Guild Wars 2

So I am currently running D/P with strength runes, would ogre be better of at it gives the 4% damage buff or should I stay with what I have

I recommend pack over both of those, but either work, I’d prob go ogre over strength if that’s what you want

I’m just not sure like I said currently running strength runes but I know meta battle shows ogre so I’m just not sure which would be better

I’ve played around with Ogre, Pack and Strength runes on various professions including thief. I stick to my Str runes due to the might on dodge + the food I eat generates another might on dodge.. It’s just nice to have it constantly there.

I like Ogre runes for the 4% dmg increase but I found the Rock Dog annoying and/or it died too quickly or – at the worst case.. It kinda gives your position away and includes a free CnD from another thief if you run into them. Uhg.

Pack runes are meh because I already get swiftness on dodge however, I do like the precision increase and the might on hit instead of Ogre rune’s silly Rock Dog.

Overall, each has their advantages and disadvantages. Look up what build you run and relate it to runes that compliment/enhance it more to get the best effects?

I personally prefer Pack Runes, or as a cheap (and ztill good) alternative Runes of the Eagle.
Strength runes are amazing and I’d recommend those solely for the might stacking potential. The lack of precision is too big of a deal for my liking.

At any rate, I highly advice you to not use the Ogre Runes.
Any */D player gets a target to easily stealth off, the damage is a bit underwhelming (both the 4% and the dog) and that dog gives away your position way too often.
It’s for similar reasons that I don’t like the Pirate Runes.

If you wanna choose between strength and ogre, go for ogre. You have horrible might stacking options on d/p.

Overall pack is the meta. Perma fury and swiftness are really nice.

Another rune that is pushing into the meta is vampirism for panic strike builds. It’s not only about the mist form. The additional heal is really helful and makes your heal around 25% better.

Vampirism also hits for around 950’ish so adds to your burst. Last Refuge is a bad trait that gets people killed, but with Vamp it will proc with the Mist Form so you get out in stealth AND be invulnerable.

Neither! Strength is a bad idea because you can’t reliably apply might to yourself (aside from Thrill of the crime) and is expensive as hell. I played a bit with runes of the Ogre before the Ferocity nerf, and I found the rock dog super annoying and not very stealthy. Now that Ferocity was nerfed, the stats are not that great either. Pack runes are fantastic for the mobility they offer, and the fury uptime is OP. That’s my personal choice. Vampirism runes are excellent in a pvp environment because of their synergy with Withdraw and Last Refuge, and are really cheap. And you’ll never lose to mesmer again (as if it was the case with other runes). I haven’t tested them in WvW though. Runes of the eagle are a bit more old school, and I don’t like the stats on them, but they work decently.

I love rock dog on D/P thieves. It let’s me kill them with dancing dagger while the thief is in stealth.

Don’t use ogre.

Impact.2780:

I love rock dog on D/P thieves. It let’s me kill them with dancing dagger while the thief is in stealth.

Don’t use ogre.

Or with Mirror blade. Or with SB AA. Or… Yeah don’t use that.

Yeah, any bouncing attacks will kind of screw you over big time when you use Ogre runes xD

A lot depends on the exact build being used.

With upcoming changes the value of Strength runes to a Thief will drop significantly as we lose multiple sources of might that allow that stacking. Both might on dodge and on stealth will be gone.

Personally I would use pack. They will maintain their value with the changes and since we will lose other sources of fury and swiftness the bonus of might/fury/swiftness will be welcome.

I suspect there will be a number of runes not currently used that will be more desirable with those changes. I can see Lyssa/evasion/rage/ and any boon duration or proc on heal effect runeset becoming more used.

Yeh the way you guys put it I def won’t be using ogre

I’ve been using pack since back when everyone was using Lyssa. I’ve always liked being able to give those offensive buffs to a roaming partner or allies whenever I jump onto a point.

Damage-wise, Pack is quite a bit stronger than strength with a berserker amulet, and that’s not counting the bonuses to allies. Of course it’s stronger over-time by giving you more critical hits and more reliable sigil procs. Strength, if your hit crits, will give you higher spike due to the damage modifier, but less damage over time due to less critical hits and fewer sigil procs.

I just crafted Ascended Armor last night. Said the heck with it and put Traveler Runes in them. I know I know, I just lost 10% damage output but, Terrain speed is just to darn slow. I’m incredibly sick of being stuck with Signet of Shadows as well so, I said the heck with it. Otherwise, I’d have gone with Pack runes for certain. It’s a tough call when I’m swapping the armor between Ranger and Engi too.

DeWolfe.2174:

I just crafted Ascended Armor last night. Said the heck with it and put Traveler Runes in them. I know I know, I just lost 10% damage output but, Terrain speed is just to darn slow. I’m incredibly sick of being stuck with Signet of Shadows as well so, I said the heck with it. Otherwise, I’d have gone with Pack runes for certain. It’s a tough call when I’m swapping the armor between Ranger and Engi too.

Honestly imo traveler runes are not a good option on thief. Even moreso with pack runes being the way they are. By simply taking thrill of the crime (adept trait in trickery line) and with pack rune procs, one is able to achieve perma swiftness in combat which is better than the results from the traveler runes. Along with this you gain perma fury and a free might stack because why not. Don’t forget you’re giving these to all nearby allies (up to 5) as well. Basically pack runes give better stat bonuses and better 6 rune effects, basically makes taking traveler runes moot for the speed bonus in combat.

If you’re complaining about out of combat move speed, simply slot signet of shadows when you have long runs or just detarget and use steal to get 12s of swiftness from trill of the crime. That combined with the natural ability to shadowstep from SB or sword 2 should be more than enough mobility when out of combat.

RIP might stacking for Thief when the specialization changes hit.

I personally prefer Scholar runes because I use Hidden Killer over Executioner. The crits are insane. Full zerker backstabs crit for 8.5k on squishies. Kinda useless though after the initial opener because if you get pinched you lose like half health and it completely negates the effect of Scholar runes. It’s just fun for me and that’s why I use em. I like big numbers.

But yeah, Pack runes are probably best.

Keep in mind the 30% bonus to sprint from pack runes only applies to the ones that you apply yourself.