Guild Wars 2

So i’ve started doing dungeons as a d/d s/p standard 25/30/0/0/15. And i’ve been getting downed a lot or getting to a really low health. Any tips for me? I heard that d/p is a better set for beginners in dungeons, is that correct?

Welcome to thiefdom: if you don’t dodge, you’re downed. Or, well, almost. Assuming you’re full zerker (if you really aren’t into the full zerker squish, you could add in some valkyrie gear) . I think it really mostly really boils down to knowing the encounters and boss animations.

I’m not sure about d/p being better for anything other than adding some blind to mobs, but I see that more as “party utility” and not “personal survival” because I tend to not be the one taking damage (personally would take it over s/p – I really like my heartseeker). You can also achieve mass blind by dropping a shadow refuge and cluster bombing into it.

Stand behind the boss when possible (AC p1). Know your fights and how to dodge for them (CoE). Don’t stand in circles on the ground (TA/CoE/SE p1 boss). Avoid knockdowns at all cost (AC).

And sometimes, just don’t melee. Leurent in TA – he hurts. Instead of getting downed every 2 seconds because he’s swingin’ his greatsword around like a cheerleader with a baton, I just range him. Ginva (HotW p1) is equally as ridiculous and takes an absurd amount of time, so I p/p him and go through my bags or something. You meleeing him might shave 5 seconds off the 4 minute fight, but have fun with that one.

Yes we are. As a thief who is mainly PVE I can tell you that doing dungeons is entirely possible (not world bosses tho, most of the dots you get kill you regardless of what you do … Jormags 2. phase for example)

So here are some basic tips:
-> Dodge a lot! You can dodge almost 4 times in a row thanks to our “Signet of Agility” which gives you a full stamina set every 30 seconds and if not some nice extra precison boost
-> You can go d/d and s/p but I came to the personal conclusion that while d/d is fun there are some more effective sets for dungeons. Try and use p/p once. With (2) you can stack Vuln. for your group and Unload (3) is my personal favorite if you got some power stacking ele or Guardian nearby plus it looks extremly cool.
SB should never be misses since you can control groups and (5) lets you evade if the situation gets risky. D/D works as well but is more suggested if gained more experience since most bosses later on can one-hit you making this set-up strong but dangerous … for you.

Oh and I would recommend you my (a little more) defensive 0/30/30/0/10 Build. 30 in shadow arts is a must in dungeons (imo) since it not only heals conditions while in stealth, you also heal urself duo the grandmaster trait. Combine this with “Shadow Refuge” which is expected of you as a thief and you got some nice back-up strategy if things get risky.

Of course that’s just my opinion but I did really well so far :-)

Regardless, hope you have fun ;-)

Ty guys. I’m trying out the build now. Seems to be working fine for me

Sonoris.2301:

I think it really mostly really boils down to knowing the encounters and boss animations.

Yup.

That’s pretty much it.

Hyde.6248:

So i’ve started doing dungeons as a d/d s/p standard 25/30/0/0/15. And i’ve been getting downed a lot or getting to a really low health. Any tips for me? I heard that d/p is a better set for beginners in dungeons, is that correct?

D/P has no place in PvE. Specially in dungeons. Its single target only and has costly and slow access to stealth compared to d/d (arguably best dps set for bosses where you have access to its back). S/P is simply best for stacked trash clearing because of cleave, smoke field and pistol whip which combined with signet of malice in aoe situation can provide some sick healing. Shortbow best for CoF pug central style trash clearing, because CoF pugs just refuse to stack mobs. I have S/P and shortbow on most of the time, even on mobs bosses because of pistol whip evade frame which provides possibility to continue doing damage while evading big telegraphed hits and no need for accessing targets back, which is the case on most bosses because they are killed in corners or just get spined around a lot due to people circling around.

Swimfan.8014:

Yes we are. As a thief who is mainly PVE I can tell you that doing dungeons is entirely possible (not world bosses tho, most of the dots you get kill you regardless of what you do … Jormags 2. phase for example)

So here are some basic tips:
-> Dodge a lot! You can dodge almost 4 times in a row thanks to our “Signet of Agility” which gives you a full stamina set every 30 seconds and if not some nice extra precison boost
-> You can go d/d and s/p but I came to the personal conclusion that while d/d is fun there are some more effective sets for dungeons. Try and use p/p once. With (2) you can stack Vuln. for your group and Unload (3) is my personal favorite if you got some power stacking ele or Guardian nearby plus it looks extremly cool.
SB should never be misses since you can control groups and (5) lets you evade if the situation gets risky. D/D works as well but is more suggested if gained more experience since most bosses later on can one-hit you making this set-up strong but dangerous … for you.

Oh and I would recommend you my (a little more) defensive 0/30/30/0/10 Build. 30 in shadow arts is a must in dungeons (imo) since it not only heals conditions while in stealth, you also heal urself duo the grandmaster trait. Combine this with “Shadow Refuge” which is expected of you as a thief and you got some nice back-up strategy if things get risky.

Of course that’s just my opinion but I did really well so far :-)

Regardless, hope you have fun ;-)

Using Pistol whip +signet of malice will deal with all the random conditions you get, no need for shadows embrace. 30 in shadow arts for pve is simply your own damage nerf for no reason. IF in any case you get too much damage from conditions, lots of bleed stacks for example you can pop signet of agility which should always be on your skilbar. Shadow rejuvenation is worth only if you are actually spending time in stealth, which means you don’t do damage then. Shadow protector provided regen wont save you from those one shots anyway and honestly with 10850 or 12.3 k hp (with practiced tolerance) pistol whip with signet of malice and mug will give you nice burst heals to top off your hp in most situations, specially when you have more then 1 target.
Oh and about Jormag P2 fight shortbow 1 can reach it (by manually spaming 1, it actually reaches more then 900 then. Closer to 1200) without getting those damaging stacks when you step on the ice.

Karolis.4261:

Using Pistol whip +signet of malice will deal with all the random conditions you get, no need for shadows embrace. 30 in shadow arts for pve is simply your own damage nerf for no reason. IF in any case you get too much damage from conditions, lots of bleed stacks for example you can pop signet of agility which should always be on your skilbar. Shadow rejuvenation is worth only if you are actually spending time in stealth, which means you don’t do damage then. Shadow protector provided regen wont save you from those one shots anyway and honestly with 10850 or 12.3 k hp (with practiced tolerance) pistol whip with signet of malice and mug will give you nice burst heals to top off your hp in most situations, specially when you have more then 1 target.
Oh and about Jormag P2 fight shortbow 1 can reach it (by manually spaming 1, it actually reaches more then 900 then. Closer to 1200) without getting those damaging stacks when you step on the ice.

Really good reply but I found out that this doesn’t work for me. My main problem with PVE dungeon ist that I can’t stay alive long enough if I have no retreat-possibilities. On the other handside those 30 points in Shadow Art transferred to the first line gave me no joy whatsoever ( I tried) since I almost like none of the traits and I’m a great defender of condi removal through stealth since it saved my kitten countless times. I know that there are some awesome thiefs out there (maybe you are one of them) who can do some incredible stuff but I’m a more casual player and the extra dmg I can deal on a dungeon boss doesn’t overweight the time my party members would need to revive me off the floor again and again.
Maybe if I played the thief more than a year and feel more secure about my gaming-skills I switch to 30/30/0/0/10 but atm. my half aggressive and half defensive build works fine for me and that’s more than I had hoped for playing a thief in dungeons :-)

Swimfan.8014:

Karolis.4261:

Using Pistol whip +signet of malice will deal with all the random conditions you get, no need for shadows embrace. 30 in shadow arts for pve is simply your own damage nerf for no reason. IF in any case you get too much damage from conditions, lots of bleed stacks for example you can pop signet of agility which should always be on your skilbar. Shadow rejuvenation is worth only if you are actually spending time in stealth, which means you don’t do damage then. Shadow protector provided regen wont save you from those one shots anyway and honestly with 10850 or 12.3 k hp (with practiced tolerance) pistol whip with signet of malice and mug will give you nice burst heals to top off your hp in most situations, specially when you have more then 1 target.
Oh and about Jormag P2 fight shortbow 1 can reach it (by manually spaming 1, it actually reaches more then 900 then. Closer to 1200) without getting those damaging stacks when you step on the ice.

Really good reply but I found out that this doesn’t work for me. My main problem with PVE dungeon ist that I can’t stay alive long enough if I have no retreat-possibilities. On the other handside those 30 points in Shadow Art transferred to the first line gave me no joy whatsoever ( I tried) since I almost like none of the traits and I’m a great defender of condi removal through stealth since it saved my kitten countless times. I know that there are some awesome thiefs out there (maybe you are one of them) who can do some incredible stuff but I’m a more casual player and the extra dmg I can deal on a dungeon boss doesn’t overweight the time my party members would need to revive me off the floor again and again.
Maybe if I played the thief more than a year and feel more secure about my gaming-skills I switch to 30/30/0/0/10 but atm. my half aggressive and half defensive build works fine for me and that’s more than I had hoped for playing a thief in dungeons :-)

Depends on dungeon/boss/group setup. If group is made from PVT riffle warriors, staff camping guardians and bearbow rangers that run around all over the place like wild gooses ranging melee friendly bosses and refusing to stack trash in corners, going full glass in gear and build+going melee is a suicide. Imho full dps thief works best only in full dps party where stuff dies before it has a chance to kill you. If you cant stay alive long enough w/o getting one shoted by special attacks in full dps build, means fight is taking too long because other party members dont use dps builds. Sadly many ppl refuse to go full dps for dungeons defending their “play your way” bullkitten idea.