Just like the header says, I have just turned lvl 40. I haven’t been playing for very long. This game has a wealth of stuff to absorb (poss) to much for a player 2 weeks old.
Any how, I have been using a dagger pistol build to lvl and have been playing solo.
Never done any grp things yet and am wondering if I need to start to prepare my build for 40 plus and above.
So any advice for a PVE player. am not interested in wvw or pvp. What am really struggling atm is a viable build to get me through to lvl 80. Maybe some advice from any old hand Thiefs out there . Possibly answer questions like do I wait till 80 for gear, shall I stick to Trade item stuff, should I be doing grp stuff? or solo till 80? toughness build? crit build?.. hmm confused. Oh and am skint 2 g 
Just hit lvl 40 needing advice
for gear while leveling greens every 10 levels from the trading post are cheap and good enough. as far as a leveling build dual daggers with death blossom, caltrops and signet of malice in condition damage gear is one of the main leveling builds. the other leveling build is sword pistol in power gear, using the pistol’s black powder and pistol whips evade to blind and evade most damage while you hit them with your sword. as for an end game build, I would wait til you get near 80 and have tried out most of the weapon sets so you have a feel for what you like.
Gungnir Aurus – 80 Guardian
[AUX] Isle of Janthir
Experiment with different builds and traits. Try different weapons with traits and see what you can get out of them. It’s very cheap to change traits and you learn a lot more about the class.
Wait until 80 before gearing up, use what you find and the story rewards. Experiment, but be reasonable in your expectations, there’s no win-button, trait or weapon.