Guild Wars 2

I just reached level 65 on my thief. So far I have been running a condition heavy build and it is pretty powerful. Nothing like bleeding fifteen+ creatures to death all at once!
But, every person I have talked to so far says go burst, its the only thing that works at lvl 80.

I know how strong burst is, but I dislike the low health pool and play style. However, I don’t want to be totally useless in PvE/WvW or give up the thief altogether.

Advice would be awesome!

The problem with CD in PvE (mainly dungeons) is that other classes can do it better and more effectively. I don’t PvE on my thief so I’m not up to date on the current builds but I think S/X is the meta at the moment.

WvW – Don’t listen to them. Comparing CD thieves vs burst thieves is like comparing fruits and vegetables. They have a different play style and work better in different situations. P/D is very strong in WvW, good damage and great defense. I don’t know how well D/D condition builds do in WvW, I don’t think many people run it.

p/d cd is pretty much useless in 1v1 but can be good in 2v2 etc…pvp. Only ever saw one good p/d cd thief. Ever.

I guess it depends on how you look at it. p/d is one of those build that is made to harass more then kill. I think the current play style is meant to outlast but the problem with that is most people won’t sit there and fight you for 30 minutes.

For p/d, if you set up your traits in the deadly arts line, and run venom’s you will have far superior dps than a p/d thief in the trickery line. This is an extremely good build for 1v1s and 1vMany.

the main problem with condition builds is that 25 bleed stack limit for pve
and some classes can do it much better, as stated.

I’m having lots of success with my p/d conditions and support build personally. In both sPvP and tPvP I’m usually one of the top players if not the top and rarely lose my personal fights.

In PvE the only problem is big events because the total of 25 stacks will hit very soon, but I believe they give priority to bleeds with more condition damage so Carrions shouldn’t have a problem having some bleeds counting. At least I usually see my bleeding ticks appearing, some of them at least.

There is another condition build, D/D dodge-spam that is very effective too though I don’t have as much experience with that one.

I think Carrion thieves are far from “that bad” and much closer to “very viable and recommendable option” personally.

Meridian.8730:

p/d cd is pretty much useless in 1v1 but can be good in 2v2 etc…pvp. Only ever saw one good p/d cd thief. Ever.

Half the thieves I have seen duel on servers like Mag/Tc/FA are p/d condi builds. Or S/D… rarely in duels do I see d/p…

P/D build is probably the most powerful. All it requires is patience. Reason is because it’s the ultimate kiting class. With a melee thief you always know where they are going to attack you from stealth…in melee range. So it’s easier to predict and reveal really hurts melee thieves. It’s not like that for P/D. You control the fights and the enemy through the use of kiting. Don’t be predictable or you will fail.

Meridian.8730:

p/d cd is pretty much useless in 1v1 but can be good in 2v2 etc…pvp. Only ever saw one good p/d cd thief. Ever.

i keep meaning to try a p/d in wvw (trying to make an effective one). you can steal during whirls….daggerstorms….cloack and daggers….heartseekers……i mean all kinds of things….perhaps if u stick daze on steal…. and it can work with p whip….could be a viable combo there

P/d heavy condition/ health regening thief is among the top builds in the entire game for wvw/pvp.
You’ll be able to roam like a God.
It’s just that burst is way more fun and engaging.

How come it is so viable in PvP? Don’t people have condition removers? No such thief can take down me. I can pretty much remove their conditions at will.

Been running P/D since launch, never had an issue with it and never will. It’s fun, puts out stupid sustained and NO ONE knows how to fight you properly. =D I tried d/d cheese build and found it boring and too weak in defenses S/D was alot of fun but it was tricky for me to get a bead on. In my P/D build i’m never caught UNLESS I choose to stay in the fight.

Because nothing catches Withdraw, roll for ini IA, IA, IA

P/D condi thief is OK for gankin and PvE and worst for massive fights and dungeons

Best P/D condi thief I know
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jx-MV-fxYj0

Then I have a question too about this topic:

I have been leveling a thief after I got sick of my original main character and have been using a D/D + SB condition build for just about everything I do. I’m about to hit 40 now and plan to change over to D/P burst for WvW when I get higher in level. Should I just change over now for doing dungeons and for leveling?

Patriot-

If you just bought level 40 gear/weapons I would wait to switch over.
Condition builds worked very nicely for leveling. I am able to tag many mobs at once for extra loot and EXP. So, I would wait until level 80 to switch.

so what gear for a cond thief?
purely carrion (cond/pow/vit) or mixed with
rabid (cond/prec/tough)

BlueCynder.5941:

Patriot-

If you just bought level 40 gear/weapons I would wait to switch over.
Condition builds worked very nicely for leveling. I am able to tag many mobs at once for extra loot and EXP. So, I would wait until level 80 to switch.

Thanks Cynder! It felt so far that conditions are a great/quick way to level though I have to admit that it’s not really the style of play I want with this character. Still, after leveling 2 other characters to 80 to only find out I now only play them for specific situations, it will be nice to have a character I can stick with.

I and a guard met a P/D apothecary geared thief in wvw… and I kid you not, this build is impossible to win against 1v1/2v1. We didn’t lose(stalemate), but we were pressured. 1v1 he would have won. I don’t see it being of much use in larger fights, or even for taking objectives. I have tried full carrion… But direct damage seems to work better in most cases.

this might open your eye’s
it’s build for spvp/tpvp ,
but i know you can figure out a working pve build out of th pvp build
heavy conditions/ endless dodges / non stop bleed applying

https://forum-en.gw2archive.eu/forum/professions/thief/PVP-bunker-dodger-build-New-Vids-Part3

atm i’m using signet of agility instead of SoS, makes it possible to get an endless dodge rotation with Deathblossum

( runes and sigil are real important)

if you dislike conditions:
switch weapons to sword / dagger , and put on beserker amulet instead ,
now you have a heavy evade / crit&power build .

hope it helps you out
cheerz jim

Pavel.8531:

But direct damage seems to work better in most cases.

Agree here

Pavel.8531:

I and a guard met a P/D apothecary geared thief in wvw… and I kid you not, this build is impossible to win against 1v1/2v1. We didn’t lose(stalemate), but we were pressured. 1v1 he would have won. I don’t see it being of much use in larger fights, or even for taking objectives. I have tried full carrion… But direct damage seems to work better in most cases.

I think it actually loses to some condition engineers, some d/d eles, and in addition to phant specced glass mesmers.

P/D is really powerful in some situations, but it’s really weak in others since bunkers can just walk away from you most of the time, and anything with mobility can run from you. To get the most out of it you need to be able to 1vX, since enemies wont run as often feeling secure in a group, but unless they are bad it takes some skill to squeeze out kills in such a situation.

A guildy of mine runs Rabid on his P/D thief and seems to enjoy it a lot. I commonly see him doing Arah and high level fractals.