Guild Wars 2

So, lately a lot of people have been asking me for my build (usually after i’ve held a point against 2-3 people of moderate skill ans still been standing at the end), so i set about getting it put online and making a video outlining everything to do with it.

http://www.gw2db.com/skill-builds/2912-healing-condition-w-direct-damage#comments – The build guide

It really is very similar to a lot of builds that I have seen out there, but with my own twists on it. Now, a lot of people tell me this build isn’t viable and just doesn’t work in sPvP (whether tournament or hot join); well all i have to say is: “Suck my left pinky finger, i MAKE it work” and i know that a lot of thieves out there do so as well

- A video commentary of the build

Check it out and let me know what you think, if the feedback is generally good, I’ll sort out some real PvP videos of the build in action (my YouTube channel has a couple of compilations up already).

I love this type of Thief play!

I normally run the near-infinite evasion variant, but this is great to mess around with, too.

Thanks for the post!

yeah, there are soo many different variations to this build idea, a lot work, a lot more that I’ve seen don’t work quite so well, but I guess it all comes down to play-style.
I’ve tinkered with it a fair bit, the decision to use beserker’s jewel was quite a hard one to make, but because I was so comfortable with the build, I figured I’d add some more power in and see where I could go with it

lol very nice. I like this kind of play style.

I used to run a Condition build also using the same rune (undead), but turning it to a bunker is just brilliant.

Lionhart.3275:

...Suck my left pinky finger...

I’m curious, about many things, but why that finger?

Evasion thief was SO. MUCH. FUN. when I messed with it.

I have a few issues here:

-Your traits and utilities do not sync with one another well. Not at all.
-Condi thieves are very bad on damage; personally, I disagree with their use (at least, with the current state of the thief) because, sure, they can stack on a few conditions, but they’re quickly and easily cleansed. You can’t burst conditions onto enemies either, like you can with a Necro.
-Very low init regen, consider swapping Acro X for Quick Recovery.
-You rely a lot on Cals. In higher-level play, cals are an easily avoidable one-time trick that can be dealt with in a lot of different ways. Good for bunkering on a point? Perhaps, but ranged enemies will still kill you easily. And stepping on Cals isn’t even, necessarily, an auto-win for you, either. As a thief, I would likely find myself bursting you over cals, stealth, cleanse conditions, and then attack you from a range for the rest of the duration of your cals.

WyldKat.4712:

I’m curious, about many things, but why that finger?

In truth, I have no idea, it was the first thing that popped into my head, I don’t know why xD

Arganthium.5638:

-Your traits and utilities do not sync with one another well. Not at all.
-Condi thieves are very bad on damage; personally, I disagree with their use (at least, with the current state of the thief) because, sure, they can stack on a few conditions, but they’re quickly and easily cleansed. You can’t burst conditions onto enemies either, like you can with a Necro.
-Very low init regen, consider swapping Acro X for Quick Recovery.
-You rely a lot on Cals. In higher-level play, cals are an easily avoidable one-time trick that can be dealt with in a lot of different ways. Good for bunkering on a point? Perhaps, but ranged enemies will still kill you easily. And stepping on Cals isn’t even, necessarily, an auto-win for you, either. As a thief, I would likely find myself bursting you over cals, stealth, cleanse conditions, and then attack you from a range for the rest of the duration of your cals.

First of all, I found, after a lot of experimentation, that my traits and utilities worked very well together, but as with anything, that is based on personal playstyle. I don’t stick to the mind numbingly boring “Cals>deathblossom>roll>deathblossom>roll*repeat”

Yes, the condi damage isn’t as effective as other classes that run it, but that’s why I upped the direct damage output, and while it isn’t a MASSIVE increase, it’s suprisingly effective.

I agree on the init regen and I’ll try out Quick Recovery

Yes, cals are easily worked around and easy to deal with, but having them there makes fights a lot less stressful, especially when there are multiple enemies, but PERSONALLY, I don’t rely on them for most of the damage OR survival aspects, recently I haven’t even been dropping them as often as I used to, as I’ve been roaming a lot on this build (again surprisingly more effective than I initially thought it would be)

I usually save my dagger storm for ranged encounters and start to use my p/d setup with stealth to counter ranged combat, and SO FAR it is working for me.

I’m no pro, so everything you’ve said is helpful and appreciated

Ah, I see; you’re going for a hybrid build between conditions and direct damage. I’m not much of a fan of those any more, but don’t listen to me, try it out yourself. Experiment.

Also, glad to hear you aren’t running one of those builds with one of those rotations. /shivers

Cool, QR is a nice little bonus to have on you. I always liked it because you didn’t have to pay attention to it for it to work, it just worked on its own. The less you have to focus on, the more you can focus on those things that really matter.

If you like cals, sure, try them out. They might not work as well in higher tier PvP, but even there spreading cals among multiple enemies can be effective, due to decreased LoS decreasing visibility of cals, and the zerg mentality of “we have superior numbers, let’s run you over”.

Haha :P don’t get me wrong, I’m no pro either. However, I do run bunker builds… Almost exclusively, so after all of the useless things I do on these forums, I feel like contributing to the bunker builds is one thing that I can actual be useful with.

The only other recommendation I’d give is to really reconsider SA I. I know it’s fun, but you pass up a lot of really good options with it. For example, IoS is wonderful. SA VI is also very good for mitigating enemy damage, particularly in larger groups. Personally, if I were you, I would go with IoS, because increased init regeneration is wonderful for a build that doesn’t have much in the first place.