Guild Wars 2

Hi! I’m new to thief and I’m trying it out and I’m looking for builds and I’m not familiar with the thief scene so I don’t know which ones are which.

I’m looking for builds which are balanced on damage and tankiness and attrition builds.

Welcome to thievery!

At the top of this subforum you’ll see a thread stickied where people have posted the builds that work best for them. This changes all the time with updates but that’s what makes a game like this fun.

Also, this site is quite useful, you can actually “build” your thief and get a rough idea of DPS, suvivability, and other things you’ll want to take into account. My advice is to experiment with all the weapon combos; that’s something I’m still doing myself.

I recommend you use this build. Its different than most, but it balances damage, survivability, and control.

http://www.gw2db.com/skills/calc/thief#3|10|2642|2786|8743|3361|11435|0|0|0|0|30|1731|1193|1728|30|2198|746|751|10|1165|0|0|0|0|0|0|2|10|5|28032|28046|49962|49962|49962|49962|49962|25790|0|0|0|0|0|

d/p , s/p and same sigils on both weapons(leaching and air rune) . This build gives you unlimited stun breakers, daze, stuns, immobilize, and great damage. Once you get use to this spec you will realize its not only the best thief build for 1v1 but for team plays as well.

Just a FYI on your d/p don’t use heart seeker more than once. On good players its a waste of initiative. your 3,4,5 skill will be used the most besides your auto hits.

This is a pvp build.

In a PvE situation, especially if you’re any kind of direct damage build, a shortbow as an alt weapon has some great utility. The auto-attack alone, Trick Shot, makes it very valuable in group events, and in dungeons where melee is too dangerous. Plus, you have access to the most spammable blast finisher in the game: Cluster Bomb, which works amazingly well with any field but especially fire and water.

As stated above, a pistol offhand on one of your weapon sets + either Dagger or Sword as main works amazingly well in just about any scenario. Black Powder is one our best skills, and can completely shut down an enemy trying to melee you via perma-blind. Can also be used as a leap finisher via heartseeker for on-demand stealth. Shadow Shot, Pistol Whip, and Headshot are also all great skills that are again important in just about any scenario.

Lastly, when it comes to traits, DON’T neglect Shadow Arts. It’s got some of our most important traits that definitely make the difference between life and death in bad situations, pretty much regardless of what style of build you are running. Acrobatics is another line that is overlooked often, and shouldn’t be.

PS: When it comes to damage mitigation, Thieves tend to rely much more on active defenses such as dodging, blind, shadowsteps, interrupts, etc. rather than passive defenses like Aegis, high health, or high toughness / armor. Basically, if you can avoid a hit by not being there in the first place, do it. You’ll have to pay attention as often times in dungeons, you can’t afford to take even 2 solid hits from some mobs depending on your build. Make sure to utilize your weapon skills correctly, as many have built in evades / blinds that can save you. If you can survive well, you may find yourself being a surprisingly good team medic, as stealth res is very powerful and can sometimes help carry a bad / mediocre group.

Ah thanks for the tips guys. I’ll try the builds and suggestions and see how well i do.

Is sword/x viable? I don’t see many people running it.

EDIT: Any suggestions for dps builds as well?