Guild Wars 2

I need tips. I dont wvw enough. back at launch and up to jan i wvw a lot, took a break, and since I came back ive been mostly PVE. With thief, I absolutely seem to suck at wvw. What key bounds are you guys using? im running a 10/30/0/0/30 which ive been using forever. changed to other traits but always end up back at this. I prefer sword for main hand over dagger, but im down for the cause to use anything. I tried p/d and hated it sadly. any tips at all?

What kind of build is 10/30/0/0/30? It seems to be for a S/P build which is focused on interrupts and steal.

S/P has some problems because it’s more for PvE and PvP due to pistol whip rooting you which is pretty bad for open world PvP.

Which weapon do you use for offhand?

What are your utilities, heal, and elite?

What do you mean by sucking at WvW? Do you suck at 1v1, or 1vX, or Xv1, or staying alive in zergs, or getting lots of loot bags, or taking small objectives by yourself, or small group play, or inability to disengage, or ability to chase, or GvG?

And these are the keybinds I’m using:

Target unlock – deselect current target
Sheathe/Unsheathe weapon
Look behind you
AoE loot
Dodge roll

I also binded all my utilties and elite so they’re more accessible. I’ve moved to ‘fast cast’ and I prefer to have auto targetting on.

Personally, I think S/P is fine if you play at off-peak times. The root of the weapon isn’t much of an issue, but you have much fewer escape options than something like D/P or even D/D since heartseeker and stealth are great ways to get away when a zerg appears on the horizon.

However, if I’m roaming, I still take a S/P in my offhand along with Daggerstorm for solo capping camps as these are very efficient at letting you take down the NPCs there without having to spend a bunch of time with evasive tactics. (Daggerstorm down ranged scouts while kiting melee, then blind field tank the melee mobs down)

I would recommend trying out a good D/P build, but be forewarned that D/P probably takes more getting used to than any other weapon set. Unlike something like D/D, you’ll be playing very differently depending on who you are fighting. If you’re going against a warrior, then keeping a blind field down at their feet is more important than trying to get a bunch of backstabs, but if you’re going against something condi-heavy, then you will want to stealth as much as possible (especially with the SA trait to cleanse on stealth). Positioning is also much more important with this weapon set since the blind field is so essential to everything you do.

Finally, I would recommend doing a YouTube search for “Yishis Thief Outnumbered” to find some good vids on roaming as a thief in WvW.

Roll warrior faceroll stunlock build.

Zacchary.6183:

Roll warrior faceroll stunlock build.

nah I roll people with my engi. I prefer Thief though I just suck! im willing to drop sword altogether and use d/p if I have to, dunno what a good build is for it though. I like the Thief for the burst because all my other toons I play sustained or cond. woe is me.

@Excal I just lose 1v1 against anyone decent honestly. When I pick up my Engi or Mes, I can feel what im doing worng… Thief, i just lose. Im not too squishy either I just seem to do everything wrong. I dunno. maybe im playing too many classes

I WvW with S/D, shortbow specced to chase warriors. (30/30/5/5/0)

I know the build actually sucks in real 1v1, because I entered a dueling server in sPvP with the same build and got rolled.

But 1v1ing in WvW is entirely different, most people just run when they see me coming and since its specialty is killing people trying to run away it just freaking excels. It’s able to disengage well as well, which is another thing that is useless for confined dueling. (because I think disengaging in a proper duel means you lost)

Azure.8670:

Zacchary.6183:

Roll warrior faceroll stunlock build.

nah I roll people with my engi. I prefer Thief though I just suck! im willing to drop sword altogether and use d/p if I have to, dunno what a good build is for it though. I like the Thief for the burst because all my other toons I play sustained or cond. woe is me.

@Excal I just lose 1v1 against anyone decent honestly. When I pick up my Engi or Mes, I can feel what im doing worng… Thief, i just lose. Im not too squishy either I just seem to do everything wrong. I dunno. maybe im playing too many classes

Yea, engis are pretty strong, but they require a good bit of skill to play really well. They’re also very strong against thieves, which can be a good advantage to have when roaming.

As for being squishy with thief: It takes a good bit of practice. A strong warrior can easily smash most thieves from 100%-0 in a single stun, but thieves have more than enough tools to keep that from happening (especially with a pistol offhand).

In general though, the reason thieves are so squishy at first is because so much of their survival relies on understanding what your enemy is doing so you can avoid it. Many other classes can just tank damage and just focus on smashing, but the evasion style defense that we have makes it much more critical to know enemy attacks.

Hey I’ve compiled a list of builds that I use in WvW if you want to check them out here’s the link. I also have a 10/30/0/0/30 build that you may want to try.
https://forum-en.gw2archive.eu/forum/professions/thief/Builds-S-D-builds-for-WvW/first#post2832846

0/30/20/20/0 d/p + sb is pretty versatile for wvw, I’ve used it a lot. You can also keep 10/30/0/0/30 but go with d/p + sb. I run that in both spvp and wvw now. It hits a lot harder but you’ll find yourself running away from uneven odds more frequently.

I’ve never been a fan of swords in wvw. People will run away from you way too often. The gap closer on dagger mainhand and #3 d/p is too valuable.