Guild Wars 2

Nike.2631:

When Norns speak to the peacekeepers, there is a special conversational branch just for them about ‘unnaturally tall beings’… And the city statutes against it…

You sure? I remember speaking to them with my Sylvari, and they said the same thing.

Here’s Arikyali!

Evening bloom mesmer~

I did it. I made a light-armor combo for female that looks like proper robes. No more dressy ballgowns!

Still need to find a matching shoulder piece, and change the gloves and boots, but I’m glad with what I have so far.

I got new armor look! Still searching for the right shoulder piece.

No it’s not. Trust me it’s not. :P I’ve just been busy lately.

Yumiko Ishida.3769:

…..maybe I can use this as bait to catch a Krait? Tee hee! I’m so good at rhymes!

Hey! Krait bait was my idea! Don’t you go around claiming it as your own!

Typical…rich….snobby…glory seeking….upper crust…. That krait is mine! I can get plenty of gold for catching it! -waves hands- Don’t you have some hoo-hah social party to attend to?

Anyway, I’m out of prison now, so I can resume my hunt. I heard he’s out in Queensdale huh? That’s going to take some searching.

…By the way, any chance I could interest you in a diamond necklace?

Thanks guys. I’m gonna swap my S/P for P/D and see how that goes. I’ll check out those condi thief guides as well.

As a human, would Grenth’s Hand be viable for a thief? I haven’t had much chance to use it in WvW.

Big Tower.5423:

Arikyali.5804:

He’s supposed to be alive in mine, but this could explain why he’s nowhere in Salma District. The krait got him.

Infact he’s in salma district from time to time they cant put him in prison as half street rat humans got him dead. He is just in salma district sometimes

Really? Where? I’ve never seen him.

…I’m waiting here for someone to make a critical turn in the story before I post mine. I don’t want my idea to conflict.

I run with D/D and S/P, with a build 0/0/30/20/20. I’m aiming for a stealth-based, high mobility thief. My initial goal is to fight within the midst of a zerg – but still enough versatility to roam, scout, and flip camps solo.

And no. I’m not a perma-stealth thief, nor do I want to be . :/ You can’t kill people if you’re in perma stealth…I like a challenge. I want to be the annoying stealthy ’can’t catch me’ thief. Right now in zerg fights, I mostly pick off stragglers that get too close, fight along the perimeter of the zerg, or attack one person in a group and jump back.

1. What utility skills would compliment my traits and weapons? I experiment a lot, but as of now, I have Assassin’s Signet, Roll for Initiative (or Scorpion Wire), and Shadow Refuge. I’m not too sure on which elite skill to rely on. Basilisk venom seems best for roaming, and dagger storm for zerging. I played with smoke screen for awhile and really liked it – but I don’t see many other thieves using it. Is it not favored for WvW?

2. Someone informed me that pistol whip will have its stun nerfed, but I did not find anything about that in the Dec 10 changes. True or not? As much as I like sword, I already struggle trying to stun my opponent with 3 and 4 S/P. They just…don’t seem effective.

3. I use Rune of Infiltration now, but would there be a more suitable rune? I have sigils of force and bloodlust for weapons.

4. I can’t choose if I want to focus on condition damage or critical attacks. Seeing as I got points in trickery, going condition would make more sense. Which would you advise?

5. I don’t care about the limit distance that will be added to infiltrator, but I can’t find a suitable way to start it off while stealthed (and use Tactical Strike). With D/D I can combo with Heartseeker. Is shadowstep utility the only method to jump to someone with a stealthed sword? I just have a habit of wanting to keep my shadowstep as a stunbreaker, instead of a fight initiator.

The sword…doesn’t feel like a stealthy weapon like the dagger. I think I’m doing something incorrectly. Help me out here? I don’t want to switch to D/P because…too many use it. I really want to master sword skills as a thief.

6. How badly do I ‘need’ refuge in a zerg fight? I feel like it’s only great for roaming or escaping (and reviving downed people). There’s so many neat utility skills to use as a thief…

7. ….I don’t sound like the hated perma-stealth thief, do I? Please say I don’t…I’ll give you a cookie.

8. There’s been one too many times when I’m in a zerg when flipping points, I stand around and just watch because…I can’t do anything helpful. I’m not tanky to stand at the gate, and I have practically no range to attack the wall. All I can do is stand away and scout. Is…this normal for a thief? I don’t like not doing anything… Sure, I get people that try to run into the keep, but…everybody does.

9. ……how do you catch other roaming thieves that run away from me? Come back…I wanna fight you….

10. …So I learned that a thief is quite successful with leaping from a wall and killing someone. Also pretty reliable in destroying siege. Any tips and advice to make better use of this tactic?

Thanks for reading this wall of text. I am still learning WvW with my thief, but I’m really enjoying it. ^^

Astralporing.1957:

…i don’t even know what i have just read. Seriously.

…neither do I.

So….I walked around the back allies with a smoked herring on the end of my sword, poking the odd sewer grate and seeing if anything would bite. Got some strange looks from people. A Seraph asked what I was doing, and I told her I was hunting Krait. She gave me a weird look and told me to put my weapon away before she arrested me.

….My idea makes sense if you don’t think about it too much.

I gave up my krait bait after awhile – I had to, the herring slipped off my sword. Some hungry beggar was hiding in the sewers and took it. That little thief.

I decided to look for the krait, and take the scenic route – over the roofs. So I leaped from one roof and…Honestly, what is it with the city not liking thieves traversing via rooftops? That ledge wasn’t booby-trapped before.

Fortunately, my shadow art skill saved me. It’s quite useful, saving you from getting hurt too much from falling, and releases blinding powder upon my decent. – a plus since it also saves you from the embarrassment of falling flat on your face.

Unfortunately, some of the smoke powder got into a passerby’s eyes. She wasn’t happy. I said I was sorry. She still called the Seraph on me.

Maybe she wouldn’t have been so angry if I didn’t throw more powder in her eyes and ran off with her necklace. Either way, I’m here again in jail. Again. “Infringing on public safety” they say. At least I still have the necklace.

You just can’t be left alone to make a decent living these days.

edit: the woman in the background of my 3rd picture…she’s headless! o.o

Thieves are immobile?

…I’m missing something here. I’m dodging and shadow stepping everywhere when I fight….sometimes my thief is too mobile and I overdoing it…

I daresay my thief has better mobility than my mesmer.

My stars, it has never come to my realization of how..well…vertically gifted some of the other races are. Why, this Norn is nearly quadruple my physical stature!

I’m astonished that our visitor has somehow managed to not hit his forehead while wandering around our fair city…on the contrary, I should be curious as to how he did not collide with anything above his waist.

Jrunyon.3012:

My thief Nesmee

Those boots…tell me what they are….now….

Please?

I played around with a few dye colors, and I really liked what came as a result.

I still can’t find matching boots though…everything I tried looked too bulky.

What’s your take with the T3 human gloves? Think they match? I couldn’t get them dyed properly in the preview panel.

….So word on the street is there’s a krait in Divinity’s Reach.

Time for Bounty Hunter Anakysha to strike…..

I am like a shadow…
I am the night…
I leap across the rooftops, ready to strike.

…as long as I don’t miss the roof. It happens sometimes. Some of those tiles have no traction. It’s like the residents don’t want thieves skulking around on their roof. What gives?

Anyway..

Heeere kraity kraity kraity~ Heeeere kraityyy~ Anakysha has some smoked herring for youuuu~

WHAT’S THIS THREAD DOING, NOT ON THE FIRST PAGE OF THE FORUMS?!

kicks it back in its proper place

Gwalchgwn.1659:

’Cause charr can be female and thief too ^^

Oooh, what kind of dagger is that?

He’s supposed to be alive in mine, but this could explain why he’s nowhere in Salma District. The krait got him.

The guy just can’t stay out of trouble.

babazhook.6805:

5 thieves that hide when they can be beaten by a greater group coming out to flip a camp or ganking smaller groups?

How on earth is this an exploit? Is 5 engineers using grenades and stacking conditions on a target an exploit? Is 5 hammer warriors using the hammer train tactic wherein the enemy in perma stun an exploit? is 5 necroes taking turns casting signet of spite and epidemic an exploit? What of thoe AOE fields cast by 5 elementalists? What of five mesmers using perplexity and clones? 5 warriors rotating using heal on their shouts?

Why is it that thieves are always held to a different standard?

The fact is when ANY class works in conjunction in this manner the dynamics of the game change and the group will be seen as overpowered. It not limited to thieves ambushing. The only difference is the thief can hide but that same thief can not stand in the open like a necro can or a warrior can and expect to survive.

Probably because the target is a camp, and not a zerg.

In one context, I do remember reading that the devs want their thieves different from other MMO thieves, where stealth is focused within combat, instead of out. It’s one reason why they’re removing perma-stealth exploit with D/P builds. There was no risk waltzing into an enemy map and doing whatever you pleased. Chaining stealth gives the same thing.

On the other hand, you could just say it’s a WvW strategy, and on the same bar as a mesmer hiding inside a keep. But at least a mesmer has the risk of being discovered during a sweep.

I was still sitting on the floor, staring at the dagger lodged into the floorboard. I almost had him!

All the bad luck piled on one after the other in an endless stream of succession… I should never have gone after that mermaid in the first place. I should have known better than to chase down a wild goose chase. And my daggers! The beautiful, hand crafted daggers my father gave me for my birthday. One was locked away in the Vigil outpost, the other in the vile hands of that treacherous krait priestess. I would never get those back.

I sighed. What did I do to deserve this? I shook my head and berated myself. That was a stupid question, and I knew it. I had just be baiting luck my whole career, and fate finally decided to make me pay for some of the things I had done. I probably deserved every bit of my ordeal. I should at least be thankful I was still alive.

Alive, but on the run. I pushed myself up and walked to the small closet on the side of the wall. I could worry about my misfortune later. I could be depressed when my life and freedom weren’t on the line. Right now, I really needed to start packing.

My living quarters were only half the size of the others quarters in the building, but that was because I made it that way. The other half was my ‘office’. I opened the closet and pressed my hand against the back of the wood, lifting the makeshift door and pulling it aside. I ducked my head low and stepped through the opening. On the other side, the place was in the same disarray as I had left it.

I grabbed a knapsack off the floor and began to stuff things inside. Bottles of medicine, potions and poisons…anything that I would need for my journey. I pulled out a spare set of leather armor from a drawer, quickly changing into it. I knew it was a good idea to have had a second set on hand, just in case. I grabbed a spare set of daggers from the shelf and clipped them to my belt. They better quality than the cheap knives I had hidden around my living quarters (for intruders, no less).

What else do I need? I paused for a moment, noticing the containers of ingredients I had left on my worktable. The desk was left in a mess, but I was certain I had at least arranged the jars against the side of the wall. Some of them were moved.

I dropped to the floor and pried out the floorboard underneath. I breathed out a sight of relief – my moneybox was still there. I retrieved it from its hiding place, and after picking the lock, (I’m a thief. Why do I need a key if I have lock-picks?) I opened it and skimmed the amount.

I ran my fingers over the gold and silver coins. Thank the Six nothing was taken. Everything would have gone to waste if I had lost this. My fingers brushed the edges of the envelopes wedged inside. I smiled. Everything I did would be worth it.

I shut the moneybox, locking it tight, and stuffed it into my bag. I had to be extremely careful about carrying a lockbox full of money, but I was going to guard it with my life. No pirates or bandits were going to get easy pickings from me.

Once I was certain that everything of value was in my bag, I crawled out of my office and went to the kitchenette. I packed food and water – at least enough for two days. Once I had snuck into the Asura Gate that lead to Divinity’s Reach, I would have to travel a few days before reaching my home town. But if I could not get through the gates, I would have to take the long route – through Gendarran Fields, through centaur territory, across Queensdale…that was a long trip. I could detour through Kessex Hills, but I wanted to avoid the trouble that land had incurred from the Toxic Alliance.

I left the rest of my month’s rent on the counter, along with a note for my landlady. I didn’t want to have any debts or ties left with Lion’s Arch – I could never come back.

I climbed out through my window, and made my way through the back allies of Lion’s Arch.

I stared out across the plaza, toward the distant Asura Gates outlined against the night sky. I wouldn’t lie – a part of me was going to miss this city.

There’s three that could match for mesmer perhaps?

http://wiki.guildwars2.com/wiki/Nightmare_Torch
http://wiki.guildwars2.com/wiki/Peacemaker%27s_Torch
http://wiki.guildwars2.com/wiki/Dark_Asuran_Torch

I can’t find any ‘illusionary’ torch skins, I’m afraid.

I’ll start this off with my thief.

I’m D/D and S/P but I haven’t found a dagger skin I like yet, so I’m keeping to the zenith blades in the meantime (and advice? Trying to look for a thin blade). I don’t know if I should drop the sword and go for D/P, but I get the vibe from most thieves see it as a beginner’s combo set – and easy gameplay. I don’t know – I’ll wait and see how Dec 10 changes fit it all in. :p

Bottom picture is the armor set I’m aiming for. I might change the leggings, but I’m definitely getting new boots. Anyone have suggestion for better matching boots?

Fellow sisters of the blade, (even if you’re not really a ‘sister-sister’) show off your style. Let me see what appearances you’ve created.

I know we already have a ‘show off your thief’ thread, but this one’s to prove that lady thieves can look as little-cute-kitten deadly without the overused tacky designs so prominent in other MMOs. I’m happy the Devs designed a game where I can finally play a female thief that looks like….a proper legit thief.

(I got nothing against showing some skin. It’s just that your basic MMO female thief doesn’t really look like…a thief. If you know what I mean.)

And guys (even if you’re not a guy-guy), go ahead and post your pics too. We can always hand out fashion advice – especially to those that need it.

People, do try to remember that your downed skills mean you’re already defeated and you’ve got a one last-ditch chance to get back up. They’re not really meant to save you, unless the fight was a close call.

Upham.6137:

So does the warrior, engie, necro, ranger interrupt (well warriors can use it, but if you are not standing right in front of them it can’t hit you)

Warrior: Offensive knockback, not to move away.
Engie: Combo with 3 to deal damage – not to move away.
Necro: Doesn’t move, but it is defense-based instead of offense-based. So I guess in line with the same issue.
Ranger: same as warrior, damage and daze

Deception is supposed to move you. The others are stationary. The other four (except maybe for engie) have a second skill that doesn’t need a target, no? Both 2 and 3 for mesmer require a target.

It’s random because it gives you 3 seconds of stealth + a teleport (thieves can only teleport and then wait to have their stealth skill).

imo thief down > mesmer down. What good is 3 seconds of stealth going to do for a mesmer? It doesn’t remove aggro (reset, not remove) and the teleport has the chance to drop me closer to something that will kill me. In PvP/WvW situations, it just delays the stomp. Only scenario I can forsee the stealth being helpful is in a large zerg fight, that gives you a chance to avoid a stop, and for an ally to heal you.

In PvE what you should be doing is using deception to gain a few seconds until you can use your rogue. Rogue can crit rrrrreally hard if you are full zerker, so if you didn’t rally with that, you weren’t gonna rally with a different class anyway.

Of course…like I said, the rogue is a good and reliable down skill. If I wanted to buy a few seconds before summoning the rogue, then a different downskill with a better mechanic can accomplish that. Maybe a shield that absorbs a little damage for a short amount of time? At least I increased my chance to rally with a nearby revive, instead of blinking away from allies because I can’t survive the onslaught that’s killing me.

The best thing the deception clone can do is help stack confusion while you spam as well. Most classes have defense and offense. Mesmer has two skills on the offense. The defense utility of ‘run away’ is just no good.

No, that doesn’t happen unless the enemy is terrible. The mesmer is always the second one to appear.

It can happen in a zerg fight. If you’re solo roaming and you go down, then…just accept you’re already dead.
[/quote]

All I want is deception to do what it’s supposed to do – be defensive. It cannot ‘deceive’ anyone because the real mesmer is easy to spot. The only time it’s deceived my opponents is when I’ve been down long enough to generate two of them (and one rogue).

Or how about this: you warp to a random location, without stealth, and generate 1-2 clones also at random locations. Now you don’t know which clone I am, and I can accept the teleport’s randomness because it serves a purpose!

One way or another, I’m gonna bet that adding a marriage system would just incur a lot of spite from players – bonus or not.

Human population can’t be trusted to take something respectfully and maturely. Some yes, but more than enough that it might be best to avoid this altogether.

Verdelet Arconia.6987:

This is when most people started to resent Trahearne.

Its like handing over the “precious ring” to Golum from Lord Of the Rings

“I shall carry Caladbolg back to the Pale Tree, and tell her of this battle.”

…

No….he wouldn’t….would he? He wouldn’t dare claim all the glory for the battle as he returned Caladbolg to the Pale Tree….

No that’s silly; he’s not like that. And the Pale Tree would have known what happened. I mean, that event would have entered the Dream and she’d be able to see for herself. She’d have called him out.

…Right?

-plants speculation-

Burnfall.9573:

Take a close look at this; Guide to thief Infinite Stealth also while in zerg?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JZAJ-js5qUY

JonPeters.5630:

…. By many players it was being used to grant some initiative when going into stealth. However there were some abusive builds that were using this to maintain very long stealth uptime without having to use their utility skills. The problem with this is that it lets them recharge those skills while in stealth, which takes away the risk associated with using them. We are ok with thieves blowing their cooldowns to have longer stealth, and we are ok with theives bouncing in and out of stealth, but we were not ok with thieves maintaining long duration stealth through abusing a single trait.

…Devs have already stated that perma stealth is a cheap abuse on the thief gameplay, and will thus be changed.

Sirendor.1394:

The classes that have stealth are incredibly weak compared to others.

Thieves and mesmers only have 2 viable set-ups: pure zerk and pure condi. Both mean the thief/mesmer is low on vitality and toughness, and really easy to kill.

Just to give an example: my zerk thief does ~7k (4-5k on a heavy armour target) with backstab and there’s a delay on backstab because of the Revealed state. On top he only has 13k health. A zerk warrior has easily 20k+ health and does 2-4k per second with axes and can hit easily 7-8k with whirlwind attack on a low armour target.
To top that it also has the best mobility in the whole game: leaps and movement skills both on weapons and utilities, perma swiftness. And lastly it has damage negators on shield and endure pain. Seriously, if one class needs nerf it’s warrior.

There are plenty of other choices than pure zerk and pure condition for mesmers AND thieves…I used to run a tanky/bunker build for my mesmer in PvP, and…it was hilariously awesome.

I know you didn’t state otherwise, but as a mesmer I don’t need to rely on stealth as much as a thief. Mesmers have plenty of disabling skills as their defensive mechanism.

To me, asking a nerf for stealth for all classes, would be like asking to reduce the effectiveness of knockbacks, cripples, blurs, immobilize, and blocks. It would really hurt the mesmer if that happened.

I can’t beat this person. Ergo, he’s too OP. It’s not my fault, it’s the class’ fault.

Plz nerf so I can beat him.

….-sigh- It will never end.

I don’t think clones could ever be a permanent distraction. But think of this: when a clone gets hit, what’s the most likely response of the opponent? They’ll just destroy the annoying clone and move on to the next target. Great chance for condition-applying traits upon clone death.

I haven’t experimented with stealth skills for mesmer. Decoy and veil seem to be the only reliable stealth skills. MI takes too long to cast. Perhaps I’ll start experimenting with the torch – it has a burst combo, so it could add boons to my own clones too.

Narcarsis.5739:

This amuses me. If it annoys people this much I’m going to stop killing them and just reset 15 times before I get bored toying with them.

This sounds like fun…

And I main as a mesmer. So…ehm…well, movement control can get a thief away from you when they burst. Greatsword and focus work well, (and you should be carrying a focus anyway if you’re a WvW mesmer) or block with sword/scepter. A burst-happy thief can get badly hurt with confusion, so condition damage would be useful.

As for their resetting, the moment they pop out of stealth, illusions will start attacking again, so you should know where they are. Just keep moving in the meantime and regenerate your own health while you wait.

(If you’re having problems with thieves, it miiiight be better to go and ask for help in the mesmer forums. >.o)

((Does anyone have anything deviously major in line with the bombs going off? Please tell me if you do. Because by the time morning rolls around…well…

I’m not spoiling what I have planned.))

Yerol.9546:

The Priory is the number one source of old history: if I want to know something about the past, you ask or steal info from them.

Ana: -whistle innocently- I should probably return those books I ‘borrowed’…

The golden pieces could be Lemon Zest? I have that dye, and it closely mimics gold. But I don’t know…I think Lemon Zest has a darker tone.

Xyonon.3987:

or when the other mesmer goes dual TW with you -.-‘’ (it doesn’t stack).

Gosh, I hate it when that happens.

“I dropped my timewarp first!” -shakes fist- “I know you saw it!!”

dietzero.3514:

OMG Sylvari are dragon minions!?!?

-Chases you out of the grove with flowery weapons and turret seeds-

Do I? I do well in small roaming groups and concentrated zerg fights. Duos and trios work out great. But trying to solo roam, I usually get my face planted on the dirt road… >.>;

I haven’t finished gearing up my thief for full exotics yet – there’s still some rares mixed into my armor and weapons. Getting the gear isn’t a problem at all, but I kinda assumed that waiting on getting exotic gear would help me with the learning curve on thieves.

Be honest: would getting my full exotic armor and weapons greatly help out in WvW roaming, or can I learn to make do with an incomplete set? Like I said, I do pretty well in group fights, just not out on my own.

Which class is the easiest to kill….

uh….

The guy that tries to run away when I spot him? >.o;

All these posts are a goldmine on thief gameplay….and people complain thieves are unskilled OP mash button winners….(not trying to derail, just ignore this. I’m just musing here~)

Keep the info coming. I’m taking notes. :p

Who said female thieves can’t look good in full-covering armor?

The dye is mainly Abyss, and Icing for the metal pieces. I swap between Midnight Purple and Starry Night for the outlines.

skyhawk.5149:

Arikyali.5804:

Odd as it is, I found Petra on the 2nd floor of the Tavern…but I have the Street Rat storyline. I shouldn’t even know her, right? Yet she talks like she knows me.

Thats easy its cause you used to beg around there and she gave you food scraps XD

Huh, that actually makes sense.

Here’s Anakysha, proving female thieves can look deadly awesome without revealing armor.

I pick the Sylvari on the right. It’s not the hat, but the scarf +hat makes me think of the Invisible Man.

Okay, we have enough heart-wrenching and tearful posts. We need some happy and cheery updates!

-glances at the other writers-

I want the unnamed (possibly Mordremoth) Jungle Dragon. Then we can go explore Maguuma wastes.

…And possibly find out the origin of the Sylvari.

(and NO. I did NOT in any way imply, suggest, theorize, speculate, and/or assume that the Sylvari are dragon minions. Don’t anyone dare bring that up.)

Once the smoke hit my eyes, I anticipated a counter. Blinded, I shifted my weight and readied another strike, but once my vision cleared, he was not there. All there was left, was my dagger lodged in between the floorboards.

I immediately ducked low and whirled around, expecting him to be behind me, but my blade slashed at empty air. I seethed. For a split second I tried to calculate where his next attack would strike, but my gaze landed on the open window instead.

I rushed to the window and peered over the ledge, trying to pierce the dark streets below. He was gone – and there was no way to catch them. I clenched my fist. Every fiber of my being wanted to leap down and hunt him down. I wanted to drag him out of his shadow and choke the whole story out of him.

My…father… My knees felt weak. How could this man know my father?

The logical part of my brain finally surfaced above my seething rage. I could not afford to go after him. I had to leave the city. Bombs, Lionguard….whatever. It was not safe for me to stay here any longer.

It took every ounce of effort to turn my back to the window. My eyes watered.

My father… A choked cry forced its way past my lips. I clasped my hand over my mouth, trying to stop it, but another escaped between my fingers.

I crumpled to the floor and cried.

In my opinion, if Trahearne just managed to show his face earlier in the personal story for other races, people would have had a chance to warm up to him. I had no objection to Trahearne’s role during with my Sylvari. But switching to my human, I can see where the negativity comes from.

Maybe if he just popped up and talked to the player, greeting them while he was doing his research on Orr. Let the player get to know him as the shy, self-conscious, but good-nature scholar that needed a self-esteem boost before accepting the life changing decision.