Critique my dagger/dagger-pistol/pistol thief? :3

[Fluffball]

Well my build is pretty noobtastic, I didn't think it would be worth to post there <__<

I do wish Xunlai someday will grace us with one of his builds.

Xunlai being aggressive about 30 in crits I think was him hoping you'd put points in to power as well. Right now you crit for 180% of your normal damage, but your normal damage is basically nonexistent. I see the 30 in crits as wasted opportunity.

The build I posted in your calculator is a very solid damage build that will get you lots of kills in WvW, and it was just taking your condition points and putting them in power. When my warrior gets hit with that type of build, she loses half or more of her health in a single hit.

Because you went half condition, half crit, you don't do much damage in either category. Your armor will automatically lean you in one direction or the other, you might use that to help decide which way to go.

[Xunlai Agent]

Xunlai being aggressive about 30 in crits I think was him hoping you'd put points in to power as well.

Well you were completely and utterly wrong, no dice I'm afraid! AS for being aggressive you simply cannot handle disagreement, I have to laugh that you disagreed with both Shawn and myself when we were honestly trying to help Raye. It's very telling that over the first two pages you sit there crying and trying to attack and criticise what other people posted in response.

As for the point about critical damage over condition damage, you can run condition damage but you only deal poison and bleeding which isn't great. 10 extra points in Trickery over maxing out Critical Strikes is not a good move and every build posted in reply has had 30 Critical Strikes - weird how that works, right?! You shouldn't be running straight condition damage on a thief with only two conditions that's already a wasted opportunity long before we start discussing traits.

I don't understand the builds thing, I have posted two Thief builds and two Ranger builds (the straight Marksmanship being the best setup Rangers can currently spec into for PvE) and none of them have any responses or feedback yet you keep clamouring that I need to share and play nice with ungrateful people on GWO, odd! It strikes me as slightly lazy on your part however my expectations are so low that I am utterly unsurprised.


Binding Blinds Mark I
This is the more defensive setup I started using when I first started playing my thief properly, this has since evolved.


So the thirty points in Critical Strikes is standard and no good Thief build that I have seen runs without that. So I eventually decided to run a full signet build which means that the minor and major traits that boost signets are worth taking. Every Thief I know runs Signet of Shadows in PvE for the move speed and I have always liked Signet of Malice for spamming Pistol Whip and Shortbow combat because the synergy is strong. I wanted a stun-breaker/shadowstep and condition removal on my bar, well it turns that signets can give you just that. However the synergy goes further because every time you activate a signet you are granted five points of might and two initiative along with the active effect. So what this means is that you can perma-blind all the people in your vicinity which makes you one of the most powerful tanks in general PvE because the blind scales with the mobs. I have literally rounded up a mob of about ten level 80+ melee mobs and cut them down without taking a point of damage. Blind is hugely powerful but no class can apply it quite as frequently as the Thief, if people stand in your Blackpowder cloud then they are pulsed with blinds frequently enough to mean they should not connect with a single blow.

The other traits give you extra initiative production which is great because you want to be spamming Pistol Whip on as often as possible while maintaining the blinding cloud that Black Powder grants you. This allows you to function as a tank by focusing all of the aggro on you without taking much if any damage while spamming PBAoE to devastating effect. This is sort of similar to a stance tank in the original except you can evade anything that isn't Dredge and you are able to deal huge amounts of damage by stacking might and spamming one of the most devastating attacks in the the Thief's arsenal.

In combat you want to lock on to the ranged attackers, who are hopefully bunched, and jump in on them. You have three shadowsteps available (four if you count the one on your SB set) and that should grant you the mobility to jump in and out of combat as required. Ideally you want to group your opponents on top of each other so they can share the goodness of your blinds.

For gear I would go full glass cannon as per usual because stacking toughness and vitality isn't great in the first place and makes even less sense if the opposition is perma-blind.

[Alaris]

I have posted two Thief builds and two Ranger builds (the straight Marksmanship being the best setup Rangers can currently spec into for PvE) and none of them have any responses or feedback

I'm grateful you posted these, but at least in my case, lack of feedback is due to these two professions being least-played. I don't plan to roll a thief, and my ranger is barely level 20 if even. I'll look to your builds though for inspiration once I get enough trait points.

[Fluffball]

Xunlai, you really can't see how these posts of yours can be construed as temper tantrums? Especially considering the build PvP build I suggested is a) running 30 in crits and b) a lot better than yours? I literally have no idea what you're arguing at this point.

Seriously, CALM DOWN.

[Xunlai Agent]

Xunlai, you really can't see how these posts of yours can be construed as temper tantrums? Especially considering the build PvP build I suggested is a) running 30 in crits and b) a lot better than yours? I literally have no idea what you're arguing at this point.

Seriously, CALM DOWN.

You simply cannot handle disagreement and every post has exemplified it thus far. Caps locks is cruise control for cool? As for your PvP build, good luck in PvE with it where you will need a method to stay alive which is either stealthing or running perma blind. So for what was asked I am pretty sure my build is way better, in fact I think it's simply out of your league. Still no dice man, sorry...

[Fluffball]

It's a PvP build, which is what this thread is about. If you want to run pistol whip in WvW, be my guest. I guess you could take supply camps with it if they're undefended.

Also the 15 in acrobatics is ther... oh nevermind, it's like arguing with sorudo.


Edit: Relevant to the thread, I was just screwing around with that backstab build in sPvP... unload surprisingly hits like a truck when you want to stay put on a point. With some quick trait changes on the fly, you can add 10% damage to the pistols and a chance for cripple depending on if you're in a group or on your own. Daggers on your own, pistols for skirting around the edges of a keep seige or something. I have done the pistols trait changes myself using various builds, and it's really not a hassle.

Then again I think glass cannons are more common in sPvP than WvW (meaning people are much more durable in WvW and I haven't had that kind of success using unload.) I generally stick to melee for better damage in WvW.

[Xunlai Agent]

It's a PvP build, which is what this thread is about. If you want to run pistol whip in WvW, be my guest. I guess you could take supply camps with it if they're undefended.

Also the 15 in acrobatics is ther... oh nevermind, it's like arguing with sorudo.

This is hilarious, I clearly specified that it was a PvE build from the start. This really is like arguing with Sorudo, amazing...

[shawn]

Okay children, stop *****ing now, or I'll turn this car around.

[Fluffball]

Okay children, stop *****ing now, or I'll turn this car around.

How come you get to argue with me on every thread about pistols by xunlai doesn't get to yell at me in this thread?

Also have you used dual pistols in sPvP shawn? I was downright shocked at how hard they hit tonight. I usually melee every class.


Totally off topic edit but it doesn't deserve a thread:

I just made an sPvP build with the idea of seeing just how effective they are. First place, baby, haha. Lock people down and unload (lock and unload?) Most people can't survive more than 2 unloads. Swap had increased vulnerability and increased stun duration, main set had force.
http://www.guildhead.com/skill-calc#...amxx9MamaqVsqm

[shawn]

Cause if I don't, some mod will post and be like 'omg xunlai and fluffy are at it again, and they're bashing sorudo, you should tell them to stop' so I figured I'd lay down the preemptive strike.

And no I didn't take pistols into pvp, but last time I was talking to Jon Peters he said he thought that they were viable now with the new trait tweaks. Although since I don't generally use pistols as my main weapon I can't justify speccing into them, which is a shame because the ricochet trait is quite fun.

Vital Shot still needs a buff though. Hopefully there's a skill balance on Monday.