Stealth → Blinds has some pretty severe implications for resistance and condition removal effects. 450 radius is also insane. Arc Divider is OP only for this reason as well.
Upping base stealth durations won’t work without increasing the initiative cost on weapon skills used to gain stealth, especially given the blind access for something as simple as a Steal→BP → HS combo. Even when BP was on a 1s pulse the blind application was too overpowered on its small radius due to how much damage the thief could mitigate this way.
SR would just be kinda busted if changed to that, especially stacking with RoS.
They’ll never revert jump-casts on IS. I’ve done all in my power to communicate the importance of it, and while it was a big part of the kit, they’re never going to undo this. Even Robert Gee has come out directly and said as such.
S/D needs some other utility and damage improvements to things like DDagger and its stealth skill to really warrant use in general. 5% won’t really do much, and the FS/LS change, while keeping the kit out of viability in sPvP, was only largely viable due to the boon stealing capacity in the past boonbunker sPvP metas more than anything else. For a lot of players, the ability to chain FS is a huge gain as it has no precast or aftercast periods so the evasion uptime is amazing for disengages and skill avoidance when in the right hands.
Of all things for S/D, I’d just have to say FS should become unblockable as well as LS and the kit becomes very usable while still promoting smarter play and letting the weapon keep its potential no-target dodge utility. This may even warrant some damage nerfs to LS and putting more damage from it into the second hit of the AA chain on sword, but getting the consistency here is a big deal, and it gives S/D thieves a better way to deal with more things rather than just precast 3 into a fight to stomp harder.
D/D needs substantial design changes to DB and DDagger which I’ve outlined a bunch in the past. DB focusing on dodges and mobility, and DDagger some AoE and power damage and control condition application would give D/D the utility it needs while help pushing some further love to P/D’s damage as well.
CnD doesn’t need a blind. The issue with D/D is the unreliability of the set and its over-dependence on CnD landing. You addressed the issue with S/D as being the blocks; power D/D has the same if not worse problem, and like LS, there’s plenty of punishment out there as it is when the first hit (CnD/FS) lands. To make stealth more accessible to more builds and bump the kit’s reliability, CnD’s initiative cost should just be reduced to 4.
S/P doesn’t need a ton. If PW’s delay is to be reduced, its absurd cleave radius (nearly 300 degrees) should become more in-line with the animation as to let people who do flank/kite out of the impact be rewarded.
SoH steal reduction should be made baseline just because CC often hurts more than helps these days from passives. Preparedness baseline is controversial as I’m not 100% sure it’d make Trickery worthwhile to really pick beyond that point.
Given the changes to DB, Backstab should just baseline apply a few stacks of 4s poison to compensate D/D condi players for the lost damage. This keeps them still using DB for damage for procs on DT but also utilizing stealth and the other parts of the kit rather than just mashing 3 in order to achieve good damage.
