GW2 Thief Discussion

[Glytch]

Glytch how much crit chance did you have with your setup last beta?

i think like 35% at lvl 30 i didnt spec crit in pvp

[Cempa]

Would be great if some one is willing to help me/us out understanding how da heck are we supposed to read into Traits. Assume I have basic working knowledge of the English language and can make out what a mouse over reads!

I love this profession, I think being able to play melee/ranged at the same time is an awesome innovation and love how players who will be able to switch weapon -or stance if you are an Elementalists- at the right time to gain an advantage will excel.

I have been playing Pistol/Pistol both PvP and PvE and have not settled on the second set as I am PvP focused.

Seeing how traits are pretty much fixed for both weapons and some traits buff Pistol while others buff other weapons does that even matter?

Improve resource regeneration? PvP mitigation or a mix?

[Glytch]

Would be great if some one is willing to help me/us out understanding how da heck are we supposed to read into Traits. Assume I have basic working knowledge of the English language and can make out what a mouse over reads!

I love this profession, I think being able to play melee/ranged at the same time is an awesome innovation and love how players who will be able to switch weapon -or stance if you are an Elementalists- at the right time to gain an advantage will excel.

I have been playing Pistol/Pistol both PvP and PvE and have not settled on the second set as I am PvP focused.

Seeing how traits are pretty much fixed for both weapons and some traits buff Pistol while others buff other weapons does that even matter?

Improve resource regeneration? PvP mitigation or a mix?

it really depends on what you want to do.

my main question: since you seem to be more worried on the weapon you want to use rather than a specific strategy in general, why do you like p/p? is it the control? your second weapon set should either be able to support your main weapon set or it should make up for weaknesses

what traits did you have in mind?

[Cempa]

I need more play time but at least I know I like how P/P plays in PvP. Trait wise I want a good balance between initiative regen and PvP stats that are needed as to survive.

I don't know how deep should I go into Trickery for initiative or how deep to go into Condition damage. Also I am not 100% clear on what P/P is focused on, condition? Poison? Signets? Or did I just completely miss the boat here :/

[Glytch]

looks like youre focusing alot on kiting so id say for a second weapon setup to go P/D so that when they do get up to you you can either 1) shadow strike them to get away, or 2) cloak and dagger for stealth, run off and use sneak attack to stack up bleeds

as for traits... you seem to be going really strong on condition damage, with pistols bleeds and spider venom

http://www.gw2tools.com/skills#t;kka...fVa;YYYb;ZUZcY

something like this might be a good start on what your traits want to look like

trickery is there for + condition damage and slight of hand is to make stealing with pistols less painful

potent poison is to maintain high uptime on poisons since theres alot of condition damage

combined training and combined tactics are both for unload

pistol mastery is obvious and ankle shots helps with your kiting game even more, as is uncatchable. note when you're stuck in P/D when waiting for the swap cooldown to come back up you can throw dancing daggers to keep enemies crippled and away from you

you said you want init regen: if you want more than in this build you can drop slight of hand for inital strike to help even more. like i said this is kind of a jumping off point so change whatever you want

[Cempa]

Thanks, I can't wait to get my head completely wrapped around GW2 builds

..and yes I do enjoy playing medium range kiting as well as ranged.

What do you think of Shortbow port like ability -shadowstep?

[Glytch]

Thanks, I can't wait to get my head completely wrapped around GW2 builds

..and yes I do enjoy playing medium range kiting as well as ranged.

What do you think of Shortbow port like ability -shadowstep?

specifically for your focus: which i take it is hot join and structured pvp, not worth taking a shortbow. while hot join can have up to 10v10 i dont feel like its worth taking since most fights will be small scale fights and it will be hard to take advantage of the aoe moves. in addition shortbow lacks the utilitarian options you want in pvp. if you're wanting to use shortbow only to shadowstep away keep in mind theres a 15 second CD on weapon swapping, when you swap you're locked to that weapon until the CD is up again. thats why i suggested P/D since it offers more useful abilities for what you want to do. that being said if you do any WvW shortbow would be useful. if you want the shadowstep for even more mobility id suggest first trying withdraw as your heal instead of hide in shadows

[DrakeWurrum]

If kiting is your focus, you definitely want Ankle Shots, and when you're gearing the character you'll want a decent amount of crit, but I also recommend Shortbow for the second slot (not because of the shadowstep, but because of the evading cripple). Gogo ranged Thief!
Worth noting: I tried Shortbow for shortly in PvP, and it didn't really seem useful outside of sieging.

I'm not sure if I entirely agree with going Pistol/Dagger just because Unload is unbelievable damage, but P/D would definitely be the strongest weapon for kiting. Ankle Shots for initiative-free cripples, Shadow Strike for a free "GET AWAY!" type move, and then Crippling Dagger for a good cleaving cripple...
What you COULD do is have one set as P/D, and the other as P/P. Stick to the first one when you're being focused, and use the second one when you want to go heavy on damage (or if you want the Daze or the AoE Blind which, believe me, are quite useful).

If your goal is keeping distance, you should consider Withdraw and Roll for Initiative. They're amazing at keeping away from an enemy, as well as condition removal.

You seem to like the Venoms as well, so hrm. An offensive build could look like:
http://www.gw2builds.org/create/bwe_...0.11.1.10.3.12
It's a shame to lack defensive attributes from traits, but kiting would be your main defense, huh? I figured dodge + caltrops would be a good choice for you as a result. You could replace Sundering Strikes with Quick Venoms, if you felt it necessary (shaves them down to 36-second CDs).

A more defensive build could look like:
http://www.gw2builds.org/create/bwe_...10.9.12.5.3.12
Notice that using your heal returns both initiative and endurance! The trait Hard to Catch would quite literally make you hard to catch... the result being a free auto-stun breaker, though it's got a cooldown. If you don't feel Pistol Mastery is useful in this build, you could trade it out for Concealed Defeat, but that also depends on how often you get Downed!

[Glytch]

If kiting is your focus, you definitely want Ankle Shots, and when you're gearing the character you'll want a decent amount of crit, but I also recommend Shortbow for the second slot (not because of the shadowstep, but because of the evading cripple). Gogo ranged Thief!
Worth noting: I tried Shortbow for shortly in PvP, and it didn't really seem useful outside of sieging.

I'm not sure if I entirely agree with going Pistol/Dagger just because Unload is unbelievable damage, but P/D would definitely be the strongest weapon for kiting. Ankle Shots for initiative-free cripples, Shadow Strike for a free "GET AWAY!" type move, and then Crippling Dagger for a good cleaving cripple...

the problem with shortbow is if he has to "get away" with evade then he loses ankle shots entirely until he swaps back, with p/d he still keeps it along with an on demand crip if needed. disagreeing with p/d as a backup (which he asked for a suggestion on) because you lose unload doesnt make any sense, if you have any weapon setup other than a duplicate you lose unload. the assumption is, unless you're trying to break the weapon swap traits, when you make a second weapon set its different than your main

[DrakeWurrum]

the problem with shortbow is if he has to "get away" with evade then he loses ankle shots entirely until he swaps back, with p/d he still keeps it along with an on demand crip if needed. disagreeing with p/d as a backup (which he asked for a suggestion on) because you lose unload doesnt make any sense, if you have any weapon setup other than a duplicate you lose unload. the assumption is, unless you're trying to break the weapon swap traits, when you make a second weapon set its different than your main

Should read my heavily-edited post, as it mostly makes your post irrelevant. :O!

I personally tried both Pistol/Pistol and Shortbow for a short time in WvW... mostly skirmishing, because it seemed nobody was willing to commit to long sieges. Shortbow, as I said, felt lacking, but Pistol/Pistol proved to be amazing at killing people. I relied a lot on the AoE blind, and the Daze (which doesn't just stop skills, but keeps them from moving for a second), for survival...
It obviously wouldn't be as good as P/D when you need to play defensively, but offensively it's unmatched (since we don't have any other ranged weps anyways).

[Glytch]

I need more play time but at least I know I like how P/P plays in PvP.

for a second weapon setup to go P/D

What you COULD do is have one set as P/D, and the other as P/P.

sounds familiar

I'm not sure if I entirely agree with going Pistol/Dagger just because Unload is unbelievable damage

also, that's still there






simple version: he committed to p/p, asked for a suggestion on a backup. i suggested p/d as a backup for p/p given the focus his linked build showed (staying away)

having p/d as a backup doesnt affect his p/p's ability to use unload at all, which is what makes your

I'm not sure if I entirely agree with going Pistol/Dagger just because Unload is unbelievable damage

quote sound silly in context


to sum up:
the fact you suggested p/d as a backup after i did: dont care, still going to make fun of it
the line about p/d not being a good backup to p/p since you lose unload: still exists, still doesnt make sense in context
the counter argument about shortbows: valid since you suggested a shortbow, i merely point out i feel shortbow wouldnt be the best.

[DrakeWurrum]

sounds familiar

Hrm, I had missed that, I'll admit. All I know is that none of his posts on this page mentioned P/D.



Also: you're a jerk.

[Glytch]

Hrm, I had missed that, I'll admit. All I know is that none of his posts on this page mentioned P/D.



Also: you're a jerk.

he never mentioned p/d, i suggested p/d as a backup

he said he wanted to do pistol pistol

assuming you only misread, but im still going to have fun

also: im not a jerk, im clever

[DrakeWurrum]

In other words you're just trying to say "I said it first."

To be fair, I didn't notice that you said *second* weapon setup. I was glazing through it in a bit of a hurry, and just noticed you suggesting P/D.

[Glytch]

In other words you're just trying to say "I said it first."

No but I guess I can't force you to think otherwise

[Cempa]

Thanks for the input, I get the difference now and P/D looks like a solid choice as a second set as the idea is ranged/kite and swap for defensive reasons.

As for the 'other' slots, Basilisk Venom has a 45 sec CD and I really enjoyed how it fits in to the range/control/kiting though I admit I have not tested the rest any feedback here would be appreciated.

To Venom or not to Venom as P/P?

[DrakeWurrum]

As for the 'other' slots, Basilisk Venom has a 45 sec CD and I really enjoyed how it fits in to the range/control/kiting though I admit I have not tested the rest any feedback here would be appreciated.

To Venom or not to Venom as P/P?

No real reason not to. It helps that you don't even have to be in melee range to apply poisons, with such a build.

Dagger Storm, as an alternative, wouldn't be as good imo, since you're not likely to jump into the middle of a bunch of enemies.
Thieves Guild is a worthy option as well, but I haven't played with the skill. As it stands, you already get 2 other venoms, so why not get the Basilisk Venom and trait for venoms?

[Migey]

Dagger Storm is the only viable elite skill if you go with Signet of Malice. Basilisk Venom is okay but not fun to use as the stun is just too short.

[DrakeWurrum]

Dagger Storm is the only viable elite skill if you go with Signet of Malice. Basilisk Venom is okay but not fun to use as the stun is just too short.

It doesn't feel so short when you're on the receiving end. Anything that prevents an enemy from performing actions for even a second is immensely useful.

[Cempa]

Basilisk Venom is a 100% its just too good for a Ranged Thief with just 45 sec CD. The question is what to get in the other slots?

Venom Vs Signets?
?
Which fits better with P/P?

Was also thinking about the Shadowstep one -panther- another great way to create distance as I shadowstep to a location and if used again returns me to initial spot.

How is this:

http://gw2.luna-atra.fr/skills_tool/...8l8s92969lk0k2