Thief WvW | Fun Dagger/Dagger, Dagger/Pistol | Roamer Shadow Dagger (Stealth Build and Gameplay)

Weapon Choice and Skills:

Like I mentioned in the introduction summary, the goal of this build is to maximize stealth usage because I feel like it's an incredibly strong mechanic that's always useful in a fight or an escape. This makes the weapon sets a clear choice, as they give the most options for stealth using the Off Hand Dagger #5, Cloak and Dagger, and the Off Hand Pistol #5, Black Powder, smoke field combo with the leap finisher from your Main Hand Dagger #2, Heartseeker.

These weapon sets together give you the most options for stealth, but it is still up to the individual player if they prefer to use different sets. For example, a Sword/Dagger set still gives you the Cloak and Dagger skill, and is very strong, as the Dual Skill #3 in the Dagger/Dagger set, Death Blossom, is relatively useless in a strong burst build. Another thing to consider is using a Shortbow to add a reliable ranged damage source to your kit.

With your own weapon set considered, I mainly want to focus on the Dagger/Dagger set, and why it functions the best with the trait choice of this build.

• Main Hand Dagger #1:

   

  A lot of people underestimate the damage output and ease of chaining your autoattack on your foe. It's not optimal to be standing around waiting for your initiative to regen so you can use your other skills. The endurance gain is pretty small, but it adds up, and the 4 second Poison might even catch someone's heal. Most of the time, throwing one entire autoattack chain is the most effective before returning to other options.

   

• Main Hand Dagger #2: Heartseeker

   

  Yay Heartseeker, is it time to blow up so squishies with that big 22222 and dive everyone with this incredible leap skill? No it's not. It is never effective to spam out those Heartseekers as this build isn't even built to be a full glass cannon, and no, you shouldn't have Haste on your skill bar so you can leap faster. Heartseeker does lower damage than your autoattack against an enemy over 50% health. Heartseeker does have one excellent benefit though, the leap is further when you have swiftness and also benefits from one of the trait choices, which I will mention later. Otherwise, take that finger off your 2 button and stop jumbling your camera around with this bouncy skill, and focus on the fight.

   

• Main Hand Dagger #3: Death Blossom

   

  Does anyone remember those bleeding thief building with all that evasion and AoE conditions? No? Me neither, let's move on. Don't press this button, high initiative cost, low damage, useless conditions, slow animation.

   

• Off Hand Dagger #4: Dancing Dagger

   

  There isn't a lot to talk about here, this skill provides you with a low damage, ranged cripple, without the Signet of Shadows on the utility bar, it can be helpful in catching up to people. It's most effective if there are more than one target, as it bounces. It used to be stronger, so most of the time it's better to focus on the stealth control and damage the build provides.

   

• Off Hand Dagger #5: Cloak and Dagger

   

  Cloak and Dagger is the niche that makes Dagger/Dagger my favorite weapon set in WvW. This skill, along with a particular trait will allow you to pop in and out of stealth nearly on an endless basis. You can hit this skill on so many more things than just players, including indiscriminant creatures, neutral mobs, fort walls, fort gates, enemy siege, and even those houses in the Overlook Keep. I'll talk about all of this in the gameplay section. This skill is the center of the build and shines in WvW. This is what our initiative lives for, getting it down to a lower 4 initiative cost with the right trait. Landing this skill is key and it can even wear down low sustain builds very quickly.

   

• Stealth Skill: Backstab

   

  Backstab is triggered when you use an autoattack out of stealth. Even without a full glass cannon build, it can be incredibly strong and is a key source of damage in any skirmish. Setting up a good Backstab is why we don't want our initiative to be low from using a bunch of Heartseekers. Cloak and Dagger does the same damage as a 50%-25% Heartseeker and followed with a Backstab, will easily outclass it every time. This skill's name is slightly deceptive. You do not need to hit your target in the back for the extra damage effect to occur, as striking your foe on the side will provide the same effect.

   

• Other Weapon Skills:

   

  The other weapons that this build can also use effectively is the Dagger/Pistol set. It can be effective to use for stealth when there is nothing to hit with Cloak and Dagger. The blinds that this set provide are also very strong, especially against other melee classes. The set also hold a valuable interrupt in Headshot that you can easily swap to and fire off to interrupt a key skill, such as a heal or a long channel. To get into stealth with this set, you have to use a lot of initial initiative, which is why the Dagger/Pistol set is more effective with different trait investment. Firing the Black Powder smoke field and using the leap finisher with Heartseeker will give you 4 seconds of stealth with the trait invested. A key mechanic here is that the stealth is given at the end of leap, which means you can hit someone with Heartseeker and vanish in stealth immediately afterwards. The trait investment will also grant you 2 initiative when you go into stealth. Using this combo gives you some benefits over just using Cloak and Dagger, but the cost is higher, and the damage is usually lower. The pistol offhand may be preferred by some players because of the utility, but I feel like it has more of a place in PvP where you have no access to so many things you can use Cloak and Dagger on.

   

  The other weapon I mentioned was the Shortbow for a ranged tool, but the loss of pressure in the middle of a skirmish can lose it for you, and the shortbow provides generally low pressure. The Shortbow #5 Skill, Infiltrator's Arrow, is a high initiative cost, and though it may seem like a great escape, I will talk escapes in general in the gameplay section.

Steal and its General Mechanics:

Steal is a wonderful asset to any thief build, and the cooldown was recently lowered, allowing some people to move away completely from the Trickery tree. Steal can be traited to deal damage, give you boons, grant you stealth, and many other things. In this build, steal is the slot where you can store another key skill. I won't go over all of the profession specific steal granted skills, as they will be mentioned in the matchups section, but like a mentioned before with Cloak and Dagger benefiting for neutral mobs, steal does as well. Stealing from a Moa, Rabbit, Dolyak, Wolf, Eagle Raptor, or Forest Boar all have the chance to grant you a 4 second stealth and a blind that you are able to store for utility. It's always helpful to use this as an extra escape or to initiate a fight. When you use your stolen item, in this case the Feathers or Fur Tuft, the Steal skill will come off cooldown in the background, allowing you to use it again after 35 seconds after you obtained the stolen item. Another thing worth mentioning is that in this build, the steal does no damage, meaning it will not break stealth, which makes it key in setting up a Backstab along with a stealth initiation.

Heal, Utility, Elite:

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• Healing Skill: Hide in Shadows

   

  In the healing slot, Hide in Shadows is the obvious choice, because stealth is the key to this build. It has a 30 second cooldown, which is kind of high, but still manageable because of all of the other disengage the utilities you carry have. It also removes key conditions that cause DoT, which a class with lower health may struggle against. Only thing else to point out, aside from the trait bonuses which I will mention later, is the 1 second cast time. It is easily interrupted if the enemy is paying attention.

   

• Utility #1: Shadowstep

   

  An instant cast, 1200 range teleport, this skill is hard to pass up. On top of that it breaks stun, and has a secondary cast that removes three conditions and also breaks stun if needed. This skills is a strong escape button and is the only thing that will get you out of a stun. It is great to use after your heal if you need to cleanse a key condition such as immobilize or chill. Quickly pressing Q twice, or getting away and coming back in without conditions, the skill covers many options and makes opponents make a choice about your position. Only notes here other than to practice using it in different situations is to remember that the second skill cast must be used 10 seconds after the original and will only shadowstep you 1200 range towards your original starting position.

   

• Utility #2: Blinding Powder

   

  More stealth aside from the weapon skills, perfect. It is an instant cast, but not a stun breaker, meaning you can disappear when you are stunned, or blind the enemy to stop them from capitalizing on their stun. Though this is a mainly solo guide, it is worth noting that this skill will also grant stealth to nearby allies.

   

• Utility #3: Shadow Refuge

   

  Possibly one of the best profession utilities in the entire game. Granting you a very long stealth. It doesn't work with the stealth duration trait, but still provides a total of 15 seconds of stealth, 4 seconds in the field, and 11 seconds after you leave it. It also provides healing in its base state, which can be helpful alongside Hide in Shadows to negate DoT effects. Again, common knowledge, but worth noting is that the skill also grants allies inside of the field stealth. This is also the only skill that can give you the Revealed debuff without attacking out of stealth. It only happens if you leave the AoE before all 5 ticks of the skill have triggered. I'll mention skills to be careful of when using the skill in the matchups section.

   

• Elite: Basilisk Venom

   

  Basilisk Venom is the shortest elite cooldown in GW2, and causes a 1.5 second stun on your next attack. Using a stun on any enemy is key to a burst build, and provides excellent pressure in any fight. Because of the short cooldown, I feel like having Basilisk Venom on your skill bar at most times the the best choice. Without a stunbreak Other elites can be slotted, and the elite by no means makes the build.

   

Critical Strikes Line:

• Minor Traits and Stats:

   

  The Minor Traits in the Critical Strikes line are Keen Observer, Opportunist, and First Strikes. Keen Observer is worth a little over 100 Precision in flat numbers. Critical hits restoring initiative can't hurt because we only have one other initiative trait in the Shadow Arts line. The last trait, First Strikes, is another flat bonus of 10% damage when your initiative is above 6. This guarantees the damage bonus when you use Cloak and Dagger, as it costs 6 initiative. A percent damage bonus is strong on a burst class, because the numbers we see are already very high.

   

  The main idea of going into this trait line is to get the most damage and reach a high critical strike chance and damage. It is stronger than the Deadly Arts line simple giving us power, because of the Critical Strike Damage alongside Precision.

   

• Major Traits:

   

  There are a couple options here in the first two slots. The two traits that would probably be worth taking that are not shown in the slots are Furious Retaliation, granting 10 seconds of Fury when something reaches less than 50% health, and Critical Haste, which provides Quickness for 2 seconds. Since the Quickness nerf, the latter isn't as strong, and is sort of a random chance that is hard to capitalize on. Otherwise, Practiced Tolerance, and Side Strikes are slotted for their permanent passives. With over 1900 precision, the first trait grants 95 Vitality or 950 Health. With Side Strike, all the traits together increase your critical strike chance by a flat 12% on the initial combo. In the Grandmaster slot, Executioner is chosen for the reason just mentioned. Hidden Killer guarantees a critical hit out of stealth, which may be key on some situations, but the percentage damage bonus is always more useful when your critical strike chance is already nearly 65% with all bonuses. Attacking out of stealth isn't always a wise decision either, and you almost always want to do it with Backstab. Hidden killer would basically be reworded to "Increases Critical Strike chance of Backstab by 35%" which isn't nearly as good as the Executioner passive.

Shadow Arts Line:

• Minor Traits and Stats:

   

  The Minor Traits in the Shadow Arts line are some of the best collection of minor traits in the game. They are all perfect for this playstyle and build. The first Minor Trait is Last Refuge, which will use the skill Blinding Power when you reach 25% health. This skill is a real savior, and sometimes it can react better than you do with your own utility. It will be a 4 second stealth and AoE blind. Since it's the same as the utility skill, it also stealths allies within the radius also. The second minor trait is Meld with Shadows. This makes all your stealth skills, except Shadow Refuge last 1 second longer. All of the 3 second stealth utility is now 4 seconds, including stolen items such as the Blinding Tuft and Throw Feathers. Having 1 more second of stealth will allow you to outplay full burst thieves that lack investment in the Shadow Arts line. It is also key to escaping and being able to maintain an in and out permanent stealth alongside one of the major traits with Cloak and Dagger. Finally, the last minor trait is Hidden Assassin. This skill stacks might on you whenever a source of applied stealth is "consumed". This works particularly well with Shadow Refuge as it adds 5 sources of stealth throughout its duration, granting you up to 10 stacks of might. This is important because the build doesn't use full Berserker gear alongside the Deadly Arts tree to maximize Power, but relies on this boon to reach that very high damage. Because of the duration, and stealth ticks, the 10 stacks of might will be the cap which will grant you 350 power if you focus on stacking it.

   

  You get a passive Toughness and Healing Power form this Trait line. With Hide in Shadows, its passive regeneration, Shadow Refuge's heal, and one of the major traits, 4 sources benefit from the Healing Power. Toughness is always helpful to anyone trying to survive, and is usually more beneficial than all other defensive stat bonuses.

   

• Major Traits:

   

  A lot of the Major Traits in this line are very strong, and can all work well with the build. The first trait is Master of Deception, which decreases cooldowns of your Deception skills by 20%. All of the utilities that were chosen are Deception skills. Blinding Powder gets a 8 second cooldown reduction, Shadowstep gets a 10 second cooldown reduction, and Shadow Refuge gets a 12 second cooldown reduction. With all of these benefits, this is one of my favorite choices of trait to keep active. The second choice is Infusion of Shadow, which will instantly give you 2 initiative back when you gain any source of applied stealth. There is another trait, Patience, that restores 1 initiative every 3 seconds while in stealth, but this is never the superior choice. Even if you are in stealth you have to look at the sources of stealth you are getting. Your longest stealth is Shadow Refuge, which applies 5 sources of stealth. This will restore 10 initiative with the Infusion of Shadow Trait within the first 4 seconds of its use or 5 more Initiative over the entire duration with the Patience trait. This also is extremely beneficial to popping in and out of stealth with Cloak and Dagger. You will get the 2 initiative return when you use this skill, so it's cost is basically 4 initiative, allowing you to almost use it instantly everytime you come out of stealth alongside the increased duration from Meld with Shadows. I'll mention this again in the gameplay and matchup sections. Finally the Grandmaster slot is Shadow's Rejuvenation which provides excellent sustain in general. This will further negate the effects of strong DoTs. Having access to the Grandmaster slot also gives a nice trick you can do, which I will mention in the gameplay section.

   

Acrobatics Line:

• Overview:

   

  The last 10 points are invested into the Acrobatics lines, not because the stats, but for the added mobility you get from both of the traits. Because of the 3 Deception utility skills, Signet of Shadows isn't being used. The Minor Trait grants you 2 seconds of swiftness when you dodge, which can easily be followed up with an increased range Heartseeker because of the movement speed bonus. The Major Trait choice is Fleet Shadow, which grants a movement speed bonus in stealth. This also allows you to use Heartseeker to escape and is the same general idea of using it with swiftness. This trait will allow you to set up Backstabs much easier with the increased movement speed. Having access to this Major Trait slot lets you switch in the thief's falling damage trait, Descent of Shadows.

Will update this later, will include details about every profession matchup.