Guild Wars 2

OSCURO’s LONG RANGE BURST BUILD

Background
I have played thief since launch. It is basically all I play in every aspect of the game, even commanding (I have a warrior, but I prefer running on my thief). Having played since launch, I haven’t had the luxury of looking up “the meta” builds because they didn’t exist in beta/launch. I have made my own build since the game started, and each build has become fairly popular as time progressed and have all been very effective.

What it is
This is a p/d power build. It is focused around dps, not conditions. I have run it for about 3 months perfecting it and I am now sharing it with you, since I believe I have perfected it. The burst is slightly lower than backstab builds, but I feel the overall DPS is pretty much the same, if not higher.

Build Link
http://gw2buildcraft.com/calculator/thief/?7.1%7Ca.1g.h1.8.1g.h17.0.0.0%7C5.1g.h17.0.0.0%7C1p.7h.1p.7h.1p.7h.1p.7h.1p.7h.1p.7h.0.0.0.0.0.0%7C2s.0.1g.67.1g.67.1g.67.1g.67.1g.67%7Cp3a.u56b.f4.0.0%7C0.0%7C59.5a.5b.5h.5v%7Ce

Build
In case you can’t access the link or don’t have time, here is the gist of the build:

25/30/15/0/0

All Valkyrie armor, Superior Rune of the Eagle;
Berserker weapons (pistol, dagger, short bow), Rune of Accuracy (pistol) Rune of fire (dagger, short bow);
Berserker trinkets, w/ Exquisite Ruby Jewels

Trait Reasoning
Deadly Arts: I choose this line for the nice amount of damage recorded from it.
III. Mug: I chose mug he wise currently I’m hitting 2k no frog. The heal is nice as well as the damage output.
IX. Dual Training: Your dual skill is essential and provides the biggest burst in this build, reaching upwards of 6k on glass cannon. Additionally, it functions as a great gap created, so it’s a win win.
The 25 minor trait gives additional damage if the target has a condition, and since every skill applies conditions, it’s pretty useful.

Critical Strikes: every choice in this line is pretty self explanatory.
(Note, hidden killer does not apply to the entire chain out of stealth or else I would’ve taken it because it would be SO OP.

Shadow arts:

In Game Stats
In game, the stats line up as:
Attack: ~3250
Crit Chance: 55%
Crit Damage: 96%
Effective Health: ~15,200
Armor; ~2200

How to play
This build focuses a lot on kiting. The average crit with the basic attack is about 1.5k damage to a glass cannon, 1.3k to someone in between, and 1-1.1k on a heavy bunker build. Overall, the damage is high. The trick is to open up with heavy burst through steal (mug=1.5-2k) then CnD (3k crit), followed by a sneak attack (4-5k chain on medium armor). Stay close so you can use the 3 skill which gives you large amounts of burst (3-5k depending on armor). The total for this sits at around a total of 11-13k opening chain.
After the opening burst, you kite them using the auto attack. The trick is that when you want to CnD to go into another chain, either use steal for the shadow step to throw them off, CnD off of a nearby npc and then move close toy or target so you can use the 3 skill, then unload, or let then come to you. Letting ten approach you is most effective against melee targets because it makes them feel they have the upper hand by getting you in melee range.
This build hinges around being aggressive while relying on the distance to keep you safe. Staying in stealth for the full duration is not optimum, especially when you do not have 30 SA. Utilizing SR for the leeching combo out of stealth is great because of the 100% combo chance. It heals a very nice amount when combining the passive heal with the leeching. Additionally, use the distance provided to protect you. This build gives good gap creatures with very nice damage/ utility (I.e. 3 skill or immobilize skill). By staying aggressive you will almost always have the upper hand in a fight, and be able to dictate the course of events in a fight, especially with the immobilize.

I have done numerous 1v1s and 1vX’s with this build and I find it very effective because:

1: people don’t expect thief to be ranged after they go stealth. This gives you a high advantage of picking your positioning because they expect a Backstab.

2: Even if they do recognize the p/d layout, they would expect the Condi stacking, and this build does stack conditions, and I’ve noticed people try to clear the conditions because the opening burst stacks about 8 stacks of bleed plus 2 stacks of torment. This confuses them because they don’t realize the conditions aren’t dealing the damage.

3: you have melee dps at range, providing a lot of utility and movement room, which is very beneficial with the thief low base health/armor.

Best Wishes.
Oscuro of Kaineng

Edit: Extra detail on “how to play”, grammatical changes. Additional Information again.

I may be making a video soon depending on how much time I have, be sure to check back!

Nice to see someone else playing P/D and not focusing on conditions, and thats not the “meta”. I play a more defensive/tougher build tho.

I see myself using SR more aggressive using a P/D build for leeches (and of course its a nice “oh kitten” utility, and I like to troll others with it, cast it in front of an escaping player etc, but thats another story.

What rune would you imagine you using when the update hits live?

@mompen, I still see my self using the rune of the eagle because of the buff it is recieving on its 6 set ability. However, this is one of the few runes I have seen the change of, so I believe in just waiting and seeing.
I also use SR for the leech, as I still recieve the healing bonus from standing in it, but also I don’t have regen in stealth, so the leeching adds a nice bit of sustain. However, I am just one of those people who is almost too aggressive, and that is the primary reason. It’s funny to see someone not know what to do when you use a burst skill while in SR.

i really LOVED this build when i came upon and can be played every where .Even in Zergs is very much viable.
You may want to try later this :
http://gw2buildcraft.com/calculator/thief/?7.1|a.5p.h1.8.5p.h17.0.0.0|5.1p.h17.0.0.0|1g.710.1g.710.1g.710.1g.710.1g.710.1g.710.0.0.0.0.0.0|2s.0.2t.0.2s.0.3t.0.2s.0.2s.0|p3a.u56b.a4.5.0|2m.7|57.5c.5b.5a.5v|e

very nice and effective build position and ranged burst damage away of the AoE is the key .Position is very easilly done with this spec.
The shortbow auto attack and cluster bomb makes everyone run away from you thanks to the high damage out put .1800 – 2300 k auto with stacks and food and buffs in WvW .
if you fill squisy get 1-2 cavalier ascended trinkets or knights armor with Wurm runes .
You will not believe what you can do.
+1

@Hawkeye: I did not incorporate food because I know many people do not spend the money on food. I am getting similar numbers when I go full food. A slight amount less because I prefer not using stacks in WVW. It’s a personal preference.
I would have to say I do prefer the 15 in SA rather than splitting the five because of the extended stealth which helps when fighting upwards of two people. This is a nice variant.
You made a nice point, switching in cavaliers anywhere does not affect the overall playstyle/ DPS of the build but does give some nice additional sustain Glad to see someone else playing this build!

@Oscuro .Mate i wholehartly agree with you this spec ROCKS and is devastating, more people sould try it.
It makes me fell like real killer – assasin .This is the main role of a true thief .
Some of my statements was a referance to the whole thief community.
Another suggestion is Valkyrie armor with Lyssa runes or Berserker armor with Speed runes (don’t forget them).

@Argathium stick that build it REALLY WORTHS and give the credits to Oscuro.9720.
Though it’s not something new he deserves it.
They are gonna hate us A LOT MORE.

Oscuro this an interesting build and I was trying something like it in a might stacking hybrid build using Runes of the Noble.

I have a question though. If you do not use the full duration of stealth , have you considered going full 30 in DA and taking panic strike?

That Immob is suprisingly effective and allows you to lay down a lot of damage. The new DA trait may help spike damage even more.

After running this build (not 100% exact since i did not want to buy gear so i lack some precision but nothing major) in wvw for a day i have to say it is refreshing as it’s play style differs allot from the general d/d d/p ect. builds that are meta.
But i noticed there are 2 big downsides to it;

You are reliant on using shadow strike to do most of your damage and keep you safe via creating space but you have no extra ini regen, so often you just run out, forced to sit in stealth which, as you said is not very good since you do not achieve much in the sense that you do not regenerate and you stop putting pressure on the other guy (conditions don’t do to much).

The other thing is, and this might change if spend more time with the weapon set, is the vital shot. It is so slow i mean if someone is within ~180 distance of you he can strafe to the side of you and move outside of you’r characters..idk what to call it line of sight (like a frontal cone the; same thing happens with rangers when they use say rapid fire and you move to the side of their character, it stops chaneling), which makes you stop the vital shot.

Another thing about it is it is not a forgiving build; you have no vigor no blinds (sos hardly counts), and no weapon evade skill, so it is not a easy way to play, but this is not a bad thing.
Finally…how do you handle mesmers? I mean i can’t seem to beat a good mesmer and the pu ones are a absolute nightmare with this setup.

The initative regen you stated is not as much of a problem for me anymore. You need to rely on your 1 skill. Using to many skills at once is not how this build is played. If you play it for a week, maybe two, you will learn how to play in such a way where a mistake doesn’t result in death. If you get decent with it, it is much more forgiving than a typical Backstab build.
The trick to a lee is always targeting the real one. Backstab off of the clones until the real Mesmers has used all of their stealth then do as much damage as fast as possible. This may sound sad but the hardest class for me is zerker ranger.
@bazaahark, I will most likely end up going 30 into DA when the patch releases, but I do not like panic strike as I find it both unreliable and not as useful since you already have a low ini immob. When I go 30 into da I may make the weapons cavs or Valkyrie to keep the slight sustain buffer.

@ Oscuro .9720 .Well mate for berserker rangers change shortbow to Dagger main hand if you notice him early enough to be able to switch your weapon.Have your inventory open at the botton right corner and switch.
When you change your weapons pick Valkyrie .I can assure you vitality is much more important for thieves than toughness .

@Hawkeye: when a zerker ranger gets the jump on you, it will be difficult to cope with. Trust me. They get that long bow chain shot into you, it hurts. I may consider switching to a Valkyrie or soldier back piece and possibly soldier weapons.

Just a shout out for Oscuro from a fellow Kaineng player!
-I can attest to the effectiveness of this build, having run with Oscuro. The discussion of it being an unforgiving build? I’ve seen him get out of very messy situations. It also seems more effective in a 10-30 man group than most thief builds I’ve seen.

-Twinkle Bee

@Twinkle Bee: It’s great to see another kaineng player on these forums! It’s sad that we are so poorly represented when our thief player base is one of the best in the game. Whether that’s because there are only about 10 total thieves on kaineng or not, it still makes me sad. If you ever want to roam, just shoot me a whisper, or go to KBL and look in chat for me Cya around!

Hi oscuro!

Tried your build! lots of fun! I just have a different armor setup with a mix of pvd and berserker.

One thing i did notice was that this build’s survivability seems to be lower than the standard d/d builds i usually run. Is that normal?

Emi

Most likely cos you don’t have shadow reju with this build.

I’ve been trying this build and it works well – however, would it not be better to use celestial stats rather than valk? The amount of conditions that get stacked plus the extra second bleed tick from traits seems like losing a little bit of power in exchange for condition damage + crit chance would make it worthwhile?

@ryanza: I can’t really say, as I do not have a full set of Celestial, it’s the only set I don’t have. It possibly could be, if you have a set of celestial, then by all means, try it out, I’m very interested in how it would effect the build. Remember that builds are guidelines, not rules. Feel free to take your own spin on it in whatever way you want.

(I’m probably going to craft celestial gear now and try that, as I hadn’t thought of that as a possibility)

@Emi: the survivability is lower because you don’t spec into SA like you do with a normal Backstab build, although you do have range which, IMO, makes up for that. Like I said, the learning curve is high, but once you learn how to play this build effectively, the survivability is higher than a Backstab build.
(Except for zerker rangers, you HAVE to be the first to attack a zerker ranger)

Hey Oscuro! I noticed you play power p/d from the other thread you commented in. That’s awesome! I have never met another power p/d player in game and it’s little talked about on the forums… I’ve been tweaking and having fun with power p/d since late last year, and have been advocating for it ever since. I shot a little video a couple months ago as well: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PjmS_k70VkU

I remember going through trial and error and tried something very similar to your build — some DA investment. It was pretty good at spiking damage against unsuspecting foes, but it failed when dueling veteran players. Players that were able to put up a fight longer than 30 seconds would eventually eat my health away and I had little to no ability to reset the fight as needed. I ended up settling on 2/6/6 for more survivability at the cost of very little lose in power damage. If you test the difference between going 2/6/6 or 5/6/3, the damage is very minimal. With shadow rejuvenation on your team, you can then start taking on more than 1 skill person at a time

On the side note, that was the idea pre-patch… I’m working on something with very similar traits, but otherwise different in technique. The build takes advantage of 2/6/6, while fully incorporating D/D offhand. It will utilize the best parts between P/D and D/D. It’s been an extreme success so far… putting together another fun video :]

panicbutton.1053:

I’m working on something with very similar traits, but otherwise different in technique. The build takes advantage of 2/6/6, while fully incorporating D/D offhand. It will utilize the best parts between P/D and D/D. It’s been an extreme success so far… putting together another fun video :]

@ Panic,

When do you think you’ll have this video available? I leveled up my thief to 80, got her a good bit of gear with the meta D/D concept and then found out I hated it. Instead of trying something else, I just quit and rolled a warrior (because they were so OP). Anyways, this P/D build concept looks rather interesting though and I’d really like to see more. If possible, a nice commentary on the build/play style would be great.

I still like my thief as, like I said, I put a ton of hours/coin into her but I just never got comfortable enough with the class to be that much of a success. Just wondering though, would using perplexity runes make the build more effective against a wider variety of players?

I think I may have the video up within a week. If you’re curious about P/D thieves, you can learn off any P/D video there is. The tactics between condition P/D and power P/D are for the most part the same:

CnD → Steal → Sneak Attack → Shadow Strike → kite and keep distance while you pew pew.

If you go the perplexity route with dire armor(2/0/6/0/6), you’re guaranteed a solid build that is extremely hard to kill. I’ll go so far as to say that if you have good practice, nothing should be able to kill you on a condi P/D… The talk here is about power P/D though. The differences are to break out of the usual meta and create something to surprise people — to throw them off guard and confuse them. Condi P/D will kill someone slowly. Power P/D has more spiking potential with quicker kills, but require a little more attention to details.

@Panic: i have run defensive variations of this build in several different ways. I posted a more attack oriented one because I have found success with it against experienced players. I have tried a 2/6/6 variation and it is defensive but I find I enjoy the attack oreinted version more. The build is completely up to you, as I have seen your videos and you find success with your variation, and it is great to see another advocated of p/d!

Edit: Also a 0/0/6/4/4 dire pistol build is very hard to kill. I have played that build or a long time, before p/d was very popular. It is much cheaper than perplexity too.