Best setup - WvW/PvP
Ho thieves!
Would just appreciate some advice as to which thief builds are most competitive currently in WvW and PvP game modes?
Used to run D/D but I see that no-longer really viable? Why is D/P seemingly so good? I’m familiar only with the powder/heartseeker/backstab combo. What other builds are worthwhile?
Would appreciate seeing your builds as well so long as they are current.
PvP and WvW builds will look nothing alike, however for the whole what are people running look at metabattle for some ideas.
D/D is a weak set right now because of the amount of passive defenses going around, reveals, other classes having better access to stealth and the lack of utility and reliability of the set. The whole stealth attacks mechanic is pretty butchered in its current iteration.
In contrast, d/p is a much more reliable set and has way more utility. It can fight without having to rely on stealth attacks.
I will warn you there is no best build. There are build that are considered meta and not. I stray far from the meta in my own effective niche. With the right stats you can make a lot of different things viable, or good at a specific thing, but not the “best”.
My build for wvw can be found in this thread .
[Cya] TC Roamer/Scout
I Play WvW to have fun. I don’t find it fun anymore. Therefore I don’t play.
I Play WvW to have fun. I don’t find it fun anymore. Therefore I don’t play.
(edited by Eval.2371)
D/D is viable. It works well for condition. D/D power is not optimal or efficient but it is still viable. D/D power has a pretty steep learning curve and is unforgiving.
D/P power builds are alpha because of Shadow Shot and its ability to stealth on demand. It also pairs extremely well with Bound in the DD trait line. Basically D/P power has zero wasted skills and a lot of synergy in the trait lines.
There is a Staff build running around that is proving potent. We are actively running it and it is working very well. There is also an Interrupt condi build centered around P/P that is strong but has a fairly steep learning curve. We don’t share our builds on the forums but it isn’t too difficult to find versions of them around the interwebs.
Sarcasm For Hire [SFH]
“Youre lips are movin and youre complaining about something thats wingeing.”
“Youre lips are movin and youre complaining about something thats wingeing.”
this is my d/d build needle trap is enough to kill most people with out bothering to waste int on them.
You can look in my signature for a current P/D build.
@Taobella
Shame on you.
Thats the silliest build ever! If you cant Play a real thief then go pve.
No skills!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
@Taobella
Shame on you.
Thats the silliest build ever! If you cant Play a real thief then go pve.No skills!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
As long as it’s effective and he likes the play style, I think it’s ok. It would be more skilled with a shortbow build though, if that even exists :p
Great, thanks all for the info!
@Taobella
Shame on you.
Thats the silliest build ever! If you cant Play a real thief then go pve.No skills!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
As long as it’s effective and he likes the play style, I think it’s ok. It would be more skilled with a shortbow build though, if that even exists :p
to be honest i normally just play in short bow most people do not live long enough to even make it to D/D lol
D/P and SB is king right now, since anet wants to make D/P the only good weapon set. Condi thief is a pain to play against too and a good condi thief could easily outplay classes which don’t have many cleansing abilities in WvW or PvP, such as other thieves. Then again, you could run S/D. It features a completely different playstyle, which focuses on high survivability (Infinite Shadowstep, and spammable evade plus boon rip), making you an excellent brawler. As secondary obviously the Shortbow. The shortbow is a weapon a thief should master first. Good thieves can out play any class except for another good thief. So every other clkittenes them. Thief in general has become a high risk high reward class, which is very unforgiving to newcomers or people that haven’t played for a long time. You just have to accept any 1v1 opportunity and keep practicing.
(edited by Tflare.9536)
If you want to have some practice and are in NA I can duel you.
And I disagree on thieves having low cleanse for condi, at least Daredevil’s. EA is strong and requires timing a burst and then not attacking while the damage ticks, otherwise the condi will be cleared and you will do almost none of your damage.
Gosh I’m struggling like crazy to get better with thief. Used to be 0-F1-5-1 = death to squishies. Now I literally cannot beat anyone in a 1v1. My attacks seem to do no damage to anyone and I feel like I get one-shotted by most classes. In fact I think the ele can actually 1-shot me.
This cant be normal? I dont have the best connection, perhaps lag/choppyness causes me to miss my opponent?
Also discovered action camera and thought it might be a good idea. Seemingly it isnt…
Thief has become more about engage-withdraw. Not like out of combat withdraw but hit disengage, regain stealth, strike again. Or strike, evade, evade, strike.
Are you using custom keybinds? That is one recommendation that every thief should take.
I am yes. Not macros, but custom keys. Running shatter mes now and having a LOT more success in WVW roam and group. After dueling last night with a thief that just made me look silly, I feel like stealth is very important = cant hit what you cant see, but also knowing the game…. he knew exactly when to strike because he was monitoring when I used up my dodges + skills
Right now I have been running S/D and D/P to great results having both sets I can answer most threats it just relies on knowing how each set is supposed to be played, since they are vastly different play styles. Even without SB I still have very high mobility in and out of combat.
One of the big benefits I have seen to this setup for myself is swapping between the weaponsets and knowing when to swap is hard for most opponents to adjust to on the fly giving you the advantage in a lot of cases. You can build this for more damage or you can build for damage mitigation using Da/Tri/Dd.
For awhile now there have been too many passive procs on top of deliberate skills happening for you to get into a sparring match blow for blow. I’m not a great player and I’m also a bit lazy so I’ve built to not get into fights with people because then they can fight back. Instead I’ve loaded up on low cool down utility, manage Initiative, and move in deliberate ways that are obvious but switch it up part way to set up for opportunity a few steps ahead. If I can’t jump someone and kill with an opener then by this time I’ve flushed most of their counters so I can actually attack and close it out fast or bug out.
Sometimes I just know I’m getting my kitten kicked or I’m out matched and have to reset or run. Learning how to properly run away without dying (especially against groups or zergs) can help you in wrangling an opponent for when you fight it out. You don’t have to win every fight, just try to not lose.
Kash
NSP
NSP