Guild Wars 2

By looking at the score and seeming its only 2 days in, im pretty sure SFR did better against BT than what these T1 servers are doing right now?

If IRON and GOD came to SFR it would be a smashing server. Plenty of room in the Medium server. Looks like we will be T2 again soon

Syndic.4762:

After reading your posts about removing arrowcarts and PVP, I don’t think you’ll fit in with the mentality on Blacktide.

Seafarer’s Rest might be a better option for you.

Why SFR?

Only good players are on SFR. Medium server is rejoining its T3

RE: WvW culling…..

I have dueled many thiefs, and seen many PvP videos like this one: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0G5-ERrK7OY (When he is fighting 2 melee thiefs in the first min)

I always see the thief when I expect to see him (i count to 4)

It just isnt an issue for me to be honest and im playing on a good laptop

this is not a troll, it just appears to happens with some…..

They render fine for me (Playing on lowest settings for high performance and FPS)

im using nvidia using the sweetfx shader .dll and tweaked the card to run at full performance for high frame rates

5/0/30/30/5 with full carrion armour and jewles and 3 sets of bleed duration runes (2xKrait, 2xCenteur, 2xAfflicted)

Traits for survival, gear for condition damage

If your stealthing alot and there are people who are AoE’ing and Auto attacking in an attempt to hit you (Or guardians pull in ability) you know your facing good players and to be carefull as they prolly know as much about stealth as you do

Combo needs to be broken up so it takes more seconds to do the same thing/damage

That is all

There are no doubt people in this thread that want

a. Backstab to remain over powered
b. People Who want it to be made utterly useless
c. People who just want the obvious broken skill combo to be fixed

Unfortunatley there are more As and Bs in this thread than C’s

basically forget about drafting new ideas for the capture points

just stick the code from sPvP into WvW as you cant stealth cap in sPvP but for some very odd reason can in WvW

It must have been overlooked by ANET…. That is all

Keep it simple everyone

This thief forum has a great nak for side tracking and sub arguments and drifting off topic

Other than that, the perm steath build thief is useless. Seriously

I score this entire thread -100 points

Information is really bad within, and theres to many sub arguments around the obvious making it go far far off topic

Stop infiltrators signet and steal for comboing with cloak and dagger and the thief is fixed. Its that simple everyone.

STRanger.5120:

Devildoc.6721:

It is weird, but I’m just saying I’d rather see it than a flat out damage nerf, or worse, complete overhaul of the thief to remove the initiative system and put them on cooldowns.

I’d rather see a 0.5-1s weapon skill GCD that prevents mug+C&D+bs all going off at once than see C&D on a 45s cooldown.

Mind you, our utilities would need to be able to ignore this GCD, so it wouldn’t really be a GCD, just a CD across weapon skills.

Even 0.5s would disrupt the instant gank build, while leaving every other use of the skills viable.

Like I wrote yesterday, ppl will start to use infiltration signet instead of Steal to fasten their combo, so whiners will be still whining about the fast blink+C&D combo and backstab (because positioning for it takes some time = GCD won´t be as much problem there….)

Using the signet should also cancel the casting of C&D just like steal should

its an easy fix if they do it for one…. It will happen to the other

eradicate the combo and thief is fine

Iohanna.4863:

Webley.1295:

When you got trapped was when it went wrong – The hunters should have done this much sooner

That is the way to stop people like us doing the silly thing of wasting time

I dont like the build to be fair, its a build to stop capping, its pretty useless…

The trap I would have just shrugged off with stealth condition removal; it was the Thief who got in my way in the end.

As for the build, this is actually an sPvP backstab build so it’s exceptionally powerful in 1v1 and 2v2. Constant stealth, constant blinds, constant condition removal, constant healing; it’s quite a resilient set of utilities for a glass-cannon.

It’s less effective in a zerg however; although I can release a punishing (full Berserker) Dagger Storm every 90 seconds relatively safely (Shadow Return from Sword can bring me far away after the storm is finished), my activities are mostly restricted to harassment and ninja-stomps. With 50+ bloodthirsty invaders around you, it’s really difficult to do much else.

For a backstab build, I gotta say, its not really all that,

As for something to kill, it looks annoying as hell

I have 10min duels with bunker guards on my survival thief waiting for someone to make a mistake

it would be the same case fighting yours, we would just stealth, remove conditions and heal all the time

The META is changing for the better, these glass builds are more and more old school nothing builds. My new survial cond thief would roll over a glass BS thief

[EU] Sea Farers Rest is the best manpower to score ratio server in the world

Fact

When you got trapped was when it went wrong – The hunters should have done this much sooner

That is the way to stop people like us doing the silly thing of wasting time

I dont like the build to be fair, its a build to stop capping, its pretty useless

Maybe if you added some caltrops/traps it could be more fun

I would go as far to say that this video proves stealth capping in wvw needs to be fixed like we are all waiting for (It works in sPvP, why not make it work in WvW!!!)

if this turns out into another remove stealth thread i will nerf my face into a large spike

prolly one of the more under powered traits in the game and not really worth taking for any build

its ok for 2 button backstab i guess if your in the right place behind the player, but theres better ways to do better damamge by pressing one extra button which is cloak and dagger

If they stop that casting combo of cloak and dagger when hitting the steal button this maybe a viable trait for some backstabbers

I believe the next patch will take away the casting of C&D when stealing tbh, and i totally agree with it being a ex-BS thief player myself (now condition build)

SFR, best medium Server in the world – However its also frustrating some times offpeak for aussie players!!

I have a build very similar, and against a guard that has condition removal, fights will go on, even with elite skills cooling down ready to use again until someone makes a mistake. Me and a bunker guard had a duel for about 10 mins, I used my elite skill 2 or 3 times. In the end, he made a mistake and i took the stomp

Its the bunker thief, no damage, but cant be killed easily. Lots of bleeds

If you dont have condition removal this build will win

5/0/30/30/5 is my setup with Carrion Armour/Jewels
Runes = 2xAfflicted, 2xCenteur 2xKrait

You need utility that gives init (roll for init)
Lots of stealth skills
And you need to take assassin reward (heal for spending init) and the traits that regen health&init in stealth

Its a kind of trinity build where you manage stealth,init and healing to keep a perma heal/stealth effect

spend init to heal (Death Blossom which dodges also and stacks bleeds)
stealth to regen init
heal whilst in stealth
spend init to heal (Death Blossom which dodges also and stacks bleeds)
stealth to regen init
heal whilst in stealth
spend init to heal (Death Blossom which dodges also and stacks bleeds)
stealth to regen init
heal whilst in stealth

Azure.8670:

thats how im rolling now

If you had scorpion wire… this build would be complete

Another useful thing, When you see a guy and discover what class/build he is (By looking at his boons/conditions) look at his weapons, that will tell you what weapon rotations he will be using

You should have already discovered how squishy a greatsword warrior is compared to a shield warrior and thus you know whats required of you to take it down and how to play/counter

observe before entering any fight is a number 1 tip

Look at the foods the enemy is using, its a great way for figuring out what hes buffed the most, you can then quickly tell what kind of things they will want to use to kill you so you can dodge/counter accordingly. If you see a food that gives prec or power chance you know your not up against a condition build. If you see food buffs that gives 40% condition duration you know the enemy will try and melt you with condition damage so get prepared to clense them. The better players with better knowledge also tend to use the foods

Waste as many of thier cooldowns as possible before using yours, if your blowing utilities before they have blown any themselves you are the one loosing

Kill the guys with green arrows first, they drop easily but can still hurt if left alone. A full lvl 80 guy will have all his skills and gear and will take longer to kill

know when to disengage a fight and run to survive!

Use NPCs!! If your outnumbered they can turn the tides of battle. You can also use cloak and dagger on NPC’s to move around the map in stealth as you escape. Stealing from rabbits and eagles also has a chance to give you an extra stealth stolen skill (And also teleports you further away from the guys chasing you)

just be smart, out think them. Knowledge is power in this game. At the top of the knowledge pyramid, it comes down to some skill and counter builds.

Discover the worst possible kind of build/class you could ever face and find a way to counter it. If you can kill your arch enemy, you can kill most other sub-enemies

Dieing alot is a massive eye opener heh

From constant PVP you learn each skill animation over time without knowing your doing it

Look at class forums and looking at thier skill rotations and trait builds helps you understand what people are building and whats out there. The rotations of certain skills will come out like you see on youtube or how they explain it in the forums. You pretty much know what they will do next

Visualize the fight before it happens, Prepare for the worst, hope for the best

Micro manage the fight. If you a thief dont blow your init in one big hit. do a couple of test attacks, see how good the opponent really is before playing all your cards. Some guardians or mesmers just blocks, wait for a burst then leave you with nothing before they start thier skill rotation

Know what classes to kill first, know your weaknesses. If your a pistol thief you can kite the melee guys as you shoot down other ranged players. If your trying to kill a guardian while 1 ele is hitting you, your chances of success will be lower than if you left the guardian till last

Know your skills/weapons. To many thiefs have mastered what backstab or heartseeker does. Put Blackpowder or certain other underused skills in the hands of a good player and they are the ones who win. If you dont know what a skill might be useful for in a fight, study it until you do. I use all my skills at the right time. Nothing gets left out in a proper fight

Alot of thiefs are using 50% of thier skills,

swap out your utilitys/weapons, some are good for roaming and others for zerging – Its free to do it, so do it!

When you click on a player look at his boons/conditions – That will help you find out what build he is (DPS or Defensive) and what he will do next (Also helps you find out what class he is as in WvW it doesnt tell you)

Healing in a zerg, you dont have to do it!! just run back till you leave combat, automatically heal, then run back to the front line, you then save your heal skill for when you really need it

Ichishi.9613:

S/D does not benefit from your zerker gear.

another amazing statement found in the GW2 thief forums

Scootabuser.4915:

A little known fact is that P/D incredibly effective with berserker gear, your attacks don’t hit as hard but you hit much more often and it’s MUCH easier to survive. Make sure you specc into power if your using venoms and always spec 30 into shadow for the sexy healing.

yea you can swap out sb with p/d and run both in my build

The Roll provides a CC breaker if it does not serve as a ini regen

NightyNight.1823:

Theres Only one acceptable thing they could do..
Make Basilisk Venom breakable and to make up for the elite skill , add poison damage to it.That way you wont have anymore excuses for not being able to counter the combo and would make a better elite skill underwater.

Basilisk Venom is breakable

there is so much incorrect information in this thread its not even funny

the pitiful thing is these people are the ones telling us the maths behind why things are broken when the equations are all so very wrong

I can only imagine how people complained in every other MMO where stealth didnt last 4 secs but remained until the player didnt require it any more

GW2 has it bad in the forums right now

Azure.8670:

you dont think so? please explain. id like to make changes that would benefit me. I dont mind being glass cannon, and I dont mind being glass cannon. I was thinking of keeping my build and just rolling daggers instead. Maybe throwing jewels on my trinkets for more vit and toughness. Carrion does sound good tho

With carrion and 5/0/30/30/5 I have 20.7k hp

Azure.8670:

I dont need to be a glass cannon… im willing to redo all my gear and such, doesnt bother me. I use P/P now and then its ok I prefer p/d.

Well you got stealth builds

You got Evasion builds with no stealth

You got cannon builds,

Conditions builds

I had zerker gear and tried all sorts of builds. Gameplay only really changed for me when i bought carrion gear and I havent thought of going back any time soon

A condition build will be a new challenge for you, completley different playstyle and logic

Buy carrion gear and do your research like you did with zerker gear and s/p

Youll have a new world open up

The first few hours was basically repair bills, but after the learning curve i think i ended up with a better all round build

I run with 5/0/30/30/5

My build is for WvW: http://gw2skills.net/editor/?fYAQNAoYVlUm6OHfy9E+JFB3Djq0m6LQXQ3DsKftC;T8AgyyuEcJ5S1liLKYMwIgx2kDGJMLPGBMXA
YOU MAY HAVE TO COPY AND PASTE THE LINK

The gear stacks the conditions and the traits stack survival and init regeneration

I switched condition build. Its great, and fights last longer and its already balanced and fun

BS will be brought in line, and people will still play it, like they do PW

Wreckdum.8367:

lol @ condition thieves making fun of BS thieves… Condition thief is more faceroll than backstab. You can remove everything from your screen except caltrops and your 3 key and still kill a group of people solo. ROFL

The forum community is really letting the game down

The whine and crying fests and the ignorance of understanding whats balanced and what is not is crazy

For instance we hear: Theifs can kill you in 2 secs and you cant even see them because of stealth

Whats actually happened is a thief teleported in from Steal from 900range out of nowhere (followed through with the C&D/BS combo) and it has nothing to do with stealth

What we then see is a thread about stealth with the notion that stealth is broken and a nerf cry. To the point where people ask for them to be removed from the game when its not even whats happening.

I did PvE when I hit lvl 44. Since then ive played PvP. 95% of my game time is PvP. Trust me. Thief is not as crazy as all these posts make out which is why i suspect ANET are rather quite about nerfs and stealths because there is actually nothing wrong

The changes made so far are ok. PW is debatable but it does also stun which is kind of ok. You can use it as a heal breaker instead of an opener. People seem to just think as an opening its ruined and therfore not worth using. Thats the wrong type of mindset to have and then bring to the forums.The assassins signet changes hasnt really dont much, but it did calm down the BS a bit

I think thief is bandwagon of the week. People need to look at what Warriors and Mesmers are doing a bit more. Unfortunatley there are quite a few bad mesmers and warriors hiding the good players amongst thier numbers and they are getting much less of the attention

What people need to remember is that stealth in any other MMO is a permanent skill, and in GW2 it has to be chained at a cost of utility or a hit+init. Its not a skill you can just turn on which requires 0% skill what so ever.

WoW: Click a button and your stealthed, forever
GW2: Spend init or get a CD for 4 secs of stealth.

Theres a great deal which good players can achieve against a GW2 stealther.

Going back to the quote, you can see that the player has mentioned a face roll with the word caltrops. He did not mention the other player could simply, walk out of the caltrops….

There are alot of mathematicians on here crunching numbers with the wrong equations. People dont like to factor in CC breakers, or dodges, or walking out of an area effect into thier maths…

At the moment, the community is what needs a buff

i rotate with 2 on the numpad and 2 above the “W” key

Haha just kidding guys

condition or crit?

I got a great build for condition stackers

The traits use survivability and the gear stacking gives the condition damage

Its great everywhere I go

copy and paste this link, as forums make it broken: http://gw2skills.net/editor/?fYAQNAoYVlUm6OHfy9E+JFB3Djq0m6LQXQ3DsKftC;T8AgyyuEcJ5S1liLKYMwIgx2kDGJMLPGBMXA

death blossom is the bleed stacker

Stealthing is your defence
You heal whilst stealthed
You gain init when stealthed and using one of 3 steath skills
You heal when spending init

So manage your stealth,heal,init in a trinity fashion and youll never really stop healing/stealthing whilst stacking bleeds along the way

wear nothing but carrion armour and jewles

i play the thief kitten well

C&D/MUG is the issue. In some instances it takes 50% health. Thats insane. Thats before the backstab! Im sure Backstab was meant to be bursty, but C&D+MUG was not meant to be more powerfull/on par with it!

However, Trappy Regen Rangers are the new META. They are the ones to watch for 1v1’s

Mesmers MOA is still silly

The game is far from polished.

Agreed

A double crit on MUG and C&D together actually does the most burst before following up with the backstab (6k Steal + 6k C&D = 12k)

Steal and C&D would get them below 50% health which means Backstab gets a 20% bonus damage trait from Executioner

When using your build dont use the Steal/C&D combo

Its much more fun, fights last longer and its more rewarding!!!!

You can totally see that fixing this combo would make for better fights and stop the QQing that goes on.

Anyway, give it a go, it costs nothing!

bwillb.2165:

Webley.1295:

-You teleport to the player from 900range instantly (This is the strongest of all the things that happen in this combo and is vital to making it instagib)

It’s important to note that it doesn’t necessarily teleport you to the enemy’s backside. So unless the enemy is already facing away from you, you still have to fiddle with running around the enemy before you can get the most out of your combo.

-MUG does good damage (To good for a 10 point trait)

I’m not sure but I think there may be an occasional bug in the calculation on that one. Mine usually only does like 1k or less on a crit but sometimes its more like 5k. Much more variance than I see in most skills. Should definitely be looked into and fixed if there is an error.

Fix the combo casting mechanic and you balance the thief without nerfing anything
it

by “combo-casting mechanic” do you mean the mechanic that lets you cast an instant attack while channeling another? I think that’s working as intended, but I could be fine with changing that as long as its an across-the-board change.

Yea the channeling of one skill and being allowed to cast another is the one that allows the burst of MUG and C&D. Getting them down to 50% allows the executioner 20% extra damage trait to go crazy on backstab which you well know as much as me is what we want to finish

If channeling wasnt fixed and MUG was changed to a burning condition which did flat out large damage and wasnt effected by crit etc and took time to burn out its damage we would have a still viable build with backstab in it.

I wouldnt mind working a little harder for the backstab. I always just shadow step out anyway if it doesnt go right or cloak and dagger. Problem is it always goes well. We need to work harder.

in sPvP or tPvP venom builds are preferred over BS builds just like defensive guards are preferred over glass cannon guards. but in WvW, BS is just to great in its current form. Setting it up is just to easy for me and many others.

Ive been playing with my BS build not using the C&D/STEAL combo and its much more fun and rewarding, and you can totally see how it would work. Fights are actually fights, and not just a large gank on cooldown

I put this in many other threads but this is the actual problem right here:

The spike and conditions when need to preq a backstab are fine

-Backstab (Have to be in stealth, and have to be behind the player)
-Upon doing the backstab your revealed for 3 seconds and can not go back to stealth

Seems fine to me

Whats not OK is C&D/MUG/STEAL/BASILISK Combo. When performing this combo this is what happens:

-You teleport to the player from 900range instantly (This is the strongest of all the things that happen in this combo and is vital to making it instagib)
-You steal an ability
-You gain 3 initive (usually) refilling the ini lost when casting C&D which then allows another 10% damage for having above 6 ini when traited
-You gain stealth for 3 secs
-You usually Crit with both MUG and C&D getting them below 50% health so Executioner applies another 20% damage
-MUG does good damage (To good for a 10 point trait)
-C&D does good damage on crit
-If MUG and C&D do both crit in that second upon landing, it does more damage than the backstab
-The player is immobilised for 1.5 secs instantly

This takes 1.5 sec to achieve setting you up for a super massive backstab

Fix the combo casting mechanic and you balance the thief without nerfing anything

Its clear that the strength to this build is the combo setup and not the backstab itself

Changing MUG to a burning condition would also work and not get buffed by any gear a thief normally uses and would not get effected by crit chance or crit damage gear

-Webley: Played Backstab thief long enough to give you good information on it

The spike and conditions when need to preq a backstab are fine

-Backstab (Have to be in stealth, and have to be behind the player)
-Upon doing the backstab your revealed for 3 seconds and can not go back to stealth

Seems fine to me

Whats not OK is C&D/MUG/STEAL/BASILISK Combo. When performing this combo this is what happens:

-You teleport to the player from 900range instantly (This is the strongest of all the things that happen in this combo and is vital to making it instagib)
-You steal an ability
-You gain 3 initive (usually) refilling the ini lost when casting C&D which then allows another 10% damage for having above 6 ini when traited
-You gain stealth for 3 secs
-You usually Crit with both MUG and C&D getting them below 50% health so Executioner applies another 20% damage
-MUG does good damage (To good for a 10 point trait)
-C&D does good damage on crit
-If MUG and C&D do both crit in that second upon landing, it does more damage than the backstab
-The player is immobilised for 1.5 secs instantly

This takes 1.5 sec to achieve setting you up for a super massive backstab

Fix the combo casting mechanic and you balance the thief without nerfing anything

Its clear that the strength to this build is the combo setup and not the backstab itself

-Webley: Played Backstab thief long enough to give you good information on it

The spike and conditions when need to preq a backstab are fine

-Backstab (Have to be in stealth, and have to be behind the player)
-Upon doing the backstab your revealed for 3 seconds and can not go back to stealth

Seems fine to me

Whats not OK is C&D/MUG/STEAL/BASILISK Combo. When performing this combo this is what happens:

-You teleport to the player from 900range instantly (This is the strongest of all the things that happen in this combo and is vital to making it instagib)
-You steal an ability
-You gain 3 initive (usually) refilling the ini lost when casting C&D which then allows another 10% damage for having above 6 ini when traited
-You gain stealth for 3 secs
-You usually Crit with both MUG and C&D getting them below 50% health so Executioner applies another 20% damage
-MUG does good damage (To good for a 10 point trait)
-C&D does good damage on crit
-If MUG and C&D do both crit in that second upon landing, it does more damage than the backstab
-The player is immobilised for 1.5 secs instantly

This takes 1.5 sec to achieve setting you up for a super massive backstab

Fix the combo casting mechanic and you balance the thief without nerfing anything

Its clear that the strength to this build is the combo setup and not the backstab itself

-Webley: Played Backstab thief long enough to give you good information on it

For me this was a balance issue which got fixed and im pleased with the results and already having better game time from it in WvW

Swapping the outmanned buff with the Orbs buff was a brilliant idea from the community. Instead it was taken away completely which is kind of sad as the community idea was thrown away. I think ANET shouldnt be to scared of taking in a good idea from the community. However in a sense I dont blame them as there are so many bad ideas floating around of what balance is etc.

Anyway – heres some of mine:

The orbs lower repair/siege/upgrade costs by 5% each – It would also be brilliant if owning the orbs gave a global bonus % to magic chance and karma and XP to the PvE’ers of the world that owned it.

This would give PvE’ers a reason to go into WvW before going to a dungeon.

Please add your new ideas (Please dont just revamp the old orbs stats bonus but come out with completely new ones!)

For me this was a balance issue which got fixed

However it goes to show ANET listens to the community then go and do thier own thing

Swapping the outmanned buff with the Orbs buff was a brilliant idea from the community. What did ANET do? They just took it away completely. (Theres been so many kittented community ideas, but that one was actually really good)

If the orbs lowered repair/siege/upgrade costs by 5% each as well – that would be amazing

Not really that impressed. However getting rid of the extra 150power from a 3orbed backstab thief stacking might (Which is able to achieve far more than 50% crit damage) in an already dominating server was needed

bow.6179:

Dunning-Kruger effect. Look it up. Then stop the QQ fest plz.

Did you play LotR online?

Sco.9615:

Webley.1295:

ANET is fixing it,

They wont be nerfs

Its to bring a class in line with the others

instead of doing 18k damage in 2secs, it will be closer to 4 or 5 secs (Take assassins signet for example)

Have faith – will be fine

I played a BS build, and even in its current form I found a bleed build to be better dmg/survival so i made the switch. My crit gear will sit in the bank till i get bored and switch back

This is the point. There is a better option and yet BS still target of Nerf? I think I can tell you why. QQs. Sole reason.

The better option for me takes around 20secs to complete a fight with bleeds

the BS option takes 2secs. but number crunching shows that it has far less survivability

You dont need to be able to survive in 2 secs, cus the guy counter attacking you is dead thats the point

number crunching does not tell the tale of how things actually unfold

after the burst you should still have a guy to fight against on his last legs, and be in the state of gambling your survival that you sacraficed….. not nuke a guy then tell them its fine cus you cant survive in a fight where your opponent is already dead

Doomdesire.9365:

Webley.1295:

ANET is fixing it,

They wont be nerfs

It to bring a class in line with the others

Isn’t that what they did with “OP pistolwhip”?

By nerfing it to the point where the auto attack chain was more powerful and ignoring the real problem with it (haste)

If you add assassins signet on PW you get the original PW. It requires an extra utility cost to get it back to its original state.

PW also stuns on top for free. The auto attack only dazes from stealth which still allows movment

ANET is fixing it,

They wont be nerfs

Its to bring a class in line with the others

instead of doing 18k damage in 2secs, it will be closer to 4 or 5 secs (Take assassins signet for example)

Have faith – will be fine

I played a BS build, and even in its current form I found a bleed build to be better dmg/survival so i made the switch. My crit gear will sit in the bank till i get bored and switch back

saying all that…. people do need to L2P

I will expect guardian and mesmer MOA will see some nerfs after the thief topics die out and people realize the other stuff going on

Executioner is also responsible for Heartseeker doing 7-8k damage. I think Executioner needs to get nerfed to 10% and MUG needs toning down. Then its fixed

ive backstabbed for 19k on a glass elementalist

If traited right you can add 10 stacks of might on activating 2 signets just before (blinding them in the process) and apply vunerablilty upon doing the backstab/cnd/steal combo – Thats with the recent Assassins signet nerf

1 thing i dont get is people saying the thief is invisible when it happens, he teleports in from a range, so its not a stealth issue – just mis understanding, but still its easily done and totally a massivley hard thing to counter when you can telelport, run the combo and be out of there in under 2 secs

Im a thief, and its not fair on the others. I now run a condition build.it feels much more balanced and the fights are better and more rewarding than just seeing a big number. GW2 really comes into its own when you dont play with a BS build. PvP at its finest.

ATM BS build overshadows all the rest of the perfectly viable builds (many thiefs will tell you BS is all its got going for it and if you nerf that the class is doomed – its not true)

As far as bursty Thief builds – They currently rely on 1 big burst. To balance the game thiefs should rely on 2 bursts to get a target down. Not one, but have the utility to survive and do so (They have this utility already)

Hidden killer is great with CnD and backstab, which can allow you to do this. But every always picks executioner

Will be interesting what ANET comes up with. So far I agree with all the changes they have done

Executioner players a big part of the backstab 19k damage as when the target is down to 50% health it does 20% extra damage. A crit from a Steal and a CnD combo can get the target below 50% setting you up for a super massive backstab

If they tone down MUG and break the skill stack of the Steal/CnD combo, it should be at a good place for testing

The spike and time it takes to pull of the BS/Steal/CnD is broken. It all happens to fast. requires 3 buttons after activating a few signets.

Theres about 6 different angles which it can be fixed without breaking the build

when your done with nerfing the thief lets talk about mesmers MOA andmake a real stink about it on the forums

Im a thief, the backstab nerf is needed. It will be great if they change 18k of damamge from 2 secs to 4or5

Removing the steal/cnd combo will do that niceley without nerfing anything damage wise

Thats what the ranger class is for guys…..

its not fair on other classes if this actually makes it

Zerraph.6749:

I have heard people claim to go from early levels to level 80 playing only WvW. I’m not an experienced player, but so far my experience has shown that it’s difficult to gain XP playing WvW compared to normal leveling procedures.

Is it a plausible strategy to level up in WvW? If so, what are the different methods used?

I leveled from 40-80 in WvW

I would say that its harder now as theres alot of lvl 80’s defending when at the beggining everyone was farming gates without defending to level really fast

WvW is only good for lvling when the other servers have gone to bed and your server has a zerg and about to run a night cap

its the 3 skills spike stack that is the issue. thats what RAW spike is.

No one ever said anything about nerfing back stab

take away mug/cnd combo and the backstab will become much harder to pull without decreasing its damage

I think executioner might see a nerf

only thing that needs changing is to take away the spike which comes from the cnd/steal combo which is basically stacking 2 skills on top of each other for a double attack. stacked on top of each other it does close to the same damage of back stab

im so happy i just started my condition build, its much better than a back stab build but its fair as well as you cant do it in 1.5 secs

Auesis.7301:

- Backstab should get a maximum of 6k damage critical on a squishy glass cannon build.

What determines what a glass cannon build is in-game and not to a player? I wish people would actually give specifications as to what you mean. Arenanet aren’t psychic. I would have suggested a Heartseeker-esque grade of Toughness affecting Backstab’s damage instead of just a high base damage (although the base damage should be higher than the usual attack anyway). It’s not the player’s fault if the other player decided not to invest in defence. Don’t punish the attacker for that oversight.

- Heartseeker should have the leap removed.

It would be utterly worthless without some form of attached gap closer. Perhaps reduce the distance by a margin or have the lowest condition (<25% HP) the only one that affects damage, but don’t completely destroy it.

- Stealth debuff should last longer.

By how long?

- Stealth should last way longer if traited, less if untraited.

It already lasts long enough when traited. If it goes any longer, you’ll break it.

- There should be given some clue of where the thief is if you succed to hit him while stealthed (like a sparkle or a sound).

There is. Your auto-attack chains will trigger, your character will slightly orientate towards where it hit for the next attack, and dots will still display.

- Mug should have reduced damage.

Agreed, by 10-15% perhaps. Any less and the skill becomes entirely worthless.

- Hide in Shadows should have less stealth duration compared to other skills

Perhaps in exchange for the effects of Blinding Powder, yes.

- Basilisk Venom should have 2 seconds stone duration

Not sure what you’re going for here, but considering it’s breakable, 2 seconds isn’t bad.

- Cloak and Dagger should cost 2 more initiative.

So Cloak and Dagger will cost EIGHT initiative. That’s two-thirds of the Thief’s global cooldown. That’s ridiculous and you will never be able to use it in any combat situation, ever.

- Death Blossom should have removed (or reduced to 3-4 seconds) bleeding effect and increased damage

Not too sure about that – conditions are a big part of D/D (auto-attack chain constantly lands poison), but I suppose the actual condition damage isn’t.

- Fear from Necromancer Steal should last 1 and 1/2 seconds and cast faster.

Agreed.

- Unload should inflict bleeding

Definitely agreed.

- The dagger autoattack damage should be decreased

Double Strike and Wild Strike should have their damage lowered slightly, but Lotus Strike should have increased damage to compensate. This way, there is more leeway, especially with the rendering issue, and after the first 3 hits of the auto-attack chain, you’ve had plenty of time to react. If Lotus nails you, its your own fault.

hahaha, someone needs to L2P if you think this is balance.

condition removal problems can be gone by traiting for Pain Response in the Acrobatics line, (Slowed pulse is not as good) which means you can then go for signet of malice

You can also remove conditions once every 3 secs in stealth by traiting for it in the shadow arts line which can be triggered by using cloak and dagger or any stealth utility such as blinding powder.

These traits allow you to use signet of malice and have condition removal

the malice itself is great for slowing down a bleed or poison as your healing while getting bleeded or poisoned when you attack