Deadeye: Feedback!

[Asur.9178]

Migrating over my feedback post from old forums because it is apparent that the devs never read anyone's feedback when making the changes [here](https://en-forum.guildwars2.com/discussion/2699/deadeye-specialization-updates-for-the-path-of-fire-launch#latest "here").

 

**Begin migration here!**

 

Okay, so I finally had more time in my hands; so, I’ve organized all the information I posted before into this single post. Pretty much all of it is from a previous post made here.

 

These are just what I feel should be addressed in order to make Deadeye (DE) a more fluid and appealing elite spec beyond “I have a rifle!!!” as currently, as presented in the demo, it cannot compete with Daredevil (DD) if we are being realistic.

 

**Deadeye’s Mark:**

 

* Mark should NOT have a cast time and be forced to have LoS, nor should it be blockable. It should also be usable without a target should you choose to do so. It just screams bad compared to Steal.

* Malice stacks VERY slowly. Thief is not a class that’s built for this type of slow gameplay. If you want this, then give thieves more sustainability…their sustainability is pathetic compared to other classes.

* Adding to the previous problem, the requirement to re-stack from zero malice every time the mark expires, or enemy dies makes the gameplay feel VERY slow. Make it a diminishing over duration mechanic. Eg: lose 2 immediately upon expiration/death and then lose 1/s until re-cast, or simply lose 1/s upon expiration/death until re-cast.

* Malice does not impact the usage of condis in any shape or form. Only the duration of those condis applied by skills from DE spec are affected. This does not work with any kind of condi D/D or P/X specs at all. This is just an observation and may not be a problem.

* Mark expiry should have a sound indication, just like when you hit max malice stack.

* Add a hotkey to quick swap to your Marked target (if you have a Marked target), similar to Call Target hotkey. Sometimes you don’t want to be using Call Target on the enemy you Marked.

 

**Stolen skills:**

 

* Stolen skills are way too random, underwhelming, and lack uniqueness. Currently, I’ve found myself simply using them once I have enough stacks without even caring what I have because they are so underwhelming in their effect. Consume Plasma is infinitely better than any of the new stolen skills. Furthermore, the damage from stolen abilities are a joke, to say the least.

* Stolen skills expiring when mark expires or enemy dies is completely unnecessary. This forces players to use the stolen skills just for the sake of using them. I understand the concept of the skills affecting only the marked target, but this is just plain bad by all measures. The way to go about fixing this would be to allow the skills to be used on anyone, not just marked target.

 

**Rifle:**

 

* Attack range while not kneeling should be 1500, and 1800 while kneeling. There’s more than enough mobility on every single class to just out-range you the instant they see you kneeling and wasting your ammunition charges. Furthermore, for a “sniper” themed self-immobilizing weapon set, it has absolutely no advantage over opponents like a LB Ranger/Soulbeast, which can burst you harder in a shorter span of time from a longer range, while being free to move around, stealth, and even cc.

* Base auto-attacks (Brutal/Deadly Aim) are not only slow, but extremely weak as well. It’s pistol all over again. Auto attacks should also pierce. There are way too many obstructions running around usually for you to reliably hit your target…the biggest ones being Ranger pets, Mesmer clones/phantasms, and Necro minions.

* Cursed Bullet projectile speed is EXTREMELY slow…like laughably slow. The damage is pathetic as well.

* Skirmisher’s Shot & Spotter’s Shot needs to be unblockable.

* Double Tap & Three Round Burst needs to have a similar initiative return mechanic as Unload, or have their costs reduced to 3.

* Death’s Retreat needs to have its cost lowered to 4 or remove 2 conditions instead of 1 at its current cost. Furthermore, remove the cast time on the skill, or add a 1/2s evade to it as the entire animation takes about 1/2s – I would recommend removing the cast time. It is clunky in its current implementation.

* Death’s Judgement’s telegraph is over the top, especially considering the mark mechanic is already there and the cast time is long enough for anyone decent to react. This in itself is not a problem; however, the problem presents itself when you take into account the hefty initiative cost involved and the fact that it’s not unblockable. I would suggest either reducing the cost by 1 initiative or making it unblockable – preferably not the latter.

* Kneel needs to be completely replaced by Sniper’s Cover because there’s literally never a situation that you wouldn’t want that. Doing so opens up the ability to introduce a new trait, which would help the entire elite spec feel not so Rifle centric; or allow you to simple improve the current trait with something else. Furthermore, I feel like the initiative cost for Sniper’s Cover should be reduced to 2 – it is not like people can spam it anyway due to the ammunition system acting like a cd.

* Movement keys should automatically trigger Free Action once the skill is available. The current implementation is quite clunky.

* Random “obstructed” is already a dominant problem, and the Kneel mechanic does not help the situation. Throughout the demo, I’ve seen way too many “obstructed” when kneeling to feel comfortable about it, because the elevation of the shots is decreased even further than normal.

 

**Heal:**

 

* 30s cd on Malicious Restoration is way too long because of the lack of a trait to reduce Cantrip cds. The simplest fix here to address ALL Cantrip problems is to add a 20% reduction to Cantrips effect to the One in the Chamber trait.

 

**Utilities:**

 

* Highly consider increasing the damage on Shadow Gust. In its current implementation, it cannot compete with everything Blinding Powder offers.

* Reduce the cast time on Shadow Flare.

 

**Elite:**

 

* No change needed; very well executed skill. Not overly strong, not pathetically weak – just perfect for an elite.

 

**Traits:**

 

* Iron Sight needs to be at least 20%, else it will barely, if ever, see any play as it will fail to compete with the other 2 traits in this column, granted they work properly. Keep in mind that it only impacts 1 target.

* One in the Chamber, along with the previous suggested changes, needs to automatically use your current stolen ability before replacing it, instead of overwriting it. Else it is just busy work for no reason. Mercy traited with One in the Chamber does nothing because stolen skills disappear the instant Mark wear off. If the aforementioned changes are applied to stolen skills, this problem will be resolved.

* The regeneration provided by Renewing Gaze is underwhelming to say the least. Just make it a straight heal with a little over 1500 heal at 0 Healing Power.

* Unforgiving should also make your first hit on your marked target unblockable; else it will fail to compete with the other 2 traits in this column.

* Peripheral Vision needs an increased AoE range; I would suggest 600, similar to Phalanx Strength. The current, minimally pathetic range just promotes stacking – BAD! Furthermore, it is highly recommended to increase the affected allied targets to 10, for raiding purposes.

* Fire for Effect, similar to Peripheral Vision, needs to affect a larger AoE. This trait cannot compete with Phalanx Strength. Warriors get access to Phalanx Strength from the same traitline that offers Empower Allies. They also bring banners. Overall, they are simply better and this trait, in its current format, will not compete with that position.

 

**End of migration!**

 

With that said, until some of the serious issues are addressed, I know that I am done with my thief until further notice...because the dev(s) in charge of it clearly don't care enough, and thus the class is not worth my energy.

[Warrost.4895]

Anet showed they think deadeye is in the right place.

Nothing of this will happen, hell, they even couldn't reduce the cast time of mark.

Rifle already is a dead weaponset. Maybe we see some number tweaks in a year or two, but nothing mechanical will happen.

[Asur.9178]

> @Warrost.4895 said:

> Anet showed they think deadeye is in the right place.

> Nothing of this will happen, kitten, they even couldn't reduce the cast time of mark.

> Rifle already is a dead weaponset. Maybe we see some number tweaks in a year or two, but nothing mechanical will happen.

 

I'm okay with this. I'll simply be playing my Weaver, Soulbeast, Holosmith, and Mirage.

[Warrost.4895]

> @Asur.9178 said:

> > @Warrost.4895 said:

> > Anet showed they think deadeye is in the right place.

> > Nothing of this will happen, kitten, they even couldn't reduce the cast time of mark.

> > Rifle already is a dead weaponset. Maybe we see some number tweaks in a year or two, but nothing mechanical will happen.

>

> I'm okay with this. I'll simply be playing my Weaver, Soulbeast, Holosmith, and Mirage.

 

Play LB/X Soulbeast. Better sniper right now.

[Asur.9178]

> @Warrost.4895 said:

> > @Asur.9178 said:

> > > @Warrost.4895 said:

> > > Anet showed they think deadeye is in the right place.

> > > Nothing of this will happen, kitten, they even couldn't reduce the cast time of mark.

> > > Rifle already is a dead weaponset. Maybe we see some number tweaks in a year or two, but nothing mechanical will happen.

> >

> > I'm okay with this. I'll simply be playing my Weaver, Soulbeast, Holosmith, and Mirage.

>

> Play LB/X Soulbeast. Better sniper right now.

 

Don't need to tell me. I was out killing people with 4-2 all weekend long during demo once I was done testing DE, until I got bored of how effortless it was.

[Warrost.4895]

> @Asur.9178 said:

> > @Warrost.4895 said:

> > > @Asur.9178 said:

> > > > @Warrost.4895 said:

> > > > Anet showed they think deadeye is in the right place.

> > > > Nothing of this will happen, kitten, they even couldn't reduce the cast time of mark.

> > > > Rifle already is a dead weaponset. Maybe we see some number tweaks in a year or two, but nothing mechanical will happen.

> > >

> > > I'm okay with this. I'll simply be playing my Weaver, Soulbeast, Holosmith, and Mirage.

> >

> > Play LB/X Soulbeast. Better sniper right now.

>

> Don't need to tell me. I was out killing people with 4-2 all weekend long during demo once I was done testing DE, until I got bored of how effortless it was.

 

Personally I believe they will nerf "Sic'em" to the ground, along with daredevil and core thief/ranger

[Inoki.6048]

What I think is that a marked target should not know that it's marked.

[Amante.8109]

They didn't listen to a whit of our feedback the last few months, so don't expect them to suddenly be listening now during the busiest period for them.

[Zalavaaris.5329]

> @Amante.8109 said:

> They didn't listen to a whit of our feedback the last few months, so don't expect them to suddenly be listening now during the busiest period for them.

 

Oh... didnt you see the devs post? They listened to us... They just didn't give a kitten about what we had to say. They valued our opinions as customers so much that they didn't even act on ONE suggestion. They are listening.

[Ohoni.6057]

Ok, I haven't been able to post on here since they changed the thumbs down situation for. . . reasons, but I have at least been able to play the game, and I'm afraid that the Deadeye is not any fun for me.

 

I mained a Thief through all story content in the game, and have so far gotten through two acts of PoF's story with one, but it was almost entirely as a Daredevil because I just couldn't get anything working with the DE. Even in a story instance with Rhytlock and Canach tanking for me, I just couldn't figure out a way to play it that wasn't extremely frustrating.

 

First I tried mostly Rifle, and while taking on individual opponents could be kind of fun, the kneel thing just became too frustrating to deal with. It was like playing a cover-based shooter with awful, first-gen sticky cover that you can't escape from. It works fine when you don't need to move, but when you do need to move it's just awful. How is a kneeling Deadeye meant to handle a Forged Soldier with their chain lightning bolt circles? I could put up with that level of frustration if the damage was INSANE in compensation, but it's not, it's just normal, mediocre damage. A bit more bursty than most, in the right set-ups, but not enough to make much practical difference. Not enough to CARE.

 

But side-arm was to go dagger/pistol, which is a set-up I was using pre-HoT, and it really does work pretty well with the Deadeye, 2 and 3 giving you mobility that Steal is missing, 4 giving you a little ranged tapping when you have to keep some distance. I think it's well enough suited to the DE's strengths, but what the DE brings to the table is just not enough when compared to what it's missing by not being Daredevil. You don't get Staff, which is a MUCH better weapon than any other option. You don't get Channeled Vigor, which is a much better heal. You don't get the third dodge bar, you don't get the added dodge effects, it's just too perfect an elite spec for the Thief to run for any other spec to be competitive without being SERIOUSLY good, and the Deadeye is NOT seriously good.

 

So I'm left playing through the expansion without being able to enjoy playing a new spec on my main. I'll build up some of my alts eventually, but they don't have the HPs to instantly max out the new spec (only my main had full world completion), and I want to clear the story on my main.

 

At least the mounts are fun.