Guild Wars 2

hi guys i need some help like advance tricks or how to not be a bad thief or do’s and dont’s etc ive been playing it decently well but still lacks so much like dying in situations wherein good thiefs just dont or turn the tables so yeah i hope you can teach me to get better thanks

1. Intelligently utilise your CDs. Don’t be too panicky about using them.
2. Count and bait dodges before you burst.
3. Use any terrain or line of sight to your full advantage.
4. Know when to engage, and more importantly, disengage. If you’re in PvP, make a proper call when disengaging from fights that you cannot win, or you’ll be screwing your teammates over.
5. Know all your ports.
6. Practice all the various combos (example – steal + C&D, steal/heartseeker + backstab and some advanced ones like infiltrator return + C&D for disengages etc.)
7. Understand the potential of every class and key skills that you have to dodge/interrupt/blind. Be extremely wary of skills that can one-shot you or set you up for one. (example: earth shaker/pin down/eviscerate, iLeap/shatters, pistol whips, signet of spite, phoenix, magnet etc.)
8. If you play off-hand pistol, practice interrupting obvious heals with huge tells (example: consume conditions, hide in shadows, ether fest, troll unguent, ether fest etc.)
9. Understand the potentials of all the bundles you can steal as a thief and use them wisely (example – blast finishers through healing seed, whirling axe whirl finisher, blast/projectile finisher in throw gunk etc).
10. Landing your steal is a must. Missing it is not just an extra skill you’ll be missing (most bundles that you get are key skills you must land for 1v1s with any class, which is detrimental to help beating it), but also the various trait benefits that might be in your build (example – mug, lotus poison, bountiful theft, sleight of hand, hidden thief etc.).

There are many, many things to learn as a thief, to be honest, and there’s always more to learn. The ones I listed above were all I could think of mentioning right now. Hope it helps.

I feel that playing thief requires more knowledge about what other classes can pull off than while playing sth else. It’s always a good idea to test out meta-specs and see how they work.

Apart from what Rome said I suggest to always try to surprise your opponent e.g. drop refuge and burst out of it instead of waiting for the stealth to stack.

There are also several tricks that include sheatting weapons. It’s obvious that good players will very often dodge your cnd+steal when they see it coming as an opener. What you can do is start cnd and when you notice them dodge sheath your set. You will save ini and your foe will lose one dodge.
Also, sometimes it’s a good idea to sheath your weapons and then swap. Your opponent will most likely have no clue that you’re using the other set and won’t expect for e.g. cluster bombs instead of shadow shot.
You can also use Infiltrator Strike and right before the hit connects swap weapons. You will close the gap, gain access to the second set but still be able to swap and use Inf Return if need be (mind you that it works only if you engage ooc).

I use them on a daily basis while roaming and dueling in OS/Windmill and sometimes in WvW. PM fi you need some help pulling them off.
Cheers,
TJ

PS Forward withdraw is boss.

Don’t spam your weapon skills, it makes you predictable and easy to counter as well as draining your initiative leaving you vulnerable and limiting your options.

For wvw the pistol/dagger conditon build is good for learning how to cloak and dagger, dodge, and stick to your target and is a forgiving set, albeit malicious so you can expect lots of trash talking coming your way.

The problem with any other set is that in this twisted meta you die way to easy if you over extend, and there are classes that can instagib you (dodge eviscerate at all costs, run from engineers), so don’t feel bad if you die allot, or if other players /laugh at you after you run away.

I generally try to have over 15k hp and 2.4k armor, but learning how to time your dodges (especially weapon dodges, again do not spam stuff like flanking/larcious strike and pistol whip just to get more dmg but rather use them to actually evade/interrupt something) will save you more in lots of situations than a large hp pool or armor

scabrous.7835:

There are also several tricks that include sheatting weapons. It’s obvious that good players will very often dodge your cnd+steal when they see it coming as an opener. What you can do is start cnd and when you notice them dodge sheath your set

This is a very important tactic if you use ANYTHING that has the dagger in your off hand.
I have my sheath key binded to left alt so i can easily and quickly reach it and cancel my c&d animation before the skill finishes it’s chanel time.
This trick works with all skills that are not insta cast (black powder, larencious strike, headshot, dancing dagger, body shot, cluster bomb, choking gas, pistol whip, just to name a few).