Guild Wars 2

Lately I’ve been trying to use non stealth builds, as I feel stealth is too mainstream every thief is using it as much as they can…

However, with the current state of the sword build they are so weak compared to dp and dd or pd.

S/p is barely viable with pistol whip relying on bassi or drvourers
And s/d is decent and fun but backstabbing build achieve much quicker burst through heartseeker. Shadow shot ANd back stabs.

Is anet going to give a boost to sword anytime soon?
Some of us actually don’t prefer stealth /perm stealth builds.

I use S/D in tPvP and do well, but for WvW, D/P is the way to go since our burst is ridiculous there.

The power of the sword, the mobility, boon stripping and evasion, was it’s strength. That’s too costly, reduced to not effective and again too costly. The only option for dueling is D/P with a power build, as cheesy as it is, stealth and blind work (as most players truly suck hard). Everything else doesn’t.

Non-stealth builds can work really well most of the time except when up against a stealth thief. The best you can do is make them run away but you wont ever kill them. Most of them wont leave you alone till they kill you (I guess they’re trying to prove some kind of a point or something) and disappear as soon as you start damaging them.

And if you do for some freak reason do happen to kill them, they’ll party you and rage about how you cheated and want a rematch.

It’s not stealthless, but D/D is viable in wvw at least. Test targets with a shortbow and poison them while evading attacks. Once their health hits somewhere around 50% switch and burst. The shortbow plinking will give you an idea of how much health/armor they have to determine whether or not to even try the burst.

Switch.4892:

Non-stealth builds can work really well most of the time except when up against a stealth thief. The best you can do is make them run away but you wont ever kill them. Most of them wont leave you alone till they kill you (I guess they’re trying to prove some kind of a point or something) and disappear as soon as you start damaging them.

And if you do for some freak reason do happen to kill them, they’ll party you and rage about how you cheated and want a rematch.

Use Devourer’s venom and basilisk with residual venoms: Make them waste their shadowstep with basilisk (which isn’t your real elite in this setup). Hit them a few times to drop their health a bit and have them use shadow return. Use devourer’s venom on them and enjoy a thief that’s stuck for 7seconds (even when stealthing, try to use cover up conditions with another venom or w/e in case they use shadow refuge with condi clear on stealth)

Peow peow.2189:

Lately I’ve been trying to use non stealth builds, as I feel stealth is too mainstream every thief is using it as much as they can…

However, with the current state of the sword build they are so weak compared to dp and dd or pd.

S/p is barely viable with pistol whip relying on bassi or drvourers
And s/d is decent and fun but backstabbing build achieve much quicker burst through heartseeker. Shadow shot ANd back stabs.

Is anet going to give a boost to sword anytime soon?
Some of us actually don’t prefer stealth /perm stealth builds.

I don’t feel forced to use stealth but it certainly makes fulfilling multiple duties a lot easier.

In sPvP, it is bad to use stealth while holding/contesting a point which is why the majority thieves in sPvP spend no points in Shadow Arts. However, in WvW stealth is more reliable due to zergs or larger groups roaming around in addition to not having to hold a point if you’re in WvW just for fights.

But, if you prefer not to use stealth, evades/shadowstep/shadowreturn are your best skills. S/X is more of a harassment/attrition build. The way I use it is to wear out the opponent and not really try to one shot. Pretty much, I find that S/X prolongs a fight which is why its more fun in my opinion.

Swords builds were actually able to kill other classes so that’s automatically OP and has to be nerfed. Only warrior can get to do that and not get nerfed.

Excalibur.9748:

Swords builds were actually able to kill other classes so that’s automatically OP and has to be nerfed. Only warrior can get to do that and not get nerfed.

S/X for thief already got nerfed so many times now lol.

don’t call stealth mainstream you freaking hipster. what even is that? “I use traps because stealth is too mainstream.” I get if you don’t want to not use stealth because it’s not fun for you, but don’t play something else just because you want to be a cool hipster. I don’t use stealth in my build because I’m sick of people using it as an excuse for me beating them. I don’t use it and i still kill people somehow, I’m sure it’s a glitch, but I’m sure a-net will fix it soon.

is this real life? s/d being weaker than stealth build, what???

If Stealth is an option in my chosen weapon set, then by jove, I’ll use it.

Why impart imaginary rules and boundaries to satisfy some sort of inner honor/moral code?

Do Mesmers ask other Mesmers, “Do you feel forced to use Clones because they are so mainstream?”?

Try a trickery d/p+sb build, you don’t stealth very often. Blinds and clusterbombs everywhere!

I use trickery heavily and run either s/p or d/d main. Only stealthing it does is stolen, backstabs, and refuges from time to time (not even slotted 60%). The s/p is diminished a bit, with the patch, but it still is effective, just need better timing on pw, and I use it more for the interrupt really – even a few first strikes landed do more than headshot (and i can for some reason just use it more effectively in that manner than headshot). No I don’t feel forced into stealth unless it’s to troll (barring refuge use)

Why is everyone getting so upset over the use of the word “mainstream”? Really, who cares? His point is that he doesn’t really care for stealth builds.

S/D and S/P (assuming they fix/revert the aftermath of the stun change) work well, but they’re designed more for sustained damage and survivability. Even if they’re improved, I doubt they’ll ever be as “bursty” as a Backstab build.

No. I run a S/D build very effectively. I rely on shadow step, not stealth, and I feel it is a more fun play style, being able to dodge just by shadow stepping away. The complaints that we will never have the burst to be viable is a complete lie. It is true a sword build cannot burst as well as a backstab build, but I feel that if played right, it can be more effective. I still have a nice dps output, while not dieing very easily (partially because being an asura thief in WvW is convenient), and pve is not too difficult (By nice dps I mean I crit 5.5-6.5k on sword #1’s final strike, and LS). The most important thing is to remember to not shadow step immediately after shadow stepping out. That is the only mistake that will get you killed half the time.

Mainly, a stealth build is nt necessary, and is not te only viable build.

Not really. SD doesn’t really require it, and it’s much more fun in wvw.

Stealth is fine its just gets a little cheesy on the perma stealthing dp set(though in the current state of the game not op but super annoying). Also it seems most of the negative changes made around the thief have been made in an attempt to address the perma stealth dp set but generally end up hurting all the other thief sets alot more.

I just troll wvw with a p/d build, only stealth being CnD for pistol 1. Actually a nice challenge over d/p or d/d.

Forced? Nah. To be optimal, yes.

It’s defiantly forced on us pretty hard if you want condition removal unless you want to spam all your ini on shadow return. If you happened to switch to shortbow and get hit with lotsa cond, well you’re screwed. S/D is pretty squishy since you don’t do much dmg without zerker. 1/2 evade is pretty weak.
We have pretty limited access to movement speed, and our shadowsteps except for one require a target so it’s not a good escape if you don’t have one. The return on the Utility is such a short duration and shadow trap was nerfed for some reason~ I’d like it if they did something to improve shadowstep builds to be able to replace stealth easier. Allow Infiltrator signet to move you w/o target? Allow you to shadowstep to allies like in GW1? Add ability to steal from allies? Faster movement with a sword~ more HP with a sword? Buff signet of malice again?

Could go for a fix for rubberbanding shadowstep bug when you get immobilized or stunned while casting it.