Guild Wars 2

Hey!

I’m just dabbling with the idea, since cele engi and ele is a “thing” nowadays.

I know AikijinX once had a build which focused on life steals

Link: https://forum-en.gw2archive.eu/forum/professions/thief/Aikijinx-s-Life-Absorb-Build-Pictures/first

build link: http://en.gw2skills.net/editor/?vYAQNAqYVlsMp7plOxoJ8PRRw9wpQtpeKK7Y1KQzuCRF-zUCBIgBCXEkiIQEFgJqFRjtMsIasKZCp6aYaYROAACghO0he0je0IFg5CjA-w

Has celestial been boosted since that build was first showed?

mompen.7952:

Hey!

I’m just dabbling with the idea, since cele engi and ele is a “thing” nowadays.

I know AikijinX once had a build which focused on life steals

Link: https://forum-en.gw2archive.eu/forum/professions/thief/Aikijinx-s-Life-Absorb-Build-Pictures/first

build link: http://en.gw2skills.net/editor/?vYAQNAqYVlsMp7plOxoJ8PRRw9wpQtpeKK7Y1KQzuCRF-zUCBIgBCXEkiIQEFgJqFRjtMsIasKZCp6aYaYROAACghO0he0je0IFg5CjA-w

Has celestial been boosted since that build was first showed?

Depends on what you mean by viable and where you want to use the build.
As far as sPvP is concerned the truth is that celestial anything is viable because the celestial amulet is mathematically imbalanced. Since almost every attack that applies a condition also has some sort of power based hit associated with it, condi attacks basically get 1752 stats that benefit their attacks (zerker gets 2033). If the build uses any healing, it gets 1314 stats that benefit survivability (zerker gets 331).

The key is to use condition based attacks. Even if your build uses no healing whatsoever, you still get more relevant stats than using any other amulet.

I tried 2 random celestial thief builds and they both performed…decently. Both probably allowed me to do leagues more total damage in a fight since I had to run away far less. Neither used leeching venoms so I don’t know about that build in particular.

http://gw2skills.net/editor/?fZAQNAoYVl0MpypdPx8J0PNBTRwdRwgXndHW1B-TpgPgAA7PYWGAA

Celestial Unicorn build you can try.

With that said, as far as using this build to hold points solo, you will always be better off using the classes that truly abuse celestial amulet like engi and elementalist.

Thief’s got a similar problem as Mesmer, when it comes to getting really rude with Celestial. Namely, that mightstacking is what makes Celementalist/Celegineer as hardcore as they are. Thief can stack might a bit, but not nearly in their league.

Although, I wonder what’d happen with a Cele Thief and Power of Inertia/Sigils of Battle/Energy …

I messed around for a bit with a celestial P/D-SB 2/0/6/0/6 with fire & air sigils on the bow and bursting & Fire sigils on the pistol. It worked really well to be honest because it combined both condition damage and direct damage. It wasn’t anything fantastic, but it certainly worked.

morbidillusion.2759:

mompen.7952:

Hey!

I’m just dabbling with the idea, since cele engi and ele is a “thing” nowadays.

I know AikijinX once had a build which focused on life steals

Link: https://forum-en.gw2archive.eu/forum/professions/thief/Aikijinx-s-Life-Absorb-Build-Pictures/first

build link: http://en.gw2skills.net/editor/?vYAQNAqYVlsMp7plOxoJ8PRRw9wpQtpeKK7Y1KQzuCRF-zUCBIgBCXEkiIQEFgJqFRjtMsIasKZCp6aYaYROAACghO0he0je0IFg5CjA-w

Has celestial been boosted since that build was first showed?

Depends on what you mean by viable and where you want to use the build.
As far as sPvP is concerned the truth is that celestial anything is viable because the celestial amulet is mathematically imbalanced. Since almost every attack that applies a condition also has some sort of power based hit associated with it, condi attacks basically get 1752 stats that benefit their attacks (zerker gets 2033). If the build uses any healing, it gets 1314 stats that benefit survivability (zerker gets 331).

The key is to use condition based attacks. Even if your build uses no healing whatsoever, you still get more relevant stats than using any other amulet.

I tried 2 random celestial thief builds and they both performed…decently. Both probably allowed me to do leagues more total damage in a fight since I had to run away far less. Neither used leeching venoms so I don’t know about that build in particular.

http://gw2skills.net/editor/?fZAQNAoYVl0MpypdPx8J0PNBTRwdRwgXndHW1B-TpgPgAA7PYWGAA

Celestial Unicorn build you can try.

With that said, as far as using this build to hold points solo, you will always be better off using the classes that truly abuse celestial amulet like engi and elementalist.

Completely false statement. Celestial is only good for 3 classes, ele, engi and war. If you try to use celestial on guardian, mesmer, thief, ranger or necro it will be just reducing your build potential.

How many celestial thieves, mesmers, guardians, or necros did you see on tourneys?

If you consider sub optimal builds “viable” then the same can be said about every other amulet.

xDudisx.5914:

Completely false statement. Celestial is only good for 3 classes, ele, engi and war. If you try to use celestial on guardian, mesmer, thief, ranger or necro it will be just reducing your build potential.

How many celestial thieves, mesmers, guardians, or necros did you see on tourneys?

If you consider sub optimal builds “viable” then the same can be said about every other amulet.

First, I’m going to mention that the very first statement I made is “Depends on what you mean by viable” and the very last was that you’d always be better off with an engi or ele.

I’d be surprised, honestly, if you read any of the words after the bolded statement. You just seemed eager to go into l2p-elitist-rage-mode. Which class did you play “on tourneys”, by the way?

In terms of “viable”, it is obvious that I chose to make the assumption that OP was not a tournament level sPvPer coming to the thief forums to ask if a build was viable for his high-level team play but instead a casual player concerned with whether or not he could use the celestial amulet on a thief to any effect. I then explain the basics of making use of the celestial amulet on any class.

Please feel free to PM me in the future if you would like personal tutoring on how to derive meaning from written words.

Advent.6193:

Thief’s got a similar problem as Mesmer, when it comes to getting really rude with Celestial. Namely, that mightstacking is what makes Celementalist/Celegineer as hardcore as they are. Thief can stack might a bit, but not nearly in their league.

Not really true. Most celestial engineers stack less might than SD berserker thieves. The build is just good because a lot of the engineer’s abilities happen to be a mix of power and condi damage (grenades, pry bar, condi bomb, pistol #2).

P/d dagger celestial thief can be viable, and is one hella strong dueling spec! The only problem being that your best ability will be your stealth pistol#1 skill, which will make it impossible for you to keep a point neutral. So I would suggest you use it in solo WvW roaming mainly.
I don’t like the build you linked though. Playing leeching venom with one lame venom is a bad choice. I would either go for a SA Panic strike build, or for a SA Trickery build. SA is cancer, you’ll say? Maybe so, but Shadow Rejuvenation + celestial healing power = OP.

edit: I you somehow find a way to spend 4 points in accro, you can take pain response and might on dodge. With the might on stealth, you got yourself a pretty nice might-stacking cele thief.

Thanks for the answers and ideas guys. I’m sorry I wasn’t more clear on what type of gameplay I was looking for using the build in.

I mostly play wvw solo roaming, or with a fellow thief friend of mine.

I was also thinking that shadow rejuvenation paired with healing power from celestial armor would be nice, and a pain to take down.

What runes would work with said build, divinity? I can post my idea to a build editor later on, on my cell right now.

If you wanted a cele build with SA you may want to look into, strength, hoelbrak, aristocracy (all of those are might stacking amulets) or krait so you have extra condi pressure in addition to your cele stats. It’s really up to you though, try playing around in a build editor for a bit and see what looks nice.

Ario.8964:

If you wanted a cele build with SA you may want to look into, strength, hoelbrak, aristocracy (all of those are might stacking amulets) or krait so you have extra condi pressure in addition to your cele stats. It’s really up to you though, try playing around in a build editor for a bit and see what looks nice.

Or if your really want to up things a notch, go full celestial p/d + perplexity runes + sleight of hand. Other weapon set you can use s/d or d/p.

Ive also seen some people pull off celestial d/d + sb. So yes, it’s viable, in wvw at least.

What about Pack, if you’ve got the gold … or would those not work as well on a Thief?
I’d probably do Hoelbrak, since as is, I already run Melandru for some condition defense.
/shrug

I use pack on “my” D/P build, works like a charm. The extra precision and fury/swiftness proc is very nice :-)

I think the only way to deal a good mix of power and condition damage is sneak attack (pistol 1 from stealth). Trying to use initiative skills to do both damage types wont work well since they share the same resource. Thiefs weapon skill are weaker then from other classes because you can “spam” them. p/p unload does not deal as much damage as ranger rapid fire. But you can unload 3 times in a row.

I also tried alot of things to make a celestial thief work… because celestial is overpowered.
Everything i tried in sPvP just had not enough mobility.

Only build i think could work is p/d WvW roaming.
But i think Dire stats would still be better for it…

How about comparing Celestial to Sinister? Which one will perform better is the sort of hybrid build?

I’d be tempted to try something like 6/0/0/2/6 with power of inertia, might on venoms, etc, with SB-D/D or SB-S/D to go nuts with SB 2 and some venoms and caltrops on a point in spvp. IDK if it’d be good at all but I think SB 2 offers a really good way to take advantage of hybrid stats.

Simple answer is yes, I am currently playing a celestial/zerk/carrion mix in t1 solo roaming. It is extremely viable and that is with 2/0/6/0/6 and scavenger’s runes, not even the most optimal runes that can be used and it remains strong. I have been frequently out lasting/out playing DIRE p/d d/p krait and perplexity rune thieves out in the field with my current cele mix.

http://en.gw2skills.net/editor/?fZAQRAqY4al0Mp8pdPx0J8PNBNRxdNUCzg3XxXshaFAA-TlTBAB3pqif7PcmSwRVjw5TAwDPAAKVJ4KlIlp84PtCIqLAjDCwXKhA4IAEAABYmlZbWmBHtRrcMzde0ZOzbWIgyrBA-w

Thought Id bump and share because hybrid is real

Like allready mentioned Engineer and Elementalist work better because their abilities are a mix of condition damage and normal damage.

The problem with thief is the initiative.

Being able to spend all your initiative on either condition based skills or power based skills, makes it somewhat less efficient if you go for a celestial build.

Tried different things to make it work. Venoms looked like a good idea first, but then you have way less room for stealth skills.

crouze.3078:

Like allready mentioned Engineer and Elementalist work better because their abilities are a mix of condition damage and normal damage.

The problem with thief is the initiative.

Being able to spend all your initiative on either condition based skills or power based skills, makes it somewhat less efficient if you go for a celestial build.

Tried different things to make it work. Venoms looked like a good idea first, but then you have way less room for stealth skills.

meh, it works for me currently and despite the removal of might on stealth from the shadow arts trait line in the upcoming expansion, I remain fairly confident this will still work for me post expansion (although it may need tweaking).

Btw, it is not an either/or situation with spending initiative on condition vs power based damages. Pistol/Dagger was developed with the concept of hybrid thief game play in mind, plus venom utilities are not very popular with hybrid wvw gameplay and with good reason.