Guild Wars 2

I wouldn’t call the last exam question. That scared the kitten out of me when I realize it’s too late. Dredge fractal had always been a groan or more because you know you’re wasting more of your time for an end reward that’s just horrendous compared to the other stuff you can do in the game.

Weapons should always be zerk, no exceptions. The difference from exos to ascended definitely adds up, especially if you get everything else to ascended (armors+trinkets). Considering ascended weapons are cheaper now, I see no reason not to get it, unless you have like 5+ characters and have no time to get ascended stuff for your characters.

If you’re reliant on backstab for the majority of damage, hidden killer is better in PvP considering the lack of precision available. It also allows you to switch to a valkyrie amulet since there’s a lack of need for precision.

PvE wise you only use D/D when you’re facing bosses. The build seem to be primarily fit for PvE. PvP wise I usually go for 10/30/0/0/30 since the daze + steal boons is extremely valuable against other human players.

I say it allows “skillful” play without the option to cancel, since you need to be aware of your surroundings before you use it.

Very good analysis of everything thief, 2 thumbs up!

Traps and venoms are definitely something to work on, as well as Deadly Arts and Acrobatic tree.

However, I think we do still provide decent party support. AoE blinds is probably one of the best stuff we can throw in PvE. And venom sharing Basilisk venom can have its uses in WvW roaming scenarios. We also have the only spammable blast finisher in the game which has tons of versatility in support usages.

I do think however that buffing traps and venoms more would make us more viable for party support.

The only problem I have for side strikes is you’re not always guaranteed to be behind the target all the time. In PvP/WvW Furious Retaliation is just the better way to go.

http://www.guildwars2guru.com/topic/87167-a-guide-to-the-thief-meta/
25/30/x/x/x is widely known as the most effective dungeon build. ^ look on that site on what traits you should put, extra details on the purpose of the build, and what it’s capable of. Follow the 25/30/0/0/15 classic DPS guide.

If you’re just starting out I recommend putting the last 15 in Acrobatics = extra dodge, more vigor.

Your primary way of survival is using AoE blinds and evasion. Optimal weapons are Sword/pistol + shortbow, or dagger/dagger against one boss. Sword/pistol is the best as you can use #3 to deal damage and evade. #5 is extremely good for AoE blinds which can make most encounters against trash mobs a joke. Shortbow is really good at blasting combo fields and AoE damage.

This guy posted this in like every class forum, it’s probably not realistic.

The passive grandmaster trait of trickery is pretty bad tbh. I rather you just have 20 in acrobatics for more survivability with pain response instead.

Viking Jorun.5413:

Don’t know whether I’ll stick with it, but it is a fun spec to play, albeit quite cheesy. Vitality? Toughness? Who needs it! Full zerk with traveler runes is the way to go.

Own all the faces.

Well technically you invested 30 in Shadow arts and 10 in acrobatics. Living the life would be going 0 in both of them and 30 in Trickery, 10 in Deadly arts.

Duka.5864:

well i tried it out (travelers runs) loss of speed is noticeable whit your own eye if you are not blind,the same thing goes with signet of shadows! your best friend for movement speed in combat is 10 in acro ,any bs build should have it ,your efficiency in landing bs will be higher for 50% at least! Signet of shadows is way much better then travelers rune insta blind +5stcks of might!Well that is just my opinion i cant say how many time signet save my life! use what you like do what you like!

With traveler runes you can just pop Blinding Powder as the 3rd utility rather than the signet, which is definitely better than the signet with a free chance of entering stealth while blinding the enemies as well.

I use AH, because I can’t be bothered changing my traits everytime I want to do a FotM, dungeons, or WvW.

In a full zerk party, nobody will even notice you’re running AH (especially so if you have zerk armor/trinkets). In a non-zerk party, a zerk/DPS guardian will have trouble surviving unless you’re well experienced in that path, timing dodges, utilizing your blinds/traits/skills, etcetc. Considering I lfg most of my dungeon runs, I come across quite of a bit of these guards.

Long reply short, I find it just better to run AH at first and if you find yourself with max HP most of the time, then go with DPS builds like already suggested, having at least 15 in the precision line does a lot for your DPS.

Your own name +/- some shadow/dark vocabulary attached to it.

Getting boon ripped doesn’t seem like a huge risk. Only some classes can steal/rip boons (usually has to trait for it), while almost every class can CC a thief outside of their refuge.

Using SR to res is also a setup waiting for classes to cleave the downed + thief. Again, I don’t see the “extremely high” reward with little risk.

SR has its uses and its counters. The problems when I visit these class balance threads usually comes down to eles being underpowered. Just buff their cantrips or something.

Once triggered, it should have a short visible AoE effect. Pls. Or at least make it a trait that enables that effect.

Shadow Refuge also becomes instantly useless if you manage to knock them out of it. Most other skills doesn’t have that risk involved.

I like the idea of changing DD #3 to a targeting directional move like the GS #3 on warriors.

Again the problem is just how powerful condi builds and/or minion builds are in 1v1. We have limited access to allies and a bunch of other classes outshine us in condi builds.

WvW roaming wise though we’re still one of the best so I don’t really have too much of a complaint.

That might, oh dear god.

Ratnik, stargazers, bombers can all be reflected. The miners/disaggregators either dug themselves or melees – those are the ones that can’t be reflected, because they’re actually meleeing you.

However the boss’s shockwave is unreflectable.

Use shield of the avenger, wall of reflection and/or sanctuary. I prefer staff/hammer to prevent being ganked by tons of melee dredge.

Only reason you would use dagger storm is to tag all the mobs before they die in PvE. Otherwise Thieves Guild would trump in DPS for single targets.

In PvE it’s all about direct damage. 30 in Critical strikes is a must.

If you’re thinking of going D/D, your primary AoE damage comes from shortbow #2 skill. I’d invest in 25/30/0/0/15. Get sundering strikes + daggery mastery, practiced tolerance + furious retaliation/signet use + executioner, thrill of the crime/flanking strikes.

This guide is still top-notch for those unclear with optimal thief setups:
http://www.guildwars2guru.com/topic/87167-a-guide-to-the-thief-meta/

waxpax.6350:

Tachii.3506:

There is a noticeable reward for CM p3. The recipe for the last boss, if you can get it, allows crafting of a dire stats accessory that sells for like 6g+.

Plague, the path 2 recipe is one of the most valuable in game, it usually trades places with the bloodstone shard for being the most valuable recipe. Most people don’t like to or don’t know how to fight Turmaine,. though.

The final boss is okay I find, I just don’t like the part with the bombs. I only done p2 with guildies and I imagine that part would be a pug killer. Overall p2 just feels longer than most speed dungeon runs to qualify as a speed run.

Arbitrarily setting the difficulty much higher to complete certain contents in the game could be seen ironically as elitism also, lol.

There is a noticeable reward for CM p3. The recipe for the last boss, if you can get it, allows crafting of a dire stats accessory that sells for like 6g+.

Seems at odd times a stun/daze/other cc moves can interrupt renewed focus while I’m already channeling the skill. I recall happening in the Aetherblade Fractal level and some other random occasions. Is it working as intended? Do others get this problem too?

Doggie.3184:

This is a thread for female characters only since male thieves still don’t get anything sexy.

I feel so discriminated against.

Mix of krytans armor and t3 is like the only viable choices in my male fashion sense. Maybe some CoE stuff too.

Tree.3916:

Don’t you think that if it was designed poorly it would have already been redesigned?

Circular reasoning. There’s a lot of stuff overlooked by the developers, and Fractals and dungeons certainly are one of them.

1) It has a low level requirement, ton of sub80s think they can do it.
2) A fast run depends on reflecting projectiles and stealth.

Considering the average skill levels of the pug population, CM is usually something I do last.

Longer cripple duration (half a second, Idk), increased projectile speed.

So it’s clear they don’t really read this section of the forums, but somehow are aware of all the exploits we do, yet have nothing to address to the most hated Fractal in the playerbase.

It’s disproportionately long compared to other paths, mind-numbing trash mob spawns, and perhaps what makes everything worse is how they have persisting protection buff + immune to blinds.

A temporary fix is really easy too to appeal to our playerbase, too: simply limit the amount of INSANE mobs in this fractal. Limit the amount of dredge in cages with pressure plates, limit the amount of dredge that spawns for bombing the gate, limit the amount of dredge in the caravan, limit the amount of dredge we have to skip to get to the boss. And so on.

Fix the heart of the issue. Don’t make it unreasonably difficult than other fractals.

Probably standard D/P. Starts off with black powder + heartseeker -> backstab -> autoattack -> rinse and repeat.

S/P actually isn’t too common in WvW. But a traited steal → pistol whip can do just as much off-guard.

Would probably be under Shadow Arts, Grandmaster traits maybe.

What, I wasn’t aware they dropped TA weapons and armors, the exotic ones you can buy with tokens?

Also, Idk if there’s confirmation, but it seems only the dungeon chests has a chance to drop those dreams weapons, not sure if the bonus chests you can unlock with keys ever gives anything good.

It always bugged me that certain bosses don’t drop loot: Nightmare Tree, Tazza, that Dredge commander before the end boss of P3, to list a few. I assume it’s simply an oversight. Is it a legitimate complaint to the devs I wonder?

As for dungeon recipes, I got a tortured root recipe, ashes of the effigy recipe and claw of the howling king recipe. I admit these super rare drops is one of the reasons dungeons doesn’t get boring for me.

Anicetus.1253:

PS: From now on I’m going to kick anyone who’s willing to do Kholer in that dumb corner. There are so many better LoS spots, especially when solo/duo’ing with active adds.

Um, what corner? I only know of one around the west of the platform where FGS just owns kholer in seconds. One decent Wall of Reflection or Feedback will guarantee success with mostly 90% of HP.

System is not at all objective and relies on opinions of player base. There is way more cases of people not reading the lfg (hence getting kicked) than people abusing lfg by kicking players at the last stage of fractals.

Don’t use divinity runes, honestly. It’s a huge waste of money and as S/P/sb, we don’t need the stats in condition damage or healing power. I personally like Lyssa runes the best since it goes well with valkyrie armor as it give more precision and the condi-clear/random buff is useful considering we have short cooldown heal/elites. The other alternative is just ruby orbs or rune of the scholar (with the balance patch on runes/crit/sigils there might be more options up), but I really don’t recommend transmuting your divinity runes onto ascended. Just salvage those and sell the runes so you can get cheaper and better alternatives before the patch.

Also, although we may be glass cannons with zerk gears, we have invaluable AoE blinds, tons of evasion, and Weakness condition spam which makes us more of an untouchable glass cannon.

tl;dr: Valkyrie armor will probably remain as a decent set for thieves.

Fiery greatsword #4 in a corner stack, ogod those numbers. That’s where the fun are at.

Oh and, getting wiped or wasting such a long time for such petty rewards are not fun.

They should just make Fractal weapon skins able to be bought with relics.

Sell for 4.95s.

Idk the specific mechanics, but maybe it was blocked/evaded?

Molten level end chest is bad.
Cliffside level has basically no reward since there’s no killable champs and very little trash mob loots.

The consensus do seem to indicate fractal weapon drop rate has decreased since the update. But, it’s the dungeons section, it’s also a consensus that nobody on their team checks here unless it’s to lock a thread.

I agree with the suggestion of simply removing the stealth aspect and providing a smoke field + AoE blind instead (similar to Black Powder). This would still keep up with the “stealth” aspect of the tree since you can easily go into stealth once you’re in a smoke field as a thief.

Mostly P/D. It’s annoying because it’s part of the condition meta, pretty tanky, has sustainability, and even if it’s predictable it’s hard to counter. You usually just end up either tying or running away, unless the P/D user really do suck a bit.

Sword users usually require a bit more skill, so it becomes really obvious if they aren’t experienced. And I’d say D/P is a bit too predictable and usually they end up running away if their initial burst fails.

They should just make NPCs unable to fight and unable to be targeted by enemies. They can be there for the dialogue but otherwise let them be immune to any combat whatsoever.

It requires some skill which is foreign to the majority of the PvE player base.

The right decision is probably to leave it in highend PvE content rather than introduce it in living world content where open world content doesn’t really require or use this in practice.

Considering how many people dies in Lyssa, Jormag, other world boss encounters, I’m not even surprised.

Nice music.

Why Spider venom tho? I don’t believe you have leeching venoms either?

Viking Jorun.5413:

Chicago Jack.5647:

Against a ranger who is built to last, a thief’s only hope is the tree he steals from you.

Any smart thief will swap to shortbow and use blast finishers to heal themselves fully. If you’re traited right you can do it every 20 seconds. A thief should never lose to a ranger.

Against a good ranger though it can last forever.

The important bit to note is that when you pug, you go in knowing you’ll have bad players. For warriors and guardians and eles, they could be awful players but their DPS and contributions will be better than an awful necro or ranger. Too many times I’ve seen rangers just ranges without spotter or spirit. And a few times where I’ve seen spotter, they still ranges stuff so the people who melees don’t even get the buff. Then there’s the necros which are condition-specced but in a dungeon with structural fights immune to conditions. CoFp2, SEp3, HotWp1, to name a few.

The same could be said for awful players like engineers and thieves though, but there isn’t enough engineers that commonly do dungeons and thieves also require minimal skills when they can just spam blind fields and pistol whip.