Tips for s/d thief? (WvW)

What are some tips that you guys could give me to improve my s/d thief play?I'm new to the build, I used to play staff dd and before that d/p core thief (before HoTS).I'm looking for things to always have in mind, some basic combos, anything that can kickstart me in the right direction :)

-Dont spam 3.-Think before you use skill 2, so you always have a place to escape.-burn skill CD:s of ur Enemy.-dont stay "toe to toe" too long-dont open fights with steal-AGAIN, dont spam 3. Dont waste ur ini.

Thats something that that came into my mind.

5 + Steal -> 1 Is probably one of the highest bursts you can do and applys 15 vulnerability.

3 + Steal -> 3 Has some nice damage as well, is unblockable and you can steal some boons if you hit the second part of Sw3. Just pay attention to evades so you don‘t waste the second Sw3 skill as people often evade after you steal to them.

If you want hit your steal engage with Sw2 to imobilize them (imobilized enemys can‘t dodge).

You should watch Sindrener and Noody for more tipps as they have quite a lot S/D WvW videos.

Learn to optimize your use of utilities once you’ve used a couple if they aren’t low you need to slow down your pace for them to come up

After landing 2 u can get in 2 autos and then you need to be prepared to dodge or port back because the typical response is to try and cc or burst you

The third strike of the sword 1 auto chain is profoundly slow and you shouldn’t use it too much instead u auto twice and then either use 3 or 4 or a dodge which will reset the attack chain so you don’t have to commit

As mentioned earlier by someone else 5 steal 1 is one of your biggest burst combos but it’s also one of your best stall tactics if you don’t use the 1

Sword 2 removes a condi and also counts as a hit itself so if someone casts blind on you you can sword 2 and if it would’ve hit it will eat the blind allowing you to attack anyways

There’s more but I’m sort of busy but those are some of the things that really improved my play gradually

Always open up with infiltrator's strike so that you can port out and abuse it to re-engage.

Unless you need to steal for the sustain from mug, save it to safely land Larcenous Strike. It's fast, it hurts a lot, and it pretty much clears a boon bar. The relatively obscure animation of LS is what I think makes it the best cast with steal; opponents unused to dueling S/D thieves will let you get away with using steal to land whatever you want on them. Better ones will see opening flanking strikes/CnDs as a big "dodge now" sign.

Also auto attack does a lot of damage with no initiative cost and if your opponent is letting you deal it, oblige them until they pressure you away.

@Derenaya.3479 said:5 + Steal -> 1 Is probably one of the highest bursts you can do and applys 15 vulnerability.

Also, if you practice getting used to the stealth duration and you'll be able to cast 5 to re-stealth almost instantly. Just don't break stealth too early if you combo with steal.

This tactic used to be used a lot by skilled D/D thieves back in the day when that was still a strong option for WvW and can be an effective way to stay hidden when outnumbered.

@Dahkeus.8243 said:

@Derenaya.3479 said:5 + Steal -> 1 Is probably one of the highest bursts you can do and applys 15 vulnerability.

Oh, sounds interessting, gonna test that right away :D

Good info in here and thanks for reminding me about #5 + Steal, forgot how much I like just the feel of using that combo.

For WvW Dancing Dagger's not a bad skill, it wont get a lot of play but you'll know when you'll need to launch a couple of those. Learn to de-target and turn with your mouse to use #3 in the right direction and not towards target to help you bail out of a large bomb or to skim the target to get Larcenous but still in your chosen direction.

@sokeenoppa.5384 said:-dont open fights with steal

So many dumb S/D enemy Thieves try to open up on me (as a DE) with Sword2/Steal from 2k range, to which I just Rifle 4x2 and open up on them... Now they are on the defensive and their Steal is on cooldown (gap closer, healing, poison, weakness, damage, boon rip, daze, reapplication of boons I probably BT'd)

Thank you so much for all of the tips guys,I'll try to slowly learn them all :)

@Turk.5460 said:

@sokeenoppa.5384 said:-dont open fights with steal

when, if the de does that i just port back and go the other way. but yeah, its never a good idea to open up with them 2.

In all seriousness, baiting skills and learning skill ranges really helps ^^

Don't forget that you can cloak and dagger walls that can be sieged (even though you don't do any number damage) and you will still gain stealth. Mostly useful if skirmishing alongside smc. Don't forget that mesmer clones are easy stealth opportunities. Ranger pets as well. Experiment with ports and sbow to find cool tricks. Here I'll share one for free. Using sbow 5 up into the ceiling in Northeast or northwest tunnels of smc (the ones leading to lords) will put you on the slope leading to the 2nd floor. Use it on the arched ceiling right before you enter lords. This also works with your shadowstep, mesmer blinks, necro wurm, etc if you play other classes.

When using flanking strike, especially as an opener, if you land it, try waiting a second before casting larcenous. Most of the time people will dodge in reaction to the flanking strike, so you can time it after they dodge.

@alchemyst.2165 said:When using flanking strike, especially as an opener, if you land it, try waiting a second before casting larcenous. Most of the time people will dodge in reaction to the flanking strike, so you can time it after they dodge.

You dont have to wait a second u can just stow it if you see its about to miss

@bluri.2653 said:

@alchemyst.2165 said:When using flanking strike, especially as an opener, if you land it, try waiting a second before casting larcenous. Most of the time people will dodge in reaction to the flanking strike, so you can time it after they dodge.

That too