Guild Wars 2

I’m only level 40, and am curious if melee as a Thief is a viable option at level 80?

In most group events so far I have had to switch to ranged to keep from getting absolutely obliterated by unavoidable melee damage, and/or being unable to close the gap and engage most mobs before the other players have shot them down from afar.

you can’t tank. period.

DanH.5879:

you can’t tank. period.

I’m definitely not trying to tank. I played a Thief because I liked the idea of being high mobility, but in some encounters it doesn’t even matter. I can be behind the mob and he some how one shots me, or take the Fire elemental for instance. You -can- melee, but you’re going to take way more damage, and your “uptime” (ie. time spent actually being able to hit the target is going to be cut in half). I’m just curious if the encounters or equipment at level 80 afford Thieves more of an opportunity to melee without getting destroyed by unavoidable damage, or falling far behind in damage because of a lack of gap closer.

I’m playing a S/D set up at 80 that is able to stand in and melee large groups of mobs. Able to heal when I hit and heal when I stealth as well as baze targets to take less damage, bounce iin and out of melee to regen, which I do when I stealth as well. Seems somewhat tanky to me. I usually melee champs in Orr with out to many difficulties and mobs that retaliate don’t do enough that my healing can’t counter. So yes you can make a build to stand in there.

Some bosses just have too much aoe/pbaoe or too many mobs around them for it to safely work. Stealth won’t save you from insta kill pbaoes.

Other times bosses have attack patterns that you learn to dodge/block/blind what is immediately dangerous and deal with anything else as it comes.

For group mobs, melee again depends on the situation, 5 mobs simultaneously doing a big pbaoe, means gtfo/dodge. You’ll have to realize what is going on.

For general mobs, Black Powder removes them from being a threat.

I also play a S/D occasionally D/P with a shortbow swap.
Basically anything is up for grabs outside of a dungeon where I have to be far more observant (and that’s usually when I remove the /D and throw in /P).
Group events aren’t an issue as long as you are in a group and well…some of them can be solo’d.

For some champions and simple mobs why not… for dungeon bosses unless you can tell each and every attack its not possible

Even accounting for gear, your ability to melee depends very heavily on your team’s composition and skill level.

If you have a solid Warrior and Guardian front-line in your party, you can melee all day, often even with pure glass builds. The perpetual protection and aegis shore up your defenses, and if you do take a hit or pick up aggro you can disengage and watch the mobs shift their attention to the bulkier targets.

If you don’t have a good front-line, you’re going to have a lot of trouble in melee, even with a tankier build. Thief defenses are build around evasion, but you’re not going to be doing much if you constantly have aggro and are having to dodge instead of fight. So in a weaker group, sitting at range is often the best idea; you’re not strong at range, but it’s more useful than being a melee aggro magnet.

To be a good thief, you kinda need to learn mobs/bosses to be good. You have to know what attacks to dodge.
And anyone that says they live in zerker gear is bsing, or have not done high level fracs.

Melee is DEFINITELY a viable option, if you’re a decent player (the skill gate is a lot higher by default for Thief in PvE than other professions in extended fights). In dungeons, S/P + Malice + Omnomberry Pie/Ghost + Sigil of Blood = Face-tank. Or, if you go for conditions, D/D unicorn builds are great. Failing that, a heavily Shadow Arts specced S/D duelist setup is great for regular encounters outside of dungeons. D/P is also a great option universally.

So, say a new thief is aiming for a good performance in semi-high level fractals with S/D or S/P.What defensive stat should be prio?Tough or vit, or a little bit of both?

I run with S/D and SB mainly, and run either 10/30/30/0/0 or 0/30/30/10/0. This may or may not work for you, and its a build that will keep you on your toes, and sometimes in that Cliffside one with the giant you can get one shotted by the guy holding the hammer.If you pay close attention though, you can jump in and out of combat swiching your wepon sets when you start getting hit too much. I always go for the regen in stealth trait to support the team, as that extra health from shadow refuge or blinding powder can get people up faster. Try to always combo a light field with the shortbow 2 as well. The short area retaliation can really help.

Vitality >>> Toughness; Toughness only gets sexy when you have a lot of healing, which you don’t. It’s ok if you have a lot of base health already (say, 18,000 or so), but don’t prioritize it over important stats (power, precision, vitality).

Arsenic.8259:

To be a good thief, you kinda need to learn mobs/bosses to be good. You have to know what attacks to dodge.
And anyone that says they live in zerker gear is bsing, or have not done high level fracs.

You can achieve an extremely high rate of endurance regeneration and combined with stealth it can help you avoid a lot of damage.

The only reason why zerker gear doesn’t work in FotM is because of agony damage, and in dungeons everything does a ton of damage.

Most of what thief does best is avoiding hits with stealth/blind/dodges, so it’s best to take advantage of those. Full GC specs at 30/30/0/0/10 don’t really work well unless the enemy you’re attacking is guaranteed to die before they have a chance to hit you, or has no interest and will never care about the raging fire truck beating at from behind.

Prioritize high vitality when the auto-regen in between fights is your main heal, Toughness when you depend on skills and traits for healing (usually in longer fights). Another practical point to choose which to prioritize is how full your health-bar generally is, is it mostly full, then prioritize Vitality, not-so-full, Toughness.

Gladiat.6278:

Arsenic.8259:

To be a good thief, you kinda need to learn mobs/bosses to be good. You have to know what attacks to dodge.
And anyone that says they live in zerker gear is bsing, or have not done high level fracs.

You can achieve an extremely high rate of endurance regeneration and combined with stealth it can help you avoid a lot of damage.

The only reason why zerker gear doesn’t work in FotM is because of agony damage, and in dungeons everything does a ton of damage.

Most of what thief does best is avoiding hits with stealth/blind/dodges, so it’s best to take advantage of those. Full GC specs at 30/30/0/0/10 don’t really work well unless the enemy you’re attacking is guaranteed to die before they have a chance to hit you, or has no interest and will never care about the raging fire truck beating at from behind.

Agony hits for a percent amount, not a flat amount. Everything else will kill you though. I could see it now in Maw, 1 tentacle juggle downs someone, haha. I would love to see that. But yeah your right about the GC specs. I have never once looked or tried a GC spec.