Guild Wars 2

Since fellow thieves were having doubt’s about the viability of P/P as a weaponset, I recorded some games to show that PP Dash can indeed be a viable alternative for SPVP.

Now, just a disclaimer, this is an unranked match, but the idea is that you play it exactly how you would play D/P thief…Sindrener style, except you are using pistols instead. Don’t get me wrong. DP is still the best weaponset, and is the only one that will be seen at top level gameplay…don’t expect PP to be on that level…But you can still perform all the way up and into Plat.

This build’s main attraction is that it takes advantage of Adventure Runes, which provide you an extra dodge every 16 seconds, giving you an enormous boost in mobility.

Build Link : http://gw2skills.net/editor/?vZAQNAqaVn8lClOhFmCmPBkmiFYCbOEWCbhephzQbQLBEA2NA-TpxHQBA4IAsj9H83JA4alBU4DAQZHCAA

Enjoy.

In my humble opinion, this build would be much better with easier access to stealth. Is there any benefit to using bounded dodger for stealth? Or would the use of pistol 5 cost to much initiative to be worth it?

I don’t main thief but I applaud the effort to theory craft new builds.

FrownyClown.8402:

In my humble opinion, this build would be much better with easier access to stealth. Is there any benefit to using bounded dodger for stealth? Or would the use of pistol 5 cost to much initiative to be worth it?

I don’t main thief but I applaud the effort to theory craft new builds.

I see this a lot, Most thieves will try and tell you that bounding dodger should be taken over Unhindered Combatant. But in my opinion, Bounding Dodger is much more of a duelist trait, rather than a conquest trait if you know what i mean.

Dodger makes you slow, no matter what weapon set. The extra damage modifier is nice, but it’s not necessary…especially with the recent changes, there’s no need to do any more damage. The only reason you would take dodger is to duel other’s, which doesn’t fit “the role of the thief” in conquest.

Stealth is great and all, but if you position yourself correctly, it’s not all that necessary. If you are being a good +1, you are literally going in, pew pew-ing for a few seconds till they die, and then you’re out again to the next +1. There’s would be no need for the stealth other then to have an easier time versing DP thieves. Hope this helps.

Should you be in need of a little bit more damage, one of the sigils can be swapped for Sigil of Fallibility. It may not seem like it, but the amount of vulnerability it applies boosts your dmg a lot. Also I am not really sure if 6th of Rune of Adventure is really worth it over entire rune bonuses likes Scholar, Wurm or Vampirism. But I guess it is a matter of personal preference.

The thing about Adventurer is that while damage lost when compared to those other runes, survivability ramps way up and IF you use one of the other dodges as example, you can generate extra damage via that dodge that those other runes can not,

With a UC build on P/P an extra dodge can very often get you an extra at range unload and added to that more dodges means the clock on the 10 percent less condition/power damage is running more often.

I quite agree with the Ops premise that damage is more than sufficient in this build. I think too many fixate on getting ever higher numbers when you in fact do not need them.

P/P generates so much damage as it is via Unload that there’s very little reason to push for BD. Especially since the bonus range is so good given the set’s desire to kite, while also making the thief effectively immune to chill/cripple/immob which otherwise easily kills P/P.

BD is usable for 1v1’s but in virtually every other environment UC is better.

The only issue with P/P is when you fight a reflect-heavy team. Though the shortbow buffs can probably help offset this given CG on shortbow is unblockable.

babazhook.6805:

The thing about Adventurer is that while damage lost when compared to those other runes, survivability ramps way up and IF you use one of the other dodges as example, you can generate extra damage via that dodge that those other runes can not,

I quite agree with the Ops premise that damage is more than sufficient in this build. I think too many fixate on getting ever higher numbers when you in fact do not need them.

DeceiverX.8361:

P/P generates so much damage as it is via Unload that there’s very little reason to push for BD. Especially since the bonus range is so good given the set’s desire to kite, while also making the thief effectively immune to chill/cripple/immob which otherwise easily kills P/P.

Yep. I’m glad others can see why the Adventure Runes are useful, especially for a P/P build. I’ve spent a lot of time theory-crafting a meta-capable PP build, and that a lot of options open up to you by just using these Runes alone.

Not only does it feel good to refill your entire endurance bar with juicy endurance, it can potentially free up a utility spot that would have otherwise gone to SoA, and accommodate the build to fit with the enemy comp. If you are facing a condi-heavy team, you can take Signet of Agility instead of Blinding Powder/Bandits Defense, or you can also exchange Bandits Defense for Shadow-trap for god-tier mobility.
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I also wanted to point some other things out.

The more damage you do with PP, the more dangerous reflects become to you. Having just the right amount of damage (not too much, not too little) can mitigate the risk of a bad stow on a reflect, while still doing enough damage to burst things down.

And of course, If the opposing team is too reflect heavy, then it’s simply a matter of being hard-countered. You can easily swap to D/P, change a single trait around to go from being hard-countered, to being DP Meta.

Alatar.7364:

Should you be in need of a little bit more damage, one of the sigils can be swapped for Sigil of Fallibility. It may not seem like it, but the amount of vulnerability it applies boosts your dmg a lot. Also I am not really sure if 6th of Rune of Adventure is really worth it over entire rune bonuses likes Scholar, Wurm or Vampirism. But I guess it is a matter of personal preference.

So i’m gonna look into Sigil of Fallibility. As far as i can tell, on paper the damage seems marginal. Removing 3 boons via sigils, plus another 3 boons via steal is pretty hard to beat. Sigil of Fallibility will only give you 5 stacks of vulnerability, a condition that is easily cleansed, so it doesn’t seem all that great to me.

Like others have said in the thread, The adventure runes 6th bonus is very potent for a number of reasons. The Runes you’ve mentioned also have some flaws that don’t make it good for a PP build.

• Rune of the Scholar : Most of the time, you are almost never over 90% health in a fight due to retaliation or even just from an enemy autoattack, So you are mostly relying on the passive stats it gives, which is just a marginal advantage over much needed survivability.

• Rune of the Wurm : 7% Vit to Ferocity is cool (15% extra ferocity). If you crave more damage over survivability, go for it. The vitality provided by the rune is near useless for a thief, because their defenses come from dodging. Rune of the Wurm i think is not as powerful as Rune of strength though. Your might stacks is what gives you a kitten-ton more damage, and having longer might duration helps keep you at 25 might stacks.

• Rune of Vampirism : Now I’ve never experimented with this Rune. I know that it has a bigger advantage in big team fights, because the life-steal gets bigger the more nearby foes are around. Like i mentioned above, a thief’s defense originates from dodging, which is straight mitigation along with a slew of other nice things. Because you are a PP thief, you generally don’t even want to be near enemies in the first place. Even if you are stealing 5k health in a big team fight every 40 seconds, it just does not match up to the usefulness of a full on extra dodge.