Guild Wars 2

So I’m currently D/D with SB Secondary and in WvW I just can’t put up with it anymore.

1. Even with 50% increased speed in stealth I have a hard time getting behind people to actually backstab them. I either have to Venom Touch or root them.

2. Most people know how to play and dodge roll when I go stealth near them.

3. 95% of the time I end up having to use the Shortbow because the enemy is so bunched up or they’re far away in zergs.

4. I end up just using HS because of the issues getting behind people.

Is P/D or P/P much better in WvW? I have a Guardian as well and people run from me, but my Staff is good enough to hit them. :/

Pistol/Dagger is probably one of the most powerful WvW specs in the game. You generally have lots of targets to Cloak and Dagger off of and your survivability is incredible.

However there is one downside to Pistol/Dagger and that is the relatively short kill window you have in many situations. With people constantly roaming about, people fighting near keeps and friendly NPCs and the general chaos of WvW it can sometimes be hard to actually kill people for good as they start running away once they realize they can’t defeat you.

That and the fact that people in groups will just constantly revive each other will make you pull out your hair.

If I feel like messing around and want to abuse culling I throw on zerker and trait for glass then do this rotation. It uses every cool-down you have each time you attack.

1) Find zerg
2) B-Venom
3) Stealth-Heal
4) Shadowstep into zerg
5) Find Target – Wait for stealth to end
6) MugSteal+C&D+BackStab+Haste+Kill+HasteStomp+SpamLootKey
7) ShadowReturn
8) Shadow refuge
9) Kaiser soze
Target can be 2100 units away and they will never see you if the zerg is big enough.

Another option if you are having trouble with getting behind someone is to use S/D. You don’t have to be behind them and you get a stun on them as well. I pair that with P/P. With those two weapon sets you can port to the enemy with Sword 2 and then CD them and stun them…get a few hits off and then use Sword 2 again to port away from them and then Unload with P/P (then you can “steal” to get back to them and back into melee). The mixture of melee and ranged really messes with some people when you do it fast.

I also use S/D and D/D combo…I don’t think P/P is strong enough in WvW especially since most of the time as a roaming thief you will be fighting outnumbered…and using P/P you are just a sitting duck with a big red target on your back…

Try the S/D and use to teleport ability to your target…with a para sigil you can often get stuns so you quickly gain the edge…then switch to D/D and finish em off…S/D auto attack also hits multiple targets…

Remember though as a thief our strenghts lie in our ability to move in and out of combat…if you can’t go for the kill the first time regroup then rinse adn repeat…and now that the thief is the most talked about class in PvP…people have learned to counter…just takes more skill and patience… :-)

Yes, it seems like people is finally L2Ping then, good thing.

As a dagger lover here is my view.
It’s much harder to get a kill with a frontal approach but that’s why we’re Thieves.
A spike from behind is still an almost guaranteed kill, and a flanking spike is also quite likely to be successful.
Thieves need to learn to not rely on Stealth as a combat tool but as a way to setup a kill and to escape death; in-combat, evasiveness is the key.

You need to play the Thief like you’re not part of the battle.
You must pop when they least expect it, cause mayhem and disappear after your job is done.
Shadowstep is our greatest asset, not refuge; I see too many Thieves relying on town, rely on mobility guys.
Flank them, burst, step at their back, burst again, shadow return on flank, burst, dodge, evade.
You must be everywhere and nowhere at the same time. They’ll be completely lost in the dark.

Plus the noobs still fall for anything we do.
Have no mercy for noobs, spike them and jump on their body, laugh at them.
That’s the only way to get them to L2P seriously. Especially those bad rangers.
I’ve met very good rangers who lasted a full minute or even force me to retreat so it’s not the class, it’s the noobs. We must blast them to waypoint full of rage and grudge until they become worthy opponents.

Just be the backstabbing dirty player we’re born to be.

PS: It’s also useful to swap your secondary weps a lot.
P/P for single target spike (6-7k dmg unload is good), switch to SB when you need mass weakness and area denial.
Don’t limit yourself to a static setup, try to evolve your style on the spot.
Every moment out of combat is a chance to change playstyle.

^I only run SR in WvW and PvE because a dead ally won’t help you win. But yeah, shadowstep is far better utility and SR when fighting an enemy. Every time I see a thief use SR for stealth, I’d switch to my shortbow and spam clusterbomb on that sucker ’till I have 3 initiatives left, use disabling shot and dodge and stealth myself. Now just wait for the thief to reveal, dead or alive.

Shadowstep and refuge go hand in hand. Either to get away, step ^ refuge (zerg sees and starts moving toward it) return and gone. Or for offense, step in, kill return, refuge to cover.

Yaks don’t kite.

I play P/D at the moment and I’m getting a second tanky backstab build when I’m done gearing my P/D. I’m currently at half my power (condition duration only 68%, needs to be 100%) and my bleeds also need a slight buff to damage seeing as I still miss a few pieces in my armor set.

Overall, P/D is amazing. It simply owns mesmers which are one of the hardest to deal with. The backstab thief is my biggest fear though. I don’t have any stunbreakers so they can really kitten you up. The other’s burst is not that hard to evade or I can even take it. I will have 18-19k hp, I’m at 17 now.

P/D is best when fighting against a group of 3 as you can just use Cloak and Dagger of anyone and you can do Sneak Attack on your target. Don’t need to position yourself, just unload. The only problem is in zergs, the aoe condition removal is hard to swallow. In 1v1 or small groups, it’s ownage.

Is P/D more condition build? Right now I’m stacked mainly berserkers with vitality and toughness mixed in.

Out of curiosity what tier do you play in?

People have caught on to the BS build (finally) and most now see it as a l2p issue. the problem with the GC BS build is that it is so predictable. For fear of people catching on to what I do, I wont reveal my personal flavor of BS build, but you will have to do your own testing and change things up so you dont seem as predictable. Try switching out a utility for shadow wire and dragging them into your zerg. I have had a lot of fun scorp wiring them into my combo instead of stealing to them. Their first reaction to a pull is usually to turn and run back, meaning if you get the pull off correctly, you can directly C&D then BS without having to move because they will do the work of turning around for you.

ComeAndSee.1356:

Is P/D more condition build? Right now I’m stacked mainly berserkers with vitality and toughness mixed in.

Power/Crit always works but +Condition Damage really adds to P/D so it might be worthwhile to look at your trinkets, +condition tends to add in toughness/vitality/healing.

I currently am running a P/V/T armor and weapons with T/Pre/P jewelry. In a full on tank setup (3160 armor rating) with S/D + D/D. Much the same as Jakkson, with the exception that I don’t need to be as mobile because I can take a hit.
Still able to pull 12k + bursts with D/D even in full out tank build because the majority of WvW for some reason insists on going full GC.
And the added CC with S/D makes for a crazy good combo, just gotta get good with swapping as you’ll actually use both sets.

I usually start with shortbow to make them feel at ease and then swap to dd for the instant kill…. That said, venoms are the easiest way to land backstab. Like others have said, I run a great deal of soldier’s gear (p/v/t), but I still have some zerkers mixed in with runes of thief. Not going to lie though…. there are times when I just want to run pd, but I’d rage the first time someone could just walk away from me.

Odaman.8359:

I usually start with shortbow to make them feel at ease and then swap to dd for the instant kill…. That said, venoms are the easiest way to land backstab. Like others have said, I run a great deal of soldier’s gear (p/v/t), but I still have some zerkers mixed in with runes of thief. Not going to lie though…. there are times when I just want to run pd, but I’d rage the first time someone could just walk away from me.

Just switched from p/d to d/d (sb on the side)after getting frustrated by runners and not getting the kill. The set up you describe is exactly what I did last night as we were painting my BL the correct color… so many more badges now

BV (+ all boons from Rubicon set), stealth on steal with mug, backstab, 22222

99% sure OP is just trolling/joking/mocking.