Build:Thief - Core P/D Condition (2024)

This build was last updated on May 31, 2024 and is up to date for the May 21, 2024 patch.

Overview

A core condition damage Thief build for PvP, designed to roam the map and quickly overwhelm targets with a wide variety of conditions.

Skill Bar

Slot Changes

Utility

Viable choices for the optional slot (or even over Shadow Refuge):

• Shadow Portal - better map control.

• Blinding Powder - another stun break and easy stealth / Sneak Attack access.

• Skale Venom - a bursty option that could also be shared with allies (including pets).

• Scorpion Wire - adds much needed CC to the build and perfectly sets up melee skills like Shadow Strike or Cloak and Dagger.

• Prepare Thousand Needles - AoE burst damage that can cover an entire capture point on some maps.

• Signet of Shadows - passive movement speed boost and the active adds a lot of cover conditions to burst combos. The passive also makes it possible to drop Rune of Lynx or Relic of the Wayfinder and take stronger options for these slots.

Elite

This slot largely depends on personal preferences, every skill is viable to some degree:

• Basilisk Venom makes it easier to land your burst and can be shared with your allies.

• Thieves Guild is a bit of a meme option, but if you share Skale Venom with them their combined burst could catch people offguard.

Template Code

Specializations

Variants

• Hidden Thief trades condi cleansing for some defensive conditions, could be an option if you expect Power damage to be the bigger concern during a game.

Equipment

Equipment Variants

Runes

• Rune of Lynx - by taking this rune for the passive movement speed you get to drop the current relic for something else, but Lynx has slightly worse stats. Your sustained damage will be lower.

• Rune of Orr - good stats and the the anti-condition aspect could help in mirror matchups, or against any other condi build in general.

Relics

• Relic of the Fractal - better burst damage and more condition variety on your Repeater spam, but has a 20s cooldown.

• Relic of the Demon Queen - the healing reduction could help you wear down the more tanky builds, but doesn't really add more raw damage to the build as the build only has 1 CC skill by default.

Usage

General

• Share your venom(s) with as many allies as possible, including pets and minions.

• Use Infiltrator's Arrow to move between capture points. Your job is to roam the map and +1 fights by bursting down targets who have no cleansing / no cooldowns left.

Stealing

• Steal is going to be used more freely here compared to other builds as it's not an interrupt in this build. Steal applies various cover conditions such as Vulnerability from Even the Odds or Bleeding from Deadly Ambush, fitting nicely into your burst combos.

Pistol/Dagger

• Most of the damage in this build comes from the Shadow Strike ⇒ Repeater chain and the occasional Sneak Attack. You should spend most of your initiative on these skills.
  • Once you have access to Repeater it's possible to spam this skill 2 times in a row without having to refresh with Shadow Strike.

• Body Shot is more of a niche skill. It could be useful for rooting targets in place, making it easier to land Shadow Strike, but you should try to do it without Bola Shot to save initiative whenever possible. Another thing you could do is root targets in place to make sure your brust doesn't miss, or that they don't catch up to you while spamming Repeater.

• Dancing Dagger is okay for some ranged poking vs multiple targets if you can't get in range for Shadow Strike and don't want to switch to bow just yet.

• Cloak and Dagger provides relatively easy stealth access which could be followed up with Sneak Attack. While this combo does less damage than the skill #3 spam, it costs next to nothing because of Shadow's Rejuvenation and could heal you for quite a significant amount through various Shadow Arts synergies.

• Using Steal in the middle of Shadow Strike or Cloak and Dagger makes these melee skills easier to land by improving their reach.

Burst combo example

1. Precast Cloak and Dagger
2. Steal just before CnD is about to go off
3. Sneak Attack
4. Shadow Strike
5. Repeater x2

Short bow

Utility weapon, secondary set

• Trick Shot is a bit of a weak filler skill in this build that you can spam when weapon swap is on CD and you're out of initiative.

• Cluster Bomb being a spammable blast finisher has high value for your team when it comes to blasting fields for AoE Stealth.
  • Its chain skill Detonate Cluster is a solid source of downed cleave.

• Disabling Shot (thief short bow) provides access to some evasion in case you're being focused by the enemy team and your defensive skills are on CD. Remains usable even while Immobilized, but it's somewhat expensive.

• Use Choking Gas on downed enemies especially if they are being revived - Poison decreases healing received by 33% which affects resurrecting speed and the initial strike interrupts foes.

• Infiltrator's Arrow is the #1 skill for moving around the map in general, cuts down on travel time between capture points drastically.

Related Builds

• Thief - Core P/D Roamer - WvW version.