Guild Wars 2

Hi. Thief is one of the very few classes I find really fun. But as I’m moving closer towards the end levels I would like to find a build that will fit me at 80. Also I’m stupid and don’t really get the essence of a build just by doing trial and error, or googling. I could use some talking and asking. To people. That answers me.

I mostly (like, only) do PVE. Farming, dungeons, events, living world.

What I have so far;
Condition damage + D/D death blossom is what I first got stuck with. It was super fun to level with, constant evade, massive bleeds and just watching everything die on my caltrops. But this isn’t really viable for dungeons, is it? On bosses the bleed stack limit is going to be a problem, isn’kitten

Power/Crit + S/P. Felt really clunky for the fact that you have to stand still while doing Pistol Whip. Decent damage, decent evade for survivability. Guess this is the best for dungeons?

Power/Crit + D/D (backstab build) is the last thing I’ve tried. I die like a fly and it feels useless for more mobs than 1. Maybe if I master it enough it would be fun for the high damage, but put one burn on me and I’m downed – not very fun.

I’ve tried searching for builds and tips by loads of googling, youtubing, foruming (most is outdated or I don’t understand it fully) and even asking for help in game (where no one even answers you). I still haven’t found anything I feel is viable at endgame stuff.

Point of the thread/TL:DR:
What do you use for PVE atm? Why is it good for you?
You don’t have to review your whole build, there’s a build thread for that. Just choice of weapons and what the build is based on will help alot.

Oprah understands my struggle.

http://www.guildwars2guru.com/topic/87167-a-guide-to-the-thief-meta/

Linked from another topic. Should still be rock solid.

I do PvE on s/p with shortbow alt

It is a common mistake that you are relying on pistol whip to clear. Pistol whip, while strong, should not be used as a spamming skill.

I use pistol whip as an evade for large hits, this way i can do damage and evade the obvious hit at the same time.

other times walk around the enemy and use 1 and 5 to constantly hit and blind, this way unless the enemy is immune to blind, you can most certainly walk away unscratched from mobs.

3, 4 are only to be used conditionally when needing to interupt.

more or less i use 10/30/0/30/0 with tweeks here and there.

normal rotation is. switch to SB, use 1 to kite, 4 + 2 to get area vuln, switch to S/P, 5 and 1 walking around, if enemy is charging for a stun/knockdown/any attack use 3.

Thank you both so much for replies! It really helps just to have someone point you to a build they like. Builds in GW2 are so unique and I find it hard to find one that works for me.

I’ll definetly check out the build linked!

Noliver.1475:

I do PvE on s/p with shortbow alt

Sounds nice, but is the dmg really enough with mostly autoattack? I am amazed.

Yes, the dmg is actually not bad, spec precision/crits on your weapons and have a sigil of fire. It does a lot just by running around and hitting from the back (side strike trait). You can have crits nearly every hit.

some highly speced s/p users even suggested the dmg with 1 is actually larger than 3 counting same duration.

You can also occationally use pistol whip to finish things off, burning your initiatives before next fight.

I have tried Death Lotus build and frankly I dont really like it. First of all you major aoe damage is your dodge/condition. After you spam that you basically can do nothing until your ini recovers.

with caltrops its a bleed fest but with champion runs/world bosses/dungeons (which you will be doing a lot after lvl 80) the bleeding is actually better induced by some other professions (necros, engis etc)

Main thing for PVE is dodge, we are not warriors, our armor and hp are as thin a sheet of ice. You have to learn the animation of attacks from the champions/bosses time them and pistol whip/Death lotus accordingly to dodge dangerous attacks and manage you ini well.. All builds should be able to do ok in pve unless speced for 1v1 kills (like d/d, p/p)

I’ve given D/D a serious try now, and I tried builds both for high damage and one for high survivability. I die like a fly in both cases. I have totally given up hope on power/crit D/D.

As it looks now, power/crit S/P is the best I’ve tried after condi D/D – which isn’t good at 80. Thanks for the tip about auto attacking though, didn’t know that.

However whilst leveling (I’m around 70) autoattacking feels alot weaker. And extremely boring. Sigh. I don’t want to give up on my beautiful thief

http://gw2skills.net/editor/?fYAQRAoY8alYmiO3eS+E95Ey2jdqCJKuHOlR1UdF4KA-jkzAY/BRTQgJKAkFIqAYyTQM7l00HWxtIas6aMlbS1uCy27BtazTcQAlD-w

Is something similar to my build, it’s more tanky than 25/30/0/0/15 but less damage, you can swap out weapons like S/P or D/D for Shortbow or P/P depending on the fight.

Single target melee fights D/D or D/P are the best choice, for single target ranged P/P works. With multiple mobs S/P and Shortbow is better, honestly it depends on the fight for what weapon set I use.