Guild Wars 2

When it comes to just roaming, I find putting 15 points into both Acrobatics and Trickery, makes you a lot faster. It gives you swiftness on dodging, while returning some endurance, and 3 more initiative for Infiltrator’s Strike/Heartseeker. Thrill of the Crime then gives you 10 seconds of swiftness on steal, and if you have a target when you steal (like a critter), you also get 3 initiative back. Of curse, it means you have to sacrifice some damage if you play burst, but the Thief already have so much of it, so it’s not really that big of a sacrifice.

It depends on two things: How smart are the general players you play against? What other skills do you use?

If your opponents know to either place a lot of AoE, or swing their greatswords around, whenever they see Shadow Refuge, you’re going to find that Shadow Refuge will kill you, just as much as it saves you. So in that case, you should use Blinding Powder. But because the stealth on Blinding Powder is rather short, you also really need an escape skill to combo it with, like Infiltrator’s Arrow, Shadowstep, Roll for Initiative, or Drawback. If you don’t play a stealth based build, Blinding Powder also has the bonus of being a much better stealth skill generator, then Shadow Refuge. Both because it has a shorter recharge time, and because it blinds your opponent. Blinding Powder is also an instant cast skill, so you can use it while you’re reviving someone, or on top of using another skill.

That’s because the Thief was a lot more interesting to watch (and arguably also play) when it didn’t play like an Assassin. Watching a player backstab a foe, and down him in 2 seconds, isn’t exactly quality footage. And it has also build up a lot of hate around the profession. In late beta/early release, when the general Thief playstyle was based around movement, it was very entertaining to both watch and play against. So even though the Thief is a lot more popular now, then it was at release, the “Assassin playstyle” doesn’t really make for good footage.

I use Pirate Needler, but I hope to get the Fractals shortbow at some point. The Fused shortbow skin also looks great.

http://wiki.guildwars2.com/images/c/c2/Pirate_Needler.jpg
http://wiki.guildwars2.com/images/e/eb/Fractal_Shortbow.jpg
http://wiki.guildwars2.com/images/1/17/Fused_Short_Bow_Skin.jpg

Traps sounds like a really bad idea on paper, as there are many obvious paths in WvW, but I hope it turns out good.

The fact that you have to move and dodge, while attacking, makes all the difference. No one could seriously keep track of 30 skills, while also keeping positioning in mind.

I think you’re mixing up support and healer. These two roles aren’t necessarily the same. There is such a thing as offensive support, for instance, but support can also simply be a Thief who stealth allies.

I don’t see how anyone can honestly think there’s no skill involved in the game. I mean sure, the game has it’s RNG, but there’s a counter to the majority of skills in the game. Healing skills can be interrupted, boons can be removed or stolen, and if you waste all your endurance too quickly, you won’t be able to dodge the damage that matters. The problem is generally just a lack of focused balance. There seems to be no pillars in which ArenaNet balances the game after. Every profession pretty much just does its own thing, and balance seems to be more or less a random game of give and take. Profession balance needs focus.

The difficulty of the Thief depends on the your build. A backstab build with a lot of stealth, is going to be a lot easier to play then a pistol build with almost no stealth. Personally, I found the Thief a lot harder to play while leveling up, then at end level. Generally, I would say that if you’re use to playing a bunker build, then you are going to have a harder time playing a Thief.

Aww, the eye looks cute.

The Rooster.2615:

Vigor is an interesting contribution.

Fury is not so rare. I’ve never found myself wishing I had a Ranger in the group so we could have fury. There seems to always be plenty of it to go around. Maybe it’s just because we usually run with a few warriors.

As with all traps, frost trap is really a second rate aoe when compared to a necro with wells. Well of darkness when trated will pulse blind and chill while frost trap just chills.

Muddy terrain can be a valuable contribution. Is that our main benefit to the group then? CC through frost trap/muddy terrain/entangle?

Yes, multiple CC is really all we got to offer. All our spirits die instantly to all the massive amount of AoE there is in WvW. So all we can really do is give 70 precision to allies, and cast ranged AoE CC. But we do that very well though, as the Ranger is capable of casting both immobilize (Entangle/Muddy Terrain), chill (Frost Trap), cripple (Barrage/Muddy Terrain/Spike Trap), and more when using pets.

Rune of the Flock summons a bird for one attack, Rune of the Ogre summons a rock dog, the sylvari has a racial elite skill that can summon a sylvari hound, and on top of that you have the Rangers pets. That’s the most amount of pets you can have at once, as a Ranger.

Well obviously your target was out of range xD

Honestly though, ArenaNet should just remove their attempt at trying to make us able to dodge ranged attacks. It just doesn’t work. Balance the damage if you have to, just remove this ranged dodge system that you are failing to implement.

It is actually possible to get over 100% critical chance with the Thief, without using Fury. Your health just have to be over 90%, you have to use a dual skill, and hit your foe from behind or the side.

http://gw2skills.net/editor/?fYAQJAqaEBnREbP2ZOBAA-TkAg1CqIwRhjDHDOScs4MIA

Really nice initiative, thumbs up to you guys! Hope you can make it all work.

I think pretty much everyone will agree that sPvP needs more variation. But before that happens, I would really like to see a much bigger focus on profession balance, so each profession can have at least three viable tPvP builds. Then we can start talking about alternative game modes, and ArenaNet will be able to balance professions according to each new mode.

OmniPotentes.4817:

Found this link:
https://forum-en.gw2archive.eu/forum/support/bugs/Magic-find-gear-broken-by-downed-state/first#post1955145
So I re-equipped all my gear and now my base magic find total in the attributes panel indicates 128%. Which despite being better still is incorrect!

Keep in mind that it might just be a visual bug. Meaning your actual Magic Find will still be correct.

Having 100% Magic Find doesn’t mean you’ll have 2x the chance to find a magic item. It works like this:

“Everytime you kill a monster you roll on a number of tables, inside these tables are different rarity categories. Magic find increases the chances you will get higher categories. For example if there is a 1 in 10 category, and you have 200% magic find you will have 3/10 chances to get that category. This improves not just the rarity of the items you get but can also improve your chances at getting trophies and rare crafting materials like lodestones.”

Further more, Magic Find only affects the drop rate from defeated foes, and not any other source. So it has no effect on chests or node farming.

The sigil is pretty powerful as it is. It deals both a fixed 452 damage, and heals for 453 at level 80, plus an additional 1 health for every 10 Healing Power. Add that on top of the healing a profession can also get from normal skills, or even food like Mango Pie (gain 85 health every second).

@Nretep
It’s pretty hard to actually see the healing, especially if you have some regeneration on top, because it happens instantly. And gaining 453 health out of 13000+ isn’t going to be very visible on your health orb.

I just hate losing, that’s enough of an inspiration for me.

If you are playing PvP, you need at least one more snare skill besides Entangle, or your pet won’t be able to reliably hit. If you play sylvari, then use Grasping Vines in WvW. Otherwise, I’ve found Frost Trap+Trapper’s Expertise to be the most effective.

But to answer your question, Signet of the Wild.

Honestly, I think ArenaNet has covered it all. Any new profession would mostly just be a variation of the existing professions and/or races, i.e. hunter (ranger), assassin (thief), paladin (warrior), monk (guardian), priest (elementalist), shaman (necromancer), artificer (engineer), druid (norn), warlord (charr), and so on. And since professions in Guild Wars 2 are suppose to be heroes, we won’t see any “dark” professions.

The only new class I can really think of, is a Bard. But it would need a huge redesign to be taken seriously. Maybe something like a heavy armored Bard, that utilises sound by stomping the ground and pushing air, using a combat form based around rhythm and beats. It could use weapons like hammer, staff, maces, and warhorn.

I’m a bit surprised at how underrated the shortbow Thief seems to be. Having the ability to lay down multiple poison fields with Choking Gas, while also being able to shot over obstacles or walls with Cluster Bomb, is absolutely priceless. Next to that the auto-attack, although severely nerfed now, is able to hit three targets. It’s one of the best AoE weapons in the game.

The Thief is also able to stealth golems or dolyaks for over 30 seconds, they are experts at taking out stragglers in a zerg, they can providing pressure by shadow stepping into a group and cause mayhem, and they are still the fastest profession in the game which makes them superior scouts.

I would love an entire underwater zone, as long as it’s kept in PvE. Underwater combat in PvP just isn’t fun. Skills are more out of balance then normal skills, it’s very hard to see the distance to your foe, and dodging feels awkward.

I don’t agree that the Elementalist, or any other profession, should have the ability to be both very hard to kill, and at the same time have an easy time escaping. I’m glad that this change has happened to the Elementalist, because it has always been more of a bunker profession, which made the quick escapes seem overpowered. I hope to see stealth toned down for the Thief as well. Just like I don’t think the Mesmer or Guardian should have a 25% movement speed signet either. There needs to be a balance between survivability and speed.

We have been for the longest time now. Bunker-Beastmaster, and Condition-Trapper is the only viable Ranger builds. The problem is the Rangers incapability to play burst builds, or builds that don’t rely on snaring just so the pet can hit.

You do not have to go out of your way to finish your daily! I find it astounding that people still don’t get this. Just play the game like you feel like, and you will finish the daily without even noticing it. The daily is made to give you an award for playing the game. It’s not mean to be a quest in itself.

I’m not a fan either. I felt it humanised the Pale Tree, and removed the mystery surrounding it. They should have just made something like a bright glowing orb instead.

Irapi.5937:

Indeed, I think it’s fair to get atleast a reason from a dev behind this nerf, imo nerfs are ok as long as a dev can give us a solid and logical answer on why the nerf was made, and I don’t really see a solid and logical answer here myself.

Honestly, I think the majority of balance changes are made based on computer calculated equations, rather then player experience.

It all depends on whether or not there is an audience for it. Even if Guild Wars 2 got a big sponsorship, it wouldn’t matter if there’s no one who wants to watch it. The game also lacks identity, in that it’s still unclear if professions are only meant to only have one or two builds each, or if ArenaNet wants to balance the game to cater for more creative builds.

Doesn’t affect me personally. I really only use shortbow to spam Infiltrator’s Arrow when moving, or Choking Gas and Cluster Bomb for AoE damage. But if shortbow is your main weapon, this is a stab in the back from ArenaNet.

Raze.8467:

They shouldn’t remove ‘heat seeking’ from ranged weapons, they should be adding it to every weapon that doesn’t have it.

I think ArenaNet would be hard pressed to find a play who doesn’t agree with this. Why would you make a weapon purposely miss, when you have the ability to control its damage? It makes no sense, at all!

This is a great example of the psychology behind stealth. And yes, you are right, if stealth was traded for invulnerability, there would be a lot less complains. At least until people realized how many ways/times the Thief can go into stealth, which is the real problem.

Am I the only one who sees the irony in improving the toughness for pets, and then in the same patch, add a dungeon where pets get completely destroyed by AoE damage?

Well, at least we are heading in the right direction now..

Overpowered doesn’t mean indestructible.

o·ver·pow·er (vr-pour)
tr.v. o·ver·pow·ered, o·ver·pow·er·ing, o·ver·pow·ers
1. To overcome or vanquish by superior force; subdue.
2. To affect so strongly as to make helpless or ineffective; overwhelm.
3. To supply with excessive mechanical power.

I felt none of what you are describing. The dungeon looks great, as all things do in Guild Wars 2. But the writing is still cringeworthy. I don’t care about he characters at all, and their lines sound like something out of a bad B-movie. I found the obstacles to be obnoxious. All the jumping and dodging becomes tedious after you done it ten times. And we just did the exact same thing in the Super Adventure Box boss fight. I’d much rather see a boss with precise animations, that can kill me in three hits, instead of a boss that does the same flashy move fifty times, with barely any consequence. I always feel like bosses in Guild Wars 2 are either overpowered, because you can’t read their animations or see their AoE circles clearly, or underpowered, because their hits deals next to no damage. Both things were the case in this dungeon. Just my opinion, it’s okay if you don’t agree.

nachtnebel.9168:

Kasama.8941:

I find it funny that so many people complain about a system that doesn’t exist. No one is saying that a duel system has to be based around invites. It could be exactly the same system as Costume Brawl. I.e. you set up a (free) “duel box”, and other players can then accept your duel by using the same box.

Which would duels still allow to happen in places where I don’t want them. Keep those anoying effects and sounds out of my field of view, allow them only in certain areas and you can have it, otherwise I am and will always be a no.

What the hell are you talking about? You only want players to do combat in certain places, even though the game already allows you to fight mobs all over the game, and that box of fun are already in towns? So you don’t want something that’s already in the game? That makes as much sense as saying you don’t want a bush on your lawn, because you don’t like green.

Mongo.2490:

It’s a weird concept, it really is.

Cons:
- Trying to run around while your interface is spammed with duel requests.
- Nerd raged players hazing with “DUEL ME BRO”
- Creates a ‘messy’ atmosphere

Proc:
- Able to test your skills 1v1 in a controlled environment
- Actually can be entertaining if in the right area

So overall, I’d say no to “Open World”. Although con #1 could be rectified with a ‘Reject duels’ option, I feel it would only subtract from the game.

I remember in playing that old Universe of Fightcraft walking outside a town and seeing 2-3 duels going on. Sometimes it was fun to watch and cheer players on. In a dedicated area, it can be fine and actually add to the atmosphere.

I personally enjoyed being able to duel with my buddies… not to prove who was better, but to practice.

If there was a dedicated area for duels (maybe fighting pits or something in the mists area), I think it would be fine… but no open world.

As for the cons you mention:
- What makes you think that the duel system would be based around invites? Just because that’s how it works in other MMOs, it doesn’t mean that’s how it would work in Guild Wars 2. As mentioned, costume brawl and box of fun are great examples of how a dueling system could work in Guild Wars 2.
- The average age of players in Guild Wars 2 is closer to 30 then 15. If “nerd rage” is not an issue now, why would it become an issue if duels were to be introduced in the game?
- Duels would create no more “messy atmospheres” then combat in sPvP currently do.

The strength of duels, is the fact that you can do them anywhere. If there were to be a duel arena, then the purpose of dueling would still be missing, as it would just become an alternative sPvP area. And the new custom PvP arenas, already allows for dueling in a closed environment.

Writetyper.1985:

All the hate is because people are convinced that “OMG DPS IS ALL THAT MATTERS” and refuse to look at the traits and build some kind of meaningful build, rather complain.

Can I ask, have you tried Clerics/Apoth regen/BM builds as well? I’m stuck choosing between the three stats, I’ve tried them all in PvP but it’s not quite the same and I can’t pick which is the best anyway, they all have their place.

I play bunker with my Mesmer. I have no desire to make a Ranger bunker, nor should I have to in order to have a viable build. Also, the game would become very boring if all profession where based around one or two builds. You know, like tPvP.

I find it funny that so many people complain about a system that doesn’t exist. No one is saying that a duel system has to be based around invites. It could be exactly the same system as Costume Brawl. I.e. you set up a (free) “duel box”, and other players can then accept your duel by using the same box.

The hate comes when you try to play anything ells then bunker-beastmaster. Hopefully todays patch will help change that.

I know a chick who does, but she only likes dawgs…

Yes, I think it would be a fun activity to do while waiting for an event. The basic system is already there in Costume Brawl.

Don’t remove the ability, give it to more professions. Spread the love.

My camouflage Thief =)

Finally finished my Thief, which has a mixture of sylvari culture armors on, and the Anonymity Hood.

Colors: Green Apple, Green Shade, Fresh Green, and Midnight Green.

Seras.5702:

I’m all for new content. But why does it have to be exclusive to 80’s? What’s the upside to that?

That you feel like you’ve achieved something. You know, like getting paid for doing a job…

(sarcasm, in case anyone missed it)

A good rule of thumb, when your build is based on power or condition damage, is getting as close as possible to x200 (meaning 2200 power or 1200 condition damage). If your build is based more on critical chance, you can afford to have less power. If you have around 50% condition duration, you still want around 1000 condition damage. But as long as you feel you have a balanced build; the more damage the better =)

You have become a victim of your own success. Take a break, and play other games for a while. There’s no subscription fee here. You can always come back.

It’s only a small step towards improving the Thief’s survivability. More changes will come.

crouze.3078:

Kasama.8941:

I like steal as it works now. The only thing I would like to see, is a better indication of what your stolen skill does. More clearly readable steal skill icons (using distinctive colors and shapes), and possibly a kind of popup message, with one to three words, that describes the usage of the stolen skill.

I think its allready pretty good. But maybe increase the size of the icon.

Yeah, but it would be nice for new Thieves. If you asked a bunch of level 40 Thieves, if they use steal or not, I will guarantee that the majority of them would say “no” or “very rarely”. Steal has a very steep learning curve.

I like steal as it works now. The only thing I would like to see, is a better indication of what your stolen skill does. More clearly readable steal skill icons (using distinctive colors and shapes), and possibly a kind of popup message, with one to three words, that describes the usage of the stolen skill.