Guild Wars 2

ok so after a long hiatus from my ele I have decided to play it again. I have read multiple times from thieves that dagger ele’s are the only class they fear. Can I get some tips as to build and strategy for beating thieves? It is my new found mission in life to kill thieves. Thanks.

Lots of healing. Lots of burn/bleeds. Cripple/Chill/Knockdown help you maintain the mobility advantage. Arcane shield/Mist Form help you avoid their burst and mess up their instant kill combos.

Shock Aura and Chill Aura are pretty decent against dagger thieves, assuming you survive the initial burst.

If you see them try to stealth/roll behind you dodge backward into them. It messes up their backstab sometimes.

Most of our Fire/Earth abilities are PBAoE, so it’s kinda easy to hit thieves even if they’re stealthed if you can guess where they are.

If they build for glass cannon, and you can drag the fight out without letting them get away, you win.

Let me expand a little on what Pincushion said. his in battle strats are great listen to this guy.

For gear get your HP/Armor in the 18,000/2,000 range. I also would suggest at least ~500 healing. This will ensure that you are never taken down in the initial burst. Best gear to get these stats is soldier/shaman/cleric gear. Start the fight off defensively, keep yourself up and use whatever defensive cooldown you have (I recommend Arcane shield or Mist) final shielding and earth’s embrace are great traits to have for thief killing. As soon as the burst is over lay into them. PinCushion has some great tips for that. After that initial burst you will be on the offensive and never let that thief forget it.

Melee is the domain of D/D ele’s and don’t let anyone from any other class ever forget that. I live by that on my D/D if you get in melee with me you will regret it, that goes for warrior and guardian too, I don’t care how big your sword is. Most good thieves do know this so at this point in the fight they will stealth and run away to try again later. I find that most are also impatient and will try again immediately. For them just mop the floor with them again and again till they die. Smart thieves are still tough customers, because they can stop the fight then restart it on their terms. Usually this will be when an ally shows up (some people call this cowardly I call it smart). so they will attack you when you are at your weakest and they are at their strongest. Learn to dodge and grab evasive arcana as well, It will make your rolls deadly as well as give you an amazing condition clearing heal.

good stuff. Thanks much for the info.