Guild Wars 2

Hi thieves!
I just got my thief to 80 and am looking to start gearing with exotics…
I’m running 0/30/30/10/0 – basically a stealth build + 100% crit chance from stealth.
Since i have the 100% crit chance while stealthed, would I be better building zerker’s or valkyrie’s armor? Roughly how much health would I stand to gain by having valkyrie armor (just armor, still zerker’s for everything else)…
Alternatively, as I’m able to earn zerker’s armor running CoF could I get the same effect with valk exotic trinkets and zerker’s armor/weapons? Would valk trinkets + zerk’s armor/weapons give me about the same stats as valk armor + zerk trinkets/weapons?
Thanks!
P.S. I’m interested in WvWvW solo/roaming (primarily) as well as PvE

Well I prefer a mix of both, I run valk armor and berserker’s everything else. This gives me enough health to take some hard hits / conditions but still keeps my spike damage pretty high, and sustained DPS is also pretty good.

As for how much health, it kind of depends how you trait into acrobatics and runes and whatnot, but on average you’ll be looking at about 15k health with valk armor, zerker everything else. Keep in mind that with increased precision, the Practiced Tolerance trait gives you about an extra 1k health boost which is pretty nice.

As for valk trinkets vs. valk armor, I’m not 100% sure on this, but this calculator should be able to help you out:

http://gw2buildcraft.com/calculator/

I think it’s usually pretty up to date in terms of PvE gear and how they affect your stats.

i’m wearing valk armor (beryl orb upgrades) + earrings and zerk weapons (sigil of perception + accuracy) + amulet,rings,back + maintenance oil.

THanks Jericho I’ll check that link out

How does that dps compare to full zerks do you think Daendur?
EDIT: The two stat set ups work out about the same… Valk Trinks or Valk Armor (with all ruby orbs) give you about 3k hp whichever way you do it.. valk trinks give 100 more hp and about 70 less effective power than valk armor and zerk trinkets
Thanks guys!

P/V/T with Ruby Orbs for the win!

Everything else is Berserker…

I’ve been doing extensive testing with buildcraft recently, and for Thief the best damage/survivability setup is Valkyrie armor with rune of the thief, with everything else berserker (ruby in trinkets as well).

Soldiers is the next step up in survivability, but sacrifices much more damage for a smaller increase of effective health, in my opinion, not worth it.

http://gw2buildcraft.com/calculator/thief/?7|8.1g.h1e.8.1g.h2|5.1g.h17|1p.7l.1p.7l.1p.7l.1p.7l.1p.7l.1p.7l|2s.d19.2s.d19.3s.d19.2s.d19.3s.d19.2s.d19|u369.u3ab.0.0.a4|69.1|e

I have a similar build. 0/30/25/15/0. I run full Beserker for PvE.

With that said: I carry a spare set of Valkyrie and Knight armor, and Knight jewelry.

THanks EzRemake – that’s especially useful to know! Is zerker armor/valk trinks (all rubied) much weaker in terms of damage/defense? (just asking because I can get zerks armor fairly easily from CoF runs)
Xystus – how does your dmg hold up like that?

Mice.8921:

THanks EzRemake – that’s especially useful to know! Is zerker armor/valk trinks (all rubied) much weaker in terms of damage/defense? (just asking because I can get zerks armor fairly easily from CoF runs)
Xystus – how does your dmg hold up like that?

I just did a little bit of testing, and it seems Valkyrie armor with Berserker trinkets offers more damage with the same survivability as Berserker armor with Valkyrie trinkets.

This is keeping in mind that there are no “pure” Valkyrie ascended trinkets, only Hybrid Zerker-Valk

EzRemake.1860:

Mice.8921:

THanks EzRemake – that’s especially useful to know! Is zerker armor/valk trinks (all rubied) much weaker in terms of damage/defense? (just asking because I can get zerks armor fairly easily from CoF runs)
Xystus – how does your dmg hold up like that?

I just did a little bit of testing, and it seems Valkyrie armor with Berserker trinkets offers more damage with the same survivability as Berserker armor with Valkyrie trinkets.

This is keeping in mind that there are no “pure” Valkyrie ascended trinkets, only Hybrid Zerker-Valk

Ah I see, I had used the calculator with exotic trinkets… that makes more sense, thank you for the detailed reply!

Mice.8921:

THanks EzRemake – that’s especially useful to know! Is zerker armor/valk trinks (all rubied) much weaker in terms of damage/defense? (just asking because I can get zerks armor fairly easily from CoF runs)
Xystus – how does your dmg hold up like that?

It holds up fairly well. It won’t be top dps, but I consider this my fun/survivability build.

I posted this the other day: https://forum-en.gw2archive.eu/forum/professions/thief/Need-Advice-on-Thief-Builds/first#post1531798

I like the extra blind from Shadow Shot and Daze from Headshot (should be very useful on Rumbulus in AC Path 3; I always use it on Breeders).

Ah yes, I’ve played dagger pistol in sPvP – doesn’t seem to have quite the same dmg output as a d/d but d/p has some really potent blinding – especially with blind on stealth, its insane!

It really depends on your skill level and play style. I have learnt to dodge all the attacks that will one shot me, therefore I run berserker for insane damage. Works great for me in dungeons and WvW, but then you’ll need to dodge a lot. I have a spare set of Valkyrie trinkets with me if I need extra hp on some encounters

Valk vs Zerker gear? Depends on this trait.

Critical Strikes: Grand Master Trait: XII: Hidden Killer: 100% Critical Strike Chance in Stealth.

0 30 30 10 0 (5%precision converted to vitality)
I used to wear Valk armor + ruby orbs and everything else zerk.
Then I swapped to the configuration wrote before, I dropped 14% critical chance and gained 3k hp. Now I have almost 18k and with 25stacks 59% crit chance, that becomes 66% from behind and 100% from stealth.
I think ~60-65% crit chance is enough to grant a fair number of critical hits and I have enough HP to not get instagibbed.

I run 0-15-30-25-0 with a mix of knights and zerker armor/trinkets and love it.
I used to run the 0-30-30-10-0 with knights-zerker-vaks mix but the traits you get on the other setup fully compensate the small loss of crit dmg. IMO…

Ok, so it sounds like the general conclusion is that having atleast valk AND berserker’s armor (eventually) and switching them in and out is the best idea – thought most people seem to be saying that having atleast some defensive equips is a good idea normally…

Yep a healthy proporrion on both (to get close to the pvp version of zerk that has some vitality) seems to be the right option.

I’m valkyrie armor with berserker rings, accessories, and amulet. One berserker dagger and one valkyrie dagger with a rampager shortbow (so I can switch to condition build without needing a second bow).
The idea is that after you have a comfortable amount of precision, you may want more damage without being so very squishy. Valkyrie still offers power and crit damage with added vitality.

i run valk armor, everything else is zerk. Gives you health and toughness, and some spike dmg