Guild Wars 2

Hey there thief community— lately I’ve been doing a lot of sPvP on my warrior. Fights tend to go like this:

I’ll get jumped by a thief, avoid their Basi venom & / or spike, and then spike them right back. This’ll take them to incredibly low HP, at which point they’ll reset the fight.

They’ll either attempt another burst, or leave the fight altogether— usually reappearing to kill me as I’m fighting another opponent on a point.

I realize that being able to reset a fight at will is something a more experienced thief can and will do. So in the interest of me becoming an equally experienced player, what can I do to stop this from happening? I’ve had fights where I’d have a thief reset 2-3 times, and finally only kill them after they had burned through all of their utilities including SR.

I’ll teach you:

Roll a thief

AsiraasiB.7165:

I’ll teach you:

Roll a thief

I do occasionally play Thief in sPvP actually. I haven’t had issues getting away when I need to, but I’m 99% sure that I suck and am in low MMR. So the people I play against (like me) don’t have a clue what to do about it.

Which is why I’m going to you guys for advice!

Save a CC for when you think they will drop Shadow Refuge. Most thieves (Including me) drop it when we’re losing, so at that point if you interrupt it/knock the thief out of it, you will probably win.

Razelesh.1035:

Save a CC for when you think they will drop Shadow Refuge. Most thieves (Including me) drop it when we’re losing, so at that point if you interrupt it/knock the thief out of it, you will probably win.

Makes sense. This is usually what I save my AoE fear for.

Do you have any advice for handling resets via shadowsteps? (S/D & Shortbow)

TheDuck.4526:

This’ll take them to incredibly low HP, at which point they’ll reset the fight.

Rock-Scissors-Paper. 123GO!
When in wvw, this is one reason I keep a hammer in inventory on my warrior. And if you are lucky, you’ll have it on swap to pull out at that last moment before he realizes you have one.

And don’t count on them always using shadow refuge, I usually trigger blinding powder and get some distance before using it, even stealth twice if I can before using it. I’ve spent enough time in wvw to know you get as much distance as you can then use it last. Last ~20% health lay down the hammer.

You mention killing thieves after a few fight resets. Or beating them into retreating and resetting, but you don’t seem to mention being killed 1v1 by them as a problem. The thing is, you’re not supposed to be able to stop any decent thief from resetting a fight. Which may be annoying, but perfectly balanced, because they can’t seem to kill you 1v1 anyway.

TheDuck.4526:

Razelesh.1035:

Save a CC for when you think they will drop Shadow Refuge. Most thieves (Including me) drop it when we’re losing, so at that point if you interrupt it/knock the thief out of it, you will probably win.

Makes sense. This is usually what I save my AoE fear for.

Do you have any advice for handling resets via shadowsteps? (S/D & Shortbow)

Infiltrator’s Return (the chain attack to Infiltrator’s Strike) has a 1/2s cast time and can be interrupted, though it’s usually not worth it since it can be used again pretty quickly.

The Shadowstep utility and its chain skill are both instant cast and don’t have an animation, so there’s not much you can do about those.

Infiltrator’s Arrow is tough to counter because it’s instant cast and can be used consecutively. However, as soon as you notice your enemy thief switching to shortbow, he doesn’t really have any major burst damage, so that can be your cue to CC the kitten out of him and lay the smackdown.

If he manages to escape despite this, there’s not really a lot you can do. Unless you know he’s really low on ini and doesn’t have any useful utilities, he will always be able to outrun you. At that point, you can capture the point you were fighting on (if that was the case) or go help a group fight elsewhere. Chasing down a thief who’s running will usually end in you wasting your time.

I haven’t played Warrior at all so I don’t know a lot about your options beside general stuff, but I assume you won’t have a lot of gap closers. Your hammer is probably your best friend while fighting a thief.

Turk.5460:

You mention killing thieves after a few fight resets. Or beating them into retreating and resetting, but you don’t seem to mention being killed 1v1 by them as a problem. The thing is, you’re not supposed to be able to stop any decent thief from resetting a fight. Which may be annoying, but perfectly balanced, because they can’t seem to kill you 1v1 anyway.

Usually if I’m killed by a thief, I know exactly what I did wrong. Which is why I’m focused on the part that I have no clue how to deal with— resets

That being said— this thread is providing some very promising responses. I’ll definitely have to take these into account and be more perceptive for certain cues.

Since it’s PvP you are talking about than the problem is PvP builds aren’t made to catch em.

So just cap the point and enjoy the win imho….but if you really must know it’s either over load with condi or save a CC+Burst

TheDuck.4526:

Usually if I’m killed by a thief, I know exactly what I did wrong.

Maybe, maybe not. The only way to truly understand it is to walk a mile in their shoes. #1 reason, as a wvw’er, my very first goal in the game was going for 8-80’s for all classes. Some of us have walked many miles.

@OP:

There’s really not much to tell you, sadly. If you’re able to determine why you’ve died when you get killed, I don’t think any response in terms of avoiding death will help that much.

The thief’s role in sPvP, and all of its current builds that allow it to fit in the meta, are based solely on ganking and resetting to make a fight outnumbered. The class for the most part (as it seems you’ve identified) currently struggles a lot in 1v1’s in the sPvP format (not so in WvW). As such, the builds you’ll be facing are going to be based on resetting, and as someone mentioned, these builds are what thief players use because it’s something the current meta builds can’t simply chase down and kill based upon their own builds. As long as you’re not dying, you’re basically doing it right, and there’s not much to elaborate on. They’re meant to be more of a nuisance than anything.

I’d just have to say to stay on point, and if they reset, just turtle and heal up, but don’t waste your cooldowns. If they want a true reset, they’ll probably need to wait another 60s before they can try again, and that’s a lot of points gained for your team. If they come back sooner, they likely don’t have an out so just smash them to pieces.

Good advice thieves players for Op: TheDuck. I will hold my opinion to myself for now

I use arrow carts and other siege.

Razelesh.1035:

Save a CC for when you think they will drop Shadow Refuge. Most thieves (Including me) drop it when we’re losing, so at that point if you interrupt it/knock the thief out of it, you will probably win.

This.

How to deal with SD thieves:

1) Equip a bow
2) Drop the fire field around
3) Just stand still: your fire field deals more damage than they do

Sorel.4870:

How to deal with SD thieves:

1) Equip a bow
2) Drop the fire field around
3) Just stand still: your fire field deals more damage than they do

Lol? ok, since that field applies only one condition (burning) you can just easily cleanse it with Infiltrator’s Return.
The field doesn’t even last that long and it can be evaded through almost all the time without too much effort really and while maintaining pressure.
I’m yet to face the first Bow Warrior that could actually tear apart a S/D thief. Definitly not if they just stay on the Bow, lol. Unless the Warrior pulls out a Hammer or GS or some other weapon that can actually deal a fair bit of burst, they’re not going to beat a half-decent S/D thief that easy. The field is a nuisance, but that’s it.
Heck, you could also just flick on the Shortbow and kite on the side of the field and pressure with Poison field, some Clusters and simple AA’s.

Well, I personally have the most issues with a warrior that happens to catch me in a stun-lock with a Hammer. I fought this warrior earlier who used Axe/Shield & Hammer, he didn’t hit very hard, but he just kept me pinned down, unable to do anything, which made him win (sadly, my stunbreaks were on cooldown).
A thief’s strongest weapon is the mobility, if you take that away from the Thief, they’re easy pickings.

Vornollo.5182:

Lol? ok, since that field applies only one condition (burning) you can just easily cleanse it with Infiltrator’s Return.

Ok, maybe I was a bit over-dramatic. But be careful that the fire field applies direct damage each tick in addition to the burning (that’s why it’s so strong with CI). On SD acrobatics, I find that without poison you can’t really pressure the warrior enough to kill him quickly, and I usually run away. But that’s probably just me being bad.