Guild Wars 2

First off, how do you make stealth last longer? I am level 21 ?
I see many ppl buffing so they run faster around the world(and it even sometimes buffs me) do we get a buff to do that?
So far I am playing with dagger pistol and then shortbow, is that good or should I be using different combo.
Last question, I joined what I think was called a zerg and we went around killing bosses in the open world. Do they have this in every zone as you level up?
and last, what are the Must have traits for thief, I play solo. There is so much information out there but I would like to hear a current answer,.
THanks So much

hi and welcome to the thief forum :p

question 1 stealth stacking : you can make stealth last longer by stacking it , for instance: cast black powder (pistol offhand) and use heart seeker (dagger main hand) to trigger the stealth heart seeker again through the field to get longer stealth , there is a large number of ways to do this: you can use your short bow in a blind field to stack stealth or simply use more utility’s but the max duration is 15 sec so it’s not perm stealth just play around with it.

Question 2 swiftness (33% faster run speed ): you can get this buff in the trickery trait line or acrobatics (assassins retreat is great when killing mobs)you can also use signet of shadows (25% faster)

Question 3 leveling zergs: in some zones this exists it depends on the zone/server but it’s not everywhere so simply ask in zone chat ( type: /y ) and your message

Question 4 traits: every thief trait line has it’s benefits none are necessary and it all depends on your spec (condition or damage) you can also choose to have more survival, if you stealth a lot go for shadow arts. if you dodge a lot go for acrobatics if you want more condition damage go trickery. but since you have dagger/pistol you are raw dmg so go for critical strikes and shadow arts play around with it for the best result and the most fun but even so i have a suggestion build.

http://gw2skills.net/editor/?vYAQNAV4alsMpzplPxyJsPNRs9on6kncPMqTbqWBaC

i hope this covers it gl and have fun

yes thanks so much, I will spend more time and try these out,

For sake of Elvis… do not use d/p and do not spec shadow arts (specially full) for pve. That build that Barock linked shouldnt be used in pve, but pvp. Best all around weapons for solo pve are Sword+pistol (because it cleaves, has built in evade and smoke field) and shortbow. For exploration you want to put points in deadly arts and critical strikes and use full dps gear(strong, berserker at higher levels). For zerg pve that happens during living story for example should chose tankier gear and/or spec more into survival lines such as acrobatics. In pve Stealth is useful only for skipping mobs, taking vistas, points of interest etc etc and that can be achieved with shadow refuge and/or blasting shortbow 2 into smoke screen (smoke field).

Shadowshot keeps me from taking any damage as long as I refresh it. I just tried sword pistol and I take on much more damage. I am low level.

Electra.9034:

Shadowshot keeps me from taking any damage as long as I refresh it. I just tried sword pistol and I take on much more damage. I am low level.

S/P nr 3 is a full evade (the damage part, not the stun part) while doing high cleave damage. S/P 5 completely negates melee (and ranged if you know how to break line of sight) damage by blinding mobs for 5s while damaging mobs with auto attacks that also cleaves up to 3 targets. If you insist on playing D/P then its nr 5 ability is same as S/P 5 – blind field that completely negates all mobs damage in melee range (but dagger attacks do no cleave). Oh and btw if you are new player. IF you use D/P 5 and then leap through it with 2 then you get stealthed and gain access to backstab.

oh, thanks, you know your mechanics and I respect that, I play Aion for past 5 years. I have a month of work so I intend to get as far as I can with this thief. Any other newbie advice that you can think of would be sweet. After all I am on my 2nd day.
Of if you know of any links that are worth me reading over,
:)

Electra.9034:

oh, thanks, you know your mechanics and I respect that, I play Aion for past 5 years. I have a month of work so I intend to get as far as I can with this thief. Any other newbie advice that you can think of would be sweet. After all I am on my 2nd day.
Of if you know of any links that are worth me reading over,
:)

Don’t get stuck with one weapon set – try all out at least to know what each weapon set is capable off. In the end however, you will settle with sword/pistol and shortbow because its simply the best for open world pve purposes :P

Electra.9034:

First off, how do you make stealth last longer? I am level 21 ?
I see many ppl buffing so they run faster around the world(and it even sometimes buffs me) do we get a buff to do that?
So far I am playing with dagger pistol and then shortbow, is that good or should I be using different combo.
Last question, I joined what I think was called a zerg and we went around killing bosses in the open world. Do they have this in every zone as you level up?
and last, what are the Must have traits for thief, I play solo. There is so much information out there but I would like to hear a current answer,.
THanks So much

1) Stealth lasts longer from a trait, and from utility/weapon skills. Your 15 minor trait in Shadow Arts (aka SA) makes stealth skills last 1 second longer. Outside of that, it’s a combination of stealth utility skills like Blinding Powder, Shadow Refuge, Shadow trap and weapon skills like Cloak and Dagger (dagger off hand), or Black powder shot (pistol offhand) + Heart seeker (dagger main hand). If you create a smoke field and leap through it, you gain 3 seconds of stealth. If you blast a smoke field (sb, blinding powder) you get 3 seconds however you cannot enter stealth from blasting a smoke field IF you hit a target.

2) Most likely a mix of shadow stepping and leaps. For example, if you target an enemy far away with sword and press #2 it won’t teleport you on the target but it will teleport you the max distance the skill permits without a huge cost of initiative (your resource pool). Otherwise heartseeker with swiftness (a boon that grants 33% movement speed) or Short bow Infiltrator’s Arrow (900 range teleport). There is also a signet that when off cooldown, grants 25% movement speed.

3) Dagger pistol is fine, its very powerful if you ever decide to start dueling as a power thief. Just use all the weapons atleast once and see what you like most. Shortbow is almost standard for a thief’s alternate weapon but not required. Shortbow is a good utility weapon and great for tagging enemies (by tagging I mean hitting).

4) Zerging is not in every map but in quite a few. Primarily the maps whose champions (high ranked enemy) are on a quick rotation. Zerging in pve is more for loot than levels, I would focus on doing hearts and even a couple steps in your personal story line. Granted they’re not the most enjoyable experience, they yield good exp for little effort.

5). Depends on your build, there really are no “must have” traits for thief. As you level and unlock more skills test them, see what you like. Over time and not that long of time, you will realize which traits and skills are good or bad, as far as what you’re trying to do. Ill tell you there are dozens of terrible traits, but there are no traits that every thief needs.