Guild Wars 2

Right now I have a lvl 29 thief but I feel really underpowered at the moment.

I remember people used to say mesmers were underpowered at lower lvls but I’ve never had a problem with it. With thief I almost die when i’m fighting 2 normal mobs of my own lvl at once.

Is this normal or should I start playing diffirently? I use D/D and shortbow. I seem to kill rather fast when i’m on D/D but can’t take hits at all. I try to use blinds as much as possible. (Signet of Shadows and Blinding Powder)

What builds do other people use in PvE at lower lvls? And is shortbow a good ranged option or should i go for P/P or P/D or just stick with close ranged and use Sword for that build?

Thanks in advance.

hi there whats youre in game name and ill do what i can to help i only play thief as i think theyre the best

My thief is the same. I am starting to think I am doing something wrong too as I see other thiefs pulling a group of 4 things and nothing being able to even dent their HP

My elementalist seems to take more damage than my thief can

when im trying to kill >4 mobs, i use short bow and kite all of them by spamming Cluster Bombs and poison AoE , and i could kill them with >50% health pool still up. maybe it helps inspiring how to mob as a thief. And i able to mob with S/D spec, with a lot of dodge via evasion an combined skill (flanking strike) , but its much effecitive with SB as your weapon

Equip sword in main hand, and a pistol in off hand. With this setup, you can hold multiple mobs a time without losing any health.

I found in PvE at low levels double pistol / shortbow was best. Short bow for AoE farming and dual pistol for single target damage. It wasn’t until I hit 80 and started rolling WvW that I opted for dual dagger.

I also have 7 level 80 classes and levelling my last class now (mesmer). The thief has a bit more of a learning curve. They are also more squishy.. IE my build for a thief in WvW leaves him at ~11k health, whilst my necro has 34k health.

Newbie question but if I start using a Short Bow or Pistol do I have to train any skills differently if I’ve been Sword/Sword this whole time?

I think the problem may be related to kiting and dodging. When they are done properly, most PvE melee mob cannot touch you. It does not matter whether you use melee or ranged weapon, kiting will always help. In practise, I can kite 2 or 3 melee mobs with only dagger 1 without taking any damage (some of these mobs can charge, so it is important to time the dodge). Of course, in real fight, you don’t want to use only attack 1. But the idea is that proper movement is the best defense against melee mobs, so it deserve some practise.

Vs ranged, D/D 3 and blind are very helpful. Combining with dodge, I can evade many attacks. It is hard to kill 2 or more ranged mobs without taking some damage, but properly timed evasive attacks and dodge will win the fight. If there is a tree, or building, you can hide behind it when the enemy is about to shoot you.

I use D/D, and P/P because I think they look good. This weapon set may not be the best for PvE, but I have no problem solo with it.