Guild Wars 2

Recently started playing again.
Thought you guys might enjoy a few clips from the stream yesterday.

D/D Thief Outnumbered Roaming

Sorry the first few minutes are laggy. For whatever reason, it didn’t record correctly.

I wish you didn’t speed up the gameplay that much, it seemed like fun, but it is difficult to pay attention when things go too rapidly.
Good job!

What’s your build? (If you don’t mind) I’m trying to get better with my thief in wvw.

If I had to guess, it looks like CS/Acro/Daredevil as he doesn’t have Mug/ST/Lotus and has 12 initiative

Likely Flawless/PT/NQ in CS, PR/HtC/UH inAcro, and HM/EA/UC in Dardevil

Likely also running a mix of Marauder weapons/armor and Berserker/Valkyrie accessories for the health and crit chance, with Furious Oils and Steak Frittes or some power/precison food.

Good to see other power D/D play, though.

I confirm the CS/Accro since you see the Instant Reflex Pop and the auto fury proc.

A bit too much ooc for me but still refreshing. Make me think that i haven’t played s/p since ages should run that again one day.

it very nice play overall bring back memories seeing infiltrator signet xD

Sorry it has taken me so long to respond to everyone. Had long work hours the last few days. xD

Kocoff.7582:

I wish you didn’t speed up the gameplay that much, it seemed like fun, but it is difficult to pay attention when things go too rapidly.
Good job!

Thank you and noted.

SlitheSlivier.1908:

What’s your build? -snip-

DeceiverX.8361:

If I had to guess… -snip-

Good to see other power D/D play, though.

Closeeee! Here’s the build. It relies pretty heavily on Instant Reflexes or you just get one shot by D/P thieves. Don’t Stop is kinda overkill with dash dodge, but it can help in those moments when you’re trying to line up a backstab and don’t want to dodge out of a certain position. It’s the best D/D build I’ve been able to come up with since they nerfed the weaponset ages ago.

ich.7086:

A bit too much ooc for me but still refreshing. Make me think that i haven’t played s/p since ages should run that again one day.

The friend I’m with in the video runs S/P all the time and loves it. You should give it a try. Who says we need to be condi or play D/P / Staff! xD

Taobella.6597:

it very nice play overall bring back memories seeing infiltrator signet xD

Thank you so much! I’ve always been self conscious about my thief play so it feels good to see positive responses! I miss the old SA D/D thief days a lot myself. Trying to recapture that a bit.

I really like this build and the video. Literally the only problem I have is after playing so long with the extra initiative and using steal tactically, I have such a hard time with initiative management with only the base. Especially with CND taking so much initiative, one miss is deadly. How difficult of a transition was that for you?

Black Scoutsman.5830:

I really like this build and the video.

Thanks! I’ve been working forever to make a D/D build that isn’t total garbage. And while this one is still pretty bad compared to D/P, it has a good amount of sustain/damage and is a lot more fun.

Black Scoutsman.5830:

Literally the only problem I have is after playing so long with the extra initiative and using steal tactically, I have such a hard time with initiative management with only the base. Especially with CND taking so much initiative, one miss is deadly. How difficult of a transition was that for you?

The transition wasn’t very difficult for me, but I don’t usually take Trickery in D/D builds. You just have to keep in mind that you have two CnDs to work with. The build is set up to help you land them.

You have Infil. Signet as a second Steal, which gives you something to fall back on if you ever miss your initial CnD- not to mention the handy stunbreak and initiative regen.

And taking Critical Strikes over Deadly Arts (AKA Mug) allows you to time your CnD significantly later to minimize enemy reaction time. If you use Mug, your CnD has to come after the Steal damage or you’re going to reveal yourself. Without that restriction, you can Steal at the latest possible moment in the CnD animation to get off a super quick stealth + Backstab combo. It takes a lot of practice and I’m still working on it myself, but it’s actually a super big deal. xD

You can also fake engages and disengages to bait enemy cooldowns, dodges, or get the element of surprise, which can help a lot with landing CnD. I do this little number a lot. If you don’t turn around, you don’t give them any indication that you’re going to engage and it almost always works. You can also stow or dodge to cancel any CnD you know is going to fail.

That’s probably a lot more than you wanted, but yeah… xD

Black Scoutsman.5830:

I really like this build and the video. Literally the only problem I have is after playing so long with the extra initiative and using steal tactically, I have such a hard time with initiative management with only the base. Especially with CND taking so much initiative, one miss is deadly. How difficult of a transition was that for you?

Kind of why I predicted UH in Acro instead of DS; I personally would see it as a bit redundant given Dash, and it’d only take three dodges in six seconds to end up with the same initiative expense as Trickery, gaining only more efficiency as you continued to fight and dodge, although DS can be majorly beneficial depending on matchup and for disengages/re-engages which is again a playstyle thing (I pretty much never fully disengage from fights with D/D equipped).

Kind of personal preference on how active you are on initiative skill use; I for example play much more aggressively than the OP and thus end up using substantially more initiative.