Guild Wars 2

I don’t PvP much (just enough to completely monthly), but I hear a lot of talk about OP and Thief in PvP. I have no idea how valid it is, but I know one thing: Thief will never ever be balanced both for PvP and PvE, if all skills works the same both in PvP and PvE.

The reason why this is true for Thief is because of Stealth, which have a pretty small impact on PvE, but a very big impact on PvP. And its the same in other MMOs, take assassin/nightstalker in Rift, and all the problem they had for balancing, or assassin in AoC.

Currently, Thief has got a number of nerfs because of PvP that also affects PvE, and its getting to the point where groups prefer everything else but thief. And why not, we are far from top DPS since we have to use survivability builds, and our movement is nowhere near good enough to compensate (I use 25% speed signet and less-endurance-dodge trait). And anyone who has seen me know I move quite a lot (I’m a former European Champion in UT, which has similar dodge and movement).

And we certainly don’t have a lot of support skills, the only really usable one is the AoE stealth, which mesmer also has.

Please think a little about us PvE Thiefs as well!

The impatient and self-centered complain because their inexperience led to their destruction at the hands of a profession that is designed to sneak around well and kill fast.

You think +25% speed and Feline Grace isn’t enough movement?

LOL

I’ve never had a problem with mobility or movement on my Thief, and I don’t even use the +25% signet.
I’m partial to Shadowstep though.

Sinner.7139:

. And why not, we are far from top DPS since we have to use survivability builds, and our movement is nowhere near good enough to compensate (I use 25% speed signet and less-endurance-dodge trait). And anyone who has seen me know I move quite a lot (I’m a former European Champion in UT, which has similar dodge and movement).

I usually run full berserker or MF gear in PvE, if you’re having to run a bunch of defensive stats you’re doing something wrong. One easy-to-identify thing is that you’re running a terrible signet.

As for utility, mesmer group stealth is pretty incomparable to Shadow Refuge. It lasts less time, has a 50 % higher CD, and doesn’t heal. Other good group utilities for thief include Smoke Screen and Signet of Agility. Thieves also have the unique ability to spam blast finishers or interrupts which can translate into powerful group utility.

I can agree with your basic point, that there’s no need to nerf PvE skills for PvP purposes, but despite the nerfs that’ve happened so far thieves are in a good place in PvE.

DreamOfACure.4382:

You think +25% speed and Feline Grace isn’t enough movement?

LOL

I’ve never had a problem with mobility or movement on my Thief, and I don’t even use the +25% signet.
I’m partial to Shadowstep though.

That just means you dodge less than I do, I run out of endurance all the time.

A good example is the boss you meet 3 times in COE (forgot his name), its easy to dodge out of the circles, until you are out of endurance and then its insta-downed and probably death. And that is with good movement and 20/20 in survivability traits.

Pure DPS builds just don’t work for Thief in hard encounters (but I am sure some use it anyway, and end up downed several times/boss). And thats what I mean with movement not being good enough. We are supposed to use movement for survivability, but currently its not enough.

Sinner.7139:

Pure DPS builds just don’t work for Thief in hard encounters (but I am sure some use it anyway, and end up downed several times/boss). And thats what I mean with movement not being good enough. We are supposed to use movement for survivability, but currently its not enough.

Your experiences don’t mesh well with what most of the community has experienced. Worst case scenario you can always take PW + Pie for massive heals + evade during boss fights.