Guild Wars 2

Clockwork Bard.3105:

The weapon’s stats won’t have that significant of an effect. I know some people put defensive stats on their shortbow because they use it defensively and accept they won’t be doing loads of damage with it. It doesn’t really make them tanky, though. You’re only shifting something like 15% of your overall bonus around.

Yes, but I am talking about more the traits and armor that you can create a hybrid of so that when you switch from Shortbow to D/D you can change not only your weapon but also the entire play style. Like have two specs in one, just each one being a little less effective than say, having just one fully committed spec of that type.

Are hybrid builds viable for a quick switching of tactics? By that I mean, can a thief go from a tanky, dodgy, speedy kiting machine to a bursty glass-cannon with the switch of just a weapon, say Shortbow and D/D? And if so, how effective is this, and in what enviroments, like pve, spvp, tpvp, or wvw, would this work? Post comments and build links.

Edit: By switching a weapon, I do not actually mean solely relying on the change in weapon stats or sigils to complete the spec change. My question, in clearer terms, is whether there is a way to be able to moderately burst someone while also having decent survivabillity. Not excelling in either but providing lots of options for combat situations.