Guild Wars 2

Regardless of your standpoint, it’s hard to argue that the trait is worth investing 6 into the power lane. There is nothing useful in the power lane — and Revealed Training is not worth dropping 6 points just for an additional 8%.

Sure, you’ll do more damage investing into the power traits, but you’re looking at a massive cripple in survivability if you do so. I would like to believe otherwise, but I invite anyone to try and make a successful build that can work against skilled players.

Also keep in mind that sigil of force is WAY better than Revealed Training because sigil of force is up ALL of the time, and even adds to your opening moves from stealth. Revealed Training wont even work on your first backstab/opener, and it functions for a few seconds after stealth is broken. This is utterly useless combined with the rest of the power lane which generously funnels you into venom based utilities. You’re better off going Critical Strikes if damage is what you want…

I made a video of power p/d over a month ago. The build still holds strong…. not changing a thing. If you decide to take up Revealed Training over going into the critical strikes/shadow arts lane, you’re going to have a bad time. It’s also not worth the 8% damage… especially when critical strikes offers a 10% pistol boost AND executioner… which is 30%+ damage total.

EDIT: oscuro i just checked out you’re link… nice

Thanks for posting the build! It’s a fairly common one even before the patch. There were multiple variations of it — the most popular being dire, and second more popular being carrion. You should also consider trying mug, since your steal recharge time is reduced mug grants you more damage AND a 2k heal every 20 seconds

CnD → Steal → Sneak Attack → Shadow Strike/CnD → repeat

I just came back from testing it to all holy hell. I’m convinced that it’s a useless trait coupled with the rest of the power lane. I even tried a might stacking S/D build and the killing time for S/D is very slow. I’m not out to make comparisons, but I always compare new builds to my own power p/d build. Maybe I’m more used to power P/D but investing into power for S/D cripples the hell out of S/D thieves. The extra power is literally 200-300 more damage.

Edit: You’re better off investing into critical strikes for S/D imo. More damage to be had through the critical strikes lane.

^Shpanks

I agree that the build has more room for defensive stats, but that’s not entirely the goal. Like other burst builds, I was aiming at doing as much damage as possible in the shortest amount of time. While the posted video does not demonstrate the power(shows rather difficult situations instead of me opening up on someone not expecting it), it shows the possible burst and survivability. Hence going even half way for conditions will change the play style and aggressiveness of this build. The conditions that exist from going power p/d are already enough to keep a good amount of pressure on the target. Increasing them a little more will only make a fraction of a difference(per second), opposed to being able to invest more powerful hits that happen instantly.

The defense/survivability in this build surround being able to dodge, withdraw, and teleport away at the common tell-tale signs of danger. This is a build that is far from passive, and requires a lot of attention to detail. The damage is there but surviving will, as usual, depend on the skill and ability of foresight within the player.

Thanks for the positive posts!!

@Jhughes, Absolutely! You really could mix up the build however you want with the stats, and go half power/condition. While half power/condition would work out fine with p/d, it may not be as competitive against knowledgeable players from some of the testing duels that I ran before settling on the build in the OP.

When I was originally throwing around stat points and trying to find a build to sit on, I chose power/crit% because I wanted damage that was consistent and somewhat comparable to a backstab, without having to backstab. Because that’s what makes thieves predictable right, setting up for a backstab… Anyways from the armor sets that I tried out, power/crit% is fantastic for killing FAST. I’d have to whip out my trusty calculator, but if one were to go hybrid with p/d, it may be less damage per second opposed to going full conditions, or full power.

Thanks for the positive feedback! I’m going to put more together in the following weeks. Something a bit longer…

Hai Noir! You so fancy… ;D

@Doggie, I see your point and I’ll offer you a counter. The reason power p/d has potential awesome-ness is the defensive attributes and overall survivability. If you go main hand dagger, roaming has never been easier against players that don’t know how to handle thieves. There is no other build that kills faster than a dagger main hand against newbies. However the moment you take your dagger versus a veteran, or even another dagger thief, this is where you’ll see the difference. Try getting two talented d/p thieves to duel, and see how long they draw out their fight. I personally have videos of 3-5 minute fights as d/p, versus other d/p thieves that know what they are doing. As p/d versus any other thief, the worst thing for them is creating distance while dealing solid damage.

The problem here is dagger main hand is completely offensive, and predictable. Anyone that plays a thief knows the rotation, and knows what to expect. This is why players like yishi thrive off CnD’ing off of cloaked thieves and manipulating them further.

TL;DR Sacrifice a little burst damage for being able to go defensive, and you’re golden against anything that tries to chase you.

@matthen, absolutely… http://intothemists.com/calc/?build=-c;4VwkZ06-FOVd0;9;49TT;02;040A35A;4LJV6-F04m9fgm9fgBBGgF6-6-N_schVlWYXv2147a630S70HV8-NX8a;15;9;9;9;9;9;0V8k3o

@ens, It is! Generally it’s nice to CnD to deal with conditions, because the CnD damage + sneak attack is greater. However Shadow Strike is extremely convenient because it hits hard and helps us keep distance.

I’ll try and put together a normal WvW video for the next shot

@Form, ranger’s in general are not a problem(there is also a clip in the video towards the end of one). And Warriors just take extra time, however they certainty couldn’t take down someone properly playing this build.

Thank you! I used to play P/D conditions for a while. It’s extremely effective however sometimes it takes a while to build up that damage pressure from stacking your conditions. This is a pretty fun alternative if you want to get in and out much quicker. The above videos are where i was having difficulty gaining control of the fight. In a typical WvW scenario where the target doesn’t see me coming, this builds ability to lay down a good amount of damage guarantees a quick kill.

Oppositely, if I’m having trouble I have a huge number of tools to gain distance and attempt to regain control of whichever situation I’m in.

UPDATED: 13AUG14: http://intothemists.com/calc/?build=-c;4VwkZ06-FOVd0;9;49TT;02;009A35A;4IF0;3m9fgm9fgBBGgF6-6-N_scOVTWYXcYi3o_630S70HV8-NX8a;15;9;9;9;9;9;0VTk3b
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Introduction:
Hello! Recently I have grown tired of running D/P and D/D, so I’ve been experimenting on various specs to try and find something else that can be competitive. Why not just D/P? Its predictable, and getting quite boring. I chose a power P/D build because of its utility and deception that it can bring to the table. A combination of weak conditions from P/D helps confuse and keep pressure on targets that rely on regen, and a good combination of Shadow Strike with CnD will make your opponent annoyingly retarget you over and over while you manipulate the fight. Also the potential damage from CnD/Sneak Attack/Shadow Strike is over looked in my opinion, and is often shoved off for users that prefer running condition builds.

The Build:
Timing is crucial and knowing what the other classes are capable of is a must. Knowing when to play defensive, and when you can start handing out the bear hugs is important. Since this isn’t a meta build, you can practically run anything you want, as long as you maintain your critical chance(without fury) above 60%. I have experimented with both 10/30/30, and 10/0/30/0/30. Both work great, but I prefer the damage gained from 10/30/30. Pick up pistol mastery, furious retaliation, with executioner and then customize the rest of the traits to your needs.

My current setup is P/V/CRIT% armor/weapons, with zerker trinkets. Crit % with food is 62%, precision stacks are added when not lazy. Traveler runes are not a must, but are preferred for an extra open slot as well as making roaming convenient.

Combo: CnD -> Steal -> Sneak attack -> Shadow Strike -> Play Smart

If you choose to reset with Shadow refuge, use sneak attack to your advantage for life leech. Normally people expect a thief to just evade when they pop a shadow refuge. This isn’t the case here… Confuse them and put them back on defensive mode by standing in shadow refuge for a couple of seconds(or whatever you need to regen), but make sure to AT LEAST pop sneak attack before shadow refuge finishes for life leech.

The combo itself generates an unexpected amount of damage. Assuming all crits were looking at ~3k + ~1.5k + ~2k + ~3k from a total combo. Keep in mind this is a constant damaging build.

http://intothemists.com/calc/?build=-c;4VwkZ06-FOVd0;9;49TT;02;040A35A;4LJV6-F04m9fgm9fgBBGgF6-6-N_schVlWYXv2147a630S70HV8-NX8a;15;9;9;9;9;9;0V8k3o

The Video:
It’s easy to post up a WvW roaming video where my targets will be unsuspecting, so I’m trying something different. The duels in this video are portrayed as bad cases, where the opponent KNOWS that I am about to attack, with some “Oh Kitten..” moments. I purposely get their attention and let them know I am around before my initial strikes, leading to lengthy and technical fights. These opponents are some of which I would consider harder to fight in normal cases.

http://youtu.be/PjmS_k70VkU

Funny how standing still or jumping from a platform to another has never had such severe consequences in LAGGY situations such as WvW…

Are those infinite coins sold in the gem store looking more appealing all the sudden?

What time will the update happen?