A little help on how to use flanking strike
You are my new hero!
Flanking strike would deal a good damage if it works properly. But dancing dagger is the best against 2 melee since each of them will be hit twice each time. Also i think you kinda have to use spider venom in PvP if you’re using S/D since it has no burst to finish the target unless you can use well-timed invises to interrupt the heal ^.^
Ahh cheers, i’ll try the so called poison:) though I tried to avoid it;) never liked the 1sec appling and the few uses:) cause Sword really didn’t have tha “finish him!” move:/ so no cheap Mortal Kombat scorpin gimmick here… Except for the wite ofc..
But yeah generally I feel that thieves are two things, single-target burst dmg dealer and roamers.
Still. Love how other professions, and some insiders, complain about these aspects:)
I run sword/pistol + dagger/dagger, switching to shortbow if necessary (big fight coming up etc).
30 Shadow Arts
30 Acrobatics
10 Trickery
I base the whole thing around stealth (gaining initiative/regen/blinding) + getting initiative back (quick recovery). Everything that relates to stealth, blinds, regen etc. like Pain Response or Instinctive Response, I use it, and wear power/prec gear to keep the pools up. I start off with s/p, using a gap closer like IS or Steal, and pistol whipping as many times as I dare. Usually, this will give the opponent an idea of what sort of Thief I am, so they’ll be watching out for Haste or Headshot etc. That’s when I hit Blinding Powder, switch to d/d and start going nuts with C+D, backstab and any other skill I deem necessary. Basically, s/p starts it off, and d/d finishes it off. It’s worked flawlessly, and I can take groups of 4-5 by myself with it. I simply refuse to die when I have this build active. I’m too hard to catch.
Resident Thief
I can only speak from an sPvP perspective as I haven’t finished my PvE gear to use it in WvW.
I run a Sword/Dagger and Twin Pistol setup.
20 Deadly Arts
30 Critical Strikes
20 Acrobatics
Knight’s Amulet
Fighter’s Runes (Yes, this is a weird setup for a Theif but hear me out.)
For utility I usually run with Shadowstep (for stun breaking and covering large distances with it in combination with Infiltrator’s Strike), either Shadow Refuge or Scorpion Wire, and Spider Venom. For the elite I use Dagger Storm to deal with the excessive pets (Mesmer clones, Necro minions, Engineer turrets). For heal it’s Hide in Shadows.
Through the traits, amulet, and runes I get a lot of damage and a lot of crits. The crit damage isn’t insane but that was a sacrifice I was willing to make for the survivability and after using the Berserker’s Amulet and Eagle Runes for awhile, I’ll take the survivability any day. I’ll agree Flanking Strike needs to be tweaked. They’ve been too many moments when I’ve missed both hits but if they do hit the damage on top of the whole “I just dodged your move and countered you in one fell swoop” is amazing. Infiltrator’s Strike is great for poking as well as stun breaking if you always use the move and have Infiltrator’s Return ready. Also if you’re clever you’ll find a lot of crazy uses for the move. Because of the high Initiative cost Cloak and Dagger is reserved for sensitive situations. I usually use it as a quick break in combat or to stop a stomp. Dancing Dagger is great. Just my insight on Sword + Dagger. Hopefully it helps you.
HoD
Personally I wish no.3 was a block. It would fit the fencing style much better. It could be short duration unlike the blocks of warriors and guardians so that timing would be much more tricky but of course with initiative you could block a few hits in row. Even better would be to have it something like the underwater ability. Cally it Parrying Strike. Flanking strike is a clownish ability in my opinion.
Personally I wish no.3 was a block. It would fit the fencing style much better. It could be short duration unlike the blocks of warriors and guardians so that timing would be much more tricky but of course with initiative you could block a few hits in row. Even better would be to have it something like the underwater ability. Cally it Parrying Strike. Flanking strike is a clownish ability in my opinion.
Agree could be nice to block an attack and slice up your opponent for massive dmg>:D
I mean it is a sword.. It can be quit lethal with the right technique:)
And thx for the build ideas, cheers:D
Personally I wish no.3 was a block. It would fit the fencing style much better. It could be short duration unlike the blocks of warriors and guardians so that timing would be much more tricky but of course with initiative you could block a few hits in row. Even better would be to have it something like the underwater ability. Cally it Parrying Strike. Flanking strike is a clownish ability in my opinion.
I prefer the Evade, it makes S/D feel floaty and evasive as opposed to S/P which feels down right clunky in comparison. They just need to fix Flanking Strike’s pathing.
Part-time Kittenposter