Guild Wars 2

Anchoku.8142:

If you are new, try running a condition build using the Curses trait line and scepter / war horn. If you want a power build like greatsword, try using axe / horn or axe focus. Both scepter and axe are easier to stay on target with while you learn.

Why? why nurturing new players into the condi cheese ? WHY?

No no I e the same windows for all my 3 years playing gw2, the first time somthing like that happen to me.

Stilgar.6437:

IDICERI.4268:

I got it yesterday. I spent around 325 hero points all at once though.

you probably mean the exotic version. The bo staff is the ascended version (better looking) you get from a collection. I doubt anyone in the game has the bo staff yet. You need a lot of masteries. You also need to complete a zone in HoT, but thats bugged, you get no rewards for it, which means thief cache cant be obtained yet.

The feather dropped the first day for me. The exotic HoT trinket items that you need for every specialisation (feather for DD) seem to drop fairly often, i already have 3 or 4 different ones. Hoping its the same for the exotic from core tyria pirates.

Im working on masteries now and hoping the map reward bug gets fixed soon. I really want this staff.

Well, since I done Dark Harvest collection 5 days ago, I bet there are ppl who already have Bo.

Bhawb.7408:

According to the wiki its Berserker, Knight, or Trailblazer.

I confirm the notion.

Lily.1935:

spoj.9672:

I’m biased against both.

But here’s some facts about staff versus axe.

Axe auto has 0.77 coefficient total per chain. The chain takes 0.95 seconds. Which yields a coefficient per second of 0.81.

Staff has 0.66 coefficient total. If you factor in the 10% higher weapon strength you get 0.73 per auto. The auto takes 1.4 seconds. Which yields a coefficient per second of 0.52.

Axe is quite clearly better. Especially if you take the axe trait. Axe 2 is also a big gain over staff and axe auto’s.

You are quite clearly biased Lily. Because when you look at it objectively the facts speak for themselves.

I’m not. Its not about weapon strength its about utility. Axe doesn’t provide valuable utility. I’ve said that the damage is slightly higher without the trait. But taking the trait strips you of other valuable traits you could be taking instead to make a bad weapon slightly less bad.

And! Not only that if we take into account the strength of Death shroud or reaper’s shroud the staff provides far greater uptime of both of them because of its superior ability to generate life force. Thus increasing your overall damage far beyond that of what the axe could provide.

Another note to consider. Weapon’s damage also factors into the damage of your attacks in Death shroud and reaper’s shroud. And since staff has a higher weapon strength than axe. (Axe being 900-1,100 and staff being 1,034-1,166 respectively).

Less shroud down time means more damage when not using your primary weapon of choice.

Now now, when I sadi that staff brings only utility, you said nooooo staff is considerbly doing more dmg, and now that somone proved ya that staff doing less dmg you return to your only thing that is true, the thing I said about staff brigning only utility to the table. It might be good when you playing against thieves with no brain.But side from that, staff is very much avoidable and when you lay all your marks,you wanna pray for the swtich weapon toggle to be available.While in axe/x you have the constant pressure which with staff you dont. also I argue that using axe/warhorn gives you about same utilty as staff.

http://i.imgur.com/O6YLgFq.jpg when i try to buy
Somtimes when I try to search: http://i.imgur.com/oOV8JU4.jpg
Guild chat also having some lag
Im using 64 bit version
Other than that everything works as intended. No skill lag no anything.(Avg ping 76)

Lily.1935:

spoj.9672:

Yeah, as much as i hate axe. I would definitely consider it better than staff. :P

And theres a very simple reason for that. Staff has no use in PvE combat other than afk exploiting in safespots. If you need range on a power build axe is actually better. And for condi builds you will always want to camp scepter for your mainhand.

I disagree. Staff is far better against mobs in PvE and it has far far stronger life force generation than the axe, not only that but it gives you access to chill on two skills for reaper, has a condi cleans and decend damage for its range. yes its SLIGHTLY lower than axe, but not by a whole lot.

Aka, No… its not better than staff….

Pvp prespective, axe is much better and staff only gives utility to the table it got almost 0 dps, less lf regen than axe(unless traited which basically is worse that you need to trait for it while you have a faster movement in reaper shroud that it is a must trait).
Staff is one trick pony, you lay all your marks than wait for #2 mark and spamm it untill weapon switch while axe auto attack more reliable and #2 on short cd and have great lf regen. So utility aside, axe is much better range option and that is coming from somone who adore staff but must admit the truth.

nearlight.3064:

Sandrox.9524:

If anyone need help feel free to ask here!
One quick note that to get the crystalin ore, instead of doing like 10 of the long meta events in dragon stand, the last two story missions gives you 40 of em.

What did you do for leveling masteries? I’m gathering a bunch of mastery points then going spider farming for hopefully a few hours only..

I’m halfway to stealth gliding and I have to level exalted from 1 to Max for the stupid sharpening stone thing. I also have to get nuhoch acceptance, but that won’t be as bad.

I finished the two first maps(VB and AB) got as much as mastery points as I could, including some hiddens, and then I just did wvw dailies for the xp boost and go spiders untill i ran out of em.

I remember maybe the first nerf, assassin signet.

I also remember the sad day they butchered S/D. R.I.P

old build used it in beta already problem with thhat build is that it is still subpar to d/p

lol guys I like that you try to assume what he is, have or how skilled he is. This argue is pointless to a post which the answer is simple as yes or no.

OP: Going either is viable, though Rampager is more of a glass and you should consider that you will have potenically more trouble running that.

Imo, run full somthing(for wvw) isnt good chocie. I mix stats like beserker+valk+solider

Dont listen to the guys here saying Axe is not good on reaper. I personanlly played all my time since beta with dagger/x and staff and now im using gs-axe/focus with much success, you will still be inferior to rangers and mesmers ranged abilities, but you wont be far behind.Axe is strong range option for necro(argubly the only choice) and does require certain buff, but it is very good at pressuring players from safe distance.Problem with it that ppl can tp behind and cancel it, but that is when you switch to GS also when you using signet build with reaper, with that spec, even heralds cant have boons against you.

If anyone need help feel free to ask here!
One quick note that to get the crystalin ore, instead of doing like 10 of the long meta events in dragon stand, the last two story missions gives you 40 of em.

For example my arrow-quiver backpack dosnt fit my whole white monk-ish thief , so I would gladly dye it with white-ish colour !
Please make it happen XOXO <3

Would show you with Bolt/Inci but not at home ^^

meepeY.2867:

Your build is nice for some scenarios but I feel it would struggle quite heavily with Conditions.

Infiltrators Signet is kinda overkill as well because you already have lots of access to teleports. If you’re using it only for the stun break then there’s better choices.

Here’s the build I’ve had lots of success with whilst Roaming in WvW:

The build

This build has almost 0 problems with conditions and is impossible to pin down with cripples, chills or immobilizes.

Withdraw and R4I effectively can clear 5 conditions each, a minimum of 1, and an average of 2 if you’re timing your usage properly.

Signet of Agility gives back 2 dodgerolls, which then clears a condition. The extra dodges can then be used to clear conditions & heal you with the minor.

Shadowstep is… Shadowstep. No usage guide is really needed.

- You can swap out Impact Strike for Dagger Storm

Impact Strike is very good for 1vX fights because it allows you to remove someone from the fight with an instant stomp.

Dagger Storm is very nice against Ranged opponents and decent against melee for kiting. Remember that it reflects ALL projectiles, so things like Bladetrail from Warriors GS#4 and Mesmer’s Mirror Blade from GS#2 will be reflected. You can also flash Dagger Storm for the instant 3 stacks of Stability to help defend against Hammer Warriors, ect.

- You can swap out Weakening Strikes for Havoc Mastery

Do you wanna deal more damage or take less damage? Personal preference.

I think taking Acro & DD is overkill in many situations. Acro does a good job of keeping you moving by preventing immobilize and reducing movement impairing conditions but Dash does a much better job than Don’t Stop.

The only saving grace in Acro is Hard to Catch for the stun-break and endurance refill. But in most cases, you’ll not get this endurance refill because people open up with stuns a lot.

Pain Response is overshadowed by Mug in the DA tree. Double the heal, which is instant. Condi clear on Pain Response is nice, but so is using a well timed dodgeroll.

Overall, using Deadly Arts over Acro ensures we have enough damage (and a lot of Utility) to break through annoying regen/sustain builds with. Steal Applies Poison to dampen heals and Weakness to boot. 10% increased damage if they have a condition on them and then Executioner to add an extra 20% damage.

S/D’s burst in WvW is awesome, so you’ll be dropping enemies down below 50% fairly quickly.

Also as a quick tip, don’t forget to pick up the First Aid Kits at Sentry posts for the free Swiftness on the #5 skill. Alternatively, you can keep ahold of the First Aid Kit, and use the #5 skill when you see someone you wanna kill because it gives Fury as well.

Yep.That is a good build, but I would go Flanking Strikes rather than Thrill Of Crime since you already got swiftness from DD, and you get fury from both of them,why not adding quickness on engages? it helped me ALOT.Especially when dealing with other thieves.

Morwath.9817:

Sandrox.9524:

Firstly,CC’s are also soft CC’s such as chill and cripple are melee attackers nightmare dagger/warhorn with immo and daze, two fears + another immo #5 shroud , most run fear on CC trait.

What? Seriously?
If most = nearly nobody, then I agree. Death Magic is our weakest trait line since traits revamp and rarely anyone picks it, and I haven’t seen Reaper’s Protection used by anyone except trolololo Minion Mancers.

Sandrox.9524:

Yeah there are 11k thieves,but that doesnt matter wasnt talking about pure lifeblast dmg, I can down thief with one attack using spinal shiver trait auto proccess.

In hotjoin?

Sandrox.9524:

Necros considered range cause of wells,marks,death shroud,lich..ranger owns everything ranged cause he is RANGEr you cant possibly think necros needs to outrange the ranger? other proffesions like ele, are not as good in range as necro.

You know why I mentioned Ranger? Because core Rangers are the most kittentiest professions among all in game…

Sandrox.9524:

When you say condi necro, you mean core or reaper, cause reaper will engage melee and will spam dhuufire and chill from reapershroud.

When I say condi necro I mean Chillmancer obviously, because core necro is unplayable as condi since trait revamp… and condi Reaper will rarely engage into melee, you should rather just go into RS when you’re engaged and you have enough LF to exchange blows without losing any HP, then when your LF vanishes disengage with #2, simple as that.

Sandrox.9524:

Slick shoes very avoidable activate DS dodge away – done. Thieves and mesmers which on the same boat as Necros with stab dosnt complain.

You know that Thieves and Mesmers are +1 professions? Also, they have other tools to escape from nearly any opression (no cast time teleports, stealth on demand and evades).

Sandrox.9524:

I dont need my team to win to gain lf, im using the enviroment, not rushing, playing smart, when you got about 50% you can start be aggresive.Works every time.

So… match starts… you go cap close or w/e. Roamers (e.g. Thief+Mes/Thief+Engi/Ele+Thief) come to decap… all you can do is: activate Plague or Flesh Wurm and try to disengage with those, or miserably die.

I think you should re-evaluate how you play if you going cap close at start as necro….

As for other thing you said, you dont know that necros in fear of thieves speccing to death magic so they can have auto shield againt them.I know cause I play thief too.

Already seen legendary champions and champ shadow playing zerk daredevil and it works.(NOT ON HOTJOIN)

Condi reaper will not engage you melee if you have no brain and you trying to range him with melee class, but condi necro will melee you if you outrange him since his range attacks are short ranged in compare to others………

And core condi necros are pure beasts in spvp…..the huge sustain with toughness/vit stats make them hard oppontes.

Why I get crashed right after killing mouth of mordermoth and since then I cant join on my fellow party mates??? it says Network error which clearly is not.

There is alot in dragon stand. Forgot the place you should look it up

Morwath.9817:

Sandrox.9524:

1.Reapers dont use only stab and death charge.The majority use all espiecaly RS #5.

I haven’t said that Condi Reapers doesn’t use any skill with exception of #2 and #3, but that #2 and #3 are superior upgrade as defensive abilities. What is more Chillmancer can get good dmg from #1 (Dhumfire) and #4, while #5 can be useful as additional CC, but thats other side of the coin why standard Death’s Shroud deserves buffing.

However proper gameplay for Condi Reaper is still Ranged, you will engage into melee only when it can be advantage for you (to e.g. eat some damage with life force > hp and exchange few blows), since Condi Reaper game plan is attrition.

Sandrox.9524:

2.1 Lifeblast can kill a thief ….1!! it is that strong, there is another matter on how to use it, maybe you lacking that.

No, it can’t… seriously, how you want to deal 17k dmg with single Life Blast?

Note : Zerker Thief has 11,645 HP, while Marauder has 17,245 HP.
I would also remind that Thieves doesn’t play with Zerker because of their low base HP.

Sandrox.9524:

3.Foot in the grave is very good stab in pvp, if you get chain CC and you dont dodge it is your problem.It break stun so effectivly, it can lasted for two CC’s.

It’s so good stab that it does nothing vs Slick Shoes. Imho its only good as Stun Break, but if you compare it to Druid Major Trait (Druidic Clarity) which gives Stun Break and full cleanse on Celestial Avatar, it’s just bad… as GM trait that has two pretty good traits to compete with.

Sandrox.9524:

4.Core necro have lots of sustain cause he is ranged,two health pools, high base health and all sorts of CC’s. and because of the LF behaviour with spectral skills for instance.

First, Necro isn’t as much ranged as people say – only Staff has 1200 Range, you can’t compete with e.g. Ranger or DH on Range, you’re forced to use 900 Range Axe, 600 Range Scepter or more or less melee Dagger (which can Siphon Life at 600 Range) to deal damage.

Second, Life Force is good when your team is winning. You start with no Life Force at beginning of the match, which makes “double HP” often a mere myth (in games where people just focus Necro 1st).

Thrid thingie, what kind of “all sorts of CCs”?
Typical build has two Fears and two Immobilizes (if running Dagger), unless you want to count cripple/chill also? We’re talking about classic Necro.

Sandrox.9524:

5.I play about 10 games a day in pvp, seen Power reapers, and seen MM reapers(sort of), and seen condi reapers.Condi reapers dosnt use only engage/disenage.They use skills 4 that applies AoE poison and skill #5 for chill with deatlhy chill trait.So know the class before saying wrong stuff on forum.

I think I pretty well know my most played profession in PvP.
Anyway I’ve responded to rest of this part above.

Sandrox.9524:

The only thing your topic can make is nerfing the reaper so it will be more as the core one they will never buff the core one.

I disagree. Necro need buffs here and there to be viable and to not require Reaper for each single build to stay competitive…

Firstly,CC’s are also soft CC’s such as chill and cripple are melee attackers nightmare dagger/warhorn with immo and daze, two fears + another immo #5 shroud , most run fear on CC trait.

Yeah there are 11k thieves,but that doesnt matter wasnt talking about pure lifeblast dmg, I can down thief with one attack using spinal shiver trait auto proccess.

Necros considered range cause of wells,marks,death shroud,lich..ranger owns everything ranged cause he is RANGEr you cant possibly think necros needs to outrange the ranger? other proffesions like ele, are not as good in range as necro.

When you say condi necro, you mean core or reaper, cause reaper will engage melee and will spam dhuufire and chill from reapershroud.

Slick shoes very avoidable activate DS dodge away – done. Thieves and mesmers which on the same boat as Necros with stab dosnt complain.

I dont need my team to win to gain lf, im using the enviroment, not rushing, playing smart, when you got about 50% you can start be aggresive.Works every time.

Morwath.9817:

Balerios.3679:

“old necro " is based on RANGED gameplay.

Majority of “Reapers” use RS only for stability (#3) and to disengage (#2) while stil focus on RANGED gameplay. I would also like to note that other “RANGED” professions got proper tools to disengage from combat.

Balerios.3679:

Do u expect to stay safe on range to do tones of damage with DS 1 and have stability?

First, Life Blast doesn’t do “tones of damage” compared to other Power specs damage output, you should also mind that Life Blast has horrible long cast which can be easily interrupted, dodged or w/e.

Second, I don’t except to have free stability, I except GM traits to be useful.

Balerios.3679:

Also "old necro " has GREAT SUSTAIN , this answers why u dont have engage d-engage skills . You are supposed to SUSTAIN .

Where does that “GREAT SUSTAIN” comes from? PvE?
Celestial D/D Ele had “GREAT SUSTAIN”, “old necro” doesn’t have any sutain in PvP, unless you fight complete noobs who can’t just focus and CC lock you.

Balerios.3679:

Reaper from the other side is melle oriented . So ofc it needs stability and some oh kitten buttons . And it does well with that . There is completely dif gameplay between "old necro " and reaper

Imho you’re wrong. I see people using RS more as disengage tool and stability source in PvP as Condi Reapers. Also, barely see anyone playing Power, won’t even say a word about GS.

Warscythes.9307:

I don’t think death shroud being worse at mobility and tankiness(dark path+lack of stability) compared to reaper shroud is an issue because it is ranged. Reaper shroud should be better at being focused/cc’d and more mobile.

I think core necro has a few issues but the main one right now is that as nearlight said, death shroud is pretty useless for condi builds. I would like some bleed/poison/torment whatever condi on shroud 4 and a faster projectile speed on shroud 2. Maybe lower the cast speed but also lower the damage of life blast to keep consistent dps but dhuumfire can be used a bit more effectively. Keep in mind though that life blast actually does more dps than Reaper scythe right now if you are within 600 range so I am not sure on it.

That’s about it. Rest of the traits like issues with dhuumfire is fine I believe, others such as foot in the grave is just weak in general with or without the reaper comparison. That should be another topic completely as we need to look at the class as a whole.

Imho lack of stability and proper disengage tool is what makes core Necro so bad whenever he gets focused by more than more person. It’s main profession weakness that got eliminated by Reaper trait line.

However you’re pretty right about lack of proper sources of condi damage or too long cast for Life Blast for classic DS. Thats another lacking area which could get some attention before start of ranked season.

Spicy.2481:

Even base necro has enough disengage if u equip the proper utilities, ie. spectral walk and flesh wurm. Especially flesh wurm is really awesome to escape dire situations pretty much instantly if u placed ur flesh wurm wisely within the 1200 range.

Being forced to pick horrible version of Lightning Flash is main reason why we rarely seen Necromancers played in competitive matches in the past. I wouldn’t call Flesh Wurm and/or Spectral Walk awesome in any scenario, we just need put them on our skill bars to have any chances to reset combat in game where every other class has Leaps, Teleports or other mobility skills.

I disagree with everything you said here.

1.Reapers dont use only stab and death charge.The majority use all espiecaly RS #5.

2.1 Lifeblast can kill a thief ….1!! it is that strong, there is another matter on how to use it, maybe you lacking that.

3.Foot in the grave is very good stab in pvp, if you get chain CC and you dont dodge it is your problem.It break stun so effectivly, it can lasted for two CC’s.

4.Core necro have lots of sustain cause he is ranged,two health pools, high base health and all sorts of CC’s. and because of the LF behaviour with spectral skills for instance.

5.I play about 10 games a day in pvp, seen Power reapers, and seen MM reapers(sort of), and seen condi reapers.Condi reapers dosnt use only engage/disenage.They use skills 4 that applies AoE poison and skill #5 for chill with deatlhy chill trait.So know the class before saying wrong stuff on forum.

The only thing your topic can make is nerfing the reaper so it will be more as the core one they will never buff the core one.

dank.3680:

Sandrox.9524:

BrunoBRS.5178:

you are aware that jump dodging provides no advantage in combat, and isn’t even intended behavior, right?

hell, jump dodging is a liability. if you’re jump dodging during a fight, you’re risking yourself more than regular dodging.

Oh but it does. It makes you faster young padawan.

And with regular dodge animations you cover more ground. Also with this new dash a jump-dodge can take you across quite a large gap (like between cliffs etc).

regular you mean the non DD one?or just by dodging without jumping?

Impact.2780:

Sandrox.9524:

Impact.2780:

Arlowslol.1974:

Sandrox.9524:

I play DD s/d thief atm and I find it very strong. especially in Stronghold mode when you have alot of space to manuver.

I play this a lot and it is the most useless build.

you just run away ,run away, and run away. if you dont ,you got kill even by SA dp thief.

It’s a missleading build. It’s basically a win-more build. If your team is stronger than the opposing, you will feel as though you’re god mode, nothing can touch you, you’re pushing out great damage. If your team is equal, you will bring less than a d/p thief, will get pressured out of team fights, and have a hard time of the smaller fights when stalked by the other team’s D/P thief. If your team is weaker, you’ll zip about staying alive maybe getting some sneaky decaps and feel like you’re the only good player there.

This is coming from someone who stuck with S/D right up to and a bit beyond the elite specialisations, where I finally had to concede defeat because the vigor changes made my DA/CS/Trick build need Acro, which resulted in having less damage than the easier and less riskier DA/Trick/SA. Unfortunately S/D still doesn’t bring any significant advantages over D/P again. It used to be able to fight longer, therefore out damaging, and with the old CS it had more damage anyway, but now it can’t fight as long, when it does it’s because it’s not dealing damage, and once the fight is lost due to being effectively down half a player, the S/D thief has to run away but can’t get a decap or anything because it doesn’t have enough stealth, and will be followed and out rotated. Although on that last point, in solo queue again, it’s missleading because most there won’t have half a clue. Sometimes they’ll even let you walk right past them to decap.

Im not even sure how you came up with thing that s/d is subpar to d/p. On 1v1 it might be true but this game is not about 1v1 and mobility is the best virtue of a s/d thief and with DD im controling the fights, I pick the one I want and im doing immense dmg to a not bunker-ish builds. We had a match the other day me and my friend we had 250+ score each one while all our teammates had 20 to 50 score we won against pvp guild(although it was on stronghold). d/p might be the better spec to play, but s/d is far from not viable or not remotly close to d/p level. sayin know I will kill, some fights I lose, some fights i give up, some fights I win and I love it.

Sorry I guess. I tend to think more in terms of tournament play and meta comps rather than limited to ranked queue. What I said is true. Taking it and applying it to a different situation that it is intended for doesn’t make it false, it’s just flawed reasoning.

As for saying it’s good because of points and how you felt it went in a particular match, I could say I just had matches vs both S/D and staff thieves and they didn’t stand a chance (I actually just did), but that doesn’t mean anything other than you and or your team is better than that particular individual or team. There are so many complaints of complete fools in queue, anyone can walk all over that sort and then say “it proves my build is amazing!”

Anyway, S/D is subpar to D/P. D/P can interrupt on demand, blind a big hit causing it to miss everyone as opposed to evading it for yourself, and it has stealth, which vs a coordinated and aware team, is very strong for deception. Are you going to push the point or are you just making them think that while going elsewhere achieving an out number while someone wastes time guarding the point. Are you sitting in stealth about to spike someone, or did you pull off? S/D will be seen unless it can both get a cloak and dagger off, and get out of sight within 3 seconds immediately after. And as for superior mobility, with infiltrator’s return, yes. It can be very effective, but it’s not always possible to use it to pull off or get a quick instant decap because of the 15s limit, and it means it’s not close by to instantly port back in if you had to use it early, resulting in less in-fight mobility. Shadow shot can serve for mobility as well, remember, and it comes with higher damage, and a blind. Last but not least, you can help allies escape or gank by going to them, dropping black powder and blinding powder (for a quick escape) and blasting it additionally with cluster bomb (to stack for a gank).

You have almost infinite signet of infiltration. if you know that you dont need to return, just jump before you use the skill. Shadow shot need to be in range and need to hit. 3 sec as DD with the swiftness dash is enough to get from close to mid.

I know d/p is best and much more suitable. but s/d is not far behind and offer other things like boonripping and the best mobility ingame.

You babling about tournaments yet Sizer was s/d and he was on tournaments even though d/p was still the meta. He may stopped playing cuz of all the nerfs, but it doesnt mean this spec is not viable.

BrunoBRS.5178:

you are aware that jump dodging provides no advantage in combat, and isn’t even intended behavior, right?

hell, jump dodging is a liability. if you’re jump dodging during a fight, you’re risking yourself more than regular dodging.

Oh but it does. It makes you faster young padawan.

Impact.2780:

Arlowslol.1974:

Sandrox.9524:

I play DD s/d thief atm and I find it very strong. especially in Stronghold mode when you have alot of space to manuver.

I play this a lot and it is the most useless build.

you just run away ,run away, and run away. if you dont ,you got kill even by SA dp thief.

It’s a missleading build. It’s basically a win-more build. If your team is stronger than the opposing, you will feel as though you’re god mode, nothing can touch you, you’re pushing out great damage. If your team is equal, you will bring less than a d/p thief, will get pressured out of team fights, and have a hard time of the smaller fights when stalked by the other team’s D/P thief. If your team is weaker, you’ll zip about staying alive maybe getting some sneaky decaps and feel like you’re the only good player there.

This is coming from someone who stuck with S/D right up to and a bit beyond the elite specialisations, where I finally had to concede defeat because the vigor changes made my DA/CS/Trick build need Acro, which resulted in having less damage than the easier and less riskier DA/Trick/SA. Unfortunately S/D still doesn’t bring any significant advantages over D/P again. It used to be able to fight longer, therefore out damaging, and with the old CS it had more damage anyway, but now it can’t fight as long, when it does it’s because it’s not dealing damage, and once the fight is lost due to being effectively down half a player, the S/D thief has to run away but can’t get a decap or anything because it doesn’t have enough stealth, and will be followed and out rotated. Although on that last point, in solo queue again, it’s missleading because most there won’t have half a clue. Sometimes they’ll even let you walk right past them to decap.

Im not even sure how you came up with thing that s/d is subpar to d/p. On 1v1 it might be true but this game is not about 1v1 and mobility is the best virtue of a s/d thief and with DD im controling the fights, I pick the one I want and im doing immense dmg to a not bunker-ish builds. We had a match the other day me and my friend we had 250+ score each one while all our teammates had 20 to 50 score we won against pvp guild(although it was on stronghold). d/p might be the better spec to play, but s/d is far from not viable or not remotly close to d/p level. sayin know I will kill, some fights I lose, some fights i give up, some fights I win and I love it.

kash.9213:

Sandrox.9524:

I think this is a more thing of getting used to.

Everything is, but you probably don’t want to get used to flying off cliffs or keep or tower walls. The other dodges feel better along with Staff #2 also, just the right distance and ease of facing to fluidly sweep Staff #2 to knock out all three strikes on the target without having to inch up to them at all, Dash can make you have to run back a little to keep up with the target. It’s not a huge deal, I get why people like the zigzag animation and I’m using it right now because I need the modifiers for my build.

Getting used to as in, not falling off cliffs,getting used to as in know how far your dodge is and know how to avoid being fall into cliffs with your dodge.

Arlowslol.1974:

Sandrox.9524:

I play DD s/d thief atm and I find it very strong. especially in Stronghold mode when you have alot of space to manuver.

I play this a lot and it is the most useless build.

you just run away ,run away, and run away. if you dont ,you got kill even by SA dp thief.

Well it depends how you spec your traits and how is your playstyle. Imo my role as a thief in Spvp is to be as mobile as I can, capping points that no one is there, +1 in fights, wait in the shadows for using palm strike on foes for insta roflol stomp, and mess around with mesmers and necros.I am always one of the top scores and I get alot of kills.
Im using DD/DA/TR and I got lots of dmg and I am so fast I feel like im surfing the map.

Dreaming serpent.5197:

Sandrox.9524:

dank.3680:

Still using the GS since my comment about not liking it the other day. I finally swapped out my staff for it instead of my offhand set, it works a lot better. I’m running axe/focus (I’ve always disagreed with axe hate its a good weapon imo) and GS..

The axe/focus is the main set but the GS when used at the right times has become very valuable to me.

4 is great everyone agrees,

3 I personally find useful because my build relies on vuln stacking a lot.

5 is very situational and you need to only use it when you know it’s going to work(much like spectral grasp has always been wonky)..

skill 2 is amazing when you set it up by baiting dodges and stunbreaks with reapers shroud.. I’ve also used it to down multiple lower health enemies at once which none of my other necro tools could have done that.

If I’m using 1 spam on any weapon, it’s not a vital thing I’m doing so I don’t really mind the slowness of it, besides I don’t have issues landing it when I want to and it does huge damage.

I dumped staff too, Axe give more range threat, while RS and GS for melee attackers

Sameize. I’ve been Running a Axe/Wh GreatSword well pure zerker in pvp and having a blast. It’s not meta by far, but the wells really sustain you in a team fight and gravedigger can literally take people from 75% health to downed.

For Best effect, use spectral grasp, give life force, and they don’t expect a second pull from gs.

If only the gokitten skill would connect when it should be >.<

kash.9213:

Sandrox.9524:

The new dash-unhindered combatant looks very wierd when you do jump-dodge.Not somthing serious but any new animation for dodging in air that will look close to normal would be most welcoming!

I mentioned that jump to dodge issue in another thread, along with the problems that the slight extra distance can create but I got blasted in that thread, I think most people like Dash how it currently is so I wouldn’t expect a change.

It creates problem in tight spaces I agree but I think this is a more thing of getting used to.

I play DD s/d thief atm and I find it very strong. especially in Stronghold mode when you have alot of space to manuver.

SoulSin.5682:

Ignoring PvP, as asked, Staff Auto Attacks is better than Dagger AA.

If you add vulnerability to the count and AoE damage, any situation with multiple mobs or where you can’t move to the back of the target, staff is better.

Vault deals pretty much the same damage as BackStab as well. Just add the 10% damage staff trait and it technically deals more damage, in AoE, without the need to dance around the target.

That’s for targets above 50% health of course.
Below that Heartseeker + executioner beats everything as far as Thief goes.

Lastly, why not? You don’t really need SB for PvE either way. Staff AoE damage beats SB 2# by a long mile.

I might ask what use we have for swords now.

Dunno about you, but in PvP, I am having fun with my Daredevil Sw/D thief. Much better than staff. As for pve, s/p still strong. but staff too and potenically better altough I would argue that in pve everything works.

The new dash-unhindered combatant looks very wierd when you do jump-dodge.Not somthing serious but any new animation for dodging in air that will look close to normal would be most welcoming!

Cogbyrn.7283:

Sandrox.9524:

5.I dont know if intended but targets can avoid by side stepping the attack, and if it is intended I want to know why, cause i see all ranger range skills are pretty much heat seekers.

Thank you for your time, and I really hope to get an answer if you working/aware of those things.

Just to mention about projectiles, basically every projectile besides very few that are homing (like DS #1) will lead a target in motion to hit them. However, once let loose, they will follow their path regardless. As a result, even for Rangers (I’ve done this to them at close to max range), you can stutter strafe back and forth, and the projectiles will mostly fly to your sides and not hit. If a Ranger has the increased projectile speed, you aren’t as lucky, but you can do this trick for a lot of different projectiles to buy yourself some breathing room.

I’m pretty sure that’s intended. Also, as an aside, it also means that when you fire a projectile without a target, you can technically hit someone regardless. I used to do this when hunting for Thieves via DS #1 after they stealth. Pop a few projectiles into a Shadow Refuge to see if I can get some hits in. Or, if they go stealth while immobilized, I can shoot projectiles at the point where I immob’d. It’s pretty cool, even though not super useful by and large.

Ofc projectile hits random ppl when they get in contact.It is logical, but when ranger shoot an arrow and you just walk a bit to the left, no matece,ter if it has read the wind, it gonna hit, unlike spectral grasp that many times it will just miss. and im not even talking about rapidfire. Another example is ranger longbow auto attack and necro staff auto attack, while staff auto attack pierce, ranger auto attack can be specced to pierce and yet, it is much easier to avoid the staff auto attack but very hard to avoid ranger auto attack. The question is if Anet set staves to have slow projectile attack that you can sidestep easly, and other weapons such as longbow to have almost 100% hit ratio.And if so why Mesmer staff auto attack do stick to a target? is it because it is not have pierce(although it bounce)? or just because Anet wanna just say this is different and this is different.

Hello,

I want to ask, is anyone at Anet aware of the problem with Necro pulls?

Spectral grasp and Grasping Darkness need some attantion cause most of the times I use it couple of things happens which are should not:
1.The target dosnt get hit while infact – in range.
2.Target get hit but dosnt get pulled all the way to you somtimes pulled on spot like knockback.
3.Spectral Grasp- I know it is an old thing but when you gonna fix the problem that it hit “invisible” obstacle?
4.Very rare, but happens, the target get pulled while “ramp” is betwin and get flying high(it happend to me on a duel, the guy insta died from falling dmg).
5.I dont know if intended but targets can avoid by side stepping the attack, and if it is intended I want to know why, cause i see all ranger range skills are pretty much heat seekers.

Thank you for your time, and I really hope to get an answer if you working/aware of those things.

dank.3680:

Still using the GS since my comment about not liking it the other day. I finally swapped out my staff for it instead of my offhand set, it works a lot better. I’m running axe/focus (I’ve always disagreed with axe hate its a good weapon imo) and GS..

The axe/focus is the main set but the GS when used at the right times has become very valuable to me.

4 is great everyone agrees,

3 I personally find useful because my build relies on vuln stacking a lot.

5 is very situational and you need to only use it when you know it’s going to work(much like spectral grasp has always been wonky)..

skill 2 is amazing when you set it up by baiting dodges and stunbreaks with reapers shroud.. I’ve also used it to down multiple lower health enemies at once which none of my other necro tools could have done that.

If I’m using 1 spam on any weapon, it’s not a vital thing I’m doing so I don’t really mind the slowness of it, besides I don’t have issues landing it when I want to and it does huge damage.

I dumped staff too, Axe give more range threat, while RS and GS for melee attackers

Holl.3109:

NEVER! I WILL CONTINUE POWER REAPING AND USING BLIGHTERS BOON

POWER NECROS……UNITE!

nacario.9417:

Sandrox.9524:

nacario.9417:

But u can clearly see it though, theres a blue white light that lits up the revs chest/head, not to mention the blue buff icon that pops up. What else do ppl want, a big sign or a screaming 13 yr old sound “DONT HIT ME FOR 3 SECONDS”.

When I burst a rev to half I keep an eye on these “signs” as it’s obvious he is suspect to pop it, and therefore I dont go for the kill just yet. This heal is built around a bad mechanic which relies on players making mistake, why make it even easier.

You will not see it in group fight.Duels dosnt count for anything even if you didnt mentioned it one must assume you talking to it cause clearly in group fight you are not always targeting the revenant and see tiny particle in a midst of 10k others

Actually if u pay attention to the rev during a 5v5 u should be able to notice his heal, even easier as the pvp numbers go down. Easier if the rev is ur actual target in said fight, as u can also see the blue buff on his bar. If u truly cannot see it then same argument can be used for other class skills, that u cannot see theirs during ‘group fights’ and u want bigger notification.

I could be fine with having a very obvious animation but then they should up the initial heal as currently one relies to much on rng and player mistakes to make it count, where one could potentially always avoid dmg him which means rev only get a 2k heal.

pay attantion to Revenant and the other 4 is fine but you cant have FULL attantion to Revenant all the time while have others to count too, they should make it dafiance stance like and sound is not reliable since the nature of ppl speaking on TS or other effects sounds so the comment about it pretty much not helpful.

nacario.9417:

But u can clearly see it though, theres a blue white light that lits up the revs chest/head, not to mention the blue buff icon that pops up. What else do ppl want, a big sign or a screaming 13 yr old sound “DONT HIT ME FOR 3 SECONDS”.

When I burst a rev to half I keep an eye on these “signs” as it’s obvious he is suspect to pop it, and therefore I dont go for the kill just yet. This heal is built around a bad mechanic which relies on players making mistake, why make it even easier.

You will not see it in group fight.Duels dosnt count for anything even if you didnt mentioned it one must assume you talking to it cause clearly in group fight you are not always targeting the revenant and see tiny particle in a midst of 10k others

You missing enemies condi duration buffs and condi spamming for duration.

Infusion.7149:

Huh? Axe is 900 range. Is 100 range more going to make a huge difference? Probably not.

yeah, forgot they changed that. 1200 wouls work.

Like dafiance stance on warrior, players should be able to see the rev using it. It helps with the counter play and it is really annoying to always check for it on rev bar. Will really help at group fighting.

GS is amazing in pve, especially if you know how to use it. I stack feroctiy and have sigil of inteligence,i just start with staff spamming all the marks then switch to gs using gravedigger hit for 25k dmg on a mob insta kill it.

to 1200…

The reason is that Reaper is helpless against range ppl and even if you have spectral grasp with GS#5, we lack that range threat, which make reapers laughable.Staff is not an ideal option for range fight and our pulls as mentioned are buggy and easy to avoid(even by side stepping).

On the topic of GS#5, it would be nice to have its range increased aswell.

This is the only problem I have with the Reaper, everything else is amazing !

dunno what you talking about im litreally untouchable having played only s/d all my thief even when it got nerfed i find it very easy and pretty much even OP

Jana.6831:

Yay, I have a good excuse not to get it. But honestly, Nevermore is nice, but not for a thief and Revenant can’t use it.
BUT a necro can.

ETA: I was actually looking at the staff skins tonight and Bo is nice and some other, but everything else doesn’t look ninja. Wanted to get The Crossing, but I’m not sure it would look good on a thief – but then again my thief is very special (nothing really looks good on him, probably because he looks like an accident to start with).

I have the crossing i can make a video of my thief using it if you want

Well be S/D …problem solved!

emendez.3705:

Sandrox.9524:

emendez.3705:

a dev told me it was do to an infinite badge exploit or something like that

lol if dev told you it should be straightforwad not “something like that”

i put something like that because i couldnt remember the exact wording the dev used but not like it matters it is disabled and whether you know why or not wont change how soon its fixed

cheers

emendez.3705:

a dev told me it was do to an infinite badge exploit or something like that

lol if dev told you it should be straightforwad not “something like that”

there is description on the items that usuall pinpoint/help you where to get em

Astry.9476:

Sandrox.9524:

Stop crying and bear with them you will get the npc back jsut wait day or two not a big deal

Why would you say folks are crying? There’s a difference in crying and wondering why in the hell there isn’t a bit more communication about a hot topic.

I’m more than patient, but relaying information is important, in my opinion, and people would be more understanding if they would let folks know an ETA, if there is one, or at least acknowledging that they are still working on it.

read the other posts then. Asking for ETA is ok crying about how they want the hero point and the elite skills and then continue whining on other things related to it is crying to me