Guild Wars 2

infantrydiv.1620:

The problem is that S/P, P/P P/D and D/D are just so dysfunctional…

But that’s most Thief weaponsets!

Oh, right.

JonPeters.5630:

Opportunist
This trait was wildly overpowered. I there was a 15 point minor for any other profession that basically read: "Reduce cooldown of all weapon skills by 33%, it would basically be impossible to run that profession without putting 15 points into that line. Because of this every thief build that is effective uses this line, which improves crit and crit damage. This pigeonholes this profession in a way that makes it frustrating for players and developers. This trait has to be closer to an 8% increase if we expect people to consider not taking 15 point in critical strikes.

By reducing this trait and improving base regen we are giving non-crit thieves 15-30 trait points back to spend where they want to. There are a lot of good traits that simply will never see play until we make this change.

I appreciate ArenaNet’s initiative here (lolpuns), but there’s a huge problem with that logic: with or without Opportunist being viable, Thieves are still pigeonholed into Critical Strikes.

Deadly Arts, the power traitline, is obviously designed around venom/condition builds and has very little to offer power/crit Thieves. Even the minor traits are all condition-based.

The proposed improvement to Sundering Strikes is a good start towards changing the blandness of the power traits, but Improvisation is still completely obsolete, and there are very few other choices. If a power/crit Thief—or, better yet, a power/crit Thief with a sword mainhand—wanted to put 30 in Deadly Arts, what traits could they take to make an effective build?

So, by reducing the effectiveness of Opportunist and reducing the variety of helpful traits in Critical Strikes, it does seem like you are pushing Thieves towards venom/condition builds.

Well, I put my general ideas/agreement with Auesis into Jon’s thread about the proposed Thief changes. I’m curious to see what he says, if he responds to my post.

Jon, seeing your post made the Mighty Mouse theme start playing in my head. Thank you for coming to discuss these changes.

For the discussion on the specific changes in the proposal, I think the majority of concerns have been voiced. However, there are some other things that I’d like to address and have been discussed at length in other threads.

Hard to Catch
This is too unreliable to be a valuable tool for sustained combat. I think a few simple changes would make this trait significantly better:

1. If a disable is negated through some other method, like Stability, then Hard to Catch shouldn’t trigger.

2. To serve the purpose of combat sustain, it needs to grant Vigor, Retaliation, Stability, or Regeneration instead of Swiftness. Swiftness is terribly unhelpful at helping a player to stay in a fight.

3. Most importantly, I think the core problem with this skill—the random nature of it—could be solved by having it always teleport you backwards. Then the trait requires positional awareness instead of luck, and it would sync with builds that use teleports, Withdraw, and/or Roll for Initiative. It could also then be used as a positioning tool, which I believe is the kind of proactive play GW2 is trying to encourage.

Other problems

1. Steal. Many players complain that they’d like more micromanagement over this ability, which is supposed to be the “class-defining mechanic.” It’s been a common suggestion since betas to have F1 steal an offensive item, F2 steal a CC item, and F3 steal some kind of healing item or boons.

2. Traps. At best, they are lackluster and clunky.

Perhaps Thief traps could be made more like Ranger traps, as static objects with charges and a range of 120. Auesis provided a more detailed description of this kind of trap change in the fourth post of this thread. In that same thread, Crimes also provided excellent ideas for trap traits.

3. Weaponsets. Many of the Thief weaponsets have issues with incredibly underpowered and/or conflicting skills. This post is long enough without me listing out all of the problems, but hopefully ArenaNet is aware of most of them already, and they are on the list of things to be fixed in the future.

If they want to make this trait less awful, then I agree with many of your suggestions. If the disable is negated, then it shouldn’t trigger; the cooldown needs to be cut down significantly; and it needs to grant Vigor, Retaliation, Stability, or Regeneration instead of Swiftness. They want Thieves to use this trait for “sustained combat,” and Swiftness does jackall to help with that.

I think the range is okay as-is, but I think a lot of the problem could be solved by just having it teleport you backwards instead of in a random direction. Then it requires positional awareness instead of luck, and would sync up with builds that use teleports, Withdraw, and/or Roll for Initiative. It could also then be used as a positioning tool.

I tried Warrior once, but wasn’t very fond of it and ended up deleting the character. It was fun to be able to fearlessly attack anything that crossed my path (and prevail), but I thought the combat was really monotonous.

gamemaster.7154:

Wow, that is depressing.

I’d love to get a story reset. I absolutely love how my Thief looks and I enjoy playing her, but the continuity of her story is terrible. If I could have a do-over I’d be ecstatic, even if it were 800 gems.

On my Human Engineer, the hobosacks for the kits—specifically the grenade kit and bomb kit in my screenshots—cut her head in half. Given how effective these kits are, this glitch is distracting enough that I actually avoid playing her.

I mostly play Ele now, and I’ve been tinkering with Ranger. I still love Thief, but it feels like an uphill battle in many ways.

For a 2H melee weapon, I’m a member of the melee staff party.

I’d also like to see brass knuckles/bagh nakha, but I think those are more in line with “a really awesome dagger skin” than an entirely new weapon.

BlackBeard.2873:

-snippity-

Generally I agree with you, but I enjoy cantrips, as lackluster as Cleansing Fire and Mist Form may be. I think Armor of Earth and Lightning Flash are quite useful.

Very well-said. Thank you for taking the thoughts out of my head and writing them down in such an eloquent way.

I like the suggestion that I’ve seen multiple times on the forum for Mad King Says: give it a better/higher cooldown, and if the villager successfully performs it, then the courtier suffers the consequence of a temporary stun, or even dies outright.

Then, as someone else said, it becomes a calculated gamble at best.

Personally, I think Engi and Mes are the hardest to level.

And I’ve run through Kessex Hills on two characters, one who is 80 and another who isn’t. I agree that it was much harder for me on the lower level. All the toxic content feels like it’s been designed around level 80 gameplay; even the hallucinations initially spawn at level 80.

FrownyClown.8402:

Imagi.4561:

I sent a private message to Jon Peters about focus, in the hope that he’d at least give the weapon some consideration. I’m not holding my breath for an answer, but I’ve got my fingers crossed that they’ll tweak it in the future.

I think he said something about adding another heal in the water attunement.

I’ll be excited if they do.

I sent a private message to Jon Peters about focus, in the hope that he’d at least give the weapon some consideration. I’m not holding my breath for an answer, but I’ve got my fingers crossed that they’ll tweak it in the future.

Perhaps it’s shallow, but I too would be more willing to play my Engi if the hobosack was non-existent.

I’d also really like to make a Sylvari Engi, but the hobosacks look especially terrible on them. If we could at least customize our hobosack in some way, or get race-specific ones, that would be just spiffy keen.

DaShi.1368:

There is a cool down on the emote, but it isn’t much longer than the time before casting and when the stun occurs. To avoid the emote, use the invisibility skill. It strips the emote.

Are you sure it strips it? I’ve used the stealth before so that I could perform the emote without dying, and gain the swiftness.

Considering that Jon Peters has stopped by the profession threads for Elementalist, Engineer, Guardian, Ranger, and Mesmer to discuss the proposed changes, I’m hoping that he fully intends to stop by the Thief forum in the near future.

And, you know, people complain about a lack of dev interaction on the Thief forums, but the Necro forum—where he also hasn’t been, as of yet—is depressing. Tumbleweeds, tumbleweeds everywhere.

DiogoSilva.7089:

Imagi.4561:

I’d like to agree, but I’m a little skeptical that the changes “aren’t final.” They said that about the last update preview and nothing changed that I’m aware of, even though there were items getting incredibly negative feedback.

Anet has been replying to feedback and suggesting some compromises. Those include the possibility of renewing stamina and cleansing wave staying at adept tier. So they are listening and considerating our opinions.

The feedback they’ve been providing is commendable. However, they did much the same for the preview of the last update.

If the update is released and they actually institute compromises and not a copy/paste of the proposal, I’ll gladly admit that I was wrong to doubt.

1) I have a “back up” key, but I was actually thinking of turning it into my turnabout key because I hardly use it.

2) My dodge key is E. I had it as “double-tap on movement keys” for the better part of a year, but it kept messing me up on jumping puzzles and would sometimes cause deaths if the double-tap took too long, or the second tap wasn’t registered.

I found that having keys bound for strafing is almost entirely pointless, since strafing isn’t really needed in GW2 and you can do it without having a specific key bound for it.

3) I use my mouse for my heal, utilities, and elite skill.

4) I almost always use W.

5) I usually have at least one utility on multiple characters that does the same basic thing, like clearing conditions. Put this skill in the same spot on your bar for all characters. This way it’s easier to swap between professions, and you can survive a close call even if you forget which character you’re on.

Can I talk about how excited I was to see a reference to The Last Unicorn? Because I was really excited.

D/D is one of the more frenetic weaponsets, and not everyon’e cup of tea. S/D is slower, but you can run it fast if you want to burst, so it’s grown more popular recently.

I always play staff in zergs, and I feel useful because I support everyone around me with buffs and aoe healing.

Personally, I enjoy D/F, which you didn’t mention among the sets you tried. It’s a bit of a redheaded stepchild, but I really enjoy it. It’s tankier, and can support you through a slower rotation should you so choose.

Bagi.8530:

you can’t even do the “nightmare unveiled” solo instance as elementalist

I did it solo on my Elementalist in one try, although it was annoying. Rezzing the NPCs helps if you’re struggling.

Zacchary.6183:

Bagi.8530:

L2P

I’m sensing a little BH in this one.

EDIT: I was right. He’s an ele.

Actually, he seems to hate Ele , too.

I’ve missed a chunk of the Living Story over the past few months, but Halloween got me back into achievement-chasing (although Halloween gave me nothing outside of a single mini and a mask skin, but that’s a different discussion). So now I’m trying to get involved in the Living Story again, after having nothing to do with it for quite some time.

Unfortunately, trying to do the Living Story feels like I’m trying to follow along with a story that’s actively trying to alienate me. Some in-game background on past events and continuity between storylines would be a blessing.

I think Elementalist has a higher skill floor than other classes—with the exception of Engineer—but I don’t think it’s impossibly hard.

Are you having troubles in PvE, or PvP? This sounds more like PvP-focused anger, since that format requires faster reflexes and combos to be successful.

In the Dec. 10 updates proposal, offhand focus didn’t get any changes, or even so much as a mention.

Perhaps we need to be louder?

Malcastus.6240:

The proposed update changes aren’t final. They put it out to get feedback. Now get back to https://forum-en.gw2archive.eu/forum/game/gw2/Dec-10th-Balance-Preview/first and say your oppinion, but please do so in a non-threatening manner.

I know how frustrating that they hinder build diversity at every corner by unjust changes (a lot of them!), but try to be less pessimistic. While I am baffled that they even proposed all of those changes, I don’t think they want to kill off elementalists.. at least not now.

I’d like to agree, but I’m a little skeptical that the changes “aren’t final.” They said that about the last update preview and nothing changed that I’m aware of, even though there were items getting incredibly negative feedback.

I would buy the Bloody Prince outfit if it were wearable in combat, because the face paint looks amazing on my Sylvari.

Ryan.8367:

stop stressing out

I find it concerning that they are now nerfing evasion and stealth, which are really the only things that Thieves can depend on for survival. I said as much in the official feedback thread. I can’t say I’m surprised, though, since it’s been in my doomsday predictions for awhile.

This part confuses me, however:

JonPeters.5630:

Thief:
…Also we are trying to improve the survivability of thieves in the Acrobatics line through easier access to the Hard to Catch trait and increased effectiveness of the Assassin’s Reward trait. This will reward thieves who are actively engaged in the fight rather than those who are just dodging over and over again.

Why would they would want us to depend on “Hard to Catch?” That trait is incredibly unpredictable and can kill you as easily as save you—much like Last Refuge. Also, that entire premise of “the survivability of Thieves” is based on the idea of Thieves sustaining in a fight, which they are incapable of doing without stealth or evasion.

/aneurysm

JonPeters.5630:

Almost 500 replies already so obviously you will excuse us for not addressing them all. Also keep in mind it’s now the weekend. I’ll try and get on for enough time sometime this weekend to address the bigger points of discussion but until then please keep the responses as civil as they have generally been thus far. We appreciate all of your assign for this stuff and are working hard to make the right decisions. I can say that many of the concerns brought up were at the heart of discussions when making these changes already so we are aware of a lot of the implications.

I think these proposed changes would get more constructive and concise replies if they were split amongst the various profession threads.

I’ll be as succinct as possible with my feedback: I think the mixture of survivability nerfs within the Thief changes are a mistake that will severely injure the class. Since Thieves can only mitigate damage by avoiding it, evasion and stealth are the two main branches of survival, and evasion is more reliable in both PvE and PvP. This proposal not only nerfs evasion and access to Vigor, but also nerfs stealth builds and even adds a cast time to a teleport skill.

I fully support getting rid of permastealth, and the changes that are needed to make that goal a reality. However, if ArenaNet intends to nerf evasion as well as stealth, then Thieves desperately need some form of compensation. Easier access to boons, some form of invulnerability (like a new version of Shadow Form), or better/easier access to teleportation skills would all be greatly appreciated.

From what I understand, Tornado can be on the OP side in an area that requires positioning, like Skyhammer.

However, that’s a very limited functionality in today’s PvP, and I would like to see Eles get something like Rieselle’s suggestion of a more intense Glyph of Storms.

Swagg.9236:

[Swirling Winds] is already a very strong skill. As for having it grant swiftness, that’s not necessarily something out of the question, but making a 400-radius lightning field (that would allow for a blast finisher combo for swiftness) sounds really scary given its dazing leap property and the 6-second duration.

The other suggestion that I thought of for that skill would be to maybe have it pulse swiftness on allies each second (maybe 3 seconds). This would add up greatly over 6 seconds, but it wouldn’t really be ideal as a swiftness skill on the move since players would probably cross through it before getting even 3 ticks of the swiftness buff.

The last suggestion for that idea would be to have the skill grant bulk swiftness to allies upon creation (10 – 15 seconds or so) and leave it at that.

However, even after all that, I’m still not sure that [Swirling Winds] needs anything tacked onto it outside of what it does now. It’s a unique and very powerful skill for the focus-inclined Elementalist.

I enjoy Swirling Winds as it is because I think it fills a helpful niche, but I would love to see it grant swiftness, even if it’s only outside of combat.

One of the reasons that offhand dagger is preferred over focus is that it provides better mobility in addition to better damage, but I’ve never quite grasped that design. Shouldn’t a utility-based offhand weapon include mobility as part of that package?

I decided that I would feel infinitely better about the Living Story if it somehow ties back into the dragons, like many people have suggested. The suggestion I favored was “the entire ordeal with Scarlet is just an elaborate orchestration from the Elder Dragon Mordremoth” or something of that nature.

I enjoy this game, but I think the emote commands need a global cooldown. Also, removing the radar ability from ghosts who stand on the teleports would enable much more flexible hiding.

That’s very informative, thank you.

It’s always nice to get free content, but I’d be willing to pay for an expansion, if the price were right. I’d love to see new zones and character slots.

The texture/coloring on my Thief’s jacket is showing up incorrectly. The color of the jacket stretches up like a turtleneck, but when I look at the H panel, it’s clearly not supposed to.

Edit: Today I noticed that, even in the pictures where the jacket shows up correctly without the “turtleneck” coloring, my character’s neck is still discolored, almost like she’s wearing a mask. This is visible in the H-panel picture, although not terribly obvious.

I wonder if we’re ever going to see a new personal story—additional chapters after the death of Zhaitan and/or an entirely new set of arcs for new characters to experience.

It’s a little odd for the entire process to build up to the destruction of a dragon that you’ve already killed on one or more characters, and there’s the matter of the “living world.” With the addition of the Living Story, which has the intention of progressing the world as it stands, I feel like it’s only a matter of time until many parts of the personal story become redundant or completely moot next to what’s already happened in the evolving game world.

Similar to the minion masters, the Mesmers in GW2 seem to have ridiculous amount of power—like Countess Anise, who can summon 6-8 phantasms with a flick of her wrist—yet in a battle these NPCs have nothing to contribute besides a large health bar.

What is the point of this thread, exactly?

cheshirefox.7026:

it’s hard to get around on my thief

How are you having trouble? Infiltrator’s Arrow and Heartseeker are great for mobility. I also enjoy the “Expeditious Dodger” trait in Acrobatics.

Pixels.6532:

Well…

We tried.

Don’t give up! Anything can happen if you believe.

Why is everyone getting so upset over the use of the word “mainstream”? Really, who cares? His point is that he doesn’t really care for stealth builds.

S/D and S/P (assuming they fix/revert the aftermath of the stun change) work well, but they’re designed more for sustained damage and survivability. Even if they’re improved, I doubt they’ll ever be as “bursty” as a Backstab build.

I do think Eles have a number of drawbacks, but I don’t think “no weapon swapping” is really among them. The class gets attunements in lieu of that, and attunement swapping counts as weapon swapping for the purposes of “on swap” sigils.

I do, however, wish we got more weapon choices. Underwater, our weapon options are trident or trident. Or, better yet…trident.

I dislike the functionality change for Obsidian Flesh, but I’ve already discussed my reasoning for that in whatever the other thread was where this was brought up.

To be clear, I don’t think your concept is bad. I just prefer the invulnerability.

Why does anyone care what the gender ratio is for the significant NPCs? In what way does that affect your gameplay?

[ ] Married
[ ] Have Girl/Boyfriend (LOL)
[X] Employed
[ ] Have Pets
[ ] Have Children
[X] Are an Adult
[X] Have a Life
[X] Have no Manual Dexterity
[X] Are in College

You Think Living World is too:

[ ] Hard
[X] Time Consuming
[X] Temporary
[ ] Full of Jumping Puzzles

You are Currently Threatening to:

[ ] Quit
[ ] Uninstall
[ ] Kick Colin’s Dog (I would, but I love dogs.)
[X] Tell the Internet That You are Upset

Dear Internet,

I am upset.

Sincerely,
Me

RyuDragnier.9476:

I have a question that could turn this entire thing upside-down…did they ever mention or explain who was the first born among the firstborn Sylvari? If it’s Scarlet, she could very well be the physical embodiment of the Pale Tree’s curiosity and learning, taken root (pun intended). Which could explain more than a few of her screwy actions and how she got this far.

I think somewhere along the line they mention Scarlet being Secondborn? Perhaps I could be imagining that, though, since Mender Serimon was there when she awoke (according to her story, anyways).

Also, if she were Firstborn I assume they’d make a significant point out of it, since three of the twelve Firstborn have yet to be revealed.