Guild Wars 2

We’ve all heard the argument that the Thief is weak in 1v1 scenarios because it is so mobile. That it would be unfair for a class to be the most mobile and strong in 1v1.

But that is not a thorough argument. First of all, it seems to imply that in order to be a strong 1v1 fighter, a class must have limited Mobility. It also does not go on to list what the “solution” to balance Mobility is.

So I’m asking this.
What is the balance of Mobility? Where does it fit into the “balance” of Guild Wars 2?

I believe I understand the concept that GW2 wants to go for. There are actually two different “scales” that you can choose to build for…

Offense vs. Defense
Direct vs. Condition

Offense
Power, Precision, Ferocity, Condition Damage

Defense
Vitality, Toughness, Healing Power

There is also another dichotomy between Active and Passive actions and effects… such as the Thief’s active defenses of evading compared to the passive defenses such as a Warrior’s Defy Pain or a Mesmer’s Mirror of Anguish or even a Boon such as Protection.

Now, what is Mobility classified as? It can be used offensively to pursue a target or get to a point. It can be used defensively to escape an opponent. I would say that it fits in more as “Utility” than either of the other two.

Even if Mobility can be used offensively, you must look at the bigger picture. Yes, it can help you to overtake a fleeing opponent, but then what? It doesn’t cause the Thief’s attacks to do any more damage. It doesn’t allow the Thief to take absorb any more damage. All it does it get the Thief from Point A to Point B in a shorter amount of time.

To add onto that, the Thief is primarily a melee class. That means that it must be in melee range to do its damage. Mobility does not give the Thief any reach advantage. It STILL must enter within the same melee range in order to deal damage. Therefore, that Mobility does not give either an offensive or defensive advantage to the Thief.

In addition, in Conquest, scoring is based around certain locations. Most combat will take place at those locations. Mobile or not, everyone makes their way to those locations. Mobility only gets the Thief to and from those locations faster. However, what can the Thief do once it has reached its destination and sees an opponent coming? It’s too weak to fight on its own regardless of the Mobility… which rather defeats the purpose of getting to a point first, because the Thief will either have to have backup there already or must retreat. And with Conquest maps being rather compressed in size, the advantage in Mobility is lessened even further.

What exactly gives the Thief such a Mobility advantage? Swiftness on dodge? Signet of Shadow? Shadow Step? Heartseeker? Runes of the Traveler? Infiltrator’s Arrow?
Save for the last, what makes it so much better than any other profession?

After all of this, does the Mobility advantage really warrant such a reduction in offensive or defensive ability? Utility is great, but it doesn’t justify the inability to fight and win in a 1v1 scenario in a combat game. And that’s really what Conquest is… a combat game based on locations. It is not a locational game with combat included.

If you disagree with that, then please state where in the realm of balance Mobility fits… and how a Thief can build to be strong at combat instead of running from point to point. Or at least what balancing changes can be made to the Thief in order bring in a more combat-centered nature.