Guild Wars 2

I’m opening up the discussion on ’’Steal’’ again, the one profession class special ability that makes no sense to use on it’s own whatsoever.

Is a ’’rock’’ really justified to have once every 45 seconds or so?

You do know that steal has many applications right? And we have initiative instead of cooldowns which is also our special ability.

DigitalMaster.4870:

You do know that steal has many applications right? And we have initiative instead of cooldowns which is also our special ability.

My point exactly, you need to trait for steal to use it effectively. Other professions do not have this issue, they don’t need to trait ‘’the rock’’ for it to become useful.

it isn’t just a rock though. it is an instant 900 range gap closer, and while you do need to trait for it to make it truly impressive, we enhance it easier than other professions enhance their abilities. all you have to do is go 10 into power, 10 into trickery and you get a high damage, group buffing, poisoning gap closer that gives you an ability depending on what you stole from while restoring initiatve. with that set up, if you steal from a GC warrior between the mug damage and the fury enhanced whirling axe the warrior will die so fast it isn’t funny.

Why wont people get that Steal is just the tip of the iceberg. Our strengths lie in initiative.

Steal is just a nice ability to have, and a strong one when traited. it’s as class defining as engineers having turrets. Just because it’s on your F1 doesn’t mean it has to do something spectacular.

DigitalMaster.4870:

Why wont people get that Steal is just the tip of the iceberg. Our strengths lie in initiative.

Steal is just a nice ability to have, and a strong one when traited. it’s as class defining as engineers having turrets. Just because it’s on your F1 doesn’t mean it has to do something spectacular.

I would say it is slightly more class defining than turrets, but yeah, people ignore initiative because it doesn’t do anything in and of itself. it is a resource bar, not some flashy power move. steal gets looked at because it does something actively, instead of being so built into the class it feels so natural you don’t realize it is different from anything else. it also seems the OP significantly undervalues steal.

Steal is amazing. I have a condition thief, and I use it to open and apply poison from 900 range. The extra skill it gives you can be invaluable. AoE fear, Whirling axe, MOAR stealth, gunk applying lots of conditions, all good stuff.

I also have it traited with Hidden Thief and it stealths me right off the bat too, letting me open with my strongest attack and generally confusing the enemy right off the bat. Also have Bountiful Theft, which can rip boons and give myself vigor. I’d say it’s a very nice profession mechanic at least in PvP. PvE is a little more lackluster, but when traited it can do some amazing things.

bettadenu.5483:

I’m opening up the discussion on ’’Steal’’ again, the one profession class special ability that makes no sense to use on it’s own whatsoever.

Is a ’’rock’’ really justified to have once every 45 seconds or so?

Stop stealing from Earth Elementals then lol.

They ARE made of rocks btw.

bettadenu.5483:

Is a ’’rock’’ really justified to have once every 45 seconds or so?

( •_•) Yes,…

( •_•)>o-o because it’s….

( -o_o) Elemental!

YEAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH

bettadenu.5483:

I’m opening up the discussion on ’’Steal’’ again, the one profession class special ability that makes no sense to use on it’s own whatsoever.

Is a ’’rock’’ really justified to have once every 45 seconds or so?

Don’t waste your time.

Until Steal will have Mug dealing 5 k damage with only 10 trait points investment, people will always say that Steal is fine as it is. Or amazing. Or stuff like that.

I’m really curious what they would have said if we didn’t have mug.

Yet again, we get INITIATIVE as part of our class mechanic (it is even displayed where the F2-F4 would be for other classes) we are the only class capable of spamming an attack should we choose to do so.

Can I be devil’s advocate and say that rock is a pretty decent steal?

Dispari.3980:

Can I be devil’s advocate and say that rock is a pretty decent steal?

it IS a 1 second knockdown from range. it’ll stop a runner

Steal is pretty lackluster/boring and could be made more tactical without making it OP and initiative is curse and blessing at the same time. The initiative has enough downsides which outweigh the upsides.

To make the same two points that always come up regarding steal:

1. You can’t directly cross-compare profession mechanics in a vacuum any more than you can say things like “warrior axe auto attack does more DPS than dagger auto attack” or “rangers get more HP than thieves”. Professions are balanced as a whole and if you try to compare any one singular attribute (like necromancer profession mechanic vs. steal) you’re going to find one side lacking.

2. Steal is awesome, doubly so with traits. Even without traits it means a slot-free instant shadow step that doesn’t interrupt in-progress skills. That alone lets thieves do things like catch downed enemies after they’ve moved mid-stop. Entire builds are built around the fact that you can utilize steal to close into melee range while another skill is already in-progress. Untraited steal’s major power is in this unique mechanic, not in any sort of raw statistical strength. Traited steal is another beast entirely, retaining that innate instant strength while adding on a host of offensive/defensive benefits.

The only thing steal really needs, TBH, is a more friendly option for using steal while maintaining range