Guild Wars 2

Before starting, I will say that- yes, you’re right, this isn’t a “true” bunker build because it doesn’t invest 30 in both Shadow Arts and Acrobatics. That being said, it still retains a lot of the survivability of such a build, while maintaining a lot of the things that we love about thieves too.

Without further ado, here’s the build.

(designed for both WvW and PvP- haven’t done much testing in PvE yet)

The Thinking
Okay, so I’m a fanatic about initiative regeneration. The nice thing about thieves, see, is that, in a sense, they’re the most flexible of all of the classes. Unlike other classes, we don’t have to worry about cool downs preventing us from using the abilities we need to use. Seriously, think of what would happen if the Shortbow had a CD on it. It would suddenly turn from being a staple in most thief builds to- I think- one of the worst weaponsets in the game. I mean, c’mon- one of the best things about the SB is that we can use Infiltrator’s Arrow multiple times in a row for that extra mobility, that we can spam Disabling Shot to try and get away from a battle if we’re desperate, and we can use Cluster Bomb to deal a brickload of damage from a nice distance (and with some very nice healing, too, if you run Signet of Malice).

Point in case: initiative is the lifeblood of the thief. That’s why I make sure to run as much regeneration for it as physically possible.

20 Shadow Arts
As mentioned before- high init regeneration, which is why I chose the following:
- Master of Deception- because Deception skills are just to good to have to wait the extra ten seconds to use them. Plus, Shadowstep is a staple to this build.
-Infusion of Shadow- As mentioned before, because extra initiative is fun.

30 Acrobatics
One of the nice things about being a thief is the mobility. And the Acrobatics Trait line. Acrobatics is a lot of fun.
-Power of Inertia: because you aren’t investing in either of the first two trait lines, I thought it best to have this trait thrown into the mix simply because it helps you boost your damage by a significant and sustainable amount. It also benefits you for evading, which you’re already getting benefits for by the Adept Trickery Trait Uncatchable by spreading caltrops everywhere, gaining swiftness (via Acrobatics minor trait: Expeditious Dodger), and for the Acrobatics minor trait Fluid Strikes, granting you ten percent more damage for having less than 100% endurance. How cool is that?
-Quick Recovery: this is going to be one of those things that you’ll notice a lot outside of battle, but very little inside of it. I used to be highly skeptical of this ability, but I’ve come to use it and love it. It’s really sweet outside of battle when you’re trying to move around a map by using Infiltrator’s Arrow. The initiative cost for Inf Arrow is already pretty high, and when you use it multiple times in a row… Well, most of the thief builds that I see nowadays wouldn’t be able to sustain that kind of stuff. This build can, however. I prefer this to Quick Pockets simply because it gives you more flexibility, and it works without you having to think about it (which is a major boon, given the fact that, as a thief, you’ll be evading, Shadowstepping, and generally moving around so much that it’ll be difficult to suddenly remember “Oh, looks like I had better swap weapons!”). I’d much rather gain one less initiative in return for those two extra benefits.
-Assassin’s Reward: because that extra healing is just awesome, and works even better if you use it with Signet of Malice (which HiS is easily swappable for, and vice-versa).

20 Trickery
This one’s pretty simple, won’t go too much into depth. Basically, I chose this trait line for a few reasons:
-Extra Initiative (Kleptomaniac, Preparedness)
-Spreading Caltrops
-Extra Initiative
-Extra Initiative
-Extra Initiative
-Flanking Strikes (which, oddly enough, seems to work pretty well because I always seem to find myself on my enemy’s flank)
-Have I mentioned the extra initiative yet?

Play
D/P is going to be your main weapon set. Typically, going into battle, this is going to be what you’re going to do:

Shadow Shot (mitigation+closing in on enemy) > Heartseeker > Auto attack a few times > Shadow Shot > HS and 1 until enemy is downed.

This, however, is a very, very rough sketch, due to the fact that, with all of the initiative regeneration, this build can be very, very flexible in its move order. For example, I often will go into battle with

Infiltrator’s Arrow > Swap to D/P > Shadow Shot > Black Powder > Heartseeker

And whatever.

I’ll also throw in stealths, of course, every once in a while to do a little extra damage (Backstab doesn’t do a whole ton of damage in this particular build, so don’t expect to burst people into shreds like you might with, say, D/D). Here’s more of an explanation of the attacks:

D/P
Auto: you’ll be using this fairly often when you don’t need to use anything else, mostly so that you can let init regenerate until you do need it. Apart from that- decent attack, comes with a good endurance regeneration as well as a little poison.
HS: you’ll be using this one a lot. Mostly because it’s fun, and does a decent bit of damage (which is a good thing, considering that this is a “bunker” build)
Shadow Shot: the move that will be inserting you into battle a lot, remember to use it while fighting too for some cheap mitigation.
Headshot: mitigation: preventing enemy stomps. Interrupting channeled abilities. A whole lot of fun, and very useful.
Black Powder: I admit- I used to hate this attack. Now, though… I use it a lot while attacking groups larger than me. It’s great for mitigation, for one thing. It’ll annoy burst-y enemy thieves that Backstab a lot. It gives you a nice combo stealth too, which you’ll be using a lot since you’ll be using HS quite a bit anyways. Honestly- this move is really fantastic, and- I think- somewhat underrated.

Shortbow- you’ll just be using this as you would with any other build, although with all of the extra initiative you might have a bit more flexibility with it.

Finally, utilities-

HiS- condition removal, stealth, and tons of healing. If you aren’t sure what to expect, this is a very safe ability to have on your belt.
(Can also be replaced with Signet of Malice, which is especially fun with SB)
Shadow Refuge- I’m a bit iffy on this ability. I suppose you could replace with just about anything you wanted, really. Some good options would be Ambush, Smoke Screen, Scorpion Wire, and Caltrops. I just use SR because it’s a very safe ability to have on you.
Blinding Powder- insta-stealth with a blind and a short cool down. Very easy ability to use, and easy to know when to use it. You should have this on you a ton.
Shadowstep- mostly used as a stun breaker and condition removal. It also provides some really great mobility, of course, and with its shortened cool down, it becomes even more awesome.

So there you have it, sorry I couldn’t write anything more detailed. If you want further explanation of anything, just comment below and I’d be happy to address your concerns.

Deception skills are good, but not as good as the most OP condition removal in the game.
Shadow’s Embrace > Master of Deception.
Why? Condition damage gives away your position while you’re stealthed.

Aside from that, however, I’ve messed around with this build in WvW and while it is fun, if you run into a real bunker class (guardian/ele) you’ll run into some issues if you aren’t extremely careful. But you are kitten near unkillable unless a burst build catches you slippin’.

Edit: Try this burst rotation instead- precast Black Powder -> Shadowstep -> HS + Steal -> Backstab. (2100 unit reach burst rotation, fyi which leaves you options with Shadow Recall as a “Get Out of Jail Free” card.)

What sigils are on the weapons?