Tails.9372

> @"Fat Disgrace.4275" said:

> why is this important though? isn't pve kinda easy mode?

Yes and no, what you're doing is easy but you can still fail if there's a general lack of DPS thaks to how the scaling works in this game. For example I've done the Auric Basin meta on an almost empty map with just 4 people on west but I've also seen it fail with 30+.

Certain builds are ok for what they are supposed to be, others need substantial buffs after getting hammered by A-Net over the course of the years for seemingly no reason. They should bring back the ricochet trait for pistols or build it into the weapon. The recent unload change for PvP / WvW should be reversed. The rifle needs more range (1500 base / 2000+ with kneel) the fact that a bow has more range than a sniper rifle is ridiculous, as of right now it feels more like I'm playing a crippled ranger than an actual sniper. Short bow needs a complete rework, most skills are so underperforming it's almost comical. If you want to use cluster bomb "efficiently" you have to jump into a group of enemies and explode it in your face, what a well thought out ranged AoE skill... They should remove the option to explode it in mid-air and make detonate cluster trigger immediately after the initial explosion.

> @"Vagrant.7206" said:

> I used to play condi engi. I now play holosmith.

>

> I have very little reason to go back to playing condi engi other than nostalgia. Fighting the interface and keeping track of internal cooldowns for several minutes is not a "fun challenge."

For you, it's not hard to find people saying stuff like always spamming AA is to dull for them.

> @"kharmin.7683" said:

> > @"Tails.9372" said:

> > I think build diversity is a good thing and A-Net should stop trying to force certain playstyles onto people.

>

> I don't see ANet forcing play styles on anyone. It's the community that does so.

Then you might wanna take another look, for example they're constantly trying to force stealth down your throat if your playing as thief. Having the option to take a more stealthy approach is one thing, that's what shadow arts is there for but if you want to take a more direct approach with less focus on stealth you get the nerf bat for no reason. Also, traits like Sundering Shade have no business being in critical strikes.

> @"Frozey.8513" said:

>Should the difficulty level of skill rotation reflect in the amount of DPS?

No, definitely not. The game should provide options for casual players to play more simple but effective builds in order for them not to become a burden for the group. "High difficulty rotations" should only be there for people who seek a challenge for themselves or are otherwise bored by the "simple stuff" but that's about it.

> @"Frozey.8513" said:

> Or being melee/ranged?

The fact that ranged has it easier is a common misconception, melee focused builds have generally more HP, toughness and dodges/mobility at their disposal. They also are far more likely to be attacked by the more basic stuff while ranged fighters usually have to deal with AoE / CC spam (e.g. the golem hero point in verdant brink). Close ranged fighters are also more likely to be affected by support skills from other players which usually also forces ranged builds into close range combat and most of the big endgame bosses focus on big room sweeping AoEs anyways. There's really no point in keeping the damage of ranged builds low just cause they're ranged.

I think build diversity is a good thing and A-Net should stop trying to force certain playstyles onto people.

Yes, these "skills" should be rebalanced and made useful. But should also be turned into mastery lines associated with their respective races. There's no reason why a sylvari shouldn't be able to learn how to build a "golem" and we already know that transformation magic exists.

They should at least explain themsefs because some of these changes don't make any sense. But failing to present a valid reasoning would undermine their decisions so of course they're not going to do that.

I agree that the collections are amongst the worst things the game has to offer, a lot of them feel like you're just doing chores and force you to play old bug ridden quests thanks to A-Net being adamant about their "never fix the old stuff" policy.

> @"babazhook.6805" said:

> I really think that second set needs some good cleave or AOE.

The problem is there is no good ranged AoE weapon for thieves. P/P used to fill that role vs small groups of enemies but then they removed the ricochet trait for seemingly no reason. Now we're "stuck" with cluster bomb which does work (to a degree) vs. low tier trash mobs but feels extremely clunky to use and defeats the purpose of using a ranged weapon.

In terms of looks I'd say the outlaw outfit with dual revolvers and the dynamics exo-suit outfit with dual HOPE. I also quite like the The Predator but we're still missing a "[safari hunter esque](https://i.pinimg.com/originals/6f/fe/54/6ffe54188409150f0ec2d2c630767d62.jpg "safari hunter esque")" themed outfit to make it work.

Yes, pretty much every stat combo geared towards power damage is "viable".

What type of content are you talking about? PvP? PvE? At least for general purpose PvE I'm afraid to say that rifle and P/P don't have that much synergy due to an inherent flaw in game design this weapon combination is suffering from which is a shame because they have quite similar requirements in regards to both gear and traits. But A-Net implemented rife in a way that puts it in competition with P/P instead of making these two complete each other (which is what every new E-Spec weapon should aspire to do).

> @"mortrialus.3062" said:

> > @"Tails.9372" said:

> > > @"mortrialus.3062" said:

> > > Can we agree that PP can be extremely lethal very quickly now?

> > If you completely ignore it then yes but this holds true for any glass cannon type build, P/P has never been that good if their opponents know what they're doing and P/P deadeye in particular lacks the mobility daredevil and even core provides. It's good for noob farming but that's about it.

>

> I'm not saying they're OP. Just that we should be able to admit both Rifle and PP deadeyes are very lethal very quickly and it's worth keeping an eye on.

I still wouldn't agree with this as a general statement in regards to P/P, if you're running a burst oriented build then you're running out of initiative way to fast (in general but also thanks to the 20-66,7% increase in initiative costs for unload thanks to the recent nerf) and if you're more geared towards sustainability then you're lacking the damage required to burst down most of your enemies quick enough. Like I said if they get ignored then yes (which is true for every damage oriented build) but otherwise no, not really.

> @"mortrialus.3062" said:

> Can we agree that PP can be extremely lethal very quickly now?

If you completely ignore it then yes but this holds true for any glass cannon type build, P/P has never been that good if their opponents know what they're doing and P/P deadeye in particular lacks the mobility daredevil and even core provides. It's good for noob farming but that's about it.

> @"Vagrant.7206" said:

> The question is meant to ask what class *in general* is underpowered.

And that's exactly what my answer is based on, the vast majority of thief builds are trash except for some niches where they are passable at best. They don't have good AoEs, they don't have good support, they're not good at tanking and the only thing they are kind of "good at" (single target damage) is something most builds are also on the low end of the spectrum. A profession having one or two good builds (especially if it's just for some niche) doesn't mean that the profession as a whole isn't "underpowerd" which is something many people seem to ignore.

A [golem battle suit](https://wiki.guildwars2.com/wiki/Golem_Battle_Suit_Prototype "golem battle suit") like the one from [Air Drop](https://wiki.guildwars2.com/wiki/Air_Drop "Air Drop") which can be upgraded with better weapons, a jetpack for aerial / underwater and space combat, an energy shield, you name it.

I'd say Joko as a single villain but I think I prefer the inquest overall thanks to the futuristic vibe they bring to the table. You can't really get rid of them either since they're more like an "idea" than an actual organisation with a single head behind it. As villains they're just so easy to incorporate into any story involving the big mysteries of the world(s) and I'm sure there are some interesting personalities hiding within the midst of their ranks considering that their premise is pretty much a magnet for those seeking greater power or knowledge which is not exactly a rarity if you look at the asura as a whole. I really hope that we one day get an expansion in trans-dimentional space (like where the mistlock sanctuary is located) with the inquest as main antagonists. I just love the low gravity in this place and we all know that there's a lot of weird s**t out there so this could be amazing if the writing is on point.

Ignoring gimmicks, certain thief builds are definitely underpowered. Same with Necromancer and some other stuff.

I personally prefer power but it should be built dependent, whatever you spec in should pay off given sufficient investment.

I like these changes to rifle, it kinda makes me sad that the poor implementation of some other things and the rifle as a whole makes me not want to use it.

> @"Jugglemonkey.8741" said:

> Things are always going to be balanced around the outliers in damage, if that makes sense.

It would make sense if there were outliner builds which just isn't the case for P/P. An on sustainability focused P/P DE does not have the damage to warrant this kind of nerf, ranged AAs from other classes do just as much (if not more) damage while these classes also have more mobility and utility on top of it and no complaines (nor nerfs) there. And yes, rifle can reliably trigger M7 vs. these trash mobs, P/P can't. Even with trickery it's out of ini after like 2-3 trash mobs which is just pure nonsense. This change doesn't make anything more balanced and if the responsible dev truly believed that he was doing the "right" thing than this just shows that he had no idea what he was doing. The whole thing souds to me like the dev just added some ini gain in one area so he had to take it away from somwere else so it looks good on paper.

> @"Jugglemonkey.8741" said:

> reverting the change would overpower P/P on deadeye

This couldn't be further away from the truth.

> @"Kageseigi.2150" said:

> What does the Thief do proficiently? What can it do proficiently?

> It can run from empty point to empty point.

Not even that, some builds which originally excelled at taking down small groups of trash mobs have been nerfed to the point were even taking an undefended point becomes a hassle.

> @"TexZero.7910" said:

> > @"Tails.9372" said:

> > > @"Khisanth.2948" said:

> > > > @"Tails.9372" said:

> > > > > @"artemis.6781" said:

> > > > > In the AMA, they were made exclusively for that map. However, they have been discussing allowing them on other maps. But no time table as of yet.

> > > > That alone is not going to change anything though. Nobody is going to farm spare parts just to use a gimmick. That's why nobody bothers with the Sunspear Paragon Support and the Cannon in a Box (well that and their ridiculously long cooldown).

> > >

> > > This has a much higher potential for being useful than either those. I don't think it has any cooldown either.

> > True but nothing of this is really useful if you put it up vs more challenging content like a fractal boss with a room cleaning AoE attack. I can only see it being useful in these low level OW events were you have to prevent the skritt from stealing something. Otherwise you mostly want them as meatshilds in which case stationary summons are not really that usefull.

>

> I mean, they'll never open them up to anything other than open world so there's no issue.

That actually would be an issue because there no point in any restrictions other than PvP.

> @"Khisanth.2948" said:

> > @"Tails.9372" said:

> > > @"artemis.6781" said:

> > > In the AMA, they were made exclusively for that map. However, they have been discussing allowing them on other maps. But no time table as of yet.

> > That alone is not going to change anything though. Nobody is going to farm spare parts just to use a gimmick. That's why nobody bothers with the Sunspear Paragon Support and the Cannon in a Box (well that and their ridiculously long cooldown).

>

> This has a much higher potential for being useful than either those. I don't think it has any cooldown either.

True but nothing of this is really useful if you put it up vs more challenging content like a fractal boss with a room cleaning AoE attack. I can only see it being useful in these low level OW events were you have to prevent the skritt from stealing something. Otherwise you mostly want them as meatshilds in which case stationary summons are not really that usefull.