User:Ekko/Sandbox/Weapon Ideas/Thief
Thieves are unique in terms of weapon skills because of dual skills. As such, the weapon sets will be more important. Also, initiative makes things interesting.
Thieves have 7 possible weapon sets: 1 two-handed, 3 main-hands, and 2 off-hands. Including weapon switching, the thief has 42 possible combinations of weapon sets.
At some point, initiative costs have been rebalanced. I have updated this guide to reflect that. 0 initiative is (obviously) free, 1 initiative is a very low cost, 2 is low (or medium low), 3 is a medium (or medium-high) cost, and 4 is expensive for a single skill.
Two-Handed Weapons[edit]
Shortbow[edit]
The only two-handed weapon a thief can wield packs a lot of AoE damage skills, . Trick Shot has no initiative cost and hits multiple enemies, which is nice, since you'll probably be spamming it while your initiative recharges. Cluster Bomb is big AoE blast with a low initiative cost (2 points) that you can detonate in mid-air for a larger area. Disabling Shot immobilizes and cripples, apparently, but bears a hefty 4 initiative cost, which means you can't practically maintain it on multiple enemies. Choking Gas creates a poison cloud dealing damage over time to an area with a 3-point initiative cost; using Immobilizing Shot on a target to trap them in the cloud is a fairly expensive but effective combination. Infiltrator's Arrow also carries a 4 initiative cost, and it lets you teleport to a target area: lots of mobility, but its high cost will limit how frequently you use it--a kiting strategy involving this and Disabling Shot will set you back 8 initiative in a very short time.
Main-Handed Weapons[edit]
Dagger[edit]
A melee-range damage weapon. Twisting Fang inflicts one of bleeding, weakness, or vulnerability and can be spammed at-will, so you can get most of these up at once. Backstab closes distance and deals damage at a cost of 3 points--more if you're behind your target--synergizing well with mobility skills or stealth.
Pistol[edit]
An offensive ranged weapon, packing some conditions. Vital Shot applies applies bleeding for free, and Body Shot applies vulnerability for the low cost of 2 initiative. Since the skills are low-cost and the conditions valuable, this is a viable means of keeping the conditions up on many foes.
Sword[edit]
A mobility-focused melee weapon. Crippling Slash...cripples foes for no initiative cost. Dancing Blade leaps forward, attacks, and leaps back, keeping your distance and letting you get in an attack while kiting a crippled foe, and does it all for the tiny cost of 1 initiative, which (depending on the exact mechanics of dodging) can be spammed to keep distance from an advancing foe without sacrificing damage--cripple the foe and then just keep dodging in and out as they limp towards you.
Off-Hand Weapons[edit]
Dagger[edit]
The off-hand dagger emphasizes mobility. Dancing Dagger inflicts AoE cripple for 2 initiative, helping you get away from multiple foes at once. Cloak and Dagger stealths you for short while after attacking in melee, letting you set up a position-based attack or gain some distance, but comes at a hefty price of 4 initiative.
Pistol[edit]
The off-hand pistol is a mainly defensive weapon with expensive skills. Retreating Shot deals damage and causes you to retreat, keeping you out of melee danger for the high cost of 4 initiative AND an 8-second recharge time. Head Shot inflicts the powerful daze on your target, rendering them temporarily useless, but also carries a cost of 4 initiative, meaning this isn't something you'd spam.
Weapon Sets[edit]
This is where it gets interesting, because it adds dual skills, which will be also be noted in the header.
Dagger/Dagger - Leaping Death Blossom[edit]
Leaping Death Blossom hits foes around you multiple times, applying bleeding for 3 initiative. Dual daggers work well together, operating at close range, but not necessarily melee range. Dancing Dagger lets you snare foes to get out of trouble or move around them, which is helpful since Backstab causes you to leap forward. LDB gives you a helpful AoE damage option. A big stand-out is the Cloak and Dagger -> Backstab combo: stab, stealth, and stab again for extra damage. A solid pick for a melee thief.
Dagger/Pistol - Shadow Shot[edit]
Shadow Shot shoots your foe from a distance, then shadowsteps to them, and finishes with a stab, all for 3 initiative. It allows you to travel from foe to foe after melee attacks or close the distance to a fleeing foe quite effectively. Retreating Shot lets you get out of melee if you need to (although Shadow Shot is a more offensive and cheaper means of travel if you have another enemy), and Head Shot is great for leaving a target completely open for attack. It straddles the melee/ranged boundary quite adeptly.
Pistol/Dagger - Shadow Strike[edit]
Shadow Strike is like Shadow Shot in reverse: Stab, shadowstep away, and shoot, for the big cost of 4 initiative; it's a great, offensive way of opening space between you and a foe. Shadow Strike -> Dancing Dagger moves you away, dealing damage and crippling your foe, making kiting a foe very easy. Cloak and Dagger can stealth you to get you out of melee. This is a good combo for ranged attackers, especially those that might end up in melee a lot because of another weapon set.
Pistol/Pistol - Unload[edit]
A purely ranged attacker, with a good amount of conditions. Unload fires multiple shots from each pistol at a single foe and allows you to move while shooting; it costs 3 initiative. If you want a weapon set that's just about ranged attacks, this is it. Body Shot -> Unload is a nice high-damage spike on a single target, while Vital Shot lets you keep damage over time on multiple foes, Retreating Shot lets you escape melee combat, and Head Shot is an excellent controll skill.
Sword/Dagger - Flanking Strike[edit]
Flanking Strike is another combo-attack: slash, roll behind them, and stab them in the back for 3 initiative. This is a pretty good combination for a mobility-focused thief: The sword's snare and retreat skills are rounded out by an AoE snare and stealth. With this set, you'll be able to move quickly around the battlefield, dealing some damage as you go. Flanking Strike -> Dancing Blade is a nice trick, which deals nice melee damage and leaves you behind your foe and a good while away to make an escape or change targets. Because you have Dancing Dagger, you probably won't get too much mileage out of Crippling Slash unless you use it as you run past foes to get in a little damage and spread some snares.
Sword/Pistol - Pistol Whip[edit]
Pistol Whip is a very potent attack: you daze your target and then slash at them over and over, dealing good damage to a helpless target, though it'll run you 4 initiative. You have a lot of ways to move around, especially to get away--this is a very defensive and mobility oriented set, for the most part. Both Dancing Blade and Retreating Shot have retreat effects (and, combo-ed together, especially with Crippling Slash, the two can get you a huge distance from your target). You also have 2 ways of applying daze--Pistol Whip and Head Shot, one each for melee and distance combat. This seems like a good set to complement others, especially a very ranged-oriented set like a shortbow or dual pistols, but I don't think it stands up very well by itself (despite how badass Pistol Whip undoubtedly is).
Set Combinations[edit]
Later, though some are hinted at above.
Notes[edit]
- What the hell is with Retreating Shot?
