7 replies to this topic

[Conflagrated]

Hi, my name is Conflagrated. I'm a d/d elementalist, and I'm having a pretty hard time against one class in particular: thieves. Thieves either outrun, outlast, or just plain outplay me a lot of the time. I know I can improve my game, but to be honest, I have no idea what to do against a thief. I was wondering if you guys could give me tips so that I'm better prepared for the future. A few of my questions include...

• Backstabbed! What do I do when the thief hits me out of the blue?
  
• How can I beat a thief that keeps stealthing and running away whenever he's close to death?
  
• What do I do against a thief that "perma-stealths", that is, uses combos to remain in stealth for inordinate amounts of time?

I know I'm an elementalist, but I thought it might be appropriate to put this topic in the thief section, since who better to know how to kill thieves than other thieves, right?

Edited by Conflagrated, 09 December 2012 - 03:30 AM.

[neostars]

i have the same problem with my ranger.
i guess it hopeless until stealth has some sort of nerf.

[ZCKS]

I don't really play an ele for pvp but there is some advice I can give ya.

1: Toughness/damage reduction abilities like protection are your friend as they will greatly reduce thief burst.

2: Crowd control abilities, chill, knock back, knock down, stun, daze cripple, immobilize etc... Every moment that enemy cannot hit you is a good one. (Weakness is also quite good as it causes allot of your enemies attacks to do 50% less damage or miss entirely)

As for countering thieves who go into stealth allot, try bleeds & burns as they will keep on ticking even when they vanish & try to run.


Knowing these things I would try a customized version of the aura mancer build with a off hand dagger or possibly a focus if you want more survivability.
For the amulet I would use the one that adds power, toughness, vitality or condition damage, toughness precision depending on what your going for.

Doing this should give you quite the high up time on fury & protection which should increase your damage considerably while reducing the damage you take by quite a bit.

[Commander Boreale]

To be honest you are better off asking this on the Ele forums, as they will be able to give you more in-depth advice. As far as I know D/D eles destroy thieves. But let's see:

• Backstabbed! What do I do when the thief hits me out of the blue?

Dodge the next CnD so he can't stealth again. Earth -> Earthquake. Or Mist Form if you are CC'd, most thieves will actually waste their entire initiative before realizing it's an invulnerable target, but let's not count on that.

• How can I beat a thief that keeps stealthing and running away whenever he's close to death?

Same way as everyone keeps you from running away with ride the lightning. CC.

• What do I do against a thief that "perma-stealths", that is, uses combos to remain in stealth for inordinate amounts of time?

Do what everyone does, use AoE and prepare for the inevitable moment when he will show up again. Static Shield is great here.

If all else fails, ride the lightning away and reset the fight on your terms.

Edited by Commander Boreale, 09 December 2012 - 04:30 AM.

[Psikerlord]

Crowd control destroys thieves - almost no access to stability outside of daggerstorm elite for 8 secs, on 90s CD. Most prefer theives guild.
Hit your invul when BS burst comes calling. Kite and CC for the win. Take a stunbreaker/immob cleanser
DD healing/tankiness while still doing great damage often makes thieves easy meat for DD ele.
Yeah ride the lighting/offence/escape combi with your perma swiftness/water heals = escape/reset

[mofogie]

in large areas, like wvw, a good thief cannot be caught with the right slot skills, and without enough CCs.  That's something you just have to accept.  Eles are a PITA too.  in a Zerg, they just mist form  on down state back to their buddies, over and over.  That is something other classes must accept as well.

now to answer your question, When i fight DD Eles, the best advice is to be as tough as possible.  This will give you lots of time to gauge whether you're winning or not. Survive the initial bursts with lots of hp leftover, and you're in even better shape.

the bunker eles i've defeated, they've over stayed their welcome.  Ele vs Thief fights can be very long, even on a glass cannon thief.  you need to not overextend, and start retreating earlier.

[Shroomhead Fred]

Build a bunker ele.

They can mitigate/avoid so much of our damage and out run us.

But since I haven't tried an ele, I can't provide anymore info.

[Iratus Mumbo]

Check this guy out. He starts off against a few thieves.