Guild Wars 2

Thanks for the responses, guys. It seems, however, from your answers that if I want different gear I’ll have to buy them. I should have clarified in the OP: I was hoping to get FREE exotic gear of my choice. Since the boost includes free exotic soldier gear, I assumed that I could choose other non-soldier exotic gear too.

Oh well. Time to get some gems…

Hey guys. I’m returning to GW2 after a long hiatus and having gotten hold of HoT, I now possess a L80-boost that I’m dying to use. The only problem is that I’m quite lost regarding a few things. I apologise in advance if the questions I am about to ask have already been answered elsewhere but I have been trawling the net for guides and none have really helped me with what I want to know -

So basically, I’m thinking of playing a PS Warrior, however, the exotic gear I’m given during the L80 trial run at SW are useless in that regard. My question is how do I get different exotic weapons/armor/sigils other than the ones I have been given? The weapons vendor sells non-exotic gear; the quartermaster simply provides the same old stuff. He does say I can experiment with different gear if I can get them, but I’m not sure how to get them in the first place.

Sincere thanks to those who have taken the time to read this.

Hey thanks for your input Kanadaj – and yea I came across that calculator recently too; it’s pretty neat.

Once again I appreciate the detailed response from you Selver. The more I read it the more sense it seems to make. I guess I was just so hung up on Executioner BS/HS that I didn’t feel like going anything other than 30 Critical Strikes. But I can see how that might kitten me somewhat.

@Suralin – Your advice regarding Shadow Arts>Critical strikes is noted. It would seem Selver is suggesting the same with his 0/20/0/30/20.

@Selver – I have one question: how do you deal with conditions being placed on you? You did not seem to suggest any condition removal mechanism in your build. The reason I considered H-i-Shadow was because the heal came with stealth and condition removal.

Thanks to both for your contribution -

Alright guys, your replies are much appreciated. I will play both pure damage and condition builds, and ultimately decide which one I would prefer to stick to more.

Thanks for the prompt responses.

Second post to explain gear choice:

Superior Rune of the Thief is pretty obvious. Given the hybrid nature of this build, it seemed to be the logical choice.

Dagger/Dagger + Shortbow allows for more effective physical damage/condition hybridisation. The idea is to deal both types of damage to lower enemy HP fast below 50% and then spam CnD+BS and HS.

Amulet and Jewels were chosen to provide a decently high crit chance while giving condition damage. They also allow for a good 20k HP pool which I think I need till I get better at dodging and evading damage. I personally do not see a huge mistake in my Amulet and Jewel choices yet, as if I were running a pure power/crit build, I would arrive at 20k HP with 3.4k attack damage and 61% crit. The reduction in power and crit is well made up for by the extra condition damage which is not mitigated by armor. [Yes before you ask, I did put a Berserker instead of a Rampager in the middle deliberately and not by mistake. The extra 125 power seemed better than another 2% crit and 75 condition damage.]

So there you go guys. Feel free to critique/comment. I welcome constructive feedback. Even if you want to flame me as a noob/kitten/whatever, it is fine as long as you suggest improvement. Also feel free to tell me if you think this build is total crap and I should not even be bothering to make it viable in PvE/WvW, with reasons too.

Thanks for your consideration -

Hey guys -

I am looking to play a thief in the manner suggested in the title, and I was hoping to get constructive criticism from the community. I apologise if this is something that has already been discussed on this forum and I have missed it. I know the most common answer that people give on forums is that “you can play whatever the hell you want in PvE” but I would like a bit more specific feedback with regards to runes/traits/stats to make a hybrid build viable.

Here is what I have cooked up on paper:
http://www.guildhead.com/skill-calc#mckzzc0zMMbovoMbovm0xaffcRqozm08070V7kIZ70V7ow270z7ofD7ow270z8ofZ

My inspiration for this build stemmed from the dilemma of having to choose between Executioner Heartseeker/Backstab power builds and condition damage specs. I realise that going pure condition may not be very effective especially for dynamic events where condition caps are reached in record time. Yet going pure damage with dual daggers for just two moves (HS and CnD+BS) did not seem to make sense when the set’s signature evasion move applies more condition damage than physical hurt.

I also felt that the shortbow became a more effective secondary weapon as some condition damage would allow me to lay on more pain with #2 and #4 which are condition based skills. Keeping a good crit+power also would mean good physical damage from #1 and #2 (the large explosion component).

With that preamble out of the way, bear with me as I explain my trait choices:

Critical Strikes – Provides good crit chance, and the much needed crit damage (+30%)

- Since I am still relying on HS+BS+Executioner to deal physical damage, Side Strike along with Keen Observer makes sense.

- Death Blossom and HS spam builds devour initiative hence Signet Use and Opportunist help in the regeneration process to sustain damage.

Shadow Arts + Acrobatics – I know most people would tell me that I should prioritise one or the other because the deeper traits are quite good, but I could not do so since I really wanted the Trickery trait line (will explain the reasons soon). However, I also wanted to maintain some points in both to allow the characteristic untouchability thieves are famous for.

- Cloaked in Shadow works well with CnD and Hide in Shadows to create AoE blinds that would allow my thief to survive damage from multiple sources. Depending on the situation, I could also replace CiS with Slowed Pulse for regen-based sustain.

- Feline Grace allows for 3 dodge rolls, which along with CiS and Expeditious Dodger swiftness makes me evade more. Combining all of these with DB, I could achieve good dodge and combat mobility.

Trickery – The extra bit of condition damage + Kleptomaniac + Preparedness made this trait line impossible to ditch. Increasing the initiative pool means more DB+HS spam.

- Kleptomaniac would also allow me to close gap with runners, and provide the 3 initiative necessary to HS on their turned backs (Side Strike + Executioner + Flanking Strikes + 6xThief Rune bonus) for lethal killing blows.