Thief WvW | Large Group Shortbow, Shortbow | Assaulter The Bow tank
Table of Contents
Summary
Thief is one of the most different classes, its fighting style is different though with the right build you can tke advantage of it and use it to be tanky as heck in wvw this build is that build
I. Weapons and Skills
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- Surprise Shot¼Stealth. Shoot an arrow that immobilizes your foe.Damage: 202Immobilized: 2 sCombo Finisher: ProjectileRange: 900
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- Detonate Cluster1Detonate your cluster bomb in midair.
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- Shadow ReturnReturn to your starting location and cure three conditions.Break stunRange: 1,200
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Weapon and Skill Details
Our weapons are 2 knights shortbows. We choose knights so we can have the toughness and high crit chance those 2 things are key for thief survivability, you may ask why but its simple toughness lowers the direct dmg that's applied to you which mean zerkers do less dmg to you, the crit chance is for being able to kill people which tanks normally cant do.
So know that you understand the weapon choices lets further explain shortbow and not the stats. Normally using 2 of the same weapon for any character is quiet useless but not for thief, short bow allows use to teleport with infiltrator's arrow and evade a ton with Disabling shot. We also get great aoe from cluster bomb and Chocking Gas. Our auto attack allows us to hit multiple targets too which is key to getting loot and killing while zerging in wvwvw.
Why do a zerg thief build????? Well first off thief has the most and I mean the most mobility from shadow stepping, thief also has an ok amount of control in the fight such as stability and just hitting multiple targets, Thief is also the only class that allows you to evade so many times in arrow and is spamable . Evading in wvwvw allows you to survive siege damage from arrow carts and balistas though teleporting does too but not every class has a teleport, though we have multiple from Infiltrators Arrow and Shadow Step.
Our utilities and heal is: Signet of Malice, Shadowstep, Shadow Refuge, Signet of Agility, and finally Dagger Storm. We choose all those skills for survival such as our heal, heals us every time we attack and trust me when you can spam skills you heal a ton. Shadowstep is used for a condi removal,Stun break, and a theory which is you can shadow step away when a zerg comes at you to either run away or not take dmg then use Shadow Return to get back with your group and start killing people.
Shadow Refuge is mainly used before a fight to stealth your zerg so your zerg can go into a fight hidden and have it easier to ambush a zerg. Or you can use it with the Shadowstep theory can just use it and let the circle run out then do shadow return.
Signet of Agility is used for 2 evades and a condi removal which can be used with shadowstep to cure 4 conditions.
Dagger Storm is used for control mainly because of the stability but it also hits almost literally everyone and applies cripple and bleed though since it hits a ton of people using it when you need to heal will boost you health right up.
Extra: I do not recommend you use you're heal skill I recommend you just attack ad let that heal you though it is only a 15 second cooldown it is really hard to heal yourself while fighting a zerg so to me its the best choice because when you're attacking you're healing.
II. Traits
Deadly Arts
Critical Strikes
Shadow Arts
Acrobatics
Trait Details
The trait line is 0/0/30/30/10 or 0/0/6/6/2.
Shadow Arts:I/II/VII.
I is for the less cooldown on Shadowstep and Shadow Refuge since the is times you need those up and you may not have them up so this makes it so theres a less chance of that happening.
II is for the 10 seconds of regen whenever we get applied with 2 bleeds or more which nowadays a lot of people run condi so it easy for this to go off and I use it instead of Regen when we stealth only because we only have 1 stealth skill and you shouldn't be in stealth long when fighting a zerg anyways so that would be entirely useless.
VII is for more shortbow damage, we choose it since we're using 2 shortbows.
Acrobatics:II IX XI.
II is for might on dodge (normal dodge, tap twice to evade or default v) and we have tons of access to normal dodges so might is perma with this build even without strength our hoelbrak runes.
IX is for the extra initiative so we can keep attacking which is important while fighting while zerging.
XI goes with IX because we heal every time we use initiative and IX gives more initiative so its a great combo and yes it does stack with our heal if you were wondering.
Finally we're at Trickery:III.
III is for the cripple and bleed when we dodge witch even without being condi this is really good because movement is key for wvw fighting and the slower they are the better chance of winning you zerg has and yes it also heals you and it is spamable if you're normal dodgeing a ton.
III. Stat Specifics & Effects
Primary Stats
- Health 21255 (+9610)
- Vitality 1877 (+961)
- Armor 3359 (+1379)
- Toughness 2295 (+1379)
- Attack 3110 (+1194)
- Power 2060 (+1144)
- Critical Hit 17% (+17%)
- Precision 1283 (+367)
Secondary Stats
- Boon Duration 30% (+30%)
- Condition Damage 100 (+100)
- Condition Duration (self) -25% (+-25%)
- Damage 1050 (+5%)
- Defense 1064 (+0)
- Experience from Kills 20% (+20%)
- Healing Power 668 (+668)
- Magic find 20% (+20%)
- Steal Recharge Rate 10% (+10%)
- Stun Duration (self) -25% (+-25%)
Boons
Conditions
Control
Fields & Finishers
Stat and Effect Details
All stats are very good. But there is one thing we should look at and realize healing power does effect our signet heal so 100 is not correct. and look at our healing power we got 607 which is great for survival. Though it should go up because of our sigil of life.
IV. Food, Armor, Trinkets & Upgrade Items
Food Nourishment
Gain 85 health every second
Vitality: 70
Experience from Kills: 10%
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- Gain 85 health every second
- Vitality: 70
- Experience from Kills: 10%
Utility Nourishment
Gain power equal to 6% of your toughness
Gain power equal to 4% of your vitality
Experience from Kills: 10%
- (30min)
- Gain power equal to 6% of your toughness
- Gain power equal to 4% of your vitality
- Experience from Kills: 10%
Armor & Runes
- Defense: 97
- Toughness: 25
- Vitality: 35
- Toughness: 50
- -10% Incoming Condition Duration; -10% Incoming Stun Duration
- Toughness: 100
- -15% condition duration and -15% stun duration
- Defense: 97
- Toughness: 25
- Vitality: 35
- Toughness: 50
- -10% Incoming Condition Duration; -10% Incoming Stun Duration
- Toughness: 100
- -15% condition duration and -15% stun duration
- Defense: 338
- Vitality: 134
- Power: 96
- Toughness: 96
- Toughness: 25
- Vitality: 35
- Toughness: 50
- -10% Incoming Condition Duration; -10% Incoming Stun Duration
- Toughness: 100
- -15% condition duration and -15% stun duration
- Defense: 157
- Vitality: 45
- Power: 32
- Toughness: 32
- Toughness: 25
- Vitality: 35
- Toughness: 50
- -10% Incoming Condition Duration; -10% Incoming Stun Duration
- Toughness: 100
- -15% condition duration and -15% stun duration
- Defense: 218
- Vitality: 90
- Power: 64
- Toughness: 64
- Toughness: 25
- Vitality: 35
- Toughness: 50
- -10% Incoming Condition Duration; -10% Incoming Stun Duration
- Toughness: 100
- -15% condition duration and -15% stun duration
- Defense: 157
- Vitality: 45
- Power: 32
- Toughness: 32
- Toughness: 25
- Vitality: 35
- Toughness: 50
- -10% Incoming Condition Duration; -10% Incoming Stun Duration
- Toughness: 100
- -15% condition duration and -15% stun duration
Armor Stat Totals
- Defense 1064
- Toughness 399
- Vitality 349
- Condition Duration (self) -25%
- Stun Duration (self) -25%
- Power 224
Rune Bonuses
Superior Rune of Melandru- Toughness: 25
- Vitality: 35
- Toughness: 50
- -10% Incoming Condition Duration; -10% Incoming Stun Duration
- Toughness: 100
- -15% condition duration and -15% stun duration
Accessories & Jewels
- Magic find: 20%
- Vitality: 25
- Power: 15
- Toughness: 15
- Vitality: 4
- Power: 4
- Power: 4
- Vitality: 4
Accessory Totals
- Power:539
- Toughness:441
- Vitality:242
- Precision:16
- Healing Power:368
- Magic find:20%
Weapon Set Sigils
- Weapon Strength: 950-1050
- Toughness: 239
- Power: 171
- Precision: 171
- Weapon Strength: -
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)
- Weapon Strength: 950-1050
- Toughness: 239
- Power: 171
- Precision: 171
- Weapon Strength: -
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)
- Weapon Strength: 950-1050
- Power: 120
- Toughness: 85
- Vitality: 85
- Weapon Strength: 905-1000
- Power: 120
- Toughness: 85
- Vitality: 85
Water Weapon I
Sigil of Superior LifeYou gain +10 healing each time you kill a foe. (max 25 stacks and ends on down or weapon change)
Water Weapon II
Sigil of Superior LifeYou gain +10 healing each time you kill a foe. (max 25 stacks and ends on down or weapon change)
Upgrade Item Details
So now we're at the upgrades and armor 
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Hat and Shoulder pieces are Knights rest of the armor is sentinel. If you cannot afford sentinel armor or craft it you can go with ptv though you will be loosing health.
The runes are full melandru which is for less condi duration and less stun duration and toughness also vitality which all those things help us live while zerging those runes do make a difference.
The sigils are Both Energy and life. WHY? well the healing power goes towards our heal and energy is because you NEED TO SWAP WEAPONS A TON!!!For perma evadesThe trinkets are just for the stats though I do really recommend those ones. Now food explanation, well mango pie just because they are really cheap but really good I mean 85 a second with all the attacking we're doing and heal sources we have it almost makes us an imortal
V. Basic Gameplay
Just swap weapons a ton and try to live while still controlling the fight with cripple and stability and the aoe you have in the front line. Or you can stand off to the side and use skills you might not get as much kills for doing that though 
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Main Skill Rotation
This is my normal rotation though it may just look like a lot of evading but that's what we have to do to live though so yes if you can memorize this try it out on a npc whatever try it. Also doing this stacks a good amount of might .