Guild Wars 2

Well not ‘deathless’, but it’s pretty hard to die as a Thief with 2960 armor, 15k health, and Withdraw.

http://gw2skills.net/editor/?fYAQRAoa8YlYmiPncy9E+5ExWhdy9wpGtpdPwqV1KA;TwAA2Cno4ywlgLLXOukctQYYxGiZBA

0/10/30/30/0

• Full Knight’s armor and weapons.
• Exquisite Ruby Jewels
• Berserker Ascended items
• Scholar Runes
• Sigil of Fire, Force, Bloodlust and Paralyzation (on Sword)
• Omnomberry Pie and Sharpening Stones

With sufficient toughness and access to stealth, any zerg is simply a collection of 1v1s.

This build is the ultimate 1v1 duelist for those who dislike risks. She may not be able to kill enemy bunker builds, but she herself is a bunker who will almost never die. Yet her DPS is comparable to that of a glass-cannon.

Hence as the ultimate 1v1 duelist, she is also the ultimate ‘Phantom of the Zerg’. She is that one backstabbing Thief that you simply cannot shake-off, regardless of how many CCs / Nukes / Conditions you throw at her.

What do you think?

glass cannon = 30/30/0/0/10 + bersekers, you are using a bunker build my friend
no offense, but i do way more damage than you do on fractal mobs 30+ !

but yeah, glass are not viable anymore, bunkers are, nice videos too

nice vid, like the dagger/pistol combo

DanH.5879:

glass cannon = 30/30/0/0/10 + bersekers, you are using a bunker build my friend
no offense, but i do way more damage than you do on fractal mobs 30+ !

but yeah, glass are not viable anymore, bunkers are, nice videos too

Indeed, what I meant by ‘comparable’ is that my Power, Precision, Critical Damage and other sources of damage are still threatening enough to be considered a ‘Backstab DPS’ build. (5-9k critical Backstabs)

This is thanks to:

• Might via stealth (trait)
• +10% damage when endurance is not full (trait)
• +10% damage when health is above 90% (runes)

•Berserker Ascended items

Ohh dear… i really hope they decide to keep Ascended crap out of WvWvW

Budchgon.2108:

•Berserker Ascended items

Ohh dear… i really hope they decide to keep Ascended crap out of WvWvW

Not gonna happen. They are making them available via a new daily quest currency in Feb (minus the agony resist). Probably more methods to come.

Where have you been Iohanna? I haven’t seen you looking at me with disapproval from planking noobs off the JP in a while?

Stiv.1820:

Where have you been Iohanna? I haven’t seen you looking at me with disapproval from planking noobs off the JP in a while?

I am a commander, I have responsibilities!

Nice vids. Zerg surfing is fun. The most fun thing about zerg surfing is when you find another enemy thief that is doing the same thing. Then you have to have ‘ye old epic duel in the middle of the zergs to see who’s turf it is! =)

Fun vid !! Good job

i think your videos are super cool.

Iohanna.4863:

Stiv.1820:

Where have you been Iohanna? I haven’t seen you looking at me with disapproval from planking noobs off the JP in a while?

I am a commander, I have responsibilities!

I see :/ Playing Double Dragon in the JP is my responsibility. I guess we all have our rolls!

How is this build with full berserket gear? too squishy perhaps?

HappyHour.6241:

How is this build with full berserket gear? too squishy perhaps?

Not a really noticeable difference honestly.

If you’re serious about tank builds, instead of swapping armour from berserker to knight, swap your accessories from berserker to knight.

Nice video.
I used to run a build very close to this (Mine is 10/0/30/30/0, 10 in power for Mug since it gave an extra little burst).

This build with full berserker’s gear and accessories doesn’t work too well though, at least for me. You’re a bit too squishy for the extra damage you do with the gear.

Zerk gear is always viable if you have the reflexes for it.

This video is one of the reasons why I dumped by ranger for a thief. The ability to be both tanky while still dealing several 2k+ crits in a row is something a ranger will never have.

Hey OP, cool videos.

My traits / overall combat strategy are a bit like this, but I’m building Vit / Tough / Power rather than Tough / Power / Precision & Crit. The idea is that I won’t be as bursty, but I can have 20k HP and FAICETANK LIKE A BAWSE.

Do you forsee any far-reaching consequences to this approach that I’m missing? I’m wondering if I’m maybe gimping myself a bit by completely ignoring Precision and critical hits for the most part. (Under 1000 Precision at level 80.)

Tagging this thread… I need to learn the perma-stealthkitten

Kurow.6973:

HappyHour.6241:

How is this build with full berserket gear? too squishy perhaps?

Not a really noticeable difference honestly.

If you’re serious about tank builds, instead of swapping armour from berserker to knight, swap your accessories from berserker to knight.

As for damage, is there a big gap? How much is ur critical damage without zerkers?
I guess ill have to grind for both zerkers and knight sets.

HappyHour.6241:

Kurow.6973:

HappyHour.6241:

How is this build with full berserket gear? too squishy perhaps?

Not a really noticeable difference honestly.

If you’re serious about tank builds, instead of swapping armour from berserker to knight, swap your accessories from berserker to knight.

As for damage, is there a big gap? How much is ur critical damage without zerkers?
I guess ill have to grind for both zerkers and knight sets.

Personally, I salvaged my knight’s set. It was an utter waste of money IMHO. If I ever choose to ever run anything bunker-ish on my thief again, I’d rather get AC armour set.

DaMunky.6302:

Hey OP, cool videos.

My traits / overall combat strategy are a bit like this, but I’m building Vit / Tough / Power rather than Tough / Power / Precision & Crit. The idea is that I won’t be as bursty, but I can have 20k HP and FAICETANK LIKE A BAWSE.

Do you forsee any far-reaching consequences to this approach that I’m missing? I’m wondering if I’m maybe gimping myself a bit by completely ignoring Precision and critical hits for the most part. (Under 1000 Precision at level 80.)

You better hope the enemy doesn’t figure out that you don’t do a lot of damage. Or you gotta rely more on your traits for damage.

HappyHour.6241:

As for damage, is there a big gap? How much is ur critical damage without zerkers?
I guess ill have to grind for both zerkers and knight sets.

It is crucial that you use Knight’s armor/weapons alongside Ruby Exquisite Jewels + Scholar Runes / some other DPS oriented Runes. Offensive stats are much more well-scaled in these slot items.

Thanks. Well in conclusion i will just get both zerkers and knight sets and try them.

Just one thing, u are using both scholara and exquisite jewels right? I believe u use only 5 scholars runes and the last slot is for the jewel right? This is because the 10% on 90%+ hp damage is pretty useless?

HappyHour.6241:

Thanks. Well in conclusion i will just get both zerkers and knight sets and try them.

Just one thing, u are using both scholara and exquisite jewels right? I believe u use only 5 scholars runes and the last slot is for the jewel right? This is because the 10% on 90%+ hp damage is pretty useless?

The Thief benefits the most from +10% damage when health is above 90%. The Thief is the only class that can choose its fights, as well as maintain full health during a fight.

If you have almost 3000 attack like I do, +10% damage is +300 power. That is quite significant and not at all useless.

If you are not confident about maintaining near-full health during your engagements, consider Ruby Orbs.

DanH.5879:

glass cannon = 30/30/0/0/10 + bersekers, you are using a bunker build my friend
no offense, but i do way more damage than you do on fractal mobs 30+ !

but yeah, glass are not viable anymore, bunkers are, nice videos too

If you consider that DMG as bad then you surely never played another prof yet. Even tho it’s a bunker build it creates bigger numbers then most of my glass cannon builds on my 5 other professions i play on lvl 80 in wvw…

Thiefs sure are getting more and more delusional.

Hi Iohanna, I wanted to give your build a go but the link doesnt work. Any chance you can give me a working one?

Thanks.

Kingbrit.7321:

Hi Iohanna, I wanted to give your build a go but the link doesnt work. Any chance you can give me a working one?

Thanks.

Copy and paste the url.

Hi Johanna,

Your build looks like pretty fun. Nice vids too.

Do I get it right that you are using complete knight earrings, rings etc. with ruby jewels?

Thanks in advance

Sycole.6327:

Hi Johanna,

Your build looks like pretty fun. Nice vids too.

Do I get it right that you are using complete knight earrings, rings etc. with ruby jewels?

Thanks in advance

Full Knights (armor, weapons, accessories) + Scholar Runes + Exquisite Ruby Jewels + Berserker Ascended Rings.

DanH.5879:

glass are not viable anymore

Where? Under what conditions?

it seems every fking class is trying to spec into some terrible attrition build because there are no traditional roles in this game.

can’t get enough of the awesomeness that is thief!

hey lohanna! one last question.
How do you achieve 15k hp? is it through practiced tolerance?

HappyHour.6241:

hey lohanna! one last question.
How do you achieve 15k hp? is it through practiced tolerance?

WvW bonuses increases your HP.

can i ask? why u dont use short bow. and in witch situation u use s/d

@Iohanna.4863
do you ever use Roll for Initiative instead of infiltrator’s signet? they both return the same initiative back but you get extra stun break instead of shadow step.

kirito.4138:

@Iohanna.4863
do you ever use Roll for Initiative instead of infiltrator’s signet? they both return the same initiative back but you get extra stun break instead of shadow step.

Extra stun-break? Infiltrator’s Signet is a stun-break.

kirito.4138:

@Iohanna.4863
do you ever use Roll for Initiative instead of infiltrator’s signet? they both return the same initiative back but you get extra stun break instead of shadow step.

Roll for initiative is a good choice but the reason (for me) as to why its possibly infiltrator’s signet is because of the time taken to execute the skill and route for a quick escape. If you take those into account, infiltrator’s signet is indeed a better option despite the fact that you can gain initiative while escaping if you use ‘Roll for Initiative’.

I’ve only thought of this build as a theory and not as viable as I judge it but the gameplay proved me wrong. But then again, i do more of the espionage trips in my WvW hence it did not work well for me. I’ll be giving this build a shot and even get those armors. It should be interesting enough since i’m getting bored the hell out of killing my targets in quick successions but when struck by a hammer meant an end for my adventures.

Roll for init is also on double the cooldown of infiltrator’s signet, which is mostly what turns me off from it.

thank you for posting the most op build available. saw some in wvw and they are unkillable. they only get killed if they are too greedy and you have a zerg in which all people spam aoe. how in the world can this not be op?

knyy.6427:

thank you for posting the most op build available. saw some in wvw and they are unkillable. they only get killed if they are too greedy and you have a zerg in which all people spam aoe. how in the world can this not be op?

Take a look at the build. 1 stun break. CC the thief a couple of times and it’s gg especially if you have a friend or two helping (which is entirely possible as the OP is often times in the back lines). Also, cripple and chill, while can be removed via stealth make it almost impossible to get a backstab off in time and just generally waste a thief’s time and init.

Also, the backstab damage while relatively high still will only crit a medium armor target for 5k at the very max, so it’s not like an insta-gib or anything.

I’ve been playing around with this build in sPVP and I can sure survive a long time without dying, but at the same time I kill less too.

I found turning 180 degree and using withdraw is a nice way to run away from people or get out of harms way. Its so useful thats why I was poking around with roll for initiative since it does the same movement. Gives me two chances to escape.

knyy.6427:

thank you for posting the most op build available. saw some in wvw and they are unkillable. they only get killed if they are too greedy and you have a zerg in which all people spam aoe. how in the world can this not be op?

LOL. Yeah because if we see anyone in the game who has more talent than we do, that definitely means the spec is OP.