Guild Wars 2

Hello guys, how you doing?

I don’t usually post on this forum, even if i play my thief since the beta, cause it’s…pretty boring, some guide, lot of cries and so on, nothing exciting usually.

So, i’ve returned to play since a couple of months by now, after a 6 months break, and i’ve used the classic panic strike build all this time.

I’m a bit bored, 80% of thieves are panic strike user and that makes me sad

I’d like to find something different to use, maybe not optimized like PS build but at least usable.

Tought about a valkyrie hidden killer d/d, or maybe putting in a celestial somehow

Any idea out there?

Nope. Unless you’re going with pistol mainhand, your options are acrobatics+trickery, executioner build, panic strike build, or some weird variation that lacks damage because the damage modifier traits are 5 and 6 points deep, and lacks a defining trait and is consequentially unable to do anything as well as anything else. Even the "fun" high burst D/D builds you sometimes see use panic strike because it’s the best option for deadly arts grandmaster.

PvP or WvW? I guess PvP, D/D sucks there no matter how you build it.

Completely different playstyle, but maybe you should try S/D

You can always try P/P in PvP :P

S/D is the way forward man! I’d recommend S/D to anyone :P

If enjoy D/P but just want a different build, you could try going for 2/6/0/0/6 or a variation if you feel like you really need a reliable condi cleanse.

0/6/2/0/6 is pretty efficient aswell, just less bursty.

S/D is tooooo long to learn well, tried when it was meta but it needs a totally different approach. Tried executioneer in unranked , which i used to be last year, and I farmed prople! But still quite boring since the mechanic is quiet the same.

What about p/d condi? Is it so bad cheesy?

Aidan.7120:

What about p/d condi? Is it so bad cheesy?

no damage
shoutbow meta
no dire amulet
cant capture point while invisible
can be easily dodged
no burst
no aoe

…

Vornollo.5182:

S/D is the way forward man! I’d recommend S/D to anyone :P

If enjoy D/P but just want a different build, you could try going for 2/6/0/0/6 or a variation if you feel like you really need a reliable condi cleanse.

0/6/2/0/6 is pretty efficient aswell, just less bursty.

0/6/2/0/6 might as well go back to panic. I’ve tried this build before and it really isn’t worth it.

I’ve been a long time D/P thief, but I have tried and played most main sPvP thief builds successfully.

I grew bored and after a return to GW2 and a break, it just felt stale.

So I switched my D/P (26006 – Berserker) to a D/D (06620 – Valkyrie) which is more of a WvW spec, but I’m having so much fun with it. Play style is drastically different and I’m still having a ton of success with it.

kitten for point capping, but great team support with easy stealth/blind stomps and resses. Stealth healing when you get downed brings you back into the fight so much more quickly, so you will be self reviving much more.

Not an elitist meta spec, but definitely something fun that if you’re experienced you can make great work of it.

Try D/D 50036 with combined training, vigor on heal and steal traits.
Runes are pack, sigil fire/air.
Pretty solid build, that can deal good burst and have good sustain on top of dodges.
You have lack of CC but good mobility, and nice condi duration+condi dmg (spamming #4 into Throw Gunk is taking turret/parrot engis down so fast)

Is this for pvp or wvw or pve?

For pvp. Tried to play with amateur builds but it seems executioneer, panic strike and s/d are the only viable

dDuff.3860:

Try D/D 50036 with combined training, vigor on heal and steal traits.
Runes are pack, sigil fire/air.
Pretty solid build, that can deal good burst and have good sustain on top of dodges.
You have lack of CC but good mobility, and nice condi duration+condi dmg (spamming #4 into Throw Gunk is taking turret/parrot engis down so fast)

Hey this is pretty much exactly what I use. It’s a lot of fun.

Have no stealth utilities on your bar and it’s even better.

OK I do not play much if any PvP. Quite frankly the main reason alluded to in your post. I find the builds lack flexibility due to the lack of options that can go into the build . (This a major reason I am against the suggestion of banning buffs such as foods in WvW). This means only a small handful used and it gets boring rather quick as my main interest is experimenting with builds and making them work.

Now in WvW as example I am having a lot of fun with a high boon duration build using platinum doubloons, acrobatics training and boon duration foods. This opens up a lot of options in the build and what selected yet not something that would work too well in PvP.

FlawlezZ.3178:

Aidan.7120:

What about p/d condi? Is it so bad cheesy?

no damage
shoutbow meta
no dire amulet
cant capture point while invisible
can be easily dodged
no burst
no aoe

…

See, I disagree with this. I’ve been running p/d in SPvP for the amusement value and found it quite viable. I’ll address each of your points.

- No damage: This is just untrue. I’ve condi bursted down classes pretty quick with my own variation of the p/d condition build.

- Shoutbow Meta: Annoying, but you can still overload them with conditions if played right.

- No Dire Amulet: Alas, but probably for the best. Carrion is very much a viable alternative, however, and actually increases your ‘burst’ damage, useful against Shoutbows.

- Can’t Capture Point While Invisible: I can’t argue with this one, but I’ve also tied up 3+ players on an enemy team while they tried to keep me from just killing the person there and taking the point. For a goodly amount of time (2-4 minutes).

- Can Be Easily Dodged: Eh…if you mean the Dagger #5, yes, that can get annoying. You just have to predict dodges. That’s true of ANY build using a dagger off-hand, though. Otherwise…don’t be so predictable.

- No Burst: In the traditional sense, no. But between caltrops, venoms, and gratuitous bleed stacking…I’ve seen people just ‘melt’.

- No AoE: Very much untrue. If you use the variant with the shortbow you actually have quite good AoE damage on demand. And I use the Ricochet trait in Trickery which makes my pistol shots bounce around like crazy. AoE bleed damage for all!

That said, it’s not an IDEAL SPvP build, but it can be quite viable in the right hands.

Starlightmagus.8654:

That said, it’s not an IDEAL SPvP build, but it can be quite viable in the right hands.

Conditions on thief are quite lackluster. Whats the point of playing conditions in sPvP beside hotjoin?
The fact is, you retain mobility, losing burst, and prolonging your fight, while losing point to anyone because of stealth… And actually you won’t kill your assaulter, keep it pressured – yes, but killing alone will take too much time.
In teamfight you’d make your target use condi cleanses, hm, which classes have very few of them? thief? mesmer? You know, when your damage starts to tick heavily, enemy thief already took a sip at your ele, or killed mesmer, or both lol. Basically, you’re just taking a spot of engi or condi ranger, that trolling stuff while other guys doing job with one minus – you have to stealth because out of it you deal no pressure beside CDs.
So, my question again. Whats the point of condi thief?
We may talk about viability, but for playing thief for like (since beta weekends?) I haven’t met a proper condithief-dude that would show pretty sexy action. And when i’m talking haven’t met I mean none of them were doing well-enough for me to say: “wow, condi can do kitten”.
Current tournament meta and any given past, except for first tournament where it was “VENOMSHAREKITTEN!”, had no condi thief in it and none of teams had it. If you don’t trust me, trust the facts.
You should be just love being different, may be condi thief is a good way for it. But teams and other players usually blame the ones who different, isn’t_it?

So I was thinking about this, say for example, I just wanted to roam, +1 fights, and gank the crap out of people in sPvP, what would I run? Assuming I don’t care about capping the points.

5/6/0/0/3 D/D? I don’t like standing on the point for fear of AoE bombs that can be dropped from at least 900 range away.

Lamuness.3570:

So I was thinking about this, say for example, I just wanted to roam, +1 fights, and gank the crap out of people in sPvP, what would I run? Assuming I don’t care about capping the points.

5/6/0/0/3 D/D? I don’t like standing on the point for fear of AoE bombs that can be dropped from at least 900 range away.

No. D/D is horrible for tPvP and any PvP thief build without 6 points in the last trait line sucks. What you need is D/P

Starlightmagus.8654:

FlawlezZ.3178:

Aidan.7120:

What about p/d condi? Is it so bad cheesy?

no damage
shoutbow meta
no dire amulet
cant capture point while invisible
can be easily dodged
no burst
no aoe

…

See, I disagree with this. I’ve been running p/d in SPvP for the amusement value and found it quite viable. I’ll address each of your points.

- No damage: This is just untrue. I’ve condi bursted down classes pretty quick with my own variation of the p/d condition build.

- Shoutbow Meta: Annoying, but you can still overload them with conditions if played right.

- No Dire Amulet: Alas, but probably for the best. Carrion is very much a viable alternative, however, and actually increases your ‘burst’ damage, useful against Shoutbows.

- Can’t Capture Point While Invisible: I can’t argue with this one, but I’ve also tied up 3+ players on an enemy team while they tried to keep me from just killing the person there and taking the point. For a goodly amount of time (2-4 minutes).

- Can Be Easily Dodged: Eh…if you mean the Dagger #5, yes, that can get annoying. You just have to predict dodges. That’s true of ANY build using a dagger off-hand, though. Otherwise…don’t be so predictable.

- No Burst: In the traditional sense, no. But between caltrops, venoms, and gratuitous bleed stacking…I’ve seen people just ‘melt’.

- No AoE: Very much untrue. If you use the variant with the shortbow you actually have quite good AoE damage on demand. And I use the Ricochet trait in Trickery which makes my pistol shots bounce around like crazy. AoE bleed damage for all!

That said, it’s not an IDEAL SPvP build, but it can be quite viable in the right hands.

^ this

witcher.3197:

Lamuness.3570:

So I was thinking about this, say for example, I just wanted to roam, +1 fights, and gank the crap out of people in sPvP, what would I run? Assuming I don’t care about capping the points.

5/6/0/0/3 D/D? I don’t like standing on the point for fear of AoE bombs that can be dropped from at least 900 range away.

No. D/D is horrible for tPvP and any PvP thief build without 6 points in the last trait line sucks. What you need is D/P

I believe the OP’s point was that he was tired of the same D/P builds…

Reece.7341:

witcher.3197:

Lamuness.3570:

So I was thinking about this, say for example, I just wanted to roam, +1 fights, and gank the crap out of people in sPvP, what would I run? Assuming I don’t care about capping the points.

5/6/0/0/3 D/D? I don’t like standing on the point for fear of AoE bombs that can be dropped from at least 900 range away.

No. D/D is horrible for tPvP and any PvP thief build without 6 points in the last trait line sucks. What you need is D/P

I believe the OP’s point was that he was tired of the same D/P builds…

Ahh sorry completely zoned out. Well, what he described as a playstyle is exactly what D/P offers, he could try S/D too but I think he wants to keep the stealth play however D/D is just bad.

dDuff.3860:

Starlightmagus.8654:

That said, it’s not an IDEAL SPvP build, but it can be quite viable in the right hands.

Conditions on thief are quite lackluster. Whats the point of playing conditions in sPvP beside hotjoin?
The fact is, you retain mobility, losing burst, and prolonging your fight, while losing point to anyone because of stealth… And actually you won’t kill your assaulter, keep it pressured – yes, but killing alone will take too much time.
In teamfight you’d make your target use condi cleanses, hm, which classes have very few of them? thief? mesmer? You know, when your damage starts to tick heavily, enemy thief already took a sip at your ele, or killed mesmer, or both lol. Basically, you’re just taking a spot of engi or condi ranger, that trolling stuff while other guys doing job with one minus – you have to stealth because out of it you deal no pressure beside CDs.
So, my question again. Whats the point of condi thief?
We may talk about viability, but for playing thief for like (since beta weekends?) I haven’t met a proper condithief-dude that would show pretty sexy action. And when i’m talking haven’t met I mean none of them were doing well-enough for me to say: “wow, condi can do kitten”.
Current tournament meta and any given past, except for first tournament where it was “VENOMSHAREKITTEN!”, had no condi thief in it and none of teams had it. If you don’t trust me, trust the facts.
You should be just love being different, may be condi thief is a good way for it. But teams and other players usually blame the ones who different, isn’t_it?

I never did argue that it was the meta or is particularly great in tournaments and the like. I think there’s potential in it if you build a team specifically around that kind of thing, but that’s going into the realm of the hypothetical. It’s a fun build for trolling around Unranked with and occasionally stepping into ranked just to mess with people, especially those who don’t expect it.

That said, I disagree with the whole thing of ‘not killing your target’. I actually win 2v1 fights quite often, though they do take some time, and 1v1 I’ve killed my opponent very quickly unless they’re specifically built to combat conditions (or they’re a meditation Guardian).

witcher.3197:

Reece.7341:

witcher.3197:

Lamuness.3570:

So I was thinking about this, say for example, I just wanted to roam, +1 fights, and gank the crap out of people in sPvP, what would I run? Assuming I don’t care about capping the points.

5/6/0/0/3 D/D? I don’t like standing on the point for fear of AoE bombs that can be dropped from at least 900 range away.

No. D/D is horrible for tPvP and any PvP thief build without 6 points in the last trait line sucks. What you need is D/P

I believe the OP’s point was that he was tired of the same D/P builds…

Ahh sorry completely zoned out. Well, what he described as a playstyle is exactly what D/P offers, he could try S/D too but I think he wants to keep the stealth play however D/D is just bad.

i’d just like to refresh my thief. A viable condi build would be great, or something like a valkyrie/shadow arts/Hidden Killer, something to make my opponents think “wtf? how is this thief specced? O.o”

Would you all be so kind to post a link to gw2skill with an actual build to discuss this in a concrete way?

want to try something like this
http://gw2skills.net/editor/?fZAQNAoYVlsMpypFOx7J8PNBNRsdVXI31xzaFA-TpBEwAGOBAYLDka/BAHCgHHBACPAAA

or like this
http://gw2skills.net/editor/?fZAQNAqYVlsMpopNNx5J8PNRMB5ZXGj2HYBBozrMYA-TJxHwABeEAGLDA4MA8Z/BA

they will probably suck, but I won’t believe it till I see it! :p

use 56300 every other thief build does 0 damage unlike this one

It’s not good, much better a 60206 if i have to use that. Btw venom builds is not that bad, i kinda had fun with it