Guild Wars 2

Im starting a new theif after just finishing my guardian. Wondering what the best traits and skills to level are? Any help

when you are leveling, dagger/dagger condition damage works really well, you can AoE bleed and kite for days, especially once you get caltrops and signet of shadows. you just jump in and out of melee with death blossom. sword/pistol also works really well, just combine it with smoke screen, and you will blind everything and you combine stun and AoE with pistol whip. it also has a strong auto attack chain. Shadow Refuge is universally useful, for both gathering/skill challenges and getting out of sticky situations.

Don’t waste initiative using pistol whip when your targets are blinded by the smoke. It doesn’t do damage any faster than your skill 1 chain

but yeah, caltrops OP PvE. use those. You now win every fight

Here is another version of how to play the thief. I am not a perfect player but i like that style. I play with d/d main and p/p secondary. When there is only one opponent u use the dual pistols to burst him out, it really has a lot of damge depending on you traits. After the pistols burst you shadowstep to him and begin bleeding him and trying always to be on the back. If there are many opponets you go with d/d for the bleeding (u can also go with the sword whatever suits you) and if you have the certain traits believe me your initiative will never be empty… u play with skills..stealth to recahrge very fast and then again the same. For this kind u can use shadow arts, critical stikes and deadly arts (classic full dps). If u want a lot of initiative and condition damage you go to the three below those. I suggest u see what fits you well dont listen to others everyone has its own gameplay.

so…. My build centers around Leaping Death Blossom cuz its their best pve skill.
Dagger / Dagger + Shortbow

30 Deadly Arts w/ Mug, Dagger Training & Combined Training
10 Critical Strikes w/ Signets of Power
30 Trickery w/ Uncatchable, Long Reach, Sleight of Hand

Signet of Malice
Roll for Initiative
Haste
Shadow Step [Change this Assassin’s Signet in PvP]
Dagger Storm [Change for Assassin’s Guild in PvP]

basically, Shadow Step in, activate haste Spam LDB til ur out of initiative, then roll, then steal continue your spamming, and when ur out of initiative again, Dagger Storm, Spam ur initiative out, and Step back out.

Awesomesauce to the max. The healing from Signet of Malice should keep you alive long enough to put a good 21 stacks of bleeding that last a sexy amount of time. But this is just me. Thieves aren’t a huge ‘support role’ like guardians. That or I’ve yet to figure that out aside from providing stealth which everyone REFUSES to take advantage of -_-

I’ve become quite a fan of my spec.
http://en.gw2skills.net/editor/?fYEQRAoY6alUmSO3cy9E+JFx2jdKUeypgpJ1rAZ1KQTA;TABg1yqEUJpSVliKKkMIJQyikDJJSLGGVsTYeA

I find it pretty good use towards personal damage and great team support via regen/blinds. People, imho, don’t give Blinds enough credit especially considering a well-timed blind could save a team or assist in rezzing. The damage is focused around CnD→Backstab to keep your personal damage up while blinding enemies and keeping Regen on yourself. Infiltrator’s Signet for stun breaks, otherwise adjustable. Signet of Agility would be my personal next choice for the group support for removing conditions from the team.

Maybe not the “best build” but it treats me and my groups rather swell.

I solo in spvp and wvw and prefer burst builds. Once you have built up 25 stacks of bloodlust you aren’t limited to 1v1. Condition was fun but I prefer murder mode.

i love d/d conditions build with p/p as the second set. 30 points into deadly arts, 30 into trickery, and 10 into crit. it’s useful for both pvp and pve. the short bow has more mobility, but the pistols put out more damage if you’re forced to fight at range, or gun down someone who is running away. i went with the undead set because it provides survivability and condition damage with a carrion amulet.

as for traits, i use mug, +5% damage with daggers and +5% with dual skills. pistol mastery, then caltrops, bountiful theft, and thrill of the crime.

the idea is db spam, then steal to them dodge for caltrops, more db, then heartseeker them down, or pistols if they run. if it’s a big group i’ll pop dancing daggers

As someone who is currently leveling a Thief(level 35 now), I’m going to suggest Sword/Pistol. The reason being is that D/D is so very, very squishy. Focusing fully on condition build and gear, yes, it does a lot of damage to a lot of enemies at once. But I found myself dying a ton. Kiting works well until you run into ranged enemies.

Sword/pistol is just way safer and seems to kill just as quickly in the end. Not only that, but it’s far more useful to anyone else doing events as you are leveling since you can blind the really tough guys.

Anyway, that’s just my two cents since I’m currently leveling.

There is no best build. There is only a build that is best for you and your play style and as such you are the only one able to determine that. Play them all, see what you like and works best for you.