Thief PvE | Dungeon Sword/Dagger, Sword/Dagger | Damage S/D-only Roaming Duelist

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Summary

Here's a fun little build I've been using for WvW and sPvP. It revolves around a single weapon set only (gasp!), namely S/D, and offers an engaging "relentless duelist" playstyle. You use a Sword in the first set Main-Hand, dagger in the second set Off-Hand, and switch whenever possible in combat. This limiting of your available weapon skills seems silly at first, but it revolves around three core ideas:

 

1. Initiative Regeneration on Weapon Swap (via Quick Pockets)
2. Easy timing of guaranteed Criticals via Sigil of Intelligence
3. High enemy control via Steal Daze / Poison / Boon Removal / Self-Healing / Initiative Regeneration

 

The really interesting aspect of this setup is that weapon skills remain in their current chain state if switched to the same set; for example, your Flanking Strike or Larcenous Strike respectively will stay available on weapon switch, which makes it very straightforward to land those "hard hitters" with a guaranteed Critical Strike thanks to the Sigil while also restoring Initiative for continued evasive moves.

 

Conditions are removed via well-timed use of Shadow Return, which is spammable due to the high amount of available Initiative; if you find yourself low, Steal + Weapon Swap will fill you back up three quarters of the way.


I. Weapons and Skills

Berserker's Sword
  • Weapon Strength: 905-1000
  • Power: 120
  • Precision: 85
  • Ferocity: 85
Berserker's Dagger
  • Weapon Strength: 924-981
  • Power: 120
  • Precision: 85
  • Ferocity: 85
Berserker's Sword
  • Weapon Strength: 905-1000
  • Power: 120
  • Precision: 85
  • Ferocity: 85
Berserker's Dagger
  • Weapon Strength: 924-981
  • Power: 120
  • Precision: 85
  • Ferocity: 85
  • Weapon Strength: -
  • Weapon Strength: -
  • Hook Strike¾
    Attack your foes with stealth, knocking enemies down.
    Damage: 163Knockdown: 2sRange: 130
  • Slice
    Slice your foe.
    Damage: 269Range: 130
    • Slash½
      Slash your foe again.
      Damage: 269Range: 130
    • Crippling Strike½
      Cripple your foe with a final strike.
      Damage: 437Crippled: 2 sWeakness: 2 sRange: 130
  • Infiltrator's Strike3
    Shadowstep to a foe and strike them. Use Shadow Return to shadowstep back and cure one condition.
    Damage: 252Immobilized: 1 sRange: 600
    • Shadow Return2
      Return to your original location. Cure one condition.
      Range: 1,200
    • 0
      Vigor: 15 sFury: 10 sMight: 10 sSwiftness: 10 sDaze: 1 s
  • Flanking Strike½ 3
    Dual wield. Evade and stab your foe in the back.
    Damage: 252Range: 130
    • Larcenous Strike2
      Dual wield. Deliver a quick strike that steals up to two boons from an enemy.
      Damage: 504Range: 130
    • 0
      Vigor: 15 sFury: 10 sMight: 10 sSwiftness: 10 sDaze: 1 s
  • Dancing Dagger¼ 3
    Throw a dagger that cripples nearby foes and returns to you.
    Damage: 168Maximum targets: 4Crippled: 5 sCombo Finisher: ProjectileRange: 900
    • 0
      Vigor: 15 sFury: 10 sMight: 10 sSwiftness: 10 sDaze: 1 s
    • 0
      Vigor: 15 sFury: 10 sMight: 10 sSwiftness: 10 sDaze: 1 s
  • Cloak and Dagger½ 6
    Stab your foe and vanish in stealth, leaving them vulnerable.
    Damage: 504Stealth: 3 sx3Vulnerability: 5 sRange: 130
    • 0
      Vigor: 15 sFury: 10 sMight: 10 sSwiftness: 10 sDaze: 1 s
    • 0
      Vigor: 15 sFury: 10 sMight: 10 sSwiftness: 10 sDaze: 1 s
  • Withdraw15
    Trick. Roll backward while healing and evade attacks. Cures immobilized, chilled, and crippled.
    Healing: 3,960Vigor: 10 s
    • 0
      Vigor: 15 sFury: 10 sMight: 10 sSwiftness: 10 sDaze: 1 s
  • Roll for Initiative60
    Trick. Evade backward to regenerate initiative and recover from crippled, chilled, and immobile.
    Initiative gain: 6Breaks stun
    • 0
      Vigor: 15 sFury: 10 sMight: 10 sSwiftness: 10 sDaze: 1 s
  • Shadow Refuge ¼ 60
    Deception. Create a pulsing refuge at the target area that heals allies and cloaks them in stealth.
    Stealth: 3 sHealing: 1,420Combo Field: DarkRange: 600
    • 0
      Vigor: 15 sFury: 10 sMight: 10 sSwiftness: 10 sDaze: 1 s
  • Shadowstep50
    Deception. Shadowstep to the target location. Becomes Shadow Return, which returns you to your starting area and cures three conditions.
    Breaks stunRange: 1,200
    • Shadow Return
      Return to your starting location and cure three conditions.
      Break stunRange: 1,200
  • Thieves Guild1½ 180
    Deception. Call more thieves to support you in combat.
    Number of thieves: 2
    • 0
      Vigor: 15 sFury: 10 sMight: 10 sSwiftness: 10 sDaze: 1 s

II. Traits

Adept Master Grandmaster

Trait Details

We utilize Steal as a core anchor point of the build by giving it Poison (Serpent's Touch), Damage & Healing (Mug), Boon Removal (Bountiful Theft), Self-Buffing (Thrill Of The Crime), Initiative Regeneration (Kleptomaniac) Daze (Sleight of Hand) and the lowest possible CD. The rest of the setup is focused on elusiveness and mobility, allowing for constant dodges as defensive means.


III. Stat Specifics & Effects

Primary Stats

  • Health 18045 (+6400)
  • Vitality 1556 (+640)
  • Armor 2320 (+340)
  • Toughness 1256 (+340)
  • Attack 3091 (+1184)
  • Power 2061 (+1145)
  • Critical Hit 24% (+24%)
  • Precision 1413 (+497)

Secondary Stats

  • Boon Duration 30% (+30%)
  • Condition Damage 300 (+300)
  • Condition Duration 10% (+10%)
  • Critical Damage 24% (+24%)
  • Damage 1030 (+4%)
  • Defense 1064 (+0)
  • Experience from Kills 20% (+20%)
  • Ferocity 365 (+365)
  • Steal Recharge Rate 30% (+30%)

Boons

  • Aegis
    Block the next attack.
  • Distortion
    Allows mesmers to evade attacks for some time.
  • Frenzy
    Increases damage taken by 25%. It typically seen as a mechanic to offset a beneficial effect such as quickness.
  • Frosty Armor
    Chills foes that hit you.
  • Fury
    20% critical chance increase. Stacks in duration.
  • Haste
    Regenerate endurance at 50% effectiveness when under the effects of this skill. It's typically seen as a mechanic to offset a beneficial effect such as quickness.
  • Invulnerability
    Prevents the target from taking damage or receiving conditions. It is also placed on rallied players for one second.
  • Might
    X damage per attack increase. Stacks intensity.
  • Protection
    33% damage reduction. Stacks in duration.
  • Quickening Zephyr
    Prevents healing. It typically seen as a mechanic to offset a beneficial effect such as quickness.
  • Quickness
    Makes all skills and actions 50% faster.
  • Regeneration
    Regenerates X health per second. Stacks in duration.
  • Rejuvenation
    Regenerates health. This effect is exclusive to the guardian profession through the Virtue of Resolve.
  • Resistance
    Resistance temporarily negates the affected target of all effects caused by conditions.
  • Retaliation
    Does X damage to an opponent each time they hit you. Stacks in duration.
  • Smiting
    Causes every fifth attack to apply burning. This effect is exclusive to the guardian profession.
  • Stability
    Cannot be knocked down, pushed back, launched, stunned, dazed, floated, sunk, or feared.
  • Stealth
    Allows the user to be invisible to enemy players and avoid being spotted by enemy NPCs.
  • Swiftness
    33% movement speed increase. Stacks in duration.
  • Vigor
    Faster endurance regeneration. Stacks in duration.

Conditions

  • Agony
    Agony is an effect unique to Fractals of the Mists that removes a percentage of the player's health every second and reduces received healing by ~50%.
  • Bleeding
    Bleeding is a stackable condition that deals damage over time.
  • Blind
    Causes the target's next hit to miss instead.
  • Burning
    Inflicts X damage per second. Stacks in duration.
  • Chilled
    Reduces movement speed and skill recharge by 66%. Stacks in duration.
  • Confusion
    Inflicts X damage each time a foe uses skill. Stacks in intensity.
  • Crippled
    Crippled is a condition which decreases movement speed by 50%. Stacks in duration.
  • Fear
    Causes the target to run directly away from the caster.
  • Immobilized
    Immobilized is a condition which prevents movement and dodging. Victims also can't turn. Stacks in duration.
  • Poison
    Inflicts X damage per second. Reduces outgoing heals by 33%. Stacks in duration.
  • Slow
    Slow is a condition that reduces the activation time of skills and abilities.
  • Taunt
    Taunt is a control effect that forces the affected target to run towards the source of taunt with all skills except stun breakers disabled while using their auto-attack skill.
  • Torment
    Deals damage every second; deals additional damage if moving; stacks intensity.
  • Vulnerability
    Increases damage the target takes by 1%. Stacks in intensity.
  • Weakness
    Causes 50% of attacks to be glancing and reduces endurance regeneration by 50%. Stacks in duration.

Control

  • Break Stun
    Stun break is an effect which can break control effects on a character.
  • Daze
    Interrupts and prevents the target from using skills for a period of time.
  • Float
    Forces the affected target(s) to move towards the surface.
  • Knockdown
    Interrupts and causes the foe to be unable to move or use skills for a short duration. Knocked down foes fall to the ground.
  • Launch
    Interrupts and tosses a character into the air.
  • Pull
    Shortens the distance between the user and the foe by drawing one of them to another. If a foe is pulled, this can result in an interrupt.
  • Push
    Physically pushes foes away from the player and interrupts them.
  • Sink
    Forces the affected target(s) to move away from the surface.
  • Stun
    Interrupts, immobilizes, and incapacitates foes for a short duration.
  • Teleport
    Teleport to target location.
  • Teleport
    Teleport (alternatively, flash) is a mechanic that causes the user or target(s) to instantly move from one location to another.

Fields & Finishers

  • Dark Field
    Dark Combo Effects

    Blast Finisher: Area Blindness
    Leap Finisher: Blindness
    Projectile Finisher: Life stealing
    Whirl Finsher: Leeching Bolts
  • Ethereal Field
    Ethereal Combo Effects

    Blast Finisher: Area Chaos Armor
    Leap Finisher: Chaos Armor
    Projectile Finisher: Confusion
    Whirl Finsher: Confounding Bolts
  • Fire Field
    Fire Combo Effects

    Blast Finisher: Area Might
    Leap Finisher: Fire Shield
    Projectile Finisher: Burning
    Whirl Finsher: Burning Bolts
  • Ice Field
    Ice Combo Effects

    Blast Finisher: Area Frost Aura
    Leap Finisher: Frost Aura
    Projectile Finisher: Chilled
    Whirl Finsher: Chilling Bolts
  • Light Field
    Light Combo Effects

    Blast Finisher: Area Retaliation
    Leap Finisher: Retaliation
    Projectile Finisher: Remove Condition
    Whirl Finsher: Cleansing Bolts
  • Lightning Field
    Lightning Combo Effects

    Blast Finisher: Area Swiftness
    Leap Finisher: Dazing Strike
    Projectile Finisher: Vulnerability
    Whirl Finsher: Brutal Bolts
  • Poison Field
    Poison Combo Effects

    Blast Finisher: Area Weakness
    Leap Finisher: Weakness
    Projectile Finisher: Poison
    Whirl Finsher: Poison Bolts
  • Revealed
    Revealed is an effect applied when stealth is broken, for example by entering combat or exiting a Shadow Refuge circle prematurely.
  • Smoke Field
    Smoke Combo Effects

    Blast Finisher: Area Stealth
    Leap Finisher: Stealth
    Projectile Finisher: Blindness
    Whirl Finsher: Blinding Bolts
  • Super Speed
    Activate your slick shoes, enabling you to move at superior speeds.
  • Water Field
    Water Combo Effects

    Blast Finisher: Area Healing
    Leap Finisher: Healing
    Projectile Finisher: Regeneration
    Whirl Finsher: Healing Bolts
Combo
  • Blast Finisher
    Blast Combo Effects

    Dark: Area Blindness
    Ethereal: Area Chaos Armor
    Fire: Area Might
    Ice: Area Frost Aura
    Light: Area Retaliation
    Lightning: Area Swiftness
    Poison: Area Weakness
    Smoke: Area Stealth
    Water: Area Healing
  • Leap Finisher
    Leap Combo Effects

    Dark: Blindness
    Ethereal: Chaos Armor
    Fire: Fire Shield
    Ice: Frost Aura
    Light: Retaliation
    Lightning: Dazing Strike
    Poison: Weakness
    Smoke: Stealth
    Water: Healing
  • Projectile Finisher
    Projectile Combo Effects

    Dark: Life stealing
    Ethereal: Confusion
    Fire: Burning
    Ice: Chilled
    Light: Remove Condition
    Lightning: Vulnerability
    Poison: Poison
    Smoke: Blindness
    Water: Regeneration
  • Whirl Finisher
    Whirl Combo Effects

    Dark: Leeching Bolts
    Ethereal: Confounding Bolts
    Fire: Burning Bolts
    Ice: Chilling Bolts
    Light: Cleansing Bolts
    Lightning: Brutal Bolts
    Poison: Poison Bolts
    Smoke: Blinding Bolts
    Water: Healing Bolts

IV. Food, Armor, Trinkets & Upgrade Items

Food Nourishment

Bowl of Curry Butternut Squash Soup
Duration: 30min
Precision: 100
Ferocity: 70
Experience from Kills: 10%
  • (30min)
  • Precision: 100
  • Ferocity: 70
  • Experience from Kills: 10%

Utility Nourishment

Master Maintenance Oil
Duration: 30min
Gain precision equal to 6% of your toughness
Gain precision equal to 4% of your vitality
Experience from Kills: 10%
  • (30min)
  • Gain precision equal to 6% of your toughness
  • Gain precision equal to 4% of your vitality
  • Experience from Kills: 10%

Armor & Runes

Inquest Helm
  • Defense: 97
Superior Rune of the Ogre
  1. Power: 25
  2. Ferocity: 35
  3. Power: 50
  4. 25% chance when struck to summon a rock dog. (Cooldown: 90 seconds)
  5. Power: 100
  6. Damage: 4%
Inquest Pauldrons
  • Defense: 97
Superior Rune of the Ogre
  1. Power: 25
  2. Ferocity: 35
  3. Power: 50
  4. 25% chance when struck to summon a rock dog. (Cooldown: 90 seconds)
  5. Power: 100
  6. Damage: 4%
Inquest Breastplate
  • Defense: 338
Superior Rune of the Ogre
  1. Power: 25
  2. Ferocity: 35
  3. Power: 50
  4. 25% chance when struck to summon a rock dog. (Cooldown: 90 seconds)
  5. Power: 100
  6. Damage: 4%
Inquest Gauntlets
  • Defense: 157
Superior Rune of the Ogre
  1. Power: 25
  2. Ferocity: 35
  3. Power: 50
  4. 25% chance when struck to summon a rock dog. (Cooldown: 90 seconds)
  5. Power: 100
  6. Damage: 4%
Inquest Legguards
  • Defense: 218
Superior Rune of the Ogre
  1. Power: 25
  2. Ferocity: 35
  3. Power: 50
  4. 25% chance when struck to summon a rock dog. (Cooldown: 90 seconds)
  5. Power: 100
  6. Damage: 4%
Inquest Greaves
  • Defense: 157
Superior Rune of the Ogre
  1. Power: 25
  2. Ferocity: 35
  3. Power: 50
  4. 25% chance when struck to summon a rock dog. (Cooldown: 90 seconds)
  5. Power: 100
  6. Damage: 4%

Armor Stat Totals

  • Defense 1064
  • Power 175
  • Ferocity 35
  • Damage 4%

Rune Bonuses

Superior Rune of the Ogre
  1. Power: 25
  2. Ferocity: 35
  3. Power: 50
  4. 25% chance when struck to summon a rock dog. (Cooldown: 90 seconds)
  5. Power: 100
  6. Damage: 4%

Accessories & Jewels

Soldier's Amulet
  • Power: 120
  • Toughness: 85
  • Vitality: 85
Berserker's Jewel
  • Power: 25
  • Precision: 15
  • Ferocity: 15
Soldier's Back
  • Power: 30
  • Toughness: 21
  • Vitality: 21
(Infused)
Berserker's Jewel
  • Power: 25
  • Precision: 15
  • Ferocity: 15
Soldier's Ring
  • Power: 90
  • Toughness: 64
  • Vitality: 64
(Infused)
Berserker's Jewel
  • Power: 25
  • Precision: 15
  • Ferocity: 15
Soldier's Ring
  • Power: 90
  • Toughness: 64
  • Vitality: 64
(Infused)
Berserker's Jewel
  • Power: 25
  • Precision: 15
  • Ferocity: 15
Soldier's Earring
  • Power: 75
  • Toughness: 53
  • Vitality: 53
Berserker's Jewel
  • Power: 25
  • Precision: 15
  • Ferocity: 15
Soldier's Earring
  • Power: 75
  • Toughness: 53
  • Vitality: 53
Berserker's Jewel
  • Power: 25
  • Precision: 15
  • Ferocity: 15

Accessory Totals

  • Power:630
  • Toughness:340
  • Vitality:340
  • Precision:90
  • Ferocity:90

Weapon Set Sigils

Berserker's Sword
  • Weapon Strength: 905-1000
  • Power: 120
  • Precision: 85
  • Ferocity: 85
Berserker's Dagger
  • Weapon Strength: 924-981
  • Power: 120
  • Precision: 85
  • Ferocity: 85
Sigil of Superior Air
50% chance to cause a lightning strike on a critical hit. (This effect cannot trigger more than once every 3 seconds)
Sigil of Intelligence
Your next 3 attacks after swapping to this weapon while in combat have a 100% chance to critical.

Weapon Set I

Sigil of Superior Air

50% chance to cause a lightning strike on a critical hit. (This effect cannot trigger more than once every 3 seconds)

Sigil of Intelligence

Your next 3 attacks after swapping to this weapon while in combat have a 100% chance to critical.
Berserker's Sword
  • Weapon Strength: 905-1000
  • Power: 120
  • Precision: 85
  • Ferocity: 85
Berserker's Dagger
  • Weapon Strength: 924-981
  • Power: 120
  • Precision: 85
  • Ferocity: 85
Sigil of Superior Air
50% chance to cause a lightning strike on a critical hit. (This effect cannot trigger more than once every 3 seconds)
Sigil of Intelligence
Your next 3 attacks after swapping to this weapon while in combat have a 100% chance to critical.

Weapon Set II

Sigil of Superior Air

50% chance to cause a lightning strike on a critical hit. (This effect cannot trigger more than once every 3 seconds)

Sigil of Intelligence

Your next 3 attacks after swapping to this weapon while in combat have a 100% chance to critical.
  • Weapon Strength: -
  • Weapon Strength: -

Water Weapon I

Water Weapon II


V. Basic Gameplay

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