Guild Wars 2

Since I have quite the love for range and condition damage, as well as movement and attack speed, I think I may have made a build suited too my tastes. While conditions don’t last that long, this particular build totes a 95% crit chance with 199% crit damage. Sigils used cause Quickness to proc 50% of the crits.

While this is still mostly theory, as I have yet to test it. On paper, it looks great. With traits giving Immobilizing effects Fury, increasing the crit chance even more than necessary.

A thing to note, fury is a highlight for this build, but not completely necessary. Where this shines is in Melee with full adrenaline, and shouts to boost adrenaline quickly due to traits. This allows more liberal use of the Sword Burst skill Flurry for the Fury and Bleed damage.

All in all, I hope to have a lot of fun with this build in PvE or PvP. I purposely left out infusions because those could be used to boost Power, Condition damage, or Precision, depending on flavor.

http://gw2skills.net/editor/?fJAQNAT8cn8c8coyjyjdecewUwUQciciMQSQdOAKghXZV8EJ7hdA-TxBBABfcxEoUJIAPxAa2fwQdPjq+DXK/CAcAM8wJchL8wDP8nf+5nf+5Ge4hHe4hLFwoCjA-e

Even though my weapon sets and traits continue to improve over time to reflect a playstyle that I am slowly getting used to myself…I do know that I am a Hybrid.

The main focus of my play style is to stack bleed and other conditions through the use of Sharper Images and high crit chance iDuelist. Therefore, I am a Sword/Pistol and Staff user, to have access to a wide variety of movement control and damage options. Infact…thinking about it…this build has a lot of daze, stun, and immobilize. With my traits set up as 20/20/0/0/30 to maximize pistol range and sword damage and to apply a decent burst from mind wrack and remove boons from enemies with any shatter. I also have imbued diversion, to increase the amount of daze I have available at any given moment.

So yeah…very hybrid build. xD

While I normally am representing my guild (Order of Phantom Lords. >.>) I have no issues being a part of this from time to time.

Name: Rei Izumo
Role: Scholar/Tester/whatever else
Server: Eredon Terrace
Primary Playground: PvE

Now that that is settled. DUNGEON RUNS EVERYBODY!!!! xD

Alright, no screenshots, but is should be pretty easy to locate the bug by travelling to Charr starter area. Ghosts no longer have their blueish ethereal effects on them, and mesmer phantasms lack their purple ethereal effects as well. I am sure this is a slight bug.

-Mesmer illusions also affected by new culling settings, Since I like the look of my character, I want to see their fanciness at all time. Just saying.-

You seem to not really getting enough bang for your buck having only 2 mantras (assuming your heal is the mantra), and should rethink that last trait and pick up a different heal and utility. I am certain you could find a different grandmaster perk in Inspiration that will increase your survivability. Though at the end of the day, if you are comfortable with it, keep to it, though tweak it and keep and eye on how it feels.

What kinda of sigils are you using on the weapons? And how are you taking care of conditions? These are two things to keep in mind when building. At least if you do a lot of soloing.

@Pyro – I see. Hmm…I will tweak a bit in the traits. I will be sure to look into other traits to supplement instead of clone death traits. I will post a renewed version later.

@Esplen – That is very valid as a way to likely play it. But…I don’t play it like that. It is about the mobility at range. A foe cannot really get to you if you are dropping a clone on phase retreat. Each clone can also cause Bleed, Burn, or Vulnerability. Having 3 staff clones is a mighty help any day of the week. Add the fact that clones can now have Quickness (I think. Not really paying attention when I drop the time warp around myself and my clones) and you have the potential to be sending out a lot of conditions and boons to allies, or even yourself. The main point is to lead in with the staff and gets boons and conditions out, then clean up with the greatsword, since by then there is a high chance ot have Fury and a couple stacks of might. Mirror Blade followed by Zerker and boom, you just dishes out good damage. That is how it has worked for me, and it seems to be working well in PvE taking on champs solo. Sure, it takes a while, but you gotta keep moving and using those dodges. It guess…it fits my playstyle.

Edit: The update

So instead of the two clone-death traits. I took an interupt trait, which can happen fairly often in testing, particularly with timing 5 on GS and occasionally/way to often with the 5 in Staff. Halting Strike. Then I reduced the Illusion and Chaos to 20 each and put the last 10 in Inspiration. With my Adept Chaos perk being Illusionary Defense, and already having Compounding power, and having stated this build puts emphasis on moving, having Compounding Celerity seemed to fit well. I will have to test it this evening, but I think this may be more effective than clone death. Now since Sustaining Illusions gives Speed, Defense, and Power, this is a very effective build that puts focus on outlasting and out moving enemies. This would make Null Field a little more effective in the long run to keep conditions off self and boons of enemies, as the point seems to revolve around controlling boons, conditions, and positioning.

This is a pretty good update in all honesty. Sure, we are waiting patiently for the inevitable nerf, in which case a lot of us will be outraged. Understandable. By fixing these issues though…the mind spike fix is technically a buff, since we can better fight a foe using null field and sword combos now, AND with the blast finisher fixed on torch, it will be easier to combo with allies and get more boons flowing.

@Pryo – Thanks, I never really thought about it. When I am actually using it, I find that I can keep my clones up fairly often using Mirror Image, or having the 8 second cooldown on Phase Retreat or Mirror Blade. I will do some tweaking to see what I can manage to have better uptime on the staff clones though. Also, it just happened that this build was also viable underwater, I did not actively seek to go for it. Still, great place to hide for ganks when underwater and even do other stuff, since UW attacks can strike onland and vice/versa.

@Gummi – Thanks! I love finding builds that are versatile and customizable to tailor specific playstyles.

@Esplen – This is not simple theorycraft. This is my current build I am using. Sure, I keep tweaking it to try and get a good balance out of it for maximum efficiency both in solo and group play. Though, your pessimism is well found. I know a lot of people post theories on here, and hope to get input. While I do look for input, I was also posting a build that has worked and is working for me. Any tips you have though would be appreciated!

So you wanted a Greatsword/Staff build?

While new to this whole sharing builds…this is one I have come up with to focus on Conditions, particularly Vulnerability with interupts and general condition damage combined with clones and greatsword damage. It also has a lot of flexibility for an individual to customize it as needed. Since I generally play around other players in WvW and PvE, with the heavy focus on Vuln, it opens up a lot of damage for everyone else to throw in.

I was also looking for a decent Staff oriented build that didn’t have sword, and came up with this after experimenting with different secondary sets. Even went for a while as Scepter/Pistol. Didn’t work out the way I liked really. Anyway, take a look and test it out. Let me know how you modify it for your preferences!

While I have not done a lot of PvP with my Condition build…I am sure as heck going to say that a any well timed Blink, phase retreat, stealth, or dodge, could get a person out of shatter range easily. Pulling off a shatter build seems to require timing and locking an opponent in place. With that in mind, using iLeap or any other cripple followed by a shatter would work wonders in lining up the shatters. Sure, Phase retreat or blink could still be used, so going for a daze with an OH pistol would flow well into it. Having a hybrid Phantasm/Shatter build actually seems like it would work great against any condition build, as the opponent would have to worry about the phantasms while targeting you, or keeping out of your range.

Just a couple thoughts there.

HA! You all thought it was just another phantasm build, BUT NOOOOO!!! Sorry for the obnoxiousness there, but I just had too. Ehem. This is a build I have been tweeking and working with for a couple weeks now, testing out different traits and weapons to see what works best. And I have found a good balancing of techniques!

A Phantom in the Night, or whenever really. I am leaving this one here. The updated Phantom is down below.

Updated Phantom

The main focus of my Phantom build is to utilize clones to keep pressure on foes when using the staff or trident, and get as much Vulnerability on them, shatter, switch to GS or spear, and start wailing on them. Mirror image is there to give extra shatter feed before a burst or get the conditions flowing. While the main chunk of combat will be on land in PvE or WvW, where this build will shine brightest, having the capacity to control your foe underwater and still have the same exact strategy work, is actually advantageous, as a lot of people do not expect water combat to go smoothly.

There are some variations for personal preference that can indeed be made. This can easily have a lot of stealth included through utilities by switching in MI and Decoy for sure, and Veil can replace Null field, which is actually a place holder for any utility that fits a persons play style.

Now, to make full use of this build, one must always keep in mind. The more clones you have out, the more power you have. While you can shatter BEFORE you switch to GS, if you wait and burst skills with GS and the finish with Mind Wrack, Cry of Frustration, or Diversion, you will be set to go and start up another round.

Traits can be modified to include Grandmaster skills as desired by taking out the greatsword training, or one of the minor traits in Chaos or Illusion. A recommended Grandmaster would be Prismatic Understanding or Imbued Diversion. Getting Domination to 30 is also a possibility to focus on interrupts with daze to inflict damage or even stun. All in all, this is a very flexible build than can be tailored to a particular play style within the parameters of focusing on using clones as actual decoys and lay the smack down with a balance between condition damage and straight up bursting.

If you wanted more damage potential instead of condition damage, gear choice would switch from Carrion to Rampager, to still have condition damage and higher precision. This would then in turn alter what food items you would go for. So really, this is a slightly skeletal build designed to be tailored to an individual. All in all, no two Phantoms are alike, as different as the people they were in life. It is also recommended to have some soldiers trinkets to improve damage and durability, and benefit from improved toughness and vitality for Condition damage.

More builds are likely to arise from me, as I love to tweak things here and there, and take all weapons into account and find builds that can be used in a variety of situations for both support and damage. After all, versatility is the key to survival, and being well loved in dungeons and other such groups.

Edit: In my excitement, I forgot to mention runes and sigils! :o I will get to that right now!

For runes, I have found that while Nightmare works best, an individual could use Perplexity for punishing foes fairly often, or Undead to get more condition damage for your toughness. This way, we get more resilience AND condition damage.

Sigils, it is really up to the individual. Having Corruption or Bloodlust on the staff or Greatsword will greatly increase likely damage from from the mesmer based on what they prefer to use more often. Bloodlust is likely to work in conjunction with Adept trait in Illusion Compounding Power to further boost power. Trident should have Agony, as its bouncing attack inflicts bleed, and boosting its duration is rather effective. Again, tailor sigils and runes to your own personal flavor, however; my testing indicates as these sets being some of the best choices to maximize the effectiveness of this build.

I am pretty sure Twilight and Sunrise just look awesome in general. Those effects on our 2 and 3 are priceless. Sure, we don’t get a swing, but we move a lot anyway, so instead of the same pattern attack, we can get more interesting trails. I cannot wait to actually get Twilight in my hands. And Bifrost. >.> Both are epic.

To finish off with the Cloak idea…it’s sheath would be on the back, much like a shield. Since scholar types are more likely to have a cloak over a shield, it would look awesome. The same applies to the adventure professions. This leads me to believe that in theory…it could also give a defense boost (since honestly, the cloth armors do not have that high of a logical defense boost without magic). AKA, Cloak would be the scholar shield type. Since Engineer already have shield, the cloak could be given to Ranger and Thief to essentially give a weapon that boost defense to every profession in the off hand. And then we would have legit cloaks for 5 professions. How awesome is that? And honestly…a warrior or guardian would never wear a cloak, as it would hinder their movements and get snagged in their armor, and an engineer would singe the cloak more than wear it.

Moving on. I now suddenly totally support main hand pistol. Two words. Illya and Lyss. Heck yes. I NOW HONOR MY GODDESS LYSSA. That, and honestly…we would be the third profession to have access to pistols in both hands…oh wait…EVERY profession with pistol access would have it in the main hand. How cool is that? Pretty good track record there. Pistol main hand skills would be interesting as well.

1st slot would be a confuse, naturally. You should an ephemeral bullet that confuses and/or blinds. Like confuse for a short duration. Like 2 seconds tops.

2nd slot would be an daze attack or a knock down. Fluff, make the opponent think gravity is heavier than normal. WOOT.

3rd would be the clone generator. Funny story. A side teleport. Instead of porting towards or away from a target, move to the side with an active distortion effect. BETTER IDEA. Shoot repeatedly while teleporting rapidly around the target. Or just once or twice and could be traited higher. Or a bouncing shot that would teleport you to each target to fire a shot to blind/daze/drop clone. Something along those lines. I would like a lot of movement from the pistol though, and far more reliable confusion. And speed. GODS THE SPEED IT WOULD NEED. But yea. See? Pistol mainhand would be fun.

Another interesting main hand from within the game that we don’t have is….dagger. People keep asking for whip, but may I note…elementalists have a whip on their air MH dagger. Therefore, it is highly likely we could also receive a lashing attack on our MH dagger. We could also have another weapon skill stealth, and for clone generator, a simple stab attack to inflict bleeding and generates a clone. Or a Teleport TO the foe and leave a clone at last location. Since the last would likely be a midrange attack, the teleport would function as a reverse for the MH sword skill iLeap. I like that idea.

Both would be quite fun, MH Pistol or Dagger. OH dagger would be interesting to see as well. But alas, there are limits to everything. I personally would vouch for the pistol for the lovely Illya and Lyss duality.

Slight update for you, duckgirl. Since I recently updated the look of my character’s face and hair, I uploaded them to my photobucket.

http://s1233.photobucket.com/user/bookwiz2010/media/gw020_zpsa9d4448d.jpg.html

They go to the left about 7. There is a cropped version as well, so you can get a closer look at his face. I hope this does help a bit more!

Also…I would like to note…I have a lot of weapons now and am having a hard time picking my favorite to represent this character’s personality. I mean, he has a staff for condition damage and boon output, but beyond that…his emphasis is on having clones out to shield him, and moving a lot…so I guess really…staff is it. I am using the Zenith Spire skin for the staff. Wow…DETAILS EVERYWHERE. >.>

Your work is amazing, which is why I am trying to give you as much as you can to work off of, so that you have more time to be creative and put your best effort in, ya? And because I am actually developing ideas as I wait. >.>

Anyway, I wait patiently/impatiently. Because I am so excited to see the end result of all of these lovely portraits.

@Freedan and @ Requiem

http://www.kismeta.com/diGrasse/di_grasseCloak.htm

This is just something I quickly looked up. Cloaks have been used in Fencing as an off hand weapon to snag opponents swords in the cloth itself. Cloaks can be used as a fluid shield. It would be great for more evasive techniques. It would have a block function for sure. And a phantasm to drop something that would have evasive movements to confuse the foe through movement alone. The cloak is indeed a viable tool in combat.

Another thing I thought about over the day was a weapon that may or may not have been brought up. Some may have said unarmed, but I am thinking claws. While it would still require agility, I could see a couple classes wielding claws. Thieves, Rangers, and Warriors could all use it, plus mesmer. The main theory behind it is close range combat focusing on bleeding instead of confusion.

Another good weapon for Mesmer are battle fans. Razor edged, or thrown, these could be used more particularly for confusion and evasive combat. Since we have already pinned down the mesmer as having the most movement in the game when it comes to battlefield positioning, adding the battle fan close-mid range combat with emphasis on evasion and unbalancing foes. With knockdowns and such. I would love it.

I would totally have Fan/Cloak hands down. That would be a fun combination. I could be running around the world, wearing a cloak with a fan in hand, just…relaxing. Mob starts attacking, and I am slicing them to ribbons with the fan and blocking with the cloak. Dear god…that would be demoralizing in PvP.

Freedan.1769:

To answer some of these comments (note I do not dislike any comments here but wanted to address them):

Mesmers have struggled to use something that is not a clone factory like the scepter or a melee weapon like the sword. They have tons of cool options with off-hand weapons, but they are horribly matched against the clone-factory of the scepter or the forced melee use of the sword. This is not a balancing issue so match as a compatibility issue, neither weapon is compatible really with most build choices mesmer’s use in combat. That is why people get strung up on the mainhand pistol. Since its a power weapon, pistol would be awesome mainhand for burst and DPS build choices which have sorely been lacking in the one-handed weapons category. About the economy. Adding weapons is a given from what has been announced, we ARE getting them so the economy thrown into chaos sounds like political crybaby talk. Too afraid to accept new stuff? I embrace it so stop crying wolf because some balancing will have to be done, that’s being lame.

I am not sure why you focus on mace, because this is very much a martial weapon and matches the mesmer style worse than any weapon except the hammer. I am not against new weapons by any means, but a mace is a melee weapon even more than a sword is for a mesmer; I have no desire to see ANOTHER melee weapon. I will live with it if it happens and use it too, but I could think of far worthier weapons (lets face it, by sheer numbers of requester’s we know this is mainhand pistol, followed by maybe focus or dagger). For myself I want pistol as it would feel full circle and match the archetype as much as it does thief at least for me. Something that offers another stealth weapon skill even with a longish cooldown I feel is ideal for mesmer but either way I am looking forward to seeing a new trait line which is going to be hugely interesting to see the new combinations available.

While all these are valid…I think I may have been misunderstood. I am indeed aware that we are indeed getting all of this, and my crybaby reason is that I am already poor enough as it is. Hahaha. Besides, the market will eventually chill out. These are just points I was making a point of mentioning in this discussion.

On another note…we have very different views on the Mesmer. You make all valid points in regards to how it functions, and you are correct, from the stance of Illusory mage, that mesmer combat is heavily focused on Clones. I find my combat more or less focused on moving about and keeping the conditions flowing with or without them, with a solid close range option should I not be able to escape. That is the fun thing about mesmer. It has a lot of versatility for distancing. Every profession does really. Mesmer just has more. This is why I say Swashbuckling duelist with illusory magic, not just illusionist. But that is schematics and not on topic.

The reason why I went with mace over pistol was for two reasons. The Mace would be a surprise for anyone to face off against from a scholar class, and it would be able to have nothing limiting it in determine what it could do. The pistol would have expectations attached to it, particularly in getting it to function similar to the thief’s pistol with an unload skill that it already has in the off hand. And it would likely have another bouncing bullet attack. In all honesty, we really don’t need another single target DPS type weapon on a mesmer. The focus looked interesting as well as a likely main hand, and unexpected. It would have a good amount of freedom as well. Though how would either of those flow well with the off hand weapons we have now, as you have mentioned? It would give us new skill, yes, but it would also further prove that the current mesmer skill set is rather focused on dealing with a single target. Even its class ability, the illusions, really focus on one target.

I would also like to mention, Mesmer has got to be one of the most mobile classes, and a new weapon should focus on that. Controlling the distance between the target and self, and how they can move, is one of my favorite aspects of Mesmer combat right now. Whatever the new main hand weapon is, or in general, I would love to keep seeing a focus on more mobility and distance control. That has got to be the most fun between stealthing and teleporting. A mesmer could go anywhere.

Alright…here is the rub. Getting another main hand on Mesmer, while awesome, would require major rebalancing in a short period, and every mesmer would be throwing money at the TP or in the appropriate craft to get it on their character and playing with it. Adding brand spanking new weapons would be an entirely new thing, and cause all sorts of havoc on the economy.

That said, Chakrams would be a lovely addition as MH and OH, with a variety of skills that can confuse and befuddle the opposition. Particularly if you have a skill that let’s you play catch with your clone while throwing them. What I want more of…is Torment. That is a condition I fell in love with almost immediately, and found that combining it with heavy stacks of confusion results in a lot of damage (Thus I have no issues with Scepter’s slowness).

Another ideal weapon for a swashbuckling duelist type profession already within the game…is nothing we got really. A good off hand would be a shield, kinda like a buckler. See, what really sets Mesmer apart is that is has so many off hand options compared to main hand. Much like a fencer has simply his blade, the fencer could also have a cloak, another sword, a pistol, a shield, or anything to help in his fight against his foe. Mesmer’s already have this lovely function. Tossing in the magical aspects with Staff, Scepter, Focus, we don’t need much more. Greatsword was the weird one already.

What I would like to see is more reliable AoE. We have our phantasms that can do it (iZerk) and our bouncing techniques, then Chaos Storm. Beyond that, there is not a lot of AoE on a Mesmer. To that effect of a more “tricky” type class, as the Mesmer is the magic equivalent of a Thief, we need something that can focus on being deceptively long range. Dagger comes to mind, but so does Mace.

Much like the Greatsword in being deceptively long range, the mace’s attacks would have emphasis on range and keeping it that way. I also think it should be the only one handed main hand weapon to be able to generate a phantasm instead of a clone because of this. The auto attack would utilize range by having the strike animation be a burst of psionic energy, akin to the types of attacks we have now. Being a three hit combo, the final hit causing confusion, or every hit causing it for a short duration. The second skill would be similar to mind stab from GS, though it would instead be a giant mace head. It would inflict cripple and vulnerability upon impact, and have great burst damage. The third skill would be the phantasm generator, though it would initially behave like one of the clone generators, with an extra effect on movement. At close range, you would smack the target after a brief cast time of ~ 1.75s then BURROW, leaving a phantasm that is defensive, using the guardian skill to block attacks and do a burst AoE counter damage OR protection. Burrow gives Invuln for a second, but it is unique and give the user freedom to determine where they are going to show up. Kinda like Ele Mist form, only a lot short. It would have a pretty heft cooldown, but still.

Then Mesmer would have the discoball!

You have fantastic work, and would wonder if you would like to draw my lovely human mesmer? I have a couple of images. My only question is if you could have a shattering clone just behind/near him? Only if you want to of course. ^.^ Good luck with school starting up soon!

Alright, as promised. Here are the reference images for you to use. Let me know when you are about to start on the sketch, so I can send you some details or ideas. Like how I want to include a shatter effect on what was once a clone behind my Mesmer, and his staff in view, as this will properly reflect the build I use. Anyway, thanks for adding me to the queue. I now have PLENTY of time to gather up all the gold. Since I also like crafting, let me know some gear you would like (preferably from Tailor, Artificer, or Jewelcrafting at the moment). I could totally get it to you.

Anyway, I made sure to include images that show the variances in lighting and how it affects Rei’s hair, as well as show off his staff and some character for you to attempt to incorporate. As well as get all the armor in view. I am using the Exalted armor set, if you need to get more detail on how that looks. Anyway…there you go. A lot of details to work off of when you get to it!

Here is my mesmer, found roaming through the world, with flair and panache.

I am sure what I am about to post already exists…but it is something I have cooked up from my time playing, and from what I enjoy. This is a rather fun balance between the traditional condition damage builds and a clone build.

http://gw2skills.net/editor/?fgEQNAW7flwzaqXVzgGa9IhZGBH5oec9s/dyHaNA-jgyA4MioZKAGtAg6AReScKsIas13ioxqkJiqV3Ym7ioVLEwi1A-e

With the traits as they are, the main focus is on the Staff to have those bouncing attacks add up, and the number of conditions and boons with it. Adding in Time Warp will actually drastically increase the number of attacks even clones are sending off! With Mirror images and the short cooldown on phase retreat, having at least 3 clones up should be no problem at all. This also boost Ether feast.

Now, he comes the interesting bit. As a vast majority of a mesmer’s condition damage comes from punishing a foe for using skills, knowing when to use either Mind Wrack or Cry of Frustration will be a huge asset. It is possible to do both within a couple seconds of each other, switch to Scepter/focus and inflict bleed, burning, and torment is such a short period, enemies are drowning in number counters.

Now, Feedback can either be Feedback OR Null field. Null field has some added support, while feedback can significantly reduce damage when facing ranged opponents, rendering them useless against your storm of bouncing bolts. I have fun running it, and with full carrion gear other than accessories, I have decent damage, great vitality, and fantastic condition damage.

Underwater is actually viable with this build, minus null field. With an insane amount of bleeding damage, and still having fun with bouncing bolts. Pistol may work better in this build, but torch has burning, which is more fun.

Greetings. I am sending my name in for the queue. I am in love with your art, and would love one of my human mesmer. I apologize for yet another human, but I would like also request another one at a later date of my charr necromancer. Dunno yet…since I have yet to really start raking in the gold.

I will post screen shots in a little bit!

The Order of Phantom Lords [Lord] is recruiting new members, starting today!

We are a growing guild with hope to eventually have a large amount of influence in WvW and PvE. [Lord] is presently based in Eredon Terrace, but we can expand and have members in other servers at a later time. We hope to be able to cater to the many interests of our member,s but the main focus will be supporting each other and adventuring together!

A majority of its members so far are in the EST time zone.

While still young, we will be growing as quickly as possible, and hopefully starting guild missions soon. We cannot wait to see you in game! If you want an invite, send a message to me, Elwood.8347, in game. I will be sure to respond and send you an invite.

As a rule, we would appreciate if you represented us, however; as we are at the moment a relaxed guild focusing on improving the general experience of the game, it is not a requirement. Our current members are pretty relaxed as well, with a majority enjoying PvE at their leisure.

See you in Tyria!

So…I was theorycrafting a thief build with focus on Poison damage…may or may not be used or posted. I just know that the basis is to have Torment and Poison on your foes from as many sources as possible.

http://gw2skills.net/editor/?fYUQNAoYVlUmCNXay2E+5EB3DjC1n6VgsaPupNjJA-jAyA4MioRaxQ0oDgpwioxWNLiGr6GTHTEVbuLiWdAQN-e

The other idea behind it is to manage as much Bleed, Poison, and Torment when facing mobs, and while normal damage output is quite low, it is good for kiting, particularly to lead enemies into the needle trap while Torment is active, then laying on the bleeds. As this uses a 30 in both Shadow arts and Deadly arts, survivability comes in the form of actually having some toughness and healing power.

With a constant access to poison on either D/D or SB, this venom build will be able to maintain constant poison plus bleed or torment. Great when in a party, and for Shadow Arts, in solo play, you can replace Venomous Aura with Shadow Rejuvenation, thereby giving the thief more survivability with at least 2 sources of stealth; Cloak and Dagger, and Hide in Shadow.

Edit: This is a PvE build, without food active, and managing only having Master Crystal.