Guild Wars 2

So I’ve got a post from another thread on leveling which I’m going to modify here to get to my own question, which is: How can I make combat more interesting/complex, or stack more/different condi so I can take on higher level enemies; details below.

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 have short bow as my 2nd weapon set, but I hardly use it. I haven’t gotten used to it yet I guess, and it doesn’t seem to do more for me than spamming DB and using utilities. What I’m getting at is, what can I do to do even MORE condi? I imagine that spamming DB is going to get old. Right now I have sigils of speed/corruption on my daggers, and sigils of speed/geomancy on my SB. With mesmer (my 80 main), you have to constantly adapt your skill use to the situation, often swapping weapons at least once if not several times a battle. Now, it seems DB is all I need.

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 I might get downed (mistimed dodge usually) but then rally when my 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.

So, is there anything I can do to make combat more complex, or do more condi damage so I can take on even tougher or more enemies? Maybe there’s a diff weapon besides SB that I could use to stack conditions in a useful way?

You could try hybrid http://gw2skills.net/editor/?fZAQNAoYVl0MpypFOx5J0PNBNh491vl1KQ3HLOE-TxhIwA/V/JoyPAnCgV7PIWfwgnAATlgBAOA2tu1d3AjP+4jP+4t7u7u7u7WKgqkGB-e

I like to take advantage of both side of might plus with this you have heavy initiative regen. How much stacks you can create depends on how good you are with positioning with Uncatchable and getting more endurance with dagger auto. It takes longer to kill but as long as you’re having fun… no one can stop you…

Beware the condition cap and if you are in party others might limit the condition damage.

Sagat.3285:

You could try hybrid http://gw2skills.net/editor/?fZAQNAoYVl0MpypFOx5J0PNBNh491vl1KQ3HLOE-TxhIwA/V/JoyPAnCgV7PIWfwgnAATlgBAOA2tu1d3AjP+4jP+4t7u7u7u7WKgqkGB-e

I like to take advantage of both side of might plus with this you have heavy initiative regen. How much stacks you can create depends on how good you are with positioning with Uncatchable and getting more endurance with dagger auto. It takes longer to kill but as long as you’re having fun… no one can stop you…

Beware the condition cap and if you are in party others might limit the condition damage.

Thanks for the response! Is hybrid viable while leveling, esp at lower levels (I don’t even have access to traits until 30). Looks like I need to put points into trickery and acrobats asap. What about gear, should it be +condiDam or +power/precision, or both? Should still use SB as alt weapon?

sirrealist.1360:

Sagat.3285:

You could try hybrid http://gw2skills.net/editor/?fZAQNAoYVl0MpypFOx5J0PNBNh491vl1KQ3HLOE-TxhIwA/V/JoyPAnCgV7PIWfwgnAATlgBAOA2tu1d3AjP+4jP+4t7u7u7u7WKgqkGB-e

I like to take advantage of both side of might plus with this you have heavy initiative regen. How much stacks you can create depends on how good you are with positioning with Uncatchable and getting more endurance with dagger auto. It takes longer to kill but as long as you’re having fun… no one can stop you…

Beware the condition cap and if you are in party others might limit the condition damage.

Thanks for the response! Is hybrid viable while leveling, esp at lower levels (I don’t even have access to traits until 30). Looks like I need to put points into trickery and acrobats asap. What about gear, should it be +condiDam or +power/precision, or both? Should still use SB as alt weapon?

Condi alone is pretty weak in pve with Dire condi/tough/vit. Rabid is good but thief doesn’t have interesting on crit traits and you don’t need toughness if you don’t really get hit. D/D and SB will give you sustain,damage,aoe and evades added with the initiative and endurance regen you can be really aggressive.

But again main downside is the condition cap but for solo it will work.

Sagat.3285:

sirrealist.1360:

Sagat.3285:

You could try hybrid http://gw2skills.net/editor/?fZAQNAoYVl0MpypFOx5J0PNBNh491vl1KQ3HLOE-TxhIwA/V/JoyPAnCgV7PIWfwgnAATlgBAOA2tu1d3AjP+4jP+4t7u7u7u7WKgqkGB-e

I like to take advantage of both side of might plus with this you have heavy initiative regen. How much stacks you can create depends on how good you are with positioning with Uncatchable and getting more endurance with dagger auto. It takes longer to kill but as long as you’re having fun… no one can stop you…

Beware the condition cap and if you are in party others might limit the condition damage.

Thanks for the response! Is hybrid viable while leveling, esp at lower levels (I don’t even have access to traits until 30). Looks like I need to put points into trickery and acrobats asap. What about gear, should it be +condiDam or +power/precision, or both? Should still use SB as alt weapon?

Condi alone is pretty weak in pve with Dire condi/tough/vit. Rabid is good but thief doesn’t have interesting on crit traits and you don’t need toughness if you don’t really get hit. D/D and SB will give you sustain,damage,aoe and evades added with the initiative and endurance regen you can be really aggressive.

But again main downside is the condition cap but for solo it will work.

Whoa, I was just looking at P/D and Shadow Strike might be fun to play with. When and how do I start to get access to “rabid” or “carrion” gear? I never actually got any of that stuff with by alt, but I mostly play PvE. Is is either to (1) buy it on TP, or (2) make it (3) buy it with tokens from dungeon runs? I always did story mode…

Assuming you are more condition based, you will want the build provided above (I would make my own adjustments, but that’s only because my play-style doesn’t fit that one).

If you want a pure hybrid, this build- http://gw2skills.net/editor/?fZEQNAoYVlsMpypNPx3J8rNBNRt9EMchg3XxXshaFAA-ThSAABKcqCoRTCtKBN4IAIjeCIM/50+DQp8DgHoQQq/QKAImGB-e

You still get high damage on backstab and high condition damage (you seemed to want to focus on daggers and bleeding). Your focus is to pop bleeds when out of stealth, and apply a backstab when a big pop is needed. (Warrior stances are good examples::::: Endure Pain is damage proof, Berserker Stance is Condition proof)

Imo, you should work on this build. http://gw2skills.net/editor/?fZEQNAqYVlsMXmKaGN30cayqZ1E/z/5ExEC37mlzrua3YRAA-ThSAABKcKFoRDjPq/U4+DGckAeRfwtKBB4BEwkyvHM/RKAImGB-e

Pistol/Dagger is much more condition effective (and fun imo) then Dagger/Dagger condition. Hybrid d/d is interesting, but far less effective. Give it a shot. =)
This build works great solo, groups it has very little application (you will crit often but weakly)

I provided some builds. You can do all of the options you listed for gear. Its not always by the names of “rabid”, “dire”, “carrion”.

Thanks! What about D/D with P/D? That way I can stack bleed with DB, then switch to P/D and keep bleed pressure with #1 and then some Shadow Strike to stack torment. Or maybe it’s better the other way around?

I haven’t actually played with backstab yet. I’ve only used stealth as an escape when overwhelmed. I see both builds trait a lot into stealth. Is it really worth all those points? Also, in the first build you put a lot into enhancing steal. Is that really that good? I’ve played with steal a little, but have mostly ignored it. Clearly I haven’t yet really gotten a grasp of the full potential of the thief’s abilities. In the second build you have all venoms. Can they stack (ie, have more than one active at a time)? If so, it looks like you could get a crazy number of conditions and stack them on a few foes. How do the venoms work with Death Blossom? If you activate a venom, then use DB and hit 3 enemies with 1 attack, does that count as 1 use of the venom or 3? If just 1 and if you could have them all active at the same time, I see being able to stack a crazy number of conditions on multiple enemies with DB. The cool downs sucks so you’d have to wait a while before being able to do it again (annoying for open world roaming). Still, might be cool to fight even harder enemies with that. Last night I was successful in defeating 3x level 30 enemies at a time, while being at level 23-24 myself.

I know I’m asking a lot of questions and I really appreciate all the help!