Guild Wars 2

P/D is good, especially for WvW and PvP but DPS is lower than other options. If you’re looking at PvE I would suggest D/D 0/20/0/20/30. This is a Deathblossom build that can stack and maintain a bunch of Bleeds. Basically throw up a bunch of bleeds with Deathblossom, hit your Signet heal and toss more out. Lots of Initiative regen and the ability to keep your bleeds stacked. Key traits are Signet Use and Hastened Replenishment, couple this with Signet of Malice for 6 initiative every 12 seconds. Throw on the other Initiative regen traits and you’ll rarely be out of initiative. This build lacks the stealth but you still have available in a pinch.

Utilities are Blinding Powder, Shadow Refuge and Signet of Shadows(replace this with others per need)

Gear up with all Carrion gear and get yourself some Super Veggie Pizzas or the rare version for increased duration. Runes of the Nightmare are good here or Afflicted+Krait work well too. More condition duration = more damage per initiative. With DB every 10% gives an additional tick of damage, with Sneak Attack from P/ every 25% gives an extra second. Bleeds do their damage in 1 second intervals. With runes and food alone I can kick up my Bleed damage by 60% or so.

What’s nice here also is that this gear set will support P/D 0/0/30/20/20.

Deathblossom evades so you won’t get hit while the animation is rolling. So run in, throw your DB’s and dodge away. Trait for Caltrops on Dodge and they will apply more bleeds and damage. You will also trait Vigorous Recovery which gives Vigor when you activate your Signet which gives you more dodge and caltrops.

Great for PvE but not as good for WvW and PvP as one condition removal can drop all your bleeds. You can however be effective in PvP with this build if you know how to manage your DB’s.

This is my main build, give it a try

Blood~

Guanglai Kangyi.4318:

Bloodgruve.6038:

The Hammer does function a bit better in WvW than in PvE but it still has it’s uses if you let it. You must get lucky on the Binding Blade, on numerous occasions I’ve attempted to pull 5 mobs in but it only grabs 3, and I know the others were in range and available. I thought I saw a post somewhere confirming that it was random.

Blood~

It’s not random. The blades that fly out are projectiles so they may hit the same mob multiple times if one is standing in front of another.

That explains it. TYVM Guanglai.

The Hammer does function a bit better in WvW than in PvE but it still has it’s uses if you let it. You must get lucky on the Binding Blade, on numerous occasions I’ve attempted to pull 5 mobs in but it only grabs 3, and I know the others were in range and available. I thought I saw a post somewhere confirming that it was random.

Blood~

Hammer #1 chain is the default damage with #2 being a heavy hitting leap that combo’s off #1’s third strike. #3 is a root which is nice because we lack mobility of other classes and allows us to get to our target. #4 launches your target, wvw you stop a stomp and pve you can launch an unruly caster into melee. #5 creates a wall around you which either traps targets or keeps them away, blocks choke points. As you admitted earlier you haven’t done a lot with Hammer, give it a try and you’ll see that it has more control.

GSword 5 is very nice and a perfect fit for the weapon, not denying that, but its a single ability with a 30 sec cooldown. Also, the chains go out in random directions not always hitting 5 targets.

Nothing more satisfying than JI to your target with Ring of Warding Q’d up, then launch um against the ring. It’s pretty disorienting in WvW and I’ve taken out more than a few with this

Blood~

Never had issues with PvE, just ran at um.

On a side note, an alternative to WASD is the Razer Nostromo game pad or the Logitech G13 game board. Both have thumb controlers for movement and programable keys that you can setup. Beats the kitten out of WASD IMHO.

Blood~

IMHO

GSword is great AOE damage, I view GS as our default ‘go-to’ weapon. Does well in most all situations. #4 is a combo field and #2,3 and 5 are finishers which makes it even better.

Hammer is good damage but has more control than GS. Check out the Altruistic Healing Hammer guide stickied up top. I love this for WvW zergs. I consider Hammer my 2h ‘tanking’ weapon with the AH spec. Lost a bit after the last patch but its still viable with a few melee around ya.

Sword is my choice for single target and small group DPS, I feel it is better DPS than GS in some situations and with the right traits/gear/consumables it gets real mean.

Mace is your ‘tanking’ weapon with heals and protection. I’ll throw this on when I know I’ll need more survivability.

Staff gives Swiftness, has a decent frontal AOE and is good group support, always my 2nd choice for WvW and is great with Altruistic Healing also.

Scepter is our ranged weapon. Damage is very good in PvE where targets don’t evade much and are more stationary. PvP this thing doesn’t do as well but we’re limited on ranged options. (#2 is a targeted AoE, #3 is the root) The Citidel of Flames Scepter looks pretty decent.

Off-hands
Shield is good defense, usually has Defense stats on it IIRC. Good choice for taking some hits. The knockback of #5 is fun in WvW

Focus is a strong off hand, has a shield that absorbs 3 hits and an ability that can remove some conditions of your party.

Torch, this one has gotten a lot of flack but it’s our offhand dps. Helps keep burning on the target if needed and Cleansing Flame is decent frontal AoE damage on a relatively short cooldown.

I feel that each weapon has its strength and uses. Try um all n see what works best for you. Play around with different trait builds and some of the ‘lesser’ weapons can shine.

My favorites currently are Sword/Torch with Scepter/Focus. GSword and Hammer//Staff is a great loadout also. All depends on what you want.

Again, IMHO

Blood~

Kindread.9481:

Mixed Berry Pie

I do not think the build will work without Omnomberry Pie to be honest. The “Heal on Crit” effect has no internal cooldown, which means when you crit nearly every attack on an attack that hits 10 times in 2 seconds, you have 10 chances at 66% to heal for ~400. This is what keeps you alive through pretty much anything that can not one shot you. This is also how my 10k health Thief is able to face tank every dungeon path in the game and still be able to critically hit for an average of about 9k.

This is a very aggressive, and rather dangerous build. In order to really make it work you need to get your crit chance as close to 100% as you can, which usually means dropping all Toughness and Vitality.

Superior Sigil of Blood

I found the healing from the Sigil of Blood to be rather lackluster for this build. With the Internal cooldown of 2 seconds (might be as high as 5 … not 100% sure) you get about 90% of your healing from food, and about 10% from the sigil. I think you are better off getting a Rune of Accuracy to up your crit rate by another 5% to be honest.

This does well with Sc/F also.

No I do not believe it would. The only skills that make this build really viable for the Guardian are Zealot’s Defense, and Cleansing Flame. It is because of how many attacks actually happen during the animation. With Zealot’s Defense you get 9 attacks in about 1.5-2 seconds, and with Cleansing Flame you get 10 attacks in about the same time. It is these fast attacks and constant critical hits that keep this glass cannon build alive through nearly anything (again, as long as it does not 1 shot you)

I used Mixed Berry because it’s a bit cheaper but yes, Omnom does a better job. No problems with Mixed though.

I have Sigil of Accuracy in my off hand Torch and Blood in my main hand. Which poses a question, does Sigil of Accuracy effect all attacks or just the weapon that it’s attached to? Also, will Sigil of Accuracy stack if you have two slotted? I don’t believe the tooltip takes upgrades into account.

Scepter/Focus is my second standard weapon set for when I need to be at ranged, and it does work well as I can back off and refill my health then jump pack in.

I have adjusted my spec to 0/30/20/20/0 and am using Master Maintenance Oil now which is very nice. I’m sitting at ~70% crit, 18K HP and 2.7K armor. Its a very stable build and I feel it does nice damage. As I get more comfortable I will move less HP and Armor.

BTW, my earlier post was simply stating the build I was messing with, not a critique of yours But again, thanks for the inspiration, I really enjoy this type of build for my guardian. You can only Gsword/Hammer so much before it gets old.

Blood~

Sword/Torch with Scepter/Focus

Sword built with crit and healing sigil and food is nice damage output and a good amount of healing. Torch is there to keep Buring going, decent sustained damage. Torch5 is nice for frontal AOE that gives crit healing also.

Blood~

There are situations where, unless you are spot on and have had relations with the target, you will just be a floor mat plain and simple. It sucks but this is our lot in PvE. A vast majority of the time you can stay on your feet though.. I tend to lean towards Vitality as a crutch. Stealth, dodge and evades are the other tools to mitigate damage. As stated prior Pistol Whip and Deathblossom are both abilities that can mitigate some incoming damage. I also fall back on condition removal on stealth. My best advice would be to just really watch the fights and know when you have to stay out. I personally switch between P/P and SB as a second weapon loadout depending on the situation until its safe to hop back in the action. Try a D/D Condition build out, run in drop bleeds run out kinda thing.

GL
Blood~

I tried something very similar in Arah last night, worked well. I’m not in Berserker’s but I could tell that this did some decent damage and has good potential. I am going to regear for higher Crit and see how it pans out. I am currently running 20K hp, 2.6K armor, 2.7K Attack and just over 50% crit. I’m pretty sure I can drop the hp down some for more crit though. Used Mixed Berry Pie and Superior Sigil of Blood. Running 10/30/0/25/5 so I can support some M/S Symbol healing or 2h if needed. My play style is more about keeping Burning on the target and getting somewhat of a rotation down. This does well with Sc/F also.

Thanks for the inspiration.

Blood~

My goal while leveling was to hit Two Handed Mastery trait at 40 and Altruistic Healing trait at 60. These will help you move through leveling content quickly with a Greatsword. If your server is decent at WvW that is a good place to level if you can follow a commander around and take objectives.

GL
Blood~

Xabrin,

Been 80 on my guardian for a short time but I’ve tried a few different builds. The AH Hammer is great but I wanted something with more damage output and less autopilot so I am messing with a Sword/Tourch and Scepter/Focus build. I ran Arah with it last night and it worked very well. 10/30/0/25/5, 19.9k health, 2.6k armor and Sigil of Blood and Omnomberrry Pie for healing. Crit chance is ~53% and damage is ~40%. I grabbed a random mix of gear from my leftover dungeon tokens looking for Vit>Precision>Power>Toughness>rest and filled um with Crest of the Soldier cuz I’m not sure whit Runes I’m going for yet. Went Vitality before Toughness. My AH Hammer build seems more durable but I don’t mind trading that for noticeably higher damage, just gotta be more proactive on damage mitigation but my main is a Thief and I have squishy training :P

GL
Blood~

I would suggest Rubicon, with the set and runes you’re looking at close to 300 Precision. This will help with Sword. Also has some interesting extra’s for the set. Stats are pretty even too with Vitality leading the pack.

GL
Blood~

Thief was my first class. It is very fun to play but you are squishy. Don’t listen to anyone who says the class can’t contribute to the group.

Get familiar with Dodge, 15 pts in Acrobatics is very helpful here. Stealth helps mitigate damage, although it won’t stop an attack that is already initiated. Vitality is always nice but I don’t run much toughness. Evade is another tool to help you, most notably from S/P Pistol Whip and D/D Deathblossom. Most important, watch the mobs and get to know what the animations mean an when you should get out, if you are focused on your character you’ll be on the floor.

Get to know each weapon loadout and try different specs, they all have their uses. From my testing D/D Backstab and D/D Bleed builds push the most damage but do not dismiss the others (no extensive testing, just some quick observations and napkin math). Sword main hand will give you some pretty decent aoe damage. P/P is nice single target ranged damage but Shortbow is much more versatile and has good aoe.

I usually have Blinding Powder, Shadow Refuge and Signet of Shadows on my skill bar but again get to know the strengths of each utility. Hide in shadows is my heal unless I’m S/x or P/P then I run Signet of Malice (or if I’m running 0/20/0/20/30 D/D Bleed)

My second toon is a guardian, there is a major difference in survivability between the classes. Thief can be challenging but its quite rewarding. If you get frustrated easily I would suggest a different class until you really know the game, if not you’re in for a fun ride.

Blood~

Thank you for the response.

I suppose there is currently no way to refund the time it took to get the tokens either.

Not sure where to ask this question so I’m dropping it here. Is there any way to get a refund on an incorrect purchase with these tokens?

Thanks,

Blood~

Stealth in combat is what makes this class unique and fun to play. If you take away this mechanic you may as well remove the class as far as I’m concerned. That being said I will state that I’m all for a balanced game.

Before any nerfs are be made we should have the rendering/culling issues fixed. Then we can really see where the thief stands. I have gone up against thieves that were stealthed way more than possible. I have run around in a zerg and small groups out of stealth an no one has touched me, I attribute this to rendering/culling.

Blood~

My advice is that you wait for the next game build supposedly on the 14th. We should see an improvement to P/P but may get the nerf bat to the face regarding backstab builds. After the nerfs to this class so far I am concerned that they focus on the wrong issues. Stealth bugs and culling issues should be dealt with before any nerf to our class…

Thieves in PvE can do some good damage. We are squishy but not so much that we don’t contribute just as much as the next guy. I am no more of a floor mat than any other player either. From what I’ve experienced D/D Backstab or Bleed builds have the highest damage output within our available builds.

@insaneshadow 0/0/30/20/20 seems to work well. Heal while stealthed and gear condition damage and duration.

Blood~

XII.9401:

Bloodgruve.6038:

My main is a thief. I am WvW as a guardian and mesmer. I have not died to a ‘1 shot backstab’ thief in quite a long time. This is because I know how to deal with it.

First and biggest problem is the rendering issue, this needs to be fixed before any changes are made to a class. This issue is terrible, I’ve found myself in the middle of an enemy zerg, they just appeared around me, they were not thieves…

Second problem is that people complaining don’t know how to counter the thief or have come across a thief who has all of their cooldowns available and were not prepared for it. Roll a thief, learn it and know it and then you will see that it’s not so terribly OP against an experienced and skillful opponent. I’m not saying this is easy to counter but there is a way.

Blood~

The 1st two lines really sum up your argument. Play an OP class to counter an OP class..gotcha! Pick one of the holy trinity.

You missed the meaning of my post. If you are dieing to thieves, roll one and learn how to counter it. You can counter a thief, I have faith in you. I am not great at PvP but I do know how to deal with thieves because I’ve practiced being one. My Mesmer is 21 and my guardian is 60… Hardly to OP levels.

Again, fix the culling issue and then we’ll see where thieves really stand.

Blood~

Don’t forget your Super Veggie Pizzas

I would stick with your current spec.

Blood~

zexion.5842:

Bloodgruve.6038:

I’ve played everything except a full SB spec. D/D Burst is no more effective than S/D in PvE at least not in my testing. Until just recently I dismissed S/D as lackluster. I have grown to love the effectiveness and survivability of this build. What’s so nice about it is the strong damage on autoattack coupled with the availability of a number of great tools due to you using less initiative to actually do damage. I run 0/30/25/15/0 for Might and Blind on Stealth. You can mitigate a lot of damage for our party this way. I love acrobatics but I’ve found that with this setup you can actually stay in melee a little longer if you rotate CnD>Autochain. Fun spec for PvP/WvW also.

The surv between d/d and s/d is almost no gap with the exception of one skill which is infiltrators strike. Except for that one skill it has almost no difference in survivability.

So it kitten a boon remover evade attack or pick a bleed stacking evade attack.

With stealth you can avoid quite a bit but I’ll take Infiltrators over Heartseeker any day. Flanking Strike is there as a last resort if I can’t dodge, admittedly it is rarely used.

Condition removal is hard to live without. An easy way to achieve this is to trait removal on stealth. With D/D I will always trait this which leaves no room for Blind on Stealth. S/D allows me to use Infiltrators to drop conditions and trait into Blind. So more survivability right there. This also opens up your utility skills as you don’t have to keep condition removal there. Sword also gives a daze but Tactical Strike is less than half the damage of backstab so you’re trading dps for damage mitigation. I like D/D also but my S/D build seems to have a few more tools. I don’t run either of these in 30/30/0/0/10. Gonna give D/D another try n see how they compare again, its been a little while.

Blood~

*Edit, after some further testing I will say that D/D is far better damage output than S/D on a single target, up to double the damage. I will maintain that I feel S/D has more tools to help you survive. Problem is you can only really dps when you’re standing up…

I’ve played everything except a full SB spec. D/D Burst is no more effective than S/D in PvE at least not in my testing. Until just recently I dismissed S/D as lackluster. I have grown to love the effectiveness and survivability of this build. What’s so nice about it is the strong damage on autoattack coupled with the availability of a number of great tools due to you using less initiative to actually do damage. I run 0/30/25/15/0 for Might and Blind on Stealth. You can mitigate a lot of damage for our party this way. I love acrobatics but I’ve found that with this setup you can actually stay in melee a little longer if you rotate CnD>Autochain. Fun spec for PvP/WvW also.

My main is a thief. I am WvW as a guardian and mesmer. I have not died to a ‘1 shot backstab’ thief in quite a long time. This is because I know how to deal with it.

First and biggest problem is the rendering issue, this needs to be fixed before any changes are made to a class. This issue is terrible, I’ve found myself in the middle of an enemy zerg, they just appeared around me, they were not thieves…

Second problem is that people complaining don’t know how to counter the thief or have come across a thief who has all of their cooldowns available and were not prepared for it. Roll a thief, learn it and know it and then you will see that it’s not so terribly OP against an experienced and skillful opponent. I’m not saying this is easy to counter but there is a way.

Blood~

Melee is viable in most cases, there are situations you will just want to get the kitten away from though. Seems AC can be quite punishing to melee in some cases.

D/D Deathblossom bleeds with Carrion gear is nice for a hit and run build.
S/P Pistol Whip gives you some evasion and black powder.
P/D Condition builds are nice to run in for stealth and back off for bleeds.
D/P is IMHO one of the harder sets to master and play, probably the toughest to run in dungeons especially at low levels where its harder to recover initiative.
S/D has surprised me… Hard hitting attacks w/o initiative cost, port in and out of combat that cures conditions, stealth for dropping agro and a daze, an evasive strike which needs some improvement…
P/P is my go to for single target ranged damage.

My suggestion would be to try S/P where you can evade from Pistol Whip or blind with Black Powder. Or try P/D and run some condition damage and duration gear.

Acrobatics 15 is great for more dodges, Shadow Arts 10 to 20 is great for recovering initiative if you’re stealthing all the time, can remove conditions too if you’re not S/D.

Good luck,

Blood~

I tried to spec this, saw that it didn’t trigger and changed it out. Thought the trait was there specifically for Zealot’s Fire… Guess not.

Blood~

Looks fun, ty Smokee. I may give this a try.

Blood~

I am currently lvl62 so I have recently gone through this. Altruistic Healing isn’t available until lvl 60 so don’t worry about it too much now.

At 40 you can get Two-Handed Mastery in Honor. This is a key ability. For PvE equip a GS and Staff, take Purging Flames utility and go to aoe town. I simply geared with Vitality and killed stuff w/o a problem. At 45 you can have Renewed Justice in radiance 15 on top of 2H Mastery which will help you take down packs faster. Make sure to use your combo fields

I personally carried every weapon but if you add mace, scepter and shield or focus you’ll have the ranged and survivability setups covered.

I’ve been running Altruistic Healing at 60 in WvW and its great… Although my damage output is half what it will be with 80 gear and traits so I’m going more support until then.

Blood~

Hello Guardian community,

Currently leveling my 62 Guardian. I have been spending a lot of time in WvW lately. Mists golem testing showed me that my current damage output is about half of what it should be with 80 traits and gear. I decided I would like to go more zerg/small group support. What would be a good support build? I will be picking up the Rare 60 Power/Vit karma gear. I’m currently working towards the AH Hammer build but I think I could contribute more as support.

I’ve seen some bunker/support builds based on meditations but I’m not sure that would be the right way to go for WvW.

Input is appreciated,

Blood~

I love the Thief because of all the build options available. Each weapon loadout plays different. Thief is my first 80 and my main, I’m still learning new stuff and trying out new builds.

I think everyone should play a thief, its like riding a motorcycle. Teaches you to know your surroundings and dodge :P It will make you a better player all around. You will also try the glass cannon backstab in WvW and help the community realize that it’s not as OP as people say.

Thieves are effective in PvE, after you get good at dodging I can push a lot of damage using a condition or backstab build. Shadow Refuge is great support also.

My builds currently are condition based with D/D 0/20/0/20/30 for more damage or D/D – P/D 0/0/20/20/30 for more survivability. I’m looking for a good S/D build now though.

GL
Blood~

Welcome FLFW,

Currently leveling my guardian but I have an 80 Thief also.

I’ve gotta say that this ‘no holy trinity’ system is refreshing but it takes a bit to adapt to it. First priority is to keep yourself alive. The main tools to do that are; Vitality, Armor+Toughness, Dodge, Protection boon, Aegis boon, healing, control and killing your target before they kill you

I’m currently level 53 on my guardian and I’ve found that gear wise Vitality has helped me out a bunch. Toughness is good also but I feel it becomes more important in later levels. AFAIK Precision is better for damage output than Power. If you run blues try to replace them every 5 levels or sooner, greens are OK for about 10 levels.

Weapons for leveling.. I usually bring a Greatsword, Hammer, Mace, Staff, Scepter and Shield with me. However you will want to try all of them. I prefer 2h damage, Greatsword is the king of AoE. Mace/Shield is great for ‘tanking’ with protection and healing. Been reading a lot about sword and focus though so I’ll be giving those a try.

Traits wise I worked to Spirit Weapon Mastery in Zeal at 20. Then at 40 I changed to Two Handed Mastery in Honor and worked up to Radiance 15. At 60 I will start working with this Altruistic Healing build.

With a Greatsword I’ll pull 4-6 targets, rope um in with 5-5, then hit 4>3>2 for retaliation and whirlwind damage. Throw in Purging Flames and Smite Condition utilities for more AoE fun once they’re grouped. Once you get GS down try messing around with Hammer

TL;DR, Grab a Greatsword, Mace, Scepter and Shield. Gear up with Vitality. Try the different weapons and really pay attention to what each gives you.

GL
Blood~

What build are you using for this Dirty?

Question1:

Currently leveling my Guard, sitting at 53. I want to go more offensive, what is a good spec, gear and weapon loadout for pushing damage. I would also like to be viable in WvW. I’ve read the AH Hammer guide which looks quite interesting. Input is appreciated.

Question 2:

For a WvW/PvE focused player what gear is best for damage output while remaining somewhat tanky? Do we want Toughness or Vitality? Knights looks good but would Magi work?

Blood~

I would suggest a D/D condition build for this. Ultimately building to 0/0/20/20/30. Key traits being Shadow Arts 10 for Shadow’s Embrace, Acrobatics 15 and Trickery 15. This could give you a good start for a not so squishy condition build. Condition is nice to throw out your damage and back off for a bit, not having to be in melee 100% of the time.

Shadow Refuge is a good support ability, allowing you to drop it over a downed player to help them to their feet. Its also great for running your group past packs you don’t want to fight, Blinding Powder will hit your group also and extends the stealth

This build allows you to simply focus on Condition and Vitality gear w/o needing Power, Precision and Crit% to be most effective.

If you are concerned about removing conditions from yourself you could run P/D condition with 0/0/20/0/20 for Hidden Thief.

GL,
Blood~

Conditions are my first pick for PvE personally. Reasons being you don’t need Power, Precision and Crit% to do full damage, its all about Condition Damage and Duration which leaves room for Vitality on gear. Secondly, you can lay down a bunch of Deathblossoms then run away and kite your targets till they’re dead if need be. This means that you don’t have to be in melee with your target the whole time. The only thing you have to watch out for is maxing bleed stacks if you run with other bleeders and having your bleeds removed but this doesn’t happen much in PvE.

At 80 I run 0/0/20/20/30 and can maintain 12-15 stacks of bleed which is 24K to 30K rolling damage if my tooltips are right.

Super Veggie Pizza is cheap and good for kicking up your condition duration for lots of damage.

Shadow Refuge is invaluable in so many situations. I use it all the time to pull people off the floor, stealth field over your buddy and pull him up with much less risk. Other than that I will run Hide in Shadows, Blinding Powder, Signet of Shadows/Roll for Initiative/Shadowstep/other and Thieves guild.

@Kindread, I’m not sure how you are able to maintain 20-25 stacks of bleed. I can ‘burst’ 24 stacks with a 0/20/0/20/30 build at 80 and maintain 15-18 stacks. How can you maintain 20 at lower levels? Did you have another bleeder in the group or is there something I’m missing? I will agree however that the damage is impressive.

Blood~

I’m currently leveling my guardian so I have no experience at endgame. However I was just reading this post where Gaunglai shows sword auto attack to be the 2nd highest dps weapon. Thoughts?

TY
Blood~

The Dungeon environment here does not lend itself to the GC builds all to well. If you don’t know the content and/or are not really great at anticipating a dodge then you will be a floor mat. Since there is no ‘tank and healer’ in PvE your job is Survive>Mechanics of Encounter>DPS.

I have chosen to build for conditions. I feel this gives me the best survivability vs damage output. It allows me to quickly que up a ton of damage and then get out of harms way if needed.

I would suggest this for standard PvE content.
Condition Build
This is mainly throwing bleeds up with D/D Deathblossom. You will use a lot of initiative and my favorite way to recover is Signet of Malice+Signet Use+Hastened Replenishment. This will give you 6 initiative every 12 seconds with a heal. You’ll also get vigor for more Caltrop drops for damage and control. You can maintain 12 bleeds easily with this which is ~24k rolling damage at any given time on up to 4 targets.

For content that you’re not familiar with or the more challenging Dungeon paths I’d suggest Stealth Condition Build to get the ability to drop conditions on stealth. This is effective with D/D and can be quite good with P/D however you’ll get more damage output from Deathblossom.

Actually, any build with x/x/10/x/x is very helpful vs conditions on you.

Gear with Carrion stuff and push as much condition damage and condition duration as you can. The Rune of the Nightmare set from TA is nice here. Super Veggie Pizza is cheap and great for increasing bleed duration.

I have a lot of survivability with this and what I think to be good DPS. Backstab guilds are OK but it requires you to stay within melee all of the time or your DPS suffers. Conditions let you jump in and get out. Problem here is any more than 2 bleeders in a group cuts down your ability to deal damage…

Just my suggestion,
Blood~

First I would like to say thank you for looking at abilities differently in PvP than in PvE, smart decision.

I spend more time on average in PvE.
*P/P – I like how this feels like the single target ranged option. However I feel Unload needs a slight boost or the other abilities need a slight boost. This is basically an Unload spam build in most situations so beef up the damage slightly or make the other initiative options more appealing.
*Ricochet trait could use a buff to 20%-25% or more to make it a viable option.
*Pistol Whip- I would like to see the 15% reduction of Pistol Whip refunded in ‘PvE Only’
*Dancing Dagger – I would like to see the damage increased in PvE or reduced initiative.
*Flanking Strike – This really needs a fix, as others suggested maybe let it port you behind the target or something.

Very little time in PvP but a fair ammount in WvW so this is mostly directed to WvW.
*As stated already, the rendering issues play a big part in the misconception of thieves being overpowered. Fix this and actual class issues will come into view, no pun intended…
*S/D builds were hit hard by the Dancing Dagger, Tactical Strike daze (and CnD in pvp) nerfs. A fix to Flanking Strike could do wonders here.
*Backstab- Backstabing an experienced can be very challenging. I feel this setup will be balanced if the rendering issue is fixed. Backstab can be out played.
*Quickness/Haste – I think this ability is causing a lot of issues for PvP, could use a rework.

In general stealth seems to be a bit buggy lately.

TY for listening,
Blood~

Condition damage and Vitality are always nice as Power, Precision and Crit Dmg do not effect conditions. Keep in mind that only 1 ‘per kill’ rune will trigger and stack, meaning that 2x agony won’t do you any good. This goes for any rune with stacks, Agony + Blood is a waste because you will get either Condtion or Power stacks but not both.

I like the Citidel of Flame Helm, any of the Karma shoulders from Orr and the chest, hands and feet from the Asura Tier 1 racial set. I very much like the Asura if you can get a large shoulder armor graphic…

GL
Blood~

Thank you for the responses. Cleared up a few questions.

Blood~

Tulisin.6945:

Bloodgruve.6038:

I am very happy with this class in PvE, you just need to go in knowing that your squishy and your first priority is to dodge…

Glass Cannons really have no place in PvE IMHO.

You admit that you need to be avoiding damage via not getting hit, and then say that glass cannons aren’t viable.

Ok, so you caught me. I generally hate it when people speak in absolutes and here I have gone and done it. If I may adjust my statement, I feel that GC is tough to work with on PvE content unless you know the content well or are very good at anticipating threats. I agree that damage output is tied to survivability.

The problem with PvE and GC is that there are some mechanics that are simply tough to anticipate and will floor you, 3k to 5k extra hps can go a long way. Dodge and condition removal is also limited in most GC builds, least the ones that I’ve messed with. Bleed builds seem to allow for a pretty good damage output while allowing for more Shadow Arts and Acrobatics traits. To my knowledge Power, Precision and Crit Dmg % do not effect condition builds. Deadly Arts is nice to increase duration but long enough DB bleeds are achievable through gear and food. It seems easier to have more survivability via hps and toughness with a bleed build than it does with a direct damage build.

I prioritize Survive>Mechanics of the Encounter>DPS.

I went for 5-6 Twilight Arbor Nightmare rune set. Prior to that 3x Superior Krait and 3x Superior Afflicted would get you good bleed damage and duration buff. Don’t forget your Super Veggie Pizza, cheap and adds a lot of damage to DB. This should take your bleeds to about 17 seconds which adds a lot of damage. +Condition Damage for larger ticks, +Condition Duration to make um tick longer

Blood~

Shizo,

What’s the duration of your 160/tic’s?

I can’t offer any advice about the class as I do not run it currently. I can say however that dungeons are not so much PvE as they are PvRC (Player vs Red Circle). I would imagine that most classes would have a hard time not being able to see the red circles ANet really should have an option here.

GL
Blood~

Hello Necro community,

So I have seen some comments on the Thief forum stating that Necros have much higher condition damage output than Thieves. I have in contrary run PvE content with Necros and it seems that stuff dies noticeably slower with one in a group. So I’d like some input from your community on how well your condition builds work.

Just for an overview as a Thief I can que up approximately 30K damage within 10 seconds that rolls out over 17 seconds for each application. I can generally keep 18K worth of damage rolling on a few targets at any given time. My DB bleeds tick for 110 and go for 17 seconds maintaining 12 stacks minimum.

I feel I have a decent grasp on the condition builds for my Thief. I run a Carrion-esque gear set with Nightmare rune set and some Condition Duration with Super Veggie Pizzas… I run a 0/20/0/20/30 build for these numbers.

What can you guys do?

This is meant to be an information gathering post, not a ’who’s better’ post. I would like to understand what Necro’s can do as I lead some PvE dungeon runs for my guild. Please help me keep this constructive

Blood~

PS I’m interested in running a Necro alt.

Jaer.1029:

I was swapping between specs while leveling (Which after a long break from thf to level necro and warrior to 80 and other classes) my thf. I used to think that the playstyle was all about pure burst, but after spec’ing differently and def. playing with dodging on my mind, I’ve found the class to be fun again. I use d/d with p/d as secondary set.
Build atm (any suggestions are also welcomed)
http://gw2skills.net/editor/?fYAQRAoY6YlcmKOHay8E+5Eh3jv2Vyqp4mtsTxV1KA

Jaer,

For fun throw the 20 points from the Power line into Crit line for Signet Use. Then take Hastened Replenishment from Trickery 30 and use Signet of Malice. This gives ya 6 initiative every 12 seconds and you can roll a ton of bleeds. CnD is very initiative intensive and this gives you a lot You can also trait Vigor on Heal every 12 seconds so you can almost ‘permadodge’.

Not saying its better because you lose 20% duration on bleeds but you can throw more out.

Blood~

I run with a small group of people which includes a couple warriors and guardians. They always welcome me in because things die a lot faster when I’m with them…

I run a 0/20/0/20/30 or 0/0/20/20/30 condition build in PvE. 4.5k+ per CnD and I’m usually maintaining 12 to 15 stacks per target with a 21 stack ‘burst’ (sorry, had to :P ). This is good damage output. Currently tooltips don’t take equipment into consideration with Condition Duration so 4.5K is low also.

We can have very different output depending on how you play and build.

I went BS for a while for the big numbers because I felt conditions just weren’t doing it. Then I saw the deluge of 120’s flying out the top of my targets head, that’s just plain fun

I am very happy with this class in PvE, you just need to go in knowing that your squishy and your first priority is to dodge…

Glass Cannons really have no place in PvE IMHO.

It simply comes down to the player’s skill with the class, good thieves are great to group with, bad thieves are floor mats…

Blood~

If you gear and trait right for your preferred weapon loadout you can contribute quite a bit to a group in PvE. When I hit 80 I first got any exotics I could, the set was mismatched and unfocused. After I invested in a full condition exotic and got Nightmare Rune set my group noticed a definite increase to clear speed and ease of running different content. I am not a fan of S/P but I will try it some time.

I can’t run a build without at least 20 in Acrobatics for the HP but you can push the rest in Power, Crit or Condition trees and have a good base for ‘DPS’. This also helps you dodge like a mofo…

We are the first ones on the ground if we miss a dodge though…

Blood~

D/D will give you two ‘build’ options that you can mess with. Conditions with Deathblossom or Backstab with Cloak and Dagger>Backstab. Gear while leveling isn’t going to be extremely focused so go for power vitality and precision. Trickery line is good for condition and Shadow Arts V is good for stealth/Backstab builds.

S/P Pistol Whip is a good ‘tanky’ ability as you wont get hit while you’re swinging and it hits multiple targets. This is good with Signet of Malice healing.

Use Shortbow as a second weapon or P/P for ranged.

GL
Blood~

@Dware

I am mainly PvE with some WvW mixed in and I very much enjoy what they did here. The dungeons are challenging and I’m surprised at how the game runs without the holy trinity. The game who’s name shall not be mentioned is not better, it is different.