Guild Wars 2

I’ve been working on my thief for some time now, and I’ve tinkered with the abilities. I’ve gone with Critical strikes and Deadly arts so that I can max out Precision/Power. Of course, as a result, I am paper-thin. I have discovered methods of evading and removing myself from harm, but when it comes down to it, I’m simply a glass cannon. As I approach level 80 with intent to PvP, I am wondering if there is cause for a few ability shifts. On the same note, I currently operate with Daggers/Pistols or Bow/Pistols. I am learning that staying out of harm’s way is key, and that I can stack damage very quickly with ranged weapons, as daggers put me too close to melee attacks. However, daggers simply deal so much damage. I also have ten points remaining, which will most likely fall into toughness or vitality.

My question(s?): am I approaching this from the wrong angle? How can I manipulate my abilities and/or weapons combos to continue to milk potential damage output for everything it’s worth while actually maintaining some survivability? Or is there a better setup entirely for the DPS PvP thief that I’ve not considered?

Power/Toughness/Vitality Armor – Runes to taste (I like Divinity)
Knights Jewelry with Rubies

This puts you at about 30% crit and 30% crit damage, not great, but not bad either.

Acrobatics with Might on Dodge + Bowl of Orrian Truffle (Might on Dodge).

Get a second offhand weapon with Sigil of Bloodlust – when you max out your stacks (go after neutral camps), swap out with +5% damage Sigil.

You should be able to maintain 5-8 stacks of Might during fighting, often more if you are judicious with your evasion.

All told, you can get upwards of 3700 power with this setup. You will have over 1600 toughness and vitality as well as the naturally tanky Sword/Pistol setup.

I would hold off until the patch hits before dedicating too many resources towards any current Thief build.

Dee Jay.2460:

I would hold off until the patch hits before dedicating too many resources into any current Thief spec.

i agree, hold all your horses,

maybe after the said patch, we will look at thieves in a different perspective,

still hoping for p/p viability

Dee Jay.2460:

I would hold off until the patch hits before dedicating too many resources towards any current Thief build.

^^^^^
this is good advice
my thief still has some rares armor and no runes lol. still huge damage.
unfortunately i already poured far too many resources into necro, with more exotic gear sets than the class has decent builds.

Definitely wait for the patch like the other said. I’ve been saving up money (again for the third time due to nerfs -.-) to once again redesign my build. Nobody really knows what the patch will do to thief, but the high damage glass cannon thieves are probably going to take a hit. Don’t think condition damage thieves are going to get hurt badly so I might try one of those.

condition builds will not be affected, since conditions are balanced across all classes that can provide conditions,

the bleed of any class is the same as anyone else given that they have the same condition damage modifiers

Level 78 right now, but this is my build.

http://www.gw2build.com/builds/simulator.php#1.7.1.10.13.0.0.0.0.0.156.165.168.176.179.0.0.0.456.459.460.468.475.476.0.0.0.0.0.0.515.0.0.30.30.0.0.10

Dagger/Dagger
30- Deadly arts (Sundering Strikes, Dagger Draining, Combined Training)
30- Critical Strikes (Side Strike, Critical Haste, Executioner)
10- Trickery (Thrill of the Crime)
Signet of Malice
Signet of Agility
Signet of Shadows
Shadow Refuge
Dagger Storm

Reason why? Extremely high DPS, rapid fast attacks, and I am healed for nearly 100 health every time I hit a mob. I rarely have to use my insta heal because of the passive healing with every strike, and with my boost to speed on attack, and the chance to go into quickness every 30 seconds, it’s a real killer.

At level 77 (Just didn’t have Deadly arts at 30 yet), I am able to farm level 80 areas killing 5 or so mobs at a time using level 74-76 exotic equipment. (I cheat because I carry embers as well), and if I find my health getting REALLY low I throw up Dagger Storm, and that usually fills me back to 100% health from 5%.

I highly suggest trying this build out, it was like night and day from everything else I was using.

I’m not a big fan of the deadly arts tree. Currently running 10/30/0/20/10. This is for dungeons, pve and WvW.
I couldn’t live without the 3rd dodge from feline grace and I feel like the regen from pain response helps a lot (could be swapped out for 3 extra init from trickery)
D/D + SB build with Berserker/Valkyrie mix of armor.

spif.7580:

Power/Toughness/Vitality Armor – Runes to taste (I like Divinity)
Knights Jewelry with Rubies

This puts you at about 30% crit and 30% crit damage, not great, but not bad either.

Acrobatics with Might on Dodge + Bowl of Orrian Truffle (Might on Dodge).

Get a second offhand weapon with Sigil of Bloodlust – when you max out your stacks (go after neutral camps), swap out with +5% damage Sigil.

You should be able to maintain 5-8 stacks of Might during fighting, often more if you are judicious with your evasion.

All told, you can get upwards of 3700 power with this setup. You will have over 1600 toughness and vitality as well as the naturally tanky Sword/Pistol setup.

mmm and what about weapons? stats wise i mean

http://www.gw2build.com/builds/high-damage-thief-v1-0-high-damage-and-survivability-917kittenml