Guild Wars 2

So I main a ranger but I feel as though I’m not offering as much to my groups as I could be. I’m debating on whether to level a thief or ele.

My question is: What does the thief bring to group content in PvE besides group stealth and pretty decent blinds? Specifically things that an ele couldn’t bring would be most helpful.

Thief:
-Stealth for Skipping Trash
-Blinds and Smokescreen for def
-spammable CC (pistol 4) to remove defiance
-decent dps with d/d
-decent cleave with s/p
-spammable blast finishers for speed/stealth/might/heal stacking (but you can’t do it on your own)

Ele:
-Superior Might stacking (12-18stacks from 1 ele)
-Perma Fury
-insane dps
-Icebows
-can stack vuln and blinds (glyph of storms, LH)
-every weapon is viable

both classes are very squishy and melee (if you dont play staff ele), so you gotta know how to dodge and stay alive

I’d modify Shallow’s list to add thief:
- Vuln stacking (better than ele w/o glyph, about equal if they use glyph)
- Insane DPS with D/D (when supported)
- Poison (steal + SB field + finishing D auto chain if poison isn’t readily provided by others) along with Weakness
- The ONLY class that can refill Endurance bars of nearby party members for life saving dodges.
- Shadow Refuge ressing

Thief brings very strong defensive support to the party (I’d only rank Guardian higher), but weak offensive support (pretty much just vuln stacking). Ele brings extremely strong offensive support, and medium defensive support (water fields and swiftness). As PvE isn’t very difficult, killing faster is the most desired, so Offensive Support > Defensive support. This means that an ele would help the party more than a thief would. However once the party has that support, a thief is vastly superior to a second ele due to the useful abilities and top-tier DPS they can provide when supported offensively.

Thief and ele are a pretty amazing duo – Thief has spammable blast finishers to play into the ele’s fields, strong modifiers that buff them near the top of the DPS chain when supported (easily higher than ele)… especially when they pick up a conjure from an ele due to Improvisation. They actually out-DPS an ele with their LH, though unless it’s a short fight, it’s best to leave it to the ele as the hammer is part of their might + fury stacking rotation. You’re better DPS than the ele without LH than they are without LH, and sub-25% you’re the top DPS period with HS spam/rotations.

TL;DR – if the parties you run with often have an ele, go Thief. Otherwise ele is the better option (unless the party is Warrior heavy).

I use my ele unless there is already one as it raises party DPS with minimum 12 (area) might and ~1 minute of fury (after combat is over).

If there’s already an ele, those aforementioned buffs work great for helping you out.

(I agree with drawing guy who already gave more complete reasons why)