Guild Wars 2

the only thing i dislike about the longbow is that #2 causes vuln and it traces, for mesmer or thief it is kinda unfair, that even tho they go stealth or dodge once it won’t really change the fact that they are more or less kittened, I’m not trying to cry whine or call bs on other ppl
I’m just saying that it shouldn’t trace through stealth and cause vuln, it’s not needed
if a ranger can stay at long range, e.g. being positioned at highground the enemy can’t get too, you’ll never loose/die, unless you are a complete noob ^^
and honestly, the argument that LB isn’t good in pvp is just silly, LB is a long range weapon, pvp is close combat mostly, it doesn’t make any sense.
As I said, don’t let the #2 skill track through stealth and/or cause vuln

PS: ready for the hate to come raging down on me for saying this xD

the only problem i have are tanky condi classes, or the engineer if he knows what he is doing, everything else is somewhat doable, of course you need more skills in almost every encounter, but the biggest issue imho is that condi players can dish out massive damage while just tanking everything you throw on them, looking at power based builds, i dish out a lot, but die fast, that in my eyes is balance, but who in his right mind thought that, hmmm, let’s make them super tanky and deal out 5-9k+dmg per second
genius

I just read that post and couldn’t stop laughing,
ppl will always find some kind of issue with the thief,
how far can ppl go just to hate a single class? OMFG

lol this post is so pathetic i just can’t stop laughing xD
omg i just got ganked by to thieves and i wasn’t smart enough to hit endure pain and/or berserkers stance,
let me guess, next move will be, two mesmers are too strong, they shattered me in 2-3 seconds
3 rangers just killed me, way too op
omg man, l2p xD

Xovian.8572:

DHawk.2687:

( well you need a target but there always is a target in wvw normally)

Not true, the stealth will activate with out a target (also thrill of the crime, ~_- ).
When getting away from zerg/blobs, it’s actually useful, just got to be quick on hitting the ESC key to remove target so that it activates and doesn’t go on cooldown and be wasted.

I’m not talking about the stealth, I mean the shadow step, for the signet and steal to shadow step you you’ll need a target

@MADAIR
there is a youtuber with a similar playstyle as mine also playing DD (pre patch) you could check out, most of you probably know him, Yishis
form Yishis Gaming, part of RIOT and plays on the Blackgate server if I’m not mistaking
the build and playstyle as i said is similar and might help out a few of you with movement, when to attack, who to attack first and when to pull out, check out his channel
(sorry on my phone and can’t link the page atm :P)

newsnews.3041:

I was on another post and you chimed in about your build and then I found your post. I just started up my thief only level 24 and have been using dagger/sword, secondary short bow. I want to try you build with dagger/dagger. I was wondering what attack do you start off? What is the sequence you use when fighting?

with my build i always try to combine my backstab (bs) with a Cloak & Dagger (CnD) to maximize my damage output
i mostly engage by channeling CnD, while doing that i steal to my enemy, after shadowstepping to him via steal the CnD will hit him, making me invisible and damaging him, depending on the enemy you can already hurt him for about 5k dmg and he’ll also have 3 stacks of vuln applied to him, right after the CnD hits I hit my backstab which mostly either gets him to about 30-40% hp or kills him ( depends on enemy class and build setup, e.g. full zerk thief is intantly dead after that simple engage combo). to increase your burst you can apply basi venom (elite skill) before engaging for the stun, making it very easy to hit your whole burst fast and getting a follow up heartseaker e.g. on the enemy.
if he is tankier or a condi player, make sure you damage him with autoattacks or maybe #3 for an evade, or #4 throw dagger for a cripple to make it easier for you to stay on him, once your revealed debuff runs out (4sec) use CnD again followed by a backstab, from here on out it’s just repeating that process, using your utility skills either offensivly, e.g. blinding powder quick backstab or shadowstep to get in/out of combat

Playing DD you really need to master the CnD since it’s your main source of stealth
when fighting against multiple enemies that even gives you an advantage since there are more dummies you can CnD on ^^
for those who didn’t know, you can also use enemy walls or even supply depos to CnD

hope i could help

MADAIR.1948:

The more I hear about your experience with this build the more I wanna see it in action. Maybe you could make a dueling, roaming or spvp video with commentary showing how you utilize it’s strengths and weaknesses in different situations? Doesn’t have to be super fancy or super edited and spliced. I’m sure everyone checking this build out would benefit from the info.

I am planning to do videos like that, but in a similar post to me I already explained that I’m very short on time since I just finished school, working to finance a colledge and a car and am currently working 24 /7
once i get to it I’ll gladly hook you guys up with a few gameplay videos and/or commentaries, just now is a very busy time for me, hope you all understand.
my apologies

Lazze.9870:

DHawk.2687:

ranger is not a pvp class for close combat 1v1ing, and he’ll never will

And you wonder why people won’t take you seriously. You even realize how dumb this sounds?

Well I’m sorry you can’t think out of the box and need to start crying as soon as you can’t kill something or someone with more skill than you
You just sound like every other kid that screams hacker as soon as they die

Wait until anet is done balancing and tweaking small things fixing the bigger issues than your little skill problem

it’s basically a stronger backstab that doesn’t need to be performed out of stealth or into the back at max range
yeah but thief is op right XD

Heimskarl Ashfiend.9582:

You do know that each arrow of RF stacks 1 vuln? It is not there at the beginning. So the 1st arrow does 101%, 2nd 102.1% 3rd, 103.03%, 4th 104.06%, 5th 105.1% etc. The vulnerability doesn’t really make that much difference to the RF skill. It is what comes after that counts.

20+k RF is possible, but not on a lvl 80 medium armor. To get it off to 1 shot someone, you need to lock them down, use SoTH, SoTW, and have 5 or so might as well as quickness to land it. It is not as simple as press 2 to win.

fact is that your 2 skill is a higher and easier burst than a thiefs backstab, it’s a 1500 (technically a little more) range and auto tracks even when in stealth
the highest a thief can go is around 14k if he’s lucky 15k thats it
and that only if the enemy has vuln and you have full might and every single stack and buff you could think of

DarknesSushi.5876:

DHawk.2687:

DresdenAllblack.1249:

I used p/p/ before, I use p/p now. I don’t miss ricochet. Move on

same here with DD
i adapted
done deal

you use that build for roamming WvW? could send a link in any build creator? i miss the d/d or d/p so much….

check the forums for my allround strong dd build
look for DHawk as editor, there are already ppl copying my build xD

neclon check my allrounder dd build in the forum it runs valk stats
having about 2,85k power at full staks and 22k hp with 250% crit dmg is sweet

DresdenAllblack.1249:

I used p/p/ before, I use p/p now. I don’t miss ricochet. Move on

same here with DD
i adapted
done deal

Heimskarl Ashfiend.9582:

DHawk.2687:

Heimskarl Ashfiend.9582:

DHawk.2687:

Skullface.7293:

DHawk.2687:

I know for a fact that ranger isn’t the bottom of the barrel
I play every profession and the 2 that suffered the most are necro and thief
if you disagree play the classes for a longer period of time pls before jabbin
oh thief is sooo op xD
thanks

Yeah you clearly don’t know what you are talking about. xD

then teach me oh wise allknowing master xD

Feel free to upload some video of Rangers in any PvP tournaments that matter.

Only because it isn’t used in pvp tournements it doesn’t mean the class is bad
it just doesn’t fill the roles needed…
ranger is not a pvp class for close combat 1v1ing, and he’ll never will

Precisely why it needs buffs. It should be able to fulfil all the roles needed to a degree, being a jack of all trades, but currently it does none of them.

It could easily be fantastic for PvP, as it was in GW1 and it wouldn’t really take all that much.

yes you don’t see it in big pvp tournaments, does that mean you aren’t allowed to use them, especially condi rangers are very strong and there are enough successfull ones in pvp
and the patch hasen’t been out long so you could at least wait for some of said pvp players to maybe find a ranger build that could be viable in tournaments
not just say oh buff ranger

Heimskarl Ashfiend.9582:

21.5k Rapid Fire? I see you are also misinformed.

you do know that you stack up to 13 vuln on your target right, all you need to do as a power spec is knock the thief back, use skill 2 maybe immob and collect the loot
been there done that

Heimskarl Ashfiend.9582:

DHawk.2687:

DarknesSushi.5876:

DHawk.2687:

there is a ranger in the forums crying that thieves do 20+k backstabs from stealth on him all the time xD
so cute

i guess he’s lv 2 with constant 25 vuln ^^

wooooooow 20k+ backstab he must trying to fight Caithe or he simple don’t use any set without trait and no signet of stone…..really man i have a ranger, need 2~3 backstab to kill it and 2 skills and i kill the thief……that people who don’t play thief and call us OP…i wish THEY got so hard nerf, so they could stop talk things like that

i have almost 3k power and 250% crit dmg, backstab is always a crit, tops i ever had was about 13k because i used CnD to give him 3 invuln and i had about 5 might

20k my kitten xD

In actuality, the statement was

You cannot counter a 20k backstab from stealth.

but go right ahead and change it to whatever you like, truth doesn’t seem to be a strong point. Not to mention, the statement was already retracted before you posted here.

it doesn’t change the fact that you call op on classes you don’t even know and just whine all day long because you can’t perform well with a balanced easy class
sorry to tell you this, but if you can’t counter a single thief as a ranger or at least get out of the fight l2p your class dude xD

Heimskarl Ashfiend.9582:

DHawk.2687:

Skullface.7293:

DHawk.2687:

I know for a fact that ranger isn’t the bottom of the barrel
I play every profession and the 2 that suffered the most are necro and thief
if you disagree play the classes for a longer period of time pls before jabbin
oh thief is sooo op xD
thanks

Yeah you clearly don’t know what you are talking about. xD

then teach me oh wise allknowing master xD

Feel free to upload some video of Rangers in any PvP tournaments that matter.

Only because it isn’t used in pvp tournements it doesn’t mean the class is bad
it just doesn’t fill the roles needed…
ranger is not a pvp class for close combat 1v1ing, and he’ll never will

Heimskarl Ashfiend.9582:

I was informed otherwise. I’ll retract that statement about backstab.

My other point stills stands.

then you were informed wrong, I’ll give you an example, i have 3k power on my thief, 250% crit damage and i always crit my backstab (100%crit in stealth)
i use dagger dagger so I’ll use CnD first to give the enemy 3stacks vuln and then backstab
the highest i ever had was about 13k while having about 5-10 stacks might

so if i hit you with a backstab like that i am revealed for 4 sec, all you need to do is use LB2 and it will kill me if i can’t kyte behind an object or step out of the 1500 range fast enough, shadowstep only has 1200 btw
even if i dodge its about 3 missed arrow, it will still kill me, btw i have about 21,5k health, and stealthed won’t do kitten because it traces…
so either it’s just me or you just need to learn how to utilize your skills better

DarknesSushi.5876:

DHawk.2687:

there is a ranger in the forums crying that thieves do 20+k backstabs from stealth on him all the time xD
so cute

i guess he’s lv 2 with constant 25 vuln ^^

wooooooow 20k+ backstab he must trying to fight Caithe or he simple don’t use any set without trait and no signet of stone…..really man i have a ranger, need 2~3 backstab to kill it and 2 skills and i kill the thief……that people who don’t play thief and call us OP…i wish THEY got so hard nerf, so they could stop talk things like that

i have almost 3k power and 250% crit dmg, backstab is always a crit, tops i ever had was about 13k because i used CnD to give him 3 invuln and i had about 5 might

20k my kitten xD

there is a ranger in the forums crying that thieves do 20+k backstabs from stealth on him all the time xD
so cute

i guess he’s lv 2 with constant 25 vuln ^^

DHawk.2687:

Heimskarl Ashfiend.9582:

DHawk.2687:

I wasn’t direclty refering to you with thief being op, more to all those in the forum that die to thieves becauset they can’t counter or react to him and start whining…

but yeah as you said, it’s very easy to get in and out as ranger, and i really don’t see why so many ppl are crying for a buff..

You cannot counter a 20k backstab from stealth.

Does Ranger hold a place in top tier PvP? No. Therefore, it needs a buff. Simple stuff.

there we go xD
you do know thief cannot reach 20k on a backstab anymore right?
no matter what you do it’s not possible
do the math

well unless he has 25 might, all stacks and you are lv one without any gear and 25 stacks of vuln..
are you?

Heimskarl Ashfiend.9582:

DHawk.2687:

I wasn’t direclty refering to you with thief being op, more to all those in the forum that die to thieves becauset they can’t counter or react to him and start whining…

but yeah as you said, it’s very easy to get in and out as ranger, and i really don’t see why so many ppl are crying for a buff..

You cannot counter a 20k backstab from stealth.

Does Ranger hold a place in top tier PvP? No. Therefore, it needs a buff. Simple stuff.

there we go xD
you do know thief cannot reach 20k on a backstab anymore right?
no matter what you do it’s not possible
do the math

Tringsh.2380:

No, fix the skills and traits that suck first. Some are just useless.

I’ll agree on that!

Einlanzer.1627:

While it would no doubt help, I don’t think it’s the best solution. More than anything, Thieves really need better ways to mitigate damage. I think the way to accomplish that is through tweaks to Stealth.

Here’s my two cents:

1.) They should get an F3 for Stealth on a moderate cooldown, say 30 seconds or so, so that you can get some use out of it no matter what your build is.

2.) Untraited, stealth should automatically regenerate health and remove control effects. Traits should simply improve these aspects.

3.) Stealth should last longer than it does. Why do mesmers get 6 second stealth while thieves only get 4?

4.) Stealth should drop threat in PvE. This was the stupidest change ever.

They also need to buff Withdraw like they said they were going to.

I like idea 2 and 3, since if we trait into stealth we get 1 extra second, mesmer gets added 100% xD wtf anet!!
I’d also like to see cloaked in shadows (blind on stealth) be baseline or at least not a grandmaster, unless you combine it with SR, it’s not a gm and never will be on it’s own

MattyP.6954:

DHawk.2687:

MattyP.6954:

DHawk.2687:

MattyP.6954:

DHawk.2687:

Nicknobreak.7543:

I will concede that rangers are in a better place than they were previously, but I will also argue that all the progress this class has gained is far and beyond overshadowed by the immense improvements other classes received thereby negating any semblance of balance that there once was.

Rangers may be decent roamers, only behind thieves, mesmers, elementalists, and medi guardians, but 5th place isn’t bad if you consider that “top tier”

If you really can’t handle the ranger post patch I’d consider leaving Guild Wars 2, try something like Tetris or Candy Crush

My power Ranger eats medi guards for breakfast :-)

The only professions I have issues with still are thief and mesmer.

mesmer i can understand, but not thief, 1 single thief is so weak it’s sad, and since 99% are still running full zerk because they are too dumb to get the memo that it’s not viable anymore they die with about 3 autohits from anything, LB#2 will kill any zerk thief as long as he’s in range and doesn’t have anything to kyte behind.
thief is kinda pathetic atm, you need 2,3 thieves to dish out the damage 1 did pre patch
if you don’t believe me play it, then you’ll really have something to cry about

It’s less an issue of 1v1 than being +1ed by them. Getting hit by Basi venom multiple times (when they run venom sharing) kind of ruins my day, as I run zerker.

that doesn’t make the thief strong, but a group of thieves, i could call ranger op if 2 rangers use their roots on me one after the other so i can’t move and am pew pewed without anythink to do
and only a few run venom sharing, at least on EU servers, don’t know about US, but that doesn’t make the thief op, it just means you need to learn to counter that, lightning reflexes for example would counter the venom if I’m not mistaking

thief alone is very weak atm and you’ll see that if you try him out yourself, he’s only strong in a group with multiple thieves

I never said that Thieves were OP, I just said that I have issues with some of their tricks in roaming. When I get hopelessly outnumbered, I can usually dodge/disengage before I get blown up (and usually sneak back and pick someone off). That first basi-venom from stealth, particularly when my utilities are on cd, makes things more difficult.

That being said, I can usually get away, but I’m less likely to get a kill.

I wasn’t direclty refering to you with thief being op, more to all those in the forum that die to thieves becauset they can’t counter or react to him and start whining…

but yeah as you said, it’s very easy to get in and out as ranger, and i really don’t see why so many ppl are crying for a buff..

I’d like to see some skills need more, some less initiative, e.g. D/P #5 the blindfield should have 1 or 2 more imho, because most dp players run trickery anyway and it would give ppl the incentive to use other thief builds, I’m not trying to nerf thief, just spreading out the builds do pls understand. Furthermore I want CnD to have 1 ini less since it’s the only way for DD thieves to go into stealth without a utility skill (or stealth on steal). Chocking gas on the shortbow should also have it’s cost reduced since they nerfed its dmg. Throw dagger on dd #4 should also either be buffed or take less ini.
I’m very DD centered i know sorry ^^

I’d also like a bit of an increase to the attackspead of the autoattack, or the time it takes for a skill to proc, some Heartseaker e.g. have a weird delay to them sometimes, since we are thieves I’d like to see us mobile quick and skillfull.

but anet will nerf us again anyway because everyone is still crying about the thief being too op -,-

your opinions on this?

newsnews.3041:

Any update builds on thief? Made my first lvl80 ranger but now I want to try the theif. Been looking around at different sites and forum but I just see old outdated ones. Are these the builds still being used?

I have a post on a D/D build that can perform well in any situation if your are interested check it out

MattyP.6954:

DHawk.2687:

MattyP.6954:

DHawk.2687:

Nicknobreak.7543:

I will concede that rangers are in a better place than they were previously, but I will also argue that all the progress this class has gained is far and beyond overshadowed by the immense improvements other classes received thereby negating any semblance of balance that there once was.

Rangers may be decent roamers, only behind thieves, mesmers, elementalists, and medi guardians, but 5th place isn’t bad if you consider that “top tier”

If you really can’t handle the ranger post patch I’d consider leaving Guild Wars 2, try something like Tetris or Candy Crush

My power Ranger eats medi guards for breakfast :-)

The only professions I have issues with still are thief and mesmer.

mesmer i can understand, but not thief, 1 single thief is so weak it’s sad, and since 99% are still running full zerk because they are too dumb to get the memo that it’s not viable anymore they die with about 3 autohits from anything, LB#2 will kill any zerk thief as long as he’s in range and doesn’t have anything to kyte behind.
thief is kinda pathetic atm, you need 2,3 thieves to dish out the damage 1 did pre patch
if you don’t believe me play it, then you’ll really have something to cry about

It’s less an issue of 1v1 than being +1ed by them. Getting hit by Basi venom multiple times (when they run venom sharing) kind of ruins my day, as I run zerker.

that doesn’t make the thief strong, but a group of thieves, i could call ranger op if 2 rangers use their roots on me one after the other so i can’t move and am pew pewed without anythink to do
and only a few run venom sharing, at least on EU servers, don’t know about US, but that doesn’t make the thief op, it just means you need to learn to counter that, lightning reflexes for example would counter the venom if I’m not mistaking

thief alone is very weak atm and you’ll see that if you try him out yourself, he’s only strong in a group with multiple thieves

MattyP.6954:

DHawk.2687:

Nicknobreak.7543:

I will concede that rangers are in a better place than they were previously, but I will also argue that all the progress this class has gained is far and beyond overshadowed by the immense improvements other classes received thereby negating any semblance of balance that there once was.

Rangers may be decent roamers, only behind thieves, mesmers, elementalists, and medi guardians, but 5th place isn’t bad if you consider that “top tier”

If you really can’t handle the ranger post patch I’d consider leaving Guild Wars 2, try something like Tetris or Candy Crush

My power Ranger eats medi guards for breakfast :-)

The only professions I have issues with still are thief and mesmer.

mesmer i can understand, but not thief, 1 single thief is so weak it’s sad, and since 99% are still running full zerk because they are too dumb to get the memo that it’s not viable anymore they die with about 3 autohits from anything, LB#2 will kill any zerk thief as long as he’s in range and doesn’t have anything to kyte behind.
thief is kinda pathetic atm, you need 2,3 thieves to dish out the damage 1 did pre patch
if you don’t believe me play it, then you’ll really have something to cry about

Skullface.7293:

DHawk.2687:

I know for a fact that ranger isn’t the bottom of the barrel
I play every profession and the 2 that suffered the most are necro and thief
if you disagree play the classes for a longer period of time pls before jabbin
oh thief is sooo op xD
thanks

Yeah you clearly don’t know what you are talking about. xD

then teach me oh wise allknowing master xD

zzBlurryzz.7492:

Xovian.8572:

DHawk.2687:

why don’t you channel CnD and then steal, it hits the target you go stealth and then backstab, why the hell minimize your burst for no reason? xD

Having an extra stealth option ever 20 seconds is not a bad thing to have and has uses other then just a setup for backstab. Why minimize global functionality and defenses just for the sake of burst that likely isn’t going to kill the target with just itself anyways?

Both ways have their pros and cons.

It’s all preference ^_^

i know that, but using the CnD steal will do the exact same as the trait ( well you need a target but there always is a target in wvw normally) you will shadowstep and be stealthed, plus you could if you want insta backstab, so if you run the CnD steal combo and use a different trait in that line you gain more, since the only benefit the trait gives you is that you don’t need initiative
for DP I can see it’s use, but for DD it’s just kinda a waste imo.

MADAIR.1948:

DHawk.2687:

MADAIR.1948:

Yeah, I tried this build on and off since the new patch. It’s okay, I’d give it a bronze medal. One missed cloak and dagger and you’re kinda dead though. And it’s int regen is really just not good. Damage is pretty spiky once you work around, block, aegis, blind though.

As I said utilizing CnD is key in this build, as in any DD build focused around power xD
And if you miss one you shouldn’t be dead, especially not in a 1v1 1v2 situation, if you are its your fault, not the builds. The build doesn’t make you a better player, it just caters to a certain play style that takes a bit of thinking and knowing when and when not to act, when to stay in stealth to keep observing and when to attack.

The ini regen is as good as any other build without SoI but we only have 12, saying the ini is bad kinda tells me you usually spam skills every now and then, Ive never been in a situation where I couldn’t use the skill I needed
Plus you have the regen in stealth which you need to utilize

The build won’t do the work for you!

Oh, the build works. It’s just its a bronze medal build Imo. I actually only run x/d builds that are power focused. The int is no where close to the most viable builds right now but I’m glad you do well with it. I just find it very easy to shut this build down with permablinds or simply out maneuvering it. A lot easier now since when I see it in my main build they don’t blind me anymore. And stealth does kind of do a lot of the work for you, just not as much as before. I would say it’s one of the easier builds to play. Anyway, d/d in my opinion is one of the most true thief build in my opinion, I’m glad there are still people playing it.

I wouldn’t quite call it easy, since DD isn’t easy post patch,
imho playing dd without valk gear at all, something like full zerk is just stupid, i have the same dps ase a full zerk dd player but way more survivability, and to be honest, permablind will shut down almost every player, no matter the build, since it’s a blind ^^
maybe i just haven’t encountered players that are able to shut me down, if it is as easy as you say, but i hasn’t ever happened to me, when roaming and i hit a group of 4, sometimes I can take all of em down, sometimes just 1 or 2
nontheless I’ve not died roaming once with this build unless going for a 1v1 since i don’t run away to reset in a fight. but this build isn’t focused on 1v1 only, as I’ve said it is supposed to perform well in every situation, that doesn’t make it easy, it all depends on your playstyle

if you enjoy a burst, unload all your skills on 1 guy and hope he’s dead mentality then do so, but for my playstyle and the way my build works it just doesn’t fit and imho i still see so many thieves going by that mentality. And i don’t understand why, the usually get me about to 60% health and all i need is 1 backstab to kill them, so why bother?

Mattigan.6395:

MidoriMarch.8067:

Mattigan.6395:

Since I agree that DD is premeditated upon sticking to your opponent to land the CnD, did you test out Infiltrator’s Signet? It is what I am using now to give me that second hard stick, but I can see where Acro gives you more reliability.

With all the passive defenses and invulns and endure pains flying around, burst mitigation is at an all-time high.

I used infiltrator’s signet + shadowstep + shadow refugee before the patch.

but after the patch since most of thieves in wvw runs d/p bp helps more against their open burst than infiltrator’s signet. But yeah i do agree infiltrator’s signet is also great to land that cnd + stunbreaks and small ini recover. I do swap them around depends on situation.

Btw i tried the acro line yesterday and it worked out great especially better survivability than trickery but trickery seems to provide more burst but yeah acro is definitely a great choice imo.

Thanks for the info, Midori. I was going to try and get some experience with the Acro line in yesterday, but, well, life happens sometimes.

What I am trying to theorycraft here is does a d/d cs-sa-acro build deal enough damage in a sPvP environment? Does all the survive (which, admittedly, is about the best you can get these days with a thief) kill your hitting power to the point where you aren’t helping the team out as much?

Clearly this build has success in WvW, but I was wondering what the limitations and strengths it had taking it into sPvP. Will see if I can’t get some time in tonight to answer my own question.

well if i use the weaker version of my build in spvp i can still manage to one hit full zerk players with the CnD backstab combo, if not just one more heartseaker is needed

MidoriMarch.8067:

Mattigan.6395:

Since I agree that DD is premeditated upon sticking to your opponent to land the CnD, did you test out Infiltrator’s Signet? It is what I am using now to give me that second hard stick, but I can see where Acro gives you more reliability.

With all the passive defenses and invulns and endure pains flying around, burst mitigation is at an all-time high.

I used infiltrator’s signet + shadowstep + shadow refugee before the patch.

but after the patch since most of thieves in wvw runs d/p bp helps more against their open burst than infiltrator’s signet. But yeah i do agree infiltrator’s signet is also great to land that cnd + stunbreaks and small ini recover. I do swap them around depends on situation.

Btw i tried the acro line yesterday and it worked out great especially better survivability than trickery but trickery seems to provide more burst but yeah acro is definitely a great choice imo.

If you have a hard time managing your initiative use trickery, if not use acrobatics, the defensive aspekt is very strong

why don’t you channel CnD and then steal, it hits the target you go stealth and then backstab, why the hell minimize your burst for no reason? xD

using stealth on steal is kinda dumb, since with dd you use the 5 f1 backstab combo, steal on stealth breaks that combo

Skullface.7293:

DHawk.2687:

but yeah ranger is so underpowered xD
ppl just keep crying and crying and crying
other classes were hit so much harder than you have but nooooo
whine whine whine…

I just love how well informed you are. The other classes you are mentioning are in a much better place than ranger is at the moment, it can’t be compared.

Having good selfish condi removal is not going to make you good.

I know for a fact that ranger isn’t the bottom of the barrel
I play every profession and the 2 that suffered the most are necro and thief
if you disagree play the classes for a longer period of time pls before jabbin
oh thief is sooo op xD
thanks

Kehlian.4380:

Heimskarl Ashfiend.9582:

DHawk.2687:

I honestly can’t believe that most rangers still want more buffs, even tho they have been buffed by a fair amount with the big patch.
I’m sorry to say this but rangers are powerfull the way they are, I’d even suggest taking away the vuln stacks from LB #2 since it’s able to 1hit almost anything going zerker

stop crying for buffs pls and improve on your skill, ranger is strong enough!

By comparison, no, Ranger is not strong enough. No toolbox, no party support, no teleport, bad condi removal… The list goes on.

Also, your claim that a Zerk Ranger can 1 shot almost anything with RF is absurd. You know nothing Jon Snow.

Bad condi removal ? Every survival skill removes 2 condis…

but yeah ranger is so underpowered xD
ppl just keep crying and crying and crying
other classes were hit so much harder than you have but nooooo
whine whine whine…

Tarkan.5609:

DHawk.2687:

Rezok.2709:

DHawk.2687:

At least for D/x, the immo is kinda useless do to the stability spams

Stability does not affect immobolize, so Panic strike allows you to stay at an enemies back and not allow him to turn around, dodge or flee – which pretty much guarantee a backstab or heartseeker, or force out a cooldown from him.

DHawk.2687:

And executioner is somewhat useless, since (at least for me) if the enemy is at 50% or lower 1 backstab will kill him anyway, no matter those 20%

It allows for high heartseeker, which is faster and easier to land than a backstab for D/P. It also means you can easier AA kill – and imo a good thiefs knows when to use those two instead of backstab. after all, using a black powder > heartseeker gives the enemy a lot of time to see what you are doing and react.
And then obviously 20% damage on enemies below 50% also allows for great shortbow damage (or S/x if you fancy such weapon sets).

Also you did not mention mug, Serpent’s Touch and Lotus Poison – all of which are really great.

Hope this helps you understand why DA is favored by a lot of thiefs

yes i agree that mug is very usefull, i just don’t think that executioner really benefits as much as it seems. I understand the situation you discribed, but i can blindpowder instabackstab faster in most situations then following up with 1 or 2 heartseakers, or even CnD backstab is faster sometimes, i just don’t feel the need for the damage buff becaues it hardly influences the time to kill, well i’ve not noticed it yet to be honet

I’m not saying it’s a bad trait tree, I love mug e.g. and revealed training imo is the strongest trait in that line, but i think it’s mostly not beneficial compared with other lines unless you are just aiming for high numbers

imo panic strike is way better than revealed training… lobg immobilize on 50% health on a 20sec CD, best moment to start “spamming” HS

i also dont really car about executioner that much, but try improvisation!
rng skill recharge can be nice or useless, depending on the situation… but the double activation of your stolen skill is awesome against (mainly power) mesmers, condi rangers, guards and a lot of ele builds

yeah i know, but i just never have the need for DA, with my build i haven’t encountered a class or build yet i couldn’t overcome.
I always think, the build won’t do the work for you, it only caters to your playstyle, that’s why i make all my builds on my own and usally am very successfull with it

if you don’t want to be squishy, check out my DD build in the forum, high dmg high sustain, high fun

(Allround strong DD build)

the 50% speed buff works great on my DD build together with hard to catch and don’t stop
i don’t understand why anet made CiS a gm, you just simply cannot take it over SR, at least nor for wvw

if anyone is interested in my dd build, which is able to perform very good in any situation it’s in the forum ( Allround strong DD build)

I honestly can’t believe that most rangers still want more buffs, even tho they have been buffed by a fair amount with the big patch.
I’m sorry to say this but rangers are powerfull the way they are, I’d even suggest taking away the vuln stacks from LB #2 since it’s able to 1hit almost anything going zerker

stop crying for buffs pls and improve on your skill, ranger is strong enough!

roamzero.9486:

PU is a brokenly OP trait now. Remember when thief could permastealth with that trait that gave ini on every stealth application? And then they nerfed the trait to only apply when entering stealth. And then they removed the trait altogether. All this because they thought permastealthing was a cheesy way to fight.

And then they gave PU +100% duration on stealth letting Mesmer do what d/p could do a long time ago :/

mesmer is a joke in it’s current state, on paper it’s probably by far the strongest class in game

well you could always read the patchnotes ^^
ALL of em XD

CuteLilKittenHugz.2064:

fireflyry.7023:

Knee-jerk reaction is knee-jerk reaction and $10 says you’ll buy it at some stage.

You didn’t read my post. I specifically said this is not just due to the removal of Ricochet, it’s their history of implementing similar fun-ruining changes to the game. My decision is based on the past THREE YEARS. I would hardly call waiting for the three years to come to this decision a knee-jerk reaction.

fireflyry.7023:

… but to straight up state I’m quitting “forever!!!” and won’t buy HoT while throwing all my toys out of the cot on the forum seems a gross over-reaction given the genre.

Again, must’ve skim-read my post and made assumptions. No where did I say I wasn’t playing the game. I said I’m not buying HoT (it’s the title of this thread for the love of Pete), and also I stopped spending money in the Gem Store. My decision is to not give aNet any more of my money because they keep breaking their promise to let us play how we want and to give us build diversity.

while there is nothing wrong with that, i doubt it will change anything, Anet will get their money one way or another, even if every single thief player stop paying, do you think they would care?

yeah but hard to catch is more usefull than that trait in my opinion, as if you’ll be at above 90% when having a condi like that applied xD

I’m starting to think about helping out the German forum and thieves, they seem to be hurting even more, everyone is crying for a good meta and noone wants to sit down to make builds xD
it’s like reading post from a baby that just got it’s lollipop stolen ;P

DHawk.2687:

Mattigan.6395:

Since I agree that DD is premeditated upon sticking to your opponent to land the CnD, did you test out Infiltrator’s Signet? It is what I am using now to give me that second hard stick, but I can see where Acro gives you more reliability.

With all the passive defenses and invulns and endure pains flying around, burst mitigation is at an all-time high.

yes and the insta stunbreaks help so much in that aspect, since i cannot be locked down

yeah I tried the signet, it’s strong and provides and insta shadowstep, but for me it doesnt benefit over any of the utilities I’m using, if you roam alone all the time you could take it over shadow refuge, but since I want to be able to deal with every situation no matter what and i play with friends and my focus group every now and then I feel my utilities are the most beneficial to myself and my potential group

check out my post for a strong viable dd build that can excell in any situation https://forum-en.gw2archive.eu/forum/professions/thief/Allround-strong-D-D-build/first#post5284318