Guild Wars 2

Hi there,

I’ve been running a carrion p/d build exclusively on my thief alt and want to start using a direct damage build. I play mainly wvw on my thief but would also like to bring my thief along on guild dungeon runs.

The backstab d/d builds look good to me, but I also think a pistol whip build would be fun to play. My only concern is the viability of a pistol whip build due to the damage nerf.

Overall I’m split between backstab or pistol whip,

Help!

why not play both and mix it up from time to time. thats what I do.

How much DPS you put out at any given moment is rarely an issue.

Sword has the advantage when hitting multiple targets but Daggers tend to be better for single-target as long as you can stay behind the enemy.

But there are other things worth considering as well.

Do you need the stun-breaker/gap-closer from Infiltrator’s Strike?

Are there combo-fields to Heartseeker through?

Can you make use of the Evade on Pistol Whip?

Most of the time the utilities and add situation should dictate your weapon choice. Any good Thief will always run with both Sword, Daggers, Pistols and Shortbow at his disposal

Unless you’re heavily bursting with Backstab + Heartseeker, I think Sword MH is a better choice in general. The condition removal, integrated cripple, and especially Immobilize are excellent. Weakness is also strong.

PW’s evade is very thin. I don’t consider it a significant factor. Combined with the very small stun and full-cost-for-starting-the-channel, PW is pretty meh. PW also doesn’t do notably more DPS than Sword1, so the real consideration here becomes Pistol5 versus CND from Dagger offhand and boon strips from Flanking Strike.

Pistol5 tends to be stronger for facetanking and melee dueling. Dagger OH is better to crack boons and to escape from fights with stealth.

Edit: Only other real consideration is that between Sword and Dagger MH, Heartseeker is great for getting around WvW. Inf Strike is ok in that regard, but less abusable. For in-combat mobility, Inf Strike > HS.

Easymode makes a good point. I think I might spec for sword/ dagger to get that stealth on CnD. I’ll probably also carry around a second dagger for those awesome backstab bursts.

Thanks for all the input

I use both (just started testing to see how viable it is) but the 20% damage under 50% health is incredible when using big back stab damage. use sigil of intelligence on ur seconf weapon set and ur guaranteed the backstab crit so long as u dont miss!
generally hit them with pistol whip and AA to get to less than half health, weapon swap and blinding powder (dont waste ur 100% crit chance on CnD) and then backstab.
only issue I have with this layout js lack of range and utility. (escaping through means other than stealth is an issue)
played a couple hours with this layout last night and loved it.

Unfortunately, both paths pretty much require all of your cooldowns.

PW: No mobility when using PW. once you pop it, you’re rooted and easy pickings for any ranged champ. The person you picked out to die will likely die however.

Backstab: More mobility. Once you backstab/HS, you can run off. you’re not rooted.

I find that to be a defining feature of these builds.

fair point, the main reason I like the PW for WvW is the interrupt and other pistol skills.
powder used offensively for stomping and interrupts used defensively to prevent stomping.
the cleave on sword is nice too.
backstab is just soo satisfying.
hence the PW backstab build I run :-)