Guild Wars 2

Thrill of the Crime, Bountiful Theft (for the vigor), Sleight of Hand (reduced steal cd) and Expeditious Dodger can pretty much give you close to perma-swiftness. You don’t need a target for Steal to proc swiftness using Thrill.

Edit: Confirmation on Interceptor’s post. Works even better with bountiful Theft. No real need for Assassin’s retreat.

Doing some experimentation with both of those, and once you get in combat, and Steal when the cd comes up every time, will give you all the swiftness you need. Even out of combat, you can maintain swiftness for travel that way. Using Bountiful Theft in combat will merely allow you to dodge a bit more and proc the swiftness from Expeditious Dodger.

I’m going to get off my lazy kitten , and do some real time combat testing with that, but it looks extremely viable so I can drop the Signet/traveler rune addiction.

It may be there to supplement other healing utilities/traits/gear. It also depends if there’s a CD on the trait as well.

Healing Signet, Assassin’s Reward, Omnomberry Pie, Mug, Regen from various sources, and lifesteal from runes/sigils all adds up.

HS: 114 per attack
Assassin’s Reward: 69+ (not sure about the actual amount, going by wiki) per init spent
Omnomberry Pie: 325 (1 second CD)
Regen: 125+ per second roughly.
Sigil of blood: Base heal of 453 (2sec CD)
Shadow’s rejuvenation: ~353ish

You “could” add Rune of Vampirism for additional sources of Lifesteal, but there are better runesets. That would be 975 heal (5% chance when hit and 100% chance using a heal skill)

Granted, you may not be able to fit all those in, and have a viable build, but I bet that’s what they looked at when designing the trait itself. They didn’t want thieves to have so much access to healing.

Silentshoes.1805:

Did you say you have 2,200 condition damage stat on that build? The most I have ever seen is 1500.

I currently run 2320ish atm. If I ran Scavenger runes, I’d be sitting at ~2450. WvW, of course.

edit: 2311 (counted the bl buff, 30 points accidently)

The new grandmaster traits have to be really good to replace some of the ones currently used. Sleight of Hand is, imo, an excellent GM trait for Trickery, and the new one would have to be really, really useful to swap it out.

I would like to see the new GM traits be useable, if not great, so it would encourage build diversity.

I went 30 in Trickery, and boosted the hell out of steal (Thrill of the Crime, Bountiful Theft and Sleight of hand), so I have steal on a 21 second CD, with swiftness at 12 seconds uptime from Thrill of the crime. I’m hoping I can get used to that when I start weaning myself off the signet.

I’m using Perplexity runes, but I’m looking for options for a different runeset. Probably Travelers, Speed or back to Scavenging (which will put me at around 2460 condition damage).

I will say Perplexity runes complement 30 in Trickery pretty well, if you go Sleight of Hand.

I imagine if thieves got a rifle or longbow, there would be zero abilities that utilized stealth. (aside from an ability that is used from stealth, like the other weapons, perhaps a crit shot, like from DAoC)

If you absolutely need the +25% movement, go with Runes of speed or travelers. I still have a rough time going without that movement buff, and I’ve played since inception.

<—- Lazy

I cringed listening to the voice actress voicing the sister (sounded like she was reading queue cards), and came to the conclusion that Anet must think we are stupid, the way they feel they must lead us by the nose to make connections.

That was my thought. More would be nice, but I’d rather not have to sacrifice anything to get it.

You won’t be able to use two weapon swap sigils at the same time currently. They have CDs that prevent the other from functioning. That will change with the balance patch, but for now, it’s going to waste.

Swap one of them out for bursting.

I’m restructuring my P/D build, right now I’m running:

+50% duration
2321 cond. damage
3119 Armor
20,500 health
10/0/30/0/30 build, with perplexity runes as a test, I normally use Scavenging.

It just feels like I’m losing a lot of damage with just the 50% duration. Perplex runes are nice, and the general opinion is that they are both cheese and just about the most effective runes for a P/D build. I still prefer the Scavenging runes, though.

I’d like opinions on how much duration is enough, I used to run 75% a long time ago, and it seemed a tad more effective, damage-wise.

In typical Anet fashion, this thread will be read and discarded by anyone that matters in the development and balancing of professions.

Sorry, but any faith/hope that I had regarding balancing died long ago. If GW2 had a monthly fee, I’d be playing something else.

DAoC did it right. They had a dedicated team lead for every class, that was in touch with the game devs. They even took it a step further, and nominated a PLAYER, that spent all their time playing that class, to be the liason between the players and the dev team.

That player/liason listened to the player base, and organized things to pass along to the devs. I remember the Ranger team lead was Larian Le’Quella, and there was a ton of back and forth between him and the player base, and between him and the devs.

Players felt they were represented about their class they were passionate about, and felt they had an outlet for issues.

If Anet is smart, they’ll follow this example.

The bottom line for Anet, is well, the bottom line. Each patch is a delivery system for crap they put on the gem store.

The quality, patch to patch, is as what everyone else has said, not all that good. I imagine NcSoft has them focus on ways to make money, however, and not release a tested and bug-free product. That costs more money.

Even the new things in the gem store are not really top shelf. Regurgitated skins abound, and over priced at that.

There needs to be a serious competitor, and sadly, ESO isn’t going to be it. Without competition, companies stagnate, and innovation is lost or slowed. Intel anyone?

At it’s core, GW2 got a lot of things right, but the implementation and maintenance leave much to be desired.

It’s more of a memory issue and available bandwidth regarding higher resolution. I originally looked at those Korean 27" QHD monitors before settling on the AoC I bought. They were right around the same price.

What I discovered during my research, was that more advanced titles that took advantage of the tech, such as Crysis 3, absolutely demanded that your video card required at least 3 gigs of memory for the highest settings, with 4 being optimal.

Titles like Guild Wars 2 wouldn’t be as demanding, as it uses older tech like DX9. That’s not to say a better card wouldn’t bring more, just that the bar is a bit lower. The 570 GTX I run would likely have been more than sufficient for GW2, but with only 1.28 gigs of ram, it would’ve choked on Crysis 3 on the highest settings.

I vaguely remembering reading that going from a 1920×1080 res to 2560×1440 was ~70% more work for the gpu, going by pixel count.

As for the OP topic, I really think something isn’t quite right. I ran a similar system, and never experienced what he is describing.

Side note for those looking for a new monitor, regardless of size or resolution, if you don’t need a 120 mhz for those twitch moments, you NEED an IPS monitor. The difference is night and day for picture quality.

Here’s the difference the extra FOV makes in BF3, 2560×1080 vs. 1920×1080

http://pcmonitors.info/articles/the-219-2560-x-1080-experience

(about halfway down te page)

I use an AoC q2963 pm, 29" ultra-wide monitor. 2560 × 1080 resolution.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16824160162

It’s about as tall as a 23-24" monitor, but ~as wide as a 30". It’s also IPS, and doesn’t need the same high end card that a 27" 2560×1440 monitor does to run nicely.

For MMOs and shooters, the extra width is really noticeable, and you’ll miss it if you go back to a normal monitor.

I run an I5-4670K, with 8 gigs of ram and a GTX 570. I don’t have any issues like you’re describing, and my settings are in the high area.

The 4670k is around 15-20% faster than your sandy 2500K, but I was running the same CPU before I upgraded, and had no real issues then, either (I was also running a GTX 460 that died and EVGA RMA’d the 570 to me in it’s place).

I wasn’t getting 40 fps in a zerg, but I could see all the name plates and it was playable.

You might try making sure all your drivers are up to date, and make sure your system is running the way it should (as well as stopping any programs from running that you aren’t using and that your system doesn’t need, i.e. bloatware, apps etc).

Also make sure you aren’t having heat issues with your CPU in case it’s throttling back for that reason.

If you do end up spending cash on a new GPU, you can get a GTX 760 for that price.

My settings:

P/d is overpowered? Lol. I’m an average player, and I am betting you are the crappy one if you’re crying about P/d (especially since you profess to play a zerker thief, likely d/p – talk about cheese). I run Scavenger runes and do just fine.

The vast majority of complaints about thieves are about d/p, the exact spec I can almost guarantee you play. I’ll take being an average player (and even be accused of being a crappy player) over being a hypocrite any day of the week.

You and Sanduskel should get a room. You two are pees in a pod.

Edit: And judging by your post history, you are just upset about the change to ferocity and are lashing out at the cond specs you do not play. So pretty much if your spec is getting nerfed, then by hell, everyone should. Apparently, you have the right to defend your spec, but anyone defending theirs that doesn’t coincide with yours makes them crappy and defending an OP spec (hmmm d/p anyone?)

Overlord.1035 quote: “I DO NOT want thief to be nerfed I actually think zerker thief is a little under powered in the current meta.”

Apparently, P/D with perplex runes are so overpowered, that it’s a free win, yet the majority of thieves most people come across is d/p.

As I’ve said elsewhere, perplex runes need another adjustment, but p/d as a build is in a pretty good place.

Overlord.1035:

Fade.7658:

Lol, OP posted this in the thief forums as well. If you want thieves nerfed, just come out and say it, don’t hyperbolize.

I DO NOT want thief to be nerfed I actually think zerker thief is a little under powered in the current meta. My main has always been thief and it is the class I most enjoy playing. What I want nerfed is everything this particular build represents. Perplex runes and dire armor and so OP it is insane and they are slowly killing most other builds.

I was not exaggerating at all this was an exact recount of what happened I should not be able to fight and win 3v1 against three decent players with a build I have played for under an hour.

If that’s the case, why not? People can roll a warrior and in under an hour, start curb stomping people just as easily, if not more so? If you faced a pair of d/p thieves that were decent, they would’ve eaten your lunch. D/p is far more forgiving than P/d ever was.

You faced mediocre thieves, and likely average players at best on the other counts. It’s far more likely than facing decently skilled opponents at every turn.

P/d is fine the way it is. It relies upon landing a c/d to deliver it’s damage, and is counterable with smart play, unlike d/p (up to a point) where the thief can enter stealth as long as they have init.

Perplexity runes are very strong, probably the strongest rune set imo, but are abused even moreso on other professions. Using perplex runes forces players to play higher than they regularly do, as you have to watch for it. They either can’t or don’t want to be bothered.

That being said, perplex runes are still extremely strong, and need more adjustment, which I expect to see in the rune/sigil/balance patch.

It’s been my experience that the good players that are hit with confusion, stop attacking, and adjust. Against noobs, or average players, it’s a death sentence.

As the OP also posted this verbatim (cut and pasted) in the balance section, he is indeed merely a troll trying to get the profession nerfed. Zero objectivity, and likely mains a warrior.

I bet he went to the Sanduskel school of learning.

Lol, OP posted this in the thief forums as well. If you want thieves nerfed, just come out and say it, don’t hyperbolize.

First, if you’re waiting for ESO, why do you even care?

Second, the rune and sigil update will likely address this anyways, and even if it doesn’t you’ll be playing ESO.

That being the case, I started to wonder why you bothered to post about it, given your tenuous ties to Guild Wars 2.

Edit: This also is a nerf thief thread, so I’d take what you say with a grain of salt and question your objectivity. You’re either a Sandusky alt account, or thief isn’t your main.

Go ahead and read that as defending a class/build-whatever, but I merely see this thread as another venue for nerfing the profession.

You’ll be happier with Perplexity over Torment. I run with 2250 condition damage, with Perp runes, and it can get pretty funny when a thief comes in to backstab, and you can land an interrupt somewhere in their chain, and they keep attacking.

I was having a tough fight with a D/P thief, and luckily had that happen, and he went from around 75% health to downed in a flash. I think we were both scratching our heads about what happened for a second.

I’ll be the first to admit it’s a little cheesy, though.

Ted Knight is Anet, his nephew Spalding, a thief.

I’ll take a shotgun, however (main hand and offhand equippable!!!).

Dual shotguns for the win!

I’d like to see an elite skill, racial or otherwise, that had passive benefits, like utilities.

You can get an I5-4670K and a good motherboard for $300 at a Microcenter if you are near one. I just picked up a CPU/MB bundle there for $307, including tax.

Bundle was an I5-4670K and an Asrock Z87 Extreme3 motherboard. So far, everything runs like a champ.

Edit: CPU alone is $189.99.

A GTX 570 won’t perform too well on a 27" 2560×1440 monitor.

I am waiting for the 800 series to upgrade the 570 I have, and while I wanted a Qnix 2710, I knew my card wouldn’t like it.

I decided to go with an AOC q2963Pm Black 29" ultra-wide for now. It is an IPS monitor, and the extra width is awesome for both MMOs and shooter, plus it doesn’t have the same requirements to run settings like the 2560X1440 monitors.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16824160162

Once I get one of the new 800 series video cards, I’ll grab a Qnix and give my monitor to my wife for her WoW gaming needs.

Edit: If you decide to go with a higher def monitor, like the Qnix, or the one I linked, you’ll need a dual link DVI cable to get it to work. The Qnix usually comes with one, but the AOC does not.

Fluffball.8307:

Looking at a 29 inch LED while lounging in a leather chair and eating Doritos is too hard for your body? Suck it up, buttercup.

Playing GW2 on a 29" ultra-wide monitor ftw!

jayvux.4128:

Fade.7658:

I know a lot of the lag and DCs are ISP-related, but for those having issues and not sure where they are coming from, try this link to evaluate your network:

http://netalyzr.icsi.berkeley.edu/index.html

The smart folks at Berkley came up with it, and it helped me track down my issues, which ended up being a combination of a dying modem, and several issues with my line.

This also helped: (It’s something of a tracert and ping test wrapped into one)

http://winmtr.net/

Used the netalyzr, here are my results:
http://n2.netalyzr.icsi.berkeley.edu/summary/id=43ca208a-7179-61550e0b-05b1-40ba-a516

Any inputs?

I wouldn’t have the first clue about all that. sirsquishy.8531 would be the person to ask, as he seems pretty knowledgeable about that sort of thing. I never delved too deeply into networking when I went back to school. Just enough to be dangerous/piss off techs :P

I know a lot of the lag and DCs are ISP-related, but for those having issues and not sure where they are coming from, try this link to evaluate your network:

http://netalyzr.icsi.berkeley.edu/index.html

The smart folks at Berkley came up with it, and it helped me track down my issues, which ended up being a combination of a dying modem, and several issues with my line.

This also helped: (It’s something of a tracert and ping test wrapped into one)

http://winmtr.net/

They’ll probably put a CD on Improvisation (or a % chance to recharge said utilities) if it goes in as-is. Run Sleight of hand for 21 second steal CDs, and that puts Shadow Refuge/Shadowstep/Blinding Powder on a 21 CD.

I doubt they’ll let those be abused as much as will be possible with the new Improvisation. It’s essentially tying your utilities to your steal for CDs. That would essentially explain why they are nerfing shadowshot. You could stack torment even faster (2 shadowshots back to back using a steal + Skale Venom = 10 stacks of torment, not even adding Residual venoms into it.)

Edit: I generally run Shadow Refuge and Shadowstep, and having 2 of each back to back if you use your steal judiciously would be enough to start the whines within a day of patching.

I would estimate the speed to be 15-20%. Equipping a signet with 25% speed increases speed enough to notice, at least to me.

I remember a little while ago when a dev posted that they wanted input again under the balance section. I almost spit my soda out from laughter when I read that. The last time they asked for that, it was a joke.

I seriously can’t wait for Anet to get competition, so they might actually seriously balance things, and not this mickey mouse crap we get every time.

edit: Sadly, the leaked notes are 90% likely to be real. I have no hope for real, intrinsic changes that are needed.

Might want to review your thread title. Unless she is really a he :P

Hey! You fixed it!

Snape kills Dumbledore.

It would only be worth something in the new EoTS wvw zone really, on bridges.

If you consider SoR as a server, ask yourself what your guild is looking for. SoR is a server that prefers the fights over PPT/winning the match.

If you are all about the fights, you’ll fit right in on SoR. If you’re more of a PPT/match win sort of guild, you’ll be better off looking elsewhere.

SoR seems to be pushing itself down to T2 deliberately, so bear that in mind.

Another thread by someone who can’t beat a thief, nor will take the time to learn.

There are literally dozens of these topics recently. Instead of starting a new thread on an old topic, try an existing one.

sirsquishy.8531:

Fade.7658:

Here is my tracert to the SoR server. I have been getting lag every 5 minutes or so, and my wife as well on her WoW account, right about the same time. I’ve contacted my ISP, run speed tests and what not, and everything is fine on my end.

C:\>tracert 64.25.38.165

Tracing route to 64.25.38.165 over a maximum of 30 hops

1 <1 ms <1 ms <1 ms x.×.×.x
2 9 ms 9 ms 7 ms Removed
3 10 ms 9 ms 11 ms Removed
4 11 ms 12 ms 11 ms te-8-2.car2.Pittsburgh3.Level3.net [4.49.110.69]

5 42 ms 42 ms 45 ms ae-3-3.ebr1.Chicago1.Level3.net [4.69.135.250]
6 44 ms 43 ms 43 ms ae-1-100.ebr2.Chicago1.Level3.net [4.69.151.178]

7 53 ms 49 ms 43 ms ae-5-5.ebr2.Chicago2.Level3.net [4.69.140.194]
8 45 ms 43 ms 43 ms ae-14-14.ebr1.Dallas1.Level3.net [4.69.151.118]

9 52 ms 43 ms 44 ms ae-61-61.csw1.Dallas1.Level3.net [4.69.151.125]

10 * 46 ms 43 ms ae-1-60.edge2.Dallas1.Level3.net [4.69.145.11]
11 43 ms 43 ms 42 ms 4.59.197.34
12 43 ms 43 ms 46 ms 64.25.32.9
13 43 ms 43 ms 42 ms 64.25.32.26
14 43 ms 44 ms 44 ms 64.25.32.82
15 * * * Request timed out.
16 * * * Request timed out.
17 * * * Request timed out.
18 * * * Request timed out.
19 * * * Request timed out.
20 * * * Request timed out.
21 * * * Request timed out.
22 * * * Request timed out.
23 * * * Request timed out.
24 * * * Request timed out.
25 * * * Request timed out.
26 * * * Request timed out.
27 * * * Request timed out.
28 * * * Request timed out.
29 * * * Request timed out.
30 * * * Request timed out.

Trace complete.

Jump 10 has a *, not sure what that means.

5 42 ms 42 ms 45 ms ae-3-3.ebr1.Chicago1.Level3.net [4.69.135.250]

That is where your Latency starts.

the * means that the Hop was unable to respond to your NHRP request (trace).

One * means a possibility of Dropped packets, 3 *’s means that the NHRP protocol is disabled and that hop will NEVER respond to that type of ICMP traffic.

Is there anything I can do on my end to take care of this, or is it out of my hands, like I expect?

Here is my tracert to the SoR server. I have been getting lag every 5 minutes or so, and my wife as well on her WoW account, right about the same time. I’ve contacted my ISP, run speed tests and what not, and everything is fine on my end.

C:\>tracert 64.25.38.165

Tracing route to 64.25.38.165 over a maximum of 30 hops

1 <1 ms <1 ms <1 ms x.×.×.x
2 9 ms 9 ms 7 ms Removed
3 10 ms 9 ms 11 ms Removed
4 11 ms 12 ms 11 ms te-8-2.car2.Pittsburgh3.Level3.net [4.49.110.69]

5 42 ms 42 ms 45 ms ae-3-3.ebr1.Chicago1.Level3.net [4.69.135.250]
6 44 ms 43 ms 43 ms ae-1-100.ebr2.Chicago1.Level3.net [4.69.151.178]

7 53 ms 49 ms 43 ms ae-5-5.ebr2.Chicago2.Level3.net [4.69.140.194]
8 45 ms 43 ms 43 ms ae-14-14.ebr1.Dallas1.Level3.net [4.69.151.118]

9 52 ms 43 ms 44 ms ae-61-61.csw1.Dallas1.Level3.net [4.69.151.125]

10 * 46 ms 43 ms ae-1-60.edge2.Dallas1.Level3.net [4.69.145.11]
11 43 ms 43 ms 42 ms 4.59.197.34
12 43 ms 43 ms 46 ms 64.25.32.9
13 43 ms 43 ms 42 ms 64.25.32.26
14 43 ms 44 ms 44 ms 64.25.32.82
15 * * * Request timed out.
16 * * * Request timed out.
17 * * * Request timed out.
18 * * * Request timed out.
19 * * * Request timed out.
20 * * * Request timed out.
21 * * * Request timed out.
22 * * * Request timed out.
23 * * * Request timed out.
24 * * * Request timed out.
25 * * * Request timed out.
26 * * * Request timed out.
27 * * * Request timed out.
28 * * * Request timed out.
29 * * * Request timed out.
30 * * * Request timed out.

Trace complete.

Jump 10 has a *, not sure what that means.

Looking for a reasonably balanced tier to transfer to. I’m not particularly looking for a guild or anything, just a good tier with plenty of 3-way fights.

I’d like to stay in Tier 1, but it’s not going to be balanced any time soon, if ever again.

Tier 2 looks like it might be good, but how is it in reality?

Tier 6 (DarkHaven/Shiverpeaks/Ferguson) looks relatively balanced, PPT-wise, but how are the fights there? Is is a wasteland at certain times?

I generally play any time from 10 am to 4 pm EST.

Thanks for any replies.

Edit: Noticed you mentioned pounds as your currency, so you won’t live near a Microcenter :/

Post deleted, sorry.

Anet says a lot of positive things coming for thieves, because they know if they reveal what these things are, they’ll get torn apart by the community. Look at the 33% more initiative addition. “It’s huge!” Yeah, right.

Every time there’s a balance patch, I need an herbal enema to get back to normal.

Travlane.5948:

Fade.7658:

I’m a little surpised that human thieves don’t use Avatar of Melandru for certain circumstances. It’s very circumstantial, but does work nicely at times.

Need to get into a Shadow Refuge, and there’s someone there to knock you out? Drop the refuge, enter it, and as you do, pop Avatar. Instant stability. You can cancel the avatar at any time.

Have a 2 on 1 or more? Do the same thing, and upon entering, drop the entangle ability. It works like the ranger elite and won’t reveal you. After you’re done using it, either pop the heal spring or cancel the avatar, and proceed from there. (so many people don’t think to try to destroy the entangling vines)

daggerstorm does the same thing for 100% less cooldown :P. srry but no.

I don’t use it too much, but it’s nice for CC in zerg situations.

I’m a little surpised that human thieves don’t use Avatar of Melandru for certain circumstances. It’s very circumstantial, but does work nicely at times.

Need to get into a Shadow Refuge, and there’s someone there to knock you out? Drop the refuge, enter it, and as you do, pop Avatar. Instant stability. You can cancel the avatar at any time.

Have a 2 on 1 or more? Do the same thing, and upon entering, drop the entangle ability. It works like the ranger elite and won’t reveal you. After you’re done using it, either pop the heal spring or cancel the avatar, and proceed from there. (so many people don’t think to try to destroy the entangling vines)

Anyone else waiting for a Sanduskel post?

I’d be happy if they added passive effects (like sigils).

For instance, have a base 10% chance to proc the venom on your bar per hit (with a short CD, of course)

Or add other venoms. DAoC had a venom that upped the chance to miss with attacks.

Currently, I see little reason to use venoms, and don’t see a time where I might.

Have said thief zerg pop thieve’s guild all at once. A 30 man thief zerg is suddenly a 90!

If you plan on going the full bunker route, consider using Anti-toxin runes:

(1): +28 Condition Damage
(2): -4% condition duration applied to you.
(3): +55 Condition Damage
(4): -8% condition duration applied to you.
(5): +100 Condition Damage
(6): -12% condition duration applied to you. Gain 5 stacks of might for 10 seconds on incoming poison or torment (20s cooldown)

You’ll get to a point with toughness that you’d be better served by investing elsewhere. Having -24% condition duration is nice, and the 5 stacks of might would be up most of the time, with how much poison gets thrown around.