Guild Wars 2

News to me. XD What all do we have that makes us dangerous to Thieves? They’re constantly giving me (and my entire team) trouble in World Versus World, jumping in and out of invisibility and fully healing each time they do so. Granted, these ones don’t typically manage to kill anyone, but they’re still a massive distraction, and do more damage to the objective than killing any one person.

Even with a Net Turret out, they still manage to survive. Is there some sort of specific tactic that does these guys in?

Just wait for someone to jump in and answer “blah blah blah hundred nades”. There’s not much you can do against them because Engineers (in most cases) lack the burst power to knock them down. They’ll just go invisible (It’s not really stealth) and run if they get hurt too much. I use bombs and thumper turret to keep from being an easy target.

Everyone saying we’re good against thiefs must have fought some bad ones.

I swear on my life, i thought the same thing – winning against some.
Yet then i fought some better ones, and my perspective changed.

Them stalking a point while invisible, resetting fights with impunity or downing someone in 3-4 hits while boosting haste and basalik unbreakable stun.

I’d say that at maximum we’re just in the same spot every other class is, yet we can’t shrug off the damage like a warrior/guardien can ( Which is ok really, they’re supposed to be do that. It’s just easier when you can.)

Blakey.5670:

Everyone saying we’re good against thiefs must have fought some bad ones.

I swear on my life, i thought the same thing – winning against some.
Yet then i fought some better ones, and my perspective changed.

Them stalking a point while invisible, resetting fights with impunity or downing someone in 3-4 hits while boosting haste and basalik unbreakable stun.

I’d say that at maximum we’re just in the same spot every other class is, yet we can’t shrug off the damage like a warrior/guardien can ( Which is ok really, they’re supposed to be do that. It’s just easier when you can.)

pretty much what you said im undefeatable by the noob thiefs/ burst crit damage focussed players but meh those who stack 20 bleeds poisons etc while dishing out huge bursts are another story.

Rifle, Net-Turret, and Tool Kit, Goggles (blind resist can be clutch when bursting a thief) with static discharge. Its what I roll and it ruins most thieves day. Those that beat me 1 on 1 I just chalk up to me mismanaging my cooldowns or them just being better than me.

Hell bombs and slick shoes works well too.

I can see how with our CC and such we would be an annoying fight for a thief, but other classes probably do it better overall.

I know I have said it before but my rifle/net/rocket turret combo stops them good (Mostly thanks to knock down and immobilize) and self reg defenses will help through their burst.
There was this one time that my turrets killed the thief for me. I was playing badly and not landing any hits because my shots would go on cd without doing anything and well..somehow the burst thief fell first. Funny moments.

I run a tanky 4-kit rifle build that does well against thieves in tournaments. Flamethrower’s blind is nice since you can use it even when cc’d (partially making up for lack of stunbreak) and then of course you can push them back. Bombs hit pretty hard, especially if you magnet them into box of nails/BoB. It’s not too tough to catch them with a good cc at about 40% health right before they’d usually run away, either.

I think the key to actually killing a thief 1v1 is to AoE bait them into going melee too soon, and then to always have at least 1 cc left for when their health gets low and you know they want to run…Or just glass vs glass, which means whoever misses a dodge (or wastes one) first loses.

Good against Thieves? Yes, assuming you’re good at mind games.

Our wide array of knocks, immobilizes and other mobility conditions gets us to be naturally a pain in the kitten but it’s not an auto win because the Thief is as unpredictable as you by nature, and it’s a huge mind game, especially on the engage.

The best scenario would be that you make the perfect engage, and that you manage to unleash all your Zerker Rifle burst on the Thief’s face: Mr Assassin’s Creed clone charges toward you with Basilisk Venom up, do the same thing with your shield raised, if you counter the engage, you’ve done the hardest part, directly send him off with an Overcharged Shot, throw some of your Static Discharge imbued toolbelt skills while you’re knocked (such as Analyze and Surprise Shot) get your Magnet out to pull the Thief back to you and show him your Pry Bar. Make a backward dodge roll in the back to avoid an eventual attempt at CnD, throw your net and your wrench-rang. If still alive and attempting to stealth > Supply Crate on the face and a couple of rifle shots.

That’s the best scenario you can ever get with such a build. An ennemy Thief knowing your build could also trick you and force you to use your defenses before striking once your shield is down, and the only answer is to Supply Crate his face before it’s too late. Then again, it’s pretty much all mind games.

Tanky condition based Engineers have an easier time fighting Thieves, but a much harder time finishing them off. Static Shield is a great asset to counter them, and you could couple that with features like Rocket Kick for maximum burning damage, a pair of Slick Shoes to get him to remain in place. With some trait based perma-Vigor and Med Kit you remain solid even on the long run.

I find thieves to be one of my easier match-ups. Here is my build: https://forum-en.gw2archive.eu/forum/professions/engineer/The-Thief-Hunter-or-The-Rifleman/first#post1495462

I can’t even count on both hands anymore how many times I’ve killed thieves just after they shadow refuge. If you fire a net shot when they’re at ~50% health, they cloak, and you notice your net shot disappear well before max range? UNLOAD EVERYTHING. The worst time was when I thought they got away, and literally 10 seconds later (after continuing to hammer the ground for ~8 seconds expecting to suddenly get a kill confirm), they come out of stealth channeling Bandage Self.

Thieves are by far my easiest kills unless I’m running a conditions build.

Thieves are most dangerous at close range, we are at our best at delivering crazy close range AoE damage, which means that even when they flicker in and out of stealth, we’re still able to pepper the area with consistent damage that also usually adds a condition.

Add in a few of our CC’s and the fact that Thieves are one of the worst professions at dealing with those, and you get a general formula for thief-killing machines. Builds are all subjective, but we are build to take care of Thieves better than most with the exception of maybe Guardian.

Also, if you’re not running with Kit Refinement + runes and sigils that proc AoEs on heal (with medikit), that’s probably at least part of the problem.

Overcharged Shot + Big Ol’ Bomb + Magnet + Pry bar = dead. Unless he happens to be a good thief with a stun breaker

hi, im a 600hr thief, recently converted to engi and loving it.

the OP is referring to the thief that has a laugh by sitting in zergs, constantly cnd’ing (cloke and dagger) into stealth. with 30 traits shawdow arts they regen nice amount of health. … the key to catching and killing this sneaky guy is to prevent him from landing his cnd, if you see the thief ‘blink’ .. you know he is going to try and land cnd again in about 4 seconds.. so you use, any sort of block, or even just dodge .. either that, or blast the area with aoe and cc’s, think chill grenade, tool belt nails, big ol bomb, flash bomb, glue bomb etc etc .. just dont think that because he went into stealth, he is gone, cos ive done it many time before and ppl are just clueless, and we generally hang around till we’re caught, then shadowstep, sb inf shot outa there.

in regard to the insta gib bs thief, well, if they use haste and bal venom then ur screwed unless your tanky or u have the protection on stun trait or drink ex s at 25% hp , that may not even save you.. it happens so quickly with haste you just dont have time to break stun manually. alot of them have a macro, or have the combo lined up on there numpad so they can do the rotation v fast.

if the thief doesnt use haste, then you have enough time to hit your stun breaker, and yes, you can break out of balistic venom.. this all depends on reaction times. basic rule of thumb is if you get turned to stone, you straight away stun break, even tho he might not be a backstabber..(95% of them are)

most thieves will have 1 stunbreaker, which is a 50s cooldown. .engi’s have alot more than 1 type of stun or knockback or immobilise so use them.. overpower shot, big ol bomb at my feet, magnet, rifle 3, BOOM

With my new chill bunker I dont met thief what beat me or even lower my HP for last 2 months. I went on EB jumping puzzle last week and beat there 3 thieves at once. Block burn builds works also well. Chill totaly demolish thieves

Blakey.5670:

basalik unbreakable stun.

You can stunbreak basilisk just fine. Too bad 2 out of 4 engy stunbreaks suck.

ManCaptain.3154:

Blakey.5670:

basalik unbreakable stun.

You can stunbreak basilisk just fine. Too bad 2 out of 4 engy stunbreaks suck.

While Elixir S is probably one of the best stun breaker in the game and you can get it, twice.

ShaunZ.1098:

Just wait for someone to jump in and answer “blah blah blah hundred nades”. There’s not much you can do against them because Engineers (in most cases) lack the burst power to knock them down. They’ll just go invisible (It’s not really stealth) and run if they get hurt too much. I use bombs and thumper turret to keep from being an easy target.

bla bla blah hundrad nades.

Here I said it.

Since running this build, I have no issue with thief. And they rarely get the chance to run as they think they are winning until I combo them and they lie on the ground. Bait them by waiting before the combo.

Wild bill style are a bit harder, but still pretty much a win. Dodge the CnD, heal as soon as you can, use bandage, use your CC on them. They rarely ever bring CC breaker, if they do make them waste it. Only use antidote when having a good amount of bleeds.

Wild Bill fights are pretty cool, and is like a chess match. Really interresting!

I’d actually say one of my bigger weaknesses is a well played D/P & Shortbow Backstab Thief, but that doesn’t mean there isn’t anything you can do to fight against it. Most Thieves though are fairly predictable and if you can predict what anyone will do you can easily beat it. Even if they are unpredictable nothing is ever hopeless.

What is the best thing to do against Thieves? Control them with whatever you can. AoE the ground where they stealth. Invuln the damage you could be taking. Most of all, just deal them damage. Thieves are ridiculously fragile when you apply damage to them, anything you can do to give yourself just one extra hit against them can completely change the fight.

Know how to deal with the ones that use Shortbow to finish you off, the ones that use Dagger offhand to restealth, the ones that use Pistol offhand to restealth, and all the other various builds out there that a Theif can use. Knowledge is the biggest key in making you better at this game.

I have fought countless thieves in wvw on m y engie. I win the vast majority of 1v1s, I’ve lost a few but most of the time I came back and won them. There was only one thief that I couldn’t beat, even after 4 attempts. He used p/d cd with runes for bleed duration and geomancy sigil, also cleanse and regen on stealth. The fights took alot of time, up to 5 mins each. I would probably do better with my new build.
Still, I have to say, if they really want to, you wont kill them, even if they don’t kill you. Any decent thief can just chain stealth and regen, never being out of stealth for more than a couple of seconds.

I have yet to have a difficult time with any thief, a lot play Backstab and P/D the only ones that give a little trouble are S/D. I play a confusion specced Engi. I am P/S plus toolkit i have more blocks than the Berlin wall and confusion+retaliation is my friend! Plus 409 eats bleeds for breakfast!

I’ve found incredible anti-thief combo: knight set and flamethrower. And food for heal.
And any thieves will go down (if stupid or in rage) or just go away.

Bomb Kit destroys melee Thieves. Pistol/Dagger Thieves… not so much.

Bomb Kit destroys anything melee, but so can Grenades aimed at our feet. Now, if that Thief actually uses the Shortbow, that’s a different situation altogether.

Turret build: because turrets don’t care if thieves aren’t rendered in.

Rifle+Net turret+Rocket turret+Stomper turret = infinite CC