D/D thief build for POF question

[Cyrini.1256]

I know these questions are done to death but sure 1 more won't hurt.

Question is this is there a build for a dagger/dagger thief that works for the POF story and general solo roaming, I know the general statement for soloing PvE content is play what you want but I am finding that's really not the case here. At the moment I am using the beserker staff meta build but I'm just not finding staff fun anymore yet d/d just seems too squishy for everything that goes on in POF between massive amounts of condition attacks and all the ranged stuff as well. Is any using the d/d thief or anyone got a decent build that might be able to handle the fights that are in the new zones or am I gonna have to stay with my big stick?

thanks in advance for any comments and such.

[DeceiverX.8361]

I haven't done the PoF story but I've never had an issue with D/D in PvE unless it came down to soloing champions. P/P is easy and well-suited for that purpose.

 

Make sure you're wearing marauder gear or primarily valkyrie. Full zerk doesn't cut it anywhere anymore except raids.

 

If you need cleanses, Signet of Agility is great since it also refunds endurance, and you keep DrD for EA. If you're really desperate, you can drop Tr for SA using SE and pretty much rotate stealth with CnD to cleanse DoTs; you'll get the initiative back from Rejuv. If running Trickery, you'll always need Trickster and Withdraw as a heal.

 

I recommend using S/x as your alternate set as well, since IR cleanses a condition and can be spammed without a target at range if totally necessary, and IS is a potent engage and disengage tool, and you can swap weapons during the teleport into D/D before the strike lands so that you can switch back into S/x for disengage without waiting on the swap cooldown. You shouldn't play D/D power without CS; it's almost pointless, and IP will keep you alive or HK can be used to offset low crit chance in the case of valk gear.

 

D/D on a power build just isn't strong except at dealing damage in raid environments where everyone else handles your weaknesses. It's easily the weakest setup in WvW for the thief and one of the weakest kits in the game, and unless you're particularly good, you won't be suited to roam because pretty much everything in the game at this point in time hard-counters the kit by design.

 

While D/D can be very fun (and equally frustrating), unless you have the patience to master the kit and your foes, I'd recommend quite literally anything else if you're struggling and have already done the above and are looking for quick results. P/P is definitely easier.

 

[CreedOfGod.9764]

Hello, i'm the guy who only plays Dagger/dagger and always complains about how much better it could be.

 

So it's not as easy and bursty as staff, but try out this build and see how you like it.

http://gw2skills.net/editor/?vZAQNAoYVl0MhKnY5Tw3Jw+EL0E2cFsDWC9CDphygWAYCNbA-j1BBwAAOBAMOCA51DUc/BIPAg9aC2cIAAA-w

 

play evasively like you would in pvp, as in dont sit infront of an enemy and auto attack. Use 5 to stealth, then backstab for damage. Disengage and use thieves guild when heavily outnumbered so they can draw agro. Swap to shortbow if things are too hot. If you take improvisation in deadly arts you can sometimes reset the cooldown on thieves guild which is nice. It's not really worth taking without it.

 

You can swap thieves guild for basi venom in group bossing or impact strike for some fun.

 

Good Luck!

[Leo Schrodingers Cat.2497]

> @"Cyrini.1256" said:

> I know these questions are done to death but sure 1 more won't hurt.

> Question is this is there a build for a dagger/dagger thief that works for the POF story and general solo roaming, I know the general statement for soloing PvE content is play what you want but I am finding that's really not the case here. At the moment I am using the beserker staff meta build but I'm just not finding staff fun anymore yet d/d just seems too squishy for everything that goes on in POF between massive amounts of condition attacks and all the ranged stuff as well. Is any using the d/d thief or anyone got a decent build that might be able to handle the fights that are in the new zones or am I gonna have to stay with my big stick?

> thanks in advance for any comments and such.

 

D/D isn't tanky, but it's not particularly squishy either. With the zerker staff, you're able to constantly regenerate health and blast things apart in a few hits. With D/D you can blast things in fewer blows thanks to Backstab burst, but you attack slower so you don't generate as much HP back from critical strikes.

 

The secret to staying alive with D/D in any build is to simply keep moving around, and lining up your Death blossom to hit as many as possible. It sounds stupid, but the enemies have to take a moment to completely reorient themselves to actually harm you. As a player, you're typically able to react faster, thus mitigating the damage, and doing more damage for being able to get behind others.

[DeceiverX.8361]

Vault has the same damage as backstab even accounting for the vuln from CnD, and the AA chain on staff is similarly better. There really is no benefit to D/D in most cases.

 

D/D power should not be using DB unless the evasion is absolutely required at that moment and the thief lacks endurance. Daredevil and SoA and Withdraw should have a lot to work with as to not need to waste the initiative which can be way better-spent elsewhere. CnD's should come immediately as or after the enemy makes an attack, as mobs stealth-track in most cases after starting their animations. There's really no sense in playing D/D condi in PvE; odds are the animation aftercasts from DB will get you killed in challenging/multi-enemy encounters as it is, and the damage ramp time is slow enough such that the power build is usually just better to use. In the case of groups of mobs, Shortbow does comparable damage and CC's while also offering plenty of range and disengages, AoE blinds, etc.

 

As far as Creed's setup goes, I don't really understand the agency of using RFI or BP. BD is a better stunbreak and initiative isn't typically a problem D/D has unless it's spammed pretty mindlessly. Pack runes aren't necessary either, since you'll already have permaswiftness from ToTC + UC, and it lacks a bulk cleanse or DoT cleanse priority to keep you alive. DA doesn't really give anything of value in PvE except RT, but you're then better off trading out the pack runes for Scholar runes and running CS which will offer more damage, more fury/crit uptime, and better sustain over the course of fighting multiple foes or prolonged combats.

 

 

[Cyrini.1256]

Thanks for the input so far guys. I recently unlocked all of the dead eye trail line so I am currently trying that out with a build I saw on here which is rifle & d/d I'm not sure if it's what people would consider a good build but I'm finding it really fun and so far I'm not finding much problem in story missions or roaming around, I would be interested to hear ppls thoughts on dead eye over daredevil. Again thanks for the input it's nice to see people commenting with more than just "thief is shit play something else"

[CreedOfGod.9764]

> @"Cyrini.1256" said:

> Thanks for the input so far guys. I recently unlocked all of the dead eye trail line so I am currently trying that out with a build I saw on here which is rifle & d/d I'm not sure if it's what people would consider a good build but I'm finding it really fun and so far I'm not finding much problem in story missions or roaming around, I would be interested to hear ppls thoughts on dead eye over daredevil. Again thanks for the input it's nice to see people commenting with more than just "thief is kitten play something else"

 

Deadeye is fun, and really strong. Especially if you take p/p and the quickness trait at the end of deadeye so you can obliterate enemies and refresh mark for more quickness! D/D on deadeye is a little more difficult, since you dont have steal to engage, but you can make it work with the right utilities. BUT.. don't worry about what's better, they're both good so focus on what you like. Deadeye is more of a gunslinger and daredevil for upclose melee action(that doesn't mean you can't play a melee deadeye or ranged daredevil though).

 

Overall thief is a great class, have fun!