Guild Wars 2

I have a lvl 5 thief and I have not played a thief beforem, and I would like to know how to start.

Equip a sword, and a pistol. Use the healing skill signet of malice. Use skill #5 when you are close to melee enemies. Use #3 to attack and avoid all damage within the skill chain. Rinse and repeat, win win.

Also armor, berserker. Weapons berserker. Trinkets berserker. Traits go 6 points in the upper two (deadly arts and critical strikes). Last two wherever.

if enemy too dangerous for melee get dual pistol and spam #3 skill

Best (which you did not ask for, but is offered) is above:
Sword/Pistol (SWAP) Pistol/Pistol is the best leveling build if you plan to speed/farm mobs. As Thief, always go Berserker (zerker) or Assassin until you get Hidden Killer trait. Signet of Malice gives you HP when an attack lands, Signet of Agility and Assassin’s Signet to increase damage, Signet of Shadow to move quicker, Basilisk Venom just because it is our best Elite.
http://gw2skills.net/editor/?fZAQRAsa6al8MpwpdOxxJ8PBA

Different Leveling Builds- Dagger/dagger is made for using backstab which is gained from Cloak and Dagger(CnD). Eventually you will use all 5 of your skills, but while leveling with zerker, 1/2/5 are your best friends.
Pistol/Dagger- Condition Application pure and simple with stealth capability and gap opener.
Dagger/Pistol- Pure power with blind field, easy backstab, gap closer.
Sword/dagger- boon steal, high survival, lower than average (but still great) damage.
Shortbow- Utility.
Hope this all helps.

Seeing as HK and other GM traits are not unlocked until level 80, S/P and P/P are the really only effective ways to go.

If running berserker, first go 10 into trickery for Thrill of the Crime. Getting Fury and engaging with steal is a necessity for more difficult encounters. From there, go 3 points into Trickery for Preparedness, and the rest is pretty much up to you. Critical Strikes 2 – Practiced Tolerance, is also a very helpful skill if running berserker gear.

Guys are you sure? I get the feeling I’m doing more damage with D/D than P/P while leveling my thief. I even got the pistol damage trait. I am level 50ish now.

Dev.9683:

Guys are you sure? I get the feeling I’m doing more damage with D/D than P/P while leveling my thief. I even got the pistol damage trait. I am level 50ish now.

Melee weapons always do more damage than ranged weapons. And D/D is a single target weapon set, like P/P(except if you have richochet). Best for leveling is S/P with signet of malice, shortbow or P/P when melee is a “no go”. I prefer shortbow, because of the mobility options. It’s all about personal preferences, but for a new player you might aim for something like this when you hit 80:
http://gw2skills.net/editor/?fZAQNAsaVl8Mp7pFOxxJ0PNBNBt9wbQE8LM6GgEA-TRCBABGp8Tw9HUw8nEPCQJIOq7AwJAIF9BMcEA0RlAA-e

Yeah ditch pistol/pistol. You just run around using unload and you never learn to play a thief. Pistol/dagger is fine for kiting but you can generally stick to a shortbow as that has more mobility and is useful in big events. For open world you should generally get into melee and all the melee sets work so you might as well find the set that you personally like. If you’re using an offhand dagger you might want to try some points in shadow arts for blind on stealth and/or condition cures.

The reason I mention P/P over shortbow is because of the forced AOE on trick shot. Sometimes getting aggro from more than one mob at once is really, really bad, especially when soloing more difficult areas.

Pavel.8531:

Dev.9683:

Guys are you sure? I get the feeling I’m doing more damage with D/D than P/P while leveling my thief. I even got the pistol damage trait. I am level 50ish now.

Melee weapons always do more damage than ranged weapons. And D/D is a single target weapon set, like P/P(except if you have richochet). Best for leveling is S/P with signet of malice, shortbow or P/P when melee is a “no go”. I prefer shortbow, because of the mobility options. It’s all about personal preferences, but for a new player you might aim for something like this when you hit 80:
http://gw2skills.net/editor/?fZAQNAsaVl8Mp7pFOxxJ0PNBNBt9wbQE8LM6GgEA-TRCBABGp8Tw9HUw8nEPCQJIOq7AwJAIF9BMcEA0RlAA-e

Haste is a waste, especially on a build like that. Should instead be using Signets of Power.

Can someone link an “80ish” build that uses S/P + P/P? I’m thinking about doing this for the new world content instead of my normal condi build.

P/P is single target, you’re better off with D/D for single target unless you are doing P/P because you find it more fun.

I’m really enjoying D/D, using all malice/+condiDam gear. Death Blossom is so awesome. Run up to (or use #2) enemies, death blossom all over them. Depending on the situation, I use my utilities thus:
1) Drop caltrops if it’s a tough battle, dodging around to keep them in the AoE and watch the bleeds stack.
2) Roll for initiative to gain back initiative and use DB to stack even more bleeds
3) Blinding powder or signet shadows or shadow refuge and/or hide in shadows to buy me more time for bleeds to work, cooldowns to finish and initiative to refill.

I’m level 21 and I’m tackling level 26 enemies with ease, and can generally take on up to 3 enemies around 5 levels above me. Worst case you might get downed but then rally when your DoTs finish the job. I’m not boasting AT ALL, just talking about how much fun and effective D/D seems to be with properly leveled gear.