Guild Wars 2

So, I got bored in WvW and made a P/P build:

http://gw2skills.net/editor/?fZAQRAqa6al0Mp0pdPxsJ0PNBNB5dY6yW0KAdfk+OEA-TlSGABAcSAAZ/h40KAoqKSpEcIlXJpEJQ1KITXgBPBgAAIATMSMghOxhOxhOxm4En4En4ELDA1EA-w

It was surprisingly fun fighting other thieves with this setup, more so when I just slapped on a pair of pistols with my normal S/D gear. It’s obviously not meta, nor is it great for 1vX, but it was a nice break from the usual.

Anyone else messing around with P/P atm? What kind of builds are you using?

I tried it for a little bit in PvP. It’s objectively less effective in sPvP, since there is little to evade with. However, I think it really shines quite well in WvW and PvE. Pistols are a thief’s longest-range weapons if traited, and the Unload skill can deal incredible amounts of damage. It’s better to use the Signet of Malice with P/P though, I think, because of how many “attacks” you can get off. With the extra initiative trickery traits, you can easily get 4 Unloads in a row, leading to 32 × 132 HP heals. Stealth is also a little less necessary as P/P compared to the melee builds, but I do like getting those 5 bleed stacks.

this is my best gunslinger build for wvw

It has good stat distribution and has a almost constant 30% dmg bonus.
d/p set is for finishing off your targets when they get to ~50% hp and for moving around the map/escaping with heartseeker.

It nowhere near as strong as other thief setups due to how disjointed p/p is, but when you get used to playing it (spaming 3 70% of the time, mimicking longbow ranger playstyle where you keep your distance, and spaming your heal all the time for movement speed, and doing all that without any stealth) it works.

So if you have gold to spend i would say try it.

That’s different, but interesting. I typically run 0/6/0/4/4, personally. Valk/Cav/some Zerk. Definitely agree on Withdraw/RFI/SStep, though. Considering P/P’s lack of (inbuilt) stealth and/or evasion, you definitely need ways to maintain distance.

As for offset, I generally roll with either SB or S/P, mainly for the additional evasion options.

I’ve had a good amount of luck with this p/p build. I tried to use initiative gain builds but it feels like too much dps is taken out with a 0/2/0/6/6 build.

5/6/0/0/3
http://gw2skills.net/editor/?fZAQNAqaVl0Mp0pdPx3J0PNxLhs9oQb8LsuTCA-TpBEwAGOBA23fAwhA4xRAIbZACPAAA

I took Uncatchable over Flanking Strikes to provide extra cripple. Really helps with the small amount of dodges to try and create some separation. Together with Ankle Shot I have a good chance to kite my target. Sundering Strikes over Mug as the build doesn’t really focus on steal, but the extra vuln stacks are always appreciated.

Ricochet is nice for the range and bounce for team fights, but I would have to give up some damage modifiers for it. If I were to take it, I’d probably drop the 5 from deadly arts putting 6 in trickery for Hastened Replenishment and 3 in acrobatics for Feline Grace. Losing power/damage multipliers but gaining survivability is a tough call.

Shadowstep is amazing with p/p though. Put one round of unload in, port as they approach you and put another set in and then port back as they chase you again. SR for the utility which is always useful in PvP. Roll for Initiative triples as a stun break, emergency evade/gap opener and extra unload.

This is what I use in WvW for fun. I’m sure I could change some utilities around, but its otherwise performed pretty well for me.
http://gw2skills.net/editor/?fZAQNAqaVl8Mp0pFOxyJ0PNBQBtdAWd/9MJFpzXUWA-T1CBABmfEAqRPwWKPg4BAAwpAwLlYtoJgI1foQJYR7P8gJISBExyI-w

With Fury, you have a perfect 100% crit chance, which will more than double all of your damage. Unloads with Ricochet can start to get a little excessive at that point. There’s no real stealth to speak of, and not much for evading, but you do have feline grace, and Signet of Malice combined with Invigorating Precision, which means an Unload could be healing you an upwards of 2-4k each.

I chose sigil of cruelty because I’m cheap and make cheap builds. Bloodlust would end up being a bit more damage. Sigil of Air could also be replaced with anything else that works well on crit, since you know you’re critting essentially 100% of the time.

I found this to work fairly well as a P/P set. Lots of initiative regeneration and mobility to keep unloading and applying headshot/BP. The alternate weapons are whatever; I swap in and out of SB and S/P. Quite a lot of fun to have so much mobility. I just wish I could make something this mobile hit from substantial range, for it doesn’t really deal as much damage as desired.

http://gw2skills.net/editor/?fZAQJAqal0Mp3plOxzJ8PNBQBt5qDg3J5IDpzcUWA-T1BFwACOBAI3fAl6PJV+lRPAflgAeAAkCYUlRA-w

Here’s what I run in WvW, mainly as a zerg follower:

http://gw2skills.net/editor/?fZQQNAqaVl8Mp8pFOxxJ0PNxLBt9Ia+G8cNnRzJEAA-T1iFABTfIA+Y/BHOBAJp0gO9AIpMzKlgkoJIS1fA4BAkwRAIAACgje0je0je0uuR35R35RLFggCjA-w

The 6-0 skills vary a lot. In small groups or solo scouting, I put in another stealth skill and the speed signet and drop the power and precision signets. I swap signet of malice for hide in shadows often.

The whole crit/damage your way to health thing works very well on this setup, but once your initiative is spent, you’ve got issues. Also a limited amount of condi removal no matter what you do. When the condi chances are higher or the enemy seems to have a lot of them, I go HiS and precision signet. In pure zerg, where I can lean on some group cleanses and getting lost in the crowd, I go SoM. I use other skills for specific purposes, like the radiation field when defending from a wall and shadowstep in smaller groups (where I’m also using more stealth).

I find that this build is always nice for zerg wars, except in the pure open field, non-stop movement style. In those cases, keeping anyone in range long enough to burn them down is incredibly hard and it leaves you inside their ranged envelope. Along walls, in closed spaces, or in spaces where enemy movement is more constrained, ricochet and proc’d crits can have a very nice effect. The remove boon sigil is highly underrated in most cases, but can be very effective in group situations. It’s new to my build, so I haven’t really figured out just how effective it is. (I almost never attempt solo, but I had my first solo guardian kill with this build. IMO it was the boon stripping that did the job.) If I didn’t suck so hard, I would change SB for D/P for better small group combat.

I seem to do best in the ~15 man group format. I’m not sure why that is. If there isn’t a zerg to burn me down immediately, or I’m outnumbered and focused, I rarely die and my burst DPS seems to be very helpful.