Guild Wars 2

I love everything about the class, from the gameplay to the style and looks, everything. But I suck… It’s super depressing, I tell my self the more I play the easier it will get annnd nope. I’ve always used metabatle for builds (I prefer s/d over d/p) and more recently branched out to YouTube to learn something from better thiefs out there but now I am also coming here begging you all for help. I’ve played ele d/d and I do fine, even a shatter Mesmer but none of them are my true love, I want to learn to thief and I’m hoping any of you could maybe give me some pointers on how not die to every class in the game with in 5 seconds of me trying to open on them :S

Thanks <3

Jedi Mind Tricks is the only way to survive now.

Sign up for the forum guild [teef]

They have players in EU and NA that are willing to help out new people

D/D Ele and even mesmer will spoil you if you’re swapping off of them to thief.

Thief’s role in sPvP right now is primarily decap and +1 ambushing. You’ll win some 1v1s against other really squishy classes, but anything bunker, or D/D celelele, or a good mesmer / burn guard / condi anything…just run.

It’s still incredibly valuable to have a good thief on the team, but you’re almost entirely reliant on your team to help you set up kills for you.

You should also note that in a team fight, though you can down people easy if they’re already engaged with a teammate, you need to get in, do your damage, and get out ASAP. Thieves are good stompers / rezzers too, and you should try for it, but if you’re getting focused get out of there. If you go down, you’ll likely rally the enemy team and lose the whole fight for your team. Don’t be a liability, protect yourself first.

Hey, keep at it. S/D is pretty difficult to pick up right now. It’s outclassed by D/P and a lot of other professions. You have to be very picky about your 1v1 targets, however you can still be a great +1er and finish off targets when they aren’t expecting it from around 50% health. Usually I come in to finish off D/D eles for the team because those that have the sustain to fight them on point don’t have the burst to finish them off. Here is a video I took recently while playing S/D (sorry it’s just a raw video, it was to show the quality of shadow play to someone in a different thread). You’ll notice that I never engage the guard in the video in 1v1. It takes a massive amount of outplaying guards to actually down them in a 1v1 because of the blocks, blinds, and heals. This particular guard was tanky so I just tried to prevent decap/cap when it was just me. The build is in the video description, but for quick reference it’s DA/CS/Tr because our defensive lines are a horrible trade-off for the loss of damage right now (at least when paired with S/D).

PS: Were you playing unranked the other day and telling your team ahead of time that you were practicing thief? Human with some firey weapons?

S/D is worse off after the patch imo but it’s still playable and you can still rack up a body count. That said D/P outclasses every other Thief weaponset atm so it’s kind of a shame. Thief will always be a valuable profession in pvp just because of the way it’s designed, you just can’t be bad at it now.

It would be easier to give you tips if we actually saw you play. If possible you could record some footage of you playing and people can better help you improve that way, so we can actually see what you’re doing instead of just giving generalized tips. Just a thought.

yeah keep at it and tinker with build as you see fit. Never think you can’t change a build up to suit you just because it’s not 100% meta. And yeah, as Jericho said, the role is a bit different to what you’ve played on other classes probably. Try playing a bit more passive and focus on decaps and not so much trying to 1v1 every enemy you come across. Thief has the benefit of being able to disengage and escape very easily so don’t get in over your head trying to beat bunkers or winning 1v2’s, 1v3’s etc. If you have several enemies on you, that means there’s probably cap points open you can take so just disengage and run for those.

Is d/p better because you can keep up stealth better? Also am I understanding it right that I should be waiting on the outskirts of a point u till it’s safe for me to cap alone or untill a team mate comes along and starts a fight?

d/p is better because of how many blinds it gives stealth is honestly not that important. it waste to much time running around in it you should using it to get a point sneak in 1 back stab then mainly using shadow shot to apply pressure. if you like sword you can set up shadow return if things get to overwhelming just shadow return.

D/P’s largely better for its mobility and utility via spammable blinds, ranged interrupts, and good burst that s/d largely doesn’t have, all while being able to maintain the best stealth.

Don’t feel depressed OP. It’s not just you. I used to love playing thief and I did ok on it before the big patch but after it I sucked too. I struggled to survive long enough to down pretty much anyone that isn’t a thief and most of the time I was just running away or hiding in stealth. A really good and experienced thief will adapt, I don’t think I can do that to be quite frank seeing how much easier I get off playing another profession. So now my thief is solely for pve. It’s a shame because I loved playing thief before.

But you should just keep practising and getting better, that’s kind of all there is to it.

NO. I am the worst PvP thief. And there’s nothing you can say or do to change that. I’ll fight you to my death to prove it!

Black Frog.9274:

NO. I am the worst PvP thief. And there’s nothing you can say or do to change that. I’ll fight you to my death to prove it!

Oh please, all you’d see is me flailing and panic stealthing to get away before you’re even at 50% health.

The shameful thing is I’ve played thief since day 1… And I haven’t obviously improved enough to keep up with the current state of the profession. At least you have hope!

Literally I just burst someone and then shortbow/defense for
10s and then burst again when weapon swap comes up.

You have to be very situationally aware to play thief…

@OP, I’d say that by recognizing that you’re not the best, makes you better then some thieves I’ve been around lol. Apply on the [teef] guild thread, also, I would be happy to help as well. Also, I would like to point out that as of right now, every thief is sucking in sPvP right now due to our kittened mechanics and the obvious power creep. It’s basically a game of +1 or die.

Just spam 3 on D/P.

I was called out to a duel recently playing D/D signets against D/P. I lost, and with some post-duel words, thought it might be fun to show the guy his winning words were pretty meaningless. I gave him a challenge: beat me when playing D/P, and I’d only use one skill the entire fight – Shadow Shot – no utilities, no heals. He could use his full kit.

I never went under 90%.

Seriously. Being “good” on the thief right now comes to how well you can manage pressing 3 on D/P because Shadow Shot is blatantly overpowered and the entire rest of the class is terrible.

Managing blinds is definitely the best way to win duels and help in team fights these days.
Putting a Shortbow 3 over a teamfight for the pulsing weakness is also very powerful, never forget to use that.

Being good at Thief in conquest mode right now is gonna feel weird because its unlike any other classes. You’re not supposed to fight with any honor. Be dirty, be unfair.

Don’t try to be a hero and 1v1 that D/D Ele defending Far or the guy that stay in the fight middle a bit too long and die in it.
Having good map awareness, knowing the Shortbow 5 shortcuts, being where you need to be to unbalance the odds is what you’re good at.

DeceiverX.8361:

Just spam 3 on D/P.

I was called out to a duel recently playing D/D signets against D/P. I lost, and with some post-duel words, thought it might be fun to show the guy his winning words were pretty meaningless. I gave him a challenge: beat me when playing D/P, and I’d only use one skill the entire fight – Shadow Shot – no utilities, no heals. He could use his full kit.

I never went under 90%.

Seriously. Being “good” on the thief right now comes to how well you can manage pressing 3 on D/P because Shadow Shot is blatantly overpowered and the entire rest of the class is terrible.

Try that vs cele ele, PU mesmer, burn guardian, medi guardian, or heck even a ranger.

Stop with the D/D elitism its getting old and no one cares anymore

I will also duel for rights to this title.

Mechanically sound until someone else in involved. Then my brain goes loopy and anxious getting into it.