Guild Wars 2

Lukin.4061:

Well, since there are a lot of 8×8 games running all the time it has a high probability to sometimes have a weird amount of single class, but in my experience its not that usual to get more thieves, its either mesmers or guardians. So while I’m here lets put some random screenshot that does not prove anything:

It was for the most part a joke about the popularity of the thief class. The funny thing about my screenshot in particular is that the only other classes there are Mesmer’s and Ele’s. The other two FoTM classes. The only thing thats missing is a guardian and honestly without the block bug he prolly wouldn’t be played as much as a bunker ele/engie anyway.

Thieves are indeed fun, I’m playing one in that screenshot, not that u can tell from that perspective. However thieves are way to easy to play atm for to much reward, and next to no risk. So why wouldn’t u play one? I always play rouge types in pretty much every RPG i play, but i feel inclined atm to play S/D as its the only melee weapon set that isn’t yet deemed overpowered and overpopulated.

Also, lmao at marcus, its so true its sad. If you run 3 traps and manage not to die to basilisk venom before it expires u can take them to 50% hp before they finally stomp u. Progress….

isn’t it sad….? why play another class when u can just spam 2 or use a macro that 5-f1-1’s for ya.

Nuff said…..
Except for that ranger, hes an anomaly clearly.

Wait a dual skill that isn’t spamable as a main attack?!?!?! quick buff the skill, i need m0re spam…. S/D is an incredible set that is by far one of the hardest and most rewarding specs to play, if there needs to b any change on the set its a pathing fix on the skill (which it isnt nearly as bad as you people make it out to be) and possibly make it remove two boons rather then one, or better yet change the remove one boon into steal one boon. To make it more “Thief Like”

Also if your goal is only the damage factor, you do know you can move in between the first and second strikes right? Its just not quickness friendly….o noes.

I run something similar to you, i originally ran with 30 Shadow over 30 Acro, still not sure which i like more, but in my build I run a dif rune then you as well as different sigils. I also splash 10 into shadow arts for Infusion as i rely more on Cloak and Dagger for a near perma daze. Its a pretty kitten efficient build tho not gonna lie. Wish #3 removed more then one boon tho…
http://gw2skills.net/editor/?fYAQNAsYVlUmiO3ey5E+JFx2jdqTeyVwo+C6ZcV5D;TsAA1CnokyIlQKrUOpkStCZMykAA

milo.6942:

All these kids in forums think balance means each class should have equal access to everything every other class has. Maybe I rock your world but: that’s not what balance means. if darkness well gives blind every 1 sec it is very very good for stomping. i have 1 blind that i use for stomps… o-n-e and i time it properly to stomp.

Have you ever played a necro? Well of darkness is indeed a good stomping tool, however it has a 60 sec CD and the chances of you getting through a fight and not using it is at best 50/50. I’m not sure which class your talking about with your one blind, maybe scepter ele? But i’d take an instant cast blind on a ~10-20 sec Cd over a 60 sec CD that uses a utility slot any day of the week. Necros really don’t have an effective way to stomp like most other classes, which is fine, i rather leave that person lying on the ground and use him as bait so i can apply some insane condition pressure to any/all of hus revivee’s and still deny them the opportunity.

Malicious.6742:

Necros can fear ressing people

So can several other classes and generally much better.

Loco.9508:

Well let’s see here, the best Spvp classes are (in order of strongest to weakest)

1. Guardian
2. Thief
3. Mesmer
4. Necro

Most comps are 2 guardians, 1 mesmer/thief/necro. You are really confused why they are nerf’ing Guardians?

Close but not quite:
1: Guardian: Stupid block glitch
2: Elementalist: Unkillable without the help of 3 people or 1 and a necro
3: Necro : Only because its great at killing bunkers thanks to all their boon removal, especially stability so u can nuke them down quickly.
4: Mesmer: Portal…nuff said.
5: Thief: Insane burst damage for quick point capping
6: Engineer: Good off point bunker that’s hard to bring down, also has a nice condition build as a roamer
7: Warrior: HB is vastly worse then Backstab atm even with a cordinated spike. It’s other weapons while viable, other classes do it better
8 Ranger: pretty obvious.

In 8v8:
Thief
Thief
Thief
Thief
Mes
Mes
Mes
Others….

not gonna comment on any of the above but #3.

While i do agree that they should bring in professional gamers to test it wont automatically balance the game. In fact it would only balance the game for the highest level of play, which is great for E-sports or w/e but 80% of the people who play this game are not hardcore and just cause something is balanced in the highest levels of play, doesn’t mean it will be elsewhere. A good example is the backstab thief build. Pros couldnt give to craps about this build as they can dodge the C&D’s on reaction, and can call for backup and get revived before the thief does any real harm. Yet in a random game you can see the worst players in the world owning the lobby one backstab at a time. Pro Balance=/= Balance. Another example would be void rays in SC2. Void ray rush owned scrubs but pros couldnt care less as they scouted.

Nyth.3492:

I can see why it is the strongest, or one of the strongest out there. But if you view it in perspective there is a lot of unjustified whining out there as well.

1) While Mist Form technically resets health, you actually get downed penalty each time you use it. Mist Form away and you start with 50% HP and you health goes down much faster.
The OP makes it seem like MF is a surefire way to indefinitely keep in the fight, this is bull.

2) The OP assumes that in every other situation you always have access to a stability, teleport and/or 2 people for a stomp. In any case where you don’t the ele downed is actually not as powerful as the others.
As ele I have a 100% chance to avoid the first stomp. But if the opponent doesn’t have stability or a teleport, I can avoid getting stomped a lot more and a lot longer on many other classes.
Note that the cooldown on Vapor Form has been changed to 20 seconds, meaning that with the extra downed penalty (point #1) you won’t be able to use it a second time unless you can heal yourself up.

In the end though I agree that for tPvP this ability is on the ‘too strong’-side. Especially the fact you can force people away from a point is imo too strong.
But you really have to get some misconceptions and false assumptions out of the way if you want a fair debate over what to do with it. Even in tPvP you don’t always have access to stability for stomping or have 2 players around to stomp or a teleport, and in those cases the ele downed state is hardly the strongest.

Your one point is spot on, your second point is not so much.

All classes save for Thief, Mesmer, and now Elementalist’s have multiple ways to deal with stomps. Stability is a dirrect counter to all of them but its not a requirement. Necro, Engineer, and Warrior all have a slow animation making it simple to dodge roll then get back onto the stomp ~2-4 seconds before their 3rd ability comes up. Rangers and Guardian Abilities are a bit faster, so rather then a dodge roll (which is still possible just hard) how about an instant cast blind? What, you just had an extremely close fight with that warrior and your down to ~2k hp with no endurance or stability left, and your blinds are on CD? Use a projectile Reflector or destroyer. There’s so many ways to guarantee a stomp on every class that the Ele, Thief, and Mesmer all need to be changed. Sure thief/mesmer can be auto stomped with the right setup that not all classes are capabable off and the mesmer is luck based more then anything and often requires a second person. However no matter what you do, you cannot stomp a Ele on the first time, which is not how it should b at all.

Personally i would just like to be able to CC downed opponents, that’d fix a lot of problems and allow for more flexibility in designing downed states. Just plop a 2 sec stun on them and quickness stomp them, or have your team mate daze them as they are about to interrupt you. Ect. Obviously you’d need to change the speed of the thief and ele cast then, but its still no big deal.

Sigh… So after about 6 hours doing the most grueling and difficult/long dungeon i’ve done in a long while, the game decided that we weren’t worthy of the dungeon finishing properly. We killed all the bosses including the priestest of dwayna (who btw needs some serious toning down) But after all that we reached the bloodstone killed the mobs surrounding it, like the quest dictates we should….and then….NOTHING! We all stood around the stone waiting for the npc to do something, and he never did. We tried killing some extra mobs in the vicinity, and nothing. It was a little annoying to say the least. But more then anything else i’d just like to see this fixed so no1 else has to experience this massive trauma. sad part is that’s only being mildly dramatic.

Well for some reason i can’t get the quote feature to work properly so i’ll respond to you in bold, while the default size will be your comments Xriah.

You should pick your traits based on both. 300 can make a large difference, Especially for us since our stats are well matched. Going 30 into Lightning gets us 300 percision AND %30+ crit damage. Going 30 into fire gets us 300 extra damage AND extra condition duration. Crit damage, condition duration, lots of stats can be harder to mix and match on gear.

Picking for both is a nice bonus, but it shouldn’t be a major deciding factor in why you want that specific trait line. While 300 will make a difference, its not large enough to go purely in the trait line for the stats. Consider them as a nice bonus, and nothing else, and you’ll be able to make much better builds that have more synergy then raw stats.

I put 20 in fire for 3xMight in cantrips, 10% extra damage in fire, and the extra damage it affords. It’s a good compliment to our damage, which could really use the boost. Especially if you run a cantrip build, giving you several moments with 3x and 6x Might.
Evasive Arcana kind of screws what dodging should be about, which is avoiding damage. It, again, makes more sense in staff where you have range and can afford to lose some dodge than it does in D/D where you should focus on dodging the big hits.

I understand why you went into fire, It looks rather appeasing right from the get go, and its great in the early levels, although i still prefer lightning but that’s slightly off topic. However if you look at the two traits you chose, both give your more damage, which is significantly less then evasive arcana will give you. Since your using D/D you have access to ring of fire, which means you can save your dodges for big attacks and grant yourself might in the process, on top of doing some addition bleeding damage, healing yourself and removing a condition, or throwing in a blind for a free dodge. (not on bosses obviously for the last one) The 30 in arcane would also grant you perma vigor thanks to renewing stamina. Meaning the 30 points you spend in arcane do the same as the 30 you put into fire/water and then some. Plus you get the benefit of one more open trait slot which you can use to get a ~60%+ uptime on regen/protection just from attunement swapping often.

I think we agree on one thing, and that’s that people should be trying their own builds and learning what works best for them. I’ve tried Arcana, and it feels lackluster on D/D. I think other people should see if they can invest elsewhere instead of just assuming it’s the best fit for them, because it sure as hell wasn’t the best for me. Isn’t that what you want?

No doubt about this, do what works for YOU. However i highly, highly recommend you try out the arcane tree again, as maybe you overlooked just how powerful it is. If it still doesn’t work feel free to stick with what worked for you. However it is generally accepted that the arcane tree is the best tree, and telling new players otherwise, could actually deter them from such a wonderful and deep class. I know this wasn’t your intent or anything just be careful with your wording, your original post makes it sound like the arcane tree is terrible when that’s clearly not the case.

That’s really bad advice. Arcane tree is without a doubt the best tree we have with any weapon set. Its crucial for Evasive Arcana. That skill alone is better then the 3 you’ll get from fire, not to mention you’ll rack up way more power thanks to all the might you can then build up. The fire tree should be avoided at all costs, cause the traits in it are all terrible, unless your an auramancer, and even that build can be done better without fire, at least in PvE. I suggest the OP change his post to “ignore arcane before level 60” as pre level 60 the stat bonuses are more significant then the traits themselves.

i always run with the ice bow in my D/F build. It provides me with a solid AoE attack that is stronger then Meteor Storm against things like trebuchets, and graveling burrows thanks to the smaller Radius. The number 3 skill is surprisingly effective. If you fire it point blank it will proc a very very long chill which can be game breaking in PVP and useful on some bosses. The number 2 skill has it’s uses, but the long cast time makes it subpar in pvp unless u channel it while in mist form/obsidian flesh, the first being much better and harder to see. The 2 skill is great in pve for the extra damage and vulnerability. Dont use it much in PvP tho although its a good ranged option. However after you use the skills you need at the moment you drop the bow asap as its damage and support options are subpar outside of their niche uses. Pick up the second copy ~15 seconds later to get a second use out of it. Not 2 shabby.

Don’t know about the others tho, haven’t enjoyed the options i get out of the Hammer, axe, or shield. GS is great for pve tho.

Not sure if its mentioned or not but my pheonix skill only gives me about 5 seconds of vigor when the tooltip saves it gives 11.

First of all i’d like to say Arah is by far one of the most fun dungeons I have ever run, so kuddos. However my group experienced a pretty major bug which left for an anti climatic feeling. During the final stage of the Zhaitan fight, when your shooting him with the cannons or w/e he just stood there and took it. He’d occasionally spit poison at us (and usually miss entirely) but he didn’t summon any mobs and i’m almost 100% certain hes suppose to. As every time he spit the poison at us all the npc’s would draw there weapons as if about to fight something, but nothing would ever appear. So we just stood there for ~5 minutes laying waste to a completely defenseless dragon. Made the ending not feel nearly as epic as it should have been. Also Leaping Death Blossom on the little ship is a nightmare, i span off at least 4 times during the minor dragon fights. Quite a funny scene tho.

to be fair that boss is incredibly hard, and can only be beaten by death zerging him. Its impossible to stand in that room for more then a couple minutes without dying. I went there on my lv 80 thief and still died several times, the second i ran outta dodges (and initiative in this case for disabling shot) i’d almost fall instantly to a KD/burn. So i’d blame it a lot more on the boss then your elementalist.

I find the grenade kit to be extremely effective at lower levels. Its perfect for kiting as you can throw grenades behind you as mobs chase you which makes you invincible against melee, and its blind and combo field are great in large scale fights. I rarely leave home without it, even when untraited.

Do you play a tanky build that likes to sit on a point and hold it through the entire match? I know i often do. I also know that my score usually ends in the 20-50 range depending on the map and how much (or usually little) action i get. All in all this isn’t a HUGE deal or anything, but it is a little saddening. I like to believe i do just as much as the roamers on my team getting well into the 150-250 range, yet they get 4-5 times more glory then me, why?

My suggestion is to add a system that gives you 5-10 points for every minute you stand on a point. Also add in a “Top Player Point Holder” that way your not rewarded more for playing a roaming build, just so you get cooler looking gear faster.

I’m not a massive lore buff or anything but it seems to me that human’s have little to no outcome on the state of the world. Aside from Logan (and yourself of course) there don’t seem to be any other figure head “Humans”. Every personal story quest lv 30+ of course is run by someone of a different race. There’s Forgal, for Vigil, and gixx for for the priory. Haven’t ran whispers yet tho to be fair, not sure if there’s a human there. Then of course Trahearne. Humans just don’t seem to be very important. Did anyone else feel like this?

Mrbig.8019:

Channeling attacks still hit you after you stealth.

Bouncing attacks still attacking you even when you’re stealthed.

100% cri trait not being 100 %.

Minions/pets/illusions not caring about line of sight after you stealth ( aka: target doesn’t break for them)

Delay after stealthing, making you still hittable by attacks ( instead of going after you, like every attack with no target should do).

Those things ( aside the trait thing) are kittening the thief ridicolously, and also the mesmer to a certain degree.

Can’t really understand why all stealth classes need to be hella bugged anytime a game is released.

I completely agree with ya on all these fronts. Its incredibly annoying that i pull out some sweet mind games on my opponent and vanish. But his minions follow me around the map even when stealthed basically saying. O hay look there he is. The bouncing and channeling skills are annoying but not game breaking. still wish they’d fix/change them. I also find that leap type skills also tend to follow you while stealthed, or maybe its just cause heartseakers hitbox is beyond massive.

As for the trait i’ve never had it not crit, are you sure the traits selected? i know that i often switch chars or relog only to find out 10 minutes later that my traits have all “reset” and i’ve been running a kittened build.

Not exactly sure if this is a bug or not, but i’ll report it anyway just in case.
For pre-purchasing i got the hero’s band and the golem banker that expires after 4 days. However, each time i make a new character (I could do this tens of times if i wanted) i get another golem which is account bound and not character bound. Meaning that i always have access to a golem banker. I assume this is unintentional, why else would it expire after 4 days?

Honestly i’m just tired of this build being everywhere. It’s a extremely irritating build that has zero skill cap. These builds shouldn’t exist. Honestly i think HB takes more skill then this nonsense. And this is comming from a thief.

theres several ways to “fix” this skill.
Lower the damage on enemies greater then 33% hp
Increase its initiative cost
Reduce the Range of its leap
Make its leap not effected by Swiftness (this is my personal favorite as i hate that hearseaker gives more mobility then infiltrators arrow)

Kuppa.7892:

SwickHobo.5096:

Well considering the mesmer has our 2 and 3 skill combines into with the added benefit of a clone, i’d say yes, thief down state went from OP to complete crap. Still not as bad as ele’s tho.

You have to look at the overall picture though. A mesmer or a thief can’t 1v1 an ele in the downed state. Sure, that isn’t super handy. But in a big fight an Ele can actually help out with its damage from the downed state and if it gets to use its mist form it can get back up pretty quickly, I think the numbers might be tweaked a bit but its pretty good IMO.

I have no idea what your trying to say for your 1v1 and ele from the downed state. Ele downed state damage is prolly the lowest out of any of them, and only applies a vulnerability. A thief spreading cripple in an AoE form is much more useful to a team fight. Also most Ele’s will get auto stomped unless a teammate can help them out as they have no anti-stomp on their 2 skill spot. Mesmer’s #3 skill can also hit up to 6k if it hits from behind.

The OP is right, a 10 second Daze is incredibly OP by design. Add to the fact that it can counter any other elite in the game (save a few like Thieves Guild and Entangle) It’s prettykittencrazy. The people who are saying its not OP more then likely play 8v8’s more then anything. In a tourney setup where people are organized and have good communication Moa Form=‘s Completely free kill. If you get immoblized as a moa you literally CAN DO NOTHING. Same with Kd’s. When u can’t do anything defensive you DIE and fast. Moa needs to be changed to 5 seconds or up its CD dramatically.

Well considering the mesmer has our 2 and 3 skill combines into with the added benefit of a clone, i’d say yes, thief down state went from OP to complete crap. Still not as bad as ele’s tho.

Here’s my list of under performing traits with suggestions on how to fix them:

Improvisation- Random is never good, and rarely fun, especially when there’s a chance that you’ll get no effect. Should Imo be replaced entirely or refresh two different utility types that way there’s never a chance to miss entirely.

Potent Poison- Just seems weak. Would be much better if it made bleeds last longer, as poison is already incredibly easy to stack, and since it stacks in duration more is rarely needed. Change to 25% longer bleed duration

Corrosive Traps- As you said its very underwhelming. I believe the idea is to KD or immobilize someone with a trap, then spike them down. But this is highly unrealistic and 5 stacks isn’t enough to make a huge difference. I suggest you combine this trait with Master trapper.

Back Fighting- Horrible trait, In PvE your gonna die as a thief if you fall into the downed state anyway, since they automatically follow you when u tele away or continue to attack you while stealthed (which is incredibly annoying) and in PvP you’ll be stomped before you can make any use of it. Replace entirely or combine with Concealed defeat.

Hidden Killer- I actually love this trait quite a bit, but i personally feel it would be better off in Shadow arts tree. This way you could run a 4% crit chance build but still be able to crit from stealth. Rather then having 50%+ crit base then using an entire grandmaster trait for a 50-30% upgrade every ~3 seconds. It also doesn’t fit well with Sidestrike.

Concealed Defeat- see back fighting

Shadow’s Embrace- I’d like to see this changed to losing a condition when u ENTER stealth. While waiting 3 seconds to remove that crucial 15 bleed stack, you can very often die. Also in a PvP setting, stealthing for 3 seconds while guarding a point is enough time for them to neutralize the point..

Master of Deception- Average trait should have a secondary effect tho. Maybe gain one initiative every time you use a deception, or gain a ~3 second fury buff each time you use a deception. (as most of them are stealth types this would give you higher “backstab potential”

Fleet of Foot- Think it should be Cripple and Chilled, Thieves are known to be extremely mobile and it would make since if you could remove both of the “slowing” effects, especially since its the accrobatics tree.

Sleight of Hand- For a grandmaster trait it seems a bit weak, i understand its for an interrupt, but often KD’s and stuns last longer then one second, so should this. 2 sec KD, or a 2 1/2 second daze.

Trickster- Needs a secondary effect. reducing the CD by X seconds per trick would be kinda cool.