Guild Wars 2

Too bad quote doesnt exactly work, but meh:

“Just wanted you guys to know we’re looking at this specifically right now. We will probably bring down the raw spike DPS for some builds, but we’ll be careful to increase other areas to compensate.”

So they might nerf Thief, and then buff their lacking areas to compensate for this. So they could nerf the thief’s burst, but buff our health pool, which is the lowest.

At the end of the day, the question remains, how will people who cry about thieves without learning how to beat them, beat the good thieves that will continue to play because they love the class, and not because it’s FOTM? I myself will always play a thief, even if it’s the lowest on the totem pole because I enjoy the playstyle, as I did with Deception Assassin in SW:TOR. What excuse will you have when the thieves relearn their class and still beat you then?

This is why I’m getting to the point where I’m just gonna join tPvP. Tired of the zerg, tired of watching 5 people trying to kill 1 enemy while the rest of the enemy team backcaps our points.

Okamakiri.8746:

And? No leveling or gear barrier in sPvP = all scrubs trying the supposed fotm. When they realize it’s not what it’s made out to be they go back to failing on their mains.

^This.

Wilhelmryan.9203: To be honest im more than happy that they didnt nerf the backstab skill itself. This doesnt change anything though, probackstab thieves will always be probackstab thieves. Im just hoping the qq posts in thief forums die down a little bit (doubt it).

So now I get to show off for a little bit longer while I continue to dance around my opponents and hit them with Backstab after my initial burst? Works for me, this is why I took Feline’s Grace to begin with. Plus the better synergy with PW and Clusterbomb.

Duckzor might be right, I might be more saddened by the removal of the evade from the stolen Whirling Axe skill.

@Rottaran Owain.6789: It’s also notably much better used with clusterbomb now.

That’s a good point, I didnt think about clusterbomb, though I do use it at times. And the mention that this would be better for PW builds as well. Seems like a good change over all.

I would have been more happy if they lowered it to 25-35% for one attack than 15% for 5 attacks. Overall I guess it’s more, but not sure if it would be too noticeable IMO. Kinda want to try it out and see if I’ll be keeping Sin’s Signet. O.o

phaeris.7604:

Wow…just wow..ok.

1) You can have toughness or vitality, not both. If you have both your damage is 0. Either way a backstab+c+d+steal will do about18-20k, so even if you run max vitality you’re down to 8-10k health in a few seconds.

2) Stun breakers are on 1 minute timers. I’ll make sure to only fight every one minute and not use it on any other class I come across just in case i find a thief.

3) This had to be the funniest one. I’ll be sure to listen for thieves above the constant ’INCOMING!!! and mesmer blasts and arrow sounds and pets and so on…but honestly, that was amazing advice…lifesaving….

4) I stand a chance of killing a thief as long as I can catch him after he’s just killed another player.

5) Use an aoe, which I don’t have.

6) Swing the air and hope to hit something. What is it with you people and 2-3 auto attacks…Even if the thief had 14k hps (which is pretty glass cannon), my auto attacks would have to hit for 4.5k each…EACH…did you even think before you posted this?

7) Oh wow…it’s because every thief has learnt to counter every single weapon set and ability of all the other classes that they can backstab you for 10K, followed by c+d and steal for 5k each. That’s why! All other classes don’t need to bother to learn counters at all or dodge, that’s where our problem has been all this time. I forgot to dodge! or swap weapons!

8) Oh man! I also forgot to get my pet out, the pet i can’t summon and have no access to with any ability.

This list is amazing. keep going. Thief advice is the best sort of advice.

2) What class are you playing with stun breakers on a one minute timer? This isnt SW:TOR with abundant CC’s and 1.5-2 minute stun breaker.

I’ve played Warrior, Mesmer, and Thief in sPvP. Thief being my main, and the most extensive play time with it.

Warrior: “Shake it off!”, and I know it’s on a 25 sec CD.
Mesmer: Blink, also like 30 seconds.
Thief: Withdraw, 15 sec. RfI, 60 sec. Shadowstep, 30 second.

More than likely if you dont have one of those in your utility slot at all times for some reason, you’re doing something wrong. But dont complain about it on forums when you get immobed and owned.

These are the ones I know off the top of my head, I know there’s more.

5) I’m sure one of your weapons has an AoE. At any rate, you could still attack the air, thats what I do. Dodge back and stay away from where you expect them to come from. As a thief, I know that once I get some distance between myself and a thief, it’s very hard to catch up AND hit them in the back, without blowing a dodge or some kind of gap closer.

7) I’m sure you probably did forget to dodge. Rebind it to an easier key to hit in mid battle, and use it more often.

8) Even some runes give you access to some pets, so… Or you just wanted another thing to nitpick and whine about. You chose your own class, so yeah, no reason to be QQ’ing here. >.>

This is what I run:

http://gw2skills.net/editor/?fYEQNAoYVlUmKOHdS7E/5Ex2DfuTeqzgmts/AXB;TsAg0Cno4ywlgLLXOukctgYQxsAA

Or

http://gw2skills.net/editor/?fYEQNAoYVlUmKOHdS7E/5Ex2DfuTeypwoJVTBNbJA;TsAg0Cno4ywlgLLXOukctgYQxsAA

I usually feel that extra dodge is worth it over all, but sometimes I like to mix it up. Steal > Backstab does not feel bursty enough, so I run without Hidden Thief and just use CnD > Steal > Backstab. Blind on stealth is good for just pissing people off, and for laughing at the Heartseeker newbs.

Sometimes I take Shadow’s Embrace as I usually dont find myself dying to direct melee damage much, it’s usually the conditions that finally get to me.

Hope that helps.

Seether.7285:

The better you get the “slower” things will start to feel as your actions require less thinking and become more of a reaction. Just keep working on figuring out what was the right move in each situation and work on making them 2nd nature.

As Seether said, I’d have to agree. Everything seems to happen much faster when you dont know what to expect from everyone. You get more used to specific weapon sets, you expect what’s going to happen before they even press the keybind. Things start to really slow down.

Keep playing man, and you’ll get used to certain skills you need to watch out for. Then all of the simple combos will become easy to dodge. Stick with it.

ehtom.5047:

I have played alot of games. I have played several at very high levels of play.

I have NEVER seen something as broken as the Thief before. For PvP, the class is completely anti-fun:

1. Bleed stack builds are pretty much griefing.
2. Almost impossible to kill with the stealth spam.
3. Backstab instagib from stealth – No way this should be in the game imo.
4. Stealth stomp – If this is a bug, then its just plain griefing and repeat offenders should be punished.
5. Downed state – high damage & mobility. Compared to most other classes downed state its just plain ridiculous (all downed states should be like Guardian imo – give you a chance to survive for a while, but not continue to grief the other player).
6. Some of their builds require no skill whatsoever. I rolled a thief, played pistol whip and within 15 mins I was owning people (I didnt even know what half the buttons were for and never weapon swapped)

Now, I am not good enough at the game to say if they are overpowered or not. However this is not my point. My point is that Thieves in their current state are not fun to play against at all and are ruining the fun potential of this game considerably.

Bleed stacks? … Just… keep a condition cleanse with you, or 2, preferably 2.

Stealth Spam: AoE the kitten out of the area, you can still hit us. Hit a surviability button and take the backstab (like an idiot), dont do anything and eat it (like a bigger idiot), or anticipate the backstab and dodge. If you dodge far enough away it’s hard to catch up and backstab without blowing your own dodge, and our stealth only last 2-6 seconds. Shadow Refuge you have to sit in for about 7-8 seconds, before you can step out for the last 3 seconds. So just dont kittening stand in it.

Backstab: See Stealth Spam, and dont get hit by it.

Stealth Stomp: …You’re on the ground, you already loss. Just accept it or delay for your team if you have an AoE KB/daze.

Downed State: Our down state sucks IMO. Teleport only goes so far, and you still have to wait for smoke bomb to come off CD after for a few seconds. Smoke Bomb doesnt teleport us, just keep hitting where we were. Our down state only delays the inevitable in 1vs1(+).

I can own bads by spamming 1 button: Well duh, they’re bads… kitten

I doubt you will actually read all of that, so I probably just wasted my time. You’re bad, and you should feel bad.

Gotta agree with the OP. Whack-a-Mole balancing leads me to fearing that thief will be nerfed into obilivion like EAWare did with SW:TOR’s Scoundrel/Operative class. Today most play a healer spec to feel any sense of viability in PvP in TOR.

Pyrial.2917:

LOCO.1785:

I’m hoping it’s a bug and will get fixed soon.

Pretty frustrating sometimes.

You know what’s even more frustrating? The stealth issue where characters don’t render for 2-3 seconds while coming out of stealth. Hopefully they fix your issue when they fix the stealth issue.

Yeah, both issues are annoying, and need to be addressed, hopefully soon.

Korochun.5862:

Yeah, everything tracks stealth. I start Unload, the poor thief pops Stealth, unload kills him anyway.

Yeah, I’ve played a Thief, Warrior, Mesmer in actual matches, and others in the Mist but not in matches. It’s hilarious when you’ve played a thief and know this, and you switch to Rifle > Killshot with Warrior as a Thief goes into stealth.

Wolfe.3097:

Isabis.9561:

When I saw how thiefs play at start, I thought “ehh, this looks like an alpha or beta of the final product, this profession must have something more than spamming one ability like all these thiefs do, I doubt this is all the profession has to offer” and then I tried one. I quickly realized it’s actually all I’ve got to do basically, spam the strongest ability most of the time.
Didn’t developers realize at some point while making the profession that this is clearly broken? If I was in a dev team personally, I’d immediately suggest to remake the profession playstyle if I saw this happening, wouldn’t everyone with common sense?

I’ve shown GW2 to a friend today and the first thing he noticed is how stupid the thief prof is designed, he said: “is this all? I just spam this strongest ability all the time and that’s the most effective way of dealing dmg, this is stupid”, I answered “yea, basically that’s it, u have this if u wanna stealth but it’s hard to hit, yadayada, but yea that’s basically it”.

I just can’t understand how did thief go live in this state, prof is so dull… Rangers aren’t much better either.

the idea is that because of our ini system our other abilities are used situationally as utility. i think D/D is a bit thin but D/P (and S/P) have head shot and black powder, two GREAT utility skills that i use quite often.

you know what happens when i face a thief that just “spams” there damage move on me? they die, every freaking time. even the backstab thieves with that stupid glass cannon build. they whif it and i laugh, cuz my reaction time is good enough to put down that black powder before they hit me with there teleport+backstab combo

it does have some issues, at face value its easy to spam

but honestly most classes are NOT the wonderous testaments to skill. sure things like elemental and some engineers have a good learning curve but a lot of classes its just cycling thru there best damaging abilities at the time, maybe hitting a bility that will buff the next one (oh wait thieves do that too lol)

thieves may have a low starting floor, but most classes arent much better, they just have Cds instead of ini.

now once you actually learn a thief, learn its weapon specs utility, outfit your utility skills with actual utility skills and not sigils. and you learn how to activate your own combo fields (poison, smoke, and dark) suddenly the “skill” required to play a thief shoots up. my weapon set has great utility and i have 4 different combo finishers (shortbow auto, shortbow blast, HS leap, and daggerstorm whirl) that i can use.

im not saying combo fields and finishers are exclusive to thieves, but i think they can create a combo and execute a finisher more readily then most classes, and it spices things up nicely.

Oh, black powder, as a backstab thief, I hate that as much as I enjoy it. I’ve played D/P before as well. If I run into someone running that I just switch to shortbow and clusterbomb them. But yeah, blind is a great counter to backstab Thief. Hilarious when you use it against HS spammers. Hit Black Powder and just stand there while they blow their load.

Sometimes I like to mix up my spec from 25/30/0/15/0 to 20/30/20/0/0 and take the blind when stealthing trait. Won me a 1 vs 2 against 2 HS spammers. Hilarious when they spam HS, miss the first one, continue to spam it until they run into a wall, and then get hit with a backstab and die. XD

Isabis.9561:

Paranoid.9542:

Isabis.9561:

Things

Did you try any other builds at all? Or did you go a glass cannon build then spam heartseeker?

I’ve tried power and condi builds. It’s either:
- spam HS 90% of the fight
- spam PW 80% of the fight, use infiltrators strike if kited
- spam Death Blossom 80% of the fight, use dodge when low initiative

HS build is total spamfest of one ability, really really rarely anything else is used.
PW and DB builds are spam as well, with occasional infiltrators strike and dodge (if dodge can even be qualified as ability), cloak and dagger – basically never used

If all you did was spam those abilities repeatedly, then you’re fighting bads. If you were fighting decent players, then hell, bring on the HS nerfs. Idc. Many times I’ve jumped someone with a combination into backstab, however they ended up being tanky. So, I just dance around them using combinations of auto attack, shadowstep, scorpion wire, CnD, dodge roll to keep up with them, backstab.

I dont win them all but I do win most fights. Nerf HS down to auto attack level, just leave the <50% and <25% where they are. <25% and gap closer is all I use it for anyways.

Sezu.8564:

“This is unacceptable”

I didn’t realize they made this game SOLELY for the purpose of pleasing you. How dare they anger you, your majesty! Insolent swine!!

So many self-entitled gamers in this generation. Anyone remember the days of just being happy a game you were looking forward to finally came out? You scum make me sick sometimes. Sumbit a support ticket and wait while the (incredibly busy) staff at Anet do their jobs. Thanks.

Seriously? …You’re actually defending them on this? I love the game, and I’ve been happy with what ArenaNet’s done so far. But using the word entitled? ROFL. I’m sorry, maybe people shouldnt post about bugs that effects a decent amount of the playing population.

I love doing sPvP. But to get the never ending loading screen is something one would think would be caught very early in development. If they actually play their own game, they should have noticed something like this before they pushed it out, or atleast right after.

All they have to do is add points for people that are constantly standing in a node. People will be more likely to defend then.

For me, I use the basis for the build, instead of the utilities. Meaning, I build off of the CnD > Steal > Backstab combo, but as far as utilities, those are dumb.

You know what happens if someone is set up just like that? They get stunned, and die. And as far as utilities, he’s blowing everything pre-Backstab. Considering if he pops Haste, he will have no endurance.

You know how hard it is to hit someone with backstab when they’re only a couple steps ahead of you? And in the fact he has no endurance, or acrobatic traits, one dodge roll and you’re completely out of reach for backstab.

But with all of the range on Killshot with Warriors, that’s just hilarious. I made a warrior and took her to PvP last night. Hitting killshot on Necros and other squishies running around while I’m up on a ledge. Boom! 14k! Dead.

I did get a nice chuckle out of it though. xD

I’ve slotted Shadowstep.
I’ve traited for 1 condition to be removed upon stealth.

But kittening Moa… Being birdied is just a pain in the kitten Atleast make the attack animations faster while in Moa form. I’ve almost beaten a mesmer just to be turned into a moa, one attack would have downed him. However, the attack animation being so slow, he could just simply take a step back and laugh.

Meanwhile, I’m stuck as a kittening bird. Moa itself, is annoying, but it’s fine. They just blew a long kitten cooldown, and the CD of Basilisk and Steal is not nearly as long. But atleast give me a small chance to fight back.

woeye.2753:

Sprawl.3891:

good bleed thieves are scarier than PW/HS thieves anyways

But it’s much harder to play it this way. It’s way more easier to burst someone down without letting him fight back. Like snipers in FPS games

Not really harder, the issue is that it just takes fooorrreeevvveeerrr. Just finished a tPvP match and decided to take a break. 3rd Match, Kyhlo. Switched to a condition build a couple days ago away from my Backstab build.

Towards the end I ended up in the clocktower against a Gaurdian, both of us going back and forth. I’d get him close to death, he would heal up to pretty much, if not completely, full. He’d get me close, and I’d heal up, stealth, caltrops, etc.

This fight lasted what seemed like 5 minutes. Finally killed him, dodged the AoE Knockback, stomped so I could cap. Started capping and 3 more people ran into CT. By this time the time ran out, so we won. But dear god that fight took forever. Did not think it would ever end. Seriously… O.o

I actually met a glass cannon Ele the other day. Interesting kitten when you dont have a stun breaker with you, an Ele charges in and stun locks you and blows you up. First time I saw that actually. o.o

ZLE.8293:

Again:every skill should be counterable(this is my opinion)
And again:if you entire gameplay is relying on 1 skill than you are wasting your time with thief class.(this is common opinion)

Agreed, but in the end, this means Basilisk Venom is not worth taking over say, Devourer.

1 second, unbreakable stone venom > 4 second immobilize that is quickly broken.
1.5 second, easily breakable venom < 4 sec immobilize.

I dont see much of a reason to take Basilisk over Devourer’s, unless I want that 3rd utility slot open for something else, which I’d prefer.

Then again this is assuming that most PvPers have pretty quick reflexes. While some do, I’m pretty sure the majority has the reflexes of a sloth. So maybe I’m wrong.

Ahh, shouldve known those names sounded familiar. He just reposted a picture from a GW2Guru thread. Alot of might stacking, so yes, if you want to go for dual daggers in both swaps, be my guest. I’ll stick with my shortbow.

http://www.guildwars2guru.com/topic/64790-175k-self-buffed-backstabs-can-you-get-higher/#entry1951998

Auron.2657:

The Thief is very dynamic, only the unskilled think there simple/easy profession.

^This. Even when I combo, backstab, dodge hammer smashes, heal to break conditions, etc, the only thing people cry about is when they’re running and I use 1 HS to catch up, and another to make them sit on the ground. Then they cry about 2 button classes. Kinda funny though.

Fury.6248:

Actually, you can steal to places above you. As long as your able to get to that location without using the jump button. AKA if you steal someone capping watch tower it will work cause it has stairs to the side of it that let you walk up to him. Without stairs that steal would fail to shadowstep.

^This. I’ve used Steal, Shadowstep, and Infiltrator’s Arrow plenty of times to get up somewhere high, that will take me out of a bad situation, or get the jump on someone else.

However, to be able to port everywhere, no restriction except for range, undermines both PvE and PvP. Too lazy to walk up and grab that vista? Cant figure out how to climb up? Just Shadowstep and be done with it. This obviously is not what ArenaNet wants you to do. So now, you either gotta walk it, or be able to walk it.

Shintai.5618:

Dervim.3817:

Shintai.5618:

Because its how they protect it from being abused to for example get up on walls.

Just look at Ink Shot that havent been fixed yet.

Doesn’t seem to stop the guardian though, who’s teleport can go where-the-heck-ever he wants, compared to shadow step.

I do consider that broken as well.

Guardians seriously have a port? I know Mesmer’s and Thieves’ do, but Guardians do as well? o.o

Looks at GW2 Wiki … O.O

So they do, never noticed before.

Seriously betting you had your friend remove his gear, popped everything you could, and told him to stand still. Why else would you cut out everything but chat, instead of showing the entire screen?

To the rest of you (seemingly) believing this, not sure if trolls or crayon eaters.

^As Loki said, I believe I might actually have a screenshot like this, where the thief broke stealth, and I have the target indicator over him, but he did not appear on screen. This is a major issue, which causes me to die from thieves, even though I play a thief. Because 3 seconds of not actually seeing someone, is 3 seconds they can break stealth, hit haste, and spam Heartseeker, and that 3 seconds with haste is all you need to get off 5 HS’s. >.>

That said, there was one time I was capping Waterfall, saw a thief running up. I had seen this thief earlier in the fight, and new she used the Devourer > Steal > Haste > Pistol Whip combo. So, I dodged as soon as I expected the steal. And there she was just slashing…at the air.

Turned around, CnD > Steal > Assassin’s Signet > Backstab, dead. Funny kitten. But yeah, you can be dodging mid-steal, they’ll port but the actual hit, (Mug) trait, wont connect I believe. After that the venom (Basilisk, or Devourer) will be used, as it’s per attack. Not only when the attack lands.

Pistol Whip will be needed to hit fast before your opponent breaks it, so they will probably go into that without seeing if it landed, as I described above. Therefore, their 2nd charge of Devourer, is used up as they slash into the wind.

Ergo, yes, you can evade steal… The proof is in the fact that I was not immobilized when expecting to get Pistol Whipped…

So what do you want them to do? Other than just complaining, atleast be constructive about it. If you wanna remove the evade from it, then you better make it stronger. As someone else said, without the evade in the attack, I would die while using a harpoon in UW combat.

Dervim.3817:

Riiiiiiight…Thief underwater is sooooo OP. IT MUST BE NERFED NAOOOO!

Then nerf those mesmers and their clones, coz having several identical npcs on the map is clearly an exlpoit…And after that fix warriors, coz when he spins in one spot and is killing everyone while being unkillable is clearly an exploit…

Then fix Backstab, coz dancing around the target hoping to hit the back for high damage once in a while is clearly an exploit…

THEN, fix the evade button, so that people wouldn’t be able to evade, coz when they do so, they are clearly exploiting….

This made me lol. And yeah, people will complain about every thing that beats them. And dancing around your opponent trying to land a backstab is sometimes a pain, and impossible if you go into stealth and get immobilized. >.<

Yasha.5963:

Irishbrewed.6537:

neoxide.7320:

Lol. Pets only attack an enemy if

A) you attacked the ranger/pet first

or

B) the ranger targeted you and told their pet to attack you

Stealth actually breaks the pet AI since the pet drops target and the ranger must manually tell its pet to keep attacking a thief or mesmer etc. slipping in and out of stealth. That also gives you the chance to get so many opening blows on the ranger since the pet won’t attack you until you hit the ranger while out of stealth.

No stealth doesn’t break it, pet will get right back on ya when stealth wears off. They are crucial.

My warrior would like a heartseeker Theif as a pet tho… ":p

Those must be some special Ranger pets there Irish, because my pets do not lock back on to targets that stealth.

Mesmer pets on the other hand follow you till the gates of hell, passing through walls, castle gates, locking back onto the poor doomed soul that tries to stealth away. They are some awesome relentless beasts, I like them a lot.

Ranger pets do it all the time. Especially if you’re downed and pop stealth. As soon as it wears off they come right back unless they were called to attack another target.

Seriously. There have been plenty of times where I could have broken LoS, Stealthed, teleported, and gotten perfectly away. If it wasnt for heatseeking missiles known has pets that home in on me as soon as I exit stealth, even if I’m 1200+ away from the actual player, on the opposite side of a wall. It’s annoying as kitten. Do something about it ArenaNet…

labotimy.2439:

Bahamzero.6783:

aaah the esport dream…

not to be a naysayer but i dont see this game going e-sport and heres why.
to be an e-sport a game has to have a great deal of balance, something that is currently not in gw2 considering the vast amount of REACTIONARY nerfs on anets part.
the second factor and arguably most important is popularity, which unfortunately i doubt gw2 will maintain considering its complete lack of pve endgame, and absolutely no varied pvp content at all.

simply put gw2 needs better class balance/bug fixes FASTER, and more pvp/pve content to keep the player base interested.

here is an example http://i.imgur.com/YFo3V.jpg
notice madman hiba asking jon peters a dev during a QA session about a seriously bugged engineer ability that has remained bugged since beta, and how his question goes unanswered. this is the current standard of dev that anet is employing and pretty much sums up many peoples dissatisfaction with the game currently.

class balance, major class bugs, lack of content across the board, lack of progression incentive whether gear(not spvp gear, before the fanboys go for the jugular) or elo, all for the sake of balancing for e-sport? what a joke.

valve releases games that go e-sport instantly, anet you should take notes.

They already have been taking notes. They recently said that first they want to give players the tools to make the game an E-Sport, before jumping the gun and then failing. Even LoL didnt launch as an E-Sport, first all of the tools and neccessities were put into place. It became an E-Sport ~1 yr. after it’s launch. GW2 has only been out for a month. Sheesh…

As for your first sentence, that’s exactly what you are…

tarcheg.4872:

It’s not when you look in the future and there is a spectator mode the coloring will help the spectators to see what’s going on…

Did not think of this. Good point. However, team color palettes for tPvP… now that sounds pretty awesome. o.o

Animosity.5231:

Don’t think PvErs want to be forced into PvP to get a skin they want, and I doubt competitive PvPers want PvErs joining PvP just to grind. I’m also pretty sure ANet is against this.

I agree. If you only want to grind PvP matches just for a skin, it’s going to cause problems for players who want to play PvP to win, learn other classes, and improve their skill. More PvEer’s in PvP will lead to more complaints about sPvP on topics they dont understand. I.E: More “<class> is OP!” threads.

As much as I dont feel like doing PvE, although I wish I could just wear my PVP outfit, atleast in looks, as my PvE gear, or especially on the char. select screen, I cant. So I’ll deal with it until I level up in PvE.

Strongfort.2451:

JonathanSharp.7094:

Short answer – no.

(snip) we feel it’s very important that you are on equal footing with your opponents when in sPvP. We want skill to be the single largest determinant in who wins in sPvP.

We may add more aesthetic choices down the road, and maybe the stats on the amulets can change, but overall we want to stay w/ the “no power grind” system that we have established.

And that’s why this game’s PvP is amazing.

Please don’t ever change this stance Arenanet!

^This. Ever grinded your butt off and had the best gear? Ever had a patch come out or take a break after getting that gear? Guess what? All of your previous hard work meant nothing. Less than nothing. You’re current gear can now be obtained within 1/4th of the time it took you to achieve originally. Dont feel competitive anymore? Too bad, get back on that gear treadmill and run. Run little hamser, run!

TheZeus.8617:

Don’t get me wrong I love SPvP/TPvP but maybe we can have it to where we are not colored? I mean we do have red over our names.. Maybe that is enough? I kinda like seeing different color schemes people have. If not cool if you did this awesome. I am happy either way. Just some armors look amazing when they have the right dyes on them and then bla when they are all blue/red. Just food for thought.

Still amazing I love the gameplay.

I agree with this. If I see a red name, I immediately know whose the enemy. I dont need colored outfits to tell me who to kill. Lol

I only have 20 points in Trickery atm. Just testing it in the Mist on a Golem, and with no target, it only has a 36-37 recharge rate, compared to the 45 recharge rate it normally has. So I would say it works.

And yes, if they are out of range and you use steal it will go on like a 5 second cooldown or something, it’s annoying.

I usually end up running with Executioner. 100% Crit Chance is great. But between the 1st talent in the Critical Strikes tree, and a base of 49-52% crit chance, I’m already about 70% crit when you hit below 50% health. Also, 20% extra damage is 20% extra damage. No matter if it’s on Backstab, the auto-attack chain, HS, Dancing Dagger, or CnD. All of which I use as well as my Backstab.

To me, it’s better to cover for 5 abilities over all, than try and focus specifically on one I can only do every 3 seconds with the revealed debuff. O.o

Thadren Calder.1397:

Having already a 90% crit chance i chose Executioner.

Somehow, I doubt you actually have a 90% crit chance… O.o

… O.o

This game doesnt work like the other MMOs, or RPGs for that matter. You dont have a hit/miss chance like that. If they are out of range, or break LoS (Line of Sight), by running behind a pillar, your SW wont connect. Though there does seem to be an issue when SW comes up “Obstructed”, when it shouldnt. This has been reported in a bug thread on Thieves which the devs said they will look into.

Moa Malady.3176:

[…]
Thieves seem to be able to always get close, and then put me in almost permanent stunlock so that I can neither attack nor move. It’s GG at that point, if it’s 1v1.Certain elementalists can do about 70% of my health in less than five seconds, and I basically get the rest burnt off in the few seconds after. Necros do something similar, but I haven’t lived long enough to figure out what happens, I just know it involves poison. Mesmers, I have no idea how they kill me. Or specifically, how sometimes they do, and sometimes they seem so ineffective as to be just fodder. Either way, it seems the team fights are over before they begin, if the teams aren’t profession-balanced. All four of these classes can do massive amounts very quickly, or even more massive amounts of damage over a few seconds, making quick work of just about everyone.

I will answer this since I play thief. I usually cycle through the different builds, but my favorite is still Backstab Thief. With mine, I usually run Shadowstep, Scorpion Wire, and Assassin’s Signet. Because of the first two, plus Steal, this gives me 3 gap closers. I can use Steal and combo it with CnD (my preferred, as its just fluid to pull off). If that’s on cooldown, I can Shadowstep infront of you, turn around and CnD (Cloak & Dagger, does damage, stealths me). As you continue to run past me, I just hit you in the back with a Backstab. And Scorpion Wire just looks awesome and stuns long enough for CnD and Backstab.

So yeah, if a Thief has Steal, Scorpion Wire, and Shadowstep, you’re probably not going to get away. :P

You say thieves stun lock you? Not sure if you mean actual stun or immobilize, I’m assumming immobilize. We do have a stun in Basilisk Venom, which turns you to stone, but it only last 1-2 seconds. 1 Second base, I’m assuming 2 if traited with an extra venom strike from Grandmaster in our Deadly Arts tree. There’s nothing you can do from this except pray you survive.

Immobilize from Devourers Venom, now this you can attack etc, you just cant run around and dodge. Get used to removing this. For this and other conditions I bring Shadowstep myself. Great counter to Warriors as well, and the added utility/survivability I get from is just awesome. For a Ranger you have 2 skills that break conditions like these: Lightning Reflexes, and Signet of Renewal. I would suggest taking one of these with you at all times. Or just suffer through it when you get immobilized.

Kargion.6352:

Necro’s that use conditions (like me) can be killed through burst dmg pretty easy. We use dots to try and kill other players off but most players who are built right have condition removal and spell to get them selves back up in health.

I can go 1v3 and win, and other times i can go 1v1 and lose. Its all dependent on the players build and if the know how to counter what I am doing and same goes for me to win.

Yeah, you dang Necro’s and your 50 freaking health bars. But thats usually not an issue for me when playing a Backstab thief. Have as many health bars as you want while I’m hitting you for 8k repeatedly, you die eventually.

You should probably look into Jinzu’s Backstab build then. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-udk3CEtc7E

Combo with Bailisk > Preload CnD > Steal > CnD goes off, doing damage and stealthing you > Assassin’s Signet > Backstab.

Or look into Neakz’s Backstab build as well: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f40ZxsOVVcY

Prefer closer to Jinzu’s combo, but Neakz’s utilities. Haste, Assassin, and Skale just leaves no room for survivability utilities. I’d play around with both of those builds, and see what you like. Practice the string of attacks on the training golems till you get used to it, and go into PvP. Then start playing with the build further and see what you like.

I run 25/30/0/15/0 myself. I liked Jinzu’s combo, Neakz’s choices of utilities (but most of the time I swap out Shadow Refuge for Shadowstep). However I felt that sometimes I’m just no fast enough to catch up to someone while stealthed, so I tweaked it for swiftness + an extra dodge roll to catch up and backstab. Hope that helps.

Lyrianne.7950:

I have done SPvP now to rank 10 and these are my thoughts.

1) I HATE AUTOBALANCE. When you balance a player is is ALWAYS from the winning side to the losing side, so you need to put in place a 30/30 point compensation for the denied win.

2) in sPvP f2 functinality for ranger pets is still sluggish and hit/or miss,

3) and fix those DANG sharks…18k dmg in 10hits. SERIOUSLY!

I have played sPvP to rank 26 and…

1) I agree, but as someone else said, do some tPvP.

2) I havent tried Ranger in a match, but this sounds horrible.

3) Those kittening sharks annoy the hell out of me… If I want to kill mobs underwater I’ll do some PvE. Either tone them down or take them out…

0/10…

That’s why the other day on twitch.tv they talked about adding the tools needed to make this game an E-Sport right? You wanna play with Pandas? Go ahead. You wont be missed.

Killthehealersffs.8940:

I think they have already put a 350 glory cap per match

But those ppl are extremly stupid
U cant trade glory for gear and then sell them for cash
Nor trade glory for gear with better stats

They cant benefit in any way

This. Later these same people will get steam rolled against a team that actively plays to win. Instead, they’re use to having the points handed to them. Thus, their level of skill will be lower.

I can understand this in a game with a gear grind, but other than saying, “Look how awesome I am!”, I see no point in doing this. These will be the people that get steamrolled later and post on the forums QQ’ing nerf.

^

Seriously? ArenaNet already said they are looking from their own end. There was even a video on Twitch the other day of a couple devs playing the game. They play their own game, so they dont listen to every crybaby too dumb to dodge, or every one playing the specified class that people are QQ’ing about.

You dont like people who learn, adapt, and counter you? Too lazy to learn other classes and counter them? Go back to PvE and fight scripted boss battles… As a thief the only people I feel bad for are the elementalist (atleast in their downed state, a tank elementalist is more of a pain to deal with than tanky guardians).

Sin.8174:

I do the same thing. Turn off auto-attack.

It’s more fun and much more rewarding than sitting there letting the game do it for me. Also prevents many issues like accidentally auto attacking the wrong mob, or when you’re trying to pull off another skill.

Pretty much this. The only time I use auto attack is when I’m messing around and testing something on the training golems. I just turn it on and count how many cycles before something procs. Other than that, auto attack stays off.

Ink Cloud and Barbed Net just sounds freaking awesome actually, haha. The funny thing is I have actually summoned Thieves Guild and watched one of them follow the enemy underwater in sPvP. Yet, I cant summon them while underwater. Funny.

O.o

Death Blossom can be evaded, cost 5 initiative out of a 12-15 initiative pool. Dodge twice, eat the 3rd, and destroy him. If they have high initiative regen, and Roll for Initiative, catch them in the middle of LDB spam.

Make a thief, grab 2 daggers, and head to the DPS Trials Waypoint. Find the spinning Golem that knocks you down. Now, when he starts spinning around, start hitting LDB as fast as you can. You will notice that a thief does not go straight from LDB > LDB.

There is a ~1 second delay between the first LDB and the second. You can confirm this when you dont dodge the hit from the Golem and get sent flying back to the ground and land on your kitten

Use this delay and time it with any CC’s you have (immobilize, etc). If you do immobilize then start pounding the thief’s face in. If you cripple/chill, then they will move slower, and thus LDB wont go as far. Now you can utilitize one dodge roll and just strafe to keep out of reach until the thief has blown his load.

Seriously… Learn2Counter before QQ’ing for nerfs… I just told you how to beat a thief…

Zyrusticae.7245:

Arheundel.6451:

@Knix

About self-rooting skills, I want you to remember that PW deal around 8-9k dmg and ca be used from the safety of stealth, an ele using churning earth deal 1/4 of the dmg, get self-rooted for far longer and has no access to stealth..ty

Precisely.

If the risk/reward were to be equivalent, Elementalist’s Churning Earth should do as much damage in the entire AoE as a thief’s backstab, but right now it’s not even close. It’s pathetic.

What is… I dont…

So you want an AoE to hit for a huge amount? There’s a reason why AoE’s hit lower than single target burst. Or else you people would be crying that an Elementalist just killed 5 people in one button.

Look at the brightside. If you do leave, you wont have to unsub and then resub when you come back. Use that to your advantage. Take a break for a few days to a week, and come back fresh. I’ve done that a lot with MMOs. No matter how much I enjoy them, I eventually burn out.

Animosity.5231:

That’s about the gist of it. “When it’s ready” and all that is really just so fans don’t get upset at the proposed release date, or any delays. They always have an internal release date and receive pressure from their publishers. The publishers want it out the door quickitteno get a return on their investment, etc.

Apparently quickly and to with a space in between is censor-worthy.

QFT, especially the bolded part.

You ask: Why does every modern MMO seem to make this mistake?

I ask: Why does every MMO player make this mistake? They take every single thing about whats good about a class, and combine them all at the same time to make them sound OP.

I’ve seen it alot on SW:TOR, and these forums. Sure, some thieves might take every bit of stealth utility they can. But they wont have movement or damage buffing utilities. Sure some might spec for a lot of toughness, but they wont have near the amount of damage as a glass cannon build.

Take the usual PW spammer build. They usually take Haste, Devourers, and I usually go for the Shadows Signet for the 25% movement. That leaves my only option to stealth as my heal, if I even take HiS over Withdraw, which I usually prefer Withdraw for immob breaking.

Instead you think of every little thing they have, and combine it into some immortal godlike build that cannot be beaten at all, that doesnt even exist…