Like many others in this thread, I’m only going to address PVE, since I feel it needs the most work. Hopefully after some of these changes we can avoid this vicious nerf cycle going on with our precious Thieves.
First, the Steal mechanic. I have a simple solution for this that would solve a lot of people’s complaints. Make our stolen skills selectable much like how a Ranger chooses pets, or how a Mesmer can choose which Shatter skills they use.
We should be able to choose whether we want a Stun/Bleed/Cripple/AOE to suit our playstyle. For a profession that needs such precision, random abilities is a dangerous factor. We need consistency…
Secondly Stealth… This is a tough one to balance, but I think the mechanics of it need to be reworked. Thieves don’t have many healing/blocking/protection skills to fall back on like Guardians and Elementalists. Stealth shouldn’t be only tied to a few weapon skills, it should be woven into each and every weapon setup. Pistol off hand for example should have an option for stealth; maybe instead of just dazing, it should also Stealth the Thief for a short duration. I also think Stealth in general should have a longer duration, because time in Stealth is time not adding damage, so it balances itself out in PVE situations.
Stealth is easily broken by AOE in PVE encounters, and generally doesn’t drop threat quickly enough to be very effective; so it really needs to be looked at from a dungeon standpoint.
The Third is utility skills… I understand Thieves having low health, but I don’t understand why Thieves don’t get much compensation for it. Again this goes back to the Stealth factor. It should be woven into utility skills as a secondary effect. I understand not having a bunch of healing skills, as it doesn’t fit the lore of a Thief, but Thieves should have naturally higher regeneration of stamina. That’s something that shouldn’t be exclusive to certain builds, it should be exclusive to Thieves.
When I think of a Thief, I think of someone darting through the shadows making quick precise attacks; striking vital body parts to injure or incapacitate. So far Thieves feel weak/cheap instead of agile/precise.
When I heard GW2 will have separate skill mechanics for PVE and PVP I was really relieved, because I know how PVE can get the short end of the stick when it comes to balancing for PVP. We end up with this cycle of never-ending nerfs and buffs that just become tedious. You guys have a great opportunity to make good on your word with Thieves. They are easily the most loved/hated archetype in any MMORPG.
This is somewhat of a sidenote, but PVE encounters/bosses also need to consider the various profession mechanics so that they’re fun and diverse. Some fights just seem to neglect Mesmer and Thief mechanics entirely. You shouldn’t require us to adapt and use range methods for some encounters, then give Thieves a main skill that puts us in melee range (Steal). Either give us a protection buff or stealth after Stealing, or rework the boss/fight mechanics. I personally prefer both…
PVE is the backbone of big MMORPGs, so please don’t neglect it.
(edited by Soulja.7024)