Guild Wars 2

How am I suppose to play vs a DH as a thief? I would post on the thief forum but… They would shout NERF THEM out loud (I’m not against that tough… DH is kinda imbalanced imho)!!!!! Any tips to give? Does anything from a thief irritate you?

My concern atm is daze on trap, It’s hard to retaliate when you go in and instantly get daze + take 1/4 of your hp in one trap :S

Hi,

I dont know too much about thief to give any tips how to counter DH however I do understand that theives have a tough time.

I could imagine however that the biggest difficulty lies within two traits. Trap mastery like you mentioned and Hunters Determination which places a trap on cc and provides aegis.

so basically you want to avoid that situation. engaging with a hard cc without stability on will take away your engaging advantage completely and give the DH time to react to you.

so basically i would advise on fainting a burst. prepare dodges, time them well let the DH blow CD on traps, reposition and engage again. you are probably better of trying to take a chunk off the hp from distance. If you run in traps that you have seen place its your fault. thieve has enough blinks, shadowsteps back evades to nullify traps.

The standard thieve cookie cutter strategy doesnt work on DH no more as is.

the incoming daze is a pointer when to dodge also I think its pretty challenging to react to that.

tbh its an extremely uphill battle for thieves vs DH, but guards have mostly always had ridiculous advantages over thieves forever.

just like how mediguards had to avoid cele D/D, thieves mostly have to avoid guards.

Asmodal.6489:

Hi,

I dont know too much about thief to give any tips how to counter DH however I do understand that theives have a tough time.

I could imagine however that the biggest difficulty lies within two traits. Trap mastery like you mentioned and Hunters Determination which places a trap on cc and provides aegis.

so basically you want to avoid that situation. engaging with a hard cc without stability on will take away your engaging advantage completely and give the DH time to react to you.

so basically i would advise on fainting a burst. prepare dodges, time them well let the DH blow CD on traps, reposition and engage again. you are probably better of trying to take a chunk off the hp from distance. If you run in traps that you have seen place its your fault. thieve has enough blinks, shadowsteps back evades to nullify traps.

The standard thieve cookie cutter strategy doesnt work on DH no more as is.

the incoming daze is a pointer when to dodge also I think its pretty challenging to react to that.

Distance is, sadly, no option vs the LB. snipe ability is way too strong for that cooldown. And even for a daredevil spamming dodge to avoid that + the traps is not enough lol..

Wait for a couple of weeks before you reroll/give up on it, they will bring in some changes before the season starts. When i play my DH and a theif steals me(teleports to me) i just instantly put my traps down/swap to sword focus with protection…. daredevil is just so squishy for this new burst/brusier meta going around, they are “okayy” 1v1 just not for team fights. They are really squishy once you get there focus shield down plus healing trap, I think it all comes down to swap you end up dodging while in the fight.

Don’t ever take a fight 1v1 vs a damage guard. Unless you are playing against pure scrubs.

The only time to fight a damage guard 1v1 is if you know help is on the way and you have to just survive for like 30 seconds. In which case you blind and dodge in between doing poke attacks.

Cat Has Ducks.1982:

Don’t ever take a fight 1v1 vs a damage guard. Unless you are playing against pure scrubs.

The only time to fight a damage guard 1v1 is if you know help is on the way and you have to just survive for like 30 seconds. In which case you blind and dodge in between doing poke attacks.

Medi guard is Ok. DH is not.

P/P is actually a decent set up against DH. Use traps and Trapper runes for stealth access and Sneak Attack, using Headshot and interrupt traits to deal damage against true shot, or Daredevil and Bound to gain stealth from Pistol 5.

Traditional thieving is going to be extremely uphill, and thieves were already fairly disadvantaged in Guardian matchups.

I have also noticed that condi pistol/dagger thieves have a bit easier time vs DH.

Mainly for a few reasons

1: They dont have to be in melee

2: They can apply conditions then fall back/stealth and let em tick & other then blocks their conditions tend to recharge much faster then dh condi clears.

As for power, Ghot is right.

Ghotistyx.6942:

P/P is actually a decent set up against DH. Use traps and Trapper runes for stealth access and Sneak Attack, using Headshot and interrupt traits to deal damage against true shot, or Daredevil and Bound to gain stealth from Pistol 5.

Traditional thieving is going to be extremely uphill, and thieves were already fairly disadvantaged in Guardian matchups.

Not really LB3 and F3 utterly destroy P/P thieves… they can’t put any damage down.

Drekor.5217:

Not really LB3 and F3 utterly destroy P/P thieves… they can’t put any damage down.

That’s actually where traps+Trapper runes shine. Unlockable traps and stealth without initiative cost (to circle around the flanks). There’s more to P/P than just power DA/CS/Trick.

Have you tried Dagger Storm? A long duration missile reflect could let you close the distance in complete safety.

Personally I run a tanky, condition damage dagger-dagger/pistol-pistol, with signet of malice ,tricks, and dagger storm. DH generally have weak condition cleanse and a gap in their range brackets from 300-600 (inside pure of sight’s larger bonus but outside of melee). Apply pressure from there and don’t bull headlong into their traps.

i play both thief and guard

yes its hard for thieves to win against any guard builds especially in group fight

first – dodge on the traps if you know where are they
second – there is a short cd of animation so when you notice it dodge
third – kite him

p/p set is good actualy (i use bound with bp) so blind and unload put s him on defense mode

but careful with melee attack as his traps can be on 16 sec cd so get rdy….

i hardly died in 1v1 also as i know when to disengage but in team fight my eyes now go to the guard and not only the thief/mesmer

Step 1: Stop trying to 1v1 as paper against scissors.
Step 2: ???
Step 3: Profit!

Nike.2631:

Have you tried Dagger Storm? A long duration missile reflect could let you close the distance in complete safety.

this would work great if Dragonhunters did not have an unblockable ranged pull on F1

Lukai.6487:

Nike.2631:

Have you tried Dagger Storm? A long duration missile reflect could let you close the distance in complete safety.

this would work great if Dragonhunters did not have an unblockable ranged pull on F1

2 things:

1) The initial land isn’t unblockable. If you allow them to land it, you have to proc stabil in order to avoid it.

2) Dagger storm gives you stability, so I don’t see the problem…

How to win vs DH as Thief,

1. You run into dh
2. turn 180 and run away(dont let him see you cuz u will die)
3.fast go to character screen
4.Delete thief
5.Create DH
6.Teleport on him and drop every trap. Remember to have f3 on
7.Watch him die from traps
8…
9.Profit

anyone else but me come to this thread thinking that there was a video attached of a thief beating a dh?
lies!

I main both Daredevil and Dragon Hunter in PvP.

The best build imo for Daredevil to vs a trapper longbow Dragon Hunter is staff with pistol pistol in a power build with Marauder amulet.

I run full physical skills and Unhindered Combatant. This allows me more than enough options for defusing traps.

Additionally, there is absolutely nothing wrong about running in, triggering traps and making them blow their LONG recharge on F3, then cheesing it the hell up out of there with Vault and the Dash Dodge. They simply cannot keep up with you.

Lastly, P/P does FAR, FAR more damage than a ranged DH can put out in the same time frame. While they could also run Wall of Reflection, you similarly could run the smoke wall to block their range. Double Unloads after tossing out your Impairing Daggers is insane damage and will force them to pop F3, and 16 seconds later you are ready to do it again.

Proskill if you use Bandit’s Defense to block a Trueshot, Wonder Woman would be proud of you.

Honestly, every fight I’ve won or lose while playing AS a Daredevil against a Dragon Hunter OR in reverse, its purely down to a skill match up.

P/P is probably the only weapon set that might deal with DH but I could not cut through the defense with it. I dumped three unloads into a skilled DH hovering in his traps while he laughed. Quite literally soaked up the damage emoting a laugh and I run mostly zerk. He had zero chance of killing me unless I played his trap game but I never found a way through to kill him.

The only successful “trick” I have heard in duels is blinding the hell out of them while spamming DPS and ranging them in between. Unfortunately their traps cannot be blinded and one miss equals a dead thief.

IMO DH should be getting some minor nerfs and thief is just in a sorry state.

Never had any problem against a DH with P/P

I play Daredevil and I have a Dragon Hunter on the side for when I get bored/angry with my Thief, ect.

Speaking from a S/D Thief WvW perspective:

Base guardian is pretty easy for S/D & Shortbow. Apply Poison, use stolen skill to interrupt GS 2 or 5, abuse shortbow range, ect.

The problem is the Traps and Longbow from Dragon Hunter.

The Longbow skills are pretty telegraphed which is fine, the traps are not. You can see the animation of the trap being placed, but Fragments and Test of Faith are both instant casts which can be casted at the same time as other skills. This can sometimes cover up the animation of the trap being placed. If you get hit by Dragons Maw/Test of Faith combo, the fight is over.

I naturally run Dagger Storm because it has many more uses than Basi Venom and has a fair few more uses than Impact Strike. Dagger Storm absolutely trashes Longbow combos. If you see a DH kneel to cast True Shot, then cast Dagger Storm and Steal into their faces. Most DH run low vita, zerker gear and tend to take 6-8k damage from their own abilities. Longbow then becomes a hindrance to them, most will switch to GS or whatever other weapon they’re running.

When they’re using Greatsword, switch to shortbow and keep poison applied. They wont be able to heal through the plink damage Trick Shot does. Land Cluster Bombs to keep up okayish DPS. Infiltrators Arrow if they catch up.

But whatever you do, do NOT jump in without knowing if they’re running traps or have traps already placed. You can often bait traps with Infiltrator Strike → Flanking Strike → Evade away. If the traps placed after Infiltrators Strike, you’ll evade it with Flanking and if it’s Test of Faith, you evade through the ring.

DO NOT Shadowstep out of Test of Faith. You still take the damage for leaving the ring. Not sure if it’s a bug or intended feature – still dumb either way >_>

The only problem is when they use Judges Intervention + Trap combo’s. You have to be on your toes ready for this. It’s usually GS#2 → Judges Intervention → Test of Faith, which will burst you for 80-90% of your HP if you don’t react fast enough. The ONLY answer for this is to dodge roll away with Dash or risk teleporting through Test of Faith.

Most Dragon Hunters aren’t impossible… Just difficult.

Now what is impossible is a Fragments of Faith Perma Aegis, Virtues build 4Head. You kill yourself just by hitting them.

Klonko.8341:

How am I suppose to play vs a DH as a thief? I would post on the thief forum but… They would shout NERF THEM out loud (I’m not against that tough… DH is kinda imbalanced imho)!!!!! Any tips to give? Does anything from a thief irritate you?

My concern atm is daze on trap, It’s hard to retaliate when you go in and instantly get daze + take 1/4 of your hp in one trap :S

You run. Against incompetent ones you can win, but against fairly decent players, you’re better off just admitting the loss and not bothering.

Almost everything the DH has is a direct counter and is literally a better equivalent to your own skills. Guards could have once been baited into using CD’s, and their low mobility played against them and rewarded a good thief with positioning and going in and out of their range, but wings gives them the extra push they need at half the cooldown of SS to really have them struggle, and the longbow gives them an extremely powerful ranged option which is blatantly superior to kiting with shortbow, and several of the skills ignore terrain. The CC brought on is too much to evade and having no stability pretty much puts you at an immediate loss once you get caught up to after needing to blow your own cooldowns.

Best results I’ve had have been S/D Acro/Trickery/DD, but it’s pretty much an inevitable loss.