Guild Wars 2

Well, stealing is interesting, but mostly kind of just wierd to use. It’s absolutely great if you’re playing a melee oriented build, but kind of weak if you’re going ranged. Honestly, I would love stealing to do something different depending on what weapon you’re using. If your mainhand is melee, it shadowsteps you towards your target. If your mainhand is a ranged weapon, it shadowsteps you AWAY.

Secondly, there needs to be a better way to track what abilities you’re actually getting from stealing. Maybe it’s just random, or maybe it’s based on what class you’re stealing from. But either way, thieves need to be able to have a better indication of what they’ve got besides a single tiny icon on the steal button. Maybe a bigger UI element, like what Guardians have when their flaming attack is ready?

Third is the shadowstep function itself, which I believe has already been mentioned in a couple other threads. Shadowstep is still pretty buggy. Sometimes it gets you to the target, sometimes not.

What do you guys think? Am I off base here? Do you like stealing, or hate it, or something in between like me?

I’ve enjoyed stealing during later levels, although I’ll admit it took some effort to work it into my regular rotation. It’s a very…unusual skill, and takes some getting used to. When I started reading build guides and tied “Steal” to my initiative regen rotation, it got used more often

I actually prefer hth, so being less useful ranged seems less of an issue for me, but I don’t see it being particularly un-useful ranged, if paired with the right escape skills.

I will agree, however, that the powers you get from steal are very difficult to integrate with the current visual limitations. It would be very nice if there was some more distinctive (and easier to read) icons for what you’ve stolen. Perhaps a more structured color-coding, for AOEs, dmg skills, conditions, stealth – or at the very least a larger icon with more distinctively different icons (right now the tuft of hair and the spinning blade one are both on orange backgrounds with a hook-shaped or multi-hook shaped something or other)

I would also like to see, somewhere in our skills list or some such, a list of all the things that can be grabbed – if we could just have a checklist of the “stolen” items, we might not need different icons, as we could just learn what each one looks like, and read about their effects ahead of time instead of picking them up in the middle of battle and then having to hold on to them to read them

I don’t even bother checking what I have. I steal. Then I use it. Hasn’t bitten me in the behind yet.

After awhile I start getting a pretty good idea of what each monster is going to give me, in general, while in an area. So if I steal from X I’ll either get A, which I know to be a melee skill, or B which I know to be ranged. I don’t always remember which icon gives which ability, but I’m pretty good at determining if it will be a melee power or no, and thus use it accordingly.

I would actually like to see more variation in the items we get, as after I’ve been in an area awhile I’ll look over and see, “oh, glob … again”.

DrakeWurrum.6049:

I don’t even bother checking what I have. I steal. Then I use it. Hasn’t bitten me in the behind yet.

I see your point. However, if the intended use of stealing is to immediately use it, or even if the optimal use of stealing is to immediately use it, then why have it set up to require two button presses?

I suppose that when you look at it that way, you always have the option to save your Stolen ability, but can generally just throw it into your rotation by double-tapping the key. Honestly, I hadn’t thought of it being used like that. And from that perspective it makes sense.

But from a ranged-built thief it remains pretty counter-intuitive, and all the problems I described still apply.

Hmmm……

After using it enough I’ve just memorized what each icon does. In PvE and PvP certain mobs will only give you certain abilities. A Moa will, like 95% of the time, give you “handful of feathers” (a stealth), and an ettin will almost always give you a knockdown. In pvp a warrior will almost always give whirling axes while a ranger will give you some lame regen ability (hate stealing on rangers). After playing enough you just “know” what abilities you can possibly get when you steal and when you see the icon you just “know” what it does.

P.S. a great thing to do in WvW is to go find a mob who you know has a chance to give you a stealing ability you like and steal from it. 45 seconds later (if you haven’t used the ability) steal will be ready to go right after you used the ability you stole from the mob. (Like say the steal ability with the mace-looking icon that is a 4 second daze). If you use that on somebody then you can immediately steal again to get another ability. I love it…especially since I run with the “mug” trait which makes steal an initiative free, shadow-step attack that regularly crits for 2-2.5k. Steal = awesome.