Shio.5826

Some thoughts on the skills: PitfallReally underwhelming with the 3 seconds arm time, but it's really really good on choke points. Only affecting 5 targets only and not pulsing its effects every interval doesn't make it a really beneficial skill to take over other utility skills. This needs to be tuned to be more of a choice compared to the other utilities. Thousand NeedlesSame thoughts as the previous. Seal AreaBest one yet. Not sure if it's ignored by Stability though (can someone help test out?). Main uses are on choke points in PvP and WvW. The 3 seconds arm time forces the thief to have a bit of foresight before arming this. The cooldown of this skill is also appropriate. Shadow PortalWhile other people found success on it, I find this quite underwhelming. Instead of how mesmer's portals work, the shadow portal's entrance is from the second area of activation of the skill to the first area instead of the other way around. It might be only me, but I feel that this is a bit clunky as opposed to making it go the other way around. I might be wrong though as this current setup is good for WvW purposes. Also the thief needs to travel 2x the distance for this skill to work properly (going to the place where the portal starts and back). Overall, the 3 seconds arm time needs to be adjusted according to the skill. But other than that, preparations have proven to be a solid alternative to other utility skills.

Thanks for the update! This is quite a huge drawback, but we'll have to see whether the skill damage/utility outweighs the 3 seconds arm time (though, I'm quite pessimistic about this, 3 seconds is a damn long time!).

It depends on the window given to activate the skill to be honest. But it would get rid of the scenarios when an opponent accidentally dodges into your traps and activating it without doing anything (this is for the first two utility skills similar to Tripwire and Needle Trap, the seal and portal are different in functionality and would require us to be able to activate it at will to be effective in the first place). It also gives you more control over who will be the receiving end for the "trap" (in an outnumbered fight in PvP for example) instead of just hitting the first person to step on the trap, which is very unreliable.

Depending on how these are designed, they might be game changing to thieves in all game modes. I imagine this to be similar to Tripwire in mechanics and animation. But the fact that we can activate it at will makes a whole lot of difference especially in PvP and WvW. However, I imagine that this might not be a widely popular pick in the future. Again, this might be similar to Needle Trap, just with the benefit of activating it at will. Might be the weakest one of them all in terms of utility to be honest. This is the best one in my opinion, in all game modes. In PvE, does it affect boss monsters or champs? It might add a whole new dimension to skipping mechanics (though I doubt it will be the case). But in PvP and WvW, this skill is crazy good. Depending on how many people are allowed in this so called area, it can potentially be a game changer. In WvW, a good execution of this might immobilize a whole zerg, or might be able to keep a group of enemies inside a localized 240 radius area to bomb. In PvP, it can be used to prevent 1vX and keep an opponent from joining/leaving a fight or rotating. I don't know why the next skill (portal) is the one most talked about, but I feel like this one is the one that will change the game entirely for thieves in all game modes (and what I suspect will get the most controversy). Now this one is great! Depending on how it interacts with terrain and LoS stuff, this skill adds a whole lot of depth and variations to how thief can be played in any game mode. This is more of a toned down mesmer's portal, but paired with thieves' mobility, you'll get some disgusting portal plays in WvW and PvP especially. Can't stress enough how excited I am to log into my thief next week to try out these skills. What do you guys think of these new toys we can play with?