New thief questions

[Benjammin.1846]

Hello I just returned to the game yesterday had to create a new account because CS was taking too long to respond to my post anyway....I bought the path of fire expat and boosted my thief to level 80. I’ve been experimenting a lot with the different abilities and specs but I’m feeling very squishy especially when fighting multiple mobs at once. What are some good builds for a dual pistol thief and what do I use for AOE? What stats should I be trying to get for my gear? Any tips tricks and advice would be greatly appreciated thanks!

[Leo Schrodingers Cat.2497]

Dual pistol isn't known for durability. Most of thief's defenses comes from active defence rather than passive.

 

In short, thief is the hardest class in the game, and probably the least rewarding. If you are new to thief, you should make a new character and level that one normally to get a feel of it. Otherwise you will be turned off from thief pretty quickly. And based on Anets track record on what they think is fun, rewarding, and balanced for thief players in all game modes... Thief is practically gonna get deleted.

 

Unless you use toughness or vitality, there's no real build that will help you.

 

You'll need to learn how to dodge, kite, sidestep, and reposition on thief to stay alive. Or you can just do what 90% of meh thieves do and face tank and burst with full zerks

 

 

Otherwise... Look into acrobatics. It has most of thief's survivability put into it

 

Thief doesn't have any decent AoE. Daredevil features thief's cleave and a spiking vault on staff. The two options built into core is in Short bow. And the other option is in Deadeye Spotter Shot when things align, and shadow flare.

[Warkind.6745]

Shadowstep is a skill you'll want for survivability on any thief build. It's useful as a panic button when you're starting out.

 

Shortbow will help you kite, stay alive, and offers some okay AoE. If you're using P/P then you might want to try deadeye as well.

 

The 80 boost gives you pretty junky armor from what I remember; you can get a mix of berserker and valkyrie stat pieces pretty easily either through crafting or the trade post. As you get more familiar with class mechanics you can start swapping out more valkyrie pieces for berserker to increase your damage output; that armor will be fine for most material in the game, but you may or may not want to eventually try to get a set of Marauder equipment afterwards.

[Lucinellia.9247]

Invigorating Precision in Critical Strikes will help with survivability but as others have pointed out, you might want to consider a different profession that is more forgiving and more rewarding to get a hang of basics such as movement, dodging and kiting without being overly punished for mistakes.

[Benjammin.1846]

Well I did more tinkering last night and made a nice little build for myself that works nicely for me in the open world

[sephiroth.4217]

For killing mobs with AoE and sustainability.... Healing Signet's passive combined with Dagger Storm Elite is pretty good....

You can get a full heal sometimes depending on how big the mob was, also the signet is useful for Unload.

[Runo.3780]

> @"Miatela.5047" said:

> Invigorating Precision in Critical Strikes will help with survivability but as others have pointed out, you might want to consider a different profession that is more forgiving and more rewarding to get a hang of basics such as movement, dodging and kiting without being overly punished for mistakes.

 

What profession do you mean by "more forgiving". I'm playing thief as an alt and it's lvl 11 right now but I would like to know why you think thief is least rewarding and least forgiving class?

 

> @"Leo Schrodingers Cat.2497" said:

> In short, thief is the hardest class in the game, and probably the least rewarding.

 

Sam question to you. And why is it hardest? I thought that Ele and Mesmer are hardest :O.

 

Thanks for answering my concerns.

[Elva.6372]

I'm currently leveling a Thief, I have 14 characters the bulk of which are 80. My Thief is only 55 atm but so far it's been a blast and I've died mainly to in game miscommunication with gravity.

 

BUT I won't really know how the Thief is until I get to Silverwastes and beyond and HoT and PoF. I highly suspect I will be just fine, the Thief so far reminds me of my Mesmer who thrives in the newer content open PvE landscape.

I most likely will settle on a Shortbow and Staff Daredevil - atm while leveling I am Shortbow and Pistol/Pistol.

 

If you don't stop moving the mobs can't hurt you.

[saerni.2584]

> @"Runo.3780" said:

> > @"Miatela.5047" said:

> > Invigorating Precision in Critical Strikes will help with survivability but as others have pointed out, you might want to consider a different profession that is more forgiving and more rewarding to get a hang of basics such as movement, dodging and kiting without being overly punished for mistakes.

>

> What profession do you mean by "more forgiving". I'm playing thief as an alt and it's lvl 11 right now but I would like to know why you think thief is least rewarding and least forgiving class?

>

> > @"Leo Schrodingers Cat.2497" said:

> > In short, thief is the hardest class in the game, and probably the least rewarding.

>

> Sam question to you. And why is it hardest? I thought that Ele and Mesmer are hardest :O.

>

> Thanks for answering my concerns.

 

I suspect this is because thief has traditionally been harder to play at maximum potential. Mostly, people focus on thief in PvP where a good thief is deadly and a bad thief is just a free kill.

 

That is less so in PvE where there is more flexibility to play what you want and survive.

[Warkind.6745]

> @"Runo.3780" said:

> > @"Miatela.5047" said:

> > Invigorating Precision in Critical Strikes will help with survivability but as others have pointed out, you might want to consider a different profession that is more forgiving and more rewarding to get a hang of basics such as movement, dodging and kiting without being overly punished for mistakes.

>

> What profession do you mean by "more forgiving". I'm playing thief as an alt and it's lvl 11 right now but I would like to know why you think thief is least rewarding and least forgiving class?

>

> > @"Leo Schrodingers Cat.2497" said:

> > In short, thief is the hardest class in the game, and probably the least rewarding.

>

> Sam question to you. And why is it hardest? I thought that Ele and Mesmer are hardest :O.

>

> Thanks for answering my concerns.

 

Low base health and few passive defenses or blocks means you either have to hump stealth or be very good at evading to stay alive for long. Most classes can fart a thief away, at which point we shine by using the overpowered ability to run away.

 

And a bunch of melee attacks recently ate heavy % damage nerfs because lol.

[Leo Schrodingers Cat.2497]

> @"Runo.3780" said:

> > @"Miatela.5047" said:

> > Invigorating Precision in Critical Strikes will help with survivability but as others have pointed out, you might want to consider a different profession that is more forgiving and more rewarding to get a hang of basics such as movement, dodging and kiting without being overly punished for mistakes.

>

> What profession do you mean by "more forgiving". I'm playing thief as an alt and it's lvl 11 right now but I would like to know why you think thief is least rewarding and least forgiving class?

>

> > @"Leo Schrodingers Cat.2497" said:

> > In short, thief is the hardest class in the game, and probably the least rewarding.

>

> Sam question to you. And why is it hardest? I thought that Ele and Mesmer are hardest :O.

>

> Thanks for answering my concerns.

 

Originally when the game released, thief was a very powerful 1v1 class designed more with PvP in mind. After a few nerfs they were put into a good and fairly balanced spot so you needed to be on your a game to Excell. There was a very good reason to fear a good thief back then. The single target damage was unmatched. They were fast, mobile, impressive guerillas, great at ambushing, hard to hit, surprisingly good at dueling, and them interrupting you often meant a quick death. Their kits revolved around getting in your face, cut you up and get out before you can do shit.

 

However, thief is under constant nerfs, some of them are debatable, a few are pure bullshit and unwarranted, and a Lot could have been done a bit more fairly. It's even more concerning when certain things from other professions were allowed to be a thing for way too long.

 

You are incredibly squishy, and lack a lot of tools other classes have. Thief is a class that relies heavily on player skill and game knowledge to be deadly, much more so than other professions. But even at your peak, you won't feel like you're doing enough, when someone who just started the game with mesmer, ele, warrior, or guardian can destroy you in a heart beat for a single mistake. Or that it takes way too long to kill someone because of all of their passives, on demand aegis, Regen, condi cleanse, natural tanky was, etc. Anything you do that is usually difficult and takes a decent amount of skill and effort to accomplish is not rewarded enough. More recently, we had a situational trait that deals damage if you interrupt someone have it's damage reduced by a grand total of 50%.

 

Then in sPvP... Most of the time you will be able horned in to only decapping and +1ing by your team regardless of your skill or play making opportunities. Trust me, it is fucking boring. And apparently the fairness for you does not matter if it is unfair for the team. And they will quickly call you toxic and selfish.

 

My thought is that Anet is responding to complaints of other players. They are projecting the typical rogue role from other MMOs onto thief rather than allowing it to be its own thing, similar to how Ele is not actually fragile in melee combat despite being a mage class. They are actually very efficient at it.

[Runo.3780]

Okay, what about pve?

[Sir Vincent III.1286]

> @"Benjammin.1846" said:

> Hello I just returned to the game yesterday had to create a new account because CS was taking too long to respond to my post anyway....I bought the path of fire expat and boosted my thief to level 80. I’ve been experimenting a lot with the different abilities and specs but I’m feeling very squishy especially when fighting multiple mobs at once. What are some good builds for a dual pistol thief and what do I use for AOE? What stats should I be trying to get for my gear? Any tips tricks and advice would be greatly appreciated thanks!

 

If you have not played a Thief before, I would suggest using Marauder + Rune of the Wurm.

 

Deadeye is a good option if you want to have AoE while using P/P...however this is only for general open world PvE. Collateral Damage, Shadow Flare, and Payback are really good options for AoE - these are useless in PvP or WvW.

[Leo Schrodingers Cat.2497]

> @"Runo.3780" said:

> Okay, what about pve?

 

Assuming raids... Not the most desirable. And not likely to be taken over other options. Decent DPS, yet somehow not the best at it while remaining unable to provide decent team support. The steal changes were on the right path.

 

Fractals you can manage just fine unless you're in a group of elitist.

Regular PvE you'll be fine

 

[eldrjth.7384]

> @"Benjammin.1846" said:

> Hello I just returned to the game yesterday had to create a new account because CS was taking too long to respond to my post anyway....I bought the path of fire expat and boosted my thief to level 80. I’ve been experimenting a lot with the different abilities and specs but I’m feeling very squishy especially when fighting multiple mobs at once. What are some good builds for a dual pistol thief and what do I use for AOE? What stats should I be trying to get for my gear? Any tips tricks and advice would be greatly appreciated thanks

 

Use the elite Dead eye with P/P which gives the steal range. Then trait BQoBK which gives you quickness every time you mark a target while your steal is reset everytime you kill something so clearing trash mobs fast even though you havent got cleave. I suggest using the trickery line (not DA) with thrill of the crime to keep fury up. Definately take signet of malice and invigorating precision in Critical Strikes when solo play . This combo will heal you over 2k HP everytime you use unload. Dagger storm is also useful and provides insane amount of heals when combine with signet of malice it also reflects proj and gives stability (this is your ah crap skill + aoe mob trash skill all in one). I recommend marauder stats on gear (atleast getting you pass 14k HP) as the extra buffer is extremely useful and moreso if you decide to melee things with daredevil spec. For runes I would go scholar cause you have your HP near max all the time with this setup for an extra 10% multiplicative dmg.

 

I generally have no problems surviving in open word with this except against mobs with ranged condi dmg (that bypass reflect) and champs.

[dylyn.9681]

I just got my thief up to level 80. I started out with dual pistols because I loved Unload. It really worked on low level mobs. Even so, I found I died more often than my warrior or necro. Once I got up to my level 60 personal story, I found I was dying repeatedly during every segment. I finally switched to dual daggers and it helped a lot. The 4 skill is good for pulling single enemies out of a group, and the 2 and 3 skills are really mobile. Using 5 to go into stealth mode and then 1 to backstab is good DPS.

 

Another thing I did was remap Dodge to my mouse wheel, and unselected "Double-tap to evade" in the options. The cool think about that is it lets me keep my left hand on the Q W and E keys. When I click the mouse wheel when I'm strafing left or right, it does a dodge in that direction (during which thieves are invulnerable, I believe). I use that when I finally swap out to dual pistols and run in circles just in range to spam Unload.

[Straegen.9534]

In PvE use Staff as the offhand for AoE. I suggest Critical Strikes and Invigorating Precision to stay alive. The combo is very efficient outside of competition game modes. The more you hit, the more you heal.