A good thief knows when to fight and when to run.

Stealth Weapon Skills

Stealth skills are weapon skills that replace a normal attack for a weapon with a new skill while the thief is in stealth. The stealth skill is determined by the weapons equipped and replace the first skill slot on the hotbar. Some of these stealth skills inflict a condition as well as damage upon a foe.

Stealth Weapon Skills
	Backstab	Dagger: Attack from the shadows, does double damage if you attack from behind
	Sneak Attack	Pistol: Causes bleeding
	Tactical Strike	Sword: Causes blindness. If you hit from behind, causes daze
	Surprise Shot	Shortbow: Immobilizes foe for 2 seconds
	The Rippper	Harpoon Gun: Causes bleeding
	Deadly Strike	Spear: Causes bleeding and weakness

Every profession in Guild Wars 2 has some unique abilities that set them apart from other professions, and in the case of the Thief, that unique talent is the ability to steal. The Thief’s ability to steal allows the player to steal something from an opponent and then use that item. Most of the time, the item gained is some form of weapon that can be used against the opponent, but sometimes it can be in the form of a boost.

To steal, the Thief activates the ability by pressing F1, which allows the Thief to shadowstep up to the foe and steal the item. The range for stealing is a healthy 900 with a cooldown of 45 seconds. Once you’ve stolen from a foe, you can use the item gained by hitting F1 again. Each creature that you face in Guild Wars 2 seems to have certain items associated with them. For example: moa birds tend to give feathers that you throw or eggs you can eat. Please note that you don’t have to use the item you’ve stolen right away. You can store it for later use, but you’ll be unable to steal again until you’ve used the item you’re holding. However, once you’ve stolen from an opponent, they are aware of you so be prepared to start throwing down.