Guild Wars 2

Greetings all!

Am seeking some advice on my thief build. First, a bit of context: am new to the game, have a level 40 ranger, a 9 engineer and a thief at 14. I enjoy engaging at a distance, and am drawn to bows, rifles and pistols – projectile weapons. I play PvE exclusively; may eventually play WvW, but have no desire to PvP.

For my thief I’ve decided to dual wield pistols though I’m aware that this isn’t considered a strong build. I simply find it fun. That said, I would like to max out my DPS as soon as possible and would also like to make the guy a bit tankier. I know that’s tough, and while I’m enjoying leveling him up, it’s noticeably harder than it was for my ranger and engineer. It just doesn’t feel like he dishes out as much as my other builds, and he’s incredibly fragile.

So, any and all suggestions for how to increase DPS and tankiness, would be appreciated. Again, bear in mind I’m a lowly 14. Also, I will use stealth/avoidance here and there, but wouldn’t mind him being a bit more resistant to incoming damage. Oh, and I use a short bow as my secondary.

Thanks in advance.

Signet of malice would help your durability quite a bit, assuming that you’re abusing unload, you’re third P/P ability and. It will also help when dealing damage to multiple enemies with the short bow. Since you’re only level 14 I’d say that’s a somewhat decent starting point if you’re having trouble with durability, just note that the active on signet of malice is mediocre compared to hide in shadows, so it would help to add more utility for escape.

I run a p/p thief and really enjoy it even if it isn’t optimal. I do almost all solo PvE and I’m a little slow on buttons so I use passive utility skills: Assassin’s Signet for increase power, Signet of Agility for increased precision, and Signet of Shadows for increased movement speed but swap it for bigger battles with Infiltrator’s Signet for that extra little bit of initiative since the fights will last longer. My thief is only level 35 so far so I have some trait points in Deadly Arts for power and Critical Strikes for precision but I also dropped 10 points into Trickery for Uncatchable which drops caltrops on dodge. I find this handy since I’m trying to stay at medium range and Unload is my best friend. When mobs close in I can dodge back cripple and bleed them to keep some separation and to allow some time for my in initiative to recharge.

As far as gear I max out at my level for power and precision as well. I guess I’m going with the if I kill them faster they can’t hurt me as much concept. Using the signets and traits lines I mentioned you could probably fiddle a bit with gear and trinkets to drop a bit into toughness/vitality without giving up too much power and precision.

I’m not very great at the game but thought I would share what I am using.

I also play a P/P + SB Thief. I can’t remember all that you have access to at level 14, but here are my tips for PvE survivability.

• Black Powder (Pistol #5). Blinds targets, great against melee. You can even get into melee with ranged mobs via Stealth than pop it. The only downside is because of its’ high initiative cost, you can’t spam this and Unload.
• Caltrops (Skill). Drop an AoE field that cripples and bleeds mobs. Helps a lot with kiting.
• Ambush Trap (Skill). Bro Thieves! Ambush Trap is great as it has a low cooldown and the summoned Thief hits hard.
• Shadow Refuge (Skill). Creates a dark field for a few seconds. I generally will throw this down at mid health, then immediately spam Sneak Attack (Pistol # 1) followed by Unload (Pistol #3) to recover a ton of health.
• Uncatchable (Trait). This is a great kiting ability, and PvE mobs run right into the caltrops.
• Feline Grace (Minor Trait). Ranged Thieves are more about evasion than stealth, so the Acrobatics trait line is your best friend. This minor trait means more dodges!

Be sure to get some +Power armor and a Sigil of Bloodlust for your main hand weapon, to help you plow through the lower levels more easily.

Also, unless you trait for Ricochet, get a Shortbow to handle multiple mobs. Spamming Cluster Bomb is for the win!

Good luck!
-Cowboy

So, assuming you are doing mostly pve at lv 14, signet of malice, as stated earlier, is am amazing tool and worth the skill point(s) (not sure if it is one or three). Also, for low level pve, a signet build is probably most effective (that’s what I did for leveling, though I’ve played since launch so was on at the first to discover leveling tactics) as being able to kill things is key in pve. Primarily, you will probably want to use signet of agility as that will be a greater boost to unload (primary damage skill for p/p) as each critical hit jumps the damage much more than power. The next priority should be signet of shadows (speed boost) as movement across a map is key when leveling. Speed is everything when leveling!

As you get to higher levels, signets are not the answer to your problems. You need utilities. Having played a thief, and only a thief, since launch, i still do use the speed signet, because it is so much of a convenience.
If you are using pistols as a definitive choice for leveling, which is by no means a bad choice, you will want to get, I think it’s twenty points, into critical strikes for the 10% damage boost to pistols which is HUGE.
I recommend using a sword/pistol or sword/dagger for off hand as the pistol provides enough range, but the swords cleave is good in pve, and having a melee weapon is a must at level 40+ IMO. Deffinetly at level 70-80. At 80, sword main hand and dagger main hand can be changed out, but nothing parallels the swords ability to mob, except for maybe ricochet on the pistol.