Guild Wars 2

Hello I’m just now getting back into my thief after taking a break for studies. I had been using P/P build but wanted to try something new after toying with the different weapon combination i have it down to 2 possibilities which are the S/P and S/D setups i would like to hear opinions that veteran thieves have on these two weapons combination which would you prefer or consider more efficient and why what are the pros and cons of both in your eyes. Also my thief is currently lvl 56 who mostly PvE and with sum WvW. I use a short-bow as a ranged weapon swap does that affect your opinion and why? the more information the more help you give in helping me make a choice. I personally love the feel of both of them so i am having a hard time deciding.

S/P with Pistol Whip and the healing signet is great for leveling.

S/D is a lot more dynamic and fun.

S/P is basically just black powder and auto-attack, but it is ultimately effective…

Personal choice, I guess…

S/D is pretty…bleh, I don’t like it.
S/P isn’t bad…it’s great at face-tanking with Pistol Whip+SoM+Haste however other then that its options are pretty limited. You get Black Powder, Shadow Step and your auto attack which has some AoE.

Personally I run S/P but I only bust it out vs lvl 80 Veteran mobs…the stuff I need to stun and tank. My main weapon set is D/D

If depends if you value Dagger #5 or Pistol #5 more. Dagger gives you Stealth, while the Pistol lets you spam AoE Blind fields. My personal choice is S/P since I like being able to use either Black Powder or Pistol Whip to fit the given situation. However there does seem to be a growing popularity for S/D.

Thank you all for your feedback it has been helpful in making my choice =)

S/D is going to be really mobile. You teleport around a lot, dodge, and stealth really frequently for lots of dazes. Works great with a stealth build. You also get good stun breaks and condition removal. You get a particularly good ranged bouncing cripple (Dancing Dagger) that makes it easy to cripple enemies and actually does decent damage.

S/P is more stationary. Your best defensive (black powder) and offensive skills (Pistol Whip) require you to stand still for long periods of time while you use them. However, if you can hit people with Pistol Whip (which is easy in PvE), you do tons of damage in a short amount of time. Black Powder lets you facetank a group of mobs without breaking a sweat. S/P also gives you a readily available interrupt.