Guild Wars 2

Just finished uploading my latest WvW video (1080p version is still processing). This video focuses solely on 1v1 fights as a P/P thief versus almost all of the other classes. No stealth, no thieves guild, just a pair of guns and reflexes. I think Elementalist and Ranger are the only classes that got left out, but I did manage to include some fights against builds that are typically problematic for pistol thieves (phant-mesmer, retal guardian, evasion thief).

You can view the video here:
http://youtu.be/R9ODp-OMKwg

My current build info can be found here: http://tinyurl.com/mwjsh7b

The only changes I’ve made to my build from prior videos are to replace the Superior Sigil of Battle on the dagger with a Superior Sigil of Force. I didn’t crunch the numbers, but the damage feels about the same and that’s one boon less to worry about getting stolen or converted (weakness is one of the most dangerous conditions against this build… you need all the energy you can muster for those dodges).

I’ve also started trying out other types of food buffs. I’ve been using Orrian Truffle and Meat Stew for as long as I can remember because endurance regen is HUGE for this build, but thanks to the stew’s new popularity among people farming the gauntlet, I simply can’t afford to pay 20s per bite. I’m leaning towards life steal or health regen food, but I’m still playing around with ideas. As always, I’m open to suggestions.

If you dig the video and want to see more like it, you can visit my playlist over at http://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLL0zgxysk21_89P-ffAS2B961HEemQxno

There’s only a handful of us stubborn enough to run P/P on a regular basis and attempt to turn it into a viable weapon-set, so if you want to support us, please like, subscribe, share, and make your own videos of successful gunslingin’ action! If you’ve got any questions, please feel free to ask.

Thanks for watching!

Very nice man cool vid I really enjoyed it

I was just thinking if I should drop dual pistols on my thief, the skills dont synergy well with each other. Then I stumble on this video. Thanks for showing me how its done.

Pistol is not trash – played right pistol can do amazing in WvW and even in PvE – Survivability is the name of the game, it just doesn’t synergize well, if it did, it would be kitten awesome. Very nice vid.

my only concerns about P/P is that you’re basically dead if unload gets reflected, and while the offhand pistol skills give tremendous utility, the mainhand ones are mediocre condition applying auttoattacks. But nice job, you do a great job showing off the risky ranged burst potential!

Ah Taquito, Taquito, Taquito. You are the only thief that makes me want to play a thief. I love the gunslinger style – Vash the Stampede, Bastion gunslinger, westerns. The temptation to play one is pretty great. I guess I should just do it.

Great videos as always.

@ Taquito – I have a question about the build. I don’t understand the generosity / fire sigil combo. Fire is obviously good, generosity makes sense to me in this build since there’re few condition clears, but I thought stacking didn’t work because of shared cooldowns. Am I right about the logic / wrong about the condition clears? Also, I just went down to the 30% endurance generation meat stew, which is running at about 1.6 s. There’s not a huge, noticable difference.

@ Expiatus: You should do it. My thief was gathering dust, but after watching the Taquito series, I picked it back up, got P/P, and am having a lot of fun.

Glad to see the Gunslinger love. Sure it’s a risk, but it’s so frigging FUN.
Speaking of which …. knowing our servers’ luck, it’s probably time for another go-round.

sas.6483:

@ Expiatus: You should do it. My thief was gathering dust, but after watching the Taquito series, I picked it back up, got P/P, and am having a lot of fun.

I guess the thing that attracts me too it so much is the mobile, kitting play-style. I love mobility, dodging, escapes, all the evasive stuff. It’s why I tend to play ranger or warhorn something warrior and why my guardian or mesmer never make it past level 17.

Well I best create a gunslinger and just play P/P on the way up to get good at it. What would a charr dual pistol look like?

always nice to see one of your posts! it’s been a month since I picket up your build and compleetly changed my playstile from stealth assassin to p/p gunslinger! and I cant think of a moment in witch I regret it! awesome. I have even rounded up more kills per hour bbecouse i can take on more enemies!

in the video I noticed you awarded mercy to some players, did I see that wrong? (not killed them but only downed them)

Thanks for the comments, all!

The build is a ton of fun to play. The thing I love most about thief is that you don’t have weapon skill cooldowns or have to stick to pre-determined optimal rotations. You’ve got all your tricks up your sleeve for whenever you want them and can act/react at will to the ebb and flow of a fight. It’s a much more arcade style of play over other classes, and being somewhat glassy, each fight feels thrilling for me because I know that if I make a mistake, I’m probably dead.

And even though I choose to play without using stealth, you do still have access to the black powder/heartseeker combo on the weaponswap with this build if you want to keep some stealth in your gameplay.

On to the questions….

nearlight.3064:

my only concerns about P/P is that you’re basically dead if unload gets reflected, and while the offhand pistol skills give tremendous utility, the mainhand ones are mediocre condition applying auttoattacks. But nice job, you do a great job showing off the risky ranged burst potential!

I run into people trying to reflect pretty often (shield warriors, engis, eles) without much of a problem. If you’re keeping a reasonable distance when you Unload, you should have plenty of time to react and dodge if you see it reflect. And even still, the damage probably won’t kill you unless you’re really low anyways. Instead, just use that opportunity to switch to dagger and close the gap, or simply stop firing and let your initiative recharge. The reflect skills are all telegraphed and you should be able to spot it immediately.

sas.6483:

@ Taquito – I have a question about the build. I don’t understand the generosity / fire sigil combo. Fire is obviously good, generosity makes sense to me in this build since there’re few condition clears, but I thought stacking didn’t work because of shared cooldowns. Am I right about the logic / wrong about the condition clears? Also, I just went down to the 30% endurance generation meat stew, which is running at about 1.6 s. There’s not a huge, noticable difference.

The short answer is yes, the sigils probably do cancel each other out in terms of cooldowns. The thing about the Generosity sigil is that it’s difficult to see if it’s actually working or not. There’s no visual effect when it procs other than staring at your condition bar and your enemy’s condition bar, but you don’t really have time to do that in a fight if you’re playing this type of style.

In the video, I’m using a Bloodlust pistol on the off-hand for most of the fights because I only switch over to Fire when I hit my 25 stacks. But whenever I’m running Generosity+Fire, Fire seems to proc every chance it gets and I haven’t noticed any hit to my general survivability after swapping. So I’m not really sure how it works (or even if it is working)… I picked up my Generosity sigil back during Wintersday when it was about 50s and I’ve been too afraid to replace it ever since because it’s gotten so expensive now. I’d say for the purposes of this build, your sigil choices are completely optional. If someone wants to test the build without plunking down 20g+ on a Generosity sigil, please let me know how that turns out.

One other trick that most of you probably already know, but for those who don’t… if you’re using the same weapon on both weaponswaps, you don’t actually need two of them.

My current load-out looks like:
Weaponswap #1: Main Hand – Pistol of Generosity, Off Hand – Empty
Weaponswap #2: Main Hand – Dagger of Force, Off Hand – Pistol of Fire
The game will automatically fill the empty slot with the filled slot from your other weaponswap so I end up with P/P and D/P instead of P/x and D/P.

kaazdinasty.8120:

always nice to see one of your posts! it’s been a month since I picket up your build and compleetly changed my playstile from stealth assassin to p/p gunslinger! and I cant think of a moment in witch I regret it! awesome. I have even rounded up more kills per hour bbecouse i can take on more enemies!

in the video I noticed you awarded mercy to some players, did I see that wrong? (not killed them but only downed them)

Yeah, some of those clips were from actual duels (with /bowing before) and others were just random 1v1 fights. Typically, if I’m out roaming and see a roamer I recognize, I don’t spike. I also show mercy sometimes after particularly challenging fights if allowing them to live doesn’t jeopardize any nearby objectives for my team. It’s my way of showing respect to an opponent for giving me a good fight, but I definitely don’t expect that kind of mercy shown to me when I lose.

Impressive… do you die a lot in WvW with this build? Most fights in the video you seemed to get kinda low on health.

1. This build is worthless in anything larger than 1v1

2. These players suck

mathras.2450:

Impressive… do you die a lot in WvW with this build? Most fights in the video you seemed to get kinda low on health.

No, quite the opposite. I just tend to play a bit reckless.

Any fight you walk into, you’re armed with 2 stun breakers, 3 standard dodges, and can push one button to instantly refill your endurance. As long as you’re managing your cooldowns, you can kite indefinitely or exit the fight at will if things get bad. It’s got decent sustain in 1vX situations as well, but it’s somewhat difficult to land stomps when focused unless you burn your shadowstep to do it safely.

When running with the guild (5-10 man havoc group), I’m typically the first one to jump into a group fight. Shadowstep in and daggerstorm ‘til I’m low, then shadowstep back out as my allies hit the group. Then I play the edge and pick off low-health players until I’m healed up and ready to hit the middle again. Against groups much larger than ours, I’ll hit black powder before the daggerstorm to blind everyone.

The toughest individual matchups against this build are condition-heavy specs since my only condition cleanses come from Signet of Agility and Pain Response. Mesmers, engis, necro are the most difficult. The only real answer to those is to either kill ’em quick or avoid completely.

Archon.6481:

1. This build is worthless in anything larger than 1v1

2. These players suck

So what build do you run.?