How do I kill you?

[bokiz333]

I know most people won't be forthcoming but I hope some will be...how do I effectively fight a good thief?

As a bit of a background, I'm an ele (and many think it's underpowered) but I've been having alot of success in WvW lately with my build to the point I iknow I'm going to win a 1on1 encounter 9/10 times. I can defeat almost any class with half health left except mesmers which when played well can be tough but that's how it should be. I would say we're 50/50 if the mesmer is good so no complaint there.

But I can not handle thieves, and most people I know can't handle thieves. I went into PVP to make sure I wasn't having success just because I was lvl 80 and my gear was an advantage...I rolled everyone and suprisingly people we're complimentary (and not complaining about it) and so many people said I was one of the best ele's they've seen and asked about my build, etc. So seems like I'm half decent...and yet I know if I encounter a thief I will lose. Heck PVP looks like Thief Wars 2 and not Guild Wars 2 and why wouldn't it.

So based on some comments I heard I tried immobilizing, chilling (slow) getting out of dodge during the initial burts, traiting so I get armor at certain HP levels...all of which helped...so now I die when the thief has 40% health instead of 90% but I'm still losing....so can someone, ANYONE tell me what I need to do in order to take out thieves. Any help is appreciated.

[Mitchrapp]

The short answer is you can't. The longer detailed answer is you can't ;-)

[Kendel]

Thief's would be something I would consider as your counter class. They are pretty much made to kill ele's

[bokiz333]

I...I am not encouraged.

I guess my only hope is a thief nerf with an ele buff which obv will not happen. If I chase a player in WvW, I kill them and move on. But if a player runs straght towards me, I wait and then run to them and kill them...and then stand over them and take a bow. As in "I bet you thought that was going to play out differently"...I've gotten to do that alot with every class...except thief (except on rare occasion)...you have no idea how much I want to consistantly take a bow on a thief that comes after me because I'm a quick kill!!!

[JohnnyV]

So funny to read this coming from a different profession, because I typically roll over thieves as a guardian. As for engineers, those guys can go to hell...go to hell and die. Still don't think I've won a 1v1 against an engineer yet. So I definitely understand the feeling of one class providing trouble.

[Galileo]

I've not been playing my thief much as of late, though he is the funnest toon I have, but what typically gets me while on my thief is Conditions.

[bokiz333]

So funny to read this coming from a different profession, because I typically roll over thieves as a guardian. As for engineers, those guys can go to hell...go to hell and die. Still don't think I've won a 1v1 against an engineer yet. So I definitely understand the feeling of one class providing trouble.

I guess that's just it and thieves is a class I'll have to learn to run from.

Just yesterday I was in PVP and this little azura engineer and I kept running into each other all the time..out of the entire team I think I just ended up fighting him 5-6 times in a row...I'm guessing he wasn't thrilled since he lost every one of them....I'm like "those turrets ain't gonna save you bro...you might want to run".

[ying xiong]

lol I think every other PvP match I've been in, there's always at least one comment made hating of Thieves. I guess I understand.

Most people are right though... a Thief SHOULD be able to take out an Ele. But if you HAD to fight a Thief, I guess my advice would be:

1. Use AoE and conditions, since you can't target when they stealth
2. Beware of backstab. Keep your back away from them (where you think they are) or hope you time your dodge right lol
3. A dumb Thief will burn out his initiative fast (and there are a lot of dumb thieves) so if you can somehow survive the initial onslaught (focusing on defense/evading first), then jump to offensive, that might give you a better chance

Take that last one with a grain of salt though... since I'm not an ele that's just theory.

[Fey]

People saying that Thieves will always beat Ele's isn't true. It's not a rock/paper/scissors problem, it's a lack of matchup experience problem.

The first thing you need to do is understand Thieves. Understanding initiative and stealth is only part of it. It helps a lot to be able to quickly identify potential build options in the first few seconds of the fight. For example, 9/10 thieves that use Sword/Pistol will also have Devourer Venom + Haste. Haste completely drains all endurance, making it impossible for the Thief to dodge immediately after. Devourer venom immobilizes you. Successfully countering both of these utility skills when they try to pistol whip you to death will leave them at a severe disadvantage. Being able to decipher what abilities they'll likely have and what traitlines they're using will help immensely. If you see a Thief gain Swiftness, Might, and Fury when they steal, they have at least 10 points into Trickery. This type of insight will give you an edge.

The best way to understand is to play one. Look up the popular builds and play around with them. Test out all their abilities and understand how they all work, so that when you see them use something specific you'll know how to react appropriately depending on the situation and your Ele build.

The second thing you might want to do is improve your survivability. High toughness + Raw Power/Condition Damage builds work really well against the majority of thieves you'll run into. Abilities like Mist Form are also extremely helpful, being able to react to a Thief that's ready to burn initiative in an attempt to finish you will tilt things in your favor. I do it on my Warrior all the time, pop Block and watch them waste some, if not all, of their initiative.

The most important thing to remember is that everything has a counter, you just have to find it and keep calm. In a 1v1 against a Thief you really need to time your attacks better than you'd have to against other classes. A lot of Thieves will cause you to waste cooldowns by pressuring you and then going into stealth and avoiding them, or teleporting in and out. Being able to pressure them into wasting defensive cooldowns without wasting your own offensive attacks is key. More experienced and patient Thieves more than likely wont waste them, but the bad and mediocre ones will.

This video should also help.

[Arsenic]

Be a guardian, then you will beat thieves pretty easy lol. I have the hardest time with them. I think they counter thieves.