Guild Wars 2

skip if td;lr After lurking on the forums for quite a while now, I’ve seen all sorts of threads regarding the thief, many on their possible builds, how to counter, etc. We all know it’s not that simple and that in-game, a smart thief really is nothing to scoff at. So, I decided that I would play a thief and see what the fuss was all about, and I won’t lie, the burst was indeed insane.

But it’s a double edged sword. In exchange for that godlike amount of burst and the legendary 11k+ backstabs in sPvP, anytype of damage/cc wrecks them. Any counter-anticipation wrecks their combo. Only crutch that I can legitimately see as a real problem is if they use Basilisk Venom (I do) so you really can’t do anything about being 100-0 bursted in literally 2 seconds.
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Basically, always anticipate the fact a good thief can wreck you at any time if you’re unprepared or alone and squishy. Always hover over your defensive skills and you should be fine. The best counter initiation to the glass cannon is to watch your back. If you see anything pop up behind you and you randomly take 2-5k damage, use a defensive skill, maybe a block. However, if they use Basilisk Venom before mugging you… You’re kinda screwed, no joke. Unless you can pop mist form or something you can expect a heavy hit.

The Glass Cannon thief can’t sustain himself in a fight, usually. They have initiation burst with high cooldown at a high initiation cost. After the initiation it’s usually a few auto’s and /or a Heartseeker if you try to jump a gap, but that’s it. Pop one defensive skill beforehand and stay and fight. If you survive the burst you’ll probably win the fight. Keep him in-front of you at all times, Steal is on a relatively long cooldown and all of his other steroids (Assassin’s signet, maybe Venom) are on cooldown as well.

P.S I wouldn’t say I’m a pro, by no means. I’m just putting out what I know to help out anyone that needs help with Burst Thieves. All the time in sPvP I’ll blow some poor sap up that probably could’ve gotten away if he just fought or used a defensive block. But, then again, I use Basilisk Venom

dont stop moving and save 1 backup utility for basilisk venom.

Backstabs hit for 11k+ in sPvP? wtf?

If you see the thief before they are in range of Steal (900, 1200 if traited- but no one takes it.)
Target them.
Watch your skills’ range indicator (hopefully you have at least one skill that’s 900 range if you can’t eyeball the distance.).
As they enter the 900 unit range, dodge roll.
Congratulations, the Thief has now wasted two 45s cooldowns and has done absolutely nothing. He/She is most likely also down 6 Initiative from precasting CnD, which only leaves 9 remaining in the pool.
Subtract -3 Initiative from your mental count of their pool every HS they use to close the distance, or another -6 if they manage to tag you with a second CnD.

Have fun destroying that oh-so-fearsome Burst Thief.

First priority is situational awareness. That goes for everything. No thief is going to approach someone in stealth, because 99% of players don’t look behind them and you can walk right up. If you’re a thief yourself, pop signet of shadows and blind him, then scorpion wire. The goal is to make him waste his ini.

If you’re a warrior, run two handed hammer(for AOE knockdown/stun), or shield. Use endure pain when he get’s in range. He’ll waste the backstab entirely. Then proceed to hammer him, then take out whatever your dps weapon is and finish him. He won’t last. Greatsword whirl the second he goes into stealth.

If you’re a necro, take advantage of your external armor. Use it when he gets in range, then fear him and pop some AoE on top of yourself. Necro death ray(as I like to call it) destroys thieves in stealth.

Mesmer – Self explanatory

Guardian – Self explanatory

Engineer- Pop some elixirs and give yourself invulnerability when he gets in range. Drop your turrets on top(including net turret) and pop some AoE bombs on the ground.

Ranger – You could use let your pet take the damage, but honestly, rangers are horrible in WvW right now. They require some serious buffs. I haven’t figured out a way how rangers can counter any glass cannon, whether it be thief, warrior, engi.

Feels like I’m missing a class, but whatever

Anyhow, this should work against 90% of glass cannon thieves, because 90% of glass cannon thieves are horrible 22222 spammers(dodge that, btw). If by the end of the day, you still lose to a certain thief, he’s probably just better than you, but like I just said, this guide is effective.

Doomdesire.9365:

Feels like I’m missing a class, but whatever
.

Elementalist – self explanatory

Having played the glass cannon thief in WvW with a group of guildies, I can say that I’ve come up against a good number of players that use defensive abilities at the right time to save themselves. That being said, that doesn’t mean you will probably win the fight. I have plenty of escapes, which means I can go about my business of trying to select my next victim…maybe you if the situation allows. Neither side wins unless the thief over-extends, which is something thieves learn not to do over time.

Hmm my short answers on Ele http://wiki.guildwars2.com/wiki/Shocking_Aura will negate the chain.

On thief http://wiki.guildwars2.com/wiki/Shadowstep , http://wiki.guildwars2.com/wiki/Infiltrator%27s_Signet, or http://wiki.guildwars2.com/wiki/Blinding_Powder does the trick.

The trick is to kill the chain after C and D and create separation before the Heartseeker spam.

Ranger
For ranger its tricky. Here how I usually deal with it. You need a stun breaker you only get 2 options (I know wtf) http://wiki.guildwars2.com/wiki/Signet_of_Renewal and http://wiki.guildwars2.com/wiki/Lightning_Reflexes Either is fine. After that its up to your build. I run a BM build so basically the minute I see your kitten and you try to burn me down I switch sword and pet at the same time. Because of the way the Beast master tree works that means I have quickness now and sword the fact I switched to my cool pet means your either going to be knock down now or dotted up. The sword auto attack does the rest.

Not really sure how to explain main hand sword on ranger but basically auto attack off with no target selected plus the evades noting is really going to touch you. Once you figure out how to use monarchs leap to create distance it becomes your go to gap closer and maker. Switch to short bow and any glass cannon will be in line for a proper kitten whipping. Its twice the work of any counter I know but pretty consistent once you figure out the evade timing etc.

TL:DR

Over all glass thief is usually an easy counter. More tanky thieves are actually harder to deal with.

Edit:

Forgot http://wiki.guildwars2.com/wiki/Shadow_Return is a monster.

Oh right, I did miss the elementalist. Looks like TheGuy has it covered, though. Anyways, glass cannons should be rather simple to counter. I would worry about the tanky thieves.