Guild Wars 2

hi everyone
i got an issue with my thief ! my build doesn’t feels right ,at least to me.
i realy like the s/d combot but it’s hard to find the balance between survability and dmg.
Actualy i am runing with a 10/30/30/0/0 build(http://www.gw2build.com/builds/simulator.php#1.7.3.10.13.0.0.0.0.0.154.168.176.169.179.0.0.0.453.0.0.466.468.476.485.486.481.0.0.0.0.0.0.10.30.30.0.0) beacause it’s the best spec for s/d i have found.
i realy like the health regeneration in stealh it gives alot of life and since you are in stealh mode alot it definetly helps.
The downside of that spec tho is that with 300 thoughness from the traits i don’t realy feel tanky egnouth and i get killed pretty fast so maybe it’s not a build probleme but agear probleme !
so i run full Valkyrie amor with full scholar runes (power, crit dmg, dmg above 90% health)and berserker trinkets
with this i got around 14 k life and i do decent dmg but i don’t know it doesn’t feels effective.
i wonder if i should change my scholar rune for a mor etanky runes like wurm ( vitality crit dmg ) or divinity (50 all stats crit dmg).
for the build part i have try pretty mutch every build around annd i still find the shadow build better than the acrobatic one beacause ys it gives alot of dodge and HP but i don’t know thoughness seems better since i already have hp on my gear , the health regen and the constant 4+ stack of might from shadow seems realy powerfull.
so yes i hope some good thief player see my post and comment it.
thx

ps i got some other question ^^: odoes paralization sigil still works for daze duration increase ? if yes does it worth it over a 30 chance to gain quickness for 3 sec ( yesi use that beacause on my build i didn’t put the talent witch gives chance to gain quickness)

This looks like the standard WvW Thief build.

Your gear and rune choices seem spot on too. Your HP seems to be a little on the low end but that can easily be remedied by replacing a few Berserker items.

I see you specced into Mug, which is understandable considering the amount of burst it adds. However do you really think it’s worth it? It has a 45 second cooldown and really doesn’t offer much else outside of burst.

Since Sword + Dagger builds are less bursty than Dagger builds I’d argue that the 10 points could better be spent elsewhere…..like in Acrobatics.

As for stats, Vitality is always a better choice for Thieves compared to Toughness, especially since you get a good deal of Toughness from the Shadow Arts tree.

Yes, the Paralization Sigil does work with the the Daze attack from Tactical Strike. As to what’s more valuable, well that’s debatable. It depends on how much you value random burst procs vs. a slightly longer duration daze.

Personally I don’t really like the random Quickness procs as they seem to trigger at the wrong time in most occasions. But whether and extra 0.3 seconds on an already 2 second daze is worthwhile….I’m not sure.

i wouldn’t say standar beacause the standar is runing with d/d backstab or/and spaming heartseeker.
yes i puted mug beacause i think i don’t do egnouth dmg against more tanky spec like thoughness warrior or guardians or even d/d tanky elem.
i did try to put those 10 point in trickery but even if the buffs are cool ( fury in particular ) it seems less constant with deadly arts i gain 100 power + and the stealh burst that can do realy decent dmg and overall i makes more dmg with stealh + power than with 10 trickery
for the 10 in acro i don’t know to be effective it would need 5 more point to get the endurence regen and might on dodge but since we got 10 point only i would get 500 hp ~~ and vigor on dodge ok it’s cool but i can already “dodge” constantly with my infiltrator strike.
for the item remplacement i don’t think i can simply beacause i don’t have egnouth crit chance if i do that i already have full valkyrie set witch gives me 0 precision i need those berserker trinkets i could put some berserker amors to gain a bit of crit chance ( currently 40% + 7 from the trait its low but will valkirye set)
even if the sec is less bursty you still need some burst to down ppl
for the daze part i have read it put the duration to 3 seconde in WVW but it’s only 2 seconde in spvp they nerfed it probably beacause it was overpowed but it’s still the case in pve so i might give it a try it’s a cheap rune anyway ^^

Hey,

I feel your pain as I have been playing with the S/D build for the past month…I’ve tried 20/30/0/20/0 build or derivatives of it…and you can kill much faster but you’re also killed a lot faster…also tried the 0/25/30/15/0 or derivatives of it…definitely more survivability but you dont hit nearly as hard…I run all berserker exotic gear with divinity runes…expensive set of runes but worth it…and too expensive to replace…so I’m sticking with them…I’ve tried with Valk weapons, Berserker weapons, mix of berserker accessories, knight or valk…i’ve tried so many different combinations I think I have all weapon and accessory types in my bank now…yes the para sigil is required for S/D as it brings your daze to close to 3 seconds…rest of sigils are air…or anything that adds burst

What I’m finding is that you have to go with what fits your playstyle and the type of situation you’re in…sounds cliche…but also don’t underestimate toughness…I ran builds with 14.5k hp with roughly 1500 toughness and builds with 18.5k hp and around 900 toughness and the 18.5k would melt down so much faster than the 14.5k would…I also noticed that 30 points in SA gives a huge boost when you’re not mastering your thief 100% yet…I’d say its a must until you become a pro at countering every type of situation…else it will make the learning curve much longer as you will die way too much for the amount of playtime you get…my next shot is to try a full P/V/T set…and spec the rest into burst dmg…

I’m currently playing with a S/D, P/P glass semi glass cannon build (20/30/0/20/0) and I must admit it takes a whole lot more skill to be successful…without points in SA my heals are lower and getting away takes better reflexes and skill…I’m learning to dodge…as Acrobatics can be deadly because of feline grace…dodging is as good as healing…but it’s harder to master…takes time and patience…I also keep D/D set in my bag…as when I get frustrated enough with the P/P, I switch and calm myself down a little as it seems much easier to down people with a D/D set…but I like P/P better… :-)

I used to run the 0/25/30/15/0…with D/D as my support set and I had a lot of success with it…I could survive better…have more fun with playing against zergs or larger groups…In any case I use S/B only when zerging….

So to me the best case scenario in WvW seems to be a balanced build…around 3k attack…45% crit chance with over 85% crit dmg…over 15k HP and a decent amount of toughness…but I still havent figured out if I wanna do that…the glass cannon approach is so appealing!

Anyways have fun with it and be patient…takes practice…to me 50% of the fun is trying out the different possibilities…

it looks like you agree that SA is better for survability.i played spvp today with this spec -10/30/30/0/0 with scholar runes and i realy make alot of dmg and i am still able to survive the 2v1 and grab a kill ( bad players maybe ^^ ) i realy like the dmg that scholar rune gives i might just get 1 divinity rune tp get 10 all stat and 2 crit instead of the dmg when health is above 90 % witch most of the time is useless.
for the sigil i obv use the sigil of air i tested sigil of paralysation in spvp and it doesn’t work that well but in WVW its wonderfull the daze is up to 3 sec and i can almost daze lock my target.
i don’t realy like using d/d or /d/d as a swap i realy like shortbow mstly beacause of infiltrator and cluster bombthe auto attack is alsoa great thing against some classe.
for the classe canon part i must admit i didn’t try at all beacause i think if i want a build that glasscanon ppl i just play d/d and backstab .. and event i wouldn’t play a glass canon d/d beacause i like being able to 2v1 or mor eand kill ppl :p
i just like the feeling of killing ppl in a outnumbered fight so i tend to go for a more tanky build.

I enjoy 0/30/10/30/0

CS: Fury, Quickness, Executioner
SA: Blind on Stealth
Ac: Power of Inertia, Quick Recovery, Hard to Catch

Utilities: Hide in Shadows, Shadowstep, Haste, and any signet or stealth

Quickness sigil and +5% crit

S/D is about control and avoidance, but I do have some knights/valk gear mixed in (all with ruby jewels) to make me a bit more durable.

Svanir Runes

I never liked hard to catch, but I HAVE always liked the 25 minor of +10% damage when endurance is not full.

Now that I’m S/D though, I love Hard to Catch, since I don’t get confused/disoriented, I just press 2 and I’m right back in the battle.

Also, you may ask yourself why I’m taking haste, when I already stack quickness from traits/sigil. Haste pairs well with the 25 skill from acro, as well as with dagger storm. Yes, during that time I have no endurance, but I usually open with this:

*Infiltrators Strike (but i dont hit the enemy, i use it to gap close and lay down the return field)
*Steal+CnD (applies area blind from SA, useful since I’m usually against more than 1 player)
*Tactical Strike (to the face to re-up the blind usually, I have too much else going on to worry about positioning and they have already swung at me once so another blind is great, if you are fast enough though, a dodge to the back is great for 2 might from food+power of inertia, since you’ll “Waste” that endurance when you pop haste anyway)
*Haste
*Autoattack
*Shadow Return

So the haste does clear my endurance, but that’s okay since they are blinded and I use “2” shadow return to leave the danger. I will usually follow this by dodging back in to combat, or using Infil Signet+CnD again. I run with Truffle and Meat stew so my endurance fills quickly.