Guild Wars 2

I just recently abandoned my level 80 elementalist in favor of a thief. I’m trying to get an idea of how to shape my build.

So far, I’ve come up with this:
http://gw2skills.net/editor/?fYUQNAoYVlUmaOXey9E+JFx2Df2TeyVoo6HwZ/hrC

I mainly do PvE and WvW and wanted a build that could put out decent damage yet still take a few hits. I was having a bit of trouble deciding what traits to choose in Critical Strikes, though. Any suggestions?

And for gear, I was planning to go with a mix of Berserker’s (Crit Damage/Power (main)/Precision) and Rampager’s (Condition Damage/ Power/ Precision (main)) for maximum damage output.

What do you guys think?

skinnyb.5920:

And for gear, I was planning to go with a mix of Berserker’s (Crit Damage/Power (main)/Precision) and Rampager’s (Condition Damage/ Power/ Precision (main)) for maximum damage output.

What do you guys think?

I think that mixing those two types of equipment won´t give you the maximum damage output you want, either you go direct dmg (which is probably the maximum output available now) or the condition dmg (which is probably the most survivable one, however has some flaws because of the conditions design).

Go all condition or go all normal damage. It really doesn’t work very well trying to be a hybrid. I have found P/D to be the best for condi damage.
Here’s a condi build:
http://gw2skills.net/editor/?fYAQNAqYVlUmaOXey9E+5EB3Dna0m6pgsjtTxVtKA;TsAgyCuo8xAjAG7POfkNt+YUx8DA

Not sure how you want to play a D/D Thief, so can’t help you there.

I used to play a D/D condition, had no problems with it, even managed to get 25 stacks of bleeding on my own under certain circumstances

On second thought, I guess full Berserker/s over Rampager’s does make a bit more sense…
For rings etc, should I stick with the direct damage or would it be a good idea to sprinkle in some toughness/vitality?

As far as traits go, though, how does that look? Will I be able to survive in dungeons but still be able to take people down in WvW?

Dungeons are a bit of problem when going fully glassy (well, if you´re not a pro which knows every corner in them), taking down ppl is another story, but you stil have to know the class to survive, Theives have the least HP from the whole game (With Eles and Guardians), but we also have the least direct defenses (no protection, block, kinda weak heals compared to those other classes mentioned etc.), so our only real defense is to avoid dmg, and that takes skill.

You have experience playing the game, do you not?

How successful do you imagine a melee character with medium armor and 10.500 HP is going to be in Dungeons? Don’t you think you might be having some problems with…..you know…being one-shot….by pretty much everything.

Let alone when you add a few mobs in PvE or get pulled into 2+ Orrians. Even Last Refuge won’t save you then.

My recommendation is that at least half your gear should be either Valkyrie or Soldier. The rest can then be mixed and matched according to preference.

And you pick either Critical Damage or Condition Damage. They don’t synergize at all so trying to have both is suboptimal.

Some or your trait choices aren’t great either.

Sundering Strikes is pretty useless. Mug is much better.

Singets of Power only makes sense if you actually use 2+ Singets and even then it’s better in PvP than PvE.

Master of Deception for 12 seconds off Shadow Refuge. Why? It’s a situational ability….you don’t even know if you’ll need it every 60 seconds. Why reduce the cooldown?

Dee Jay.2460:

Let alone when you add a few mobs in PvE or get pulled into 2+ Orrians. Even Last Refuge won’t save you then.

You can have the glassiest build in the world and run over “2+” Risen easily with some active defense and a stun breaker to save your butt when you screw up. So the real question isn’t “Do you have enough Toughness/HP,” it’s “Does D/D and 15 in Acrobatics give you sufficient ability to avoid attacks?”

Dee Jay.2460:

Sundering Strikes is pretty useless. Mug is much better.

Mug’s extra damage every 45 seconds is pretty negligible in a dungeon. I’d honestly rather run Back Fighting. (Although I’d rather save the points altogether, but I suppose if you’re going D/D putting 15 in Deadly Arts for Lotus Poison isn’t a bad idea.)

Or you can go dagger/dagger 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 it’s like a Russian roulette. Just joking.

Dee Jay.2460:

How successful do you imagine a melee character with medium armor and 10.500 HP is going to be in Dungeons?

Quite more successful than my caster character wearing cloth with nearly the same amount of HP. Yeah, I know how to play the game and survive.

Dee Jay.2460:

And you pick either Critical Damage or Condition Damage. They don’t synergize at all so trying to have both is suboptimal.

That’s what I wanted to confirm.

Dee Jay.2460:

Some or your trait choices aren’t great either.

What would you recommend in lieu of Signets of Power and Master of Deception? I have to agree with ASP when he said mug isn’t too useful for dungeons or PvE. Most certainly in WvW, though.

I wouldn’t run Master of Deception just for Shadow Refuge, since it’s a situational skill rather than one you just burn on cooldown all the time. If you had, like, both Shadow Refuge and Smoke Screen on your bar, though, it’d totally be worth it.

After playing WvW all day I’ve come up with something a bit different:

http://gw2skills.net/editor/?fYUQNAoYVlUmaOXey9E+5Ey2jKsn4J9D4UPjrK+A;TsAg0ynkOpeS5E1MGkEzYtxZjEHA

(I included my ideal gear/runes/jewels).

I like how this one turned out a lot better. Crit chance and crit damage are in the 60%’s and i have 19k health.
I switch out Caltrops with Scorpion Wire depending on the situation.

Better?

skinnyb.5920:

After playing WvW all day I’ve come up with something a bit different:

http://gw2skills.net/editor/?fYUQNAoYVlUmaOXey9E+5Ey2jKsn4J9D4UPjrK+A;TsAg0ynkOpeS5E1MGkEzYtxZjEHA

(I included my ideal gear/runes/jewels).

I like how this one turned out a lot better. Crit chance and crit damage are in the 60%’s and i have 19k health.
I switch out Caltrops with Scorpion Wire depending on the situation.

Better?

That character calculator is made for PvP builds, so it is kinda innacurate for PvE/WvW purposes.

STRanger.5120:

skinnyb.5920:

After playing WvW all day I’ve come up with something a bit different:

http://gw2skills.net/editor/?fYUQNAoYVlUmaOXey9E+5Ey2jKsn4J9D4UPjrK+A;TsAg0ynkOpeS5E1MGkEzYtxZjEHA

(I included my ideal gear/runes/jewels).

I like how this one turned out a lot better. Crit chance and crit damage are in the 60%’s and i have 19k health.
I switch out Caltrops with Scorpion Wire depending on the situation.

Better?

That character calculator is made for PvP builds, so it is kinda innacurate for PvE/WvW purposes.

Oh, great.

Is it at least close?

skinnyb.5920:

Oh, great.

Is it at least close?

The Equipment page of the calculator contains only PvP Gear, which really differs in the stats from the PvE gear (except runes/sigils), so I don´t think that the numbers are even close to PvE ones.

As said, either go for direct damage or condition damage, there’s no point in trying to mix them.
My personal choice is to mix berserker and valkyrie pieces.

Put the 10 points of shadow arts into Trickery with Thrill of the Crime, it’ll give you a nice boost when you start your burst with steal.
I’d stick with 10 in DA, use Mug when pvp/wvwing. Lotus poison isn’t worth 5 trait points, put those 5 in Acrobatics (plenty of good traits to pick from) or Trickery (3 extra initiative.
30 in Critical Strikes is the way to go for direct damage. However, you should probably swap out Signets of Might for Practiced Tolerance.

Caltrops are only worth using on condition builds, for a direct damage build, I’d switch it out with shadowstep, assassin’s signet, devourer venom or blinding powder.

If you’d do all that you’d end up with this: http://gw2skills.net/editor/?fYUQNAoYVlUmaOHdy9E+JFy2jKcn4JvCklWBaqTxVJfA
(oriented at WvW, pvp stats are off, as mentioned before)