Guild Wars 2

Hi everyone,
So recently I’ve started playing ele as my main in pvp again, and I feel as though I can demolish almost every spec because I’ve spent time playing the meta specs and learning what to dodge. I can beat hambows, engies, etc. However, I can’t find a way to beat S/D 20066 thieves. I personally have played the spec for a bit on my own thief and I demolish eles. I can’t seem to find a way to counter play evades and ports. Even if I get an updraft on them, I can’t get enough pressure on them to beat good ones. Assuming similar skill(Aka im not fighting a scrub)how can an ele beat an S/D thief? Im running celestial D/D 00266 w str runes btw.

thieves are pretty much the counters to elementalists, unless the thief makes a mistake your odds of winning are pretty slim unfortunately.

Try different playstyle including different weapon sets and builds. Don’t get stuck on d/d with bunker/hybrid builds. You can’t defeat all builds/players and professions with a single set. In your case if you also specialize with scepter burst style you will find thieves (no matter how good the players are) to be at lot easier. Specially those that don’t constantly stealths and uses their agility instead. As a matter of fact no good thief will ever die to anything less that is not massive burst combos. They can easily resets fights, recover or simply get away.

Df zerker ammy builds are fun

The insane kiting potential of SD thieves(along with the possibility of stripping boons and peeling you) totally counters DD eles. Unless you are talking about fighting on a point, in which case you should not lose.

Despite my view of the meta thief SD build, I’m happy that there is something which keeps DD eles in check.

D/D can do just fine against s/d thieves; it’s a pretty fair fight. S/d has two attacks that deal any significant damage to you, the auto-attack and larcenous strike. You can kite and out-range the auto attack, and larcenous strike is telegraphed enough to dodge reliably. There’s no counter for evades. You can only try to hit them between evades. So, just don’t get frustrated and stay patient. If you’re using a 0/0/2/6/6 celestial build, you have the sustain to wait. There really isn’t any trick; you beat that build by outplaying the thief.

LightningBlaze.4913:

As a matter of fact no good thief will ever die to anything less that is not massive burst combos. They can easily resets fights, recover or simply get away.

I never understood why people say this. Resets or running away is for when you’re losing. Running away as a thief is so easy to do it’s not the slightest indicator of skill. all a thief running away proves is that he was losing and doesn’t want to die. A good thief might stay to fight because he’s not a complete kitten or coward. A willingness to take more risk does not mean a thief is bad. The difference between a good thief and a bad thief is that a good thief can kill you or at least come close.

Tei.1704:

D/D can do just fine against s/d thieves; it’s a pretty fair fight. S/d has two attacks that deal any significant damage to you, the auto-attack and larcenous strike. You can kite and out-range the auto attack, and larcenous strike is telegraphed enough to dodge reliably. There’s no counter for evades. You can only try to hit them between evades. So, just don’t get frustrated and stay patient. If you’re using a 0/0/2/6/6 celestial build, you have the sustain to wait. There really isn’t any trick; you beat that build by outplaying the Thief.

Thanks for the advice. I never thought about outranging them. However, I don’t see how it’s possible to dodge every single LS. We only have 4 dodges counting updraft and BS…

S/D thief in its glory days is a large part of the reason D/D elementalist fell out of the meta. After countless nerfs, the matchup is not as one sided as it used to be anymore, but it’s definitely still one of the hardest matchups for a D/D ele in PvP.

Glass S/F 66002 can quite reliably beat the standard ‘sizer’ S/D thief, but is not very viable in general PvP.

Actual advice vs S/D, assuming a standard D/D cele strength set or similar:

- Try to make good use of the time you get when a S/D thief shadowsteps away to regen initiative and what not. Stack some might with earth EA, frozen burst, aura leap or even churning earth. In the end, damage is your only defense.

- STAND IN YOUR RING OF FIRE! He will take 5 seconds of burning even if he shadowsteps through the borders. Devastating

- More obvious things like avoiding LS, trying to lead your earthquakes and predicting his shadowstep in accordingly.

- Make sure you’re always trading damage back, even though you might be losing the trade. S/D has unmatched sticking power, so your only defense is keeping his hp low enough to avoid him killing you. Lightning whip and fire attunement are your most important tools. He cannot outdamage these.

- Arcane shield. A godsend, and pretty much essential to survive.

- Use your shocking aura wisely. It gives you a good window of power-play.

Remember the matchup is not in your favor. Avoid it accordingly.