Before any assumptions are made (because I already see people making them), I don’t have any favourite build(s). I just want more diversity. GW2 severely lacks diversity compared to GW1…especially on the thief class. This is why you see limited builds and it feels like everyone (especially thieves) is playing the same build, because it’s just that limited. Sure there’s other builds you can TRY, but they’re all obsolete because they’re far too ineffective.
Anyways, I’ve read through some suggestions, and some made sense, while others I completely disagreed with. Three of the main ones that caught my attention are; making black powder field being on top of enemies instead of yourself, reducing mug damage significantly, and adding a cast time to steal. I highly disagree with all of these. For one, you DO NOT want a field to be on top of where the enemy was where you shot them, as this will make field combo-ing just plain silly, and the enemy can simply move out of it. Secondly, you take a look at mug damage (comes from a trait mind you) and compare it to other class specific skills that deal damage (especially warrior adrenalin based skills) and you’ll notice this is nothing (not to mention the fact that steal has a 45s c/d)…and finally, you DO NOT want a cast time on steal. The class specific skill for thief is already significantly weak (especially when un-traited) compared to other classes, and it does NOT need to be even more limited and weaker.
Moving on from that, this time, I’d like to bring into light some issues with traits and possible replacements and buffs to a few traits that will make them more appealing, and possibly open up new idea for builds for players, thus creating a bigger diversity in play style.
I’d like to begin with “Last Refuge” from the “Shadow Arts” trait line. Though this inherent trait is excellent in theory, in practice it can be quite devastating when playing with an offhand dagger, or using steal with “Mug” and “Hidden Thief”. If you happen to use “C&D” or “Steal”, and your HP drops to/below 25% in the middle of it, you not only lose your stealth, but you are granted the “Revealed” effect which is contra-beneficial. I’d like to suggest that this be fixed by one of two methods. First option would be to allow the stealth to stack, and not reveal the player if damage occurs from “C&D” or “Steal”. The second option would be to allow the second stealth effect to simply override the “Last Refuge” stealth effect.
Continuing on, next up, we have the traits that people are free to choose from. Bear with me, this will be long. I apologize ahead of time.
1: Corrosive Traps (Deadly Arts): As is right now, I honestly do not wish to comment on this until traps are fixed. As others have mentioned, traps need a serious reworking/buff.
2: Sundering Strike (Deadly Arts): This trait is almost identical to the “Superior Sigil of Frailty”. The only difference is that the trait gives a 40% chance with 5s duration and 1s internal c/d, where as the sigil gives a 30% chance for 10s duration and no internal c/d. My suggestion would be to simply remove the internal c/d of the trait, or increase the duration to 8~10s instead of 5s.
3: Improvisation (Deadly Arts): I’ve tried this trait and given it countless number of chances to impress me in any shape or form. However, the sheer reliance on RNG has lead to only disappointments. I have yet to find anyone using this trait at all. This trait MUST be either scrapped for something better, or reworked. How about something like 40% chance on critical hits to bleed and cripple your enemies for 4s with a 10s internal c/d while wielding a melee weapon (change of name required of course, maybe something like Devastating Cut)?
4: Dagger Training (Deadly Arts): I’ve noticed that there’s absolutely no trait that gives any kind of boost to swords or spear. My recommendation for this would be to change this trait into something like “Melee Training”, where it increases the damage dealt by daggers, swords, and spears by 5%.
5: Practiced Tolerance (Critical Strikes): I like the idea that the trait gives gives a little bit more survivability. However, it just doesn’t feel like it’s enough at all…and it’s extremely rare to find anyone using it over the other, much more appealing traits under the Critical Strikes trait line. I’d like to suggest that an added bonus of 5~10% Precision be added to Toughness, or 5% Toughness be added as Vitality. This will surely make the trait a lot more appealing, especially to PvE players doing things like dungeons or world boss fights.
6: Ankle Shot (Critical Strikes): The only suggestion I’d like to add here is to reduce the c/d to 5s instead of 10s. However, to compensate for this, decrease the chance to trigger this from 60% to 40%.
