Guild Wars 2

Hey everyone,
I was looking to either improve or be directed to a better Sword / Pistol build for PvE. I usually play a D/D Stealth build, but was looking for something more Tanky. I enjoy the Blinds and mobility of S/P, so I was looking to stick with that weapon set. Currently I am running:
http://gw2skills.net/editor/?fZAQNAsaVlsMpzpdPx6JsPNxLBtdzvwG47H6OhAA-ThRBwAROCgSwiK/up+DK9BAOBAPeEAAA-e
Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

I myself run S/P and Shortbow 25/30/x/x/x full berserker for pve (changing to any weapon set that fight might require like s/d for boon stealing etc etc, but mainly s/p and sb).
You really don’t need those points in SA and shadows embrace. You are better putting those points into trickery for dungeon running and maybe in acrobatics for fractals where u might need to dodge more. Use Signet of agility instead of SA to clean high stacks of conditions for you and your group. Passive also offers nice precision boost and second active refills endurance. Signet of shadows are useless in most cases unless well… for running from A to Z (also aoe blinding wolf packs in CoE and maybe in some similar situations to avoid initial burst). Also Utility slots, heal and elite aren’t carved in stone, you should change it according to situation. As for heal I almost always take signet of malice, specially if I’m in melee with S/P – it synergises very well with it (+ lately i started using invigorating precision in some encounters instead of executioner to keep HP topped off, it really feels in AoE situations when running with nearly 100 % crit chance, cant say that its bad on single targets either). I don’t use Combined training (5 % for skill that provides half of your dps only dont feel worth the slot), pick mug instead for extra healing when i rly need it. Critical haste is a nice dps boost, but in some fights when you are using Pistol whip as planned evade it might kill you by activating on wrong time (CoE alpha for example if quickness activates when u start casting PW it will make its evade frame shorter and you might get hit). I pick Furious retaliation instead (combined with thrill of the crime) to keep my fury up at all times, because many of those pug glorified warriors forget that they gotta bring furry.

Thanks, I am going to give it a try. I do appreciate your input and understand where your coming from. Already changed over to match your suggestions, going to try it out tomorrow.

5/6/0/0/3.
DA – VI and III or VI and X. Mug does damage and heals you, but X is good if you’re doing lots of pistol-whip spamming.
CS – I, IX, and XI. IX is a bit more situational, but it works well with DAX for pistol whip spams.
Trickery – V.

For weapons, I’d suggest Sigil of Fire instead of Air on the sword. Sword is better for multiple mobs than for single target, so might as well use a sigil that hits multiple mobs.

For runes, Strength are the current go-to runes for pretty much everyone, with Scholar coming in second. Eagle, Fury, Citadel, and Ogre are all decent options if you want to mix things up and don’t care about bleeding-edge meta.

Actually for thief scholar is better. At least in pve

Realistically the DPS difference between Strength and Scholar runes are negligible.

For any new beginning thieves I always recommend 3 in Acrobatics with the Power of Inertia trait. You get a good 1k more HP, an extra dodge, and some boon duration.

You also want a Break Stun utility (I prefer the signet). I recommend taking out Shadow Refuge (it has very little usage in PvE except in some really specific dungeon paths).

You also shouldn’t “spam” Pistol Whip. It’s only used if you want to deal damage + evade a heavy attack at the same time. All else considered, you would be using Black Powder most of the time to negate any normal melee hits (while Smoke Screen negate any range projectiles).

Tachii.3506:

You also shouldn’t “spam” Pistol Whip. It’s only used if you want to deal damage + evade a heavy attack at the same time..

Isn’t that the whole point of the S/P build? An interrupt, and three decent AoE hits that also include evades?

If you are looking to just level and have fun in solo pve the S/P build is really straight forward. Some people just don’t like spamming 3.

I also like to use D/P. Skill 5 for a blind, then skill 2 for some minor damage and a stealth, move to behind and backstab, then usually a 2 or some auto attacks will finish it off. If its a veteran just keep up the 5+2 combo. It has no AoE so its single target focus only.

The point of using Sw/p is to drop the blinding field and use the Cleaving autoattack.

As Carpboy said, the most efficient purpose of S/P is the blind field and autoattack (it hits quite hard). Pistol whip need not be whipped repeatedly unless there’s a big attack coming. The blind field naturally will make you avoid all the normal attacks already (but also mitigates damage for your entire party as well).

Other than that, I’d only use Pistol Whip if:
1) I have signet of malice equipped and needs to heal.
2) A boss attack that will hit you regardless i you have a blind field up.
3) I have full initiative and the smoke field isn’t important for damage mitigation.