Showing Posts For Excidium.9312:
Only problem with thief is when someone attempts to play it in a way it is not meant to be played. The class excels with hitting hard and quick and getting out. If you attempt to sit there and take shots, you will die a lot and cry underpowered. If you attempt to be the king of range dps, you will cry underpowered. However, if you learn how to be a jump in and out of fights and pick your fights well… Well… You’ll think you are a God.
Slight exaggeration aside, there are many times a night where I’ll feel unstoppable and joke with friends that thief is broken. Of course, they normally tell me how much they hate me as they are running back from the graveyard and somehow I didn’t die… again…
Headshot is an interrupt. Not sure how many times i’ve used it to stop someone executing a downed player. It is hilarious to watch them try again without figuring it out.
Your killing power is subpar with range weapons. Bow is great for aoe but is atrocious for single target dps. Pistols are the best single target range dmg but the dmg is bad compared to daggers. When i’m stuck using pistols in pve because I can’t melee a certain boss, my dmg is reduced by at least half. No exaggeration.
First of all, would people stop saying kittens, who ever thought that would be cute or funny should be shot,
Next, for other classes to get close to a thief in speed they need to trait pretty good for it, so don’t say they don’t sacrifice anything.
The only thing a thief needs in order to beat a perma swiftness toon is a shortbow. Also any half decent thief will limit putting him/herself in a possible where they are in danger after using their mobility. If you’re unable to move around in combat like you own the place, either lrn2play, reroll, or unistall./wtf rant
First off, the word kittens is inserted anywhere there is a swear word via the forum administrator.
Second, HS spam without using auto target is faster and better than IA with shortbow.
zzz
I use dagger storm defensively. I use it to deflect projectiles (great to completely counter another thief’s dagger storm). If a melee jumps on me mid-spin, I cancel the spin with an evade and leap away. Only time I use it offensively is if I roll up on a lot of people almost dead and I want to slow and tag them or when a thief goes stealth with no hp.
I don’t think I could give up steal → stealth but I’ll drop the lower deception talent tonight and try out some of the other ones to see if it works better with my setup.
The thief guild I normally use for pve and I dont like the casting time for basilisk venom to be honest. That’s the best part of this game though, so many different combinations work well together. Thanks!
I tried improv once before and I didn’t notice any change so I moved away from it. Maybe I was missing something?
As for sundering strike, I just didn’t like the chance %. I am very anti-chance at all possible times. Vulnerability will work well in a large group but its very rare when I run with the zerg. I find the zerg running to be extremely boring and it doesn’t require any “real” skill.
I normally roam solo or with up to 2 friends. When we do participate in huge fights, we pick people off at the sides or in the back. Practically suicide to jump into the middle regardless what class you play. Since I am not stacking precision, sundering strikes will be diminished in its return. I think I sit at 25% base crit normally.
Its not a bad idea. I can look into it. It seems to be more situational than anything. What happens if the target does not have any boons on them? The biggest change is the missing 200 power. Is losing all the dmg worth the trickery gain? Even though I am not a glass cannon per se, I am still built around killing people as quickly as possible.
Side note: People overlook mug… it is really a great talent. Open with a 5k crit steal followed by a 8k crit backstab. I’ll definitely look into it though. Thanks!
Edit: Keep in mind that I rarely run out of initiative. Only time I do is when I spam HS as a get away tool or if I happen to miss with CnD.
I am tired of reading posts on this forum about how bad thieves are at WvW so I decided to post my build. Feel free to ask questions.
Thieves are great in WvW. I have 0 problems killing anyone except maybe warriors. I accept that I can lose to 1 class in 1v1 combat.
http://www.guildhead.com/skill-calc#Mzkzzc9MMlvnoMlvnoGxG9McsoabzR
I run a backstab build that focuses on surviving. I have died 21 times in WvW (I take pride in not dying so I have been running a counter) and I have over 2200 kills. I use D/D for almost everything. I have a shortbow as secondary but I may pull it out once a night.
My build is 20/30/20. This gives a nice power boost, all the crit talents, and 200 extra toughness. For gear, I use all Valk gear. Valk gear is vitality, crit dmg and power btw. Without orbs, I have 17.6k health. Keep in mind, I still have green trinkets to replace.
How does this work?
Most of my dmg is backstab and auto attacking. I only ever use heart seeker to close the gap. I don’t use it for dmg. I don’t use blossom except for rare cases. Dancing dagger is to slow people so CnD can land therefore setting up another back stab.
The other abilities:
The stealth heal, Your choice (more below), signet of shadows for the run speed, blinding powder, and dagger storm (cant remember official name).
For the first ability, I almost always use roll for inititive. This is your get out of jail for free ability. Without it, I don’t have a chance on warriors. It has saved my life more than I could possibly count.
Other alternatives, shadow refuge, scorpion wire (for attacking keeps)
The focus is on living. Shortbow / pistols /swords do not kill people fast enough. If you do attempt the haste + stun combo, roll for initiative counters it. I honestly focus thieves using range weapons first just out of spite.
Reasons for talents:
Mug – Since I don’t use poisons, mug is a great alternative as the first talent in the power tree. I have had it crit for 4.8k dmg on steal.
Dagger training – Obvious choice for a dagger build
Practice tolerance – Great choice for extra health
Critical haste – Basically a filler at the moment
Hidden killer – The entire build is built around this talent. This is why I don’t purposely stack precision. When most of my dmg is backstab dmg, well… it is guaranteed to crit
Master of deception – More stealths = more backstabs and better chance to get away
Hidden thief – This ability is priceless. Steal now puts me in stealth which sets up for a backstab instantly. I purposely blow my stolen weapon just to use steal again.
How to get away from a guaranteed death:
I have escaped so many “guaranteed” deaths. My friends who I play with become quite upset with me since I never die and they do (it’s their fault for following me after all).
If you get rooted and you cant move, roll for initiative. Use anything that will stealth you. A great trick is to steal on a mob that is far away. Instant gap + stealth
Detarget everything and then spam heart seeker. You can’t have the option on for targeting the closest target mind you. Heart seeker is faster travel than IA.
Rinse and repeat until you are safe.
I don’t crit for 10k like the glass cannon build. I do crit for up to 9k though. Point is, you aren’t waiting on cool downs to kill someone and this is built for survival.
Like I mentioned earlier, 1v1:
I have never lost to any class 1v1 except for a good warrior. Mesmers are annoying but squishy. Even guardians die but it can take me twice as long to kill one than other classes. Warriors though… They are the only reason why I went with roll for initiative. I can kill them but every fight is down to the wire (assuming they are good players and geared).
Feel free to leave feedback