Guild Wars 2

*Hi!I started playing GW2 after some months(due to my pc’s low factionality) and i am wondering what build should i follow for my thief who is 73 right now!Thing is though,when i played back then,i didnt really went deep on how to build classes or armor or anything because i was trying to complete the story,along with discovering maps and doing hearts!So,i pretty much grow lvl so fast but in reality i am still a noob for the in-game mechanisms!I was using a condition d/d build which although i worked at start,now i find it pretty useless as most of the lvl 60+ monsters can easily pawn me!(i am not fully condition equipped though)

*My question is,what build would be viable in WvW and PvE?Now that i am back in the game,i would like to learn few things and start building my character properly!!(build,itemization,skills)

~!!!!Bump!!!!!!

s/p is viable in pve.

Zacchary.6183:

s/p is viable in pve.

What about wvw?What build should i look for also?

You shouldn’t use the same build for wvw and pve. As far as pve goes, 25/30/x/x/x (see below) is and has been the meta build for months, as far as wvw goes, build around your weapon set, i normally run d/p with 0/20/30/20/0 or 0/30/20/20/0.
25/30/10/0/5 – the best for long fights, typically for pugs and outdamages 25/30/0/0/15 in fights longer than 12 (?) seconds
25/30/0/0/15 – highest burst damage, dont use unless your in an organized party that can kill most bosses in a few seconds
25/30/0/15/0 – i normally use this for fractals, the 15 in acrobatics really helps out for dodging
And as far as weapon sets for pve go, d/d and s/p are our best 2, there are very few situations where you shouldnt use these, mainly range boss fights or running to the next boss (shortbow shines here).

Using the same build everywhere is not optimal, but it’s certainly possible for a DPS class. You may switch some traits in and out, but you needn’t hit the trainer and reallocate.

There are a few keys to making a build that works everywhere, OP:

1) Be a power/ precision/ crit build, not condition. There are too many PvE situations where condition damage is a very poor choice. This rules out any build that uses mainhand pistol

2) You need a way to handle condition damage, and know how to switch up traits to add more condition cleansers when needed. There are a lot of ways to handle this.

3) You’ll need to be in damage-oriented gear, which means zerker/ valkyrie or some other mix. In WvW, survival-oriented attrition builds (usually condition damage based) work well. In PvE, you usually want to burst things down. Consider valkyrie armor and zerker weapons/ accessories as a pretty reasonable compromise.

4) You generally want capabilities for single-target DPS and for AoE tagging stuff. For the latter, use a shortbow in your offhand. It’s so good at so many things, you’ll learn to love it if you don’t already

5) For single-target DPS, dagger-dagger is probably best, but you can make sword-dagger work, too. Just have a plan

And that last is the real key: Have a plan for all the situations you’re going to encounter:

- I need to kill one target (whether it’s a player or a boss)
- I need AoE damage
- I need to clear conditions frequently
- I need to get out of the way (dodging, teleports, etc)

And remember, the only expensive decision you make is gear. Retraiting is cheap. Buying a second set of exotics (much less ascended) is pricey. Happily, that is a compromise which DPS classes find easier — we’re pretty much always DPS.

Below is the build I use everywhere. Two caveats — I am not the foremost expert on thieves, and I am aiming to be good everywhere, but not fussed about being the absolute apex at anything.

http://gw2skills.net/editor/?fYAQNAsYVlYmiO3eS4E+5Ex2jeuTeyzwoOt/AXB-j0BBYLCikFQpPFRjtMsIas6aYqSER1eDER1CBsaCA-w

If I am going strait up single-target, I switch to dagger/ dagger (and the final Criticals trait switches to Hidden Killer). If I do not expect a lot of incoming conditions, I switch the second Shadow Arts trait to blind or something else.

@Clumpsy
Actually i dont want the same build for WvW and PvE!
The trait options are looking pretty intresting and i most likely check them out!
@Oghier
Thanks for the tips!I would like to know though what should i pay more attention gear wise too!I mean,when i go power/ precision/ crit thief do what stats should i aim expcept power?Should i mix some vitality there too?
For WvW, is P/D better than D/D or even D/P?

BlazingBeast.3104:

@Clumpsy
Actually i dont want the same build for WvW and PvE!
The trait options are looking pretty intresting and i most likely check them out!
@Oghier
Thanks for the tips!I would like to know though what should i pay more attention gear wise too!I mean,when i go power/ precision/ crit thief do what stats should i aim expcept power?Should i mix some vitality there too?
For WvW, is P/D better than D/D or even D/P?

I would only suggest going P/D if you have a Condition Damage build.

Otherwise D/D and D/P will be far superior.

BlazingBeast.3104:

@Clumpsy
Actually i dont want the same build for WvW and PvE!
The trait options are looking pretty intresting and i most likely check them out!
@Oghier
Thanks for the tips!I would like to know though what should i pay more attention gear wise too!I mean,when i go power/ precision/ crit thief do what stats should i aim expcept power?Should i mix some vitality there too?
For WvW, is P/D better than D/D or even D/P?

for roaming d/p is best, d/d is a burst damage set and doesnt work awell if you mess up, for zergs i always run s/p +SB, and full zerker with a defensive build is more than enough survivability for zergs and roaming

BlazingBeast.3104:

@Clumpsy
Actually i dont want the same build for WvW and PvE!
The trait options are looking pretty intresting and i most likely check them out!
@Oghier
Thanks for the tips!I would like to know though what should i pay more attention gear wise too!I mean,when i go power/ precision/ crit thief do what stats should i aim expcept power?Should i mix some vitality there too?
For WvW, is P/D better than D/D or even D/P?

P/D is condition damage, so that is not a good fit with PvE. I recommend D/* or S/*, picking whatever offhand provides the playstyle you want. Pistol offhand and Dagger offhand play fairly differently, and there’s no reason not to try both. Your switch weapon should be shortbow.

For gear, I like power/precision/ vitality armor (with zerker/ ruby weapons and trinkets). That armor, the valkyrie set, provides a plenty of DPS for a crit build, and it also offers enough vitality that you’re not a completely glass cannon.

@Oghier @Clupsy
What would you say about that build here?(Mind you it is wvw)—→http://intothemists.com/guides/307-daggerpistol_backstab_by_rand_x_al_thor
I feel like it is a lot similar to your guide Oghier,but with the exception of more high dps/crit and less vitality!

You’ve linked a solid D/P build, which is probably the most popular WvW choice for thieves now. See the many threads and references to ‘permastealth’ (It’s not actually permanent, and it takes a fair bit of fiddling, but it’s popular because it’s effective).

It’ll work. Again, D/D and D/P are both good thief builds, but they play very differently. You should play one until you get comfortable with it, then play the other.

As for the gear, pure ‘zerker gear is obviously top-tier DPS, and it’s also the most popular choice. Valkyrie is very close, though, due to all the +crit damage it sports. Personally, I need the extra vitality to give me room for errors. I make too many of them

PvE I’ve been using D/D+S/P. You can swap ether one for SB depending on situation.

http://gw2skills.net/editor/?fYAQRAoY8alUmKO3eS+E95Ex2jd2TeqzAnts/wVB-jUyAYrBRTUAJLwUhAl+KiGbboIasqFMVJRUt3oIa1SBExYA-w

Is my normal PvE build. I suggest having a Bloodlust stacking weapon in the back somewhere to stack bloodlust, but if you think you’ll get downed a lot it’s probably pointless. Sword-multi target trash and Dagger for single/boss fights is generally what I do.

Thieves utilities can be swapped out whenever really, none of it is really -required- in PvE but Smoke Screen is extremely useful in a lot of encounters if you lack a guardian that uses wall of reflection.