Guild Wars 2

Note: TLDR version on bullet points at the bottom.

So after running a lot of S/P (until reaching lvl 80), I started to get bored of it as it locked me in place too much for my taste (PW locks you and BP needs you to don’t move too much so you can maximize it effects) and I decided to switch to something different (the nerf to PW turned my already existing doubts into a decission).

I switched to Pistol+Dagger, I find it a good balanced set, maybe not as damaging, but it’s better at kitting and for a ranged set, you feel incredibly comfortable semi-melee range.

Now the problem is that experimenting with different builds (trati distribution mostly), I’ve found 2 that I like a lot for different reasons, and I would love to keep the good parts of both on the same build, but I can, and I’m still deciding on which one would be better overal.

The skills are in both cases: Hide in Shadows, Spider Venom, Devourer Venom, Shadow Refuge (depending on the situation I would take Ambush Trap to share more), and Thieves Guild which is by far my favourite Elite and in this case they even benefit from venom sharing and some traits.

Now for the traits, in both cases I got 30 SA, with Venomous Aura and Leeching Venoms as they’re the base of Venom Sharin builds, and Infusion of Shados to make my C&D cost “technically” 4 initiative, for the C&D + Sneak Attack combination.

In both cases I have at least 15 points in Trickery for initiative management thanks to the 2 minor traits, and Thrill of Crime that serves as support, and it also is a great Speed Buff using what I call “Fake Steal” to gain Swiftness when covering distances.

Both builds are the same until this.

Now, the first one uses 20 points in Acrobatics, which gives me more dodges, Swiftness on dodge, Might on dodge (and Might increases condition damage too, even if using it after applying the condition) and great Initiative management with Quick Recovery, which allows me to use C&D or Dancing Blade a lot without worrying of keeping my Initiative high.

The 5 extra points go to Trickery, which increases condition damage a bit more, as well as reducting Steal recharge, and I pick Bountiful Thief to strip Boons and give myself and my allies Vigor, which mean I’m even more dodgy.

The second build uses all those 25 points on Deadly Arts, which means extra poison when I Steal, applying a HUGE LOT of Weakness with Steal, Spider Venom and my Shortbow, gives me a different way to apply Might (using venoms instead of Dodging), I can use Venoms every 36 seconds instead of 45 and with the 25% increase on condition duration, I basically increase my main attack and Sneak Attack bleeds by 25% (on sneak attack you can really see a big difference on the damage number) which is a great deal.

So basically the pros an cons of each build would be:

A)

• I get a lot of speed thanks to dodging more, which is great as the range of sharing venoms is short and it allows to move me between teammates really really fast to share the venom and the heals with whom needs it more.

• I get more survivality and I can kite better with this build.

• Better initiative management.

• The speed increase is good when covering distances in general, even if my Fake Steal gives me Swiftness, in this build Boons last 20% longer so I can nearly maintai Swiftness, except the last 10 seconds of Steal recharge which I can spend using Infiltrator’s Arrow.

B)

• My Pistol bleeds are increased by 25% (with +20% the damage doesn’t increase at all for 4s bleeds) which is simply great.

• My snares (Cripple and Inmob) are increased by 25% too, which helps keeping distances even if I can’t dodge as much. But in large fights or situations I want to run from a danger without attaking it (with the first set I’ve survived a lot of WvW zergs with nearly zero life) I lose a lot of my kitting.

• Weakness, lots of it. Weakness basically reduces damage by 25% (I believe it is 50% chance of causing a glancing attack which will do 50% damage). Being able to spread it with all my poison is huge and can helps me and my teammates a lot. Against players making them less dodgy is great too.

• I can apply my venoms, plus the healing and might, 20% more often and from my experience you really notice the change on recharges.*

So basically that’s my dilem, I like both builds and their benefits. I’ve played mostly the first one (the first one I used after leaving the S/P set) and I like how evasive I can be with it, but the second one offers some great pluses, specially the damage increase and weakness spread.

For your experience/knowledge, which one would be better overal? Is the loss of maneuvers worth the damage increase plus Weakness spread? I would use it for every enviroment as I like to stick with the same build (and changing it between PVE and WvW would cost me some silver each time).

Thanks in advance for your opinions and tips guys