Guild Wars 2

So in the past, I have gotten many requests to do a thief build, or have been asked what build I use on my thief. I figured it was about dang time I posted one on our forums so that anyone interested in playing thief can have a starting point. Since this is my first time actually giving build advice, I will do my best to give good information on how the build works.

So, lets get this started. My build revolves around using Dagger/Pistol, or more commonly known as D/P. If you are interested in running Dagger/Dagger, or Pistol/Dagger, just send me a whisper in-game, and I can update this post, but for now, I will be focusing on D/P.

Traits – For this build, I run the 2/6/6/0/0 build. To be more clear, 2 points in Deadly Arts, 6 Points in Critical Strikes, and 6 points into Shadow Arts. If you still like to use the old school way of builds, then it would be 10/30/30/0//0.

Deadly Arts – I put 10 points into Deadly Arts for the MUG trait. I find this very useful for burst damage, along with a nice 2k heal that can, and will save you. (Note, stealing while in stealth, while you have MUG traited, will reveal you).

Critical Strikes – I put 6 points into Critical Strikes for the ‘Hidden Killer’ trait. (Grand Master). The other two points I take are Practiced Tolerance (For extra health), and Side Strikes (For more damage).

Shadow Arts – I put 6 points into shadow arts because it gives us our defense that we need to survive. For the first trait, we will take Shadows Embrace (This is one source of condition removal), Second, we will take Infusion of Shadows (Gain initiative when stealthing. A must have for D/P). Lastly, we will take Shadows Rejuvenation (For healing in stealth).

Armor – The armor I use for my build is full Valkyrie (Power / Vitality / Ferocity). The reason behind this is because it gives us Power as the main stat, along with Ferocity and Vitality. Why not go full beserker you ask? My reasonining is because Valkyrie gives you a nice extra boost in health, while still maintaining good damage overall.

Trinkets – Full beserker.

Weapons – Dagger (Berserker) / Pistol (Berserker) – Shortbow (Berserker).

Runes used in armor – Full Traveler Runes. Many people ask me why I chose traveler runes over more damage. My reasoning behind using traveler is because of the movement speed bonus that it gives you. In turn, this frees up a utility slot, because most thieves run Signet of Shadows (25% movement speed), which never gets used, and I feel is a waste. While using traveler runes, you get to have a third utility slot, you otherwise would not have. I personally recommend taking Blinding Powder for an extra stealth, and defensive tactic, or Scorpion Wire, for a pull / interrupt.

Sigils used in weapons – I use Superior Sigil of Fire in my Dagger and Superior Sigil of Force in my Pistol. In my Shortbow, I use Major Sigil of Bloodlust (Not superior due to the expensive price, and the small difference in Power isn’t worth the price). I also use Superior Sigil of Fire for added AOE tagging.

This is a good starting point for any new or experienced thief out there. If you guys would like more information, don’t hesitate to whisper me in-game, or comment below so that I can change the post, or give more advice. If you are looking for more advanced playstyles and tactics send me a whisper in-game. I can make another post for a more detailed guide on advanced playstyles for thief if need be.

O.o

This…..is…….nothing……new

I appreciate you taking the time to write this up, but yeah, it’s just a standard D/P build.

I don’t mean to be offensive or anything, but this build has been out since the thief has been out.

Nice to have a refresh for other new players.

It was more for newer thieves wanting a starting point. I am well aware that this build has been around since the day GW2 started.

Glad someone updated a thief build for new players. Only question is does thief even get new players anymore?

Hunter, thanks for taking the time to post this info. Regardless of whether it is old news or not, it is still helpful to see a recent post on the subject rather than one that is 6 months or older.

Newer players and even older players who may not main a thief are sure to appreciate the effort.

The rest of you, get over yourselves. You should be encouraging discourse not ragging on a guy for trying to be helpful.

For anyone who wants to use D/D the conversion for this is quite simple, swap out infusion of shadow (V) in the shadow arts line for cloaked in shadow (VI) to do aoe blind on gaining stealth.

Also use sigil of air + sigil of fire for more burst damage, which is what D/D is all about.

Finally if anyone is wondering about utilities, for WvW when flitting around the edges of I find stun breaks and stealth and teleports are the most important things. So I take Shadowstep, Shadow Refuge and Infiltrators Signet.

I find this build by far the most fun of all the thief builds. I hope this helps someone.

Thank you all for the feedback. I know this build is nothing new, but my sole purpose for putting it here was for the newer thieves wanting a starting point, or players wanting to pick up thief again.

As others have stated this is the cookie cutter DP build for WvW. Im using everything the same though im running full zerker gear with valkyrie weapons. I may have a little less hp than you but I like the extra crit I gain which means more damage as long as you manage to dodge or blind those key attacks. The nr 3 on dagger is key vs ranger/classes that likes to kite you, instead of “wasting” initiative on the BP into HS combo.
For SPvP having 30 in shadow is a waste, rather have the rest in tricerky and relay more on stealing/burst/control than stealth/regen.

This is just so trivial. If you’re going to spread publicity about a boring, kittenous build, at least make it interesting, and not the same old valkyrie-hidden killer. Why not zerk D/P 60206, D/P 26006, S/D 20066 or something fun with D/D. At least take zerker gear, wvw guard buffs are there to give you the needed health.