NCsoft®, the world's premier publisher and developer of Massively Multiplayer Online games (MMOs), and ArenaNet, the developer of the wildly acclaimed Guild Wars franchise, are thrilled to reveal details of the thief, the sixth profession to be revealed for Guild Wars 2, the highly anticipated title that challenges the norms of today's MMOs. Gamers will have an opportunity to play the thief in ArenaNet's brand-new Guild Wars 2 demo build at PAX East beginning March 11 in the Alienware, NVIDIA and Logitech booths. And for non-PAX East attendees, fans can experience the build at our NCsoft Boston Meet and Greet at the Westin Boston Waterfront Hotel the evening of Friday, 11 March.

As a master of stealth and surprise, the thief is deadly in single combat – particularly when catching enemies off guard. Thieves compensate for their relatively low armour and health by being quick and evasive. They can travel through the shadows, vanish into thin air, or steal items from their opponents and use them as weapons.

While other professions rely on a recharge rate for their weapon skills, in combat thieves rely on Initiative. Weapon skills cost Initiative points, but they have no recharge time, so thieves can use them back-to-back-to-back.

Featured thief skills include Stealth, Shadow Stepping, Traps, and Dual Skills to name a few. As for weapons, thieves have a mixture of melee and ranged weapons:

• Main Hand: Sword, Dagger, and Pistol
• Offhand: Dagger and Pistol
• Two-Handed: Shortbow

Thieves are not for everyone, but their skills and mechanics should be studied, as they are welcome allies in group play and worthy adversaries in PvP combat. For additional information on Guild Wars 2 and the thief profession, tune into the ArenaNet blog and GuildWars2.com next week for a post on the thief's attributes and a special preview of the PAX East build.

For additional information on Guild Wars 2, please visit www.GuildWars2.com and for our NCsoft events http://www.ncsoft.com/en/events/pax-east-2011.html.