Guild Wars 2

Howdy, folks.

Fairly new player and thief here. Been 80 a few weeks and pretty much exclusively roam in wvw, and do a lot of map completion otherwise. Was curious what runes folks suggest for wvw. I have read a lot of threads and see a lot of build ideas, and it seems that pack is a fairly common suggestion. How does one stack swiftness duration to get their movement up if using pack?

I use a 06620 build with SD and DP and swap in SB for movement in the world but have been rocking the 25% movement signet to achieve speed. I really want to use that utility spot for something else, however, so any suggestions would be great!

I know I can use traveler’s, but it seems like the stats aren’t that great. I have seen a few people suggest centaur and just using the heal to stack swift, but again not very popular. If the goal is to just learn to deal with the lack of speed, should I go with pack or go with something that suggests pure damage? Thanks for any feedback on the matter.

PS. I see a lot of builds putting 6 into trickery, and even 6 into acrobatics. Is this more of an spvp thing, or is this something I should consider?

Seems you run a very similar build to what I use in sPvP. Personally I love Signet of Shadows and I have a very hard time moving away from it. Just wanted to add that I do not believe that 25% movement speed from the signet and travelers runes stack. At least I didn’t notice a difference when I tested in sPvP…

Here is what I run: http://gw2skills.net/editor/?fZAQNAoaVl8MpzpNOx0J8PNhPRsdQSD3hVfdVD-TJBFwACODAl2foaZAAPCAA

I chose Rune of Strength since this build revolves around stacking Might. Typically I am over 20+ stacks of might during every engagement.

Key elements to success here are landing your backstabs with stacked might and keeping your target blind…

Ok, so short and to the point, the best runes currently for pvp (either spvp or wvw) are pack.

You can make an argument for strength if you’re having a might source, but the ability to have a good fury uptime is more important imo, especially when you factor in the swiftness uptime and the token might stack you get (and keep in mind your allies also get these bonuses). Other options: Strength (wouldn’t recommend, pack gives more utility for the price), ogre for pure damage, and potentially rage (+5% dmg increase and perma fury) if you don’t care about spreading boons to party and want a little hybrid between pack and ogre.

As far as the swiftness question with pack, I always use 6 points into trickery and with trill of the crime (10s swiftness/might/fury on steal use) I can keep a decent swiftness uptime while out of combat and its technically perma uptime while in combat with pack runes (12s from pack/12s from TotC). This means you have swiftness up when you want it most, when manuvering around in combat without having to waste a utility slot.

As far as allowing for this within your build, you can either take the 2 out of acrobatics and put them into trickery or take six out of either SA or CS and put them into trickery.

There were some threads a while back comparing 2 0 6 0 6 d/d to 2 6 6 0 0 d/d a month or two ago, which might help come to the decision. Personally I despise SA as a traitline and think it makes/promotes passive play so I would take the six out of that line and use pack with 6 0 2 0 6 d/p sb. Others will disagree claiming that SA is a strong traitline (it is) and is necessary for wvw solo roaming (its not).

Overall I think trickery steal (basically 2 x x x 6) is the strongest trait spread foundation that thief has. Having steal on 21s cd that includes a lifesteal/poison component is extremely strong, especially when coupled with a stun, a boonrip that prioritizes stability so the stun always hits, and vigor/swiftness/fury/might.

Links to the runes if you don’t want to lock into game with my recommendation in Bold:
http://wiki.guildwars2.com/wiki/Superior_Rune_of_the_Ogre
http://wiki.guildwars2.com/wiki/Superior_Rune_of_the_Pack
http://wiki.guildwars2.com/wiki/Superior_Rune_of_Rage

Wow! Thanks a ton for the info, fellas. I will definitely be playing around with these ideas tonight. I am definitely not married to either D/P (would be just as happy trying D/D if viable), and certainly not married to SA, either. Just wanted some ideas and a shove in the right direction and you guys certainly delivered.

Helly.2597:

Overall I think trickery steal (basically 2 x x x 6) is the strongest trait spread foundation that thief has. Having steal on 21s cd that includes a lifesteal/poison component is extremely strong, especially when coupled with a stun, a boonrip that prioritizes stability so the stun always hits, and vigor/swiftness/fury/might.

What makes the 6 points in Trickery so necessary? IMO Shadow’s Embrace is a much better talent, idk how does anyone replace it. My solo build below.

http://en.gw2skills.net/editor/?fZQQNAoaVlsMp7pdOx0JsPRBNBt9DGeE4qGeGmvoVAA-TFCFABHqWBAPBgCVVRgTBQSK/4TJYN7Pkm+gAAIA3sNbzbG4oH9oH9oHtbezjezjezyAoPGA-w

FLiP.7680:

What makes the 6 points in Trickery so necessary? IMO Shadow’s Embrace is a much better talent, idk how does anyone replace it. My solo build below.

Depends on what you want to do. But trickery (+mug) will pretty much always give you and your teammates the biggest bang for the buck in any matchup or situation. It gives you boons, a daze, poison and a heal while ripping boons from the target.

In the current gameplay, there is a lot of focus on stacking boons such as might and proctection with eles for example. Guardians have automatic aegis, which gets removed by the steal and allows for the entire burst to be landed (such as a backstab) without having to worry about the block eating any aspect. The interrupt (daze) goes through stability since the boon rip applies prior to the daze and the boon rip prioritizes stability (the only boon rip to apply such a priority). This means it allows for you to interrupt a multitude of abilities/actions that can dramatically change the outcomes of fights (ie banners/stomps/rezzes/heals).

Additionally the poison inflicted by the minor DS traitline is amazing since it allows for excellent poison uptime (a major factor in why thief is a good counter to mesmer along with other aspects like ability to chase but poison uptime destroys mesmers). Poison uptime is huge in the current meta with many classes/builds depending on ability to sustain in fights. An excellent example of this is meditation guardian, while it does provide a tough matchup against thieves, meditation guardian suffers if you have a high poison uptime since it decreases their sustain effectively by 33%.

Now you mention shadows embrace. This is a strong trait, however it lacks the utility that trickery steal has. First its by its nature only useful to yourself, whereas the steal provides a number of benefits to you and your allies. Second, you can’t use this trait while trying to pressure someone. By its nature it requires some passive play to maximize benefit from the trait. Third, in fights against other power users its useless and the minor trait you gain has the biggest troll potential in the game killing you as often as it saves you. Shadows embrace is nice, however I would never take it over trickery. Condi clear options outside of shadows embrace such as HiS, signet of agility, or shadowstep do exist and with a playstyle adjustment and knowing the matchups is usually enough.

That being said, you don’t have to give up shadows embrace to take trickery. Perhaps the most popular build currently is 6 0 2 0 6 d/p sb which gives you both the trickery and the condi clear on stealth.

This is great stuff. I was playing with a build editor and really liked the look of the 6 0 2 0 6 build, but noticed crit dropping well below 50%. Is this going to be noticeable at all, or am I missing something that one of the traits provides? I know it will go up with food and maint. oil, but I was just wondering what your thoughts on this are? I am currently testing 2 6 0 0 6 and having some success with it, but as a new player and testing a new build I will definitely need some time to really feel it out.

I don’t miss the condition cleanse since I am running HiS, Sig of Agi, and Shadowstep.

Seeing this link: http://metabattle.com/wiki/Build:Thief_-_Dagger/Pistol

Those are the two builds I am eye balling currently.

This link: http://metabattle.com/wiki/Build:Thief_-_D/P_roamer

Is where I was using my previous build from (06620). I see a 06404 as an alternative that looks solid as well, but again don’t really know if I should work on steering away from SA (crutch and all that).

Anyway, you guys kick kitten and I really appreciate the feedback!

Pimsley.6087:

This is great stuff. I was playing with a build editor and really liked the look of the 6 0 2 0 6 build, but noticed crit dropping well below 50%. Is this going to be noticeable at all, or am I missing something that one of the traits provides? I know it will go up with food and maint. oil, but I was just wondering what your thoughts on this are? I am currently testing 2 6 0 0 6 and having some success with it, but as a new player and testing a new build I will definitely need some time to really feel it out.

http://gw2skills.net/editor/?fZQQNAoaVlsMp7pdOx0JsPNBMBxVP8ONnpNangdHAA-TVCFABA8AAKU9nrUCikyBBOFAJpkrm9HSTfwCHBgAAIA3sNbzbG4oH9oH9oHtbezjezjezCBYeMA-w

Thats just a base build I use on my thief (honestly without as much ascended as that) as far as stats go (food/sigils/runes as well) with the traits changeable between 2 6 0 0 6 and 6 0 2 0 6. Feel free to put some more valk gear (pow,fer + vit) if you want. Having hp between 13k-15k on d/p is excellent for a 6 0 2 0 6 traitspread imo.

As far as crit chance goes, keep in mind you’re gaining 20% from fury constantly, so keeping it between 40-50% is perfect since then you aren’t sacrificing other stats for it. Its a bit of a balancing act. Personally, 40-50% before fury is perfect. Allows for you to have the benefits of very high power, which will impact every hit regardless of crit or not and still having the majority of attacks be crit during combat (with the fury uptime).

Thanks a ton. That 60206 looks very intriguing and I definitely did not consider the fury buffing my crit damage. Great call. I will definitely be testing a ton this week. The feedback in gw2 is fantastic. Thanks guys for all the tips.

Pimsley.6087:

Thanks a ton. That 60206 looks very intriguing and I definitely did not consider the fury buffing my crit damage. Great call. I will definitely be testing a ton this week. The feedback in gw2 is fantastic. Thanks guys for all the tips.

No problem, and just to clarify fury buffs crit chance which is different than damage.

Have fun!

So in doing some testing of 60206 I found that I dip 11.6k health lol. I can swap a few pieces to valk but then critical dips below 40%. Lol I know. First world problems. If I go 62204 it keeps my hp around 13.5k with a few valks and I maintain over 45% critical but of course lose those last two points in trickery. Same works if I go 62006. The two points in critical gives me the same results without the ability to drop conditions in stealth.

Anyway, appreciate everyone’s feedback. Gw2 has already become my favorite game in a long time.