Karma is as abundant as air, and as useless as the Kardashians.
Consensus of Pistol/Pistol in PVE dungeons?
I like P/P thieves… I’ve been leveling mine up… he’s only 66 but I’ve done a few dungeons and got up to fractals 4 with him and didn’t really have much of a problem at all… last time I died was when I got locked in a camp by a bugged event and couldn’t get out… I can kite single enemies all day long, even without crippling effects… when there is a mob, I switch to short bow… with signet of malice you can almost face tank mobs… that’s how fast detonating your cluster bomb in a mob heals you… Oh and I’m super glass too… 25/30/0/0/1 so far and not having any problem surviving in pve… I wear all zerk besides a ring and accessory… I will probably go zerk amulet, 2x knight and 2x valk accessories at 80 though… hopefully that will add some minor survivability…
well tbh, 4500 on single target from an unload chain seems poor
you can do 2000 + crits with sword main hand by auto attack, hit 3 targets and more dps
on single target champions where you cannot melle is good, but consider that warrior do over 7k+ / volley, as an ranged weapon comparation
it depends on the build … a 4500 unload will not be a 2000 slice…
unload = 808 dmg
volley = 1160 dmg
skill 5 is great if you have to tank. and you also have an interrupt
Black Thunders [BT] – Gandara
It’s not as strong as other ranged DPS classes, but a reasonable option in some situations. The damage from an all-in Unload build is pretty good, however you provide very little utility to the team and you’re not going to do much other than spam Unload and dodge. I would not level up a Thief just for P/P play, but it’s definitely worth having Pistols in your pack as an option for certain boss encounters.
I actually see a lot of Pistol/Pistol Thieves. It seems to be a very popular choice.
My problem with the weapon set is that it is an incredibly limited play-style. All you do and all you really offer to the group is single-target DPS by spaming Unload. Sure, damage might be decent but it is hardly interesting or engaging, let alone supporting your group.
You add no interesting Conditions, have little/no AoE and have to use a lot of traits to spec for more Initiative regeneration.
we also have to say dungeons (never gone deep into fractals) don’t require such a great effort…
Black Thunders [BT] – Gandara
I think the reason P/P is popular is because it is easier to survive with (and Unload looks awesome). I could understand the use in higher fractals and non-melee situations.
Dmg-wise it is not great, it’s ok. 3.9k-4.5k crits are meh compared to sword and daggers auto’s. P/P-specific builds pigeon-holes you into P/P-only, which is my opinion isn’t a very good idea (even those Unloads are meh-ish).
As a thief i run around with all my weapons, switch weapons, flip traits and change utilities according to the situation.
But then again, i dislike 1-weaponset-only builds in this game.
I actually see a lot of Pistol/Pistol Thieves. It seems to be a very popular choice.
My problem with the weapon set is that it is an incredibly limited play-style. All you do and all you really offer to the group is single-target DPS by spaming Unload. Sure, damage might be decent but it is hardly interesting or engaging, let alone supporting your group.
You add no interesting Conditions, have little/no AoE and have to use a lot of traits to spec for more Initiative regeneration.
I don’t get it… I kill things and I don’t die… what more in terms of group support can you really ask for??? If 5 people all did that, then no one would need to be supporting anyone… I don’t know why all of a sudden gamers turned into like mother Theresa… kill enemies, don’t die… done… simple…
I actually see a lot of Pistol/Pistol Thieves. It seems to be a very popular choice.
My problem with the weapon set is that it is an incredibly limited play-style. All you do and all you really offer to the group is single-target DPS by spaming Unload. Sure, damage might be decent but it is hardly interesting or engaging, let alone supporting your group.
You add no interesting Conditions, have little/no AoE and have to use a lot of traits to spec for more Initiative regeneration.
I don’t get it… I kill things and I don’t die… what more in terms of group support can you really ask for??? If 5 people all did that, then no one would need to be supporting anyone… I don’t know why all of a sudden gamers turned into like mother Theresa… kill enemies, don’t die… done… simple…
Haha, sadly…you are correct. If all 5 people in the group didnt die, and dungeon was completed in a reasonable amount of time, what more do you want?
Well, I’ll also answer that by saying that there are those people that want to speed run…having utility to assist with that is what a lot of people want(in this game). Played WoW for 6.5 years, and while we tried to skip a few packs of mobs here and there(they were mainly off to the side and we wouldnt aggro them), we never ever just ran through entire packs. People in this game just love to skip everything… which often leads to disaster haha.
Back to the topic:
I think if the pistol auto attack was buffed, it might make p/p a bit more viable. I dont know, Im on the fence. I don’t want to continue using a backstab build in dungeons/fractals because the risk vs reward is too great. Risk my self in melee range for a 5-7k crit…or sit back in ranged and unload for 3.9 or 4.5k.
Obviously use shortbow for aoe.
Karma is as abundant as air, and as useless as the Kardashians.
I think the reason P/P is popular is because it is easier to survive with (and Unload looks awesome). I could understand the use in higher fractals and non-melee situations.
Dmg-wise it is not great, it’s ok. 3.9k-4.5k crits are meh compared to sword and daggers auto’s. P/P-specific builds pigeon-holes you into P/P-only, which is my opinion isn’t a very good idea (even those Unloads are meh-ish).
As a thief i run around with all my weapons, switch weapons, flip traits and change utilities according to the situation.
But then again, i dislike 1-weaponset-only builds in this game.
Can you please elaborate what you mean when you say p/p builds pigeon hole you into p/p only? As far as I know, there are only three pistol only traits… one is a no-brainer (10% dmg) every weapon set on every class has some sort of variation of such a specialization trait, and you’d be crazy not to use that… the other two traits (ankle shots and ricochet) are completely useless… I have no idea why anyone would actually use those… so in the end you have a grand total of ONE trait that’s exclusive to a pistol build (that includes p/d as well btw)… so honestly I’m really having a hard time following what you mean here… are there some more pistol traits that I’m unaware of??!
What would be a max damage pistol build? Also, what sigils/runes?
Karma is as abundant as air, and as useless as the Kardashians.
Can you please elaborate what you mean when you say p/p builds pigeon hole you into p/p only? As far as I know, there are only three pistol only traits… one is a no-brainer (10% dmg) every weapon set on every class has some sort of variation of such a specialization trait, and you’d be crazy not to use that… the other two traits (ankle shots and ricochet) are completely useless… I have no idea why anyone would actually use those… so in the end you have a grand total of ONE trait that’s exclusive to a pistol build (that includes p/d as well btw)… so honestly I’m really having a hard time following what you mean here… are there some more pistol traits that I’m unaware of??!
dual wield skills deal 5% more dmg
dual wield skills have % more critical chance
those are the #2 and #3 p/p traits. Since only pistol whip or unload would benefit from it. (feigned strike and death blossom having different roles)
Skysap & Qaju & Juqa -VILE- Desolation
I was running D/D-SB in dungeons a lot, but wasn’t running glass cannon. Then came fotm level 10+ and I realized it wasn’t a viable option any more. So I toyed with my build a bit. I’m up to fotm 31 (don’t have a desire to push further).
I almost exclusively use p/p-SB now. Aside from sun/moon unfused rings, and karka (3 total trinket slots), I’m running full berserker and 0 30 30 10 0 traits. Because I have to worry less about my survivability in gear I feel I’m doing more damage output single or multiple targets.
Also, P/P is HUGE sustain with 66% chance to steal life on crit.
Compared to the vast majority of my parties I’ve been in, I’m staying healthier and putting out more DPS (sustained DPS as well as burst) because I worry less about positioning and can just strafe-fire. I use heal/invis and refuge as my other invis option. Auto-attack from each makes up for cast time while getting lower on agro so I can keep sustaining DPS. Obviously for tough fights I’ll save refuge to aid my party, but in all other situations it’s more beneficial to just use it to regain init and for the auto-attack burst.
I’m to the point that I’m considering going full glass cannon as far as traits and keeping my gear setup the way it is. For sigils, I’m using bloodlust on my shortbow, and 5% crit chance on each pistol. I’m using power/precision/MF orbs in all armor slots and 3 trinkets.
Maybe I’m delusional, but I think a thief’s role in a dungeon party is selective bursting (taking out higher damage dealers asap), as well as not taking agro off tankier classes (as well as keeping agro off other high damage / lower survivability classes). I feel I’m doing my job very well. I’ve had plenty of compliments and zero complaints. Of course the ability to bypass annoying/difficult/non-rewarding content is helpful too.
I still like my daggers in WvW though which is what’s kept me from retraiting for so long.
I’m at the point that I’m also considering making a thief alt so I’ll have my cannon for dungeons which I’m very comfortable with and a condition thief for WvW. I don’t want to deal with multiple armor/weapon sets and trait changes often.
Xenth, I sent you a PM. Thanks,
Karma is as abundant as air, and as useless as the Kardashians.
I actually see a lot of Pistol/Pistol Thieves. It seems to be a very popular choice.
My problem with the weapon set is that it is an incredibly limited play-style. All you do and all you really offer to the group is single-target DPS by spaming Unload. Sure, damage might be decent but it is hardly interesting or engaging, let alone supporting your group.
You add no interesting Conditions, have little/no AoE and have to use a lot of traits to spec for more Initiative regeneration.
Generally all thieves run with SB as secondary weapon. I have not met a thief that do not use weapon swap, although I have met plenty of warriors and guardians that just sticks to greatswords. LoL!
What would be a max damage pistol build? Also, what sigils/runes?
The strongest generic all ranged (P/P + SB) build is 15 / 30 / 0 / 25 / 0. You want Power of Inertia and Quick Recovery from Acrobatics, which gives you the evasion you need to dodge out of circles and the long term initiative regeneration you want to spam Unload more. Gear is full Berserker, Runes of the Scholar, with Sigils of Air and Accuracy in the Pistols.
If you really wanted to go all-in on P/P, make your two sets P/P and P/P, and spec 10 / 30 / 0 / 30 / 0 instead, picking up Quick Pockets in Acrobatics for even more Initiative restoration. I don’t think it’s better than being able to whip out a strong Short Bow for AoE situations, but if you really want nothing but pistols that’s the way to go.
The numbers you get from this are slightly smaller than what you’d get from speccing max power, but the initiative regeneration gives you more damage in the long run, and the extra dodge rolls are invaluable against some of the harder encounters in the game.