Hello there, and welcome to the thief profession! I’ve played thief as my main since pre-release myself.
Go to bottom for builds, right below is a description of playstyle.
I’d personally recommend D/P or staff.Playstyles / weapons:
Thief can do both condi and power builds, but tbh condi is mainly cheesy builds vs very specific enemies or below average players. I’ll skip those with saying it’s mainly D/D Death Blossom (#3) spam with poisons and Daredevil trait for condi on dodge. Another condi build is P/D, this plays on pistol stealth ability as well as auto attack for bleedstacking. Most play with poisons for this too.
If this sounds interesting, just ask and I’ll show you some builds and more in-depth about those playstyles.Moving on is the power builds, those thief are mostly known for. D/D power build is pretty much dead, since D/P does far better utility / ways to stealth and both got backstab as their main damage.
Black Powder (pistol #5) and then either Heartseeker or dodge (with Bounding Dodger trait) will grant you stealth. Heatshot (pistol #4) is your interrupt, mostly heals, channeled attacks or ressing will be targets for this skill. With the right trait you can also do nice damage with interrupts. Dual skill (#3) is your gab closer with a blind and some pretty damage. Heartseeker is another gab closer as well as an executioner ability. Auto attack, as you might now, have been buffed to do great damage as well, but careful; you can’t stand there and take hits yourself.
Another way is the new weapon, staff. This is mainly using vault and AA as your damage along with Bounding Dodger if you choose to use this. You don’t really play with stealth, but you get a lot of evading, since Vault is an evade. You also get a retreat, an AoE blind and a weakness attack.
S/D isn’t what it used to be, but some enjoy it. It’s less bursty than other power builds, and it’s main selling point being evade isn’t really better than staff evade.
All build will use Shortbow as second weapon due to it’s mobility and AoE, as well as being ranged for when you can’t stay close.
Builds:
All builds are made in PvP editor, but you can use them for WvW as well.
D/P:
You can choose to change Impacting Disruption with Escapist’s Absolution. Also you can change Bountiful Theft with Trickster. Some might even use Executioner over Improvisation, but I’d recommend not using Executioner. Also the utility Bandit’s Defense can be changed for Fist Flurry to get more burst but less defense. Runes can also be ‘of the pack’.
Staff:
You might use the trait bBrawler’s Tenacity and combine it with the heal Channeled Vigor. Unhindered Combatant trait can be used for less damage but more mobility.
It became a bit long, but there you go
What prefix would someone use on their armor for the power d/p build?