Guild Wars 2

Okay guys. Can’t seem to really decide what looks best. Currently have a lvl59 Thief and planning to go for WvW being strong at small battles.

Gear I’m planning on using D/P with valkyrie armor and berserker jewelry. However I cant really decide what traits i should use.

I was planning on using these skills and traits http://de.gw2skills.net/editor/?fZAQJAoYlsMp0pdPxyJ8PNBNBtdFGeI4uGrYGaFAA-TFSBABJqH4hHAgZKBvSpXXKDIa%2FhcU%2FBgTAApAsaZE-w

But Ive red somewhere that 20606 goes best with D/P for WvW.

Can anyone help me out?

thx in advance

Hi there,

since you will probably not have full ascended gear very fast you should consider that the game is “balanced” for fights between players that have that level of stats on their gear, being at a gear and stat disadvantage you will not be able to win fights that come down to a “pure damage race” so focus on utility which will allow you to "outplay " your opponents.
I advise 6 points into trickery with thrill of the crime, bountyful theft and sleight of hand strongly because of this, also 2 points into shdow arts for condition removal on stealth are pretty mandatory.
Starting from this you can pretty much spent the restof your trait points to your preference, a lot of interesting options exist even with traits that are commonly looked down apon, like for example hidden thief which is really helpful with d/p, or decent into shadows which is great to have if you play hide and seek while outnumbered.

Do your own tests on trait combinations, most stuff is way better that people usually think and most “meta builds” are not as good in wvw as people make them appear.

Both of those specs are good one has more utility with trickery the other has more damage with critical strikes – that is basically it

I prefer more utility and simply hate playing thief without 15 initiative the 3rd trait in trickery line

Try each build and you will find one which you prefer

Hearing that you’re going valk, I’d recommend you go 26600 with hidden killer. If you were going full zerker, I could see room for 20606, which is also a great point spread.

Yes, thrill of the crime makes up for your lack of crit chance somewhat, but I think overall 26600 would be the best damage, and also give you a bit more HP through practiced tolerance, since you’re going for that via valk anyhow.

6 shadowarts is the best defensive traitline we have in wvw, bar none, so as long as you stay in that, you’ll have an easy time whatever you choose.

20606 is probably the strongest trait spread a Thief can use currently. Air and fire sigils give the build good burst w/o having to invest in crit strikes, along with the survivability of SA and the utility of trickery. Steal becomes very powerful when traited with trickery, it does so much for only a 21 sec cd, and it’s good for sustain too combined with mug.

26600 is good too and has its place. Hidden Killer is amazing for landing a guaranteed backstab crit. You’ll have more base hp via Practiced Tolerance. Crit strikes gives precision and ferocity so you’ll have a lot more of that too, enough to where you shouldn’t have to worry about precision as much (especially taking Hidden Killer), so you can invest in tankier gear, if that’s what you want to do. 20606 doesn’t have the same flexibility with stats.

Crit strikes offers more damage, trickery offers more utility. Both are fine, it really just comes down to your play style and what you want out of your thief.

I highly, highly, highly recommend 20606 for WvW. To be honest, using D/P, you don’t really need the SA, so 26006 would be more ideal. However, if you’re not comfortable without SA, aim for 20606.

Despite what some posters have said, there are some specs you simply won’t be able to kill using 26600, especially on D/P. I’m talking about competent d/d ele’s, shout guards, condi warriors, regen rangers, etc. You really need the extra poison and boon strip from heavy trickery investments to take them down.

You only need ~40-50% crit chance; pack runes/thrill of the crime and fire/air sigils take care of the rest.

Okay so after all your answers I decided to go for this:
http://en.gw2skills.net/editor/?fZAQNAoaVlsMp0pdPxyJ0PNBNBtdFGeI8OMfpMaFAA-T1BEgAGPBQJouyvO9B57PAcIAcV/h4EAAA-w

Any comments on it? Improvements,..