Guild Wars 2

Are thieves just generally useless in dungeons?
I mean other than sitting in the back with a shortbow are there any viable builds?

I have the same questions, which means I have the same underlining feeling that you have

Look… I suppose I play thief because ultimately I’m a roll-player. I’m hoping that if people can’t see past that fact, then maybe there is some redeeming trait that a thief can contribute to dungeon runs.

thief should just stick in WvWvW where they thrive. Oh wait, here it comes… Just learn to play.

Not even close to useless.

You can run condition damage with P/D or D/D.
You can run Signet of Malice and Omnomberry Pie and facetank anything with glass cannon stats by using life leech with S/P.
You can run slightly tankier S/P or S/D builds that maintain blinds and manage key mobs with stuns/dazes.
Shadow Refuge is THE best support skill in the game. Smoke Screen isn’t far behind except for Ele Focus and Guardian reflects.
And much more.

My current dungeon trait/skill spec (almost always running melee):

http://www.guildhead.com/skill-calc#mckmzc0zMMrFCooaRbm0xxa0oaqVoqo

Equipment:
Mix of Berserker/Valkyrie armor with Emerald Orbs, mix of Berserker/Knight/Cavalier accessories.

I have just under 2k Power, just under 1.9k Precision, 1.6-1.7k Toughness and 1.1-1.2k Vitality, with 80% Crit damage and 48% Crit chance (boosted above 50% with maintenance oil).

Playstyle:
If there aren’t sufficient snares, Dancing Dagger towards key mobs. Blinding Powder to reposition, followed by daze, auto chain, C+D, daze etc. When you execute the rotation consistently enough, mobs will never be able to damage you or nearby teammates due to nearly constant blind up-time. On top of that, the mobs you’re cleaving will also be weakened and snared, even if for a short time. Advantage of this over S/P is that your blinds are extremely mobile and when you do get hit through your rotation, your stealth will bring you back up fairly quickly. If a group of mobs is too big to risk the direct rush, I instead switch to SB and spam poison fields with Cluster Bomb for Area Weakness. This combo makes entire dungeons trivial. Damage to your group is reduced by such a large amount that it’s ridiculous. The Dredge Fractal is a piece of cake at 20+ when I throw those fields in to the enemy ranks. Also, against Dredge your blinds are useless, so it’s a given that you’ll use the SB instead. The S/D dazes are still nice to stop Disaggregators giving out boons, and your skill #3 can strip away boss boons in a flash. While doing all that, your damage is also extremely formidable.

That’s just me, though. It’s almost definitely not perfect (you could use 10 Trickery instead of 10 Acrobatics for Fury/Might/Swiftness for your team, but I prefer the little extra Vitality and the burst in speed that lets me get dazes off on dangerous mobs). I rarely see S/D Thieves in dungeons, and for all I know, there may be a kitten good reason for it. However, so far, I’ve had zero problems in any of the game’s dungeons and am one of the top contributors in the group most of the time. Deception utilities, man. Do not underestimate them.

Venoms and Traps are extremely lacklustre right now, so your best bet is obviously damage, be it condition through bleeds or direct. Boon support with Trickery and selective perma-Weakness with D/D and 15 Deadly Arts is also nice.

Argh, there’s so much I could talk about. Just have a gander through the traits and skills on offer – there’s a lot more to them than at first glance.

I can absolutely vouch for the build above, it’s my fave for dungeons now & i’ve been running it since 80, albeit with the points in deadly arts rather than acro. Even in places like TA explorable when stun → death can occur often, there’s so much you can do with the build to survive a fight – disengaging is so easy, and the 2 skill on sword if best thing ever for getting out of a tight situation. Sure we’re a squishy class but being able to lose the heat at any time is much better than simply having a bigger health pool – IMO.

Fortunately for us both, S/D kicks kitten for dungeons

You’ll almost certainly need a bit more than base defense, but yes, Thief is very viable in dungeons. Get your effective health up to a point where you can take a hit or two, and melee with everyone else. You do less damage and are a squishier than a Warrior, but have better access to evasion, can maintain weakness, and offer group stealth utilities that can be incredibly valuable in places.