Guild Wars 2

Backstab really needs to auto-crit naturally.

Anyway, interesting build. I would still submit that stealth is so short and people are so vaccinated against it that landing backstabs just isn’t reliable any more.

is there a more affordable balanced d/d build for PVE? I don’t want to spend more than ~10g on a complete rune set.

Juneau.6095:

is there a more affordable balanced d/d build for PVE? I don’t want to spend more than ~10g on a complete rune set.

Try wurm or scholar, yeah scholar for dps, wurm for survivability

RedSpectrum.1975:

Juneau.6095:

is there a more affordable balanced d/d build for PVE? I don’t want to spend more than ~10g on a complete rune set.

Try wurm or scholar, yeah scholar for dps, wurm for survivability

Both of these runes can be crafted (leather working for wurm, tailor for scholar), so if you have the mats on hand, no need to spend any gold.

I’ve found Wurm runes with Valk armour and some Fury stacking to make up for precision a good investment post-patch.

Okay what do you guys think of this: http://gw2skills.net/editor/?fZAQRAoY8alsMp0pdPxyJ8PNBPBtdBmdA4uEbYEddDA-TFTBwAXOBA02fwsSwrK5icgC6qcAv+BUaYWcQA0cEAyp+DgHAAhAKPBA-w

Also, do you think, Thief really needs 25% speed in WvW? Because I’m not changing Infiltrator’s Signet for the speed signet

mPascoal.4258:

Okay what do you guys think of this: http://gw2skills.net/editor/?fZAQRAoY8alsMp0pdPxyJ8PNBPBtdBmdA4uEbYEddDA-TFTBwAXOBA02fwsSwrK5icgC6qcAv+BUaYWcQA0cEAyp+DgHAAhAKPBA-w

Also, do you think, Thief really needs 25% speed in WvW? Because I’m not changing Infiltrator’s Signet for the speed signet

Yes that’s good, but I still see roam for you to up your damage. You could switch to Hidden killer trait, that way you can drop sigil of intelligence for sigil of air(1.2k plus damage is not something you wanna overlook). Start using sharpening stones and power food, you dont really need prec food if you run hidden killer, and you don’t need life steal on crits as much as you need power right now, you already have 30 SA for survivability.

You could do these changes only if you run hidden killer. The way I see it Executioner is an overkill for backstab builds and does not synergies well with them. I’ll give you an example, imagine you backstabed someone and got them to 55% of their health, then you backstab them again and now they are at 20% hp, untill this point you have not been benefited from the executioner’s bonus at all because the first 2 backstabs were peformed on a target that has more than 50% HP. Now this target is sitting at 20% hp, the next backstab is going to kill him with executioner’s bonus or without it, thats why i think its an overkill.

Executioner is a great trait, but its not a trait you want to use it for backstabbing, it works a lot better with sword p/d and p/p builds.

Edit: As for your question about the thief needing 25% MS in WvW. Based on my experience, no you don’t need a passive 25% MS, but I always actively boosted my movement speed, by heal “withdrawing” forward instead of backward for example, or dodge for 2 seconds swiftness then follow with 2 heartseekers. But that’s just me, I’m used to not having 25% MS because i never used it before.

This is pretty much the build I’ve been playing for the past 4 months.

I came across Runes of Strength a while pack as a cheap alternative to Scholar Runes and have run with them ever since. Shadow Arts ensures constant Might and so the build can benefit from the 7% damage bonus all the time.

I’d say it’s solid. It worked well enough for me with both D/D and D/P.

I did however opt for Fleet of Foot over Power of Inertia since the basic run-speed isn’t sufficient and extra Might stacks not all that important. And it’s not like the build has excessive dodges either.

I wouldn’t expect anything exception from this setup. Damage will still be lower than prior to the patch and heavy condition bombs are still going to screw you over. But it works well enough.

Dee Jay.2460:

This is pretty much the build I’ve been playing for the past 4 months.

I came across Runes of Strength a while pack as a cheap alternative to Scholar Runes and have run with them ever since. Shadow Arts ensures constant Might and so the build can benefit from the 7% damage bonus all the time.

I’d say it’s solid. It worked well enough for me with both D/D and D/P.

I did however opt for Fleet of Foot over Power of Inertia since the basic run-speed isn’t sufficient and extra Might stacks not all that important. And it’s not like the build has excessive dodges either.

I wouldn’t expect anything exception from this setup. Damage will still be lower than prior to the patch and heavy condition bombs are still going to screw you over. But it works well enough.

Actually Dee jay, the runes were bugged pre-patch, the damage bonus was 5% and it never applied, so for the past 4 months you weren’t getting that bonus damage untill they fixed it in this patch. But now its 7% and it applies, so its worth building around it. I do agree with you that the damage is lower than pre-patch, but this build is all about compensating for that damage loss, and it does that effectively, so far I’m seeing little difference in damage between now and pre-patch.

Major point is Traveler runes are obsolete for DD builds so Fleet Shadow may see some more love now so I have to agree with Dee Jay as 50% (it says 50 but is it 50 or just 33?) movement in stealth helps a ton in combat. I’m not saying strength runes suck I’m jut saying they are expensive atm so I may go with wurm for now :p I’m considering salvaging my old Valkyrie with the travel runes and out the money toward new valk gear and runes

RedSpectrum.1975:

Major point is Traveler runes are obsolete for DD builds so Fleet Shadow may see some more love now so I have to agree with Dee Jay as 50% (it says 50 but is it 50 or just 33?) movement in stealth helps a ton in combat. I’m not saying strength runes suck I’m jut saying they are expensive atm so I may go with wurm for now :p I’m considering salvaging my old Valkyrie with the travel runes and out the money toward new valk gear and runes

I used fleet shadow in my build pre-patch, it was a main trait for me. But so far, not using it, its been little difference for me because I rely on Steal and infiltrator’s signet for backstabbing most of the time, and if they’re on cooldown I make sure to cripple my enemy with dancing dagger before i CnD them.

RedSpectrum.1975:

Major point is Traveler runes are obsolete for DD builds so Fleet Shadow may see some more love now so I have to agree with Dee Jay as 50% (it says 50 but is it 50 or just 33?) movement in stealth helps a ton in combat. I’m not saying strength runes suck I’m jut saying they are expensive atm so I may go with wurm for now :p I’m considering salvaging my old Valkyrie with the travel runes and out the money toward new valk gear and runes

It is only 33%.

Grimwolf.7163:

RedSpectrum.1975:

Major point is Traveler runes are obsolete for DD builds so Fleet Shadow may see some more love now so I have to agree with Dee Jay as 50% (it says 50 but is it 50 or just 33?) movement in stealth helps a ton in combat. I’m not saying strength runes suck I’m jut saying they are expensive atm so I may go with wurm for now :p I’m considering salvaging my old Valkyrie with the travel runes and out the money toward new valk gear and runes

It is only 33%.

*flips desk, kicks trash can, throws papers everywhere, tears pictures off of wall and throws around,lights laptop on fire and then room but first takes selfie

It’s certainly 50% out of combat. I can overtake people with Swiftness while stealthed. But in combat it may well be capped at Swiftness speed.

But then again, is that Swiftness speed in or out of combat?

Either way, the way I see it is that even with lot of teleports you’ll want some sort of speed modifier. The basic rune-speed in itself is too slow for reliable positioning. This can eother come from Traveler Runes, Fleet of Foot or Signet of Shadows.

All three versions have their price and all are viable choices. Fleet of Foot just strikes me as the most “affordable”.

RedSpectrum.1975:

Grimwolf.7163:

RedSpectrum.1975:

Major point is Traveler runes are obsolete for DD builds so Fleet Shadow may see some more love now so I have to agree with Dee Jay as 50% (it says 50 but is it 50 or just 33?) movement in stealth helps a ton in combat. I’m not saying strength runes suck I’m jut saying they are expensive atm so I may go with wurm for now :p I’m considering salvaging my old Valkyrie with the travel runes and out the money toward new valk gear and runes

It is only 33%.

*flips desk, kicks trash can, throws papers everywhere, tears pictures off of wall and throws around,lights laptop on fire and then room but first takes selfie

Srsly what is with people and the making me spit wine tonight!

Luranni.9470:

RedSpectrum.1975:

Grimwolf.7163:

RedSpectrum.1975:

Major point is Traveler runes are obsolete for DD builds so Fleet Shadow may see some more love now so I have to agree with Dee Jay as 50% (it says 50 but is it 50 or just 33?) movement in stealth helps a ton in combat. I’m not saying strength runes suck I’m jut saying they are expensive atm so I may go with wurm for now :p I’m considering salvaging my old Valkyrie with the travel runes and out the money toward new valk gear and runes

It is only 33%.

*flips desk, kicks trash can, throws papers everywhere, tears pictures off of wall and throws around,lights laptop on fire and then room but first takes selfie

Srsly what is with people and the making me spit wine tonight!

Did it come out your nose too? It burns when it does….. Just saying…. Not coming from personal experience……

I put bloodlust and the sigil that stacks precision on my harpoon gun and go kill some mobs, giving my full stacks, that way I can re eqip my weapons and not lose the stacks. I also have bloodlust on my shortbow, which adds up quick.

I’ve been running 4/6/4/0/0 with full zerk and scholars… Ok its not really a balanced build but I definitely have deeps :p

Try wurm or scholar, yeah scholar for dps, wurm for survivability

So what traits and skills to use? i cant imagine putting points into acrobatics is worth it without the +7 dmg from 6pc Strength rune?

im currently 4/6/4/0/0 btw.

Juneau.6095:

Try wurm or scholar, yeah scholar for dps, wurm for survivability

So what traits and skills to use? i cant imagine putting points into acrobatics is worth it without the +7 dmg from 6pc Strength rune?

im currently 4/6/4/0/0 btw.

If you are talking about PvE, my favourite build so far has to be this:

Full zerker with Scholar Runes or Ruby orbs, not sure about strenght since this build doesn’t have much acess to Might
D/D and S/P (D/D for bosses, S/P for trash), both with Sigils of Force and Night
Traits 5/6/0/0/3
Deadly Arts: VI (Sundering Strikes), IX (Dagger Training)
Critical Strikes: I (Furious Retaliation), III (Side Strike), XI (Executioner)
Trickery: IV (Flanking Strikes)

Heal: Signet of Malice or Withdraw
Utilities: Switch between Smoke Screen, Shadowstep and Shadow Refuge, and have allways Assassin’s Signet and Signet of Agility
Elite: Dagger Storm

You can also go 6/6/0/0/2 and have in Deadly Arts either VII (Improvisation) or XIII (Revealed Training), but IMO 5 in that line is enough and 3 in Trickery helps you a lot maintaning 6+ Iniciative wich procs First Strikes

Linfang.1087:

I put bloodlust and the sigil that stacks precision on my harpoon gun and go kill some mobs, giving my full stacks, that way I can re eqip my weapons and not lose the stacks. I also have bloodlust on my shortbow, which adds up quick.

Unless I’m mistaking what you said, you can’t stack Bloodlust and Perception at the same time.

mPascoal.4258:

Juneau.6095:

Try wurm or scholar, yeah scholar for dps, wurm for survivability

So what traits and skills to use? i cant imagine putting points into acrobatics is worth it without the +7 dmg from 6pc Strength rune?

im currently 4/6/4/0/0 btw.

If you are talking about PvE, my favourite build so far has to be this:

Full zerker with Scholar Runes or Ruby orbs, not sure about strenght since this build doesn’t have much acess to Might
D/D and S/P (D/D for bosses, S/P for trash), both with Sigils of Force and Night
Traits 5/6/0/0/3
Deadly Arts: VI (Sundering Strikes), IX (Dagger Training)
Critical Strikes: I (Furious Retaliation), III (Side Strike), XI (Executioner)
Trickery: IV (Flanking Strikes)

Heal: Signet of Malice or Withdraw
Utilities: Switch between Smoke Screen, Shadowstep and Shadow Refuge, and have allways Assassin’s Signet and Signet of Agility
Elite: Dagger Storm

You can also go 6/6/0/0/2 and have in Deadly Arts either VII (Improvisation) or XIII (Revealed Training), but IMO 5 in that line is enough and 3 in Trickery helps you a lot maintaning 6+ Iniciative wich procs First Strikes

I was thinking for runnign this build or the balanced build in this post. But, you mention that you use the 5/6/0/0/3 only for PvE, would it work in WvW?

Lonewolf Kai.3682:

Linfang.1087:

I put bloodlust and the sigil that stacks precision on my harpoon gun and go kill some mobs, giving my full stacks, that way I can re eqip my weapons and not lose the stacks. I also have bloodlust on my shortbow, which adds up quick.

Unless I’m mistaking what you said, you can’t stack Bloodlust and Perception at the same time.

mPascoal.4258:

Juneau.6095:

Try wurm or scholar, yeah scholar for dps, wurm for survivability

So what traits and skills to use? i cant imagine putting points into acrobatics is worth it without the +7 dmg from 6pc Strength rune?

im currently 4/6/4/0/0 btw.

If you are talking about PvE, my favourite build so far has to be this:

Full zerker with Scholar Runes or Ruby orbs, not sure about strenght since this build doesn’t have much acess to Might
D/D and S/P (D/D for bosses, S/P for trash), both with Sigils of Force and Night
Traits 5/6/0/0/3
Deadly Arts: VI (Sundering Strikes), IX (Dagger Training)
Critical Strikes: I (Furious Retaliation), III (Side Strike), XI (Executioner)
Trickery: IV (Flanking Strikes)

Heal: Signet of Malice or Withdraw
Utilities: Switch between Smoke Screen, Shadowstep and Shadow Refuge, and have allways Assassin’s Signet and Signet of Agility
Elite: Dagger Storm

You can also go 6/6/0/0/2 and have in Deadly Arts either VII (Improvisation) or XIII (Revealed Training), but IMO 5 in that line is enough and 3 in Trickery helps you a lot maintaning 6+ Iniciative wich procs First Strikes

I was thinking for runnign this build or the balanced build in this post. But, you mention that you use the 5/6/0/0/3 only for PvE, would it work in WvW?

No, it’s to squishy. Well it could work if you don’t mind dying a lot because once you are cought bye bye. Never tryed and I will most likely not try

I have incorporated Sigil of Air and Runes of Strength into my build and must say that I hit very hard atm, no doubt. Just wonder if it’s people that got more glassy or the setup that packs a punch.

scabrous.7835:

I have incorporated Sigil of Air and Runes of Strength into my build and must say that I hit very hard atm, no doubt. Just wonder if it’s people that got more glassy or the setup that packs a punch.

As far as I know nothing have changed in defense.

I meant swapping gear for more damage oriented and not changes in defense itself :P

I thought Air was a no no to use when utilizing stealth becuase of the late hitting proc and revealing you.

Lonewolf Kai.3682:

I thought Air was a no no to use when utilizing stealth becuase of the late hitting proc and revealing you.

Yeah I’m using strength sigil instead of air for now until the bug is fixed, and actually strength sigil is better than air for dps, but burst wise air is better.

I’ve been having a surprising amount of success in sPvP so far with an interesting build. I’ve been wanting to run D/D Venoms effectively for a long time, and the new patch seems to have made that possible.
Equipment:
D/D – Generosity and Force
Shortbow – Generosity and Battle
Barbarian Amulet
Runes of Strength

Traits:
6/0/6/0/2
Deadly Arts: IV, VIII, XIII
Shadow Arts: V, IX, XIII
Trickery: I/V/VI (depending on preference)

Skills:
Skelk Venom, Spider/Skale/Drake/Devourer Venom, Shadowstep, Shadow Refuge, Basilisk Venom.

I’ve been playing it with a hit-and-run style, constantly going in and out of stealth for defense, and combined with Venoms granting massive Might stacks.
The Venoms also provide both huge healing and extra damage through lots of life stealing.
Meld with Shadows, Resilience of Shadows and Merciful Ambush can make you completely insane at rezzing teammates.
If you’re running a large and tight group, you can also easily replace Resilience of Shadows with Venomsous Aura to provide your teammates with lots of damage and healing.

Maugetarr.6823:

Wow. Someone came to the same conclusions I did. Glad you already did some testing on it too though!

I did too! Except 5/6/0/3/0

This build seems good!I would like to know though,being one of many that didnt buy runes of strength early and dont have money to afford now,what would be an alternative rune set for this build?
Air?Wurm?Ogre?Something else?

BlazingBeast.3104:

This build seems good!I would like to know though,being one of many that didnt buy runes of strength early and dont have money to afford now,what would be an alternative rune set for this build?
Air?Wurm?Ogre?Something else?

A good offensive alternative would be Ogre, scholar, pirate. Pirate in particular helps with the might stacking.

If you’re a withdraw healer I recommend runes of the centaur, its a good set of power runes that with “Withdraw” gives you perma swifrness. Plus they’re dirt cheap.

Try to get strength runes evantually because they work best with this build.

Thanks for great build!
And what about using toughnes instead of vitality (valkyrie > cavalier equip) in this build? I think thief have weak heals and toughnes works with that better.

honzuf.2691:

Thanks for great build!
And what about using toughnes instead of vitality (valkyrie > cavalier equip) in this build? I think thief have weak heals and toughnes works with that better.

Power isn’t a primary stat in cavalier gears, so damage wise cavalier loses to valkyrie that’s a given.
If you run cavalier instead of valkyrie you’re gonna end up with 10k or 11k hp, conditions will kill you in a matter of seconds, and if you think about it, even with the reduced direct damage on you because of the toughness on cavalier, you’re still going to feel squishy because there is no vitality to back that toughness up, with a 10k hp pool a 3k armor wouldn’t make a difference.

Vitality > toughness for thieves. And by the way thief has 2 of the best heals in the game. My personal favorite is withdraw, instant, cannot be inturrupted, has an evade, clears IMMOB, gives you the ability to reposition, good healing ammount for a small hp pool, and sets on a 15 seconds cooldown. How can you say no to that. :P

Any feedback is appreciated guys, and if you have questions I’ll try to answer what I can.

First – thanks for the build concept. Love it.

I’ve been running 06350 now for the past week and its great. I’ve even run it in sPVP just to get cycles on the rotation and build muscle memory. Overall, I like it better than my pre-patch d/d build but the play style does change.

First off – I am full ascended, and all infusion slotted and have access to applied str and fortitude. This build is so hyper leveraged to power that I suspect even the seemingly small difference between full exotic and full ascended is noticeable.

I run 1 piece zerk armor (helm) and the rest valk. All zerk weapon and zerk trinkets. Just under 20k health for wPVP with buffs and power/precision food which is where I think this build shines.

Playstyle: Well, obviously Mug is gone and so is the big initial opening approach to combat. I play relatively defensively early in engagements now and build might stakes. The extra dodge really helps with this. I keep blinding powder slotted and signet of shadows. Once I got used to relying on the dodges I don’t miss the SR’s (refuge and rejuve). I still abuse the hell out of blinding powder – just can’t give it up but when I run in groups I will slot Refuge instead if there is no class giving consistent run speed. Otherwise I slot SR over the signet.

Incidently – Does anyone else use blinding powder/sb for rooting fleeing players? I love it.

Another aspect that changes in play style – from my experience – is the value of SB cluster bomb. With 15-20 stacks of might there are all sorts of useful times to switch out to bow and drop clusters. For this reason I run sigil of battle on my SB for the +3 might on swap (bloodlust is the other sigil). I run accuracy/strength on my daggers.

Trait wise I am using:

Furious Retal, Practiced Tolerance, Executioner
Shadow Embrace, Infusion of Shadow
Power of Inertia

Infusion of shadow has good synergy with First Strikes.
I was a hidden killer d/d thief for a long time. But Executioner just plays better with this build for me. The burst is deeper into a fight, not front loaded so executioner has much greater leverage than with the old mug based play style.

I find I am weak versus the same classes I was before – Condi Necro and Engineer. Engineers seem a bit more manageable now with the extra dodge and better DPS after I’ve built might with the SB.

Regards

RedSpectrum.1975:

Grimwolf.7163:

RedSpectrum.1975:

Major point is Traveler runes are obsolete for DD builds so Fleet Shadow may see some more love now so I have to agree with Dee Jay as 50% (it says 50 but is it 50 or just 33?) movement in stealth helps a ton in combat. I’m not saying strength runes suck I’m jut saying they are expensive atm so I may go with wurm for now :p I’m considering salvaging my old Valkyrie with the travel runes and out the money toward new valk gear and runes

It is only 33%.

*flips desk, kicks trash can, throws papers everywhere, tears pictures off of wall and throws around,lights laptop on fire and then room but first takes selfie

Wrong.

As was discussed on this topic fleet of Shadow DOES give 50% speed on Battle.
Outside battle is 36%, slight faster than swiftness.

Have in mind that every player loses speed when it enter battle. A FoF Thief walks slight faster than a non-battle player without any speed bonus.

If you are talking about PvE, my favourite build so far has to be this:

*snip

This is a good build. Thing is, my thief is mainly solo PVE, so Blind on stealth in Shadow Arts has been a life saver so many times, its now mandatory for me. So Im looking at a build that has 6 in Critical strikes, 2 in Shadow Arts, some traits for Initiative regen to keep CnD going, and then more dps.
At the moment, to be honest, 4/6/4/0/0 still seems to suit me better, im just a tad bit squishy hence why I was interested in this Balanced build. maybe ill just use more valk gear and stick with the traits I got?

Otherwise the utilities and heal u’ve suggested r what I got too, so its good to hear.

Raithe.5712:

First – thanks for the build concept. Love it.

I’ve been running 06350 now for the past week and its great. I’ve even run it in sPVP just to get cycles on the rotation and build muscle memory. Overall, I like it better than my pre-patch d/d build but the play style does change.

First off – I am full ascended, and all infusion slotted and have access to applied str and fortitude. This build is so hyper leveraged to power that I suspect even the seemingly small difference between full exotic and full ascended is noticeable.

I run 1 piece zerk armor (helm) and the rest valk. All zerk weapon and zerk trinkets. Just under 20k health for wPVP with buffs and power/precision food which is where I think this build shines.

Playstyle: Well, obviously Mug is gone and so is the big initial opening approach to combat. I play relatively defensively early in engagements now and build might stakes. The extra dodge really helps with this. I keep blinding powder slotted and signet of shadows. Once I got used to relying on the dodges I don’t miss the SR’s (refuge and rejuve). I still abuse the hell out of blinding powder – just can’t give it up but when I run in groups I will slot Refuge instead if there is no class giving consistent run speed. Otherwise I slot SR over the signet.

Incidently – Does anyone else use blinding powder/sb for rooting fleeing players? I love it.

Another aspect that changes in play style – from my experience – is the value of SB cluster bomb. With 15-20 stacks of might there are all sorts of useful times to switch out to bow and drop clusters. For this reason I run sigil of battle on my SB for the +3 might on swap (bloodlust is the other sigil). I run accuracy/strength on my daggers.

Trait wise I am using:

Furious Retal, Practiced Tolerance, Executioner
Shadow Embrace, Infusion of Shadow
Power of Inertia

Infusion of shadow has good synergy with First Strikes.
I was a hidden killer d/d thief for a long time. But Executioner just plays better with this build for me. The burst is deeper into a fight, not front loaded so executioner has much greater leverage than with the old mug based play style.

I find I am weak versus the same classes I was before – Condi Necro and Engineer. Engineers seem a bit more manageable now with the extra dodge and better DPS after I’ve built might with the SB.

Regards

You’re welcome Raithe, hope you enjoy it.

One thing I want to point out, yesterday I tought this build to my friend. I noticed that he arranges his attacks based on how many might stacks he has. Say he was at 17 stacks, and he knows that in 2 or 3 seconds they’re gonna decrease to 12 stacks, so he rushes his burst before he loses more might stacks, and that is not good at all. I told him he needs to arrange his attacks based on his target’s movements not how many stacks he has.

All I want to say is play the build normaly, the might stacks come naturally as you progress though the fight, never pay attention to how many might stacks you have.

When i first saw this thread pop up a couple days ago i was sceptical. I thought there was no way to do the same dmg you could be doing pre patch. But i was looking at it wrong. I was trying to figure out ways to get extra ferocity for survivability stats, but there is no way. However with might stacking you don’t need the crit dmg as much because the base dmg of the attack is much much higher. After running the math ill actually be hitting harder than i was pre patch. I also decided to run with orrian truffle stew, and power of inertia so im also getting 2 stacks of might for every dodge as well. Since d/x doesn’t typically have any vigor but uses wild strike for extra endurance the +40% increased endurance refill rate, which normally is canceled out by vigor, is also simply amazing. With a sigil of strength as well ill be able to sit on 25 stacks of might once the fight gets going. Now just to drop 60g for runes…luckily i still have a few tormented skins sitting in my bank to sell…

I really hope this doesn’t become common knowledge as i would hate for Anet to nerf or change this

Hey, so I’ve been using this build in Spvp based on the balanced build:
http://gw2skills.net/editor/?fZAQNAoaVlsMpxpdPx0J8PNhPBtdAedD49CVovZA-TZBFwACOCAFOFAl2foaZAAPAAA

I’ve been really liking this build, and I still do good amounts of damage with D/P. I’m still pretty new to thief. What do y’all think?

The OP doesn’t acknowledge that there are plenty of professions and builds that he will NEVER do enough damage to actually kill, like any decent necro, warrior, engineer or bunk ranger.

Meridian.8730:

The OP doesn’t acknowledge that there are plenty of professions and builds that he will NEVER do enough damage to actually kill, like any decent necro, warrior, engineer or bunk ranger.

Are you talking about WvW? I’ve been finding his build (and my modified version) do pretty good damage. It’s all about stacking might, that’s where the damage comes from. Though, I’ve been having a really hard time against Mesmers, Engi’s, most warriors, and Necro’s, so you have a bit of a point, but with a build more like 6/6/0/0/2 I feel like I die so fast that it’s pretty much even. The kill window is so small, and if I can’t take it due to AoE’s, or condi’s flying about like they tend to do, I just fall short.

Hrmph, I dunno. Suggestions? I’m speaking on an Spvp standpoint, by the way.

Buff thief. That’s my suggestion. Give us back the damage they stole from us so we have something besides a foam bat to beat people with without going 100% glass. That has always been my #1 belief in what would FIX thief.

Anomaly.7612:

Meridian.8730:

The OP doesn’t acknowledge that there are plenty of professions and builds that he will NEVER do enough damage to actually kill, like any decent necro, warrior, engineer or bunk ranger.

Are you talking about WvW? I’ve been finding his build (and my modified version) do pretty good damage. It’s all about stacking might, that’s where the damage comes from. Though, I’ve been having a really hard time against Mesmers, Engi’s, most warriors, and Necro’s, so you have a bit of a point, but with a build more like 6/6/0/0/2 I feel like I die so fast that it’s pretty much even. The kill window is so small, and if I can’t take it due to AoE’s, or condi’s flying about like they tend to do, I just fall short.

Hrmph, I dunno. Suggestions? I’m speaking on an Spvp standpoint, by the way.

Well, I tried this thread’s balanced build for a while and it was fun and pretty good, but I went back to 2/6/0/0/6 with lyssa runes. Engis give me the most trouble, but right now they give everyone trouble. Condi necros are the second hardest, but lack the variety of conditions that engis have meaning lyssa can cover a condi burst from them decently. Don’t know if something changed about the MM necro AI, but I wrecked a few of them tonight, along with some spirit rangers. We didn’t win a lot tonight, but I felt I was holding my own on points at least.

I think that all they really need to do is put lyssa in between where it was before and where it is now so that it’s competitive with some of the upgraded runes.

P.S. This was tPvP not hotjoin.

IMO any build that goes deaper in tPvP than 2 point in Shadow Arts is going to lose to Trickery build. And from all specs the only one that could go 2 into SA is D/P and IMO should be for the condi removal giving up mug for that. 6 into Trickery is too good to give up

Meridian.8730:

The OP doesn’t acknowledge that there are plenty of professions and builds that he will NEVER do enough damage to actually kill, like any decent necro, warrior, engineer or bunk ranger.

I don’t know about you but when I play with my guild and we go Group vs Group, the enemy’s group is almost always divided into two, the melee train and the heavy dps classes who cling to fight from the edges, like staff eles/longbow rangers/ necros/ mesmers/ and thieves aswell. Your job as a thief is to take out or inturrupt these targets and let the melee trains (warriors, guardians, bunkers) clash with each others.

If you’re roaming and you faced any of the professions you mentioned, of course you can’t one shot them, but you can still win with a good fight =/.

In WvW, what are the average numbers? In terms of CnD/backstab hits vs tanky/squishy classes and how much might are you averaging? @omri.8196

Thing is those bunker/tanky builds won’t be able to kill a “decent” thief either. :|

Lord Pain.3480:

In WvW, what are the average numbers? In terms of CnD/backstab hits vs tanky/squishy classes and how much might are you averaging? @omri.8196

I average 12-15 might stacks, all depends on how much you cnd and dodge. Of course occasionally it goes as high as 17-20 might stacks with the use of the signet.

I average 5k bstabs on 3k+ armor heavies, 4k is lowest and 6k( sometimes 7k) is highest depending on the might stacks at that moment.
I average 7k on squishies, 6k being the lowest and 8k/9k being the highest, again depends on might stacks.
10k+ bstabs on uplevels.

Add a 1.2k damage on those numbers if you wanna count sigil of air. You always have a 50% chance for it to proc on your bstab, if it didnt proc on your cnd that is.

I believe for some people these numbers can be even higher, I don’t have ascended armor or weapons and i dont have guard stacks yet. Hope that answered your question.

Great build. Makes up for the dmg nerf conpletely. Only issue would be for those who are used to having movement speed. Other than that the damage is beautiful. Great job.