Guild Wars 2

IMO

PvE = Scholar
PvP = Scholar, Ogre, Lyssa
WvW = Scholar, Ogre, Lyssa, Divinity, Traveler

Another it takes more time to gear multiple characters than it does to gear one thread.

OP Please note that you are not being punished. You are being treated the same as everyone else. It’s unfortunate for you that you can’t have it all right away, but it certainly isn’t punishment. There is no penalty being enforced on you.

Entitlement- The fact of having a right to something.

We all have access to it and it’s cost doesn’t change based on our account stats or how many characters we have. The cost only changes based on how much we want to buy.

I tried to use this to help vs all the HamBow Warriors who stun lock until dead.

At best it bought me a few seconds
At worst it put me in danger

At best I have seen my Purple Aura come over however I always thought it was just on my client that I was seeing it.

Personal Speculation:
I wonder if it’s a recently crafted legend that had some bonus options when created.

I expect it to stay the same 25-30-0-0-15
with S/P for trash and D/D for bosses.

SB for stacking might or running.

Bolt

Looks cool
Can Stack the Lightning Aura with any weapon set (land or water)

I like to run around with my Dreamer and have the Bolt Aura going as well.

I agree Foo in PvE S/P + D/D is the way to go.

I would also like to see something to boost S/P.

If they go through with the IS/IR nerf (which is primarily targeted at S/D in sPvP)

It would be a nice to see the S/P set get a nice buff to the dual skill to compensate that set from taking a bit of collateral damage just because it shares the same on hand weapon.

style.6173:

Lighter.5631:

i believe caed does not stack stealth on his dp thief.

So everyone should just go with the standard GC builds?

Pretty much the same since the game launched. Play GC or go home.

Thief is the most fun class in PvE IMO. I have over 2000 hours logged on my thief and it’s still my favorite class. (I have a few other 80s, but none compare to the joy playing my thief brings.)

If any new thieves have questions or concerns on playing a thief in PvE send me a PM and I’ll lay some of dis juicy thief knowledge down upon your neurons.

Anet said in the skill balance after this one they will be working on improving S/P

http://wiki.guildwars2.com/wiki/Stealth_Disruptor

Double-click to consume.
Use to gain a Stealth Disruptor trap. This trap removes stealth from enemies (range: 1200) when activated. Costs 10 supply to deploy.

Hits up to 20 targets within a range of 1200.
Applies Revealed for 30 seconds it does not matter if you are in stealth or not.

Topic: Combine Hard To Catch with Uncatchable to encourage use.

Expected Result: Promote build diversity by increasing the appeal of HTC that is under used in it’s current form.

Thoughts: There are complaints that HTC does not provide enough of a defensive benefit to validate taking over other options. Adding a cripple to your target / porting away could be what this trait needs to see more use than currently.

Counterplay: Do I hobble over to my target and then continue the onslaught giving them some breathing room in the moments it takes to catch up to them, or do I use a condition removal to keep the pressure up and stick to my target?
(I really like how this would still preserve the flavor and original intent of the skill.)

Scope: I know it would be very difficult to generate a new trait to fill the gap of one of the previous ones in time for the patch. (Although I am sure you guys have several traits in the think tank that have not made it to us yet & I await new options with baited breath)

Context: I don’t believe the thief is performing “very well” in the current state of the game. Especially when compared to the current form of the Necro and the Warrior. (The S/D thief is the exception with sprinkled use of D/P which both are being addressed)

Ease of Balance: Balance by adjusting:
1. The ICD
2. The Range of the shadowstep
3. The duration of condition(s) applied.

Skewed Perspective: I would also like to give some perspective on my own experience in GW2. I have some limited experience on Guardian & Warrior. I spend the most of my time logged in on my Thief. I have not reviewed the changes to the other classes extensively. (Just a glance over since this is not the final patch notes and I would rather keep my focus where my expertise is at)

Thank you for your time.

Closing Shout Out of Appreciation: Thank you for giving out seasonal cards & in game gifts to players. I never feel more appreciated than when you open communications/ show your players that you do appreciate them in a verbal/tangible way that can be looked back on and further appreciated.

Hey Stx.4857

Pros-
More Vulnerability with S/P than before
More Base Initiative Regeneration
Less cast time between stun and whip on PW

Cons-
Less Bonus Initiative from signets
Less Bonus Initiative from Opportunist
Less Bonus Initiative form Kleptomaniac
Moving Flanking Strikes further up the trickery line
Added cast time to Infiltrator’s Return

So in the End if the Update goes out as it is currently planned the spec will be nerfed. .
I think it will still be “The” dungeon build to use though.

I would recommend this for PvE. Brazil is a well known Care Bear and usually has really well optimized specs for PvE. I have added a link to a guide he did for DPS thief here.

http://youtu.be/spedHf6R7M8

At launch I started using Zerj’s DPS Dungeon build. You can see how much it has changed. (Spoiler: It’s the same excluding some gear optimization)

http://www.guildwars2guru.com/topic/67030-zerjs-pvedungeon-dps-thief-build/

My suggestion is for a new weapon since they promised new weapons and skills

I would love to gain access to another weapon in general, however I would prefer to have a completely new weapon so we can generate new build and specs to play with. I agree the Rifle would be a long range option, however IMO it doesn’t fit the flavor of the thief.

A blowgun could enable a med-long range weapon which could be the WvW weapon needed for defending structures.

ronpierce.2760:

On weapon swap it does an aoe 7 second 3 bleed stack, and at 1280 condi damage (which is what a friend had) it would calculate to about 2,200 damage over 7 seconds.

What he is saying is

Sigil of Geomancy
Inflict Bleeding on nearby foes for 7 seconds when you swap to this weapon while in combat. (Cooldown: 9 seconds)

Currently Thieves have 6 Weapons.

Land Weapons
Short Bow, Sword, Pistol, Dagger,

Water Weapons
Harpoon Gun, Spear

Runes of Speed / Traveler 6th set bonus will give you speed you are looking for. Now go forth on your Mesmer and be a Trailblazer!

http://wiki.guildwars2.com/wiki/Rune_of_Speed
http://wiki.guildwars2.com/wiki/Rune_of_the_Traveler

Sweet Bas.7406! I am quite happy to hear you have started this back up! I have been missing hearing the other perspectives and views on the thief. Best of luck on the new run!

Hi new thief Arzen Solorit.3591! Welcome to the brotherhood! I am very happy to hear you stopped playing ranger!

It seems your are interested in using a P/D Build with conditions. This is generally one of the safer builds to play. There is a guy Wild Bill who popularized a WvW P/D spec that has a lot of survivability. I think it’s one of the best condition specs out currently.

(I do not advocate using condition builds on a thief, they are generally weaker than direct damage)

Often new thieves will try conditions and find out how easy it is to apply some conditions and flounder about / kite mobs until they die. While this will work the thing that holds it back is all the waiting for conditions to deal their damage and the lack of access to the other high damage conditions (Burning, Terror, etc)

I would like to suggest something very different for you though. This is THE go to build for PvE IMO

Sword / Pistol (Weaponset 1)
Dagger / Dagger (Weaponset 2)

The general idea behind this is when you fight any monster that doesn’t have defiant or condition immunity you can use the offhand pistol 5 skill Black Powder

http://wiki.guildwars2.com/wiki/Black_Powder

This will create a smoke field that will pulse with blinds to keep you safe from their attacks while you auto attack cleave any monsters down. (Sword can hit 3 targets)

Now when you come to a boss fight you swap to D/D. In D/D the highest single target DPS set we have you will use Cloak and Dagger and follow it up with Backstab. You will not be able to stealth for 3 seconds in this time do 1 Auto attack chain with daggers and then repeat cloak and dagger / backstab. Once the boss mob gets to 25% or less health spam heartseeker with auto attcks in-between if you run out of iniative.

This will essentially carry you through most of the content in the game. I like to use full beserker gear with full beserker accessories and scholar runes. IF you have trouble staying alive there are two options I will suggest here.

1. Practice the content you are doing by looking at youtube videos or reading guides on the content you are doing.

2. Replace Head, Chest, Leg armor with Soldier Armor
(Reason: You lose the least amount of offensive stats for the defensive boost)

Here is a spec you can look at quickly. A few things to note
-I am assuming since you swapped to a thief you are looking for PvE help
-I have included Sigils of night since the bonus they give is so good and a lot of the dungeons are night (dungeons give a lot of XP 75% of a level) If you don’t plan on doing dungeons and don’t think the sigil of night will benefit you then sigils of Fire + Force on S/P % Sigils of Air + Force for D/D.
-I left 5 trait points unspent, they can go into trickery for help maintaining initiative or into deadly arts for more damage.
-Starting out you may want to take out haste for Infiltraitors signet for better initiative management
-This is not fully minmaxed but something I did up quick to give you a good starting place to use a really successful build. (It’s pretty close though)

http://gw2skills.net/editor/?fYAQRAsY4YlcmCPXcS4E95Ex2DfKUe6VAs6Mw5LB-jQyAY/ioRT+XGNVIQJvioxWcLiGruGT5SEVbvHisBPrSBExwI-e

Wow that got long… GL if you need any help pm me I will gladly guide you through some dungeons or living world content.

@Mal.1670 A legendary like this!?!?!!!!

http://youtu.be/XcxKIJTb3Hg

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rabbit_of_Caerbannog

If you are a Norn you can have sandals. (Other races need not try)
1. Buy the Cooks outfit
2. Equip the Cook’s shoes
3. ???
4. Sandals

We have heard that we will at some point get new weapons and skill. I would like to suggest the blowgun as a potential weapon for the thief.

-Weapon that would fit the class theme
-Everyone loves blowguns (Remember using a straw & paper spitballs as a child?)
-Teemo ^ _ ^ “Never underestimate the power of the Scout’s code.”

Blowgun + Bayonet blade on the end for melee + ranged 2 handed option.

Volrath.1473:

A spear would be nice.

But we already have a 2-handed melee spear weapon. :P

http://wiki.guildwars2.com/wiki/Thief#Weapons

I have the Frenzy Currently and I am debating on Incinerator or Kamohoali’i Kotaki next. I already have the pre for the spear, it deals more damage than the speargun, & you can stack the spear’s Aura somehow on land (I have seen a video of it but have not found out how yet)

More often than not when I am in water it’s one of the following situations

-WvW (Traveling between nodes)
-HotW (certain explorable paths)
-Guild Missions (Quaggan escourt)

It’s usually very brief. If there is a target that is fleeing (I can’t use the spear on) the harpoon gun will let me chase/ shadowstep underwater to get a few shots in as I pursue them so they can’t get out of combat / tele to base.

Valvador.4291:

You pretty much told me to not go Conditions as a thief in your previous post. So forgive me if I have a hard time taking your input.

For a condition build you would be better off play a class that has access to
-better conditions
-condition application.

I really dislike conditions on a thief since it feels like you are trying to force a square peg through a triangle hole. You can do it, but you will be missing something in the end. That thing missing would be the damage.

While you can try to be a good condition thief, you will never be able to output the damage a class that has access to all the conditions can. I would encourage you to try a Necro if you really like condition damage.

Compare the DPS of a condition Necro/Engineer vs a Condition thief. It is my experience that the thief will always fall short because they don’t have all the tools that some of the other classes have. (Burn procs on crit)

So with all of that said I want to offer you advice that would possibly not help your build out, but help you identify why the condition thief is a sub-optimal choice when trying to deal damage.

The Allie will be missed <3

Valvador.4291:

OIIIIIO.7825:

IMO Celestial is really bad for the thief.
Stats you want are spread out and weaker, bonus you get other stats you don’t want.

Please for all that is good and right in GW2 stay away from celestial if you want to have damage that a pure DD/Condi specialization has (pst stay away from conditions)

Did you even bother reading the greater discussion in this thread?

Yes I have, what part of that would you care to expound upon?

I wanted to share my experience with you and let you know that if you use Celestial you will be statistically less effective vs going with a more streamlined build. I crafted celestial gear for the MF before it was removed. I have the trinkets and even the rare celestial back, however it is weak. I would like to save you some time crafting all of that. Divinity/Traveler runes are the only “celestial” items I could suggest honestly without losing too much damage.

IMO Celestial is really bad for the thief.
Stats you want are spread out and weaker, bonus you get other stats you don’t want.

Please for all that is good and right in GW2 stay away from celestial if you want to have damage that a pure DD/Condi specialization has (pst stay away from conditions)

Nina.4317:

Why can’t i dispell this altération? they reset all the time over and over?
because they reset, my dispell only dispell the other alte and not the immob one…
http://sk.twitch.tv/guildwars2pvptv/c/3138606

Translation

Why can’t I remove the condition Immobilize? The enemy keeps re-applying immobilize over and over? Since they keep re-applying immobilize my condition removal is not enough to remove the immobilize. I just keep removing other conditions I am not as concerned about instead of removing the immobilize I am concerned about.

Video showing a thief with venom share + Devourer Venom pinning down a target with immobilize and saying how helpless the immobilized target is.

Immob is usually the last condition removed from a stack of conditions.

Edit for clarity

When you have multiple conditions on your character there is a to determine which conditions will be removed by condition removal. For more information on how conditions / condition removal works check out this

http://wiki.guildwars2.com/wiki/Condition

“Conditions can be removed by condition removal. For generic condition removal, the most recently applied condition or conditions will be removed first.”

Armor on the left thief
Weapons on the right thief

@Valvador.4291
It is not only fair to say this but accurate.

While using P/D with a Power/Precision build will “work” as in the skills will still trigger when you use them, it will not “work” as in allow you to kill things quickly.

Make it!, I just finished Frenzy I don’t get to see it all the time, but when I do it’s makes me smile. I just wish I could stack the fish frenzy aura on land

Go here
gw2crafts.net

You will be able to find cheap or fast methods for crafting with full lists of the supplies you will need. This site keeps track of the prices on the TP and updates every 15 minutes or so. This is your silver bullet sir.

Oghier.7419:

Does P/D work as a power/ precision build? Sneak Attack (AA when stealthed) is a pretty beefy chunk of direct damage, as well as the bleeds.

No,

The auto-attack on pistol is really weak for direct damage. You can use it for conditions, however if you want physical damage pistol is the worst weapon for it.

P/D
-Attrition Build (Slow)
-Single Target Pressure
-Condition Thief is usually scoffed at for being lower DPS than D/D or D/P

I find it best for most dungeons to be done with :

Beserker Armor / Trinkets
Scholar Runes

S/P Vs Mobs w/o defiant (PW)
D/D Vs Mobs with defiant (CnD Backstab)

I have not seen a lot of SB thieves, but that is probably because I am usually the only one in my groups. I think the best thing you could do would be to discuss why they are using that playstyle and later offer suggestions on what they could do to improve. If they are not interested and are causing issues in the dungeon by being a liability then kick.

A ranger can pair well with a thief.

For a group comp of Ranger and Thief, I would suggest what you would normally use when going into WvW solo, then as you find things that you don’t need/ could change to benefit both players (Traits, Combo Fields, Rune) try adding those.

Example
——————-
Ranger
Trait -Spotter Increases precision of nearby allies by up to 150 points.

Finished Frenzy a few Days ago.

1. Dreamer
2. Bolt
3. Quip
4. Frenzy

@ PopeUrban.2578, I am glad that you do well with your build currently. I will say that as you get in to organized play deathblossom will only result in your death. I find it fun to use in hotjoin when I’m up late and feel like being silly, but I don’t think it will be of much benefit to you as you start playing more skilled opponents.

TL:DR Deathblossom is fun for farming bads. (all the numbers!)

@Big Tower.5423 Why? Don’t you realize it has a large role in calculating damage?

@op I disagree with the paring you suggest because it would have several down sides

a. Very few thieves want healing power because of it’s low scaling
b. This would further water down our damage
c. There are options for some classes to go hybrid offense and defense, but I can’t make a case for the thief being one of them. Generally speaking for a thief it’s bring the Damage or Go Home.

Thieves are fragile and they need to be able to get in execute and get out.

For PvE

Beserker Everything, weapons, trinkets, back, amulet, rings.
Rune should be Scholar

This is for a DPS focus since defense matters less when you can just dodge anything that would be an issue.

However if you are still learning PvE then you can swap some parts out for Soldiers as stated. You would do the Chest Legs and Helm first since you lose the least amount of offensive stats for defensive in those 3 slots.

Also Some suggest Valk armor + Beserker trinkets, however this gives you less offense and less defense than the 3:3 mix of soldiers and beserkers by going off of Effective health which is a calculation of toughness and vitality. Hope this helps

PvP
Force + Fire

PvE
Force + (Fire/Generosity/Dungeon Specific)

Here is my max size male Norn thief. Everything’s bigger in Hoelbrak.

I would like to note there is a level requirement.
(I think you have to be level 11 in order to use the commander compendium)

It would be nice to see something like this

http://wiki.guildwars.com/wiki/Shadow_Shroud

For dealing with bunkers now that our LS is getting shaved.