Guild Wars 2

Greetings,

I’m slowly progressing through the game, only level 37 at the moment, and I’m looking for good builds strategies for Pistol builds. Primarily, I prefer P/P, but I’m not against trying P/D. I just prefer to play at range. I use Shortbow as my AoE secondary.

Here’s the build I was shooting for:
http://www.gw2db.com/skills/calc/thief#10|10|2642|8743|2640|3989|4485|0|0|0|0|30|1719|2386|1728|0|0|0|0|20|1165|1692|0|20|782|1722|0|0|0|1|0|0|0|0|0|0|0|0|0|0|0|0|0|

I’m just looking for advice and opinions on what trait lines are best for P/P, and if there are any key Major Traits that really should be considered. I do mostly PvE events, and some WvWvW. I know P/P is considered one of the weakest weapon sets, but I’m trying to make the most of it.

There seems to be a lot of debate between going deep into Deadly Arts vs Critical Strikes. What are the pros and cons? Also, Deadly Arts increases condition durations, if I want to kill things fast and decide to go with a condition build, wouldn’t Trickery be very if not more important to sink some points into?

I also don’t know if Shadow Arts or Acrobatics clearly has better synergy, or is it just a matter of preference (dodge vs stealth for defense).

Thanks!

use P,D

The main reason the pistol is a half decent main hand is due to its bleed stacking, this works better with p,d as you can stealth easily to use the stealth attack which apply’s a lot of bleeds.

using p/p is pretty sub optimal and most people rate it as being a poor weapon set.

if you want to use pistol use a conditions build, unload combined with the auto attack simply doesn’t do enough damage to be a true single target dps build even with zerker gear.

Here is a descritpoin of my P/D build I use that I posted elsewhere. The sole focus is WvW:

Full rare Rampager’s armor set. it gives all 3 dmg stats. I have a couple of the WvW accessories because I had the karma and wanted to save some money. They have some vit/tough. My weapons/rings/ammy are all Rampager’s as well with % bleed duration sigils.

The reason I went Rampager’s is because of the Traits I use which add to Vit/Tough and +Healing which is 10/0/30/30/0. I can’t link to a builder from where I am but I use Mug in Deadly arts, Shadow Protector, Patience and Shadow’s Rejuvenation in Shadow Arts and Descent of Shadows, Pain Response and Hard to Catch in Acrobatics.

The playstyle is to use Cloak and Dagger all the time for the mini stealth unload and let bleeds tick while you heal and regen init. Use Steal/Mug as a bit of burst along with Haste after stealth attack if you are 1v1. I also try to fight around hills so take advantage of 50% fall damage. I’ve killed 5 people at once jumping off a cliff then AoEing them when they fall chasing me.

My main weapons are P/D. I use D/D on swap when roaming around. Mostly for un-targeted Heartseeker for very fast in combat movement to chase and run away or the occasional D/D#3 when a Thief uses refuge. Also have Shortbow to swap out for D/D if things are zergy for for keep defense.

I use the Stealth Healing skill, Haste, Shadow Refuge and Sig of Shadows (25% runspeed). Dagger storm for elite. I use the Superior Rune of the Adventurer for + condition damage and the 100% endurance heal effect.

The build has a ton of staying power and is really fun. You just won’t see any of those 20K backstab crits :P

It would seem my rune set just got nerfed:

“Updated Rune of the Adventurer and Sigil of Energy to each grant 25% endurance when activated.” There goes 1.5gold :/

I didn’t even notice it last night after update but I guess that opens up some other rune options.

Thanks both!

Here’s Stiv’s spec:
http://www.gw2db.com/skills/calc/thief#10|3|2642|4004|8743|3997|4989|10|1738|0|0|0|0|0|0|30|2384|1600|751|30|1688|1692|2354|0|0|0|0|0|0|1|0|0|53499|53499|53499|53499|53499|26058|48792|48792|48792|48792|48792|

If I wanted to go more the PvE route or give up survivability in WvWvW, then do you have any suggestions how deep to go into Deadly Arts? What major traits should I be looking at? And is the Trickery tree worth any consideration?

Thanks again!

(Sorry, don’t mean to be having a conversation with myself, but…)

So, I gave P/D a try for one level, and it just didn’t take. The play style does not agree with me unfortunately. I prefer to stay at range as much as possible, and P/D seems to really shine only when you use Cloak and Dagger to stealth and load up bleeds on your target with Sneak Attack.

Let’s just concede that P/P is the weakest weapon set. Does anybody have thoughts or builds that they think make the set most effective?

Thanks!

P/D is a PvE powerhouse, use the dagger throw to snare -it snares any target near your target in a 360 degree angle- and then just auto shoot….That’s it! Initiative is only used for dagger throw.

Kill time is excellent!

Anyone know why sometimes you can reply to a message and other times you cannot?

Stiv.1820:

The reason I went Rampager’s is because of the Traits I use which add to Vit/Tough and +Healing which is 10/0/30/30/0.

Why not go Carrion, precision seems wasted on a condition build? You play Aion/Lumiel?

I am going a bleed duration mix for my runes, to test it out, so 2 krait, 2 centaur, 3 afflicted I think it is off hand.

In regards to the comments about P/P the issue I think is headshot while useful, costs far to much, and blinding powder while awesome in PvE, does not have a large enough circle imo to be reliable in WvW/sPvP. It makes the /P part of any build questionable, imo.

I run a P/P Thief only if WvW. Reason might be similar. I am currently a level 40 and I love WvW. The problem I have is I feel I do not do enough damage at my level to be effective. I greatly enjoy running supplies and scouting and every once in a while get into zergs and have a blast. So when I do, I prefer the P/P or Shortbow off set. The 3 on the P/P can get me in a fight, burst a low health character or become a “nag” on the enemy by getting in and out very quickly. I’m currently at work so I can’t look up the name, but I use the signet that grants full endurance back on activate. Can get me in and out extremely quickly. But this is all subject to change once I get to higher levels. I can see how the P/D can work very nicely though. And of course this is mainly my personal opinion. I know it’s not very strong and after the loss of initiate, you’re pretty much toast and need to get back with your group. Just my two cents.

@Nimm yea Aion/Lumiel. Really loved that game for a while until they did the gear treadmill thing.

Carrion does look nice for the extra condition dmg and vit but I’m not convinced Vit is all that useful. It’s only good vs burst so you just need enough to survive that, otherwise you are hardly ever topped off at all times. With all the healing in the build toughness seems a bit better if anything. I also have ~30% crit rate (with rares) which isn’t terrible. It’s good enough to use a earth sigil and get very close to 1 extra bleed on each stealth “mini unload” and there are lots of pistol shots that crit. Also crits on C%D and throw dagger actually hit pretty hard as well as Mug so I like having the other dmg stats.

Turns out my Adventurer runes still give 100% end so I will stick with them until they nerf it. Not sure if I read the notes wrong or they just screwed up the nerf.