This build caught my eye a few days ago and inspired me to do some testing.
However, I made some alterations right at the start and will discuss that in the following paragraphs:
-> I dropped P/P for SB. -> With Mender’s Amulet your damage output, even considering Unload, is not very high. Of course you can contribute to fights from a distance but I’d much rather have the mobility of SB. I understand that this is not a fast decap/+1 build but not running SB in sPvP is a bit of a waste imho, you are not using your class to its full potential, even considering the nature of the build.
-> Switched Distraction Daggers for Shadow Step -> Same reason as the previous one, with the additional note that this would completely remove the ability to interrupt abilities and attacks which might needs to be addressed.
-> Swapping NQ for IP -> I simply liked the extra sustain, yes you lose the extra Fury but in light of the goal of this build and its low dmg output regardless, I’d rather have more sustain.
Here are my thoughts after playing the altered build: (note that it was tested in unranked which meant an unbalanced environment and often put me against lower-skill rated players)(Mid-gold ranked MMR & ~1.5k matches played)
Sustaining was no issue, I could keep up with every dedicated sustain build, and sometimes even two enemies at once for several minutes however it was due to the unbalance of the matchup. Even after losing Fury IP was useful, though as a Rune variant I’d recommend testing Rune of the Pack. It has a slightly lower Precision bonus but it provides a free TotC with a 25% chance on 30s CD and boosts your swiftness duration (with only the Acro swiftness-on-dodge trait it means 1 extra second) which comes in handy if you are not running Dash nor TotC.
Mobility was notably weaker (in the absence of Dash and TotC) but still better than most classes if not all.
I was testing other dodges as well, Dash was useful for mobility but lost a considerable sustain, Bound was useful in cases where you fought a lot of enemies that were not dedicated sustain builds, hence you could slowly out-sustain and kill them greatly benefiting from the dmg buff of Bound. Impaling Lotus was a good pick for more sustain and against builds that lack consistent condition clear. Constant Torment and Bleed application really hurt most of them. As far as dodges go I’d pick the one most suitable for the situation.
Taking the effort to consider what I dodge and where, I was able to keep up my endurance and Initiative, with the occasional need to use SoA or Bandit’s Defense if things got heated. I only ran out of options when I was pressured by 3+ ppl and had to leave the fight to recover.
In conclusion; the build achieved what it was aiming for, and definitely highlighted the possible viability for this unique role. It is the marriage of sustain builds and fast decap/+1 Thief builds. It is one of those builds that you really need your team to play around it, but that is the case for most Thief builds anyways.
And of course the mandatory paragraph about how this is not optimal for high-rating matches, it is a sub-optimal craft that executes what it is meant for but everything it does, it does it with less effectiveness than the dedicated builds for all corresponding roles. It works in lower tier match ups and a definite diversity in build range.
Would do further testing, also in ranked environment, trying the aforementioned alternatives and further optimizing.
. Without PI they just do not do enough and very often you “forget” to get all three off in the time allotted.