These are just a few ideas I had that I thought would make for a good discussion. Some of these changes would effect other classes too, but they will mainly effect thieves so thieves are the main topic for discussion. Hopefully some interesting and helpful new ideas emerge from this.
Here are the changes for discussion:
1) Blindness now stacks in intensity, with a maximum of 5 stacks. One blind stack is removed for each attack you land, and cleansing blindness removes all stacks.
2) Black Powder now only lasts for 2 seconds, pulsing once at the start and once at the end of its lifetime. Each pulse now applies 2 stacks of blindness for 2 seconds to compensate for its shorter lifespan.
3) Combo finishers that grant stealth are now effected by Meld with Shadows.
4) Only the damage/vulnerability portion of Cloak and Dagger can be nullified(blinded, blocked, evaded etc). As long as you are in range of your target and would have landed CnD if not for the nullification, you will still gain stealth.
5) Attacks from stealth that are nullified(blinded, blocked, evaded, etc) will now cause you to lose your current stealth buff. (You do not get revealed, you just lose your current stealth) Successfully landing an attack from stealth will still reveal you like normal.
Related Trait Changes:
- Shadow’s Embrace : Remove a condition when you enter stealth and when you get revealed.
- Shadow’s Rejuvenation : Recover 1 initiative and 450 health when you enter stealth and when you get revealed.
- Cloaked in Shadow : Apply 2 stacks of blindness to nearby foes for 3 seconds when you are revealed.
-The fall damage portion from the current version of this trait would be merged into a different trait, like Hidden Thief.
Obviously some more traits, skills, etc. could be modified to reflect these changes, but these seem like the main ones for now.
With these changes it will be a little easier to enter stealth, but landing stealth attacks will be a bit more difficult, allowing for more counter play. Since it would be easier to gain stealth, some measures are taken to discourage staying in stealth while rewarding successfully exiting stealth. This should help thieves have a bit better sustain without having to be in stealth as long, not contributing much to fights.
Some of these changes could have pretty big impacts on thief play styles, so I am curious to see what everyone would think about changes like these if they were implemented.
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