Guild Wars 2

Hey guys, I’ve been reading that the upcoming dec 10 patch will shake things up as far as thief builds go so I was wondering if any of you experienced pvers would care to share some thoughts. I’m currently trying to gear my thief up, so far I’ve got berserker armor and trinkets and I can’t make my mind up as far as what weapons should I use. I was going to try a sword/pistol build but after reading about the changes that will come I’m not sure it’s worth spending the time to farm those weapons. So should I farm and get a dagger/dagger build instead?

ANET is kitten ed that thief was doing somewhat decent in PvE with sword/pistol, alas this can not be allowed to pass so nerf the hell out of its initiative regen, and call it a MASSSSSSSSSSSIVE buff!

Excalibur.9748:

ANET is kitten ed that thief was doing somewhat decent in PvE with sword/pistol, alas this can not be allowed to pass so nerf the hell out of its initiative regen, and call it a MASSSSSSSSSSSIVE buff!

So I take it d/d is the way to go ?

HybridReaper.6724:

Excalibur.9748:

ANET is kitten ed that thief was doing somewhat decent in PvE with sword/pistol, alas this can not be allowed to pass so nerf the hell out of its initiative regen, and call it a MASSSSSSSSSSSIVE buff!

So I take it d/d is the way to go ?

No. A warrior or guardian is the way to go.

Excalibur.9748:

HybridReaper.6724:

Excalibur.9748:

ANET is kitten ed that thief was doing somewhat decent in PvE with sword/pistol, alas this can not be allowed to pass so nerf the hell out of its initiative regen, and call it a MASSSSSSSSSSSIVE buff!

So I take it d/d is the way to go ?

No. A warrior or guardian is the way to go.

I’d still like to play the thief.

I can help you out. Personally i like to run 0/30/0/20/20 for dungeons bringing thrill of the crime and bountiful theft in the trickery line. This grants plenty of party wide buffs and makes you a bit more useful to the team.

As far as weaponsets go it’s situationa. but basically i use as follows:

-D/D for single target melee boss fights
-S/P for multiple mobs in melee range/boss fights that require melee stacking.
-P/P for ranged dps encounters
-SB for running or to use with smoke fields to stealth the group.

If you want to be truly effective i suggest getting each of these weapon sets and learning how to use them to the best of your ability.

If you have any specific questions i can help.

Heizero.9183:

I can help you out. Personally i like to run 0/30/0/20/20 for dungeons bringing thrill of the crime and bountiful theft in the trickery line. This grants plenty of party wide buffs and makes you a bit more useful to the team.

As far as weaponsets go it’s situationa. but basically i use as follows:

-D/D for single target melee boss fights
-S/P for multiple mobs in melee range/boss fights that require melee stacking.
-P/P for ranged dps encounters
-SB for running or to use with smoke fields to stealth the group.

If you want to be truly effective i suggest getting each of these weapon sets and learning how to use them to the best of your ability.

If you have any specific questions i can help.

Thank you for the information, I will try to farm all of the weapons stated above. I do have another question if I may: In your 0/30/0/20/20 build, what traits do you use ?

Usually V/VI/XI in Critical Strikes

III/IX in Acrobatics (However i will be looking for a new setup for that line after Dec 10th.)

and like i said before V/VII in Trickery.

Heizero.9183:

Usually V/VI/XI in Critical Strikes

III/IX in Acrobatics (However i will be looking for a new setup for that line after Dec 10th.)

and like i said before V/VII in Trickery.

I also forgot to ask you what skills do you use ?

I would recommend this for PvE. Brazil is a well known Care Bear and usually has really well optimized specs for PvE. I have added a link to a guide he did for DPS thief here.

http://youtu.be/spedHf6R7M8

At launch I started using Zerj’s DPS Dungeon build. You can see how much it has changed. (Spoiler: It’s the same excluding some gear optimization)

http://www.guildwars2guru.com/topic/67030-zerjs-pvedungeon-dps-thief-build/

D/D and S/P will both be nerfed after the Dec10 patch, but they will probably still be the best dps options for bosses and trash respectively.

30/30/10/0/0 is the best sustained d/d dps but a lot of people use 25/30/0/0/15 because it is better for shorter fights and organized groups can kill bosses extremely fast.

Hey Stx.4857

Pros-
More Vulnerability with S/P than before
More Base Initiative Regeneration
Less cast time between stun and whip on PW

Cons-
Less Bonus Initiative from signets
Less Bonus Initiative from Opportunist
Less Bonus Initiative form Kleptomaniac
Moving Flanking Strikes further up the trickery line
Added cast time to Infiltrator’s Return

So in the End if the Update goes out as it is currently planned the spec will be nerfed. .
I think it will still be “The” dungeon build to use though.

HybridReaper.6724:

Heizero.9183:

Usually V/VI/XI in Critical Strikes

III/IX in Acrobatics (However i will be looking for a new setup for that line after Dec 10th.)

and like i said before V/VII in Trickery.

I also forgot to ask you what skills do you use ?

I use utilites for the situation at hand. I normally run withdraw as my heal and probably 80% of the time my “normal” utlity setup is infiltrator’s signet/Shadow Refuge/ Signet of Agility.

Also, the reason i recommend by build over these top dps builds being posted is that the damage difference is incredibly minimal, but the team synergy and survivability in my build is much higher.

Trust me, your team will thank you for buffing them with vigor/fury/might/swift every steal cd, and you will be happy you brought some extra vitality from acro.

As far as DPS goes, it is still VERY high just because of having 30 in Critical Strikes and a high fury upkeep with Thrill of the crime.

Depending on how familiar you are with the skills might want to try 0/30/0/15/25. Usually play it with S/D, SB but like Heizero has said its good to have P/P for backup. Knowing the fights is key, as I’d generally run w/o trickery VII and use flanking strikes… Switch to VII if the mobs or boss have frequent boons though. Well see how fun sword is though after the Dec 10th. Mostly use Valk gear, sig agility, shadow step, haste… depends on the fight. My two cents

Just want to pile on, and say that Heizero’s dungeon advice is very good. Max damage builds are very tricky to make work, and retaining some flexibility is useful for PUGs. you’ll probably need to adjust it to your own comfort level.

Excalibur.9748:

No. A warrior or guardian is the way to go.

Just stop. Warriors and Guardians are excellent for dungeons, but a good Thief can hang damage-wise and still offer a lot of useful utility. Shadow Refuge, spammable Blast finishers, etc.

except that you are by far less likely to get a non-guild group as anything other than zerk warrior or, in much rarer cases, guardian or mesmer (just for the quickness)

Ichishi.9613:

except that you are by far less likely to get a non-guild group as anything other than zerk warrior or, in much rarer cases, guardian or mesmer (just for the quickness)

In other words, fewer invites from people who don’t really understand what they are doing, and are just riding the Warrior wagon. That’s not really a downside.

Proper pick-up groups will generally want a DPS Guardian and an offensive support (like a Thief or a Mesmer) for their team, in a blue sky scenario.

Interceptor.2653:

Ichishi.9613:

except that you are by far less likely to get a non-guild group as anything other than zerk warrior or, in much rarer cases, guardian or mesmer (just for the quickness)

In other words, fewer invites from people who don’t really understand what they are doing, and are just riding the Warrior wagon. That’s not really a downside.

Proper pick-up groups will generally want a DPS Guardian and an offensive support (like a Thief or a Mesmer) for their team, in a blue sky scenario.

Yeah i never have issues with groups. There are more times than not that I end up carrying the group either from giving proper advice, or actual gameplay mechanics.

Thieves on a surface level don’t appear to have the same utility as other classes but any Thief that truly understands his class and any seasoned player worth anything knows otherwise, so that concern isn’t much of a valid one.

Well for me, even with my rather wide selection of people that know me, I have very big troubles with running CoE and Arah on a regular basis as a thief.
Very often I find myself soloing all of the dungeon’s soloable content and then trying to find people to just finish what I can’t alone.
Its not just people that don’t want thieves to join their party, but also people that refuse to join if party has one. Which often escalates to thief (being inferior) kicked in favor of a warrior or guardian.
Thief is also very likely to be one to be replaced when party is facing a wall, even if thief performs outstandingly.

Ichishi.9613:

Well for me, even with my rather wide selection of people that know me, I have very big troubles with running CoE and Arah on a regular basis as a thief.

Arah is where thieves shine, i usually run it with 3 Thieves including myself. I run 1,2,3 daily usually with my group, but whenever i get pugs i never have a problem. If the PUGS discriminate because you are just a Thief, then they are probably bad and you don’t want that group anyways.

If they are having a problem with your gameplay during engagements, then maybe you should take a look at what you can do to better your build/playstyle to further the groups goal of completing the run.

I don’t have a problem with my own play.
I do have a problem with getting into groups that I could effectively do dungeons with.
Most of my both coe and arah runs are with new or casual people that i need to explain every single thing to, change my play just to compensate for what they lack, sometimes even to explain how to play classes I never did.
While 4 warr/1 mesmer groups form and fill in an instant and burn through dungeons in a single breath.

I see. Well whenever you find some good players that you feel compliment your play, just add them and try to run more with them in the future. All i can really recommend, sorry.

Thank you all for your input. I will try out everything you guys suggested and will see which build best suits me. Thank you all once again.

Thank you all for your input. I will try out everything you guys suggested and will see which build best suits me. Thank you all once again.