Guild Wars 2

Really? I was gonna play with a calculator after work tonight that would be a good base to work from ty. I really want a more balanced build six months full glass was fun but sucks taking half your health a hit.

What class do you play anyway, gimme the class I’ll tell you what method I use. Tbh I made a thief cause I thought they were op, after learning one there allot easier to fight. Sorry for getting so short but a post similar to yours is on our forums way to often and it’s more qq, than what should I have done ya know?

That would break the class quite a bit. If I stealth and to negate dmg my enemy pops protection, I’m not gonna hit through it doing 33% less damage. Instead I’ll wait and restealth as he put counter play on me to a extent. My counter is not taking the reveal with way less damage. If I reveal anyway just because, then what’s my option for counter play?

I realize rune sets are getting swapped around here soon. However iv been running travlers for a few months now and am gonna revamp my character, as I like to switch it up every so often.

The set would be used for wvw roaming, currently I’m all zerk with travelers and will be moving to a more balanced build modeled off some the “building a better d/d” math. It uses divinity but say after the 15th they get hit to hard, what else are you d/d and d/p power thief running when you roam and why?

Seeing allot of new thiefs come to our class forums looking for help or suggestions, so id like to offer my game name “Slap N Tikle” to any new thief or player in general looking for pointers. 99% of my gameplay is just killing time so iv always got time to help you all out and show you the ropes!

D/D is a weird set, its used as a power spec but has that random bleed #3 in there thats kinda outta place. At max level running d/d your typically a backstab thief who will very rarely use #3 outside of a clutch evade. With that being said use D/P OR D/D not both as they serve near the same purpose.

P/D is our condi set and a fun one, it can be used with power as well however iv never ran it anything but condi. To be honest leveling and pve is pretty easy in this game and you can run w/e you fancy and get away with it. Id highly recommend you get aquanted with the shortbow it makes for a great 2nd weapon set. If you like melting foes with bleed cluster bomb will be a blast for you.

Lol pro tip op even when there invisible………..there still there!!! shocking right? So aoe it maybe? and to “counter cnd” you could always dodge and then it miss’s and hes visible still, ground breaking stuff. Getting old listening to people whining about stealth a year+ into this game its not rocket science.

Love how in the ops post history is a post that starts out as “I’m a pve player” lol welcome to wvw

Funny part is on our forum is a bunch of “omg my glass cannon (insert class) got killed in under 5 sec when I wasn’t paying attention OP”. However you look on other class forums of what classes are hard to fight for them and everyone’s like “I eat thieves for breakfast lunch and dinner”. It just didn’t make sense, makes me chuckle though

Ahhh make one for SoS, and you bet lol

havnt toyed with the rifle set yet but i have with these others. As for a 3rd ill probably go for elixer gun as i normally roam with my roomate itll give some team play and i like the weakness proc. Im playing with build calculators to fine tune my numbers but hopefully with these tips and advice ill be ready by the april 15th patch to gear up. tyvm

ty both very much for your assistance, i kinda like the SD more so cause i play a all glass d/d theif that i feel is played the same kill fast or be killed fast. Ill start playing around with your sugestions and see what i come up with

I wanna go power for two reasons
1. Don’t wanna buy a new set of armor for pve
2. Condi has never really been my thing
I’m toying with condi in pvp, and I do enjoy it up until people just decide not to fight you and walk away. How does a power builds with p/s do? I like the shield but pistol seems so condi orientated still not that I’m against rolling condi.

Bit too hit 80 through crafting and such so I don’t know the class that well if at all. started getting into it today and I’m trying to gear for wvw as a roamer. I grabbed the rifle today and loved it, however I almost never see a engi with one, it’s always p/p p/s any reason why? I wanna build around it but not if it’s lackluster ir bugged is roaming with a rifle effective?

Ps sorry the the single paragraph ding this on my phone on my ten lol

It increases ANY stealth by 1 sec, im not sure about if someone else stealths you like a mesmer but whether through combo or direct means stealthing yourself it always triggers a additional second.

I love the look and feel of d/d so i play it but its very limited atm. Dancing dagger almost NEVER lands unless im in HS range and then whats the point ill gap close for less ini. i use #3 sometimes in clutch situations and its cool when it pays off but it costs so much and a enemy with a half a brain will punish you normally for it. CnD as is i feel is in a good spot, i wouldnt complain about a buff though. The #1 fix id like is on dancing dagger being even semi reliable to actually use.

its a passive addition to your steal, without it you just port to them. With mug traited you hit for dmg and gain health as well when you steal. Watch your damage log youll see it.

i run executioner atm with traveler runes, i dont know what math wise is proper. But i run 50 crit chance (with fury procs to hit 70) i changed my playstyle up as well when i went from hidden killer to executioner. Instead of fishing for big backstabs, i widdle down foes to the 1/2 hp mark where you get that sweet dmg boost and do my full combos.

Can you blame the op? They didn’t get a insta gib trait like they expected…..

In a game ruled by condi, they slap us this hard?

I cant comment on condi builds as i have little xp with them. If your looking to go down the power route d/p is probably the best “training wheels” set to start. Do a 0/30/30/0/0 build last ten points to whatever tickles your fancy. For gear since you want training wheels look into valk gear (trait hidden killer for BS crit) or swapping in soilders and such for zerk pieces. I ran all valk then as i became better i now use all zerk gear and went from d/p to d/d.

Basic fight with d/p
- wars/gaurds/melee in general keep that blind field up when there about to open
- stand in the field as long as possible before HS for stealth, there blind and it helps ini regen
- ANY class goes to put a hand above there head reaching up headshot them

Kinda hard to comment on gear and all seeming as its all changing soon, but i run chill on crit (helps me stick to my target, and ppl dont expect it) and +5% dmg. I also run travler runes but there super pricey runes are kinda optional though, before i just ran scholar.

popular utilities are as follows
-shadows refuge
-sig of shadow
-infiltrators sig
-shadowstep
-blinding powder
-scorpion wire

Just play around and see what fits your style.

Can’t remember the trait name 10pts in DA, recently buffed to, took icd off it for vuln stacks.

Agony I agree with you when I’m on my guard, and I pve 8/10 times the thief auto attacks with a bow or is constantly humping the team with sirens. A good thief is always good to have in your group just a matter of finding one.

You know iv never been a big fan of it outside of using it for venomshare. That being said it has saved my butt a few times, love the random scorpion wires they throw. When I roam now I honestly take avatar of grenth allot now works surprisingly well.

Closest to support you will get is in your trickery line which isn’t too bad but not our main role. Outside of that your main focus is just straight dps, as a thief I make sure to always catch downed players immediately, even just dropping shadows refuge quick enough can res a player without any one helping in a second or two. Fir weapons pay around with p/p, s/p, d/d, and sb in pve you will often be swapping between them all the best suit situations.

Mines bound on “v” with my heal on ’e", my hand come off everything the movment keys and mouse, and i just slap out V —-→ E, and reset my hands to play again. you just gotta trust it works lol however the mouse button will stop it and it does take some getting used to.

Keep at it, I found the more practice and technique you learn through trial and error, the more rewarding the class gets, it definitely pays off

Because most players are like npc’s….. you stealth and they just stand there waiting…..

And on a side note give withdraw a try, there’s a vigor trait that goes well with it, bind a about face key and it can be a gap closer as well.

As a d/d I find inifiltrstors sig invaluable, for a easy cnd combo and gap closer. When your in a pickle it stun breaks as well if your shadow step is down.

Valk is great to learn with and you maintain crit dmg, I started all valk, and add I got better I would swap in zerk throughout time. Any x/30/30/x/x is generally a power roaming build, the extra ten points is to what ever flavor you like.

Acro = fall trait, and stealth move speed
Power = mug
Trickery = long reach (1500 range steal) ,thril of crime for fury proc, and there’s a +5% dmg trait as well

Sure I missed a few traits but that’s a good idea of em. If your running valk I’d suggest at least one fury proc to boost your out of stealth dmg a tad.

Playing a d/d this happens to me constantly, even when it looks even ground. It’s really frustrating having my gap closer go on cool down, and I’m left at range still completely visible being smashed on.

Try squeezing scorpion wire on your utility bar, it acts as a interrupt, plus the duration it takes them to stand allows a free CnD for stealth. It’s on a nice little 20 sec timer to

Runes are pretty optional, personally I run travelers to free up a utilty slot. However any dry that gives a crit dmg bonus is gonna be nice, at one point I ran the set with fury procs which was kinda cool. But honestly just kinda narrow down what you want out of your runes, and see what ones synergize to not only your build but playstyle as well

I’d love to give a tutorial, but it’s so much easier to show you as opposed to a wall of text that’s easy to misinterpret. I can see your build link from my phone but I’m assuming it’s d/p or d/d I have allot of solo roam xp with power sets, catch me in game and I’d love to show you the little ins and outs that come with the class, it’s tricky but so much fun.

DO IT!!!!!! Super fun class, oddly enough I just started a second thief as well rocking a char this time around. Even through tje nastiest nerfs iv never hung my daggers up and rerolled, just reworked how I did what I do

We’re not talking about d/p, were discussing hs. Plus you shadow shot to them and what? Still 66% move decrease. Chill a hs spammer and laugh when they burn there ini. I run chill on crit on my thief and it works wonders against thiefs. Plus it’s one of MANY MANY MANY ways to counter a single skill….

Don’t forget dancing dagger…. lol

Lol my all zerk armor/trinket thief had 2400 armor which means nothing. I can be one shotted by a warrior still, so your armor means nothing your still glassy. Ele has plenty of tools to down a thief, like idk chill, immobolize, and any number of blocks.

It really makes me chuckle to see after a year ppl whining over hs spam. Yesterday a thief spammed toward me, know what I did? Interrupted him in mid air and spiked him as he dropped problem solved not hard zerglings just stratigize.

Out of the two your choosing from I’d take mug, iv played with fleet of foot a little and just wasn’t really making anything easier to land personally. In acro all I grab is vigor on heal, but nowadays I run my 10pts in trickery just because there’s two or three good traits I can swap between while roaming.

I played pvp for the first year of playing this game only and went from guard to thief which is now my main. Last 2 months iv WvW allot and i feel like thats where most these complaints come from. Comming from pvp 7/10 fights in WvW are a joke i can run d/d and hit almost every CnD cause people dont realize it should be dodged for some reason. Once i stealth normally people will move but its some little cirlce with there back pointed at me the whole time and the just wait.

There is plenty risk to playing a thief, i normally destroy them on any of my alts. Even a “balanced” thief will still only take a few hits before being down. Stealth may completely take us out of visual sight but were still there, and were trying to run behind you, all in 3 sec typically. Honestly on my alts its normally easier and my tactic to kill the thief in stealth as opposed to when hes evading around me spamming blinds.

Each class has good ways of fending off a thiefs initial burst and then taking the advantage. Waiting for us to reappear when we stealth is not one of them.

I use IA allot it does have awesome uses, however its irritating when running the same direction to literally maybe port ~400 range at what is it 4 ini? My other beef is how badly it catches on land, a small hump in front of me and i port basically where i was standing before and get smashed on. i dunno bout instant but the arrow needs to be faster, worked awesome at 1200r miss those days. Im pretty sure its faster to hearseeker around than IA. That said though i feel naked not having a SB on my 2nd set….

Above post did traits very well if your going for quick drops. As far as sigils, force is a good start ( might have name wrong +5%dmg one ) and air is also good for single target dps. Fire sigil can be opted out too does less dmg but can be nice for clones and such but since your going for a kill before they can fight then its kinda poinltess.

Runes your gonna want to go for sets with crit damage and power. I’m not good with this off the top of my head but id peek at rune of rage, it supplements your fury very well with crit dmg still. The other popular ones i think are ogre and idk what else. Do realize as already stated though many people are good now at nullifying our first BS cycle and these one hit wonder builds can be very tough as you’ll drop in a hit or two. However the big #s when it works will always make you smirk

The only steathless weapons are p/p, s/p and sb which is pretty limited. S/d had CnD but honestly when I played the spec I’d rarly ever stealth typically there acrobatic builds using evades instead.

For traits if your not gonna use stealth in any way than you’re only condi cleanse or defense is gonna be in acro line and it will be very limited in the condi cleanses which is gonna be your biggest draw back not using stealth. We are very strong out of stealth in terms of dmg and and with evades staying alive but condi will tear you apart.

All that said you can definitely run a stealthless build and have it work, but your gonna have to really be careful with condi managment. Hope this helps need any thing further feel free to contact me in game.

I can’t view your build on my phone but for leveling I ran d/d (for practice since its what I wanted to play at 80) and s/p it has a stun, evade and blind field works good on trash. The d/d was finger to level with doing the gold hearts id just CnD and backstab for instant kills on mobs. Have any specific questions or anything on the class feel free to pm me here or in game it’s an amazing class.

Wow really? Any one who plays a thief knows doing that skill will very possibly kill you. Wether its a knockout what it auto apples revealed our just straight damage. Ya you can angle it to a wall but that dosnt stop aoe dmg, and who says a barrier is near you? All that skill is if you have any common sense is a big target to hit, just cluster bombing it will kill the thief inside. Sure you can dodge to evade the knock back to but if you need stealth that bad chances are your waiting for a dodge to charge. I can’t wait for the day it gets to the point of “nerf thief traps to op”. The whole self trees thing usually is only possible with 30 in sa since you tick 300hp while stealthed, engis can self res without any trait req, just takes having a certain tool kit.

Thief is very very fun, I’d recommend it, if you ever need tips our advice on the class feel free to pm me

Might blow some minds but when we stealth……. we’re still there and taking dmg. As a d/d thief I wait for enemy thieves to stealth and CnD of them stealth with a backstab and they appear with reveal and nearly dead. 7/10 wvw fights is like fighting a npc you stealth and they freeze doing nothing. If you always let us have your back in that 3 sec gap how is that my fault? That’s like me standing in meteor shower for the full duration and crying about the dmg I ate….

I have both, ranger is fun and had some cool group utility, but it does get really stale after a bit it’s deff a alt. My thief I can’t leave no matter what clad I try I end up back on my thief, pvp/pve/wvw don’t matter thief is just a box full of tricks I love it.

In terms of pve rangers sometimes have a hard time grouping, as they normally run bearbow which dosnt assist the team at all. They can bring some cool perks to the table though.

As for thief, I never struggle with finding groups, but normally only one thief is taken. We fill rolls like stealth ferrying, blinds, and our shadowsteps fir some content.

The class you choose dosnt matter, just make sure it fits your play style. Add long as you contribute to the group in pve no one’s gonna complain. If you stand back and auto attack at range your liable to get booted. Pvp is a completely different story for the two though.

Actually a good idea, and a simple one to. As a thief main id definitely play around with implementing them. As they are they just being nothing to the table.

Awesome ty all, with some valk I can grab a fury trait to help, just a matter of playing with numbers seein what looks good nite. Thank you for the tips, I’ll probably stick to executioner if I csn, the big numbers never get old.