Guild Wars 2

Hello there i’m very new in GW2 community and game.
I had a sylvari mesmer lvl 15 but i was taking too much damage, probably i didn’t have the skill to master the class so i chosed to go Norn Thief, i love the race, the lore, the zone, etc.

And this time with the Norn Thief i really want to adapt to the game with this class (i always wanted a rogue/thief and i prefer them in GW2 than WoW), but i am afraid to comit errors, so i wanted to ask someone here if you can give me advise to this follow concerns:

1- I’m aiming for damage build (don’t know if i can mix damage with a bit of survival) so wich Stats i should focus on?

2- Anyone knows a really good web site where i can see good damage builds? At the begining for pve and later pvp, or a mix of both?
I found this site http://www.noxxic.com/ but i don’t know if it’s any good.

P.S. : i already posted a Thread similar to this in another part of this forums, but i really wish for some good help and more detail in this mather.

Thank you all in advance!

PrimeEvil.2067:

1- I’m aiming for damage build (don’t know if i can mix damage with a bit of survival) so wich Stats i should focus on?

It depends on what kind of build you’re going for:

• Condition builds That use either Dagger/Dagger (#3 Death Blossom skill) or Pistol/Dagger (#5 Cloak and Dagger into #1 Sneak Attack) and focus on stacking up bleed damage will be looking at focusing on Condition Damage and also Condition Duration to enhance damage.

• Direct damage builds Will be looking at getting high amounts of Power, Precision and Critical Damage.

• Balanced builds Will want to get a mix of Power, Precision, Critical Damage, Vitality and Toughness. At the higher levels there are sets of gear that provide Power + Precision + Critical Damage (Berserker) and also gear that provides Power + Vitality + Critical Damage (Valkyrie) that are often combined to provide good damage and survivability.

• Hybrid builds Will focus on gaining a mix of Condition Damage, Power and Precision to ensure high direct damage with high condition damage through bleeds that can be applied.

2- Anyone knows a really good web site where i can see good damage builds? At the begining for pve and later pvp, or a mix of both?
I found this site http://www.noxxic.com/ but i don’t know if it’s any good.

https://forum-en.gw2archive.eu/forum/professions/thief/Post-Your-Build-Thread/first

Includes a lot of builds people use, but when it comes down to it, it’s often player skill rather than build that wins out in PvP and PvE. That said, looking through the forums at various videos and build discussions will allow you to find the cookie cutter builds and the different gear setups that are used for them.

Welcome to the Thieves forum.

And this time with the Norn Thief i really want to adapt to the game with this class (i always wanted a rogue/thief and i prefer them in GW2 than WoW), but i am afraid to comit errors, so i wanted to ask someone here if you can give me advise to this follow concerns:

First of all, you would want to make mistakes since this is the only way to learn skill timing, positioning, and especially patience.

1- I’m aiming for damage build (don’t know if i can mix damage with a bit of survival) so wich Stats i should focus on?

You can mix them but like other hybrid build, you will not going to be at the top of DPS or survival.

Shadow Arts is the best trait to focus on for survival. But once you’re starting to get familiar with the profession, you can start allocating points to Acrobatics.

Damage can come directly, for which you would want to put points in Critical Strikes, or from conditions (bleed, poison), for which you would want to put points in Deadly Arts.

One way to test drive the Thief profession is to go to the Mist (PvP area) where you are bumped to level 80 with all the points to play around with builds.

2- Anyone knows a really good web site where i can see good damage builds? At the begining for pve and later pvp, or a mix of both?
I found this site http://www.noxxic.com/ but i don’t know if it’s any good.

There are plenty of builds floating around here in the forum. I think this is the best place to find a wide veriety of builds.

10/30/20/0/10

AikijinX.6258:

10/30/20/0/10

Builds are more than just traits, you need to also provide the items, runes, sigils, etc and how to play such build.

Please add more information to make it beneficial to the OP.

My apologies i was at work, but would you like me to give you a summary of what you should get, or go in depth?

AikijinX.6258:

My apologies i was at work, but would you like me to give you a summary of what you should get, or go in depth?

The requests details and I’m curious about your build also so it’s upto you how deep you want to go.

Sir Vincent III.1286:

AikijinX.6258:

My apologies i was at work, but would you like me to give you a summary of what you should get, or go in depth?

The requests details and I’m curious about your build also so it’s upto you how deep you want to go.

You’re from TC, How about you and I party up in game right now and I can show you. I’m from Kaineng.

IGN:Aikijinx

Thank you all for the replies, they were very helpfull.

One more thing Thiefs have a skill or ability that is Stealth…how i learn it in GW2?

But if anyone could recomend some approved builds i would be very appreciated…i am focus, for now, to make a very good pve damage build, only later pvp.

1-any very good pve build?

2- any very good pvp build?

PrimeEvil.2067:

Thank you all for the replies, they were very helpfull.

One more thing Thiefs have a skill or ability that is Stealth…how i learn it in GW2?

There is no ability that called “Stealth” but there are a number of ways to gain stealth as a Thief:

• Cloak and Dagger – The #5 move on Off-hand dagger, deals damage and puts you into stealth for 3 seconds at the cost of 6 initiative – This is the cheapest and easiest way of gaining stealth on a Thief.

• Black Powder + Heartseeker combo – Using the #5 ability on off-hand Pistol causes a Smoke Field, which when combined with the #2 ability on main-hand Dagger provides stealth for 3 seconds at the cost of 9 initiative.

• Hide in Shadows The starting heal skill for a Thief provides stealth for 3 seconds. This has a 30 second cooldown.

• Blinding Powder A 30 second cooldown Utility skill that provides 3 seconds of stealth.

• Shadow Refuge A 60 second cooldown Utility skill that provides pulses of 3 seconds stealth (Stacking up to 15 seconds of stealth) though stealth is lost if exiting the area before it has finished.

• Shadow Trap A 30 second cooldown trap that once triggered by an enemy can be activated to shadow step to the enemy and gain stealth for 5 seconds.

• Hidden Thief A Master Trait that makes your Steal ability provide 2 seconds of stealth (3 seconds with the mandatory 15 point minor trait before)

Thank you very much Taril.8619, but can you or anyone link some very good pve build and another very good pvp build?

AikijinX.6258:

Sir Vincent III.1286:

AikijinX.6258:

My apologies i was at work, but would you like me to give you a summary of what you should get, or go in depth?

The requests details and I’m curious about your build also so it’s upto you how deep you want to go.

You’re from TC, How about you and I party up in game right now and I can show you. I’m from Kaineng.

IGN:Aikijinx

Sorry bro, can’t right now since I’m at work. I’ll add you to my friend’s list and hit you up when I get the chance.

AikijinX.6258:

10/30/20/0/10

great minds think alive :P

I have my basic pve build in there and you get to see it in action. I find it’s amazing. 10-30-20-0-10. If you want more team support and defense + boon stripping, just go 0-30-20-0-20 and grab bountiful theft.

There’s another pretty decent build but it’s very defensive. I went 30 into acrobatics there but that was a mistake. Should only ever put 15 into acro, the rest are just wasted trait points.

Shadow arts is a pretty amazing trait line and can warrant putting 30 points into it but in doing so you’ll be losing out on high spike dps or amazing party support. That’s why I feel only 20 should be put in there.

Btw, all my other vids are 10-30-20-0-10. It’s my basic pve build but def also my favourite.

Thank you randomfightfan.4091, for the builds =), but one more question for the gear and weapons like i suppose 2 daggers and shortbow and armor i should focus in what stas? thougness, precision, condition damage, critical?

I’m nearly full zerker (power prec crit dmg). Have ptv backpiece for the odd time I do flub up. That and the 20 into sa make it so you can survive when you do flub up. My bow is also ptv but that’s only cause I don’t want to transmute it and have the free upgrade (when ascended weapons come out) pass me by. I’m pretty certain I showed all my gear in those vids if you want to check it out in a little more detail.

The main for of defence you’ll be using is dodging and damage. If you don’t think damage is a form of defence then why aren’t all the dead enemies around you killing you? RIGHT! Because they’re dead! :P The longer you take to kill them, the higher the chance you’ll mess up or run out of evades.

I’d also like to say I played with using my vs lupi build in general pve and I HATE it. Great for dodging, not good for anything else. The condition removal, ini recovery (which means more flexibility and mobility), and higher damage from 10-30-20-0-10 is just way too much to pass up.

Edit.
I forgot to mention the 20 in sa is for near infinite initiative (still have to play it smart though) and insane condition removals. The reason why 10 into trickery is because I feel that party wide fury/might/swift with steal giving initiative is significantly better than a few stacks of might and some selfish regen.

Hello again randomfightfan.4091 and thank you hugelly for taking you’re time explaining the the build specifics, but pardon me, i must say that i don’t understand the “sa”, “ptv”, “flub”, i mean i don’t know what they mean, can i ask you where you put 10-30-20-0-10, can you tell me where this goes?

this video contains you’re build?

1- I haven’t yet seen the entire video, does it contain the build?
2- You’re build is all about damage or mixed with something else? Survival perhaps?
3- Have you any pics or videos with you’re build, runes, gear, etc? Kinda like a guide with you’re build?

Thank you randomfightfan.4091 for all the help, and sorry for all the questions and doubts but i’m very noob in this things, i love MMO’s, i left WoW for GW2, without regrets, i love the story, the races, characters, all of it really, even the world is beautifull, but i’m very noob to know what kind of build and stats i should focus on.

Taril.8619:

• Condition builds That use either Dagger/Dagger (#3 Death Blossom skill) or Pistol/Dagger (#5 Cloak and Dagger into #1 Sneak Attack) and focus on stacking up bleed damage will be looking at focusing on Condition Damage and also Condition Duration to enhance damage.

• Direct damage builds Will be looking at getting high amounts of Power, Precision and Critical Damage.

• Balanced builds Will want to get a mix of Power, Precision, Critical Damage, Vitality and Toughness. At the higher levels there are sets of gear that provide Power + Precision + Critical Damage (Berserker) and also gear that provides Power + Vitality + Critical Damage (Valkyrie) that are often combined to provide good damage and survivability.

• Hybrid builds Will focus on gaining a mix of Condition Damage, Power and Precision to ensure high direct damage with high condition damage through bleeds that can be applied.

Basically this. I’ll help explain a bit more.

Basically, Condition Damage and Direct Damage builds have been the norm in the past (although CD seems to be fading). Your direct damage builds are going to be your stereotypical thief builds, which basically means that you’ll be using HS, CnD, and Backstab often.

The next two build types are a bit less common. I usually call balanced builds, in the realm of the thief, “bunker builds”, because, relative to other types of builds (particularly the direct damage ones), these builds are extremely survivable. Personally, this is the camp that I fall in to. This will give you a good bit of stealth and mobility via SA and Acro. They also deal surprisingly good damage for how their trait points are distributed. An example of an old balanced/bunker build is in my sig at the bottom (the D/P build). I don’t play that build any more, but it’s a perfectly viable build, and is really trustworthy. Anyhow, if you’re looking for somewhat “average” damage (relative to, say, critty thieves), but good survivability, then this might be the build set you’re aiming for. Also, being one of the more uncommon types of builds in use (although I’m beginning to see them pop up increasingly more and more often, and I was, quite frankly, surprised to see them even mentioned in Taril’s comment), bunker/balanced thief builds are a great way to contribute to developing new builds for the thief community, if you’re into that kind of thing.

Finally, Hybrid builds… Are kinda weird. I don’t have much to say about them, although I have meddled with them a bit in the past (see the P/P build in my sig). I think that this is a build type that you’re either going to love, or that you’re absolutely going to hate. Personally, I think that although they sound kinda cool at first, they fail in that they lack very good consistency, or aim towards goals that, while perfectly viable, do fail in that they’ll mean that you have no stealth, not enough damage… Whatever.

So, really, the main differences between builds vary based on what you envision your role as a thief being, as well as how you want to kill your opponents.

Also- and I mean no offense to random FF- but the 10/30/20/0/10 build, while nice, does lack a lot of really important stuff. For one thing, it lacks good dodging traits, meaning less mobility and damage avoidance. It also isn’t very defense-heavy, meaning that he runs a very crit-based build with his traits, but his gear makes this even more lopsided. Sure, it’s not necessarily bad or anything, but if you mess up once, you could find yourself dead in seconds.

Also, if you’re looking for init regeneration and such, there are a lot of better options that you could choose. For example, a good bunker/balance build regens initiative like crazy, if you spec it to do so.

RFF also makes the point of basically saying that a good defense is a good offense- which I totally agree with. However, there are a few problems with that. For one thing, from my experience, going all-out aggressive often leaves you too exposed to enemies, meaning that they can simply go just as aggressive on you and beat you down pretty easily. I think a good example might be (and bear with me here) to compare it to my chess experiences (mostly because I’m a huge chess player). Now, on the one hand, you can leave your king completely safe and sound, but what ends up happening is an extremely boring game that will most likely end in a draw; if you decide to play all-out defensively, then you can’t win. On the other hand, you can leave your king exposed, but instead take initiative (no pun intended) and attack the enemy with your army. Now, this has the benefit of utilizing your resources more efficiently than playing 100% defensive, where you don’t use your resources at all. It also gives you a shot at winning, unlike playing defensively. Where this falls apart, however, is at the assumption that all defenses are going to be strictly defensive. Unfortunately, this isn’t the case, and a good player will be flexible with their defenses. The next thing you know, a pawn that had served a more defensive purpose beforehand could be thrust down your throat by your enemy. Since you have no defense to protect against these types of counter-threats, you will simply lose against a good player.

This is pretty much the same in GW2. If you have absolutely no defense, your opponent can flip the tables on you, turning their defensive position into an offensive position, with you having no defense. To make up for this, you have to further deplete your resources by being even more aggressive, which, of course, demolishes your defense even further. There comes a point where you can’t continue being even more aggressive, and, at that point, you will finally snap in half.

It’s a nice idea to be completely aggressive, in theory, but, in practice, the more aggressive you want to be, the more resources you have to use up in order to be more aggressive. To a mes with 14K health and 1860 armor, +1 toughness would be much more valuable than +1 toughness when you already have 3000 armor. On the other hand, for a mes with 3000 armor, +1 power could turn out to be extremely useful. The point is that, the more you engage in an action, the less you’ll gain out of it. If you use a strictly aggressive build, the more aggressive you try to get, the less benefit you’ll gain out of that aggression, while having to give up things like toughness and vits that you really need.

tl;dr: the “go all-out aggressive” strategy, in theory, is very nice, but your opponents can punish you for using it by first playing defensively, and then using the overextension of your resources to their advantage, eventually turning the tables and having to put you on the defensive.

Any recomended sites with very good builds or videos where they really describe with detail the build to take?

@ argan, you’re 100% right with all your points but you’re undershadowing 1 thing. I don’t take 15 into acro b/c you don’t need when using you initiative for dodging (mostly sbow 3) and withdraw. With all the ways to get initiative, I’m usually fine when it comes to that aspect (assuming I don’t do something stupid like spam it 3 times in a row as a panic escape mechanism :P). Also just because you’re full zerker doesn’t mean you have to go balls out every time. I run mostly defensive utilities that can easily double as offensive. Ex. Aggressive shadowstep in to land that cnd while steal is on cd, hit him hard, get out with shadow return (if u need to). A lot of the time I am using sbow on my target until an opening appears. In PvE, this is most of the time :P. In WvW, if it’s a guard, it’d just be dumb to steal in. Stay ranged, break their shields, swap to daggers, toss a dancing dagger to break the aiges and shortly after do precast cnd steal. This obv doesn’t work 100% but it’s usually enough to have 1 defensive weapon, mostly defensive utilitiese, but full offensive gear. Also the 200 toughness and such amazing condition removal more than makes up for lack of toughness.

For sure the biggest downside is that you’ll get blown up by other glass classes if you mess up. For thieves with bas venom, ALWAYS have shadowstep ready to go. If it’s a shatter mesmer, you can make the clones useless by dodging into them as they charge you. Sword 2 mesmer, use sbow 3 to dodge that attack while immobilized.

The list does go on but the short of it is you need to learn how to thief around before you can make any build viable. This is just the one that I’ve found to work for me as it has a relatively healthy defence along with it’s amazing offensive potential. It does require you to be on your toes (which I like) or else it’ll be unforgiving. That’s fine once you’ve gotten the hang of it. Until then though, you should work your way in slowly.

Fair enough, I suppose I can find most of that, at the very least, agreeable.

yea I did trail by fire so I died a lot at first. By the time I got used to the playstyle I was a significantly better thief b/c of the harsh conditions I put myself through.

didn’t see it mentioned so in case I am not actually blind, the two common leveling builds you may want to use, at least for a while, are double daggers with condition damage gear. you use death blossom and the caltrops utility to bleed and kite enemies to death. with signet of malice as the heal you can drop massive groups of enemies with almost no risk. the other is sword/pistol with power gear. using the weapon sets black powder and pistol whip abilities you can blind and evade tank most damage while using the fact the swords auto attack hits multiple targets to take down groups of enemies. once again signet of malice comes in handy, as does caltrops (more for the hit volume than the bleeds with a power build, but the bleeds will still hurt.) as for traits, both tend to use acrobatics for survivability, with points in crit strikes for S/P for damage, and points in trickery and deadly arts for D/D to enhance condtion damage and duration. though only put points into deadly arts in 10 point increments, as that is when death blosssom gets it’s extra ticks of damage. (it gets one every 10% duration, the pistol bleeds get one every 25%)

gungnir is right about using that build to level up to 80 for open world pve but in dungeons and any time after you’ve reached lvl 80, it’s pretty bad. Pretty much junk really.