Guild Wars 2

I hear that thieves are supposed to have trouble with Guardians. I play a Guardian and although I can live through the initial burst better than most classes when a thief uses Thieves Guild after I have had to heal from the initial burst it feels like there is nothing I can do. 3 seconds of immunity doesn’t make up for 30 seconds of extra thieves. This is mostly in WvW away from the zerg. It happens in sPvP too but the smaller group dynamic and fast respawn make it feel less painful.

Try to LoS the unloads, the melee will come to you. Kill the melee while keeping defence up and avoiding damage from real thief. Keep LoS abusing till the ranged one disapears, now you can engage Thief without worry.

There isn’t a lot of LoS in WvW it is mostly open fields where I can’t run from a 25% speed boosted thief.

There is no balance in WvW, so you have to put up with it.

I’m quite curious about this question as well, since I’ve never had problems against thieves who use thief guild (despite being thief myself). They seem like minor distractions to me, and only utilized when a thief is trying to recover or run the hell away. :x

Lan.1968:

I’m quite curious about this question as well, since I’ve never had problems against thieves who use thief guild (despite being thief myself). They seem like minor distractions to me, and only utilized when a thief is trying to recover or run the hell away. :x

I’ve got a couple of quick questions.

If you get far enough away, do they disappear?
Can the thief get out of combat while they keep someone else in?
Will they change targets with the thief?
Is their power based off the thief’s power?

Redscope

1.If you get far enough away, do they disappear?
2.Can the thief get out of combat while they keep someone else in?
3.Will they change targets with the thief?
4.Is their power based off the thief’s power?

1. No.
2. I don’t know, but it’s hard to execute, because they follow you.
3. Yes, they change target with the thief.
4. I don’t know, but I don’t think they would scale with anything except level.

1. If the thief or their opponent are far enough from each other, the npc thiefs will teleport back to the thief. Yes, they will disappear at a set distance
2. The thief cannot leave combat while his npcs are attacking the opponent. The moment the thief is out of combat, the npc thieves automatically teleport back to the thief.
3. Yes
4. The npc thieves have the same stats you have, or relatively close. For example, a defensive thief using thief guild will generate two npcs that are relatively tanky, but lacking in dps.

@Lan.1968 You’ve really never seen thieves use Thieves Guild offensively? I almost always see it as a finisher. Its probably because I survive the initial burst which I know a lot of classes don’t.

Can’t say I have, but people may have that intention when they’re fighting me. I can say the effectiveness of using thief’s guild offensively seems redundant to me. When a thief fails to finish off their opponent with their initial burst, then they either have to take the risk of prolonging the fight and possibly dying or run and try another day. However, using thief’s guild as a finisher means you’re relying on whatever dps your two npc thieves can produce in order to finish off your opponent (Npc thieves are also quite predictable in what they do). The only possible way I can see a thief using thief’s guild offensively is when they need to distract the enemy for a short period of time in order to create an opening for the thief him/herself. Otherwise, npc thieves are neglected most of the times if your opponent knows you’re at an disadvantage. In other words, a good player would not care if you summoned two thieves if he knows your cooldowns are up, and you’ve used everything in your arsenal to try and kill him/her. Like I said, I’ve never had a problem against a thief using thief’s guild. However, this is probably because I’m a thief players myself, so I understand the mechanic of thief’s guild pretty well.

Lan.1968:

4. The npc thieves have the same stats you have, or relatively close. For example, a defensive thief using thief guild will generate two npcs that are relatively tanky, but lacking in dps.

Can you link a source of this information?

Dristig.9678:

There isn’t a lot of LoS in WvW it is mostly open fields where I can’t run from a 25% speed boosted thief.

Just to point out the obvious… 25% doesn’t apply if the thief is in combat, it is an out of combat passive. While you as a guardian have an in-combat 33% speed boost with a healthy duration.

When thieves guild is used on me I kite it and the thief, when they disappear I resume fighting.

Keep in mind that Thieves guild has a 3 MINUTE cooldown too. So it’s one of those “save it until you absolutely need it” skills. Granted in 1v1 it is a bit of an “I win” button since it turns into a 1v3 essentially after that.

I thought the +25% speed asignet applies always, it just seems as if it doesn’t apply in combat because in-combat speed is slower than out of combat speed, so when you go in combat you lose speed and it seems as if the signet shuts off then, when it hasn’t. I’m pretty sure a thief with the shadow signet will run 25% faster in combat than others, it’s just slower than out of combat due to game mechanics.

Dagins.5163:

Lan.1968:

4. The npc thieves have the same stats you have, or relatively close. For example, a defensive thief using thief guild will generate two npcs that are relatively tanky, but lacking in dps.

Can you link a source of this information?

Merely tested them out since there were no information on thief guild in any websites I looked into.

AE damage can be effective at quickly downing thieves’ guild, but I’d advise against specifically targeting them. They’re a valuable combat asset, but their value is hugely increased if your target decides to focus on them and present their back.

Personally, I enjoy enemy thieves popping thieves’ guild, I have little trouble killing them with Dancing Dagger and sword autoattack, gain a ton of HP for doing so, and then I don’t have to worry about that particular thief using an elite for several minutes. Summoning companions can very much backfire if your opponent benefits from hitting/killing things.

@Zsymon hmm, not sure. I tested this just after release with a friend, we both went roughly the same speed when in combat. It however was just one quick test, just after release. I never extensively test it and it could have changed since that point. Be worth testing again, love to know the result.

I agree with the kiting approach. There’s nothing worse that blowing your Thieves guild wad, and then having a guy kite them away. I typically use my TG as a closer since I’m a cond. spec thief, and usually only against multiple opponents.

If you’re playing WvW then you shouldn’t be traveling alone no matter what you are.

The two summons aren’t really that powerful – one will use scorpion wire once and attack with a dagger, and the other will just spam unload with pistols. We mostly just use them to break up groups and buy us some time to reorganize.

The TG pets are annoying, but only a real danger when you’re going up against a Venomous Aura AoE buffing Thief (instead of the usual glass cannon burst Thief). If you can see you original Thief target gaining Venom proc buffs while they have those pets out, you need to flee for your life since those pets are getting the exact same buffs as the player. Dealing with x3 “opponents” all hitting you with Venom dots and debuffs is really not fun.

Try to use skills that reflect projectiles to counter thieves guild. Both thief NPCs use projectiles of some sort and they are not smart so their projectiles will get reflected and end up hurting them. This can outright kill the one that spams unload and knocks down the scorpion wire one for a good duration. As a thief, if I see a thief pop TG I use dagger storm because by the end both thieves will be dead, I will have taken minimal damage and my skill has half the cooldown theirs does.

Niim.9260:

@Zsymon hmm, not sure. I tested this just after release with a friend, we both went roughly the same speed when in combat. It however was just one quick test, just after release. I never extensively test it and it could have changed since that point. Be worth testing again, love to know the result.

you move faster with SoS in combat…

summons will always try to follow the summoner so kiting is always effective. If there is a valid reason for you to be alone against a thief without a clear advantage your best bet is any kind of obstacle that can force both thief and npc move a lot and can provide some protection against backstabs. I, as a venomous aura thief, can tell you that if for some reason I am forced to 1v1 and I will be willing to and will manage to swap basilisk with thieves guild – you probably won’t be able to move until your death.
Lesson is – either don’t go alone or at have some countermeasures. Rock, house, camp guards and even single veteran point defender can save you from this