Guild Wars 2 Thief Profession Overview | GW2PC
| Guild Wars 2 Thief Profession Quick Summary | ||
| Skill Type | - Initiative |  |
| Specials Abilities | - Dual skills, Stealth, Steal, Shadow Step, Traps | |
| Traits | - Deadly Arts, Critical Strikes, Shadow Arts, Acrobatics, Trickery | |
| Armor Type | - Medium Armor | |
| Weapons | - Main-Hand: Sword, Dagger, Pistol - Off-hand: Dagger, Pistol - Two-Handed: Shortbow - Aquatic: Harpoon, Speargun |
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| Limitations | - Stealth has a timer - Initiative points (main skill resource) recovers 1 point per 1.6 seconds - Poor positioning limits backstab damage - Steal skills are randomly based on opponent Initiative points are shared on both weapon sets. (Other classes may swap weapon sets and use all skills off the cooldown. But a Thief who swaps weapons needs enough Initiative to use the second set of skills.) |
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| Benefits | - Weapon skills have no cooldown timers - Capable of high burst attacks - Stealth does not permanently break on damage - Wealth of evasive and escape skills |
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| Creation Options | - Choose most important personal characteristic. | |
Thief Backround
The Guild Wars 2 Thief is an expert of subterfuge, weaving in and out of the shadows to escape detection or prepare for a lethal assault. The Thief can engage an enemy with a flurry of strikes one second, vanish the next, and then re-appear with a brutal backstab combination that could finish off unwary foes.
The Thief also inflicts a range of incapacitating conditions that restrict the combat options of foes. This makes it easier for them to move to an optimal position, before closing in for the kill. Should the enemy survive the onslaught, the Thief can switch to defensive mode, throwing down traps and using evasive maneuvers to deter attackers.
Weapon Skills
There are 7 possible weapon sets for the Thief from a selection of 3 main hand, 2 off hand and 1 two hand weapons. When fighting underwater, they also have access to 2 additional weapon sets.
| Slot | Weapons | Description | No. of Skills |
| Main-Hand | Sword | Close-range slashes and combo shadowstep strikes | 3 |
| Dagger | Multiple quick hits that ramp up damage on weakened enemies | 3 | |
| Pistol | Long-range shots that inflict bleed and vulnerable conditions | 3 | |
| Off-Hand | Dagger | High-initiative attacks for crippling and setting up stealth combos | 2 |
| Pistol | High-initiative attacks for blinding and dazing foes | 2 | |
| Two-Handed | Shortbow | High-Initiative long-range arrows for area damage and debuffs | 5 |
| Aquatic | Harpoon | Defensive evades and close-range blocks with distance closer | 5 |
| Speargun | Debuff and area damage shots | 5 |
Dual Skills
Depending on their choice of weapon set (i.e. main hand – off hand selection), the Thief will unlock a unique dual skill. Think of this as a combination attack that combines the offensive moves of the component weapons.
| Main Hand + Off Hand | Dual Skill | Initiative Cost | Description |
| Sword + Dagger | Flanking Strike | 4 | Evade and stab your foe in the back twice |
| Sword + Pistol | Pistol Whip | 5 | Pistol whip your foe, stunning them then slash repeatedly with your sword |
| Dagger + Dagger | Leaping Death Blossom | 4 | Leap over your opponent, striking nearby enemies three times. Each hit causes bleeding. |
| Dagger + Pistol | Shadow Shot | 4 | Fire a blinding shot at your foe and shadowstep to them for a dagger strike. |
| Pistol + Dagger | Shadow Strike | 4 | Stab your foe, shadowstep away and shoot them. |
| Pistol + Pistol | Unload | 4 | Blast your foe repeatedly with both pistols |
Initiative Skills
Stealth
When a Thief takes damage, it will reveal him for a short time, before re-entering stealth again. But once the Thief delivers an attack or the stealth timer runs out, then the stealth effect will break off permanently.
For PvE, Stealth also drops mob aggro. While for PvP, Stealth is both a killing and survival essential.
Steal
Shadow Step
Traps
Traits
The Guild Wars 2 Thief can choose from between five trait lines. These become available starting level 11 and each new character level grants a Thief one trait point to spend in any of these trait lines.
| Trait Line | Attribute Bonus | |||
| Base | Profession-Specific | Offense | Support | |
| Deadly Arts | + Power | + Expertise | ||
| Critical Strikes | + Precision | + Prowess | ||
| Shadow Arts | + Toughness | + Concentration | ||
| Acrobatics | + Vitality | + Compassion | ||
| Trickery | + Guile | + Malice | ||
Trait Points, Minor Traits and Major Trait Slots
Each point spent on a trait line raises either a base or profession-specific attribute, and an offensive or support attribute. Spending five points on each trait line also unlocks a minor trait (at 5, 10, 15, 20, 25, 30 trait points invested) and a major trait slot (at 10, 20, 30 trait points invested) which can be equipped with your choice from a pool of major traits.
How to Fight as a Thief (GW2PC Discussion/Speculation – Subject To Change)
Based on what we’ve seen so far in the beta previews and official, here are some suggested playstyles and team roles for a Guild Wars 2 Thief.
In PvE, the Thief will be known for its short burst of high damage, and will be a top-tier candidate for finishing off dangerous, low-health mobs. If there is an enemy that needs to be quickly eliminated, the party will be glad to have a thief on-hand because of his access to distance-closing skills and long-range weapons. The Thief should also fare well in boss fights damage-wise, even in highly mobile ones.
The Thief can use his Stealth cloak to infiltrate the enemy ranks and disrupt a long-range specialist, support caster or healer. While fully-healed targets may survive the sudden onslaught, near-death targets will have little defense against a pouncing thief.
In PvP, the Thief will be a supreme annoyance to both defenders and attackers. He can engage and retreat with ease, luring targets from objectives. The knowledge alone that a Thief is in the area also instills a sense of paranoia, not to mention the absolute mayhem a group of coordinated Thieves can wreak on unprepared teams.
With the size of the PvP maps in Guild Wars 2, the role of a strategic scout will be of paramount importance to report on key movements and captures. The Thief will shine in this role since they can burrow deep into enemy territory or stand sentry on critical map points to gather enemy intel.
Guild Wars 1 Vs 2 Differences
- A Guild Wars 2 Thief has no direct counterpart in Guild Wars but there are arguments made that the profession is an evolution of either the Assassin or the Ranger.
- Compared to the Guild Wars Assassin, the Thief shares its ninja-like tactic of striking from the shadows using daggers. But the Thief does not use hexes and follow a less regimented combo sequence.
- Compared to the Guild Wars Ranger, the Thief shares capacity for mobile attacks and crippling debuffs. Although one should not mistake decent proficiency for total mastery, as the Thief can arguably dole out more damage via melee.
Closing Thoughts
Overall, the Guild Wars 2 Thief Profession will be a fun, mobile class that relies on positioning and situational awareness to be at its most effective. Players who wish to trade in their damage for the finer art of espionage have the option to do so with the Thief, and may even be the optimal choice in certain PvP situations. Still, his sheer burst potential will make the Thief a popular choice for striking fast and hard from the shadows.
Guild Wars 2 Professions
Thief Profession Skills Video
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