thief need to be pvt/fury build with d/p setup. having p/p or sb on swap according to situations. Focus on producing blinds to protect its teammates, and pay attention to finishing off low health mobs to reduce the dps pressure on rest of his teammates.
PVT? I disagree. DPS is one of the best things a thief can offer, aside from SR, blind, smoke screen, etc. My thief is at FOTM 30+ (I’ve ran a few 40s as well) and I’m running a semi-glass cannon build, using berserker jewelries and valkyrie set and I seldom go down unless there are latency issues. Wearing PVT armor will not save you from getting 1-shots in high-level FOTM, you need to make use of your skills and utilities, such as SB#3, withdraw, roll for initiative, etc, and learn to react at a given time in any given situation.
Guardian is not only simpler to play, it also reduces workload of the other players in group. People start to forget how crucial blocking and tanking was in 70 and 80 charr, grawl and cliff. This topic isn’t just about your 20, 30, 40 chest runs… We had already been there, and seen how much the higher levels demanded guardians. Anet’s decision of nerfing shield pet only increased the demand for guardians. We used to do fine with 3 guardians (70-80 chest runs under 1 hr), now you will probably need 4 to bypass asura el oh el.
A guardian is not as simple as it may look like. You need to constantly change weapons, utilities, traits on every stage of FOTM. You also need to be able to keep the team members alive, while keeping yourself alive. You need to dodge and evade attacks, while keeping the aggro with you. You don’t just stand in front of the mobs, and you just don’t use your skills, you need to consider the range, the position of the team members, the right timing, among others.
Much appreciated!