Guild Wars 2

Condition builds are spectacular. If you stack runes and sigils appropriatly, your blossom deals 4500+. Throw in Caltrops and a Poison. You can work groups in PvE and PvP. And condition spec can also solo all the PvP Npc’s the easiest.

My Conditon build you use deadly arts and trickery.. like you’re supposed to. Crit isnt needed. Dodge DoT Win.

I love fighting warriors. Steal and Profit. The only time warriors have a chance at killing me are when my big hits are negated by your dmg immune talents. Other than that you’re as squishy as anything else.

But Rifle… I’m afraid of rifle. (If i don’t have CD’s)

Humorless.1573:

P/P is pretty much just lol. You either auto attack or you hit Unload. 2 is never used in PvP, 4 is hardly ever used, only to interrupt something that you can’t dodge out of or that troubles your team. 5 is too bloody expensive to bother using in PvP. You need initiative to stay mobile or to do damage, not to sit still with ranged weapons.

You obviously don’t know how to rock these. In a condition build double pistiols is amazing. And Black Powder is one of the best skills around. A Pulsing AoE Blind thats combo field is executed by every other skill in p/p to inflict blind. Meaning ranged blinds by shooting from within blackpowder. And Daze, if you dont love this ability. Doing it wrong. Unload is the only move i dont really care for. (If it dealt more dmg with more stacks of Bleed..) With Bleeds stacking to 7 or 8 through auto attack your target is ready to have some caltrops dropped on him and blossomed until 20+ stacks in short order. P/P is great.

Stop getting hit.

But no, after i turned off auto attack stealth became a lot more manageable for me personally. Never had it interfere with a stealth. I could see how it might.

Nerd Alert! DnD Approaching

Drizzit Do’Urden is a Drow Ranger. He Duel Wields Scimitar’s.

Ok Ok Ok, not ALL conditions.. jeesh. The ones that cause damage to your healthbar…

EDIT

No Cooldown on Infiltrators Step..

obtuse.8291:

i had that issue at one point but it went away when i came back to the trait. i can’t seem to take any other builds now that i’ve done +heal ones with this and signet of malice. it’s making me tough and resilient.. and is the best counter to condition damage since we can’t really fully hard counter that

Hide in Shadows clears all Conditons
Shadowstep clears 3 Conditions
Infiltrators Step clears 1 Condition

its about 100 health per initiative. not bad when paired with Signet of Malice.

Vexus.5423:

Damage vs. Survival.

Although you might not think the Crit is good, it does proc ‘of the Earth’ Sigils on your weapons, adding lots of additional Bleeds.

If you’re not using 2 agony runes.. You’re doing it wrong.

Is this a troll thread? I can’t decide, Trickery is bomb.

My Condition Thief Build is great for team play. Or Solo.

I get accused of having no skill all the time. Especially after i 1v2 or 1v3 and get the executes off.

“All you do is evade all our attacks, and DoT people, that doesn’t take skill!!”

Tournaments are the only games i can play where people dont leave because of QQing.

Tulisin.6945:

Classic.4072:

Sword/Dagger – This setup is a defensive one that is capable of moderate dps. The Dagger offhand gives you a 50% snare and the ever important stealth. Allowing you to catch your target with ease and make sure his friends dont get the res off.

People severely underestimate this combo. Sword regular attack is fairly impressive on its own and easily becomes the strongest regular attack on multiple targets. S/D is also the only setup that allows you to easily and repeatedly utilize sword’s 2-second daze from stealth attack. AE on every attack means pushing high hit/crit volume and getting more out of anything that works “on hit” or “on crit”. Since you don’t have to rely on expensive bursty initiative abilities to do damage you can benefit heavily from trait trees that reward you for banked initiative. Dancing Dagger also earns only a little quip from you about the 50 % snare, but people forget that this ability puts out twice the damage of a max-strength Heartseeker any time it is allowed to bounce, it is well worth using even in melee on anything but a single target.

I agree, and thank you for your input!

I’ve got 12 Hours of play testing on this current build, started using Needle Trap as the third Utility Skill. Much better results for stacking Caltrop and DB DoTs.

I’m using both. Effective Combo.

For a more aggressive take on this build try swapping

Thrill of the Crime for Uncatchable

and/or

Infiltrator’s Signet for Scorpion Wire

Perhaps you wanted to try out a Condition Build, or you already have and didn’t like it. On this segment of Classic’s Classics I’m going to walk you through the Ins and Outs of Condition Spec in PvP. How to Get the most out of your DoT’s.

The Build – 25 Power / 20 Acrobatics / 25 Trickery

- Potent Poison
- Dagger Training
- Power of Inertia
- Quick Recovery
- Thrill of the Crime
- Trickster

The Slots

- Hide in Shadows
- Roll for Initiative
- Caltrops
- Infiltrator’s Signet
- Dagger Storm

The Weapons

- Double Dagger
- Shortbow

The Runes, Sigils, and Amulet

- Sigil of Superior Agony (On Both Daggers)
- Sigil of Minor Corruption (On Shortbow)
- Rune of the Afflicted (4/6) Put one on your Water Breather too
- Rune of the Krait (3/6)
- Carrion Amulet with Carrion Jewel

The Breakdown

This build sets you up to do maximum damage with DoT’s. Condition Builds are initiative consuming, so this build has been set up to have a large initiative pool as well as the best regen speed. Also this build allows you stack around 4-5 stacks of might giving you a nice condition dmg bonus. Your crit chance will be 4% with this build. Extremely Low. But it doesn’t matter as DoT’s dont crit. And your critical multiplier isn’t impressive even if you did crit. That being said your non criticals through weapon skills are sufficient in conjunction with DoT’s to fell any class.

To explain the slot choices :

I’ve elected to use Hide in Shadows, more for its condition removing qualities than the stealth. Signet of Malice is also a good choice for this build, but i prefer HoS.

Roll for Initiative is important as it is a stunbreak and allows you to regen 6 initiative.

Caltrops on a 24sec CD with a 14Sec duration, will allow you to get stacks of upwards of 20+ Bleed Conditions on your target. It is the bread and butter utility skill of this build.

Infiltrator’s Signet Assists with energy regen, which is important in this high consumption build. It also acts as your second stunbreak, and has the added benefit of Shadowstep to your current target. Useful if you find yourself snared.

Dagger Storm Typically viewed as weak compared to Thieves Guild, with a condition build this move shines. Bleed and Slow targets around you. Use this ability after dropping Caltrops and Spending all your Initiative on DB’s, i like to steal right before poping DS, that way i stack all of the buffs from Thrill of the Crime. Your initiative will regen during the storm and the bleeds will continue to stack on your targets. The damage this move inflicts when stacked in this manner will astound you.

How To

This build focusing around DoT’s and Kites. You aren’t the melee powerhouse of your PWing or HSing counterparts. Your are the agile thief. Acrobatically slicing arterial weak points. Dodging and avoiding damage while debilitating your target, slowing them to a crawl. Your damage is back end loaded, meaning, slow at the start but gaining unparalleled DPS as the fight progresses.
The tendancy with most abilities is to spam. But spamming Death Blossom will result in wasted Initiative and ultimately death. Get familiar with the ability and only use it when it will get its full 3 DoTs off. Slow your targets with Dancing Dagger before you start to DoT and you will find much more success. The Daggers auto attack applies a poison and does decent damage on top of DoTs. Use Caltrops to kick your DoT Stacks above 20 and give you an AoE Slow in addition.
People will cleanse your DoTs. It is Inevitable. You’ll get a feel for what classes do and the spell effects of when it happens. Predicting enemy player behavior in PvP in response to DoT builds is rather strait forward. As most classes have limited response to removing conditions. But the speed at which you can reapply DoTs in the Thief class, is its own saving grace. And thus gives you a cushion to get your damage re-rolling again before your health deficit becomes an issue.
The Shortbow is in this build to allow to the opportunity to escape should you need to, It’s Poisons and Bleeds are AoE and will help get DoTs rolling before you close to melee. The Choking Gas DoT lasts for roughly 25secs, so apply it accordingly but Cluster Bomb will be your go to move. The bow with this build doesnt preform as strongly as a Pistol would. BUT having the shortbow for escape will mean you die less. And ultimately be better for your team.

I’ve really enjoyed this build. As well as watching people melt to its DPS.

I have a post about this. Check out “Classic’s Classics My Current Build”

Sime Vickers (Gate of Madness)

I agree. Wholeheartedly.

Personally I’d like to see some more amulet stat combinations, and some more sigils. For Mist PvP.

bloodymarx.9052:

Yep, it’s a handy and quite comprehensive guide. Well done!
It could use a bit more formatting though, so that it’s easier to read.

Hope that helps a bit.

Hey guys, the Utility Skill Shadowstep allows you to step to your mouse location. And has a longer range than infiltrators arrow, also the Sword ability takes you to your current target, OR if no target is selected it will Make your current the position its waypoint for return. Having the Skill Shadowstep allows you to cover and exceptional ammount of distance. Plus Shadowstep clears 3 conditions upon return.

You can create a lot of confusion which shadowstep, or a lot of distance between you and your target. And if you prefer to use the shortbow, like me. It’s an invaluable move to staying at range.

I often shadowstep behind targets when they close into melee, slow them let them get to me again and then shadowstep back to my waypoint. Allowing me to ration my initiative for damage over infiltrators arrow. Plus it allows you to get out of stuns, which if you know pvp. Preventing damage from every happening is always preferable to tanking it.

And i really like to use it to backcap nodes. The following is a common scenario. I’ll come upon 1 or 2 guarding a node. I’ll harass them on the node in melee using Dodge, and Flanking Strike to mitigate most damage. Once i get them commited to killing me i start to run away. First move is shadowstep max distance away. Switch to my bow and start autoattacking, this makes them close the gap. I save my initiative for Infiltrators arrow, using roll for initiative to keep them at range. And when they are far enough away. Pop Shadowstep to hop back to the node. They will be confused and by the time you get back you should have done enough dmg to be able to kill them while capping the node.

It’s all preference, but Shadowstep is bomb.

Check out Classic’s Classics on My Current Build. This build fully utilizes the shortbow, you might also benefit from some other posts.

PW – Roots you in place for the duration of its channel. and outside of using it with haste allows room for your target to evade it. It deals considerable dmg, but you can just as easily die using the ability as your target. PW requires you to set up an immobilize or slow to ensure it deals max dmg. Though having a ranged interupt and stealth via combo/aoe blind ups its utility.

Daggers allow for more flow and flexibility, and DeathBlossm is great even if your not a condition build. DoT’s are still dmg, just because its 1900 and not 3500 doesnt mean you should just spam HS. and the best thing about Dag OH is that you get a Snare and a means to enter stealth, beit for the Backstab or to finish them off in stealth.

Its a situational ability. Best used to apply DoTs to targets that have high Melee Defense. Even if your not stacking Condition dmg, not using this ability if you have it is silly. In PvP its invaluable. Where seconds matter and you cant always be in melee range to strike DoTs allow you to keep on Damaging your target. Plus is a free evade. Even works on treb shots.

2 secs on haste on a 45sec internal.. mreh..

Try using Superior battle for stacking Might with weapon swaps and Strength.

Or use Air and Fire for more Direct Dmg.

I’ve been getting asked to specifically break down my Roamer build. So here it is.

The Roamer/Solo Defender, For this build i use a Shortbow with Sword/Dagger for maximum livability. Id recommend using a Knights Amulet with a Zerker Gem, For sigils i use Divinity on Armor, and Superior Battle on MH and Shortbow, Strength on OH.

Pro’s High Initiative Pool, High Health Pool, Can cleanse Conditions, Able to Stand Toe to Toe with Melee classes, Kills HS and PS thiefs. Can Navigate the battlefield exceptionally fast. And you can fight on the node without taking dmg.

Cons
No real burst Dmg
You’ll have difficulty killing other outlast builds if your thiefs are on CD.

25Critical
Practiced Tolerance, 5% precision to vitality
Critical Haste, 10% chance to proc quickness on Crit

30 Acrobatics
Power of Inertia – Gain Might when you dodge
Quick Recovery – 2 Initiative every 10 Secs
Assassins Reward – Gain HP every time you use Initiative

15 Trickery
Uncatchable – Leave Caltrops when you dodge

Skills
Hide in Shadows – Heal and Stealth
Roll for Initiative – Roll Backwards gain 6 Initiative
Ambush – Set a trap that calls in a thief for 20 secs
Shadow Step – Your Get out of Death Free Card
Thieves Guild – Summon 2 Thiefs

Thats my Roamer Build. And thats it for Classic’s Classics, until next time.

I’d say that Infiltrators Arrow allows you to subvert 70% of the game environment. After using it in the maps you’ll find all the tricks. But it truly is the most underrated ability we have.

I disagree, Sword/Dagger is about sustainability and outlasting your opponent. Evading attacks while doing dmg, Dazing and Blinding. And the more important issue the Snare. you lock people down and whittle them down with 1.5k -3k strikes. Throw an Air and Fire rune and watch the people drop. Flanking Strike is Pure Gold. You get the kill on a downed opponent much more frequently by being able to stealth. S/D Is very strong against HS and PS respectively. Granted dont use S/D with a glass build. Try it with 30crit/25Acro/15Trick or 25Crit/30acro/15 trick. Its extraordinarily effective. It allows you to hold Nodes solo, much like a necro or guardian.

Shortbow – Unquestionably the most powerful tool in the Thief arsenal. Its auto attack strikes up to 3 targets for 400 – 1200 ea. With a fast attack speed it can easily drop a target to 75% before needing to spend initiative. Also attacking from stealth applies an immobilze, useful for setting up kill combos or escaping. The important thing to remember about the bow is your not going to burst a target down. But if you ration your Initiative you should be able to Kite forever and whittle down all but the most hardy of targets, without the need to ever switch to your melee combination.
-Cluster Bomb (3) – A rather clumsy ability that has a steep learning curve. But when mastered can be used to devistating effect. A tip for using the shortbow (In Combat Options : Enable Fast-Cast Ground Targeting) launch a mortar to your target area when it explodes you can launch another. If you chose you can detonate the mortar early to have it split into 3 explosions. I use this move in melee range aiming at my feet. Allowing me to get of 1 CB every second. Critting for around 3500+ and applying a DoT Impressive for taking out Mesmer Clones, Turrets, Pets, and just doing dmg on the fly.
-Choking Gas (4) Throw Down an AoE Poison and a Combo field, Detonating into AoE Weakness. CG followed by CB triggers the Combo. Weakness reduces energy regen and gives them fumble. The DoT isnt amazing but keep it up to maximise dps with the shortbow.
-Disabling Shot (4) – A free evade away from your target and a snare. Double Win Self explanatory. But use this ability like you would a dodge at the last possible second.
-Inflitrators Arrow (6) – The best ability in the Thief Aresenal and what makes the shortbow so powerful. (In Combat Options : Enable Fast-Cast Ground Targeting) This move allows you to negotiate the battlefield with amazing speed. Subverting normally un passable terrain with a mouse click. Baffling enemies by darting around them and avoiding AoE and Charge attacks. Creative use of this ability will make you love the thief class all over again. Explore the maps to see where and how you can best use it.

That’s it for this segment of Classic’c Classics. Until Next time.

Greetings Gw2 Community

If you’re reading this, you probably want to know whats what and how to use it effectively. The following will shed some light.

Dagger/Dagger – Highlights of this combination include Heartseeker, Death Blossm, and Cloak and Dagger. This build benefits the most from positioning. Preferring to be behind or on the side of your target for max effectiveness.
-Heartseeker – Low Initiative cost (3), High DPS, best used to close the gap into melee range does max damage when the target is below 50%. This move shines against light armor classes. Generally abused by spamming, this move is most effective with high power high crit builds.
-Death Blossm – High Initiative Cost (5) The DoT applies itself in stacks of three (assuming you hit) and is highly effective against Heavy armored targets. Even if your not a condition build. It doubles as a free evade if timed correctly you can mitigate a lot of dmg while still inflicting a good amount. This move benefits from high condition dmg.
-Cloak and Dagger – High Initiative Cost (6) This move deals damage and stealths you for 3 seconds. Extremely useful. Position yourself for a backstab to deal high damage. Use this to stealth to get off the execute unmolested on a downed enemy.

Dagger/Pistol – This setup excels at dealing with melee. Focused around debuffing and debilitating the target.
-Shadow Shot – (4) First blind your target and then shadow step in with a nice good chunk of dmg. Blind makes the next attack of the enemy miss. Useful for closing the gap INSTANTLY (Unlike Heartstrike) as well as giving you some tankyness with a blind.
-Head Shot- (4) Daze 1/4sec. It’s an Interupt and it prevents all skills from being used for its duration. This is effective on preventing someone from healing.. or even from ressing an ally.. OR from executing a downed ally.
-Black Powder (5) An Aoe Blind that lays down a combo field. Follow this up with a Finisher to stealth. This move allows you to play a little support role with some Group Debuffing. And getting into stealth sets you up for the Backstab.

Sword/Dagger – This setup is a defensive one that is capable of moderate dps. The Dagger offhand gives you a 50% snare and the ever important stealth. Allowing you to catch your target with ease and make sure his friends dont get the res off.
-Infiltrators Strike – (3)This lovely move allows you to, From your current position create a waypoint, then shadowstep to your target. Upon dmg you immobilize your target for one second. when you activate IS again (2) you instantly shadowstep back to your previous location and remove one condition, Extremly useful if you initiated the move from an area of terrain away from the fight. creative use of this move can be a game changer in a fight. creating confusion and giving you the opportunity to escape or reenter the fray at your discretion.
-Flanking Strike – (4) This move evades attacks and strikes your target twice. Allowing you to negotiate fights with other melee classes with ease. Its even useful for negotiating AoE Ground Effects from the caster classes.

Sword/Pistol – This setup brings pistol whip to the table, and the pistol offhand gives you the AoE Blind and the Interrupt/Skill prevent. And dont forget the Combo that allows you to stealth.
-Pistol Whip – (5) After a short cast bar you strike out in front of you, briefly stun your target and unleash a flurry of blows. When combined with the skill Haste this move is capable of outright killing soft and heavy targets alike. But dont get to dependent on one move or you’ll find just how easily this move is counterd. Spamming it doesnt mean you kill your target. It just means you’re out of initiative. This move is best coupled with High Power and Crit, and is best setup with an immobilize.

Pistol / Dagger – a Condition build exclusive, the offhand dagger allows you to kite and enter stealth. Good for the Ambush from stealth allows you to get 4 stacks of DoTs up in short order. This setup is all about keeping the target at arms length keeping them dotted, making them vulnerable for more dmg. Rather Lack luster in the burst department it does however do a fair amount of dmg with enough condition dmg. Against a single Melee target you should be able to survive. Be prepared to get rolled by most ranged classes.

Duel Pistol – Unload is the only reason to take this. With enough crit and power. Popping haste can make unload very deadly, all the while keeping you safe from melee range. Much more suited to the supportive roll. If speced into pistols fully you can expect consistant dps against single targets and for them to slowed to a crawl by all your crippling effects. Leaving them vulnerable to a weapon swap to finish them off.

I prefer to use Battle 3stacks of might on swap, on both my bow and my MH, and for my OH i use Strength, 30% might on crit.

And i’ve used this build with Duel Pistols. 30crit/15acro/25Trick, Use Knights with zerker gem, Stack Vulnerability, pop haste, Unload … profit. with 2 ranged weapons your best suited to roaming, backcapping and support. as Duel Pistols lacks Kiting (unless you spec). It can overwhelm though.

Sword is amazing id say just try it out a bit, but once u master its shadowstep. Good to Go. if you want to use this build with Duel Daggers, it’ll work. youll be better off swaping out your amulet with a carrion, and going condition dmg instead of HS spam. but if u want to keep your HS Viable. Switch up the build and do 30crit/25acro/15trick and get teh 20% dmg when under 50%. youll be a little less tanky and your crit will be like.. 25% but youll gain significant dps all around as your dots will be substantially more powerful.

Let me know how it works out.\

Hi Storm, Let me preface for the trolls, that i am not gods gift to PvP, but i’m close. Huge MMOer all i do is pvp.

Now, a lot of thief’s are out there running Glass Cannon builds and hoping HS or PW will carry them to victory. Effective, yes. But not amazing.

I prefer survival to Burst. Which is why i get conqueror most games. The Thief class has some really great abilities. Were a highly mobile class capable of subverting terrain and causing more confusion then a mesmer if played correctly.

First things first. Our energy pool, Initiative.. fuels our attacks, if you have no energy you do less damage, you cant escape, you die. First and foremost, Look for traits that improve initiative regen and pool. These are game changers.

Secondly, Health. If you dont like dying to 100blades or anyother High Burst ability you need to be able to tank at least some damage. 15k health isnt going to cut it. Get yourself a “Knights Amulet” and insert a Berserk Gem.
The Acrobatics Tree is your friend. And its abilities are incredibly useful for PvP. Youll find that stacking Might will make up for your loss in Power. And it gives you more HP.
I’m running 24k hp i can 1v2 consitantly. I’m running 25Critical/30Acro/15Trick

Third, the shortbow. Is the thiefs best friend. Period. Get familiar with this weapon, get accustomed to using it in combat. Infiltrators arrow is ridiculous and will allow you to break terrain advantageously and keep your distance. And with enough crit and CritDmg, the damage it can put out. Especially AoE, is impressive.

As your your other weapons.. thats up to playstyle. I prefer to use Sword/Dagger, It gives you a cleanse, a stealth (IMPORTANT FOR DOWNING) and its main attack evades (Free Dodge).

Skills, I prefer to have at least 2 stunbreaks, cause everyone wants to kill a thief. Up to you. Summon Thief is the best elite skill. And i even use a thief trap. It creates confusion, and when you shadow step out of combat it gives enemies something to see and not look for you. Plus they do a lot of dmg..

After that it’s just playing learning the maps and what terrain you can break. How you can use the environment to your advantage. Were not a Toe to Toe class, we shouldnt fight fair.

Sime Vickers (Gate of Madness)