6 replies to this topic

[Mssg91]

Hello, I am 33 lvl thief and while doing hearths and events on 22-27lvl mobs I am dying like crazy! Is this normal for thiefs? single mob is able to kill me for 4-5 hits... I feel like every mob is little boss to me where I have to run around and always use bow.

Is this normal or what I am doing wrong? ;/ I run crit build with Signet of Malice.

[Viroid]

Signet of Malice sure is a good skill, but i think its not the optimal choice for fighting against solo mobs.
Running a crit build means, you have to dodge very often, using for example signet of agility to refill you endurance.
And yes, its normal for a thief to die after 3-5 hits...its not like a guardian/warr where you can stand in front of the mob all the time. You dont have any skills for blocking attacks, you have to avoid them.
You could equip Sword/Pistol, so you can blind the mobs around you all the time and hit up to 3 enemies with your auto attack.
Or you simply skill acrobatics and trickery for more endurance and better endurance regeneration.

Edited by Viroid, 02 January 2013 - 02:57 PM.

[Heart Collector]

Mssg91, on 02 January 2013 - 02:45 PM, said:

Hello, I am 33 lvl thief and while doing hearths and events on 22-27lvl mobs I am dying like crazy! Is this normal for thiefs? single mob is able to kill me for 4-5 hits... I feel like every mob is little boss to me where I have to run around and always use bow.

Is this normal or what I am doing wrong? ;/ I run crit build with Signet of Malice.

Hey,

Signet of Malice was not very useful to me in early levels. Even now at 80 when I am downleveled in lowbie zones I find it less effective than in the high level zones (but maybe that's just me). Hide in Shadows worked much better for me at that point in the game.

I leveled (and am still playing) as D/D with SB as my backup weapon. Use your death blossom wisely, it's a great evading tool as well as a significant bleeder - but it has a tiny charge time so time it carefully. Run mobs in circles, NEVER stand still. Always have Shadow Refuge on your bar! If you stay in its radius for its entire duration, you will remain stealthed for quite a while after it "expires". Dagger Storm is an excellent elite in conjunction with SoM but Thieves Guild may be a better choice for now - they offer a good distraction. Try not to spam HS, I prefer to use it as a finisher. If all goes south, the shortbow is a great defensive weapon IMO and can get you past situations other setups fail in. It's always my backup weapon.

If I think of anything else I'll post. Bear in mind I'm not a great player or anything but all the above worked for me pretty well

Edited by Heart Collector, 02 January 2013 - 03:02 PM.

[TGIFrisbie]

Use the stealth heal.  That is all I used to 80, even now can't really adjust to the Sig, taking some mental changes to do so.

I hate to say it but it comes down to "L2P".  I don't say that arrogantly, it was my issue as well when I first started my thief.  I gave up on d/d early and went p/p til mid 20s when traits and a bit of experience helped me switch over to d/d.

With d/d you have to adjust to not just face tanking as a thief, it can't be done in the low levels.  I used and still use Death Blossom strategically.  It isn't just offensive, I use it to basically "dart" over a mob, dealing damage, putting on conditions and more importantly putting distance between the mob and my character.  Use Steal in a similar manner, save steals unless you need them for that fight at that moment.  Learn the Steal icons, namely the stealth ones.   2-3 LDBs and then stealth, let it bleed til stealth expires, then go for the kill.  I also used and continue to use (in open world) Signet of Shadows.  Having a speed signet is extremely nice, but wtf it has an AoE blind!?!  Golden survival utility.

Check the guide  by The Shadow.  Has a lot of tips in that.

Edited by TGIFrisbie, 02 January 2013 - 03:11 PM.

[EnterRehab]

Mssg91, on 02 January 2013 - 02:45 PM, said:

Hello, I am 33 lvl thief and while doing hearths and events on 22-27lvl mobs I am dying like crazy! Is this normal for thiefs? single mob is able to kill me for 4-5 hits... I feel like every mob is little boss to me where I have to run around and always use bow.

Is this normal or what I am doing wrong? ;/ I run crit build with Signet of Malice.

So.. Signet of Malice can be an incredible skill when you build to use it.  A power/crit build does not optimize the potential like a condition build.  Most specifically, when using Death Blossom or Caltrops.  I highly recommend using the stealth heal, as it will provide you the ability to reposition when needed, and it is VERY valuable to a thief in PVP or PVE to reposition.

Also, if mobs are killing you, start looking for Vit gear and go with ranged for a few levels.  It may not SEEM like it at low levels, but the shortbow is extremely powerful.  

Take, for example, Choking Gas combo field, then shoot a clusterbomb in it.  Now you've got AOE damage, AOE poison, and AOE weakness.

As for fighting in melee range, take good use of your stealth openers.  we'll say, S/P.  When you jump out of stealth with this, by using the #1 attack, you'll daze your target, which is free damage.  use Cloak and dagger when reveal is up, then repeat.


It should be noted:
The thief is limited in weapons, and even more limited when looking at PVE / PVP.  My opinion is as follows:

D/D is a very powerful PVE and PVP weapon, combo but used vastly different.  in PVE, its very condition-based as that will supply tons and tons of AOE damage.  In PVP, it provides the LOLBACKSTAB that people have come to loathe.

P/D is a very powerful PVP weapon combo but does not excel in PVE.  Single target sustained damage based on condition.

S/P. this was a FOTM build for a long time due to Pistol Whip, but since the nerf, this has become a big PVE combo.  You can go with raw damage on this build, by making full use of the skill Black Powder.  Black Powder is an AOE blind, very hard to die to anything except champs.

P/P - Good for single target damage.. Thats about it.  Most people who use P/P use it for PVP or for boss fights.

[Alien Creed]

i know some people will probably disagree, but if you are dying a ton in pve while leveling you should not be a glass cannon spec (which is what you are doing with specing all crit and probably stacking power/prec on your gear).

i recommend specing into shadow arts and then either precision or acrobatics after that (since you cap the amount of points you can put until you get to level 40 and 60 etc). then on your gear get some vitality and then either power or precision until you can get an armor set like knight's or carrion or berserker in the 60+ level range. thief does good damage while leveling even without putting all your points into power and precision so stacking some survivability goes a long way.

stealth a lot. i dont care if u use d/d d/p s/d or p/d (which other than SB alternate is what u should use while leveling), but you should be stealthing a lot.  in shadow arts if you take blind on stealth this adds a ton to your survivability if you stealth frequently, plus you get sneak attacks which either do a lot of damage or with sword daze and blind.

dodge a lot. like people have already stated dont stand there in front of the ettin while its raising its huge club into the air about to smash your face. dodge.

pick your utility skills wisely. i highly recommend while leveling constantly having caltrops and shadow refuge on your hotbar. even if you dont stack condition damage while leveling caltrops does a ton of dmg and cripples your foe. plus its really easy to leave mobs in the caltrops for its duration.  shadow refuge gives you another heal and it also stealths you.  plus if you are p/ when you stealth attack through the shadow refuge u life steal with each hit for an additional heal.  your last skill can be whatever you want really, i recommend either +25% run speed with blind on activation or blinding powder for the stealth and blind.

once you get better at doing all of the above and you notice you arent dying anymore, you can start specing less conservatively and get more power and precision.  dont start that way.

read the forums. there are a ton of threads already about leveling builds and viable specs and how to play the thief class tactically. but even the above information in this thread is a good start.

good luck man, i love playing thief so much it makes it hard to start another character.  im actually thinking of rolling a second thief, lol.

edit: use hide in shadows. for all the reasons already said from previous people and as well as the reasons i stated above. it heals for the most in a single heal plus it stealths you and remember stealth a lot.

Edited by Alien Creed, 10 January 2013 - 04:22 PM.

[EnterRehab]

Alien Creed, on 10 January 2013 - 04:21 PM, said:

i know some people will probably disagree, but if you are dying a ton in pve while leveling you should not be a glass cannon spec (which is what you are doing with specing all crit and probably stacking power/prec on your gear).

i recommend specing into shadow arts and then either precision or acrobatics after that (since you cap the amount of points you can put until you get to level 40 and 60 etc). then on your gear get some vitality and then either power or precision until you can get an armor set like knight's or carrion or berserker in the 60+ level range. thief does good damage while leveling even without putting all your points into power and precision so stacking some survivability goes a long way.

stealth a lot. i dont care if u use d/d d/p s/d or p/d (which other than SB alternate is what u should use while leveling), but you should be stealthing a lot.  in shadow arts if you take blind on stealth this adds a ton to your survivability if you stealth frequently, plus you get sneak attacks which either do a lot of damage or with sword daze and blind.

dodge a lot. like people have already stated dont stand there in front of the ettin while its raising its huge club into the air about to smash your face. dodge.

pick your utility skills wisely. i highly recommend while leveling constantly having caltrops and shadow refuge on your hotbar. even if you dont stack condition damage while leveling caltrops does a ton of dmg and cripples your foe. plus its really easy to leave mobs in the caltrops for its duration.  shadow refuge gives you another heal and it also stealths you.  plus if you are p/ when you stealth attack through the shadow refuge u life steal with each hit for an additional heal.  your last skill can be whatever you want really, i recommend either +25% run speed with blind on activation or blinding powder for the stealth and blind.

once you get better at doing all of the above and you notice you arent dying anymore, you can start specing less conservatively and get more power and precision.  dont start that way.

read the forums. there are a ton of threads already about leveling builds and viable specs and how to play the thief class tactically. but even the above information in this thread is a good start.

good luck man, i love playing thief so much it makes it hard to start another character.  im actually thinking of rolling a second thief, lol.

edit: use hide in shadows. for all the reasons already said from previous people and as well as the reasons i stated above. it heals for the most in a single heal plus it stealths you and remember stealth a lot.

This.  I can't level anything else. in two months my warrior is up to 20 now.