Guild Wars 2

Patience along with some sort of reliable CC (Hammer War, Fear Nec) or dependable AoE (Trap Ranger, Grenade/Bomb Engi) is somewhat effective against any dagger main thief. As long as they are durable enough to live through some initial burst.

Obviously the key is patience, waiting for an opening to put some good damage into them. Same goes when playing thief, and that is what will heavily decide which thieves are good and which are garbage as many will blow their initiative and utilities on a whim. If you can make a thief use all their utilities trying to survive in a short time frame it isn’t so hard to lock them down, at least for a few moments. However, if they save shadowstep to reset the fight then that’s that I suppose.

1. Drop a blueprint on the ground.
2.Wait for the OP thief to grab it. (Thieves are generally greedy, all knows :p)
3.Use your autoattack skill until he dies.
4.Recover the blueprint and be ready for next drop.

On a side note, that build is broken and it will be fixed, real problem is not what he does, real issue is that any beginner can do it, therefore do not talk about “same skill level” when mentioning that particular thief build please.

You probably are looking for this answer, since you have been using the second most lamer class in the game, and you are not used to lose…but that is just in my mind so feel free to ignore and go back to the magic blueprint dropping advanced strategy part.

Sanduskel.1850:

Dynnen.6405:

Everytime they run and reset the fight count that as a win. By the time they actually kill you, you’ve beaten the 3+ times.

that’s an excuse for a poor mechanic.

No, that’s an excuse for a scrub.

Heck, if you run with this rule then the thief won 3+ times by escaping without defeat, and then +1 more for coming back to kill you.

The only time ive lost to a thief on my gaurdian is if im getting jumped. And seeing how it takes no skill to jump people i dont really count that as a lost to a thief.

As someone who plays a D/P roaming thief, here is the list of classes/builds that can give me trouble;

1. Engineers (mostly condi) – Well played condi engineers are tough to beat. Lots of CC, lots of vigor/dodges, lots of damage. The real strength of the D/P thief is that they can get on top of you and use Black Powder (smoke field) to negate damage. When specced properly, Engies can dodge out of/away from smoke, CC the thief, and apply conditions, even while kiting by throwing nades at their feet).

2. Mesmers. Glassy phantasm mesmers are brutal to fight against. If you can’t kill them before they have their phantasms up (iZerker or iDualist or iMage or iSwordsman), you’re in trouble. The instant that your stealth breaks, all of these phantasms will drop their full DPS onto you. Even if you down the mesmer, the phantasms are a pain to deal with while trying to stomp. Most fights are a battle of trying to manage the phantasms while still inflicting DPS into the mesmer himself. Tricky at times. Staff/condi mesmers are also tough to beat. I don’t typically die to them, but when well played, actually killing one is a chore and can result in a stalemate.

3. Skull Crack warriors – Lights out if they land SC and you’re out of stun-breaks.

4. Hammer warriors – Similar to the SC warrior, good hammer warriors can punish you if you find yourself out of stun breaks. Knock you down and keep you there until you’re dead.

5. Axe warriors – Eviscerate hits like a truck. If you get caught by one, you’re in trouble.

6. Glassy necros – I have run into several necros who can chain fear and have a thief dead before it runs out. This is definitely something that can be countered, but if the thief screws up at all, it’s game over.

7. DPS specced guardians – Ground based DPS abilities can still land solid damage through a smoke field. Lots of health regen, invuln, blocks when needed. Burning hurts.

Now that I look at the list, that is nearly every class (other than ranger). In defense of the ranger class, I have run into some very well played ranger builds that gave be a run for my money, but they are so rarely encountered that they don’t weigh heavily on my mind. You’ll notice that most of the classes that I, personally, can have trouble with are other DPS builds. Since the D/P thief can disengage and perma-stealth/regen health if he/she is allowed to, burst damage (either direct or condi) is the most dangerous thing to fight against.

And in the next patch they get immobilize duration to stack…. omg.

I don’t think D/P does too good against any bunkerish spec that can still deal viable damage. The damage output isn’t too sustainable without putting yourself at risk.

A jumping bean sword thief in my estimation is far more difficult to beat.

As an engineer I figured out if you stand still and let them come to you its easiest literally don’t move unless its a backwards dodge to throw them off i also play static discharge build with perma vigor up i just dodge use stun breaker,overcharged shot,analyze,surprise shot,net shot when i see them lay down that smoke field and heart seeker in a direction i use my leap to that area because of the huge area it effects now it will normally crit them for around 6-9k if the sd doesn’t kill them first

I can win, either by killing or simply forcing them to run and not dying, over 50% of the time on my Condition-based Trap Ranger, where the stealth, knockback, channel through stealth of Rapid Fire and AoE from Barrage on Longbow all suit such an encounter well.

The AoE damage from Torch 5 and the traps is also very well suited against thieves, where their stealthing is less of an issue and more of an opportunity – if you’ve forced a thief to retreat to Shadow Refuge, it pretty much works in our favor as if/when you get the AoE down, they are toast. Successful CC and conditions from pets often make the difference as well.

In fact, a certain percentage of the time, the thief will pop out of stealth a distance away, downed, due to burning or bleeds…the only fights of this kind that I lose are where something goes wrong (pet F2 fail, long-casting heal is interrupted or I take too much damage in the initial opening attack from stealth) or the thief is exceedingly good and/or lucky. Otherwise, it’s a stalemate or win for me as they must disengage.

As for preventing me from taking camps, this is one area where Entangle is actually of use – with the amount of AoE I can put out, and the addition of stealth as an ‘oh kitten’ option, that’s very rarely a problem anymore either. It’s probably the one thing Rangers excel at honestly.

um…s/d >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> d/p

LB Burst ranger has 50/50 chances against any class/build, even the most kitten thief, the first who attacks wins.

Imo its the only build that can have a real chance even against the best played d/p thief.

With Sick Em’, double bow and some CC, Ranger can lock D/P Thief for long enough to kill. The only flaw is thief opener, after you survive and start counterpressure, they either start to run very far with Infiltrator’s Arrow now to not get caught by shout and restelath or they take the challange. In second scenario, especiaply if you have both Bows, it’s very possible to kill them within 4-6 seconds.

Does anything beat a competent D/P Thief?

Yes.

A competent player.

I burned alot down using a Carrion guardian Sword/Torch, Wand/Focus
In Dueling with friends, and WvW.

Judge’s intervention, Smite condition, Retreat, Renewal Focus.

Burning, retaliation, Aegis Spamming. 50% of the time they’ll run off and choose to instagib a noob…but if they try to engage you, the AoE burns and gap closers melt thieves lol.

Also Sword/Dagger and Greatsword Ranger can go toe to toe with thieves, #4 greatsword to cancel out backstab, and the 3 evades from sword/dagger to be kitten while Hyena chains knockdowns. When he does his Elite summon which he will, Disengage #2 sword, #3 greatsword leap have pet slow him down= angry thief lol

kingcragus.6810:

Does anything beat a competent D/P Thief?

Yes.

A competent player.

I guess I am totally incompetent….over 15k kills in WvW and I constantly get owned by thieves.

Sreoom.3690:

kingcragus.6810:

Does anything beat a competent D/P Thief?

Yes.

A competent player.

I guess I am totally incompetent….over 15k kills in WvW and I constantly get owned by thieves.

Maybe your build isn’t suited for beating them. There is no such thing as a perfect build!

LHound.8964:

Sreoom.3690:

kingcragus.6810:

Does anything beat a competent D/P Thief?

Yes.

A competent player.

I guess I am totally incompetent….over 15k kills in WvW and I constantly get owned by thieves.

Maybe your build isn’t suited for beating them. There is no such thing as a perfect build!

Perhaps. I’ve asked it in other forums…what ranger builds will allow equally skilled Ranger vs thief a 50-50 outcome? The non-answers and answers all say the same…there is none.

I’ve seen a good ranger beat a good thief consistently in duels, running longbow and greatsword iirc. I think she was using wolf as a pet too. Basically she timed her interrupts well, and rapid fire can be a real pain against a thief as the channel will just home on you in stealth. Plus the AoE on barrage can be useful for pressuring a certain area. I can’t give details on the build though as I know little about rangers.

Brangien.7462:

I burned alot down using a Carrion guardian Sword/Torch, Wand/Focus
In Dueling with friends, and WvW.

Judge’s intervention, Smite condition, Retreat, Renewal Focus.

Burning, retaliation, Aegis Spamming. 50% of the time they’ll run off and choose to instagib a noob…but if they try to engage you, the AoE burns and gap closers melt thieves lol.

Also Sword/Dagger and Greatsword Ranger can go toe to toe with thieves, #4 greatsword to cancel out backstab, and the 3 evades from sword/dagger to be kitten while Hyena chains knockdowns. When he does his Elite summon which he will, Disengage #2 sword, #3 greatsword leap have pet slow him down= angry thief lol

I logged in just to say this. Lol glad someone else said it before me because I’m on my phone and hate forums typing on it.

A meditation/block/condi guard will destroy pesky thieves or make then run away burning and crying.

Another class I can down these thieves with is a s/f ele specced properly. They either run or die. Only class that I’ve found to cause me trouble is stun lock wars. But that’s just about avoiding and outlasting them, which is possible just a more challenging fight.