Thief WvW | Fun Dagger/Dagger, Pistol/Dagger | Roamer WvW Super Troll Thief II
Table of Contents
Summary
Alternate version of this build. Not sure which I like better yet.
Super annoying condition evasion thief build based on D/D Death Blossom spam, frequent dodging, and evasion skills.
Playstyle is simple, you're either stacking Bleeds with Death Blossom spam, or evading with Dodges (which drop caltrops) and evasion abilities.
Intended for solo or small group roaming, very difficult to kill since almost every action in combat is an evade.
Only weakness is against heavy condition classes, but since thieves can pick their battles, part of being a super annoying troll is avoiding fighting condition classes and after only the direct-damage ones.
Also see Madnek's Solo PvE Condition Build (vids).
Also see Serin's tips and suggestions in the comments section at the end.
I. Weapons and Skills
- Weapon Strength: 970-1030
- Condition Damage: 120
- Power: 85
- Vitality: 85
- Weapon Strength: 970-1030
- Condition Damage: 120
- Power: 85
- Vitality: 85
- Weapon Strength: 876-1029
- Condition Damage: 120
- Power: 85
- Vitality: 85
- Weapon Strength: 970-1030
- Condition Damage: 120
- Power: 85
- Vitality: 85
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- Wild StrikeStrike your foe again. Gain endurance with a successful strike.Damage: 286Endurance gain: 10Range: 130
- Lotus Strike¼Strike your foe and inflict poison.Damage: 286Poison: 4 s (336 damage)Range: 130
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- 0Poison: 10 sVigor:
- 0Poison: 10 sVigor:
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- 0Poison: 10 sVigor:
- 0Poison: 10 sVigor:
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- 0Poison: 10 sVigor:
- 0Poison: 10 sVigor:
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- 0Poison: 10 sVigor:
- 0Poison: 10 sVigor:
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- 0Poison: 10 sVigor:
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- Destroy Shadow TrapTrap. Destroy your existing trap, teleporting you back to it, and setting it on recharge.Stealth Duration: 5Range: 10,000Break Stun
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- Shadow ReturnReturn to your starting location and cure three conditions.Break stunRange: 1,200
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- 0Poison: 10 sVigor:
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- 0Poison: 10 sVigor:
Weapon and Skill Details
Death Blossom is the crux of the build. At the start of an attack you can stack 12x ~18s duration Bleed stacks on target, or do one stack at a time to bait the condition removal cooldowns.
Utilities are chosen for evasion ability. Healing skill, Withdraw, grants evasion and is traited for 10s of Vigor and +4 Initiative, on 15s cooldown. Shadow Step and Roll for Initiative are primarily for escapes.
Shadow Trap can be used to initiate a long-range ambush or quickly get behind someone chasing you. Optionally swap Shadow Trap with Ambush Trap, Caltrops, Shadow Refuge, Infiltrator's Signet, Signet of Shadows, or whatever else you prefer.
Elite is player preference, but Thieves Guild works well here.
II. Traits
Deadly Arts
Critical Strikes
Shadow Arts
Acrobatics
Trickery
Trait Details
Traits are simple - buff condition damage/duration, weapon damage, dodges, evasion abilities, and intitiative regen.
III. Stat Specifics & Effects
Primary Stats
- Health 18305 (+6660)
- Vitality 1582 (+666)
- Armor 2446 (+466)
- Toughness 1382 (+466)
- Attack 2391 (+494)
- Power 1361 (+445)
- Critical Hit 6% (+6%)
- Precision 1046 (+130)
Secondary Stats
- Agony Resistance 30 (+30)
- Bleeding Duration 55% (+55%)
- Boon Duration 15% (+15%)
- Condition Damage 1518 (+1518)
- Condition Duration 65% (+65%)
- Damage 1030 (+5%)
- Defense 1064 (+0)
- Experience from Kills 20% (+20%)
- Poison Duration 33% (+33%)
- Steal Recharge Rate 30% (+30%)
Boons
Conditions
Control
Fields & Finishers
Stat and Effect Details
Max Condition Damage and Condition Duration, at the cost of Health and Armor. Survivability comes from frequent dodging & evasion.
IV. Food, Armor, Trinkets & Upgrade Items
Food Nourishment
Condition Duration: 40%
Condition Damage: 70
Experience from Kills: 10%
- (30min)
- Condition Duration: 40%
- Condition Damage: 70
- Experience from Kills: 10%
Utility Nourishment
Gain Condition damage equal to 6% of your toughness
Gain Condition damage equal to 4% of your vitality
Experience from Kills: 10%
- (30min)
- Gain Condition damage equal to 6% of your toughness
- Gain Condition damage equal to 4% of your vitality
- Experience from Kills: 10%
Armor & Runes
- Defense: 97
- Condition Damage: 25
- Bleeding Duration: 10%
- Condition Damage: 50
- Poison Duration: 15%
- Condition Damage: 100
- +20% Bleeding Duration; when you are downed, you create a death nova. (Cooldown: 30 seconds)
- Defense: 97
- Condition Damage: 25
- Bleeding Duration: 10%
- Condition Damage: 50
- Poison Duration: 15%
- Condition Damage: 100
- +20% Bleeding Duration; when you are downed, you create a death nova. (Cooldown: 30 seconds)
- Defense: 338
- Condition Damage: 25
- Bleeding Duration: 10%
- Condition Damage: 50
- +15% Bleeding Duration; 25% chance when struck to inflict bleeding for 10 seconds. (Cooldown: 15 seconds)
- Condition Damage: 100
- +20% Bleeding Duration; when you use an elite skill, you inflict bleeding, torment, and poison for 8 seconds to nearby foes. (Cooldown: 30 seconds)
- Defense: 157
- Condition Damage: 25
- Bleeding Duration: 10%
- Condition Damage: 50
- +15% Bleeding Duration; 25% chance when struck to inflict bleeding for 10 seconds. (Cooldown: 15 seconds)
- Condition Damage: 100
- +20% Bleeding Duration; when you use an elite skill, you inflict bleeding, torment, and poison for 8 seconds to nearby foes. (Cooldown: 30 seconds)
- Defense: 218
- Power: 25
- Bleeding Duration: 15%
- Power: 50
- -50% Incoming Cripple Duration
- Power: 90
- When you use a heal skill you and all nearby allies gain swiftness for 10 seconds. (cooldown: 10s)
- Defense: 157
- Power: 25
- Bleeding Duration: 15%
- Power: 50
- -50% Incoming Cripple Duration
- Power: 90
- When you use a heal skill you and all nearby allies gain swiftness for 10 seconds. (cooldown: 10s)
Armor Stat Totals
- Defense 1064
- Condition Damage 50
- Bleeding Duration 35%
- Power 25
Rune Bonuses
Superior Rune of the Afflicted- Condition Damage: 25
- Bleeding Duration: 10%
- Condition Damage: 25
- Bleeding Duration: 10%
- Power: 25
- Bleeding Duration: 15%
Accessories & Jewels
- Condition Damage: 5
- Agony Resistance: 5
- Condition Damage: 5
- Agony Resistance: 5
- Condition Damage: 5
- Agony Resistance: 5
- Vitality: 5
- Agony Resistance: 5
- Condition Damage: 5
- Agony Resistance: 5
- Vitality: 5
- Agony Resistance: 5
Accessory Totals
- Precision:130
- Toughness:466
- Vitality:346
- Condition Damage:712
- Agony Resistance:30
Weapon Set Sigils
- Weapon Strength: 970-1030
- Condition Damage: 120
- Power: 85
- Vitality: 85
- Weapon Strength: 970-1030
- Condition Damage: 120
- Power: 85
- Vitality: 85
Weapon Set I
Sigil of Superior EnergyYou gain 50% of your endurance when you swap to this weapon while in combat. (This effect cannot trigger more than once every 9s)
Sigil of Superior AgonyBleeds you apply last 20% longer.
- Weapon Strength: 876-1029
- Condition Damage: 120
- Power: 85
- Vitality: 85
- Weapon Strength: 970-1030
- Condition Damage: 120
- Power: 85
- Vitality: 85
Weapon Set II
Sigil of Superior EnergyYou gain 50% of your endurance when you swap to this weapon while in combat. (This effect cannot trigger more than once every 9s)
Sigil of Superior AgonyBleeds you apply last 20% longer.
- Weapon Strength: 905-1000
- Condition Damage: 120
- Power: 85
- Vitality: 85
- Weapon Strength: 905-1000
- Condition Damage: 120
- Power: 85
- Vitality: 85
Water Weapon I
Sigil of Superior AgonyBleeds you apply last 20% longer.
Water Weapon II
Sigil of Superior EnergyYou gain 50% of your endurance when you swap to this weapon while in combat. (This effect cannot trigger more than once every 9s)
Upgrade Item Details
Use whatever combination of Carrion and Rabid gear you prefer. Condition damage is the same, and no on-crit procs in this build so power=precision in terms of utility. Decide based on whether you prefer more health or more armor.
V. Basic Gameplay
The way it's played is, you're either Death Blossoming or Dodging the entire fight. When you run out of Initiative, switch to Dodge. When you run out of Endurance, switch back to Death Blossom. Frequent evasion healing with Withdraw, which also gives Vigor and +4 Initiative.
Use Shadow Trap to initiate fights with an ambush and surprise attack, or swap that for another utility like Signet of Shadows (25% run speed), Infiltrator's Signet (Intiative regen), Shadow Refuge, etc.
If the odds become overwhelming, escape by swapping to Shortbow (AoE chill) -> Roll For Iniatitive -> Shadowstep -> Infiltrator's Arrow away.
You can put 12x 18s duration Bleed stacks on a Dolyak all while evading, that do 25,000+ dmg, and unless the defender/s have condition removal there's nothing they do but watch it die. Same vs players, camp guards, etc. Very few builds have enough condition removal to keep up with the amount of bleeds you can apply with this.
Main Skill Rotation
Ambush with Shadow Trap, spam Death Blossom and Dodge (caltrops), heal and regen endurance with Withdraw. Repeat till dead.
To escape bad odds, swap to Shortbow -> Roll For Initiative -> Shadow Step -> Infiltrator's Arrow away.
Condition Duration: You've hit the cap for Condition Duration (>100%). You have 25% from deadly arts, 45% from runes, 10% from sigils, and 40% from food.
25%+45%+10%+40% = 120% wasting 20%
You could resolve this by removing the Sigil and a pair of runes if you really want the 25 points in Deadly Arts. In which case take a pair of Altruism Runes, and have a Sigil of Earth, or remove all the Runes and take runes of the Adventurer instead.
Or you could shift the traits to a 10/0/0/30/30 build. and get some options in terms of the Utilities you get to take. For example:
After we shift the traits to 10/0/0/30/30, we can open up the option to take Acrobatics XI "Hard to Catch", this gives you a 30sCD auto hard control effect breaker. Allowing you to forgo "Roll for Initiative" and take something else for your utility 3 slot. This also means that we can take a Acrobatics 20 trait, and since we just lost the "Roll for Initiative" utility, we can take IX "Quick Recovery" for Initiative gain, or "Fleet of Foot" to remove cripple and weakness (which shuts the dodge element down significantly so is worth considering again foes that can apply it, situational though). "Pain Response" for removing Damaging Conditions and getting regeneration, or "Assassin's reward" for healing if you find you aren't getting enough out of Withdraw.
Replacing "Roll for Initiative" with "Signet of Agility" to keep you condition free and maintain Endurance. One thing I noticed was that protracted fights or fights where positioning was off, meant you have to use your dodge a little more. Signet of Agility lets you feign low Endurance by using 3 dodges and then fool the enemy into a burst that you can dodge with a further 3 dodges. Letting you additionally regain Initiative, ready to burst them back with your death blossoms. Now this means that you no longer have any Trick Utilities, so you can replace your Trickery 20 with something else, if you have decided to take "Signet of Agility" don't take "Sigils of Energy" you can take "Bountiful Theft" as your Trickery 20. This gives you Perma vigor in a fight and some boon stealing to boot. This lets us take something else for the sigil on the weapon now. And fore-goes the need to weapon swap in the fight (making the Shortbow a lot more tempting). Other options for the Sigil would be "Sigil of Corruption" for Condition damage stacks, "Sigil of Generosity" if you haven't taken "Sigil of Earth", and "Sigil of Speed/Stamina" for on kill effects, and "Sigil of blood" to take the 95% bleed duration to the 100% cap (doesn't seem worth it though), alternatively if none of those seem something you want, then a Gem is fine, nothing wrong with additional states if you already fill the needs of the build and haven't got a sigil option to benefit your play style.
The Deadly arts 10 trait suddenly becomes less appealing so replace it with Mug for the heal affects.
If you don't want to take Rabid gear you can take carrion instead, you won't have the critical to trigger sigil effects though, so bare that in mind. You can also take a Hybrid of the two (Carrion Armour / Rabid Accessories / Rampager Weapons). It gives a nice mix of Health and Toughness, and keeps some Precision for Sigil triggers. Its not great for blob fights, but 1vs1 its by far the best.
As an additional option to both builds, Shadow Trap can be replaced with Shadow Refuge. This is player preference though.
Just my pennies worth of thoughts.