Guild Wars 2

I have a thief main which I love, but I want an alt that is sort of similar but is a bit more tanky and is good for group pvX and has multiple viable builds.
Would would you suggest?

Warrior is fun, but nothing like the thief. It is however a wonderful alt class as it requires a lot less dedication and practice to play well. I like the range of different builds and how different you can play.

It’s also a bit fun comming up against a thief as a warrior alt, as you know quite well how a thief uses his skills and in particular stealth. It always makes me glad that not everyone played thief as their first class and a bit worried, that if everyone knew how the thief plays as you do when having played it since release – we’d have a much harder time in PvP/WvW.

What aspect of thief game play do you want to be similar?

I personally went in this order

thief > warrior > necro > guardian > ele > engi.

Impossible to answer this unless you tell us how you play your Thief, but Guardian is a good alt choice. You’ll already be used to the health pool of a G, but now you’ll have an extra ~130 Armor to play with and a lot of easy group support. Several good builds available.

Bonus point: afterwards, you’ll really appreciate how much mobility that a Thief has.

Warrior obviously, lol.

Guardian is a close second. Both has more usage in WvW zerg fights and many dungeon/fractals paths than a thief does just by contributing more in DPS (banners/shouts) and support (CCs/protection).

Thanks for the quick replies but I am a dd/sp player that is hit and run burst.

^ You’ll want to play a Warrior, then. That fits your criteria better than the other professions.

Totalkill.8014:

Thanks for the quick replies but I am a dd/sp player that is hit and run burst.

I have a very good hammer/GS build. It has that same hit and run play style as youre probably used to

Shatter mesmer. We are basically thieves with clones anyway ^^

Totalkill.8014:

I have a thief main which I love, but I want an alt that is sort of similar but is a bit more tanky and is good for group pvX and has multiple viable builds.
Would would you suggest?

Give Guardian a try. Even in full berserker gear, it’s a hearty class that’s a great contribution, regardless of what aspect of the game you’re playing.

Totalkill.8014:

Thanks for the quick replies but I am a dd/sp player that is hit and run burst.

Shatter mesmer as someone else mentioned. Don’t count out D/D or Axe/Focus power necro also.

What weapons is build is Shatter memser?

I can only recommend a Warrior.

I recently hit 80 with mine specifically for WvW Zerg combat and it’s a blast. It’s ridiculous how much more durable a Warrior is in mass combat and how well he can deal with conditions.

Skills are really simple to grasp well and it’s a very easy class to play decently.

Totalkill.8014:

What weapons is build is Shatter memser?

Weapon-wise you are quite flexible. Most run sword mainhand for the basic 3-3-2-F1 combo, but to be honest you shouldn’t rely on that too much. It’s pretty telegraphed and easily avoided. Both skills are still good on their own, though.

Personally, i use Greatsword + Sword/Torch.

GS is good for starting a fight from range and the 2 skill does good damage when used in close range. The phantasm als applies cripple, which is always useful.

Torch offers another stealth and possible cleanses when traiting for it (i do, unless fighting eles/guardians since i switch to boonremove for them). The phantasm itself is horrible for a power build, but when traited it also removes a boon on each attack (which bounces), so it can still be useful.

The basic shatter build is 20/20/0/0/30. The 20 in dueling and 30 in illusions are quite mandatory since the build relies on Deceptive Evasion for clone generation and iPersona for maximising damage/survival.

As an example, here’s my current build:
http://gw2skills.net/editor/?fgQQNAR8flwzipXUzmGb9ICqHYH49dkU0avWJF22FC-jUCBoewYjBi+IQEBwJPFRjtMsIasabYKXDRWFDVKgRFGB-w

Blink and Decoy are pretty much my bread and butter utilities, mostly used for survival (although you can do a surprise attack with Torch 4 – GS 2 – Blink – Dodge – F1). Arcane Thievery is useful as a condi remove and against warriors/power-specced rangers. Against thieves i switch to Mirror Images for added burst. I also swap out Far-Reaching Manipulations for Blade Training since i need Blurred Frenzy as often as possible.

I’m using these weapons since i do a lot of roaming and want to be able to catch opponents every once in a while (don’t even try vs warriors). In a dueling environment, Staff can be used instead of GS, since it offers some defense.

In sPvP i see people using GS/Staff but you need to be able to perfectly execute forward Phase Retreats (About Face – Staff 2 – About Face) and know a lot of blink spots to really put that combination to use.

I hope i could help you for a start ^^

/edit: For additional info, i’d suggest you to take a look at Supcutie’s comprehensive Shatter guide: http://mesmerguides.com/supcutie.html
It’s very detailed, so you will most likely spend some time reading it and watching the videos but it should answer most if not all questions related to Shatter.

I recommend everything except Necro, Warrior, and Ranger (unless it gets buffed any time soon, in which case long-range LB builds might become viable and extremely fun). Here’s how I see things:

Thief- mobile, stealthy, aggressive, and has an extremely unique mechanic (initiative). Good for aggressive and active players. Has an average variety of builds, each of which is averagely flexible. Can be good for tactical players (though not as good as mesmer is), but can also be used very well strategically (though sharply) via mobility-based play.

Mesmer- somewhat mobile, somewhat stealthy, generally quite aggressive, and has an extremely unique mechanic (clones). Good for players who want to have access to a large variety of builds, though each of these builds isn’t very flexible in and of itself. Has other extremely unique and powerful mechanics/buildtypes that aren’t seen in any other profession, and good for players who want to play extremely tactically in combat.

Engineer- mobile and aggressive, and extremely versatile both in-combat and OOC. Good for players who like an average variety of builds open to them, each of which is extremely flexible by itself. They can also have really amazing mobility through a large variety of traits and weapon skills. However, they probably aren’t going to be as aggressive as mesmers or thieves, and they lack any particularly unique mechanics.

Elementalist- can be mobile (however, they are extremely good with Staff at limiting their opponents’ mobility), can be anywhere from defensive to moderately aggressive. Has a small number of builds, each of which is above average in terms of flexibility. Good for newer players to get used to the game, but is usable across the board (though it is extremely UP right now). Can be either extremely tactical (burst builds, Arcane skill builds) or the most strategic class in the game (staff’s has a variety of mobility-limiting and mobility-enhancing abilities that makes this possible).

Guardians- good for players who are seeking to be a bit tankier, even if it’s at the expense of a little bit of damage (though not much). Has a wide variety of builds to choose from, each of which are averagely flexible. Also good for people looking to incorporate some direct team support into their gameplay. Mostly strategic, but can become tactical.

If you are willing to give on the tanky part. Air ele might work. I gravitated to it because of the instant cast (septer/dagger) and blinds. It’s not to far from home if you are comfortable with a thief.

Iavra.8510:

Shatter mesmer. We are basically thieves with clones anyway ^^

+1

Unfortunately, you lose mobility compare to Thieves — but tanks are typically slow anyway, so Shatter Mez is the one you’re looking for.