A lot of condi builds use d/d for death blossom. This setup also has cloak and dagger, which you can pop for some condi removal. You may not have noticed this while building, but thieves don’t have a lot of condition removal, so Shadow’s Embrace is quite important for the build.
For the Deadly Arts tier, Potent Poison is good for more than just Dagger Training. Thieves use poison in a lot of ways, from dagger auto to needle trap to serpent’s touch. The poison from these skills is still a viable contribution. As for Dagger Training vs. Trapper’s Respite, that is a complicated one.
The main advantage with Trapper’s Respite is the ability to pre-cast two needle traps onto an area. The important thing to know here is the recharge: 30 seconds without Deadly Trapper, 24 seconds with. If you are using Skelk Venom (32 second recharge with venom traits), you’ll want to stick with dagger training. If you are using something like Withdraw or Signet of Malice, then you can pop a needle trap every 24 seconds with time to spare. Last time I checked, Trapper’s Respite has higher damage potential than Dagger Training if you can use it every 24 seconds.
Dagger training is less cumbersome, though. Just equip it and forget. On my condi build, I generally end up running Needle Trap anyway, and with Deadly Trapper it is still a solid utility. The extra might + vuln really helps, as does the ability to immobilize. While most people like caltrops for its higher damage, I find the more burst-like nature of needle trap to be more effective, as enemies will frequently die before caltrops does its thing. Also, trickster has more severe competition. But, should you find yourself not wanting to run needle trap, Panic Strike is a good alternative, because the immobilize will hold enemies into the caltrops AoE.
The final line is always a toss-up. Generally, I run trickery, because it has the most to offer.
#1: Increased initiative. This is important for Death Blossom Spam.
#2: Steal Recharge Reduction. In this build, steal causes stealth (+ condi cleanse), poison, and either an interrupt or confusion directly, so it works out well.
#3: A choice of Thrill of the Crime or Uncatchable. Thrill adds swiftness and fury, uncatchable is self-explanatory
#4: A wicked good master tier. Bountiful Theft is really useful in dozens of situations. Trickster is good if you want to use caltrops and withdraw for more defensive uses, and more condi clearing. Pressure Striking is good for additional condi damage on interrupt. Generally I don’t run a lot of interrupts in the condi build, but preferences vary.
#4: Bewildering Ambush or Slight of Hand. Personally I go for Bewildering. Thieves don’t really build for confusion, but when used at the right time those 5 stacks can hit quite hard.
All in all… a whole lot there to use. Some people suggest critical strikes, since it has vulnerability and a very large bonus to direct damage. While direct damage is still important, I find that Trickery has more synergy overall. Acrobatics is the worst traitline in the game, so I’d advise staying away from it.
Daredevil… I have not tried. Daredevil was built from the ground up to be a power build, so if you go into daredevil you will end up taking the more defensive traits:
At adept, Weakening Strikes is good for defense. Brawlers Tenacity has some hidden bonuses, however. When combined with Channeled Vigor, you’ll have a surprisingly large amount of healing and endurance regen, making you surprisingly hard to catch.
The master tier is between Escapists Absolution and Impacting Disruption. As I said before, I generally don’t run interrupts on the condi build. However… Impacting Disruption is underrated. Pulmonary Impact does massive damage by itself, so if you are running Viper, Sinister, or Carrion you will be hitting for 2k direct damage per impact. Escapists Absolution is self-explanatory.
Lotus Training is good. Really good. While Uncatchable does 4 × 4 bleeds (16 total), Lotus Training Does 10 bleeds + 6 torment + cripple in a larger area, and also increases condi damage for 10 seconds after use. This makes it higher damaging and more reliable than Uncatchable, and with all the dodges you’ll be pouring out you can do this a lot.
Escapists absolution and Driven fortitude sync well with the class. Death Blossom spam will trigger both traits frequently, giving you plenty of healing and condi cleanse. Is it better than trickery? I’m not sure. They sync in different ways.
I don’t have opinions. I only have facts I can’t adequately prove.
