Guild Wars 2

Hi all,

I’d like to suggest some slight alterations to thief. I have been playing more this season and notice a few things when making various builds. I also think a few things could use perhaps a minor nerf.

So here is what I think could use some buffs.

1. Pulmonary Impact shouldn’t push you out of stealth.
I think this one is pretty obvious. Its not that much damage and this could open up for more build possibilities. There aren’t too many interrupt abilities that u can do from stealth while maintaining stealth so I think its a fair buff.

2. make traps work even if the person who used the traps is blind. It makes logical sense that if a trap is laid down then blindness is irrelevant. Either a person steps onto a trap or they dodge through it.

3. SA line is still kinda meh for some builds. Perhaps increase the base healing for shadows rejuvenation just a touch. Combine shadow protector and hidden thief… then it will be a little more in line with bountiful theft which has 2 abilities: vigor and rip boons.

4. Make Staff just plus 10 percent damage without the dodge modifier. Having the dodge modifier limits the potential for different combos. I.E. you burned a bit of your dodge bar but you use steal and have a full dodge bar again. It conflicts directly with “endurance thief” trait.

5. I think Back stab base damage should go up a bit since the recent nerf to it.

6. Short Bow auto attack damage needs a buff.

7. DA—- improvisation- instead of resetting the ability out of the different categories of utilities simply reset one of the health-utility-elite slots. So that way its still random what ability will reset but this will increase build diversity by always have one of the slots reset. (if you wanted similar chances ud be forced to slot one of each type of ability which hampers the usefulness of this trait.)

Now for some nerfs I believe are in order.

1. I believe d/p needs a bit of a nerf… or perhaps not make it as cheesy.

now this is just a wild guess of an idea. but what about altering initiative cost? make shadow shot cost 5 initiative but decrease black powder from 6 initiative to 5 and adjust stealth bonus if needed. ( we don’t want the perma-stealth from black powder like the olden days.) That way shadow shot will be a little less spammy but black powder might be better to use and perhaps more d/p thieves would be inclined for the back stab attempt more often instead of the shadowshot>AA.

2. Perhaps lower the auto attack damage of daggers by a small amount. Id imagine somewhere between 5-10 percent.

Cobrakon.3108:

2. make traps work even if the person who used the traps is blind. It makes logical sense that if a trap is laid down then blindness is irrelevant. Either a person steps onto a trap or they dodge through it.

Buff???
That would be a big nerf to thiefs. Blinds are one of our best defenses and traps are mostly used by other classes against thiefs.

Shylock.4653:

Cobrakon.3108:

2. make traps work even if the person who used the traps is blind. It makes logical sense that if a trap is laid down then blindness is irrelevant. Either a person steps onto a trap or they dodge through it.

Buff???
That would be a big nerf to thiefs. Blinds are one of our best defenses and traps are mostly used by other classes against thiefs.

yea hahah he didnt quit think this thru. these thives player always think out their own perspective only =D yes the profession need some urgent mechanical changes but its not that simple as u want it to be.

I’m going to have to disagree with a massive portion of this list for reasons that the proposed changes are insubstantial, not warranted, or do not actually address weak builds and would further set ahead the ones which are already dominant.

Even Shadow Shot needs more of a nerf than just a bump to 5 init.

The problem with buffing sb damage on thief is that thief is such a mobile class and sb unlike p/p offer some more utility to that via an evade on 3 plus ofc 5 (as you all know). If sb was buffed to actually be a viable damage dealing weapon and not used mainly for utility (I say mainly there are times where you use sb in combat) thief would imo have a strong chance of becoming overpowered as it would have so much kiting potential while dealing now (assuming after buff) “viable” damage. Trust I’d love it, but it’s for this reason you won’t see it happen (I believe).

Deathrubber.3861:

Shylock.4653:

Cobrakon.3108:

2. make traps work even if the person who used the traps is blind. It makes logical sense that if a trap is laid down then blindness is irrelevant. Either a person steps onto a trap or they dodge through it.

Buff???
That would be a big nerf to thiefs. Blinds are one of our best defenses and traps are mostly used by other classes against thiefs.

yea hahah he didnt quit think this thru. these thives player always think out their own perspective only =D yes the profession need some urgent mechanical changes but its not that simple as u want it to be.

Also there are other skills that work mechanically the same as traps that would be affected by this, such as Necro Marks.

Why does d/p even need a nerf? It’s best matchup is vs other thieves. Sure, it’s super safe in WvW, but its biggest advantage over every other thief build is that it’s reasonably threatening even with players who don’t have thousands of hours on thief.
There are a lot of things on thief that are either underwhelming (d/d) or not fun to fight against (p/d and ghost thief). This is where changes should be directed.