Guild Wars 2

From what I’ve heard around, the new meta would be d/d 6/6/0/0/2.

I haven’t seen this build anywhere in the sticky and I’m also new to thief so I know little on what traits to pick and why.

Could you enlighten me? Thanks

It’s the meta for dungeon runs in an organized group.

http://metabattle.com/wiki/Build:Thief_-_D/D_S/P_Shortbow

Thanks

I’ve tried out the build and it is indeed very powerful. The amount of damage I can output is simply obscene, even more than warrior (ye, I knew that on chart thief was better, but everytime thieves joined dungeon groups, they dealt little damage).

However, I want to be sure I’m doing it right. Intuitively, to trigger the 200 AP bonus from “revealed”, I have to first stealth and what better way of doing so by “cloak and dagger”; at the same time, I have to stay above 6 initiative to benefit from the 10% dmg bonus, so what I’m currently doing is:
CnD – BS – AA chain x2 – CnD – BS – AA chain x2 . . .. .
This way I can keep up the revealed “buff” for a good 75% of the time and I’m always above 6 initiative. I’ve tried CnD – BS – AA chain x1 and I can keep up the buff all the time, but I’m not always above 6 initiative. When the target drops to 25%, activate signet for 15% bonus dmg and HS x5.

Am I doing something wrong? What should I do and not do? Should I include something else in the rotation? Also, when I can’t attack from the sides, is frontal backstab still convenient or a dps loss?

I’m using SB as other weapon to range in hairy situations or to blast might/stealth when needed.

Thanks for your input, it is much appreciated

The general rotation is:

1. CnD → Backstab → 4 auto attacks (double strike, wild strike, lotus strike, double strike) → CnD → Backstab → 4 auto attacks → etc…
2. When target below 50% hp, Heartseeker → 2 auto attacks (double strike, wild strike) → heartseeker → 2 auto attacks – > etc…

I usually don’t activate assassin’s signet and just keep the extra power. It’s up to you how to use it.

The reason why you do incomplete auto attack chains is because each strike of the auto chain does less damage than the one before it. So double strike does the most damage, wild strike does the second most, and lotus strike does the least. By adding in that extra attack, you give yourself more time to regenerate initiative and you do more damage overall.

If you can’t get into a position where you can flank, then just auto attacking will do more than frontal backstabs. However, you should still use heartseeker → 2 auto attacks → heartseeker when the target is below 50%.

If you find yourself still going below 6 initiative, adding in an extra auto attack or 2 should be enough to regenerate. Realistically, you will be dodging attacks and ressing people who go down, which gives you time to regenerate initiative.

Short bow should always be on your bar, because cluster bomb is just way too good, and you should be switching out d/d and s/p for different situations. S/p is used primarily for trash, but remember that you can use blackpowder and cluster bomb to create some easy group stealth to skip mobs.

And when you are stealthing the group, don’t start with shadow refuge. Use smokescreen and cluster bomb to create around 10 seconds of stealth, and then use shadow refuge before you run out of stealth to extend the stealth if needed.