Guild Wars 2

I need some advice or inspiration or something because im having trouble still wanting to play my thief. Its not that im terrible and lose all my fights in wvw i just feel like anything i want to do another class can do better.

My problem is that i feel like with all the nerfs to thieves and buffs to other classes that thief just isnt the best for anything other than stealth stomps. If i want a power build Warriors hit just as hard are tankier and can escape almost as easily. If i want a condie build its p/d which while fun i feel is underwhelming compared to mesmer or engi condie builds.

Another problem which is more a design flaw to me than just a thief problem is so many other class have aoe on almost every attack and i have to work hard to land my single target damage.

Besides the fact i really like my thief and have out alot of time into him i also dont like leveling having to get all the gear again plus who knows how many hours getting my wvw rank back. So please help inspire me to play thief more.

I’m just trying out a thief, even though I’ve heard a lot of bad things about the nerfs and everything, and I have to say that I’m really enjoying it. Here’s a few things that I find thieves really do very well compared to other classes (I have an 80 Mesmer and Guardian and a lower level Ele for comparison purposes):

Thieves have so much more sustainable mobility in and out of combat. Since my Mesmer is my main… this is such a stark difference. Yes I know Mesmer mobility isn’t fabulous, but playing a thief is so fun when every skill seems to make you hop and move around and you have tons of shadow-step abilities on command. I think people really underestimate this because it doesn’t do damage or anything, but it’s so critical even for combative things like chasing people down or escaping, which you mentioned. My boyfriend also plays a warrior, so yes I’ve seen the insane mobility they can get, but I feel like thieves get it almost naturally without having to use specific weapons or traits.

The blind spam build: This is honestly one thing that no other class can compare to, at all and I think people shouldn’t overlook this. In a group it’s so freaking insane. Thieves can trait to blind on stealth, and if you augment your stealthing abilities a bit and have a few dark fields thrown in there… you can massively AoE spam blind. The only other class that can even somewhat compare is maybe Necro? Haven’t played one so I’m not too sure. I’ve read about their condis, but I don’t want to speak from ignorance. Anyway, this is kind of a niche thing. I don’t run around all day using blind spam, but sometimes it’s insanely fun (and probably impossibly frustrating for the opponents). Did you know that Mesmer phantasms will not appear if they are blinded when they cast? Just a tidbit.

The toying: No other class has the ability to engage and disengage so smoothly and quickly, nor the ability to completely shut down or harass their opponents. This is just the way the thief design works. Because we use initiative, and not cooldowns, you can sit there and wait for your opponent to do something besides auto attack and head shot them, (or use your favorite thiefy daze) and that ability will be ready to go again instantly. This allows us to counter nearly anything, if we choose to. We’re the only class that can consistently always have one interrupt ready at any time we choose(granted we save the initiative). It’s very powerful in a fight, whereas other classes will eventually have a moment where they have no dodges or no more interrupts or stuns. That moment never happens for us. We never lose our momentum that way, and I love how that feels.

These are the things that I can think of right now, but my philosophy has always been this: if you really love a class, don’t let arbitrary things like balance or “OPness” turn you off of it. Those things can and will change, and to be fair, thieves were incredibly good for a long time, mostly because at least three of the classes were broken for a very long time, but hey. =P So if we have to go through a down period, well fine. That just means we have to adapt and learn, not jump on the warrior/guardian bandwagon.

Hope this helped. I love my thief.

Well, it might be your build at this point. I’ve been using S/D for about half a year now and nerfs to 3/5 abilities across the board and an additional one in PvP is sorta hard to swallow, but this weekend I came to the realization that A-Net doesn’t want us to try to sustain in combat. We’re just supposed to hit hard and fast then get out. Our escapes are alright comparatively speaking. I mean I can escape better on my thief than on my warrior, but I often don’t have to escape on my warrior. What we do excel at though is sticking to a single target that your team has called out, and if you can’t kill them, you can pester them so they contribute less to their team.

Drop the sustain build. You won’t outlast the majority of other classes while maintaining decent damage. Go for a burst or modified burst build and you’ll find your niche.

Until they fix the sword builds I’m sticking with D/P 15/30/0/25/0. PVT armor, zerk everything else. Minimal stealth, alright initiative regen (acro IX), the ability to interrupt stomps, blind stomping, and the ability to stick to your target like glue. D/P #3 is your best friend.

tl; dr: Our role is now the blind spam (and stealth spam if you like that style) that everyone hates. If nothing else, stick with the class to troll harder.

For all other playstyles (balanced, bunker, condispam, control, etc) other classes fit the bill better.

another point ppl sometime forget

thieves are the only class who can put the enemy forces on defense mode.
from wvw perspective i can choose backline target do fast massive combo which put the target on 0-25% hp which result in 1 less enemy is attacking my team. and all over again, look for another target as i dont have skill cd. in 10 seconds i usually take 3 -5 targets out of the battle whether by down them or make them disengage
any other classes like warriors have skill cd

i think all the nerfs made the thief rethinking how they can benefit the group play style than to do 1vx alone

and thats why i love gvg – why group most of the time take thief with them. they know that the thief can harass the backline and push them to play defensively and can take care of himself

No join the warrior/guardian exodus. We have brownies.

As a player who started out as a Ranger, I felt I was in the same boat of “everyone can do things better than me.” After many trials and errors to find a way for the Ranger profession to work for me, I finally began rolling alts of different professions.

Today I have an 80 of every profession. I researched builds for each of them that interested me. I found plenty of strengths and weaknesses with each class and even developed a greater appreciation for what my Ranger can do well!

Now I play a Guardian for Dungeons/Fractals, a Mesmer or Thief for WvW, a Necromancer for maniacal laugh-inducing AoE conditions and control and a Warrior to farm Orr with (the Warrior profession ended up being my least favorite, to my surprise). I also went back to my Ranger and consider her my “main,” capable of doing everything generally well (especially open world content).

The moral of the story is that everyone is better at something, the grass is always greener, etc. I highly recommend trying out different profession and looking up different builds for each. YouTube has a wide collection of players roaming in WvW with various classes, and many of them can be entertaining and give you some idea. If you do this, I’ll promise there will come a day when you’ll look back on your Thief and think: “It wasn’t that bad.”

thief is still good at disengaging and sticking to targets.

i play a build whch specializes in chasing targets and it is still good at that at least. Going in getting a kill, and if it doesn’t go well – get out.

Warrior is a better bet in virtually everything else. It’s also good at disengaging to boot. With immobilize stacking warrior is also good at sticking to targets. So really, I can’t persuade you, it’s actually over. Thief prime is over.

Thieves are still very strong in many aspects of wvw. Warriors are lol though.

Sanduskel.1850:

Thieves are still very strong in many aspects of wvw. Warriors are lol though.

Didnt read anything but OP and this quote. and yes warriors are lol.

@ OP

Thieves suck donkey D right now. especially cond build. I followed Willbill (Slic) build after seeing him on YouTube. I fell in love and never whet back. But p/d is so inferior to almost all the other thief combos and almost all the other classes. As you said, Warriors do more damage, have better defense, have more regen, have better cond removal and can get away better. It seems mesmers can stealth more than me and heck a good eng can stealth 6-8 sec from what I hear. Even ranger gets a lil ole stealth.

Anyway, on to condition damage from thieves sucking. Almost every other class traited cond, is better at applying conditions. Lets be honest here: A nerco can one shot u with conds, mesmer can apply them fast and unrelenting, eng can make you die so fast to em it will make your head spin, a ranger with a/t and s/d will put them on you so fast and sit an watch you die while they regen at massive speeds, and warrior….well hell you don’t need conds when you have all the kitten they do!

Our crap is weak and I hope the do something about it, oh an since im all over the place ill continue my rant. d/d #3 on a thief is suppose to be some OP cond application…..its laughable, when i see thieves even using that skill I about pee my pants in laughter….so weaksauce, much like thieves this day in age!

Hope this helps

The thief is a total rockstar in the hands of the right player=))))))))))))

jonra.4073:

The thief is a total rockstar in the hands of the right player=))))))))))))

Watching yishis play on youtube I have to agree. I imagine he is just very good and kitten make any class look good, but what class can do what he does with his thief in his vids.

aspirine.6852:

jonra.4073:

The thief is a total rockstar in the hands of the right player=))))))))))))

Watching yishis play on youtube I have to agree. I imagine he is just very good and kitten make any class look good, but what class can do what he does with his thief in his vids.

warrior

aspirine.6852:

Watching yishis play on youtube I have to agree. I imagine he is just very good and kitten make any class look good, but what class can do what he does with his thief in his vids.

You are right, He is far better than 99.9% of all thieves, I play with a very skilled guild and none of our thieves could beat that guy even on his worst day……

aspirine.6852:

jonra.4073:

The thief is a total rockstar in the hands of the right player=))))))))))))

Watching yishis play on youtube I have to agree. I imagine he is just very good and kitten make any class look good, but what class can do what he does with his thief in his vids.

Yishis is a phenomenal PLAYER, and is very fun to watch. The thing is that there are soooo many Thieves that just aren’t up to par with his skill level, while there are many X-class players that aren’t a very high skill level and can be very successful. I’m not saying it’s a really bad thing, maybe having a super high skill level class is good. It’s just an interesting thing to think about.

I really don’t get these “my thief sucks” -threads. I still find thief as one of the most powerful roaming / trolling classes for wvw, and s/d is very strong in spvp. Sure, you aren’t as effective in the blobwars as a warroior or a guard is, but is that really what you wanted to do when you rolled a rogue class?

Master of Timespace.2548:

I really don’t get these “my thief sucks” -threads. I still find thief as one of the most powerful roaming / trolling classes for wvw, and s/d is very strong in spvp. Sure, you aren’t as effective in the blobwars as a warroior or a guard is, but is that really what you wanted to do when you rolled a rogue class?

I wanted to be useful when I rolled a thief class.

Master of Timespace.2548:

I really don’t get these “my thief sucks” -threads. I still find thief as one of the most powerful roaming / trolling classes for wvw, and s/d is very strong in spvp. Sure, you aren’t as effective in the blobwars as a warroior or a guard is, but is that really what you wanted to do when you rolled a rogue class?

Don’t forget PvE. I hate the fact that all I can play is warrior/guardian in dungeons or I feel a lot less useful. I loved my thief but it’s only efficient in fractals – and only because of the stealth and blindspam.

Well, thieves have two very viable builds which are…
“re-roll to warrior” build and “re-roll to guardian” build.
Some guy is also offering you brownies… what more do you want?

(save yourself the frustration, roll another class… with Anet’s current track record, thieves don’t have a bright future ahead of them)