Guild Wars 2

What is the better choice or PvE WvW and Dungeon or have as range weapon? Lvl 80.

Short bow, easily.

Pistol/Pistol is kittened by the fact that it has one ability that can be used for DPS, and the auto attack is terrible on DPS builds. It’s also outclassed completely by Pistol/Dagger in condition builds, so there is no reason to use P/P in a condition build.

Short bow, however, has AoE on every single ability except Disabling Shot, which is a 4 initiative cost evade (very, very useful on bosses). Not only that, but it has good DPS and synergizes far better with DPS builds than does P/P.

As for WvW, short bow comes out on top again. AoE is very useful on a ranged weapon, since it’s the greatest way you can help defend a base. Cluster Bomb also has 1200 range, which can really help for taking down siege, hitting players on walls, etc.

Short bow really is an all-around great weapon, and there’s a reason a lot of people consider it a requirement on most builds.

I played PP for a long time but eventually swapped to SB. As noted above i feel like it is the superior weapon most of the time. I would change my mind however (in certain instances) if they simply increased the pistol 1 skill attack speed. Boost PP direct sustained damage capability and it would see more use i think. PP is still great fun however, and you do get the pistol 4 interrupt on demand.

You’re always going to pick SB anyway (too good as complementary weapon to not take it), and going full ranged doesn’t synergize with the profession mechanic. Plus as others said P/P currently needs some serious rework. In fact I’m waiting for them to finally make it viable and making Steal synergize with Ranged weapons, because I love the aesthetics and I want to combine Lyss with Ilya, but right P/P is very bad.

I’ve said this in many other thread too, but adding some extra function to Unload (like for example 0.5 seconds of Weakness per shot so it protects and hinders their evasion) and making BP apply 1 second Stealth but you can’t exit the area (like Shadow Refuge area) so D/P and S/P stay the same (you’re not hitting anyone’s back in 1 second without being able to exit the small area, and if you manage, he deserved it) but P/P can go condition damage as it won’t be neccesary to use P/D for Sneak Attacks. This way BP, which right now is only worth the 6 ini with melee sets, helps P/P too, and you get access to both direct damage and condition damage to spec the way you want. This way P/P would be usable (Body Shot would need something extra too probably… maybe Cripple? I’m not sure), and we would be 1 small change to stealth (like making a shadow return post cast like many other shadowsteps have) to make full ranged Thieves viable in any enviroment.

Shortbow .

Infiltrator’s Arrow.

The end.

The SB has so much utility as well as the aoe I’ve never ever considered any other weapon swap. Add to that the ability to drop choking gas and make every one’s missiles poisonous and pop surprise shot from stealth which brings a nice immobile, plus shooting through smoke screen for blindness aoe where appropriate.

Shortbow is pretty much the mandatory second slot weapon in PVE for Thieves. P/P does do better single target damage though, so having a pair as back up for when the situation calls is a good idea.

I tried very hard to like P/P but in the end swapped back to S/P.

For dungeons I’m 99% of the time using short bow since not only do you drop plenty of conditions/combo finishers with the AoEs the ability to kite/dodge is great. The arrow jumping is always good for fighting groups.

In the end you need to setup your weapon swaps for the scenarios you may face. I certainly never assume I’ll only be using one weapon set.

If you’re anything but condition build, its defenetly shortbow. If you are a condition class, shortbow is still good in WvW due to Carrion Condition builds having lots of power and condition damage, which fuels the thief’s damage. Shortbow / P/D is arguable in dungeons, just bring both and switch time and time again. P/D is hands down better in solo PvE.

See other threads. P/P is kittened primarily by a slower-than-intended rate of fire (leading to poor DPS) on the #1 skill and a lack of useful utility on other skills.

Shortbow is a great go-to for ranged aoe and useful utilities.

P/P is pretty useless compared to shortbow, however P/D is quite useful in dungeons when you are just fighting one mob and in WvW when you need to kill a guild claimer with the invincible buff on them. The #2 skill can easily stack 25 invuln which is quite useful but overall I feel like shortbow is just a lot better.

I carry both with me. Solo play I use P/P and D/D. Open with pistols and then swap to daggers and pretty much everything dies with me getting hit only once at most. Instances and group events I tend to favor bow and swap pistols out for that. Allows for some nice variety in playing and its fun switching it up.

Einlanzer.1627:

a lack of useful utility on other skills.

It isn’t that P/P lacks utility, it is that all the good utility it has is on the off-hand, which means you can take S/P or D/P and use it. Pistol off-hand isn’t weak, main-hand is where the problem is.

Tulisin.6945:

Einlanzer.1627:

a lack of useful utility on other skills.

It isn’t that P/P lacks utility, it is that all the good utility it has is on the off-hand, which means you can take S/P or D/P and use it. Pistol off-hand isn’t weak, main-hand is where the problem is.

Yes, I agree.

If you can’t get a bounce, PP/unload beats Sbow for DPS, but there’s always the utility issue that everyone else has mentioned. P/D was better than or at least as good as Sbow for DPS prior to the nerf, but it’s not really viable anymore.

The popular belief that “PP sucks” is hogwash, though. It’s situationally our top ranged DPS option with an unfortunately uncommon qualifier of “single target only, range required” fight.