the particular build i run…and well for that matter most condi builds can add 7 condis on in the first 2-3 seconds.
But they’ve completely blown their conditions on you initially. Bring Infusion of Shadow and stealth immediately afterward, then restart the fight and play smart while watching your conditions.
If you are going to run a shadow arts build in tpvp you are not going to be contesting a point or pressuring an enemy in stealth. In wvw or hot joins, sure. Tpvp, no.
You give up too much damage and rely on stealth for healing condi removal which allows the other team to cap points on you and simply ignore you. The other team wants you to stealth because that means they are putting pressure on you and you can’t do anything beneficial in stealth.
I beg to differ. I have my playstyle and do quite well in tPvP as a condition thief running in Shadow Arts. You may not believe me, or will ask for a video, but my job with my build isn’t to roam. I know fully well what it means to bunker a point and I do a kitten good job at it when all odds are stacked against me (5v1, anyone?). When you learn to play the way I do, you’re just as effective in stealth as you are out of it, and sometimes you have to adapt to maintain control of a point using only the initial stealth to remove 2 conditions at a time. I don’t find tPvP any more challenging than some hot join servers. People will sit there and attempt to kill you the entire match at their home point even if they have it while your team keeps the other two points. Call it a troll build, but it’s the way I play in tPvP, and it’s highly effective.
The second you stealth your enemy starts gaining control over the point. All he had to do is outlast you through a few stealth and he takes the point from you. If he knocks you off a few times, even easier. You obviously don’t know what bunkering a point means. It means holding the point as yours while enemies are assaulting it and not letting it go neutral or over to enemy control. Any thief who fights in stealth will let the point go neutral and eventually they will cap. Thus, losing points for your team. While guardian, ranger, ele, engi can do the same thing you do but much better without having to let it get decaped. Most teams have a bunker for two points. They don’t care if your troll build spends the whole match not decaping but keeping thier bunker on point. You are the one getting trolled not them. Because that means your team only has 4 other people to hold 2 points while thier team continuously holds the point you are assaulting. They have 4 people and they only need to hold 1 point. I would accept this argument if at any point you ever gained control over the point, but you don’t.
Obviously, you don’t understand tpvp. Maybe you play with 20% group or something. Condi thief had absolutely no place in tpvp, especially not trying to solo a point. If anything they would be useful in a team fight, but not as useful as s/d or burst.
Do you see any condi thieves in the setup on any of the high ranked teams? Nope. There is a reason for that. You see burst and s/d and occasionally the 0/30/30/10/0 d/p far point pusher build. Which is as burst as you can get with survivability. The only way that build works though is with a teammate to help you, because like I said earlier. You can’t contest a point in stealth. So you need a teammate to do that whole you’re making use of your shadow arts.
I’m not the best thief, but not the worst. Highest I’ve been ranked is like 656. Normally I’m in the 95% to low 900’s. I have played against complete noobs and über amazing premades. I’ve played every build in tpvp on thief and hot joins. I’m not telling you because I’m guessing. It’s from experience.
Just another noob thief…
