So im really liking how the elite spec can work with D/P. You get nice bonus dmg, extra dodge roll, initiative free leap finisher, 10s stunbreak/block/CC (this is huuuuuge imo for a thief, so many builds rely on CC to land important skills and this not only breaks the CC, but blocks the next hit and CCs them in return, all on freakin 10s cd. d/p doesnt die to sustained dmg, bursts kill them), headshot starts dealing massive dmg, that sweet sweet finishing elite. but i cant decide what to potentially drop.
My first thought is deadly arts. Its mostly a source of extra dmg and daredevil adds a lot of dmg – hard hitting dodge, weakness on crit to replace lost weakness from DA (or 10% dmg on backstabs), nice dmg spike on interrupt. But I really love mug, poison on steal is awesome, weakness on poison, immob, lucky improv procs. Its not just dmg, thats a lot of utility lost there.
SA – pretty cruical for d/p – amazing for rezing, +1s of stealth, only source of condi removal (you could take DDs condi clear on evade, but that means no 2k dmg headshots), dmg reduction in stealth which i have grown to love, ini regen. But i could see this one being dropped too. Ini regen is not so cruical because of cheaper stealth, more dodges means less dmg taken. More dmg means i get to kill enemies before they down my teammates so less need for rez trait
Trickery – mostly utility but pretty kitten good utility. Loose vigor but gain more endurance from DD. loss of daze+stability strip hurts big time, steal recharge is great but i can live without, thrill of the crime is good but not essential. I havent played a thief without 3 extra initiative from trickery for years now, would take some getting use to, but again ini free leap helps there, good dmg modifier.
So what do you think? Daredevil adds some very cool stuff, have to try and work it in somehow. Personally i think ill try dropping trickery first, but i can see it working with dropping any of the three.