10/0/0/30/30, Updated
Why ditch the Soldiers ammy? Admittedly, I’m only running this in hot join until i get used to it, but against better skilled/higher ranked players I’ve been doing phenomenally well. There’s definitely a bit of a TTK problem with some specs, but at the worst I can currently win any 1 on 1 given enough time (assuming I dont get outplayed). If a second player is required to deal with me, I’m giving my team an advantage (and If I’m lucky, I can contest a point quite a while). If I’m forced to bail, I have the tools to get to another node and try again in minimal time.
Shadow trap I get, even if I don’t love it.
pre-ordered HOT at this point,
save yourself the money and don’t bother.
Why ditch the Soldiers ammy? Admittedly, I’m only running this in hot join until i get used to it, but against better skilled/higher ranked players I’ve been doing phenomenally well. There’s definitely a bit of a TTK problem with some specs, but at the worst I can currently win any 1 on 1 given enough time (assuming I dont get outplayed). If a second player is required to deal with me, I’m giving my team an advantage (and If I’m lucky, I can contest a point quite a while). If I’m forced to bail, I have the tools to get to another node and try again in minimal time.
Shadow trap I get, even if I don’t love it.
It depends on your role. I know what you mean, that the first build could essentially take on multiple opponents at once, hold a point- whatever. This one, for me, is maybe a bit more fun though because I just like the higher damage, and I don’t get tons of people jumping on me saying I’m a bad player for running a tanky thief.
I’ll probably go back to trying the soldier’s ammie again though. I’m just throwing this build out there for people who really love high damage to get into the trait spec, since it’s clearly far different from pretty much any other S/D build (or, for that matter, any build in general) that you tend to see.
As for Shadow Trap… I don’t always like it that much, but it essentially gives me another point that I can go to at any time, along with Shadow Return. Shadowstep, on the other hand, was limited a bit by LoS problems as well as a lack of range compared to Shadow Trap. I’ve played fights where I’ve literally walked from one point to the other and placed a Trap between them, then started fighting somebody on a point, chased him when he was running away, and then used Shadow Trap as a positional weapon with extreme success by predicting where he was going. It’s obviously also extremely good as a method of going from one point to another. That being said, I absolutely hate when the trap fails, but when it succeeds it can be a game-changer. I’d definitely suggest it for the Zerker build; for the Soldier one, it depends.
I should also mention that, since this seems to be a fairly condi-focused meta right now, that Zerker amulet is really good as a counter to this meta. Soldier’s, on the other hand, is great against direct damage but not as much against, say, a condi necro or a Spirit Ranger, simply because the toughness suddenly means virtually nothing. As it so happens, the math favors Zerker in a condi-focused meta, or in a meta with a ton of bunkers. While the second isn’t true (and isn’t likely to be true any time soon), pretty much everybody agrees right now that there are a ton of conditions in the current meta, or that the current meta allows condis to be extremely strong. That’s basically going to be the main justification for Zerker’s, therefore. Once the meta changes (hopefully!), I may very well go back to Soldier’s, which is going to be favorable in a more direct-damage focused meta.
Why ditch the Soldiers ammy? Admittedly, I’m only running this in hot join until i get used to it, but against better skilled/higher ranked players I’ve been doing phenomenally well. There’s definitely a bit of a TTK problem with some specs, but at the worst I can currently win any 1 on 1 given enough time (assuming I dont get outplayed). If a second player is required to deal with me, I’m giving my team an advantage (and If I’m lucky, I can contest a point quite a while). If I’m forced to bail, I have the tools to get to another node and try again in minimal time.
Shadow trap I get, even if I don’t love it.
It depends on your role. I know what you mean, that the first build could essentially take on multiple opponents at once, hold a point- whatever. This one, for me, is maybe a bit more fun though because I just like the higher damage, and I don’t get tons of people jumping on me saying I’m a bad player for running a tanky thief.
I’ll probably go back to trying the soldier’s ammie again though. I’m just throwing this build out there for people who really love high damage to get into the trait spec, since it’s clearly far different from pretty much any other S/D build (or, for that matter, any build in general) that you tend to see.
As for Shadow Trap… I don’t always like it that much, but it essentially gives me another point that I can go to at any time, along with Shadow Return. Shadowstep, on the other hand, was limited a bit by LoS problems as well as a lack of range compared to Shadow Trap. I’ve played fights where I’ve literally walked from one point to the other and placed a Trap between them, then started fighting somebody on a point, chased him when he was running away, and then used Shadow Trap as a positional weapon with extreme success by predicting where he was going. It’s obviously also extremely good as a method of going from one point to another. That being said, I absolutely hate when the trap fails, but when it succeeds it can be a game-changer. I’d definitely suggest it for the Zerker build; for the Soldier one, it depends.
I should also mention that, since this seems to be a fairly condi-focused meta right now, that Zerker amulet is really good as a counter to this meta. Soldier’s, on the other hand, is great against direct damage but not as much against, say, a condi necro or a Spirit Ranger, simply because the toughness suddenly means virtually nothing. As it so happens, the math favors Zerker in a condi-focused meta, or in a meta with a ton of bunkers. While the second isn’t true (and isn’t likely to be true any time soon), pretty much everybody agrees right now that there are a ton of conditions in the current meta, or that the current meta allows condis to be extremely strong. That’s basically going to be the main justification for Zerker’s, therefore. Once the meta changes (hopefully!), I may very well go back to Soldier’s, which is going to be favorable in a more direct-damage focused meta.
Yeah, I decided to start running Shadow trap in anticipation of trying out solo q once the next patch rolled out – I ditched it in a rage when it failed to port me correctly 3 times in a row. Properly functioning, I get the versatility – like you said, being able to zip back to a point is insanely useful. In a team (assuming it functions properly), it can be invaluable. IMO, its even stronger with a soldiers ammy, because you can force a player to waste their time trying to neutralize a point while you hold it as a thief (not something you commonly see a thief doing). Sure, a zerker thief might drop that same player, but 10/0/0/30/30 soldiers can probably hold him and a second player if they show up long enough to give your team an advantage.
ATM, just running hotjoin however, Shadow Step is too powerful – even if the LOS is garbage, dropping 3 condi’s/ breaking a fight changing stun can be game changer. I’ve come back from less than 10% health to drop a MS/H warrior who was over 50% health because I was able to break their stun chain with SS and heal.
Surprisingly, I’ve had little trouble with conditions. Condi engi’s can be a tough fight (they’re the class/spec I’ve lost the most fights to), but so far, I’ve won most of my fights against Spirit rangers/Necro’s (amongst those players who played with some modicum of skill).
pre-ordered HOT at this point,
save yourself the money and don’t bother.