Leo Schrodingers Cat.2497

The first try against him, I was frustrated as hell. Second Try I decided to treat it like darksouls, fitting because you're dead, and instead of trying to kill him, figure out how he works. Third time I actually killed him successfully. I just pussy footed it out most cases when he did his health drain thing and my Shadow Gust was on cool down. When it wasn't I just used it on him and broke his defiance bar.

It only works for RFI, I haven't tried with the withdraw ability yet.

I can't say that I've had problems getting mastery points. You won't be able to get them immediately, as the game forces you to explore the map and do events, and return later for them. But it's actually a clever way of progression in my opinion.

I actually enjoyed that one. It was a nice change of pace compared to "COMMUNE" I wouldn't mind seeing more of those, plus the ones locked behind a puzzle.

> @Orimidu.9604 said:

> What were you thinking anet?! A boss that self heals way too often in a mission where your party members get bugged because it’s focused on the instance owner? I can’t pass this solo and it’s impossible to do in a group.

Soloed with Deadeye just fine. The trick is to run away when he does that health drain thing. And then break his bar immediately. A strong DC will do the trick, interruption, immobilization, knock down, launch, etc. If you thought he was annoying wait till you see Archon.

How are you not able to solo a Hero Point in PoF? Bounties are not meant to be soloed. You need a group. A team of 5 for a champion. A team of at least 10-14 for legendaries. Also... there are plenty of mesmers in PoF soloing Vets.

But... unlike HoT... you really need to get accustomed to not just running full berzerks and hoping to win. Some of these stronger mobs are actually pretty damn beefy and can hit like a truck.

It won't. The glider does a much better job at what it is designed for when compared to the griffon. The glider is also infinitely more precise, and is available in Jumping puzzles where mounts are not. The main thing a griffon has over the glider is the ability to climb without the requirement of a gust of wind, and the ability to move really fast at the price of altitude.

Sorry, but a straight answer when it comes to gear is kinda difficult (unless you are doing raids). In GW2 everything is viable, so you should just build to what you like.

Pets are for sissy Rangers who always needs someone watching their back.

> @"Doctor Hide.6345" said:

> I have noticed this as well. I did it a couple times on accident.

This is one of those bugs I don't know if I want fixed or not.

This will be particularly useful for people in PvP when you can get Death's Retreat to actually work properly.

But currently Roll for Initiative has a very unique behavior with Deadeye's Kneel.

If you were to use "Roll for Initiative" while kneeling, the skill will treat it as if you were standing and will roll you back. This means that you will immediately have access to Death's Retreat to gain further distance. After a small delay you will be treated as kneeling again.

> @Sobx.1758 said:

> > @Oxygen.5918 said:

> > > @"Leo Schrodingers Cat.2497" said:

> > > > @Oxygen.5918 said:

> > > > > @Zacchary.6183 said:

> > > > > > @Oxygen.5918 said:

> > > > > > > @"Leo Schrodingers Cat.2497" said:

> > > > > > > You don't have to play deadeye, but you should at least understand WHY deadeye was made.

> > > > > > >

> > > > > > > Unlike Daredevil, it is SUPPOSED to be a completely different style of play, and it requires more thought in your actions than it did with Core Thief or Daredevil. I've not had a problem with any of the aforementioned complaints you've had in PvP outside of how clunky the spec currently is.

> > > > > >

> > > > > > Sorry, how does the Deadeye require any thought to play? To kneel or not to kneel, is that the question, Leo Shakespeare?

> > > > >

> > > > > Because if you just jump into a fight with the rifle, you are almost guaranteed to die. You have to find an enemy that is already engaged with others so you can pick them off. Then you have to find a nice elevated spot so when you are drawing attention your enemy can't charge at you directly. Then you have to figure out who has to die first if there happens to be multiple targets. You also have to be ready to switch targets if one starts charging you. Finally, you have to know how, when and where to bail if someone does reach you, because again if you engage up close you will probably die. There is just way more planning involved in playing Deadeye than core or Daredevil thief.

> > > >

> > > > That's an adorable imaginary fantasy scenario that will never happen.

> > >

> > > If you lack a functioning brain, then it'll never happen. It's a common trend for me so far :/ Multiple players? Kill priority goes as... who can die the fastest, who deals the most damage, most annoying, tank.

> > >

> > > It's basic PvP thinking. Reduce the amount of damage they can do as quickly as possible.

> >

> > That applies to everyone, not just the DE.

>

> Except it's easier to do on an incredibly mobile DD. Both engaging and disengaging is easier on DD, so automatically you need to be better on DE to be able to survive. So what exactly is your point here?

Adding onto this, with dead-eye currently you -really- need to learn how to pick your fights.

That's not saying that deadeye isn't boned if someone else forces the fight onto you. I agree there's quite a bit holding him back. But it is not the reasons you have listed.

Yeah... the boon range could definitely use a large improvement. Especially for a spec that was designed with long range in mind.

> @LazerusKI.7485 said:

> I would wait for the first balance passes before you decide.

> In the current version Rifle isnt worth using, it has too many drawbacks compared to even pistols.

> Rifle is fun to use since its gameplay is completely different from what we had before, but thats currently all.

> In bossfights you can basically store it since your main damage skill cant be used, you have to kneel for it and bosses dont want that you stand around...

I've been using kneel succesfully in boss fights. You just need to be good at dodging, and repositioning via Shadow Flare or Shadow Step.

Buuut... yeah, compared to other weapons thief has. Rifle is incredibly weak at the moment. Utilities are great on the other hand. I just wished that Shadow flare had one or two more ticks.

Arguably, Staff is better right now. It provides AOE cleave. It's got harder hitting autos. You won't feel initiative starved. And the mobility skills are reliable. But staff got a balance pass that placed it in a really good spot.

While I love Rifle and will pick it over Staff... it's got a lot more flaws than pluses that I can point out. Mobility skill is unreliable as all hell. For a weapon that takes both hands, it does not do a very good job on damage for how slow it fires without quickness. Skill Priority is a little fucked in the logic department. Kneel will preempt the queue and cancel on going skills. But Free Action will not (when it is really important that it does). Initiative costs are pretty damn bad. Staff you can roll without Trickery. But here... it's hard to do much without it.

I can understand what Anet means by they want Deadeye's choices to actually matter, rather than spamming the skills. But if that is the case, they need to actually improve the rifle to better reward those choices with all the trade offs the player has to make.

> @Ashanor.5319 said:

> No offense, but no amount of training is going to make Rifle good.

No amount of buffs is going to make a player good.

The caps hurt my eyes...

4 Standing isn't terrible. It just doesn't work when it needs to. 5 initiative to jump backwards 600 units and poison nearby foes. Shortbow has the advantage that it is targeted, allowing you to go where you please, but it takes a long time. Death's Retreat is a very fast escape move that can be quickly chained for a large escape distance. But it is also very inconsistent and poorly implemented.

The stolen skill chaining is actually pretty good. When you hit full malice, chaining up multiple skills just tends to really fuck with opponents and cause them to burn condi clenases. Mean while you're sitting on a plethora of boons.

> @Oxygen.5918 said:

> > @Zacchary.6183 said:

> > > @Oxygen.5918 said:

> > > > @"Leo Schrodingers Cat.2497" said:

> > > > You don't have to play deadeye, but you should at least understand WHY deadeye was made.

> > > >

> > > > Unlike Daredevil, it is SUPPOSED to be a completely different style of play, and it requires more thought in your actions than it did with Core Thief or Daredevil. I've not had a problem with any of the aforementioned complaints you've had in PvP outside of how clunky the spec currently is.

> > >

> > > Sorry, how does the Deadeye require any thought to play? To kneel or not to kneel, is that the question, Leo Shakespeare?

> >

> > Because if you just jump into a fight with the rifle, you are almost guaranteed to die. You have to find an enemy that is already engaged with others so you can pick them off. Then you have to find a nice elevated spot so when you are drawing attention your enemy can't charge at you directly. Then you have to figure out who has to die first if there happens to be multiple targets. You also have to be ready to switch targets if one starts charging you. Finally, you have to know how, when and where to bail if someone does reach you, because again if you engage up close you will probably die. There is just way more planning involved in playing Deadeye than core or Daredevil thief.

>

> That's an adorable imaginary fantasy scenario that will never happen.

If you lack a functioning brain, then it'll never happen. It's a common trend for me so far :/ Multiple players? Kill priority goes as... who can die the fastest, who deals the most damage, most annoying, tank.

It's basic PvP thinking. Reduce the amount of damage they can do as quickly as possible.

Deadeye's mark isn't the cause of the clunkyness. It takes some getting use to do, but it's not the cause. It's a bunch of small things that adds up quickly. Certain actions not taking immediate priority, and not canceling something that is already in progress. The lack of a strong visual indicator when you are crouched on the UI. The need to press 5 again to stand back up, and you may accidently smash the button again and not know why you are not moving and eat a shit load of damage after panicing.

> @Zalavaaris.5329 said:

> > @jaif.3518 said:

> > There is burst damage, and overall damage. A weapon shouldn't have both.

> >

> > I want rifle to be a ranged burst weapon. I like that concept. Your post is another way of saying "nerf this in PvP so it can be used in PvE".

>

> Absolutely not, I don't want the pve changes I want to affect pvp at all. Let me say this one more time. Currently, while having 100% kneel time (which WONT happen in a raid encounter) deadeye rifle is about 4k under staff daredevil. So... If you take a full damage rifle build, once you start moving it drops even MORE. Now if you build deadeye for boon share you lose even MORE dps. That is not ok for people who were buying the expansion to raid or run fractals with a rifle deadeye. If we are losing almost all of our mobility then we should be doing more damage than staff daredevil. The reason I say more damage is because once you add movement into the equation things should start to even out a bit.

>

> Edit: and one more thing, we don't have aoe on rifle so we should excel at single target damage. Staff daredevil has both single target and aoe, which is fine. However, we should do more DPS (not talking about burst because they are in fact different) in a single target environment. That's what balance is.

We don't know what the next collection of Raids will be like. The HoT raids make strong use of the elite specs in order to complete them. Chances are, the new raids will encourage using the new elite specs. Except you'll probably still have the mandatory Chrono and Druid...

Dagger/Dagger and Shadow Flare is what I use to melt a lot of enemies. Thief really doesn't have a lot of decent AOE options compared to other classes. And your best bet if you do use AOEs is to build condition. Because Shortbow has the Bleed AOE from cluster bomb, and the poison field. In your utilities you got Caltrops. Elite Skill would be Dagger Storm (which is actually pretty strong on condi builds).

> @LazerusKI.7485 said:

> > @HunterXIV.4283 said:

> > I would have to agree with you. My main complaint with Deadeye, is the fact that once you are kneeling, the only way to get out of that is by hitting 5 again. I would love it if anet made a quality of life improvement to allow other movements to get you out of that kneel state. Either by pressing any movement key, dodge rolling, or using your heal.

>

> why is it harder to press 5 again (or bind it to another key) than pressing Dodge or Movement? Its literally just one button, no complicated mechanics involved.

> I actually like that you can roll around while kneeling

Because some people have preferences. And some people forget or accidently press 5. Having a movement designated to break out of it simply makes it easier for people who forgot about it.

Auto attack damage is pretty lack luster on rifle. Death Retreat is inconsistent as hell. Free Action doesn't cancel the current skill so you can get up immediately. Death's Judgement is pretty strong when you get it off. I like the spec, but it needs so much attention from Anet, and not in the form of nerfs.

You don't have to play deadeye, but you should at least understand WHY deadeye was made.

Unlike Daredevil, it is SUPPOSED to be a completely different style of play, and it requires more thought in your actions than it did with Core Thief or Daredevil. I've not had a problem with any of the aforementioned complaints you've had in PvP outside of how clunky the spec currently is.

> @"Drawing Guy.3701" said:

> I've been trying to roll Deadeye.

>

> Deadeye feels very nice on trash - Mark resetting with quickness is beautiful. However it feels very lack-luster on bosses. Mark has a time-out and it resets on re-application. This puts the damage modifiers at about half on average of a melee Daredevil when traited for 5 stacks, and still a good bit less when 7 stack despite having a slightly higher potential. This, of course, comes at a survivability loss. But if you don't care about having min-max DPS, Mark does allow you to stay at ranged with P/P or Rifle, and you don't really need to dodge much when farther away.

>

> The stolen abilities also feel lack-luster for me. Traditional stolen skills have the option to give me interrupts or ecto, a much stronger buff drop. That coupled with the loss of any stolen skills on Mark reset (be it mob death, time out, downed, or reapplication), means it just needs to be spammed with little consideration for tactics. Outside of the Fire for Effect trait, stolen skills feel ineffective and flavorless.

>

> Rifle is definitely not a DPS tool. With the nerf of R3, the only real burst comes from Kneeling R4 after high malice stacks (it is junk at low stacks). In all cases the skills are extremely expensive, leaving you stuck with auto-attack most of the time. You can get some fun damage numbers from R4 at 7 Malice, but at 6 initiative, that's not getting spammed. Add in that Kneel has the double kicker of costing you a weapon skill along with rooting you in place in a way that is clunky to get out of, and the weapon set overall feels clunky. I still hope they allow movement to break Kneel. I also feel that R3 can afford to come down to 3 initiative and R4 could go 5 ini, though in PvE only. Auto attack I feel needs ~20% damage buff. I'm OK with a slow attack rate if they boost the damage.

>

> Ultimately, anywhere you have targets dying relatively fast, Deadeye is quite strong as there are a ton of traits that allow Mark to be a good condi and/or damage burst. It won't earn Thief a place in WvW zerg meta as the stolen skills are RNG and not long enough duration to be support and Might stacking is not enough, and it won't fit in raids as Daredevil has much better sustained DPS, but I can see it working in Open World PvE, PvP, and WvW roaming. There are 3 things I hope for:

>

> - The work on Rifle, making Kneel less clunky and adjusting the DPS/ini costs

> - Either allow Malice to stack faster, or keep Malice stacks if reapplied before time-out.

> - Make stolen skills last longer and persist until the next Mark. Stolen skills with no mark could be the current base duration with the first tick of Malice scaling from there. I like saving a stolen skill for strategic use, and balancing the need of using a new Steal/Mark vs saving that skill.

The stolen skills are not RNG against other players =-=; they are very much static. There's a table on the wiki.

Though I can understand why they don't want Deadeye's to hold onto stolen skills when mark is changed or ends. They are very powerful, and can easily make Deadeye bullshit if he's able to just do what ever he pleases with his stolen skill. The one in the chamber is where the RNG comes from, and even then just about all of the stolen skills for deadeye are REALLY good. Except for steal accuracy if you're not having problems with landing critical hits.