Guild Wars 2

Thief – Saboteur
Weapon: Longbow
Skills: Hexes
Mechanic: Steal is replaced by Mark of Death. They also gain access to all-new Hex Utility Skills.

Mechanic: Mark of Death
The Saboteur is a specialist in Condition Damage and attrition, forcing his enemies into a drawn-out and painful dance of death by branding them with Hexes, wearing them down slowly and tilting the tables in favor of the Saboteur’s own party. Steal is replaced with the hex Mark of Death, which is a 900-unit Hex that inherits traits affecting Steal.

• Mark of Death – Hex. Shadowstep to, Damage and Mark your foe for execution for 6s. The Hex increases the Duration of Incoming Conditions on the target by 25% and pulses Vulnerability (2 Stacks, 4s base) to them every 2s.
  Note: This bonus, as it’s a debuff, stacks with Expertize even if Condition Duration is capped at 100%, in which case the condition’s duration becomes 125%. Mark of Death increases Duration upon application, so a Condition’s duration won’t diminish by 25% in the case of the Hex’ duration running out before the condition does.

Weapon
The Longbow fires arrows coated with insipid venoms and other nasty surprises from a long range, allowing the Saboteur to set up a large area of operations from which they will rain havoc on enemy troops with debilitating conditions and sow discord with misdirection and deception.

• (Stealth Skill) Invasive Shot – Fire a deceptively quick arrow at your target’s kneecaps, causing Cripple (4s) and Torment (3 stacks, 4s). Acts as a Projectile Finisher.
  • Range: 1200.
  • Activation Time: 1/4s.
• Poison Tip Shot – Fire a Venomous Arrow at your target, causing Poison (1 stack, 1s). Acts as a Projectile Finisher (20%).
  • Range: 1200.
  • Activation Time: 3/4s.
• Barbed Fan – Fire a spread of 5 Crippling Arrows in a cone in front of you. Acts as a Projectile Finisher (20%).
  • Range: 900.
  • Activation Time: 1/4s.
  • Initiative: 3.
• Lacerating Barrage – Fire multiple Bleeding (1 stack, 3s x5) Arrows at your target. Acts as a Projectile Finisher (20%).
  • Range: 1200.
  • Channeled skill (1 1/4s).
  • Initiative: 4.
• Serpent’s Trail – Fire an Acid-laced arrow forwards that pierces through enemies, leaving behind a Poison Field that damages and Poisons them. Acts as a Poison Field. Acts as a Projectile Finisher.
  • Duration: 3s.
  • Pulses: 3.
  • Shape: Cylinder.
  • Range: 900.
  • Activation Time: 3/4s.
  • Initiative: 5.
• Rapid Sortie – Drop a smoke field and leap Backwards, Blinding (2s) enemies. Acts as a Smoke Field. Acts as a Leap Finisher.
  • Duration: 4s.
  • Pulses: 3.
  • Radius: 180.
  • Instant.
  • Initiative: 6.

Utility Skills
The Hexes available to the Saboteur are unique Debuffs that cannot be removed from the affected target, that pulses an effect on them over its relatively short duration. The most important part of these is that they forcefully keep the target stuck in combat, making escaping from an Saboteur once they’ve got a lock down on you a very difficult task. In return for these powerful effect, Activation and Cooldown Times often suffers, meaning the Saboteur must carefully plan and set up each Hex rather than mindlessly throwing them out there. Whenever a target has a Hex on them, it displays over their character similar to a Signet, only Red in colour with a black mark dependant on which Hex is in use. Latest applied Hex is the only one show, if multiple are stacked.

• Siphon Strength – Heal Skill. Hex. Damage and Mark your foe with a vampiric Hex for 6s. The Hex reduces their Damage and Condition Damage by 10% and pulses Weakness (2s) to them every 2s, Healing you whenever it damages the target.
  • Initial Self Healing: 4.320 (x1.0)
  • Healing per Pulse: 756
  • Pulses: 3
  • Range: 900
  • Activation Time: 3/4s
  • Cooldown: 35s
• Enduring Toxin – Hex. Damage and Mark your foe with a venomous Hex for 6s. The Hex reduces Healing on the target by an additional 33% and pulses Poison (1 stack, 2s) every 2s.
  • Pulses: 3
  • Range: 900
  • Activation Time: 1 1/2s
  • Cooldown: 30s
• Seeping Wound – Hex. Damage and Mark your foe with an insipid Hex for 6s. The Hex increases all Damage on the Target by 10% and pulses Bleeding (2 stacks, 3s) every 2s.
  • Pulses: 3
  • Range: 900
  • Activation Time: 3/4s
  • Cooldown: 25s
• Shadowy Burden – Hex. Damage and Mark your foe with a burdening Hex for 6s. The Hex makes the target immune to Movement Speed increases and pulses Cripple (2s) every 2s.
  • Pulses: 3
  • Range: 900
  • Activation Time: 1s
  • Cooldown: 25s
• Price of Pride – Hex. Damage and Mark your foe with a parasitic Hex for 6s. The Hex reduces Boon Duration on the target by 50% and removes 1 Boon from them every 2s.
  • Pulses: 3
  • Range: 900
  • Activation Time: 1s
  • Cooldown: 25s
• Assassin’s Promise – Elite Skill. Hex. Damage and Mark your foe with a deadly Hex for 6s. The Hex stacks Torment (1 stack, 3s) on the target whenever they gain a Condition and pulses Chill (1s) every 2s.
  • Torment Appliance ICD: 1/2s.
  • Pulses: 3
  • Range: 900
  • Activation Time: 1 1/2s
  • Cooldown: 40s

Specialization Line
The Saboteur’s specialization line is of course centered around Conditions and Attrition, designed to compliment and support them during longer encounters. It also focuses heavily on the use of Stealth, but not for direct spikes like other Traits. Lastly, it gives the Saboteur the ability to make the best use of his or her allies, as the Specialization is designed more around team play than Core Thief.

Minor Traits

• Agent of Death – Replaces Steal with Mark of Death and grants you access to Hex Skills.
• Quick Hex – You cast Hexes twice as fast while in Stealth.
• Marked for Vengeance – Mark of Death now Breaks Stun for you.

Adept Traits

• Master of Disguise – Revealed duration on you is decreased by 1s.
• Suppressive Fire – While wielding a Longbow, the duration of Movement-Impairing Conditions is increased by 33%. Weaken (3s) your target whenever you Cripple them. ICD: 10s.
• Ambush Tactics – Stealth you apply now grants the Ambush Buff to affected allies, increasing their Damage and Condition Damage by 10%. Lasts 4s. ICD: 15s.

Master Traits

• Evasive Stealth – Gain Stealth (2s) when you evade an attack. ICD: 10s.
• Hemolysis – Bleeding Duration is increased by 20% against Poisoned Targets.
• Empathic Shadows – Whenever you gain Stealth, nearby allies gain Stealth (1s) as well. ICD: 10s.

Grandmaster Traits

• Unseen Tormentor – You gain 50 Condition Damage for 10s every second while you’re in Stealth. Stacks to 5.
• Snakebite – Daze (1s) your target when you stack Poison on them over the Threshold. Threshold: 4. ICD: 6s.
• Hidden Toxin – Stealthing an Ally will cause them to Poison (2 stacks, 4s) their target with their next Attack. Maximum Targets: 5. ICD: 10s.

I like the concept of uncleanable conditions. It’s seems really powerful.

I would run: SA -Tr- Agent i guess.

I have two comments:

1. I do not think the name fits. It has very little to do with spying.
2. Instead of making hexes truly uncleanable, why not cause direct damage when they do get cleared or upon expiration?

I gave the same name to my elite spec concept a few months ago but I am not mad! Your ideas are pretty good.
https://forum-en.gw2archive.eu/forum/professions/thief/Thief-Elite-spec-The-Agent-Rifle-Gadgets/first#post6395824

I agree with Kocoff in that the name, the spec seems more like an “Assassin” or “Venomist”. Also consider some type of interplay with thief venoms.

I can agree that Agent might be a bad name. I was kinda looking for something that wasn’t Assassin, as I guessed people would want a High Spiker/Direct Damage spec for Assassin rather than someone focused on slow kills.

“Saboteur” or “Poisoner” might’ve been better fits.

@Kocoff

1. Answered above.
2. As the Hexes are Debuffs, and there’s no real removal of debuffs in Gw2, the uncleansable quality comes from them. The conditions stacked by each Hex can still be cleansed, naturally, but for 6s a Hex will continue to re-apply Conditions. I figured the best way to Balance this out was to give them long Activation Times and Cooldown, while giving the Spec the advantage of casting them in stealth to halve activation times. This forces tactical play on the player, to choose between Stealth Skills or quick Hexes.

@King Kai

While our ideas share the same name alright, it would seem yours is decidedly different in execution (Focused on Ranged Power Damage instead) and uses different weapons. Cool idea, nonetheless!

As for Venoms synergy, there’s quite some already. Specifically, “Suppressive Fire”, “Hemolysis” and “Snakebite” synergizes particularily well with Venoms (Particularily Spider Venom, but the first trait also synergizes with Ice Drake and Devourer Venom).

Why not call this specialization :
The Venom

(and then we’ll get the Hulk, the Dr Strange, etc…)