Guild Wars 2

I’m new to thief in PvP, and I’m still scared by the horribly low health and armor of the class. So while I want to eventually become good, I want to start with a more forgiving build while keeping the gameplay more or less the same. So I’m looking for a build that:

1. Allows me to escape easily – multiple escapes in fact
2. Keeps the basic gameplay of d/p or s/d (mecahnics etc)

I don’t mind if I don’t do quite as much damage at first. I just want my fingers to get the combos, and my instincts of what skills to play when to develop. In the meantime, I’d like to not spend most of my time with a flag through my heart

So I’d like to take an existing meta build and tweak it with a few traits, gear, and utility skills to achieve this goal. Any suggestions that will achieve this while still keeping the basic gameplay in tact?

My goals to start with:

1. To +1 fights quickly (no winning duels right now)
2. To quickly go around decapping points

P.S: Do you keep auto targeting on or off? And if you BP+HS, do you first deselect your target, or do you deselect after BP? Or not deselect at all?

wait until the update i think this tuesday. they are reworking the entire trait system.

auto targeting OFF. If you want to escape you really don´t want your heartseeker going towards your enemy. BP + HS is a matter of situation. Most of the time I want the blind-shot from BP to hit the enemy and then HS into another direction. But sometimes you want to hit your enemy with exactly that heartseeker and Backstab him then. Or you have to restalth, then of course you want nothing to hit the enemy and getting revealed (another reason to turn auto targeting off).

Until the patch I would stick with D/P (vamp-runes). You need what that build offers and get used to that. You could go with full SA, but then you are helping your team and learning less.
Go on the squishy targets (ranger, mesmer, necro, thief) and use a lot of shortbow in teamfights.

Coronit.9432:

auto targeting OFF. If you want to escape you really don´t want your heartseeker going towards your enemy. BP + HS is a matter of situation. Most of the time I want the blind-shot from BP to hit the enemy and then HS into another direction. But sometimes you want to hit your enemy with exactly that heartseeker and Backstab him then. Or you have to restalth, then of course you want nothing to hit the enemy and getting revealed (another reason to turn auto targeting off).

Until the patch I would stick with D/P (vamp-runes). You need what that build offers and get used to that. You could go with full SA, but then you are helping your team and learning less.
Go on the squishy targets (ranger, mesmer, necro, thief) and use a lot of shortbow in teamfights.

Thanks for that!

The standard sPvP builds usually are the most forgiving because they’re the best numerically and often that carries with them the highest skill floor.

When it comes to the thief, asking for techniques, watching videos, and just practice, practice, practice, is all that will help make you better as a player.

try out this: http://gw2skills.net/editor/?fZAQNAoaVl0MprpdPx0J8PNBNhwdtY38O83yaFA-TpBFwACOCAPeAA12fYxhAoaZAAnAAA

imo this gonna be the meta next week with the exra dmg from full DA.

I’ve found that I really like builds similar to this…
http://gw2skills.net/editor/?fZAQRAoa8Yl0Mp7pNOx0J8PNBNRx1K4dY8Flh2BwsNhA-TJRBABRcSACc/BwLDAwTAAA

The main two reasons I like this build is because of the Traveler’s runes (for the constant speed boost) and the Knight amulet (for the toughness).

Because I use Traveler’s runes, I use Assassin’s Signet to make up for the lost power.

I usually use d/d and s/d, but I’m learning d/p with s/d for now. For just learning how to fight with melee, these sets give me versatility. I find myself too aggressive for the shortbow at this time, so I’m waiting to learn it later.

If you use d/p over d/d, you may want to replace Cloaked in Shadow with Shadow’s Embrace for condition removal.

Also, you could consider replacing Improvisation with Dagger Training, and Thrill of the Crime or Bountiful Theft with Flanking Strikes, depending on what you needed.

If you build for s/d instead, you may want to go at least 3 deep in Acrobatics for the extra dodges, though you can still evade like crazy without them.

Is this the ideal build for the thief? Not at all! But I do find it to have a very nice balance between survivability and lethality.

From my experience, however, the best way to REALLY improve your skills is to practice with a very squishy build. 6/6/0/0/2 with the Assassin amulet, Pack runes, and Fire/Air sigils can make you extremely deadly, but you will die a LOT! Eventually, you will learn how to survive with it, though… then when you move to a tankier build, it will feel like easy mode! :-D

If you really want to try “easy mode” with d/p, you could use this build…
http://gw2skills.net/editor/?fZAQRAoa8al0Mp7pNOx0J8PNBNhwdtYz0KQ3RD2E-TJxFABEcSAuuMAAPBgP2fAA

Replace s/p with shortbow if you wish. But the s/p is amazing at trolling, haha! When I use a build very similar to this, it is very unusual for me to die unless I’m in a 1v3. While I can’t really kill anything like I want to, it is quite difficult to be killed also. I would probably suggest replacing Assassin’s Signet with Signet of Shadows for the extra speed. I’ve found that speed is life for a thief. If you use the sword much, then it’s not nearly as much of an issue.

My vote is for a standard S/D build. It’s mobile, it provides extra evade frames and doesn’t really require the same level of awareness as mh dagger builds do imho. You could even use a shadow arts S/D build, but I simply don’t think its necessary.