Guild Wars 2

My Bro had a great idea.

Why not make the steal skill a lot like the Charm skill for the ranger.

You can go around stealing all sorts of moves, which become unlocked (Like a rangers pet)

Then we get to choose which skill we stole to use just like a ranger chooses the pets they have charmed.

This would let us customize to our liking and allow us to always have a useful skill we like in F1 then a random one that is generally not very useful.

Whatcha think?

Anet put too much work and effort into steal, it’s not going to see any major changes ever.

Steal is good as it is.

Steal is great as it is. It just has a steep learning curve that you have to get over.

No offense to your guys’ tastes and all, but most people aren’t happy with the skill.

Also, its not the learning curve that I have a problem with… its the usability factor.

If the skill doesn’t warrant the situation it is useless and tbh this happens a lot with this ability. Rather than the randomness of MOBs choosing our skill, it would make a lot more sense utility-wise to allow us to customize our skillset.

Just sayin…

Oh.. my.. that would be awesome.

steal is not good as it is.

steal doesn’t have a steep learning curve ( if you really believe this, this game is probably not for you).

steal is a "do everything " gimmick ( when traited) or a “free OP ability” ( when untraited).

Absolutely terrible.

Are you serious? To begin with I didn’t like steal. But now? Love it. If you trait steal it becomes the best utility in the game, a free shadow step and some nice (NICE) damage. The traits that buff steal are fairly low level (10 points in the power and cond. damage builds, with an extra one in the condition line) and incredibly useful. I just do not understand how people can complain about this skill.

The reason why a lot of people don’t like it, is because they are generally too lazy to put in the effort to learn it. Steal feels random to you because you have no idea which skills does what. Learn all the different skills you can steal, and remember them. Just use steal, kill your opponent (or run away), and then read what the skill effect does (write it down if you have to). Sounds difficult? That’s the steep learning curve of steal. Luckily though, each profession only has two skills that you can steal, so you only have to remember 16 different skills in PvP.

It’s important to remember that random skills are not action skills, but reaction skills. In other words; trying to predict what you’re going to get is useless, because you don’t know. Instead, you should find an effect/usage that all the skills have in common, and consider everything ells the different skill do as a bonus. But unlike other random skills, it is actually possible to make steal an action skill, if you learn to recognize the different skills by their icon. Once you can recognize your stolen skill at a glance, then you can start to categorize the different skills and ask yourself; “is this a skill that I can spam when I get it (like a damage skill), or should I save it for a specific situation for it to work best (like a stealth skill)?”.

I love steal as it is. With your idea, we choose an F1 skill that we stole and can use it all the time, then how would we shadow step/steal again? They would have to let us use a skill and then also make an F2 for us to let us be able to steal again while fighting for the poison/mug. So we would always get a skill and then also get steal when it’s off CD? That sounds like a serious balancing issue.

An example- I would keep the tuft of hair, for my chosen stolen skill for the stealth, then I would also get steal to shadow step/stealth again plus poison and damage, plus all my other stealth skills on top of that See where I’m going with this?

What do you do when you hear “For Great Justice” when fighting a warrior?

I steal. Rip off his boons, gain boons and then twirl his face off.

I dont want that taken away.

I think what the OP suggests is interesting, but then, it wouldn’t really be stealing anymore. Personally, I would have liked to see the stealing of attributes or boons instead of skills. I’m too old to remember what skills are gotten from the various NPC’s in the game.

Considering that the beta had the skill being far less reliable and way, way, more random, I rather like where it’s at. I know what skills I will generally get and can plan around them and the enemies I’m facing.

The primary Steal ability is just annoying. Too random. I only use it because it grants me free Initiative with the traits I’ve got, and eventually poison too. I would actually prefer that it just do that and not give me some random attack to make in my chain.

I don’t know that “megaman stealing” would be the best way to fix Steal. Personally I’d just prefer they changed it to giving you a specific buff. For example, instead of “stealing feathers” and then using those to blind and stealth, if you Stole from a bird it would just passively apply stealth to you. If you Stole from a Char it might apply Fury to you or something. If you Stole from an Ettin it would apply Might. The effect would be instantaneous and would instantly put Steal back into cooldown so that you could use it again asap.

That is a neat idea, but I am also loving Steal the way it is right now. I like the fact that it’s random, as it tosses a wild card into your rotation and if anyone should have a wild card up their sleeves it should be the Thief. If anything, I wish there were more possible results.

Nice and all but it sounds like it’d make things stale, with certain skills being more popular then others. I like steal as it is right now. The abilities it grants are good (I especially like ones that stealth me and gunk shot), and when you start applying traits to it, it gets even better. I’m a S/D Thief myself and I love having it as an option when I dive into combat for a quick initiative boost [Kleptomaniac] and an extra skill option following.

Obtena.7952:

I think what the OP suggests is interesting, but then, it wouldn’t really be stealing anymore. Personally, I would have liked to see the stealing of attributes or boons instead of skills. I’m too old to remember what skills are gotten from the various NPC’s in the game.

You don’t really have to force yourself to remember all the skills right now. You can just think of steal as a long term investment. It’s something that will make your Thief interesting to play, even after months of playtime. Unlike the Warriors adrenaline skills, now that’s a profession skill that will get old very quickly.

“The effect would be instantaneous and would instantly put Steal back into cooldown so that you could use it again asap.”

Just so you know, once you steal it goes on cooldown straight away, ticking down behind the skill you stole. If you wait 50 seconds or whatever the cd is; you can cast your stolen skill, steal, and the cast the new skill straight away.

I love the idea of giving steal the ability to “steal” utility skills. Steal right now is utter crap 99% of the time, and the traits that make it op really do nothing to warm it up to me, because that relies on giving up other traits id rather have.

Only thing i don’t like is the total random nature of what you steal.
I don’t want to plant trees,nor to fear the target out of my OWN trap.
Just give us one steady buff,like 3 stacks of might for 10 seconds and call it quits.

Steal is decent. As a class mechanic it gets a 5/10 because hey, free shadowstep and you’ll make Warriors cry, but let’s face it, if Steal was a utility skill none of us would even spend skill points to unlock it.

That said, it could be better if it had half its cooldown. A 25 or even 30 second steal would actually make it closer to a 7 or 8/10, since you could actually trait it up and keep those buffs up 40% of the time instead of, y’know, 25%.

Steal CD should be 30sec or less then its cool.

Tyrantis.8640:

No offense to your guys’ tastes and all, but most people aren’t happy with the skill.

[Citation Needed]

If the skill doesn’t warrant the situation it is useless and tbh this happens a lot with this ability. Rather than the randomness of MOBs choosing our skill, it would make a lot more sense utility-wise to allow us to customize our skillset.

Useless? Pretty much whatever you get will be useful, and if you trait correctly, steal can be used to refill your initiative.

Just sayin…

This has never, ever been a good way to end a post.

ZLE.8293:

Only thing i don’t like is the total random nature of what you steal.

What is random about knowing what you’re stealing from each individual class?

Furthermore, everything you can steal is useful, you just have to know what to do with it. Sounds like a lot of people cannot grasp that concept, and should have considered this before rolling a thief…

Laika,don’t play smart a.ss,OK.How are you gonna learn the class,before rolling it?
Furthermore i am pretty sure i know my class a lot better that you and i will give you and example:
From each class you can steal atleast 3 different abilities(for example Blinding Tuft OR Sab Tooth OR Bone Crack from mesmer,checked and rechecked) which makes the whole idea a lottery,and that is bad for people like me who like to excel in theorycrafting.So can you please keep your lame oppinion which has nothing to do with reality for yourself?

Are you “checking” and “re-checking” in your own delusional mind?

Thief = Blinding Tuff
Mesmer = Consume Ectoplasm
Engineer = Throw Gunk
Warrior = Whirling Axe
Guardian = Mace Skull Crack
Necromancer = Skull Fear
Ranger = Healing Seed
Elementalist = Ice Shard Stab

100%, 100% of the time. But glad we have researchers like you out there doing all the legwork for us.

As for “how are you gonna learn the class before rolling it”… lol, learn to read?

Laika.8795:

Furthermore, everything you can steal is useful

This simply is not true, especially in PvE. 9 times out of 10 I wind up with some random status effect that I ALWAYS have a better/more reliable way of casting, none of them have the outrageous cooldown steal has either. In closing, there is so little of a reason to actually USE steal, that a lot of us thieves actually FORGET it’s there… This is NOT a good class mechanic.

MasterFhyl.3014:

Laika.8795:

Furthermore, everything you can steal is useful

This simply is not true, especially in PvE.

It is simply very true, with the exception of PvE. In PvE, yes, it becomes a lottery, and can yield pretty useless results. On this level, it needs a reassessment, but in PvP it is perfectly fine, and this is to what I was speaking to.

Some skills that you can steal from professions are better than elite skills, its actually a borderline OP skill if used right.

In PvP Steal is fine as is, it’s not random and good thieves make ample use of it. There are some stolen items which people claim are OP, but in the grand scheme, certainly in WvW those items are fine as is.

In PvE I use it simply to burst, or move to the next mob. Sometimes it rewards me with an item that makes the fight trivial, but every time it rewards me with something useful. You simply need to know how to make use of each item, this is most certainly a mastery issue.

Most lower-level thieves share the opinion that steal isn’t very good. It really does shine when traited though, if for no other reason than it is an ability that is completely outside the regular battle rhythm. A traited steal can allow instant closure with an enemy, give initiative, do a hefty big of damage, poison, etc, but most importantly it can do all that without breaking your stride or having to choose it instead of another ability. It is also important to remember that profession-specific mechanics can’t be compared to eachother directly. Compare thieves as a whole to other professions, not just steal vs. other profession mechanics. Don’t forget that initiative is a large part of what makes thieves unique as well.

Mrbig.8019:

steal doesn’t have a steep learning curve ( if you really believe this, this game is probably not for you).

I hate when people say that this game is not for you. Just because he thinks it has a steep learning curve doesn’t mean he shouldn’t be playing this game. I see this comment way too often, and strangely enough it’s only on this game.
I think it’s up to the players to decide for themselves if this game is ‘not for them’.

The only thing that I don’t like about steal is… Healing Seed. I die a little inside every time this turns up.

Steal is the best profession skill ever… You can do attacks an steal to move your toon an continue them, You can use steal to teleport to a player who used teleport while in a downed state. Does not interrupt anything your casting. A ranger can run up and use his Ultimate root on you… You press f1 and POOF. Snare/immobilize is gone. Its a gap closer. Gives you nice little ability’s. You can prep for massive damage by picking which targets to steal from aka warrior + Daggerstorm ult = Massive AOE dmg. Even more if you let your might stack up to 14 before you start it. Steal can be used to chase people down. If they are far away just press 2 with sword/pistol teleport closer.. swap two dagger do some jumps with #2 when your perfect distance from your enemy press F1.. they will not know how you traveled that far so quickly.. I posted a video of my thief from September 16th after dagger nerf. Its currently on linksville right now. Just check out Thief solo WvW

kevin.3584:

Mrbig.8019:

steal doesn’t have a steep learning curve ( if you really believe this, this game is probably not for you).

I hate when people say that this game is not for you. Just because he thinks it has a steep learning curve doesn’t mean he shouldn’t be playing this game. I see this comment way too often, and strangely enough it’s only on this game.
I think it’s up to the players to decide for themselves if this game is ‘not for them’.

the point is that there’s so misinformation about this class that it’s getting ridicolous.

People saying the thief is hard, people saying Steal has a steep learning curve and bullkitten like this have totally no clue not only about the thief, but about the whole game.

People keep on saying about how “awsum Steal is a gap clos n das dmg n givz sthealt n poizon enemys” etc etc etc without actually understand that this happens ONLY if you trait for it .

Without traits, Steal is nothing more than another U-skill on a far too long CD.

It has been crap for almost 2 years till now, when they made it at least useful in Pvp by making Mug dealing tons of damage and making almost every skill you can steal an utterly Op crap, like the “spin to win”.

This is absolutely not right, nor for the thief to be called “thief” and not “assassin”, neither for our enemies when they get feared for 3 secs ( lol, not even the necro with full fear traits and necro runes has so much fear in his arsenal) or daze-locked for 4 secs ( by simply clicking a button against a guardian).

Stop being kids and try to understand the game a little better, because Steal is nothing else than a gimmick.

How about as an additional bonus effect to its current use, actually making it steal money in PvE and marks in pvp.

its STEALING… not some wacky krull cloning ability.

Mrbig.8019:

kevin.3584:

Mrbig.8019:

steal doesn’t have a steep learning curve ( if you really believe this, this game is probably not for you).

I hate when people say that this game is not for you. Just because he thinks it has a steep learning curve doesn’t mean he shouldn’t be playing this game. I see this comment way too often, and strangely enough it’s only on this game.
I think it’s up to the players to decide for themselves if this game is ‘not for them’.

the point is that there’s so misinformation about this class that it’s getting ridicolous.

People saying the thief is hard, people saying Steal has a steep learning curve and bullkitten like this have totally no clue not only about the thief, but about the whole game.

People keep on saying about how “awsum Steal is a gap clos n das dmg n givz sthealt n poizon enemys” etc etc etc without actually understand that this happens ONLY if you trait for it .

Without traits, Steal is nothing more than another U-skill on a far too long CD.

It has been crap for almost 2 years till now, when they made it at least useful in Pvp by making Mug dealing tons of damage and making almost every skill you can steal an utterly Op crap, like the “spin to win”.

This is absolutely not right, nor for the thief to be called “thief” and not “assassin”, neither for our enemies when they get feared for 3 secs ( lol, not even the necro with full fear traits and necro runes has so much fear in his arsenal) or daze-locked for 4 secs ( by simply clicking a button against a guardian).

Stop being kids and try to understand the game a little better, because Steal is nothing else than a gimmick.

So okay, skipping the PvP veteran uber pro insults at the intelligence at everyone in the thread you go, Steal isn’t strong without traits and is overhyped, then you go it was never strong but now is strong with trait. Then you say that stolen abilities are OP’d and shouldn’t be over the course of a paragraph, accusing a thief of not being a thief, without explaining what a thief should be. And end off with another uber pro insult calling Steal a cheap trick. Try to be more organized and respectful in the future, we don’t need GW2’s community devolving into another club of irritable elitists.

Lol opinions being argued as fact is always hilarious. As for my opinion is its really lackluster vs other classes. I myself think its under powered and not that great. Everything you can steal you can find in the world so it seems alot less special. I would prefer different weak utilities for the F-skills. The items arent bad its just not that unique really. The best part about the skill is the shadow step.

I do not have any problems with the skill Steal but the unique attribute related to it.

Steal is one of those skills I simultaneously see called OP and underpowered.

Steal is fine the way it is. It would be better if there was an F2 steal that shadowsteps a thief away from the target to compliment melee and ranged playstyles though. Want to get into melee? find the closest enemy hit F1 and engage them. Need to get out of melee? hit F2, steal a ranged skill and shadowstep away.

Dual.8953:

Mrbig.8019:

kevin.3584:

Mrbig.8019:

steal doesn’t have a steep learning curve ( if you really believe this, this game is probably not for you).

I hate when people say that this game is not for you. Just because he thinks it has a steep learning curve doesn’t mean he shouldn’t be playing this game. I see this comment way too often, and strangely enough it’s only on this game.
I think it’s up to the players to decide for themselves if this game is ‘not for them’.

the point is that there’s so misinformation about this class that it’s getting ridicolous.

People saying the thief is hard, people saying Steal has a steep learning curve and bullkitten like this have totally no clue not only about the thief, but about the whole game.

People keep on saying about how “awsum Steal is a gap clos n das dmg n givz sthealt n poizon enemys” etc etc etc without actually understand that this happens ONLY if you trait for it .

Without traits, Steal is nothing more than another U-skill on a far too long CD.

It has been crap for almost 2 years till now, when they made it at least useful in Pvp by making Mug dealing tons of damage and making almost every skill you can steal an utterly Op crap, like the “spin to win”.

This is absolutely not right, nor for the thief to be called “thief” and not “assassin”, neither for our enemies when they get feared for 3 secs ( lol, not even the necro with full fear traits and necro runes has so much fear in his arsenal) or daze-locked for 4 secs ( by simply clicking a button against a guardian).

Stop being kids and try to understand the game a little better, because Steal is nothing else than a gimmick.

So okay, skipping the PvP veteran uber pro insults at the intelligence at everyone in the thread you go, Steal isn’t strong without traits and is overhyped, then you go it was never strong but now is strong with trait. Then you say that stolen abilities are OP’d and shouldn’t be over the course of a paragraph, accusing a thief of not being a thief, without explaining what a thief should be. And end off with another uber pro insult calling Steal a cheap trick. Try to be more organized and respectful in the future, we don’t need GW2’s community devolving into another club of irritable elitists.

it’s not hard, and it’s not about being elitists.

Steal is bad designed from every PoV.

1) too long CD , making it by default “not so relevant” for thief gameplay. While other classes have their mechanics highly incorporated within how they play, this is not valid for the thief, since it’s a real “thief” only every 45 secs ( unlike necros, rangers, wars, mesmers and all other classes).

2) to justify the long CD, stolen skills have ridicolously OP effects, like the “spin to win” or the 4 secs daze, or the AoE 3 secs fear, or the AoE heal+ condition removal lasting an eternity and even more.

3) to make Steal more appealing, you can bump tons of traits into it, making it even more OP.

tl:dr;

Steal, untraited, is only an unappealing OP skill ( in PvP), used only because it’s a free shadowstep and an OP bonus skill

Steal, traited, is ridicolously OP, a “do everything skill”. A gimmick.

This has nothing to do with elitism.

People saying “steal has a steep learning curve” and me bashing on them, THAT is elitism.

Steal is one of the best things about the Thief. Shadow Stepping to someone above, below, left, right, behind, in front of you. Steal boons, gain initiative, gain random ability. It’s beautiful.

Steal is fine as it is. Furthermore everything you can steal has use in it’s own way. If you feel different otherwise you haven’t played the class long enough.

steal is great! built-in stun break plus a shadow step which will not interrupt cast. try pre-cast PW, CnD and use steal, it is great combo to land these two skills.

With traits, addition dmg (Mug, it is quite a lot dmg), buffs, stealth, remove boons etc

Plus bonus skill based on target (warrior’s is my favourate) what else you can ask for?

Tyrantis.8640:

No offense to your guys’ tastes and all, but most people aren’t happy with the skill.

And where are you getting your “most people” numbers from? By the responses in this thread, I would say that most people are actually happy with it. I sure am.

Target more necromancers and warriors. AoE fear and whirling axe with built in evade is just downright amazing.

I just wanted to add my vote to keep steal the way it is. I like the random element to the skill. It’s not like a completely random skill where you don’t know what effect it’s going to do before you cast it. You get to assess what you got and choose when/how to use it. It stops the combat from getting to stale. Then you add all of the other things it can do, or be traited for and it gets even better. I really like it.

well against players its much simpler to choose target tho in instances i have a issue i been running CoF a few times and most i get to steal there is usually the blind. Starting to get on my nerves its always the same item over and over sometimes i get lucky and get the goo. Think there needs to be a better radomizer in pve for steal and yea i think its slightly to long CD.

I’ve only experience in PvE and WvW but I am quite happy with the stealing. The only change I would like made is to have the stolen item assigned to F2 (if there isn’t already a stolen item there), so that we can use F1 as a shadow step + traits without having to use the item first. I for one don’t always use the item straight away and would love to be able to save it for an appropriate moment.