Guild Wars 2

I think there’s a good chance the thief rifle will have the experimental rifle stealth ability (Shadow Leap). Perhaps the plan long ago was to give thief the rifle for an elite spec and the experimental gun was created as a marker for future use. If thats the case then shadow leap could be used to get in close to an enemy and perhaps swap weapons to do some melee damage or to gain distance away from your enemy to prep for another burst damage hit with the sniper. If you look at the weapon model it does have a scope on it as well.

I doubt this would be the case because that’s effectively the primary function of shortbow. Even ANet knows that.

Mobility and range in general are two things that without some very serious balancing and design considerations, do not often mix well.