Most massively-multiplayer online role-playing games have some sort of rogue class, but none are quite as roguish as the newly revealed Guild Wars 2 Thief. Kotaku spoke to developer ArenaNet about what raises this stealthy stabber above the rest.
When ArenaNet initially announced the Thief class last week, the image that came to the mind of many gamers was that of today's standard MMO rogue, sneaking through the shadows, building up combo points, and hitting weak points for massive damage. Your typical rogue class wears light armor, sacrificing protection in order to take foes down quickly. They'll take more damage, but the battle is generally over a lot quicker than were a warrior covered head-to-toe in armor fighting the same creature.
A New Guild Wars 2 Class Emerges From The Shadows
Slipping through the shadows unseen, striking from the darkness with a relentless barrage of melee…
Read more ReadThat's what everyone expected the Guild Wars 2 Thief to be. A brief mention of something called Initiative Points fueled the flames, with folks concluding that this was just another combo-point building rogue a ‘la World of Warcraft.
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ArenaNet's Eric Flannum, Jon Peters, and Isaiah Cartwright explain to us how wrong that conclusion is.
Been Caught Stealin'
For one thing, this Thief actually steals.
And not just the swiping a spare potion off of an enemy sort of stealing either. This is stealing with a purpose.
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'The Steal ability creates an item in your hand that switches your skills,' explains designer Isaiah Cartwright. Different stolen items will give the Thief different abilities. Stealing a branch from a Treant gives him a giant club that can be swung hard to great effect. Stealing a seed from a plant may allow the Thief to grant his team a temporary buff.
Stealing is also where the Thief's stuns come from. Where traditional MMO rogues are often built around keeping an enemy locked in a stunned state, killing without fear of retaliation, for Thieves in Guild Wars 2, stunning is a special occasion.
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Giving the Thief the ability to steal items also means a lot of work for the game developers., as every creature in the game needs its own special stolen loot table. Designer Jon Peters explains the team's approach to tackling the problem of sticky fingers.
'We came up with a lot of items that would fit in a lot of creatures,' he says. 'If the enemy is a bird, it'll likely drop feathers, for instance.' Placing enemies into categories gives designers time to create all sorts of diabolical stolen goodies without being overwhelmed.
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Roll for Initiative
Most classes in Guild Wars 2 rely on two types of power: Energy, a long-term measure of power; and Recharge, a short-term timer that dictates when the next special attack can be launched. Thieves replace Recharge with Initiative.
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We came up with a lot of items that would fit in a lot of creatures.
Peters tells me that Initiative was initially designed for the game's heavily armored Guardian class, but once it was created the team realized it was perfect for the Thief class. Here's how it works.
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Instead of waiting for Recharge, every Thieve has an Initiative meter consisting of ten points. Each special ability in the Thief's arsenal costs a set number of points. Once used, these points recharge at a rate of one per second.
It's a system that makes the Thief a very complex and strategic class to play. Do you blow all of your Initiative points at once in a massive display of deadly acrobatics, hoping to fell your foe in one fell swoop? Or do you start off firing double pistols, move in with the Leaping Death Blossom, strike again with your daggers, and then use your last initiative points to cloak? Stealth in Guild Wars 2 runs on a timer, which would allow you a few precious seconds of Initiative recharge before the enemy uncovers you again.
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The wise Thief player will know when to retreat and recharge.
'It's like rhythm and math,' says lead designer Eric Flannum. 'We wanted to design it in such a way that was really easy for people to grasp and understand.'
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The system has a very modal feel to it. Players will be able to mix and match skills, creating their own combos.
Or maybe they won't.
It's Complicated
Guild Wars 2 Thief Stealth Trailer
Despite the intention of making the class as easy-to-understand as possible, the team believes that many first-time Thieves will find themselves dying horribly. Players are used to going toe-to-toe with monsters, and the Thief is built around hopping in-and-out of combat. If you don't know when to back off, you're going to die.
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They might also have trouble seeing how the Thief fits into Guild Wars 2's system of making sure each class can fit into any role, from damage to support to tanking.
'We're making sure he fits in different ways,' says Peters.
The Thief might not be able to tank a creature in the traditional sense, but he can peel a monster away from the group and keep it occupied, or use caltrops to slow a group on incoming enemies. The helpful group buffs obtained by stole items slides him into the support role, while a well-managed Thief should be able to handle doing damage quite readily. They can dictate the pace of battle in Guild Wars 2 like no other.
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The Thief is a unique and complicated class, and it won't be the last.
'We've gone from the most basic professions and gone into the stranger ones; the ones that break our rules,' says Eric Flannum. 'We've got two more unannounced, and those are quite different in the way that they play.'
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So When Can We Play?
Visitors to PAX East in Boston this weekend will be able to play starting today, with a new demo build of the game giving players access to both the Thief and the Guardian, as well as the starting zone of the giant, boisterous Norn race.
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As for the game's release, ArenaNet is planning to get closed alpha and beta tests running in 2011. Whether or not we'll see the full game launched is still up in the air.
'We don't even known when we're ever going to be ready,' says Flannum. 'We never know when we're going to get thrown a curve ball, so it's really hard to say.'
Thief is a master in shadow combat and the one of the most mobile heroes in the game. Where warrior fights face to face, thief sneaks from behind, poisons enemy and then disappear to show up at the next one.
His main values is a steal skill, which allows him to appear nearby enemy and then 'steal' his ability. Using this skill you can use the new attack, but only once. What is more, the thief uses an initiative. It means that you don't have to wait for the skill to recharge, but when the run our of initiative, you're harmless.
Group | Effect |
Dual wield skills | |
Deceptions | |
Stealth | |
Tricks | |
Venoms |
On the contrary to the most classes which can fight enemy face to face, thief is very rattle and can't fight too long. The best move is to use the distance weapon to weaken an enemy and then quickly finish him off with the blade. If you want to play as a thief, you have to learn evading and rumbling perfectly. Unfortunately, this hero requires big in-game know-how to be well used.
In the PvP you should always attack from behind. On the contrary to many MMOs in Guild Wars 2 thief can't be permanently invisible so you have to learn how to avoid attacks and how to move on the battlefield.
Shortbow[edit]
Stealth Skill[edit]
Guild Wars 2 Thief Weapons
- Surprise Shot- Shoot an arrow that immobilizes your foe.
Both hands
[edit]
- Trick Shot- Bounce an arrow off multiple nearby foes.
- Cluster Bomb- Costs 3 initiative. Fire a cluster bomb at target area. Detonate in midair for multiple explosions.
- Disabling Shot- Costs 3 initiative. Do an evasive leap away from your foe while firing a crippling shot.
- Choking Gas- Costs 4 initiative. Fire an arrow that fills the target area with a poisonous cloud.
- Infiltrator's Arrow- Costs 6 initiative. Fire an arrow and shadowstep to the target area, blinding nearby enemies.
Dagger
[edit]
Stealth skill[edit]
- Backstab- Attack your foe from the shadows, striking for double damage if you hit from behind.
Main Hand[edit]
- Double Strike- Strike your foe twice.
- Heartseeker- Costs 3 initiative. Leap and strike your foe. The less health your target has, the more damage you cause.
Dagger + Dagger[edit]
- Death Blossom- Costs 5 initiative. Do an an evasive attack over your opponent, striking nearby enemies three times. Each hit causes bleeding.
Dagger + Pistol[edit]
- Shadow Shot- Costs 4 initiative. Fire a blinding shot at your foe and shadowstep to them for a dagger strike.
Just dagger
[edit]
- Twisting Fangs- Costs 4 initiative. Spin in place, hitting nearby enemies. Each hit causes bleeding.
Off hand[edit]
- Dancing Dagger- Costs 3 initiative. Throw a dagger that cripples nearby foes and returns to you.
- Cloak and Dagger- Costs 6 initiative. Stab your foe and vanish in stealth, leaving them vulnerable.
Pistol[edit]
Stealth Skill[edit]
- Sneak Attack- Sneak attack with rapid fire from your pistol, causing bleeding.
Main Hand
[edit]
- Vital Shot- Bleed your foe with a shot to the vitals.
- Body Shot- Costs 3 initiative. Make your foe vulnerable with a body shot.
Pistol + Dagger
[edit]
- Shadow Strike- Costs 4 initiative. Stab your foe, then shadowstep away and shoot them.
Pistol + Pistol
[edit]
- Unload- Costs 5 initiative. Blast your foe repeatedly with both pistols.
Pistol alone
[edit]
- Repeater- Costs 5 initiave. Blast your foe with rapid fire from your pistol.
Off Hand
[edit]
- Black Powder- Costs 6 initiative. Fire a shot with black powder, creating a smoke cloud that blinds nearby enemies.
- Head Shot- Costs 4 initiative. Daze your foe with a head shot.
Short bow usage tips:[edit]
trick shot- bounces an arrow between multiple foes, watch it when you only want to engage a single target since trick arrow has large bounce range
- cluster bomb- fires an explosive arrow and if you press 2 again this framents into several smaller ones, time the detonation properly to hit multiple foes, don't detonate for high damage against a single foe
- disabling shot- use initiative to evade and fire a crippling shot whilst evading, outstanding for kiting (hiting melee enemies and moving just out of their range everytime) tough melee enemies.
- choking gas- fires a toxic cloud into an area that deals high amounts of poison damage, short lived effect though.
- infiltrators arrow- shadow steps you to a foe and blinds them, great for when you have a melee wepon as your secondary weapon class.
Tips for effective thief use:
The thief in Guild wars 2 moreso than any other class relies heavily on movement. You will find that many, many thief skills and traits somehow incorporate either stealth, evading or both. this is a powerful tool for you since it means that as a thief you can dodge more than twice whilst doing damage at the same time. Also vital to the thief are combo's created through clever use of the initiative system, a brief example here for when using a pistol with off hand dagger against a melee foe:
1. press the 1 key to use vital shot on your foe, this bleeds them and causes lots of daamge before they even get to you. keep attacking until you see melee enemies raise their weapon.
2. use shadow strike with the 4 key to dodge their attack whilst dealing damage, ensure there is lots of room to get out of the way since this moves you back at least 6m from the target
3. normal enemies are often dead by this point but for ones that outlevel you or have lots of HP just rinse and repeat, ensuring that they do not tether back and recover all their HP (move too far away from a monster's initial location and they will return there and fully recover)
Now for the short bow there is also an effective little strategy though this is rather more difficult to pull off due to the timing and need to manage the skills. the advantage is that ypu can easily take multiple foes if you execute this properly:
1. press the 1 key to use trick shot and bounce an arrow between multiple foes, they will of course agro but many melee foes tend to be a tad slow, exploit this.
2. when they are about 4m from you fire cluster bomb with the 2 key slightly in front of them. when the flaming arrow apears in view again after going up off scren press 2 again to fragment the arrow and hit all enemies, do not press 2 again against a sigle target unless you missed them (depending on when you press 2, cluster bomb will cover a very large area, compensating for misses)
3. use choking gas with the 4 key when they are 2m from you and shoot it with yourself in th emiddle of the aiming ring. this will just last long enough for them to have to run through it and get poisoned
4.use disabling shot with the 3 key on the closest enemy to you and dodge its attack if you let the bad guys get too close, otherwise you just create more distance between you. they will take a second or two to figure out what just happened during which you hit them some more with the fast firing trick shot
this strategy is particularly useful when that monster you thought you could take suddenly invites friends to the party and the proverbial shite hits the proverbial fan.
Note: page incomplete.
[edit]
Comments
Shortbow[edit]
Stealth Skill[edit]
- Surprise Shot- Shoot an arrow that immobilizes your foe.
Both hands
[edit]
- Trick Shot- Bounce an arrow off multiple nearby foes.
- Cluster Bomb- Costs 3 initiative. Fire a cluster bomb at target area. Detonate in midair for multiple explosions.
- Disabling Shot- Costs 3 initiative. Do an evasive leap away from your foe while firing a crippling shot.
- Choking Gas- Costs 4 initiative. Fire an arrow that fills the target area with a poisonous cloud.
- Infiltrator's Arrow- Costs 6 initiative. Fire an arrow and shadowstep to the target area, blinding nearby enemies.
Dagger
[edit]
Stealth skill[edit]
- Backstab- Attack your foe from the shadows, striking for double damage if you hit from behind.
Main Hand[edit]
- Double Strike- Strike your foe twice.
- Heartseeker- Costs 3 initiative. Leap and strike your foe. The less health your target has, the more damage you cause.
Dagger + Dagger[edit]
- Death Blossom- Costs 5 initiative. Do an an evasive attack over your opponent, striking nearby enemies three times. Each hit causes bleeding.
Dagger + Pistol[edit]
- Shadow Shot- Costs 4 initiative. Fire a blinding shot at your foe and shadowstep to them for a dagger strike.
Just dagger
[edit]
- Twisting Fangs- Costs 4 initiative. Spin in place, hitting nearby enemies. Each hit causes bleeding.
Off hand[edit]
- Dancing Dagger- Costs 3 initiative. Throw a dagger that cripples nearby foes and returns to you.
- Cloak and Dagger- Costs 6 initiative. Stab your foe and vanish in stealth, leaving them vulnerable.
Pistol[edit]
Stealth Skill[edit]
- Sneak Attack- Sneak attack with rapid fire from your pistol, causing bleeding.
Main Hand
[edit]
- Vital Shot- Bleed your foe with a shot to the vitals.
- Body Shot- Costs 3 initiative. Make your foe vulnerable with a body shot.
Pistol + Dagger
[edit]
- Shadow Strike- Costs 4 initiative. Stab your foe, then shadowstep away and shoot them.
Pistol + Pistol
[edit]
- Unload- Costs 5 initiative. Blast your foe repeatedly with both pistols.
Pistol alone
[edit]
- Repeater- Costs 5 initiave. Blast your foe with rapid fire from your pistol.
Off Hand
[edit]
Guild Wars 2 Thief Skills
- Black Powder- Costs 6 initiative. Fire a shot with black powder, creating a smoke cloud that blinds nearby enemies.
- Head Shot- Costs 4 initiative. Daze your foe with a head shot.
Short bow usage tips:[edit]
trick shot- bounces an arrow between multiple foes, watch it when you only want to engage a single target since trick arrow has large bounce range
- cluster bomb- fires an explosive arrow and if you press 2 again this framents into several smaller ones, time the detonation properly to hit multiple foes, don't detonate for high damage against a single foe
- disabling shot- use initiative to evade and fire a crippling shot whilst evading, outstanding for kiting (hiting melee enemies and moving just out of their range everytime) tough melee enemies.
- choking gas- fires a toxic cloud into an area that deals high amounts of poison damage, short lived effect though.
- infiltrators arrow- shadow steps you to a foe and blinds them, great for when you have a melee wepon as your secondary weapon class.
Tips for effective thief use:
The thief in Guild wars 2 moreso than any other class relies heavily on movement. You will find that many, many thief skills and traits somehow incorporate either stealth, evading or both. this is a powerful tool for you since it means that as a thief you can dodge more than twice whilst doing damage at the same time. Also vital to the thief are combo's created through clever use of the initiative system, a brief example here for when using a pistol with off hand dagger against a melee foe:
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1. press the 1 key to use vital shot on your foe, this bleeds them and causes lots of daamge before they even get to you. keep attacking until you see melee enemies raise their weapon.
2. use shadow strike with the 4 key to dodge their attack whilst dealing damage, ensure there is lots of room to get out of the way since this moves you back at least 6m from the target
3. normal enemies are often dead by this point but for ones that outlevel you or have lots of HP just rinse and repeat, ensuring that they do not tether back and recover all their HP (move too far away from a monster's initial location and they will return there and fully recover)
Now for the short bow there is also an effective little strategy though this is rather more difficult to pull off due to the timing and need to manage the skills. the advantage is that ypu can easily take multiple foes if you execute this properly:
1. press the 1 key to use trick shot and bounce an arrow between multiple foes, they will of course agro but many melee foes tend to be a tad slow, exploit this.
2. when they are about 4m from you fire cluster bomb with the 2 key slightly in front of them. when the flaming arrow apears in view again after going up off scren press 2 again to fragment the arrow and hit all enemies, do not press 2 again against a sigle target unless you missed them (depending on when you press 2, cluster bomb will cover a very large area, compensating for misses)
3. use choking gas with the 4 key when they are 2m from you and shoot it with yourself in th emiddle of the aiming ring. this will just last long enough for them to have to run through it and get poisoned
4.use disabling shot with the 3 key on the closest enemy to you and dodge its attack if you let the bad guys get too close, otherwise you just create more distance between you. they will take a second or two to figure out what just happened during which you hit them some more with the fast firing trick shot
this strategy is particularly useful when that monster you thought you could take suddenly invites friends to the party and the proverbial shite hits the proverbial fan.
Note: page incomplete.
[edit]
Comments
Thief.jpg
The Thief uses their own unique resource called Initiative. Thief weapon skills do not have cooldown, but Instead cost a certain amount of Initiative. This allows them to use the same skill multiple times in a row. The first skill, though, is an initiative-free ability, and healing skills, utilities, and elite skills are standard. The Thief can also Stealitems from every enemy in the game (including players), which give unique, usually one-use abilities. The stolen items come from a pool of possible items based off of the type of enemy, or the enemy’s profession. Thieves are capable of going into Stealth, and while in Stealth gain a special Stealth Skill. The Thief is best utilized as a highly mobile character since they receive benefits/boons when their endurance is depleted or when they dodge. Thieves also gain a special ability based off of the combination of the two weapons they wield, making main and offhand choices extra important.
The Thief can wield a Sword in its main hand, Daggers and Pistols in either hand, and a Shortbow with both hands.
List of Thief Weapon Skills are found here.
Thiefs are an Adventurer profession, meaning they wear medium armor.
Elite Specializations[edit]
- Daredevil - released in Heart of Thorns (23 October 2015)
- Deadeye - released in Path of Fire (22 September 2017)
Comments