Guild Wars 2

My overall philosophy on what SA should be is simple: it should be predominantly a 1v1 trait-line with a little group utility through stealth and stealth rezzing. SA already has some utility through stealth. What it lacks is a way of dealing damage that’s different and, in certain situations, better than other trait-lines.

My trait proposal for SA is even simpler: Life-steal proc on application of vulnerability and increase thief’s access to vuln with SA traits.

Life-steal on vuln. Add a new trait that has the same functionality as Assassin’s Annihilation, the rev 1s CD life-steal that procs when striking from behind, but instead procs when the thief applies vulnerability to its target.

Ideally, this life-steal’s damage and healing would vary depending on how many stacks on invuln are being applied. Thus, the attacks that are harder to land and apply more vuln, like Cloak and Dagger and the 3rd attack in the staff AA chain, would proc bigger life-steal procs while vuln from the sigil and traits like Sundering Strikes would be smaller.

Increase ways of applying vulnerability. If adding life-steal on vuln is not enough, and it’s unlikely that it would be, SA can simply be further buffed through increasing access to vulnerability. For example, increasing access to vuln can be done by adding traits that do one or more of the following

-Trait that makes stealth attacks apply several stacks of vuln
-Trait that makes steal apply several stacks of vuln
-Trait that makes make dual skills apply 1 stack of vuln.

Put it all together and we’ll have a trait-line that’s still substandard for the +1/decapper role in sPvP and the current DPS role in group PvE. However, this would potentially be much better for prolonged fights, like duels, solo WvW roaming, and soloing bosses in PvE, through using new traits that are simple, similar to traits already in GW2, and also still unique enough to differentiate SA from other trait-lines. Take this idea, ANet developers. I want you to have it.

And how is this group support?

Jana.6831:

And how is this group support?

The group support traits are already in SA. What SA lacks is ways of boosting damage and boosting damage in ways that’s different than what’s currently offered in CS, DA, and DD.

The only thing in SA that was group support was VS, Shadow protector is neglectable – also good luck stealthing someone “Wooohoo SR, gonna run out of here, it’s creepy!”

I agree with the boosting damage thingy and I also agree that SA needs a major overwork – but calling “I steal life when someone has got vulnerability” “group support” is veeeeeeeeeeery far fetched.
ETA²: (I know): Calling SA “group support” is likewise far fetched. PvE doesn’t need anything SA has got to offer, wvw/pvp can probably make use of the “revive faster” minor, but in the end the line is really bad. Only “group support” it actually offers is that the thief is a bit tankier (longer alive) but a pro should do well without.

ETA: I don’t want group support, btw – I want to support by killing stuff faster.

Jana.6831:

I agree with the boosting damage thingy and I also agree that SA needs a major overwork – but calling “I steal life when someone has got vulnerability” “group support” is veeeeeeeeeeery far fetched.

I’m incredibly confused, Jana. When I propose two additions, more access to vuln and the ability to make applying vuln deal direct damage through life-steal procs, how is this being perceived as a proposed buff for group support rather than damage? I want damage. You want damage. I’ve got a post with two ideas for increasing damage. We could very well be talking about how this would be too big of a buff, too small, etc., and yet we’re not.

We’ve got you focusing on how you don’t really want group support and how my suggestions don’t increase group support. How does this happen? I can change the wording of my suggestion to help mitigate the miscommunication and misunderstandings but to do that well, I need to better understand the problem.

Well, you edited your OP, so…

“I want to change SA to have more group utility”

That might be why I asked you

I originally wrote I thought SA should be about 1v1 and some group utility. I edited it to be more specific to attempt to avoid any more nitpicking, straw-man’s, and any other avoidable misunderstandings from other posters.

Yeah – whatever.
I’ll quote you next time so you can’t accuse me of being offtopic and confusing

ETA: And I guess you haven’t been around lately: we got the latest nerf because anet gave us “more group support” – that might be why I’m a bit allergic to that term. Also thief has never been about group support for me and I had a major fight with some guy because I dared to dodge out of his heal range when I was at 500 HP (had no idea he wanted to heal me and am usually good without any support anyway – but I’m a thief, I can’t stand around and wait for someone to take care of me).

ETA²: And now you can go back to topic. My take on that was: Nice idea but I don’t think it will help – although then we’ve got Mug, SRej and Driven Fortitude (as a minor) – it’s a bit too much already in my book.

Awesome, glad to be on topic. If a life-steal on vuln was added, it would likely be a new grand-master that would replace or compete with SRej (the trait it’s based on, Assassin’s Annihilation, is a GM trait after all). If this were added and strong enough to be used in some PvP builds, SA would likely replace DA and Mug along with it in decent builds. Driven fortitude is negligible.

SA is a defensive trait line it doesnt need any more damage traits, sadly this trait is pretty straight forward down mid(maybe up) and mid………
Maybe add more diversity and normal traits that i wont laugh my kitten off…..
Cloaked in Shadow a major grandmaster trait i laugh evrytime i read it
Lookin at major adept traits who would throw up thieves only condi remove……
Maybe add some group supporting traits to Major Adept traits……
And add conri remove to other trait lines like guardians can remove condi when they block -.- they have like condi immunity…..
While thieves if no SA u f**d up…..