Guild Wars 2

I’m not thinking Signets, if only for lore reasoning. IIRC, Signets are basically static uses of magical energy. This, coincidentally, is why Engineer’s the only Signet-less Profession.
Now, commands (shouts) for those floating drone guys? That’s arguably quite possible.

I could see a Phantasm (perhaps a utility-type, like PDefender) running with that ability.
Then, you’re not “personally” getting hit, but you could Confuse/Torment someone and run them around a bit.

Hell. I would have named the wing-sporting, light arrow-chucking SOB an “Avenger.”
At least sounds better than “Dragon Hunter,” for kitten’s sake.

Man. I can see this one hitting the Nerf List on Day 1.
“Thief makes self into Lootbag with blowdart, News at 11.”

Which would result in Bards. Hmmm, Banner or Consecration skills for that one, Sir Vincent?

What: Traps
Why: Simple circular logic:

• Thieves are sneaky
• Thieves don’t use Traps (often)
• Ergo, Thieves are holding Traps in reserve, to kitten folks over harder.

Suggestion: Replace Traps with Quaggan Dolls. The enemy will be too busy laughing at the Thief to get killed by the Thief …

Cynz.9437:

Woaden.9425:

…
Concerning gods. Lore-wise, Lyssa would probably be the closest (human) god to match a thief’s “magic”. However (and I’m no Lore expert), this is just a very magic rich world, and you don’t need to honor a god to have magic.

i remember reading somewhere Grenth is being worshipped by thieves
Lyssa is more of mesmer god

Grenth’s more Necromancer, what with the ice/darkness bit. Lyssa has twin aspects, and is known to be kinda sneaky. As for the type of magic? Denial Magic; linked to both Mesmer and Thief, IIRC.

ZeftheWicked.3076:

Guess no one caught on what the post is truly about;)
Chronomancer skillnames are screaming reference to BlazeBlue fighting series;)

Of course. And Ride The Lightning on Eles was a Guilty Gear namedrop. All this proves is that ANet Devs like Arc System Works titles

Jugglemonkey.8741:

What happened to Burnfall anyways? That guy always made me laugh.

A very good question, that. I still think DarkSyze is Burnfall on another account. But, this is merely my personal paranoia speaking …

Black Frog.9274:

If they ever fix P/P, I could go for a Rifle and P/P thief. Force Recon ftw.

Bullet Hell Thief. And folk wonder why I said they should grab some S.S.H and Touhou Project soundtracks …

Me Games Ma.8426:

Curunen.8729:

Me Games Ma.8426:

The Doctor=Chronomancer

Whoever has claimed that character name in this game had better be playing a die hard chronomancer when HoT hits.

Anything less will be a waste.

Oh yes.

And someone else had better be a Chronomancer named Romana. Tyria needs more Time Lords, ye know.

Originally, I’ve always said the BB ICD is completely unjustified and foolish. Now, however … I’d have to say it depends on how much blind Blinding Dissipation can crank out. Mesmer used to have -at best- mediocre blind access; but we might be on the cusp of some almost Thief-level blindspam.

If that is indeed correct, I have no logical choice but to eat crow, RE: BB and its ICD. /shrug

Hmmm.
This could be quite enjoyable.
I wonder how a Chaos/Illusions/(New Traitline) condi-spec could work out. I’m thinking Staff, Sceptre/Shield …

foste.3098:

Maybe they will change some pistol skills with the specialization patch seeing how d/d will gravitate to the condi/hybrid role with potent poison and the poison stacking change.

This, basically, is what I’m hoping for. Especially since my Thief’s main set is a combo of zerker/valk/cav … a pure power-spec P/P set would be pretty darn beastly.

As for the idea of improving Richochet. Maybe any “concerns” can be sidestepped by boosting Pistol range. Then you can keep Richochet “as is?”

Knowing how fast I am to call ‘em out on mishandling things … I’ll give fair cred on this one. Hell, I know how long I’ve suggested some of these changes on my end.

• Improved Confusion application
• Confusion-on-’Rupt
• IP and IE as default … I did not see that one coming, whatsoever.
• Looks like downed traits ate the axe, finally
• What, I’m no longer a slave to Traveller Runes? (hops around)

Honestly, the only parts I’d offer a complaint on would be:

• Shield. Only because Mesmer’s loaded on offhands, seriously.
• Clonedeath got punked. Not my “favorite,” but still a valid lifestyle.

Running CS/Acro/Trick … prolly swapping to DA/Acro/Trick, depending on how the specialization’s trait line works out.

Agreed. That was such a brutal change.

Michal.4513:

morrolan.9608:

Watching mesmer section now and they allude to confusion working differently.

ETA I’m surprised there’s not more discussion on the removal of the trait that gave enemies confusion with glamours.

dude.. we got Confusion on every crit…. scrrew this glamour trait xd

Confusion on crits, AND (finally!) Confusion on Interrupts.

I know I’m going hardcore condilock … already was using a 0/4/6/0/4, so the redone traits are going to make things pretty interestin’

As for Chronomancers, depends on what kinda things their associated traitline gets. I’d at least give it a whirl, tbh.

Dondagora.9645:

StickerHappy.8052:

Advent.6193:

Finally, they give Mesmers some more Confusion access … anyone else wondering how Mistrust and Glamours might synch up?

Im still skeptical since I dont see the Dazzling glamours trait anywhere

I feel like if we pair up Mistrust with Master of Fragmentation, we could get some interesting condition bombing techniques with our plentiful AoE CC. In WvW terms, we hit a piece of a zerg and it splits up into multiple AoE Confusion areas with a 1-5 random interrupts, meaning 5-25 tags per interrupt, should it be placed wisely. Another fun trick might be if projectiles we reflect gain our Confusing Combatant capabilities, meaning adding our own bit of mix into enemy zergs. Hopefully this might make WvW interesting for mesmers as a place for us to take via condirupt bombs.

What’s this heretical talk we speak? Mesmers, once again being able to punish braindead zerglings? I can only frigging hope

Finally, they give Mesmers some more Confusion access … anyone else wondering how Mistrust and Glamours might synch up?

Go figure. I use Permeating Wrath a lot on my Guardian alt. I’ve gotta say … I’d not mind the changes you’re tossing around as ideas.

(begins weeping in gratitude)
Finally … no frigging ’sacks.

Default IP, eh? Dear Gods … I’m imagining that on a Maim build … begins hopping around the place

Heh … MM Necros just collectively sharted their skivvies. Getting Moa’d by a Mesmer was bad enough for ’em. Now, imagine AoE Moa-ness …

Rather seems they’re going for more of a older-style MMO/ARPG trait system. The only problem is: how fluid will the end result be? You’re losing the ability to manipulate five traitlines in favor of 3 … I can only see this being “good” if they’ve gotten rid of ALL crappy filler traits. (i.e. Downed Traits).

I’d have to agree with DE. That trait’s far too essential for most builds. At least IP, strong as it might be, is more of an “option.”

• Sneaky, underhanded combat
• Ninja-esque teleportation abilities
• Looks badkitten with a duster and dual pistols

• Closest thing to a Psionicist in the game
• Crazy Time/Space mangling abilities
• Manly enough to kill you with pink/purple butterflies, for crying out loud.

Omnio.3652:

What do you guys think about focus for lockdown. I’ve tried all, sword, focus and pistol. Its kinda if you want to take focus for swiftness and AoE interrupt or sword for 1v1 situations. What do you prefer?

Personally, I always run Lockdown with Focus. I’ll take Line Cripple & AoE Pull over Line Daze any day. The extra speed from Curtain’s just icing on the cake, really. Now, if we could just convince ANet to remove that silly lil’ Pull-timer …

Who would you send in, is the question? Got a decent amount of Mesmer PvPers, on both sides of the Ocean.

Ain’t that the truth. Hell, I remember how bad my Ele had it when ANet nerf-a-thonned Elementalists to get rid of the original D/D spec. What ANet didn’t realize then, is exactly what you’ve pointed out, Bran. Tweak that class too far in either direction, things go completely pear-shaped.
(Of course, that (also) didn’t stop ANet from the whole Dhuumfire debacle, and shagging Necros dirty for months afterward, either … meh.)

Quick comment, RE: Shadow Arts as magic. Last I knew, in this game’s lore … every profession besides Engineers do in fact, utilize at least some innate magic (Warriors and Signets, for instance). As for Thieves, it’s generally theorized that they use some abilities from the same overall type of magic that Mesmers access (Denial).

Does make a certain sense. Invisibility (Stealth) “denies” sight/sensory perception, Shadowsteps “deny” distance … /shrug

As for weapon, yea … probably going to be a Rifle. I’m hoping it’ll at least synch well with my Pistols. And NOT be some range-punked joke. You’d think ANet was as afraid of a 1200 range Thief as they are of fast Mesmers. >_<

Even my dual-gunner self keeps a SB in the ol’ inventory. Maybe the person giving OP crap was just playing the Troll Game? (I’d like to think any “Thief Main” would not be that silly …)

Psssh. I personally think that the concept of “dodging too much” on a supposedly “active” combat system is freaking ridiculous.
You want folk to dodge “less,” then kindly script less high-damage/OHKO bosses.
Otherwise, if you can’t stack-and-whack, then you’re going to dodge some of those hits.
Similar logic applies to any player combat (WvW or PvP) scenario. If you doubt you can sit there and trade blows with the other guy … what else is left for any intelligent
player to do?

Anyway, I suppose I should at least post something on-topic:

• The only theory I can give you for the difference in vigor-on-crit ICDs is that they (ANet) based this difference around health pools and potential defenses.
• Ele has a good deal of active defense, Mesmer has that plus stealth to GTFO if a fight goes poorly. And, we also need to account for the ~5k hp difference between the two classes.
• Another possible reasoning is they did this, to go along with the idea that a lot of Elementalist defense is from the fragton of Boons they can run around with.

Of course, trying to predict ANet logic is like trying to reason with HAL-9000 or Skynet … they do what they want, and the rest of our theories be cursed. /shrug

@Zenith
We won’t even discuss Mesmer and might. I still think Shattered Strength should have been tried out at 2/illusion, if 3/per was too strong. Bunch of BS, that. But, my point is still valid. Fact is, (Elite Stabo), Swiftness, Might and Fury are about the only things a Thief can personally (without stealing) crap out. Mesmer can do more in general, but with lower stacks and/or durations.
Along with those lines, Illusionary Membrane getting ICD’d was a bloody eyesore, tbh.
Let alone what they did to Retal on Phants, or removing the initial Protection proc on Chaos Armor.

And, yes, Necro eats CC for freaking days … even with FitG being given a bit of a boost. Which is silly, considering their overall mobility and access to boons.

I’ve always favored Aegis-on-Dodge for pets. Fact is, with how slow pet responses are coded, you’d need something a bit more than mere Evasion … unless the Evade frames were longer duration.
Past that, two things:

1. Separate pet and mob AI, please. It’s tiresome as all hell that pets can’t get an AI buff due to AI overlap with enemies.
2. More fine-grained control. Enough of the excuse that it’d be “too hard” for new Rangers. Here’s the fact: any “Pet Class” is known for its micromanagement aspects.
   As such, it’s arguably disingenuous to use difficulty as an excuse for lack of control options. /shrug

I could say your build would definitely need the Quick Pockets trait … that’d be what’d keep you gaining Initiative for weapon swapouts. Hell, you could also add Withdraw for heal and Roll for Initiative. Just QP and RfI alone would keep you popping Unloads for a good while, if you manage timing well.

Zenith.7301:

Indrea.7803:

Elementalist in berserker is very difficult to play, only celestial bunker is easy: Mesmers has got a lot of tools to evade attacks, the greatest is stealth…and don’t forget you have an invulnerability always on F4. You have also a lot of boons , use Prismatic Understanding and you can achieve a great survivability. Also, an elementalist needs to invest 10 points to take that triati, we need only 5.
My main is Mesmer but I play both in PvP (always berserker scepter/focus , I don’t like celestial).

No berserker mesmer takes PU, so the boon argument is moot.

It is indisputable that mesmers and necromancers have miserable access to boons and valuable combo fields/finishers, and rangers are not far behind in such dearth of boons.

I’ll give you combo fields and finishers. Boons, however … trust me, Thief’s got it worse than Mesmer. Luckily, they can snatch boons off of someone else.
Past that, I’d absolutely agree that DE and its overall necessity shag Mesmer over worse than anything vigor-related.

I wouldn’t call any of ‘em “worst.”
Although, the axe twirl tends to be what I use the least … I’m not trying to be a target for that long.
“Best,” IMO is Consume Plasma. That kind of boon coverage, even short-term, on a Thief is freaking brutal.

Fay.2357:

Sylvari has the best looking armor in the game.

Also, we glow.

Never underestimate the glow. Not to mention, Psychic Plant? That’s just too stylish to pass up.

I think you’re trolling, DarkSyze. But, I think everyone has some screwed-up ulterior motive. Thing is, the Thief players torqued off about (maybe) getting a Rifle aren’t going to like a Boomerang any more, I would warrant. Especially if ANet gives it some crapola range modifier like SB and Pistol have.
Also: Just make a Thief, already … then you’d know how to murder most Thieves.

Honestly, I feel the whole business of “weak OOC speed” as a weakness was bloody well ANNHILATED at the very second ANet changed all speed-booster Signets/Traits to be a uniform +25% bonus. It was at least an … “acceptable” argument back when most other professions were hoppin’ along at +10%. NOW, however? You’ve got to be kidding me; create a large, expansive world to wander around in … but make it a PITA to do so?
At the very least, just fix the darned Curtain already.

Botlike.6478:

Nice to see everyone ignores my post completly, and just keeps going QQ, cause thats what is all about to you. I see.

… Looks like S.O.P. for the Internet from over here …
Not to mention, all we have to go on are the images in the original trailer … not much to really theorize on.

With that said, and considering the dual nature of many Mesmer skills:

• We pretty much can assume Shield will have a Phantasm. Frankly, it’d be a good place to toss Taunt in as an ability. Between that Phant and an IDefender out, it could be interesting for PvE mob control.
  Only problem there … is that it’d need something other than Taunt, since it’d have zero use in WvW/PvP otherwise. Maybe it also tosses Regen or Prot on the Mesmer?

• The second ability would logically be the “blast” effect seen in the trailer. My guess’d be: two strike ability; first hit slaps down Slow, second’s up in the air. (Mainly going with that logic due to the clock imagery. It’d be funny if the darn thing pulled enemies inward, then blasted ’em back.)

Honestly, I’d say it depends mainly on what your usual trait trees are. For example, you mention being D/P. With that in mind, if the specialization removes —say-- Shadow Arts; then you’re going to have a difference in overall playstyle.
(As for myself, I mainly roll with S/P or P/P … so I’m fine as long as I don’t lose CS, Acro, or Trickery to specialize … especially Acro)

Nothing official that I know of. Although, it’d make absolute sense, considering that Mesmer as is possesses abilities that manipulate time and space.

rchu.8945:

Rubedo.8769:

Just roll a revenant when their released, that’s apparently what Anet wants anyway

I know I am, and Mesmer will probably have another GM trait that doesnt work against that class. It’s in Anet’s best intention to completely screw over the Mesmer in favor of another class.

I’m generally (along with Pyro, of course) one of the first folk to say that ANet’s folk have minimal-to-no clue how to balance Mesmer. However, there’s a world of difference between:

1. cluelessness.
   and
2. directly jerking folk around.

I absolutely believe in the first. Indeed, I’m been convinced for months that the team who designed the professions is not the same team that currently balances them.
However, it’s not (logically) in ANet’s interest to deliberately torque off any profession’s playerbase. After all, they want folk spending money. Ticked-off folk spend less money, if any. (Although, certain things in game do make a fair counter to my argument; for example, Engineers and Hobosacks …)

Rubedo.8769:

Just roll a revenant when their released, that’s apparently what Anet wants anyway

Not just Anet … any MMO hypes up the “new” class. Sure, I’ll try one … but it’s not replacing my Mesmer and Thief. No one replaces those wacky kids.

As for Mesmer Shield? I can only hope for some crazy time-mangler abilities … something like the crap Akemi Homura pulls in Puella Magi Madoka Magica.

I keep a set of everything on any of my 80s. As for “favorite?”

• Staff/Scepter (or Sword)/Focus for most everything non-dungeon.
• S/S and S/F or P for dungeons.

I’ll still switch out if needed, but those are my “main” sets.