Guild Wars 2

I’m new to spvp and I wanted to try thief. I’m using this build

http://en.gw2skills.net/editor/?fZAQNAV8Yl0Mp7pVOxwJ8PNBNB5dY+SZ0KAdHl+eEA-TZBFwACOCAl2fYxFAoaZAAPEAA

which is what sizer says he uses, I’m using literally everything in the build point for point, same runes, berserker jewel, everything but I can’t seem to kill anyone. I lose like every 1v1, the sword autoattack is so slow and does crap damage. I usually do s-2 s-3 and steal and I’m lucky if I see like 10% of whoever Im trying to kills health go away.

How the kitten do i do damage with s/d thief because all this build seems to do is inconvenience people by stealing their boons and thats about it. I really don’t understand how to do damage as this class.

well the whole point of that build is that you have almost infinite dodges. larcenous strike is what you’re looking for burst.

try this: precharge basilisk venom, flanking strike from range, halfway through the animation hit steal (to make sure you land both mug and the flanking strike. should allow this burst to work even after the nerf), and larcenous strike while the enemy is stunned. after that, it’s a matter of attrition, in that you’ll have to dodge absolutely everything while hitting with the first, at most second attack of the sword AA chain. any hit and you’re a goner (as you might have noticed).

and don’t forget to leave an infiltrator return spot at a strategic location so you can port out halfway through the battle if things get ugly.

S/D isn’t a high-burst build, it’s more about landing that initial burst and then keeping pressure at melee range while at the same time avoiding attacks. don’t spam, use your flanking strikes as dodges when you run out of endurance, time your larcenous strikes as they are pretty slow, don’t be afraid to use withdraw “vainly”, it has a really low CD and it’ll give you vigor for even more dodges, plus it’s a dodge in itself and it cleans any soft CC on you.

welcome to playing thief. our motto is “easier said than done”.