Guild Wars 2

Hey so i been wanting to play a thief but the only thing stopping me is there seems to be not alot of build diversity going on. For example i would ideally like to play a D/D thief in spvp but after giving it a try , either i dont know how to play it effectively and was using the wrong utilities or its plain and simply harder to play then d/p which is basically free gap closers and blind spam in comparison imo.

So basically i was wondering is D/D thief even worth attempting in spvp? I’t seems to be all d/p and perhaps this new s/p pistolwhip trend. When it comes to wvw ive been pointed out to a D/D video of a thief outnumbered but its beyond me how much trouble the enemies had.

Anyways, if anyone has opinions on D/D especially if ur a D/P user im interested to know if you came to the same conclusion when comparing the 2. However if there are any ’’successful’’ D/D users im also interested in the build you are running .

I run D/D + D/P for WvW. D/D for the initial burst then swap to D/P for the majority of the fight after.

D/P is pretty necessary for sPvP if you plan on using the berserker amulet. I would go as far as to say D/D is definitely a little more difficult to master.

In terms of WvW… If you don’t like roaming… Being in a zerg you will be less useful than other classes, and you will melt most of the time due to conditions and loads of damage that you simply can’t avoid after 3 dodges + a handful of evades…

Quoting myself.

From my personal experience, I really love D/D, it’s just a bit more challenging and requires more effort to stay competive than D/P. It also requires a good team.

25/30/0/0/15 – Mug, Dagger Training, Side Strike, Practiced Tolerance, Executioner, Thrill of the crime. Scholar Runes, Sigil of Air and Force on Daggers, Bloodlust on SB.

Utilities: HiS, optional, Infiltrator’s Signet, Shadowstep, Basilisk Venom or Daggerstorm.

Use D/D to make quickwork of squishy players (staff ele, thieves, mesmers, necros, zerk rangers) or when finishing off others. SB to keep pressure on points using choking gas, AA and clusterbomb, SB hits like a truck in this build. Having good knowledge of the maps also makes teleporting a lot more effective. Majority of your survival is positioning (move behind your target, disengage to avoid taking fatal damage), disabling melee-assistance from settings will improve usage of positioning. Shortbow for additional dodges and teleports.

Most important, stay mobile, never waste time. Uncontest/Capture far if it’s unguarded to make 1 of the opposing players disengage, quickly rush to whoever is guarding close when it’s needed and don’t stay to stomp unless necessary.

Also look for gaps in the opposing players defence before going in for the kill,
look out for protection, invulnerability, blocks and stability when using BV.

D/D is an inferior weapon set in sPvP. It can do just fine in WvW with traits invested in Shadow Arts.

You’re better off running D/P, S/P, or even S/D in sPvP. Preferably with meta trait and rune set ups.

Thanks for the replies so far. I been using sword dagger in the mean time but still experimenting. ( less than 300 games on thief ). On another note i remember way back when i first tried thief i enjoyed sword pistol most but now when i tried it again it feels like 100 blades spam with evade frames lol.

I run d/d in pvp and wvw, d/p feels slow to me. 9/10 encounters I can normally drop a d/p thief but they will always have the upperhand with blind. D/d can be played effectively but it takes a bit more work I like it so much bettee though.

i cant get on with sword/pistol, always used d/d since the game first came out, but recently switched to d/p about 2-3 weeks ago in spvp, seem to be getting on better with it, the gap closing, and stealths are a lot better, d/d is sweet if u can land Cloak and dagger, but it’s hard to land.

Most important advice when playing a thief is to play hit and run. Learn to use your mobility skills and stealth when you know you’re at a disadvantage. It’s usually better to live to fight another battle by running than giving up 5 extra points and waiting for respawn.