Guild Wars 2

Hello all,
I’ve mained a mesmer since launch, but leveled up a few alts in the meantime.

My lvl 80 thief has really caught my fancy and I’m playing it most of the time now.

A couple questions I’ve got:
1. Armor set for power-based play in WvW and Event PvE:
I’ve found knights armor to work on my mes and war as a good all-rounder set. How does it fit for a power thief?
If not knights, then what?

2. Shortbow v. P/P for Event PvE:
When the event train is hammering the Shatterer or the Shadow Behemoth, the P/P feels like a higher single target DPS. Right or Wrong?

Thanks for any input.

*And the recent S/D discussion? That weaponset is what brought me to the thief- so much fun. It feels less “one trick pony” than being a backstab or p/d condi thief. Maybe it’s less effective at one target focus, but man it’s cool to be bouncing around.

Weird that you haven’t received a single answer yet.

1. For armor sets I suggest Berserker and Valkyrie mainly, it’s easier to attain high crit chance on thief than on mesmer. I however put on some Cavalier or Knights if I go deep into deadly arts and feel I need some defence, mainly for WvW. (5/6/0/0/3)

I suggest aiming for 14-15k hp if you wanna be a bit more defensive, if you go deep into shadow arts you might need some more dmg mitigation 2300-2400 armor is a good goal. 50% crit chance and 225%+ crit dmg with power as mainstat on gear for maximum power is a nice goal. Rune of strength if you go deep acrobatics.

2. And yes, P/P grants higher dps single target. It’s good to always bring all weapon combos with you wherever you go.

I run S/D with 2/6/0/0/6, and I deal extremely high single target dmg and I’m able to daze my opponent a lot with steal and tactical strike, and rip boons quickly. I never liked acrobatics line too much and I prefer some light CC, positioning and only dodging key attacks.

Edit: forgot to add that you can also make a decent might stacking build with shadow arts and keeping 2 points in acrobatics for power of inertia, Runes of Strength and ‘Bowl of Orrian Truffle and Meat Stew’ for food.

Thank you for taking the time to respond.
Slow answers because it’s easy to criticize anyone’s specific response about gear choices.

I’ll try out the 2/6/0/0/6 with some Zerk stuff (I’ll replace in steps my full temple soldiers kit from the leveling some months ago)

D/D backstab is the highest single target DPS. There’s no other thief set that can match it (only single target), and as of various targets S/P seems the best.

This is what you want to run in WvW:

http://en.gw2skills.net/editor/?fZEQNAoYVlsMp0pdOx7J8PNBNBtdFGeI4uGrYGaFAA-TlSBABWq+AN7PQpKMmpE8KlKRcKAwSZFe6DW4IAAwDAIAACwNbz28mBO6RP6RP6R7m7cn7cn3sUARsMC-w

45% crit chance is ALRIGHT, with Hidden Killer trait (100% chance) you don’t need that much crit chance for basic attacks. 1767 is the number to hit 45% chance exactly, so everything else is pumped into Power and Vitality. Getting might on stealth works wonders with runes of strenght, perma +7% damage is really neat.

Wow. Thanks again!
Just played some WvW.
I did stuff my mesmer would never have a chance at living through.

@Ghostwolf:
The target numbers for HP and Armor really helped when I was putting the armor/runes/trinkets together. I was way wrong on my own (Too much vitality, didn’t use practiced tolerance, etc.)

@Stratos
I might have to look at D/D again for the DPS. The part of S/D I liked the most was the shadowstep on the sword, but going travelers I’ve put the Shadowstep utility on and voila- Heartseeker gets added to the mix.

And while SB is obv. the better ranged set, P/P can be devastating against a single target. Fits my style better.

Withdraw = get out of jail free
Shadowstep = Mesmer’s Blink but better. Mes Blink has to trait for 1200 range. Mes blink doesn’t cure conditions. Mes Blink doesn’t let you go back to the start as an escape!