tPvP thief
A Thief can’t bunker, especially not if the build relies on Stealth.
Currently the two popular specs for competitive play are a 10/30/0/30/0 Sword + Dagger build that many evolves around constant evades and pressure from Larcenous Strike.
And 10/30/0/0/30 Dagger + Pistol which is a very offensive high-pressure build focused on burst and interrupts and mitigating via Black Powder.
For starters I’d say the S/D build is more forgiving as it gives you more time to adapt. D/P ist very “balls to the wall” and only truly effective if you know your role and place.
30 in CS is a waste IMO in TPVP…you get more out of putting pts in the acrobatics line…compensate with gear and runes and you wont miss the crit chance and dmg loss much…and you will be much better at tsaying alive and slippery…you want to max out your boon efficiency you get from the trickery line and initiative management is key…
Better overall for you and your team…
Don’t hate the player hate the game
s/p is getting more popular aswell. personally i have more seccess using s/p over s/d. d/p is an alternative if you dont like the sword.
Ex player of PeanutButterJellyTime, Heavenly Annoying and Visceral Gaming.
30 in CS is a waste IMO in TPVP…you get more out of putting pts in the acrobatics line…compensate with gear and runes and you wont miss the crit chance and dmg loss much…and you will be much better at tsaying alive and slippery…you want to max out your boon efficiency you get from the trickery line and initiative management is key…
Better overall for you and your team…
Don’t listen to this guy, Dee Jay hit on the the two main builds, those should be your starting point. I disagree that s/d is easier though, it is very easy and effective to burst people from out of sight/range using d/p before they can do anything. In general the burstier builds are easier because fights should end quicker and you don’t have to worry about accruing value slowly for a long time.
Both builds have quirks/techniques that are probably better to be shown than explained… Just drop in a 1v1 server I’m sure some1 will help you.
Edit: sword pistol is fine, even excellent in some situations, but it just feels awful when somebody has a build that countered it (stability, blind, block, daze or stun when hit, protection when disabled…. Etc etc)
(edited by ens.9854)
A Thief can’t bunker, especially not if the build relies on Stealth.
Currently the two popular specs for competitive play are a 10/30/0/30/0 Sword + Dagger build that many evolves around constant evades and pressure from Larcenous Strike.
And 10/30/0/0/30 Dagger + Pistol which is a very offensive high-pressure build focused on burst and interrupts and mitigating via Black Powder.
For starters I’d say the S/D build is more forgiving as it gives you more time to adapt. D/P ist very “balls to the wall” and only truly effective if you know your role and place.
^ This right here!!
I also like the 0/30/30/10/0 spec with D/D + DB just because I really like playing D/D and honestly I’m good at it. Thing is, the burst is not that impressive and although I end the fights with full (or almost full) HP, it takes some time to get the kill.
BUT the specs DJ just mentioned are the ones to take to tPvP.
30 in CS is a waste IMO in TPVP…you get more out of putting pts in the acrobatics line…compensate with gear and runes and you wont miss the crit chance and dmg loss much…and you will be much better at tsaying alive and slippery…you want to max out your boon efficiency you get from the trickery line and initiative management is key…
Better overall for you and your team…
Don’t listen to this guy, Dee Jay hit on the the two main builds, those should be your starting point. I disagree that s/d is easier though, it is very easy and effective to burst people from out of sight/range using d/p before they can do anything. In general the burstier builds are easier because fights should end quicker and you don’t have to worry about accruing value slowly for a long time.
Both builds have quirks/techniques that are probably better to be shown than explained… Just drop in a 1v1 server I’m sure some1 will help you.
Edit: sword pistol is fine, even excellent in some situations, but it just feels awful when somebody has a build that countered it (stability, blind, block, daze or stun when hit, protection when disabled…. Etc etc)
^ I’ll second this. 30 in CS is the cornerstone of the best tPvP builds.
And yea, S/D tends to get a reputation for being easy since many people don’t understand the build and just see tons of evasions, but to play the build well, you really need a good understanding of evade frames and initiative/endurance management.
Also, yes, S/P is fine, but beware Retaliation! That boon is brutal against pistol whip.
30 in CS is a waste IMO in TPVP…you get more out of putting pts in the acrobatics line…compensate with gear and runes and you wont miss the crit chance and dmg loss much…and you will be much better at tsaying alive and slippery…you want to max out your boon efficiency you get from the trickery line and initiative management is key…
Better overall for you and your team…
Don’t listen to this guy, Dee Jay hit on the the two main builds, those should be your starting point. I disagree that s/d is easier though, it is very easy and effective to burst people from out of sight/range using d/p before they can do anything. In general the burstier builds are easier because fights should end quicker and you don’t have to worry about accruing value slowly for a long time.
Both builds have quirks/techniques that are probably better to be shown than explained… Just drop in a 1v1 server I’m sure some1 will help you.
Edit: sword pistol is fine, even excellent in some situations, but it just feels awful when somebody has a build that countered it (stability, blind, block, daze or stun when hit, protection when disabled…. Etc etc)
^ I’ll second this. 30 in CS is the cornerstone of the best tPvP builds.
And yea, S/D tends to get a reputation for being easy since many people don’t understand the build and just see tons of evasions, but to play the build well, you really need a good understanding of evade frames and initiative/endurance management.
Also, yes, S/P is fine, but beware Retaliation! That boon is brutal against pistol whip.
I’ve played with 30 pts in the CS line since launch until recently and you should try it, you will see that in a tPVP match you can do much better for you and your team without…it’s a different playstyle that’s all.
30 pts in CS isn’t by any means necessary…
Don’t hate the player hate the game
30 in CS is a waste IMO in TPVP…you get more out of putting pts in the acrobatics line…compensate with gear and runes and you wont miss the crit chance and dmg loss much…and you will be much better at tsaying alive and slippery…you want to max out your boon efficiency you get from the trickery line and initiative management is key…
Better overall for you and your team…
Don’t listen to this guy, Dee Jay hit on the the two main builds, those should be your starting point. I disagree that s/d is easier though, it is very easy and effective to burst people from out of sight/range using d/p before they can do anything. In general the burstier builds are easier because fights should end quicker and you don’t have to worry about accruing value slowly for a long time.
Both builds have quirks/techniques that are probably better to be shown than explained… Just drop in a 1v1 server I’m sure some1 will help you.
Edit: sword pistol is fine, even excellent in some situations, but it just feels awful when somebody has a build that countered it (stability, blind, block, daze or stun when hit, protection when disabled…. Etc etc)
I don’t think the difference in difficulty between the two is very significant actually, they are just a lot different. D/P is high risk reward due to the relative lack of escape/avoid abilities paired with spike burst damage whereas S/D is good at avoiding damage but requires more skill to know when to stop evading and do damage without risking your squishy kitten .
Sword 2 got massive nerf bat and no longer stun breaks. Pistol whip got a massive buff and is now useable. S/d setup is acrobatics (at least 15 pts) with energy sigils and endurance signet, and spams dodges/evades, or spams boon stripping, or spams auto attacks, whatever is most beneficial at the time. It is a bit different that normal thief because it takes a lot of pressure off your teammates b/c it doesn’t need to hide very much, just evade evade evade