Guild Wars 2

Hey all.

My thief is level 61, I’ve not played it a lot. Maybe leveled 15 levels, the rest is level 20 tome and crafting.

I suck at thief, just getting that out of the way. So my experience is very limited. I’m looking for tips and even builds if there are any for lower level. I looked fast over the build thread but it was mostly end game builds there.

Should I just slowly trait towards one of the end game builds or is that a bad idea?

So what can you recommend? I’m open to anything.

No point traiting towards an endgame build, because retraiting is cheap and easy.

What kind of style do you prefer? Stealthing? Evasion? Conditions? Backstabs? Traits support a bunch of different ways to play.

Interceptor.2653:

No point traiting towards an endgame build, because retraiting is cheap and easy.

What kind of style do you prefer? Stealthing? Evasion? Conditions? Backstabs? Traits support a bunch of different ways to play.

Don’t really have a strong opinion on which exact style. Probably more on the power end. Tbh, I would be happy if you just made a few example of some basic traits I should go with at level 60. Can be any weapons, things you consider good.

I know this is vague:P

Shadows Arts and Acrobatics are your defensive lines. You’ll probably want to trait one or the other heavily, but not both. Your damage is going to come from Deadly Arts and/or Critical Strikes. Trickery has a place as a Steal-enhancer and extra initiative line.

I’d suggest running Sword/Pistol with a Shortbow backup, throw 30 into Critical Strikes (get Executioner as your Grandmaster trait), and build off of that. You’ll have 20 points to spend from there. 15 into Acrobatics is a good choice for Feline Grace. You can handle anything PvE can throw at you with a foundation like that, due to weapon evades on Pistol Whip and Blind from black Powder.

Tested that out seems to work alright. What skills would you take along with it? I’m running Scorpion Wire and the 2 passive signets.(pow. prec.)

Nice thing about Sword in addition to the evades/blind, is that it Cleaves, AKA you can hit up to three targets in front of you. Very useful for mobs of trash.

Those signets are fine for solo PvE. You may want to slot Caltrops and combine it with Signet of Malice as your heal, they synergize extremely well with each other. Depending on your comfort level, you may or may not want to use Shadow Refuge in case you need to bail out of a fight or sneak past something.

Does the signet of malice also work with the traited caltrops? If so , are they identical? Do they stack?

Edit; I see they are not the same. Is it worth getting the caltrops on dodge?

+ I see I can use steal while KD’ed. Can I use this as a small evade if timed good?

I don’t personally like Caltrops on dodge, but some swear by it. I find that Thrill of the Crime is a more useful Adept trait for Trickery, just because Fury is so powerful. You might like the caltrops for the Malice synergy, though. Definitely consider getting Feline Grace if you’re going to go for “on dodge” stuff, so that you can use it more often.

You can’t really use Steal on KD as an evade, but you can use it to change position, which might be useful. Use stunbreakers to counter knockdowns: Infiltrator’s Signet, Haste, Shadowstep, whatever. As you get higher level, you can put 30 points into Trickery, which lets you do the neat trick of interrupting the person who knocked you down (Daze on Steal), but that’s not super useful for PvE.

Alright, that*s a pretty nice trait on the steal indeed. As for the traits that have per interval in stealth. Does it proc instantly and then for example the initiative; 1 Initiative Interval 10 Seconds. Does that mean I get 1 initiative instantly when I enter stealth?

To be honest, mobs dies rather fast at level 60ish and start getting tougher around 70ish — probably because by level 70+ you can then wear Exotic pieces.

So, technically any build will work until you get to level 70.

Here’s my suggestion for what ever weapon set you choose;

10/10/0/15/15

DA – take Mug (III)
CS – take Furious Retal (I)
Acro – take Power of Inertia (II)
Trick – take Uncatchable (III)

This build is well rounded that can support any weapon set you choose.

When you reach the point that you are more comfortable with a certain weapon set, you can then adjust your trait appropriately — but this build will support you while you’re trying to figure out your play style.

I’m currently running 25/0/0/15/30 only because I’m bored with the current content and to make things interesting with my Thief is to play P/P with this build. Interestingly enough, doing the Marrionette event with this build was fun.

Pandeh.5248:

Alright, that*s a pretty nice trait on the steal indeed. As for the traits that have per interval in stealth. Does it proc instantly and then for example the initiative; 1 Initiative Interval 10 Seconds. Does that mean I get 1 initiative instantly when I enter stealth?

Depends on the trait. Shadow’s Embrace works on-stealth, but Patience has a delay before it works (a few seconds, iirc). But Patience is terrible, so save yourself the trouble and don’t use it until they make it useful. Infusion of Shadow is better, even post-nerf.