Guild Wars 2

Am I the only one who doesn’t want rifle and want staff so badly ? A melee weap sounds way more cool imo…

Ancharius.6089:

Am I the only one who doesn’t want rifle and want staff so badly ? A melee weap sounds way more cool imo…

No, i don’t want rifle. I want mace…

Relevant image

I want Rifle, New medium armor NPC in HOT with laser sight on their Rifles looks really good.
https://youtu.be/irhTiHZ7Syc?t=26m8s new Thief weapons is Rifle on 99.99% =)

I prefer a staff/melee type weapon myself. I just do not want to turn Thief into a “static” class waiting at range to single people out.

I’m on the fence about both rifle and staff as potential thief weapons. I was under the impression that the new “Elite Specialization” system was designed to fill gaps in the capabilities of each class (Guardian; Ranged, Necro; Melee cleave etc..) while the rifle would give us access to a (presumably) long ranged weapon for PvE and PvP, I fail to see what the staff could bring that we don’t already have other then some kind of support build.

A ranged weapon is needed now more then ever since P/P was basically burned to the ground with the last patch. I do however agree that a purist ranged weapon on a class like the thief; if done improperly has the potential to end up like the old P/P (spamming unloads till initiative runs out) which would be very boring for a so-called “elite” spec.

In my opinion I would prefer neither weapon as they are both two-handed and in being so they ignore one of our class mechanics; Dual-Wielding which is important because it allows us more build variety in our somewhat limited weapon selection.

Whatever we end up getting I assume the new elite traits will be designed to compliment the new weapon, much like the elite specs we’ve already seen. For the thief, a class that picks traits based around one primary weapon set this means that whatever we end up getting would need to be viable as a primary weapon (like d/d, d/p etc..) and not be a “secondary” weapon like our only other two-handed choice the short-bow.

A worst case scenario would be getting staff and having it end up as a melee version of the short-bow that requires being locked in a trait-line to even use, in addition to being limited to melee range which in many cases (especially WvW) means a thief will take excessive cleave/AoE damage.

This leads me to believe that if we do get staff as our elite weapon it will need to be a very tanky/evasive weapon with strong CC/support capabilities in order for it to fill a niche in the current thief kit.

Or, it will be a squishy support, instead of an evasive/tanky front-liner.

Most likely it will be squishy, for both the staff and rifle.

:/ I haven’t seen any of the elite spec trait lines, but I’m willing to bet that they’re specific to the weapon that they’re tied to. So, I doubt, elite specs will revive old weapons.

~All is vain

I think we will see a staff. They want to add things that will give the profession a new play style and I think staff could offer this if it was a defensive weapon. It could have a block ability which is something thieves have not had access to. It would allow thieves to play a more up front melee style. Blocks, area weakness, aoe knock backs, that kind of thing. A defensive style that fits into a the martial arts theme. A bunker thief, a tank thief. Who knows maybe even the ability to apply aegis. After all guardians are getting traps.

Rym.1469:

Only one thing would sell it for me. No ninjas, samurai or hentai.

The Witcher specialization.

Geralt of Tyria? Sounds good to me.

http://i.imgur.com/xA8qvVk.png staff it seems

Petoox.6570:

http://i.imgur.com/xA8qvVk.png staff it seems

Don’t forget, that could also be the Rev’s elite specialization involving a melee spear. I believe anet planned to give all professions an elite spec. It would seem unfair if every profession had an elite spec except for rev.

A few months back, Sword skills were datamined for Ele/Tempest as placeholder skills. However those placeholder vanished and rumours about a warhorn based on the weapon skins.

As fast as the details gets unearthed, it could easily be buried away again. Staff or Rifle for Thief, it could just get revised again and end up with something different.

yolo swaggins.2570:

Petoox.6570:

http://i.imgur.com/xA8qvVk.png staff it seems

Don’t forget, that could also be the Rev’s elite specialization involving a melee spear. I believe anet planned to give all professions an elite spec. It would seem unfair if every profession had an elite spec except for rev.

Wut? I don’t even…revenant already has a melee staff and they said no new weapon types are coming how does a melee spear make sense? I’m still rooting for thief rifle since we don’t know what’s going on with the rest of the elite spec or even the previous ones.

Going from pistols to rifle wouldn’t really seem all that game changing of a “specialization” for thief imo. We already have guns and making a slower further shooting one doesn’t seem appealing in the shiniest of lights, rather they spend time to fix pistols.

I’d much rather have OH sword or focus. Sword to look awesome and focus for a support.

yolo swaggins.2570:

Petoox.6570:

http://i.imgur.com/xA8qvVk.png staff it seems

Don’t forget, that could also be the Rev’s elite specialization involving a melee spear. I believe anet planned to give all professions an elite spec. It would seem unfair if every profession had an elite spec except for rev.

who said that Revenant won’t get one? Also, in that picture it’s clearly medium armor while Revenant is heavy armor and colors doesn’t match.

yolo swaggins.2570:

Petoox.6570:

http://i.imgur.com/xA8qvVk.png staff it seems

Don’t forget, that could also be the Rev’s elite specialization involving a melee spear. I believe anet planned to give all professions an elite spec. It would seem unfair if every profession had an elite spec except for rev.

Spears don’t exist, there are no new weapons – and Revenant’s melee Staff is not an Elite Specialisation. That, and the Staff in the picture is datamined in the game, PLUS the person in the picture is wearing Sneakthief armor ie. Medium.

Auesis.7301:

yolo swaggins.2570:

Petoox.6570:

http://i.imgur.com/xA8qvVk.png staff it seems

Don’t forget, that could also be the Rev’s elite specialization involving a melee spear. I believe anet planned to give all professions an elite spec. It would seem unfair if every profession had an elite spec except for rev.

Spears don’t exist, there are no new weapons – and Revenant’s melee Staff is not an Elite Specialisation. That, and the Staff in the picture is datamined in the game, PLUS the person in the picture is wearing Sneakthief armor ie. Medium.

Plus it has the same colours as the rest of the thief pictures for traits and skills as well.

That doesn’t mean that is going to be the specialization’s weapon. That picture could still be used for the elite spec line and the weapon used could still be rifle. But overhyping yourself based on a single picture of a concept that hasn’t even been finalized is dangerous.

At least with rifle, it has anet’s track record as it’s evidence, something that stays true today.

yolo swaggins.2570:

At least with rifle, it has anet’s track record as it’s evidence, something that stays true today.

I’m sorry, but where? People here seem to insist Rifle Thief is a thing, but in 3 years I have not seen a single hint of concrete evidence anywhere about Thieves getting Rifles. Ever. Seems like just a bunch of hearsay from someone’s initial wishful thinking, to me.

A Specialisation artwork showing somebody wearing Sneakthief armor, drawn in identical style to all the other Thief lines, wielding a Staff that can be previewed in-game as both a regular and Ascended version (exactly like the other Elite weapons), seems like more concrete evidence to me than anything else I’ve ever seen.

What people want or don’t want =/= what is more or less likely.

Auesis.7301:

yolo swaggins.2570:

At least with rifle, it has anet’s track record as it’s evidence, something that stays true today.

I’m sorry, but where? People here seem to insist Rifle Thief is a thing, but in 3 years I have not seen a single hint of concrete evidence anywhere about Thieves getting Rifles. Ever. Seems like just a bunch of hearsay from someone’s initial wishful thinking, to me.

A Specialisation artwork showing somebody wearing Sneakthief armor, drawn in identical style to all the other Thief lines, wielding a Staff that can be previewed in-game as both a regular and Ascended version (exactly like the other Elite weapons), seems like more concrete evidence to me than anything else I’ve ever seen.

What people want or don’t want =/= what is more or less likely.

NPC in this game reflect 99% of playable characters abilities. New medium armor Thief NPC in HOT has rifle =) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=irhTiHZ7Syc&feature=youtu.be&t=26m8s

Arenanet with new weapon sets fix problematic parts on all professions

Necromancer(weak on close range) – Greater sword
Guardian(weak on long range) -> Long bow
Thief (weak on long range) -> Rifle
etc.

Thief right now has everything can have on close distance

1)S/P – gap closer,daze.imobil,evade,blind.cripple
2)S/D – gap closer,daze,invis,evade,boons steal,imobil,
3)D/D – burst dmg,execute/gap closer,cripple,invis,condition dmg,evade
4)D/P – burst DMG,execute/gap closer,daze,invis,blind.

Thief really don’t need next melee weapons

You can pick up their rifles as environment objects and do the exact same skills as those NPCs. They have zero connection to Thieves. In fact, some of them don’t even wear medium armor in the open world. There are NPCs out in the world right now that use weird combinations like Pistol/Warhorn while wearing Light armor as well.

Nobody knows if Staff would actually be melee, either. It could be a hybrid of melee and long range for all we know. The Elite Specialisation is speculated to have kits, maybe one of those covers 1200+ range rather than a Staff or any other weapon needing to cover it.

It could be hand to hand. The “thief” in the image isn’t even technically holding the staff. It would appear he is actually defending against the weapon, grabbing it, or using some sort of martial arts shenanigans. If you look closely, you can even see line work demonstrating movement either away, or towards the “thief.” BOOM, your whole world is now upside down.

riian.5690:

It could be hand to hand. The “thief” in the image isn’t even technically holding the staff. It would appear he is actually defending against the weapon, grabbing it, or using some sort of martial arts shenanigans. If you look closely, you can even see line work demonstrating movement either away, or towards the “thief.” BOOM, your whole world is now upside down.

The goal of these artworks is to convey a coherent message at a glance. I think your trying really hard to convey a message that isn’t seen initially by the observer when they look at this artwork. The initial read of this art work is a man rushing forward wielding a weapon imo. If they wanted to convey someone disabling an aggressor why would they not make that the center piece or more apparent in the artwork. In this piece if any disabling is going on it would be at his backhand which is faded out so why would that not be made apparent for the observer of the art work if that was the message trying to be conveyed.

His hands are clearly not holding the weapon, which in all honestly anyone an see at first glance. It could certainly be staff, but I would highly doubt it in melee form. It seems to more or less a similar animation of the mesmer’s greatsword auto-attack.
My statement was done at first glance, I never saw a guy rushing with a weapon at all. I went totally Bruce Lee for me.

riian.5690:

His hands are clearly not holding the weapon, which in all honestly anyone an see at first glance. It could certainly be staff, but I would highly doubt it in melee form. It seems to more or less a similar animation of the mesmer’s greatsword auto-attack.
My statement was done at first glance, I never saw a guy rushing with a weapon at all. I went totally Bruce Lee for me.

His left hand isn’t holding the weapon but if you look at the right arm were it end at the right side of the frame the logical conclusion is it is holding the staff. Looking at it I don’t see any movement lines, I just see smokey shadow magic stuff like when you do a shadow step.

The whole rifle thing from what I saw came from a picture when HoT was first announced where a guy in the background had on medium arm and was holding a rifle and because he had on a mask everyone jumped to the thief conclusion.

riian.5690:

His hands are clearly not holding the weapon, which in all honestly anyone an see at first glance. It could certainly be staff, but I would highly doubt it in melee form. It seems to more or less a similar animation of the mesmer’s greatsword auto-attack.
My statement was done at first glance, I never saw a guy rushing with a weapon at all. I went totally Bruce Lee for me.

I agree with you that you can read it as a person disabling another person because you don’t see him actually holding the staff. But like I said why would that not be made clearer or be more of the center piece of the artwork. Like actually showing the other person this thief is disabling for instance. Also we see the top of the staff if he was disabling someone then the job is already done so yeah…. kind of kills that message.

You lose the thief as the center if you were to add a second character to the image. It also likely needed to fit the scheme of the other images as a whole, this was taken from a set of images all with the proposed classes portrayed with their new role/weapon.
The staff itself in the image has parallel lines to the staff which in my opinion, portray movement.
There’s a ton of things to read into in this image, the shadow magic aura, the movement and angle of the staff, his hands, his outfit, etc.
I would say it’s likely that this is intended to be a ranged magic staff, rather than change the mechanics of the weapon itself to be melee.

How about wait and find out rather than thinking you all know the future who cares what it is if you dont like it i will make sure i will

http://imgur.com/gallery/s3FZd8L/new

There look at that image. The black line starts from around the right shoulder (the shoulder facing us in the image) and the reddish-pinkish line traces the staff. If you look at where they stop at the left side of the image and imagine them continuing they will intersect. Considering the staff is a straight line and and the only place the arm can bend that is not shown is the wrist the hand would have to be bent oddly back away from the staff to not be holding off the side of the image.

Yeah I can see a range magic vibe from it. Also even if people don’t like the first thief elite spec that is why they are called specializations. Hopefully anet is quick and can release more quality elite specs after HoT release.

Zodryn.4216:

I just hope if it’s bo staff (which will surely feel very different from druid staff) we get some “vault” skill that finally gives us a leap. Never understood why I couldn’t use heartseeker to cross gaps when so many other professions have leaping skills that let them do that.

Yes, this! I would think that an AoE ground-targeted vault move would be kind of a no-brainer (not to mention really cool!), but we’ll see. If thieves are indeed getting a melee staff for their elite spec, then I hope it’s a very flashy fighting style that shows off the thief’s natural athleticism and martial prowess. I need something to be excited for after the heart-breaking crippling of my dual pistol build!

Auesis.7301:

yolo swaggins.2570:

At least with rifle, it has anet’s track record as it’s evidence, something that stays true today.

I’m sorry, but where? People here seem to insist Rifle Thief is a thing, but in 3 years I have not seen a single hint of concrete evidence anywhere about Thieves getting Rifles. Ever. Seems like just a bunch of hearsay from someone’s initial wishful thinking, to me.

A Specialisation artwork showing somebody wearing Sneakthief armor, drawn in identical style to all the other Thief lines, wielding a Staff that can be previewed in-game as both a regular and Ascended version (exactly like the other Elite weapons), seems like more concrete evidence to me than anything else I’ve ever seen.

What people want or don’t want =/= what is more or less likely.

That picture isn’t concrete evidence of thief getting staff either. That still could be a spear, terrestrial or aquatic as far as anyone knows. Let me just be frank… this bo staff hype feels misguided which is the only reason why I am against it.

- There is 1 datamined picture of a (possible) ninja wearing (what looks like) sneakthief using (some form of) a polearm. The rest starts delving into wishful thinking. That’s it.

- There are no threads on thief staves showing skill designs that are as well-made and well-recieved as Zach’s Rifle thread which was created soon after there was word anet was planning on eventually giving all professions all weapons.

- Anet has already taken ideas from the necro forum to design the rev, it wouldn’t be surprising if thief’s elite spec involved a rifle based off that design. The design planning would already been out of the way and we would have gone straight to coding testing and tweaking. So it’d be kinda stupid to pass up the opportunity for less work. I know I wouldn’t pass it up.

- Bo staves were wielded primarily by monks and civilians for protection, not ninjas or samurais. However for martial use it was pretty useless as it was either too heavy or too brittle to be used as a weapon. I doubt the monk or civilian theme really fits alongside a rouge archetype. This is why I suspect that that polearm in that picture is more likely a spear rather than a staff.

- With elite specializations meant to add combat roles to professions usually lack, you’de think rifle is the most obvious for thief. Thief was designed as a melee dominant profession and our ranged weapons inherently suck at long range, seeing as how shortbow and p/p is most effective at close range. Rifle, designed the way the OP of that thread did, would give thief a more calculated long ranged DPS vs the twitch melee combat thief is so proficient in. Which brings me to question exactly what would staff bring to the table, melee or magic? It can’t. S/d for evades, d/d for burst, d/p for burst and utility, SB for ranged utility, p/d for condition burst, s/p for CC, p/p for ranged burst, and x/p for blinds. Anything else and it turns into a gimmick, redundancy or starts not fitting the theme of the profession.

yolo swaggins.2570:

…snip…

The reason I think the datamined image is likely related to the thief is due to the colour scheme. It has the same black and red colouring that all the other thief trait line images have.

As to your comment about bo staves not used by Ninjas, this is incorrect. The ninja has been portrayed in movies as only using shuriken and ninja-to’s, but the reality is that ninjas used whatever was to hand and in fact had (and still have) a large variety of weapon types that they trained in and used. From long naginata’s to sickle and rope. If it can be used to kill it was a ninja weapon. I practiced Ninjitsu for many years, and we often practices with bo staff, as well as katana and wakizashi. The only time we used the ninja-to was to demonstrate how inferior it was to the katana and wakizashi. The movies have a lot to answer for.

I for one would really like to see Anet add staff as a ninja like weapon for the thief, as it would be a nice break from the normal ‘staff is for monk/mage’ mindset that almost every other fantasy MMO sticks to.

The only comment in your post that I agree with, even though I prefer the idea of staff, is that the elite specs are supposed to buff something we lack in. A rifle would fill the 1200 range void the thief currently has, so for that reason alone I thought the thief would get rifle.

I am not 100% certain what we will get. My hope is a melee weapon, and staff would be pretty cool. I would be ok with a rifle too, though, due to not having any long range attacks beyond steal. But my gut feeling (based on the datamined image) is that we will get staff.

Also bear in mind, that due to the recent datamined model, that looks like a dagger kit, it may well turn out that we get a melee staff but access to long range attacks through kits. Which in my opnion would be pretty cool.

Then ninja-to never existed when there were actual shinobi and according to the Bansenshukai staff and polearm were part of a professional shinobi’s training in bujutsu (ninjutsu isn’t a martial art itself, it’s just the “cloak and dagger” stuff). Stop getting your information from anime and charlatans peddling bujutsu as ninjutsu.

Also, it’s a staff. Revenants have a melee staff and ANet said they aren’t adding new weapons to the game. That means spear remains a water weapon so that when you double click to equip it it doesn’t get confused about what slot it goes into. It also means fists and leet kungfu disarming is out of the picture too. A picture is worth a thousand words and that picture is clearly from the thief line. It clearly has a polearm type of weapon and the only weapon we have for that is the staff. This could always be changed but for now the evidence clearly leans towards staff. Anything else at this moment is clearly wishful thinking.

Shadow.1345:

Then ninja-to never existed when there were actual shinobi and according to the Bansenshukai staff and polearm were part of a professional shinobi’s training in bujutsu (ninjutsu isn’t a martial art itself, it’s just the “cloak and dagger” stuff). Stop getting your information from anime and charlatans peddling bujutsu as ninjutsu.

Not sure who you are aiming this at, so sorry if this was not aimed at me.

I never stated the ninja-to existed in ancient japan. And if you are aiming this at me, I learnt what I know about ninjutsu from an instructor of Bujinkan Budo Taijutsu, who was himself taught (at one stage) by Dr Masaaki Hastumi. I even had my belt signed by the great man himself. I find the comment of my knowledge coming from anime quite insulting, as I am very proud of having had the opportunity to learn such an art. I may not have all the details about the history of ninjutsu or the shinobi, but I do know some history and I do know what I was taught by my instructor.

Yes, ninjutsu is about the tactics of guerilla warfare and espionage, I never said it wasn’t, but many schools also developed and incorperated various styles of martial arts into its teachings, such as ways of fighting dirty, quick ways of disabling your enemy, using any object as a weapon, positioning, evasive dodge rolls, distracting actions, pressure points and many other tricks and techniques used in combat.

Many people have misconceptions about the ninja, mainly through films and such. I am not claiming to know the full history of the ninja, but I do know they used staff, as well as many other types of weapon.

yolo swaggins.2570:

That still could be a spear, terrestrial or aquatic as far as anyone knows.

It IS a Staff.

[&C6EXAAA=]
[&AgFgEQEAAA==]

Preview these codes in-game. Are you seriously trying to tell me that this is not the displayed weapon?

As for the rest of it, how can you say THAT is anything other than speculation or wishful thinking? What does a fan-made set of skills have to do with anything or anyone at Arenanet?

“I like these Rifle skills that some random person on the internet came up with in their spare time.” This is not evidence.

Have you also considered that maybe Arenanet are deliberately NOT giving us a 1200 range weapon because we have the most gap closers/openers and mobility options above any other profession in the game? You want to kill something at 1200 range? Appear directly in front of them in the blink of an eye then go back to where you were after you’ve stabbed his face to ribbons.

We don’t need a long range weapon. We never have.

Nope rifle, give us RIFLE. We’re backstabbing assassins.(more like cowards of shadow)

Rin.1046:

Shadow.1345:

Then ninja-to never existed when there were actual shinobi and according to the Bansenshukai staff and polearm were part of a professional shinobi’s training in bujutsu (ninjutsu isn’t a martial art itself, it’s just the “cloak and dagger” stuff). Stop getting your information from anime and charlatans peddling bujutsu as ninjutsu.

Not sure who you are aiming this at, so sorry if this was not aimed at me.

I never stated the ninja-to existed in ancient japan. And if you are aiming this at me, I learnt what I know about ninjutsu from an instructor of Bujinkan Budo Taijutsu, who was himself taught (at one stage) by Dr Masaaki Hastumi. I even had my belt signed by the great man himself. I find the comment of my knowledge coming from anime quite insulting, as I am very proud of having had the opportunity to learn such an art. I may not have all the details about the history of ninjutsu or the shinobi, but I do know some history and I do know what I was taught by my instructor.

Yes, ninjutsu is about the tactics of guerilla warfare and espionage, I never said it wasn’t, but many schools also developed and incorperated various styles of martial arts into its teachings, such as ways of fighting dirty, quick ways of disabling your enemy, using any object as a weapon, positioning, evasive dodge rolls, distracting actions, pressure points and many other tricks and techniques used in combat.

Many people have misconceptions about the ninja, mainly through films and such. I am not claiming to know the full history of the ninja, but I do know they used staff, as well as many other types of weapon.

The anime comment was not directed at you and I am sorry if you felt insulted by that or what I am about to say.

I know you studied from either a Bujinkan dojo or Genbukan with a small probability of it being Jinenkan. I know you ate up the ninja hype because I once did as well when I studied at a Bujinkan dojo but look at the last two words, Budo Taijutsu, which is what you are learning. It’s a Budo art. In other words bujutsu, not ninjutsu. I have admiration for Hatsumi-soke but the claims to inheriting soke-ship of koryu ninjutsu are unverified, won’t be allowed to be be verified and are evidenced to be falsified by Takamatsu’s request to creating a Kuki-ryu ninjutsu to the Kuki family, which was turned down. He likely knows this by now and is probably why he calls it Budo Taijutsu to save himself and Takamatsu face. That’s all I will say any further about it since this is not the forums for that.

Beyond that, I don’t know what ninja have to do with this since they don’t exist in Tyria. This is a thief class and maybe tahkayun have something to do with the class but since Cantha isn’t technically Japan I don’t see why something from Japanese history would matter over something from Guild Wars lore.

Shadow.1345:

The anime comment was not directed at you and I am sorry if you felt insulted by that or what I am about to say.

…snip…

Beyond that, I don’t know what ninja have to do with this since they don’t exist in Tyria. This is a thief class and maybe tahkayun have something to do with the class but since Cantha isn’t technically Japan I don’t see why something from Japanese history would matter over something from Guild Wars lore.

Ok, thanks for clarifying, and sorry for going off on one. Also, interesting view on the Bujinkan, which I took absolutely no offense to . I know these things are not verified, but there is something about seeing a person in the flesh and seeing what they can do that speaks louder than any written proof. However, I am not as invested in it as I used to be. Its something I haven’t done in a long time (probably forgot most of the techniques by now), and I was more interested in the techniques I was learning than the history behind it all.

It seems we are both in agreement that staff was a weapon used by the shinobi at least, and that is all that really matters here.

Regarding the use of the term ninja though. I guess the thing both you and I have to consider is that most people will go by what is popular belief. Due to movies and anime, etc. the ninja, and its ilk, are often portrayed in a very specific way (ninja-to, shuriken, smoke bombs, etc.), so many will think a staff wielding ninja is a bit odd. And I think the thief is seen in a similar way. Many will also find the idea of a staff wielding thief just as strange. I think in my efforts to try to correct people’s perceptions, I forgot that this is only a game, and people will want that game to mirror their ideas of what they think a ninja should be, or what a thief should be, whether it is correct or not.

Anyway, like you said, this is kind of going off topic here, so I will leave it there. Whatever Anet gives us, I hope it is at least a little different from what most games offer us with this type of character class. The ‘thief/ninja’ class really needs something new, regardless of where that something new comes from.

W/e it will be, it will be amazing on paper, will be glorified in patch notes, will be pestered by bugs and undocumented nerfs that anet will try to sell as buffs. HAPPENS EVERY SINGLE TIME TO EVERYTHING RELATED TO THIEVES.

so… i wouldn’t hold my breath~

Nephrite.6954:

Nope rifle, give us RIFLE. We’re backstabbing assassins.(more like cowards of shadow)

So what you want is a backstabbing rifle spec? Maybe we will get a bayonet utility skill to go with it?

http://www.dandwiki.com/wiki/Thief-Acrobat_

Auesis.7301:

yolo swaggins.2570:

That still could be a spear, terrestrial or aquatic as far as anyone knows.

It IS a Staff.

[&C6EXAAA=]
[&AgFgEQEAAA==]

Preview these codes in-game. Are you seriously trying to tell me that this is not the displayed weapon?

As for the rest of it, how can you say THAT is anything other than speculation or wishful thinking? What does a fan-made set of skills have to do with anything or anyone at Arenanet?

“I like these Rifle skills that some random person on the internet came up with in their spare time.” This is not evidence.

Have you also considered that maybe Arenanet are deliberately NOT giving us a 1200 range weapon because we have the most gap closers/openers and mobility options above any other profession in the game? You want to kill something at 1200 range? Appear directly in front of them in the blink of an eye then go back to where you were after you’ve stabbed his face to ribbons.

We don’t need a long range weapon. We never have.

It might not be evidence but “This guy did my job for me for free. Let’s ask if we can use his work.” > “Let me spend alot of my time building something from the ground up”. And you can’t assume that anet is keeping thief out of long ranged combat on purpose. The point of the SB and pistol range nerf was to provide a clear distinction between SB/LB and pistol/rifle. Thief just so happened to get screwed in the process like with a majority of the nerfs made at that time (ex. nerf Black Powder because it makes pve too easy).

And the abundance of gapclosers does not excuse for the lack of ranged. Thief may be designed to excel at melee but that doesn’t mean it doesn’t need ranged. Guard was designed to be the tank of this game but did that stop anet from getting them ranged DPS? Necro was designed for condition burst, yet anet is giving them a DPS weapon?

So why not give thief the rifle?

@ Shadow

If a ranged thief kills a melee thief, what does that make the melee thief?

A range thief might be bad but at least they don’t die as often. Going pure melee usually gets you killed especially when the one you are fighting knows how to kite. Regardless of how many gap closers you have, you will be burning them all to kill a single kiter. And that is stupid. Intelligence > Skill.

I suggest you remove that picture.

Rifle? Yes please. With a skill to drop a smoke screen. >:D

I am normally pretty quiet on my opinion…

BUT

you guys forget that no spec will get the same weapon as other specs. So forget the staff thing when rangers are getting one.

KatanaPunk.1286:

I am normally pretty quiet on my opinion…

BUT

you guys forget that no spec will get the same weapon as other specs. So forget the staff thing when rangers are getting one.

Where did any of the developers ever say this?

Shadow.1345:

KatanaPunk.1286:

I am normally pretty quiet on my opinion…

BUT

you guys forget that no spec will get the same weapon as other specs. So forget the staff thing when rangers are getting one.

Where did any of the developers ever say this?

Literally nowhere. This has been a pure assumption on the part of the players.

Auesis.7301:

Shadow.1345:

KatanaPunk.1286:

I am normally pretty quiet on my opinion…

BUT

you guys forget that no spec will get the same weapon as other specs. So forget the staff thing when rangers are getting one.

Where did any of the developers ever say this?

Literally nowhere. This has been a pure assumption on the part of the players.

I didn’t think they had ever said it anywhere but I was giving the chance I may not have seen it.

Some of these players are as bad as the GoT people that think because they believed a fan theory bad enough it had to be true despite G.R.R.M’s propensity for crushing dreams by killing your favorite character matching ANet’s capacity for disappointing players with updates.

Rin.1046:

Nephrite.6954:

Nope rifle, give us RIFLE. We’re backstabbing assassins.(more like cowards of shadow)

So what you want is a backstabbing rifle spec? Maybe we will get a bayonet utility skill to go with it?

Great sword with uber backstab! Read this somewhere once XD

Shadow.1345:

Auesis.7301:

Shadow.1345:

KatanaPunk.1286:

I am normally pretty quiet on my opinion…

BUT

you guys forget that no spec will get the same weapon as other specs. So forget the staff thing when rangers are getting one.

Where did any of the developers ever say this?

Literally nowhere. This has been a pure assumption on the part of the players.

I didn’t think they had ever said it anywhere but I was giving the chance I may not have seen it.

Yeah, I find it funny how many people assume things and treat it like fact.

The agonising Thief Specialisation Speculation continues. Are there any Chronomancers out there please? Please fast-forward time to the Points of Interest episode showing us Thief Spec so we can all be put out of our miseries once and for all!

I’m Pro-Staff. I’d also settle for Focus or Greatsword.

KatanaPunk.1286:

I am normally pretty quiet on my opinion…

BUT

you guys forget that no spec will get the same weapon as other specs. So forget the staff thing when rangers are getting one.

As other have said, this hasn’t been said anywhere, by anyone except players assuming so. Though it would be nice if ArenaNet did shed some light as to whether or not there’ll be duplicate weapons in elite specialisations.