Thief or Ranger?
WvW
Ranger is pretty all around, and can serve a purpose in group battles. Thief isn’t the most useful in group battles, and is more about solo or small group play. If you want to excel in small group or solo play, both ranger and thief are good for that, but thief has more options when it comes to solo or small group play, imho.
If you want an all-arounder, go Ranger. Really ranger can be an all-arounder in any part of the game… But if you want to really focus on small group play in WvW thief would be better.
PvE
Ranger is more survivable in PvE, imho, and the pet is a great way to distract enemies and ball them up so you can smack em dead fast without taking much damage on yourself. For a reliable casual PvE experience, go ranger.
Thief is really fun in PvE, can be quite effective with things like the sword 3 skill, and is the quickest at moving around the map due to a wide selection of teleportation skills and some speed buffs. If your gear isn’t up to your level you can be a bit squishy though.
In General (PvP thoughts included)
Ranger you can seriously play generally the same way in any part of the game, be it PvE, PvP, or WvW. Thief really has to change things up to be optimal in each gamestyle. When it comes to PvP, it’s all about what you can win with.
→ For example I main thief and ranger mostly and do well with my thief in both WvW and PvE, and really enjoy doing map completion with my ranger, but I actually use a necro in PvP, because that is the class I’m able to win with most. ←
If you want to be successful in PvP, you really have to just try out the different classes until you find something that clicks. It may be a character you already have. If you think ranger or thief is your PvP go-to, I’d try out both on a newbie character, just going into PvP and then remaking it into the other class to try them both out before making a decision. Otherwise you may find that another class entirely is your forté in sPvP. If you already have a class you do well with in sPvP, don’t worry about sPvP when making your decision. Stick to what you win with in sPvP and don’t try to make a class work. Don’t work for a class in sPvP, find the class that works for you.
Conclusion
Otherwise, for a consistent playstyle, go ranger. If you like to mix it up and fool around a bit with stealth trollery, and aren’t afraid to get your kitten kicked from time to time, go thief.
(edited by Mo Mo.1947)
Thief’s from what I’ve been told, are limited in PvP, there is only “one” weapon set that is any good for PvP. I didn try thief in PvE, I found them very squishy early on in the game.
I really like Ranger in PvP. I find it an easy pick up and play class, and you have Distance, so if things go wrong, you can bug out.
|Seasonic S12G 650W|Win10 Pro X64| Corsair Spec 03 Case|
I have not played much thief but I enjoy the pet mechanic and ranger does not disappoint imo. However I might try thief more often due to the elite weapon we might get
Depends on how far you want to go with it. Ranger is easy to pick-up and be effective with in all game-modes, but thief has a much higher skill-cap and potential. PvE speedclearing groups will not take a ranger, but they will take a good thief since a good thief does the highest boss dps. Likewise with PvP, rangers are not used at all in top-tier play, but you’ll see a thief on nearly every team.
Conclusion: Ranger if you’re just going to play it casually, thief if you’re going to be serious with this character
Svanir Appreciation Society [SAS]
Depends on how far you want to go with it. Ranger is easy to pick-up and be effective with in all game-modes, but thief has a much higher skill-cap and potential. PvE speedclearing groups will not take a ranger, but they will take a good thief since a good thief does the highest boss dps. Likewise with PvP, rangers are not used at all in top-tier play, but you’ll see a thief on nearly every team.
Conclusion: Ranger if you’re just going to play it casually, thief if you’re going to be serious with this character
To be fair, thief’s are taken for stealth, if you can master how to use it, then thief is an auto win class. Thief have a high access to blinds and stealth, they are the only things that make the class “good” a thief with out stealth is dead in seconds. It’s a gimmicky class that is poorly balanced. Thief players will tell you and dagger pistol are the “only” weapons to take as everything else is useless, and only take short bow for utility. I’ve played a lot of PvP to know this to be true also.
It basically boiled down to this. Ranger you have more than one way to play it. Thief is “meta” or gtfo. I’ve seen people playing thief slatted because they where not using dagger pistol. Called all sorts of things from there own team and the enemy. You’ll get more grief from playing Thief than you will ranger. If you are good at thief or not.
|Seasonic S12G 650W|Win10 Pro X64| Corsair Spec 03 Case|
one thing that was important to me when making the same decision –
ranger has a lot of different weapons and variability
you can hunt for different pets what is fun
ranger has probably the most beautiful skill animations in the game….