Guild Wars 2

Sounds pretty cool, but there may be a few problems with a couple of these ideas.
1. While the #3 does sound cool, I don’t think the engine has the functionality in place to make it work.
2. I don’t think that there are any weapon skills that are true stunbreaks, so I don’t think it could break stun.
Overall, neat ideas.

1. None of the numbers are set in stone. They said that over and over on the live streams.
2. You forgot that we also get a new grandmaster that gives a chance to evade projectiles while we have swiftness, and we still get swiftness on dodge.

He was probably just ignorant about thief. I use S/P in every game mode. I really prefer it over d/d in dungeons and fractals for all those reasons you specified.

nightblood.7910:

If its to stop stacking stealth they would need to change SR to give 15 seconds of stealth at once which would break the counter play of SR which is knocking the thief out of it.

Nah, the counterplay would still be there, as knocking the thief out of SR would still apply reveal.

I play S/P, so I’m cool with this change. Maybe it will make the dire p/d trash easier to fight.

I’m relatively new to Ele. I main Thief, but when I roam on Ele, I usually run cele D/D or zerker S/F. However, I’ve recently gotten into using the staff in PvE, and I was wondering if it could be viably used for solo roaming. If so, what kind of gear/traits/utilities would I want to use?

When I introduce friends to this game, I have to tell them all the same thing:
“The PvE in this game is really good, probably better than any other MMO, but PvP is where it’s at…you just have to get to level 22 via PvE first.”

I know that throwing someone right into GW2 PvP can be overwhelming, but in my opinion, it’s better than doing hearts and events with them for twenty levels promising that the best part of the game is just over this hill.

At launch, it was possible to dive right into PvP at level 1 (or maybe 2). When the leveling rework came out, the requirement was moved up to level 22. Even if you think you’re smart and you just go to heart of the mists through the portal in LA, you don’t have everything unlocked like you should until your 1st character is level 22.

I don’t understand this very arbitrary level requirement that requires a new player’s first experiences to be in what is arguably the most boring of the three game modes.

TL;DR: The level 22 requirement for new players to have access to PvP was ill-conceived. The requirement for accessing PvP should be reverted to what it was originally, simply having a character.

It literally took me 5 minutes. I was very surprised.

Even if thief for some reason got nerfed to near-unviability, it would still be the most fun class imo.

I’m not particularly worried. While the new mesmer stuff is certainly interesting and probably strong, every class is getting a buff, and we haven’t seen what the thief specialization is yet.

Great video. I liked the drops synced up with the backstabs, but I have heard that same Come and Get It remix in multiple other roaming videos. The game play was great, and fortunately, that build is going to be getting a huge buff when HoT is released.

Got any for me? I think I use it alright, but I know I could be using our only 2 handed weapon more efficiently. I’ve seen a video of thief killIng a medi guard with Shortbow alone. I would love to do some more flashy things with it as I am in the process of building the Dreamer.

Serious Thought.5394:

@Kaikalii- Not just playing better, but to the point where I have to restrain laughter when a Thief in Spvp tries to nuke me. =/ That’s why I feel like a jerk. I don’t enjoy it, but it makes me realize that at a certain point a class can ~literally~ be nerfed into dust.

Well, there are a lot of bad thieves out there. It’s a very technical class, so players who are newer to it can have a hard time.
Personally, I’m never particularly afraid of a Mesmer. When I fight one, it’s generally a skill match up, not a profession one. Perhaps you’ve just been against some particularly poor thief players.

I hate that people do this. Not because they do it to me, but because when I just want to talk to someone and chat about a good fight or something, they assume I’m going to flame and don’t accept the party invite.

The fact that you play better on mesmer probably just has to do with your playstyle. I have more games and hours on mesmer than thief, but thief just fits my style so well, so I always play much better on my thief.

So, I’ve been trying this out lately. I’m basically doing the meta S/D 20066 build except with pistol instead of dagger. Comparatively, it has superior burst and inferior mobility. PW does lots of damage if you land it, but it also roots you. It’s a fun, slightly simpler alternative to s/d imo.

What are your thoughts on the viability of s/p in Pvp and WvW roaming?

I’ve played a lot of p/p in both WvW and sPvP. You don’t need IP. Ricochet is far superior. I’m excited about the idea of either DA/SA/Trick or DA/Acro/Trick. Before, you had to choose between damage and survivability, now you dont have to. I might even go for the troll SA/Acro/Trick since you still have high damage without Crit Strikes.

I can’t seem to pull it off. I’ve had other s/d thieves come and destroy me in a matter of seconds, but I never feel like I’m doing enough damage. It’s the main reason I stay away from a set that I otherwise find really fun.

Lol the necro.

Here’s mine

Lately I have been moving away from SA, as I have found it promotes poorer play. Do you really think people will run it in PvP though, specifically conquest? Not contributing to point cap is still the same, no matter how good the stealth traits are.

I await your thoughts on Acrobatics. I’ve really been liking it lately, and I’d like to hear some analysis on the supposed “nerfs”.

Kolly.9872:

Thief is always worth it.

Always this.

I main power p/p In Wvw roaming and sPvP. It is absolutely fine the way it is. It’s only damage is in unload, but that’s all you need, because you are basically a lb ranger that never has to stop rapid firing. Thr drawback is that without evades or stealth in the set itself, you have to be creative about survivability. Please don’t change my favorite set.

I played a few games, and although I won most of them, I can’t say that they were more that or even as fun as conquest. The most off-putting thing for me is the necessity of killing npcs as well as the need to run supply to continue spawning breakers. In a moba, minions continuously spawn and fight each other in the middle of the lane. When they don’t spawn automatically, it makes for a lot of running back and forth.
Also, killing npcs just feels like a waste in GW2. I have all these great abilities and mechanics, and at the end I just have to do whatever does the most damage to enemies that barely fight back. This is where conquest it strong. Other than standing in various circles, the mode is almost purely combat and strategy, which is much more engaging than standing there shooting veterans.

My suggestion: put your twitch link in your signature.

Booms.3952:

you forgot the shadow arts thief headshot 500x while you try to channel supplies and laugh with his sentinel amulet

I lol’ed. I imagine you can just break the channel with any damage though, like the buffs on temple.

dominik.9721:

Yes because pet necromancers, spirit rangers, phantasm mesmers and spirit weapon-guardians with pirate rune are all part of the meta.

Thanks you for giving me something new to try!

I get what you mean. As far as mechanics go, I think LotF is the least interesting. You always get use the mechanics on the other maps. You almost always kill svanir/chief, use skyhammer, use treb, get tranquility, etc. You seldom kill the lord, as there are usually just more important things to do.

However, the map voting system is really good IMO. It’s better than a totally random system that throws players into a map that none of them want to play.

The only fault I can see in the voting system is the existence of courtyard. I queue up so that I can play conquest, not kittening team deathmatch bullkitten.

You compare stronghold to Summoner’s Rift from Legue of Legends. LoL also has another map, The Crystal Scar, which is essentially conquest. Dominion, the game mode played on the CS, is a joke in the LOL community. Very few people play it, simply because a laning game mode is so much more fun.
I expect that when Stronghold is released, it’s player base will likely eclipse that of conquest. Anet probably won’t need to remove conquest. It just won’t be played. The only problem I see is tHat they said that both modes will be in the same queue, which I think is silly. In every other pvp game, you can pick your desired mode of play. Randomly getting the wrong game mode because of the way the map selector works is stupid. If they do create two different queues, conquest queue times will be so long that no one will bother trying.

D/D in PVE is all about cloak and dagger > backstab > repeat. You should’nt take much damage doing that. S/D is for pvp or wve, not PvE. S/P is pretty good for PvE, but I find it very boring.

D/D can work wonders against large groups. Lots of bodies means you have more things to stealth off of. If you want even more survivability, take D/P as you other set for more versatile stealth access.

Here’s my zerg build: http://gw2skills.net/editor/?fZAQNAqaVl0Mp3pdPx0J0PNBNBtdGGeE8OMfpLaFAA-T1BFABCcKAQS5Xa6CqZ/BAeCAFq+zVKBDAgAwNv5Nv5NvZpAGVoF-w

P/P already does crazy damage, and when you can backline, Ricochet can hit a ton of targets. Make sure that you steal to enemies with a lot of boons to give some to your allies. Dagger Storm for tons of AoE damage.

Gaze at the rainbow beauty. You are surprised by such flamboyance, but he does not even seem to notice. He knows that he is fancy as kitten, his gear colors perfectly matching those of a rainbow, with shades to block the harsh sun illuminating him. In battle, he uses only the fanciest of pistols, the Quip, its purple glow only enhancing his dapper demeanor.

Every form elite in the game allows you to press that button again to go back to your regular skills. I know that dagger storm isn’t exactly a form, but it is still something that prohibits us from using any other abilities that are not instant cast. At the moment, the only way to cancel it is to dodge. If I were spinning in real life, I could stop just by choosing to; I don’t need to roll on the ground to stop. Please allow us to press the elite button again to cancel Dagger Storm.

Great stuff! However, I would probably take Shadow Step over Signet of Agility. Gotta have that stun-break. I run 60206 for P/P in sPvP. Panic Strike and Sleight of hand are so strong.

I find that when picking a weapon set, you should decide which main hand function you like the most:
Dagger: stealth weapon. Back stabs for huge spike damage.
Sword: teleport in and out of a fight. Usually very evasive.
Pistol: Ranged attacks. Capitalizes on keeping distance.

Then, pick you an offhand weapon.

General set roles:
D/D: Big burst with on-hit stealth
D/P: Moderate burst with on-demand stealth
S/D: Teleports and evades 4 dayz
S/P: Teleport and lock down burst
P/P: Gunslinger, consistent damage
P/D: Stealthy gunsliger, less consistent damage
Shortbow: utility weapon

As for gear, you can’t go wrong with some mix of berserker and valkyrie

YuiRS.8129:

Welcome to the club of people who use Skelk Venom. You’ll be the first one. Get used to loneliness.

Lol. But really, I guess I’ll have to go collect some skill points to unlock it and try it out.

So, the 2066 s/d build is pretty common. However, I don’t usually find my self putting more than 2 points in acrobatics for any other set or builds. Things like feline grace and hard to catch make it such a cool trait line, but it always feels like other things are more important.

Do you spec a good amount of points in acrobatics for anything other than s/d?

I tried it out, and the healing just wasn’t enough to make up for the lack of everything else, but maybe the buff to IP will make it a bit better.

In my experience, P/P works better when you run withdraw, stealth etc. I like 60206, but that’s just me. Your build may need a bit more tuning.

Looks cool! I’ve used P/P a good amount, but never this type of spec. Trying now.

Jana.6831:

Edit ²: In case you wonder: I wonder why people think that 20606 is better than the old meta. Even with boon steal. Not saying you shouldn’t use it but to me it’s sad that thieves invent builds that have no real value to them just to get one trait. You won’t need condi damage as a power thief. And that was kind of what I was answering, although I do have a decent crit chance sorry.

I get what your saying, but there are some really good benefits to running 6 in trickery over 6 in crit-strikes for D/D. The ones that make it for me are the interrupt and reduced steal cooldown on SoH, and the extra initiative from the 3 point trait. Also, the fury from TotC makes up, in part, for the lower crit-chance. I think that for a lot of people, after you run 6 trickery for a while, it’s hard to go back. The utility is just so good, and it can more than make up for your slightly lower damage.

I will say, though, that for D/P, I do run 26006 for buttloads of damage.

Interesting stuff. The 0 precision gear with hidden killer is kinda cool, but doesn’t that lock you in to just one way of bursting? Out of stealth, you simply won’t do as much damage, but I guess the survivability is nice. I run 20606 D/D, which I feel is a bit more flexible since you aren’t totally reliant on being stealthed to burst people. Either way, pretty good video.

Only thing I would say is to maybe roam in regular WvW next time, not EotM. Killing uplevels that outnumber you is cool and all, but it would also be cool to see this setup against more level 80 players. I’m sure that if played correctly, you could really outplay groups of 2 or more people.

Just curious if anyone ever uses it. I feel like it could have some really cool potential, as it’s basically the best gap-closer in the game. The only bad part is that you have to trade either bountiful theft or thrill of the crime :/

The biggest strength of s/f fresh air ele is that it can do half your health in 0 seconds. A good ele will wait out your evades and stuff or wait until they know you’ll be hit-able. I would say start out defensive and wait for the swap to air. Once they are in air, go in for some damage. Just watch out for the knockdown → phoenix combo.

I know this question has probably been asked a million times, but whatever. I know that d/p has a big advantage, but what can I do as d/d to give myself the best chance? I run 20606.

DeceiverX.8361:

Win or survive? Those are two very different things. Eventual mastery of a given setup will let you win. No such build exists which allows for an easier time while fighting multiple foes. If it existed, we’d just see WvW blobs as all thieves.

If you’re just trying to stay alive in say, a 1v2 for a period of time for reinforcements to come, a P/P blinding evasion tank works remarkably well in terms of durability.

Obviously, it is not possible to win an outnumbered fight against opponents of equal skill level. What I’m asking for is the build to give the best chance of winning against multiple opponents of lower skill level.

McWolfy.5924:

I dont want more ,“you %&$#ing nub 222222 ranger!” whispers from d/p thieves! If i go roam they always whisper me, but just that kind of thieves, nobody else

darkwarder.3645:

Obviously you could use teamspeak or mumble or something, but allowing direct whispers could also help people spy with alternate accounts.

I understand you concerns, but these things are already possible. You can whisper anyone by blocking them and then whispering from you contacts list. All I want is a way to make it easier talk to someone, whether that conversation be positive or negative. I like to give people props when they kill me or say gf when i kill them.

I am a roamer. When I get into a fight with someone, and one of us wins, I like to tell them something along the lines of, “Good fight!” or “You got me!” Currently, there are two way to do this:
1. Join their party. This is the simplest way. However, some people will not let you join, presumably because they are expecting trash talk.
2. Block the person, find their name in your blocked list, and whisper from there. This is a very roundabout method, but it always works. it is currently possible to whisper any enemy; it is just tedious to do so. Please aNet, just let me right click their icon and click “whisper”.

If you think this would increase trash talking and the like, I agree that yes, it will make such behavior slightly easier, but it will also be easier to have a polite conversation. Fighting people in WvW is actually where I get a fair amount of advice on how to improve, and it would be nice if it weren’t such a hassle just to talk to someone.

It was really hard for me to reconcile these two for a while, until someone just told me to use both. I initially said something like, “But my shortbow!” However, after trying it, I found that using both dagger and pistol offhand lets you adapt to any situation. Basically, using D/P for fights against a smaller number of enemies because of its easy access to stealth, and using D/D against many enemies to do more damage and zerg-dance.

Even in small-scale fights, you can switch back and forth depending on whether you want to be offensive or defensive. You also don’t have to pick between the easy stealth and utility of D/P and the burst of D/D. The only thing you can’t do it teleport up to those walls on south camps :/

I’m not saying using both sets is definitively better, I’m just suggesting giving it a try.

So, I just got my engi to level 80, so logically, I equipped him with full zerk gear and took him into WvW with a rinky dink sd build, because as I understand it, sd is the biggest power burst an engineer has. However, I really didn’t feel like I was doing that much damage. I generally prefer to play glassy builds that just delete people, i.e. D/x thief, S/F ele, and shatter Mesmer, as it’s my favorite play style. What all those build have though is some sort of survivability while you wait for your burst to be back up: clones, stealth, evades, reflects, invulns, blinks, etc. The only thing I really have on engi is the TK block. Once that is down, I just try to rely on basic dodging and kiting, but I feel like I need more.

What am I doing wrong, and is there a better burst build I can play?
This is for WvW solo roaming.

Venom share can be kinda supporty. I had a guild mate who ran full nomads on thief, and he cound run into the middle of hug zergs and be fine. If you are that tanky, you can also rez allies with stealth more easily.

So, venom share, tank, stealth rezzing.