Why does Thief lack support / team-play?

Why does Thief lack support / team-play?

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Posted by: fluffdragon.1523

fluffdragon.1523

Having been playing since early access in 2012, it has all the same taken me some time to really dive into all the different professions. And with Thief being my main (and one I enjoyed greatly until last year), I’d not given it much thought.

But then something occurred to me: Thief might well be the only profession that, at least in its current incarnation, lacks almost all team-play and support capacity.

With Venom Share builds all but nerfed from the face of Tyria and the only real support capacity we have being a few traits in the Trickery line (tied to Steal, placing us on a nasty single source with a modest cool-down), there doesn’t seem to be the same sort of passive team support like in other classes.

Ranger / Druid, Engineer / Scrapper, shout and banner Warriors, Guardians in general, Necromancer, Elementalist, and even Mesmer through a variety of simple weapon skills (and nearly all of their glamours) and especially as a Chronomancer can all quite handily support their allies in a fight. Even Revenant can via the Ventari stance, and it only gets better at it with Herald.

Yet Thief … can’t. Not even with Daredevil.

It makes me wonder if maybe part of the reason we’re so poorly received and viewed is because we’re the only profession in the game that has little to no ability to bolster the party or squad or even whomever we happen across.

Honestly speaking, it feels like Thief might just be missing an entire sphere of gameplay, and thus is barred from a rather critical role that would allow for not only more build and play diversity, but a much greater and more meaningful presence in the community. I mean, sure, nobody would run support in PvP, but think about WvW, PvE, Fractals, Dungeons, and Raids. We can’t just be “the selfish DPS with no durability” forever.

Why does Thief lack support / team-play?

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Posted by: Toolbox.9375

Toolbox.9375

Supposedly, the next Elite Specialization (whenever the blazes THAT comes out) will use a Rifle. I’ve been hoping that it’ll have some nice support abilities tied into it, primarily in the form of unique enemy debuffs tied in with the weapon skills. Like an anti-Might and/or a unique version of Vulnerability that stacks with the existing Condition.

The class is always greener on the other side.

Why does Thief lack support / team-play?

in Thief

Posted by: fluffdragon.1523

fluffdragon.1523

Supposedly, the next Elite Specialization (whenever the blazes THAT comes out) will use a Rifle. I’ve been hoping that it’ll have some nice support abilities tied into it, primarily in the form of unique enemy debuffs tied in with the weapon skills. Like an anti-Might and/or a unique version of Vulnerability that stacks with the existing Condition.

inb4 we become Ana from Overwatch.

(Actually I’d be okay with that.)

(edited by fluffdragon.1523)