Guild Wars 2

So i’ve played GW2 very off and on since release. I remember the OP on release days, the berzerker dungeon meta, the S/D 1v1 far forever meta, and the “LOLUSTILLPLAYTHIEF” meta. Purchased HOT at release, tried out raids(Berzerker gear, only ascended weaps/accs), VG on release was mind boggling for some, though nowadays most people seem to pug him and most things just fine.

My questions are as follows:
PvP: I really struggle with current meta builds. I am still running what staff/shortbow ran at launch, I believe i switched to using bandit’s defence and that seem’s like a popular current meta choice.

For some reason condi mesmers destroy me (Power mes matchup is a joke, but then again, so is power mesmer…) I have no idea what to do if i can’t signet the confusion off. This is a matchup i’ve been told I should win aswell, facotring equal skill. If the fight goes long, i just drop with no condi cleanse outside of agility. Plasma puts in overtime but if I whiff steal, I might aswell /gg

DH are extraordinarily difficult to deal with. In the event I do 1v1 them and am winning the fight, it takes so long with the blocks and invulns that an inevitable + 1 comes and I either die or am forced to disengage. This is a matchup i’m told I should lose factoring equal skill. As Staff this matchup feels 7/3, maybe 6/4 if I wasn’t bad. As d/p this matchup feels completely kittening hopeless.

I get the feeling my builds are out of date, but i’m positive i’m not playing to the best of my ability aswell. D/P is ran with bound and fists of flurry.

Necros, unsure the build. at a loss. Pushing damage quickly seems the best option but even if agressively go in, I usually die for the samme reasons, no condi cleanse. This also is a matchup i’m told I should win. As d/p this matchup feels really simple to do, if you get the jump(which you should).

For PvE:
Currently I have only a few bosses killed as an achievement as i’ve only just begun to raid this week. Seems very fun so far. The bosses i’ve killed (Escort, VG, Gorse, bandit trio) all seem relatively simple. The trouble I find it actually convincing a group i’m able to do the boss without having much prior experience. WoW SunWell trash was harder then this. As I am to understand the patch notes aswell, rev’s being axed make thief less appealing in raids. What would the advice you would give to someone trying to get into pugs? What are some of the easier bosses after those listed? Is full ascended armor that helpful? It seems like a relatively minor increase. Should I just learn to chronotank? Seems those are in quite the demand.

Expereinces overall so far: Lying got me into the gorse. 0 runs had voice. wiped a total of 10 times on all bosses, with bandit trio being a huge problem(unsure what was going on, I was mortars.)

All in all, I must say this past week or two has been extremely pleasant for a returning player. I just hope to be able to continue raiding aswell as improving myself in pvp.

Most strong meta builds in PvP beat the thief in 1v1 fights. Really good players with optimal builds can do well with the thief but just know you are taking a knife to a gun fight.

Staff, D/P, Bound and Dare Devil runes is one of the better builds for straight up fights right now but decapping is an issue.

http://gw2skills.net/editor/?vZAQNAW4an0MBlOhFmCOOBkmiFkiirBCgHorqygPYu9n/9H-TpRBQBX4gAMmyAA4BAAw9HewFAQDHBAA

Bound, Vault, Bound, Vault. Get into trouble, switch to D/P and BP, Bound for stealth. Stay and stealth until your health returns. You can also drop a big Backstab out of that combo. Handles condi well and plenty of HP to buffer big shots. Players that dodge Bound/Vault well need to be hit from stealth with either Backstab or a stealthed Vault. Using the other staff skills takes a bit more practice but will improve overall play in time.

I seriously question the validity of a build with no shortbow in arenas. However, i’ve now figured out that i’m actually an idiot and started trying out escapist’s absolution rather then staff master and it has helped me immensely.

Anyone have any comments about the PvE side of the game?

Reckless.3578:

I seriously question the validity of a build with no shortbow in arenas.

Bound/Vault with Staff Master and Acro is nearly as fast. SB’s main advantage is terrain but on some maps that doesn’t matter as much. Bound/Vaults main advantage is that it can sustain its travel for longer. Course nothing beats Dash and SB if building for Decap, just plan on running or losing a lot more fights kitten makes a thief a lot more one dimensional.

Straegen.2938:

Most strong meta builds in PvP beat the thief in 1v1 fights. Really good players with optimal builds can do well with the thief but just know you are taking a knife to a gun fight.

Staff, D/P, Bound and Dare Devil runes is one of the better builds for straight up fights right now but decapping is an issue.

http://gw2skills.net/editor/?vZAQNAW4an0MBlOhFmCOOBkmiFkiirBCgHorqygPYu9n/9H-TpRBQBX4gAMmyAA4BAAw9HewFAQDHBAA

Bound, Vault, Bound, Vault. Get into trouble, switch to D/P and BP, Bound for stealth. Stay and stealth until your health returns. You can also drop a big Backstab out of that combo. Handles condi well and plenty of HP to buffer big shots. Players that dodge Bound/Vault well need to be hit from stealth with either Backstab or a stealthed Vault. Using the other staff skills takes a bit more practice but will improve overall play in time.

Please don’t listen to his advice regarding staff bound build having a weaker match up vs most meta builds.
Also, sticking to a “rotation” consisting of vault and bound spam will get you nowhere against mechanically skilled players, you will just be exhausting your dodges and initiative quicker while you take damage during the vulnerability frames of the vault animation..

Using staff/dp, you actually have the strongest build for 1v1s against any profession+builds at top level play in an open field. But in actual pvp, you want to use staff/sb so you can still fulfill decaps, both weapon sets provide really nice mobility on their 5 skill and the sb also provides vertical movement.
With staff, you also become a strong 1v1 fighter so if someone comes to prevent the decap or defend the node, it can be favorable for your team if you actually engage in the 1v1 as long as the node is yours or neutral and you are confident that you are going to win. (Btw nothing can outrun you to the node except another thief using dash/sb, but you will wreck dash builds anyway)
If you get +1ed, its also easy for you to disengage as long as you have your shadow step or have enough ini for vaults. The only disadvantageous matchup for you is dragonhunter, but even that matchup might be favored for staff thieves now because of the recent dh nerfs.

You can run either acro or da, the choice is yours.
If the enemy team doesn’t have condi comps, you can use staff master trait, but even then I prefer EA because of the ability to cleanse weakness and blinds.
If you have trouble with condi chronos but want to improve on the matchup, I can make a 1v1 node fight video guide against them using both DA and acro variant.

Regarding dhs, check out my youtube channel for staff only side node 1v1 guide against dragonhunters.

Your videos are immensly helpful in terms of overarching goals in the matchup, and it is obvious you have put a lot of thought and talent into making them. I notice you are mostly a WvW player and dueler, and am very happy to see you tailor your build to a more realistic arena setting. (I.E Staff only, maybe the inclusion of a shortbow tech would be nice.) The comments were extremely pertinent and just shows me I still have a long road ahead of me in terms of improvement.

Your point about being able to disengage while valid, is a bit dicey for me at this point since I feel i’m not good enough atm to fight builds without the drain on init, and most builds with any sort of focus on condi requires me to shadowstep. Hell, even thief 1v1s or GS warriors require shadowstep most of the time. But that could be because I am bad.

Taking EA has really helped in almost all macthups and now seems favorable compared to staff master. General matchups I try to simply be unpredictable with vault and bound, while also not throwing it into an invuln or block. It’s not like staff 1s don’t hurt. If they panic dodge you punish very harshly. As far as videos on condi mesmer I think at this point it would seem illogical in regards to my current situation.

If I had any say in your creation process i’d recommend taking meta builds of whatever season is going on and showing 1v1s with thief vs. those builds that have favorable or relatively even matchups against us. I’d be extremely interested in videos about that. Also, do you stream? Thanks again.

tomwjd.8172:

Please don’t listen to his advice regarding staff bound build having a weaker match up vs most meta builds.

A thief player must outright be a better player than strong meta opponent builds to win. The class will not carry a player like many other strong meta builds. There are reasons why the thief does not do well in top tier sPvP.

tomwjd.8172:

Also, sticking to a “rotation” consisting of vault and bound spam will get you nowhere against mechanically skilled players, you will just be exhausting your dodges and initiative quicker while you take damage during the vulnerability frames of the vault animation..

Did you read the entire post and look at the build? I specifically said players that avoid Bound and Vault well will need to be hit from stealth. With Dare Devil runes players must Bound before Vault to crit. Also, Bound/Vault is how the build travels and maintains a high evasive nature. Vault feeds Bound and vice versa with Staff Mastery and Upper Hand.

tomwjd.8172:

If you get +1ed, its also easy for you to disengage as long as you have your shadow step or have enough ini for vaults. The only disadvantageous matchup for you is dragonhunter, but even that matchup might be favored for staff thieves now because of the recent dh nerfs.

As noted on the linked build, switching to D/P which has an energy sigil gives the player an extra dodge necessary for a Black Powder stealth. It is an kitten saver. That sigil combo also sets up for a cheap Backstab.

tomwjd.8172:

You can run either acro or da, the choice is yours.
If the enemy team doesn’t have condi comps, you can use staff master trait, but even then I prefer EA because of the ability to cleanse weakness and blinds.

If the OP tries my build, Staff Mastery is a must because it builds endurance on each Vault which is what makes the engine run. Basically the build evades 90% plus of incoming attacks and travels nearly as fast as a ShortBow across a map. Acro and SA give it more than enough condi removal to handle any heavy condi applicator. They also allow for easy resets and big shots opponents cannot see coming. The “old school” crit builds work, but IMO this is a more defensive build with strong offensive power once practiced.

After a few hundred hours of play, I have found this build to be the most well rounded in any situation for a Staff build. It has no inherent weaknesses and is very hard to pin down. It can deliver consistent monstrous guaranteed shots since damage isn’t compromised by needing precision. It is fast, slippery, heavy condi removal, easy resets, blah, blah, blah. Try it and see if it fits.

For sPvP you’re still going to want the shortbow for decaps depending on the map. Yes, Dash + Vault offers similar land speed, but Vault does not allow for much vertical mobility at all.