Guild Wars 2

Hey all,

So im going to start running Arah explore with some friends, in what trait spec and armor/weapons + utilities etc does Thief bring the most to an Arah Explorable run?

At the moment im running the very standard yet very effective 25 Deadly Arts/30 Critical Strikes/15 Acrobatics with full power/prec/crit damage gear. As utilities im using mainly hide in shadows, signet of agility, roll for initiative and shadow refuge, i switch between Daggerstorm and Thieves guild alot depending on the situation.

Any help much appreciated

i’ve done it about 30 times and heres what i use/have
skills: d/d(sigil of perception/rage) sb(sigil of blood).
Hide in shadows, Shadow Refuge, Signet of Shadows, Signet of Agility, theives guild
gear:
all my acces are beryl etc of the valkyrie
then all my gear is valkyrie gear with emerald orbs for added toughness, excluding hood/gloves with is ‘serker
works nicely usually don’t get down’d during lupi unless he insta focuses me, i can keep my life up with HiS and the sigil of blood on my shortbow, besides that just really time your dodges right

Ok

Here’s the deal, you are definitely going to wants some toughness and vitality gear especially when you get to the 3rd boss in any path giganticus lupicus. That fight is mainly about survival, a heavy stealth build might actually work well to drop aggro and help Rez teammates.

His auto attacks are homing and they come quickly along with a huge Aoe and a shadow step that hits like a train if you don’t dodge. You are going to need some speed and a lot of dodging. I would probably go 20-30 stealth the return energy on dodge in acrobatics, and maybe he rest in critical hits for some dps. You are mainly going to rage the bosses.

Now another HUGE secret or tip that I found out on my necro (haven’t tested it on thief yet) is that spectral grasp (a single target pull) let’s me pull 1 single mob out of a pack to the group without aggroing the rest. If scorpion wire works the same that will be a HUGE help to the team.

If you are running a dps spec with zerkers gear or little to no defensive gear you are going to be a big hindrance to your team. Arah explore is more about surviving than damage. You are getting multiple mobs at once, ranged and melee and they hit hard. You have to be able to take some hits and heal up.

Shadow step will be a huge Lifesaver for lupicus because he has a pull in stage 3 as well as the huge Aoes that you always can’t run out of in time.

i would go for 30 points in shadow arts, with, deception reuse , condition removal and heal on stealth,30 on critical strikes, and 10 on DA for vulnerability on hit
dual pistiols / dual daggers for first part
some healing power on items, 600 would be awsome arround 14500 max hp and 2700 -2800 armor rest on damage/cond damage
most of ppls ignore healing power on thief, i just have it from SA traits and Divinity runes +triforge necklace , but 400 healing power is already awsome

I’ve run my fair share of Arah explorable. Here’s my advice:

1. Roll with a Shortbow (or Pistol) most of the time and only switch to Melee when things are under control. Sword/Dagger however can be good for locking down casters.

2. For trash I tend to use Scorpion Wire as you can single out a lot of mobs by pulling them separately without adding the group. If you group lets you pull and isn’t too hasty you can make life A LOT easier for everyone. It won’t work on every group however.

3. My second utility skill tends to be smoke screen as not only does it apply Blind to targets you hit while shooting through, it also blocks all projectile and enemy spells passing through it. Depending on the fight, this can be incredibly useful.

4. Shadow Refuge is an Ability I almost never exchange and I use on every spec I play. It’s just that useful because it allows you to rezz people safely and bypass mobs in certain areas. Just make sure everyone stands in the Refuge for the full 4 second duration.

5. For Giganticus Lupius I tend to mix it up a little. I replace “Hide in the Shadows” with “Withdraw” for the extra Dodge and add “Roll for Initiative” and “Singet of Shadow”. I tried using Pistols but really missed the extra Dodges form the Shortbow and the damage didn’t seem that much higher.

6. Regarding gear, damage is absolutely secondary in most PvE situations. You’ll want at least 16000 HP and at least a little Toughness. The more, the better. Pack a vierty of different foods too, some to improve you Stamina regeneration and some you just generally like.

PS: The Projectile Reflect on Daggerstoms makes it the perfect tool to pull ranged mobs.

well off the top of my head the stats i have are as follows. i have run all 4 path of arah and the first 3 paths multiple times (25+)

16.3khp
2900+ attack
54% cirt chance
100% crit damage
2k armor

my main set is P/P and shortbow although i switch to daggers for some fights.
i run 30 in critical strikes with “executioner”, +7% crit chance from the sides and convert 5% perc into vitality
i run 25 in the vitality tree with the gain vigor upon healing and 2 initiative ever something or so runs
also 15 in the last tree with the bonus that stealths me if i take for then 20% of my hp in one hit.

Utilities- You should be flexible but never and i mean never leave home without shadow refuge. it imo is the utility skill that offers the most utility. it can help you skip, res, and heal. you dont need to res 100% of the time if you cast shadow refuge.
i also run roll for initiative and the signet that gives you passive precision and active endurance refil and clear condition (i almost never switch this out)

for lupicus, the shortbow is you friend. the evade on 3 is heavenly and if you master using it while managing your initative it is extremly helpful

honestly i havent had a problem in any dungeon so far. im running mostly zerker with 1 knight armor and 3 pieces of valkyre jewellery

most of all if its a group that you plan to run with continuously then learn how you can cover each other in certain areas of the dungeon. if you understand the strengths and weaknesses of each other then you can be much more effective. the blast finisher on the shortbow 2 is extremely useful and you should learn which combo fields do what.