Guild Wars 2

Alright I never roll as a thief, and I can have some trouble dealing with them in pvp, however there has yet to be a thief besting my necro in a 1vs1 in pvp.
This leads me to the other day. I went to wvw to do my dailies, and I met three thieves who had both perma blind, perma stealth and could 1-hit up to 15k damage. I met one of them twice, and could only half his hp before I was out cold, the other two in a group.

Needless to say, why don’t pvp thieves use this build? regardless of foods/ascended gear, those can only raise your dps and crit so much, this build is obviously great, but I’ve never met a pvp thief with this build, I’d imagine it could deal around 13-14k 1 hit damage without foods and whatnot.

Any thief pvp’er who got an idea why it isn’t used in pvp?

They cant reach those numbers in sPvP due to the way the stat system differ. With holding a point also being the entire point, necros are often bunker variants that burn through zerker thieves in seconds. Going +1 in sPvP and being a super l33t cool roamer that 3v1 instakill everything is pretty different in terms of skill.

The best thief I have met in sPvP that could duel my bunker necro which in turn can 1v3 on points was a sb/sword/something evasive build. Didnt even stealth much. kitten was he annoying. Zerker dagger thieves I kill by accident when fighing other peeps but that dude… He was just unkillable.

There are a lot of factors that play into this. Guard stacks, food, ascended gear, bloodlust. All of these things can stack up and give you crazy high stats. Another thing is that certain thief abilities are nerfed in sPvP. For example, Cloak and Dagger does significantly less damage in sPvP than it does in WvW / PvE.

Combine higher stats with stronger versions of skills and you have huge burst.

Not so much the damage that stopped me from fighting the thief, I am aware of the perks of not being in spvp.
No it was more the perma blind, and teleportation(which I forgot to mention) yes stealth is annoying, but every time blind wore of I was blinded again, I was blinded at least15 times in a row, not to mention the stealth and teleport out of the area. I don’t know about bunker necros, my necro can’t 1vs3 anyone, however usually the only 1vs1 I’ve lost in spvp would be against guardians/warriors and that’s not very often.

But that perma blind/perma stealth and constant teleporting, are these skills/traits nerfed that hardly for spvp?

I don’t think a thief can keep anyone perma blind unless you are silly enough to walk into their blinding powder. From the weapons you only get blind from sword (while stealthed, so really hard to do), the shortbow which decimates your initiative, shadow shot that’s somewhat spammable. There are also 2-3 utilities but idk its borderline impossible to keep someone perma blinded with dodges and whatnot while maintaining some survivability as a thief (stun breaks, shadow step, refuge)

Now, if you fight multiple thieves, given they have teamspeak (or just play well together) they could permablind you working as a team. But a single thief?

They probably have SA so they blind when entering stealth. I don’t think thieves are allowed to trait so far down that line in sPvP, they get like burned at the stake or something. And by burned at the stake I mean die constantly and do nothing. And by something I mean usually trying to solo far point.

In WvW a thief can screw up trying to kill you and camp stealth to full heal so they can try again. This doesn’t work so well in PvP because if they are hiding in stealth they aren’t doing anything useful while the points are ticking away. They are much better off using their initiative to stay mobile to decap a point or +1 a fight.

Certain builds are used more in WvW than sPvP due to different stat caps and style of game of each game mode.

It’s what i’ve seen from many PvP only players when facing good WvW thieves for the 1st time. Inexperience vs certain SA builds that thieves employ in WvW.

For instance in PvP you don’t face thieves who are equipped to counter condi AND do big damage. In WvW this is not true. Certain builds can do this and in the right hands completely demolish someone of lesser skill.

I’m not saying you are bad but these players are completely and utterly outplaying you. It’s just in WvW thieves have the tools and freedom to build accordingly.

I hope that helps you.

usernameisapain.7163:

Any thief pvp’er who got an idea why it isn’t used in pvp?

-15k burst damage
-permablind
-permastealth

I am pretty sure you met the (not so great) standard D/D roaming build:
http://metabattle.com/wiki/Build:Thief_-_D/D_roamer

…probably with a few modifications:

-infusion of shadow (CnD costs only 4 Initiative und can be spammed all day=permablind)
-fire+air sigil (for extremely high burst)

This build is pretty weak if you know how it works. It is countered by every other thief build as long as you can avoid its burst.

In pvp it does A LOT LESS damage because of the different CnD coefficient:
https://wiki.guildwars2.com/wiki/Cloak_and_Dagger

Wow. The mythical build that can:
1. 15k damage in 1 button press
2. Permanent stealth
3. Permanent blinds
4. Unlimited evades

This is like a unicorn. I hear they exist, but I haven’t seen this mystical creature.

style.6173:

Wow. The mythical build that can:
1. 15k damage in 1 button press
2. Permanent stealth
3. Permanent blinds
4. Unlimited evades

This is like a unicorn. I hear they exist, but I haven’t seen this mystical creature.

Unicorns are the national animals of Scotland so they are real. Look it up.

Many people say “perma stealth” and have no idea what thy are talking about.(This may not be the case with the OP) I have been accused of much the same. Been told Im being carried by SA. Well I pull big numbers, so Im obviously crit strikes, I also daze, poison, and damage on steal. So therefor no I wasnt running SA.

But if its a lot of stealth then most likely its dagger off-hand with blind on stealth. CnD.

Meaning youre either dealing with a P/D condi thef or a D/D thief. Most S/D thieves just dont run SA.

Given the damage you describe, its likely D/D.

One of the big differences for a thief between WvW and PvP is the reveal on hit from stealth is 1 sec longer in PvP. Not allowing you to chain CnD’s as well.

Therefore you cant pull that stuff off in PvP like you can in WvW. That 1 sec more reveal interrupts the combo that thieves in WvW use. Its why D/D thieves are still viable in WvW, we see them all the time there and yet, no where near as often in PvP, if at all.

With that said, in PvP D/P tends to have more utilities to offer in team fights. From party stealth stacking to interrupts on demand (interrupting stomps and rezes) to consistent gap closers while still being able to deliver the goods.