Guild Wars 2

Assassin’s Equilibrium
Can you please explain to us what was the thinking process that lead to this trait?
What made you think this would be good for this profession, and in what circumstances?

Why not grant stability on stealth instead of on reveled?

1.5 sec Reveled on stealth would help us a lot. We are constantly being CC as we enter stealth, we get knocked back, knocked down, feared, rooted and so on… and for that reason it no one will take this trait since you get stability AFTER you are CC’ed in stealth…

Even if it was just 1s ON stealth then it would be helpful and even maybe useful.
As you design it it, I don’t see 1 situation were it could be of any help to the thief…

Can you pls at least answer my questions?

tks!

Isn’t it fun to try to figure out the puzzle even if the pieces don’t fit?

What should happen instead of stability, is protection when attacking from stealth for like, 3 seconds. Something more universal than stability. Would give more survival outside of SA.

I highly doubt A-net will provide you with a personal answer.

However, I watched the livestream when this trait was implemented.
Thieves have since long been yearning for access to stability and this was anet’s way of providing them with it. They intended it to be a skillful trait for one to pick up, experienced players are able to predict combat on a higher level than less experienced players. So this trait was meant to provide these skilled players a way to access stability if they can predict CC is coming.

Personal opinions: To me D/P and D/D starts feeling ineffective if you spend more than 3 points in acro line, making 6 out of the question. S/P and P/P lacks stealth on demand, making them rely on longer cooldowns in order to use stealth for this trait, and also in order for P/P to be effective it needs to put points in lines more rewarding in terms of damage. What’s left is S/D and P/D, P/D can have some good benefit from picking up this trait however it’s either a sacrifice in damage or most of their survival.
And well, S/D has access to limitless dodges if played properly.

Conclusion: This trait is incompatible with its current location and it’s function is somewhat incompatible with thief. Picking up this trait is like drinking a cup of hot tea on sunny day.

0/0/6/6/2

new meta

First of all, being that its a Grandmaster trait in a trait-line that grants +30% boon duration, it’s a minimum 2 seconds of stability no matter what. (after 9/9 of course). I’ll likely be using this trait on my P/D dire build, let me explain why-

With dire armor, 15sec cd heal, and 33% vigor uptime, and feline grace, I’m able to eat a couple hits and evade a lot of damage. SO this means CC pulls/knockdowns are what always seems to kill me rather than general attrition. Also, with d/p, you can now safely stay in range for a #3 after unloading a full sneak attack.

I think in terms of survivability for a d/p thief- this trait will help me a lot more than shadow’s rejuvenation, shadow’s resilience or assassin’s reward. Shadow’s rejuvenation heals about 1100hp for 3 seconds spent in stealth. However, if I get CC’d it usually leads to them putting 5k-10k damage on to me- Think about it: if you get caught in a hammer warrior’s CC vortex- that’s probably at least 10k damage (especially if he isn’t alone). If running stability you have a greater chance of avoiding the combo entirely, if running shadow’s rejuvenation, it would take like 25sec spent in stealth to heal for that!

I think if it saves me from even one CC during a fight itll do as much or more than Shadow’s rejuvination (or resilience), and it could potentially save you from multiple CC’s. (especially the “Pull” CC into a zerg)

oh yes
a tank is totally what I wanted to play whenever i think about thief
or a venom sharing support

Cam Ron.4170:

I’ll likely be using this trait on my P/D dire build, let me explain why-

A P/D dire build going 6pts into Acro…what?

Sir Vincent III.1286:

Cam Ron.4170:

I’ll likely be using this trait on my P/D dire build, let me explain why-

A P/D dire build going 6pts into Acro…what?

Why not? After Trickery there aren’t great offensive traits for P/D, so might as well go for additional survivability. So it’s basically Acro vs. Shadow Arts. (right now I use 1/0/4/3/6, most of the value in Acro without Assassin’s equilibrium is in the 2nd and 3rd trait)

I prefer vigorous recovery to remove conditions on stealth, (overrated trait, its 1 condi every 3 seconds, in most cases you remove a just one cover condi like weakness) I prefer Assassins equilibrium to shadow’s rejuv/resilience (after patch), and I prefer feline grace to any SA minor. They only trait in SA I like better is blind on stealth (best adept trait in game?) instead of pain response. After 9/9 I’ll probably be running 2/0/0/6/6 or 0/0/2/6/6 just for the blind on stealth. (Though probably 2/0/0/6/6, posion on steal is just too important (moreso than mug)).

For some reason people think acro is only good on S/D. The evade spam is real on any weaponset. Kind of surprised they nerfed s/d set instead of acro, which imo is pretty OP (better for power builds than p/d due to trait #5 10% mroe damage when endurance not full)

darres.8203:

oh yes
a tank is totally what I wanted to play whenever i think about thief
or a venom sharing support

you’re right, let’s make all thief traits optimal with Berserker gear. This will give players a lot of options and variety.

Cam Ron.4170:

I’ll likely be using this trait on my P/D dire build…

Huh??

Kind of surprised they nerfed s/d set instead of acro, which imo is pretty OP

I hate to single you out like this but I’m super baffled by what I’m reading. Apologies if it seems like an attack. It’s not.

Acrobatics isn’t OP. It just isn’t. It is widely considered weak. What is considered OP is evade spamming, which involves the Acrobatics tree. You are confusing the two.

There’s no getting around it. Assassin’s Equilibrium, as currently, is junk. Along with a bunch of other traits.

The minor traits in acro are quite good, fluid strikes is the easiest damage modifier to consistently keep on. The reason the line is considered weak is because other than vigorous recovery and pain response, there are no good traits (maybe fleet shadow in some builds ).

:

Assassin’s Equilibrium
Can you please explain to us what was the thinking process that lead to this trait?

I believe the idea was that after you backstab a scary hammer warrior you can, in the next 2 sec, without fear spam hearstseaker as fast as posible

Cam Ron.4170:

Sir Vincent III.1286:

Cam Ron.4170:

I’ll likely be using this trait on my P/D dire build, let me explain why-

A P/D dire build going 6pts into Acro…what?

Why not? After Trickery there aren’t great offensive traits for P/D, so might as well go for additional survivability. So it’s basically Acro vs. Shadow Arts. (right now I use 1/0/4/3/6, most of the value in Acro without Assassin’s equilibrium is in the 2nd and 3rd trait)

The only reason why you would want to use Dire set is for you to NOT put points in either SA or Acro. It’s not either/or — it’s neither.

I prefer vigorous recovery to remove conditions on stealth, (overrated trait, its 1 condi every 3 seconds, in most cases you remove a just one cover condi like weakness) I prefer Assassins equilibrium to shadow’s rejuv/resilience (after patch), and I prefer feline grace to any SA minor. They only trait in SA I like better is blind on stealth (best adept trait in game?) instead of pain response. After 9/9 I’ll probably be running 2/0/0/6/6 or 0/0/2/6/6 just for the blind on stealth. (Though probably 2/0/0/6/6, posion on steal is just too important (moreso than mug)).

What a waste.

For some reason people think acro is only good on S/D. The evade spam is real on any weaponset. Kind of surprised they nerfed s/d set instead of acro, which imo is pretty OP (better for power builds than p/d due to trait #5 10% mroe damage when endurance not full)

Just to clarify. If you want to evade spam, all you need is 3pts into Acro. If you want Vitality and Buff duration, you use all 6pts.

The only reason you would want points into SA is for the condition removal, which is accessible with 2pts.

You’re better off with 6/0/2/0/6 build with your P/D Dire set to maximize your condition’s effectiveness.

yep i watched the live stream for this trait to lol

they said it would add skilled play to the game !

they said—- and i am being serious ….. they said
“u can counter a wars hammer by coming out of stealth and hitting them to gain stability” !!!

y would u do that !!!!! u would still take the damage !!!!

the answer is you would dodge !!!!!!!!!

i tried to find the old live stream when they talk about the trait – but i got lazy

caveman.5840:

they said—- and i am being serious ….. they said
“u can counter a wars hammer by coming out of stealth and hitting them to gain stability” !!!

lol. That reasoning of countering Hammer/Mace+Shield Warrior with this trait was a joke and if ArenaNet really said that, they thought it was a valid reason. lmao

Further proof that they know nothing about Thief.

Sir Vincent III.1286:

Cam Ron.4170:

Sir Vincent III.1286:

Cam Ron.4170:

I’ll likely be using this trait on my P/D dire build, let me explain why-

A P/D dire build going 6pts into Acro…what?

Why not? After Trickery there aren’t great offensive traits for P/D, so might as well go for additional survivability. So it’s basically Acro vs. Shadow Arts. (right now I use 1/0/4/3/6, most of the value in Acro without Assassin’s equilibrium is in the 2nd and 3rd trait)

The only reason why you would want to use Dire set is for you to NOT put points in either SA or Acro. It’s not either/or — it’s neither.

I prefer vigorous recovery to remove conditions on stealth, (overrated trait, its 1 condi every 3 seconds, in most cases you remove a just one cover condi like weakness) I prefer Assassins equilibrium to shadow’s rejuv/resilience (after patch), and I prefer feline grace to any SA minor. They only trait in SA I like better is blind on stealth (best adept trait in game?) instead of pain response. After 9/9 I’ll probably be running 2/0/0/6/6 or 0/0/2/6/6 just for the blind on stealth. (Though probably 2/0/0/6/6, posion on steal is just too important (moreso than mug)).

What a waste.

For some reason people think acro is only good on S/D. The evade spam is real on any weaponset. Kind of surprised they nerfed s/d set instead of acro, which imo is pretty OP (better for power builds than p/d due to trait #5 10% mroe damage when endurance not full)

Just to clarify. If you want to evade spam, all you need is 3pts into Acro. If you want Vitality and Buff duration, you use all 6pts.

The only reason you would want points into SA is for the condition removal, which is accessible with 2pts.

You’re better off with 6/0/2/0/6 build with your P/D Dire set to maximize your condition’s effectiveness.

I actually prefer blind on stealth to the remove condition on stealth for SA. And sure, I’d rather have the condition duration than the stats from either SA or Acro, but besides the panic strike trait I really don’t like the other traits in that line for condition builds.

That being said, even with in my opinion inferior traits, it may be worth going power for the condi duration stat alone. Appreciate the response.

Easy fix to Assassin’s Equilibrium that I’ve been suggesting since they made it.

Scrap Last Refuge. Put Assassin’s Equilibrium in it’s place. Figure out a new Acro 13 trait to replace AE.

We get rid of a trait that’s done more harm than good that we’ve been trying to get rid of for two years now. We move AE to the Shadow Arts line where it belongs. And the method of activating the stability, combined with its short duration, even considering the upcoming ‘improvement’, is really not that overpowering for an adept minor trait.

Dakota.4591:

. And the method of activating the stability, combined with its short duration, even considering the upcoming ‘improvement’, is really not that overpowering for an adept minor trait.

I think stability on a 1 point trait, despite it’s clunky activation, is OP

Cam Ron.4170:

I actually prefer blind on stealth to the remove condition on stealth for SA.

It is my opinion that blinding targets when you go on stealth is redundant since they can’t see you anyway.

And sure, I’d rather have the condition duration than the stats from either SA or Acro, but besides the panic strike trait I really don’t like the other traits in that line for condition builds.

That being said, even with in my opinion inferior traits, it may be worth going power for the condi duration stat alone. Appreciate the response.

If it’s better, then it is better. You can pick a random trait from DA and it will still be better. If it is not, then it is not.

The choice is really yours to make. My opinion is just that, an opinion.

Idea for a change to assassin’s equilibrium:
During a dodge roll, gain stability.
On successful evasion, gain 1/2 second stability (no ICD, so it scales with the number of people you’re fighting)

Reason: tired of getting pulled/interrupted by guards & eles during a roll. This would help thieves to be able to stick to bunkers better and rewards thieves against heavy AI-CC classes like turret engis (and almost anything is better than the current trait).

ya i would take cloaked in shadow !
over assassins equilibrium …..

idk what the thinking behind assassins equilibrium was …

caveman.5840:

ya i would take cloaked in shadow !
over assassins equilibrium …..

idk what the thinking behind assassins equilibrium was …

Many thieves have been begging for survivability traits outside of stealth forever. So Anet put together a crappy trait to get us to shut up.

Getting stability during Dodge could indeed make for a nice GM trait that wouldn’t be too OP while still very gameplay defining. It would also make more sense for the Acrobatics line.

and/Or have it kick in after a teleport skill used.