Questions from a brand-new thief

[Myth.2679]

Hi guys,

 

So I finally decided to give GW2 a shot and after doing a bit of research, played a bunch of classes upto 21 to check out the specs.

 

I believe thief is what I am looking for, but wanted to ask a few questions before I dive in.

 

First of all, I basically intend on just doing solo, open world 100% on this char. I have little to no interest in any serious endgame or group content. I also dislike a lot of skill-switching or complicated rotations. That being said, I like to play as a ranged class over melee. I def prefer pistols/rifles to longbow/shortbow from a personal perspective. I would also like to level pretty close to the playstyle i'll be using at max-level.

 

So.. given all that, is thief what I am looking for or is ranger a better fit? :confused:

 

Thanks!

~Myth

[SoulSin.5682]

I assume we are talking about Thief Free Account here. Since you are prolly not planning to buy any expansion so soon?

 

In this case, you may forget the Rifle since DeadEye is an expansion-only class.

 

That said:

 

As far as grinding Thief to 80 goes, its most likely exactly what you are looking for. Gameplay for thief is pretty simple and you can pretty much enjoy everything solo save fight against some Champions, Legendary and Word Bosses. Since no one can solo those.

 

That said, I am actually talking about the good-and-old combination of Dagger or Sword + Pistol Thief. That pretty much grant infinite access to blind and cleave. Gameplay is as simple as using Skill 5# to drop a blind field and kill enemys with Auto Attack (AA).

This saves you space to play around other skills and utilitys as much as you want, since that rotation above is almost everything you need most of the time.

 

Sadly, thief is not at home with its ranged options. Shortbow is mostly an utility unit and both Pistols and Rifles are single target damage. Since most of the game quest involves you getting attacked by multiple mobs of enemys, single target damage can be used but it won't quite cut it. Shortbow is an weapon devised for AoE damage but you just mentioned you are not a fan of it.

 

 

If you plan to stick to thief for your journey to lvl 80, I would recommend a set of Pistol/Pistol + Shortbow. Where you may need to change the Shortbow for Sword / Pistol occasionally when you need to deal with those kinds of quests.

 

 

Ranger has some other options for ranged aoe damage, like Axe (yep) or Shortbow.

Or you could play Mesmer or Necromancer. Those two pretty much excel at solo gameplay, and are ranged.

[Myth.2679]

> @SoulSin.5682 said:

> I assume we are talking about Thief Free Account here. Since you are prolly not planning to buy any expansion so soon?

>

> In this case, you may forget the Rifle since DeadEye is an expansion-only class.

>

> That said:

>

> As far as grinding Thief to 80 goes, its most likely exactly what you are looking for. Gameplay for thief is pretty simple and you can pretty much enjoy everything solo save fight against some Champions, Legendary and Word Bosses. Since no one can solo those.

>

> That said, I am actually talking about the good-and-old combination of Dagger or Sword + Pistol Thief. That pretty much grant infinite access to blind and cleave. Gameplay is as simple as using Skill 5# to drop a blind field and kill enemys with Auto Attack (AA).

> This saves you space to play around other skills and utilitys as much as you want, since that rotation above is almost everything you need most of the time.

>

> Sadly, thief is not at home with its ranged options. Shortbow is mostly an utility unit and both Pistols and Rifles are single target damage. Since most of the game quest involves you getting attacked by multiple mobs of enemys, single target damage can be used but it won't quite cut it. Shortbow is an weapon devised for AoE damage but you just mentioned you are not a fan of it.

>

>

> If you plan to stick to thief for your journey to lvl 80, I would recommend a set of Pistol/Pistol + Shortbow. Where you may need to change the Shortbow for Sword / Pistol occasionally when you need to deal with those kinds of quests.

>

>

> Ranger has some other options for ranged aoe damage, like Axe (yep) or Shortbow.

> Or you could play Mesmer or Necromancer. Those two pretty much excel at solo gameplay, and are ranged.

 

I have both expansions and 2 level 80 boosts. I just dont want to use them until i've atleast leveled one class to 80 the regular way to ensure I understand the game mechanics well enough.

 

P/P + SB sounds like it'll be what I need then. Interesting that rifle too is single target; I had assumed pistols were single target and rifles would be AoE.

 

Could you clarify when I would switch SB for S/P? Is S/P just better AoE coverage than SB? As for stats, I assume I just focus purely on power while leveling to 80?

 

Thanks a lot for the response and help!

~Myth

[babazhook.6805]

When deciding when a good time to switch from SB to s/b you have to understand the nature of enemy you fight , your traits and Style of play. As many point out almost anything works in PVE and the best advice one can give IMO is find the set that you feel most comfortable with.

 

I always found SB as example a bit "slow" and in open world with he build I was using I liked P/P and S/p (When describing SB as "slow" I am not talking about cross map mobility. Nothing is better). I would use P/P at range for quick downs. if a group of enemy closed i would switch off to s/p for the blind and the Pistol whip. If traited in CS , the GM trait IP would give excellent heals when doing this.

 

So as example there these pocket raptors in the HOT expansion. These things roam in packs and can move quickly. If you are in P/P when you fight them, given it single target you can be torn apart. Switch off to S/p with IP traited and do the pistol whip for cleave and you heal as you kill. The reason this does not work as well with the AOE out of SB is because these things move so fast they often out of the area you were aiming at before the arrow hits. If you do the Aim at your feet you are going to take a lot of hits before you start downing them. S/P can lay down a blind first a lot more reliably then can SB. Pistol whip also has a built in evade and stuns and this can significantly help if you got certain sigils (sigil of draining on one weapon as example). You can get stuns off SB but only if you applying poison as well meaning your INI fights for Cluster bomb and Choking gas.

 

That said i would always have a SB with me. There are situations where it more then a little useful. I would very often switch up on the weapons I was using depending on the circumstances.

[Dahkeus.8243]

If you want a ranged sniper type class for casual content, then thief/deadeye is a great choice. You have Pistol/Pistol as a strong option as well as rifle once you unlock Deadeye.

That being said, ranger is not bad either, but you’re stuck with a pet and pets don’t taunt/tank like other MMOs, so it’s not as much of an advantage for open world/solo stuff as you might think.

[Leo Schrodingers Cat.2497]

> @Myth.2679 said:

> Hi guys,

>

> So I finally decided to give GW2 a shot and after doing a bit of research, played a bunch of classes upto 21 to check out the specs.

>

> I believe thief is what I am looking for, but wanted to ask a few questions before I dive in.

>

> First of all, I basically intend on just doing solo, open world 100% on this char. I have little to no interest in any serious endgame or group content. I also dislike a lot of skill-switching or complicated rotations. That being said, I like to play as a ranged class over melee. I def prefer pistols/rifles to longbow/shortbow from a personal perspective. I would also like to level pretty close to the playstyle i'll be using at max-level.

>

> So.. given all that, is thief what I am looking for or is ranger a better fit? :confused:

>

> Thanks!

> ~Myth

 

Ranger is a solid Ranged profession. However, you can unlock deadeye. Despite what people say about it, it is actually a pretty solid elite specialization. Though it does a need a little help from Anet, and they aren't being too understanding.