Guild Wars 2

For Pve, WwW, SPvP, TPvP, events, boss fights, soloing …? Where and when do you use your Pistol/s, if so?
The majority of Thiefs use S/D, D/D or D/P + SB. But i think that P/D can be really fun and strong in PvP in 1v1 situations for a secondary weapon set, don’t you agree? So why SB over Pistol/s? I undarstand why SB is better for dungeons, but for PvP? Is D/P + P/D viable for PvP?

IS there a way to play completly ranged kind of Thief, like: P/P(D) + SB? Not that i like to do so, just curious if anyone has tried it out?

P/P and P/D lacks mobility, that’s the main reason most people will choose SB over it.

in sPvP, SB will allow you to use shortcuts across the map and also get to high ground with ease. The ranged aoe and poison field provides nice pressure on clusters.

P/D is quite condition oriented and you can become nearly immortal with it if you pick up dire armor and create condition build, many people have done and still do this, so it’s not something new. For powerbuilds #3 and #5 causes quite good pressure, making the set really useful as an off-set, especially when fighting 1v2 or 1v3 against melee builds of all sorts.

But in sPvP, its survival and even damage relies too much on stealth making it a weak choice compared to other options.

p/d is viable in pvp, but with a condition build.
while Sb is most used since the AoE and the mobility given by infiltrator’s arrow.
Of course there are some build that are most used and most efficient in the current meta, but u can find a build which goes well with your playstyle.

you will only ever need 1 pistol so you can go D/P, S/P or P/D.
you can salvage all you “other” pistols.

Mainly the Pistol is good for condition builds as was stated above.

That being said the #3 on P/P does have some good burst while hitting allot of times.
I have found that some thieves like to run in pairs either in Spvp or roaming in WvW.

By synching up their unload ability with a very high burst build they can down someone extremely fast before the person has time to react.

This may not work on bunker builds quite as well & it tends to be a glass cannon spec but even if it doesn’t work you can just stealth and run away.

Besides its always funny seeing someone rage & wonder WTF killed them in 2 seconds or less.

I use Dual pistols in PvE for its stopping power in both senses of the word:

1. The Stealth alternate of Vital shot is probably more useful on P/D since with CnD it is easier to stealth with without wasting a heal at the same time
2. Body shot immobilizes most things you’d want to keep at a distance. [Or off someone at low health trying to get a heal off.]
3. Unload is self-explanatory
4. Headshot takes practice in learning the enemy animations and the right time to interrupt them, but is worth it.
5. I personally don’t get much use out of Black powder, plus it takes a good chunk of initiative. Not to say it’s useless though.

At least I find it useful.

Ragnar the Rock.3174:

Mainly the Pistol is good for condition builds as was stated above.

That being said the #3 on P/P does have some good burst while hitting allot of times.
I have found that some thieves like to run in pairs either in Spvp or roaming in WvW.

By synching up their unload ability with a very high burst build they can down someone extremely fast before the person has time to react.

This may not work on bunker builds quite as well & it tends to be a glass cannon spec but even if it doesn’t work you can just stealth and run away.

Besides its always funny seeing someone rage & wonder WTF killed them in 2 seconds or less.

2 thieves with D/P or D/D can do it faster, not to mention that 2v1 wile the 2 are both GC can down ppl fast to, even faster that 2 P/P thieves, it has nothing to do with pistols not thieves btw. its mathematics

>>2 thieves with D/P or D/D can do it faster, not to mention that 2v1 wile the 2 are both GC can down ppl fast to, even faster that 2 P/P thieves, it has nothing to do with pistols not thieves btw. its mathematics

They can not do it from range . They will have issues if the target is in rings of AOE like wells, ranger traps, grenade and bomb spam from Engies or engies bunkered near turrets (one unload can take out multiple turrets with Ricochet). The effects of Ricochet against enemies that are clustered can be devastating.

While d/p has the gap closer the d/d weapon set is doing no damage in the time it takes to engage an enemy.

A very deadly tactic would be engage at range as one dashes towards the enemy with two unloads, swap weapon sets , steal (daze) , heartseeker/shadowshot.

One unload can make as much as 32 separate attacks in a span of just under 2 seconds. From a mathematical point of view that is the potential for 32 crits along with it the proc on crit effects or heals from SOM/invigorating precision and the like.

If one takes sundering strikes as example those crits can stack a whole lot of vulnerability on an enemy. If one wished they could couple this with a sigil of frailty and with a couple unloads stack well over 10 stacks of vulnerabilty. Throw on the number 2 skill with a single shot and the enemy taking 15 percent and more damage from all sources.

I have stood on a keep wall spamming unload on a person manning a ram and using invigorating precision/omnomberry ghost/SOM been able to generate enough health to remain standing there at full health as I am focused by multiple opponents, leaving only when INI runs out. This in multiple AOE rings from the enemy with little more then 2k armor and around 14k health.

Neither d/d or d/p can get attacks off at this rate of speed and I can only imagine the devastation wreaked on the enemy with two p/p thieves up on that wall using unload.

D/D and d/p certainly have their own advantages but using one set does not preclude using p/p. If one can manage how they use INI and how they function in small groups P/P can be an excellent complement to any power weapon set.

it is also a lot of fun

Pistol main hand (with no offhand) is great for 1v1.

hihey.1075:

Pistol main hand (with no offhand) is great for 1v1.

Hmm I have never tried that.

Ragnar the Rock.3174:

Mainly the Pistol is good for condition builds as was stated above.

That being said the #3 on P/P does have some good burst while hitting allot of times.
I have found that some thieves like to run in pairs either in Spvp or roaming in WvW.

By synching up their unload ability with a very high burst build they can down someone extremely fast before the person has time to react.

This may not work on bunker builds quite as well & it tends to be a glass cannon spec but even if it doesn’t work you can just stealth and run away.

Besides its always funny seeing someone rage & wonder WTF killed them in 2 seconds or less.

Few people called me a backstab spammer while I was spamming Unload :/