How do you guys land backstabs against other players? I have and hard time doing so, when they realize I stealthed they go all crazy and start dodging around and doing all kinds of crazy turns it’s hard to actually get behind them. I’ve been using Devourer and Basilisk Venoms and Fleet Shadow but is still very difficult.
Also, I’m having trouble landing C&D, sometimes they just dodge it and you’re done.
There’s no easy way to land it against a player who knows how to try and avoid it. Generally you don’t want to just run at a player and use cloak and dagger first thing as it’s quite obvious what you’re trying to do.
Abilities like steal and infiltrator’s signet can be used midway through an animation to teleport to your target and land either CnD or backstab. Shadow step can also be used if you target it well. Of course any immobilise like basilisk or devourer venom will help, as will any abilities to slow your target, like cripple or chill, or speed you up, like swiftness.
Have you tried dagger/pistol as well? You can gain stealth by using black powder and then heart seeker while in it. This requires more initiative but it doesn’t rely on landing an attack to gain stealth.
Backstab can be a little iffly to land, that’s true.
Any sort of speed increase, be is Swiftness or Singet of Shadows helps with the positioning.
I also found that the extra second of Stealth you get from the Shadow Arts tree really help to land a Backstab.
It’s really abut practice and patience. If you can afford to wait, then let people do their wee dances and dodges and then strike while their stamina is low.
It works anywhere in the 180 degree arch behind them so you can get away with side stabs and such.
What stiv said a side stab counts as a back stab in this game.
Just go to the mist with a S/D and move slightly to the left or right of the Golem and watch were you get tactical strike that is counted as the side or back. Those same angles count for a backstab. You are going to be probably surprised if you didn’t know what constitutes a back/side strike in this game.
I knew the “sidestab”, it’s just risky sometimes because you risk to end up hitting too close to the front and not getting bonus damage.
Also, I found out that backstab is really easy to counter once you know how to deal with it. Like Guardians pushing me away half mile with Shield of Absorption before I can land backstab, Necros fearing me while stealthed, Eles zapping all over the place while invulnerable, Warriors using Shield Stance, Endure Pain and stunning, knockdowning and knockbacking , Mesmer’s copies crippling and hitting while I’m stealthed…
So basically, how to deal with advanced players? Does a backstab build have the tools to adapt to such difficult fights?
I knew the “sidestab”, it’s just risky sometimes because you risk to end up hitting too close to the front and not getting bonus damage.
Also, I found out that backstab is really easy to counter once you know how to deal with it. Like Guardians pushing me away half mile with Shield of Absorption before I can land backstab, Necros fearing me while stealthed, Eles zapping all over the place while invulnerable, Warriors using Shield Stance, Endure Pain and stunning, knockdowning and knockbacking , Mesmer’s copies crippling and hitting while I’m stealthed…
So basically, how to deal with advanced players? Does a backstab build have the tools to adapt to such difficult fights?
As a glass cannon no it doesn’t. Good players will stomp you if you take them head on. Glass cannon back-stab builds kill good players only when they are distracted or have at least been previously pressed into blowing their key utilities.
If you really want to 1 on 1 and realize someone is actually competent try to bail out right away and re-engage later with short-bow. It should crit for 2-3K as a glass cannon and gives you the evades needed to force them to blow a few cooldowns, then swap to daggers and burst.
This thread helped me also thanks guys. I was having the same question. Not even so much as good players just anyone will do evades out out panic too soon as you CnD making the follow up hard to do. But i guess it just takes practice, and that note of movement speed, does the SoS increase your speed even while in combat? because it seems like it doesnt
Actually, I’m not really rolling a backstab glass cannon, so it’s not like I miss backstab and I’m dead in a couple of seconds. This is the build I’m using:
In wvw I use a similar build with full Valkyrie gear but the backpiece and rings (and amulet in near future) from the ascended Cavalier’s set.
Basically I have enough defense that I can stand failing a backstab or two, while still hitting for critical thanks to Hidden Killer. As you can see, my offense in heavily specialized around bakcstab and that’s why is a a problem if I miss several times. Maybe I won’t die instantly but I will still lose in a long term if I land, say, half the backstabs I use. I’m not saying that I fail to outplay every single skilled player I meet, I just want to raise my skills as a thief player and to do so I have to learn how to play in a situation where landing backstabs becomes difficult due to heavy use of cc effects and conditions such as Chill or Crippled.
it’s about timing… just practice and remember that a front bs is always better than nothing. (depends on build)
Personally I feel it’s better to not front stab because it’ll reveal you. If you let the stealth wear off normally, you can reenter it again as soon as it wears off.
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