Showing Highly Rated Posts By xmtrcv.5236:

Thief Collaborative Development a Success

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Posted by: xmtrcv.5236

xmtrcv.5236

I’ll just leave this here, since my original topic (containing the text below) was merged into my December 10th changes thread. :/

Don’t get me wrong. I love my Thief and I’m not giving her up. The risk versus reward can be a challenge sometimes, but that’s with all professions (for the most part). Sometimes balance is frustrating (and infuriating)…

Completely pointless profession in its current state. What a shame. I loved it so much, and put so much time in to her, and now after the profession has been constantly broken down and dismantled piece by piece, the Thief is totally useless.

A profession that relies on being stealthy and slippery and a dev comes out and basically says Thieves need to commit more time in (close quarters) combat. lolwut? Nerf and limit the escapes and avoidance and moving traits to shove them down our throats because Thieves are not playing the way the devs want?

I think you’ve spent too much team time on Warriors and expecting Thieves to do what they do. Totally selfish and lazy balancing. That’s because there are no devs committed to the profession, that much is obvious. We are a minor bullet point on an agenda that people just want to get past as soon as possible when discussing changes.

Developers tout “community initiative” to garner feedback from players with respect to their (and other) classes, yet totally, completely, and utterly ignore it. Corporations do it all the time with their company communications regarding changes, in an attempt to bond and relate to employees as a precursor to giving them undesired news, all under the guise of, “We are trying to work with you.”

Same goes for ArenaNet. I’ve never seen so much player interaction and feedback (for the most part, in the positive), attempting to work through/with ArenaNet’s perceived “issues”, with so little developer response and/or action. And when we do, it’s a bullkitten blanket post that addresses none of the concerns the community has at the forefront. (Perma-stealth needed to go, that I do agree with.) Hell, the developer can’t even type a clearly thought out post or responses with proper spelling or grammar. Just a canned introduction to changes and repeated in (the few) responses. Same text that is in the patch notes. A perfect example of “because I said so” development if I ever saw one.

Perhaps if you spent less time on the Living Story (which is trash in that it is really just the same process all over in different areas with different mobs and names) and more time on balance, you would see a change in the community attitude (and not just the Thief one… except maybe Warriors.)

Damage Dolly
we all began as something else

(edited by xmtrcv.5236)

Thief - too much evade, cleanse and port?

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Posted by: xmtrcv.5236

xmtrcv.5236

The top of your game isn’t the top of the game then.

Damage Dolly
we all began as something else

Anti -stealth buff to rangers

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Posted by: xmtrcv.5236

xmtrcv.5236

And here I was thinking

  • channeled abilities (Ranger→Rapid Fire) through Stealth
  • pet target tracking through Stealth (re-acquire target w/o command after Stealth)
  • pet abilities through Stealth (intended)

was already doing a pretty good job of countering Stealth/being “anti-Stealth”

Can I get something as a Thief that completely negates a Ranger’s pet that isn’t a stupid tree that the pet wants to pee on?

Damage Dolly
we all began as something else

Thief haters, take this wisdom from a dev :)

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Posted by: xmtrcv.5236

xmtrcv.5236

I have to wonder, though…

… Are we the only community that actually goes to the other forums to tell people how to counter us, and then praises people who give correct advice on how to counter us? :P just a side effect of being one of/the most hate profession in the game, I suppose.

I think this is perfect strategy for easing a lot of the backlash we receive. There can hardly be a valid argument or complaint if the resources exist to educate other classes about Thieves and clear up any misconceptions.

This is especially true Thieves are the primary ones providing said resources (build clarifications/limitations, counter advice, situational awareness about Stealth), and providing the positive feedback to those who reiterate the same information correctly.

A lot of players just want to faceroll around, mash a couple (perceived) IWIN buttons, and win at everything. When reality does not match perception (and vice versa) and no research is done with respect to one class or another, that is when the complaining and hating starts in. :(

Damage Dolly
we all began as something else

(edited by xmtrcv.5236)

Perspective for non-Thieves - Thief Nerfs

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Posted by: xmtrcv.5236

xmtrcv.5236

Source: http://wiki.guildwars2.com/wiki/Category:Updates

2012
September

  • Heartskeer: Reduced damage of the 100%-50% threshold by 20%. Damage thresholds changed. Old: 100%-66%, 66%-33%, 33%-0%. New: 100%-50%, 50%-25%, 25%-0%

October

  • Assassin’s Signet: This skill has been updated to grant 15% damage for 5 attacks rather than 50% damage for one attack.
  • Pistol Whip: Reduced damage by 15%

November

  • Dancing Dagger:This skill’s damage has been reduced by 50%
  • Tactical Strike: This skill’s damage has been increased by 10% in all formats. This skill’s daze duration has been reduced from 2 seconds to 1.5 seconds in PvP.
  • Cluster Bomb: This skill’s damage is reduced by 15% in PvP.
  • Cloak and Dagger: This skill’s damage has been reduced by 33% in PvP only.

2013
January

  • Spider Venom, Devourer Venom, Ice Drake Venom, Skale Venom, Basilisk Venom, Assassin’s Signet
    The number of uses on this skill’s effect will now decrease if an attack lands or if the attack is negated by Blind, Block, Evade, Obstructed, or Invulnerable.

March
*Stealth: The duration of Revealed has been increased to 4 seconds when coming out of stealth via an attack.

  • Quickness: Reduced from 100% attack speed to 50%. (All professions)
  • Caltrops: Reduced duration from 15 seconds to 10 seconds.
  • Basilisk Venom skill: No longer immobilizes targets in addition to stunning them.

April

  • Mug: Can no longer critically hit.
  • Trick Shot: First arrow is no longer heat-seeking.
  • Stealth: The duration of Revealed has been reverted to 3 seconds in PvE._

There has always been a flavor-of-the-month (or week, or day) complaint meta/campaign regarding Thieves. Some targeted complaints have actually resulted in a matching Thief nerf . Thieves have received many nerfs on skills/traits/utilities that had no previous (perceived) issue, and without any rhyme or reason given as to why.

I would opine that the majority of complaints on the (“OP”) state of Thieves are based on perception versus reality coupled with (garbage in, gospel out) misinformation.

Please refer to this list for the reality and correct information.

“What man does not understand, he fears; and what he fears, he tends to destroy.”

Damage Dolly
we all began as something else

(edited by xmtrcv.5236)

What's a great d/p build atm?

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Posted by: xmtrcv.5236

xmtrcv.5236

I’m still not 100% sure what you’re trying to argue. Warrior healing signet is a completely irrelevant topic when discussing the state of the D/P trickery build for thief, so is the class I main. If you want to be taken seriously I recommend you form an opinion and support it with evidence.

The competitive tpvp community is severely under represented on the forums and this is part of the reason why. Please bring some intelligent discussion and they may return. I would love to hear their opinions.

Your form of intelligent discussion was to offer your opinion with no supporting evidence.

D/P thiefs are pretty overpowered now when played correctly.

to which I commented on the irony of that statement from a Warrior main commenting on a profession that you don’t main. (Read: my opinion) There was no argument to be had, since they are just opinions.

Your intelligent retort was:

If you’re getting melted by warriors as a thief you’re getting outplayed.

to which I replied “I’m not and I don’t.” with the follow up that I don’t win all fights against all Warriors, because that’s just how things go. I’m a realist and all builds have their limitations against other builds.

However, I believe some limitations (and not isolated to the Thief profession here) are indirectly amplified by an overpowered (passive) healing ability available to Warriors. (Read: my opinion.)

The observation that I cannot swing a cat around in s/tPvP without hitting a Warrior running Healing Signet speaks to its popularity of healing ability choice due to the passive benefits. (Read: my opinion.)

Countless self-spectates of Warriors in sPVP (have to understand your enemy, you know?) and multiple videos of Warriors (by Warriors) moseying into blobs, while bumping “Hammer Time” as the soundtrack, then meandering out with nary a scratch, speaks to that as well. (Read: my opinion)

The risk vs. reward ratio for Warriors is significantly lower than it is for Thieves. (Read: my opinion.)

You see, I can state my opinion (implied or explicit) all I want, because a view or judgment formed about something does not necessarily need to be based on fact or knowledge. I respected that in your statement and replied with one of equal value.

However, I have clarified them in detail (for your reduced comprehension) with examples of knowledge gained (personal and observed).

That being said:

  • the class you main (Warrior, in case you forgot)
    and
  • your profession’s preferred choice of healing ability (Healing Signet, to recap)

are absolute relevant (and especially humorous) in a topic discussing D/P thief, when you:

  1. are a Warrior
  2. call them overpowered (if played “correctly”)
  3. says it’s a lrn2play issue if a Thief loses to a Warrior (not played “correctly”)

Don’t complain because you inserted yourself into a conversation where your opinions are met with sarcastic observations of irony (yes, totally based on my opinion).

edit: I accidentally a opinion. xD

Damage Dolly
we all began as something else

(edited by xmtrcv.5236)

For future reference, L2P means...

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Posted by: xmtrcv.5236

xmtrcv.5236

I actually tried this awhile back. I just shelved the Warrior and made the Thief my main lol.

Shelve classes that can’t face roll escape zergs and kill people gg bet you can’t touch kitten in pve get good nub at least my warrior can be used everywhere l2p from thief means they have no skill they just panic button if they get hit and run like a little kitten I face roll troll people on my thief with the simple avoidance of people 1 v 1 I can kill but lately it’s always 1 v 3-8 and well when u get stunned and immobilized for 8 seconds stealth only does so much when they spam aoe kd cripple and stun when u need to be able to use ur next stealth

tl;dr This guy hates punctuation. Especially periods. Exactly the kind of player the Thief profession does not need.

Damage Dolly
we all began as something else

Jumper's Mini S/D Playstyle Guide

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Posted by: xmtrcv.5236

xmtrcv.5236

The Acrobat portion of the build (dodging/evading used with double identical weapon sets) was used long before, typically in condition damage builds, be it Lowell’s Leaping Super Immortal Death Troll Legendary Unicorn Blossom, or Trippseeker’s Condition Dodger. Nothing new there. Older evade (Acrobat) builds were used with S/D + SB.

The primary reason that build came “into competitive play” is the buff to Flanking Strike, lending to the ability to spam Larcenous Strike. Stealing boons is absolutely a contributor to small squad combat, team fights, etc. In a game where burst/spike is king, constant attack uptime and pressure is a key to winning fights. Stealth mechanics do not offer much in the way of that.

The Thief community needs more airtime, more guides, more exposure that helps increase overall player knowledge and lessen the targeted QQ towards Thieves.

Jumper has the platform to do this at the moment. He has put in the time and effort to show that Thieves are not just hidden wallflowers in PvP. The added bonus is that it’s not a Stealth reliant build, which helps to cut out a lot of QQ right there.

In the same vein, the Thief community (parts of which can be a little self-serving at times) could stand to use a little humility and respect, especially among ourselves.

Great guide; look forward to seeing more.

Damage Dolly
we all began as something else

(edited by xmtrcv.5236)

Team Akatsuki looking for experienced Thieves

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Posted by: xmtrcv.5236

xmtrcv.5236

This might be fun.

I play d/p + sb. I normally run 0/30/30/10/0.

Rank 43 all played as thief save a few games here and there on other classes.

I’ve been on some teams with Swinsk in hotjoin… terrible, just terrible. xD

JK, was tough keeping up in score with him/her.

Damage Dolly
we all began as something else

Best build for soloing champions in PVE?

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Posted by: xmtrcv.5236

xmtrcv.5236

Thank all you thieves for the feedback :)

Those Madnek youtube videos are helpful for ideas to get those champs. However it did look like he could just have kited that Risen Champion he fought.

Horace just owned my Guardian too lol, and i cant see that being processed video posted by Damage Dolly on how to get him?

My apologies.

Just found out that YouTube meefed on processing the first video, so I am re-uploading. :(

http://youtu.be/j3GTTM-i_DY

Damage Dolly
we all began as something else

(edited by xmtrcv.5236)

Pistol mastery

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Posted by: xmtrcv.5236

xmtrcv.5236

Pistol Mastery should add Piercing also. ;) Just saying…

But ricotched is way better than piercing.

Depends on who you are fighting and who they are hiding behind. Honestly, for as lackluster as Pistol main-hand is, we should have the option for both.

Chance to pierce (%50) + chance to Ricochet.

Damage Dolly
we all began as something else

I think it's time we got burning...

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Posted by: xmtrcv.5236

xmtrcv.5236

Thief in general isn’t very viable in tpvp because stealth can’t contest points.

Note: I am not saying thief is useless in tpvp.

What if we could cap points while in Stealth, just do it at half-rate versus not stealthed.

Fair?

Damage Dolly
we all began as something else

Defining Shadow Return's "infinite" range

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Posted by: xmtrcv.5236

xmtrcv.5236

Its infinite because the code did not enforce a limit.
While you may be limited on the distance you can travel in the time allotted the game didnt care. So therefore it was infinite range.

While the code did not enforce a limit by defining a number specifically, it does not mean the term applies when people use it in the same breath as “balance”.

Damage Dolly
we all began as something else

Channeled abilities through Stealth?

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Posted by: xmtrcv.5236

xmtrcv.5236

You can always restealth after the channel ends if you wanted to. Also, don’t forget that even though the channelled attack is tracking you, your opponent still needs to reselect your toon after you come out of stealth to target you again.

Re-stealth? You are operating under the assumption that you live, or after which you had already taken additional damage that your “defense” should have helped you with, yet now you are targetable for 4 seconds. That is assuming you have another stealth skill available to use or you have favorable positioning to do so (CnD).

I wish I could stand there and lazily do damage with my channel and watch my toon’s head swivel in the direction of my kind-of invisible target, completely negating the core ability and “defense” my enemy’s class was based around.

Damage Dolly
we all began as something else

(edited by xmtrcv.5236)

Dec 10th thief changes

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Posted by: xmtrcv.5236

xmtrcv.5236

Again, sample size of 1 an anecdotal.

…What?

What indeed, he certainly lost me…

Basically whatever Sanduskel says is irrelevant because he’s a sample size of one. :D

+1 to you. xD

Damage Dolly
we all began as something else

Is there a counter to P/D Thieves 1v1?

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Posted by: xmtrcv.5236

xmtrcv.5236

The phrase is “tell-tale”. Tall tales are something else, and usually told by non-Thieves visiting this forum. ;)

There is not a single build that can hold its ground against every other build for every other profession. Counters exists all over, and the solution to that is find a better target of opportunity.

As for conditions, it depends on how happy the opponent’s trigger finger is for cleanse (although Engineers do have quite a few). Depending on the thief, build, and play style, conditions range from vulnerability, blind, cripple (Caltrops), venom, and bleed. Though the latter ones tend to be shorter duration.

Would it be possible for you give a build spec as to the type of Engineer you are talking about?

Damage Dolly
we all began as something else

Best build for soloing champions in PVE?

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Posted by: xmtrcv.5236

xmtrcv.5236

This is the exact build I was using for that fight.

Depending on the fight, I’ll make some changes to traits, but that’s pretty rare.

In this instance, I basically just rolled out of Heart of the Mists and went looking for Horace (did not even have Vault Waypoint, lol).

Things to improve upon:

  • use max food
  • use (max) tuning crystal (always forget)
  • change out Superior Sigil of Paralyzation (re: Stun/Daze duration big fix)
  • convert some Carrion pieces to Dire
  • upgrade back piece
Damage Dolly
we all began as something else

(edited by xmtrcv.5236)

Professional All-Thief Team

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Posted by: xmtrcv.5236

xmtrcv.5236

I think the idea is (should be?) less about getting top players and more about getting a team that syncs and works well together in a coordinated fashion.

I definitely enjoyed playing with the SOAC Thief group last week. I think had we been more coordinated, we might have been able to be more effective (with regards to fighting Elementalists).

Damage Dolly
we all began as something else

Dec 10th thief changes

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Posted by: xmtrcv.5236

xmtrcv.5236

This may be the patch that makes me stop playing thief all together. We will see…

I’m deleting my thief today to free up a character slot. :3

No!
Stay with us!
Let’s troll together!

Damage Dolly
we all began as something else

[Merged] Game Update Notes - December 10, 2013 ~ Thief

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Posted by: xmtrcv.5236

xmtrcv.5236

Completely pointless profession in its current state. What a shame. I loved it so much, and put so much time in to her, and now after the profession has been constantly broken down and dismantled piece by piece, the Thief is totally useless.

A profession that relies on being stealthy and slippery and a dev comes out and basically says Thieves need to commit more time in (close quarters) combat. lolwut? Nerf and limit the escapes and avoidance and moving traits to shove them down our throats because Thieves are not playing the way the devs want?

I think you’ve spent too much team time on Warriors and expecting Thieves to do what they do. Totally selfish and lazy balancing. That’s because there are no devs committed to the profession, that much is obvious. We are a minor bullet point on an agenda that people just want to get past as soon as possible when discussing changes.

Developers tout “community initiative” to garner feedback from players with respect to their (and other) classes, yet totally, completely, and utterly ignore it. Corporations do it all the time with their company communications regarding changes, in an attempt to bond and relate to employees as a precursor to giving them undesired news, all under the guise of, “We are trying to work with you.”

Same goes for ArenaNet. I’ve never seen so much player interaction and feedback (for the most part, in the positive), attempting to work through/with ArenaNet’s perceived “issues”, with so little developer response and/or action. And when we do, it’s a bullkitten blanket post that addresses none of the concerns the community has at the forefront. (Perma-stealth needed to go, that I do agree with.) Hell, the developer can’t even type a clearly thought out post or responses with proper spelling or grammar. Just a canned introduction to changes and repeated in (the few) responses. Same text that is in the patch notes. A perfect example of “because I said so” development if I ever saw one.

Perhaps if you spent less time on the Living Story (which is trash in that it is really just the same process all over in different areas with different mobs and names) and more time on balance, you would see a change in the community attitude (and not just the Thief one… except maybe Warriors.)

Damage Dolly
we all began as something else

(edited by xmtrcv.5236)

video: D/P vs Perplexity Thief (Thiefsmer)

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Posted by: xmtrcv.5236

xmtrcv.5236

Shadow Refuge Wars 2.

Damage Dolly
we all began as something else

Pistol mastery

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Posted by: xmtrcv.5236

xmtrcv.5236

Pistol Mastery should add Piercing also. ;) Just saying…

But ricotched is way better than piercing.

Depends on who you are fighting and who they are hiding behind. Honestly, for as lackluster as Pistol main-hand is, we should have the option for both.

Chance to pierce (%50) + chance to Ricochet.

Sounds fun, but it might be to much RNG dependent then.

How so? Pierce might give you the second chance to hit someone (behind your target) that Ricochet might not have given you. :)

It also helps in that (with Pierce) now you don’t have to worry so much about your positioning around pets, clones, etc. or accepting a reduced chance to hit your intended target (that is behind them).

Damage Dolly
we all began as something else

Information about ICDs removed

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Posted by: xmtrcv.5236

xmtrcv.5236

You should probably look again. In the top right corner. xD

Attachments:

Damage Dolly
we all began as something else

(edited by xmtrcv.5236)

Defining Shadow Return's "infinite" range

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Posted by: xmtrcv.5236

xmtrcv.5236

Technically speaking, there was no “infinite” range on Shadow Return.

The word “infinite” is just a placeholder substituted for “…greater than what the tool tip says!” and “..farther than I would have liked because I cannot find/see/catch that Thief now”. xD

Shadow Return’s up time of 15 seconds implies a finite range (which was not previously defined). If the up time duration has passed with no skill use, then that range is effectively 0.

While Shadow Return’s max range was not “infinite” per se’, we do know that the range was greater than 1200 (before the change).

The max range can be defined by how far (Range (u)) and how fast (Movement Speed (u/s)) the player could travel before the end of Shadow Return’s up time.

Infiltrator’s Strike (http://wiki.guildwars2.com/wiki/Infiltrator's_Strike)
Shadowstep to a foe and strike them. Use Shadow Return to shadowstep back and cure one condition.

  • Damage: 252 (0.75)?
  • Immobilized: 1 s
  • Range: 600

Shadow Return (http://wiki.guildwars2.com/wiki/Shadow_Return)
Return to your original location. Cure one condition.

  • Breaks stun
  • Range: 1,200

#Notes
Shadow Return has 15 seconds to be activated after using Infiltrator’s Strike to return to original location.

Range (http://wiki.guildwars2.com/wiki/Range)
Distance is defined in terms of units, which are essentially equivalent to inches.

Movement Speed (http://wiki.guildwars2.com/wiki/Movement_speed)
Movement speed can be expressed in units per second (u/s):

Movement

  • Foward
    • In combat: 210 u/s
    • Normal: 300 u/s
    • In Combat + Swiftness (0.33*210): 279 u/s
    • Out of Combat + Swiftness (0.33*300): 400 u/s

Using the above numbers, determine max range for Shadow Return in those scenarios.

Range

  • Foward
    • In combat: (210*15): 3,150 Range
    • Normal: (300*15): 4,500 Range
    • In Combat + Swiftness (279*15): 4,185 Range
    • Out of Combat + Swiftness (400*15): 6,000 Range

Please let me know of any misinformation or errors and I will correct.

During my (limited, but still) testing, it would appear that the behavior of Shadow Return is as follows:

  • Range is now actually 1,200 in both skill behavior and stated by the tool tip.
  • If used within range (1,200) of your original location, returns you back to your original location. Environment plays a factor that could result in skill result (no return) or improper placement (offset return).
  • If used out of range from your original location, returns you back 1,200 range straight as the crow flies in the direction of your original location. Entities and environment be kittened (sometimes).
  • Does not display in/out of range indicator in relation to original location.
Damage Dolly
we all began as something else

(edited by xmtrcv.5236)

Requesting a balance....

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Posted by: xmtrcv.5236

xmtrcv.5236

Half the reason very few people take any posts in the Thief forum seriously is because they are a) completely baseless opinions, and b) the extreme difficulty people seem to have forming thoughts into complete sentences with grammar and punctuation.

Seriously, stop with the run on sentences. You make Thieves look bad when you post this nonsense coupled without any articulation or clarity.

“I am a Thief, please nerf me.” Yeah, OK.

Damage Dolly
we all began as something else

Nerf Wish list

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Posted by: xmtrcv.5236

xmtrcv.5236

What: D/P thief
Why: Because if you’re a thief and can’t melt a warrior, you need to L2P.

<3

Damage Dolly
we all began as something else