Guild Wars 2

ONLY things I see thief lacking

1. Build variety (partly due to weapon selection and many inferior utility skills)

2. Methods of dealing with condi spam that are thief related (as in lyssa is not a solution, anyone can put that on)

3. viable “bunker” spec. I’ve seen some attempts at them but overall it’s not even remotely close to what others can pull off. Every class is supposed to be able to pull off any sort of role. How they go about that can vary but the results should be close and thief can’t burst heal, or soak up hits, and you can’t bunker an objective if you’re spending half the fight in stealth (can’t contest in stealth). This ties into their traits, many of which have no place anywhere (looking at you Hard to catch!). Evasion isn’t our specialty either, engi can evade for days, ranger can evade for days, Mesmer can evade for days. We get a small bonus to evasion over others, but its hardly noticeable when you take into consideration how nasty it is when their weapon makes contact with us.

4. More viable stun breakers. RFI would be awesome IF you could aim where to roll back towards (when stunned you can’t turn), infiltrator’s signet is good, and SS is incredible. Trap is kinda kitten, and haste is a terrible stun breaker(not terrible skill though). I find it funny that elementalist gets signet of air, which is exactly like signet of shadows except it breaks stun, and deals damage. Same cooldown. Just sayin.

As a final note, Less nerfs, more balance. I’m sure some things need “nerfs” because they’re either over played, or too easy to play, what have you. But that doesn’t mean just nerf it, give compensation elsewhere. It’s called balance, you take some you give some.

NinjaEd.3946:

2. Methods of dealing with condi spam that are thief related (as in lyssa is not a solution, anyone can put that on)

This is a nonsense restriction. Here’s a list of non-Thief professions that have a 45-second Elite and 15-second Healing skill:

If you don’t see anyone listed there, that’s probably because they don’t exist. The low CDs on those two things — which are Thief related, thank you — are what make Lyssa and Poultry so good for us.

Evasion isn’t our specialty either, engi can evade for days, ranger can evade for days, Mesmer can evade for days. We get a small bonus to evasion over others, but its hardly noticeable when you take into consideration how nasty it is when their weapon makes contact with us.

This is just objectively wrong. We have weapon evades, perma-Vigor access, Feline Grace, and even a Signet that recharges endurance (because why not). Nobody is better at evasion than a Thief specced for it.
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Stop saying wrong things. You can make arguments about Thief bunkering without making kitten up in the process.

NinjaEd.3946:

3. viable “bunker” spec. I’ve seen some attempts at them but overall it’s not even remotely close to what others can pull off. Every class is supposed to be able to pull off any sort of role. How they go about that can vary but the results should be close and thief can’t burst heal, or soak up hits, and you can’t bunker an objective if you’re spending half the fight in stealth (can’t contest in stealth). This ties into their traits, many of which have no place anywhere (looking at you Hard to catch!). Evasion isn’t our specialty either, engi can evade for days, ranger can evade for days, Mesmer can evade for days. We get a small bonus to evasion over others, but its hardly noticeable when you take into consideration how nasty it is when their weapon makes contact with us.

Apothecary build, with Signet of Malice as the main heal. As long as you do damage, you’re healing yourself for 200HP per hit, and Caltrops and Choking Gas can set it off as well (these also don’t take you out of stealth). Combine with Death Blossom for 3 and the evasion on move use or with Unload for a quick burst of 8 shots healing (as long as they don’t dodge it). Hell, P/P you can spam Unload for your healing needs if you need HP. If a group of enemies is nearby, Dagger Storm for a constant stream of healing.