Guild Wars 2

I forgot to elaborate on the game type- I spent most of my time in PvP and roaming a bit in WvW. PvE always only half-interested me, and once I got my ascended armor/gear and legendaries I got pretty bored. I’ll try to queue a bit tonight and see how it goes, but thanks to everyone for the rad feedback!

I went on my first break after 3 years right after HoT launched, but now I’m thinking about coming back. According to metabattle, the counters for d/p meta are ‘most 1v1s’ lmao. Is this game even worth coming back to if I only play a thief? Does thief mobility still make up for the fact that we are apparently countered by everything? Thief was beginning to feel like it wasn’t worth the trouble when I left- but it seems as if it’s only gotten worse.

Left my main in heart of the mists, straight to black and error report after the loadscreen.

“The other OP builds were allowed for longer” lmao rangers that’s not a great argument against a minute and a half of quickness and fury.

61% on mostly crit strikes thief. Might just play d/d ele until matchmaking isn’t aids.

class balance, ~8000 gems

The deal makes complete sense. It costs $50 for everyone, and everyone gets a base game. I’ve spent thousands of hours in game and hundreds buying things, but I don’t deserve anything more than anyone else. Anet won’t change the deal after people have already purchased, so take your storage account and your expansion and quit complaining.

I’d take improv over executioner I think. Stolen skills twice is too good to pass up.

Will this cement at least 2 points in SA into all of our post update builds? I was pretty hyped for 66006 and 60066.

Hey guys, my name is Ably and I’ve mained thief since beta. I can usually kill any average mesmer player with ease purely because of my class and the way it counters mesmers, but every time there is a condi mesmer on the other team I am forced to run away from it. Maybe it’s my limited understanding of the way the mesmer class works, or the sheer amount of condis the build drops on me, but I am almost NEVER able to 1v1 a condi mesmer. Any tips? Thanks in advance.

S/D condi works very well for Stronghold. 25 bleed stacks melts most npc’s in a matter of seconds.

Tron Jeremy S/D Condi

lol anet strikes again

IGN: Ably
Playstyle: Mostly PvP, some WvW roaming and PvE
Server: Fort Aspenwood
Experience with Thief: I’ve played thief almost exclusively since beta, have leveled 9 thieves to level 80 (Could never find the right race) and have 3.2k hours on my main.

I can see thieves being whined about if we get the rifle and it’s a ranged power weapon, but some of the people above have some really good points. If revenant hammer is ranged, and mesmers greatsword is ranged, there’s no reason to instantly rule rifle out as a melee weapon. That being said, I really hope we don’t get rifle- I like the idea of something more unexpected like torch or focus (maybe even a mainhanded version of an offhand) but that’s just my opinion.

I’ve only been able to play thief for the last 3 years. IMO, thief has the highest skill ceiling, it’s the most rewarding class if played right, it has the highest mobility available in pvp, there are tons of builds available, it has the highest personal dps in PvE, thief is extremely good for roaming and it’s the most fun for me. I also think that the animations are super aesthetic.

I’ve gotten it a few times mid stomp trying to interrupt someone ressing. Also gotten it a few other times but I don’t remember the specifics of the fights I was in. Super stupid imo, and to the people who are commenting but haven’t experienced it- Steal will be pressed, it will show the message, and will be put on a 4s recharge/cd. I don’t know if it’s intended or just a bug (I’m guessing a bug since it only happens every now and then) but either way it should be changed.

EDIT: Commenting on other ways to interrupt skills doesn’t help anyone, this isn’t about alternatives to steal, it’s about the message being shown.

I also hope we get SAB back sometime soon. I’ve been burnt out on this game for the last 6 months or so, and was really hoping for an April 1st release. I don’t know, I guess with 1000+ responses I was thinking we would hear more from someone up at Anet. I’ll probably buy the expansion when it drops, but this game has been a really boring experience for me lately. At least SAB would give me some more skins to work towards.

Shockwave.1230:

It sounds like you don’t like the limitations of Dagger thief.

Try S/D, it allows you to play more freely with your positioning.

I’ve tried it in the past, but I never really clicked with it. I got pretty good with 20066 but I found it pretty repetitive, and lacking the burst that D/P brought. I know they fill different roles, but I have too much of an obsession with big numbers. I did notice that S/D seemed a lot more forgiving- as in I had an easier time fighting most classes.

I’ll keep it short. My name is Ably, I’ve played thief since the beta weekends, I have ~5.5k hours on thief, ~4k games played yada yada, and I feel like we are being pushed out of the meta. Most teams in the last streamed tournies have had a thief, usually 60206 d/p being the meta. With 60206, a thief hits like an actual wet noodle against anything but glass, but our job isn’t to 1v1, it’s to backcap and +1 so that’s okay. Power classes can still 3-4 hit us if we don’t time our dodges right, and anything but a decent mesmer/thief can be a hard fight. The more I’ve played this week, I’ve realized how poorly we match up against the meta. Engineers, power necros, med guards and even shoutbows can usually kill a thief pretty easily. But that’s fine, our job is to backcap and +1 fights. But if a team has any of those above classes looking after their home decently, I feel like we are almost obsolete. Maybe it’s me not playing well, maybe it’s my build, my playstyle- any of those really, but with the most recent changes to teleports (my steals say ‘target too close’ half the time I use it in melee range/ shadowstepping up to a ledge mid stomp but not being able to return b/c of ‘valid pathing’), I think that most other classes can +1 better than a thief. Anyways, I personally believe it is becoming harder and less worthwhile to play a thief in competitive PvP, and I want to hear what others think about it. Once again, just my opinion, I would love some feedback.

You have to be careful with p/d as if you have a shot in the air as you are stealthing, the second it hits it will reveal you. I always thought Hidden Thief was broken, but if it’s working for you I guess they fixed it. But yeah, make sure not to auto right before you need to stealth- you could even try stowing your weapons before you need to stealth if that helps. Also it goes without saying that if you are revealed (the eye with the crosshair debuff on your bar) you can’t stealth until it goes away. Pretty obvious, but you said you were new to thief so who knows.

Give us something fun and unique like mace, warhorn or torch. Just something that’s not the obvious choice like rifle.

I’ll keep in mind that these changes may not be legit, but if Infiltrator’s Signet/Strike get put on a cooldown if you aren’t in range I will be beyond done with this game for a bit. I’m not too worried about steal considering I can’t even remember what it was like when it worked consistently- and Basi will most likely be rendered useless unless it takes more than a stack off/ignores stab. Anet should be careful with these changes if they are true- or the new specialization needs to be the best thing in the world, or I’m guessing we will see another drop in thieves. Personally, I’m hooked on this game so I probably couldn’t quit for too long but I’m getting tired of relearning the class every time Anet has the inspiration to ‘fix’ things.

Because killshot is the most telegraphed skill in this game and anyone with half a brain dodges it.

1 point into Shadow Arts will already reveal you for being offensive so it really doesn’t matter if rangers can do the same right?

Kasper.6527:

Katars. or Fist Weapons. or an Ice Pick

Because they will definitely add brand new weapons to the game just for us, right?

Back when I ran dagger storm the stars aligned and I reflected two killshots at the same time.

Hey guys, I’ve been a thief main since beta, but I’ve really taken a liking to the way ranger feels and looks and I think the playstyle is a bit different than most classes. Anyway, I noticed really early on that the sword feels clunky, and it roots you in a way into the animation. I turned the auto cast off for the auto, and it helps, but how do I work around it? The built in leap also rubberbands me off of people quite often as if it is two leaps instead of one. Do any veteran rangers use sword for PvP/WvW? Any tricks on how to use it correctly?

We will probably just get rifle. It was being talked about the same time that engi hammer was being talked about. Way too much hype about this.

I’ve run mostly duelist for the last 2 years, added the glasses when the wardrobe happened. (Anet bring back the hipster glasses pls) this is my only character and I haven’t really changed how she looks even though I need to- and I still want to reroll to sylvari
http://imgur.com/ha4qSvH,t7H3x6p
http://imgur.com/ha4qSvH,t7H3x6p#1

Practice. Practice makes progress.

I want something that doesn’t fit the ‘assassin/sniper/ninja’ theme that everyone is slinging around. Something unique like warhorn or focus that’s not expected. Rifle is too much of an obvious choice.

As far as rotations and positioning go, I’m usually pretty solid- as far as skill rotations and landing bursts, I’m usually pretty solid. My ping jumps up and down every now and then, so sometimes I’ll be hit with skill lag mid-game. But yeah, some games I will really just play poorly and whiff everything. Really don’t know why I do it- I’ve been playing the same build for over a year now, but who knows. The only thing I kitten up consistently is double tapping head shot in excitement.

I’m just hoping for 1.2k range- I don’t want to get hyped and then be let down by speculating any more than that.

I run 66002 for everything but Mai Trinn and the Volcanic fractal, where I go full SA. It takes a lot of getting used to at first, but once you learn the animations of the bosses its pretty trivial.

Okay so two or three weeks ago I bought a second account (on EU), mainly for storage, but also to see what EU is like compared to NA. Whenever I try to send anything to my NA account, I get a message saying that either the amount of gold I am trying to send ‘exceeds the limit available to new accounts’ or that I ‘need to continue playing’ to be able to send items over. I’ve been playing on this account regularly since I bought it, and not being able to send anything via mail is pretty frustrating (As that is what this new account was meant to be used for). Anyone know when I will unlock this feature? Thanks in advance.

Either fix it or get rid of it completely pls. I don’t like being punished for playing offensively.

Malice is fine the way it is. A thief can get better healing per second using AoE’s with Malice than Signet of Restoration and Healing Signet combined- you only factored in autoattacks. Use Dagger Storm in a zerg fight sometime- it’s a full health heal. Very few people use Signet of Malice as a sustained heal anyway. Malice’s true potential is with Signets of Power and Signet Use, which gives you a free 5 might, initiative and heal every 12s. Pair that with Shadow’s Rejuvenation and you probably won’t die very often. Cruuk (a semi top tier thief) made that build popular in PvP for at least a year and a half. Malice is perfectly fine in PvE too- it’s in the current thief meta build (66002).

180 per attack wouldn’t be too bad imo- a buff is a buff, but I really don’t think it needs changing.

I get excited and accidentally double tap headshot every time..

I beat D/D eles pretty frequently with D/P actually. They may not be the best, but if you kite with SB a bit and time your burst, it’s not too bad. A half decent ele should usually win the fight though.

On S/D, steal is EVERYTHING. When you have a chance, just hover over steal- the effects nearly go off the screen. Make sure to not throw random dodges- you have a lot of them with S/D 20066 but they run out eventually. Mesmers shouldn’t really be too big of a problem for you, just pay attention. Mesmer only has a few invulns, so you should stealth after bursting to bait a sword #2 or signet pop. Once their invuln runs out, you burst, and rinse repeat until they are dead. Ranger sucks to fight per usual, I like to stay as close as possible to them and CnD every time they try to rapid fire. Usually rangers will use the longbow knockback followed by their #2 rapid fire, so if you use infiltrator’s signet or a stunbreak the second you get knocked you should be able to dodge most of the burst. As far as thief goes, you are lucky that D/P is predictable. Wait for them to stealth, then dodge when you anticipate the burst. With 20066 you have more than enough dodges to kite a D/P thief. Make sure you land your steals, and CnD as much as possible. (Like you said, you can’t hit what you can’t see) If you are feeling esports and have enough health, stand in the thief’s blinding powder when he stealths and if he goes for more than one heartseeker through it, theres a good chance he will hit you and be revealed. People on here can give rotation advice for eons but the only good way to learn a class and playstyle is practice. Play the way you would naturally play, and get to know the class you are playing and the quirks that come with it.

Best of luck,
Ably

I’m late but I’ll go anyways

I have only played thief since launch

I have leveled 9 thieves to 80 and then deleted them to reroll to another race

My oldest character is only 300 days old even though I was a BW player

I spend 30+ minutes jumping around the pvp lobby before realizing I never qeued up

I’ve sold my progress to legendaries more times than I care to admit

I’ve spent atleast $250 in the gem store since launch

Sometimes I go into hot joins and trash talk new players when I’m having a bad day

I ran through 150 transmutation charges in less than a month

I belong to a WvW guild even though I get ~5fps in zerg fights

I have 4k hours on this game and still play it weekly

It took me 7 months to level another class up to 80

I only run glass builds no matter what I’m playing (because big numbers)

It took me 1 and 1/2 years to finish map completion

It took me 1 and 1/2 years to finish quip

I then sold quip (because 3k gold)

I then spent 3k gold in less than 24 hours

Sold quip the day I made it and regret it 6 months later. If I were you I would hold onto it- 3k gold runs out pretty quickly if you aren’t mindful of your spending habits :}
As for incin- I personally love it- I made quip for the aura because I think it is ugly and looks more like a hairdryer than a gun but incinerator is super clean and looks awesome sheathed or unsheathed. Incin is what I’m working towards now- only a precursor and some t6 away

I’ve run full duelist with reading glasses and shoulders hidden since before time itself and its still my favorite look in game.

1-5 weapon skills as is
f1-steal
e-1st util
x-2nd util
shift + e- 3rd util
q-weapon swap
mouse 4- heal
mouse 5- elite
`-stow

Mine are weird, but I’m too used to them to switch

Glocks view of thief is skewed. Like any other class, you will be required to 1v1 at certain points in a game and if you don’t follow through, it can really hurt your team. As for 1v1ing with a thief, your hardest match ups will be elementalist, engineer and necromancer. My main tip would be to learn how to use your shortbow. With shortbow, you have an aa that’s projectile is very hard to see, perma poison, and shadowsteps on demand. Also, learn to time your dodges. A lot of newer thieves throw random dodges into a fight, then have no more to escape a players burst. The last thing I will point out is #4 on D/P. Headshot is your best friend. Interrupt theives black powder stealths, any classes heals, moa, banner etc. Basically just play thief a lot, and learn the ins and outs of the class. Once you play for enough time the matchup are pretty instictual.

Okay, I’m on my phone and can’t load any of the builds posted above, but I tried this probably 6 months ago and it worked suprisingly well. I used signet of malice with caltrops on dodge, assassins reward, and caltrops as a utility. I don’t remember the specifics, but I remember I used S/P as the main set and the self heals were pretty ridiculous. This was a pure hot join build though, and I really did nothing but sit on home all game, but it could sustain against one or two players pretty easily. You could probably take Invigorating Precision and do a crit healway build and get better results, but bunker thief can certainly be a thing.

Also: there was a thread on here ages ago named ‘Thief Self Heals’ or something like that, and it kind of gave me the inspiration to try bunker thief out. If anyone wanted to dig it up it probably would still help.

Hey guys, I don’t know if this has been brought up recently, but since it was released, I have been using the Mini Holographic Colossus and it was always semi-transparent like the other holographic minis. Lately when I look at it, it’s a tangible thing and is completely solid like the Ice Elementals in PvE. I’ve switched my settings a few times and it remains solid and opaque. I was just wondering if the skin for this mini was changed recently, or if it’s just me being slightly crazy.

It’s bigger than the other races, but doesn’t make too big of a difference in the long run. People should be able to see distinguish the different animations on all the races by now. You may get targeted earlier than you would if you were playing an asura, but you can work around that.

Auesis.7301:

IA has also had it forever. This is not a recent development. It has always been affected by projectile destruction/reflection.

I was speaking of a purely visual update of a projectile firing, not that IA was a projectile itself, but I should have specified. And yea, I do remember SS having a visual before now that I think about it.

Correct me if I’m wrong, but did Anet stealth add projectiles to Infiltrator’s Arrow (SB 5) and Shadow Shot? (D/P 3) There’s a pretty obvious dark line that shoots out to guide the skill that I don’t think was there yesterday.