Guild Wars 2

So, is it playable? If I remember correctly S/D thief was in the meta along with D/P pre 23 June. But now it isn’t, and people are calling it out as non-viable/non-usable/made me quit teef etc.. Is it THAT bad? Like will I be a burden on my team if I play S/D(of course after spending a good amount of time learning how to teef)
I’m interested in thief as a whole, but what interests me even more is the different approach with the dodge-spam S/D, which in my personal experience was always a more frustrating matchup than D/P thief(I play necro almost exclsively).
TL;DR: is S/D usable in low/mid level pvp(just reached rank 80)? Should I invest time and effort in it? Is S/D fun in general? Will I be a burden on my pug team if I run S/D(assuming i have put adequate time into wrecking Golems and HotM NPC’s in addition to getting facerolled in Hotjoins/unranked)

It’s definitely still playable, just not optimal anymore. I still have a lot of fun playing it but it isn’t a 1v1 brawler like it used to be. Just like with d/p, you have to focus on decaps and +1ing fights.

With the latest patch there are less dodges and more passive crap replacing them. I’ve found that I use cloak and dagger more to compensate for the lack of dodges. It keeps the opponent blinded or dazed more often, plus the buff to CnD’s damage is noticeable.

I’ve used DA, Acro, Trickery with pack runes as well as DA, CS, Trickery with vamp runes. Keep thrill of the crime and bountiful thief when using acro; it seems best to use trickster and the haste trait when using CS.

It’s fun to play so I think it’s worth learning… just don’t expect to wreck face anymore.

OK thanks for the quick and comprehensive answer. Guess I’ll go ahead with my thief after all

It is definitely still viable. It’s a little tough to make work but once you find the right setup, you can actually deal out lots of damage. Only problem is that it’s pretty difficult because of the power creep.

I’ll bare that in mind, thanks! I like a good challenge, hopefully I wont end up smashing my keyboard or anything heh

Thief is now a +1 high dps class with mobility…

Can’t brawl or 1v1 worth a crap anymore…

I run d/p for the stealth on demand and burst from stealth. Use shortbow for the cleave and poison when I am avoiding their cleave…

Still, patch was overall nerf.

also fire/air sigil have reduced damage after tuesdays patch.

S/D is sub par… you will not be competitive at high level…

And its not the nerf to feline grace like everyone would think…..

its actually the power creep that every other class has ..s/d theif did not get at all.

To be competitive, they need to improve s/d damage…. how im not sure… when every other class can do more than you from range while having perma protection, crazy invulnerability, great heals, almost as much vigor as you…. well something is wrong.

S/D thief got the short end of everything this patch… harder than any other class.

S/D is sub par… you will not be competitive at high level…

And its not the nerf to feline grace like everyone would think…..

its actually the power creep that every other class has ..s/d theif did not get at all.

To be competitive, they need to improve s/d damage…. how im not sure… when every other class can do more than you from range while having perma protection, crazy invulnerability, great heals, almost as much vigor as you…. well something is wrong.

S/D thief got the short end of everything this patch… harder than any other class.

pepper.6179:

also fire/air sigil have reduced damage after tuesdays patch.

It is true the underpowered thief class technically got nerfed. That is why this mesmer main is supporting thief help right now.

Michael.9517:

S/D is sub par… you will not be competitive at high level…

And its not the nerf to feline grace like everyone would think…..

its actually the power creep that every other class has ..s/d theif did not get at all.

To be competitive, they need to improve s/d damage…. how im not sure… when every other class can do more than you from range while having perma protection, crazy invulnerability, great heals, almost as much vigor as you…. well something is wrong.

S/D thief got the short end of everything this patch… harder than any other class.

Revert back to the 2 boon steal for larcenous strike for a start. Since you can’t pre-rollover anymore, there’s no point in leaving it only stealing 1 boon. It’s hard to get through all the trash boons flying around now to get to the nice stuff like protection and and those huge stacks of might. Tactical strike could also be reverted (it hasn’t been yet so far as I know).

Michael.9517:

S/D is sub par… you will not be competitive at high level…

And its not the nerf to feline grace like everyone would think…..

its actually the power creep that every other class has ..s/d theif did not get at all.

To be competitive, they need to improve s/d damage…. how im not sure… when every other class can do more than you from range while having perma protection, crazy invulnerability, great heals, almost as much vigor as you…. well something is wrong.

S/D thief got the short end of everything this patch… harder than any other class.

^This.

It’s not that Acrobatics got nerfed. On the contrary, Hard to Catch and Don’t Stop are pretty good traits. It’s just that it’s not enough compared to what everyone else got. I do think 2 Boons stripped on Larcenous Strike would be a very nice start but also maybe condition cleansed on successful dodge, protection procing on successful dodge, and a slight buff to sword auto attack speed would be great to bring S/D where it needs to be competitively. I mean, it sucks that you can’t even pick up Bountiful Theft anymore without putting your Withdraw on 18s cd.

yeap… i wonder why the dev’s hate S/D theif?