Guild Wars 2

I’m trying to come up with a build for general PvE/Dungeons using P/D and D/D + Shortbow as my primary sets. I mainly play with PUGs in dungeons, and I switch between P/D, D/D, and Shortbow depending on what the encounter is/what the group needs.

Here’s what I’m getting for the two builds:
Deadly Arts: Sundering Strikes, Dagger Mastery(if I put 25 points in)
Critical Strikes: Pistol Mastery/Side Strikes depending on set, Critical Haste, Executioner
Acrobatics: Power of Inertia, Quick Recovery (if I put 25 points in)

My dilemma is that I don’t know if the additional dps I get from the extra 10 points in Deadly Arts offsets the additional dps I gain from having more initiative with Quick Recovery. I like the acrobatics 20 trait much better than the 20 deadly arts, but I like the deadly arts stats much better.

You should always value the traits more than the stats. In the grand scale of things, the bonus stats in each tree don’t really add up to that much.

I personally am also running a 15/30/0/25/0 build for PvE and WvW. Lotus Poison is just a really good trait which is why I always try to get it. Weakness is just really good in PvE (and not band in PvP either). But anything beyond 15 points in Deadly Arts only really pays off if you use a lot of poisons, which I don’t.

25 points inc Acrobatics also add 10% extra damage when your Endurance bar isn’t full…which is pretty much all the time after a fight has initiated. The tree also adds a lot of much needed survivability for PvE.

I can’t comment much on the synergy with P/D since I mainly use D/D + Shortbow in PvE.

The 10 points in Deadly Arts for the bonus power is not worth it. If you’re wearing berserker’s gear, you’ll have around 2200 power with 15 points, 2300 with 25 points. That is a 4.5% damage increase from gear alone. 25 points in Acrobatics will give you 1000 HP, which is nice because Thieves have very low HP, on top of the 10% damage while endurance isn’t full, which is easy to keep low. You can get the 2ini/10sec trait as well, which is more potential damage/utility.

As 15/30/0/25 is a direct damage spec, you’re best off using DD/Shortbow.

Hey, thanks Pinch and Dee Jay for the insightful feedback.

Dee Jay, the thing is, 25 Deadly Arts has 10% more damage if your enemy has a condition, which is a given on any weapon set I use. Of course, Acrobatics also gives 10% on dodge, which is about just as good. Not to mention that all the 20 point acrobatics traits are incredibly good. I agree on your assessment of the Deadly Arts tree…it’s really too bad since the stats for that tree is terrific. I think I will take your advice and go with 15/30/0/25/0.

Pinch, if I was going to go for a P/D variant, would you take points off critical strikes for trickery or something? 30 in critical strikes just seems give more DPS/trait point for just about any weapon set, including mainhand pistol sets, and while I love the trickery traits in PvP I’m really not a fan of them for PvE. 15 in Deadly arts for Lotus Poison and 15 in Acrobatics for Feline Grace are absolute must haves for me, and I don’t see where else I would compromise.