Guild Wars 2

Since the first time I stepped into WvW during the betas it was clear that Thieves had a definite advantage in 1 on 1 fights over most if not all classes.

I had originally assumed that this would be balanced out by the devs over time, but a year after release it is still an issue. The problem faced with any adjustments is fairly easy to see but difficult to work around. The stealth mechanic thieves use to move and fight can’t be quantified easily and compared to other stats in the way that DPS, AOE, stun or interrupt skills can, and if you reduce damage or defense to compensate then thieves will not be as viable outside wvw as the other classes.

For myself, as well as many players I have talked with on vent or mumble I can say that fighting a thief that is constantly appearing, blasting you, disappearing and healing to full is not an enjoyable experience. There is a silver lining though, which is that trying to guess the thiefs movements and actions IS fun. The problem is, guessing correctly has no reward. I frequently pop my defense skill right before an attack or drop an aoe along his path while hes invisible, but if so he just heals himself anyways or waits a couple seconds for his cool down to wear off then ambushes me again.

A fight against a thief should be a battle of wits, against an opponent you cannot always see, the prey trying to guess the thiefs movements and the thief trying to second guess the tactics of the prey. To do this I would suggest two small changes:

First: The thief should not be affected by healing skills while in stealth, either his own or his allies, this would force them to retreat to heal instead of just killing the crap out of you anyways.

Second: Well timed use of counter skills, such as parrys or blocks just prior to a thiefs burst should unbalance the thief and significantly increase the cooldown on the stealth timer. Allowing the prey to turn the tide if they are able to predict the thiefs attack.

With these changes thiefs will still be able to kill unsuspecting or weakened foes easily, but they will no longer be able to dominate a prepared and skilled opponent due to their class advantages.

You can’t nerf stealth because thats the fun part of ganking. BUT you could probably add a split second delay before your next attack if your attack doesn’t land. Or added to the backstab skills “If this skill does not hit, weakness for 3 seconds” or something like that.

That would force a thief to be really good at his profession to melt you while you are running towards your zerg

The stealth mechanic I am suggesting will still allow you to successfully gank a person using stealth, and to use stealth to get away from a bad situation. However it should stop you from being able to rush headlong into a bad situation with no penalty. A moderately skilled rogue can fight a protracted battle against a group of 8 or so, possibly kill one, and escape due to the stealth/heal mechanic.

While I’m sure its enjoyable to have godlike powers Joel, I don’t think that’s a valid argument for not balancing the game out, or for missing an opportunity to add an interesting new mechanic to some of the PvP fights.