Guild Wars 2

Rest in peace Devona.. Because Maguuma took over

Too soon…?

Does anyone know if there is a PvE equivalent of “Superior sigil of Speed (PvP)”?

Travlane.5948:

So i have been doing some SPVP and TPVP lately and tried some other classes…guardian….necro…engineer. and i notice something

i cant stand having thieves on my team. everytime i have thieves on my team they are annoying…useless half the time…and we lose. they cant cap….they cant bunker…. the thing they do well is double team and kill fast. other than that i dont see a use for them. i have come to prefer…having 0 thieves on my team.

let me state i usually only play thief…and like 99% of the time. but wanted a refreshing perspective on wvw/pvp. its insane how bad thieves are in spvp/tpvp. if you look at it if people were to 1v1…yeah i guess thieves can do ok.. even well with good matchups. they arent underpowerd by any means. they are just not useful in team play.

the best team skill they have is probably caltrops. i would say shadow refuge but we all know stealth is bad in spvp/tpvp. Black powder is decent but too small to be a team skill….

again im not cracking on thieves…. it hink we some team play love from the devs.

p.s. engineer is insane. i cant lose to thief and im new.

Let me guess… You play d/p or d/d… You have 30 in SA.. You run full Zerker… You rely on stealth as your only survivability.. You run x/30/30/x/x..

This is why 95% of thieves suck the D in sPvP and tPvP. People simply can not find a way to build, and modify out side of the basic cookie cutter builds.

On my s/d 0 SA build I can out bunk most guards, and engis while holding a point. Instead of relying on stealth, why not rely on dodging and mobility? Its a well known fact that you can’t cap a point in stealth, so why in God’s name would run a build that is in stealth 80% of the fight. I swear people just don’t learn, or even use there brain enough to think on their own.

If you can hold a point vs 2 people for 30 seconds WITHOUT being in stealth 80% of the time, you are no longer a detrimental part of the team. It takes one simple call out of “2 at home” or where ever you are posted, and you should have a teammate rotate there in less than 30 seconds. If they can’t seem to do that, it sounds like you need a new team.

Note: This idea has nothing to do with being the best build or anything like that. It is strictly for trolling purposes.

The 6th rune of perplexity gives a stack of confusion for 10 seconds on interrupt, so what would happen if you ran s/d x/p and literally did nothing but kite and interrupt?

This setup would allow a daze sneak attack with s/d and the spamable head shot. Not to mention if you went 30 in to trickery and took up Sleight of Hand for the additional interrupt.

Have no plans on testing this, just an idea (;

Zeuskl.4257:

Aerious.1965:

Videos
1 v 3 Ranger, Engi, up leveled Guardian
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kTxoOuhTH6s

A few tips for you based on this vid.

0:24: You used Dancing Dagger and Scorpion Wire to catch the ranger. You could have used sword #2 instead. Costs less initiative and gives you a chance for a condition removal.

0:32 Same thing again.

0:48 Shadow step doesn’t evade ranger downed #2. Weapon swap would have given you just enough ini to Cloak and Dagger off the ranger to try a stealth stomp. Not that it would have succeeded because of the guardian ressing.

1:18 Ranger interrupting your stomp nearly cost you the fight when her friends came; you were at 750 hp before healing. CnD or popping your Basilisk venom for stability would have let you stomp her easily.

1:30 You go in without any kind of disengage. Sword #2 would have given a way to fall back in case things go bad.

2:34 The stomp thing again. Using CnD would have let you stomp engi. There’s always risk of more enemies showing up, so finishing downed quickly is the safest option.

Also, consider not pre-casting Basilisk venom, especially with Lyssa runes. The boons and condition removal is very important. With kitten cool down you may really miss them during the cooldown. I actually consider Lyssa rune to my elite and stun just a small added bonus.

Other than above mentioned errors, nice fighting. I’m always glad to see more s/d and no SA in wvw.

Thank you very much for your input! I consider myself to be a decent player, but everyone has things they need to improve. It’s hard for me to watch my videos and come out with valuable info like you just gave me.

The Shadow step for the ranger doesn’t always guarantee a stomp, but it is possible to port out of range, or even just avoid being targeted if you had previously broken the target.

I admit I did pop BV way to early on the ranger, but I honestly didn’t anticipate them to make such an awkward movement away lol.

sw#2 has been brought up quite a bit in this forum, and while I believe I do not use it as often as I should, I also believe a lot of people waist the initiative just as often. It becomes to easy to spam sw#2, and sw#3 for gap closing when running is still just as viable while saving the 3 Initiative.

Lastly Scorpion Wire… For me Scorpion Wire is more than just a pull/interrupt. I use it to reopen with CnD when either 1 they’re out of range of steal + CnD or 2 steal is on recharge. This build what it lacks in Dps can be made viable by stun chaining, much like a hammer warrior. I may hit 1k-3k crits, but when you can lock someone down with Steal > CnD > Sneak Attack > full auto rotation or Scorpion Wire > CnD > Sneak Attack > full auto rotation and get close to the same dps as a backstab thief just not as quickly.

Interceptor.2653:

Interesting build. Don’t you find yourself lacking in the damaging-condition-removal department, though? I am surprised that you aren’t running Pain Response, especially since you went 10 DA for Mug instead of 10 SA for Embrace.

I don’t have enough stealth to actually benefit from Embrace like most other builds. Instead I chose Mug for the damage, and heal which seems to work well enough with the 21 sec cd on steal.

The lack of damage on the other hand, can take some time for people to get used to.. It took me a little while also, but once you get your endless dodges, and dazes down its really not as bad as it seems on paper. One good interrupt on a heal is normally how my fights end I’d say 70% of the time.

Thank you all for the feedback. It’s good to see some people interested in the low stealth option, and hopefully we can get some more diversity out there (:

Brando.1374:

http://gw2skills.net/editor/?vYAQRAsY8Yl0Mp2p9Ox0J8PNR49gsj1saFoZ3DuS1qC-zUCBYfDimsI00HBKzURN3UYsKqIasabYaXCpqYRmUARsMC-w

so the build looks something like this right?

Yepp, that looks right to me (:

As far as Pain Response goes, It is all based on personal preference really.. I chose Hard to Catch simply to avoid those pesky burst builds. However this build does have enough Vit to cushion most conditions. Another thing you have to remember is that the return on sw#2 removes a condition, and the return on shadow step removes 3.

If you personally feel you have problems with condi, by all means switch out Hard to Catch. I to find myself debating back and fourth on which I feel more comfortable with.

On a side note, just to give anyone weary on the low stealth idea, you CAN change Scorpion Wire, and Roll for Initiative out for refuge, and/or BP. I just prefer to stay away from them because the whole “Stealth OP NERF!!!” cry babies.

I just realized the add was in there, sorry about that XD

Now as far as using sw#2… I do use it when I feel they’re trying to escape, or are just making up to much distance, but most of the time I’ll run to them so I am not wasting iniative. Most classes running is completely fine, its GS warriors ect that I tend to use the initiative to keep close.

Not only that, there has been to many times I try to rush it with sw#2, and just end up in a cc chain unable to return without wasting a stun break. I prefer to play more reactive, than active. I personally find it easier to read heals ect. running to them, and as soon as the animation starts, Scorpion Wire or Steal followed by CnD for the clutch interrupt :P

Reserved for future posts

Videos
1 v 3 Ranger, Engi, up leveled Guardian
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kTxoOuhTH6s

1v1 duel vs. Engi
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sJVZYo465TM

Twitch
http://www.twitch.tv/br_rapture

Utilities

Heal skill
Withdraw – Roll backward while healing, and evading attacks. Cures imob, chill, and crip.

Why?
First off, you guessed it, it evades attacks! Not only that it is great for getting out of sticky situations with movement skills. It also synergizes great with the Vigorous Healing trait.

Slot one
Scorpion Wire – Throw a Scorpion Wire, and pull your foe to you.

Why?
LOL you use SW!?! Yes I do lol. It is actually very useful when you get good at reading animations. What I mean by this is seeing a thief about to drop refuge. If you can see, and anticipate it coming, you will have a small window of time to be able to pull the slippery thief right out of his refuge. Not only do I use it for ruining skills and interrupts, I use it a lot with singling targets out for either just myself or for my party for a quick finish.

Slot two
Roll for Initiative – Evade backward and gain 6 initiative, Break stun, and remove imob, chill, and crip

Why?
Again with the evade, and – movement skill removal. However instead of healing this is a stun breaking, initiative bursting, life saver. This great for kiting, getting some extra space, or simply just to get enough initiative to finish off your target.

Slot three
Shadow Step – Shadow step to target area – again to return to where skill was activated. Break stun, and cure 3 conditions on return.

Why?
Stun break, Mobility, condition cure, and a great way to throw an opponent off balance. I also use this a lot to finish stops safely.

Elite
Basilisk Venom – Your next attack turns enemy to stone.

Why?
This skill is known for is short cool down and synergies with lyssa runes, which I am currently using.

Gear

Weapons
Zerk Sword – sigil of energy
Zerk Dagger – sigil of fire

I only run s/d, and have shown a picture above of how to set it up, so you can weapon swap with just one sword, and one dagger.

Armor
Valk – Helm, Gloves, and Pants
Zerk – Chest, Shoulder, and Boots

All armor has Lyssa runes

Why?
Lyssa runes synergies great with BV, and withdraw. With draw now also applies a random boon for 10 sec, and BV applies all boons, and removes all conditions.

Accessories
Ammy – p/p/v/crit
Rings – p/p/t or p/t/crit
Accessories – p/v/crit
Back Piece- p/p/t or p/t/crit

Thanks for taking the time to check out the build, and any feed back is welcome. If you guys want me to put up some game play footage, I can try and get some around, and posted here soon. Well thanks in advance for the views/comments.

Intro
Hello! So I’ve been really tired of hearing that SA is the only way you can be a good thief. I gave up that idea a LONG time ago, along with the glass cannon set up. I prefer to go more into the dazing, boon stealing, constantly dodging and porting around. While most people will swear by x/30/30/x/x as the best/only way to go I and few others have chosen to play outside these boundaries.

The Build

This build is all about dazing, dodging, and kiting your enemy while being able to keep consistent dps with high initiative regain. Timing is key when it comes to this build. You have to be consistently anticipating your enemies every move to get the max effect of your evasive ability.

10/0/0/30/30

Deadly Arts

Minor
Serpents Touch – Stealing inflicts poison

Major
Mug -Deal damage and steal life when stealing

Why?
This build has the lowest possible recharge on steal, and your stealing is buffed out like crazy. Why not do some damage and heal while doing it.

Acrobatics

Minor
Expeditious Dodger – Gain swiftness on dodge
Feline Grace – Regain some endurance on dodge
Fluid Strikes – 10% increased damage when endurance isn’t full

Major
Vigorous Recovery – Gain Vigor on heal skill

Why?
I can’t explain how much this build revolves around being able to consistently evade damage, and this definitively does it’s purpose. 6 1/2 seconds of vigor on a 15 sec heal that is a dodge in itself.

Hard to Catch – Shadow step away and gaze swiftness when disabled

Why?
While most people consider this to be a trash trait, it has saved me from certain death 70+ times. It seems to help with the glass cannon by throwing them off guard just enough to over come being jumped. This is a personal preference however, and can be switch out for what ever fits your play style.

Quick Pockets – Gain 3 initiative on weapon swap

Why?
Well its kind of a funny story. I really DO NOT like any other weapon set outside of s/d so I tried to find I way I could only use s/d. It turns out this trait was the key. This makes initiative a joke in 90% of my encounters. Constantly switching s/d to regain 3 initiative, and 50% endurance from the sigil of energy is just amazing.

Trickery

Minor
Kleptomaniac – Gain 3 initiative on steal
Preparedness – Increased 3 max initiative
Lead Attacks – + 1% damage per Initiative

Major
Thrill of the Crime – You and allies gain fury, might, and swiftness on steal

Why?
This is how I keep up perma-swiftness to get places at a decent speed. I do not run signet of shadows, as I find it to be a waist of a utility slot. Not only is a great tool for swiftness, it synergizes great with your high stealing capabilities and also allows you to bring a little to the table for group play.

Bountiful Theft – Rip 2 boon + vigor when stealing, and grant them to nearby allies

Why?
Pretty much the same concept of buffing out steal, but instead of just buffing you, and your party. You debuff your enemy and apply them to you and your friends. This trait also grants vigor which I’ve already explained above

Sleight of Hand – Stealing dazes and has -20% cool down

Why?
This to me is what I consider to be a go to trait now. Every time I try a build that doesn’t incorporate this, I just feel like something is missing. The daze on a 21 second cooldown is just awesome. Interrupting heals, stomps, rezzing, what ever. It does it’s job well.

Thanks, I’ll make sure to keep that in mind. It was the first video I’ve done in awhile, and was made of a clip I did this morning before work. I’m going to try and some more videos up here soon.

Added YouTube link

Here’s a small clip of gameplay from earlier today on my s/d Thief. Feel free to let me know how bad I am lol

http://www.twitch.tv/br_rapture/c/3791763

Form.8741:

…however, you will never dent any bunk rangers or warriors with that. They will laugh off all your damage as they absorb/negate it.

First off thanks for the replies.

As for Bunkers I really don’t have that much of a problem. The amount of dodges, heals, Stuns ect. it isn’t a big deal. It’s all about keeping consistent pressure, and reading animations. We have endless amounts of stuns, which can be crucial playing against healing bunkers. Not only that the amount of boon removal puts a stop to any boon bunkers. The only ones that really get me are the occasional banner warrior, but lets be honest… Banner roaming warrior? What a joke. What I cant kill my Mesmer friend can.

I will try and get some clips here in the next week and show you that what you can’t kill, can’t kill you, and at which point you can easily escape.

Almost forgot to Include my accessories…
Back – P/T/crit
Accessories – Valk with coral orb
Ammy – P/P/V/crit
Rings – P/P/T or P/T/condi

https://forum-en.gw2archive.eu/forum/professions/thief/My-sPvP-WvW-S-D-P-D-thief-build

Just wrote a guide on my S/D thief

Hey everyone,

Just wanted to get some feedback on the build I’ve been running lately. With the nerfs coming to crit builds, I’ve decided to go more of a hybrid between crit and condi. I use this build in both PvP and WvW, and currently am having great success. Anyway lets get right into it with the traits.

10/10/0/20/30

DA – I went 10 into DA for Mug. Mug has always been a go to skill when I play thief. It is just to good to give up, and works amazing with this high steal build.

CS – I went 10 into CS to give the pistol just a tad more raw dps. It alone is lackluster at physical dmg, and running a hybrid it needs all the help it can get.

Acro – I chose to go 20 into Acrobatics for Vigorous Recovery, and Quick Recovery. Vigorous Recovery is an amazing trait, and is used quite often. This build is a low stealth and requires dodging as its main defense, so vigor is an obvious. Not only that your heal is only a 15 sec CD which makes it that much better. This build does however tend to eat initiative rather quickly, which make QR a great trait. 1 Int every 10 sec may not seem like a lot, but it adds up rather quickly.

Trick – Here is basically what makes this build. You will want to choose Thrill of the Crime, Bountiful Theft, and Sleight of Hand. These three skills along side Mug are just amazing. You do dmg, steal 2 boons, gain fury, might, swiftness, and vigor, 2 int, poison, and daze, all on a 21 sec CD.

Utilities
Withdraw – 15 sec CD, and a dodge/distance
Signet of Agility – + prec, and condi remove, and 100% endurance recharge.
Blinding Powder – your only stealth besides CnD
Shadow Step – Your stun break/“OH kitten” button
B. Venom or D. Storm – depends on runes and personal preference

Armor/Runes
I am currently running all Valkyrie armor with Lyssa Runes. The Valkyrie armor gives me enough Vitality to help survive at least one full burst if I mess up, or get jumped. Some, and most would probably argue this choice, but with having low burst potential on this build I feel it is the best choice. As for Lyssa Runes, almost every thief runs these the bonus on elite skill which synergizes so well with BV.

Weapons
Sword – Zerk with sigil fire for the added AoE dps
Dagger – Zerk with sigil of endurance, again with the dodging to survive idea
Pistol – Zerk with sigil of bursting, to help give your bleeds a little more umf

Ideal Combo

CnD + Steal > Stealth Attack > Body Shot > Shadow Strike > Weapon Swap > Infiltrator Strike > Flanking Strike X2 if boons are available > Full Auto attack > CnD > Infiltrator return > Weapon Swap > Stealth Attack

Thank you for taking the time to read, and check out my build. Feel free to leave any comments/criticism, because I know its coming anyway =)

Just wanted to know if these BLC fused weapons were going to be a permanent addition, or will they just be available during Flame and Frost?

I’m tired of hearing people complain how this game isnt like WoW or EQ or anyother traditional game. This game was made to be different, and they did a very good job at doing so. If you expected to be playing a game like those you were led blindly into this game. Enough of my ranting now for your questions.

I’ve played the ele since early release, and from my experience I would say the turn around point for me with the ele was level 30. The thing about this game is your not the traditional caster. It broke traditional roles and play style which to me is amazing. You HAVE to be constantly moving and doing rotations between your attunements to play to your full potental. In GW2 you cant pick the ele, and expect to be this nuke that sits in one spot while drop stuff from the sky lol. While we maybe squishy we have the ability to compromise with our huge varient of skills. For example the 3 skill on dagger in lightning attunment is a bursters worst enemy. Shocking aura will daze anyone that hits you with melee preventing the full burst and leaving them completely vulnerable for a set amount of time. So once you start to get the time under your belt and understand the fact you are not a traditional mage you will have the most fun you have ever had playing a game. I know from personal experence and a LOT of time played.

My group easily comleted it just by block off the ramps forcing them to fight through the ice wals, or walk all the way around. One person with the pistol can easily keep a group of them from breaking through the walls by spamming 1 and 2. (the 1 is a bouncing daze OP)

Imperius Minimous – Like a Boss

Imperius Minimous – Like a Boss

Yeah, I lost about 700ish as well..

I recently purchased the Superior Rune of Vapirism from the TP, and after playing with the rune for about a week now I have ran into some issues. The sixth ability for this rune will in fact turn me into mist form, and remove my skills as intended. The only problem is while in mist form I have been taking physical damage. Now I realize CD will carry over from standard to mist, and I have done tests to assure that wasn’t the problem. So basically at 10% health I’m morphing into a sitting duck with no weapon skills. I love the rune and what it has to offer if only the sixth ability was viable.
Thank you very much

I would just like to thank the Anet team for being considerate about their players. I had deleted my Rytlock Mini awhile back, and just realized when the event started. I was given another after one day of submitting my ticket. Thanks again

Ele’s can already stack up 12 stacks of might easy with just the sigil of 3 stacks for 20sec. Weapon swap would be OP majority rules lol

I’m getting very close to obtaining the legendary torch, but the more I look into it the more frustrated I become.. Does anyone know/where to find what the second required gift is..

score as of 3 p.m. eastern

All these ppl having problems with mesmers, just call target.. Should be the very first thing you do

Hey all, first time poster. Just wanted to get some opinions on my recent build on my Sylvari Ranger – Veil Vinaero

I have chosen to call it The Sidewider due to the fact of you kill by heal prevention and constant dps.

Gear: (still deciding what sigils)
Sb – fast attack speed and has poison (no brainer)

Sword – while the sword has mechanical issues I still prefer to use it, because of the poison and wounderful combo with zephyr

Dagger – provides cripple/poison I can’t resist despite it’s haters

Armor:
I use Condition/Prec/Toughness on armor with the Rata Sum rune

Trinkets:
A little undecided tbh.. I currently use Power/Vit/Crit dmg and it seems to work well with the decent prec from gear/traits

Traits:
15/30/20/5/0
15 in marksman – sharpening stone and o/s
30 in skirmisher – ranged traps, and fast CD
20 in W survival – regen,prot, vigor, and sword CD
5 in nature magic- regen at 75%

Skills:
Heal – Heal as one seems to be my personal pref. could be swapped
Utility 1 – Quickening zephyr (main burst)
Utility 2 – Viper nest a great trap with a short CD and awesome poison
Utility 3 – Sigent of the wild (not too sure why) lol
Elite – Entangle great for offense and defense a must have imo

Pets:
I use Forest spider as my main for the poison plain and simple. The second I seem to use a black bear/wolf for tanking and control purposes when needed.

Please comment with any suggestions

Veil Vinaero the sylvari ranger looking fresh