Guild Wars 2

Nocta.5274:

Briix.6872:

Herr der Friedhoefe.2490:

Nocta.5274:

When Shortbow had 1200 range ?

I would sure like to get that one back, particularly SB5.

That jump just feels so short.

If I’m not mistaken, the only thing on Shortbow that has ever had 1200 range was Cluster Bomb. IA would be way too strong if it had 1200 range.

Nah, everyting on the SB was 1200 range. I’m sure of it, I was there when they nerfed it

Can’t tell if you’re trolling or not, but Cluster Bomb was the only thing that was ever 1200 range.

Herr der Friedhoefe.2490:

Nocta.5274:

When Shortbow had 1200 range ?

I would sure like to get that one back, particularly SB5.

That jump just feels so short.

If I’m not mistaken, the only thing on Shortbow that has ever had 1200 range was Cluster Bomb. IA would be way too strong if it had 1200 range.

I can recommend www.twitch.tv/oliverbrix as he is an experienced Ranger playing PvP since Beta. He streams from time to time, but is currently away on vacation.

Otherwise, feel free to join #gw2esports on QuakeNet. Our bot keeps an up to date list of PvP streamers.

Hule.8794:

I dont think its real and if yes, patch should be 25th not 28th
And even if the date is correct I dont believe its real because ANet wrote they want Torment to mesmer, dont see that.
They talked about condition removals, and I know that mesmer lack of condition removals, and I miss those in patch notes too.

Well, there’s is Torment for Mesmer.
“Illusionary Counter: This skill damage has been reduced to 25% of what it was. It now applies 3 stacks of Torment for 8 seconds.”

Looks somewhat legit to me and it could just as well be alpha patch notes. I think they were leaked 2 weeks ago, so even in the case it is legit a lot of things has probably changed since then.

I’d recommend that you read Caed’s guide, it’s full of tips on how to play the builds: https://forum-en.gw2archive.eu/forum/professions/thief/Caed-s-Thief-Walk-Through-and-Guide-Mini/

Nettle.9025:

swinsk.6410:

I don’t think I saw him once BP+HS+steal to backstab.

This doesn’t work if you are traited for mug. If you steal in stealth with mug, the mug damage will break the stealth and you won’t BS. That is why a d/p thief will BP+HS+BS then steal.

I played d/d for probably 300 tourney games or so, and d/p for another ~200 and still going. I personally find d/p superior in every way, once you get used to the burst combo. The OH pistol skills are just far too valuable.

Also, a d/p thief can stack 8 seconds of stealth at will if they have full ini, 12s if spec’d into shadow arts. If you have fast ini regen, you will come out of that stealth with full ini again. So that’s something neat a d/d can’t do.

It does work to BS → Steal and hit with both attacks even if you are running with Mug. Just look at the video I posted earlier where I Steal mid HS and still land both attacks. It works the same way with BS and Steal.

Coloxeus.3480:

easy answer.. why dnt u use em both!? d/d spike burst then switch to d/p heres my small clip recorded 2days ago. pls do watch my other videos on youtube subscribe and like

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cBJh64Pk1ok

I don’t think a D/P D/D setup is viable in SPvP. You’re missing out on the mobility from the shortbow + the AoE.

Yes, you are right. My mistake! My description of the skill is still correct though. I should stop writing these from the top of my head and check out the correct names. Thanks for pointing it out :-)

swinsk.6410:

Hrm, very interesting. I was watching Caed’s stream the other day. He mostly hit backstab first then steal while already stealthed, but it fails a lot. The damage is instant. I don’t think I saw him once BP+HS+steal to backstab.

I will try this out.

EDIT: Once you get good at the D/D burst it’s really easy to pull off. Just don’t do it while someone is evading or has invuln up, but that goes with any burst.

BP -> HS -> Steal -> BS is what you could call the full combo, but it is very viable to also just stealth up and do BS -> Steal. Once get used to it, you miss very rarely and it’s a nice and quick way to finish off a fight if you’re helping out the point defender. But again, BS -> Steal is possible to do with D/D.

iNaddict.8021:

D/P burst requires black powder first.. a little setup.. whereas D/D you do it instantly.. as long as you arent being obvious about it you can hit CnD and Mug.. easier than BP ->HS ->MUG..

not to mention D/D burst hits harder.. the other point i wanted to make is that you need Mug.. i personally find it difficult to include mug in a trait set for D/P..

That’s true. It’s a bit harder to land the full burst with D/P. It does hit for about the same amount of damage though. There’s very little different.
If you look at the skills though:
D/D:
Autoattack (BS): Very convenient, and is the primary source of damage.
HS: Again very convenient for finishing off players with low health.
LDB: Not useful at all in a burst build.
Dancing Daggers: Got nerfed a long time again and is not worth using.
CnD: Very useful, of course, as it is used for setting up the BS and possible staying alive a bit longer.

So in D/D you have three useful skills.

D/P:
Autoattack (BS): Same as in D/D.
HS: Same as in D/D.
Shadow Shot: Has the same initiative cost as Dancing Daggers, but instead of just slowing down you enemy a bit you shadow step to them. One of the best skills for taking down a fleeing enemy.
Body Shot: A bit high initiative cost, but it can be used to interrupt their heal skill, when they try to finish someone or when they try to res someone. Very useful.
Black Powder: Blinds everyone that stands in the circle and can provide stealth together with HS. Also very useful.

From my point of view it’s pretty clear that D/P is just superior to D/D. It brings so much more utility and useful skills than D/D does.

Also, here’s a build where Mug is incorporated: http://www.gw2build.com/builds/simulator.php#1.7.1.10.20.0.22.22.5.0.154.168.169.176.178.2.2.24.453.459.0.466.471.477.0.0.0.0.0.0.515.0.0.25.30.0.0.15
It’s pretty much what Caed is using.

I find D/D to be far more unreliable than D/P. You can easily miss your CnD, but with D/P you are gonna get stealth no matter what, after you have laid down your Black Powder field. Black Powder is also very strong against Melee, because most of the time the enemy do not realise they are blinded and just keeps standing in your blind field.
If I understood your second post right, you’re wondering how the burst work? I actually made a little video some days ago, showing just that. It was only for a friend but I guess it works here as well:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=29DhzyoeVqA

I hope it makes sense :-)

I don’t want to ruin this moment for you, but steal has worked like that for as long as I can remember. Sometimes the full countdown thing happens when your enemy is in a place you can’t shadowstep to.

The problem is not clueless players playing tournaments, the problem is MMR not seeming to work as intended. If MMR worked as it is supposed to, you wouldn’t be matched up against new players that haven’t played SPvP before, or as you say, are bad at it.
Putting a rank restriction on tournaments is the wrong way to go about it. It’s like a hotfix (and a bad one) to something that needs fixing, MMR.

Kitcat.1739:

Briix.6872:

Venom Share build does, yeah. You could also just go Forever Alone and bring Thieve’s Guild, Ogre runes and Ambush and share venoms within your own little army. Not super viable, but can be very fun to try.

That would be funny. We’ll call it the elusive minion thief. “Elusive” because it sits in the respawn point, waiting for thieves guild on CD.
:p Nah, I jest; it would be fun to try. Thanks for the idea.

And I can’t follow where this potential argument about dodging is going, but I just want to point out that it’s a moot point anyway, because you don’t have to dodge PW, you can just walk out of it. It’s kinda funny to see, actually. Opponent: “OH MY WHAT IS HITTING M- oh wait, never mind.” Yeah, it’s just some asura testing out her anti-gravity device, which apparently requires her to swing a sword frantically in front of her face. Nothing to see here.

The Elusive Thief is very good name, indeed! It is by no mean one of the best builds out there, but when you once in a while fight a Guardian 1v1 and Thieve’s Guild is up, it’s a lot of fun. The only problem is that it is not happening very often.

I don’t know where the dodging argument is heading either, but I also think that dodging was just meant as getting out of the PW, not necessarily dodging. If that makes any sense. I still don’t feel the haste nerf is that big of a deal when it comes to PW, because as I said, it still offers a lot of CC and you might even get the guy you’re hitting to step off the point for a few seconds + you’re evading all attacks while doing it.

Shukran.4851:

Briix.6872:

Shukran.4851:

with no quickness involved:

- mesmer: 2 sword, proc immobilize meanwhile he use blurred frenzy. let’s say u are immobilized for entire duration (alomst full damage taken)

- thief: 2 sword, proc immobilize, then use pw which stun opponent dor a 1/2sec afaik then after a short pause it does the combo. basically the time immobilize expire u do a 1/2sec stun which extend the cc duration but does almost no damage(just spam dodge and when stun ends u are free from damage).

hence , pw alone is almost useless against a normal player and above.

But you forget that you can’t spam Illusionary Leap. You can however spam PW until you run out of initiative, which means it’s so much stronger for doing a lot of CC.

what is the reason of spamming a skill which can be avoided just by dodging? i mean u are stuck when channeling, u dodge it , then? grats, u have outplayed a thief just by dodging.

I might be wrong here, but can’t you dodge every skill? Why even bother attacking anything at all, when your opponent can outplay you just by dodging.

Shukran.4851:

with no quickness involved:

- mesmer: 2 sword, proc immobilize meanwhile he use blurred frenzy. let’s say u are immobilized for entire duration (alomst full damage taken)

- thief: 2 sword, proc immobilize, then use pw which stun opponent dor a 1/2sec afaik then after a short pause it does the combo. basically the time immobilize expire u do a 1/2sec stun which extend the cc duration but does almost no damage(just spam dodge and when stun ends u are free from damage).

hence , pw alone is almost useless against a normal player and above.

But you forget that you can’t spam Illusionary Leap. You can however spam PW until you run out of initiative, which means it’s so much stronger for doing a lot of CC.

Kitcat.1739:

Briix.6872:

The thing with players moving out of the pistol whip, isn’t that the same issue sword mesmers are facing? All mesmers still use sword though.
I really don’t see it as a problem, because: It still offers a lot of CC and it’s limited how far away a player can move if that player still wants to stay on the point. When that’s said, you should never go for S/P if you want to play burst. It’s for CC and venoms.

Doesn’t the venom build need good team communication to really shine, though? Sadly, if that’s the case, I don’t think that’d be the build for me. I might look into the D/P thief…or just make some ugly hybrid whose only advantage is that nobody knows what it is I’m trying to do. :P

Venom Share build does, yeah. You could also just go Forever Alone and bring Thieve’s Guild, Ogre runes and Ambush and share venoms within your own little army. Not super viable, but can be very fun to try.

Kitcat.1739:

Shukran.4851:

Yesterday I was testing pw against npcs and someone saw me and gave me compliments (I hope) because I was playing smart instead of brainless as cg d / d thieves.
shame that the players are not as stupid as the npc

I was there, doing the exact same thing with my pistol whip yesterday to see how things would play: turns out, even the NPCs aren’t dumb enough to sit there while I pistol whip them 50% slower :/
Sword thieves are fun; I hope some creative player can find a way to still make them viable.

The thing with players moving out of the pistol whip, isn’t that the same issue sword mesmers are facing? All mesmers still use sword though.
I really don’t see it as a problem, because: It still offers a lot of CC and it’s limited how far away a player can move if that player still wants to stay on the point. When that’s said, you should never go for S/P if you want to play burst. It’s for CC and venoms.

Yes!

I really like the nerf.
I’m writing this from my phone and somehow it won’t reply, so this is for the discussion about thieve burst: I’ve never ever felt that haste was viable for thieves at all, not even before the patch. We outshine everyone with our superior mobility and dodges. Using haste you remove this almost completely and you are sure to be downed in an instant. Sure you can take down a bunker really fast, but what’s going to happen when his teammates arrive (which they will, if they know how to play)? You don’t have any dodges left and only little initiative because you burn a lot of when using haste.
Signet > Haste imo. Offers so much more to your build.

I really get what you are saying, Authority, but I still feel like the thief have a place in SPvP. It’s just down to how you decide to build your comp. My team very rarely do tournaments without a thief, because it is just superior in mobility/taking down targets. No other class can offer the same combination. Of course a thief is not needed and I’ve seen many high end teams without one, but that doesn’t mean it is not useful.
You just have to find out what the thief can do, that no other class can do better and then play that role!
I’d recommend reading Lowell’s guide (even though it is a little outdated) and Caed’s guide as well. Gives a really nice overview of the thief and what role in SPvP they have.

Victory.2879:

I love the l2p arguments, one day I will learn how to counter being unable to move or use any skills during that one second that it takes for them to wipe out almost all my HP whilst not being able to see them….

I totally agree that culling is quite a big issue when fighting thieves that are heavily relying on stealth, which is by far the most of all WvW thieves. When that’s said, you can actually dodge Basilisk Venom and thereby also dodging CnD and Steal. That’s over half of the damage negated, right there, in one dodge. This can be very hard to do due to culling, I’m not denying that. But most of the times I have found that players sometimes wonders around forgetting to either look back or just get tunnel vision on something. I’ve often ran up to a player without being stealthed and been able to run behind them for some time before they even noticed I was there. If you are not aware of your surroundings then I would say a 100b Warrior or 100nades Engineer is just as strong as thief, in terms of dealing a crazy amount of damage in very short time.

tl;dr: Culling is a big issue, but a lot of times you can avoid being bursted down (and this is by every profession that has a GC build) by being aware of your surroundings.

Same thing is happening for me! I haven’t experienced this either until last patch. It’s not too big of an issue, but in some cases I’ve lost a couple of duels because of it

For the new map I’ve started using a S/P Venom Share build. Works really well so far. Lots of Stuns and Immobilize and you can give your whole team three immobilizes, while still having a lot of mobility through your shortbow.

Of course they will fix it. Just like the ability to port into clock tower

Great video! I’ve also found that you shadowstep to almost all the bridges, it’s just a little tricky to hit right. Can try and make a video later

Saital.4819:

Yeah, P/P is all good fun in hotjoins. I have yet to find a build that works in tourneys though. :/

Caed’s mini guide is a good place to start :-)
https://forum-en.gw2archive.eu/forum/pvp/pvp/Caed-s-Thief-Walk-through-and-Guide-Mini/

Khyras.8021:

Yes, if someone manages to down enemy player in 1vs2 or 1vs3 that person clearly is a noob. /sarcasm off* Its like advising someone who spent 10 days banging his head against a wall to not complain and keep banging until he has a bit more experience with that.

That’s not what I was trying to say and I hope that most of you understood that. What I was trying to say was that you can’t play for 10 days and be the best player or anything near it. I also did say that it’s important to listen to first time pvp players, but they also need to listen if they want to understand/get better at the game.

This game is of course not for everyone, surely. Maybe it’s not for Mufa. Maybe it’s not for Mufa because he hasn’t been learnt some basic stuff about spvp that A Net really should be better at teaching new players.

You can’t compare playing spvp to banging your head against the wall. At least, that’s what I think.

I’m sorry and maybe this is just me, but I’m having a bit of a hard time taking someone who has only played for 10 days seriously. It’s great that you’re open about your experiences with the game and I think it’s important that first time pvp players talks about how they experience the pvp in Guild Wars. What annoys me though, is that you don’t want to listen.

You sound like that you after only 10 days of playing is just as good as the pros in a 1v1 and the only thing keeping you from being a top player is that you simply cannot stomp the three guys you managed to down on your own. This kind of players really annoys me and I really do wish you would listen to what people have said so far in this thread. I would gladly help you out on positioning and the likes which in many cases renders AOE spam not useful.

I would also love to hear your thoughts on the game when you have played some more, but right now I’m having a bit of a hard time taking you serious.

Cheers :-)

Ps: sorry for spelling mistakes. It’s late and I’m on my phone

I recently upgraded to 16gb (really only needed 8gb, but got a good offer) and I can’t say that the bump to 512mb VRAM has made any noticeable change in performance

This is a really great idea!
Please add me to everything except Paid Tournaments – Thief NA :-)

What, seriously? And how big of a change will this make? Is it noticeable to use 512MB and not 256MB?

How about odd values? My Intel HD Graphics 3000 has 384mb VRAM. Can it handle that value? Or is it only 128, 256, 512 etc?

Is it possible to do this on the mac client?