Thief, Deadeye or Daredevil??

[smashgodlight.6584]

Hello

 

So first of I set a goal to check all the classes in the game all the specializations in PVE so I can settle up with the ones I like in each class

This time is thief I played the core Thief from the beginning and I first wanted to check out Deadeye and then move on to the Daredevil

 

But to be honest I had some weird experience playing it. Also what drove me to try the deadeye was the idea of holding a sniper and let's don't forget the different videos all over YouTube showing the "one shot" build in wvw and I think in pve too, which I still don't know how it works. :cold_sweat:

 

Lets start with the experience

1) Too squishy : Is it only me? or does it have to be that way ? I mean I run full berserker in PVE and my health its up to 11k even from lower lvl mobs I can be a 1 hit target.

2) You only have 1 target at a time which in some situations it can be pretty challenging

3) Still don't understand how to use the "Malice" . And I feel that by not knowing I deal less dmg !

I really love the idea of holding a sniper but having Pistol/PIstol is it more effective than holding a rifle?? Also what is a good swamp combination to have??

 

To sum up ,that was my experience with the Deadeye so far, to be honest I tried it even in the beta of PoF and I was really excited but having it now I feel the only advantage point to have a deadeye is the WvW or PvP (which I don't really play) . But even with that, even by playing the Deadeye in pve ! Is there a better way to not be that squishy? Is there a build out there that I can use to deal a good amount of dmg on mobs and just not be dead for most of the time?

 

Also If anyone has the time I would really love to know some more things such as...

1) Some tips about any build or what is the correct way to use the Deadeye in PvE or WvW

2) What are considered a great combo ??

3) How does Malice works ?

4) How does the 1 Hit works in WvW ?

5) I really love the idea of holding a sniper but having Pistol/PIstol is it more effective than holding a rifle?? Also what is a good swamp combination to have??

 

If you have any Links in mind that you think they can help please share them.

 

Thanks :)

[babazhook.6805]

To PVE and Deadeye. I suggest Rifle a support weapon in that spec and you are better off using s/p as main. Take the CS line for Invigorating precision . Practice using the #2 port in and out so you become proficient at pulling out of battle just when it gets dicey. Rely heavily on the PW and blind in the s/p set. This way you can engage multiple targets and keep health near full. I suggest Mali 7 as the elite as this will fuel INI allowing more pistolwhips and ports. in Pve unloading the malice happens when the marked creature dies or you make a stealth attack with your #1 skill. Smeld or one other source of stealth can help with the latter but generally you will kill them quick enough (especially if they trash mobs) that stealth not needed. If desired and you feel comforntable enough you can use SOM as the heal as this provides more heals per hit.

 

Sword/p also does well using the de/Acro/tr line and if there still an issue with sustain, trait up assassins reward. You should have few issues if you do these things.

 

Rifle is not condusive to this style of sustain as it single target and you just can not generate enough hits to pay off on IP . Som and Assassins.

[Ydeirt.3905]

I'll try to answer what i know based on my (old) experience, bear in mind that i haven't been playing thief much since i switch to main another class.

 

> 1) Too squishy : Is it only me? or does it have to be that way ? I mean I run full berserker in PVE and my health its up to 11k even from lower lvl mobs I can be a 1 hit target.

If you run full berserk, thats will be the max hp you'll gonna get. But bear in mind thief have 2 sustain heal from Crit traits & a heal signet (i forgot the name). If you want more health try to use Marauder set if you got HoT expansion or Berserker + Valk if you don't.

 

> 2) You only have 1 target at a time which in some situations it can be pretty challenging

If you use ranged weapon on thief, as far as i know, yes you can only attack one at a time. Only shortbow does bounce damage. If you want aoe, try melee weapon. D/D is somewhat a good choice for cleaving.

 

> 3) Still don't understand how to use the "Malice" . And I feel that by not knowing I deal less dmg !

I'll just say it short since i haven't played deadeye extensively. The way you get malice is by using skill that uses initiative. Max malice stack is 5 and can be increase by using Malificent Seven trait that adds 2 more malice stack (so 7 Malice stack max). There are a few skills that use malice, lets take an example. Judgement (iirc) is a rifle skill on autoattack that delivers big damage if you manage to stack malice 5-7 but to use it you need to be in stealth. Malicious Backstab is the melee variation to that.

 

> I really love the idea of holding a sniper but having Pistol/PIstol is it more effective than holding a rifle?? Also what is a good swamp combination to have??

Someone may have an anwer for this. I was using daredevil extensively with D/P and Shortbow, so..

 

> To sum up ,that was my experience with the Deadeye so far, to be honest I tried it even in the beta of PoF and I was really excited but having it now I feel the only advantage point to have a deadeye is the WvW or PvP (which I don't really play) . But even with that, even by playing the Deadeye in pve ! Is there a better way to not be that squishy? Is there a build out there that I can use to deal a good amount of dmg on mobs and just not be dead for most of the time?

It depends for this, if you're in a group content with a healer, you shouldn't think about max hp to much and focus more on dps and evading attacks rather than tanking it.

 

> 3) How does Malice works ?

Somewhat explained above.

 

> 4) How does the 1 Hit works in WvW ?

Don't DE recently got nerf to their Three round burst shot which mainly used to stack malice, so its quite difficult to do and you should know that this is a gimick build and relies heavily on good setup before encounter. I wouldn't recommend it.

 

 

[babazhook.6805]

Malice is quite simple. When you mark a target you garner several boons and advantages against that target dependndent on trait loadout form the DE line. Malice BUILDS with any skill used that costs INI , thus it can not build with your #1 attack. Each critical hit and each hit generates one tick of malice. This why pistolwhip above can build malice so fast.

 

Once malice reaches full it stays there until time expires (which you generally do not see happen in real terms) , you reset the malice load via MERCY (which can be very useful if timed correctly) or you do a stealth atack with the #1 skill of your respective weapon (this generating a number of advantages such as a VERY high damage from a stealthed d/x attack or Endurance regen from a stealthed sword attack). Once it resets you have to build it to full again.

 

So how this would work if in s/p is something like this.

 

mark target and port too via #2. Attack with two Pistol whips and port away. You should be close to 5 malice . Headshot or some such and try to get it to full. Mali 7 kicks in you get the boons and 7 Ini. Port in again and smeld. Use stealth attack with sword to unload that malice and gain endurance. Repeat process to rebuild.

[Aurelius.6829]

A post where I can answer all of the question, how rare!

I've been playing DE as my main now outside of raids.

 

I'm running Deadly Arts, Trickery, and Deadeye.

But you can change your spec to suit the situation.

 

Okay, let's start.

> 1) Too squishy : Is it only me? or does it have to be that way ? I mean I run full berserker in PVE and my health its up to 11k even from lower lvl mobs I can be a 1 hit target.

Signet of Malice will heal you with every attack, there's a trait in Deadly Arts that let you damage them and heal you when you mark your target.

Whenever I'm low on health I swith to Pistol/Pistol, Mark, Unload, Mercy, Mark, Unload.

P/P is your go to whenever you need more health, extra initiative on mark and Be Quick or Be Killed also helps.

 

>2) You only have 1 target at a time which in some situations it can be pretty challenging

Collateral Damage helps a lot, you still need to take them out one by one though.

 

>3) Still don't understand how to use the "Malice" . And I feel that by not knowing I deal less dmg !

>I really love the idea of holding a sniper but having Pistol/PIstol is it more effective than holding a rifle?? Also what is a good swamp combination to have??

In open world I use Rifle and Pistol/Pistol (change to Dagger/Dagger in raids), Rifle if you need damage and Pistols if you need sustain.

 

Now, next batch of questions.

 

>1) Some tips about any build or what is the correct way to use the Deadeye in PvE or WvW

In organized PvE use D/D and basically spam your Dagger 5 and Malicious Backstab, in more casual PvE I use Rifle and P/P as stated above.

I don't play WvW so I can't help you on this one.

 

>2) What are considered a great combo ??

In PvE:

-Heal combo as explained above.

-Kneel, Mark, Rifle 3 till you ran out of initiative, Mercy, repeat. roll for stalth and DJ whenever your Malice is full and Mercy is on cooldown.

In PvP:

-Kneel, Mark, Rifle 3 till you ran out of initiative, Mercy, repeat. Only use this when they ran out of defensive skills.

-Kneel, Mark, Rifle 2, Rifle 3, Rifle 2, Mercy, Rifle 2, Mark, Rifle 2, Rifle 3, Rifle 2, dodge, Death's Judgement. Good against opponents with few stunbreaks.

-Kneel, and just Rifle 2 the right opponent so they can't dodge your team mates properly or force them to dodge by using DJ on unmarked target, then go back to your target.

-If you know that a player on enemy team are toxic, spam kneel on their corpse. this is the only way to tea bag in MMO. seriously, if they tilt it'll be better for your team.

I know it sounds like a joke, but there's so many occasion where they afk after you tea bag them enough and results in free win. Works better on Gold 3 and Plat 1.

 

 

>3) How does Malice works ?

Explained by Ydeirt.

 

>4) How does the 1 Hit works in WvW ?

No idea, I don't play WvW.

 

>5) I really love the idea of holding a sniper but having Pistol/PIstol is it more effective than holding a rifle?? Also what is a good swamp combination to have??

Explained above.

 

 

Hope it helps you a bit~