Except the Backstab isn’t a true one shot, it’s a combo
And neither was 100nades. It was 2 skills and also all but required cc as a setup, and even when you do get cc’d there’s still time while you’re watching them walk into your character model to do something about it.
It’s also a thousand times easier to set up, you can’t anticipate it as easily as backstab and can be repeated relatively fast as well as being kittening AOE. Who do you think you’re kidding?
It’s also a thousand times easier to see since Magnet takes forever to cast and Net Shot is blatantly obvious, then the engineer still has to walk into your model, and its AoE is pathetically small, where it will only knock out a second person if they’re practically standing inside of the target as well, and if they’re that close to a player cc’d by an engy then they aren’t smart enough to live anyway.
Granted, it DOES have a shorter reload time.
If you’re going to try to shoot down comparisons at least be correct.Magnet doesn’t need to be used. Net Shot can be used by any engineer and is not a que for 100nades, it’s on a 10 second cooldown and can basically be spammed. That doesn’t even compare to 40-45s cooldown on steal, 45s cooldown on basilisk venom, 45s cooldown on assassin’s signet. The AOE is big enough to have uses. If you down a player in a 1v2 and the other player tries to res the downed player, 100nades would basically finish the job because you’re putting a ridiculous amount of pressure on both where a GC burst backstab thief would be kittened. The video posted earlier is a perfect showcase.
Any GC would more or less destroy someone immobilized for 2.6s if they didn’t use something defensive, nothing particularly special about 100nades there. Net Shot’s short cooldown is because the attack is so slow and obvious, meaning if it’s not at short range you should easily avoid it. If it’s at point blank then it’s basically unavoidable, which Steal has except at 900 range. And if you get Net Shotted and the engineer closes in you’re already sure Blunderbuss, Pry Bar, or Jump Shot is forthcoming anyway, so even if they aren’t 100nades you’d sure as kitten better be doing something to get out of there.
And barring a GS guardian pulling a few people in, being used against someone getting rezzed is about the only circumstance you’ll ever hit more than 1 non-moronic person with it.So, again: 100nades deleted, BS remains. Unjustifiable.
You don’t get it, do you? Backstab damage doesn’t come near 100nades in most cases. You can’t counter a oneshot. Backstab doesn’t oneshot anything in 80 exotic. It’s the combination of skills that makes it lethal and counterable at the same time.