jackkitten in wvw when there is an enemy on top of wall, with current weapons only being 900 range, you basically have 1-2m distance to stand at to hit ppl on the wall, while not being in range of the oil as well. And no dont give me the scorpion wire argument, sure its 1200 but it on a lengthy cd, takes up a utility slot and have a slow projectile that is very easy to avoid. And yeah as you said thief already have a LOT of mobilty, and one of the usually assosiaty things with a melee staf is mobility and evasiveness, the one point where thief already excels, and elite specs are supposed to give classes something unique, not more of what they already got tons of things of

• Ok, in some contexts thief mobility have problems and for wvw fort/fortress its on need of a weapon with more range (also in zerg or organized group play a weapon of this kind will help thief). – Can agree and i think you did a very good job stating the point.

Thanks

Lucius.2140:

• About the dinamics, i think a sniper concept will be to slow but rifle its more unique than staffs atacks, however the elite specialization been unique not only depends of the weapons but also the utilities.

The utilities are tied to the elite specialization concept and if its sniper it will probably be about stealthing to not been seen and move to another place, ninjas have a larger pull of things to get, so imo the gameplay could be more unique on ninja.

Do notice that i nowhere in that post (or any post i made about the subject ever, did I mention to word Sniper, and neither will you see me mention it ever(well except that one time i just did here :P) unless ANet actually gonna show us that is gonna be the spec name. I dont think it wise to, based on speculations and datamining to put something that specific on it, so who knows maybe we get a rifle yielding thief with knife kits, the perfect blend of the 2 things ppl want Ie. mainly what i believe the thief need the most is a 1200 range option, then i dont really care much for what weapon it gonna be, can be rifle, longbow, or maybe even a ranged damage staff, though i have a hard time imaging a thief type char with a ranged staff, but you never know, sometimes ANet can really surprise us

Lunar Sunset.8742:

Don’t hold you breath about rifle ever being a viable weapon for any profession.

Engis say hi.

Stop crying, thief staff is awesome

Toasty.9134:

Stop crying, thief staff is awesome

its sounds like the exact opposite of that

Might want to watch WP’s video on elite specs. He has good reasons to believe that it might not necessarily be the thief spec’s background that we’re seeing.

Emptor.9148:

Toasty.9134:

Stop crying, thief staff is awesome

its sounds like the exact opposite of that

It depends on how you view it. From which side.

Who said it was melee staff? (Even though it does look like a Bo Staff)

They could cast shadow magic from afar.

Thieves have a melee burst weapon set, true. But that isn’t the sum total of all melee weapon playstyles that the staff could bring.

What if the staff is a melee control weapon with some nice knockbacks and blocks? The Elite Specialization could come with a set of stances that give different defensive boons like stability, aegis, or retaliation on a pulse. Throw in a defensive trait line and you could have a high evasion melee bunker or brawler build with strong potential to be an excellent high mobility decapper.

Or it could provide a mix of magic and melee and serve a melee support role with some AoE buffing and damaging skills that center around the caster, providing stealth, vigor, might, fury, and swiftness to nearby allies as the thief fights, suddenly giving thieves the team support they sorely lack.

Or it could have a bunch of small dazes and stuns and a trait line dedicated toward interesting mechanics when you interrupt a foe, giving thieves a heavy interrupt playstyle that requires precision strikes and expert timing to deal big damage numbers on the target.

There are a lot of ways a new melee set would benefit the thief profession. Just because a weapon is melee doesn’t mean it plays the same.

Ehecatl.9172:

Thieves have a melee burst weapon set, true. But that isn’t the sum total of all melee weapon playstyles that the staff could bring.

What if the staff is a melee control weapon with some nice knockbacks and blocks? The Elite Specialization could come with a set of stances that give different defensive boons like stability, aegis, or retaliation on a pulse. Throw in a defensive trait line and you could have a high evasion melee bunker or brawler build with strong potential to be an excellent high mobility decapper.

Or it could provide a mix of magic and melee and serve a melee support role with some AoE buffing and damaging skills that center around the caster, providing stealth, vigor, might, fury, and swiftness to nearby allies as the thief fights, suddenly giving thieves the team support they sorely lack.

Or it could have a bunch of small dazes and stuns and a trait line dedicated toward interesting mechanics when you interrupt a foe, giving thieves a heavy interrupt playstyle that requires precision strikes and expert timing to deal big damage numbers on the target.

There are a lot of ways a new melee set would benefit the thief profession. Just because a weapon is melee doesn’t mean it plays the same.

None of what you just suggested is very different form how thief is played right now.

It’s too late in the game for them to change the spec plans so you’ll just have to learn to live with whatever wonderful design they have in store for thief!

Gern.2978:

None of what you just suggested is very different form how thief is played right now.

You’re suggesting thieves have access to a working bunker/support build? I’ve never seen such a thing. Every thief seems to run the same stealth burst build with the occasional condi build.

Ehecatl.9172:

Gern.2978:

None of what you just suggested is very different form how thief is played right now.

You’re suggesting thieves have access to a working bunker/support build? I’ve never seen such a thing. Every thief seems to run the same stealth burst build with the occasional condi build.

You said nothing about a bunker support build. You said:

Ehecatl.9172:

What if the staff is a melee control weapon with some nice knockbacks and blocks? The Elite Specialization could come with a set of stances that give different defensive boons like stability, aegis, or retaliation on a pulse. Throw in a defensive trait line and you could have a high evasion melee bunker or brawler build with strong potential to be an excellent high mobility decapper.

They may not have aegis, or blocks, or retalitation. But they have some of the best mobility and evasion in game, and make one of the best “high mobility decappers” as they are right now.

Ehecatl.9172:

Or it could provide a mix of magic and melee and serve a melee support role with some AoE buffing and damaging skills that center around the caster, providing stealth, vigor, might, fury, and swiftness to nearby allies as the thief fights, suddenly giving thieves the team support they sorely lack.

I feel like you don’t dungeon on a thief very often. Thier access to stealth and vigor for the party does make them very good at group support.

Ehecatl.9172:

Or it could have a bunch of small dazes and stuns and a trait line dedicated toward interesting mechanics when you interrupt a foe, giving thieves a heavy interrupt playstyle that requires precision strikes and expert timing to deal big damage numbers on the target.

How do you honestly believe they lack any of that? Have you not looked at the trickery specialization? And they already put out some of the biggest damage numbers in the game.

Also, just because “every thief runs the same stealth burst build” doesn’t mean that’s all they have, it’s just the most popular. In PvP, I rarely use stealth. I use a Dagger/pistol full zerker build, and rely on blinds, dodging, and stuns for survivability. That is a playstile very much like what you have described.