This post might just be a regurgitation of arguments made against thief staff, so take it as a collection of reasons why thief getting staff might not be as awesome as you think. So let’s start off with the biggies first and work our way to the more obscure reasons.
- Melee staff will not bring anything new to the profession.
Currently thief has almost all bases covered when it comes to combat both practically and thematically. CC and blinds are loaded onto x/p, spike and chasing is loaded onto d/x, condition burst can come from d/d and p/d, evasion spam is s/d’s baby and SP is a multitool. Thief can also support by selectively bursting down prime targets and provide party stealth. What it lacks is range, the ability to tank and generic support (healing/boonwall).
While SB and p/p are the ranged weaponsets for thief, they are both only effective just outside of melee range. SB’s projectiles aside from the auto and #5 are slow causing the thief to move into melee to do anything. Staff could be thief’s magic-based weapon, but then it would most likely involve blind and stealth spam, things thieves already can do liberally. The staff may also be used like a javelin, but then it starts becoming less of a melee staff and more like p/p. And if it doesn’t, it’ll not provide anything that other weaponsets already do.
Tanking capabilities cannot come from the weapon itself. Utilities and traits all factor into one’s ability to tank. For example, the only reason why guards can tank so well is because they have the equipment to counteract their low HP. Ample access to condition clears, heals and boons allows them to take punishment much better than most professions. With that in mind, thieves would need a close equivalent amount of these things to even have the ability to tank. This means traits and abilities would have to be OP if the thief wants to tank seeing as how thief currently have very few means to mitigate damage (not avoid, mitigate).
And finally if the staff provided generic healing and boons, not only would it probably suck due to thief having the worst heal scaling in the game but it goes against the very nature of the rogue archetype which ill explain later.
Everything else would be redundant. In short, a melee staff is more of a gimmick to the class than an actual improvement. I can’t think of anything short of an overhaul of mechanics and design philosophies that would make melee staff a good choice for the new elite spec.
- Contrary to popular belief, melee staff does not fit the thief thematically.
Thief is a rogue archetype. As a rogue archetype, the thief is supposed to have the reputation of a scumbag because their world revolves around killing and stealing.
The bo staff is a weapon designed to defend and incapacitate, not kill. It is used by civilians, monks and patrolling guards as a means of protection or as a way to fend off enemies without killing them.
Knowing this, there are a few things here that really conflict with the thief profession. For one thing, neither of the three come close thematically to the thief profession. The civilian is considered neutral good in terms of alignment and do not classify into any archetypes because they are bystanders. They have no desire to break the law for any reason. The monk can be classified within the healer or warrior archetypes and will only defend themselves from harm. Patrolmen are soldiers. They are classified to the warrior archetype and uphold the law.
The thief, being a rogue has no care for virtues, morals or laws. Suddenly dropping the life of crime for an honorable or peaceful existence would need complete upheaval of the aesthetic design of the profession lest we get a monk that can lay traps and use venoms. Why? It does not make sense nor fit with the theme of the monk.
Ninja, who sabotage and assassinate, would not use one either unless they specifically needed to keep a target alive. And even then it is better to choke a target out than hit them with a stick. They need silence, something that is effective and easily hidden. A bo staff is not easily hidden and if it is, it would not have the integrity to hold up to many blows. Daggers are easily hidden and have enough integrity to take some abuse.
“Please stop complaining about stuff you don’t even know about.” ~Nocta
(edited by yolo swaggins.2570)
