Guild Wars 2

https://www.guildwars2.com/en/news/ready-up-core-specializations-summary/

At the very bottom is a video

I found p/p pretty effective in WvW personally, IP + signet of malice + ricochet would heal about 4k – 8k per unload which meant you could sustain decently whilst tagging multiple players but with the changes, the healing drops to about 1k-3k

Just watched the video about the new thief changes. Having removed “Pistol Mastery”’s 10% increased pistol damage and made “Invigorating Precision” and “Ricochet” on the same line pretty much throws p/p thieves out of the game?

Also with daggers keeping their damage and the sword gaining a buff along with evade. Why didn’t Anet just remove pistols from thieves as a whole instead considering sword/dagger will now outscale p/p big time?

What’s peoples thoughts?

Dependant on play style i like to mix between “Roll for Initiative” to “Shadowstep” dependant on situation as “Shadowstep” gives me more mobility

Been playing WvW for 4 days now and ive made up a new build which still revolves around on-hit healing with higher survivability. Ofc i lose about 200 power and 8% crit chance but i gain an extra 7000 health and 20% crit damage and the crit chance can be made up with the sigil of agility

http://gw2skills.net/editor/?fZQQRAqa4Yl8Mp3pFOxyJ0PNBQBtdAWd/9MJFpzZ0CA-TxBBwAYV+B4EAUTPBR1fo8AAWu/wZlgkCYVdWA-e

My build is for small group fights. Not those boring kitten 50v50 fights where health doesnt matter anyways

Thought i’d do a PvP game to test this there

I think everyones missing the concept. My build is based around Combo Field: Dark and Smoke. The kit setup stops/reflects projectiles whilst also applying blinds. This pretty much puts most melee and ranged out of the question. The only damage that could possibly sneak through are some AoE’s and even then, with the amount of healing built into the kit, you’ll heal more than you take in if you play it right.

Just an update for PvP I switched “Signet of Shadows” for “Blinding Powder” and im coming out with a 2:1 kill to death ratio so im guessing it works for my play style :P

@kaikalii I guess it’s all on play style, i like to mix in the blind+reflect+on-hit heal so that during the small time frames i take damage, i can re-compensate

http://gw2skills.net/editor/?fZAQNAqaVl8MpypFOxzJsPNBQBtdAKQ/98HFpzc0CA-ThCBwAGV+JRJIO1fAcCFot/AlHUQe9NPOEAJM/t5IAQKgnGWB-e

On a side note this is my setup for the P/P dodge thief

@BlackFrog the 2 in stealth trait was for 20% deception reduction. As i mentioned in the post you can swap out signet of shadows.

What conditions do you think will land when i have a (8s reflect + 7s blind) in utilities? As i mentioned i can place up smoke screen and just stand behind it and blast. Alternatively i can use Dagger Storm + Steal combo to hop on someone.
With the on-hit heal i heal (8% crit dmg + 137 per hit + 453 per 5s)

Try this build out and let me know what you think and leave any tips below This is in no way an expert guide and all analysis was done by my own research so apologies if any facts are incorrect.
(Used to play signet P/P thief + dodge roll a lot but found that reflecting projectiles ended my build as i lacked defense)

http://gw2skills.net/editor/?fZAQNAqaVl8Mp7pVPxzJ0PNRORt9DEALIXZg3XxUsFA-ThCBwAGV+JRJIO1fAcCFot/AlHUQe9NPOEAJM/t5IAQKgnGWB-e

TRAIT BREAKDOWN

• Pistol Mastery: No need for explaining

• Combo Critical Chance: You can swap this out if you want but my main DPS skill is unload so why not.

• Invigorating Precision: You can swap for Executioner but as my build is about on-hit healing it’s my choice. Plus patch on 27th Jan boosts this skill to 15%.

• Master of Deception: Reduce CD on “Shadow Refuge” and “Smoke Screen”.

• Thrill of the Crime: 10s buffs come in handy (I chose this instead of Uncatchable as the caltrops range and duration is so small, it’s almost negligible)

• Ricochet: People say the “Bounces” in a 1v1 is useless but the extra 150 range tops your skills all to 1050 range instead of 900 meaning you can keep more distance (The whole point of P/P thief)

• Sleight of Hand: The 20% CD puts Steal onto a 21.5s CD with a 1s daze which is more useful than you know. With “Thrill of the Crime” stacked on-top it gives a great boost in a fight (also gives you time to move back after the steal)

SLOT SKILL

• Signet of Malice (Healing): Rarely used for the active. I like it as unload stacks very well with it. However “Hide in Shadows” and “Withdraw” are just as useful so switch between the 3 based on play style.

• Shadow Refuge (Utility): As P/P skills are all Projectiles, skills casted in a Dark field gain “Lifesteal” ontop making your on-hit healing even more dangerous. Not to forget the stealth P/P skill “Sneak attack” acts as a free mini-unload.

• Smoke Screen (Utility): Once again combo fields add effects based on finisher type. P/P physical projectiles means that all shots add a 3s “Blind” effect to them (Blind doesnt stack in effect but stacks duration). Stacked with unload you can keep throwing down blinds on someone who’s also throwing lots of quick attacks. Also Smoke Screen blocks projectiles meaning you can shoot someone safely behind it. Scared about being melee’d? It has a built in pulsing blind too!

• Signet of Shadow(Utility): Very useless active (A one pop blind but can still save your life) i use it for the passive increase to movespeed. It helps me keep my distance. For those who hate this skill you can swap it out for “Blinding Powder”. It has the same active blind effect with a 3s Stealth on-top allowing you to reposition. As it is a deception skill it gets the nice 20% CD from traits!

• Dagger Storm (Elite): As crap as it looks it deals damage, bleed, cripple and is the thieves only Stability skill meaning you can cast the skill without being interrupted. The damage shown is also pet tick of the skill meaning you can do way more damage than the stated amount. Also not to forget, this skill also reflects projectiles. This means any ranged player is out of the fight for 8 seconds and with how reflected projectiles can only be reflected twice, anyone trying to re-reflect their damage will end up consuming the damage in the end. Ofcourse you’re still under the attack of melee damage. But wait! Notice how the skill is a “Whirl” combo finisher? That’s right, it can stack with Combo Fields! The Smoke field from “Smoke Screen” means dagger storm also blinds targets! Stacked with the built in blind of smoke screen nothing will touch you! Think the skill doesnt heal you enough? Throw down “Shadow Refuge” before you cast dagger storm and the Combo Dark field – Whirl throws in a “Leeching bolts” for you just to heal you even more as well as increase damage output.

DRAWBACKS

Build is weak to boon removal against “Dagger Storm” stability and some AoE skills still hit here and there but that’s what dodge is for. All in all your kit can block projectiles, keep enemies blinded, heal a truck load on-hit whilst still doing a fair amount of damage. Also be careful with initiative consumption.

REVIEW

NOT a burst thief build. Not as powerful as the D/D backstab thief but i find i have great survivability in PvP, WvW and PvE with this build.
You can read up more on Combo Fields here: http://wiki.guildwars2.com/wiki/Combo

KEY TIPS

This build puts steal on 21.5s CD and grants 2 initiative on-cast (only a little slower than Quick Recovery Trait plus Infiltrator Signet put together) as well as a 10s buff which can spread between 5 allies. Also has a 1s daze.

Placing “Smoke Screen” (7s) followed by “Shadow Refuge” (4s) followed by “Dagger Storm” (8s) allows for an initial huge sustain-damage-cripple-blind effect. Remember Dagger Storm is interrupted if you dodge-roll but not if you Steal so use it to close gaps.

Dont use Unload (5 initiative) until you have 6 initiative as the 5th trait in “Critical Strikes” means you deal 10% extra damage.

If anyone starts getting too close use 2 skill “Body Shot” to Hold them for 1s.