Guild Wars 2

I’ve been getting pretty frustrated in WvW trying to kill those blind/stealth spamming thieves that can tag team and vanish forever. Pinning down just one is difficult enough, but if they stealth after you immobilize them they can just cleanse it all and come out at full health. I usually run with a longbow and bolas but that isn’t enough to make them stay put. Dashing at them in melee rewards me with a blind every time they stealth.

Is there any way a Warrior can actively counter this? Fighting a Thief using that build is a nightmare. They can backstab or throw some conditions on you and just vanish to heal fully while you flail around like an idiot trying to hit them.

I firmly believe that if you absolutely want to try your best to kill Thieves in WvW (Unlikely), then you should try a very tanky/bursty Axe/Shield and Rifle build. Rifle is enormously useful for killing Thieves due to 2 (using Leg Specialist) and 3 working against stealthed opponents.

Zayle.7253:

I’ve been getting pretty frustrated in WvW trying to kill those blind/stealth spamming thieves that can tag team and vanish forever. Pinning down just one is difficult enough, but if they stealth after you immobilize them they can just cleanse it all and come out at full health. I usually run with a longbow and bolas but that isn’t enough to make them stay put. Dashing at them in melee rewards me with a blind every time they stealth.

Is there any way a Warrior can actively counter this? Fighting a Thief using that build is a nightmare. They can backstab or throw some conditions on you and just vanish to heal fully while you flail around like an idiot trying to hit them.

Want to beat Thieves? Go tPvP. In WvW, no class except Mesmer can kill Thieves without the Thief simply being bad.

^
I usualy just bolas em and bullscharge away from em (lol), with sword we can manage to get away, and if he spams heartseeker to catch you, turn around and lay down the pain.

you can bait the thief to come out then burst him. For example, if a thief is stealthed and he doesn’t need to heal/run away, then I know he will be going for a backstab. Here you can bait his backstab and then go for a quick stun with shield bash or things of the like then burst him. Shield bash + eviscerate is a deadly and quick combo that is very difficult to avoid if you are using it to counter a thief coming out of stealth.

if you let the thief dance all around you then he will stomp you. you gotta bait and burst. trying to pin down a thief for long periods of time is silly IMO. so bolas is a no-no.

also i think you are really just scared of thieves so you make up stories of how super powerful they are. thieves do not heal to full every time they go into stealth. if they do, then their backstabs are like tickles.

Thieves are ridiculous in WvW. The amount of escape they have via invisibility is just broken. It’s one thing to be able to flee a fight, but it’s another entirely to be a class that entire groups just go, “Oh, don’t bother, it’s a thief.” Stealth needs some sort of more solid counter for multiple classes to be able to track it or something.

You can try to burst them, but most will just lolshadowstep and stealth every single time they kitten up.

Thieves are a perfect example of how a melee class can deal of lot of damage, while having many sustaining abilities to survive a combat.

That’s so bad that warriors do not have an equivalent set of sustaining abilities since the game is released… Could be a high endurance regeneration rate to dodge more, better healing capabilities, more blocking abilities, or whatever else. But warriors are definitely in need of such tools.

Maybe while they’re at it, they can rework the Stealth mechanic, along with their colossal Blind mistake.

Turbo Whale.1738:

you can bait the thief to come out then burst him. For example, if a thief is stealthed and he doesn’t need to heal/run away, then I know he will be going for a backstab. Here you can bait his backstab and then go for a quick stun with shield bash or things of the like then burst him. Shield bash + eviscerate is a deadly and quick combo that is very difficult to avoid if you are using it to counter a thief coming out of stealth.

if you let the thief dance all around you then he will stomp you. you gotta bait and burst. trying to pin down a thief for long periods of time is silly IMO. so bolas is a no-no.

also i think you are really just scared of thieves so you make up stories of how super powerful they are. thieves do not heal to full every time they go into stealth. if they do, then their backstabs are like tickles.

But can’t they just teleport out of stun? Is the combo fast enough to land BEFORE they realize what’s going on?

only way i have done this as warrior is frenzy+bulls charge and 100b. it work sometimes, one time he teleported far away but got downed from my bleeding and then someone else finished him off.

For me, it was using hammer and the old Leg Specialist trait that allowed me to 1v1 invisibility spamming thieves. Otherwise it was just a terrible idea to 1v1 them. The downside for those thieves that specialize in cloaking was that the only great thing they could bring to zerg fights was finishing downed players off while cloaked. New Leg Specialist sucks a lot though. 1 second immobilize on cripple limited to 1 target per 5 seconds, it’s not worth a major trait slot.

I remember chasing a thief in wvw with another 3 guys at my back. Me using rush constantly I was the only one capable of gap closing on her. Eventually she got to her worlds tower and teamed up for a bunch of guys, I decided to retreat noticing that I was left alone, she tried to cease the oppurtunity and chased me back to my zerg. By the time I got there I had 4k hp left and no more tricks down my sleeve and she was right behind me without the others. She thought she could bring me down and finish the job before anyone realizes she was there, she was horribly mistaken as I immobilized her and a group of 6 people pummeled her to death.

Sadly not all thieves are that arrogant and would not make this mistake, so my story had absolutely no point.

TheMightyAltroll.3485:

I firmly believe that if you absolutely want to try your best to kill Thieves in WvW (Unlikely), then you should try a very tanky/bursty Axe/Shield and Rifle build. Rifle is enormously useful for killing Thieves due to 2 (using Leg Specialist) and 3 working against stealthed opponents.

Yeah now that I think about it there are a lot of thieves you blast with your rifle before they disappear and they turn up downed on the ground 5 seconds later. A well aimed Rifle Butt can knock them out of Shadow Refuge and reveal them as well. I’ve been using the longbow too much it seems.

For sure you can’t hit a thief with arcing arrow following pin down, because thieves have the skillcapped “press one button and sole everything” teleport.

BUT I think you can get him by using Arcing Arrow on your feet. Hopefully the thief will be too skilled to actually notice it.

I run my sword/shield condition bunker in WvW and haven’t lost to a thief yet. Shout heals with healing gear allow you to out heal their backstabs, and throwing down a fire field to stand in it while they’re stealthed forces them to stack burning while they attempt to heal up. Once I chain “Fear Me!”, Shield Bash, and Flurry, they’re often done. The key to beating thieves is having a lot of conditions and light CC to maintain pressure and control the fight. Once a thief has you on the defensive, you’re going to lose after you pop all of your defensive utilities and they’re on cooldown. Don’t let them control you, and bring at least 2 control skills/utilities to a roaming thief fight. I can easily take on 2 backstab thieves with my shout heals and AoE burning/light AoE immobilize and bleeds. You have to remember that the entire goal of a backstab thief is to take down the enemy’s squishies. If you’ve got 3.3k armor, the highest backstab they can land on you is 4.6k, which can be negated entirely when you use a single healing surge.

If the thief wants to get away, hes going to get away. You can win a fight of attrition though if you are using longbow and are traited properly. Keep firing the lonwbow at him and close the distance. Set up a huge ring of fire with your burst skill (try to hit the thief and cast it on yourself at the same time), and unload your arcing shot on him as well.

He will ofcourse stealth and dissappear. When he reappears, engage him with a powerful and fast hitting melee weapon and shield (such as sword 1) so that blinds dont effect you. Catch him in a flurry, then switch back to longbow. Your longbow burst and arcing shot are gonna be able to hit him while hes stealthed, and your sword will counter his blinds.

It should be a stalemate fight. If the thief is really good you may still lose, because thief is a much stronger class in 1on1.

The fact that the class has no lose condition unless they’re completely inept really says all that needs to be said towards the class needing some serious balancing attention.

Sabre.1275:

If the thief wants to get away, hes going to get away. You can win a fight of attrition though if you are using longbow and are traited properly. Keep firing the lonwbow at him and close the distance. Set up a huge ring of fire with your burst skill (try to hit the thief and cast it on yourself at the same time), and unload your arcing shot on him as well.

He will ofcourse stealth and dissappear. When he reappears, engage him with a powerful and fast hitting melee weapon and shield (such as sword 1) so that blinds dont effect you. Catch him in a flurry, then switch back to longbow. Your longbow burst and arcing shot are gonna be able to hit him while hes stealthed, and your sword will counter his blinds.

It should be a stalemate fight. If the thief is really good you may still lose, because thief is a much stronger class in 1on1.

But if he has s/d, won’t he outdamage you (last blow in autoattakc chain weakens, cripples and deals 3k damage…), steal your Fury and evade part of your attacks?

Actually I don’t have a lot of problems. You just need to work with knockback/immobilize/stun and use block/riposte skills while they are stealthed. Its even better when you know the usual stealth timers.

Thieves will get in stealth if you bullcharge or immobilize them. Its just one cooldown – much likely not a high one.
Honestly … I never had a problem with Hammer/Sword-Shield plus 1 or 2 physical utilities. Its easy to control them if they are not stealthed.

Though I know its pretty hard to fight just like a blind berserker against thieves.

You have also tons condition cure … Use it

vanensang.1389:

Actually I don’t have a lot of problems. You just need to work with knockback/immobilize/stun and use block/riposte skills while they are stealthed. Its even better when you know the usual stealth timers.

Thieves will get in stealth if you bullcharge or immobilize them. Its just one cooldown – much likely not a high one.
Honestly … I never had a problem with Hammer/Sword-Shield plus 1 or 2 physical utilities. Its easy to control them if they are not stealthed.

Though I know its pretty hard to fight just like a blind berserker against thieves.

You have also tons condition cure … Use it

Yeah, I used a similar build. I also thought I was able to take down thieves easily. Well, some I can. But some play conservative enough they’ll have a teleport ready for every control they can’t evade. AND stealth doesn’t reveal them. However, I think mace is better. I just used to use soldier’s amulet and outlast them to death, but I fear that worked only with really bad thieves.

And no, don’t label anyone who doesn’t use hammer as a blind berserker, please. I HATE this behaviour.

Viking Jorun.5413:

I run my sword/shield condition bunker in WvW and haven’t lost to a thief yet. Shout heals with healing gear allow you to out heal their backstabs, and throwing down a fire field to stand in it while they’re stealthed forces them to stack burning while they attempt to heal up. Once I chain “Fear Me!”, Shield Bash, and Flurry, they’re often done. The key to beating thieves is having a lot of conditions and light CC to maintain pressure and control the fight. Once a thief has you on the defensive, you’re going to lose after you pop all of your defensive utilities and they’re on cooldown. Don’t let them control you, and bring at least 2 control skills/utilities to a roaming thief fight. I can easily take on 2 backstab thieves with my shout heals and AoE burning/light AoE immobilize and bleeds. You have to remember that the entire goal of a backstab thief is to take down the enemy’s squishies. If you’ve got 3.3k armor, the highest backstab they can land on you is 4.6k, which can be negated entirely when you use a single healing surge.

I’ve seen a backstab screenshot in the battle log of a friend of mine yesterday showing a 10,5k hit on a 3,1k armor warrior.

The thing is not the damage though, it’s the not getting punished for their mistakes. They can reset fights as much as they want. I know I do when playing my thief.

Cygnus.6903:

Viking Jorun.5413:

I run my sword/shield condition bunker in WvW and haven’t lost to a thief yet. Shout heals with healing gear allow you to out heal their backstabs, and throwing down a fire field to stand in it while they’re stealthed forces them to stack burning while they attempt to heal up. Once I chain “Fear Me!”, Shield Bash, and Flurry, they’re often done. The key to beating thieves is having a lot of conditions and light CC to maintain pressure and control the fight. Once a thief has you on the defensive, you’re going to lose after you pop all of your defensive utilities and they’re on cooldown. Don’t let them control you, and bring at least 2 control skills/utilities to a roaming thief fight. I can easily take on 2 backstab thieves with my shout heals and AoE burning/light AoE immobilize and bleeds. You have to remember that the entire goal of a backstab thief is to take down the enemy’s squishies. If you’ve got 3.3k armor, the highest backstab they can land on you is 4.6k, which can be negated entirely when you use a single healing surge.

I’ve seen a backstab screenshot in the battle log of a friend of mine yesterday showing a 10,5k hit on a 3,1k armor warrior.

The thing is not the damage though, it’s the not getting punished for their mistakes. They can reset fights as much as they want. I know I do when playing my thief.

When I’m not playing my condition thief I do the same thing. That’s why it’s necessary for me to chain a cripple, Fear Me, Shield Bash and Flurry in order to kill them so that they don’t have the chance to escape, otherwise it’s a never-ending battle. They’ll still never be able to kill me, but they’ll always reset the fight if they get too low.