Guild Wars 2

Just wanted to showcase the possibility of frontline thief: https://t.co/OqKBA1dOqV

It’s a very selfish build the only “support” you can give is signet of agi which gives you endurance/3 condi clear to your teammates other than that it’s just pure damage

bluri.2653:

Just wanted to showcase the possibility of frontline thief: https://t.co/OqKBA1dOqV

It’s a very selfish build the only “support” you can give is signet of agi which gives you endurance/3 condi clear to your teammates other than that it’s just pure damage

Me and a few friends have been theory crafting a new frontline thief build based off the original one they ran back in the day.

So far it’s looking pretty nice, and if you want I’d share since it’s not a “GvG” build

That looks cool I might have to give it a go, looks great for finishing down people.

I’ve been trying to get a condi shortbow thing going but I’m not sure it’s working in zergs. Anyone else experimenting with choking gas?

Yeah I tried two blob builds with condi. Double shortbow DA-TR-DD tried it as both trailblazer/carrion – sigil of venom/sigil of bursting – sigil of corruption-energy spam choking and lotus dodge in it but i didn’t like the build as much as acro staff.

Problem with that one is that you can only burst one player with steal and dodge on him etc to condi bomb. If u want to run like a backline choking has such a bad range and u cant stack as much condi so its just not good enough imo, i could record it as well if interested to see

bluri.2653:

Yeah I tried two blob builds with condi. Double shortbow DA-TR-DD tried it as both trailblazer/carrion – sigil of venom/sigil of bursting – sigil of corruption-energy spam choking and lotus dodge in it but i didn’t like the build as much as acro staff.

Problem with that one is that you can only burst one player with steal and dodge on him etc to condi bomb. If u want to run like a backline choking has such a bad range and u cant stack as much condi so its just not good enough imo, i could record it as well if interested to see

Please record & post so we can gauge the current build they theory crafting.

i tried staff thief in zerging i prefer if you run it with a centaur banner over anything else. with out a self generating stab source you get destroyed.

Taobella.6597:

i tried staff thief in zerging i prefer if you run it with a centaur banner over anything else. with out a self generating stab source you get destroyed.

Proper guild group is what he’s running with. The stab is being given to him by his guild mates.

A thief with proper support has always been able to front line. If you can do it you get the benefit of big damage, stealth, and pretty much unlimited blast combo’s.

bluri.2653:

Just wanted to showcase the possibility of frontline thief: https://t.co/OqKBA1dOqV

It’s a very selfish build the only “support” you can give is signet of agi which gives you endurance/3 condi clear to your teammates other than that it’s just pure damage

Its not a question of “can I survive, can I deal dmg?”,
Its a question of “can I survive, deal dmg and/or bring something beyond those to the table?”

Or more precise, what can I bring to the fight that is augmenting, or more preferably, unique.

I disagree, you have power warriors who only brings raw damage/and CC from hammer but that’s pretty much the same as basi venom which is also unblockable compared to warrior hammer (5 targets). The advantage thief has compared to a warrior is boonrip, 3 boons stolen which prioritizes stab on enemy so if u see ur team bombing and u steal a melee and rip his stab he is 100% dead. This build will ofc not work without a group with stab just as any melee build except guardian

The idea behind stealing melee without the burst but you get the idea: https://youtu.be/nUemnKVsCis?t=1031

Heres a earlier stage of staff thief with pug commander in EB its uncut footage:
https://youtu.be/IQnGLbV9KE0

The thing that I like about this build is that it’s flexible, you vaulting into backline and doing 10k vaults on squishy ele/necros makes them panic and you are literally unkillable there, this also removes the focus from your melee completely which you can see on the vods as well

It does contribute more than pure damage. Boon steals + sudden mobile pressure means that you can outright overwhelm people before they can properly react. This is very different from “muh dps”. Granted I’ve never done a true frontline before; usually it’s opportunistic vaulting. =p The recent buff to Signet of Agility is also good as well.

If you want to be more supportive, then what about blinding powder over bandit’s defense? It could be quite useful to save people from being focused, though obviously at the expensive of your survival.

I do recall seeing a DD tag up before. It was obviously different but the enemy was so focused on (failing) to kill him that they ended up dying.

Works wonders in Eotm, and bad pug blobs (e.g. like all the returning/pve players lol). Mixed results against more capable enemies.

Chinchilla.1785:

Works wonders in Eotm, and bad pug blobs (e.g. like all the returning/pve players lol). Mixed results against more capable enemies.

I’m unsure if people have played the same build as I did but I did this vs FSP which is basically old stacked GvG players and never “bad pug” blobs and I’m destroying melee/backline with this

bluri.2653:

Chinchilla.1785:

Works wonders in Eotm, and bad pug blobs (e.g. like all the returning/pve players lol). Mixed results against more capable enemies.

I’m unsure if people have played the same build as I did but I did this vs FSP which is basically old stacked GvG players and never “bad pug” blobs and I’m destroying melee/backline with this

Mmm this is against Mag who has all the old stacked GvG players, and never “bad pug” blobs for NA servers. Mixed results still hold. The sustain condi meta guilds aren’t affected much by this build. The guilds that still have glassy back liners fall victim, yes.

Does that build work if you won’t get any boons because in SFR we take care our own boons?

Chinchilla.1785:

bluri.2653:

Chinchilla.1785:

Works wonders in Eotm, and bad pug blobs (e.g. like all the returning/pve players lol). Mixed results against more capable enemies.

I’m unsure if people have played the same build as I did but I did this vs FSP which is basically old stacked GvG players and never “bad pug” blobs and I’m destroying melee/backline with this

Mmm this is against Mag who has all the old stacked GvG players, and never “bad pug” blobs for NA servers. Mixed results still hold. The sustain condi meta guilds aren’t affected much by this build. The guilds that still have glassy back liners fall victim, yes.

So tell me this, you guys run zerk warriors? Staff thief pumps out more damage currently. And is even less vulnerable to condi cus of the evade spam so you won’t die

bluri.2653:

Chinchilla.1785:

bluri.2653:

Chinchilla.1785:

Works wonders in Eotm, and bad pug blobs (e.g. like all the returning/pve players lol). Mixed results against more capable enemies.

I’m unsure if people have played the same build as I did but I did this vs FSP which is basically old stacked GvG players and never “bad pug” blobs and I’m destroying melee/backline with this

Mmm this is against Mag who has all the old stacked GvG players, and never “bad pug” blobs for NA servers. Mixed results still hold. The sustain condi meta guilds aren’t affected much by this build. The guilds that still have glassy back liners fall victim, yes.

So tell me this, you guys run zerk warriors? Staff thief pumps out more damage currently. And is even less vulnerable to condi cus of the evade spam so you won’t die

Only reasoning to bring a warrior is for Banners at this point. Their potential damage (even with zerk) is irrelevant to the previously mentioned sustain condi meta because they’d be a liability.

As for Maguuma, there are warriors randomly about yes. The only half-way useful one is from GS with respect to damage output (Aka Diviniya or w.e.).

So NA haven’t theorycrafted hammer war with sigil of absorption that prioritizes resistance?

Anyway, I’m sure you guys haven’t run the build I have been running and regardless the results are amazing when used correctly. Hopefully more people will give it a go and see how good it really is

bluri.2653:

So NA haven’t theorycrafted hammer war with sigil of absorption that prioritizes resistance?

Guilds that cared about warriors in the past went through that phase, yes. You’d be better off asking Maguuma players.

Warrior spam some hammer stuns and gs wurls and it’s raining bags.

bluri.2653:

Chinchilla.1785:

Works wonders in Eotm, and bad pug blobs (e.g. like all the returning/pve players lol). Mixed results against more capable enemies.

I’m unsure if people have played the same build as I did but I did this vs FSP which is basically old stacked GvG players and never “bad pug” blobs and I’m destroying melee/backline with this

You said frontline and many of us were thinking you meant run with the tag not rushing the backline-freecasters. If you are rushing to gut the glass cannons I wouldn’t even worry about anything other than staying alive and damage. Just don’t stop the rampage to spike or kill, keeping them spooked will stop their freecasting. Rupt meteor showers, drop the hammers and maybe even barrages if you got the resources.

Justine.6351:

You said frontline and many of us were thinking you meant run with the tag not rushing the backline-freecasters. If you are rushing to gut the glass cannons I wouldn’t even worry about anything other than staying alive and damage. Just don’t stop the rampage to spike or kill, keeping them spooked will stop their freecasting. Rupt meteor showers, drop the hammers and maybe even barrages if you got the resources.

The auto reflect is nice right on tag but everything about the build lets you tether at a small range to hit out and sling back, it’s how that build feeds itself anyway. You might have to get stupid and reach out with a Bound into Steal for a quick down sometimes but it’s mostly still a frontline.

kash.9213:

Justine.6351:

You said frontline and many of us were thinking you meant run with the tag not rushing the backline-freecasters. If you are rushing to gut the glass cannons I wouldn’t even worry about anything other than staying alive and damage. Just don’t stop the rampage to spike or kill, keeping them spooked will stop their freecasting. Rupt meteor showers, drop the hammers and maybe even barrages if you got the resources.

The auto reflect is nice right on tag but everything about the build lets you tether at a small range to hit out and sling back, it’s how that build feeds itself anyway. You might have to get stupid and reach out with a Bound into Steal for a quick down sometimes but it’s mostly still a frontline.

Frontline implies playing with the frontliners, not playing around them. A commander isn’t going to put any thief into his frontline subgroups. He hits a ward and he is probably dead since he wont likely have stability.

Justine.6351:

kash.9213:

Justine.6351:

You said frontline and many of us were thinking you meant run with the tag not rushing the backline-freecasters. If you are rushing to gut the glass cannons I wouldn’t even worry about anything other than staying alive and damage. Just don’t stop the rampage to spike or kill, keeping them spooked will stop their freecasting. Rupt meteor showers, drop the hammers and maybe even barrages if you got the resources.

The auto reflect is nice right on tag but everything about the build lets you tether at a small range to hit out and sling back, it’s how that build feeds itself anyway. You might have to get stupid and reach out with a Bound into Steal for a quick down sometimes but it’s mostly still a frontline.

Frontline implies playing with the frontliners, not playing around them. A commander isn’t going to put any thief into his frontline subgroups. He hits a ward and he is probably dead since he wont likely have stability.

And that’s why you run in a Frontline group on this Build… Oh my.

Interesting build, I’ve been trying something similar myself, although with Scrapper Runes and probably more Marauder gear than what you’ve got on. Plays the exact same though, really.
I can definitely see the benefit of Valkyrie (I think that’s what you run?) with Daredevil Runes though. Good stuff

I use Valk with Daredevil runes myself supplemented with the Sigil og Intel with staff p/p. Build might swap and have crits anytime I want them as that might running. Start with 3 crits on the swap then dodge crit as needed. It works well.

I have been going back and forth between Staff Mastery and EA. I am not sure which I prefer more yet given SM just keeps giving that endurance which can fuel more dodges and guaranteed crits.

babazhook.6805:

I use Valk with Daredevil runes myself supplemented with the Sigil og Intel with staff p/p. Build might swap and have crits anytime I want them as that might running. Start with 3 crits on the swap then dodge crit as needed. It works well.

I have been going back and forth between Staff Mastery and EA. I am not sure which I prefer more yet given SM just keeps giving that endurance which can fuel more dodges and guaranteed crits.

I’ve done the conquest d/p build switching to Executioner, Staff Mastery, and Bound with Staff/Shortbow. Signet of Agility and Shadow Return were very nearly enough to stagger but EA with Acrobatics has been solid, it lets you create more opportunities for your squad to jump on and it’s better for using your squad driver or other focused teammates to feed on evades. You’re good with just water to splash on every other minute and Debilitating Arch, and you can Bound into Shortbow 5 for some reach or if you need to get to a better part of your lines.

You have try to mask whatever animations you can though, staff skills are just asking to get pulled or nuked. You’re like an angry cheerleader out there and it’s a great laugh for the bad guys when you get exploded and it makes the pugs in your squad feel bad because you looked so awesome a minute ago. I’m not good enough to suffer that stress all the time so I went back to boon stripping and stealth again most of the time now, staff for smc or epic borderlands spawn point Braveheart fights.