Guild Wars 2

First, I primarily play for WvW, I just love that gameplay. At the moment I have a warrior running sword and board + axe/mace. Usually, if something gets in melee range I am going to chew it up and spit it out. However, I ran into this one thief that was friggen all over the place.

I tried to stay mobile and swat at the air when he stealthed. The fight itself just looked kitten. This dude was popping in and out of stealth left and right, dodging away and generally keeping just out of range. I managed to catch em with a good combo, and I think I got some hits in while he was stealthed, the fight ended with me down and stomped pretty quickly. This guy was the first thief ive seen played really well, and just looked like a total kitten throughout the whole fight. I am torn between my necro, engineer, and thief.

I am primarily wondering what big issues you guys tend to face at 80, every class seems to have some. I was also wondering if there is a viable dual pistol + shortbow build out there? seems like it would be a bit unconventional and interesting.

Using pistols as shortbow ammo is strong. But don’t tell anyone.

Thief is kinda repetitive tbh. Wish we had more weapons.

Just browse these forums. The main complaint from Thieves is “Don’t nerf me bro”

In other words, wait a few patches so you don’t have to un-learn noob combos that will soon be removed lol.

I like to avoid the really popular specs and go with something that isnt seen as often. means that if a nerf hits i am less likely to be affected. Seriously considering a dual pistol/shortbow thief now. lol

Thief is a great class. Plenty of options and different play styles. Don’t listen to the hate.

I love the thief class but, my $.02 on it are as follows.

Great PVE fun as far as story, clearing areas, exploring, puzzles. (general stuff)

I (personally) feel useless in dungeons.

WvW I feel hit or miss. I feel like everything I do is ultimately ’average." I feel like other classes are better at AOE nuking and warriors or guardians are better at any sort of “sustained” combat so to speak.

In PVP I’m still really trying to form a fair opinion. Others seem to be able to 3 hit me before I can blink, while I seem to suck at doing it to other people. Experimenting with more tanky builds when i get a chance..

The Good
- Decent overall dps
- Good burst dps in some builds
- AoE with Sword main hand
- Ability to evade a lot
- Ability to kite
- Can apply Weakness with sword mainhand
- Lots of blinds
- Easy to tag mobs in events with shortbows
- Strong under water melee
- Good escape mechanics
- +25% movement speed sigil
- Great blast combo field finisher
- Good initiation Mechanics

The bad
- Lowest Hp in the game (tied with Elementalist)
- No serious ranged AoE Dps options
- Sustained dps can be an issue in many builds
- Average at best ranged single target Dps
- Poor under water ranged
- Restricted to 900 range (big one for wvw)
- Daggers are single target (apart from DB which is average at best)
- Long cooldown on steal
- Lack of support apart from venom sharing and stealth rez
- Boring utilites (personal opinion)
- Lack of under water elite skill (basalisk venom 1 second stun with a 1 second cast?!?!)
- Class currently encourages gimmicky builds that low skill players can succeed on

erm thats my input

I am normally more of a PvE player than a PVP player in MMO’s. However, in GW2, I am finding that I really enjoy playing my Thief in WvW. I think the main reason is because I recognized what the class is meant for; it’s strengths and limitations.

I started playing with P/P and S/P with a glass cannon build, but soon switched to Shortbow & D/P and a build set for utility/escape/dodge and survivability when I found myself dying a lot.

Shortbow, imo, is priceless for a thief in WvW. It helps you traverse the map quickly and escape from zergs. You can also lay down a decent amount of AoE dps from a distance.

I use D/P for the times when I just need to get in and finish off an enemy, it provides quick high single target dps. I don’t see the need for melee AoE dmg when using S/P (although I miss having the extra stun from pistol whip). But, D/P’s 4th skill provides a short stun when I need it.

I wouldn’t suggest using two ranged weapon sets (P/P & Shortbow), cause you’re pretty much screwed if you get stunned and/or caught in melee range of other melee classes.

When I play Thief in WvW, my perspective of the class is that it is meant to be used more for scouting and sneakyness. I get a few kills in, but I like sabotaging/distracting the enemy more than anything. If you get a small band of Thieves, with a few different builds, rolling WvW together, you can cause some real problems for the enemy when they least expect it. When all their forces are focused on the main zerg, my ninja squad is capturing supply camps, killing area sentinels or flanking the enemy from behind.

Thief seems to be a half finished class. Im a person that only plays one character. But if Arenanet gave me the option to just change the class and nothing else so to say. I would do it in a heartbeat. If I knew what I do today, then I would never have picked Thief.

And I am not talking about bandwagon mentality. As said by another one, thief is repetitive and very limited.

Now that im geared in half exotic crit gear and half pvp oriented vitality/toughness exotics, I find it pretty easy to take on 3 enemies and come out on top in wvw, or at least kill one and get away from the other 2. When I see two people running out in the open I go after them every time, because 9 times out of 10 ill kill them both without much trouble, especially if they dont see me coming.

Why? Because thieves are kind of OP.

Its all about dagger dagger. Thieves that hang back and use dual pistols or a short bow are such wasted potential. It almost offends me when I see them

Let me tell ya bout the thief.

I like to play burst damage that can excel with skill. I’ve tried necro, mesmer,
elementalist, thief, ranger, mesmer again, warrior, then stuck with warrior till L71,
but something was missing.. then I tried thief again alternating between every build
under the sun. Thief is it for me. If you want burst that requires skill to excel at,
then thief is it for you.

Keep this in mind: No matter what class you fight in WvW, it makes a huge
difference whether they are L80 with good gear/traits or a lowbie. You will notice
it right away.

Also keep this in mind: Classes like thief, when you fight someone that is skilled
or someone who is mashing buttons and struggling to move around at the same
time, there will be a HUGE difference.

If you want to own the WvW battlefield and not want to mess with intricate 6
combo openers, you want to be a ranger.

If you want the satisfaction of picking off strays in seconds while your openers
aren’t on cooldown, you want to be a thief. Some people get off on putting
a mediocre player flat on his back in milliseconds then running off into the shadows.

Another mode of the glass burst thief that isn’t often talked about is his ability to
hide and lob grenades with his shortbow around keeps/towers. He can single
handedly clear out a huge mob at a gate or tower wall in seconds.

My favorite builds at the moment are glass cannon D+D/SB and S+P/SB