Guild Wars 2

All builds I see have short bow was second weapon. Is it possible to play thief without it?

100% possible. I personally only have it there soemtimes if I know there are large groups out and about and I might need to get away fast. I see some people who prefer S/P offhand, and it’s pretty effective too. Any offset works imo

Ofc it’s possible, just not suggested as shortbow grants thieves mobility and access to shortcuts around the maps, also ensuring a clean retreat since SB #5 isn’t affected by cripple, immobilize and chill, SB is superior for the type utility it brings, and the utility it brings is often what top tier thieves are after. Besides this it’s also able to cause some good pressure on crowded nodes, though S/D is viable for that as well.

Ghostwolf.9863:

Ofc it’s possible, just not suggested as shortbow grants thieves mobility and access to shortcuts around the maps, also ensuring a clean retreat since SB #5 isn’t affected by cripple, immobilize and chill, SB is superior for the type utility it brings, and the utility it brings is often what top tier thieves are after. Besides this it’s also able to cause some good pressure on crowded nodes, though S/D is viable for that as well.

Not to mention SB #4 won’t take you out of stealth if you need to do a little guerilla tactics on an enemy zerg’s backline in WvW. Bonus points if you have Signet of Malice on, as every tick of Choking Gas on the enemy is also an activating tick on Signet of Malice.

I’m d/d s/p. I do have a sbow in my inv but that’s only used sparingly. It works very well, even in wvw (but I roam and hate fighting in zergs).

Of course. There are many builds that don’t use shortbow. As for any weapon, there are some that use it 50% of the time, some that use it as a main weapon, some that use it as a secondary, and some that don’t use it at all. I’ve seen d/p+p/d, d/p+s/p, s/d+s/p, s/d+s/d, s/d+d/p, d/d+d/p, d/d+shortbow, d/p+shortbow, s/p+shortbow, s/d+shortbow, shortbow+shortbow.

No doubt, shortbow is the most popular choice for the alternate weapon due to it being a ranged weapon and it’s good to have the option to range, building for direct-damage is more popular among thieves than for condition damage and shortbow can deal in both, it can deal AoE damage, and it offers the most mobility.

I use sb only for zerging, can’t imagine any small fights with sb anymore.

I feel a bit naked without it.

It’s also just that I’ve never felt I can utilize two weapon sets effectively with a thief. For instance, if I build a d/d build, everything I do is largely focused on using that weapon set. It’s not like other classes where you might swap to cycle through cooldowns since thieves don’t have any cooldowns.

So since the shortbow is a nice secondary weapon choice, I usually just throw that in there. The blinking is also very, very handy in some circumstances.

I’ve seen people not use shortbow, but it always just feels weird to me not to use it.

It’s always interesting when I encounter a thief who isnt and suddenly you find yourself fighting a theif who has a sword and a MH dagger or Pistol.. I always wondered why more thieves dont do it, they are the only class who limit themselves like that and stick to basicly doing one thing over and over till it works or till they die (BP > HS > BS or S2 >S3 >S3 >S2, etc).

Is it just the mobility thing or is there a real reason (maybe traits) which prevents using sword and a MH dagger together being good?

Cufufalating.8479:

It’s always interesting when I encounter a thief who isnt and suddenly you find yourself fighting a theif who has a sword and a MH dagger or Pistol.. I always wondered why more thieves dont do it, they are the only class who limit themselves like that and stick to basicly doing one thing over and over till it works or till they die (BP > HS > BS or S2 >S3 >S3 >S2, etc).

Is it just the mobility thing or is there a real reason (maybe traits) which prevents using sword and a MH dagger together being good?

In s/tPvP, the advantages of having an AoE ranged weapon are generally greater than a second melee weapon or pistol. It’s really down to what you’re doing, hence: you build -for- something. You see pistol main being used more by WvW roamers. In solo-queue or hotjoin, you might find (like I did) having the sustained damage and survival of S/D with the on-demand blinds and stealth without a target of D/P is more advantageous to you than shortbow. In team-pvp, you might drop one for shortbow, just like you might adjust your utilities (or even your entire build) to better face team fights. D/P and S/P was popular in PvP once, but after the buff to pistol whip a lot of people started using it as their main set, others cried, and ANet nerfed it which also made it no longer desirable as an alternate set.

P/P is a strong spec within a group for the Unload skill and Body Shot, which can lock down enemies.

Kuunan.6473:

P/P is a strong spec within a group for the Unload skill and Body Shot, which can lock down enemies.

Technically any spec is strong within a group because you can just spam attacks while you overwhelm some poor sod.

In any case, just use P/D. You can still get body shot, and you don’t have to continually dump all your initiative just to obtain somewhat respectable DPS. You also have direct access to some mobility as well as stealth on your weapon set, so you’re also more capable of defending yourself.

its a must in tpvp.

in wvw u can use w/e.

In sPvP, at least in hotjoins which I play, having SB on khylo helps me move around the map REAL FAST. You get access to many shortcuts in various parts of the level, and it helps when you are running away or need to decap far. I can’t run my thief in any mode without it :\

Lamuness.3570:

In sPvP, at least in hotjoins which I play, having SB on khylo helps me move around the map REAL FAST. You get access to many shortcuts in various parts of the level, and it helps when you are running away or need to decap far. I can’t run my thief in any mode without it :\

To a lesser extent, you can use those tricks with sword 2 and shadowstep/shadow trap.