Guild Wars 2

Ok, I would like to get really good with my Thief, having attacks and such be almost second nature sort of thing which will make me a more valuable player for say raids and such.
Currently I am running around with p/p, mostly cuz its pretty fun and the ranged aspect is handy. Once mobs get close I swap to staff.
Which brings the question…been reading on here about d/p and d/d and even s/p (which hit pretty hard as well with #3) but what is the best combo to use , this is PVE, in order for me to not suck?
Am I better off just trying them all so that at any given time I have options or is it best to focus on perfecting one set? Staff hits hard, no doubt, but can be a tad boring at times and its just fun using unload and seeing mobs melt.
Anyways, thanks as usual!

just go s/p combo is 3 dodge 3 dodge 3 dodge win game XD

Taobella.6597:

just go s/p combo is 3 dodge 3 dodge 3 dodge win game XD

Lol, yea, it is pretty easy but fun as well. But I reckon I should get a tad more diversified in my playing of the class?

S/D is pretty obsolete nowadays in all modes but can be a good learning tool to learn mechanics and be unkillable once you’ve mastered content. S/D 3 is a good dodge to play with while you have hard and soft CC, Stealth, condi cleanse to help you. S/D can solo much content in HoT maps if you’re good.

Staff is a better PvE weapon though once you know mechanics as the evasion, damage, and traits are all superior. If you get bored spamming Staff 2 with your camera pointed down, I don’t think other weapons are that much better, well other than S/D.

Shortbow offhand and either Staff or S/P is probably the best way to PvE. D/P is strong in WvW and sPvP but not so much in PvE.

For which game mode?
If pvp then either d/p or s/d; both have high skill ceiling and multiple uses for each spell. SB for off-set. (Inb4 d/d players start to spit poison, d/d is more of pure dps set and doesn’t teach how to use interrupts and combos well).
If pve: d/d, s/p, staff.

Cynz.9437:

For which game mode?
If pvp then either d/p or s/d; both have high skill ceiling and multiple uses for each spell. SB for off-set. (Inb4 d/d players start to spit poison, d/d is more of pure dps set and doesn’t teach how to use interrupts and combos well).
If pve: d/d, s/p, staff.

Yea, straight up PVE. I don’t PVP, or at least haven’t tried yet, who knows eh?
Thanks guys!

Joxer.6024:

but what is the best combo to use , this is PVE, in order for me to not suck?

shortbow + staff

high mobility and damage, brutal evade uptime, weakness, immob clense, best damage.
not much more to say.

MadVisions.4529:

Joxer.6024:

but what is the best combo to use , this is PVE, in order for me to not suck?

shortbow + staff

high mobility and damage, brutal evade uptime, weakness, immob clense, best damage.
not much more to say.

Thanks for that!
What about pre-Daredevil?

Joxer.6024:

What about pre-Daredevil?

Shortbow, S/P

Define learn.

If you want to just get around have a grand ole time, then what is suggested here is you best bet. If you want to actually learn to play the class where it is expected to be by others than zerk/scholar with either d/d or staff.

Depends on how and what you want to learn.

Rotations/familiarity? Just play whatever’s the best (or what you like, but these are statistically unlikely to coincide) for what you’re going to be doing and it’ll come with time.

Skill timing? I’d say staff against a hard-counter build played by a good player. Just keep fighting and losing until you start closing that gap more and more, getting a feel for when you should be doing things. Then spar against another profession, working your way up into even or favorable matches going hardest to easiest. Rinse and repeat. Die a lot, study your deaths and examine how you could have avoided them.

Placement, intricate combos and resource management? D/D power with S/x alternate, and try playing against a DH, druid, or similar hard-counter. Not being in the right position will either put you into being kited or killed on D/D. You’ll need to conserve or spend initiative and/or utilities in mass quantities to achieve gap closes, openers, mitigation/recovery, or damage. The need for the second set will get you more familiar with swapping weapons and meshing skills between sets together, which many thief mains are not good at doing since initiative allows for the primary use of only one set. That said, over-emphasized swapping will also get you killed, since being caught in a situation with the wrong kit in this case is extremely punishing. Push yourself to try and get kills with D/D when you can. Learn when you make mistakes and could not, and identify why and how to prevent it from happening more. Eventually you’ll reach a point where a majority of cases will come down to the sets under-performing. Then you’re good to move to others.

Note that when doing the above, do so via the rules of the format you’re interested in. Do not practice in sPvP if you plan to play WvW. The opposite holds true. The formats are wildly different, and based on the mathematics of stats, this is especially the case for how the thief plays and performs between them.

(sPvP only) Mobility and impact on sPvP games? Shortbow and nothing else in a practice arena. Learn the maps, proper point rotation play against friends (as others in actual games will rage at you hard for being a thief if you’re not carrying the game), where you can and can’t IA to, the nature of the kit, etc.

All great info and thanks everyone for your input! DeceiverX, even though I only PVE (for now) much of what you said can be applied there as well, so thanks for that.

“If you want to actually learn to play the class where it is expected to be by others than zerk/scholar with either d/d or staff.”

Yes Eval, just that. As I mentioned I would like to be in a spot where I actually am an asset to the team/raid so big thanks as well!

I solo’d the Sage HP with Staff just standing toe to toe and using 5 on cd and basalisk for the BB and was quite impressed with myself. Granted I am sure you all do those things on a regular basis but to an old fart like me its a big deal and it was fun to do!
Cheers guys!

Straegen.2938:

Joxer.6024:

What about pre-Daredevil?

Shortbow, S/P

Ok, taking the “learn the class” part out why didn’t anyone say P/P?

Joxer.6024:

Straegen.2938:

Joxer.6024:

What about pre-Daredevil?

Shortbow, S/P

Ok, taking the “learn the class” part out why didn’t anyone say P/P?

PP is spoiling since you don’t have to engage melee range thus you never really learn how to position yourself properly in melee, what to dodge etc.

Joxer.6024:

Ok, taking the “learn the class” part out why didn’t anyone say P/P?

P/P is centered around single target and its auto attack is pathetic. The other issue is that it is a kiting weapon set that doesn’t really teach much aside from spamming one ability. Good for bosses though.

Cynz.9437:

Joxer.6024:

Straegen.2938:

Joxer.6024:

What about pre-Daredevil?

Shortbow, S/P

Ok, taking the “learn the class” part out why didn’t anyone say P/P?

PP is spoiling since you don’t have to engage melee range thus you never really learn how to position yourself properly in melee, what to dodge etc.

I’ll echo this, though I don’t know if I’d have used the word ‘spoiling’. P/P carries its own style as well and things you need to look for (primarily applicable in the PvP environments with learning reflects, kiting strategy, etc.) which doesn’t really translate well to other kits. It’s a very easy set to manage in open-world PvE (blinds, range, brief immob, burst, might, interrupts), and due to its range is intrinsically a safer set in general, but it’s an under-performer for groups that want to fully utilize the thief’s game-leading melee-based damage (P/P DPS is low; burst is incredibly high).

Even for people looking to play P/P, I still recommend most with a start on D/D to learn positioning, when to commit, and the likes (although this is almost insignificant for PvE play; D/D is the best group-content PvE set on the thief at the moment, however due to its sustained damage output just barely being the best). P/P is similarly-expensive on initiative and has even fewer gap openers/closers than D/D. Having a good knowledge on how to act in melee even on a ranged set helps massively for when you get into melee range with an opponent (and it will happen), particularly since Steal is such an important ability and will teleport you to your opponent, anyways.

Also mentioned by Straegen, P/P is a very good set to have as a spare in your inventory on the basis it does make some otherwise extremely-difficult PvE content much, much easier (I have soloed numerous HoT-content champions with P/P).

I would say, have all weapons ready. On my thief, I have all the weapons so I can swap when I need. Anyway, even if you have a preference for one set, you need to know how to play all of them. Each set will give you a different perspective of damage, temporization, anticipation of the enemy. Some enemies are just more easy with one set than another.

Even if some sets are underwhelming, learning them can be great. I tried again power p/d in WvW. For some burst you need stealth + the stealth version of unload ( #1 skill), that you get either from CnD or blinding powder. When I switch back to d/p in pvp, I sometimes need an extra burst, I remember my experience on p/d and use blinding powder offensively for an extra backstab.

Broading your experience is always better