Guild Wars 2

I have tried P/P and I was able to either Spam Unload or Burst at times with it. The damage was considerably lower than my standard builds to I stopped using it. Keep in mind that in GW2 ranged weapons deal less damage.

I like the idea of a P/P thief but right now when I play it, it’s more like a QQ thief (LOL)
I hope this was helpful for you, if you have any questions shoot me a PM or in game message. I will run DPS tests or w/e if you are interested.

*Note the DPS tests will have to be based on Time to Kill. Thhis is not the best method, but the best I have atm.

I was looking at this from the perspective of dealing damage efficiently, however upon re-reading it looks to be a “fun/casual” build. I hope they buff the pistols for us as well sir, but for now I am going to leave this thread to the casuals.

casuals always end up using the FotM builds though

P/P can work pretty well, and it’s challenging to play! I assume you use signet of malice for this build, right? Also, try looking at having Shadow Refuge (free sneak attack) and unload through it to regenerate hp. The latest buff to SoM and Body Shot made it work even better imo ^^

There’s got a be more to the build then just spam unload, only other skill you would use is headshot at situational times, black powder is too costly for the set, body shot is a horrible skill that neither p/p or p/d should ever touch, and the auto is slow and the bleed doesn’t work with the set.
yes unload does a lot of damage(i think people are underestimating how hard this can hit) , but is that’s not enough to carry the set imo.

Do you mind posting this build?

I’d like to get a closer look since I have been using P/P every since I swore that I hated S/B.

Thanks.

It’s not that P/P can’t reach reasonable levels of damage, it’s that getting it there requires sacrificing way too much.

The set is somewhat lacking in mobility and utility even at the baseline, but the real problem is that in order to optimize for good DPS you have to to drain your Initiative spamming one skill continuously, which leaves you almost no room for maneuverability or utility. Additionally, optimizing for Unload in this way also gimps Vital Shot even more than it already is, meaning that if you do happen to need to move around or use a lot of utility your DPS is taking way too much of a hit.

It’s just neither practical nor efficient. It’s a broken set, period, and it will remain broken until they buff Vital Shot.

I will continue to make the assertion that P/P, while still weakish, actually plays better with a build that hybridizes condition and direct damage in the same way the set itself does.

Yea, pistols are pretty awesome, especially with the Ricochet buff. Here’s what I would recommend for PvE:
0/30/0/15/25
CS: Pistol Mastery, Combo Critical Chance, Executioner
Acro: Power of Inertia
Trick: Thrill of the Crime, Ricochet
http://gw2skills.net/editor/?fYAQNAqaVlUmSO3eS+E/5Ex2DgmTe6zgsit/wVB-jAyAYLioRySEpCCZJviox2GKiGruGT5SEVbvLiWtMAVLA-e

A lot of the damage comes from the 25 trickery talent, so wait until your ini is full or a tick away from full before using unload.

Dahkeus.8243:

Yea, pistols are pretty awesome, especially with the Ricochet buff. Here’s what I would recommend for PvE:
0/30/0/15/25
CS: Pistol Mastery, Combo Critical Chance, Executioner
Acro: Power of Inertia
Trick: Thrill of the Crime, Ricochet
http://gw2skills.net/editor/?fYAQNAqaVlUmSO3eS+E/5Ex2DgmTe6zgsit/wVB-jAyAYLioRySEpCCZJviox2GKiGruGT5SEVbvLiWtMAVLA-e

A lot of the damage comes from the 25 trickery talent, so wait until your ini is full or a tick away from full before using unload.

Isn’t pistol mastery more or less, a waste of a trait? Unload isn’t classified as a pistol skill but a duel wield so you would need 20 points in deadly arts to get the damage boost to unload.

Noctis Assassin.4035:

Dahkeus.8243:

Yea, pistols are pretty awesome, especially with the Ricochet buff. Here’s what I would recommend for PvE:
0/30/0/15/25
CS: Pistol Mastery, Combo Critical Chance, Executioner
Acro: Power of Inertia
Trick: Thrill of the Crime, Ricochet
http://gw2skills.net/editor/?fYAQNAqaVlUmSO3eS+E/5Ex2DgmTe6zgsit/wVB-jAyAYLioRySEpCCZJviox2GKiGruGT5SEVbvLiWtMAVLA-e

A lot of the damage comes from the 25 trickery talent, so wait until your ini is full or a tick away from full before using unload.

Isn’t pistol mastery more or less, a waste of a trait? Unload isn’t classified as a pistol skill but a duel wield so you would need 20 points in deadly arts to get the damage boost to unload.

I’m not sure where you heard that, but you can go into the mists and test for yourself. It definitely affects Unload.

DUAL pistols you mean* @ OP

Thank you for the insightful post panicbutton, you’re right, dual pistols have been given a helpful hand with this patch. I do wish they would have at least added something other than a vulnerability buff to pistol 2, because it’s not needed. Either weakness or access to torment would have been great (or forward mobility would have been great too).

Dahkeus.8243:

http://gw2skills.net/editor/?fYAQNAqaVlUmSO3eS+E/5Ex2DgmTe6zgsit/wVB-jAyAYLioRySEpCCZJviox2GKiGruGT5SEVbvLiWtMAVLA-e

This is the exact build I have tested with P/P and it’s quite nice. People really underestimate the dps that lead attacks generates, especially when combined with first strikes.

For PvE (dungeons) where would you say a good balance between crit / crit dmg / vit / toughness and power could be found? For a mediocre skill player (such as myself) who is still not able to dodge enough?

Thank you.

BobbyT.7192:

yes unload does a lot of damage(i think people are underestimating how hard this can hit) , but is that’s not enough to carry the set imo.

They really aren’t underestimating it. This thread pops up literally once a week. Someone claims: “Guys, guys, guys, I just discovered Unload is MASSIVE DAMAGE!”

Unload is a relatively bad damage skill that puts out high numbers because it is an approximately ten year long channel skill. People see big numbers, assume that means it is actually doing good DPS (the only metric of damage that actually matters), and come to the forums to post this wonderful discovery.

Now, I absolutely agree with OP that this is a fun build, that Ricochet has helped it become better, that it is low effort, and that Unload is awesome for hit volume (thereby awesome for procs). However, Unload is still not a good damage skill in the grand scheme of things.

rogerwilko.6895:

For PvE (dungeons) where would you say a good balance between crit / crit dmg / vit / toughness and power could be found? For a mediocre skill player (such as myself) who is still not able to dodge enough?

Thank you.

TBH, if you’re going to take the damage/utility/mobility hit of using P/P (and using pistols does indeed make you worse at all three of those things than most builds), at least take some emphasis off survivability stats. If you’re going to sit at 900 range and shoot things in PvE, there’s no need to load up on toughness/vit.

Tulisin.6945:

Unload is still not a good damage skill in the grand scheme of things.

How should one test the damage output of a build / spec then? I was thinking of this way:
If we go to the mists / LA (if we have a full geared lv 80 toon) and we start hitting the golems/dummy (I don`t remember if the dummy shows the damage in the combat log):
- look at the clock, start the rotation, pew pew pew, after say 2 minutes stop and add up the dmg
- change speg / gear / whatever
- look at the clock and start again

Would this be able to give one a correct evaluation of the P/P or GS/Scepter/whatever damage output in the grand scheme of things, as you said?

Thank you.