Guild Wars 2

I’m really interested in leveling my level 20 sylvari thief, the only problem is is that I’m not really interest in PvP. I know they don’t bring much to a group besides DPS and am wondering if a support thief is actually viable.

Thanks!

I really enjoy playing a venom sharing support thief in dungeons/group PvE. Not only is it viable, it’s extremely effective for three reasons (probably more):

1. You will be sharing venoms that leech life per charge (see prior players post for better explanation). I usually use spider, ice drake and basilisk venoms with this build.
2. Combo fields are amazing when utilized correctly and with a shortbow/sword-pistol thieves have access to poison, dark (shadow refuge is my last utility slot) and smoke fields. Also, the blast finisher on shortbow #2 can be spammed into combo fields giving any player within the field the positive affect. For example if a water combo field is up, a thief can spam shortbow #2 and do significant aoe healing. There is just so much combo fields can offer in PvE with blast finishers. I encourage everyone to use them in my dungeon groups.
3. With an offhand pistol you can blind the weaker mobs, essentially preventing most damage if they are within the smoke combo field pistol #5 creates. Also, if there is a large group of mobs, use shadow refuge which creates a dark combo field and spam shortbow #2 into it creating aoe blindness (or spam it into your smoke field to stealth your group!)

Your shortbow will also provide decent aoe damage and you can heal teammates using shadow refuge. I use the following build: 20-0-30-0-20. In deadly arts I take venomous strength (VS) and quick venoms. Some people switch VS with mug, I prefer the might sharing. In shadow arts I take master of deception so shadow refuge can be used more often, leeching venoms and venomous aura. In trickery I take thrill of the crime and bountiful theft which provides buffs to teammates. I also like the added initiative that comes with trickery since I like to spam combo fields. Again these are just my personal preferences, I’m always open to suggestions.

Lots of combo-finishers. Poison and smoke fields. Control abilities like cripple and interrupts. Boon stripping if specced for it. Venom sharing, also if specced. Not just DPS, but some nice AoE DPS. There’s probably more.

Thieves have access to pretty much the best blast finisher in the game (shortbow 2). Comboing with an elementalist, they can provide ~9-12 stacks of aoe might on fire fields, 4 aoe healing pulses on healing rain, 30 seconds of aoe swiftness on lightning field, not to mention aoe stealth and weakness and blind on their own fields (smoke, poison, dark). Shadow refuge, as well as being a dark field, is an excellent support ability.

Stealth revives are incredible. Stealth also gives great aggro control (something only thieves and, to a lesser extent, mesmers can do).

A S/D stealth thief can blind AoE and then daze a target for 2s every five seconds. That’s a lot of defense to the group. We can also provide some good battlefield control with caltrops (tons of AoE cripple). We have a great projectile blocker, with a 7s duration and 30s (24s traited) cooldown.

A thief can go into Trickery for AoE boons. My build gives my group swiftness (16.5s), fury (16.5s), might (18.5s), and vigor (24.75s) every time I steal, and Steal has a 36s cooldown for me. The vigor especially is really powerful, as there aren’t many skills in the game that grant vigor to a group.

A venom thief can also have crazy AoE support. They’re actually capable of healing pretty well. They can grant their group venoms, which causes each member’s next X attacks to apply a condition. For example, Spider Venom causes each player’s next 5 (6 traited) attacks to apply poison. With other traits, poisons grant 2 stacks of might for 20s and steal health with each attack. The health-stealing is very powerful, and amounts to a large amount of group healing. The group can keep permanent poison, immobilize, and weakness up on a target with a venom thief, as well as applying 20 stacks of vulnerability (5s) every 36s and two hits of a 1.5s stun for each person every 36s.