Guild Wars 2

I was wondering what it might take to optimize my build for Zerging (with a guild).

In the Zerg I am mostly used for stacking Might and finishing downed players. At times I’ll chase down softer targets but with Power, Toughness, Vitality gear that’s often not so easy.

I was thinking of the following build:

15 point into Deadly Arts for Lotus Poison, giving you AoE Weakness with your AoE poison. That should help take a punch out of your enemy’s melee train.

30 Points in Critical Strikes because duh. I’d probably pick Executioner over Hidden Killer as well.

10 Points in Shadow Arts, because I consider Shadow’s Embrace to be mandatory and it’s the only way we can shake mass condition spam.

15 Points into Acrobatics for Feline Grace for the extra dodges and HP. I could also go 25 Points into this tree, pick up Pain Response and Fluid Strikes at the expense of Shadow’s Embrace but I feel that would make me too susceptible to various conditions.

Looking at this build now, it’s identical to the one I used to run in PvE.

in zerg imo no matter what build you tack just be careful and be aware your surrounding

i am running sometime zerk build 0,30,30,10,0 d/d+sb with 3600 attack and 2300 armor which is feets right as long as i know where my enemies are and where my group going to.
i am taking out the necros, eles, mesmer etc fast and clean and go out fast to review mu position

messiah.1908:

in zerg imo no matter what build you tack just be careful and be aware your surrounding

i am running sometime zerk build 0,30,30,10,0 d/d+sb with 3600 attack and 2300 armor which is feets right as long as i know where my enemies are and where my group going to.
i am taking out the necros, eles, mesmer etc fast and clean and go out fast to review mu position

This is pretty much exactly what I do in a zerg situation. Long ranged classes are particularly dangerous to your group when they’re given the freedom to cast from the backlines without any pressure. Most of these players are so focussed on dpsing the heavies in the front that they don’t really take note of the thief stabbing them from behind.

When you down an easy target like a ranger, 5 or so allies will try to resurrect him. Those are 5 less enemies targeting your warriors in the front. If they realize you’re there, they start spamming areas around you. Those are areas which would have been used on your warriors.

When in the middle of a zerg, I find cloak and dagger to be far superior to the BP+HS combo. With some good positioning you can easy take out a handful of targets one at a time in the back before you need to shadowstep or shadow refuge out to lose the heat on you.

A thief running with the zerg or guild does three things. Blast fields, heavy AoE damage and in prolonged fights or GvG, pressure the periphery.

I won’t be allowed to share guild builds here but what I will say is that signet of malice is your friend, as is dodging. Gear wise you can go similar to Wish’s D/D set-up.

Shortbow is likely to be your main weapon, Daggerstorm your elite. Steal to a Warrior, Daggerstorm, use the Steal. You’ll see some glorious numbers!

It’s a popular myth that thieves can’t handle zergs – this simply isn’t the case. Just be careful of chokes.

Thief is a very well suited zerg character. You get lots of ranged damage, easy evades (sb3) and good mobility!

You don’t need crazy amounts of hitpoints or armor, at least not once you get used to the playstyle. I run with 16k health/2500 armor and 0/30/30/10/0 build.

Just make sure you only use your stun breaker when really needed. Since that is the only ‘shortcoming’ a thief has for these kind of things.

I usually go just to the left/right of a zerg, Daggerstorm past. Drop some aoe blasts on the squishies at the back (that pile of rangers/necros running full zerker gear).

Then just run around the edges with your shortbow out. You’ll tag a sick amount of stuff and will be a real pest to the enemy!

Always keep both Hide in the Shadows (although Malice is a nice option as well) and Shadowstep ready for when needed! And see them bags roll in!

Also on towers you cap quickly, shortbow up, use shadowstep for the last stair and daggerstorm in there right away. Sure exotic bag and guard bags on top of it!

Switch.4892:

messiah.1908:

in zerg imo no matter what build you tack just be careful and be aware your surrounding

i am running sometime zerk build 0,30,30,10,0 d/d+sb with 3600 attack and 2300 armor which is feets right as long as i know where my enemies are and where my group going to.
i am taking out the necros, eles, mesmer etc fast and clean and go out fast to review mu position

This is pretty much exactly what I do in a zerg situation. Long ranged classes are particularly dangerous to your group when they’re given the freedom to cast from the backlines without any pressure. Most of these players are so focussed on dpsing the heavies in the front that they don’t really take note of the thief stabbing them from behind.

When you down an easy target like a ranger, 5 or so allies will try to resurrect him. Those are 5 less enemies targeting your warriors in the front. If they realize you’re there, they start spamming areas around you. Those are areas which would have been used on your warriors.

When in the middle of a zerg, I find cloak and dagger to be far superior to the BP+HS combo. With some good positioning you can easy take out a handful of targets one at a time in the back before you need to shadowstep or shadow refuge out to lose the heat on you.

THIS ^^^

sure u can stealth stomp people, but when u leave them there so 5 people can stop attacking your people to try and res them, u can lay down a poison with your SB and if your full zerkers that autoattack is going to hurt, and downed people will always attract people so u can expect to see some hammer warriors fly in and then all of a sudden u went from 1 stomp to multiple stomps

ugh pvt gear on a thief is never really a great option even when zerging. Your better off going all Valk gear and Cav trinkets. As already stated 0/30/30/10/0 is a good way to go and you will have a good burst(via d/x) with decent sustain dmg with sb(esp if you get furry from allies) and you will be far from glass.

i just love to put down 1 enemy go cnd and switch to SB and spam #2 with 4-5k aoe dmg which take down 3-5 more ppl

Many have suggested using thieves guild in a zerg over daggerstorm because daggerstorm damage underwhelming. I disagree entirely. Daggerstorm hits far more targets and inflicts bleeds and cripples. Those cripples slow an enemy making them easier for others on your team to track down. As importantly daggerstrom reflects projectiles. I have seen that reflection take down the person firing at me all on its own.

Do not underestimate the power of a condition thief in a zerg and remember you do not have to make the kill to get a kill. I will often switch target to target just to keep the condition pressure on them so they waste cleanses. If another on the team then makes the kill so be it as long as the kill made.