I’ve got a p/d thief. I regularly take on small groups (2-3 players, sometimes other players join in the middle of the fight) and am very often successful in killing all, or at least some before a zerg comes and I have to try running away. It is very risky though (little room for error) and I do often get killed, especially when other players unexpectedly show up while in the middle of a fight. I’ve found though that if there is at least one competent, good player in the group, I generally won’t be able to win and I retreat- and this is the key point. Most players I encounter are simply not that good at playing defensively against a p/d thief. Rather then dodge/block my CnD’s (which by the way makes me waste 6 initiative and I become very vulnerable), cc me, aoe me when I’m in stealth, remove bleeds, get out of my caltrops, they just think they can burst me down and stand around waiting for me to come out of stealth. But put one person in the group that can play defensively and I hardly have a chance anymore, especially if it’s more than 2 people and with down state as it is.
Now, I don’t believe that this build is OP and I’ll give you two reasons why. Firstly, I’ve fought thousands of 1×1s and I’ve lost to at least one person of every profession. The reason I lost is because they were very good at their profession and had the perfect mix of skills to counter me (usually involves stuns, traps, blinds, immobilize, etc.), and I most likely messed up. Some of these players I’ve fought multiple times, and then I might have won because I learned how to counter them, and then they may have won another time because they learned a new trick too. The point is, there are other professions that do have a chance against a p/d thief if they know what they are doing, are traited for it and play well.
The second reason I don’t think it’s OP is because I’ve played against dozens of other p/d thieves and most of them are terrible. When I fight them I see all the stuff they are doing wrong and I just shake my head. I’ve only fought 2 that were good, one of whom (wild bill), is excellent. I’m also wondering how many bad p/d thieves people kill and just forget about because they didn’t put up much of a fight. I’d speculate it’s a lot more than those thieves that can successfully fight small groups.
Simply put, if you required the auto-attack to cost initiative, it would simply ruin the build, and thieves would be left with even less viable builds. I would rarely have enough initiative for cnd, which means I would always be getting hit when dodge is down, can’t heal as much, can’t do sneak attacks (the main source of damage), and let’s not forget that cnd doesn’t always connect anyway if a player counters it in the first place or if the timing is off. Then you would waste all your initiative and can’t even auto-attack.
P/d can be a very strong, solo build if someone knows how to properly play it. 1×1 against a good p/d thief, your average player won’t stand a chance. But learn how to counter him (or her), practice it, and you do have a chance. Honestly, groups have no excuse to not be able to down a p/d thief. I know this because it does happen to me when I play against good players. Anyway, this is at least my opinion based on the experiences I’ve had.
