Guild Wars 2

I would like to know this as well.

Skaldir.5319:

Also running a dual pistols build mostly in WvW and Pve. I’ve also played Rifle and nades but just love pistols too much.
Main problem is to get enough damage output. Even with a condition stuff( like Carrion/Vatlaaw sets ) I have a hardtime to kill people, and i can’t compete with other conditions oriented professions. Add also survivability that is not so great compared to some other profs that do not have to commit to a fight if they don’t want to ( thief/mesmer ).
Imo, aside from fixing the “miss” factor from blowtorch, FT and 3 of EG; pistols also need to get back their 4 secs bleed. Explosive shot, while being fun with Coated bullet on clumped targets, seriously lack in dps for single target use.

As for Elixirs; Instead of U , you should consider R , or a gadget/kit. Depend if pvp/pve. Net turret is also an option.

Concerning sPvp, i kept the Rifle with bombs, elixir S and Personnal battering ram , less fun, but more effective and useful to defend points.

I’m talking about PvP and the main reason I don’t want to give up elixir U is for the same reason you talked about: not enough damage. That elixir really helps in the damage department. I’m not saying that without U damage sucks (its actually pretty decent) but it just helps a lot. I’m not to sure about the kits because no sigils work on them. It just seems like they’re kinda weak right now. Thanks for the feedback!

Edit:
I still would like to know whether it is considered to be competitive in tournaments. Anything works in hot join

Graywolf.6513:

Depending on how old the video was, the nerfs in question are stuff like, the bleed duration was halved from 4 to 2 seconds(meaning our bleed damage with pistols was halved) and the explosion AoE with the spam shot no longer bleeds crowds, only the intended target.

Im playing P/P elixirs right now, in PvE though, and im enjoying it personally. Works hilariously well in tight crowds, can’t see the enemies for the amount of damage numbers that pop up. Im not really a PvPer so can’t give you feed back on that side, though i was using a rifle power crit build for my recent galavanting in SPvP

So the 1 skill with pistol used to bleed foes with the explosions? That’s awesome (even if it did get nerfed). Thanks for the feedback!

I’m new to the Engineer class (having 3 other characters) and I happened upon a Vudani video. He outlined a dual pistol condition damage with elixirs build. I have heard that it recieved a pretty harsh nerf, and was wondering if it was still viable/competitive. What was the nerf? The only nerf I know about is the internal cool down to the Superior Sigil of Earth.

It still seems fairly effective, but I was wondering if something else is more competitive. If the Skirmishing Alchemist (which is what Vudani called it) is still viable but needs some tweaks, what would they be? Dropping Elixir U in favor of Slick Shoes?

As I said, I’m brand new to the Engineer class, and some advice would really be appreciated. Thank you!

No. Just, no.
Initiative sounds like a really cool mechanic, but in reality it promotes using the best skill possible (aka, spamming) because everything shares resources. Why Headshot when I can Pistol Whip? Why Death Blossom when I can Heartseeker?

Say, for example, a GS warrior had initiative. Why would he use any of his other attacks when he can do 2-3 HB or WW?

I wanted to like initiatve, I really did, and it does have its perks (flexibility, mainly) but it just gets boring using the same skill for damage over and over and over again.

Oh yeah, due to Initiative, no skill can be “good” because when that “good” skill is used 2-3 times in a row it becomes too good. Everything has to be an okay skill because it can be chained.
For example. The 4 skill on a pistol offhand (for Thieves) is called Headshot. It does minimal damage and dazes the target for 1/4 of a second (its mostly used as an interrupt). Now, look at the 5 skill on the Mesmer’s pistol offhand. Its called Magic Bullet. It bounces between 3 targets. The 1st is stunned for 2 seconds. The 2nd one is dazed for 2 seconds, and the 3rd is blinded for 5 seconds. Could you imagine how powerful that would be if it could be chained?

Pistol Whip does 1/2 damage of 100B, because it can be chained. The list goes on and on…..

I actually like Gw2 PvP, which is why I’m still playing it.

Just make any race you want. The only thing that affects your choices are animations, personal stories, and cultural armor (and a few skills, but those are generaly weaker than your class skills).

I went with a Sylvari Thief.

nldixon.8514:

Zunhar.4079:

I’m not sure what you’re trying to say…….
And oh, you don’t use Assassin’s Signet before Pistol Whip. That’d be a waste.
Why would you MindWrack when you have 2 Phanstasms up?
Someone should play these classes before posting…

Maybe someone should learn to read before posting? In the disclaimer I clearly state that not everyone is going to agree with all the build decisions. These are just some of the builds that people I’ve talked to use to excellent effect.

Maybe using Assasin’s Signet before Pistol Whip is a waste. I dunno. I don’t play Pistol Whip, I use pistol/dagger. That’s just what a friend of mine does and since he pistol whips people to death in less then 4 seconds, I’ll take his word for it, not some random on the internet.

Second, you have three illusions up before you Mind Wrack. It clearly says that in my original post. Duelist > Mirror Blade > Berserker. Counting is hard.

Thanks for the input though, snarky as it was.

Assassin’s Signet deals 150% more damage on your next attack. Since one PW hits 8 or 9 times (can’t remember) Assassin’s Signet only affects one strike, or just the actual pistol whip part of the animation. AS is largely used for Backstab builds or a final HS.

I personally don’t shatter (unless its the end of a fight) because I use a variation of Taugrim’s Legion build which treats phantasms as “valuable allies”. They increase damage, grant protection and regeneration, you move faster with more, you take less damage for each one out, etc.

Sorry if I offended you. I didn’t mean to come across as snarky.

I’m not sure what you’re trying to say…….
And oh, you don’t use Assassin’s Signet before Pistol Whip. That’d be a waste.
Why would you MindWrack when you have 2 Phanstasms up?
Someone should play these classes before posting…

^^^
This man wins.

It doesn’t affect any skills or traits at all. It’s all looks.

tluv.5821:

@Devolution

That’s not my issues. MY issue is that they are able to 2v1 people and do a total over 40k + in 4 seconds. That is a DPS of 10k. That is absurd. Yeah, some other characters do high damage. But it is usually burst damage. That is what the thief is supposed to specialize in. Burts high damage. Not CONSTANT high damage.

Please tell me how Thieves are able to do 40k damage in 4 seconds. Please.

As Dee Jay said, it depends on PvE or PvP, and what spec your running with each weapon set.

I find S/P to overall provide both better damage and utility in both PvE and PvP due to PW and the 1 chain hitting very hard while being PbAoE. Pistol Whip also has an evade attached to it which kinda rules out the whole “your vulnerable while PWing”.

D/D can hit very (read, VERY) hard with Backstab and Heartseeker. Mug can easily crit for 5k damage with a D/D power/crit setup.

Side note-
Yes people can walk out of about half of PW, but not if they’re crippled (which the 1 skill chain applies) or you use haste with PW. Lots of fun popping haste and Pistol Whipping 2-3 unsespecting enemies
Both are competitive, just go with what you like best. I prefer S/P, Dee Jay prefers D/D.

You know what, your right. That 43% constant speed buff has to go. NERFZ RANGERZS!!!

In all seriousness, you won’t catch a Thief if he puts his mind to it. For example:
Signet of Shadows-25% speed buff.
Expeditious Dodger-5 pt Acrobatic minor. 2 sec of swiftness on dodge.
Shadowstep-1200 range instant teleport.
Infiltrator’s Arror-5th Shortbow skill,900 range teleport (well, more like 750 cause the arrow has to travel there before we teleport).
Oh, and then (depending on his weapon set) he could have used Infiltrator’s Stirke to leave behind Shadow Return, which is a 1200 range teleport to where he first used Infiltrator’s Strike.
And then Steal, which is a 900 range teleport (must have a target) but if traited can apply 10 seconds of swiftness and 15 seconds of Vigor.

This isn’t even considering things like Sigil of Energy or anything like that.
Good luck catching up with a Thief.

Does PW hurt? Yes. Does it hurt even more with quickness? Yes. Does it 1 shot you? No.
Even if you only have 17k hp (glass cannon) PW will not 1 shot you. 2 PW’s will kill you though. It takes more skill than people realize to set up and execute. It only has a 1/2 second stun, so PW spammers HAVE to have haste to make PW work. Not to mention that 3 PW will drain all of your initiative plus endurance if you used haste.

Dreadspectre.3456:

That Double Strike is OP as hell.

LOL.
That was pretty funny.

See that guy in the comment section? Ablaze Treestump? I’ve played with him before (he’s an ele). He is a very poor looser, and instantly calls OP whenever he is killed. I should know as I have killed him several times.

When you say “working as intended”, I assume you mean burst. Yes, Thieves are supposed to be bursty, hence our Initiative points. I would even go so far as to say, if played CORRECTLY Thieves have the highest burst potential out of any class. What you’re dealing with here is a stealth Thief that relies on Backstab to burst you down. That Backstab crit wasn’t even very high. The highest I’ve ever seen was a 25k Backstab. I’m not even kidding. Before the cries of "omgz, THATZ SO OP!!!), it took immense settup and timing, not to mention that he blew all of his cooldowns in one attack. If the Thief had missed, he would be a sitting duck.

I think what people fail to realise is that there are consequences for every action a Thief takes. Just because we don’t have cooldowns doesn’t mean we don’t have to pay for our attacks.

Side note-
As a glasscannon ( which I’m assuming you are cause you only have 17k health), you should expect to get blown up very easy. That’s the tradeoff for lots of damage.

I agree with the OP to a certain extent. But he still sounds like a hypocrite.

Thank you. This is the thread I have been wanting to make for several days now.

First, you’ve got at least one factual error here. Whirling Axe does not evade. You can absolutely be smacked around while whirling. Its not a leap-evade like Death Blossom. Its a channeled PBAoE, like Dagger Storm. except it doesn’t reflect projectiles. you’re very vulnerable while doing it.
snip
Actually, Whirling Axe DOES evade. The entire animation of it. I agree with the rest of what you said, but this is wrong. Yes its channeled, yes its PBAoe, but it does evade.

To the OP: Isn’t your first post just a copy-paste from GW2 Guru that you made a few days before launch? If so, has nothing changed in your opinions?
To Drake:
Glad to see you posting on the official forums, I’ve always appreciated your input on MMO-Champ. I believe Throw Gunk is underused and understated, but still somewhat pales in comparison to say, Consume Ectoplasm or the Spin-To-Win.
The tooltip on Throw Gunk is actually a little misleading. It actually applies 1 random condition per second the foe stands in it, not just 1 random condition.

On a random side note-
Whenever someone cusses, the word is replaced with the word “kitten.” I just figured that out.

If anything, S/P is the strongest and most balanced melee set. Pistol Whip kills, even with the somewhat slow animation. You also have a ranged interrput, a gap closer with an immobilize, a blind field, and an amazing #1 skill. In sPvP, you only need Haste to make PW work. Trust me.