Ok, looks like my build is kinda not popular but I’d like to ask some things.
Actually I’m going for Full Power/Precision/Condition (glasscannon build)
As Traits I got 30 in precision one
25 in Power
15 the one with Stealth % recharge reduction (I Choose to get the + Initiative bonus).
Now, do you think this is a viable/decent build? In WvWvW I can handle easily a 1 vs1 or even massive group fights (standing in the back and shooting everything moves) but in the lvl 80 dungeons I’m instashotted by everything…suggestions?
Truth be told, glass cannons aren’t optimal in dungeons. Unless you’re the dodge/interrupt master, (and if that’s the case you should switch from Shadow Arts to Acrobatics) you’re going to want some defense. Glass cannons tend to spend a lot of time on the floor in dungeons.
Then of course there’s the question of P/P’s usefulness in the first place…
The possibility of physical and mental collapse is now very real.
No sympathy for the Devil, keep that in mind.
Buy the ticket, take the ride.
It’s really up to you. If you’re happy with what you have(sounds like you like it in WvW), by all means, keep it. However, if you don’t like your performance in dungeons, it’s as simple as making a new build, right?
The fact is I’d like to keep Guns as MAIN weapon and, eventually, switch to sword or dagger as sub hand..I’d like a hint about that and what I’d have to sacrifice (power condition or precision) for Toughness/Vit
I’d recommend against going into Shadow Arts with P/P, since it’s too difficult to acquire stealth in the first place. You’re way better off with Acrobatics.
Especially since P/P has a rough time kiting enemies, and you can not only get decent Swiftness from that, but also extremely effective Cripple removal, and the Caltrops on dodge from Trickery pairs extremely well with it.
-Edit-
Oh, I misread that. You went into Trickery, not Shadow Arts. You said “Stealth” instead of “Steal,” which confused me.
I used to run the same setup for some time in dungeons and you’ve got nothing to worry about. You’ll be main damage dealer, don’t bother with conditions – with this glasscannon setup they do very little dmg. Just spam Unload, forget about Body Shot and Headshot, assist your team with Black Powder, dodge a lot. For utilities I usually chose Signet of Agility /more dodge/, Blinding Powder and of course Shadow Refuge. If you prefer you can swap Blinding Powder for something else, I personally like Smoke Screen.
I used to run the same setup for some time in dungeons and you’ve got nothing to worry about. You’ll be main damage dealer, don’t bother with conditions – with this glasscannon setup they do very little dmg. Just spam Unload, forget about Body Shot and Headshot, assist your team with Black Powder, dodge a lot. For utilities I usually chose Signet of Agility /more dodge/, Blinding Powder and of course Shadow Refuge. If you prefer you can swap Blinding Powder for something else, I personally like Smoke Screen.
The problem with this in dungeons is that you’re bringing less damage than melee setups and pouring all of your initiative into Unload, leaving little for useful utilities like Black Powder or Headshot. It is relatively safe and easy, but you’re not really bringing much to your group. Furthermore, in any situation where there are multiple targets to hit, you’d be better off using a shortbow for ranged (“safe”) damage. This pretty much restricts you to “We’re fighting one enemy and I’m really bad at dodging” situations.
I used to run the same setup for some time in dungeons and you’ve got nothing to worry about. You’ll be main damage dealer, don’t bother with conditions – with this glasscannon setup they do very little dmg. Just spam Unload, forget about Body Shot and Headshot, assist your team with Black Powder, dodge a lot. For utilities I usually chose Signet of Agility /more dodge/, Blinding Powder and of course Shadow Refuge. If you prefer you can swap Blinding Powder for something else, I personally like Smoke Screen.
The problem with this in dungeons is that you’re bringing less damage than melee setups and pouring all of your initiative into Unload, leaving little for useful utilities like Black Powder or Headshot. It is relatively safe and easy, but you’re not really bringing much to your group. Furthermore, in any situation where there are multiple targets to hit, you’d be better off using a shortbow for ranged (“safe”) damage. This pretty much restricts you to “We’re fighting one enemy and I’m really bad at dodging” situations.
I wouldn’t say you bring less damage than melee setups. You can spam Unload up to 4 times before you run out of ini (with 15 points in Trickery) and with each one hitting for about 5-6k (could be more, I didn’t go full glass cannon) on non-champ dungeon mobs I say it’s not bad dmg. Than it takes around 15sec to fully restore ini and you can spam again. I don’t have much experience with back-stab build, but I don’t think you’ll be able to pull much better dps. S/D and P/D setups are imo weaker compare to P/P damage-wise (in dungeon with 25/30/0/0/15 setup). S/P could be on similar level, but require player to get into melee range, which is not advisable for glass-cannon. I think there is not much of usefulness form Headshot and it’s costly. Black Powder is ok and I mentioned that skill in my post. Short bow is ok, I don’t mind having it as my second weapon set, but when party focuses on single target, pistols seem to be better option.
I used pistol/pistol with my Sword/Dagger thief as, generally speaking, any situation where I wanted to stay at range was the situation where I am only fighting one enemy to begin with, ie: the boss. If I’m just fighting “trash” enemies sword has plenty enough AoE damage and evasive capability to finish them off long before they become a problem. It was usually only against a single powerful opponent that I would need to back off and hit from afar.
Acrobatics really is the way you want to go if you’re going to spam Unload. The most “important” things to get are Infiltrator’s Signet and Acrobatics’ Quick Recovery to make sure that you are regenerating initiative fast enough that you can keep up your spam. Signet of Shadows for increased movement speed is also useful if you do get attention and need to start kiting (remember, always kite enemies by running sideways and keeping them within your cone of attack. Running directly backwards is never fast enough to play keep away.)
Also, figure out what things black powder can effect. A lot of melee encounters suddenly become stupidly easy by just keeping Black Powder going (and if you follow my advice you’ll have enough initiative regeneration to keep it up indefinitely). It really sucks when an enemy ignores it and you don’t know they’re going to, but you usually only have to learn that lesson once. Sword/Pistol is a bit better if you’re going to sit in powder simply because Sword’s auto-attack is very good and you won’t have initiative to unload and keep Black Powder going. Consider keeping sword handy just for that.
Shortbow is also another option; it does pretty good overall damage in an AoE situation and is safe to use from a range. The problem I have with it is that its’ really much better when you focus on a condition build, so it doesn’t synergize as well with Pistol’s Unload which really prefers a power focused build.
I used to run the same setup for some time in dungeons and you’ve got nothing to worry about. You’ll be main damage dealer, don’t bother with conditions – with this glasscannon setup they do very little dmg. Just spam Unload, forget about Body Shot and Headshot, assist your team with Black Powder, dodge a lot. For utilities I usually chose Signet of Agility /more dodge/, Blinding Powder and of course Shadow Refuge. If you prefer you can swap Blinding Powder for something else, I personally like Smoke Screen.
The problem with this in dungeons is that you’re bringing less damage than melee setups and pouring all of your initiative into Unload, leaving little for useful utilities like Black Powder or Headshot. It is relatively safe and easy, but you’re not really bringing much to your group. Furthermore, in any situation where there are multiple targets to hit, you’d be better off using a shortbow for ranged (“safe”) damage. This pretty much restricts you to “We’re fighting one enemy and I’m really bad at dodging” situations.
I wouldn’t say you bring less damage than melee setups. You can spam Unload up to 4 times before you run out of ini (with 15 points in Trickery) and with each one hitting for about 5-6k (could be more, I didn’t go full glass cannon) on non-champ dungeon mobs I say it’s not bad dmg. Than it takes around 15sec to fully restore ini and you can spam again. I don’t have much experience with back-stab build, but I don’t think you’ll be able to pull much better dps. S/D and P/D setups are imo weaker compare to P/P damage-wise (in dungeon with 25/30/0/0/15 setup). S/P could be on similar level, but require player to get into melee range, which is not advisable for glass-cannon. I think there is not much of usefulness form Headshot and it’s costly. Black Powder is ok and I mentioned that skill in my post. Short bow is ok, I don’t mind having it as my second weapon set, but when party focuses on single target, pistols seem to be better option.
It doesn’t matter how much you can spam Unload when Unload is less DPS than either melee auto attack. Even if you had unlimited initiative you’d be falling behind melee DPS. Back stab is a nice burst ability, but doesn’t provide consistent DPS so it isn’t really comparable here. Headshot is extremely useful in dungeons for easily removing stacks of stun immunity or interrupting particularly nasty mob abilities. Black Powder is a great group utility, but the range that P/P usually dictates along with the initiative starved nature of having to spam Unload means P/P is probably gets the least out of Black Powder.
I’ve got nothing against people who like the play style of P/P, but it essentially trades both utility and damage in favor of survivability via range.
