Guild Wars 2

the best roaming class is the the class that shoot first !

Terrahero.9358:

Just look at the suggestion here, go condition build on thief. P/D has zero chase, if anyone descides to just walk away from you there is really not a lot you can do to stop him.

Are you kittening kidding me? P/D still can use shortbow as secondary weapon to chase you with infiltrator arrow, and you can use the shadowstep signet and shadowstep itself as utility… Also Condition thieves apply torment, and I’m sure you know what happens if you try to run with torment. It’s much easier for me to get away from a D/P or D/D thief than from a P/D.

Jeknar.6184:

Terrahero.9358:

Just look at the suggestion here, go condition build on thief. P/D has zero chase, if anyone descides to just walk away from you there is really not a lot you can do to stop him.

Are you kittening kidding me? P/D still can use shortbow as secondary weapon to chase you with infiltrator arrow, and you can use the shadowstep signet and shadowstep itself as utility… Also Condition thieves apply torment, and I’m sure you know what happens if you try to run with torment. It’s much easier for me to get away from a D/P or D/D thief than from a P/D.

If a thief uses SB5 to chase you, especially P/D, then they will quickly run out of ini to CnD off you, leaving them incredibly vulnerable for several seconds.
Infiltrator signet – yes that is a good choice.

Best choice for single target chase – Sword 2 and steal + basilisk venom… Easier, less ini cost – more devastating

Jeknar.6184:

Are you kittening kidding me? P/D still can use shortbow as secondary weapon to chase you with infiltrator arrow, and you can use the shadowstep signet and shadowstep itself as utility…

I would also add that most condi thieves I know don’t need to go into the precision trait line allowing them to get a VERY long range steal (1500) that comes back ridiculously quickly. They also frequently have a higher init regen than their D/D brethren.

Also the best ones I know D/P as the second weapon for the cheap Shadow Shot movement/blind and occasional BP/HS combo.

Honestly that build is one of the cheapest builds in the game. Virtually unkillable unless they make a mistake, can close ridiculous distances making escape almost impossible, REALLY difficult to remove condis faster than they can apply them, can apply near permanent blindness, rarely get close to a target to deliver constant damage and they are also fairly durable. They suck in skirmish but solo one of the strongest class builds by far.

Steal range is in Trickery (steal recharge + condi).
Ini recovery is in trickery, acrobatics and Shadow Arts…. Please Straegen. You should know this by now. Even i do and i play PP + SD…

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Terrahero.9358:

Terrahero.9358:

Just look at the suggestion here, go condition build on thief. P/D has zero chase, if anyone descides to just walk away from you there is really not a lot you can do to stop him.

Are you kittening kidding me? P/D still can use shortbow as secondary weapon to chase you with infiltrator arrow, and you can use the shadowstep signet and shadowstep itself as utility… Also Condition thieves apply torment, and I’m sure you know what happens if you try to run with torment. It’s much easier for me to get away from a D/P or D/D thief than from a P/D.

So So wrong pd using sb will do basically no damage with chasing give the opponent a chance to recover. Using infiltrator arrow will was all the thief initiative pd with auto attack only do very little damage. Running away from power spec is far harder.
1. Auto attacks from power dagger thiefs hurt 2. you make it easy for thief to land backstab by presenting them your back. 3. Trying to out run a heatseeker at low health will get you killed

Straegen.2938:

Jeknar.6184:

Are you kittening kidding me? P/D still can use shortbow as secondary weapon to chase you with infiltrator arrow, and you can use the shadowstep signet and shadowstep itself as utility…

I would also add that most condi thieves I know don’t need to go into the precision trait line allowing them to get a VERY long range steal (1500) that comes back ridiculously quickly. They also frequently have a higher init regen than their D/D brethren.

Also the best ones I know D/P as the second weapon for the cheap Shadow Shot movement/blind and occasional BP/HS combo.

Honestly that build is one of the cheapest builds in the game. Virtually unkillable unless they make a mistake, can close ridiculous distances making escape almost impossible, REALLY difficult to remove condis faster than they can apply them, can apply near permanent blindness, rarely get close to a target to deliver constant damage and they are also fairly durable. They suck in skirmish but solo one of the strongest class builds by far.

There are lots of counters to pd condi thief scepter/focus ele being one of the best hard counters https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=usMYNWy1cPw.

necro ftw, enough said

vincecontix.1264:

Straegen.2938:

Jeknar.6184:

Are you kittening kidding me? P/D still can use shortbow as secondary weapon to chase you with infiltrator arrow, and you can use the shadowstep signet and shadowstep itself as utility…

I would also add that most condi thieves I know don’t need to go into the precision trait line allowing them to get a VERY long range steal (1500) that comes back ridiculously quickly. They also frequently have a higher init regen than their D/D brethren.

Also the best ones I know D/P as the second weapon for the cheap Shadow Shot movement/blind and occasional BP/HS combo.

Honestly that build is one of the cheapest builds in the game. Virtually unkillable unless they make a mistake, can close ridiculous distances making escape almost impossible, REALLY difficult to remove condis faster than they can apply them, can apply near permanent blindness, rarely get close to a target to deliver constant damage and they are also fairly durable. They suck in skirmish but solo one of the strongest class builds by far.

There are lots of counters to pd condi thief scepter/focus ele being one of the best hard counters https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=usMYNWy1cPw.

Yeah except most any thief using an offhand dagger will simply move to a spot where there’s PvE / ambient creatures to cloak off when they are being shut out, like the raptors in this particular video. It works really well with P/D since the stealth attack is ranged and cloak and dagger isn’t for damage anyway.

I don’t know what the talk off P/D being unable to close is about either. They usually have shadowstep and steal at least, plus a ranged imob and torment. It can’t mash runners to death like a power thief, but it’s certainly not a free run.

People play power builds because damage is damage. You can easily win most 1v1’s with condis and roll over disorganized groups, but organized groups generally design their composition to give the melee players a huge amount of -condi duration (up to -98% with food / runes / purging flames passive effect) and group purging. Or, they play mostly with ranged damage, which neutralizes much of the necro / engi condi pressure with better spacing and distance.

MasterJunior.7150:

necro ftw, enough said

With all the condi roamers, Necro is really a good choice… I love letting condi warrior do a full flurry on me so i can give back their bleeds and watch them die.

Terrahero.9358:

lazycalm.5186:

retsuya.4708:

+40% condi duration food. choose any, Thief, Mesmer,Engineer,Warrior
Pickup dire/rabid

To OP: This is the answer you’re looking for

Dont listen to the “ow just play condition” brigade, there are people who hate condition builds with a passion and want it nerfed. So theyll take any oppertunity to make it sound brokenly OP.
Its not, its far from it. Most people, including roamers, in wvw play a power build and for good reason.

Just look at the suggestion here, go condition build on thief. P/D has zero chase, if anyone descides to just walk away from you there is really not a lot you can do to stop him.
And conditions dont kill anyone fast enough. Thats why almost all thieves are a power build with mostly d/p. Great burst, great chase, great escape. If you cannot kill it, it cannot kill you. If you can kill it, you will kill it.

Is this a joke? P/d has zero chase? really? Thieves are the most mobile class in the game. You know you can still equip a second weapon set right?

Prysin.8542:

Steal range is in Trickery (steal recharge + condi).
Ini recovery is in trickery, acrobatics and Shadow Arts…. Please Straegen. You should know this by now. Even i do and i play PP + SD…

I said P/D thieves don’t need to go into the precision trait line so they can easily go into Trickery and Acrobatics. D/D thieves generally require Critical Strikes since that line comprises a big chunk of their damage. Basically proving my point that non-D/D thieves are VERY fast and can out run most other classes. I think you need to re-read what I posted.

vincecontix.1264:

There are lots of counters to pd condi thief scepter/focus ele being one of the best hard counters

They have counters but to kill one pretty much requires them to make a mistake. Most will strafe a player and move on when the fight heats up… or more likely hang around until you are wounded by another player/NPC and mop up. Cheap build… apply DoTs, go invis/kite, keep players blinded so skills have minimal effect and use superior mobility when a fight turns. Their hardest counter that I know of is a power build thief.

Jeknar.6184:

With all the condi roamers, Necro is really a good choice… I love letting condi warrior do a full flurry on me so i can give back their bleeds and watch them die.

Then his two friends come along and you are locked in a cage match since a necro simply cannot escape pretty much any other class much less 2+ of them.

1-3 people is not a match for a necro, down the weakeset and use him as bait, and actually if you want to be VERY mobile it is totally possible for a necro, ive seen necros run circles around 5-10 people. I run from 3-5 and in the process 1-2 go down from all my marks i turn around and fight the whole group.

As for thiefs being the most mobile, maybe against a bunch of scrubs but I down them nearly every time. All you do as a necro is keep your staff 5 ready when they are getting low HP and you know that refuge is coming, boom reapers mark, they come out instantly and then shroud n fear, spite, gg.

Terrahero.9358:

Most people, including roamers, in wvw play a power build and for good reason.

Lol! What game are you playing

MasterJunior.7150:

1-3 people is not a match for a necro, down the weakeset and use him as bait, and actually if you want to be VERY mobile it is totally possible for a necro, ive seen necros run circles around 5-10 people. I run from 3-5 and in the process 1-2 go down from all my marks i turn around and fight the whole group.

2+ scrubs maybe. 2 skilled players will wreck any necro even the best ones. I actually have zero fear from a necro alone. They are just too slow and easily kited. Now a necro in a skirmish team can be evil as hell.

MasterJunior.7150:

1-3 people is not a match for a necro, down the weakeset and use him as bait, and actually if you want to be VERY mobile it is totally possible for a necro, ive seen necros run circles around 5-10 people. I run from 3-5 and in the process 1-2 go down from all my marks i turn around and fight the whole group.

As for thiefs being the most mobile, maybe against a bunch of scrubs but I down them nearly every time. All you do as a necro is keep your staff 5 ready when they are getting low HP and you know that refuge is coming, boom reapers mark, they come out instantly and then shroud n fear, spite, gg.

Being able to beat a thief with a necro has nothing to do with their mobility. Necro and engi are pretty much hard counters to thieves, I almost never lose to thieves when playing those professions. My ranger on the other hand probably wins 70% of the time vs thieves but 100% of the time vs necro’s.

Blah, I guess I am one of those mentally insane people who roams on a guardian. I’m on SBI (ex-HoD) and, well, I guess you can’t really miss me, my character is really obvious.

I think escaping as a guardian, whereas not as easy as other classes, can be done with some experience on the class (now, I have 3k hours, don’t need that much, but still, knowing when to dip and how to dip is important). I can solo camps, 1v1, occasionally 1v2, one time 1v5 (that was dumb) and I know how to compete against most classes. And I can usually get away too, and that’s with having dumped traveler runes a while back.

We may be low down in the hierarchy of roamers based on prevalence, but no amount of advice will get me to stop roaming on guardian. Perks are insane burst (with a little timing), good damage mitigation, and never EVER being called cheese. It sometimes really surprises me how few medi guardians are left. In 5 ranks I’ll hit Gold, and playing my class just hasn’t gotten old. So give it a shot

If I spec for it 1v1, I can beat most condi thieves (although combine condi thief and actual player skill and you’ve got a nightmare). My worst matchup is probably celestial d/d ele, because that freaking sustain man…

What other builds give me hell? Probably super tanky cleric/cav/knight hammer warrior with intel sigils, that one is just a nightmare. PU condi I can get away from. Phantasm mesmers are challenging (I use scepter for them, always switch between sword and scepter once I can see the class I’m facing). Other medi guards are a fun matchup but there aren’t any so go start playing it and face meeeeee!