Guild Wars 2

So I’ve tried to lead my guild’s 5-10 man havoc squad a couple of times, and with all zerker gear except for valk head/chest/legs and traveler runes (standard D/D 0/30/30/10/0) I’ve found I’m a little on the squishy side for standing in front (usually I run along side the group and engage straight onto their backline)….
I’ve been thinking of getting valkyrie pieces for all my armor slots (keeping runes of the traveler) and buying cavalier trinkets, assumeing I continue to run 100% crit chance in stealth, do you think this could be a viable way for me to give me a good chance of surviving our havoc squad fights (think 10v10-20, not ZvZ)?

If not, what sort of builds do thieves normally run when commanding? I know its possible, there’s at least two thief commanders on my server (Fort Aspendwood) :-)

TLDR; Thief, commanding, what gear?

P.S. should I bite the bullet and just get dire?

EDIT: I hate spotting typos as I click post…

Ive never led a group before, but you should be killing the squishy backlines as a thief (burst, at least). You don’t need as much cavalier gear as you did before because of the crit dmg nerf. I was running cavalier before with 2.7k armor, now I have 2.4k armor with only the chest and exotic backpiece. Im running Valkyrie/Zerker mix.

Thieves shouldn’t really be in the frontlines, just kill high priority targets on the side or back. You can also blast with shortbow for AoE if you want to weaken everybody you’re fighting. If you’re burst, though, it’s quicker to just kill. Watch IamMugi’s videos on youtube. Mugi handles group and outnumbered fights very well.

alchemyst.2165:

Ive never led a group before, but you should be killing the squishy backlines as a thief (burst, at least). You don’t need as much cavalier gear as you did before because of the crit dmg nerf. I was running cavalier before with 2.7k armor, now I have 2.4k armor with only the chest and exotic backpiece. Im running Valkyrie/Zerker mix.

Thieves shouldn’t really be in the frontlines, just kill high priority targets on the side or back. You can also blast with shortbow for AoE if you want to weaken everybody you’re fighting. If you’re burst, though, it’s quicker to just kill. Watch IamMugi’s videos on youtube. Mugi handles group and outnumbered fights very well.

I appreciate it, unfortunately you’ve very specifically given me the information I said I wasn’t asking for I’ve watched all of mugi’s videos, yishis videos, and many sPvP players as well; and I’m quite experienced at backlining in ZvZ, small fights, and 1vX roaming…

However, recently, as I said, I’ve been commanding my guild’s havoc squad, I’m trying to find out what kind of build I should be running for that :-)

Thank you for answering though

I suggest running a venom share build of some sort, otherwise pick a different class to lead on. I generally hop on a heavier class when leading my havoc squad, but I’ve used a venom share build in the past with dire gear and it worked very well.

godz raiden.2631:

I suggest running a venom share build of some sort, otherwise pick a different class to lead on. I generally hop on a heavier class when leading my havoc squad, but I’ve used a venom share build in the past with dire gear and it worked very well.

Cool, thanks :-)

I don’t actually have a heavy have all other classes but ranger at lvl 80 and geared in exotics… but no heavies lol :-)

I command on thief using valk armor and cav/zerk trinkets with 30 SA. I’d aim for 2.7k armor and 17k hp minimum. That’s usually enough to keep me alive longer than my pugs, and the heavy stealth makes it difficult for the enemy to focus on me. Shadow rejuvenation is crucial, since the heal from that is enormous.

If you still have trouble surviving, you could try soldier’s/cleric’s gear with 10/0/30/30/0 with mug, shadow’s rejuvenation, assassin’s reward, and vigorous recovery. Abuse your dodges, stealth, shadowstep, and infiltrator’s arrow. For pugmanding, this should keep you alive long enough to outlast most of your zerg.

Just don’t expect to zergbust with any thief build. It’s not an ideal commanding class, and there’s really no good way to remain on the front line.

I’m currently using S/D (2/0/0/6/6) and find it has more survivability than D/D. I run with Rune of the Pack which is faster than traveler runes and provides party boons with Steal as well as the runes itself. Right now I’m using full valkyrie ascended armor with zerk trinkets. With the guard killer buffs it brings me to 20kHP.

Personally I find this build to be better at leading since you will often be the fastest in your party (perma-swiftness without having to wait to blast fields and shortbow #5 to maintain distance). It’s slightly more susceptible to conditions but literally all my utility remove some kind of conditions (Roll for initiative, Shadowstep, Signet of Agility) and lemongrass might be the better food to take as well.

great replies, thanks

Mice.8921:

godz raiden.2631:

I suggest running a venom share build of some sort, otherwise pick a different class to lead on. I generally hop on a heavier class when leading my havoc squad, but I’ve used a venom share build in the past with dire gear and it worked very well.

Cool, thanks :-)

I don’t actually have a heavy have all other classes but ranger at lvl 80 and geared in exotics… but no heavies lol :-)

Necros are considered heavy, but a team build like venom share would be best for a smaller group.

Omnitek.3876:

Mice.8921:

godz raiden.2631:

I suggest running a venom share build of some sort, otherwise pick a different class to lead on. I generally hop on a heavier class when leading my havoc squad, but I’ve used a venom share build in the past with dire gear and it worked very well.

Cool, thanks :-)

I don’t actually have a heavy have all other classes but ranger at lvl 80 and geared in exotics… but no heavies lol :-)

Necros are considered heavy, but a team build like venom share would be best for a smaller group.

My necro is my third most played character after mesmer and thief (thief most atm, mesmer most in total)… I just find the lack of movement abilities (escape) makes it difficult to lead a small mobile group like ours… We get zerged a lot in Fort Aspenwood, so stealth and/or running for your life is basically a necessary skill in havoc squading :-)

I’ll try out venom share at some point then
y’all rock