itspomf.9523

After delving through the news archive and finding the original post for the expanded weapon proficiency beta, it turns out these are only for people who bought Secrets of the Obscure. Regardless of whether or not locking basic content like new weapons behind a paywall is acceptable or not, I'm disappointed I didn't even get the chance to see if the changes lived up to what was discussed on the 14th. Ok, I guess.

While I'm very excited for the other changes to Thief (I might finally be able to feel useful while running a dual-pistol build!), the change quoted above is really a poor decision. Acrobatics has already been gutted twice, and you're now taking away one of the last sources of Vigor (and related improvements) from core Thief after Endless Stamina was removed in June of last year in the continued push to turn it into yet another damage-oriented trait line, which it historically is not. Worse, these sorts of changes also mean that Thieves (and particularly Daredevil) have fewer sources of additional dodges, greatly inhibiting their survival. With this change, the only non-weapon skill sources of Vigor will be: Well of Bounty (locked to Specter) Consume Plasma (stolen skill from Mesmer-type foes) Detonate Plasma (raiding only) Steal Warmth (locked to Deadeye, but unavailable when using Fire for Effect) Likewise, the only trait-based sources of Vigor will be: Feline Grace: gain vigor on successfully evading an attack Bountiful Theft: gain vigor when you steal Following the very, very significant loss of 240 Concentration from Endless Stamina in addition to the +50% Vigor effect, we're now looking at a trait line which no longer meaningfully synergizes with one of the few boons core Thief could reliably provide itself.

I believe this is already the case, and Specter receives a hidden 33% damage reduction, equivalent to Necromancer, while in shroud. If not, then it was removed in an undocumented change after Anet brought it back following a very dark period last year when it was removed completely. The problem is that this was reduced from ~66% initially (intended to compensate for the fact that Thief has about half the base Health), but Shroud scaling was never adjusted to compensate, resulting in why your Shroud now gives you less effective health than you have outside of it (still 69% of Health, which in this one case is not "nice"). All of this occurred due to Specter being considered "oppressive" in PvP at the time, which can probably be translated into "I couldn't burst them down on my soulbeast instagib build so teef op plz nerf."

Haven't actively been playing in a few months, but wanted to share my own experiences with the story. Notice: spoilers for the main campaign abound. I know a few of you touched on it already, but I feel that the core story leading up to the Zhaitan fight (and, well, Arah Dungeon as a whole) was honestly the highlight of the game -- which is sad, considering the amount of love and energy put into latter stories and expansions. You can really tell the team has poured their hearts into things, but I feel that Guild Wars 2 has lost sight of what left such an immense and lasting impact on veteran players such as myself. I started playing a scraggly little Charr Thief called Geppa (don't ask, it's an obscure reference) shortly after midnight of the Headstart access. For the next several days and weeks, I would be exploring Tyria, the Plains of Ashford, and Diessa Plateau in a state of wonder for the sheer amount of storytelling that wasn't in a dialogue box or told to me through a cutscene. Looking around, there was history and little secrets everywhere, and I immediately fell in love with exploring (often to my untimely demise. We all remember our first encounter with a jumping puzzle). Yet it was my Honorless Gladium of a sire who had perhaps the greatest influence on me. At the time, I'd decided I wanted to soft roleplay Geppa. Here's a young, scrawny Thief whose sparring partner is Dinky, the big dumb guardian with a heart of slightly tarnished silver. Brains and Brawn kind of outfit. And mentally? It worked. The levity was amusing, it kept me engaged, and I could honestly see these two nerds looking out for one another and sharing a close bond. But then the word came in that my sire had Done Something Real Bad. And as the story unfolded and I watched his desperate efforts to not only save his warbandmates but defy his Centurion in doing so -- at the risk of his own life and limb -- I went from hunting him to trying to help him. I still remember the experience of having the story suddenly grip me with this moral dilemma: do I uphold everything I've learned about Charr society, or do I do what a part of me knows is right? When I finally cornered him and got a chance to talk -- particularly after my very unfortunate run-in with his Centurion in the process -- I chose the latter. I still remember reading the dialogue there in the brig, hearing his pleas and his fervor to spare the people closest to him. It resonated with me not just because of that drive alone, but because it likewise embodied everything I knew about the story insofar; more, were I to deny him, it would mean turning my back on the warband I was myself desperately trying to mend after losing them in Barradin's Vaults. It was the first time I shed tears playing the game. It was also the moment when I decided I and Geppa both were willing to turn our backs on the Black Citadel if it meant that at least one life would not be senselessly lost. Fast-forward to the Orders and consequences which, at first, hardly seemed that consequential. I've gotten in with the Order of Whispers (hey, Geppa's a Thief after all and it felt the most fitting ... particularly after encountering the Priory scholars and that chicken), and things are going well. Or so I thought. Instead (and this is back in the days of Old Lion's Arch, when splinters and tetanus were a daily concern), I'm put on desk duty with some guy who doesn't seem to have seen combat more than the fight of trying to reign in his punmastery on a daily basis. Tybalt Leftpaw. The "Apple Guy." By Ash, I was suddenly thinking Rytlock had it out for me and I was being punished. And yet somewhere between drinking pirates under the table and having increasingly more surreal escapades, I found myself growing closer and closer to this beautiful misfit who only ever wanted to prove that he could make it. That he wasn't just some failed agent, but someone capable, to be respected. That his life finally meant something. And he did that, by sacrificing himself so that I and others could live. Going to be honest, that scene on Claw Island absolutely devastated me. I cried. I told a video game character no, he didn't need to do this, he had meaning, he didn't need to die, we could get out of here together. I still remember feeling shell-shocked afterward, as we escorted the survivors to the ships and I furiously cut down anything that moved. I still remember how frantic everything had felt beforehand, lighting the warning beacon prior and watching them swarm over the walls. It kept replaying through my mind: what could I have done differently? For a brief while, a game left me feeling something like survivor's guilt. And then it did it again and again and again. By the time I had reached the Gates of Arah and stared at the yawning portal of the last fight I would ever have to face, I'd waded through more death and loss than I cared to recall. Everyone I and Geppa had met seemed to meet an ill end, whether it was Demolitionist Tonn sacrificing himself to stop the Bone Ships or the fury of his lover learning he had died in the line of duty (and I'd effectively killed him), or Apatia being lost to the Krait, or any that one Golemancer who was cut down near the end of our mission -- they were all gone. From the very start of the story, to finally reuniting with (and then saying goodbye to) my sire, to losing the one mentor I never knew I needed, to watching more and more people who touched my life be snuffed out, my and Geppa's adventure through Tyria was one beshadowed by death, loss, and despair every step of the way. The humorous moments were a welcome respite and made the journey worth surviving (even if in my head, Geppa left the Pact and never made it to Zhaitan in Arah, and not just because I was afraid of pugging that last fight back in the day). And strangely? I've not felt that since. The storytelling is good, even when it's a little grating (what? I liked the Power of Friendship nonsense because it really gave us a look into the lives of some woefully underdeveloped characters), but nothing has seized hold of me and made me question my decisions and everything I've done like the core story had. Sure, Heart of Thorns had its moments, but it was overwhelmed by the diametric landslide of terror that was just trying to get enough mastery points to get enough mastery points to not die horribly to everything ever -- when it wasn't completely overshadowed by the Exalted, Aurene, and the blind trust hurled at a Charr who had been pulled out of retirement after drinking enough Firewater and Whiskey to drop 10 dolyaks with a single breath (and permanently alter her vocal cords!). Sure, Path of Fire was an epic battle, but it felt more like the skirmishing of heroic beings rather than the struggles of mere mortals fighting a fallen god. The tone was there, but the notes were flat and I connected more with the Olmakhan than I did the Sunspears I was supposed to be helping. ... and I'll be honest: End of Dragons started out strong. It really had me hoping for a revival of that nostalgia up there, and the possibility of not only exploring Mai Trin's character and her obvious redemption arc, but forcing us (and Marjory and Kasmeer) to have to face our own biases as we learned ever more of the horrors she had faced in getting here, let alone just how much she had come to hate herself for what she had done when she literally had to face herself in more than the mirror for years. Only to have her written off for a two-bit villain's finale and barely given a handful of lines at the end (I confess, I'm camp "Joon Should've Been the Big Bad and The Dragonvoid an Allegory for the Corruptive Influences of Unbridled Power"). I've not played Secrets of the Obscure and I'm not sure I will, but I wanted to share this with you and the team.

If the recall were skill 5, I'd say it would make the most sense to make the effects depend on specific scenarios: a solid power basis would serve the weapon well, but be able to scale with conditions by adding additional damage (either through Strike or additional Condition stacks) based on the amount of Bleed/Poison on the target. Either would complement Pistol or Dagger, and Sword could benefit from already having higher damage and being a pure power weapon (with the only potential downside of the former being that Dagger loses easy access to stealth unless Dagger/Axe 3 becomes a variant of Cloak and Dagger). I would, however, want offhand axe recall to not teleport, since I'd rather be able to position myself for maximum versatility in when and where I use the skill.

I like this idea. I think it would help garner better feedback and more organic gameplay experiences to draw from.

Agreed. Played around with it in open world yesterday to see how the new reflect works, and I landed it once out of a good dozen attempts. The wind-up is too long, the timing is too indistinct, and you have to essentially start the skill as your enemy fires for it to actually work -- I say this because the only projectile I reflected was done entirely on accident. Overall thoughts and recommendations to the balance team: Remove Helmet Breaker, as it's not helping: the current interaction of Debilitating Arc (staff 3) into Helmet Breaker feels bad; it's too clunky and awkward, and we already have a bunch of gap-closers (Bound, Weakening Charge, [old] Dust Srike, Bounding Dodger, and shadowstep utiltiies). Moreover, locking out Debilitating arc for a period of time means your built-in escape is now shut down, overall weakening the weapon's versatility and survival margin. Revert and upgrade Dust Strike to handle Defiance: I would much rather see the Daze added to the original Dust Strike (staff 4), such that "enemies within the range threshold are instead Dazed for 2 seconds," and set that to about one-half its range (so 240~300u), as this would give staff a much-needed method of handling Defiance whilst retaining its ability to inflict blinds and tag enemies from afar. But seriously, revert the changes to Dust Strike: the new Dust Strike is honestly awful, too long, and way too hard to land the reflect. Being rooted in place has caused me more problems than it has solved. I'd rather it be reverted and a short Block or Evade added to staff's auto-attack's third hit, Punishing Strikes, to make the brawling feel of staff more ... well, brawler-y. After all, Ranger's greatsword had this until late 2019, when its third hit became Enduring Swing. And if not, then at least make Dust Strike a radial sweep to inflict a brief area of pulsing blind and allow staff the ability to self-combo. While this last little addendum is my own personal opinion, this and other recent changes feel to have been made outside of the spirit and purpose of the weapons to which they've been applied. They legitimately don't feel like they address what they're set out to do.

Instead of addressing all the shortcomings of pistol (no inherent pierce despite everyone but elementalist getting it, poor damage, single target, etc.), the entire weapon has been reduced to a power "Spam 3" build with zero downside beyond needing to stay within range. I just took down 2 veterans and 4 or 5 other filler enemies using a single skill and a little basic strafing.

I'm trying to decide whether this is Catalyst hammer 2.0 or just a clunkier version of scepter, but whatever it is, this ain't it, captain.

Had this been a revision to Guardian's scepter, I'd have said you had finally given them a good ranged condition damage weapon (even if Bleeding feels a bit out of place on a profession historically focused around Power and Burning damage). What we got instead is a flashy, hot mess that seems more interested in making pretty blue animations than really feeling like it's doing much of anything.

Had this been what Specter's scepter was originally, I'd say we had a decent setup for a supportive pseudo-caster role that could reasonably fill in for minor damage as well. Unfortunately, it's not, and the skills lack any sense of impact or purpose, beyond being weirdly flashy. It's hard to tell what's happening or what they're doing, even after reading the tooltips, and that's not a very good feeling.

Had this been a revision to Revenant's staff, I'd honestly say we had a nice front-line healer with amazing tank potential (which yes, Warrior could be in a mix of Power/Toughness/Healing/Contentration type gear, such as Wanderer/Cleric). Damage is overall good and the skills feel versatile and reasonable (the charge move, however, is too reminiscent of Greatsword), and even on the default Marauder's gear and a Might-generation / Shouts loadout, the weapon alone can keep me alive. Unfortunately, it doesn't feel like I'm playing a Warrior anymore, which is probably the biggest let-down of this weapon. It's an absolute identity crises with some really, really great [self-]support potential.

Had this been a revision to Mirage's axe, I'd have said you were spot on and had a brilliant idea. Instead, it feels cumbersome, out of place, and like Pistol ... *checks notes* ... v4.0, only this time with even worse general synergy.

I am ... not impressed. So rather than providing us a non-utility power cleave weapon (to act as a counterpoint to sword), we got ranger axes. Rather than a ranged AOE condition weapon (to act as a counterpoint to pistol or scepter), we got ... a confused mess? Thief's biggest problem since inception is that it has an identity crisis of trying to be both power and condition damage at the same time. Please just pick one or the other and not something that changes based on one of only two off-hand choices (which themselves are already highly limiting).

You say that like they've been listening to us at all in the last several months.