Guild Wars 2

A while back I had the same problem happen twice in one run and the only odd thing I noticed was that Detha had a DoT on her each time. I haven’t tested it since (or seen it happen again) but that could be it.

Lol, so OP creates a super anticipated contest and disappears from the face of the earth?

/apologies in advance if something bad happened to the OP!

Last night I got the boot for the first time in a while. I joined a “se p1 full zerk” group, get to Tazza, start working on the pull, and read “haha we no tazza noob” (in full caps, ofc). Loading screen.

Filthy se bag farmers..

Man up, give up the survivability gear, and spec for full damage.

Carighan.6758:

I would argue it caters to the MMO-loving crowd, but well…
Plus really, “only caters”? Because all you do is listen to Kasmeer and Marjory talk, and then your game closes until July the 15th? Uh huh.

Ok, so how would you say that this release caters to the non-story-loving crowd? (And please don’t suggest I should enjoy running around picking up kites and dropping them into a basket.)

Truth is, many people don’t care about the “story” part of Living Story. To us Living Story is only the vehicule by which we get new content that we might actually like.

So when a supposedly huge launch comes out (it is the start of season 2 after all) and it ONLY caters to the story-loving crowd, of course we’ll be disappointed.

I’m with you OP. I can’t for the life of me understand how people are satisfied with this new, easy, go to green star here, go to green star there content.

The goal is to work towards having berserker everything, but there is no need to race there (not sure if that’s your situation). A good starting point would be valkyrie armor with some kind of defensive runeset along with berserker weapons and berserker jewelry.

As you get more comfortable and learn the boss mechanics, you can take off the training wheels and use berserker armor instead. After that you can get rid of the 3 pts in Acrobatics and invest them into more dps.

The best mix of damage and survivability is probably 5-6-0-3-0. Survivability will come from a) the 3 points in Acrobatics that provide an extra dodge and swiftness and b) sword/pistol’s amazing weapon skills. Teleport, condi cleanse, attack while evading, interrupts, and a blind field which trivializes all non-champion mobs.

As for th traits (in order): vulnerability on crit, + dmg for dual skills (works with sword 3), +7% crit from side, 7% of precision converted to vitality, +20% damage, might on dodge.

That being said, you should use dagger/dagger against single target bosses. Daggers also work really well with this build. If you want to optimize in those cases, change the 2nd trait to +5% damage with daggers.

Most of the names I don’t know by heart so I’ll go by description in those cases.

Line 1:
-Vulnerability on crit
-Plus 5% dagger damage
-Revealed Training, or Improvisation if playing with an ele who drops lots of conjured weapons

Line 2:
-Plus 7% crit chance
-Precision coverted to vitality
-Plus 20% damage under 50% health

Line 5:
-Plus 5% damage

6-6-0-0-2 is the dps meta. 5-6-0-3-0 when you need more dodges such as solo situations.

S/P for trash, D/D for bosses, SB always on for prefight might stacking.

Utilities are usually full signet for max dps – agility, assassin, and the one that helps initiative regen. Swap in smoke screen for that last one when projectile defense is needed.

The DnT guys are just jealous they don’t come up with rad build names like BLOOD CHOPPER!!

ekimsfree.9406:

I don’t think people understand what a “Story” is…

The problem is that I don’t care about the “story”. To me, the Living Story is just the method by which new content is released. So when a supposedly large update comes along – it is the start of season 2 after all – and all I have to do is go from one green point to the next you can be sure I’ll be disappointed.

My version of good living “story” stuff is the fractal update or Tequatl i.e. somewhat challenging, new, repeatable content. Even if it has nothing to do with the story.

Not everything, no. I just wanted… something.

I’m quite disappointed with the release. Instead of starting out with a bang, they started out with a dud.

I was expecting new and exciting stuff – that Anet had learned from it’s LS 1 mistakes – but it’s just the same old type of boring group events. Nothing engaging gameplay-wise. I probably won’t be playing this game for too long anymore. I’m tired of doing the same dungeons/fractals for the 1000th time.

Oh so this is the subforum where people randomly give away Eternity

That’s excatly how I planned to get my 1st legendary, count me in!

Replace the soldier trinkets with berserker. Stay with S/P but sigils should be Force and Undead. Heal & utilities: signet of malice, of agility, of assassin, smoke screen, daggerstorm. Undead potion + heal on crit food (dragon rolls). Build 5-6-0-0-3 for the extra initiative. Pistol whip spam will be your friend – slot the trait that gives a damage boost to dual skills.

Use smoke screen and daggerstorm on cooldown. When not available spam pistol whip. Profit.

You’ll be fine. Real zerkers don’t die, they transcend.

@OP 15 pts in Acrobatics is a nice comfort zone and most thieves have been there at some point and time. But yeah, if you care about personnal dps – and it seems you do – lose the crutch!

You’re missing out on a lot of good bonuses: +50 power, sweet sweet grandmaster traits from the 1st line (reaveled training, improvisation) and a +5% damage modifier. This adds up to about 12% when using revealed training and 18% when using ele conjured weapons with improvisation. Your estimates were pretty spot on gg.

Now what do you actually gain from 15 pts in Acro? Against trash mobs, you don’t need to dodge because S/P is OP. Against bosses you’ll be running D/D which has built in Endurance regen which should be enough. Need extra dodges fast? Pop signet of agility. Or slot Withdraw as a heal for dodge-heavy fights (great heal per second). See? You’ll come to realize you don’t REALLY need that extra dodge. Sure it’s nice but…

I’m not a special player and I pug using 6-6-0-0-2 all the time. I don’t die more than others. All the guys I play with also use that build. Most pugs don’t because most pugs play bad builds. The only times I switch to 5-6-0-3-0 are pug lupi, mossman and mai trin.

data.4093:

If people fear showing others their stuff, they probably aren’t wanted in that group and want others to carry them. The people who gear check will still gear check, the people who don’t still won’t.

So well said.

Problems with having auto targetting on:

-When running from mobs, you can’t use movement skills (leaps, rushes, etc.) without crashing into them and getting in combat.
-It messes up positioning and makes it much harder to cleave a group of 3 mobs because your attacks will always be aimed towards only one of them.
-And most importantly… YOU CAN’T USE FGS #4 WITH IT!

So yeah, it’s better to have it turned off. Just have a handy key you can press for easy targetting when needed and you’ll be fine.

By the way, OP wasn’t being sarcastic. This quest gives access to a nifty little consumable.

Any word from Anet on whether we’ll be able to get the meta achievement after this Friday’s reset?

Jabsies about to go to town on some AC burrows.
Brooksies ready for blossom-clear duty in TA.
Stabsies getting stabby in SE. Even if she has S/P equipped.

Edited for more soul.

Thieves have two of the best weapon sets for dungeons: S/P for aoe trash clearing along with an OP blindfield and D/D for top notch single target damage on bosses.

Anet failed to do the math on what Opportunist brings. Cleaving multiple targets and faster/more attacks from haste and thieves guild would proc lots of Opportunists. So yeah PVE thieves – where it’s easy to be attacking every second – who used the Quick Recov trait are getting a nerf when using D/D, and a huge nerf in AOE situations. It’s simple math I can’t believe Anet think they are buffing initiative. GG.

Go for berserker gear. Or at least work towards it as you get used to thief dungeon play. And make sure you also get a sword/pistol set, it’s solid for trash mobs.

Rising Dusk.2408:

I won’t join your guild, but if you need someone for a run of whatever, let me know.

Too elitist for the elitists. Respect.

Awesome idea, I’d love an invite to the group!

Tulisin.6945:

Acrobatics is a different defensive doctrine than stealth-based defense. Your stealth-inducing utilities cease to be your “best utilities” when you’re relying on dodge for offense and defense instead of stealth. By leaning heavily on stealth via utilities and investing in Shadow Arts this fits more into the category of a hybridized build than something Acrobatics-based.

(…)

The thesis of this post is that Acrobatics is an “alternative to traditional stealth based builds”, and this is very true, but the OP just spent 25 points in Acrobatics and then continues to rely on stealth for everything via heal/utilities.

Yes, I myself rely on insane amounts of dodges to stay alive. But the group utility that Smoke Screen and Refuge bring are too good to pass up (especially Smoke Screen). Investing in acrobatics doesn’t mean I can’t get the benefits from stealth (I’d be a fool not to). Maybe the title causes confusion but meh, I’m not here to argue semantics.

I guess the best way to rephrase it is that the build doesn’t rely on the +2 initiative on stealth major trait (awesome for dagger mainhand but kinda gimpy for sword and bow). And since I use all 3 of these weapon sets a whole lot, I planned a build that worked equally well for all of them.

Molch.2078:

And even with this build, you want to D/D almost every single boss in the game. Can’t do that without + 2 Ini on stealth.

I can backstab a boss all day while staying over 6 initiative thanks to alternative stealthing methods (see below) and the initiative regen I get from traits.

Stealing the yellow item (most commonly stolen item).
Heatseeker through Smoke Screen, low cooldown + long duration
Shadow Refuge
Heal skill

Tulisin.6945:

For acrobatics I actually prefer to forego Shadow Arts altogether and run Signet of Malice + Dodgetrops synergy from Trickery. Trickery also gets you all-around more initiative and more access to boons so you can utilize that boon duration from Acrobatics. I’m not a fan of doing Shadow Arts unless you’re going to do it right with x/D or D/P for heavy stealth.

Using Signet of Malice in this build instead of Hide In Shadows leaves you with only 1 way to remove conditions (Sig. of Agility). No thanks!

3) UTILITIES

Most of the time I’ll run Sig of Agility (great active and passive), Smoke Screen (mmmm) and Shadow refuge, but I switch often.

Hide in shadows for heal + condition removal.

Elite = thieves guild or dagger storm if reflects are needed.

4) WEAPON SETS

Shortbow – Pretty much my default secondary set. More-than-decent AOE, infinite blast finishers, weakness spam, sick mobility.

Sword/Pistol – Used for trash mobs and SOME bosses. The 100% uptime on blind field and the integrated dodge of pistol whip allow you to face tank mobs (not bosses!) and cleave like warriors. The auto attack is a beast and all attacks hit up to 3 targets. Great mobility and condition removal with #2 skill.

Dagger/Dagger – Used for single target encounters. The auto attack damage is similar to the sword’s, but daggers pull way ahead with their Backstabs and Heartseekers (at low health).

Dagger/Pistol – Situational. I prefer Dagger/Dagger. As I said I only run dagger on bosses, and the pistol’s blind field doesn’t work too well there. Also, the cost of entering stealth (blind field + heartseeker) is higher than a simple Cloak and Dagger (dagger offhand). It does have it’s uses though when you want to stack stealth without having to hit mobs.

Sword/Dagger – Situational. Only used when I can steal tons of boons from mobs. Dredge fractal is your friend.

Pistol/Pistol – Situational. I only use it to look kitten or for easy-to-survive ranged encounters (like the end boss of the dredge fractal). You can switch around your Crit Strikes traits to be able to spam Unloads for hours on end. Load up your heal and utility bar with signets, get traits V and VIII for +10% dmg with pistols and 2 initiative on signet use. Proceed to melt boss’ face from afar.

That’s about it. Please critique, comment or troll below.

This build offers very good damage along with survivability and initiative regen. Check it out if you want to get away from the traditional stealth-based builds. The main strength is its synergy with EVERY weapon set and, as mentioned, not being overly reliant on stealth (which only really profits dagger mainhand anyways). It’s great for players who constantly switch out their weapons based on the encounter.

5 / 30 / 10 / 25 / 0
I can’t put up a link for it because I’m at work and all build calculators are blocked here. kitten the man. Traits detailed further below.

1) THE BIG PICTURE

Damage
The build offers enough survivability to allow you to play in full berzerker gear. This is not required but it’s definitely something you should aim for. You’ll have the following damage modifiers :
1) +20% damage when mob health is under 50%
2) +10% dmg when endurance is not full. Dodges are your life and should be used often enough to keep near 100% uptime on this booster.
3) +10% dmg when initiative over 6. Relatively easy to keep near 100% uptime because of the good initiative regen.

Survivability
-3 dodges
-Lots of vitality and increased boon duration from the Acrobatics tree
-No toughness = less aggro
-Good condition removal : agility signet, hide in shadows heal, sword #2, condition removal on stealth (optional)

Initiative regen
From Acrobatics IX and the 15 point minor trait in Critical Strikes. No need to stealth to regain initiative, so it’s very useful with Sword/Pistol and Shortbow which should be your main PVE trash mob weapons (AOE, blind field, infinite blast finisher, weakness combo).

2) THE TRAITS

Deadly arts : 5 pts
These are my 5 leftover points and are only used for the extra 50 power (MOARR DPS). Feel free to place them elsewhere. Acrobatics 30 for Quick Pockets or Trickery 5 are good options for more initiative regen, but it’s a bit of overkill.

Critical Strikes : 30 pts
The thief’s bread and butter and home of the awesome traits. For the majors I usually run III, VI and XI. Sometimes others…
I : 10 sec fury on a 45 sec cooldown. Not necessary if you’re rolling with banner warriors but useful on trash mobs otherwise.
III : +7% crit chance from the back (nuff said).
VI : 5% of precision converted to vit (and you’ll have very high precision).
XI : 20% extra damage when mob health under 50%

*XII : I rarely use this as it synergizes with a Dagger/Dagger backstab setup that should pretty much only be used on single target boss fights. Also my crit chance is high enough that it’s mathematically not worth using (anything over 62ish%, someone else’s math on the forums, seems legit!).

Shadow Arts : 10 pts
The 10 point major-trait offers some nice options.
I : This is what I use 90% of the time. Reduced cooldown on my Deception (best) utilities: Smoke Screen and Shadow Refuge.
IV : If extra condition removal is needed. Situational.

Acobatics : 25 pts
Every trait in this line up to 25 pts is pure gold. Swiftness on dodge, might on dodge, returns endurance on dodge (essentially giving you 3 dodges… and more might), auto initiative recovery every 10 sec, +10% damage.

I won’t list builds because there are plenty posted on this forum and I’m to lazy, but to answer your other questions:

You should definetely gear full zerker and get your defense through traits. Yes you can also go with full glass canon traits (25/30/ – / – / – ) but you better be really skilled at avoiding damage.

Thief’s damage output UNBUFFED is very similar to a warrior’s if not better (especially on single targets). Where warriors distance themselves is by buffing the GROUP’s dps (banners, FGJ, etc.).

On of the best safe, all-around dungeon builds is 0/30/30/10/0. Good damage, initiative sustain, survivability, movement and team utility (as far as thieves go…).

Heals and utilities = hide in shadows, smoke screen (always!), shadow refuge, blinding powder, signet of agility, thieves guild, daggerstorm (situational).

Critical strikes traits = your choice… +5% vit, +5% crit, fury @ 50% health, +20% damage, auto-crit from stealth.

Shadow arts traits = 20% deception cooldown, remove condition on stealth, +2 initiative on stealth.

Acrobatics = might on dodge. You’ll build nice stacks since you also get might on stealth. The swiftness on dodge minor trait is super useful.

The point is to work yourself towards full berzerker gear, or close. This build allows you to do so if played well.

Big bad boonhate warrior gonna getcha!

This issue needed to get fixed asap 7 months ago.

I don’t understand what’s taking so long – granted I know nothing of programming – but this is the ONLY game where I’ve had this happen.

My thoughts from a purely PVE/dungeon perspective: love how mobs react to the “new” stealth, hate the 4s revealed nerf.

It used to be that when we got aggro, we could stealth and instantly the mob would turn to another group member and charge him. That’s good for the thief but pretty bad for everyone else as we’d just dump aggro on others. Now the mob keep the thief targeted, but just stands there confused. We keep aggro without getting hit and that’s awesome.

As for the revealed nerf, yeah, Anet completely botched this one. It doesn’t even make sense. Hear me out: It’s understood that the nerf came because of PVP and WVW. Now go ahead and play PVP/WVW and tell me if you’re able to land a Cloak & Dag + Backstab every 3s. It’s almost impossible as targets are moving way too much and way too fast. So the nerf that was intended for PVP/WVW does not actually affect this game mode because chances are you can’t land this combo faster then every 4s anyway! So it only hurts PVE where mobs are more or less static… and thieves were not OP in PVE to begin with so whats the point???

Also it really hurts the whole Shadow Arts tree where the thief gets all his buffs (might, regen, condition removal, initiative) from stealthing. They wanted to tone down backstab damage through it’s frequency but killed all the other goodies that come with stealthing.

Sigh.

I got to Simin with 2 separate groups last night (in 2 separate instances). Both times, even after resetting Simin multiple times, this is what happened:

Simin would ALWAYS go stealth/invulnerable at 50% health. And not just after her 1st phase as is intended. So we would unstealth her with the sparks, she would re-appear at 55%ish health, we’d DPS her for 5 seconds, and then she’d go back to stealth at 50% health. Both groups had good DPS and we just couldn’t get her past 50%, ever.

I’ve beaten her a few times before and never had this happen. This bug is very frustrating when you take into account the time it takes just to get to this boss. Please either fix it, give us a trick to reset her adequatly or let us know if the boss is just plain broken… so we stop beating our collective heads against a wall.

Thanks

Replied just to bring the thread back up to main page.

Please Anet any form of communication would be appreciated.

Warriors are doing 40K crits with Hundred Blades as we’re speaking. Why didn’t THEY get a pve nerf?

I’m going on a hunger strike: no more omnomberry pies untill I get answers, Anet!

Please explain why you completely nerfed our dungeon viability by adding 1s to the revealed debuff.

Were we overpowered to begin with?

Thanks

Is there any reason to use those traits anymore after Anet added 1s to ‘revealed’?

All the benefits from that line – might stacking, initiative regen, health regen, condition removal, etc. – came from stealthing as often as possible. It seems Anet forgot to factor this into their decision.

PVE thieves have greatly reduced survivability as a melee class with this nerf. And we already had the worst. Meanwhile, warriors sit on top of mobs with heavy armors and hit up to 3 targets, doing more damage to them individually than a thief does to 1 target with daggers.

Arena Net, Thief PVE stealth did not need a nerf. The issue was with PVP and WvW!

From the PVE persperctive:

Anet wanted to nerf stealth in PVP and WvW, but essentially only nerfed PVE (where stealth and backstabs were NOT an overpowered issue to begin with). It’s just plain dumb on Anet’s part.

The Shadow Arts trait line is pretty useless now. Most benefits from that line come from stealthing: might, regen, condi removal, initiative regen, etc. Adding the 1s on revealed makes all the actions listed above 25% less effective.

Anet, how about differenciating PVP from PVE?????

Name: Stabsies
Profession: Thief
Traited: 0 / 30 / 30 / 10 / 0 (dps + decent support)
Gear: Multiple exotic sets, soon to have full ascended jewelry
Experience: Zero!
Time: Weeknights (16:00 to 21:00 server) and weekends
Other: It’s about time I gave this dungeon a try. This looks like the place to do it!

Thanks