Post by bllades123 on Dec 31, 2012 15:14:11 GMT -5
First and foremost I want to establish a couple of points before we go farther into the rabbit hole.
1. This is strictly my opinion
- This does not mean I am right. I am only relaying you my observations from my experiences in PvP. It's all I do, so I like to think that at least some of this is credible.
2. Being comfortable with your own build, is the most important factor when PvP'ing with a thief or any profession for that matter.
- Heres a rule of thumb, if you're comfortable with it, and you can make it work. Do it. Don't change things around simply because someone else said to. Putting your own spin on builds is exactly how people perfect their profession.
3. There is no such thing as a viable or non-viable build in GW2. Some builds however, in a damage sense are more popular than others in certain PvP situations. (Like Spvp as opposed to Wpvp)
- Depending on situations, it is true that some builds are preferred than others. However this goes back to point 2, IT'S ALL ABOUT WHAT BUILD YOU ARE COMFORTABLE WITH.
Alright now that we have gotten that out of the way I will explain to you my theory behind the role of a thief in this game and then get into my build afterwards.
Thieves are meant to be glass cannon. When you look at a Thieves utilities, weapon abilites, etc. You notice they have a lot of "Get the hell out" abilities. THeres a reason for this, they're not meant to take a hit. Do not try to build a high burst damage profession as a tank. A Thiefs job is really simple, and im going to put this plainly...
Rip you're target in half, before they ever have a chance to do anything about it. - That is the role of a thief.
If you can't get in there and put something down before they have chance to counter, you better put on your dodge nikes. It only takes one well placed hammer warrior to ruin a thieves day.
Listed below are some of the more common Theif weapon builds found in Spvp and Wpvp. Note: There are hundreds of different builds, these are just the most common:
1. Dagger/Dagger Backstab Thief "Cookie cutter".
- Relies on getting behind the target to do an extremely high amount of burst damage quickly, then followed up by spamming heartseeker.
2. Sword/Dagger "Brawler" Thief
- Relies more on steady burst damage. You can think of this build as your more front lines combat Thief. Due mostly to the Shadowstep and Flanking strike abilites.
3. Pistol/Dagger "In and out condition Theif"
- Relies on using Cloak and Dagger combined with Sneak attack to stack bleeds on a target. You see more of this build in Spvp.
4. Dual Pistol/Caltrops "Bleed Theif"
- Stacks condition damage and kites enemies over caltrops to apply a huge amount of bleed damage over time. More commonly found in Spvp.
Now on to my personal build for WPvP and SPvP are the same.
Weapons: Sword/Dagger and shortbow
Traits: 25-30-0-15-0
Adept: Backfighting, Furious Retaliation, Power of Intertia
Master: Mug, Critical Haste
Grandmaster: Executioner
Utilities: Signet of Shadows, Shadowstep, Shadow Refuge
Elite: Dagger Storm ( A MUST HAVE IN WVW)
Armor Set: Full Berserker gear with Superior Rune of the Scholar
Weapons: Berserker Sword/ Berserker Dagger + Berserker Shorbow with Superior Sigil of Paralyzation on the Sword, Superior Sigil of Fire on the dagger, and Superior Sigil of Bloodlust on the shortbow.
(Berserker gear has Power, Precision, and + Crit Damage)
This build is HIGHLY DEPENDED ON YOUR ABILITY TO DODGE do not expect to take many hits while using this build. I promise if you stick with it, it'll come with experience because many people in WvW use cookie cutter builds and are extremely predictable. Especially warriors and other thieves.
If you get comfortable with this build, time your dodge right. You will smash just about anything thrown your way. I'm not going to tell you how I combine all of these abilities because half the fun if finding your own Ebb and Flow. Experiment, and happy hunting as one of the most powerful PvP professions in this game.
Feel free to ask if anything wasn't clear.
-Bllades
1. This is strictly my opinion
- This does not mean I am right. I am only relaying you my observations from my experiences in PvP. It's all I do, so I like to think that at least some of this is credible.
2. Being comfortable with your own build, is the most important factor when PvP'ing with a thief or any profession for that matter.
- Heres a rule of thumb, if you're comfortable with it, and you can make it work. Do it. Don't change things around simply because someone else said to. Putting your own spin on builds is exactly how people perfect their profession.
3. There is no such thing as a viable or non-viable build in GW2. Some builds however, in a damage sense are more popular than others in certain PvP situations. (Like Spvp as opposed to Wpvp)
- Depending on situations, it is true that some builds are preferred than others. However this goes back to point 2, IT'S ALL ABOUT WHAT BUILD YOU ARE COMFORTABLE WITH.
Alright now that we have gotten that out of the way I will explain to you my theory behind the role of a thief in this game and then get into my build afterwards.
Thieves are meant to be glass cannon. When you look at a Thieves utilities, weapon abilites, etc. You notice they have a lot of "Get the hell out" abilities. THeres a reason for this, they're not meant to take a hit. Do not try to build a high burst damage profession as a tank. A Thiefs job is really simple, and im going to put this plainly...
Rip you're target in half, before they ever have a chance to do anything about it. - That is the role of a thief.
If you can't get in there and put something down before they have chance to counter, you better put on your dodge nikes. It only takes one well placed hammer warrior to ruin a thieves day.
Listed below are some of the more common Theif weapon builds found in Spvp and Wpvp. Note: There are hundreds of different builds, these are just the most common:
1. Dagger/Dagger Backstab Thief "Cookie cutter".
- Relies on getting behind the target to do an extremely high amount of burst damage quickly, then followed up by spamming heartseeker.
2. Sword/Dagger "Brawler" Thief
- Relies more on steady burst damage. You can think of this build as your more front lines combat Thief. Due mostly to the Shadowstep and Flanking strike abilites.
3. Pistol/Dagger "In and out condition Theif"
- Relies on using Cloak and Dagger combined with Sneak attack to stack bleeds on a target. You see more of this build in Spvp.
4. Dual Pistol/Caltrops "Bleed Theif"
- Stacks condition damage and kites enemies over caltrops to apply a huge amount of bleed damage over time. More commonly found in Spvp.
Now on to my personal build for WPvP and SPvP are the same.
Weapons: Sword/Dagger and shortbow
Traits: 25-30-0-15-0
Adept: Backfighting, Furious Retaliation, Power of Intertia
Master: Mug, Critical Haste
Grandmaster: Executioner
Utilities: Signet of Shadows, Shadowstep, Shadow Refuge
Elite: Dagger Storm ( A MUST HAVE IN WVW)
Armor Set: Full Berserker gear with Superior Rune of the Scholar
Weapons: Berserker Sword/ Berserker Dagger + Berserker Shorbow with Superior Sigil of Paralyzation on the Sword, Superior Sigil of Fire on the dagger, and Superior Sigil of Bloodlust on the shortbow.
(Berserker gear has Power, Precision, and + Crit Damage)
This build is HIGHLY DEPENDED ON YOUR ABILITY TO DODGE do not expect to take many hits while using this build. I promise if you stick with it, it'll come with experience because many people in WvW use cookie cutter builds and are extremely predictable. Especially warriors and other thieves.
If you get comfortable with this build, time your dodge right. You will smash just about anything thrown your way. I'm not going to tell you how I combine all of these abilities because half the fun if finding your own Ebb and Flow. Experiment, and happy hunting as one of the most powerful PvP professions in this game.
Feel free to ask if anything wasn't clear.
-Bllades
