Guild Wars 2 Thief WvW PvP (Yishis) - Holiday Commentary 2013

Thief fighting outnumbered & 1v1 in WvW.
Footage is from December 2013.
I provide commentary regarding my play-style and tactics.

0:27 - 1 v [Elementalist, Thief, Guardian] -- (pre-12/10: No Shadow's Embrace)
1:49 - 1 v [Necro] -- (pre-12/10: No Shadow's Embrace)
2:39 - 1 v [Guardian, Warrior, Elementalist]
4:07 - 1 v [Warrior - Hammer / GS]
6:00 - 2 v [Necromancer, Elementalist, Guardian] -- (guest: Defensive Armor [oPP])
8:13 - 1 v [Mesmer: Condition / Prismatic Understanding]
11:46 - 1 v [Thief: Dagger/Pistol]
12:53 - 1 v [Engineer: Condition / Bomb / Toolkit / Pistol+Shield]
17:05 - 1 v [Warrior: Condition+Power / S+S / GS]
18:45 - 1 v [Mesmer: Power]
23:54 - 1 v [Guardian: Tank / GS / Staff]

(( NOTE 10/2015: Traits are NOT accurate as these builds were before latest balance patches! ))

Spec is [Dagger/Dagger] & [Shortbow]:
http://intothemists.com/calc/?build=-...

Check out my Youtube channel for more outnumbered videos:
   / bemeric1  

============================================

* Note on 1v1's:
- I recognize these are not "top tier" players. My goal is not to show ridiculously high skill-cap fights. I don't like organizing duels to see who's "the best." Instead, these fights all occurred naturally in WvW roaming. I enjoyed these fights, they provide great commentary material, and all players involved were a respectable challenge (with several taking me out in subsequent fights). Many thanks to the enemies involved and for keeping the roaming / small-man spirit alive.

* Notes on gear:
- Valkyrie main-hand dagger is simply because I had a lucky ascended chest drop with the valkyrie item. Otherwise, I'd be using berserker weapons. To make up for this, I instead swapped my chest armor to berserker.
- I'm not using an ascended off-hand dagger or shortbow, but plan to once I have farmed enough.

FAQ:
Q: What armor skin is that?
A: Magitech Armor from the gemshop. Helm is from the recent toxic-themed living world event. Holiday backpiece was obtainable during GW2's first-year holiday event.

Q: Why traveler runes?
A: Primarily for the movement speed. In my previous videos, I used divinity but had to sacrifice a utility slot for the 25% movement speed signet. With traveler, I preserve some of the divinity bonuses while freeing up a utility slot. The extra utility slot is invaluable for survival as it lets me run an additional escape / re-opener such as blinding powder.

Q: How do you ground-target?
A: I'm using the newest ground-target option which shows me the reticle on keydown, and triggers the ability on keyup.

Q: Why not Infusion of Shadows?
A: With 12/10's patch, base initiative regen is now strong enough to sustain cloak & dagger + backstab without the need for extra init. Instead, Shadow Arts can now be fully defensive, granting both blind-on-stealth and condition clear on stealth. This allows for an excellent survival boost.

Q: Why don't you shortbow much?
A: Shortbow is great utility, but in outnumbered fights especially, my greatest survival is stealth. D/D's Cloak & Dagger is huge survival and it's often too risky to switch to shortbow and be locked out of CnD for 10 seconds. D/D overall has the better burst and fight-sustain, so I reserve the shortbow for rarer occasions (shadowstep, extra evade, AoE dps/poison).

Q: Why don't you have bloodlust stacks, Defense Against Guards buff, etc?
A: For bloodlust, I find it annoying and un-fun to re-farm stacks on every death, so I don't do it. For WvW buffs, I'm not high enough rank (thief is only WvW rank ~70). Sadly, WvW ranks are still all focused toward zerging which I don't participate in, so I don't have access to those buffs. Regardless, I enjoy the added challenge of not having these buffs and it makes successes all the more rewarding.

Q: Thief vs Engineer?
A: I like both classes. Thief is awesome for burst, quick kills, and fast escapes. Thief excels more-often against large groups of average-skill players. Thief does better in larger open-field areas. Thief is my preference for small-man fights and hit-and-run/kite tactics. Engineer is better at close-quarters. Engineer excels at taking on more skilled players as it has more tools and is thus more difficult to counter. I also prefer engineer for larger group fights (8v8+) as it is able to survive and manage AoE cleave better while still being effective.

Q: Does this spec work in sPvP?
A: NO. Please do not use this spec in sPvP as you will frustrate your team. This spec is all about open-field, heavy stealth usage, and baiting your enemies. In sPvP, this is not an option. You need to be on the point and/or bursting your enemies and escaping. You're better off getting on a tankier class, or switching to the standard full zerker D/P (or S/D) spec to hit-and-run in sPvP.