Aralicia.6157

Can confirm. The assets contained in /static/ all show a nice 403 Forbidden error.

The main issue with that kind of poll is mostly that, at least on our side, all players are lumped in as a a single entity. There are many players in WvW, from the "only true" hardcode wvwers, to the "I'm just here for dailies" casuals; from the roamer to the commander, passing by the zergling. All of those profiles have different experiences, wants, and oulooks on the issues and proposed solution to them. It's a disservice to everyone that all those profiles are shown as a single entity. Identically, attempting the polls to a single profile through various method is as much of a disservice, since it will alienate all other players.

Ideally, the results of a poll should present the opinion of the community as a whole, but also of each main profile, in order to get the opinion of each "archetype" of player.

There is an issue of implementation with that, though. While the general implication of the player in the game mode can be estimated through stats like the wvw rank, other, more complex aspects can't be as easily determined. Of course, the poll could let the user indicate their own profile, but this would leave the poll open to vote manipulation, allowing people to willingly vote in a profile that is not really their own.

I'd like to see the pools return. I'd like to see the return better. It'd be a boon both for us, and for ANet to better understand the various players in the WvW community.

I'd be interested in seeing staff (or alternatively scepter) make a comeback as a ranged shadow magic weapon, or a similar concept. While both OH sword and Torch also appeal to me, a second staff elite spec would create a precedent that the devs don't have to use a weapon that no other spec can wield.

Since the subject of comparing D/D Daredevil and D/D Deadeye came up, here are a few theoritical values:

**Daredevil** - a D/D Power daredevil would benefit from :

* Havoc Mastery (+7% Damage when in close range); Since he would have to be within range to strike, this is a constant bonus.

* Bounding dodger (+10% Damage for 4s after a dodge); Using only natural regeneration, a DD can keep Dodging every 6.66s, meaning an uptime of about 60% of this trait.

With that, a D/D Power Daredevil has -at worst- an total average of +13% damage. If he can manage a 100% uptime for Bounding Dodge, he's at a total +17% damage.

_A note about Endurance : Any extra regeneration (Vigor, Channeled Vigor, Dagger Autoattack chain...) increases the Bounding Dodger potential uptime, meaning that most Daredevil would be above the worst case, especially in group situations._

**Deadeye** - a D/D Power deadeye would benefit from :

* Deadeye's Mark (+3% damage per stack of Malice); If you are constantly attacking, you gain one stack every 2s, culminating at 5 stacks; In addition Deadeye's Mark ends after 25s with a 30s recharge time. A quick calculation tells us that Deadeye's Mark average damage increase is a nice +10%.

* Renewing Gaze (Recharge mark if your mark is deafeted); In the best case scenario (the mark dies juste before Deadeye's Mark runs out), this increase the Deadeye's Mark average to +12%

* Revealed Malice (Being Revealed from stealth grants 1 Malice); If you reveal yourself just after marking, this increase the Deadeye's Mark average to +10.9%; combined with best-case Renewing Gaze, the Deadeye's Mark average is increase to +13.08%

* Maleficent Seven (-25% Malice generation, 7 malice cap); thanks to maleficent seven, you gain one stack every 1.5s, up to 7 stacks; This increase Deadeye's Mark base average damage increase to ~13.5%.

Considering all that, a D/D Daredevil has at worst a total average of +13.5%. In the best situation, he can maybe manage a +17.22% instead.

_A note about Might : the deadeye as a few new ways to gain might, which will increase his damage. However, in many group situations, any thief can get many stacks of might for allies, which mostly negates this advantage in PvE._

Based on those percentages, both build may seem balanced with each other. However, there are a few extra considerations to take into account :

* the Deadeye loses all malice if his mark is deafeted. This means when fighting groups, his overall damage bonus drops majorly, since he's forced to start back from 0 each time he kills his mark.

* the Daredevil as a far better initial damage increase, since he can reliably start the fight with his full +17% damage, and can easily keep it for at least 20s before droping back to +13%.

Overall, I find that the Daredevil is both more reliable with a greater allowance for error, making it better than the Deadeye concerning direct damage increase for D/D.

I am aware that those values are theoritical _and _that I may have made errors. Feel free to correct me, but I'm overall trusting in my conclusion.

As a closing note : despite all that, I still intend to play a lot with the Deadeye because the playstyle appeals to me.