Guild Wars 2

Thank you for starting this topic. Incoming list of thoughts.
Changes Going Forward:
Please stop nerfing damage without compensating the ability to do damage in other meaningful/fun ways. If burst was a problem, why design a class based around ambushing their targets? Even condition builds are bursty with its ability to stack a respectable amount of bleeds in a short time.
Stealth:
Thieves are being unfairly punished for culling issues. Stealth is NOT permanent. Restealthing eats cooldowns or initiative. Though we do not get knocked out of stealth, we are still vulnerable to damage and have a nice 3-second revealed debuff. Though initially skeptical, I like the short duration of stealth because of the risk involved.
Steal:
Steal can be fantastic when properly traited. It is more melee-oriented though. A shadowstep away as 2nd class ability would be welcomed. It would be useful for both melee (to avoid aoe) and ranged to create distance from melee. Have this 2nd ability put both Steal and this on cooldown.
Alternatively, please have the stolen weapon do some or all of the following:
-Not go on full cooldown when interrupted.
-Stored in F2 for later use. Stealing something new would replace this.
Traps:
Traps feel weak not because of its effect, but its inability to really control an area outside of 1 target. This may work in spvp, but its effects are diminished in WvWvW and dungeons. In dungeons, the vast majority of the fights are group fights. Traps will only affect the first target that trips it, which may or may not the one you wanted to control. Caltrops, as a trick, are far more effective because of its size and that it cripples the area for a set time. Consider redesigning traps (rangers as well) to resemble caltrops. Of course Ambush Trap and Shadow Trap are exempt from this.
Scorpion Wire:
I’m satisfied with the majority of the tricks category as being situationally useful based on encounter/build. Scorpion Wire ranged increase was sweet, but the pull is unreliable. I’m assuming its due to how low compared to the body that the wire is thrown from causing it to obstruct when used against keep walls. There’s also the randomly short range that the wire can pull when thrown against uneven terrains. Please try to fix this and consider increasing the projectile speed.
Stealth Skills:
I do not like that some Stealth and Dual Skills tend to not synergize with each other. Sneak Attack is condition + weak power, while Unload is all power. Backstab is power, while Death Blossom is condition + weak power. Consider either streamlining dagger/dagger to be all power and pistol/pistol be all condition or provide 2nd/alternative Stealth Skills.

Dual Skills:
Death Blossom – unless you’re considering making this more power oriented, then its fine as is.
Shadow Shot – remove the root/make the stab instant. Just think of a reverse Shadow Strike.
Unload – expensive and weak even if it is a ranged attack. Consider lowering the initiative cost or making it more like Sneak Attack (with say a bleed on every other hit to balance).
Shadow Strike – fine as is.
Flanking Strike – is unreliable and locks down the movement in an awkward way. Death Blossom feels right in the way it moves and locks you into the jump in comparison. Consider making this into a parry-type skill or a melee-shadowstep that puts the thief behind the target.
Pistol Whip – with Anet’s acceptance of splitting pve and pvp numbers, please return the -15% nerf to Pistol Whip for PVE. It is expensive and locks you in place. Currently, it does about as much damage as the auto-attack and you can mimic the effect with Black Powder and auto-attack.
Elite Skills:
Lack of Underwater Options – please either let Dagger Storm and Thieves Guild to be used underwater or improve Basilisk Venom’s effect to be more attractive.
Basilisk Venom – the stun is nice, but it seems more appropriate as a skill rather than an elite. Outside of a gimmicky build that takes advantage of Runes that proc off Elite skills, this is just simply underwhelming.
Traits:
Overall – Deadly Arts and Shadow Arts are designed the best in both theme and function.
Improvisation – too random. It’d be better if it picked a skill family from what you have equipped.
Sundering Strikes – remove the 1-sec cooldown. Control the total effect by its duration instead.
Venomous Aura – increase the range and maybe fold Residual Venoms’ effect into this.
Ricochet – one of the worst traits for thief. This trait can go a long way in improving pistol/pistol builds. Instead of the warrior rifle trait that makes bullet pierce, make it a 100% chance to bounce to 1 target.

ANET, the constant nerfs are causing distaste for any changes to come. It is a form of mental fatigue to predict that the next incoming patch will have nerfs in store for your class.

Though zero-sum cannot usually be achieved, I do wish there were more effort to do so when going through with a nerf. After a nerf happens, the thief is still a thief, but the experience/effectiveness feels watered down. As a playerbase, thieves see themselves as strong damage dealers (burst or sustained through conditions) that relies on mobility and stealth to avoid damag. Nerfing damage over and over again without any compensation elsewhere takes the teeth out of that. If the expectation of the players are wrong, please state it.

This patch has a good and a bad exampe of balancing. Tactical Strike’s damage was buffed by 10% and the daze was reduced by 0.5 sec. The argument then becomes what values are appropriate, but I don’t feel like I’m waking away empty-handed in this situation. Dancing Daggers’s nerf by 50% is terrible. DD versus 2 targets rewarded me with strong damage for good target recognition. Now it’s the same condition (cripple), 50% less damage, and still the same initiative cost. There should have been at least a cost reduction to compensate.

Another example of a good change is blinding powder’s cd reduction to 40 sec. Previously, blinding powder and shadow refuge had the same cooldown. When picking the ability to stealth for 1 utility slot, shadow refuge edged out blinding powder due to being able to stealth friendlies from ranged, being a dark field, and healing them. Now blinding powder can be competitive for a different reason.

For context, no, I am no longer a D/D thief for about 2-3 weeks now. I had been since launch and was almost exclusively D/D while getting to rank 23 in sPvP. I simply find it frustrating to watch a class I enjoy in so many different ways get nerfed due to public opinion.

Thoughts from anyone?

I find the axe to be more of a useful tool than a primary weapon. As others have mentioned, the Axe can provide LF production from a relatively safe range than dagger. The Axe also synergies with my wells + siphon + retaliation build. I gain retaliation from my heal, my Axe #3, and entering Death Shroud, all while being able to sit on top of my wells for siphons, protection, and the well’s individual effect. Like some kind of vampiric porcupine.

The Axe pales in comparison in straight up burst or maybe even dps, but I don’t need it to be.

I run a backstab D/D build w/ P/P as my secondary. With stats focused on power/crit/crit damage, Unload will put a pretty dent into an inattentive opponent w/o being in melee. This tends to be a pretty solid option to switch to while I wait on cds in team fights w/ a lot of AoE to worry about. As stated earlier, Head Shot is a great at assisting/protecting your teammates, despite the initiative cost. Black powder is also a great way to near guarantee stomps.

Aesthetically, naming the daze shot w/ low damage Head Shot was a mistake.

I would really love some identity straightened out for P/P.

Unload should work like Sneak Attack in that it’s a multi-hitting bleed stacker. Keep it 8-hits, but only stacks 4 bleeds (every other hit bleeds) to keep it from getting ridiculous. The channeling time of Unload would give attentive opponents a chance to LOS/dodge/interrupt, but still give P/P a condition identity. This would necessitate a change in Sneak Attack.

Oh, I’d never give up Hidden Thief myself. That’d be my only reason to go 20 into Shadow Arts.

Yeah Basilisk’s cast time is a pain. I normally use it in transit before I arrive at a point, normally ~2000 – 1800 range, or when I drop back from a fight and I’m letting regen tick a few from Shadow Protector.

Definitely nice to see others using the same build.

I run a very similar build using a 20/30/20/0/0 w/ Hidden Killer setup. It’s definitely a fun setup.

Dagger Storm is great w/ the reflect projectiles is great, but the channel leaves open to aoes and melee hits. With all the stealthing you can do in your build, I’d suggest Basilisk Venom for easy setups for backstabs or even just Thieves Guild for extra damage and bodies on the field. I’ve used the thieves before to block attempts to cripple/immobilize.

Try out Cloaked in Shadows and Shadow Protector if you want to eek out a bit more survivability.

Because of rallying, “go down fighting” against improper odds can backfire on you. Sure you could down 1 of your opponents, but getting a stomp is unlikely if his teammastes are around. If you down someone and they down + stomp you, the net gain is to their advantage.

Running away can create 1-on-1 situations if one of your opponents is determined to kill you. Running away can also be used to draw away opponents from objectives creating mismatches elsewhere in your team’s favor. Running away can give you a chance to recover and ambush your opponents from behind when they’re trying to neutralize/cap one of your own points.

For context, I run a backstab build, but spend as much time as a roamer/solo capper and running with groups of friends. Sometimes I go down swining, sometimes it’s better to run. The right answer is, “it depends on the situation”.

How about comparing those numbers w/ a Knight Amulet w/ a Berzerker Jewel?