Guild Wars 2

What is the easiest thief spec to play to a level of basic competence? Which one would you recommend for folks who either aren’t that good at the game, or who focus on another class, but have a thief alt?

Which spec has the highest ceiling? Which one may be difficult to play, but becomes an absolute beast in the hands of a great player?

What do you think?

D/P perma stealth is probably the easiest one for newbie to do well in. It’s getting nerfed next patch though.

Nah, D/P actually requires situation awareness and initiative management. It’s not exactly the most intuitive build.

Pistol/Dagger is probably the easiest build to do well in. All it requires is the constant use of two skills and basic dodging. It’s survivability also makes it very forgiving should you ever fail.

I wouldn’t say it’s all that strong though, but it’s easy to be “ok” at.

I’m not really sure there are any demanding builds out there. Most Thief builds rely on one or two simple gimmecks that are abused to the max. However I do have to add that I respect a solid Thief build that can consistently win without relying on heavy burst ala Backstab.

start with p/d and work on your cnd timing than go d/d than try s/d or s/p which work more on your awareness and enemy skill recognize and understanding

d/p is the safest too play. its not hard really. the only hard part is to make sure you are not overly aggressive. be patient.

p/d is very easy to play too. however, it is very hard to play super efficiently bc it is kinda gimmicky and str8 forward. so to play it well you have to be good and also use wierd builds most dont use.

d/d and s/d are the hardest to play bc they have no real safety net. they are low hp low stealth no blind builds. its pure skill and player decisions that keep you alive here.

p/p not much to talk about here. move on :/ (bad set but best for PVE zerg farming)

s/p very bad too but usable in pve. easy to play also extremely hard to play on a competitive level.

SB use to be the most balanced weapon until cluster and trick shot nerf. still slightly sub par but usable in wvw and for PVE bosses. easy to play.

D\D condi = dumbest spec ever . Lure target to caltrops and spam 333333333

Beginner players

d/d or p/d – condi spec
p/p – unload spams

INtermediate

d/p perma stealth in wvw and( d/d + d/p glass cannon in spvp)

Good thiefs
D/D (wvw) or D/P trickery (pvp) + s/d or s/p

It’s a toss-up between D/D condi spec with HiS and Caltrops or S/P crit spec with SoM. Use either both (depending on build), or one as primary and either P/D or SB as secondary.

A buddy of mine described to me this concept a while back and I’ve begun trekking people the same. As D/D, or S/D for this matter, there really is no skill cap, or ceiling. You can always get better with it. I’m not taking about the 3 spam condi spec, but pure glass cannon, less than 12k hp. For comparison, look at DD ele, there’s a basic rotation that every single one of them follows which hinders them with a low skill cap. For theif, stealth gives them the unpredictability to not only give you the upper hand in a fight, but also opens up your options to literally anything you want or have access to. Sure you can go for the backstab, but you could also wait for stealth to drop basilisk steal cnd backstab combo, or swap to secondary weapon say shortbow, get poison on them and immobilize, or swap sword or pistol and daze or bleed them some. See what I mean? There are so many options that become open for DD thieves that blows the roof off of any skill ceiling.

<3 Chèwy

first you should know that even tho youre a melee class, do not expect to simply run into a group of mobs, and swing your sword at them all and wait for them to die.

expect kiting, dodging,evasive skills,crippling and blinding mobs to defeat them (you can also just spike dps 1-2 at the time )

For lvling a thief i suggest using a S/P +shortbow.

I usually engage with a shortbows poison gas, then i kite them in a circle. As the mobs pile on eachother i spam my cluster bomb, and activate it to explode right before it hits the ground. It gives the mobs 3 stacks of bleeding that way.

As for S/P. if done correctly , you can pretty much stay in the same spot spamming your pistol 5 and blind everything thats trying to hit you. you can also spam your 3 to daze 1 target and deal a great damage to all mobs in front of you.

Combine this with signet of malice as your healing skills and you will have a nice burst of healing after each 3 you do.

For utilities use something that goes with well with your weapons.
If you are using weapons that are dealing with multiple mobs,try using traps to snare/knock down multiple mobs.
If you think youre always being outnumbered by the mobs and have a hard time dealing with them, try using ambush. It summons a thief and it deals a nice amount of damage and distractes the mobs from you as well

Also know that a thief does get stronger as you lvl it up via traits.