Guild Wars 2

I am in my mid-60’s on my Thief and beginning to plan out which build I will use at level 80. As I don’t have any level 80 characters, I don’t really know what types of builds excel at end-game content. I have a couple of ideas and would like some advice and commentary from the more experienced thieves out there to help me finish out my build in the most efficient way.

This build would be for PvE – open-world farming and events, and for dungeons. I am not interested in fractals.

I primarily enjoy D/D and SB as my two weapons, and would like to focus on a bleed-based build using caltrops, dodge-trops, and Dagger Storm as my elite. I plan on putting 20 points in both Trickery and Acrobatics, which will allow me to switch out traits for solo-oriented and group-oriented play.

My main hang-up is on where to put the remaining thirty points.

Deadly Arts allows for consistent weakness application with both weapons, which would be great for a lot of group comps, and also offers the very handy bonus to condition duration. The downside is that the major traits are, by and large, not very exciting to me.

Critical Strikes allows for more appealing major traits at every level, but has less synergy with a condition-based build. First glance, I would likely take the Side Strike, Combo Critical Chance, and Executioner traits. I would also likely use a Sigil of Earth on my weapon to help apply higher stacks of bleeding.

So, here are the specific things I would like some insight on as I move toward 80 and plan out my gear acquisition and build.

1.) I have been using a weapon sigil that adds to my condition damage after each kill, but am wondering if maybe a sigil that adds power would be more generally effective? At level 80, is the difference in damage noticeable if you stack for high condition damage?

2.) In a bleed-based build, how often do you run up against issues with hitting the 25-stack bleed cap at max level? I would imagine it happens frequently with world events just due to the sheer number of people, but what about in small instance groups?

3.) Is it viable/advisable to try and split Condition Damage and Power instead of stacking condition damage? This would basically be a hedge against running into bleed cap issues and adding to direct damage caused by having lots of critical strikes.

4.) I am looking at Whispers and Carrion armor specifically as being well-tailored to my playstyle. I am not familiar with all of the armor types, is there another type you would advise looking at?

5.) In groups, I pay attention to my positioning and flank as often as possible and will likely go with 6x Thief runes. Is there another option that you would suggest? Specifically, those that increase bleed duration to maximize their effectiveness?

Thank you in advance for your replies, I am looking forward to hearing some great advice from all of you. I will be monitoring this thread so if you have questions about my playstyle that could help you give a better answer, please ask so I can help you help me