Guild Wars 2

So I am currently leveling my thief to 80. My main goal is to be proficient at WvW once I have gotten to that point. I realize most thieves are split between Burst damage (D/D, usually) and Condition Damage.

For me, I’d like to do a bit both. I want to build my thief in such a way that, if I want to go roaming, I’ll be able to. If I want to join a zerg, I can do so as well. Now I realize I could not be the best in either if I do that, but that’s OK. I just don’t want to be a one trick pony. So here is what, theoretically, would work for me:
A decently powerful thief, with enough crit and condition damage to roam/zerg. I also need to have some survivability. Trait wise, I have this:

http://www.guildhead.com/skill-calc#mckzzc9cMlvFMMlvFMax0ffcocqMV

In my opinion, that will work wonders. My biggest issue is figuring out my equipment. I honestly have no idea what sigils and runes to use, nor what to do with jewelry. My initial idea was to put two Accuracy sigils on my daggers, for the increased crit chance, and an fire sigil on my bow for DPS+burning.

As far as runes, I thought about using the fighter rune, for the power and toughness. For jewels, I figured berserker and carrion would be my best bet, with a carrion amulet.

In the end, this is the gear I have:

http://www.guildhead.com/skill-calc#mckzzc9cMlvFMMlvFMax0ffcocqMV08khT70z7kir7070M7kNs70V7owZ7ofD70c8ofZ

I’m basically looking for opinions and advice. Any tips on actual gear the end-game would be incredibly helpful as well.

Hi!

I’m not the best expert there is but here is what I figured out so far:

If I were you I wouldn’t even dare building a WvW thief without 30 points invested in SA…if you want survivability it’s a must…it will allow you to heal, gain initiative and remove conditions while you stealth…and if you want to roam, even zerg, you will find those traits indispensable…

After that at least 25 points in critical strikes…then either go deadly arts for mug or 15 in acrobatics for feline grace…I’m a big fan of feline grace as it gives you a huge amount of dodging which is key as a pvp thief…

You want to aim for P/V/T gear (karma or badges gear) the runes will depend of how you spec (condition or burst) and accessories the same…but usually with P/V/T gear you want to head towards berserker accessories…it also depends of how deep your pockets are…ruby orbs usually are cheap and effective though…

For weapon sets well that’s all whole other ball game…but if you don’t want to be a one trick poney…then condition P/D thief is out of the question…look into D/D SB or S/D and D/D…

Let me know if that helped…good luck!

So you want burst/survivability/condition in your build? You either choose burst or condition. If you like condition damage, you have to give it your all and work your build around condition damage. You can have survivability in burst or condition though, but it works best with 30 in SA.

I did a vid on a build that worked great in zergs, and was excellent when I wanted to roam. It consisted of P/P – S/D. Just remember, you can roll with a zerg regardless of your build.

But choose either burst or condition, can’t have the best of both worlds on a thief.

You don’t have to have 30 in SA for w3, but you definitely don’t want to spend your points with the intention of balancing burst and condition damage. I prefer power out there since condition damage comes as consequence and rolls up the rear for our power damage.

Thanks guys, I appreciate it. When I did my research, I saw a few WvW builds that didn’t really spend points on SA, so I figured I could get away without it.

Anyways, I updated my build to this:
http://www.guildhead.com/skill-calc#mckzzc9cMlvFMMlvFM0pxf0zcVaqM08khT70z7kir7070M7kNs70V7ofD70m8ofY

I personally enjoy mug a lot, but I see why Feline Grace would be very useful. Maybe I’ll try both, and see what works best for me.

Also, Lofat, could link me to your video? I’m curious to see how that turned out.

I think I’m probably going to focus on Burst damage then, because I think I can use it in all facets of WvW. I maintained my equipment as it was before, except for the amulet and its jewel.

Fleet shadow (+50% ms in stealth) is very good, I like it better than might on dodge.
take condition removal in stealth over patience or infusion, it’s one of the best traits we have. you always want the condition removal and shadow’s rejuv, the condi removal is far too valuable and easily accessed.

consider taking shadow protector (regen boon from stealth) or cloaked in shadow (blind on stealthing) as well. cloaked in shadow blind while in melee range is extremely useful, and you will never be initiative starved in a p/d build.

Hexiom.1396:

Thanks guys, I appreciate it. When I did my research, I saw a few WvW builds that didn’t really spend points on SA, so I figured I could get away without it.

Anyways, I updated my build to this:
http://www.guildhead.com/skill-calc#mckzzc9cMlvFMMlvFM0pxf0zcVaqM08khT70z7kir7070M7kNs70V7ofD70m8ofY

I personally enjoy mug a lot, but I see why Feline Grace would be very useful. Maybe I’ll try both, and see what works best for me.

Also, Lofat, could link me to your video? I’m curious to see how that turned out.

I think I’m probably going to focus on Burst damage then, because I think I can use it in all facets of WvW. I maintained my equipment as it was before, except for the amulet and its jewel.

Sure, you can view the thread at

https://forum-en.gw2archive.eu/forum/professions/thief/P-P-S-D-WvW-Video-Something-Different/

Enjoy

slender.1482:

Fleet shadow (+50% ms in stealth) is very good, I like it better than might on dodge.
take condition removal in stealth over patience or infusion, it’s one of the best traits we have. you always want the condition removal and shadow’s rejuv, the condi removal is far too valuable and easily accessed.

consider taking shadow protector (regen boon from stealth) or cloaked in shadow (blind on stealthing) as well. cloaked in shadow blind while in melee range is extremely useful, and you will never be initiative starved in a p/d build.

I feel like fleet shadow is good if your not running SoS. If you are running SoS +8% ms in combat isn’t that great.

This is mine which I have refined over time (and I am still refining).

http://intothemists.com/calc/?build=-c33V;1ZwkZ06-FOVd0;9;4JTJ;029-09A03;5LRV4;26Rk06Rk0W

It relies on centaur runes + signet of malice for 12 sec AoE swiftness on a 15 sec cooldown which enables me to get rid of Signet of Shadows. Signet of Shadows gets replaced by Blinding Powder which will cure up to 2 conditions and give me stealth (so I think of it as a non-healing version of Hide in Shadows).
For sigil I would say you want Fire because it does the most burst damage and either Bloodlust or Perception off hand, swap the Bloodlust/Perception dagger out once you have built your stacks up and use a different offhand sigil – one that does not share the same internal cooldown as the Fire sigil.
For armour I would say Knights stats are worth a look.
For food if you have good crit% would look at omnom based lifesteal food.

oZii.2864:

slender.1482:

Fleet shadow (+50% ms in stealth) is very good, I like it better than might on dodge.
take condition removal in stealth over patience or infusion, it’s one of the best traits we have. you always want the condition removal and shadow’s rejuv, the condi removal is far too valuable and easily accessed.

consider taking shadow protector (regen boon from stealth) or cloaked in shadow (blind on stealthing) as well. cloaked in shadow blind while in melee range is extremely useful, and you will never be initiative starved in a p/d build.

I feel like fleet shadow is good if your not running SoS. If you are running SoS +8% ms in combat isn’t that great.

fleet shadow is 50% MS in stealth, it’s huge and makes re positioning yourself after CnD so much more effective. it is one of the key reasons I can maintain a 3v1, moving behind the enemy players over and over sews chaos in their groups (sounds cheesy I know, but completely true)