Thief

Profession Mechanic

The thief has, by far and away, the most profession mechanics. Yup…it’s going to get complicated now.

F1: Steal - this shadow steps you to your target and generates an ‘item’. A more apt term might be ‘skill’. You gain some skill dependent on who/what you stole from and that skill is now your F1 key. Hitting F1 again will use this skill and begin the recharge until you’re able to steal again. This doesnt break stealth which leads us to stealth skills. While in stealth your first weapon skill [1] will turn to a completely different stealth skill that has a special effect relevant to a thief emerging out of the shadows.

Speaking of weapon skills, the thief has powerful dual wield skills, where the third weapon skill [3] is defined by the combination of the main handed weapon and the off hand weapon. So what happens when you have a main handed weapon and no offhand? Well you just have a normal 3rd skill. Putting in an off hand weapon replaces it with the dual wield skill. It’s alright though as the 3rd skill is always a weaker version of a corresponding dual skill.

Speaking of cooldowns (they won’t suspect a thing), the thief has none for weapon skills. Their 2-5 skills cost initiative (max: 10) with most costing 5 and less. So you’ll have to plan your combos and attack patterns wisely to make the most use of your initiative reserve keeping in mind stealing and the 1 skill as fallbacks.

Being in stealth means you can still be hit by AoE’s but you will only be revealed by actually attacking or the stealth running out. Uhhhh…shadow stepping is teleporting. And…that’s it I think.

Weapons

The thief has access to a small amount of ranged and melee weapons. A larger pool would make the dual skill mechanic crazy. They use the harpoon and spear gun underwater.

Shortbow: does a few AoEs with emphasis on mobility. Only 6 initiative skill here.
Sword(main hand): a lot of mobility skills coupled with a lot of hitting-people-with-sword skills.
Dagger(main hand): a lot of leap skills to keep targets close stacked with a lot of damage and damage-aiding conditions.
Dagger(off hand): a crippling ranged attack and a stealth+vulnerability skill.
Pistol(main hand): Mostly mid-ranged damage skills with bleeds and vulnerability.
Pistol(off hand): Expensive condition giving skills. {Remember to put something funny in curly brackets here}

Healing

You start with:
Hide in Shadows (30s cooldown): You go into stealth and regenerate health which synergizes well. Longest cooldown of the trio.
Withdraw (15s cooldown,1 skill point): You roll backwards (CLIFF!CLIFF!CLIFF!!!) and regain health.
Signet of Malice (20s cooldown, 4 skill points): You gain health everytime you attack. On activation you gain health. Probably useful if you know how to use initiative well.

Utility Skills

The thief has 4 maneuvers, 4 signets (OMG), 4 tricks, 4 venoms and 3 (for now) traps.

Of note is the maneuver skill Shadow Refuge, which creates an AoE that cloaks allies and heals them. This is somewhat useful I can imagine.

Traps are well…they’re traps. You put them on the ground and people walk into them and suffer conditions/knockdown/ambushes as a result.

Venoms work by giving your next few attacks various conditions. And yes, the thief does have a skill called Scorpion Wire that throws out a wire and pulls an enemy to you. Not saying the catchphrase might make you weird.

Elite skills
Thieves Guild (180s cooldown, 15 skill points): Summons other thieves to your aid for 30 seconds. There is no way to rename it to Assassins Guild.
Dagger Storm (180s cooldown, 20 skill points): You spin around like a tornado throwing crippling daggers while reflecting projectiles. It’s also a whirl finisher, so it’s gonna get a little crazy.
Basilisk Venom (45s cooldown, 25 skill points): Turns your opponent to stone. You can probably see why this is the most expensive. What does being turned to stone entail beyond immobility and helplessness? I don’t know.

Traits
Deadly arts raises power and condition duration; traits aids conditions.
Critical strikes raises precision and crit multiplier: benefits critical hits and signets.
Shadow arts raises toughness and healing: augments stealth, traps and initiative.
Acrobatics raises vitality and boon duration: traits provide bonuses to evasion.
Trickery raises condition damage and lowers steal cooldown: traits making stealing more effective.

Conclusion

Thieves may come across as another typical MMO rogue but they are the culmination of GW2’s new mechanics. They utilize dodging and attack evasion like no other profession and are the undisputed masters of manipulating their positioning through either stealth or shadow stepping. Their damage output of a variety of no-cooldown skills, venoms and conditions will allow them to compete against any opponent and greatly rewards expert players.

“I am totally going to stab that dragon in the face with my knife and it’s going to be awesome.” – Thief in header art.

^{Graphic Author: Nord
Guide: Beliasta}