Guild Wars 2

Hi guys, I’ve got a nooby question to ask.

Basically, I’m kind of new to GW2 and I’ve picked up the thief. The problem is, I feel very squishy, especially in the personal story where I have to fight more than one target at a time.
I was wondering if someone could give me some pointers, or link me to another thread on how what I’m doing wrong and how to improve.

Currently level 20, using D/D and P/D.

Thank you.

Consider using a pistol off-hand. You can spam the #5 skill which is black powder allowing you to perma blind mobs.

Shortbow allows kiting with the #3 skill which can pretty much keep any melee based mob at bay and is incredibly effective at aoe damage with #2 skill cluster bomb.

Also a long time a go there was a D&D death blossom spam build with signet of malice which allowed high evade uptime, bleed stacks and high health regen (because of malice). Don’t know if it still works with the trait changes but you could search for it. This build made solo pve really easy as you could take out 3-5 mobs without taking too much damage.

From what I have been told, s/p is the most noob friendly weapon set for leveling thief.

So it seems like using range is pretty effective in PvE, for newbies anyway. I’ll try out the different combos with the pistols and I’ll be sure to give the shortbow a go too.

Thanks guys

I’m still up for more tips by the way everyone, so feel free to share.

Sword + pistol and shortbow on offhand. Shortbow you can just use #3 to distance yourself if the melee opponents are hitting too hard. Sword/Pistol #3 hits hard and evades while you’re hitting the enemy. There’s also #5 that creates a blind field so melee enemies will not hit you at all while they’re in the field (exceptions are if they’re champs or using a specific skill.)

I also recommend having Smoke Screen, an utility skill, as it blocks ranged projectiles.

signet of malice, smoke screen, shadow refuge, sword/pistol, pistol offhand, shortbow, caltrops (for kiting purposes)

I have a low level thief, and I use d/p with sb offhand. i don’t really like the signet of malice, doesn’t give enough health back when fighting. I’m still learning how to use thieves and level mine. Just find whats comfortable for you to use.

• Off-hand pistol allows for the black powder blinding field.
• The sword allows you to hit up to 3 monsters at the same time.
• The sword/pistol allows for a stun/flurry of attacks, while evading.
• If you have initiative trouble, use the initiative sigil (infiltrator I think it is called?)
• Use food. Health regeneration over time is nice at low levels.
• Get used to Withdraw, the heal skill with the best health over time ratio (+evades)
• Learn to love interrupts, and blinds.
• Once you get traits, Shadow Arts is amazing. Regeneration + blinding rule.

Best advice for leveling a thief comes in four letters, EotM Level 80 in 24 hrs of play easily with boost’s. Only annoyance is having to upgrade gear so often.

Sword/Pistol and Signet of Malice is the most effective for ‘tanking’ multiple mobs at a time, with D/D Death Blossom spam coming in second. Using them together can work pretty well. Caltrops is also essential when leveling in the open world solo.

DeWolfe.2174:

Best advice for leveling a thief comes in four letters, EotM Level 80 in 24 hrs of play easily with boost’s. Only annoyance is having to upgrade gear so often.

yeah~ EotM is the best place for lvling. without boosts you get 6-10 lvls per 4 hours.
Gear wise, I just focus on power equipment until i hit 80 to maximize dps.
You’ll get plenty of loots while u run in zerg, and it should be enough to keep your gears on top.

Hmmm.

With the new trait system, D/D is kind of pointless to use until you’re 80 due to the lack of access to Hidden Killer. However shortbow should almost always be in the off-slot. The ability to easily kite mobs + on demand dodge + poison field for healing cuts is really nice utility. You can also use Shadow Shot (#5) while immobilized to avoid getting hit by the next incoming attack.

Sword mainhand is a good idea just because it deals fair damage, cleaves, and lets you get in and out with Infiltrator’s Strike.

S/P is good and makes clearing some content easier, but it’s spammy and won’t really help you become a better player. Consider whether or not you want to play in WvW later on before committing to this, as this set is not very good in WvW at all.

If you’re planning on playing in WvW or want to simply get better as a player before you enter D/D, I’d suggest trying S/D. Access to stealth is nice to ditch aggro if you have an NPC companion in your personal story, and you get a lot of dodges on #3 as well. This is not an easy set to learn, and simply just may not be for you, but it can be really good for solo play and will definitely make you a better player if mastered.

I’m currently leveling my second thief. She is level 23, using Sword/Pistol and Shortbow. She’s using the food that give you extra experience and health regen and only power gear.

S/P makes me a complete god in PvE. Shortbow is for exploring the map faster. I drop Black Powder and just auto attack with it constantly down. I usually never take any damage from fighting mobs.

for leveling i prefer D/D with condition damage build , using death blossom and caltrops , it is very good for multiple targets , with that you can stack 25 bleeding
http://gw2skills.net/editor/?fZAQRAqY4YlsMpzpNPxuJsPNhRBxZAKg3zoHBpzRkVA-TRSAwAaUCKT/AEzfQV+B4JAE6EAEU9nHHEge7PAA-e
enjoy