Guild Wars 2

I wouldn’t recommend relying on melee too much. You’ll probably want to be using shortbow most of the time. Some mobs are safer to melee than others, know when you can melee and when you need to keep your distance.
Have an escape button, like shadowstep or blinding powder ready.
Sword/pistol is nice against trash mobs.
Heartseeker spam on bosses that are below 25% is also really nice.

Don’t mess up my Critical Strikes tree, please.

We have plenty of ways to get out of danger, so I don’t think we need 1200 range. It’d, be convenient, but not necessary.

So, would you recommend thieves to try out an ele or are thieves easier AND more effective?

Tulisin.6945:

Gator.7581:

6. Thieves who think that sneaking up (in any form of prolonged stealth) on a low level players at half health and bashing their skulls in takes real skill.

Nobody thinks this, but everyone does agree that it is satisfying.

Yup, can’t blame me for killing low levels when the opportunity presents itself. I mean, look what they’re wearing, they’re asking for it.

There’s only 3 options for thieves:
1. Condition build
2. Burst build
3. Ineffective build

Pick whatever you like.

Forsaken.2167:

Rhyis.7058:

Regardless of how many “lulz” people had with it, stealth capture/prevent capture was a disaster and definitely needed to changed.

My main is a thief and couldn’t be happier. Maybe people will stop their endless complaining now.

Also a thief, and I agree. Good update.

Limit portals to 5 people. Problem solved.

Actually, I did get chased by 20 angry enemies when the game closed down. Normally I’d get away, but I was stupid enough to run deeper into enemy territory, so things weren’t looking too good for my armor.

Oh, and nerf rocks and giant grub, they’re making wvw unplayable.

Tekren.4580:

any builds u would recommend? I just picked this build bc i thought it was a pve build to lvl up with heh

Just experiment with different weaponsets. It doesn’t matter that much before 80.
I’d recommend to always bring a shortbow. Sword/Pistol is a nice combo for levelling (skill 5 for blind, auto attack for damage).

If you want more damage, I suggest traiting for critical strikes, not Deadly Arts. For extra survivability, both shadow arts and acrobatics are nice.

You don’t need to put time in crafting, unless you just really want to (or you want the xp). You can get everything easily without crafting.
For sPvP you don’t need any gear at all (everyone gets the same, free gear).

Leatherworker, jeweler and weaponsmith are the ones that you can use to make your own gear as a thief (someone correct me if I missed one).

I wouldn’t spend 30 points on trickery.

Katsumoto.9452:

Jefzor.7145:

Nidhogg.2950:

JonSnow.5610:

Could be an interesting match up, AG has improved over the last couple of weeks. With better tactics and new organization.

Just one Question, who came to AG website to accuse us of exploits? If you do say that, back it up with images and the guild tag – instead of just saying stop using exploits, so we can actually do something about it.

Speaking as a former opponent of AG: havent seen them exploit and Im in WvW a LOT

Thank you for the detailed description and proof.

How do you gather proof for the lack of exploits on a server lol. It’s the accusers that need proof. I haven’t seen us exploit but I sure as hell have seen some Jade Sea hackers. I’ve reported them and that was that. There’s no need to tarnish a whole server.

Oops, misread “have” instead of haven’t.
Sorry.

As far as I know, condition damage is good for dungeons. If you want to farm events in Orr, you’ll be better off with direct damage.

4 initiative cost is totally ridiculous. It’s not even worth using to cripple/damage a single target that’s running away.
And let’s be honest, how often do you want to cripple 4 enemies when you could just focus on increasing your own mobility to instead.

What about 2-3 initiative cost, 1st hit does 100% pre-nerf damage, 2nd hit 50% 3rd hit 25%, 4th hit only cripples.

Shortbow .

Heartseeker QQ is sooo September 2012.

If you don’t mind losing ~40% of your damage, sure.
As Tulisin said, there’s plenty of ways to survive without having to rely on stats.

Shortbow for farming in orr. Put in a superior sigil of fire and keep spamming clusterbomb. Yes, the projectiles will fly in slow motion, just move closer to the mobs if they get wiped before you can tag them.
S/P (auto attack+blackpower) also works, but I see little reason to use it over shortbow.
Dual pistols are single target only, so I wouldn’t recommend them for farming.

Shadow refuge and blinding powder should be enough to escape tricky situations.

You literally can’t wait 3 seconds?

Rukia.4802:

Well if stealth was removed obviously it would be compensated… I don’t just mean removed and thief is just left at that.

Hmm, if we’d get rifles, extra base HP, extra defensive traits, more base initiative/regeneration and extra mobility, I think I could live with it.

I’d feel extremely vulnerable in pve. It’d also remove our main support skills for dungeon parties.

Guardian complements thief nicely, but lacks ranged options.
2 thieves works well for wvw, but isn’t as good in pve (dungeons).

Just experiment, resetting doesn’t cost much. You’ll know what you want by the time you hit 80. (oh, and always put multitudes of 5 in each tree, obviously)

It’s one of the reasons I respec’d (I used to trait for Shadow Protector for dungeon runs)
Can’t they just make it a major trait and replace it by whatever.

Frye.4608:

Interesting how the thief is probably GC, yet the mesmer is called a nub for

a) also being GC,
b) not speccing to counter GC
c) is alone vs a GC

Not saying he’s a noob for doing those things, just saying he’s using a high risk playstyle and shouldn’t be surprised when it gets him killed.

As the guy said above, Vitality. Keep in mind that direct damage thieves have a short term fighting style. We don’t need to outlast whatever we’re fighting, we can just run when the fight doesn’t go our way, as long as we don’t get downed too quickly.

Incurafy.6329:

How many times do you whiners need to be told that WvW doesn’t count because Anet only balances in s/tPvP because that’s where everything is on a level playing field?

It’s impossible to balance WvW because it’s not designed to be a small combat zone. It’s WORLD versus WORLD versus WORLD; the name alone implies hundreds of people, not 2.

This. If you look at large scale impact, a useless roaming thief killing another useless roamer isn’t helping his server.

Best 41g ever spent.

Poor mesmer doesn’t stand a chance

Solution: nerf thief
(or dodge roll, I always confuse those 2)

kribre.9683:

Jefzor, Elviik and Juvez isn’t less active, it’s just that the commanders talk a lot between us, so we organize who will lead. There is no use of having 3 commanders on one map

I wouldn’t say UNTY is less active, we have almost daily WvW event’s up and running, and we have even multiple event’s at some days. But we are mostly active during 10p-12pm, that’s when we have our biggest numbers lately. For FURY I can’t speak, but I think they also have almost daily WvW events.

Now I speak for myself, and I can’t be that much online during the next week, because of school, and I think that goes for a lot of other people aswell.

2-3 weeks ago, you frequently had 2 commanders on a single map, sweeping with 2 separate zergs (or combining them when needed, or 1 group running supply for while the other bashed a gate). That seemed to work pretty well, but I’m no tactician.

Lyneth.3496:

its pretty simple:

hidden thief and assassin signet are triggering auto-attack of your skill 1 when you are in range of the skill 1. Means if you use the skills in the 130 range, while you have autoattack active, it will kick you out of stealth instantly or use the signet buff instantly.

out of the same reason hidden thief and assassin signet are not working with range weapons with auto attack.

Its not broken, its always been like that. You may just haven’t payed attention to it. If you want to steal&stealth while in mele combat, it will kick you out if you have auto attack activated. It will not, if you deactivate autoattack.

So a trait that’s supposed to stealth you, but reveals you instead is not broken?

thewho.5841:

Why some one would be still using D/D? In Wpvp it is all about hitting multiple targets unless you are a scout or have, i do not know, a specific role or something. That is not clear for me. What do you guys see from D/X set up?

Or you have traded bow which equals mobility and high aoe dmg for single targeted D/D?

I am being very curious because I have recently stepped out of spvp world. Moreover, I have created a thief only for Wpvp

I use D/D to take down roamers/runners. Most of the time, I’m using my shortbow, but I wouldn’t want to miss D/D as my second weaponset.

I still don’t think OP’s idea of having 2 melee sets is a good idea.

The blinding powder ability will save us from 1 stomp, it’s not gamebreaking.
OP might as well ask “If a mesmer’s phantasm can hit you while you’re downed, why can he still replace himself with a clone when he’s downed?”
Thieves aren’t much harder to finish than other classes. I believe ele has the best downed state with their mist form at the moment.

I don’t know what’s going on, but I’m not seeing much activity from the commanders I’m used to (Elviik, Shadow Ray and Juves). There’s usually only 1 commander per map, and frequently, there’s no commander at all. Also, FURY and UNITY seem less active than they used to be.
Yes, we compensate our lack of organisation with numbers, but that’s not going to get us far when we go up another tier next week, and it’s not the most enjoyable way to win.

CoF is the fastest way if you want to do it throug dungeons. You’ll still have to buy runes/sigils. You could consider ruby orbs instead of runes if you want to save some money.

Maybe it’s more efficient to just buy the set and spend your time in fractals instead (I usually make over 70s per run)

I’d want 30 in critical strikes before putting any points in DA, but on my gear I’d rather trade precision than power for another stat.

This is the build I would run on a lvl 50 that’s only doing dungeons:
Shadow protector makes blinding powder viable and shadow refuge even greater than it already was.
20 Acro gives some extra survivability, might on dodge and A 3RD DODGE.
10 points in trickery for traited steal gives your team some nice buffs.

If you get more trait points and want to spec some in extra damage, go for critical strikes, not deadly arts.

If you use direct damage, always bring a shortbow. Clusterbomb is great, infiltrator’s arrow is great, disabling shot is great when you’re out of endurance, even auto-attack is pretty good on multiple targets.

Only go for melee if you know you can survive it.

Try to spec your armor as glassy as you can handle, but don’t overdo it. There’s no point in doing 10% more damage if you get downed all the time.

Always bring Shadow refuge, it can and will save lives. If you feel that the CD is too long on it and your team needs more stealth support, you can bring blinding powder too.

Don’t forget to swap out skills/weapons to adapt do different situations. (thieves guild for bosses <—> daggerstorm for big groups, signet of shadows for jumping puzzles, etc. )

stinkypants.8419:

Thinking this now…

http://gw2skills.net/editor/?fYUQFAFmQ2e0TVIPppQmAgOFXlVB

(copypasta)

That build looks good if you’re going to focus on shortbow. You could put 5 points from DA in Acro for 10% extra damage. Just don’t forget to dodge now and then.

Have both a pistol and a dagger ready in your inventory. Then switch out your offhand, depending on what weapon set will help you most in the part you’re at.

I guess any class can dps, but we’re good at surviving and rezzing.
O, and daggerstorm is amazing in the rare situations where you face 20+ mobs. Pair it with signet of malice and you’ll survive some melee hits.

You can get berserker gear from CoF explorer.

Stick with your pistols while in dungeons. You’ll usually want to avoid being in melee range.

Bring shadow refuge, it’s one of the best pve utility skills.
Sword/Pistol is really easy to use, Shortbow is also a great, especially vs more than 1 target.
Dodge when a mob does some obvious slow and hard hitting attack.
Keep moving, mobs will miss a lot of attacks if you circle around them.
Use a nourishment (peach pie is cheap and regenerates HP)
Run away when you can’t win.

biggs.4702:

Dancing dagger is your friend.

No it isn’t, it was…

Stin.9781:

From what you told i would suggest engineer. Thief has no way to tank oponents damage, and has innitiative shared in both weapeon sets so you will end up closer to 1 trick pony then 1 versalite build in any case.
Engineer on other hand can swap through his weapeon sets almost indefinetly having few sets, which save you from lots of trouble as they are very versalite. But engineer has longer cd’s if you want to stick to 1 weapeon.

You can’t “tank”, as a thief, but that doesn’t mean thieves have low survivability.

Aim for 45% crit chance from berserker gear, put the rest of your gear in Valkyrie.
I think there’s better ways to spend trait points than 30 in Shadow Arts.

Elmuerto.9840:

Shadow Refuge is indeed probably the best ability for teamwork and roaming solo, whereas I find the venom’s increasingly less attractive as they’re often blocked. I just love pulling of Ambush and Thieves guild together in small and solo fights and the surprise confusion it induces as well as hefty DPS when I start looking like a Mesmer with 3 buddies. Thieves guild again is the best Elite I think although the 3 min cool down is probably deservedly long. In big fights mind you I switch to Basilisk which is nice when it works and helps with Stomps and a cool down that enables it to be used more repeatedly.

I don’t agree 100% with your elite choices. Daggerstorm is by far the best elite to use vs a zerg.

As said, either go for direct damage or condition damage, there’s no point in trying to mix them.
My personal choice is to mix berserker and valkyrie pieces.

Put the 10 points of shadow arts into Trickery with Thrill of the Crime, it’ll give you a nice boost when you start your burst with steal.
I’d stick with 10 in DA, use Mug when pvp/wvwing. Lotus poison isn’t worth 5 trait points, put those 5 in Acrobatics (plenty of good traits to pick from) or Trickery (3 extra initiative.
30 in Critical Strikes is the way to go for direct damage. However, you should probably swap out Signets of Might for Practiced Tolerance.

Caltrops are only worth using on condition builds, for a direct damage build, I’d switch it out with shadowstep, assassin’s signet, devourer venom or blinding powder.

If you’d do all that you’d end up with this: http://gw2skills.net/editor/?fYUQNAoYVlUmaOHdy9E+JFy2jKcn4JvCklWBaqTxVJfA
(oriented at WvW, pvp stats are off, as mentioned before)

As a beginner (lvl4), I can say, it’s challenging and frustrating for beginner PUGs. That being said, it’s doable and far from impossible.

Shortbow is best all around, but P/P is a little better on single target.