Guild Wars 2

Do you guys feel like this would be a message from the developers that the Backstab burst is fine and that it is up to the player to get punished (so severely) by not dodging or making a mistake?

Personally, if I see that Thieves are still out putting upwards of 10k dmg, I will just personally switch to Thief. I hate the class, and everything that it can do, but I’d rather be on the giving end than the receiving end. Enough is enough.

I can understand peoples view on backstab thieves being OP but I don’t think that’s true at all. Backstab thieves have very low health, usually below 16k. That’s really low in PvP. I think people just need to play smarter instead of going full dps all the time. Throw some stunbreakers in your build and try to anticipate where the thief is when he’s stealthed to keep your back to him. If they miss that 1 attack then you have an advantage now.

They nerfed Heartseeker. People still complain.

If they nerf Backstab, people will still complain but then they’ll continue to complain louder about Death Blossom. Once Death Blossom is nerfed people will continue to complain about Thieves downed state. Once that is nerfed people will complain that Stealth is far too long. Once that is nerfed…

People will whine that Thieves are under powered and criticize ANet for their design choices.

Warrior will receive several buffs over this time period.

Punished for not dodging?

First of all, steal is a long-ranged gap closer…which grants stealth and does 4-5k damage…which allows you to immediately backstab.

It’s broken. 100% it’s broken. Why the devs don’t talk about it I don’t know, but people leave the game daily due to the lack of communication.

When I say punished, I mean that from the Thieves and the developers side if they decide to not nerf it.

I don’t believe it’s a punishment when an invisible player hits me for over 10k dmg. But that’s just personal opinion.

They will nerf the backstab build. Not as hard as some people might want it, but it will happen.

Freky.1903:

I can understand peoples view on backstab thieves being OP but I don’t think that’s true at all. Backstab thieves have very low health, usually below 16k. That’s really low in PvP. I think people just need to play smarter instead of going full dps all the time. Throw some stunbreakers in your build and try to anticipate where the thief is when he’s stealthed to keep your back to him. If they miss that 1 attack then you have an advantage now.

The damage of BS is only the icing on the cake in my opinion. The fact that they have less than 16k HP is simply disregarded by the sheer fact that due to the stealth bug/glitch/whatever, they can barely be hit in the first place. Combine this with their mobility and very few professions have very limited options in ways to counter this.

There is no “Oh I barely escaped that thief!” It’s fight or die, and because of the points above, most of your casual players will die more often than not. This is a huge problem for someone who doesn’t spent large amounts of time crunching numbers, comparing builds and testing them and then taking the hours of time to develop the muscle memory for various situations—especially when Thieves don’t have to do anything near that to be just as, if not more, effective than that person of any other profession.

rickshaw.5279:

They nerfed Heartseeker. People still complain.

If they nerf Backstab, people will still complain but then they’ll continue to complain louder about Death Blossom. Once Death Blossom is nerfed people will continue to complain about Thieves downed state. Once that is nerfed people will complain that Stealth is far too long. Once that is nerfed…

People will whine that Thieves are under powered and criticize ANet for their design choices.

Warrior will receive several buffs over this time period.

Heartseeker is fine now; still spammable, still doing nice damage but is a finisher instead of a 1 button win. Downed state is fine. The constant evade from spamming deathblossom is what people don’t like and the vast majority of the forums are already complaining about stealth.

Warrior probably could use a little love.

I just want Thieves to get nerfed so these forums can finally be bearable again.

It seems like every thread I visit on these forums inevitably turns into a Thief hate thread.

deapee.7516:

Punished for not dodging?

First of all, steal is a long-ranged gap closer…which grants stealth and does 4-5k damage…which allows you to immediately backstab.

It’s broken. 100% it’s broken. Why the devs don’t talk about it I don’t know, but people leave the game daily due to the lack of communication.

Hi. Steal can only grant stealth if you have put 20 points into the Shadow arts tree. Doing so you will have sacrificed a lot of damage and steal will barely crit for 4k. If you go into the critical strikes tree, that is if you put 30 points into it. And the range on steal is average, if you want 1,200 range steal you need 10 points in to the trickery tree.

Steal is pretty much fine if you mean C&D grants stealth, well then no kitten it’s supposed to.

If you use Steal while casting CnD, the CnD will hit and grant stealth. This is probably something ANet will change to add some challenge to it.

Freky.1903:

Throw some stunbreakers in your build and try to anticipate where the thief is when he’s stealthed to keep your back to him. If they miss that 1 attack then you have an advantage now.

It’s funny, a few days ago I played my level 80 Thief for the second time in SPvP with a backstab build. I was killing heaps of people very quickly with Basilisk>CnD+Steal (during CnD anim)>Assassin’s Signet>Backstab>Heartseeker (rarely needed). The only issue I had was one Engineer who had the Elixir S trait, but because he was near some others I escaped and went looking for somebody else. Escaping wasn’t particularly difficult with a combination of Shadow Step followed by Hide in Shadows.

Scholar’s runes and an Air sigil add to the fun.

It all happens so fast and unexpectedly that the fail rate is pretty low and it’s about as hard to use as 100blades Warrior – except people don’t see it coming as much and you can run away pretty easily – it’s basically a one trick pony build that’s better than other one trick ponies.

buttski.6135:

i’m quite confident thet anet won’t nerf/buff around the opinions of a bunch of noobs.

Which is why I’m sure the backstab build will be nerfed, despite the whinings of certain nooby Thieves who want an easy-win build.

Dee Jay.2460:

I just want Thieves to get nerfed so these forums can finally be bearable again.

It seems like every thread I visit on these forums inevitably turns into a Thief hate thread.

The nature of stealth classes always makes them hated in MMORPG’s. Thief will always be hated, even when it’s far more balanced.

In the future I’ll probably play more of my Thief, once this absurdity goes away. Going to try and make something that plays more like a GW1 Assassin.

pistol whip gets nerfed, you guys arent content with the fact that they found another spec, you want that nerfed again…. let me ask you O.P do you want what is supposed to be a damage class, to have no damage, would that make you happy?

if they nerf backstab, they will probably figure out another spec, and again… someone somewhere will make another post to please nerf it, until the class is rendered useless.

I do not play a thief in pvp, nor care for it in pvp, but i think people are poking at the class a bit too much, i sometimes die to these burst glassy thieves, i just make sure im aware of his presence and never stop moving.

Knyx.5926:

shalmont.2539:

pistol whip gets nerfed, you guys arent content with the fact that they found another spec, you want that nerfed again…. let me ask you O.P do you want what is supposed to be a damage class, to have no damage, would that make you happy?

if they nerf backstab, they will probably figure out another spec, and again… someone somewhere will make another post to please nerf it, until the class is rendered useless.

I do not play a thief in pvp, nor care for it in pvp, but i think people are poking at the class a bit too much, i sometimes die to these burst glassy thieves, i just make sure im aware of his presence and never stop moving.

Well considering they are really complaining about not having time to react, and when I made a thread called " a redesign" of thief that would successfully give them at LEAST 4 extra seconds to react, and they are NOT jumping all over it. It shows that these whiners, and the whining threads are meaningless banter from a small community of players (forum-goers) that are unwilling to adapt and that their complaints are just younglings who want attention.

true, its just hard sometimes not to respond to these post, I really think that arena net needs to make a specific section called “nerf complaints”

because 70% of the post on the front page of the spvp forum is people complaining about other classes and begging for nerfs.

Heartseeker is still a problem. Damage got reduced, but the fact that it is cruise control for thiefs is still present.
Oh that Mesmer/Ele just blinked away? Press 2.
The leap still has to go.

If you need a gapcloser: Dancing Dagger/Shadow Shot.

Varonth.5830:

Heartseeker is still a problem. Damage got reduced, but the fact that it is cruise control for thiefs is still present.
Oh that Mesmer/Ele just blinked away? Press 2.
The leap still has to go.

If you need a gapcloser: Dancing Dagger/Shadow Shot.

I dont remember the last time i died to heart seaker, roll one, if you have a shield block the other, you may get hit with one, but they can only spam it 3 times in a row far as i know? after that, just faceroll on your keyboard, and the theif dies, most thieves are glassy.

shalmont.2539:

Knyx.5926:

shalmont.2539:

pistol whip gets nerfed, you guys arent content with the fact that they found another spec, you want that nerfed again…. let me ask you O.P do you want what is supposed to be a damage class, to have no damage, would that make you happy?

if they nerf backstab, they will probably figure out another spec, and again… someone somewhere will make another post to please nerf it, until the class is rendered useless.

I do not play a thief in pvp, nor care for it in pvp, but i think people are poking at the class a bit too much, i sometimes die to these burst glassy thieves, i just make sure im aware of his presence and never stop moving.

Well considering they are really complaining about not having time to react, and when I made a thread called " a redesign" of thief that would successfully give them at LEAST 4 extra seconds to react, and they are NOT jumping all over it. It shows that these whiners, and the whining threads are meaningless banter from a small community of players (forum-goers) that are unwilling to adapt and that their complaints are just younglings who want attention.

true, its just hard sometimes not to respond to these post, I really think that arena net needs to make a specific section called “nerf complaints”

because 70% of the post on the front page of the spvp forum is people complaining about other classes and begging for nerfs.

Yes, me and a multitude of other players and forum goers want attention, so we post screen shots and videos as evidence of a class that can do the highest burst damage in the easiest manner.

You say your class deserves to be able to do this because you are so squishy, but whenever you mention squishy, somehow you conveniently forget to mention Stealth. It is mind boggling to me.

I can not target you while you are in Stealth. I do not have a Greatsword that I can swing around randomly hoping to hit you. You run away and reset the fight. Even if I stun locked you for 5 seconds, I can not do the damage that would down you. Even when I try to finish you, first you Teleport, and then you go Invisible for another 3 seconds, thus prolonging the fight even longer, on top of doing insane dmg while downed.

But this is about Backstab, and the insane damage that it does for no effort on your part.

shalmont.2539:

Varonth.5830:

Heartseeker is still a problem. Damage got reduced, but the fact that it is cruise control for thiefs is still present.
Oh that Mesmer/Ele just blinked away? Press 2.
The leap still has to go.

If you need a gapcloser: Dancing Dagger/Shadow Shot.

I dont remember the last time i died to heart seaker, roll one, if you have a shield block the other, you may get hit with one, but they can only spam it 3 times in a row far as i know? after that, just faceroll on your keyboard, and the theif dies, most thieves are glassy.

http://wiki.guildwars2.com/wiki/Heartseeker

3 Initiative.
12 is base, 15 with points in trickery.

Depending on the utilities and other traits, they can will gain atleast 3 additional initiative withing 4 heartseeker, and up to 6 if lucky.

Also does anything really believe, that chasing a target should just require pressing 2?
A thief can catch someone without touching his mouse or WASD just by pressing 2.
For me atleast, that does seem wrong and cheap.

Merciless.5349:

shalmont.2539:

Knyx.5926:

shalmont.2539:

pistol whip gets nerfed, you guys arent content with the fact that they found another spec, you want that nerfed again…. let me ask you O.P do you want what is supposed to be a damage class, to have no damage, would that make you happy?

if they nerf backstab, they will probably figure out another spec, and again… someone somewhere will make another post to please nerf it, until the class is rendered useless.

I do not play a thief in pvp, nor care for it in pvp, but i think people are poking at the class a bit too much, i sometimes die to these burst glassy thieves, i just make sure im aware of his presence and never stop moving.

Well considering they are really complaining about not having time to react, and when I made a thread called " a redesign" of thief that would successfully give them at LEAST 4 extra seconds to react, and they are NOT jumping all over it. It shows that these whiners, and the whining threads are meaningless banter from a small community of players (forum-goers) that are unwilling to adapt and that their complaints are just younglings who want attention.

true, its just hard sometimes not to respond to these post, I really think that arena net needs to make a specific section called “nerf complaints”

because 70% of the post on the front page of the spvp forum is people complaining about other classes and begging for nerfs.

Yes, me and a multitude of other players and forum goers want attention, so we post screen shots and videos as evidence of a class that can do the highest burst damage in the easiest manner.

You say your class deserves to be able to do this because you are so squishy, but whenever you mention squishy, somehow you conveniently forget to mention Stealth. It is mind boggling to me.

I can not target you while you are in Stealth. I do not have a Greatsword that I can swing around randomly hoping to hit you. You run away and reset the fight. Even if I stun locked you for 5 seconds, I can not do the damage that would down you. Even when I try to finish you, first you Teleport, and then you go Invisible for another 3 seconds, thus prolonging the fight even longer, on top of doing insane dmg while downed.

But this is about Backstab, and the insane damage that it does for no effort on your part.

A. If you cannot guess where the thief is going to be after he stealths. This is a L2P issue not a class one.

B. If you cannot kill a backstab build thief in a couple swings with a GS warrior. L2p Issue not a class one.

C. A thief cannot keep going in and out of stealth if he is actually attacking you. L2p issue, not a class one

D. Screenshots posted? ahhh you must mean the ones from the warrior that got hit by a big backstab with frenzy up. The screenshots even show frenzy on cd, but ofc the whiners wouldn’t see that, just the backstab numbers.
-D(a) Or perhaps you mean the screenshot of the player who says they are 1 shotted by a backstab in 1 second. Where the screenshot either shows multiple backstabs, or shows CnD damage, Mug damage, backstab damage and heartseeker damage with backstab just at the top of the list? Key hint: Screenshots do not show how long it took to kill you either…

E. Or perhaps you mean the video of a thief playing and showcasing their build where it was completely edited (even the uploader said it was heavily edited) to only show their successful kills and not all the times they failed? lol….just…lol

Playing guessing games is probably not what they had in mind when designing this game. I believe that.

I don’t use a GS. I play Necro. You don’t have to bring up the Staff to me as AOE’s. I know about them. And how often they work or not.

The Thief is in Stealth right before attacking and in Stealth while running away.

There’s one of many. And look around some more. You’ll see even better examples.

You can also watch my video if you want. And troll along with the other Thieves on the Youtube comments. I never deleted any of them.

(The last 2 clips)

And I g2g to work now for at least 14 hours, so I can no longer be a part of this discussion. I said all I needed to say.

I am just waiting until the patch.

Merciless, I’ve come to the opinion that you whine way too much and you’re pretty poor at playing Necromancer. You lack some understanding regarding downed state – Thief is not the only class that can down you while you’re unable to do anything; Guardian, Warrior, Ranger, Elementalist and Mesmer can also do this. It is not overpowered.

Thief’s downed state is fine.

Mesmer’s Moa Morph is also fine, especially if you learn to recognize the animation and dodge, block or CC accordingly. It has 180 second recharge.

However, I do have to agree with a small part of your statement – if you ignore almost five minutes of that video you posted. The Thief near the end did 18,733 damage in two attacks instantly – not including the other half of the burst that came from haste* combined with combo attacks – and that combined with Thief’s escape and evade abilities this is, in my opinion, too much.

*Quickness is fine; but I do wish the others were like Warrior’s variant.

I like how he posts a screenshot of being hit by like 4+ (from 3 classes) different class abilties for 5-10k damage and thinks it proves anything. I would call that balance, yes I would.

He proved himself wrong and didn’t even know it.

The way I see it is that the enemy dodges my backstab, I miss because of it, but then I get to try and backstab again.

There’s no break of stealth if he successfully evades my backstab. I only break stealth after 4 second or if I successfully hit him.

So the enemy did successfully dodge, but I still get to have a few more goes.

When are these idiotic thieves going to get their heads out of their kitten and stop defending 10-15k backstabs. It doesn’t matter how kittening squishy the thief is, he should never be able to do 10k+ with 1 skill and pretty much instagib just about anyone if they time their burst.

People will cry about thieves until they stop getting killed by them. Well guess what. If a thief can’t kill you, then that means thieves will be the undisputed weakest profession in the game. Why? Because good players are already able to deal with thieves. Pro players using any profession with the correct traits and gear can counter the supposedly OP glass cannon thieves. Their burst gimmick is a one trick pony that skilled PvPers have learned to anticipate and negate. Once countered, glass cannon backstab thieves shatter just as the name suggests. With 14K hp, no defensive stats whatsoever, and their best burst on cooldown, good players make quick work of them.

In team battles of 2 or more where people are actually supporting each other and dropping AoEs, backstab thieves quickly lose their utility and are forced to sit out with a bow for most of the fight. (Anyone who complains about thief shortbow is so blinded by thief hate that they’re not worth listening to)

Hopefully Anet does the smart thing and nerfs Assassin’s signet so the “OMG I got crit for 14K at under 50% HP” QQ will go away. It’s mostly overkill at that point anyway. If they nerf backstab then thieves in every part of the game will be pretty useless. DPS is their thing. It’s what makes them worth having in your group or on your team. Take that away and what do they have? Basically just shadow refuge.

Valhallen.1693:

Pro players using any profession with the correct traits and gear can counter the supposedly OP glass cannon thieves.

You shouldn’t need to base your traits and gear around countering one build from a single class – That is not balance.

Valhallen.1693:

Once countered, glass cannon backstab thieves shatter just as the name suggests. With 14K hp, no defensive stats whatsoever, and their best burst on cooldown, good players make quick work of them.

Unless they decide to disengage from the fight. If there is more than one person in the fight – which there usually is – then you don’t usually have the time and safety to go play cat and mouse with Thieves, especially if they’ve just jumped 1200 units then disappeared.

Valhallen.1693:

Hopefully Anet does the smart thing and nerfs Assassin’s signet so the “OMG I got crit for 14K at under 50% HP” QQ will go away. It’s mostly overkill at that point anyway.

Assassin’s signet is overkill, I agree.

Valhallen.1693:

If they nerf backstab then thieves in every part of the game will be pretty useless. DPS is their thing. It’s what makes them worth having in your group or on your team. Take that away and what do they have? Basically just shadow refuge.

If you believe this to be true, then you have an issue, especially because professions in Guild Wars 2 are supposed to be capable at filling various roles and play styles. Just because backstab Thieves need adjusting doesn’t mean Thief should miss out on boosts in other areas, it might even make the profession interesting to play.

I love these threads. I play Ele and Theif in PvP and I’ve played only PvP since head start. I can tell you without a doubt that backstab is pretty dumb in its current state. People equate it to 100b warriors, but it’s not true because you can time and effectively negate the damage from a 100b warrior. A thief who casts CnD-Steal-Backstab with signet up, in about 1.3 seconds should take 80% of your health. I don’t even play this on my theif anymore because it is such a joke build and it will 100% get nerfed. I don’t want to waste time enjoying a spec that will be fixed.

And for those of you saying they are glass cannons. How do you not understand that stealth negates the need to spec for toughness / high vitality because you can reset a fight at will. For the guy who replied, “for those of you that can’t guess where a thief is in stealth, L2P”….are you serious? When I run my shortbow 2nd weapon, I stealth and then SB#5 and I’m gone. i’ll come back and fight you when I’m ready. There is no stopping me and 1v1 I will not die even as a “glass cannon” spec. I may not kill you every time, but I can surely avoid death.

In the end, of course this will be fixed, I just hope what Anet does doesn’t negatively affect the other aspects of the thief. There are many thieves who play that class with skill and who despise being called a 1-trick-pony, because in the right hands, the class can take high skill and be very dangerous. But unfortunately, in the wrong hands it can take very low skill and still be incredibly dangerous.

Anyway, I’m going to keep an eye on this thread because I actually enjoy the banter.

rickshaw.5279:

They nerfed Heartseeker. People still complain.

If they nerf Backstab, people will still complain but then they’ll continue to complain louder about Death Blossom. Once Death Blossom is nerfed people will continue to complain about Thieves downed state. Once that is nerfed people will complain that Stealth is far too long. Once that is nerfed…

People will whine that Thieves are under powered and criticize ANet for their design choices.

Warrior will receive several buffs over this time period.

So kitten true on the Warrior part LMAO.

So had another match last night, 7 thieves in other team again, all but one was a backstab build.

So much fun dropping dead instantly with my 27k hps and not even seeing your opponent.

There’s not really a counter to 10k,5k,5k in the space of a second and someone else doing the same. I’d rather have two warriors HB me, least I have a chance to respond.

When you see that many people flock to a class with the same build you know it’s op’d. It’s just kids/bad players who want an I win class because they want…an ego boost? I’m yet to see more than a couple of warriors in a game anymore. Since everyone can avoid HB now it’s become pretty pointless, and since outside of HB warriors don’t have any burst, they’re pretty pointless.

To the thief who said a few swings of a greatsword should take down a thief…you do know GS swing damage outside of HB is the lowest damaging weapon?

If the damage were always avoidable by “playing smart” (aka knows as the pseud-argument of “it is balanced, just dodge it”) there would be less complaining on the forum.

However, the whole thing is rather cheap an’ cheesy. Why?
1. The combo is easy to pull off, especially with a macro
2. If you even succeed in screwing it up, you can get easily away with stealth and get another attempt on a free kill 45 sec later
3. If you really want to land that backstab you can do it by pre/chain-stealthing or waiting when someone is occupied

You know that something’s wrong in the scenario if you add the whole damage this combo does in this brief period of time and then compare it to power specs of other classes and how long it takes them to do this time of damage.

Things get worse when 2 rogues gang up on one target. It is basically instant death before you can react.

Lastly, please stop the “but thieves are squishy”. With the plethora of means to go into stealth plus the render bug thieves are more endurable than classes they claim to be tougher. Of course this doesn’t hold true for all scenarios but that goes both ways.

In General: However, the burst in this game is simply too high considering there are no healers. Quickness is also to blame here. It is also not balanced that certain classes have 1-move/combo and when it lands for whatever reason the game is over – however, other classes do not have that.

Addendum: What cracks me up is seeing the same people complain about the popularity of tank specs. Guess why…

if you make a thief you can still get backstabbed for 10 k you know

@felivear and Asmodean: You are spot on.

I don’t really mind thieves in general, but I DO mind, that it is so easy to obtain so much with so little effort.

My feeling is, that the opportunists know this. Why do I say this? I say this, because having 8 thieves in a random spvp feels like there are few thieves in it. And I say this, because the skill-level between good thieves and bad thieves is increasing, and while you can feel it when you play them, it is not really reflected in the impact (other, than I don’t die to the bad ones 1vs1 if we meet on even terms, which is rare unfortunately).

The amount of thieves is becoming annoying (for me at least) which results in flaming thieves in general, which is not really justified. Is there any non-opportunist who don’t want the skill-level required to make an impact on thieves to be raised?

I don’t mind Thieves backstabbing so hard, but consequences of such situation are kinda mixed. In sPvP there are lots of Thieves, they are easy to play on low ranks and has great perfomance making like 50% of all killing blows, and ofc 2 of them backstabbing you simulantiously leaves u allmost no chances, but it’s ok, I’m more concerned of such popularity of class making sPvP less diverse. Though advantage of big number of thievs is that a decent percentage of them is not that skilled and becomes a free kill after failing to kill you with burst.
So maybe there should be some nerf to control their population.. the class has a great potential, so I’m sure skilled players will suffer not that much.

If they nerf Backstab, people will still complain but then they’ll continue to complain louder about Death Blossom. Once Death Blossom is nerfed people will continue to complain about Thieves downed state. Once that is nerfed people will complain that Stealth is far too long. Once that is nerfed…

You know what’s funny about your post? Most people, even those playing thieves, consider ALL of those to be valid complaints about thieves.

ANet themselves said downed state (of all classes) needs to be looked at. Some classes have virtually useless downed states (Engi, for example), while others have near-godly downed states (Thief, Mesmer).

Stealth probably needs to be looked at. Not so much because of thief, but because of mesmer. Their ability to create 3 phantasms relatively quick, and then hop from stealth to stealth while still doing a large portion of their normal damage and remaining invulnerable is a game-breaker. Also, in no other MMO could you regain stealth in combat so often.

And Backstab and Death Blossom are self-explanatory.

OK, please, explain… how the HELL do you consider the engi downstate useless!?
HOW!?

I wonder how many people who complain about Backstabs damage actually use traits designed to mitigate such damage… They are often rather awesome that seem tragically underused.

The Boz.2038:

OK, please, explain… how the HELL do you consider the engi downstate useless!?
HOW!?

Compared to a Thief’s and Mesmer’s downstate for avoiding a stomp? Do I need to draw it for you, in crayon?

shalmont.2539:

pistol whip gets nerfed, you guys arent content with the fact that they found another spec, you want that nerfed again…. let me ask you O.P do you want what is supposed to be a damage class, to have no damage, would that make you happy?

if they nerf backstab, they will probably figure out another spec, and again… someone somewhere will make another post to please nerf it, until the class is rendered useless.

I do not play a thief in pvp, nor care for it in pvp, but i think people are poking at the class a bit too much, i sometimes die to these burst glassy thieves, i just make sure im aware of his presence and never stop moving.

Ok lets clear something up here for everyone new to playing MMO’s like this guy

If you find an overpowered spec in these games, and it gets nerfed…and you find another one, You don’t get a pass and have it never be nerfed..If it’s overpowered in the game, it’s probably going to get a nerf.

There is no freebies ..

Sabbathius.1465:

If they nerf Backstab, people will still complain but then they’ll continue to complain louder about Death Blossom. Once Death Blossom is nerfed people will continue to complain about Thieves downed state. Once that is nerfed people will complain that Stealth is far too long. Once that is nerfed…

Stealth probably needs to be looked at. Not so much because of thief, but because of mesmer. Their ability to create 3 phantasms relatively quick, and then hop from stealth to stealth while still doing a large portion of their normal damage and remaining invulnerable is a game-breaker. Also, in no other MMO could you regain stealth in combat so often.

I am not sure it’s just to say that “decoy” is a game-breaker stealth 3 sec once per 40 sec. Yes, I personally enjoy mesmer and I agree that its PvP perfomance is great. But absolutely not because of stealth. Most time I use for escaping combining with blink, or to avoid contact with enemy once I’m overwhelmped, or to revive a teammate, it’s an utility skill, not combat one. And thief stealth after steal, after CnD and heal+ increased duraction, but that’s the reason he is thief))

I think that all the stealth skills should be nerfed to have normal damage output, and be made to be more along the lines of a utility skill, as they are just a bad design idea for a game that teaches you that you need to watch out for visual clues when dodging. But the problem is also largely that people simply do not move around enough, and generally make stupid decisions. Don’t make yourself an easy target by waiting for the Thief to come out of stealth, while you stand still in the node. Keep moving, constantly, and throw down those AoE attacks and control skills. Look for patterns, ad try to predict where the Thief is moving to. Act, don’t react.

Thieves have 10k base health, glass cannon thieves don’t get vitality nore do they get toughness.

2-3 autoattacks of a greatsword will kill them.

So everyone needs to run with stunbreaker none glass cannon build and have anticipate thieves moves while thief can go without stunbreaker in glass cannon build and have no worries of failing opener because thief can get away easy.

But to ansver OP’s topic, I really dont care anymore. sPvP turned into garbage of thief fest and they all claim to be pro. 31st Oct, Natrual Selection 2 is out and I will play that. At least they got all tools for esports correct and already inc ESL tournament.

What weapons do you guys use against thieves?

Kasama.8941:

I think that all the stealth skills should be nerfed to have normal damage output, and be made to be more along the lines of a utility skill, as they are just a bad design idea for a game that teaches you that you need to watch out for visual clues when dodging. But the problem is also largely that people simply do not move around enough, and generally make stupid decisions. Don’t make yourself an easy target by waiting for the Thief to come out of stealth, while you stand still in the node. Keep moving, constantly, and throw down those AoE attacks and control skills. Look for patterns, ad try to predict where the Thief is moving to. Act, don’t react.

I would be glad if backstab did double damage not from behind but for stargazing targets
Half of people killed by backstab are just
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Victimology guys -_-

Daecollo.9578:

What weapons do you guys use against thieves?

I like mesmer staff, chaos storm can daze or chill him and protect you, plus you can phase retreat from them making a combo that gives you chaos armor + your own chaos armor. And I like scepter mainhand or sword offhand with their blocks, well any weapon which let you make thief dump his initiative without killing you.
Same with ele, but prefer scepter + focus. CC+utility saves, and if you lucky enough he may continue attacking you without initiative or some help arives.

Have you ever tried placing AOEs under your feet when the thief is invisible, the thief is a melee class therefore he has to be in melee range to hurt you, so in stealth thieves are usually in AOE range of your character.

When I played a necromancer, I killed thieves by simply placing all my AOEs under myself when I heard there was a thief nearby, I play a thief as well up to 80 so I know all the noises of almost every attack he makes, so I can hear him way before I see him.

Without PvP balance, GW2 will gradually lose players. Thieves and Mesmers are currently the biggest things in need of balance, so if they don’t do it it will be bad for the game.

The thief community currently is spreading misinformation about how easy it is to counter thieves. It’s not easy. Dodging has only limited impact and if you have to create you build specifically to mitigate thief OPness, then that’s an admission of imbalance.

backstab is fine. be flexible in your build dude.
and we have a thief discussion thread post there. instead of opening every day a new merciless.

/reported

“2-3 autoattacks of a greatsword will kill them.”

Again!!! Where is this delusion that greatsword hits for so much!. Do you even pvp?

2 attacks of a greatsword will hit for 700-1100k each. It’s one of the worst auto attack weapons warriors have. Wow..i hope you be trollin friend.

And shiNn…../reporting a player for a regular post?, Is that how you function? If you can’t argue or give examples you just cry to teacher? How about you put on some big boy pants and explain how to adjust your build to avoid said damage so easily?

Wow, it’s pretty hard to spot the thieves in this thread clinging on with dear life to thier ridiculous damage numbers.

meh getting killed by a backstab thief is a little over rated, you get killed if you stay put and wait for him to open
…use defensive abilities if u see the thief so nice to see them backstab you for 0 damage
or backstab your shield
ahhh I just love it