Guild Wars 2

I have to start off by saying this is my opinion only, if you don’t agree with it… that’s fine.

The first problem I see with this main ability of the profession is that there are far too many augmentations to this specific skill (some of which can’t be avoided).

What does this cause in turn?

A great disadvantage if it fails to land OR if you can’t use it as frequently (or can’t use it at all) as it’s augmentations demand.

While it can still work for most melee builds in it’s current state…. for ranged options such as pistol/pistol or shortbow is at most a finisher gap-closer for the new Impact Strike elite skill.

What I personally think that can be done could go two ways…

1) Consider this profession’s ability a “lesser ability” , compared to any other profession’s ability (which by default… at least in my eyes… already seems to some extent as a lesser ability) ….. and…. instead of having so many forced augments to it…. replace those augments in each respective trait lines with more important benefits for each respective specialization, in such a way that it makes up for having the main ability being less important then it’s counterpart in other professions.

This way it can still have a purpose for any build yet it isn’t forced on the player that he should use it at all times because it does so many things. Things that he might’ve never even wanted to pick up for that specific ability in the first place. Things such as minor traits on which I have no choice but to take.

2) Change Steal in such a way that it is a viable option no matter the choice of weapon.

How it should be changed, you might ask. There are probably a lot of ways to change it, and I’d love to see more opinions on what everyone else thinks what could be this change. For now I’ll offer my simplest of opinions based on my personal gaming experience from other games and such.

The simplest, least impactfull, most versatile change to steal that I can think of would be to not change Steal at all. Let’s face it…. it’s pretty difficult to change an ability that defines the profession’s name itself.

Instead … there should be added a second ability that shares cooldown with the original Steal…. Let’s call it “Steal 2” for now. How this ability should work is debatable….. but somewhere between these two might be a decent idea:

-> throw a hook at your foe and steal from them.
-> evade backwards as you steal from your foe.

Personally I think a combination of both 1) and 2) are required. But if you really want to keep that big of a focus on the Thief being a Thief…. 2) should suffice if done properly. (being unblockable for example)

Making steal less important would make thief easier to play, but it’s also one of the most rewarding abilities to use when players improve their timing and start recognizing the tells for when they should use or prepare to use steal. For example, if you’re +1ing a d/d ele your team is pressuring and he hasn’t dodged in the 3-5 seconds that have passed while you’re getting in range to strike, he’s probably going to use a dodge soon and you should wait for it.

Even with ranged weapons, it’s incredibly helpful. With p/p, thieves currently need steal to CC and get on top of players who counter their bursty range damage by LoSing. They also can save it to interrupt someone attempting to rez someone they’ve just downed with unload spam. With short bow, a player can time steal with the slight delay of the cluster bomb animation to port to a player and quickly hit them with a detonated clusterbomb. (Thieves who regularly duel other thieves use this latter maneuver a lot because it’s an almost instantaneous way of delivering a significant blow against squishy classes.)

rennlc.7346:

Making steal less important would make thief easier to play, but it’s also one of the most rewarding abilities to use when players improve their timing and start recognizing the tells for when they should use or prepare to use steal. For example, if you’re +1ing a d/d ele your team is pressuring and he hasn’t dodged in the 3-5 seconds that have passed while you’re getting in range to strike, he’s probably going to use a dodge soon and you should wait for it.

Even with ranged weapons, it’s incredibly helpful. With p/p, thieves currently need steal to CC and get on top of players who counter their bursty range damage by LoSing. They also can save it to interrupt someone attempting to rez someone they’ve just downed with unload spam. With short bow, a player can time steal with the slight delay of the cluster bomb animation to port to a player and quickly hit them with a detonated clusterbomb. (Thieves who regularly duel other thieves use this latter maneuver a lot because it’s an almost instantaneous way of delivering a significant blow against squishy classes.)

That’s true… it still has some use even for a ranged character, mentioned one myself. But…. that wasn’t the problem.

The problem is It doesn’t have enough use as it stands for it to be a profession ability and to be as versatile as the profession itself and as the benefits you gain through passive traits for it.

For example… Endurance Thief trait in Daredevil.

As it stands right now… aside from granting the usage of the staff, this will be the trait line that will enable a much more viable usage of range weapons in PvP scenarios as far as I can tell. With that specific trait being a minor….. how does that come into play?

Will one be able to use this skill for that specific purpose it received through that minor trait ? Don’t think so, no. But sure… as a melee… it looks fine since you can always use a bit more endurance alongside with it’s main usage of closing in for example.

What I’m trying to say is that I can’t possibly think of this skill as being only a gap closer when it’s forced upon me with other really good effects as well that really have nothing to do in particular with closing the gap between me and another player. (except Sleight of Hand perhaps ~ but that is much more of a choice rather then a forced minor trait)

It however can be considered a forced pick by some even in a Major Trait line when there are no other as good options in that line.

And again…. In some cases the stolen skill you gain through steal is only usable or of any use in melee range only

Example:
-> Guardian- Mace Head Crack -170 range 3 second Daze -- Great usage on a melee character, you can use it whenever you need it… but for a range pick can be used only immediately after closing the gap with the main ability… and as soon as it gets removed…. you are in far greater danger.

-> Elementalist – Ice Shard Stab -170 range 10 second chill and some damage -- Again not bad for a melee …. and again.. not so great for a range focused character.

All that being said I still think that Steal Needs to be more versatile. Either the way I’ve mentioned it in my first post on 2) or some other way.