Guild Wars 2

The day of the expansion release I came to the conclusion that there was little to no enjoyable way to play the game without purchasing the expansion. Not only were the new things relating to OLD content locked behind the expansion but pvp, the only thing I had left to do (15k+ AP’s) became a battle over the new specializations and my favorite class (thief) became dependent on acrobatics 2.0 to keep up.

I managed to suck it up for a very long with this game and still made up random builds for thief just to spice it up but in the end, other builds became far easier to win with and lets face it, winning is fun. I don’t mind the occasional loss but repeated defeats to kittens like Mesmer’s blowing people up from stealth to engineers condition melting people to burn guardians and power necros face tanking while demolishing anyone foolish enough to tackle them, etc etc I’ll get to the point.

Still have the game, and a lot accomplished in it so it was hard to quite hard to quit. Still, I have the occasional urge to re-enter but fear what I left is either still very much at large or grown to an even uglier experience. I’ve tried reading various posts from sub-forums but it’s hard to sift through the reposted topics and mountain of complaints on bugs and balance. So I ask my fellow thief players and anyone else… whats new and enjoyable?

Is the new pve reasonably challenging or is it locked to a certain kind of “speed clear” non-sense that only hardcore zerker’s can enter?

Is pvp still forcing thieves into the 1 role and 1 build or is build diversity even on the horizon of being explored? Of course many things are playable but I’m asking if our optimal build diversity is being opened up?

Are there any cool skins for rouge archetypes or do we still get the constant traveler and gunslinger kitten?

Is guild wars 2 in general worth going back to?

NinjaEd.3946:

Is guild wars 2 in general worth going back to?

Not really right now, but you can create a revenant – the downside to this is that you’ll spend days grinding your teeth about the skills they have as you wanted them for thief.
Next balance patch might be late january or a bit later. Or a lot later.. or somewhen.. we might have a balance patch some day.

The new PvE (open world) is pretty much like the old, only that they’ve created mobs who are like classes = beware of the ranger frogs, they’re lethal, otherwise it’s not that new. Can’t speak about raids though, haven’t done them yet.

Oh and thieves are officially out of the meta – Not sure if the NA team still uses them. Flip through some threads on the pvp forum – it might be soothing actually as a lot of people realized that the game is in dire need of a balance patch.

And people finally think Thieves need buff. But they still say “omg thief op” if you kill one. No one likes to admit they suck, meaning if we EVER get buffs they’ll be hotnerfed right back out. So ye. Not worth coming until at least spring 2k16.

well this is a blast from the past.

Thiefs really didn’t get to much with the expansion. you are pretty much dead on calling daredevil acrobatics 2.0. Staff is a decent weapon though. the problem is all the damage is loaded onto vault and #2 (If you can root yourself to hit with all 3 attacks).

If you remeber the old shadow step stomp technique you can use it on the new elite “Impact strike” you have to hit with the first 2 attacks but the last one doesn’t require a target. If you do enough damage with the 3rd attack to bring them to downstate it will count as an instant kill. it add’s variety but it’s annoying when you compare it to something like engineers function gyro where you can pretty much fire and forget.

Pve: this is locked behind the new mastery system, which means you can only get so far before you have to “grind” the next mastery to unlock X ability to proceed with the story. it is kind of annoying. I haven’t finished it so i can’t comment if it’s better then Ls1 or ls2. If you do want to see some pve, the sooner the better. eventally these maps will dry up and it will be harder to level your masteries.

Pvp: Every thief quit. making me the last thief in pvp and by defination the best!!. alright i kid. but most thief’s did move on to diffrent classes, even the ESL player’s so we should get a buff in 2-3 months or perhaps they will nerf other classes ( the better option). The problem is they added so much sustain, CC and Aoe’s to the other classes it’s extremly annoying to fight against them. i have crit people for a whooping 300 damage. which would be understandable if i was naked, but alas i’m semi burst.

As for are role. well that role wasn’t even viable when you think about it. the only time you can decap is if your teamates can hold two points (which will force the defender off point) not really possible when you are fighting 4 bunkers every match. as for +1
well Vault, Bounding dodger. Staff 2, impairing dagger’s. all do decent damage so that is still possible at least.

your best bet is just to log on and try it yourself honestly. just know you are going to die. alot

NinjaEd.3946:

Are there any cool skins for rouge archetypes or do we still get the constant traveler and gunslinger kitten?

Don’t know exactly how you personally imagine the rogue archetype, but there’s only been one recent outfit (and no new armour skins) that might fit the bill, that I can think of:-

http://dulfy.net/2015/11/24/gw2-gemstore-updatebandit-pack-and-mini-sabetha/

Unfortunately comes bundled with a bunch of garbage, that boosts its price up to a mere 2000 gems.

Highlie.7641:

your best bet is just to log on and try it yourself honestly. just know you are going to die. alot

I haven’t purchased the expansion because of various reasons, so trying it out isn’t really something I can do. I was already used to “dying a lot” but from the looks of posts and keeping up to date on patches it seems like it has only gotten worse for thieves but that is why I’m asking vs assuming.

I’ve seen many posts basically saying thief and pvp are no longer a combo, does that mean our 1 and only role, if you can call it that, was no longer useful by any means? Also has or dps been gutted to where we cannot snipe squishy targets anymore or are squishy targets non-existent in a typical match up?

NinjaEd.3946:

Highlie.7641:

your best bet is just to log on and try it yourself honestly. just know you are going to die. alot

Also has or dps been gutted to where we cannot snipe squishy targets anymore or are squishy targets non-existent in a typical match up?

The latter.

DPS is fine, its just we cant sustain long enough to fight because the meta is now bunker.

unless you’re fighting DH, who is squishy in return for his DPS being invisible.

I’ll try to answer to the best of my ability.

NinjaEd.3946:

So I ask my fellow thief players and anyone else… whats new and enjoyable?

The Daredevil spec opens up some possibilities in terms of combos but the weapon associated with this spec is a Staff, another melee, thus the playstyle is generally the same. The best part of the Daredevil spec is the extra dodge bar and the two of the Elite traits; Bound and Dash. As for what’s enjoyable, that’s highly subjective. As for me, I’m currently enjoying P/P thanks to Dash and the extra dodge bar. I was enjoying the Staff at the beginning since Vault deals an insane amount of damage, more damage than BS, but its novelty wear off rather fast for me so I’m back to D/D and P/P.

Is the new pve reasonably challenging or is it locked to a certain kind of “speed clear” non-sense that only hardcore zerker’s can enter?

Some contents are gated by Mastery so no speed clear, per se, but it’s a flimsy gate that anyone with ample time can bash through, thus, you don’t have to be hardcore. The challenges are reasonable most of the time, but there are times that if you prioritize the wrong Mastery, you’ll find the end boss rather difficult since certain Mastery offers you a lot of options. Difficult but still doable.

Is pvp still forcing thieves into the 1 role and 1 build or is build diversity even on the horizon of being explored?

As far as the most recent PvP league, no Thief nor Warrior can be found. Diversity is there, but not viability. The one role of the Thief, as being mobile, is currently replaced with Revenant having super speed on demand. The silence of the Dev is not very reassuring if Thief even have a future in PvP.

Of course many things are playable but I’m asking if our optimal build diversity is being opened up?

Nope. The promised January balance update may give a different answer or nothing at all.

Are there any cool skins for rouge archetypes or do we still get the constant traveler and gunslinger kitten?

I find the Carapace set very rouge like. But that’s been around prior to HoT.

Is guild wars 2 in general worth going back to?

IMO, yes. The end boss fight is worth experiencing at least.

TBH even after changing armor, builds and so on I still see little reason to stick with this class other than the emotional attachment from maining it since the beginning. Everything else is just simply better and easier. Revenant for example~ less effort for better payoff. Put in more effort and get even more payoff. OP when lazy and super OP when skill is applied. Thief is tons of effort at all times for less payoff than a lazy Revenant.