Guild Wars 2

Hey guys,new thief fellow here
I was surfing the forums lately seeking some thiefy wisdom and to my surprise (and dissappointment),regarding builds,people here almost never include the Shadow Arts trait tree as a part of their build.
It was quiet disheartening to me finding that out because I always wanted to make a stealthy thief that can poof into thin air as he likes, and I love the shadow arts tree.
Will it make me weak if I choose this path? Or is there some solid dps build out there that embraces shadow arts?
Would very much appreciate your vereran advice here.
Thank you

You can easily go 30 SA and still be a good direct damage build.
S/D is a typical example.Cond damage is more like 30 Shadow Arts,20 Acrobatics,20 Trickery.

In fact a lot of Thieves use Shadow Arts, even if not investing hard on it, at least 10 points to reduce Cloak and Dagger cost to 4 (if you manage to hit). Many tanky builds, specially P/D use 30 DA for the great bonuses it gives to stealth (a lot of might aplications, healing, condition removal, etc), and you get a lot of use from those bonuses thanks to offhand dagger.

I think it’s one of the most popular trees around here.

Lokheit.7943:

In fact a lot of Thieves use Shadow Arts, even if not investing hard on it, at least 10 points to reduce Cloak and Dagger cost to 4 (if you manage to hit). Many tanky builds, specially P/D use 30 DA for the great bonuses it gives to stealth (a lot of might aplications, healing, condition removal, etc), and you get a lot of use from those bonuses thanks to offhand dagger.

I think it’s one of the most popular trees around here.

Well,from what I understand thieves deal dmg through two main ways:
1) Backstab crits
2)comd dmg
Which do you think suits the shadow arts tree best? Crits seems better fit to this build but I may be wrong.

Damage output is not the reason here, P/D fights last long, they use the whole Shadow Arts line because it offers healing and condition removal, which are essential to long fights.

MightyMe.1356:

Lokheit.7943:

In fact a lot of Thieves use Shadow Arts, even if not investing hard on it, at least 10 points to reduce Cloak and Dagger cost to 4 (if you manage to hit). Many tanky builds, specially P/D use 30 DA for the great bonuses it gives to stealth (a lot of might aplications, healing, condition removal, etc), and you get a lot of use from those bonuses thanks to offhand dagger.

I think it’s one of the most popular trees around here.

Well,from what I understand thieves deal dmg through two main ways:
1) Backstab crits
2)comd dmg
Which do you think suits the shadow arts tree best? Crits seems better fit to this build but I may be wrong.

Condition Damage is the usual choice when investing on SA, as that tree will help making fights long, where condition damage will grind your opponent down.

PS: There are many more ways than backstabs and condition damage to do damage btw.

frans.8092:

Damage output is not the reason here, P/D fights last long, they use the whole Shadow Arts line because it offers healing and condition removal, which are essential to long fights.

I see…that makes sense!
So I persume for that cond dmg playstyle the trait build would be 30 SA and 30 DA?

ZLE.8293:

You can easily go 30 SA and still be a good direct damage build.
S/D is a typical example.Cond damage is more like 30 Shadow Arts,20 Acrobatics,20 Trickery.

How come? No points in Deadly Arts at all? This tree focuses purely on stronger/more durable poisons.
Your answer really makes me glad though cuz these 3 trees are actually my favs, I just don’t see how they are effective in this build.
Would you please explain?

MightyMe.1356:

How come? No points in Deadly Arts at all? This tree focuses purely on stronger/more durable poisons.

Well it’s a matter of personal choice.There are roughly 2 condition types of builds.
1.Build that shares venom.They invest points in DA and also trait XII in Shadow Arts and Equip Thieves Guild.
2.Builds that doesn’t care about poisons and rely entirely on bleeds.They can’t burst,but have much higher survivabilty.They trait XI in Shadow arts and usualy equip Dagger Storm.Some of them invest 5 points in DA,but i prefer 20 in Trickery for shorter Caltrops CD.Also Trickery increases condition damage.

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The Shadow Arts tree is actually very popular and quite powerful, especially in PvP.

Acrobatics with all its extra dodges and HP seems to be a bit more popular in PvE.

But Shadow Arts has some very potent low-tier traits making 10 points always worth it. Those 10 points alone give you the choice between Condition Removal in Stealth, Initiative on Stealth or Blind on Stealth, all of which are really good.

Going deeper tends to be something for specific attrition builds.