Worth rolling a thief?
I just finished my first 80 and I want to start on an alt. I’ve always loved stealth mechanics and the complete lack of cooldowns is an extra plus. I also recognize that it isn’t a class a lot of people desire in their parties and that it isn’t obscenely OP. Just on a fun factor compared to other professions, is it worth it?
Also what race is your thief? If I where to roll one I would either go with a small human female with whichever of the human stories are least awful (Which would that be…?) or a Norn female because I don’t know… it screams rogue.
Thanks for coming here! Thieves really are a fun profession to play, although it depends on what profession you currently play and how you like to play.
Like you said, no cooldowns (which is the best-est thing in the world. Almost all of the builds that I run include heavy init regeneration, so I end up being able to do the craziest things with my move orders
). Also, Stealth: no other profession has as much access to stealth as we do.
Thieves also have the best mobility in the game, which you have to (ab)use to make up for your lower health pools and lower armor.
Thieves, then, could be summarized as a class that enters and exits battle when and where they like, zipping to other locations very quickly, dodging and weaving through enemy armies, and generally wreaking havoc. However, in a fight versus just about any other class, you’ll have low armor. If you’re used to being able to soak up damage as a guardian or a warrior (or a necro, depending on how you spec), then you’ll be in for a very nasty surprise as a thief.
But that doesn’t have to be a bad thing! You’re going to be extremely active, confusing opponents, and being impossible to catch. Once you master the thief, you’ll be able to flank zergs, leaping into the middle of them, and really confuse enemies, disrupting their movement and dealing a ton of DPS. This comes at a price, though: these are high-risk situations that could get you killed almost instantly. I would know; I’m very fond of using these tactics against enemies. Most of the time, they work, but only because I use a very bunker-like build that gives me tons of dodges, easy access to stealth, and (especially if I run S/D instead of my traditional D/P) teleports. However, I can also tell you that there are a lot of times where I’ve made a single mistake and found myself downed, because I made myself too trackable for enemies.
So, to directly answer your questions: is it fun? That depends. If you like to be more of a semi-movable fortress, you might prefer to be a turret engi, laying down turrets where necessary to bunker down and get ready for a tough fight. Maybe you like the range of the Ranger. But, if “fun” for you means being extremely active, always being on the tips of your toes in a battle, and being insanely mobile, then the thief is going to be a loooooooottttt of fun.
Finally, the race question… PLEASE DO NOT BE A NORN OR CHARR. :P it sounds fun to be a very big, fat race playing a subtle profession, but after about five minutes that fun will die down and you’ll just look kinda embarrassing. Js.
Personally, I play an Asura. They’re intelligent, witty, funny, cute, and generally fun to play.