Guild Wars 2

There are many issues surrounding the thief class, Backstab burst, culling issues etc. that are all worthy of discussion.

However I feel one aspect is ignored although it is the prime reason why Thieves are such a “noob friendly” class.

What I mean with this is that you can achieve a lot more on a Thief with minimal effort than you could with any other profession. The Thief actually has a fairly decent skill-cap, but it’s overshadowed by the fact that anyone can make a Thief and still be reasonably successful.

And I believe a big reason for that is Heartseeker.

Not so much the damage (although it can be excessively high when combined with _ Executioner_ and other Critical Damage traits) but rather the fact that it’s auto-targeting with a 450 range.

That makes the ability very easy to apply, especially if you consider that the 3 Initiative make it almost spamable.

I also think this ability is the reason why people feel Thieves are cheesy because they most often will die to multiple Heartseekers in rapid succession which just looks really cheesy I have to admit.

I believe that changing Heartseeker is a good way to not only increase the “finesse requirements” on Thieves but also make it feel less cheesy to players who die to Thieves.

I’ll add a replacement suggestion to give an example of what might be a better choice.

“Exploit Weakness”

Evade to the sides, stabbing your Foe in an vulnerable spot.
Deals 600 damage + 40 for every Stack of Vulnerability on the target.
Range: 200
Cost: 4 Initiative

Why is this better?
1. Vulnerability is a condition, something the Thief would need to watch and react to.
2. Vulnerability is a condition that typically doesn’t stack very high in PvP situations, thus limiting the burst potential.
3. Getting use out of the “Evade” component requires explicit timing.
4. The limited 200 range make it harder to apply compared to Heartseeker.
5. The 4 Initiative cost make it less prone to spam, emphasizing timing over button mashing.

I love when I face a HS thief^^

If you are spamming hs you are a noob and going to lose the fight.

Hs is a finisher or a one time use because you lost track of your target. Anyone who spams it just needs to l2p. I spammed it too when I first started. I don’t anymore.

This wasn’t about spamming Heartseeker. This is about how incredibly “user friendly” the ability is. It’s very easy to apply damage with Heartseeker thanks to the 450 Range and the “seeking” aspect of it.

And that’s why I think Thieves are so accessible. Giving them something that requires a little more finesse and skill to use would go a long way towards adding a little more depth to the profession.

That’s all I’m trying to say. I couldn’t care less about people who spam it.

I’d have to agree with you, OP. In noob v noob fights, heartseeker-spamming will make the thief win. However, any decently skilled player knows how to deal with a heartseeker thief, and can kill them easily.

Should we really be balancing around unskilled players? After all, there are plenty of other things that do just fine with unskilled players but die horribly when they go up against a skilled opponent, and I don’t have a problem with that. As long as it’s possible for a decent player to deal with it, I don’t see why it needs changing.

Backstab needs adjustment far more than HS. Even a really skilled player can die to backstab, but any player which dies to HS spamming is an embarrassment.