Guild Wars 2

I have been playing MMORPGs for many years now and I have always rolled and stuck with a warrior.

GW2 was no exception and I feel it is time to make the change and try something different. I have created a thief and I am currently lvl 20, I am loving this toon, however, I feel that I might not cut it at higher levels as I have no real idea how to play him.

I would really appreciate it if someone would be kind enough to give me a clue on what stats, gear and builds to use to enable me to be an effective thief (Solo and Groups). I am not interested in anything else other than PVE at this juncture.

Any help would be appreciated.

Kindest regards

Azz

Well, that actually depends on your play-style.

Do you love fast paced, highly mobile action or are you one of those (like me) that gets his fingers in a knot while trying to push too many buttons? ;-)

The Thief has a lot to Give, both PvP and PvE, but you have to decide what you’re after.

Cheers,

dM

Honestly,go warrior as soon as you can.Warrior is equally good in PvP(maybe not as mistake-forgiving in a noob level),he has almost double base HP,does great damage,he is times better in PvE and most of all it isn’t considered Overpowered.

The difference between Thieves and other professions is that you have to rely on active defence, not passive, meaning that you must be constantly moving and dodging heavy-hitting attacks as often as you possibly can.

Do yourself a favour and go to the Heart of the Mists and check out the Acrobatics trait line, it should give you an idea of the desired mobility and playstyle required to play the Thief successfully.

Once you’re done with that, consider what type of playstyle you would like. There are several very effective builds you can use in PvE (some more exciting than others… cough S/P is boring cough :P) and your preferred playstyle will determine what your best choice of build is.

thanks for the replys,

I am playing him with D/D and P/P atm, I start with P/P first then when the timing is right move in with D/D, its pretty much in and out from this point on (using dodge and stealth when needed) until he drops, i like this style, however not sure if this is the best way to play him.

Well, I prefer D/D myself very much. If you have the right Traits / Gear / Weapons and the timing down, you can easily get in 6k+ hits with the Cloak & Dagger + Backstab Combo on level 80. Dodge out, wait for Stealth Debuff to disappear, rinse & repeat.

My brother always complains if I use D/D though, because he can’t get much hits in before the mob is dead.

However you can’t take much damage and if you’re fighting mobs that have movement debuffs you really need to have quick fingers and a good internet connection.

Furthermore, as I have learned just recently how powerful the Shortbow can be on a thief, I would like to offer it as an alternative to your pistols. You can do decent AoE Auto Attack Damage (I hit for 1k+ there), have Bleeds and Poison and even 2 Evades if you know how to use them. I would suggest to go to the Mists and give it a try.

Gear-wise I decided to go full Berserker on my Accessoires and Weapons while having a good mix of Condition Damage / Vitality / Toughness on my Armor.

And though I bet a lot might argue about my choices, I find they suit me well in PvE, sPvP and WvW.

I kill a lot, do decent damage and still have enough survivability to get away somewhat clean… ;-)

Cheers,

dM

@dM thanks, that is helpful. Might have a look at the SB tonight

Definitely give the Shortbow a try as your secondary, it synergises beautifully with pretty much any melee focussed build with Signet of Malice as the heal.

That being said, it sounds like you may enjoy a D/D backstab focussed build since you like to get in and out of the fight. Use CnD (#5 on Dagger OH) as often as you can once you’ve gotten used to the timing right to practically spam Backstab on targets. As long as you’re constantly moving you should be down everything pretty fast and have limited agro since you’ll be stealthing repeatedly. Use Heartseeker (#2 on Dagger MH) to finish off any mobs that don’t die after one or two Backstabs and still have ~25% HP remaining.

If you ever decide that you want to be able to kill multiple enemies faster (and therefore clear areas faster) then keep D/D + SB and use Signet of Malice, Caltrops, Roll for Initiative, and put 5 points into Trickery to give you 3 Initiative on Steal. Then you can basically use Caltrops, Death Blossom twice, Steal, DB again, RoI, DB twice more, and if the mob isn’t dead by then, finish it off with a couple of HS’s.

Hope we’ve helped.

Thieves are not limited to daggers and running around IMO.

If you had asked me 2 months ago if I would switch to S/P and the more “stationary” mindset I would call you crazy. Now I’m all about S/P, crit, crit damage, power, haste, and I’m loving it

Self healing keeps me up and running (Malice, Assassins Reward and Omnomberry Pies (nomnom)), black powder is sweet for the tougher encounters. I use Ambush/Thieves Guild as often as I can. My build gives plenty of extra damage here and there (Sundering Strikes, Executioner, first strikes, fluid strikes) Here is a link to my build: http://www.guildhead.com/skill-calc#mckmMMMMz9aax0x0ooaqMsa8kir7kiG7kij7070M7kGf70V

The first week or so with S/P i kept shadow refuge on my skillbar as an escape option incase things got too tough, but I switched it for haste