Guild Wars 2

Well guys, this is the last class I’ve yet to play, maining Guardian as of now and I still can’t find that special “click” between a class and I for PVE content.

I really like DPS, however Engineer and Elementalist are made for musicians (if you know what I mean) and Ranger seems to be… well, nothing on the current PVE meta.

I really want to run fractals and invest myself into HoT content, Dungeons and Raids; however most of opinions I’ve got regarding PVE Thief are reduced to “play if yuo enjoy being a stealth bot”.

Is it worth the time leveling this class for PVE content?

I used to 3-man sell Arah paths on a thief before all the powercreep, so yes, you can do normal PvE content with thief, just need to know what you’re doing more than some other easier classes.

Trancid.8514:

I used to 3-man sell Arah paths on a thief before all the powercreep, so yes, you can do normal PvE content with thief, just need to know what you’re doing more than some other easier classes.

Is there an “easier” DPS class for PVE than Thief?

Hey there!

I’ve levelled every class from 1 to 80 through world exploration (except revenant, who i boosted with scrolls), so hopefully I can share a little insight.

Thief is tough to play in most content, but not in the sense that your optimal DPS rotation is hard. It isn’t- in my opinion, it’s one of the easiest. The difficulty comes in keeping yourself alive while pumping as much damage as you can. Iirc, thieves still have some of the best single target dps. They’re not just stealth bots. But don’t get me wrong, thief is valuable for group stealthing as well, and we still can’t say whether that will be part of raid mechanics.

In terms of who you want to play, it depends on what you find fun. Mesmer is a fun class with good dps potential (and now boosting group dps with chronomancer), with a fairly easy dps rotation. But it requires a lot of knowledge about the class to master. With the all the buffs plus getting reaper, I feel like Necros will have at least competitive dps with other class, and I would bet money that we’ll need boon stripping in at least some part of the raid. Theyre also relatively easy to play imo. Warrior is also a fun class, but usually valued more for their boosting group dps than anything. However, this could change with berserker getting a buff just recently.

Ultimately, the honest answer is pick what class you enjoy the most (or pick several, I play 5!). I really doubt that you would be excluded for picking any class in particular. And if you do, hit me up because I wont turn you away

Aldath.1275:

Trancid.8514:

I used to 3-man sell Arah paths on a thief before all the powercreep, so yes, you can do normal PvE content with thief, just need to know what you’re doing more than some other easier classes.

Is there an “easier” DPS class for PVE than Thief?

Thief has one of the biggest learning curves, so at first.. thief is actually the hardest PVE DPS class in the game. Don’t know where you got the notion, it’s the easiest?

Warrior is the easiest DPS class in the game by far.. just smash your face against the keyboard and you’re all set there.

As for thief, although not the easiest, once you get a handle on it, it can be the most fun IMO. Signet of Malice healing forces you to constantly keep DPS pressure up on enemies so you don’t die. That alone makes it a lot of fun.

There are some xtremely easy, but extremely boring builds too. Sword/Pistol for example allows you to spam pistol whip which does great damage, cleaves, and evades while doing so. But it’s boring.

I guess I dont know what you’re looking for. Do you want easy? or do you want fun? Thief has potential for both. But if you want the reward with no risk factor, head on over to the warrior forum. Lot’s of easy to drink koolaid there.

Thief is definitely still good in pve, like sparrow said it’s not quite as faceroll as warrior but if you find yourself struggling, you can always run Invigorating precision on top of signet of malice, at the (arguably high) cost of no quarter. Makes everything almost as afk-eable as warrior while you get used to the class mechanics.

Is there still a place for thieves in the meta? We’ll see when raids go live. On top of stealth, vuln and blind spam we also bring one of the best single target deeps, but not much group utility.

If you want to play HoT, then no. Thief range options are pretty bad even with buffed pistols, Thief will die in melee from almost any mob. If you want to tryhard even in pve then go ahead, I dont enjoy getting killed by almost every mob.

Dungs/Fractal wise thief is probably on top of dmg chart.

Mefiq.7039:

If you want to play HoT, then no. Thief range options are pretty bad even with buffed pistols, Thief will die in melee from almost any mob. If you want to tryhard even in pve then go ahead, I dont enjoy getting killed by almost every mob.

Dungs/Fractal wise thief is probably on top of dmg chart.

Sounds bad since Raids and HoT content are inside my plans

Aldath.1275:

Mefiq.7039:

If you want to play HoT, then no. Thief range options are pretty bad even with buffed pistols, Thief will die in melee from almost any mob. If you want to tryhard even in pve then go ahead, I dont enjoy getting killed by almost every mob.

Dungs/Fractal wise thief is probably on top of dmg chart.

Sounds bad since Raids and HoT content are inside my plans

For raids, level:

Druid,
Engineer,
Rev,
Guardian,
Warrior,

And maybe necro, mesmer…

Higher probability of getting in.

Even dungeon/fract, apparently to DnT, thieves are no longer at the top of dps charts… According to them, engie and rev are.

(not sure how credible they are though due to…)

I some how doubt that there will be a place for thief in raids unless there’s some very specific/niche mechanic they can fill. (So far it’s the idea of venom share, and possible mobility, stealth rezzing that might be needed…)

At the same time, I’m sure there will be non-“meta” pug groups that the thief will find a place in…

Essentially, only time will tell what will be the “meta” group comp for raids. At that point in time, it will be your decision whether you partake in it or not.

I have to say, I’ve tried Thief, it’s pretty fun, but quite disheartening to know he might be out of the meta and HoT becomes a chore with him. I like the class but I don’t see the point on taking to level 80 someone who wouldn’t stand a chance on endgame content…

Mefiq.7039:

If you want to play HoT, then no. Thief range options are pretty bad even with buffed pistols, Thief will die in melee from almost any mob. If you want to tryhard even in pve then go ahead, I dont enjoy getting killed by almost every mob.

Dungs/Fractal wise thief is probably on top of dmg chart.

Run around in HoT map and my thief doing fine job//and better job with DD.

It’s all about learning mob. How to engage them ,dodge their attack and stuff. It will be harder to fullzerkroll but it’s fun to run around as thief.

As people have been saying, it’s about learning the mob and what attacks you need to dodge. It’s not for relaxed play.

Thief is still a lot of fun in PvE, both HoT and core. I ran a fractal (Thaumanova) today that ended up with 4 thieves+1 necro and worked out just fine. I’ve done some of the map meta events in HoT and can’t say I’ve died more or less than any particular class there. Thieves have problems with the defensive lines, but offensively we’re still alright. One thing I have to say is that I have the most fun on my thief.

I have every proffesion to 80 and 7/9 elite specializations unlocked and for me the thief/daredevil is the very bottom of the barrel with survivability, damage, and fun. The only thing I’ve ever found the proffesion to excel at is movement and stealth.

Maugetarr.6823:

As people have been saying, it’s about learning the mob and what attacks you need to dodge. It’s not for relaxed play.

Thief is still a lot of fun in PvE, both HoT and core. I ran a fractal (Thaumanova) today that ended up with 4 thieves+1 necro and worked out just fine. I’ve done some of the map meta events in HoT and can’t say I’ve died more or less than any particular class there. Thieves have problems with the defensive lines, but offensively we’re still alright. One thing I have to say is that I have the most fun on my thief.

This

Gabe.3426:

Maugetarr.6823:

As people have been saying, it’s about learning the mob and what attacks you need to dodge. It’s not for relaxed play.

Thief is still a lot of fun in PvE, both HoT and core. I ran a fractal (Thaumanova) today that ended up with 4 thieves+1 necro and worked out just fine. I’ve done some of the map meta events in HoT and can’t say I’ve died more or less than any particular class there. Thieves have problems with the defensive lines, but offensively we’re still alright. One thing I have to say is that I have the most fun on my thief.

This

+1 to this.

Thief is highly reactive, which means to be effective with it you need to know what attacks your target can use, when theyll use them, and the best strategies for avoiding or ruining execution of those attacks.

Get that down pat and youll be fine.

well thanks to DD, I can solo veteran mobs and most groups of mobs… Something I couldn’t do previously. SO I’d like to think thief is in a better place. (Before I get verbally decapitated….“better place”, not the place it SHOULD be.)

TheMurkMuffin.8213:

well thanks to DD, I can solo veteran mobs and most groups of mobs… Something I couldn’t do previously. SO I’d like to think thief is in a better place. (Before I get verbally decapitated….“better place”, not the place it SHOULD be.)

I’m gonna still verbally decapitate you because DD is not core thief, and core thief is actually worse off because of the improv buff/nerf.

so:

Swish

thock

thunk

~Rolling noises~

Rule 1 of GW2 is Thief is never good.

You just wanted to verbally decapitate someone because I put the thought in your head. You’re welcome.

However, thats the problem. It SHOULD have been the core thief lol. THIS is what acro should have been…

TheMurkMuffin.8213:

You just wanted to verbally decapitate someone because I put the thought in your head. You’re welcome.

However, thats the problem. It SHOULD have been the core thief lol. THIS is what acro should have been…

I should have went with ASCII art.

Acro should be nothing but guarded initiation.

DD is a good save. Its palatable, but still lacking.

I ignore this because it’s a really good mask on a very poor splicer base class. Once the core is at the very least fine, I’ll be content.

This doesn’t mean DD is bad, far from it.

Azure The Heartless.3261:

TheMurkMuffin.8213:

well thanks to DD, I can solo veteran mobs and most groups of mobs… Something I couldn’t do previously. SO I’d like to think thief is in a better place. (Before I get verbally decapitated….“better place”, not the place it SHOULD be.)

I’m gonna still verbally decapitate you because DD is not core thief, and core thief is actually worse off because of the improv buff/nerf.

so:

Swish

thock

thunk

~Rolling noises~

Rule 1 of GW2 is Thief is always OP, nerf immediately.

Fixed that for you.

TheMurkMuffin.8213:

Azure The Heartless.3261:

TheMurkMuffin.8213:

well thanks to DD, I can solo veteran mobs and most groups of mobs… Something I couldn’t do previously. SO I’d like to think thief is in a better place. (Before I get verbally decapitated….“better place”, not the place it SHOULD be.)

I’m gonna still verbally decapitate you because DD is not core thief, and core thief is actually worse off because of the improv buff/nerf.

so:

Swish

thock

thunk

~Rolling noises~

Rule 1 of GW2 is Thief is always OP, nerf immediately.

Fixed that for you.

Thank you, I knew somewhere in my post there was the pungent stench of heresy.

I was very much #teamrifle, however this staff is pretty bad kitten . I’m having tons of fun with it, although its not very…thief-y

Azure The Heartless.3261:

TheMurkMuffin.8213:

You just wanted to verbally decapitate someone because I put the thought in your head. You’re welcome.

However, thats the problem. It SHOULD have been the core thief lol. THIS is what acro should have been…

I should have went with ASCII art.

Acro should be nothing but guarded initiation.

DD is a good save. Its palatable, but still lacking.

I ignore this because it’s a really good mask on a very poor splicer base class. Once the core is at the very least fine, I’ll be content.

This doesn’t mean DD is bad, far from it.

Well, I used SA/CS/Trick, before DD was out and I had super fun downing things fast and immediately following the “OH kitten” feeling of instant counterattack/death. Keeps my heart healthy I guess…

TheMurkMuffin.8213:

I was very much #teamrifle, however this staff is pretty bad kitten . I’m having tons of fun with it, although its not very…thief-y

Moreso than rifle though, in hindsight.

Update:

Traitlines are fine: (Except acro. Why does acro exist.)
Only problem is every other class got a stark damage buff -and mitigation, and thieves did not while the mitigation they did have in the form of traits was taken.

And now (I like to assume, Ilu Karl) the dev is sitting pensively on the 10% healing buff to withdraw, chewing his fingernails as if it would be too strong to implement it.

The fast paced gameplay is all well and good, but the shifting to the damage numbers has left thieves more melty than they were originally, when originally they were slightly less melty than ice cubes in the Sahara.

Mefiq.7039:

If you want to play HoT, then no. Thief range options are pretty bad even with buffed pistols, Thief will die in melee from almost any mob. If you want to tryhard even in pve then go ahead, I dont enjoy getting killed by almost every mob.

What? No, you don’t. Just learn to use your dodges and blinds, and drop that frigging no quarter and run inv. precision instead.
I have a couple marauder gears, running at 15k HP w/o any major issues.

If raids require someone to run between objectives, thieves should be one of the best. I haven’t compared it to fiery greatsword, but they should be at least comparable, and thieves don’t rely on a cooldown.

In addition, the steal mechanic would allow the developers to put in specifically powerful skills to steal in cases where thieves need the most help.

It’s honestly far too early to say until we actually see them.

Aldath.1275:

Trancid.8514:

I used to 3-man sell Arah paths on a thief before all the powercreep, so yes, you can do normal PvE content with thief, just need to know what you’re doing more than some other easier classes.

Is there an “easier” DPS class for PVE than Thief?

Yes, thief is one of the top classes skill-cap wise. Warrior is the go-to newbie class, you are tanky for free and dish a lot of damage in extremely simple ways. Personally, I find it boring.

Aldath.1275:

Trancid.8514:

I used to 3-man sell Arah paths on a thief before all the powercreep, so yes, you can do normal PvE content with thief, just need to know what you’re doing more than some other easier classes.

Is there an “easier” DPS class for PVE than Thief?

It’s a different type of skill. In WoW terms , think of thieves as tanks. They have a comparatively very simple damage rotation, but instead need to pay more attention to their active mitigation.

Other classes have more complex offensive rotations, but thieves tend to have to pay more attention to avoidance.