Damage builds are all you’ll get with thief, as we do not have anything in the way of team support or bunker capabilities. In fact, our damage isn’t that great either; it can be trumped by a mesmer, elementalist, ranger, and even a warrior. What we do excel in is mobility, and that mobility combined with our utility enables us to take on classes and builds with higher DPS, as well as wear down those with high sustain.
D/P+SB Crit: 2/6/0/0/6
D/P+SB Panic Strike: 6/0/2/0/6
S/D Trickery: 2/6/0/0/6
S/D Acrobatic: 2/6/0/6/0
S/D Trick+Acro: 2/0/0/6/6
Then there are D/P and D/D Shadow Arts builds, P/D condi builds, D/D condi builds, D/D hybrid builds, which are used by some in hot join, very few in solo queue matches, and likely mostly seen in WvW.
The first step is getting to grips with thief gameplay - that is, the role and combat style. The best way to do this is pick a build that is easy to survive on, such as D/P shadow arts (2/6/6/0/0) and go to hot join. Then it’s on to unranked where you’ll change your build to one of those listed above, trading survivability for damage and boon ripping and or damage and greater sustain through more skillful play.
In my opinion D/P is the easiest to learn with, and S/D is much more versatile, more mobile, enables you to deal with multiple opponents for a time since an evade evades everything while a blind blinds one target for one hit, and, consequentially, has a higher skill cap. D/P has more burst, blinds, easier interrupts and easier access to stealth - including while out of combat. Some will surely disagree and say D/P has a higher skill cap and more to offer than S/D. It’s opinion, and at the end of the day mostly comes down to individual preference and ability with each set.
EU | Ímpáct / Impact Warlock / Impact Illusions
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