Guild Wars 2

First, let me apologize for my questions as I have only spent about an hour with this build and so there is a ton I still don’t know. With that being said, is this something that would be effective for both sPvP and WvW? The one major problem I see is that there is little regen and no condition removal. However, it’s pretty nasty when you can lock a target down or just annoy the hell out of them with all the pistol skills.

What do you all think of this?

Sword/Pistol Roaming

Here’s my s/d build, tho ive never actually tested it with s/p (tho i imagine it works relatively similar). Although you don’t have regen in stealth you have lots of ways to steal a little health, which when added up is quite a bit if healing, especially with pistol whips fast attacks. But yeah condi clear sucks :/

https://forum-en.gw2archive.eu/forum/professions/thief/Rate-my-S-D-build-for-WvW

What makes a good WvW roamer is their ability to disengage and getting to places fast while have DPS to make up for it.

Right now D/P still does this best. Your S/P is too squishy and has no extra evades or stealth to compensate for it. (While you may have pistol whip or stealth utilities, they’re lackluster since they aren’t traited for it.) Not only would would conditions be a problem, even a few ranged hits and your health will drop fast. Comparatively-wise it’s also poor at disengaging and chasing. It’s okay in sPvP I suppose but as a roamer, there’s better options.

Tachii.3506:

Not only would would conditions be a problem, even a few ranged hits and your health will drop fast. Comparatively-wise it’s also poor at disengaging and chasing. It’s okay in sPvP I suppose but as a roamer, there’s better options.

This is exactly what I noticed when trying to play the build last night. Yes, if I could lock someone down I could do a ton of damage but then again, so can every other class under “perfect” conditions. I found that my survival was terrible overall and there were few ways for me to escape other than stealth + SB away. It’s sad that I leveled up using full conditions and now that the character is 80, I have yet to find it as fun/effective as my condi warrior. I wish that wasn’t the case though.

S/P primary set means less escaping abilities, final. Roaming in team is more preferred (especially since your stuns will make the enemy more susceptible to other people attacking, so in small skirmishes PW also helps a team in focusing targets). If you do want to roam alone, I’d suggest:

Infiltrator’s signet instead of blinding powder and you’ll have a better opening attack (PW combo) or escape tactic with all the critters in wvw. Just be aware of where you can use the signet to get out of combat. I don’t run shortbow on secondary but D/D. Heartseeker travel without SoS is slightly less than shortbow’s IA but you can stealth yourself (which compensates the loss of blinding powder in your case). I use it mostly for fighting though, it’s part of my burst so personal preferences.

I use withdraw as healing to remove criple/chilled/immob while also handy for gaining extra distance. When you’ve gained enough distance you can use shadow refuge.

What I’ve also tried a few times is using shadowtrap instead of shadowrefuge. Put it down somewhere before meeting danger (make sure it’s in a straight line of you, practice will teach you when it’ll be blocked or not) or use it after creating some distance. If they keep on chasing you, they’ll trigger it. Wait for another 4-5 seconds before using it and run the other way (and find some line of sight blocker to hide from them). With S/P you can put down a point-blank #2 for the shadow return, in case they find you to create more confusion.

Tachii.3506:

What makes a good WvW roamer is their ability to disengage and getting to places fast while have DPS to make up for it.

Right now D/P still does this best. Your S/P is too squishy and has no extra evades or stealth to compensate for it. (While you may have pistol whip or stealth utilities, they’re lackluster since they aren’t traited for it.) Not only would would conditions be a problem, even a few ranged hits and your health will drop fast. Comparatively-wise it’s also poor at disengaging and chasing. It’s okay in sPvP I suppose but as a roamer, there’s better options.

Is the 0/20/30/20/0 d/p spec still what people are using? (Last I played my thief was when they nerfed Infusion of Shadow)