Guild Wars 2

Aloha from Hawaii!

I just hit lvl 72 last night, and am quickly approaching 80. I am currently playing a D/D & SB condi build for leveling, but I know this isn’t particularly good for end-game PvE content. I have played AC-CoF in story mode, and AC/CM in explore a few times. I want to practice playing dungeons well, learning them and hopefully eventually guiding others though them.

I’m not new to GW2 (I have 80 mesmer and warrior), but I never “got serious” with either of them, putting them away to level a new profession. Thief “feels right” to me, so I want to start exploring more of what the game has to offer in terms of PvE.

I’ve read the Book of Shadows, the Dulfy.net dungeon speed run guide, and probably 308749234702384 posts here in the forums. I know these posts show up all the time, but I’d like some general advice with respect to play, gear and builds for someone learning dungeons. I know zerk is the way to go for optimum play, but maybe it’s not the best for those learning the dungeons?

I don’t have a lot of gold yet (~30g), so I need to be careful about where I spend it for now. I assume I’ll be buying all rare/exotic gear (depending on cost) to start with, and then as I run them more and amass gold, I’ll be able to buy better. But for newbie’s first set of gear, what should I focus on? Knights? Zerk? Other? Maybe one set is super cheap and great to start, and then you use that to lean and save up for better? Maybe getting tokens from exp mode in one dungeon is the way to get gear? I’ve also been saving up all my materials since I started leveling. I don’t know very much about the finer points of crafting and I haven’t done any with my thief, so maybe crafting is the right way to get gear or sell for gold to buy gear? As you can see, there’s a lot I don’t know (and don’t know I don’t know ).

Perhaps you guys can show me some build w/ gear in them and explain why I should go that route? Maybe you’ve learning from your own experience what worked or didn’t, or what you wish you’d done when first getting into “serious” dungeon play?

I know the advice could depend on my skill, since, say zerk is more damage but knight is more survive, so the answer really depends on how good I am and how well I can avoid damage. So, let’s say that I understand conditions, I understand the need for stacking/skipping, I’m fairly good at dodging and understand the combat mechanics of GW2. But I’m not an expert by any means.

One last note on gear: I do intend on eventually exploring WvW, so I’d like to be able to get gear that’s also viable there, but it’s not my priority.

Please don’t hesitate to ask me any questions. I’m not a member of a guild on my thief so maybe I should find a friendly one and ask people to show me the ropes. I’m on TC, and I hear good things about AARM, but feel free to advise me on that too. Oh, and just to be clear, I always put things like “looking for guide”, “New to this dungeon”, “all welcome” and the like in my LFG desc. I’m polite, listen, and truly wish to learn and not be a hindrance to others.

TL;DR: I’m new to “serious” dungeon play and am looking for advice/builds/gear for learning them to become a useful member of group play.

Mahalo!

if u r NEW to dungeons dont play thief … just roll war
no one likes a bad thief in a dungeon run :S
edit …….
lol i am olny saying this because the amount of people who olny want wars for dungeons ! and the “NEW”?

thiefs are good for healing downed players in dungeons with shadow refuge !

but really u just need to be good enough to never get hit because u will die quick … a sword pistol …. black powder pistol whip is the way to go 4 dungeons if u r running a thief ….

but a support class can be better for your team

caveman.5840:

if u r NEW to dungeons dont play thief … just roll war
no one likes a bad thief in a dungeon run :S

thiefs are good for healing downed players in dungeons with shadow refuge !

but really u just need to be good enough to never get hit because u will die quick … a sword pistol …. black powder pistol whip is the way to go 4 dungeons if u r running a thief ….

but a support class can be better for your team

None of this is correct. For PvE Thief is a great class for stealthing and it is the highest dps class in the game for single target bosses. The build for PvE is 6/6/0/0/2 with full berserker gear. You can find the full build guide here: http://www.dtguilds.com/forum/m/6563292/viewthread/12497961-dnt-thief-build-415-patch

For bosses you’re gonna want D/D for single target DPS
For trash mobs you’re gonna want S/P for cleave and blinds
For blasting stealth/might/swiftness your gonna want Shorbow

DivineSlayer.5039:

caveman.5840:

if u r NEW to dungeons dont play thief … just roll war
no one likes a bad thief in a dungeon run :S

thiefs are good for healing downed players in dungeons with shadow refuge !

but really u just need to be good enough to never get hit because u will die quick … a sword pistol …. black powder pistol whip is the way to go 4 dungeons if u r running a thief ….

but a support class can be better for your team

None of this is correct. For PvE Thief is a great class for stealthing and it is the highest dps class in the game for single target bosses. The build for PvE is 6/6/0/0/2 with full berserker gear. You can find the full build guide here: http://www.dtguilds.com/forum/m/6563292/viewthread/12497961-dnt-thief-build-415-patch

For bosses you’re gonna want D/D for single target DPS
For trash mobs you’re gonna want S/P for cleave and blinds
For blasting stealth/might/swiftness your gonna want Shorbow

Hi Divine! Thanks for chiming in. I’ve read the guides (and I’ll be sure to watch the vid you posted), but the thing is, they all already assume you’re fully geared out and know the dungeons. Are you suggesting that for a freshly leveled thief who is learning dungeons, I go straight for a zerk/scholar setup? Can that even be purchased with ~30g?

sirrealist.1360:

DivineSlayer.5039:

caveman.5840:

if u r NEW to dungeons dont play thief … just roll war
no one likes a bad thief in a dungeon run :S

thiefs are good for healing downed players in dungeons with shadow refuge !

but really u just need to be good enough to never get hit because u will die quick … a sword pistol …. black powder pistol whip is the way to go 4 dungeons if u r running a thief ….

but a support class can be better for your team

None of this is correct. For PvE Thief is a great class for stealthing and it is the highest dps class in the game for single target bosses. The build for PvE is 6/6/0/0/2 with full berserker gear. You can find the full build guide here: http://www.dtguilds.com/forum/m/6563292/viewthread/12497961-dnt-thief-build-415-patch

For bosses you’re gonna want D/D for single target DPS
For trash mobs you’re gonna want S/P for cleave and blinds
For blasting stealth/might/swiftness your gonna want Shorbow

Hi Divine! Thanks for chiming in. I’ve read the guides (and I’ll be sure to watch the vid you posted), but the thing is, they all already assume you’re fully geared out and know the dungeons. Are you suggesting that for a freshly leveled thief who is learning dungeons, I go straight for a zerk/scholar setup? Can that even be purchased with ~30g?

those are for optimized runs. if you’re still learning the layouts, get casual/no speed clear/everyone welcome groups. once you know the dungeons (or feel comfortable enough), then you can start trying the stuff from the “pro” guides.

sirrealist.1360:

DivineSlayer.5039:

caveman.5840:

if u r NEW to dungeons dont play thief … just roll war
no one likes a bad thief in a dungeon run :S

thiefs are good for healing downed players in dungeons with shadow refuge !

but really u just need to be good enough to never get hit because u will die quick … a sword pistol …. black powder pistol whip is the way to go 4 dungeons if u r running a thief ….

but a support class can be better for your team

None of this is correct. For PvE Thief is a great class for stealthing and it is the highest dps class in the game for single target bosses. The build for PvE is 6/6/0/0/2 with full berserker gear. You can find the full build guide here: http://www.dtguilds.com/forum/m/6563292/viewthread/12497961-dnt-thief-build-415-patch

For bosses you’re gonna want D/D for single target DPS
For trash mobs you’re gonna want S/P for cleave and blinds
For blasting stealth/might/swiftness your gonna want Shorbow

Hi Divine! Thanks for chiming in. I’ve read the guides (and I’ll be sure to watch the vid you posted), but the thing is, they all already assume you’re fully geared out and know the dungeons. Are you suggesting that for a freshly leveled thief who is learning dungeons, I go straight for a zerk/scholar setup? Can that even be purchased with ~30g?

You probably cant purchase full scholar and zerker gear with 30g but if you farm some easy dungeon paths you can easily get the gold to buy it or you can buy the gear and use ruby orbs until you have the money for scholar. Also, to answer your first question I would recommend starting with full zerk so that you dont learn with any crutches.

I agree with Divine. Go for berserker’s gear from the beginning. It may be hard staying alive at first but as you play you will learn your thief, learn your dungeons and will not die as much. For your armor set I recommend you go run around Eotm. You will earn badges of honor, not to mention plenty of experience, which you could then go to eternal battlegrounds and get yourself an exotic armor/weapon set at little gold cost.
Like it was said earlier. Sw/p is best for trash mobs and d/d for bosses. Use your bow as a utility to blast fields if needed.
Also, don’t worry so much about those pro dungeon guides. They have great information about gear and food but they do not always tell you what to do at every situation for every dungeon. Focus on doing the dungeons, learning not only the paths but monsters and surroundings as well. learn your character and what you need to bring with you not only to survive but deal optimum damage. But most of all, don’t force it and have fun with it.

Buy level 80 masterwork Berserker armor and trinkets in the trading post or craft them yourself.
Get your hands on the best Sword you can get, if possible exotic Berserker.
Go to Explorer Gavbeorn Serpentslayer and buy the breathing apparatus with karma.

All the above should cost you ~6-7 gold.

If you have troubles surviving in dungeons you might want to get a Soldier/Knight armor and use that instead of Berserker until you’re more familiar with dungeons.

Start doing Citadel of Flame, path 1 and 2 are very easy, and even with PUGs each only takes about 10-15 minutes. Do both paths daily, and after 11-12 days you’ll have enough tokens to buy yourself a full exotic Berserker armor in Lion’s Arch.
Buy 6 Scholar runes for your exotic armor, maybe a 7th one for your underwater headgear.
Do CoF a few times more to buy yourself an exotic Berserker Rifle.

To speed getting your exotic armor and Rifle up you can also do Crucible of Eternity daily. Path 1 is easy if you stay close to Alpha, path 2 and 3 aren’t much harder once you’ve learned to time your dodges. Again you can trade the tokens in Lion’s Arch for level 80 exotic armor and weapons.

Don’t bother with exotic trinkets, go straight for ascended ones: Ascended equipment
You can get all trinkets with Laurels.
It’s a little faster to get rings by doing fractals and accessories by doing Guild Missions, though.
The easiest way to get an ascended backpiece is by doing fractals: Prototype Fractal Capacitor

I just started dungeon-diving with my friends and understand the boat you’re in. There’s lots of useful advice about gears already posted but I’ll share my current learning experience:

6/6/0/0/2 is going to get you killed. Fast. Especially so on first runs. I trait 5/6/0/3/0 for Feline Grace. In full zerk gear that’s just over 12k HP and essentially an extra dodge. It helps tremendously.

Forget D/D exists. You can try to be the backstab hero but until you know what the bosses are capable of you’re going to be counting ants face down on the floor. I stick with S/P and SB. Pistol Whip or SB kite as needed. As stated, S/P is going to also murder trash very well.

Make friends with an Elementalist. I know that FGS changes are coming but until then use it if you can. My wife plays one so I take the Improvisation trait and unload with Ice Bows and FGS as needed.

This is the spec I use when running:
http://gw2skills.net/editor/?fZQQNAsaVl8Mp6pFOx0J0PNBOBt9BqQC0NAruvfA-e

It may not be the most efficient but the dungeons get completed so… who cares?

Oh and total after-thought… don’t forget to check 78 exotics too. Most of the zerk pieces (except the ones with major expensive runes) only go for about 1g and are better than 80 rares. Masterwork/Rares are fine if you’re planning on bridging the gap to 80 exotic quickly.

I hope some of this helps!

Thief is one of those classes where stacking toughness won’t even help. On classes like warrior or guardian i advice people to take knight/ ptv when starting, but thief will get destroy no matter what. 5/6/0/3/0 is indeed a good spec to begin with. Get familiar with your role as a thief, mainly where do your team need stealth, interrupts, blinds. Run with people who don’t mind taking a bit of time to show you the ropes. I think TC is NA, right? If not, I can take you to any dungeons/ give you some arah paths to gear your char. You could ask the dungeon mentors [noob] guild, they are teachers for all dungeon contents.

For your gear, farm the berserker dungeon sets ( cof/coe/arah). Use S/P for pistol whip spam coupled with the healing sig, or even better, fgs with that heal. It’s basically an instant 100% heal. It comes down to knowing the encounters to know what to do in order to survive, so stick with experienced players until you’re comfortable enough to pug.

Get bezerker gear and if you need some extra condition cures, regen, or endurance then use traits to get those.

As thief in dun, I learn one thing.

Good thief = not die, do a lot stealth rez

Bad thief = die all the time (no one know you have highest dps but when you down everyone see that.)

Sad but true…..

On a side note, if you have enough karma, you can get a full exotic Zerker set from a vendor at the Temple of Grenth which will save you quite a bit of money and you can use either Superior rune of rage or ruby orbs till you acquire enough money to get scholars. Rage runes will give you a guaranteed near 100% fury up-time so you will be dealing the +5% damage majority of the time (currently ~50s per rune ~3g for entire set) and Ruby Orbs are a very cheap alternative as they provide a boost in Zerker stats.

As suggested by others here, practice with 5/6/0/3/0 until you feel comfortable enough with timing your dodges and positioning yourself against the bosses, then swap to 6/6/0/0/2.

I don’t know how much S/P will be affected in PvE from the upcoming black powder nerf, however, I think it’s safe to say that it’ll stay as the main trash mob dealing set post nerf as well.

Awesome advice! Thanks soooo much!

@FzeroWing: I actually figured that out last night, buying the full set w/ karma. I think I have the karma to do it, or close to it. Is there any reason NOT to? Is karma used for anything else? Part of the fun of doing dungeon runs is to get the tokens to buy the gear, so if I already have an exotic set then the drive to do dungeons is lessened. What do you all think of me buying an exotic zerk set with karma? Or, should I buy a rare set and then run CoF for the Flame Legion set (looks cool).

As for weapons, should I just buy the best sets I can afford from TP? Is there another way to get exotic weapons besides crafting and TP?

What about accessories? Should I buy rare and do fractals until I can buy ascended? Should I buy exotic? Is there another option I should consider? I have like 30something laurels, idk how many you need for an ascended set or if I should be spending them on something other than accessories.

As for builds, I’ve worked on two. I’m going to try to do D/D and S/P, and see if I can’t do alright with D/D. If not, I’ll go SB. In any case, I have:
1) This one that focuses on precision/fury
2) This one that focuses on dodge/might

The only differences between them are the food and runes. Or should I just be getting ruby? I think I like #1 more due to the synergy of fury/quickness.

Clearly there is a LOT more to this than I realized. Thoughts on all this? Thanks SO much!!!!!!!!!!!!

sirrealist.1360:

Aloha from Hawaii!

I just hit lvl 72 last night, and am quickly approaching 80. I am currently playing a D/D & SB condi build for leveling, but I know this isn’t particularly good for end-game PvE content. I have played AC-CoF in story mode, and AC/CM in explore a few times. I want to practice playing dungeons well, learning them and hopefully eventually guiding others though them.

I’m not new to GW2 (I have 80 mesmer and warrior), but I never “got serious” with either of them, putting them away to level a new profession. Thief “feels right” to me, so I want to start exploring more of what the game has to offer in terms of PvE.

I’ve read the Book of Shadows, the Dulfy.net dungeon speed run guide, and probably 308749234702384 posts here in the forums. I know these posts show up all the time, but I’d like some general advice with respect to play, gear and builds for someone learning dungeons. I know zerk is the way to go for optimum play, but maybe it’s not the best for those learning the dungeons?

I don’t have a lot of gold yet (~30g), so I need to be careful about where I spend it for now. I assume I’ll be buying all rare/exotic gear (depending on cost) to start with, and then as I run them more and amass gold, I’ll be able to buy better. But for newbie’s first set of gear, what should I focus on? Knights? Zerk? Other? Maybe one set is super cheap and great to start, and then you use that to lean and save up for better? Maybe getting tokens from exp mode in one dungeon is the way to get gear? I’ve also been saving up all my materials since I started leveling. I don’t know very much about the finer points of crafting and I haven’t done any with my thief, so maybe crafting is the right way to get gear or sell for gold to buy gear? As you can see, there’s a lot I don’t know (and don’t know I don’t know ).

Perhaps you guys can show me some build w/ gear in them and explain why I should go that route? Maybe you’ve learning from your own experience what worked or didn’t, or what you wish you’d done when first getting into “serious” dungeon play?

I know the advice could depend on my skill, since, say zerk is more damage but knight is more survive, so the answer really depends on how good I am and how well I can avoid damage. So, let’s say that I understand conditions, I understand the need for stacking/skipping, I’m fairly good at dodging and understand the combat mechanics of GW2. But I’m not an expert by any means.

One last note on gear: I do intend on eventually exploring WvW, so I’d like to be able to get gear that’s also viable there, but it’s not my priority.

Please don’t hesitate to ask me any questions. I’m not a member of a guild on my thief so maybe I should find a friendly one and ask people to show me the ropes. I’m on TC, and I hear good things about AARM, but feel free to advise me on that too. Oh, and just to be clear, I always put things like “looking for guide”, “New to this dungeon”, “all welcome” and the like in my LFG desc. I’m polite, listen, and truly wish to learn and not be a hindrance to others.

TL;DR: I’m new to “serious” dungeon play and am looking for advice/builds/gear for learning them to become a useful member of group play.

Mahalo!

sword pistol for trash mobs, spam dat blind
Dagger dagger for single target dps

sirrealist.1360:

Awesome advice! Thanks soooo much!

@FzeroWing: I actually figured that out last night, buying the full set w/ karma. I think I have the karma to do it, or close to it. Is there any reason NOT to? Is karma used for anything else? Part of the fun of doing dungeon runs is to get the tokens to buy the gear, so if I already have an exotic set then the drive to do dungeons is lessened. What do you all think of me buying an exotic zerk set with karma? Or, should I buy a rare set and then run CoF for the Flame Legion set (looks cool).

As for weapons, should I just buy the best sets I can afford from TP? Is there another way to get exotic weapons besides crafting and TP?

What about accessories? Should I buy rare and do fractals until I can buy ascended? Should I buy exotic? Is there another option I should consider? I have like 30something laurels, idk how many you need for an ascended set or if I should be spending them on something other than accessories.

As for builds, I’ve worked on two. I’m going to try to do D/D and S/P, and see if I can’t do alright with D/D. If not, I’ll go SB. In any case, I have:
1) This one that focuses on precision/fury
2) This one that focuses on dodge/might

The only differences between them are the food and runes. Or should I just be getting ruby? I think I like #1 more due to the synergy of fury/quickness.

Clearly there is a LOT more to this than I realized. Thoughts on all this? Thanks SO much!!!!!!!!!!!!

if you ever plan on making a legendary keep the karma
run a couple dungeon paths get some gold and some tokens, you will get your zerker set real fast

sirrealist.1360:

Awesome advice! Thanks soooo much!

@FzeroWing: I actually figured that out last night, buying the full set w/ karma. I think I have the karma to do it, or close to it. Is there any reason NOT to? Is karma used for anything else? Part of the fun of doing dungeon runs is to get the tokens to buy the gear, so if I already have an exotic set then the drive to do dungeons is lessened. What do you all think of me buying an exotic zerk set with karma? Or, should I buy a rare set and then run CoF for the Flame Legion set (looks cool).

As for weapons, should I just buy the best sets I can afford from TP? Is there another way to get exotic weapons besides crafting and TP?

What about accessories? Should I buy rare and do fractals until I can buy ascended? Should I buy exotic? Is there another option I should consider? I have like 30something laurels, idk how many you need for an ascended set or if I should be spending them on something other than accessories.

As for builds, I’ve worked on two. I’m going to try to do D/D and S/P, and see if I can’t do alright with D/D. If not, I’ll go SB. In any case, I have:
1) This one that focuses on precision/fury
2) This one that focuses on dodge/might

The only differences between them are the food and runes. Or should I just be getting ruby? I think I like #1 more due to the synergy of fury/quickness.

Clearly there is a LOT more to this than I realized. Thoughts on all this? Thanks SO much!!!!!!!!!!!!

Rare equipment could help you start, I also think that rune of rage are very good for low budget, my suggestion would be, buy rare armor with superior rune of rage, exotic weapons. Try to get as many ascended accessory from your laurel (I suggest buying the necklace first, they are cheaper if you have a couple badge of honor, get them in WvW)

Also, as good as superior of energy is, you already have a lot of dodge with the build you are running (I prefer your first build) and they are extremely expensive. Superior rune of night is cheaper and very useful in most dungeon (5 out of 8 dungeons, also the most runned dungeon)

You can also use superior sigil of frailty, very cheap and very strong/useful.

Once you start running dungeon, you will start gettting a lot of gold, that’s when you change to exotic armor with Scholar rune.

TL;DR

Rare armor with Superior rune of Rage are a very cheap and efficient solution to begin with (full set for ~4 gold)

Exotic weapons with superior sigil of force + night or frailty, this might be too expensive, you can start by buying the weapon first and later the expensive rune.

Rare trinket for now, slowly work your way to ascended, rings from Fractal of the mist, Amulet from WvW vendor (20 laurel + Badge of honor) and earring from Guild mission vendor.

My best advice to get you started with dungeon, join this guild ( they o not require you to rep ) https://forum-en.gw2archive.eu/forum/game/dungeons/Dungeon-Mentors-Noob/page/18#post4316443 they have dedicated teacher who will take you and teach you. Also watch video guide from youtube, lots of them, make sure they aren’t too old though. Don’t forget in GW2 the right set of armor will not make you good, you need to be careful and learn the mechanics involve.

Thanks everyone!

Wow, what a difference! I pretty much have to relearn how to play my thief. The days of laying down caltrop fields and death-blossoming all over the place to stack bleeds on all my enemies are over. I realize that the sword AA cleaves and that’s how you do your "AoE’ damage, but it’s a LOT different for me. I have to be a LOT more careful about how many enemies I aggro and how many hits I take. So, here’s what I’ve done:

1) Bought all rare zerk armor
2) Bought cheapest exotic zerk daggers, sword and pistol
3) Bought (6) runes of rage, (2) sigils of force and (2) of night
4) Bought ascended (my first!) amulet from WvW vendor
5) Bought “soldier’s” breather from karma vendor
6) Bought a few superior stones and minotaur steaks
7) I ran out of money, and so did NOT buy any other trinkets or a SB

I took all my new gear into AC story, a dungeon I know pretty well, and did… okay. I can certainly kill anything quicker, as long as I stay engaged. I feel my PUG was a bit lower than avg, and I didn’t need a res during the run, but I felt that I had to disengage from combat a lot more. I would engage, try to stay positioned, hit when I could, but anytime I saw an AoE attack start I would have to pull back and wait until I could get back into the fight. It’s hard to see which way the enemy is facing and what they’re doing exactly, with all the effects and toons standing right on top of the target, but I did my best. Without a short bow, I didn’t have a weapon to switch to when I had to disengage. Is this a common thing I shouldn’t worry about? In my condi build, I could constantly do damage by laying down caltrops, Deathblossom and SB. So, even if I disengaged (which I had to do a lot less b/c i have 17k health pool), I was still doing lots of damage with bleeds, or ranged attack. But now when I pull back, I’m not doing anything except waiting to get back in the fight. I know I’m doing more damage overall now, I just feel like I’m “doing something wrong” when I disengage and heal and/or wait for my opening to get back in. And even if I have a SB, I won’t be able to use it unless I switch to it BEFORE the fight. Thoughts?

Also, I’m a little confused about trinkets. It looks like you can buy all of them except the back item from the WvW vendor, yet it’s been suggested several times to get my accessories and rings from guild mission and fractal vendors, respectively. Is there a reason to get them from those vendors instead of the WvW one?

I joined the dungeon guild. I haven’t asked for help yet, but I will soon.

Any other advice and thoughts on what I should be doing except learning enemy tells, learning the dungeons, getting my CoF tokens for exotic armor, saving up for scholar runes and getting my ascended trinkets?

Thanks again everyone!

My mentor told me if I ever got into dungeons that having every weapon combination on hand would make me golden. But most importantly x/p for punching through defiant and blinding mobs and SB.

Well, congrats on your progress thus far with getting armor and weapons you need, you seem like your enjoying yourself and that’s whats most important.
As far as your trinkets, you can buy them all from the laurel/wvw merchant if you want and that is just fine. The reason why many don’t (or at least why I don’t) is that I value laurels more over pristine fractal relics and commendations. Laurels you get only 1 per day and that is IF you complete your dailies. and if you complete your monthlies you get an additional 10 more laurels which would net you only 40 laurels per month (pristine fractal relics are for ascended rings). But once you get that you only need 10 relics to purchase any ascended ring of your choosing (so about 10 days, 1 fotm run a day to get 1 ring.) That is much faster than laurels already not to mention you have a chance of getting an ascended ring drop for you after your daily fotm. btw, you can get the fotm chest(relics inside + rings if your lucky) if you do every lvl tier.
Commendations, you can earn up to 6/per week. You only need 12 commendations +5g to purchase any of the ascended trinkets. (so 2 weeks and you can get a trinket)
To go back to your question..sure you can use your laurels to get your ascended trinkets/rings but it’ll take a lot longer to get them than it would if you did a fotm run occasionally and did guild missions once a week. But if you don’t plan on using your laurels for anything else such as shards or infusions go ahead and get your gear. You will always get back those laurels.

Use the guide that Divine posted. Get the armor/trinkets/weapons from that guide. If you are having trouble use a 56030 build for more dodges or a 56003 build for extra initiative for pistol whip evades, this is only to learn the dungeons though as you want to go to 66002 for max dps.

yolo swaggins.2570:

My mentor told me if I ever got into dungeons that having every weapon combination on hand would make me golden. But most importantly x/p for punching through defiant and blinding mobs and SB.

yep, this. it’s not that hard with thief, just two daggers, two pistols, a sword and a shortbow. DnT likes to say you need extras of each for freaking sigil of the night or specific mob sigils, but i think that’s overkill.

Thanks everyone! I’m starting to get the hang of it a bit better. Last night I did CoE, and while I did get downed a fair number of times, I think I also did a good job of supplying high DPS while staying up. I only really went down to Kudu’s “killing shot”… he liked to target me with that and every time I would just go down. I had my first +7k backstab! It’s fun to see those big numbers.

sirrealist.1360:

I had my first +7k backstab! It’s fun to see those big numbers.

cough

For kudu, he is indeed annoying. Try to follow him with steal/ inf signet/shadow step to keep an eye on what he’s doing.

I made some trait adjustments for some survivability and now I’m doing really well! I’m reliably doing CoF runs without going down while still staying in the fight. Thanks so much guys, I really appreciate it!

This is the build I have now

I don’t have exotic armor or trinkets yet, but you get the rough idea