Guild Wars 2

I’ve been a sPvP player almost exclusively since launch and I’m just beginning to get bored of all of the builds that thrive in that mode. I’m really interested in investing time into ascended items and building a great roaming thief to tackle WvW with.

I’ve looked into www.metabattle.com and I’ve seen their D/D build and they are gearing Valkrie and going with steal health sigils. Seems odd for a build not based around attrition, but more of the instagib style of play.

I was just looking for someone with experience with this build in this mode and some input on what they think works best. Utility advice would be great as well.

Thanks for all the help in advance!

DecieverX’s build: (I quote him)
“Figured I’d throw this up here. I’ve been getting a lot of PM’s in-game lately about my 5/6/0/0/3 setup and the sheer damage I do, so I’ll post a newly-modified miniguide here for easy access for aspiring assassins.
This is truly a build meant for the assassination-style people out there.
This is focused towards WvW where the damage on CnD and Mug is higher to usually get folks with < 3k armor at 50% or below.

WARNING: This build is extremely binary without long and arduous practice and very vulnerable to counterplay if your target is left alive beyond the initial burst. This build is also one of the single most difficult builds to play effectively in the game due to the timing required to execute the damage smoothly before allowing for counterplay efforts to kick in due to the sheer number of button presses at very precise timings in a very specific order at very specific distances.

So, here we are with the build:
http://gw2skills.net/editor/?fZAQRAoY8alsMpxpVOxzJ8PNRLhs9oVf86tuPCA-T1CBABHfCA2TPAGPAgV0Mg1+DAcQFyS5HjKBTRDDDHpAdU/JAACwNbzAwNv5Nv5NvZpAiYZE-w

Tips, FAQ, and Details
Why 5/6/0/0/3 vs 6/6/0/0/2:

Because simply, 6/6/0/0/2 in order to deal equivalent damage, requires wind-up time. 5 points in DA and 3 in Trickery lets you immediately utilize another 10% damage modifier from the 5-point trait in Critical Strikes called First Strikes, which gives you 10% more damage when above six initiative.
When using 6/6/0/0/2, a CnD will put you at 6 initiative (not above 6), and is often preceeded by a gap-close heartseeker, shortbow 5, infil strike, etc, thus requiring a wait period during stealth which can extend beyond the stealth duration before you’re able to stab for that modifier. While this nets more damage, especially with revealed training, I find it very inconsistent to use and easier to counter due to the wait period. Pulling off everything before BV even expires from mug landing makes executions much easier.

Why Valkyrie:
Because this build doesn’t use Shadow Arts, despite the WvW setting. Valkyrie, with more health, makes you less prone to dying to conditions, and gives you more power via sharpening stones while making you overall more resilient to burst damage. ToTC also gives you a perfectly-timed access to fury, so your sustained DPS doesn’t drop by much either after your initial burst.

Sigil of Intelligence on D/D? What?!
Yup, because there’s a very often overlooked player here: The Signet of Shadows active. The difficulty of the build and playing it right comes here with this choice. Using a long-distance engage via IS, you can get in range to use the active of SoS to blind your target from about 900 instantly, putting you in combat. This lets you hot-swap to your intelligence dagger set, granting you three automatic critical hits on your next three attacks, letting you perform a Mug (1, despite the inability to crit), critical CnD (2), and Backstab (3), all while utilizing the effects of Assassin’s Signet, and in all likelihood, Executioner.
But Flanking strikes lets you get more damage, no?
Yes, but the might helps compensate for it, and the fury and swiftness from Thrill of the Crime are invaluable. The benefits of the swiftness are especially useful, seeing as you can therefore escape better as SoS will be on cooldown.

How come you chose S/P as an offhand set?
I did so because of the shortbow having forced auto-attack problems after using Signet of Shadows from range, and even one attack would thus cause the Intel Sigil effect to get wasted before using backstab. I also like having the increased mobility via infil strike, head-shot lets you enable a guardian by removing aegis/getting into combat from range if SoS is down, and black powder allows for more secure stomps against classes with CC effects during downed like guard, ranger, and warrior.

How do you set up?
I prefer to pre-cast BV and Assassin’s Signet unless the foe has aegis, in which case I’ll either use Dancing Dagger, or headshot to remove it. I’ll then engage as normally with the rest of the signets used, followed by a weapon swap, steal, CnD, and the stab.

I lose a lot to guards. Why?
They’re kitted out to deal with this kind of build better than most classes due to their access to blocks, stability, aegis, protection, etc. Fighting a good one is very difficult and one of those things I mentioned at the beginning about counterplay.

Why not Signet of Malice?
You need condition cleansing and a good heal somewhere. Plus free stealth. Not really worth the 5 might IMHO.

This build is really stupid; it’s so vulnerable!
Which is what I said in the beginning. This is truly THE assassination build. It’s meant to kill an isolated and unprepared target, and leave. If you want a skirmisher for “1v1 me bro” l33t pr0 ski11z du31z, look into P/D perplex or anything built around Shadow Arts. This build is not designed for that."

If you want a really balls out build :p

Your opponent being a baddie is more important then personal skill. This is one of those cheesy builds that’s super strong and easy to play, but super easy for anyone with a brain to counter.

D/D assassination thieves roaming around in WvW is VERY common and players learn how to deal with them.