Guild Wars 2

Its strange, I can handle any other profession except this one in wvw. I rarely die except when I get that classic high damage steal + backstab and then whatever else that happens in seconds. Am i just unlucky with thieves in wvw? Every other profession doesn’t bother me. Any advise besides build around countering a thief? My current armor is 2808.

Stuff that I feel is good vs. thieves:

Even more toughness, perhaps a condition damage build with settler’s/apothecary gear

Bark skin is very underestimated, but you do lose out on condition removal then

Protection on hit from 1st major trait in nature’s line

Wolf fear

However, even with all that, I still think you have to completely outplay the thief to get a kill because they just have so many escape options.

i’ve never had a problem with rangers in wvw, i am sorry to say

This is the dilemma with the full berserker thief… you can armor up all you want, but it’s only going to get you 1 more heartseeker’s time to live. We have one block across the entire skill line and no real access to aegis or protection without allies. I have 2905 armor. Tonight some guy hit me for 11,900 backstab + heartseeker 59XX + heartseeker 59XX. I was in wide open space and was down before I got to the “t” in WTF. And of course there is an entire culture of thieves out there running around killing deer to crank up their bloodlust, and then sitting in wait on the other side of a door.

Ralk has your options listed out. Of course, you may not want to change your entire build around just for this kind of thief encounter. 30 points in Wilderness Survival is a lot if you wouldn’t normally invest there. The “Nature’s Protection” under nature magic is probably your best bet. At 10 points in NM, it’s reasonably affordable and keeps those second and third hits from being fatal. Hopefully, that buys you the extra two seconds to disengage and heal. Since all classes have that 10% damage/5 sec of protection trait, I suppose the developers feel this is the universal counter to massive spike damage. After that…

I am not sure there is a foolproof way. I like chilling to throw off timing on cooldowns and other damaging conditions play well — so at least you’re hurting them a little while they’re stealthed. This is one area where your pet can really help. Pets with AOE skills that don’t require a visible target (canine howls, etc) can aid you here. Of course, I usually play as a trapping condi ranger, so those skills are available to me. I think it’s even harder with a power LB build. The longbow sometimes gets jammed up when the melee attacker is right on you (or behind) and the #4 skill just goes right on by. Some nifty Greatsword work may be your best bet for power LB.

crossoverAtt.9680:

no real access to aegis or protection without allies

Master Trait - Companion´s Defense – You and your pet gain 2 seconds of protection when you dodge roll.

[b]Adept[/B] Nature’s Protection – Receive protection for 5 seconds when you take more than 10% damage in a single strike. This effect can only trigger once every 30 seconds.

in my case its 7.5 + 3 seconds(first dodge) + 3 seconds (second dodge) of protection. with 13 sec protection, 21000 hp and 2900 armor i brawl with every thief or warrior in my radiation field and win them all

yeah with a condi/Bunker build Thiefs are not the problem, when u react fast, wehen they go for the first burst u have to eavde after his first hit and then thiefs are not rly a prob for a condi/bunker ranger. of course when u stand 3 sec then u will go down but the same prob have all other classes too, when a thief stand 3 sec on a place an i can do my condis on him he is also down.
enoguh protection with reg and heal over 1k /sec thiefs are not rly a prob.
after second stealth of the thief u have a nice stealth “search” cause when the stealth ended the pet ist instant on his target so u see where the thief is going back.
Test it up, Coarr posted a nice Build, where thiefs are not rly a big Problem.

Last night, an heartseeker killed itself alone….Perplexity runes + shortbow

he got hit for 1700 for each heartseeker, it was fun as hell, i even did anything than just use 3 of bow and 1.

Even some mesmer get in fight to rez him and got killed too, he downed me but killed himself in return

It was a funny moment, sadly didn’t recorded it

My build : http://gw2skills.net/editor/?fMAQJAVRjAVx11VuVo2Bi2DOZJMxUYIH5U4/OViv8C-jECBoOBiWAg8AKTqIasl1FRjV3ATxiIq2joIa1SBYm0I-w

What weapons are you using?

Are you getting dazed as well, and using a stunbreak?

I think the problem most people make is they forget to attack against thieves when they stealth. Almost all of them are absolute glass. One maul and a few auto attacks and they will be down.

I generally roam with my GS in hand and only switch if about to attack a camp or someone else. So if a thief catches me unawares I already have GS in hand. So then its just a simple matter of block – hilt bash – maul → and generally they’re down.

Coarr.3286:

crossoverAtt.9680:

no real access to aegis or protection without allies

Master Trait - Companion´s Defense – You and your pet gain 2 seconds of protection when you dodge roll.

[b]Adept[/B] Nature’s Protection – Receive protection for 5 seconds when you take more than 10% damage in a single strike. This effect can only trigger once every 30 seconds.

in my case its 7.5 + 3 seconds(first dodge) + 3 seconds (second dodge) of protection. with 13 sec protection, 21000 hp and 2900 armor i brawl with every thief or warrior in my radiation field and win them all

That’s an excellent point. I think enhancing that trait option is one of the most overlooked plays we have. I am guessing you run 30pts in NM and at least 20 in WS. But it does bring us back around to the idea of whether or not you want to rebuild your entire character just for the frustrating thief encounters.

Although, I suppose you can also get to the 50% protection duration with Runes of the Earth, omnomberry cream, and just 10 points in Nature Magic. That might be doable for more people.

In my experience a bad thief is the easiest class to kill by far, a good thief you will never kill (unless you can lure him into water), best you can hope for is generally a draw by surviving him and making him go away by being more trouble than it’s worth, high toughness and good use of evasions is the trick sword or greatsword is a must I personally use the leaps to create distance when he stealths to avoid or atleast make him work much harder for backstabs and similar if there is water nearby that is always a good idea too because if he gets you in downed state anywhere else there is no stopping him from stomping you and sometimes even good thieves will get so hungry to kill you they’ll follow into the water where you can finish him quickly with a devourer stun and a pirhana school.

Are you on Yak’s Bend? Was the thief a little red asuran?

Might have been me. If so, you did a decent job – I had to reset the fight.

I do feel your pain though…. a ranger was my main til I got sick and tired of OP thieves. And so I rolled a thief and named him Tired of OP. Sadly, it’s really fun =/ and I haven’t played my ranger much since.

That being said, I’d suggest playing a thief for a bit and learn what really hurts.

Get bark skin, protection when critted and vigor when critted. youll have to go 0/10/30/10/0 atleast to get those. But they more or less negate thieves.

If you really hate thieves, get this build.
http://gw2skills.net/editor/?fMMQNAV8YlIVir2YxvCGOBR7hmM/5ZF4/rQscK8fnKYUD-jUCB4iCy0CAE1w0BQZSFRjtMsIas6ZER1KbYWfFRrWKAImGB-w

Reason to play Norn: 6 sec invisible “GTFO” elite. Not even the most epic shadowstepping thief can catch that thing.

Then, sit back and whatch them thieves cry

Are we talking about 1v1 or smaller groupfights here?
Try Gs/LB against thieves 1v1, the counterattack on the gs should take care of that backstab problem. If the block runs out, just dodge if you think the thief is going to hit you, the protection you get on dodge should help too.
If you hit with the counterattack, get some dps in with you GS and/or switch to LB so you can knock the thief back before he heals/goes into stealth. your next move is rapid fire. becasue it’s a channeling skill it will hit the thief in stealth and he will probably emerge from stealth with less than 100% hp. once he gets out of stealh you can either dps him more or use hunter’s shot to buy time for your weapon swap to come off cooldown so you can repeat for win. you can’t instantly swap back to LB after swapping to GS so you will have to dodge, CC or DPS them during this time using counterattack before or after this is your choice. The moment of clarity trait will make fighting like this against thieves ALOT easier becasue you can get the 150% damage buff with hilt bash AND when you interrupt with counterattack.

This is the build i use: http://gw2buildcraft.com/calculator/ranger/?6.5|1.1g.h1j.0.0.0|3.1g.h1j.0.0.0|1n.71m.1c.71m.1n.71m.1n.71m.1n.71m.1n.71m|3s.d16.3t.d16.3u.d16.3u.d16.2v.d1e.2v.d1e|0.k4a.u4ab.k68.0|39.7|4h.4w.4p.4o.55|e

If we’re talking about smaller fights, you can do the same thing but it will be less effective because you will probably have some skills on cooldown and you will be taking damage from multiple people. it still works though, if the pressure gets too high just use hunter’s shot and look for your teammates.

Edit: changed build link because of a wrong trait.

Having your pet on passive can help too – I can’t count the number of times an other-wise well placed backstab was eaten by the pet rather than the pet’s owner.

Self-sacrificing little critters… SNIFF So loyal…

There are two ways. First is, described above LB/GS and it works quite nice if timed well.
However, for more MM-oriented style of play, I can suggest to go LB/SB. When you don’t have block on that setup, you have way more sustained damage coupled with nice soft and hard CC +quick evade.on 7 second cooldown. Quick Draw lowers cds on both bows, keep in mind. In this setup, you might get the first hit, but after that, with proper kiting, you’ll keep safe distance, keeping thief at bay with Quick Shot, canines/spider, Crippling Shot and Muddy Terrain, saving #5 for their re-stealth. Switching between Shortbow and Longbow will give you nice, constant damage, not depending on maul, easily avoidable. One Maul is about 3-4 SB shots, so about 2 seconds of auto-attack in power oriented build.
One thing you lack is escape ability. But you can always run Leopard if you can’t lock down perma stealth thief. All hail Norn and laugh on asura !
Ah. LB/SB works pretty well on S/x Thieves even in tpvp if you’re focused.

Signet of stone with the 30 marksman trait to make it affect player also is a good way to absorb the initial burst and give some breathing room. Condition removal is key.. whenever I die to a thief its because Im entangled.