NorthernRedStar.3054

This is probably what I'll have to try, too.

Skills like Headshot and Death Blossom could indeed reward a successful criterion being met. Ones that don't encourage spamming, but careful timing. The issue with this, however, is the amount of blocks, evades and invulnerability available to some classes. Balancing-wise, this has the potential to make thief extremely oppressive against some classes, and completely useless against others. So, instead these could be traits you can choose for a certain matchup if you feel confident in your skill to execute the condition.

That thief community... 15 ini baseline is a ridiculous idea because picking trickery prevents you from just picking deadly arts, critical strikes, elite spec on any build for completely broken damage numbers without any skill spam tradeoffs. The only meaningful thing you would lose is a bit of steal utility which you don't need when you can burst like crazy. I mean, I doubt anyone here thinks (or suggests) that no numbers would have to changed.

You're comparing apples to pineapples. It's a very common reasoning between some development and update decisions, when concerned with existing players' reactions. Granted, not really that relevant here, I'll give you that. This isn't about me trying to prove my superiority over you. It's just me trying to envision and explain the reasoning behind the devs' involvement or lack of thereof. It's easier to swap wheels for an existing card, based on a need, than to re-invent a new type of a car. Even if the original design was lacking.

Why is a PvE player here to complain about PvP-only changes? And why does he have 3 upvotes? Reading comprehension, people!

Wholeheartedly agree. Defensive traits should be about presenting an opportunity to salvage something out of a mistake made. An active effort has to be made, regardless. A fine example of this would be DH's Hunter's Determination: 1) action 2) reaction (trait proc) 3) cue for both players 4) choice (for both players). About as interactive as it gets. The lack of cast times is an interesting one for me. Personally, I think it can be great in a 1v1 scenario, where it potentially keeps both players on their toes, and ups the skill cap of the fight. However, I think the issues these skills present become more and more noticeable in a 1 v X scenario, or a teamfight. Particularly with the offensive ones.

This discussion has been merged.

I was dead on the map i was on, and when I got into PvP game I was unable to use any of my utility skills, healing skill or elite skill. Lost what was essentially a free win. Same patch as the templates, interestingly enough.

I feel like changing something that notably limits creativity is worth investigating over. Might even make Shadow Arts worth some serious consideration in some builds. Then again, considering how ill-received stealth as a concept is, maybe Anet wants to keep it a niche, fun-oriented trait line. The stealth on healing skill can be a little obnoxious with added synergies.

Yes. Though with the rate of nerfs the Thief receives, I'm beginning to think that 20 is a fairer number. Honestly, two nerfs in two days. Yet no buffs to builds/styles that actually need it. I'm happy something about s/d condi got touched.. Less bandwagoners running the build, not that I had issues with them to begin with (it's a free kill for an experienced thief). These changes, while painful for staff thief, will serve to improve the match quality in a way, for whatever that's worth. Do you have a build for that cause i'd love to try a s/d or s/p setup.. Staff in opve is not cutting it for me imo, its ok but limited.The current build in MetaBattle (for s/d condi) is largely the same as the one I've been using for the past ~ 2 months or so. Frankly, I tested a lot of different runes, sigils and amulets, and settled for Traveler's Rune, Carrion Amulet and Bountiful Theft for a number of reasons. Lynx, I found, also suited me, but the added boon uptime from Traveler's on top of the slight boost for other stats felt better with only a miniscule loss in terms of non-condi DPS. If you were to use Mug instead of Deadly Ambition, I'd definitely try running Lynx alongside it. If you're against a less boon-focused comp (seems rather rare these days, though), you can swap Theft for Trickster - but since you lose the 11 ½ seconds of vigor, you might want to swap something for Signet of Agility for the extra endurance sustain in a fight. Before the Ambition nerf, I used to run Thousand Needles against immobile, more teamfight oriented comps - as it's near immediate 6 stacks of poison applied in an AoE. One Choking Gas applied on top and people will be suffering from daze over and over. But since the nerf, I feel like Spider Venom's become more and more mainstay in the build, so that can't be helped. Definitely recommend playing around with the preparations, though. They're a ton of fun, and rewarding to use. Other than that, just use the MetaBattle version. It's largely my build.

Yes. Though with the rate of nerfs the Thief receives, I'm beginning to think that 20 is a fairer number. Honestly, two nerfs in two days. Yet no buffs to builds/styles that actually need it. I'm happy something about s/d condi got touched.. Less bandwagoners running the build, not that I had issues with them to begin with (it's a free kill for an experienced thief). These changes, while painful for staff thief, will serve to improve the match quality in a way, for whatever that's worth.

Umm no if prep was baseline trickery would become less of a crutch and less of a needed traitline. Sry dont follow ur logic They would have to take out the extra 3 initiative from preparedness. Make it something else, otherwise thieves would still just take trickery Trickery is still pretty juicy choice anyways without even considering that extra 3 ini.It is juicy, but it'd no longer restrict build creativity, which I feel it indeed does at the moment.

Thief's ability to 1v1 came with the condi boost and s/d and d/d are top condi 1v1 weapons for me also but this may not last long with the condi DD cry's so be prepared to be a +1 decap bot again soon. Thief's main role has never been that of a duelist (with the exception of staff thief). Yes, obviously a thief who knows what he's doing can 1v1 many classes in the game, with most builds. It is, however, a whole 'nother thing whether that's efficient time and objective -wise. Again, it comes down to situational awareness and the position you're in. Whenever I'm seeing or playing d/p thief, I find myself questioning why wouldn't I just play warrior or revenant, with superior survivability and CC. It is that bad . If you want a thief build you should practise right now, try s/d condi and s/d power. Although, again with s/d power, I find myself questioning how much easier warrior has things - with slightly inferior mobility, of course. Condi s/d is a thief build that can stand on equal ground to other classes DPS-wise, and that's why it's hated. Obviously, on top of people not bothering with the nuances of fighting it, much less adjusting their builds. Despite people's cryouts, it does have some neat tricks up its sleeve that bandwagoners will never consider. It's a very position-reliant build, and playing it will most likely improve your spatial awareness. If ur trying to 1v1 on power s/d u are definitely better off going warrior or many other better dueling specs. As I said the condi boost made s/d a viable 1v1 and this is the gw2 community so ofcourse nerf thief threads ensued shortly after just like the now somewhat viable staff build. Thief has unjustly been delegated to a lame +1 role throughout its specs for way to long now. Just cause it was delegated to that role doesn't mean it should stay there. Especially when considering all its specs. That role is only for D/P tho… The "part time" thieves that only knew D/P will always say thief is only good for +1 and decapping.. which is true. But when it comes to D/D, S/D and Staff... You cant ask them to do the job of a D/P because they excel in actual fighting. Not running from fights. A D/D condi thief is built to get in somebodys face and rip it off. Its job is to welcome a 1v1 and even a 2v1 fight and still walk away alive. The S/D thief is meant to stick and move and kill everything it comes across. The staff thief is meant to stall out as many people as it can to give your team the cap advantage. These are things a D/P thief just cant do. But on the flip side. You cant expect these thieves to do what a D/P thief can do either.The days of "thieves are only good at decapping and +1" are over.Ill put my money on a D/D condi thief over a rev or a warrior in a 1v1 fight anyday. S/d strikes a nice balance between those traits, imo. Which is why I prefer it over d/d condi. people just need to realize that D/D, S/D and Staff thieves are not OP and they are not unkillable. They just need to learn the mechanics and tweak up their builds to handle them. Instead of crying in forums for ANET to nerf them.I think people are freaking out because they are so used to a thief just running away from them and not getting into their face wanting to fight. Now they have to actually fight them... Changes everything.. as it should. How's the build feeling post-deadly ambition nerf? I don't really use this build anymore. Just for fun. I currently run a SA D/D condi hybrid which is nasty. Didn't even realize they nerfed deadly ambition until you said something and ive played at least 20+ matches since the update lol. So I guess its not that big of a deal. Im still able to get 3-4k poison ticks and 20+ stacks of poison. I Just read the nerfLooks like you lose 1 stack of poison. Big deal lol. My damage comes from stacked cloaked venoms followed by my utility venoms, weakness, bleeding and 3k+ crit physical hits. Lose 1 stick and icd is 10 sec from 5 so u get one stack of poison every 10 seconds from trait meaning back to mug Mug's still inferior for condi thief. Naw one stack of poison every 10 secs or 2000 somthing poison and a heal every 18. I'll take mug myself and u can lower that to 14 seconds with slight of hand if u dont go for BA. That's not how Mug works. And the healing isn't worth it to pick it over Ambition, which grants you extra condi damage to boot. You have Escapist's Fortitude for superior sustain, if you need it apart from the condi removal. In this meta, the 1.8k healing from Mug every 14 seconds isn't notable. Um how does mug work? clearly shows on steal u deal dps and heal on top of the poison on steal which is better in my eyes than 1 stack poison every 10 secs and test its 18 or 14 with DD The poison is a separate (minor) trait from Mug. The added damage with my setup (Carrion Amulet and Traveler) is 1k, compared to roughly 2k on power s/d. So you'd take it mainly for the heal. Which, I suppose, comes down to playstyle. For me, it's not worth it. Yeah serpents touch is automatically applied cuz it's a minor so no need to really specify it but it adds a significant amount of poison and mugs add strait dps to that with healing. I donno I use withdrawal and trick trait for heals every 14 sec and condi clears on tricks which is just over 4000 hp so the extra 1800 hp also every 14 secs seems significant enough to meI use Bountiful Theft for the boon strip and vigor. The few seconds of cooldown reduction on both tricks I didn't find as valuable. As such, discarding Signet of Agility for a second stun break doesn't feel as compromising. There's few and far situations I can imagine where the short heal from Mug would save my arse. But that's just me.

Thief's ability to 1v1 came with the condi boost and s/d and d/d are top condi 1v1 weapons for me also but this may not last long with the condi DD cry's so be prepared to be a +1 decap bot again soon. Thief's main role has never been that of a duelist (with the exception of staff thief). Yes, obviously a thief who knows what he's doing can 1v1 many classes in the game, with most builds. It is, however, a whole 'nother thing whether that's efficient time and objective -wise. Again, it comes down to situational awareness and the position you're in. Whenever I'm seeing or playing d/p thief, I find myself questioning why wouldn't I just play warrior or revenant, with superior survivability and CC. It is that bad . If you want a thief build you should practise right now, try s/d condi and s/d power. Although, again with s/d power, I find myself questioning how much easier warrior has things - with slightly inferior mobility, of course. Condi s/d is a thief build that can stand on equal ground to other classes DPS-wise, and that's why it's hated. Obviously, on top of people not bothering with the nuances of fighting it, much less adjusting their builds. Despite people's cryouts, it does have some neat tricks up its sleeve that bandwagoners will never consider. It's a very position-reliant build, and playing it will most likely improve your spatial awareness. If ur trying to 1v1 on power s/d u are definitely better off going warrior or many other better dueling specs. As I said the condi boost made s/d a viable 1v1 and this is the gw2 community so ofcourse nerf thief threads ensued shortly after just like the now somewhat viable staff build. Thief has unjustly been delegated to a lame +1 role throughout its specs for way to long now. Just cause it was delegated to that role doesn't mean it should stay there. Especially when considering all its specs. That role is only for D/P tho… The "part time" thieves that only knew D/P will always say thief is only good for +1 and decapping.. which is true. But when it comes to D/D, S/D and Staff... You cant ask them to do the job of a D/P because they excel in actual fighting. Not running from fights. A D/D condi thief is built to get in somebodys face and rip it off. Its job is to welcome a 1v1 and even a 2v1 fight and still walk away alive. The S/D thief is meant to stick and move and kill everything it comes across. The staff thief is meant to stall out as many people as it can to give your team the cap advantage. These are things a D/P thief just cant do. But on the flip side. You cant expect these thieves to do what a D/P thief can do either.The days of "thieves are only good at decapping and +1" are over.Ill put my money on a D/D condi thief over a rev or a warrior in a 1v1 fight anyday. S/d strikes a nice balance between those traits, imo. Which is why I prefer it over d/d condi. people just need to realize that D/D, S/D and Staff thieves are not OP and they are not unkillable. They just need to learn the mechanics and tweak up their builds to handle them. Instead of crying in forums for ANET to nerf them.I think people are freaking out because they are so used to a thief just running away from them and not getting into their face wanting to fight. Now they have to actually fight them... Changes everything.. as it should. How's the build feeling post-deadly ambition nerf? I don't really use this build anymore. Just for fun. I currently run a SA D/D condi hybrid which is nasty. Didn't even realize they nerfed deadly ambition until you said something and ive played at least 20+ matches since the update lol. So I guess its not that big of a deal. Im still able to get 3-4k poison ticks and 20+ stacks of poison. I Just read the nerfLooks like you lose 1 stack of poison. Big deal lol. My damage comes from stacked cloaked venoms followed by my utility venoms, weakness, bleeding and 3k+ crit physical hits. Lose 1 stick and icd is 10 sec from 5 so u get one stack of poison every 10 seconds from trait meaning back to mug Mug's still inferior for condi thief. Naw one stack of poison every 10 secs or 2000 somthing poison and a heal every 18. I'll take mug myself and u can lower that to 14 seconds with slight of hand if u dont go for BA. That's not how Mug works. And the healing isn't worth it to pick it over Ambition, which grants you extra condi damage to boot. You have Escapist's Fortitude for superior sustain, if you need it apart from the condi removal. In this meta, the 1.8k healing from Mug every 14 seconds isn't notable. Um how does mug work? clearly shows on steal u deal dps and heal on top of the poison on steal which is better in my eyes than 1 stack poison every 10 secs and test its 18 or 14 with DDThe poison is a separate (minor) trait from Mug. The added damage with my setup (Carrion Amulet and Traveler) is 1k, compared to roughly 2k on power s/d. So you'd take it mainly for the heal. Which, I suppose, comes down to playstyle. For me, it's not worth it.

As interesting as this sounds, I don't see it happening because 1) too much work, 2) confusing for veteran players, 3) design philosophies and uniqueness. 1) If they can put CD on the stealth attacks, this should not be any different2) The Initiatives will functions as normal. The only difference is the addition of CD which allows for the use of the skill without Initiatives. Any veteran who knows how to manage their Initiative may not even need to use the skill for CD.3) What do you mean by this?1) It still requires potential additional re-balancing of a ton of different skills. Any games' devs would be hesitant about this. 2) Muscle memory is a w-bitch. 3) What the class was designed in mind with. No weapon cooldowns is the 'thief thing' - similar to mesmer clones.

Thief's ability to 1v1 came with the condi boost and s/d and d/d are top condi 1v1 weapons for me also but this may not last long with the condi DD cry's so be prepared to be a +1 decap bot again soon. Thief's main role has never been that of a duelist (with the exception of staff thief). Yes, obviously a thief who knows what he's doing can 1v1 many classes in the game, with most builds. It is, however, a whole 'nother thing whether that's efficient time and objective -wise. Again, it comes down to situational awareness and the position you're in. Whenever I'm seeing or playing d/p thief, I find myself questioning why wouldn't I just play warrior or revenant, with superior survivability and CC. It is that bad . If you want a thief build you should practise right now, try s/d condi and s/d power. Although, again with s/d power, I find myself questioning how much easier warrior has things - with slightly inferior mobility, of course. Condi s/d is a thief build that can stand on equal ground to other classes DPS-wise, and that's why it's hated. Obviously, on top of people not bothering with the nuances of fighting it, much less adjusting their builds. Despite people's cryouts, it does have some neat tricks up its sleeve that bandwagoners will never consider. It's a very position-reliant build, and playing it will most likely improve your spatial awareness. If ur trying to 1v1 on power s/d u are definitely better off going warrior or many other better dueling specs. As I said the condi boost made s/d a viable 1v1 and this is the gw2 community so ofcourse nerf thief threads ensued shortly after just like the now somewhat viable staff build. Thief has unjustly been delegated to a lame +1 role throughout its specs for way to long now. Just cause it was delegated to that role doesn't mean it should stay there. Especially when considering all its specs. That role is only for D/P tho… The "part time" thieves that only knew D/P will always say thief is only good for +1 and decapping.. which is true. But when it comes to D/D, S/D and Staff... You cant ask them to do the job of a D/P because they excel in actual fighting. Not running from fights. A D/D condi thief is built to get in somebodys face and rip it off. Its job is to welcome a 1v1 and even a 2v1 fight and still walk away alive. The S/D thief is meant to stick and move and kill everything it comes across. The staff thief is meant to stall out as many people as it can to give your team the cap advantage. These are things a D/P thief just cant do. But on the flip side. You cant expect these thieves to do what a D/P thief can do either.The days of "thieves are only good at decapping and +1" are over.Ill put my money on a D/D condi thief over a rev or a warrior in a 1v1 fight anyday. S/d strikes a nice balance between those traits, imo. Which is why I prefer it over d/d condi. people just need to realize that D/D, S/D and Staff thieves are not OP and they are not unkillable. They just need to learn the mechanics and tweak up their builds to handle them. Instead of crying in forums for ANET to nerf them.I think people are freaking out because they are so used to a thief just running away from them and not getting into their face wanting to fight. Now they have to actually fight them... Changes everything.. as it should. How's the build feeling post-deadly ambition nerf? I don't really use this build anymore. Just for fun. I currently run a SA D/D condi hybrid which is nasty. Didn't even realize they nerfed deadly ambition until you said something and ive played at least 20+ matches since the update lol. So I guess its not that big of a deal. Im still able to get 3-4k poison ticks and 20+ stacks of poison. I Just read the nerfLooks like you lose 1 stack of poison. Big deal lol. My damage comes from stacked cloaked venoms followed by my utility venoms, weakness, bleeding and 3k+ crit physical hits. Lose 1 stick and icd is 10 sec from 5 so u get one stack of poison every 10 seconds from trait meaning back to mug Mug's still inferior for condi thief. Naw one stack of poison every 10 secs or 2000 somthing poison and a heal every 18. I'll take mug myself and u can lower that to 14 seconds with slight of hand if u dont go for BA.That's not how Mug works. And the healing isn't worth it to pick it over Ambition, which grants you extra condi damage to boot. You have Escapist's Fortitude for superior sustain, if you need it apart from the condi removal. In this meta, the 1.8k healing from Mug every 14 seconds isn't notable.

Got Trick-n-Treated out of the game thrice, once mid-way Mad King Says... , once before it, and once after. And the event schedule essentially reset itself after the 2nd DC. Which seems like a bug....? EDIT: permanent DCs now.

Thief's ability to 1v1 came with the condi boost and s/d and d/d are top condi 1v1 weapons for me also but this may not last long with the condi DD cry's so be prepared to be a +1 decap bot again soon. Thief's main role has never been that of a duelist (with the exception of staff thief). Yes, obviously a thief who knows what he's doing can 1v1 many classes in the game, with most builds. It is, however, a whole 'nother thing whether that's efficient time and objective -wise. Again, it comes down to situational awareness and the position you're in. Whenever I'm seeing or playing d/p thief, I find myself questioning why wouldn't I just play warrior or revenant, with superior survivability and CC. It is that bad . If you want a thief build you should practise right now, try s/d condi and s/d power. Although, again with s/d power, I find myself questioning how much easier warrior has things - with slightly inferior mobility, of course. Condi s/d is a thief build that can stand on equal ground to other classes DPS-wise, and that's why it's hated. Obviously, on top of people not bothering with the nuances of fighting it, much less adjusting their builds. Despite people's cryouts, it does have some neat tricks up its sleeve that bandwagoners will never consider. It's a very position-reliant build, and playing it will most likely improve your spatial awareness. If ur trying to 1v1 on power s/d u are definitely better off going warrior or many other better dueling specs. As I said the condi boost made s/d a viable 1v1 and this is the gw2 community so ofcourse nerf thief threads ensued shortly after just like the now somewhat viable staff build. Thief has unjustly been delegated to a lame +1 role throughout its specs for way to long now. Just cause it was delegated to that role doesn't mean it should stay there. Especially when considering all its specs. That role is only for D/P tho… The "part time" thieves that only knew D/P will always say thief is only good for +1 and decapping.. which is true. But when it comes to D/D, S/D and Staff... You cant ask them to do the job of a D/P because they excel in actual fighting. Not running from fights. A D/D condi thief is built to get in somebodys face and rip it off. Its job is to welcome a 1v1 and even a 2v1 fight and still walk away alive. The S/D thief is meant to stick and move and kill everything it comes across. The staff thief is meant to stall out as many people as it can to give your team the cap advantage. These are things a D/P thief just cant do. But on the flip side. You cant expect these thieves to do what a D/P thief can do either.The days of "thieves are only good at decapping and +1" are over.Ill put my money on a D/D condi thief over a rev or a warrior in a 1v1 fight anyday. S/d strikes a nice balance between those traits, imo. Which is why I prefer it over d/d condi. people just need to realize that D/D, S/D and Staff thieves are not OP and they are not unkillable. They just need to learn the mechanics and tweak up their builds to handle them. Instead of crying in forums for ANET to nerf them.I think people are freaking out because they are so used to a thief just running away from them and not getting into their face wanting to fight. Now they have to actually fight them... Changes everything.. as it should. How's the build feeling post-deadly ambition nerf? I don't really use this build anymore. Just for fun. I currently run a SA D/D condi hybrid which is nasty. Didn't even realize they nerfed deadly ambition until you said something and ive played at least 20+ matches since the update lol. So I guess its not that big of a deal. Im still able to get 3-4k poison ticks and 20+ stacks of poison. I Just read the nerfLooks like you lose 1 stack of poison. Big deal lol. My damage comes from stacked cloaked venoms followed by my utility venoms, weakness, bleeding and 3k+ crit physical hits. Lose 1 stick and icd is 10 sec from 5 so u get one stack of poison every 10 seconds from trait meaning back to mugMug's still inferior for condi thief.

As interesting as this sounds, I don't see it happening because 1) too much work, 2) confusing for veteran players, 3) design philosophies and uniqueness.

Thief's ability to 1v1 came with the condi boost and s/d and d/d are top condi 1v1 weapons for me also but this may not last long with the condi DD cry's so be prepared to be a +1 decap bot again soon. Thief's main role has never been that of a duelist (with the exception of staff thief). Yes, obviously a thief who knows what he's doing can 1v1 many classes in the game, with most builds. It is, however, a whole 'nother thing whether that's efficient time and objective -wise. Again, it comes down to situational awareness and the position you're in. Whenever I'm seeing or playing d/p thief, I find myself questioning why wouldn't I just play warrior or revenant, with superior survivability and CC. It is that bad . If you want a thief build you should practise right now, try s/d condi and s/d power. Although, again with s/d power, I find myself questioning how much easier warrior has things - with slightly inferior mobility, of course. Condi s/d is a thief build that can stand on equal ground to other classes DPS-wise, and that's why it's hated. Obviously, on top of people not bothering with the nuances of fighting it, much less adjusting their builds. Despite people's cryouts, it does have some neat tricks up its sleeve that bandwagoners will never consider. It's a very position-reliant build, and playing it will most likely improve your spatial awareness. If ur trying to 1v1 on power s/d u are definitely better off going warrior or many other better dueling specs. As I said the condi boost made s/d a viable 1v1 and this is the gw2 community so ofcourse nerf thief threads ensued shortly after just like the now somewhat viable staff build. Thief has unjustly been delegated to a lame +1 role throughout its specs for way to long now. Just cause it was delegated to that role doesn't mean it should stay there. Especially when considering all its specs. That role is only for D/P tho… The "part time" thieves that only knew D/P will always say thief is only good for +1 and decapping.. which is true. But when it comes to D/D, S/D and Staff... You cant ask them to do the job of a D/P because they excel in actual fighting. Not running from fights. A D/D condi thief is built to get in somebodys face and rip it off. Its job is to welcome a 1v1 and even a 2v1 fight and still walk away alive. The S/D thief is meant to stick and move and kill everything it comes across. The staff thief is meant to stall out as many people as it can to give your team the cap advantage. These are things a D/P thief just cant do. But on the flip side. You cant expect these thieves to do what a D/P thief can do either.The days of "thieves are only good at decapping and +1" are over.Ill put my money on a D/D condi thief over a rev or a warrior in a 1v1 fight anyday. S/d strikes a nice balance between those traits, imo. Which is why I prefer it over d/d condi. people just need to realize that D/D, S/D and Staff thieves are not OP and they are not unkillable. They just need to learn the mechanics and tweak up their builds to handle them. Instead of crying in forums for ANET to nerf them.I think people are freaking out because they are so used to a thief just running away from them and not getting into their face wanting to fight. Now they have to actually fight them... Changes everything.. as it should.How's the build feeling post-deadly ambition nerf?

While adjusting the costs of certain mobility-bound weapon skills? EDIT: I mean replacing the Preparedness trait with something else. Not 18 initiative with the Trickery line.

Well, the hotfix is in, and staff's gutted.

Thief's ability to 1v1 came with the condi boost and s/d and d/d are top condi 1v1 weapons for me also but this may not last long with the condi DD cry's so be prepared to be a +1 decap bot again soon. Thief's main role has never been that of a duelist (with the exception of staff thief). Yes, obviously a thief who knows what he's doing can 1v1 many classes in the game, with most builds. It is, however, a whole 'nother thing whether that's efficient time and objective -wise. Again, it comes down to situational awareness and the position you're in. Whenever I'm seeing or playing d/p thief, I find myself questioning why wouldn't I just play warrior or revenant, with superior survivability and CC. It is that bad . If you want a thief build you should practise right now, try s/d condi and s/d power. Although, again with s/d power, I find myself questioning how much easier warrior has things - with slightly inferior mobility, of course. Condi s/d is a thief build that can stand on equal ground to other classes DPS-wise, and that's why it's hated. Obviously, on top of people not bothering with the nuances of fighting it, much less adjusting their builds. Despite people's cryouts, it does have some neat tricks up its sleeve that bandwagoners will never consider. It's a very position-reliant build, and playing it will most likely improve your spatial awareness. If ur trying to 1v1 on power s/d u are definitely better off going warrior or many other better dueling specs. As I said the condi boost made s/d a viable 1v1 and this is the gw2 community so ofcourse nerf thief threads ensued shortly after just like the now somewhat viable staff build. Thief has unjustly been delegated to a lame +1 role throughout its specs for way to long now. Just cause it was delegated to that role doesn't mean it should stay there. Especially when considering all its specs. That role is only for D/P tho… The "part time" thieves that only knew D/P will always say thief is only good for +1 and decapping.. which is true. But when it comes to D/D, S/D and Staff... You cant ask them to do the job of a D/P because they excel in actual fighting. Not running from fights. A D/D condi thief is built to get in somebodys face and rip it off. Its job is to welcome a 1v1 and even a 2v1 fight and still walk away alive. The S/D thief is meant to stick and move and kill everything it comes across. The staff thief is meant to stall out as many people as it can to give your team the cap advantage. These are things a D/P thief just cant do. But on the flip side. You cant expect these thieves to do what a D/P thief can do either.The days of "thieves are only good at decapping and +1" are over.Ill put my money on a D/D condi thief over a rev or a warrior in a 1v1 fight anyday.S/d strikes a nice balance between those traits, imo. Which is why I prefer it over d/d condi.

Thief's ability to 1v1 came with the condi boost and s/d and d/d are top condi 1v1 weapons for me also but this may not last long with the condi DD cry's so be prepared to be a +1 decap bot again soon. Thief's main role has never been that of a duelist (with the exception of staff thief). Yes, obviously a thief who knows what he's doing can 1v1 many classes in the game, with most builds. It is, however, a whole 'nother thing whether that's efficient time and objective -wise. Again, it comes down to situational awareness and the position you're in. Whenever I'm seeing or playing d/p thief, I find myself questioning why wouldn't I just play warrior or revenant, with superior survivability and CC. It is that bad . If you want a thief build you should practise right now, try s/d condi and s/d power. Although, again with s/d power, I find myself questioning how much easier warrior has things - with slightly inferior mobility, of course. Condi s/d is a thief build that can stand on equal ground to other classes DPS-wise, and that's why it's hated. Obviously, on top of people not bothering with the nuances of fighting it, much less adjusting their builds. Despite people's cryouts, it does have some neat tricks up its sleeve that bandwagoners will never consider. It's a very position-reliant build, and playing it will most likely improve your spatial awareness. If ur trying to 1v1 on power s/d u are definitely better off going warrior or many other better dueling specs. As I said the condi boost made s/d a viable 1v1 and this is the gw2 community so ofcourse nerf thief threads ensued shortly after just like the now somewhat viable staff build. Thief has unjustly been delegated to a lame +1 role throughout its specs for way to long now. Just cause it was delegated to that role doesn't mean it should stay there. Especially when considering all its specs.I agree, thief's playstyle is a very unique one, and one that I enjoy a lot personally. There are some changes they could try out on a fundamental level (such as modifying Steal to be a skillshot while removing some of the mobility from shortbow) that could work out for the better of the class in long term. But, as is the case with mesmer, we will be waiting for a long haul. More likely than not. Although, I'd add that the 'burden' of being the main roamer of the team being thief's raises the skill cap of the class somewhat. Which, personally, I don't mind in and out of itself.

Thief's ability to 1v1 came with the condi boost and s/d and d/d are top condi 1v1 weapons for me also but this may not last long with the condi DD cry's so be prepared to be a +1 decap bot again soon. Thief's main role has never been that of a duelist (with the exception of staff thief). Yes, obviously a thief who knows what he's doing can 1v1 many classes in the game, with most builds. It is, however, a whole 'nother thing whether that's efficient time and objective -wise. Again, it comes down to situational awareness and the position you're in. Whenever I'm seeing or playing d/p thief, I find myself questioning why wouldn't I just play warrior or revenant, with superior survivability and CC. It is that bad . If you want a thief build you should practise right now, try s/d condi and s/d power. Although, again with s/d power, I find myself questioning how much easier warrior has things - with slightly inferior mobility, of course. Condi s/d is a thief build that can stand on equal ground to other classes DPS-wise, and that's why it's hated. Obviously, on top of people not bothering with the nuances of fighting it, much less adjusting their builds. Despite people's cryouts, it does have some neat tricks up its sleeve that bandwagoners will never consider. It's a very position-reliant build, and playing it will most likely improve your spatial awareness.