So now that Thief Staff is a concrete possibility...
I thought Iād show my ideas for the Elite specialisation that Iāve had brewing in my head for years!
Iām of the firm opinion that Staff will not JUST be melee attacks - it will be a mixture of melee and range with some Thief-y deception magic mixed in. Rather than simply gaining access to a weapon with 1200 range attacks (which is what people wanted Rifle for), Staff, instead of simply having a set of 1200 range skills, will have a ton of mobility to MOVE 1200 range, bouncing in and out of melee over long distances or between opponents.
In my opinion, this stays true to the playstyle of a Thief rather than a Sniper, which seems out of place for how Arenanet has designed everything else for the profession.
Warning: Wall of text ahead.
So, first thingās first, what changes for Steal?
I believe that the introduction of the F2 slot for stolen skills is not just for convenience - this is also to prepare for the Elite specialisationās use of F1.
Steal will now have a chain skill that appears after you use the initial skill. This new skill facilitates the insane mobility that will complement the use of Staff. The normal F1 will now have an extra feature that singles out whoever you stole from. Think of it like a target mark, or a favored enemy from D&D Rangers etc. This will then have effects based on what traits you select in the Elite specialisation line.
In essence, the next F1 is a version of Shadow Return. You shadowstep back to your original location from when you used Steal.
Some effects could trigger at this point. For example, if you traited for it, your Shadow Return component of Steal could transfer some conditions on yourself to that foe.
So thatās Steal out of the way, on to the actual Staff skills! Bear in mind that initiative costs etc are simply a matter of balance and wonāt be a concern here. Just imagine that they are expensive enough.
1)
The auto-attack is an interesting one. It is, in fact, a melee attack, however it extends its power through forceful swings of the Staff, creating wind blasts that cause your attacks to actually hit opponents out of your reach, up to 1200 range behind where you swing. It is still targeted, so you canāt just hit something directly in front of you and then something 1200 units behind that guy gets hit, too. You have to select a target as you swing, and then thatās as far as the attacks will reach.
Naturally, the damage is does will scale with range - you hit much harder in melee than you do at range.
The chain is an initial swing and impact that just does some reasonable damage, a second swing that continues the momentum of the first to cause Vulnerability as the velocity increases, followed by a third which has reached such a blistering speed that the Thief gains short evade frames during it - this attack causes more damage to Vulnerable foes. The chain itself is very, very fast, the fastest chain that a Thief has access to.
2)
This is basically an entirely movement-based version of Heartseeker. It does absolutely no damage - instead, the Thief props up the Staff and uses it to vault a great distance forward, evading while doing so.
3)
Another possible movement skill, but itās more about hitting hard and supporting yourself as well. The Thief imbues the Staff with shadow magic and hurls it a considerable range forward - it travels in an arc similiar to Path of Scars on Ranger, including the boomerang part, but travels even further. Rather than pulling foes, however, it transfers a single condition from yourself to any foe it hits along the trajectory, both outwards and inwards. The Thief has the option of activating a chain skill, where the Thief will shadowstep to the Staffās location mid-flight, blinding those who are nearby.
4)
This is the bread and butter of how a Thief can stay bruising in melee once theyāre done bouncing around.
You spend up to about 1 second channeling a block. If a foe attempts to attack you and triggers your block, you parry them and knock them off-balance, causing them to trip up. In terms of in-game mechanics, this is a zero-distance knockback! The recovery is just quick enough for the Thief to get in a couple of attacks from the auto-chain.
5)
This is what a Thief resorts to when someone out of range is plugging away at them and they would have trouble catching up. During the use of this skill, initiative regeneration stops and begins to go down, the same way as a Revenantās upkeep skills work. The Thief will then begin to spin the Staff around themselves, blocking or reflecting incoming projectiles for as long as they can channel it.
Stealth Attack)
Iāve also seen fit to give the Staff a very strong Stealth attack, as it can rarely be accessed due to zero methods of entering Stealth from the weaponset.
You wind up the Staff a considerable amount and bring it smashing down over someoneās head. If you hit from the front, you daze them for 2 seconds. If you hit them from behind, you stun them for 2 seconds.
So far we have covered the Profession mechanic (Steal) and the new weapon (Staff). This leaves one more category to cover: the new utility skills!
I am convinced that they will be one of two existing types: Stances or Physical skills. I thought that Physical would fit a lot more with the martial Staff and the martial arts archetype, but Stances also fill the same sort of playstyle. However, I think that Stances are more likely due to the precedent set by the original Assassins of Guild Wars, that are the spiritual predecessors of Thieves. I believe some old favourites will return in GW2-style along with some new ones. If you have played the original Guild Wars, you will recognise some of these names.
Healing Stance: Dark Escape
You break stun, gain Super Speed for a short while and heal for a small amount while taking reduced damage. After the Super Speed runs out, you will heal proportionately to how much distance you were able to cover from your original location. The further you ran, the more you heal.
Utility Stance 1: Unseen Fury
You continuously expel shadow magic, blinding adjacent foes. Foes affected by your blinds cannot block your attacks.
Utility Stance 2: Deadly Paradox
Your initiative begins to regenerate at a massively increased rate, but you are unable to use autoattacks for the duration.
Utility Stance 3: Way of the Monk
You gain Stability. Should a foe attempt to disable you while you have Stability, you will temporarily evade their next few attacks.
Elite Stance: Flashing Blades
Periodically block attacks (gain Aegis) for the duration. Should a foe be blocked, they will receive damage (that can crit).
So that covers pretty much everything that an Elite specialisation could offer. I am so excited for the possibility of a Thief getting a Staff playstyle!
This image was datamined with the recent patch. B-boy thatās a funny looking rifle, isnāt it? :D
Source:Ā http://www.reddit.com/r/Guildwars2/comments/3aug92/datamining_upcoming_features_from_the_june_22/Ā Full Album link
I think melee staff would actually be really cool, it would bring something different and fresh to thief. Whereas I think rifle would just be pew pew, stealth, pew pew rinse and repeat.
Datamined Mad Scientist outfit: White Mantle Uniform?
I havenāt seen anyone else post about this yet but holy crap yāall this seems so freaking obvious to me.Ā Maybe I am just a lore nerdlet I donāt know but seriously just follow my potato quality pictures here.
Okay so hereās the datamined mad scientist outfit:Ā [&DBYAAAA=]
Gee thatās an interesting default color scheme and choice in design elements.Ā Look familiar?
BUT WAIT THEREāS MORE.Ā Look at this little icon on the buttons:
ENHANCE - well that doesnāt work like it does on CSI but just squint a little yāall.
And what else is that on that uniform?Ā
ENHANCE MORE
Combine all of that with the fact that weāve been seeing clues hinting of the White Mantleās return in the Silverwastes in Season 2ā¦Ā Consider if what weāre seeing is the modern version of the old White Mantle?
crossed-fox got me a adorable bby
Look at this derp Ā <3
Thank you again ;u;
Iām afraid for Mis when that thing grows up. Itās already almost as big as she is.
Bonus:
I can put forth my predictions for all the others. Iām more certain now!
Known:
Guardian/Dragonhunter - Traps
Mesmer/Chronomancer - Wells
Predicted:
Warrior/Raider? - Survival (Guerilla-style for the jungle)
Ranger/Druid - Consecrations (simply makes the most sense, to consecrate is to make something sacred. Nature works with that as well as holy magic)
Engineer/Saboteur? - Physical (CC to go with your hammer!)
Thief/Assassin? - Stances (Assassin callback, lore application of needing to be more steadfast in a jungle environment where danger can come from any angle)
Necromancer/??? - Shouts (Orders!)
Elementalist/Tempest - Manipulations (go look at the description for Manipulations on the wiki, it fits perfectly for what Tempest sounds like, an aggressive duelist)
I warn you, if any of these are correct, I will not shut up about it. :>
vaporwave
dailybridgerton
baratheonpilled
prguitarman
tangentwithtanner
turnnoffyourmind
