Guild Wars 2

Just curious as to why. i used to see people using it all the time now its just D/D thieves.

Assuming you’re talking about PvP, no-one uses it anymore because the pistol whip build got nerfed, then nerfed again, then nerfed a 3rd time.

1)(15% damage nerf)Pistol Whip Damage was nerfed so that it’s actually worse dps than auto-attack.
The build was still ok after this nerf because you could heal a ton to compensate for the lower damage.

2)(90% healing nerf)Cooldown added to lifesteal food so that it only procs about 1/10 as often as it did with pistol whip pre-nerf.
This one pretty much killed the build, but some people continued to use it because you could still get kills with it against squishy players and they didn’t want to relearn skills to make the switch to D/D.

3)Haste nerfed to 50% attack speed.
After this nerf, I don’t really know anyone who still uses it in PvP.

But as has been said above, it’s still fine for PvE.

Ninewonderz.6439:

Just curious as to why. i used to see people using it all the time now its just D/D thieves.

I believe that S/P got nerfed with Pistol Whip and then the food nerf on lifesteal on Critical caused a lot of people to believe it could no longer be tanky.

Personally I used it as a tanky build even without the lifesteal and although it was fun for a while it just wasn’t able to do well enough to run with my friends without feeling like I was weighing them down.

Though now I’m using P/P as my secondary so I apparently never learn.

It has no damage output anymore. Pistol Whip does less than your auto attack, and those are your only attacks.
It isn’t fun relying on auto attacks to kill stuff.

Lifesteal Critical was a survival and a damage nerf. It killed the build.

15% damage nerf
Quickness nerfed by half.

Because even before the Quickness nerf people were under the impression that the 15% damage nerf made PW hit like spaghetti even though this is completely untrue.

The attack isn’t as good as it used to be, but it’s still kitten good at dealing out damage and keeping people controlled (the 1/2 second stun interrupts and acts like a 1/2 daze).

I still use it all the time. Damage output is very nice, and I’m very sustainable while using it /shrug

it hits less then sword autoattack.

To the OP – are you asking for PvE, PvP, or WvW, since each of these has their own metas and popular builds? For PvE, I think it is a strong set for sustained damage and control compared to the Thief’s other choices and the current state of the offhand dagger with the nerf to reveal. I can’t speak to PvP or WvW, since I don’t do any of that.

Also, I agree that the nerf to PW should be reverted. The inititive cost is too high currently for the damage it does. However, the real strength of PW lies in the fact that you have a stun and are doing damage while evading, which is something that the auto attack doesn’t do. It also isn’t as buggy as SD skill #3 Flanking Strike.

ensoriki.5789:

15% damage nerf
Quickness nerfed by half.

said it perfect. theives get nothing but nerfed. we kidna suck now. only good if the player is good/can react fast enough. ummm also….auto attack has more dmg per time than pistol whip. :P

The better question is why are thieves so scarce in WvW these days.

style.6173:

The better question is why are thieves so scarce in WvW these days.

bc they suck in fights. they are good at roaming/ 1 v 1 maybe 2 v 1…..but defense is just horrendous. u go into a zerg fight u have to use a SB or die. that help?

Yeah I loved S/P with the old Shadow Step Infiltrators strike for striking over long distances in WvW. However things are just easier with a dagger – I don’t play D/D I don’t dig it – but D/P just has things much easier, more applicable abilities and even combo fields and quicker, better damage. I loved doing the shadow step shuffle but Sword/P is giving yourself a disadvantage. Mind you S/x will take a a trebuchet out quicker, maybe. With cleave and shadow stepping S/P was kinda good against mesmers mind you – but as Rusc once said – Ninja Lumberjack.

I use S/P for PvE. The pistol whip stun and evade can be quite useful for controlling mobs. And considering that there is both a stun and evade built into the skill I find the damage to be okay. Even though with the quickness nerf I would have appreciated it if the damage nerf could be revised again.

Also the cleave is really useful for clearing out trashmobs. Pistol whip cleaves as well.

Also I find it really useful to be able to remove conditions. For example I use it to remove the condition from the last boss in CoF P1 and at the same time try to get behind him.

I use s/p for most everything, in PvE between PW and black powder is is very survivable and capable of hitting multiple targets, in WvW it lends itself to group play, with black powder for stomps and a ranged daze for interrupting, on top of pistol whips ability to drop stun after stun on targets. it also works quite well with venom share builds given the high hit volume of PW. the build can also easily be made insanely mobile for scouting and harassing seeing as there isn’t near as much temptation in shadow arts so you can drop points in acro and trickery and outrun everything. also, infiltrator’s strike. its more of a control/survivability build, which tends to make it less popular when thieves lean so easily to burst. that said, I don’t thing reverting the PW nerf would be so bad given the lifesteal food and quickness nerfs. another point is it isn’t as good at 1v1s and 1v2s as D/D and D/P builds, but when running with a group the control it can unleash is absolutely amazing.

Ninewonderz.6439:

Just curious as to why. i used to see people using it all the time now its just D/D thieves.

I think this is the best weapon set for high level fractals and in all dungeons where u have to hit multiple targets (CoF, arah….) but the single target dmg is not as good as D/D

Its a great set-up for pve (including soloing wvw camps).
the evade and stun on PW make it better than AA in many situations, even with low dmg.
It could use a buff, bit its not useless

I love zergs.. I stealth my way to the back n take out the squishies not expectin anyone behind

Also the zerg is foccused on ur zerg so usually get a few takedowns

Now.. D/D.. I use for playstyle. AlwaysD/D thief /
assasins

Now.. D/D.. I use for playstyle. AlwaysD/D thief /
assasinsThat being said I now use d/p & s/d. Instead of d/d & sb

Now.. D/D.. I use for playstyle. AlwaysD/D thief /
assasinsThat being said I now use d/p & s/d. Instead of d/d & sbMight try d/d & s/p

I use it every night in top rank tournaments and hot join… come watch if you want to see its effectiveness.

I use it in all games too (D/P + S/P)
Pistol whip’s dmg is nerfed, but it’s still a good surviving tool.
I use D/P mostly against ppl I can burst, S/P if I know they will outheal me. I just wait ’till they are at 25% (slowly with pistolwhip and IS) and then I switch to D/P to finish them.