Guild Wars 2

In PvE you can just rotate CnD > Backstab > AA chain > repeat with Infusion of Shadows (10 in SA), optionally you can add 10 points to SA for Cloaked in Shadow which is semi-perma AoE blind.

Traits: 30/30/10/0/0 or something to that affect.
Gear/Trinkets: Zerker everything, mix in some Soldiers gear if you don’t like how squishy you are.

Burnfall, you’re not even funny anymore, give up the trolling.

The nerf is indirect and unnecessary, but it’s still only minor. Role a Thief, you’ll be glad you did.

Excalibur.9748:

are people really still complaining about burst thief? I can’t even remember the last time I ran into one of those.

Nope, just Fortus because he refuses to l2p.

Removing a condition on dodge in the Acrobatics line, similar to Fleet of Foot, would be absolutely amazing. If it had an appropriate ICD it would be balanced too.

I’m sorry for taking advantage if your inability to counter a basic mechanic.
I’m sorry for using that advantage to Backstsb your glass build for a high amount of damage.
I’m sorry for stealth stomping you.
I’m sorry for jumping on your corpse before laughing until you respawned.
I’m sorry for lying this whole time, who am I kidding? I’m not sorry, I love it!

Are you talking about PvE leveling? Dungeons? s/tPvP? WvW? Please be specific, because the answers will vary depending.

Xsorus.2507:

Incurafy.6329:

Xsorus.2507:

Incurafy.6329:

If Anet absolutely must introduce anti-stealth skills so that the WvW zerg-scrubs (no one in tPvP has trouble with it, stealth isn’t even viable) who cbf learning how to counter a highly counterable mechanic then I agree, this suggestion is infinitely better than a straight up reveal, even if that reveal is on a long CD and lasts a short duration.

You realize Stealth in TPvP is weaker then WvW right?

Revealed last a full second less in World vs World because Thieves were whining they were to weak.

Uhhh, yeah? That’s exactly what I said in my post. Perhaps you should re-read my post before jumping to belittle it.

Umm..did you read your post, because it seems you didn’t.

You implied no one has trouble with Stealth in TPvP, and said stealth isn’t viable…So if they must add something for WvW zerging scrubs as you put it… it should be such and such.

The reason no one has trouble in TPvP is because its weaker then World vs World…For a number of reason, but more importantly, because reveal is a bloody full second longer then World vs World.

Eh, I can’t help but feel that you’re saying the same thing as me, or that I’m simply not getting your point.

I’m aware of the difference in revealed time, but even if it were at 3 again, I still don’t think that stealth would be viable because you can’t properly cap/defend points and competent players know how to counter stealth. That’s my point, competent players in tPvP don’t have any trouble with it. The players who do are those who don’t know how to counter it, and considering that most complaints about stealth come from WvW where it’s powerful, it’s reasonable to say that they are the ones who require a direct counter ability.

I love playing GW2 PvP (well, usually, sometimes it bores or frustrates me to tears when I look at what GW1 PvP was and then compare it to… this), but I can’t stand watching it. I watched the ESL stream at one point, but I was so terribly bored by it because all I saw was a bunch of Asura (and the occasional Human/Sylvari + extremely rare Charr/Norn) running around in a blob of particle effects and AoE’s. I couldn’t tell what the hell was going on.

By comparison, in GW1 I knew what was going on because I knew the builds and what was going on, they weren’t just a cluster of AoE’s and particle effects with tiny characters. If I didn’t know what a particular skill was by looking at it, at the very least I could check the cast bar and see what they were using and learn for next time.

In GW2, there is no cast bar, and that to me is a huge detriment to PvP.

Xsorus.2507:

Incurafy.6329:

If Anet absolutely must introduce anti-stealth skills so that the WvW zerg-scrubs (no one in tPvP has trouble with it, stealth isn’t even viable) who cbf learning how to counter a highly counterable mechanic then I agree, this suggestion is infinitely better than a straight up reveal, even if that reveal is on a long CD and lasts a short duration.

You realize Stealth in TPvP is weaker then WvW right?

Revealed last a full second less in World vs World because Thieves were whining they were to weak.

Uhhh, yeah? That’s exactly what I said in my post. Perhaps you should re-read my post before jumping to belittle it.

P/D is incredibly boring, imo, and if you’re looking for an active playstyle then 5, 1, 1, 1 repeat probably isn’t what you’re after.

The fastest way to level in PvE is D/D death blossom spam with Caltrops, Dodgetrops, and Mug + a S/B while waiting for initiative to regen. By the time you’re out of initiative though, everything around you will have 20+ stacks of bleed and you’ll be at full health thanks to Signet of Malice and Mug

I experimented with S/D + SB and 30/0/0/20/20 and a Soldiers amulet with Zerker jewel or a full Zerker amulet and absolutely loved it, but then I learned about the ICD on Lyssa runes above and realised that my QV were really a waste of a utility slot if I wanted to use BV often. If you don’t use it more than once a minute, I think it’s viable, you hit like a truck and still have great crit chance with a Zerker amulet + Signet of Agility.

I also experimented with 30 CS instead and the Signet traits sync well with Infil + Agility signets, but I really missed Mug. I’ve tried dropping Executioner for Mug, but then I feel like I’m wasting points.

I’ve been attempting to craft a similar build and I honestly see now why you chose 10/10, it’s really hard to justify giving up Mug, but the extra 10-20 points are very hard to place.

Tonikor.5637:

Or you could mix valk/cavalier/berserker to have balanced stats on top of maximum crit damage possible which is the whole point of a backstab thief with hidden killer. * shrugs *

Personally I avoid soldiers.

Check out Wish’s “building a better D/D Thief” topic, mixing Soldier with Berseker is the best way to min/max a x/30/30/x/0 build.

I’ve always got at least 100% without food, but I think that 85%+ is perfectly fine if you’re using HK and the food that adds 10%. This also depends on whether or not you’re using 30SA, because that 300 toughness is great with just a couple of soldier pieces.

Your stats already look great, but I’d personally want at LEAST 15k HP.

Like I said in your other topic, Einlanzer, I agree with you completely, but you’ve been arguing this point since beta and have yet to have a single dev post on a single one of your bloody topics about it. Let’s face it, Anet either has no idea what’s wrong with P/P, doesn’t care (we know that’s not true, anyone with half a brain knows that Anet loves GW2), or simply don’t know how to fix it without killing P/D or D/P.

For once, I would LOVE to see a red post in one of your topics, but that just seems so unlikely (if a dev reads this, seriously, can you please take the <2 minutes to reply to the OP?).

Carrion if your main set is condi, Zerker or Soldier of it’s Power/Crit.

You’ve been arguing this since beta man, somehow I don’t think that Anet is ever going to listen to you, lol.

Sanduskel.1850:

Novomundum.8325:

I see. So the dp builds is op while everything else is fine. I can’t believe some people are condemning an entire profession based on 1 builds though. seems a bit close minded. But now, what’s the deal with dp? is there really absolutely no way to solve their nigh immortality?

Well 90+% of my fellow thieves use that spec. Thieves who don’t rely on perma stealth aren’t opd at all. They don’t need the crutch.

Stealth isn’t a crutch, it’s one of the two viable build types that Thieves have, and acting as though any Thief that plays a stealth build is somehow inferior is plain kittening stupid.

Near infinite stealth? Nigh invincibility? The hell are you talking about? All it takes to ruin a D/P Thief’s day is an interrupt of some description. I can’t remember the last time a D/P Thief attempted to run away from me and survived (or in reverse, I managed to get away from a competent player).

D/P #4 + them attempting to HS through BP = game over.

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

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

You’re about to unleash a storm of QQ-tears from players who can’t counter Thieves and rage-tears from the Thieves angry at their ignorance.

The simple answer is that no, they’re not. The more complicated answer can be found in the 303,494 page “feedback” topic located somewhere on this forum.

It removes 1 condition every 3 seconds, but this begins at the start of stealth and ticks every 3 seconds after that, so a Thief who has 15 points in SA will tick once upon entering stealth, and once more in the 4th second of stealth (and so on, unless stealth is broken/ends).

As for healing, 30 points in SA allows for healing in stealth, but it’s not anything major and requires longer periods of stealth to be really useful.

Redscope.6215:

Linguistically Inept.6583:

Incurafy.6329:

I dodge his ultra-telegraphed CnD

ultra… ultra telegraphed? no… no it isnt… maul is ultra telegraphed… HB is ultra telegraphed… meteor shower is ultra telegraphed

and this is ranger getting the ‘counter’, you just C+D off the kitten pet

Don’t even respond to him. He’s an ultra-telegraphed thief-only player who tries to make like he knows the game.

CnD doesn’t require you to face the target btw. GG for melee attacks that take less skill than moving your camera towards what you want to hit.

Translation: This guy has the word “Thief” in his signature, therefore the only class that he plays is the Thief, because duh, if he played other classes he’d list them in his signature!

Forgive me for calling CnD “ultra-telegraphed” because in my opinion, that’s what it is. Still, whether you agree that it’s “ultra-telegraphed” or not, it’s still telegraphed enough for you to know when to dodge it. The rest of my post is also just as accurate.

Simplicity.7208:

Ah, nevermind. I just realized the devs are going to start toning down evasion thieves whilst simultaneously introducing hard counters to stealth. I’m just going to go play a warrior until this whole thing blows over and not bother with the next 3 months of nerf bat syndrome.

It’s not that bad, they’re not “toning down evasion Thieves”, they’re toning down LS because two boons is too much for some classes (Guard, Ele) to handle, but will still be great when combined with BT.

Also, the “hard counters to stealth” is one utility on a Ranger that is rarely used. It’s not a good thing, but there’s no need for the doom and gloom, stick with it and try again.

Kenmei.7138:

Incurafy.6329:

Critique:

1. Sigil of Leeching is heals far too little to make it worth having on both swaps, you’d be much better off with a Sigil of Fire or Energy (evades are soon to be a huge part of the new meta, imo).
2. Your 10 points into CS for Side Strikes is a waste, you’d be better off dumping the rest into DA for Quick Venoms and the extra 100 Power and higher damage output.

Other than that, solid build.

Venoms? what for? As far as i know Lyssa got ICD 50s so in the end you will get your Lyssa buff more often w/o Quick Venoms. Idk bout the Sigils since I never used them.

Other than that, I prefer S/P.

I didn’t know about the ICD, but I just tested it, and you’re right. Thanks, I had no idea.

Still, I think the spread of 10/10 is a waste of attributes that could be better spent elsewhere.

Rangers are receiving an anti-stealth buff on one of their least taken utilities and it’s rumoured to give a four second reveal to an unstealthed character. Nothing dramatic, but it makes it sound as though they will give every class a skill like that in the future.

I don’t know what to say other than to try again and keep a closer eye on your stealth/reveal icons, and remember that revealed lasts 4 seconds in PvP.

Try Jumper’s build for the most evasive Thief build. Double S/D, 10/30/0/30/0, Quick Pockets and Energy sigils.

Critique:

1. Sigil of Leeching is heals far too little to make it worth having on both swaps, you’d be much better off with a Sigil of Fire or Energy (evades are soon to be a huge part of the new meta, imo).
2. Your 10 points into CS for Side Strikes is a waste, you’d be better off dumping the rest into DA for Quick Venoms and the extra 100 Power and higher damage output.

Other than that, solid build.

Can you describe more specifically what was happening? Because at present, there are no anit-stealth skills and this isn’t possible.

All this change does is revert 2 thirds of the buff to FS and keep the path fixing. Not a big deal, and unlike what some other seem to believe, it fits perfectly with their philosophy of small changes.

1/10, waaaay too obvious, complaining about Heartseeker is so August 2012.

A post filled with assumptions, excellent. I’m not even going to bother replying to that, sorry, I can already tell that it will evolve into a 2 page argument that goes around in circles.

Quit making up numbers and L2P. You posted the same crap a few months ago but with “guaranteed 6-8k backstabz!!!11” and now you’ve increased that made up range to 8-10k. Will it be 10-12k next time?

Chopps.5047:

Incurafy.6329:

If Anet absolutely must introduce anti-stealth skills so that the WvW zerg-scrubs (no one in tPvP has trouble with it, stealth isn’t even viable) who cbf learning how to counter a highly counterable mechanic then I agree, this suggestion is infinitely better than a straight up reveal, even if that reveal is on a long CD and lasts a short duration.

Do you ever run shadow’s refuge? Or is that not any good in high level tpvp?

It’s great for certain splits, sure, but I’m talking about stealth in tPvP overall, you can’t defend a point or take one if you’re jumping in and out of stealth and letting your opponent tick the node.

Next time, read.

If Anet absolutely must introduce anti-stealth skills so that the WvW zerg-scrubs (no one in tPvP has trouble with it, stealth isn’t even viable) who cbf learning how to counter a highly counterable mechanic then I agree, this suggestion is infinitely better than a straight up reveal, even if that reveal is on a long CD and lasts a short duration.

TheGuy.3568:

IMHO stealth should have some counter play.

But stealth already has counterplay. Dodge CnD, interrupt HS through BP with any CC, spam AA while they’re in stealth and use it to predict where they are before placing AoE’s and PbAoE’s, and finally, dodge their Backstab or use a block if you have one available on your shield (a lot of people do). There are tons of things you can do to counter a Thief, and none of them are as cheap as a utility skill that counters a core mechanic directly.

There’s nothing wrong with Thief or its access to stealth. It’s a fun class to play and I have fun destroying them on any class that I play because, surprise surprise, I know how to counter Thieves because I main one.

Scrubs gonna scrub.

Replace hard to catch with remove condition in dodge, 5 second ICD (or whatever is balanced) and I’ll actually try a stealthless Thief. Until then, 10/30/30 is my go to for anything in WvW.

LOL @ the claims that stealth needs nerfing and that this will give it some counterplay. You know what I do when I fight a stealthy Thief? I dodge his ultra-telegraphed CnD, I interrupt his HS through BP and I interrupt his heal. If be manages to get into stealth, I follow him with AA’s and then dodge just before he uses Backstab.

You know how I can do all of this? I learned to play the game. Shocking, I know, but I sucked before I decided to practice and get better.

What is the point of giving Ranger anti-stealth? I know that you said it’s for counterplay, but stealth already has counterplay, it’s pointless and just makes killing Thieves easier for one class and one class only. It’s not as though stealth Thieves are even viable in tPvP.

Wtf is the point of giving Ranger and only Ranger the ability to reveal us? It’s not like stealth Thieves are even remotely viable in tPvP, so all this does is help in WvW which is unnecessary anyway.

This was already posted and locked, fyi.

Also, the nerf to Blinding Powder is actually a buff, giving it a blast finisher is great.

This thread is 3 months old.

Seriously people, check the post date before replying, it’s not hard.

http://www.gw2armor.com/

Check out that website, Outlaw coat may be what you’re after for a coat, the rest I’m not sure of.

The extra initiative regeneration you have is absolutely pointless, all you need for reliable usage of the D/P combo is Infusion of Shadows, anything extra is just overkill, imo. You’re better off dropping those 10 points and picking up Hidden Killer from the Critical Strikes trait line, then ditching the two signets and replacing them with Shadow Step and Signet of Shadows or Blinding Powder (with Shadows Embrace, Blinding Powder acts like a stunbreaker).

Of course, if you’re uncomfortable not using the extra initiative regeneration, then by all means, your traits are solid (your armour is 100% glass cannon, but if that’s what you want, then whatever).

Oh, and to answer the title, yes, I used to run D/P + S/D in WvW, but recently swapped D/P to S/P for a bit of a change. You can basically use the exact same traits (x/30/30/x/x) for any direct damage weapon set combo on a Thief, it’s practically perfect, imo.

D/P + S/D is a very effective combo since you can basically shut down any boon class with S/D #3 and any other class with D/P #3 and #5 (as well as plenty of backstabs).

EDIT: I’d swap Thieves Guild for Basilisk Venom, and then drop all of the points in Acro and put them into DA for Mug, personally, but that just comes down to preference.

Power > Precision in almost all situations. Any build that you mix Knight and Assassin would be better just by swapping to Berserker.

1. I like this, wish it was already the case.
2 to 7. No comment.
8. It’s still just as strong in PvP, but in WvW it’s worse than ever. Agreed, 1200 would be good, but it’s not going to happen.
9. Absolutely not, Assassin’s Signet would become OP and I frequently take the 20% CD reduction in my builds. It’s already very useful, and changing it is completely unnecessary. Our signets (and related traits) are great already.
10. No.

I’ve been playing S/D + S/P a lot in PvP and WvW lately, and I have to say that I just plain disagree. It’s entirely unnecessary for S/P to get a longer range, it simply doesn’t need it. As someone who has been playing S/P for so long, you should understand how to use the evasion of IS and PW to your advantage, along with BP.

Sorry mate, I know how much you want to see S/P buffed, but it really doesn’t need it (besides a possible small damage revert on PW).

PS: Good luck ever getting a red post on the Thief forum, Anet reads these forums (like every other) I’m sure, but actually posting here is incredibly rare.

Sir Vincent III.1286:

A lot of things are different in sPvP: Gears, stun duration, revealed (as you mentioned), and others I don’t even bother with.

All 3 settings (PvE, WvW, PvP) used to have 4s and there was an outrage because this is only necessary in PvP settings.

But PvE should only have 1s revealed, to be honest.

PvE is easy enough as it is, and you want to make it even easier by practically removing the revealed debuff?

OP: It should be reveresed to 3 in PvP but it won’t happen, ever.

1. First half of this paragraph is intended as a counter to stealth (the conclusion that has been made over the last year worth of discussion on the subject), the second is completely incorrect and you may be referring to the visual bug I point out in #4 below.
2. Never experienced this and I’m in Australia using Internet running on century old copper wiring. Not sure what you’re talking about.
3. What are you talking about? This is the opposite of what happens, hitting a block or Aegis doesn’t trigger revealed and it’s the cause of much discussion about whether this should reveal or not.
4. Bug (if you’re talking about what I think you are, you’re not very clear) you’re still in stealth, just lose the visual effect, check your status bar.
5. All necessary for SR to be balanced. It’s already very powerful.