Guild Wars 2

Just looking for a good P/P build for PvE and HoT. I’m kinda new to theif.

If it Pve it should be noted that not much in the way of Condition cleanse needed. That said it very helpful to some sort of sustain in the set as things can kill you pretty quick in HOT such as those raptor packs.

A lot then depends on whether you yourself want to go the power route, in which case you need a bit more sustain from trait selection (such as IP out of the CS line coupled with staff offhand) or if you want to go condition route wherein you use a combination of stealths and higher armor and vitality to increase survivability.

It’s PvE and P/P (an utterly garbage weapon set). Use w/e you want, and just spam 3 on cd. You’re set.

Pyrophobia.6592:

Just looking for a good P/P build for PvE and HoT. I’m kinda new to theif.

I’m playing a double pistol thief and have lots of fun with it, so I’ll go ahead and show my general PvE (and of course HoT) build. Since I only play this game for a little bit more than 2 months, this could probably be improved. But it worked and works well for me in PvE/HoT everyday thieving and story. It was possible to beat all story bosses with it.

Since I got a decent staff, I started using it as well for hurting multiple targets. Double pistol is more for single targets, but with thief’s mobile abilities, you can easily fight several mobs and kill one after the other.

http://gw2skills.net/editor/?vZAQNAqaWn8MBdmiNOBGOB0PhlfCbbMFA+PeLhkwTYOAmAfgA-TpQBQAzTBA4JAAA

This gives me enough regeneration to survive, as long as there is something to shoot at, and the Trickery trait line makes the group stronger. You fight most big things in groups anyway, I change that to Deadly Arts when fighting bosses alone (in the story). With Ankle Shots I have even more time to keep distance to the mobs because it cripples them. I’m using Berserker stats in all slots, so most hits are critical. I also use Slice of Candied Dragon Roll as food. A single Unload with my pistols usually fills up my health bar. My second Sigil is Blood instead of Lightning Strike. I believe it helps staying alive, in exchange for a little less damage.

@those who are playing thief much longer than I am, please comment

I know that there are stronger dps builds, but if double pistol is what you like to play, this one works.

I still do no understand why people need a unique build for open world pve. Just equip dmg gear (zerker/marurder) and that’s it. You probably don’t even need traits lol. For hi end fractals or raids then yeah fair enough but not garbage bad Ai mobs in hot.

Fat Disgrace.4275:

I still do no understand why people need a unique build for open world pve. Just equip dmg gear (zerker/marurder) and that’s it. You probably don’t even need traits lol. For hi end fractals or raids then yeah fair enough but not garbage bad Ai mobs in hot.

That’s true, and the reason why a P/P build is good enough, like any build. But it would surprise you how many people struggle in the HoT maps, because the mobs “cannot be soloed”.

Only the chak hurt more then the other mobs tbh they die fast as well. And the events with in hot are not really designed at solo play but still can be done. P/p is only good if you spec full dmg with it other wise you’re just wasting inative on #3 when you can go Staff and bounce all over the mobs instead

Fat Disgrace.4275:

Only the chak hurt more then the other mobs tbh they die fast as well. And the events with in hot are not really designed at solo play but still can be done. P/p is only good if you spec full dmg with it other wise you’re just wasting inative on #3 when you can go Staff and bounce all over the mobs instead

That is less fun for me and others who I see use P/P

And for damage you can always switch to staff and autoattack #1 until your initiative is full again, then keep unloading.

Fat Disgrace.4275:

I still do no understand why people need a unique build for open world pve. Just equip dmg gear (zerker/marurder) and that’s it. You probably don’t even need traits lol. For hi end fractals or raids then yeah fair enough but not garbage bad Ai mobs in hot.

This akin to asking why people want to ski down a hill when they can take a cable car and take a ride.

Many People play games as a source of entertainment and not so they can kill pixels on a screen. If a person wants to use P/P and solicits advice on the same there nothing that needs to be understood as to why. If some find it fun, then for them it is fun.

P/P does not only work if full damage specced. It works in condition and power builds and does plenty of damage due to might stacking and in open world PVE self might stacking is always a boon. As to staff , P/P use does not exclude using a staff. Indeed the pair work great together in a power build.

babazhook.6805:

If a person wants to use P/P and solicits advice on the same there nothing that needs to be understood as to why. If some find it fun, then for them it is fun.

Exactly, it reminds me on a neighbour I had once. If a car stopped and the driver asked for directions, he would sometimes say things like “what do you want there, there’s nothing interesting!” before he would give totally wrong directions. Well, what do you expect asking a grumpy looking 76 years old for directions!

P/P is a lot of fun in general PVE. I pair it with staff and build for toughness. The build I use is below. I have mostly ascended gear at this point, but I’ve mapped this one out for exotics to give you a better idea of what your stats will look like on a budget:

http://gw2skills.net/editor/?vZAQNAqaWl8MhynYhTw3JQ/EL/EW3ZZFsm2GTBg/zcA8A+AB-TxBBwAAOFA5U/h2+DSUC+w8nSlfBeCAAA-e

You’ll hear some people say “go full glass cannon” and other people say Toughness won’t do you any good, and I’m here to tell you they’re all wrong. This build gives up a lot of damage potential for survivability, but in HoT and Season 3 content, you’re gonna need it.

Staff pairs great with pistols in a Power build, as some others have said in this thread. You will inevitably need something that can deal with 3-5 baddies at once, and nothing in the Thief loadouts does that better than Staff.

Conversely, there will always be fights where staying in close against a boss is just a bad idea. For that, there’s the pistols. I see some folks in this thread here espousing the “all you need is berserker gear unless you’re bad at the game” point of view, and while they’re welcome to it, I’ve never seen that work in practice. In HoT and even in Season 2 and 3 content, you -will- get knocked down and you -will- take hits while you’re trying to get back up, and if you don’t have some kind of buffer, you’re gonna die. A lot.

And with respect to the folks who spec full Berserker, that’s where math has parted ways from reality in my experience. You might do so much crit damage that a single Unload fills your health bar up, but if you’re sitting at 11k HP and 1000 armor, there will be a lot of situations where you simply don’t get the opportunity because you got blown out of your shoes by something because you got clipped by a telegraph or lagged or whatever.

The idea here (as with most Daredevil/Acro builds) is that you can almost constantly be in motion, and you should take advantage of that.

The other idea is to lean on Invigorating Precision (grandmaster trait in the Critical Strikes spec) to keep you alive. Of all the sustain tools thief has (or doesn’t have), it’s the most reliable. Paired with Signet of Malice, as long as you’re hitting stuff, you’re getting health back. And 2800-3000 toughness ensures that most of the time, you’re getting it back faster than you’re losing it in most PvE content.