Guild Wars 2

I like to use P/P on my thief, but every guide I read says its literally worse then hitler to use that.

They say things like “Pistol’s Unload skill does less damage then even Dagger’s auto attack”

Please buff P/P slightly just so people stop discounting it as a build completely.

They wont put it on par with D/D dmg because unload is ranged. And ranged is safer. Therefore it needs to hit for less than the in your face play style.

And unload is not actully that awful. Im pretty certain that it is stronger than the #2 Longbow skill of ranger.

And P/P coupled with the high mobility of the class can make for surprising result. You can kite very well, which ranger can’t really do. (Im looking toward Hard to catch P/P thieves lol).

Yeah, I love P/P and think its great and does enough damage as is, but everybody treats it like trash.

Maybe if it did some status effect?

Viable?
sure,
Fun?
Sure.
decently optimal?

I confess though I have seen some really cool P/P thieves in WvW doing the whole “gunslinger” thing.

P/P is not just Unload, it has black powder/interrupt too. You can kill most warrs by afking in BP spamming aa, they are blinded forever :>

It lacks mobility/stealth/evades so most thieves avoid it.

+1
if they give 1 buff like mobility /evade/stealth in the skills set (not utilities the set will be popular

also be sure to chain unloads. If you start the next before the first one ends, the damage multiplier continues. Standard initiative you can chain three together.

i would say bp should reduce its blind duration to 2 seconds but give stealth ability for 3 seconds thus d/p will be more tacticly than bp hs spamming and p/p will use stealth also

pretty sure that would overpower offhand pistol

and as far as d/p stealth… bp plus hs and boom.. stealth.

P/P needs to get some sort of a buff, seeing how your defensive skill on that weapon set is meant for fighting in melee (black powder) but the rest of your skills are tailored for ranged battle.
On top of that all skills have a absurd initiative cost which doesn’t help the fact your auto attack is rather weak, and most of the skills are a sort of ‘’utility weapon skills’’ as in they are not there to do damage (head shot, body shot, and black powder deal almost no dmg).

But if you have gold to burn you can try this build for wvw, it is weak compared to any other thief build (cos p/p is a disjointed and weak set) but it gets results, especally since ppl don’t expect you to go gunslinger on them.

Buffs? Ok.

Like what I’ve always been saying (see signature), P/P and D/D will need their own unique 5-skills so that they can have their own auto-attack skills that will not affect the P/x, x/P, D/x, and x/D builds.

If P/P gets it’s own 5-skills, ArenaNet can buff the auto-attack to their heart’s content until P/P is respectably a competitive choice for a single target ranged weapon.

People fail to understand, that P/P is best utilized in teamplay, where your allies take on themselves focus of your enemies, allowing the glassy thief to be safe at range.

It is fully possible to play P/P in sPvP with 6-6-x-x-x traits plus zerker amulet and not dying more often than a bunker. A thief which is geared like that, raining down unloads on the enemies in the middle of a node is very valuable. You can always steal+black powder to secure a stomp (can do that without steal from range if timed well), or save your allies by interrupting enemies with headshot.
For a squishy zerker it’s a nightmare to be focused by a such thief in a teamfight, because damage from chained unloads is exhausting, and offensive combos can be easly interrupted.

Any unreasonable buffs like stealth on #5 or extra damage on unload will overbuff this set. Right now, I could only change body shot, because it’s way too situational and useless in 99% cases.

Dagins.5163:

People fail to understand, that P/P is best utilized in teamplay, where your allies take on themselves focus of your enemies, allowing the glassy thief to be safe at range.

It is fully possible to play P/P in sPvP with 6-6-x-x-x traits plus zerker amulet and not dying more often than a bunker. A thief which is geared like that, raining down unloads on the enemies in the middle of a node is very valuable. You can always steal+black powder to secure a stomp (can do that without steal from range if timed well), or save your allies by interrupting enemies with headshot.
For a squishy zerker it’s a nightmare to be focused by a such thief in a teamfight, because damage from chained unloads is exhausting, and offensive combos can be easly interrupted.

Any unreasonable buffs like stealth on #5 or extra damage on unload will overbuff this set. Right now, I could only change body shot, because it’s way too situational and useless in 99% cases.

You’ve just stated the main problems of P/P;

1) “P/P is best utilized in teamplay”

2) “A thief which is geared like that, raining down unloads on the enemies in the middle of a node is very valuable.”

3) “For a squishy zerker it’s a nightmare to be focused by a such thief in a teamfight, because damage from chained unloads is exhausting, and offensive combos can be easly interrupted.”

4) “Right now, I could only change body shot, because it’s way too situational and useless in 99% cases.”

Do you honestly believe that this limited viability is not a problem? And the only reason ArenaNet is hesitant on fixing P/P is because 4/5 skills are shared with other weapon set.

for a squishy zeker it’s a nightmare to be focused by any good thief in a teamfight, regardless of the build. That’s kinda what thieves are all about.

Strong sides aren’t a problem, weak sides are, and if you want to survive you have to deal with them. These can be overcame with some effort.

Even though this set isn’t the best for 1vs1, where S/D and D/P shines, it is still possible to win duels, securing a node all by yourself. Still, you can spec for 1vs1 if you really want, and it can work, but I don’t think it is worth it.

What!? Thieves and buffs?

http://picload.org/image/lppallo/nicolas_cage_laugh.gif

Have you never read the recent balance patches ?

I know we deserve them, but we never get what we need from ANet

Vital Shot and Unload are both very obviously underpowered and have needed buffing since launch. These kinds of things are absurd.

Sir Vincent III.1286:

Dagins.5163:

People fail to understand, that P/P is best utilized in teamplay, where your allies take on themselves focus of your enemies, allowing the glassy thief to be safe at range.

It is fully possible to play P/P in sPvP with 6-6-x-x-x traits plus zerker amulet and not dying more often than a bunker. A thief which is geared like that, raining down unloads on the enemies in the middle of a node is very valuable. You can always steal+black powder to secure a stomp (can do that without steal from range if timed well), or save your allies by interrupting enemies with headshot.
For a squishy zerker it’s a nightmare to be focused by a such thief in a teamfight, because damage from chained unloads is exhausting, and offensive combos can be easly interrupted.

Any unreasonable buffs like stealth on #5 or extra damage on unload will overbuff this set. Right now, I could only change body shot, because it’s way too situational and useless in 99% cases.

You’ve just stated the main problems of P/P;

1) “P/P is best utilized in teamplay”

2) “A thief which is geared like that, raining down unloads on the enemies in the middle of a node is very valuable.”

3) “For a squishy zerker it’s a nightmare to be focused by a such thief in a teamfight, because damage from chained unloads is exhausting, and offensive combos can be easly interrupted.”

4) “Right now, I could only change body shot, because it’s way too situational and useless in 99% cases.”

Do you honestly believe that this limited viability is not a problem? And the only reason ArenaNet is hesitant on fixing P/P is because 4/5 skills are shared with other weapon set.

No, the only reason ArenaNet is hesitant on fixing anything is because they’re lazy AF. That’s why we’re still getting “balance” updates consisting solely of adding skill facts to skills/traits that have been around since launch.

TeamBattleAxe.3901:

No, the only reason ArenaNet is hesitant on fixing anything is because they’re lazy AF.

I wont’ call them lazy, more like unacceptable decisions on priorities.

If they are lazy, we won’t see new items in the Gem store and Black Lion Tickets and people won’t ever get banned.

That’s why we’re still getting “balance” updates consisting solely of adding skill facts to skills/traits that have been around since launch.

There has been a lot of “balance” update and most of them are nerfs against the Thieves — so I would also be hesitant to ask for a “balance” update — I’d rather see bug fixes and specifically buffs. I despise the word “balance” because it never is.

Tbh, I can’t call myself experienced player, but still I ended up using shortbow as ranged weapon instead of p\p, coz of obvious difference in damage. Mb, pistols’re really usefull in WvW, but PvE battles with p/p are pain, when shortbow’s cluster bomb with right timing of detonation does heavy damage and disabling shot lets player to keep distance crippling a mob in just one press of a button.

Sir Vincent III.1286:

Dagins.5163:

People fail to understand, that P/P is best utilized in teamplay, where your allies take on themselves focus of your enemies, allowing the glassy thief to be safe at range.

It is fully possible to play P/P in sPvP with 6-6-x-x-x traits plus zerker amulet and not dying more often than a bunker. A thief which is geared like that, raining down unloads on the enemies in the middle of a node is very valuable. You can always steal+black powder to secure a stomp (can do that without steal from range if timed well), or save your allies by interrupting enemies with headshot.
For a squishy zerker it’s a nightmare to be focused by a such thief in a teamfight, because damage from chained unloads is exhausting, and offensive combos can be easly interrupted.

Any unreasonable buffs like stealth on #5 or extra damage on unload will overbuff this set. Right now, I could only change body shot, because it’s way too situational and useless in 99% cases.

You’ve just stated the main problems of P/P;

1) “P/P is best utilized in teamplay”

2) “A thief which is geared like that, raining down unloads on the enemies in the middle of a node is very valuable.”

3) “For a squishy zerker it’s a nightmare to be focused by a such thief in a teamfight, because damage from chained unloads is exhausting, and offensive combos can be easly interrupted.”

4) “Right now, I could only change body shot, because it’s way too situational and useless in 99% cases.”

Do you honestly believe that this limited viability is not a problem? And the only reason ArenaNet is hesitant on fixing P/P is because 4/5 skills are shared with other weapon set.

Limited viability? P/P is perfect for team play in all modes, especially if you’re running support and conditions, at which point it can be downright dangerous. With 4/0/6/0/4, Venomous Strength, Quick Venoms, Shadow Protector, Leeching Venoms, Venomous Aura, Thrill of the Crime, and Bountiful Theft, you’re buffing the party and giving everybody large amounts of condi-bombing capabilities. With Skelk Venom, Skale Venom, Shadow Refuge, Blinding Powder, and Basilisk Venom, you can support in wondrous ways.

You don’t even need to damage the enemy since Body Shot will prevent escape and Head Shot will interrupt anything not with Stability. You can even Black Powder on the enemy while they’re immobilized to completely make them useless.

P/P is fun, but definitely not worth using in PvP/WvW/Competetive situation.

Messing around? Sure.

The problem with P/P in pvp is that any mesmer with a brain that sees you equips feedback and makes you pretty much useless

I always thought that P/P was kind of meh until:

1. I have to solo a champ in PvE protecting a skill point (pre-megaserver, there was no one else in the zone)
2. I had to fight Liadri the Concealing Dark for the Blazing Light title

Then I was incredibly happy that P/P was an option available to me. I think the major complaint about P/P is the fact that other weapon setups outperform it in other game modes, like WvW. But when you consider how many other viable weapon setups and builds we have as thieves that work wonders in non-PvE game modes, and look at other classes and how much more limited their selection is, I think it is a fair trade-off.

The set doesn’t really need much. Full bunker healing powder P/P is absolutely silly strong in sPvP. I’ve now just lost only three fights in the history of playing the build. Blind spam and interrupts are absolutely wild. And on DPS builds, unload’s damage actually isn’t bad; it rivals that of rapid fire from a ranger over a shorter amount of time and can be spammed. Arguably the set’s initiative costs are a little high, but only so due to issues pertaining to D/P and P/D, which are obviously superior and frankly, blatantly overpowered weaponsets. I think toning those sets/builds down would allow for some P/P initiative costs to be changed.

But we’re talking class balance. ANet doesn’t listen to that as the rangers despite winning the CDI have yet to get any kind of significant feedback or adjustments.

I prefer to run P/P thief because I want to distance myself from FoTM builds, and I have found Thiefs guild + Haste + spam unload = Melt the other guys health bar in a matter of seconds. If the opponent is good and knows what you are all about, you will have to be more tactical, but my god when someone stands there… That damage O.o

DeceiverX.8361:

The set doesn’t really need much. Full bunker healing powder P/P is absolutely silly strong in sPvP. I’ve now just lost only three fights in the history of playing the build. Blind spam and interrupts are absolutely wild. And on DPS builds, unload’s damage actually isn’t bad; it rivals that of rapid fire from a ranger over a shorter amount of time and can be spammed. Arguably the set’s initiative costs are a little high, but only so due to issues pertaining to D/P and P/D, which are obviously superior and frankly, blatantly overpowered weaponsets. I think toning those sets/builds down would allow for some P/P initiative costs to be changed.

But we’re talking class balance. ANet doesn’t listen to that as the rangers despite winning the CDI have yet to get any kind of significant feedback or adjustments.

Theirs to much reflect in PvP and unload with its obvious sound/animation make it an easy target.

My solution is to run P/P and D/P. I use unload+ricochet against zergs so I can stay out of the zillion red circles. I use D/P in solo combat where I don’t have to worry about red circles. Yes I give up two trait slots to make P/P decent. Pistol mastery and Ricochet. Giving up Vital Persistence and Bountiful Theft isn’t that bad.

P/P is also strong against certain builds. Particularly shatter mesmers and perma stealth thieves. Ricochet kills clones and Unload tracks through stealth just like Rangers rapid fire.

One weird thing, sometimes ricochet affects shadow shot. I actually teleport and stab 2-3 more targets if there are other enemies nearby. Thankfully this is as disorienting for my enemy as it is for me.

RyuDragnier.9476:

Limited viability? P/P is perfect for team play in all modes, especially if you’re running support and conditions, at which point it can be downright dangerous.

Being perfect on team play is the limitation on viability implying that it is not perfect in any other situation.

You don’t even need to damage the enemy since Body Shot will prevent escape and Head Shot will interrupt anything not with Stability. You can even Black Powder on the enemy while they’re immobilized to completely make them useless.

You don’t really need to go all through that since I am a P/P user ever since beta (I despise shortbow) and I know all it’s strengths and weaknesses. As a Thief, you’re not in a group to buff, you’re in a group to deal damage. Other professions can do the buffing better than the Thief, so it’s better to leave it up to them.

And if you think that Venomous Aura is actually a good thing then we really have a problem here.

Balance changes have not happened in a long time

Lorelei.3918:

My solution is to run P/P and D/P. I use unload+ricochet against zergs so I can stay out of the zillion red circles. I use D/P in solo combat where I don’t have to worry about red circles. Yes I give up two trait slots to make P/P decent. Pistol mastery and Ricochet. Giving up Vital Persistence and Bountiful Theft isn’t that bad.

P/P is also strong against certain builds. Particularly shatter mesmers and perma stealth thieves. Ricochet kills clones and Unload tracks through stealth just like Rangers rapid fire.

One weird thing, sometimes ricochet affects shadow shot. I actually teleport and stab 2-3 more targets if there are other enemies nearby. Thankfully this is as disorienting for my enemy as it is for me.

I miss the days when you used to be able to use shadow shot on people with reflect to make them teleport to you.

If you don’t mind ditching Executioner, you can go 6 deep in Trickery so you can snag Bountiful Theft AND Ricochet. Lately, I’ve been experimenting with a 22046 build to accomplish that. So far, I’m not missing the extra damage as much as I thought I would, but the boon stripping/sharing is invaluable and I can still drop a ton of dps.

Sir Vincent III.1286:

You don’t really need to go all through that since I am a P/P user ever since beta (I despise shortbow) and I know all it’s strengths and weaknesses. As a Thief, you’re not in a group to buff, you’re in a group to deal damage. Other professions can do the buffing better than the Thief, so it’s better to leave it up to them.

And if you think that Venomous Aura is actually a good thing then we really have a problem here.

It is when you’re just there to support the frontline. Throw out Skelk Venom to help the frontline heal just from doing what they’re doing, Devourer Venom to stop the enemy players from moving or running, Basilisk Venom to just Daze for Days, and Ice Drake or Spider Venom depending on whether or not you want to completely shut down their recharges/skills or to lessen the amount they can be healed.

It’s viable, but you’re there to just help out and support against other players (in pve you will help with damage due to no real threats), and to Head Shot any possible healers/support on their side. Works wonders with any other class helping providing backline support on your side. Even Rangers work well with this. Venoms + Barrage = AoE suffering

RyuDragnier.9476:

Sir Vincent III.1286:

You don’t really need to go all through that since I am a P/P user ever since beta (I despise shortbow) and I know all it’s strengths and weaknesses. As a Thief, you’re not in a group to buff, you’re in a group to deal damage. Other professions can do the buffing better than the Thief, so it’s better to leave it up to them.

And if you think that Venomous Aura is actually a good thing then we really have a problem here.

It is when you’re just there to support the frontline. Throw out Skelk Venom to help the frontline heal just from doing what they’re doing, Devourer Venom to stop the enemy players from moving or running, Basilisk Venom to just Daze for Days, and Ice Drake or Spider Venom depending on whether or not you want to completely shut down their recharges/skills or to lessen the amount they can be healed.

It doesn’t matter how much you glorify the venom skills. They are currently in a state of dormancy held hostage by the horrible trait know as Venomous Aura.

As long as Venom Aura exists, the venom skills will never see improvements.

It’s viable, but you’re there to just help out and support against other players (in pve you will help with damage due to no real threats), and to Head Shot any possible healers/support on their side. Works wonders with any other class helping providing backline support on your side. Even Rangers work well with this. Venoms + Barrage = AoE suffering

What support that is exclusive coming from Thieves outside Shadow Refuge? Any other support that Thieves can bring other professions can do better. Thus, it is expected for Thieves to play DPS and not Support.

^To hell with the meta and that line of thought, play what feels fun for you. I didn’t like the idea of Venom Share until I ran 2 fractal groups with it. Now I know I enjoy it and will continue using it with groups simply because I like playing as it. Besides, by your line of thinking, why should you even play DPS as a Thief if Warrior can do it better?

I actually play P/P with my WvW guild raids. Its fantastic at eliminating key targets without having to comit. That combined with improvision and icebow makes for a super high mid ranged DPS. Its got good utility with BP/body shot/headshot the build only works if you utilize your utility skills for mobility and disengage I.E roll for initiative, shadow step, withdraw

P/p just needs some built in defense other than bps. It’s not that hard to just sit outside the circle and melee them, and if they stay on the opposite edge you can chase them around and still make contact. I think the dual skill is great in how it functions but it needs more damage and the #2 needs something good that p/d can’t abuse. I don’t think anet has a clue what they want body shot to do, it’s received some pretty radical changes.

RyuDragnier.9476:

why should you even play DPS as a Thief if Warrior can do it better?

0.o

((facepalm))

Ropechef.6192:

RyuDragnier.9476:

why should you even play DPS as a Thief if Warrior can do it better?

0.o

((facepalm))

As long as you fight against ONE enemy and become not injured, this is wrong.
But if you fight against 2 or more enemies and/or injured, then it’s right what s/he wrotes.

And the second one happen much more.

RyuDragnier.9476:

^To hell with the meta and that line of thought, play what feels fun for you. I didn’t like the idea of Venom Share until I ran 2 fractal groups with it. Now I know I enjoy it and will continue using it with groups simply because I like playing as it.

Nobody is dictating what you should or should not do. My post is based on observing the expectation.

If you like Venom Share, then it’s perfectly fine and acceptable. What’s not fine and acceptable is when the Venom Share user starts believing that their “support skills” matters — they don’t — and that it is a viable build — it’s not.

Besides, by your line of thinking, why should you even play DPS as a Thief if Warrior can do it better?

No, you’re wrong.

My line of thinking is this.

Why play a Thief if you’re playing support and not DPS? If you want to support, play other profession because other profession can do support way better than Thieves.

Sir Vincent III.1286:

RyuDragnier.9476:

^To hell with the meta and that line of thought, play what feels fun for you. I didn’t like the idea of Venom Share until I ran 2 fractal groups with it. Now I know I enjoy it and will continue using it with groups simply because I like playing as it.

Nobody is dictating what you should or should not do. My post is based on observing the expectation.

If you like Venom Share, then it’s perfectly fine and acceptable. What’s not fine and acceptable is when the Venom Share user starts believing that their “support skills” matters — they don’t — and that it is a viable build — it’s not.

Besides, by your line of thinking, why should you even play DPS as a Thief if Warrior can do it better?

No, you’re wrong.

My line of thinking is this.

Why play a Thief if you’re playing support and not DPS? If you want to support, play other profession because other profession can do support way better than Thieves.

Yes, because it’s not like this game is devoid of a Holy Trinity…OH WAIT, IT IS.

There’s nothing dictating what you can and cannot do in terms of control, support, and DPS for each class, outside of their traits and skills. The game itself gives you enough traits to specialize in any of the 3 as every class (though some need help on some fronts, I’m looking at you Rangers). Just because you don’t think a thief should support doesn’t mean you’re right. Your opinion does not equal fact, especially in a game without the traditional trinity.

RyuDragnier.9476:

Yes, because it’s not like this game is devoid of a Holy Trinity…OH WAIT, IT IS.

There’s nothing dictating what you can and cannot do in terms of control, support, and DPS for each class, outside of their traits and skills. The game itself gives you enough traits to specialize in any of the 3 as every class (though some need help on some fronts, I’m looking at you Rangers). Just because you don’t think a thief should support doesn’t mean you’re right. Your opinion does not equal fact, especially in a game without the traditional trinity.

You got it all wrong. I don’t think that Thieves shouldn’t support, rather I am being realistic that Thieves cannot support outside Shadow Refuge.

Many Thieves have been trying to get ArenaNet’s attention concerning the Thieves incapability to support a team outside Shadow Refuge. Instead, they give us other “fixes” that many Thieves never asked for.

You see, I will not pretend that Thieves support is “fine” or “great” or “viable” because it’s not. Most of the support skills are given mostly to Warriors — I mean, they have banner, shout, warhorn, shield and hammer that can provide support in any level, in any situation. There’s some serious imbalance here, Warrior even took Rifle skills that are perfect for Thieves — but I digress.

Thrill of the Crime and Bountiful Theft provide support just from stealing, Shadow Protector gives regen through any stealth source, Shadow Refuge helps with healing the downed, Smokescreen stops any and all projectiles from getting through, Signet of Agility to refill endurance and remove a condition, etc. The tools are all there, people need to get creative instead of acting like stealth is our only support tool.

Venomshare can deal a striking amount of damage, though, especially if you factor in the whole share part.

A good vs thief can chain venoms together with p/p and ultimately deal more burst damage than a berserker thief while healing his allies, buffing their damage, and controlling the enemy.

They should just reduce unload cost (pp 3) so you can spam the hell out of it.

RyuDragnier.9476:

Thrill of the Crime and Bountiful Theft provide support just from stealing, Shadow Protector gives regen through any stealth source, Shadow Refuge helps with healing the downed, Smokescreen stops any and all projectiles from getting through, Signet of Agility to refill endurance and remove a condition, etc. The tools are all there, people need to get creative instead of acting like stealth is our only support tool.

All you did is name all the support skills without addressing the main issue. Yes, be creative by start pretending that everything is ok.

P/P + Venom Share = you just made the worst possible build in any circumstances.

Just because your team members are carrying you in a dungeon, doesn’t make your build viable.

DeceiverX.8361:

Venomshare can deal a striking amount of damage, though, especially if you factor in the whole share part.

A good vs thief can chain venoms together with p/p and ultimately deal more burst damage than a berserker thief while healing his allies, buffing their damage, and controlling the enemy.

I know this and you know this, but apparently there are still people who are foolish enough to think we thieves have no real support.

Venomous Aura share every venom traits 2 might stacks per venom,leeching which does not stack with multiple venoms (many just use all of it at once like idiots) plus each venom effect. If you go 4 0 6 0 4 you can have a support like build but it feels very different than other professions but not useless and doesn’t mean you have to use P/P which I think is a inferior set.

P/P is just safer when your venoms are on cooldown. You get to stay away from the action while still participating. I switch to D/D when it’s time to actually use the venoms.

Hi, guys, i don’t wanted to start a new thread, so i’m reviving this one (also stealth-bumping this topic, but if this forum is anything like the mesmer one, no dev will ever look here anyway).

Since i got tired of having my mesmer main being nerfed to death i reactivated my thief. Since i want to play unusual and/or underpowered builds, i decided on P/P power.

Could someone tell me what i could do better about my build:

http://gw2skills.net/editor/?fZQQNAqaVl0Mp0pdPxwJ0PNBPBt9sTQA8MKPpzg0WA-TVCBwAv2fYl+AIPAAJHBAsK/wp+DgTBAFlgJMBRKgyFGB-w

That cavalier backpack is mainly because i don’t have a 2nd ascended berserker one and don’t want to transfer my other from mesmer to thief and back whenever i change characters.

I might explain my choices here:

- Heal: Withdraw is for swiftness/vigor uptime and to create gaps when i need them.

- Utilities: Shadowstep is a given for me, same for SR which also doubles for damage as Sneak Attack in it does a lot of dmg with 5 100% projectile finishers. I took the signet mainly for the cleanse, also it gets me to 70% critchance which is my sweet spot for the build. The endurance reg combined with good vigor uptime and Acrobatics 3 should give a LOT of dodges.

- Elite: Not really sure, i mainly took it because it spreads a lot of blinds with Pistol #5, helps taking WvW camps, deals with mesmer phantasms and gives stability. It also helps when fighting other ranged classes.

- Traits: 6 in Critical Strikes was a given for me, for critchance and -dmg. I could take Signet Use as a trait to have my cleanse/endurance reg available faster.

I wanted to go 3 in Acrobatics for the additional dodge and vigor on heal, but decided to go for 4 since i lacked cleanses.

The same goes for Trickery, i wanted 3 for the additional initiative, but took Bountiful Theft because it’s just so good. Also i can easily swap to Ricochet this way.

Another option could be 2/6/0/3/3, so i can take either Mug or Sundering Strikes. Results in higher dmg but i end up squishier.

/edit: I got a second set with Traveler runes, so i can go away from the Withdraw + Centaur plan for mobility, if Signet of Malice or Hide in Shadows should be better.