as for now we know anet want to buff the supporter thief which is nice idea
but they forgot to buff us with ability to be able to support while in fight
we cant go full cleric with 10k hp, low power and with venom share as still other class as ele guardian engineer can do it better with aoe healing skills
we cant go full venom utilities 1 build trick without been able to play very very smartly and carefully (like the panicond build)
but if anet really really want to put us in support area they should really ask themselves what do they want the thief to be
is it stop doing dmg and buff other to do it? i dont think so
are they want that in group fight more thieves will be selected (as for now its about 5% 1/20 ratio)
if they really want to preserve the venom idea and want ppl to use it they really need to give an alternatives to SS,RFI,SR,BP and not push us to invest fully on venom traits
so here are my ideas
i want venom to give a passive benefit and when active to give burst condition dmg/defenese utility much as of now
what we lack as for now with venoms?
1. conditions clearness
2. breakstun
3. health regen
4. stealth
5. boons
spider
passive – every 10 seconds your next hit will pass 1 condition from you to your enemy
active – your next 5 attacks will poison for 7 seconds each (like now)
great tool not OP to much but keep you in safe place for longer fights, if you play tactically you can w8 for burning dmg and than hit it to pass it to your enemy. so great player will benefit from it and average player will just clear condition off them. also make the thief play aggressively as he should
also can fin in the d/x or s/x power spec as they need conditions clear ability beside 1 trait and its nice alternative to SS
skale
passive – when you get dmg over 33% hp you stealth and gain aegis for 3 seconds (icd of 30 seconds)
active – your next 3 attack will torment and vulnerability (like now)
as for now p/d thieves dont have much stealth ability beside cnd and also traits proc on 25% hp and 10% hp which some dont like as they cant control the stealth.
if p/d goes with SR and PB his build only troll as only bleeding as condition wont do much
so i add 33% hp dmg so thieves can shake off huge burst like warrior, other thief, shatter dmg etc and give them a chance to get away and not die like now they do.
if the thief goes with high armor than it maybe wont benefit much only against high zerk builds but zerker thieves would have some chance out there again
also zerk thief with venom would be a nice seen as the vulnerability condition do even more dmg. and wont have to fully trait for it
also can fit in d/x and s/x power builds as they need stealth and some protection from being burst to death if they do little mistake
ice
passive – every 5 seconds your next hit will chill for 1 seconds
active – when triggered it break stun
as for now i think ice venom is the less useable. so being able to chill every 5 seconds for 1 seconds is more control movement and harassing your enemy which may help you sometime if you lucky as their skills will have longer cd and movement will be slower and when needed it will break stun with 45/36 icd its ok like other stun
also suitable in d/x and s/x power build as it break stun and the chill is not condition dmg base
devourer
passive – every 5 seconds you next attack will steal health 1000
active – your next 2 attacks will immobilize
as we lack regeneration while having small health pool while all professions do have it i think its only fair to give it to us also. every 5 seconds 1000 health if we hit is 200 health per seconds so average 150 health per seconds (as not all attacks hit). and also push us to keep play aggressively if we want health. so SR wont help us or other stealth skills as we wont attack from stealth
again it isnt condition dmg base so every other build can use it
basilisk
passive – every 10 seconds you gain protection for 3 seconds
active – your next attack stun (like now)
as for now not many thieves use it, maybe high zerk build with low health pool. so it wont buff them much as they must to kill fast already or if they didnt manage to do so they just SR (10 seconds for them is long fight) but protection will help all other thief builds out there
this elite makes the thief to choose whether to activate it and lose the protection 30% up time. or use it and stun his enemy if he think its the right time
i think we see less d/x or s/x mindlessly use it and start playing more tactically
so i dont think my suggestions is OP
it will give thieves more options and alternatives in the battle field while pushing them to play aggressively and tactically like it meant to do. also the ability to be more supportive class with full venom share and be able to take venom also with power builds and not fully traited to get the full benefit from venoms so even more builds can use them now