Guild Wars 2

Hi,

Since level 1 all I have known of this profession is a dagger in the offhand, as you can imagine it gets stale very quickly, as for WvW what do others think of builds that do not use a dagger in the off hand? (so no CnD).

Try D/P for a change of play style.

D/P is stronger in WvW. You combo black powder with heartseeker to grant stealth and you can chain multiple heartseekers across the field to stack stealth and achieve “perma stealth”. This is more survivable than D/D (lots of blinds) but slightly less burst.

If you’re going to play D/P you need to learn to play without auto targetting so you can heartseeker in the direction of your choosing (not always towards the nearest enemy)

You can always try S/P, more of a “fighter” type weapon set.

I like the fighter attitude and will play both thanks, I get the D/P play but how’s S/P, how do you gear and play it for WvW?

S/D trumps S/P for WvW/PvP imho. S/P is quite immobile and doesn’t have reliable stealth either.

If you want a more fighter-like play style try S/D. You can jump in and out of combat with infiltrator strike and evade attacks/strip boons with flanking/larcenous strikes. Then you still have cloak and dagger for stealth when you want it but you use it much less than than D/D.

S/P is the most unreliable weapon set a thief has, for wvwvw. D/P is the way, if you want to play in wvwvw. Check my video in the signature.

shadowraith.9124:

Try D/P for a change of play style.

D/P is stronger in WvW. You combo black powder with heartseeker to grant stealth and you can chain multiple heartseekers across the field to stack stealth and achieve “perma stealth”. This is more survivable than D/D (lots of blinds) but slightly less burst.

If you’re going to play D/P you need to learn to play without auto targetting so you can heartseeker in the direction of your choosing (not always towards the nearest enemy)

I’m not the OP but I’m also interested in D/P (in fact, I’ve been mostly using it leveling). What gear options and traits go with D/P? I’m assuming Critical Strikes is going to be a major trait line, but I would like to know the specifics for me to apply as a starting point.

While I agree S/P is much more unreliable than S/D, it isn’t so bad.
+It is very easy to solo camps with it.
+ You can play a bit more frontline, because of PW evasion (even if you don’t hit anything, chance is people will still mass spam you and you can always “2” after the PW duration, making your team skip on dps, that would have went their way instead. while you still stay alive.
+ S/P are so rare, that in most cases enemies don’t know what exactly to expect.
- Static combat.
- Retaliation hurts a lot.
- No in combat stealth except heal/utilities.
Just remember that after 2, 3, you can use 3, f1 combo too. And Sigil of Paralisation works decently well with PW.

Fames, I think the most common D/P build is 0/20/30/20/0… traits are very easy to figure out even on your own. Gear… mostly zerk, maybe some valks. It’s an “easy mode” build.

I actually use a 0/30/30/10/0 build for D/P. I really don’t think the extra 2 initiative per 10 second is necessary and certainly not worth dropping hidden killer for unless you’re full glass cannon and have a huge crit chance anyway.

For leveling you should take full zerk gear. You shouldnt struggle for survivability in pve with black powder stealth and dodges. Once you reach 80, mix of zerker, soldier and valk is most balanced. Wish made an excellent thread called something like “Building a better D/D thief” where he attempts to optimise the stats you get from gear.

One final tip for D/P: you can turn the camera to face your feet when heartseekering over black powder. You won’t jump so far, making 3 heartseekers per black powder easier.

Welcome to the Dark Side.

shadowraith.9124:

I actually use a 0/30/30/10/0 build for D/P. I really don’t think the extra 2 initiative per 10 second is necessary and certainly not worth dropping hidden killer for unless you’re full glass cannon and have a huge crit chance anyway.

For leveling you should take full zerk gear. You shouldnt struggle for survivability in pve with black powder stealth and dodges. Once you reach 80, mix of zerker, soldier and valk is most balanced. Wish made an excellent thread called something like “Building a better D/D thief” where he attempts to optimise the stats you get from gear.

One final tip for D/P: you can turn the camera to face your feet when heartseekering over black powder. You won’t jump so far, making 3 heartseekers per black powder easier.

Welcome to the Dark Side.

Haha, thanks!

Yeah, I learned about the camera trick a couple days ago.

What do you think of 0/10/30/30/0 as seen in this video?

I think that’s quite an entertaining video but the build lacks the burst to finish off tougher classes quickly enough. Not having enough burst can get you killed too, it’s a delicate balance.

This video was before revealed was reverted to 3 seconds and there was a greater need for defensive traits at the time.

I also don’t like that he doesn’t have shadow step. For me, that is the only skill which is absolutely mandatory in this build.

shadowraith.9124:

Try D/P for a change of play style.

D/P is stronger in WvW. You combo black powder with heartseeker to grant stealth and you can chain multiple heartseekers across the field to stack stealth and achieve “perma stealth”. This is more survivable than D/D (lots of blinds) but slightly less burst.

If you’re going to play D/P you need to learn to play without auto targetting so you can heartseeker in the direction of your choosing (not always towards the nearest enemy)

hate to say it…but d/p isnt stronger :P…. its too risky in wvw …unless u count on not running into 3+ people.

also use targeting on auto if ur dueling…only dueling tho.

I don’t see how you could argue D/D will grant you greater survivability against numbers than D/P. Cloak and dagger requires you to be in melee range to stealth and its so easy for you to cm get chain cc’d.

With D/P you only exit stealth when you chose to.

Using auto targetting with D/P in an scenario will get you killed. One accidental Heatseeker in the wrong direction giving you revealed is enough to get you killed.

srry let me correct that. d/p isnt the best for wvw . thats what i meant. its better than d/d for sure…just not the best.

and thats why i said only in a duel. u dont have the time to waste in a duel against a good player. i own d/p in wvw. i really dont even use it anymore unless im in a 2-3 man thief group trying to gank.

shadowraith.9124:

This video was before revealed was reverted to 3 seconds and there was a greater need for defensive traits at the time.

That’s good to know. Thanks, you’ve been most helpful!

shadowraith.9124:

I think that’s quite an entertaining video but the build lacks the burst to finish off tougher classes quickly enough. Not having enough burst can get you killed too, it’s a delicate balance.

This video was before revealed was reverted to 3 seconds and there was a greater need for defensive traits at the time.

I also don’t like that he doesn’t have shadow step. For me, that is the only skill which is absolutely mandatory in this build.

Since the video is mine, I would like to answer:

Yes, you are totally right: at the moment the correct equip for that kind of build is something very close to a full berserker ( I run full berserker with only 2 invakitten ieces) and, as you suggest here, I swapped shadow refuge with shadowstep long time ago. New video is on the way

Frenk.5917:

shadowraith.9124:

I think that’s quite an entertaining video but the build lacks the burst to finish off tougher classes quickly enough. Not having enough burst can get you killed too, it’s a delicate balance.

This video was before revealed was reverted to 3 seconds and there was a greater need for defensive traits at the time.

I also don’t like that he doesn’t have shadow step. For me, that is the only skill which is absolutely mandatory in this build.

Since the video is mine, I would like to answer:

Yes, you are totally right: at the moment the correct equip for that kind of build is something very close to a full berserker ( I run full berserker with only 2 invakitten ieces) and, as you suggest here, I swapped shadow refuge with shadowstep long time ago. New video is on the way

Thanks for confirming. Looking forward to seeing your new video.