Guild Wars 2

[Thieves]

Today I fought a Pistol/Dagger thief that did nothing but run far from me, shoot once/twice, and disappear. Sometimes with Shadow + Leap, Cloak and Dagger (these I could’ve avoided, but by then he had done it twice already) or some other stealth form.

I can’t shoot PbAoE blindly hoping it’ll hit him right? Anywhere in the 360 radius he could’ve moved to…

The only times I could get some damage in was when I RTL → Updraft → Burning Speed → Ring of Fire, but then he’d disappear and be back with nearly full health by the time he reappeared.

How do I win against this?

[Mesmers]

I don’t get much about Mesmers (trying to) but sometimes I fight ones that simply… disappear every second. I don’t know how (couldn’t understand from the skills either) but even if I do destroy all illusions they pop as fast as they go down, and it seems the Mesmer is always fine because his health isn’t going down.

How to win against this?

Any other tips against some hard/annoying profession builds are welcomed too. Thanks!

That’s an attrition thief and you’ll be hard pressed to kill a good one. Best chance is to not blow your stun cooldowns until you know they’ll connect and then land your entire chain. Definitely a hard fight against a skilled player. Best option is to call for backup, just has to be one person though.

For Mesmers you should always put a target on the real one – easy ways to pick it out are; that it will be dodging, watching obvious skill casts, and you can also tell from its Buff Bar. It will drop target by going invis or blinking, but they don’t have too many of those. It will stay through dodges though, and I feel that might be where you’re getting caught – more so than burning their utilities on stealths. If you happen to lose them, just back out, get some range on them, pick out the real one and re-engage. Standing in the midst of all their clones and panning trying to figure out where they’ve run off too is just asking to be spiked.

I also wouldn’t focus so much on destroying the illusions, unless it’s a duelist. The others will drop to our AoE and won’t be much of an issue, especially since clones do next to know damage.

And dodging into the clones when they run towards you is a given to avoid shatters.
Also watch for their Illusionary Leap – the sword 3 that shoots a clone right next to you. Dodge instantly at that and they’ll burn a lot of their damage.

Don’t waste your burst/cc’s into their Blur/Distortion – the swirly purple buff they get from one of their shatters and their Sword 2 skill, it’s an invul.

Ether Renewal completely stomps Thieves like that.

Danicco.3568:

[Thieves]
The only times I could get some damage in was when I RTL -> Updraft -> Burning Speed -> Ring of Fire, but then he’d disappear and be back with nearly full health by the time he reappeared.

How do I win against this?

If you can nail your combo this far, you’ve pretty much won the fight already. Just proceed to use Magnetic Grasp/Magnetic Leap for immo and Fire Aura -> Earth 4 -> Earth 2 -> Water 3 etc. Most thieves will be shredded to pieces, as long as they won’t shadow step out of your reach.

Fighting thieves in general is quite monotous. It’s obligatory to dodge their CnD/Mug/x, which shouldn’t be too much of a problem unless you’re taken by a surprise. Usually after this it’s easy to nail your RTL bomb. They will most likely try to use escape using Hide in Shadows, but as long as you can nail your Magnetic Grasp they’re basically free meat. They may be stealthed, but they still take the beating.

P/D thieves tend to stack loads of conditions on you, so Ether Renewal is an asset, as said before.

This may have been obvious, but hope it helps.

If they keep running away, haven’t you already won? They aren’t on the point :P

Ritt.3069:

This may have been obvious, but hope it helps.

Nope, it was really helpful, thanks!

I don’t have much experience with PvP and I haven’t played any stealth profession so I’m usually at a loss when they disappear. I know they can take damage while stealthed, but I keep thinking “They must be far already”.

emikochan.8504:

If they keep running away, haven’t you already won? They aren’t on the point :P

The fight with the thief happened with him attacking the point, and I didn’t knew what to do as I watched my health going down steadily…
I tried to stay inside the point the most I could, but I was kinda afraid of getting backstabbed… I got one~two shotted way too many times in WvW already.

Against insanely overpowered Warriors, anyone got any tips?

I usually don’t have trouble with them as I can avoid and outlast their damage, but today I got one in various 1v1s and he immobilized me every 5~10 seconds or so.
I got only one Lightning Flash and one Mist Form… I lost pretty much all health in the third Hundred Blades + Whirlwind Attack.

He had tons of health/armor too as he didn’t go down from two RTL -> Updraft -> Burning Speed -> Ring of Fire and a couple autoattacks and one Churning Earth.

Also, I’m having some trouble with all ranged engineers and thieves, even though I’m using Soldier Amulet + Berserk Gem, their ranged damage is way over the top… like that Thief’s dual pistol barrage, even when I dodge the few ones that hit takes like 10~20% of my health… any tips for dealing with heavy ranged damage?

I’m cycling my 3rd utility as I don’t know what to use… I’m using Mist Form, Lightning Flash, and for my 3rd I used to have Frost Bow when I happened across a zerg x zerg, but I didn’t got to use it that much so I’m discarding it for something else.

Also, build is 20/20/0/20/10 with Fire, Air and Water Alacrity Traits, Fire Damage, Zephyr’s Boon, Quicker Cantrips, and Renewing Stamina.
(I don’t like playing bunker so I’m going with a more offensive build)

Any tips are welcomed!

Danicco.3568:

Against insanely overpowered Warriors, anyone got any tips?

Also, build is 20/20/0/20/10 with Fire, Air and Water Alacrity Traits, Fire Damage, Zephyr’s Boon, Quicker Cantrips, and Renewing Stamina.
(I don’t like playing bunker so I’m going with a more offensive build)

Any tips are welcomed!

Warriors are usually by far the easiest class to overcome. Most of the warriors will play gs builds, which are plain predictable and easy to avoid. The key to beating a warrior is dodging his bull’s charge, shield bash and other c&d’s. Most of them have a very distinctive characteristics, so they should not be all that hard to avoid. You have probable specced Arcane for Cantrips, so you should have a lot of Vigor and therefore be able to dodge most of the hits. If not, consider doing so.

By what I gathered you were immobilized a lot by the warrior. This is probably because you got hit by his bolas; it’s a 20 sec cooldown skill, effective if hit. It is fairly easy to avoid. However, if you happen to get stuck, you have a lot of options. You can shadow step/mist form to save your back, but I prefer switching to water, as it cleanses conditions. You should probably use Cleansing Wave as a Water Major, as it useful for both you and your team.

You should also consider Armor of earth. Some warriors like to spec all their utilities in c&d’s, making Armor of Earth a very solid option.

Also know when to strike; if you can see him using Endure pain or Blocking, you should take it easy for a while. On the contrary, if you see him using Frenzy, that’s your cue to combo him with all you’ve got, as he will take double damage.

I know this obvious, but keep the warrior chilled/crippled/immobilized as much you can. Their cond removal is horrible, and you will pretty much shut them out if you use the conditions consistently.