Guild Wars 2

Dual Pistols currently suffer from a relative lack of synergy between their auto-attack and their Unload, no reliable way of getting into stealth outside of the other weapon set and utilities (despite having a pretty good stealth skill), no escape mechanism, and little reason to use anything other than Unload in most situations.

Step 1: Combine Body Shot and Head Shot
I don’t care how it’s done. You could just give Head Shot the 5 stacks of vulnerability or you could also add the damage numbers together. Either way, this would remove the weakest link of the pistol (Body Shot) and strengthen the second weakest link all in one quick move.

Step 2: A new 2nd skill.

Run and Gun
The Thief leaps backwards a short distance, evading attacks and firing off a spread of poison shots in a cone. Poison is short duration. This move constitutes a leap finisher.

With this new skill, the MH pistol would have a way to synergize with the Deadly Arts tree (outside of venoms), an AoE damage skill, a reasonable escape mechanism, and a way to enter stealth when combined with Black Powder. In exchange for this, the cost of the move would be relatively high – say…. 4 or 5.

It would carry a decent power ratio allowing for some significant AoE damage, but it would not compare to Unload by any means.

Just add piercing to pistol shots and ill be relatively satisfied (tho changing skill 2 would also be appreciated.)

Autoattack/Unload need about a 40-50% damage increase.

Daecollo.9578:

Autoattack/Unload need about a 40-50% damage increase.

It’s better to fix fundamental kit issues before worrying about numbers, especially at this early point in the game’s life.

Just throw the vulnerablity on to unload, (maybe make it more bullets in the same duration for the same damage), give 2 a short(250~) evade backward with a single target cripple. Pump ricochet % up a bit for the people that want aoe, and improve the fire rate of vital shot ( reduce damage if needed)

This would cover most of the bases people are looking for in this set, imo

Daecollo.9578:

Autoattack/Unload need about a 40-50% damage increase.

That would make p/p deal more damage than thief melee weapons… Not going to happen. Ever.

Lorath.2504:

Daecollo.9578:

Autoattack/Unload need about a 40-50% damage increase.

That would make p/p deal more damage than thief melee weapons… Not going to happen. Ever.

No it would not, melee weapons swing faster, Pistols fire as slow as rifles do.

And honestly? thief melee weapons ARE ranged weapons.

We have more gap closers then any other class (Infiltrator’s Strike alone makes sword a ranged weapon.), and stealth on our melee weapons, but P/P has no stealth nore damage.

If you really want my unloads to hit glass canons for 10k + air sigil proc, then by all means, increase its damage by 40%.

Overall, p/p damage is fine.
Like it has been said many times, vital shot needs to shoot faster so it doesn’t end up constantly interrupted by dodges, repositionningq and other skills activations, and on the other hand it needs to stop when you hit headshot and blinding powder.

Body shot needs to become usefull, i suggested to make it remove a boon instead.
Blinding powder needs a little buff, either a slightly longer duration, either -1 initiative cost, but more importantly the blind condition needs to proc faster if a foe enters the aoe.
Headshot is already usefull as it is, although most of what it does is pretty much the same as what blinding powder does, except for intterupting self heals. We suggested to add confusion stacks or increased damage on succesfull interrupts, but after a month or so on my custom p/p build, personnaly i would like to see it apply a CD penalty on the interrupted skill.

Piercing would make unload absolutely overpowered.

Once again, if you decide to give p/p a chance, try not to rely on stealth like you would with any other weapon set, bet on your mobility instead.

Daecollo.9578:

And honestly? thief melee weapons ARE ranged weapons.

We have more gap closers then any other class (Infiltrator’s Strike alone makes sword a ranged weapon.), and stealth on our melee weapons, but P/P has no stealth nore damage.

lolol no, just no. a gap closer does not make your weapon set ranged. please quit lying

Duke Blackrose.4981:

Daecollo.9578:

Autoattack/Unload need about a 40-50% damage increase.

It’s better to fix fundamental kit issues before worrying about numbers, especially at this early point in the game’s life.

For the love of God, the most fundamental (and obvious) issue with Pistols by far is Vital Shot’s dramatically sub-par offense for an autoattack, which, in firing at roughly 66% its intended rate, fails to provide adequate sustained DPS and forces an over-reliance on Unload and/or Sneak Attack for even mediocre damage.

It isn’t so much a skill-damage issue as it is a speed issue resulting in a damage issue, but this needs to be fixed first and foremost, then we can look at what other tweaks need to be made.