Guild Wars 2

I’m going to get straight to the point, sorry to be blunt but this is how I feel on this matter: Thief is too much meta. Me personally, I love the potential playstyle I can get with a dd burst set but the weapon set is so screwed up that’s pretty much not even an option for a build. I am bored with dp, I have played it a ton and won a ton of fights but the playstyle for me is just unenjoyable now. Don’t even get me started on condi thief, not even going to consider going that route. But enough about me, what do my fellow thief players feel like? Does dd need love? Do we need to be given better opportunities for build diversity? Is anyone else bored with the dp or pd meta? Is there a good dd spec I can run to fit my desired playstyle without having to spam death blossom or heartseeker?

Thanks for all input and contribution!

Seems to me that this isn’t something that just applies to the thief profession.

Take a break from thief. A few good alts keep the game interesting. Mesmer (glkittenter) is a lot of fun.

D/D balanced is a lot of fun right now, and D/P trickery w/ little to no condi removal is pretty high octane right now (even though you said you’re bored with D/P).

Edit: Really filters? GxLxAxSxS-SxHxAxTxTxExR

Maugetarr.6823:

Edit: Really filters? GxLxAxSxS-SxHxAxTxTxExR

This made me laugh, thank you for that ^^

But yeah, every class is beginning to feel like you have to play the meta builds to get anywhere these days, although I don’t think the drop in effectiveness for non meta builds is quite as pronounced on other classes as it is on thief. That may just be because I’m more familiar with the thief meta than with other classes though shrugs.

I have a couple of alts that do completely different things to my thief, keeps things interesting. Might be worth a try ^^

Yeah, I also feel like people are forced to play the meta-builds. It’s not only due to nerfs and game mechanics but also due to bugs. I remember when I first started WvWvW I was like “Omg it will be SO cool! I’m gonna drag ppl towards our team with Scorpion Wire and then root them with that venom!”, only Scorpion Wire fails 90% of the time (obstructed by a fart or a sneeze, will make ppl fall but not drag them, will get pet-blocked) and it drains fun and discourages people from even trying new things.

I agree that of all the weapon-sets D/D had the most enjoyable play-style. Unfortunately it also only had 2 useful skills (3, if you count auto-attack). D/P, while a less compelling play-style overall, has more depth and a higher skill-ceiling.

In fact I consider D/P to be the only well-rounded Thief weapon-set (except that Black Powder is a bit OP vs. melees). All others can somehow be dumbed-down to 2-3 skills with no active initiative management.

I would love to see D/D reemerge as a competitive weapon-set but with Death Blossom and Dancing Dagger in their current state I don’t think that’s possible.

Ario.8964:

I’m going to get straight to the point, sorry to be blunt but this is how I feel on this matter: Thief is too much meta. Me personally, I love the potential playstyle I can get with a dd burst set but the weapon set is so screwed up that’s pretty much not even an option for a build. I am bored with dp, I have played it a ton and won a ton of fights but the playstyle for me is just unenjoyable now. Don’t even get me started on condi thief, not even going to consider going that route. But enough about me, what do my fellow thief players feel like? Does dd need love? Do we need to be given better opportunities for build diversity? Is anyone else bored with the dp or pd meta? Is there a good dd spec I can run to fit my desired playstyle without having to spam death blossom or heartseeker?

Thanks for all input and contribution!

I was maining the thief. I got bored (for me it is very boring class hiding in stealth, with ‘hit 3 buttoms to play’ mechanics). Really wanted to make an build using more skill etc (s/d, which is nice but not when fighting 1 vs x), but it is not as powerful as standard d/p or now p/d builds in wvw. Made new chars and found dd ele. No other proffesion gives as fun as that popping all buttoms and mashing ppls with blasts and explosions (maybe engie kiter is silimar, but not ‘in your face style’). My advice – when u got bored with a class, just switch it.

Play alts. I have three, and I regularly play all of them.

you know what i just came from the high end dps/survivlbty warrior to the thief and its awesome wel exept d/d lol how do you supose to get a backstab rotation on a boss when you dont even get the chance to get close(only done AC story so far lol wat a arsh kitten i had with d/d i was dead is sec) so i gone to s/p setup and gues what its what i wil us til the end of my gw2 thing so much better survivilbty and dmg without complicating rotations =) and yea im begginer thief (mijnis lvl 35 or so my higest thief so far) but yea sb+s/p thief is what i like and love and d/d suxes like hell fast oki but not viaeble for pve dungeons/fractals (lol even spvp i died to much with d/d )
so you d/d is burst dmg but thats about it =)

sorry for some typos im dutch so eng isnt that good

cheers from a S/P THIEF =)

Well if you’re in PvE and you’re not running S/P for mobs and D/D for bosses the majority of your fights, then you’re taking your party down with inferior DPS. I never understand the “play how I want” mentality. Some thieves go for pure condi in dungeons because they think it’s more “fun”. Well at this situation, you’re doing your party a disfavor for dishing out inferior DPS when you could maximize your usefulness by doing the “meta” build.

In terms of WvW/PvP, there isn’t really just one “meta” build. People can now go for just about every weapon set except for P/P. D/P is no longer that effective due to the crit dmg nerf.

true but how do you stay alive at bosses when the party just stand in the corner ?
cant back stab from there =) wel fractals is maby the only place where d/d can land its backstad . CoE is a good example corner fighting lol =)

so tell me how do you manage that ?

For CoE I actually use S/P. Anytime he does AoE you pistol whip which basically means you don’t have to dodge like the rest of your party, while still dishing damage. Once Subject Alpha is below 25% you just switch to D/D and spam heartseeker.

AAAAH nice trick thx for info wil try it out when im 80 but yea idk about keep d/d for second set and switch it only if realy nead ranged or keep ranged for second set and keep swithcing d/d with s/p

Tachii.3506:

… I never understand the “play how I want” mentality. …

I has to do with how “play how I want to” relates to “fun”, which is commonly being associated with “games”. People play games “for fun”, and not as a surrogate job.

Unlike some classes, all of the thief’s weapon sets are useful at something. D/d is pretty balanced as is. Certain sets are just better at certain things. And that’s ok in my book.

thats true every set have someting and gives someting to the party =)

So is there a dd build that’s works really well in wvw/pvp? It seems like there is one out there judging from reactions that I got and some threads that ask about it so if there is would somebody help me out with one?

As always, thanks for contributions and information

DD needs a change to skill 3 or some lesser used trait revamps in order to see wider use.

As it stands, why wouldn’t you play P/D if you want a dps hybrid, or D/P or S/D if you want direct damage?

The answer is because you’re gimping yourself, in my personal opinion.

Me and another engi just got ruined by a d/d thief, the build is still and always was viable.

People in the thief class just want a faceroll though. When a thief talks about viable, they mean “never losing or dying”

nathan goossen.9546:

sorry for some typos im dutch so eng isnt that good
cheers from a S/P THIEF =)

Oh, I always thought it was valid to use my Dutch blood as an excuse for being awesome at stuff. My friend sometimes jokes around saying “If you ain’t Dutch, you ain’t much”. I guess that statement doesn’t really work the other way around :p

On topic:

My main is a Mesmer, and with most builds I eat D/P thief for breakfast. D/D thief on the other hand; a whole lot more problematic. It is silly to state a certain weaponset isn’t viable just because tournament winners decided to go with something else.

Ok I can see I am starting to get hate from people so I am going to clarify: I never said I want a “never die” set. All I am meaning to communicate is that I feel there are certain parts of the set that could be made better to work with different styles. And I have played with every set on the thief so I know what kind of builds are available to me I just don’t seem to get the same enjoyment out of them as I do dd. Yes the set is still viable, I know because I trashed quite a few people today with it but it is still at a disadvantage when compared to other sets. dp and sp have blind spam, which dd lacks and sd and pd have ways to keep you at the position you want to be in relative to your enemy (i.e. pd can port out of melee with 3 skill and sd has ways to move around the enemy and port to them) dp also has on demand stealth whereas dd has to get up close to the enemy and has a highly telegraphed skill (cloak and dagger) which makes it easily interruptable, blockable, or dodgeable plus it costs a ton of initiative. So a potential suggestion would be why not make CnD stealth you even if you don’t make contact in order to actually be able to last more against blocks and dodges like the dp set can?

If you agree with anything here or have other suggestions feel free to post below.
If you do not agree also feel free to POLITELY post and state why you think so.

Thanks for contributions to this discussion

Iluth.6875:

Me and another engi just got ruined by a d/d thief, the build is still and always was viable.

People in the thief class just want a faceroll though. When a thief talks about viable, they mean “never losing or dying”

If a thief killed 2 engis, then the engis should not be pvping in the first place. Who knows what else will kill them.

Zacchary.6183:

Iluth.6875:

Me and another engi just got ruined by a d/d thief, the build is still and always was viable.

People in the thief class just want a faceroll though. When a thief talks about viable, they mean “never losing or dying”

If a thief killed 2 engis, then the engis should not be pvping in the first place. Who knows what else will kill them.

Yes, because not practicing is the way to go. Thanks for your wise contribution Mr. Enlightenment.

I do my best.