Guild Wars 2

I regularly check this board to look for thief play strategies, interesting class builds, gear discussion, you know, the kind of things you expect from your class’ board, but no, all I find is complaining about thieves, mainly from players of other classes, which is really frustrating and a waste of the board. Honestly, I just want to hear some thieves talk about their playstyle, build and gear, and not the glass-cannon thieves (who I agree do need a nerf), because they just attract flamers at the moment… /rant

I personally play a vitality/power/toughness thief with sword and dagger, my PvP playstyle revolves around short bursts of direct damage followed by long periods of stealth when I stack might and health regen. Anyone else have some interesting class discussion? Any dual pistol PvP builds (I’ve seen them used very effectively!). Also, what are you trying to do in dungeons as a thief? I find that in dungeons I can revive better than anyone, and kite tough mobs/tank with perma-blinds. Thoughts? (I’m just sick of this boring crybaby board…)

The class forums are rather unique from other games.

Rarely is there ever an actual discussion. Most of the other sections are just people who whine that their class is UP or outclassed and it needs a buff. Mesmers are defending that their class isn’t OP. Thief is being called OP and the actual thief players are trying to get it to stop because they realize the thief is too easily countered to be considered OP.

https://forum-en.gw2archive.eu/forum/professions/thief/How-many-basic-viable-builds-do-thieves-have/first#post622184

Well it’s not entirely fair,

the lack of cutting-edge PvE content really limits the extent to which you need to discuss builds and tactics. Without the need for theorycrafting or tactics discussions there really isn’t much left to talk about on the PvE side.

In PvP there are a few more dynamics…but again…without a ladder or any kind of performance evaluation everything is just going to be anecdotal experiences.

That’s why a large extent of the discussion here is focused on either Thief QQ or discussing some of the fundamental mechanics of the class.

No there arent – I went into every other forum and not One nerf thread. This is an attempt to kill the thief off all together. The bads cant deal with anything and take it out on an easy target the thief.
We are different then the other class and therefore discriminated against because of it.
Anet needs to stop catering to dumb dumbs and look at the actual numbers other than I got beat nerf nerf nerf.

Frankly I am very very annoyed at this as anet is enabling this by saying they will keep looking at it instead of shutting in down and making life easier for us.
Instead the players are left to defend for ourselves while Anet fuels it and that is what frustrates me and `upsets` me off. Every 3rd thread is about nerf this kill that.

I can deal with whatever anet does – but shut down the complaining and whining so I am not forced to defend the class every time I log in.

i am feeling exactly what Narkosys.5173 said. I know it is pointless most of the time to bring in argument and defend something, but if I don’t do that I will have to blame myself is something bad really happens (assa signet was rebalanced as per suggetions, but pistol whip was nerfed to the ground with qq)

I’m personally a Power, Precision, Vitality and Crit damage S/P|SB thief who almost never peruses these boards because it is nothing but a QQ fest. Some is valid QQ, but most is not.

Anywho, my WvW/sPvP playstyle revolves around locking down people and taking their options away to kill them. For all the whining people have about the PW nerfs, PW is honestly the last thing I would be caught spamming anyways, since it’s suicide against a smart player. When paired with Devourer Venom, you can hold someone in place for a maximum of 5 seconds, assuming they don’t use a condition remover. This is a long time to immobilize someone.

For example, a preloaded Devourer venom into charging Black Powder into Steal, blind when Mug hits and target is immobilized. Auto attack chain and they’re crippled and weakened, skill 2 into blind and auto attack again. Skill 4 if they try and heal.

Keeping a target blind and immobile while dealing out heavy steady damage is my way of dealing with people, and works well. And, since people are so busy QQing about the PW nerfs, nobody expects a Sword Pistol roamer in WvW. There has been at least two occasions where, probably because of the imaginary broken weapon set, I’ve taken on two Backstab thieves and walked away with two confirmed kills because of it.

It’s all about measured actions and removing the enemies’ ability to retaliate while giving yourself escape tools. Those tools being Short Bow, Hide in Shadows, Signet of Agility, and Signet of Shadows.

I am not a stealth based build, however.

If curious, I run a 15/30/0/10/15 build with Mug, Executioner, Fury at 50%, Quickness on Crit, Might on Dodge, and Fury/Swiftness/Might on Steal. The 15 in Power lets me play a secondary support role with shortbow. Gear is berserker of divinity armor 6/6, two berserker rings, two valkyrie earrings, and valkyrie necklace with guild assassin’s pack. 14.5ish HP before buffs, around 3100 attack, 2070ish armor, 49% crit chance before buffs, and 104% crit damage.

Ichishi.9613:

i am feeling exactly what Narkosys.5173 said. I know it is pointless most of the time to bring in argument and defend something, but if I don’t do that I will have to blame myself is something bad really happens (assa signet was rebalanced as per suggetions, but pistol whip was nerfed to the ground with qq)

So, you believe that the nerf threads are entirely wrong and EVERYONE else is just out to get you? Some sort of conspiracy against GW2 Thieves, is it? That’s a very believeable theory. Quite possible too. That theory isn’t ridiculous or anything.

Elan yours is a good example of a good build. Sword/pistol is very good even without pistol whip, but this build suffers from one thing: it does not have that “edge” or unique feel about it. It does not take anything to extreme and does not focus on anything. And for many people (especially familiar with gw1) it is first and only reason not to play it (though many try).
It simply does not shine in even some of the most specific situations. You may even contribute a lot to your allies. But you won’t get the reward.
@crewthief
The very word NERF is wrong. Nothing except most crazy things deserve a nerf. Nothing is wrong with constructive discussion. But there is almost no constructive discussion. People do not understand that constructive discussion consist of being privy to detail of issue (not just its results), a justified suggestion, analysis of the impact of that suggestion in and outside of the issue, a baseline for a further improvement.
If every nerfthis nerfthat thread had one of those for every 10 bad ones (i think im tanky guardian in glass cannon set and thief hits me for half hp nerf him to the ground) it would make me much more assured that actual needed fixes will make it to the devs’ minds. But when there is 10 pages of posts with zero data, zero analysis and no concern for consequences I am really afraid devs might miss something that is actually valuable, so I post to make up for it.

I think getting over 800 kills in just over 5 days of WvW, 70% (ok, let’s be conservative, 60%) of which is in solo roaming shows I get the reward. :P

I also get a kick out of being chased by 5 people for 10 minutes. I call that a win, as well. XD

S/P is far from a typical thief approach, and is greatly underestimated by the masses. In large part due to the number of people who just don’t understand how to use it. When skill 1 hits for 10k in three swings (3k, 3k, 4k) against a squishy, oh yes it hurts.

Maybe for you it is. But people will still consider 100 kills in 5 days with 1 to 10 kill/death ratio and zero impact on situation in wvw both more fun to play and far more op to complain at

Perhaps, but how does it being an ADD addict’s worst enemy make it, as you said, “It simply does not shine in even some of the most specific situations. You may even contribute a lot to your allies. But you won’t get the reward” ?

If anything, the set offers enough flexibility to adapt to most situations and doesn’t suffer from “I flubbed my initial attacks, now I’m boned” syndrome. And the damage to get the reward. And the support to make an impact in WvW the times I’m actually participating in a zerg. So the entire statement confuses me, all told.

No, thieves are too OP for them to post on the forums :p

They hope that if they don’t post and draw attention to themselves, Anet doesn’t nerf them!

Well I won’t say it for others. But for me, a sylvari female thief, running with a sword drawn is enough to refuse to take it even if I can perform far better with it. And I also get this warriorish feeling when battling someone with it. Slow, strong autoattacks. Nothing like that unique attack animations assasins had in gw1.

See, that’s true. It’s more of a THUG or Light Warrior approach than an Assassin. Fortunately, that still fits the theme of Thief. :P

Diversity in thematic preferences are all a part of how awesome the class is. I don’t hate on BS thieves because I know what they go for and what they give up any more then I hate on P/D, or any other variation. Aside from Pistol Pistol, they all have their purpose and play style.

Actually, intrigued by the bad feedback on p/p i tried it. The fact that astonished me is that it is actually bad in theory and facts. But most targets make it more than a viable build. If we consider dodges, range, speed, damage, movement ability of p/p set it is all far inferior to other sets. But people cannot bother themsleves countering it properly to an extent that I come on forums and say that p/p does not need buff except redesign of body shot. People just make it feel so insanely powerful and easy that when I went backstabbing I stopped taking people talking about backstab uberopness seriously.

Actually, all it really needs is body shot being turned into a cripple to make it viable. Weak, but viable. With maybe something done to skill 1. Right now it just lacks utility outside of blind, and the bleed is almost worthless unless you are condition spec.

This made me intrigued about the viability of P/P in PvP, this guy owns, though he is a bit kitteny haha

I love running S/D, it just feels awesome, flavour-wise it feels like I’m a duelist, and it gives a great skillset, however, my GOD they need to do something about flanking strike, it is SO wonky, I only ever use it on tank-and-spank PvE mobs, it is very useless otherwise….

Also, though I love the shortbow (u can’t drop it once u get used to travelling around with it), I feel it does virtually no damage with a lot of thief builds, which is sad because it is thief’s only range really, WISH we had a rifle so we could be awesome snipers (that said I’d rather have sword offhand)

Niftylen.9156:

This made me intrigued about the viability of P/P in PvP, this guy owns, though he is a bit kitteny haha

He isnt running P/P, he’s running P/D.

Niftylen.9156:

WISH we had a rifle so we could be awesome snipers (that said I’d rather have sword offhand)

Ya I want me some 420 fakey noscopez too.

Edit: To answer the thread title, yes I’m a thief, picked it from the first time I read about the professions. Played in primarily since closed beta.

crewthief.8649:

Ichishi.9613:

i am feeling exactly what Narkosys.5173 said. I know it is pointless most of the time to bring in argument and defend something, but if I don’t do that I will have to blame myself is something bad really happens (assa signet was rebalanced as per suggetions, but pistol whip was nerfed to the ground with qq)

So, you believe that the nerf threads are entirely wrong and EVERYONE else is just out to get you? Some sort of conspiracy against GW2 Thieves, is it? That’s a very believeable theory. Quite possible too. That theory isn’t ridiculous or anything.

This is a horrible fallacy. Not everyone in game is on the forums. Not everyone who is on the forums participates in thief nerf threads. There is a core group of maybe 15-20 players who daily spam nonsense about thieves, trying to get them nerfed. A few new faces will tag along every now and then, but it’s usually the same 15 or so names that keep popping up. 15 people out of the… what… 3 million that play the game? The other 2,999,9985 people seem to be playing just fine without feeling the need to solicit thief nerfs every kitten day.
Funny thing is several of those 15 are warriors and mesmers, the classes that are greater than or equal to the thief in power. It’s almost like they’re upset that thieves can escape their wrath while no other class can.

bwillb.2165:

crewthief.8649:

Ichishi.9613:

i am feeling exactly what Narkosys.5173 said. I know it is pointless most of the time to bring in argument and defend something, but if I don’t do that I will have to blame myself is something bad really happens (assa signet was rebalanced as per suggetions, but pistol whip was nerfed to the ground with qq)

So, you believe that the nerf threads are entirely wrong and EVERYONE else is just out to get you? Some sort of conspiracy against GW2 Thieves, is it? That’s a very believeable theory. Quite possible too. That theory isn’t ridiculous or anything.

This is a horrible fallacy. Not everyone in game is on the forums. Not everyone who is on the forums participates in thief nerf threads. There is a core group of maybe 15-20 players who daily spam nonsense about thieves, trying to get them nerfed. A few new faces will tag along every now and then, but it’s usually the same 15 or so names that keep popping up. 15 people out of the… what… 3 million that play the game? The other 2,999,9985 people seem to be playing just fine without feeling the need to solicit thief nerfs every kitten day.
Funny thing is several of those 15 are warriors and mesmers, the classes that are greater than or equal to the thief in power. It’s almost like they’re upset that thieves can escape their wrath while no other class can.

After a while i was able to predict who started the thread just from the name. Its become too obvious. But i guess it does take years to grow up so they probably won’t be leaving anytime soon. Those people are just like the political figures in real life when they gain too much power. At the first sign that they are losing control, they will do things such as spreading false information and lies to try and regain control. But we, thieves are putting up too much of a fight, thats why they believe they must stamp us into the ground with a higher power (anet) then actually trying to best us themselves.

FrozenLuv.6017:

bwillb.2165:

crewthief.8649:

Ichishi.9613:

i am feeling exactly what Narkosys.5173 said. I know it is pointless most of the time to bring in argument and defend something, but if I don’t do that I will have to blame myself is something bad really happens (assa signet was rebalanced as per suggetions, but pistol whip was nerfed to the ground with qq)

So, you believe that the nerf threads are entirely wrong and EVERYONE else is just out to get you? Some sort of conspiracy against GW2 Thieves, is it? That’s a very believeable theory. Quite possible too. That theory isn’t ridiculous or anything.

This is a horrible fallacy. Not everyone in game is on the forums. Not everyone who is on the forums participates in thief nerf threads. There is a core group of maybe 15-20 players who daily spam nonsense about thieves, trying to get them nerfed. A few new faces will tag along every now and then, but it’s usually the same 15 or so names that keep popping up. 15 people out of the… what… 3 million that play the game? The other 2,999,9985 people seem to be playing just fine without feeling the need to solicit thief nerfs every kitten day.
Funny thing is several of those 15 are warriors and mesmers, the classes that are greater than or equal to the thief in power. It’s almost like they’re upset that thieves can escape their wrath while no other class can.

After a while i was able to predict who started the thread just from the name. Its become too obvious. But i guess it does take years to grow up so they probably won’t be leaving anytime soon. Those people are just like the political figures in real life when they gain too much power. At the first sign that they are losing control, they will do things such as spreading false information and lies to try and regain control. But we, thieves are putting up too much of a fight, thats why they believe they must stamp us into the ground with a higher power (anet) then actually trying to best us themselves.

Yeah it is a bit like politics, isn’t it? In the words of Samuel L Jackson, "Wake the !$@% UP!