Guild Wars 2

I’m new and trying to work out a build for my thief, I want to model the build after the spy of TF2. So I’m investing into Shadow Arts, and getting all the “Stealthy” skills (Signet of Shadows, Shadow Refuge(?), Blinding Powder, so forth)

But I’m trying to choose between appropriate weapons and secondary trees that go with a stealth thief. I still want my thief to do well in PvP and PvE combat, using invisibility to trick/trip up my opponents and outlast them. My idea is running in there cutting up as many people as possible and then disappear away before anyone can retaliate…

I’m planning on advancing a little in Trickery (To get instinctual response.) But I don’t know whether to take Deadly Arts or Critical Strikes with the build. I imagine venom skills, with bleed will make attacking and running away much more plausible, deadly, and helpful to the team. But Critical Strikes with skills like Scorpion wire would allow me to take down the opposing team one at a time, quickly, and efficiently.

Should I use short bow or dual pistols for either build. Is a stab based critical build plausible?

Thanks

Well, the thing that pops out at me is your statement here:
“My idea is running in there cutting up as many people as possible and then disappear away before anyone can retaliate…”

You won’t ever be able to do this. Believe me – My Riftstalker in Rift is the king of cutthroat hit and run like this. It’s the only playstyle I’ve ever really enjoyed. And you have to accept the fact that you cannot do it here.

Let’s face it – Ranged classes will spot you running up from half a mile away, watch you stealth, evade until you pop out 3 (4 with shadow arts) seconds later, then start wailing on you from 1200 if you don’t have gap closers. Unless a player is asleep, and consequently a free kill anyway, you will be spotted and the enemy will be prepared for you. This goes for WvW zergs and structured mists.

I almost quit my thief due to this…lack of tactical backstabbing strategy, but then I adapted to a brand new playstyle and kind of enjoy the thief as-is. You can’t always get what you truly desire, but it happens. No matter what you end up doing, pvp in this game comes down to two players duking it out, timing great evasions, using cooldowns effectively, and chaining skills like a pro.

All of this said, the thief does have some of the things you want. Thieves do have ways to slip away when the going gets tough. Shadow refuge is one of these abilities. I simply don’t pvp without it. You’re fighting some tough mesmer, his friend shows up, you pop refuge and stand in it for the full 15 seconds of stealth and healing. They will AoE for a few seconds, but almost everyone moves on in the heat of the moment.

You also have the acrobatics trait tree. I have played all of the thief trees for a bit now, and acro is by far my favorite. You can evade for half the cost (twice as often), gain might and swiftness from each evade, gain initiative, and of course 10% damage if your endurance is never full (it should never be full lol). Combining any trait tree with acrobatics makes your character more mobile and more aggressive since you dodge sooo much. I also run with 2 daggers, since the second strike grants 10 endurance. I really am dodging a LOT in pvp. I run a dagger main, pistol offhand secondary so I can shadowstab away for a quick blink.

Moving on, there are some pretty awesome “critical stab builds.” Thirty deadly arts, 30 critical strikes, 10 trickery. You take the Mug trait (steal actually kind of hurts with this), 5% dagger damage from deadly arts, plus all of the crit traits from critical strikes, and thrill of the crime from trickery.
For utility skills you need to have assassin’s signet and spider venom. This “stabby” build is based 100% on the opener, and when done correctly it can insta-gib ele’s and thieves (which will probably be changed..).

You activate your spider venom since it has 30 sec as you hunt. You find a target and close in. Once steal is in range –
You hit Cloak and Dagger, then immediately hit steal. Yes, there is absolutely no global cooldown type system. You can go CLICK CLICK one after the other to make this work, I live by it. If you hit Cloak and Dagger + steal as fast as if you were double-clicking something, you will start the cast, teleport to the enemy, proc the Mug trait, proc the poison from deadly arts, proc your spider venom, Cloak and Dagger lands and you go invisible in melee range.

The moment this occurs, you pop your 150% damage assassin signet and land the killer backstab.

It literally occurs within a window of 3 seconds, but it’s very satisfying when you execute it 100%. Anyway, these are just some ideas for you. I personally fo defensive. I run around like a maniac, peeling bloodthirsty people away from zergs, blinking away, leading them on a chase, until only one is left, then engage him 1v1 and wreck him or vanish into stealth to harass him.