Guild Wars 2

Hey guys
I did another topic about D/P in sPvP and why no one used it. Getting the answer I needed I decided to try S/P. I fell like it’s better but I’m having a bit of an hard time. Right now I can go 1 vs 1 with anyone I’m almost a free. Now knowing that lot of Thiefs push far at beginning and me only be “useful” in team fights I fell like I’m only playing 50% of what I should do.

What adivices can you give me about S/P in sPvP and what I should do in matches. I like the style and I want to get better with it. This problably is harder because I come from a Guardian, and I almost have 150 wins (40 left) and I’m used to be able to take hits, hits that I can’t take with Thief.

I still use d/p in spvp. I don’t spam stealth though or use a single trait in SA. #3 and #4 still offer great utility, you just have to think outside the box. As for S/p, I tried it before and deeply hated it. I also tend to laugh at other thieves who try using it against me, because they often are soo squishy I can just look at them and they drop. Only advice I have for you is try things out, try rune sets that aren’t popular but have what you’re looking for. Also wait 8 more days for the being rune/sigil rework and balance update, you may see some new things that weren’t previously viable.

Well I guess I have to do that. I once saw with my guard an “minion” Thief. He was killing like man… so much. Thiefs Guild, Ogre Runes, Thief Trap and Sigil that summuons the minion. With my Guard in that match he was the only one I couldn’t kill.

D/P and S/P see play in tPvP. S/P just has a much lower skill floor and is much more forgiving to play overall in terms of combat.

Thieves don’t “push far” at the beginning. You only push far against an opponent you’re confident you can win against on any class. The main job of the thief is to decap and just be a mobile DPS. Sometimes you may even need to hold home, depending on what the opposing team is running (decap engi for example.)

Meta-build Matchups that I think a S/P Thief should have advantage in 1v1 atm.

Power Necromancer
Condition Necromancer
Bunker Guardian
Power-based Warriors (Hambow, Axe/Sword, etc.)
Shatter Mesmer
Decap Engineer
Elementalist that’s not D/D.

I’m sure there are a few more, but off the top of my head that’s what I would push far against if I was playing S/P thief.

Yeah, don’t push far if you’re pugging. It basically risks a potential win at mid for an unlikely and unsustainable win at far.

Go mid with the rest of your team and be a DPS assist, that’s your role.

Thieves aren’t 1v1 heroes and shouldn’t be played as such (although there are classes we do very well against).

Since all popular Thief builds are very glass you should hang about the outside perimeter of a team-fight and pick out a target to focus. Then switch to your main weapon set and go in for some burst and get out again asap. Switch back to Shortbow….pick a target……and go in again….rise and repeat.

Don’t make yourself an attractive target because you can’t take the punishment.

Thanks for the advice guys
I’m not runnign the meta now I’ll be trying Runes and see where I can better place the 10 poins of Mug for a bit more sustain (right now at SA to remove condi when I go to stealth) till I get used to. The fast Steal sure it’s amaizing

By decapping, do you mean just that? Just neutralize the zone and move on? Do you ever stick around to actually cap the points? I find that most of the time when I’m trying to cap I seem to overstay my welcome and get run by a million of the opposing team members.

Lamuness.3570:

By decapping, do you mean just that? Just neutralize the zone and move on? Do you ever stick around to actually cap the points? I find that most of the time when I’m trying to cap I seem to overstay my welcome and get run by a million of the opposing team members.

I’m assuming it’s just decap and move. Such a squishy character as us shouldn’t be able to hold that much longer, unless its versus a really bunk guys that doesn’t do any damage

It is almost always better to get a full cap rather than just decapping. You’d be amazed how long it takes some teams to go recapture it while it ticks in your favor.

mPascoal.4258:

Lamuness.3570:

By decapping, do you mean just that? Just neutralize the zone and move on? Do you ever stick around to actually cap the points? I find that most of the time when I’m trying to cap I seem to overstay my welcome and get run by a million of the opposing team members.

I’m assuming it’s just decap and move. Such a squishy character as us shouldn’t be able to hold that much longer, unless its versus a really bunk guys that doesn’t do any damage

Significantly depends on situation, your team comp, opponent’s team comp, etc.

If on Foefire for example, teamfight is raging at mid at the start of the game, you’ve capped home, opponent has capped far, think about what to do.

If your team is super tanky can sustain in mid 4v5 you can go for a full cap, and then rotate one of your tanky players out to far and play sides.

If your team is squishy, you may just want to go for a decap and go back into the teamfight.

If an opponent who is watching far is coming back to far to contest, and you cannot beat them, just leave. If you can, try and fight.

If you just lost a teamfight, you can try for a fullcap if your bunkers can rotate far fast enough.

If you just won a teamfight, you can also try for a fullcap, but you will probably get respawns fast. If your bunkers cannot rotate fast enough, then just bail.

tl;dr, just make logical and smart decisions. There are not hard and fast rules in PvP, and its not really rocket science.

Thieves in spvp are all about high mobility, high burst, and ability to shutdown targets. D/p and s/p both excel at this (i personally use d/p, you just don’t stealth as much as you would in wvw). Trickery is also typically taken because bountiful theft is great at shutting people down, and sleight of hand is the only unstabiltyable interrupt in the game. Black powder pretty much shuts down any melee as well. You’ve also got a lot of poison so its quite a bit harder to heal up from your burst. L2 use active defenses instead of tanking hits. If you can’t win a fight, gtfo rather than having your team down one person and giving the enemy 5 points

the only bright spot of S/P is the evade. nothing else.

whats that you say PW does good dmg? not in SPVP and you can walk away (not even dodge) without being hit with 33% of the dmg.

whats that you say BPS? yeah its good but the aoe still gonna kill you.

whats that you say IS/IR is good? heh…yeah go try it.

whats that you say head shot is good? yes it is…but super circumstantial.

s/p is garbage set and is fully depending on timing, circumstance, and utilities.

that said…why is everyone playing it right now?

1) best defense that still helps you cap (pistol whip evade)
2) the other builds suck and hurt your team

It’s funny you say that with Sword Pistol being the new fotm.

I’m playing it and I think it’s awesome and incredibly effective.

Dee Jay.2460:

It’s funny you say that with Sword Pistol being the new fotm.

I’m playing it and I think it’s awesome and incredibly effective.

not sure how those 2 sentances connect….. ????

Travlane.5948:

the only bright spot of S/P is the evade. nothing else.

whats that you say PW does good dmg? not in SPVP and you can walk away (not even dodge) without being hit with 33% of the dmg.

whats that you say BPS? yeah its good but the aoe still gonna kill you.

whats that you say IS/IR is good? heh…yeah go try it.

whats that you say head shot is good? yes it is…but super circumstantial.

s/p is garbage set and is fully depending on timing, circumstance, and utilities.

that said…why is everyone playing it right now?

1) best defense that still helps you cap (pistol whip evade)
2) the other builds suck and hurt your team

PW is really strong right now because of the ability to output (relatively high) damage WHILE evading making it very difficult to punish. It basically allows the thief to output melee-level damage without having to worry about positioning or incoming AoE, and other concerns usually required for a berserker build in melee, making it far too forgiving for what it can do.