Guild Wars 2

A question to those more informed than I am, I have no time alas to explore other classes. However Rangers – crazy ranged and close range damage, immunity to damage ability and stealth ability as well as pet these days. Now I know as a thief I have crazy ability to dance around in WvW due to my intentional build, make a mistake I’m dead tho in a second, but these days seems like standing away from an enemy rather than right beside them kicks the real damage.

Nice to have a refresh for other new players.

This is hilarity indeed a ranger just rapid fired me to death in about 3 seconds, meanwhile I’m sitting with my P/D think kitten this combo just stinks. To hear S/D now stinks too is highly encouraging.

Well if you’re playing thief it’s because you like things not to be easy. I just started playing P/D recently , hilarity. And not in a face rolling mesmer engineer way.

Stofs got the point clear there, there’d need to be a whole weapon designed for one handed attacks with 2 sigil slots. The basic design for thieves is 2 weapons period.

Theoretically why not a one handed weapon, then the other hand can blind, pull, push, punch and whatever. But 2 weapons is just the defacto.

Whoa! I don’t think anyone is trying to be obnoxious.

The Thief is fast and furious and I never stop moving, even when targeting with bow or using my abilities. If I do then I’m usually dead. Tab/Mix targeting would be quicker for these abilities however they are so slow they’d miss. Which is part of the reason why they are not. I plan ahead when firing 2 and 4 and they were slowed down for a reason.

I do know initially the #2 ability was slowed down as the damage output was deemed over the top when fired repeatedly at the faster speed. In close range still this can knock out high damage quickly however.

As for 5, yes you may not use it, however alot do think it’s fun, and there have been times the ability has saved my skin as well as making the thief very mobile.

Thief/Necros comparisons are difficult as the classes are all different and intended to be played different however I do see that Necros can land ground target attacks and lay out plans for this very quickly.

All the bow attacks are quite slow however I think there’s supposed to be an offset on each as they have multiple uses. For example a rangers Longbow #1 fires faster and longer in range however our #1 bounces. Firing a #2 followed by a #1 will hit at the same time which is kinda funny, but good damage from a sneaky thief that nobody has spotted yet.

Sounds good man, I gotta say I’m not fond of any of the Elites, infact I’d replace the Elites with some of the other abilities in a the blink of an eye.

God I haven’t used traps much at all. Ambuish coupled with Thieves Guild is pretty funny and surprising for enemies, its just that those ability slots are occupied by very much needed defensive and evasive abilities. We can’t stand around trappin’ !

Ambush has a decent cook down far as I remember if they changed that to the Elite I’d probably use it all the time. Cool downs of 3 minutes or more just are plain no fun, which is why I always equip Basilisk VEnow which really is not great shakes and the worst of my slotted abilities.

You don’t seem to use the bow at all for what it’s intended for, I sugget switching to pistols, they may more up your street within the range desired and their abilities are quick fire.

Yes firing is slow on the abilities. For the thief it’s a situational and utility weapon which can also pump out great damage used right.

Was wondering this myself, I have an absolute ton of Karma but merchants looking for globs of green stuff or something or other. Few ascendant bits and they’re certainly better than what I had. However also I think I was just being rusty, being a roaming thief any mistake usually get’s you killed. Did receive a tasty 9k Eviscerate recently highlighting the need to dodge at the right moment.

Thanks man, gah having to do whatever to grind that gear may put me off.

Hi folks, as a pre-order original I haven’t played in a year or so and I’m now returning. I cannot help but see everybody is hitting harder than I am. Ascendant gear etc are involved in changes – would anybody mind giving me the quick lowdown on what I should be using these days?

cheers
Elmuerto

I had this problem with headshot, yip. Not all the time but did occur enough for me to be certain it was a bug but no tenough to end up reporting it.

Yes the condition cleanse on return is odd as cheesey chewing gum. Still one of the best abilities and a complete life saver, gap closer, movement addition and all round generally confuser though.

In addition the stats linked with trait lines isn’t such a hot idea. I mean I go full trickery but I’d rather be able to choose which stats are boosted by those points.

Incurafy.6329:

I disagree, and were I not on a phone right now I would argue that the initiative system should be present in ALL classes, not just Thieves. It’s a kitten shame that it’s not, otherwise other classes might do more than just play a rotation.

Thieves are already fun and skillful to play, and I would dare say that they are one of the hardest classes to play at a high skill level; you can’t just spam one skill.

Agree with this many classes are locked down to dropping 3-4 cool downs blam in one place faster than a thief can use their abilities tbh. I Think ini is great and gives more choice of tactics. I mean has anyone noticed although it doesn’t hit hard but Mesmers don’t like head shot repeated at all and is my solution to them, besides tracking them.

AOE once again wins the day, reactions have to be fast for thieves. Maybe its just new thieves, I don’t get these P/P and Leaping death Blossom ones I see sometimes. I bag alot of defensive abilities with lyssa runes for cleansing and use opportunity, movement and consider my thief’s role as point capper but not defender – and also miracle rezzer and executioner. I always figured that’s what a thief should do, really if anybody sees me coming the odds are in their favour – blam 5 aoes in like 2 seconds. WHO does not equip shadowstep for these moments, have a Strongbow -you deserve it. Can’t say much for tpvp but in spvp you get all players and may just be they haven’t played the thief long as well as diffs with thieves not being able to stand still and chin it. there may not be that many Thief players around who’ve always played the class. I remember when I first played spvp, I didn’t really know what I was doing.

Man I used PW from the start then one day realised how not great it was. That being rooted while it channels just seems like suicide to me.

Yeah tru dat. Our ranged attacks are like matrix slo-mo, Necros land them wells at range like a machine gun. Ah well its the price of Initiative – I’d rather have a cooldown on a faster attack I mean anyone can avoid these, in fcat I’d bet I could possibly fire and run to them quicker lol. Ah well.

No zerg is exciting.

Yeah I gotta say no class is particularly annoying however phantasms and pets are. They react faster and better than players and sniff out sneaky thieves especially where you’d probably revive yourself from a downed stated due to a well placed port.

sostronk -mesmers, my key to defeating them is shadow shot and headshot. Headshot to interrupt them and shadow shot to keep track, and keep the pressure on. They go down relatively easy when pressure is applied and their key is in you not finding them, which you can with shadow shot. I see many players who simply don’t keep track of where the mesmer is.

SR – dodge – dodge -stealth – dance.

I’m a kind thief, I res lots.

I’ve been killed by good players while in stealth.

Use the force.

^^ True – indeed, the forums are full of people who find it easier to post their whine on a forum than learn their class. GW2 is an unusually well balanced game, it even has spectator mode in sPvP so you can watch how someone who has just beat you not only play but their exact build and gear. I really don’t know how much more can be given. If you’re running a backstab build imho you’re a caveman.

Quite slow indeed, a bit faster would be better. The heart seeking element was quite a charm now looking back. Probably was a tad much.

I see no reason for concern. Thieves have a lot of room for adaptation. There are numerous threads about that.

This is unlike other MMOs where classes really don’t have room to change.

Awhhh yeah..its called The Shadow Shuffle

Err..not for me, I’m quite particular about who I attack and my tab just don’t grab fast enough.

Running double melee sets wow…I’d never part with my shortbow.

That’d be because those steals were blocked, or Aegis was up or any other abilities that block attacks.

Where you attacking anyone when your combo filed doesn’t work, remember if for example you fire off a SB aoe and it ticks while you go into stealth you come straight out/don’t stealth depending on the timing.

Yes Mesmers can shatter you to death in 3, it happened this morning in one of my few deaths across 5 matches. Why because I was at a wierd camera angle and didn’t get my Shadow Step off. If you’ve left home without defensive abilities do not be surprised when you get downed.

Personally I think the thief is fine. However it took me some time to get to grips with it. Its fun but takes quick reactions.

What self respectin’ thief runs about with only guns anyway, they haven’t even got silencers!

Ok just wanted to verify this, as I’ve never really ‘examined’ it – so Asura are small and so harder to target when clicking with a mouse than Charr?

’A casual gamer is a 40 year old guy who works 9 to 5 and wants to roflestomp everything with his 1 hit win class, as a way of achieving gratification. I`m not saying he shouldn`t rather he shouldn`t that easily. ’

Oh man, how I larfed at that. What monster will I turn into at forty! Oogling at ROLF stomping classes – ye gawds! My life will mean nothing..but I will yes I WLL rolfstomp those elegant younger non-casual gamers..I hate my life, my boss, my future is gone….but…they will pay!

thanks man that gave me a right giggle on a Tuesday morning.

I’d say I did notice a lot of non-thief players posting on this forum, this generated much hoo ha. Otherwise forum comments seem fine. Thieves have alot of playability and are slippery, as per description, they frustrate some players with their seeming deadliness. I have encountered players from every class who have posed problems and challenges, however that is actually in the minority rather than majority and otherwise (in sPvP) most of the time things run smooth and fun, although it did take some time to learn how to do this. Alot of negative threads seemed to generate from QQ and nerf type debates. I wouldn’t argue with any of the nerfs that have occurred, thief is fine.

To be honest I don’t die an awful lot. Thieves have some of the best survivability tools. Thieves who are dying are glass canons with few hit points and no get out abilities – I personally run with Shadow Refuge, Hide in Shadows and Shadowstep – wouldn’t leave home without ’em.

^^ haha – additionally, and I have never really tried P/P, black powder with Dagger or sword mainhand is pretty good but its applicability with P/P seems really strange. I suppose perhaps subsequent attacks through the field become blinds? I really do think P/P just makes the thief become a lousy engineer.

^^ Makes a good point. In MMos I play the stealth archetype so no otehr class was ever a question for me. Having said that the gameplay in GW2 really amazes me with its fluidity and how fast reactions can be a part of that (how sub based MMOs never managed this fully I mean Warhammer to me now is plain clunky and a bit rubbish and I played that for three years) – in GW2 the thief takes full davantage and enjoys this aspect to the full, observe a good S/D thief the fast paced dance in combat is quite unique amongst the classes. Players who play thieves subsequently seem to be more aware in the game also, what I mean by this is that so often when in a fight I’ll see others in my team banging on a mesmers illusions whereas I’ll be locked on the actual mesmer solid.

Also you have to stay within the pulse to activate the longer stealth leaving it early will cancel it.

Why that word was changed to Kitten, I just don’t know.

This one time in Band Camp a P/P thief stood on a ledge thinking to kitten me with unloads, my S/B had him dead in no time. I was like, grandma..

Yep, anybody I see using P/P in GW2 I think must be some batty old grandma with 12 cats playing on a commodore 64.

No worries Sifu – D/P is just easier indeed and S/P is gimping yourself. Plus I’m the kind of thief that considers ressing teamates part of spvp. Although I will say one thing I haven’t seen an effective D/D thief in a very long time and I’m only killed by one when caught completely unaware in combat focused on another enemy. There are some very good S/D thieves about at the moment however now that flanking strike has been more than fixed its proving very effective.

OP -You can play whatever style you like and with more play will undoubtedly be able to play better/different tactics ie D/D was faceroll at start. I’ve seen one pretty good S/D thief stacking nifty skills from Acro line, RFI, withdraw and moving very fast, provided some nice fights in spvp, the player had to be very nifty on their controls. D/P is the strongest melee combination (however and S/D I think is a good alternative). Why D/P well because of backstab and the blind field as well as headshot, Shadowshot and heartseeker, they just make things easier, running S/P is gimping yourself. As to people’s comments; every time someone says noob, you know they’re cool.

Well underwater is just ..well underwater who cares, I didn’t play a thief to play underwater. In sPvP it applies to one point in one match. In WvW it doesn’t apply at all. PvE..who knows probably not much. It’s a bit of a gimmick underwater fighting anyway. I don’t diggit.

I think you answered your own question there in that your damage was all about the back stabs – for D/D that is certainly good. D/P can do backstabs too but I like the blind field from Black Powder which is pretty underrated .sshhhh…Shadow Shot is also underrated and hits hard enough and is a great gap closer, headshot interrupts like a boss -oh you were about to heal..muhuhuhuhuhaaa..and heartseeker is there too. I played S/P solid then started struggling with it and things simply are much easier with D/P.

Yep loaded up and served at the correct temperature with front loading damage. There’s a trade off with this – these guys need to be very quick cuase they can go down easy too.

You know I have always thought this and just have to say it. Well done Anet. This is my 3rd MMO after Warhammer and SWTOR – and as a non-subscription based MMO the WvW and sPvP (I don’t PvE in MMOs really) as well as the regular updates and seasonal themes are outstanding in comparison to these other big MMOs I played. I don’t know how you do it Anet however keep doing it. How the sub based mmo’s I played (I love WAR btw because I loved the books – although now it just looks clunky and kinda lowbrow seeing as Class balance and gear was always outta whack) managed to not provide viable WvW and great and relatively balanced PvP from the get go like you, I don’t know. Well I do but that doesn’t matter. Great work.

I S/P in WvW from the start, then moved to sPvP. I then subsequently switched to D/P after haste nerf and things got hella lot easier.

D/P is much easier than S/P.

Its a trap!