The community gave this build a rating, making it top-tier: Great
Focused on: Mobility, Strike damage and Utility
Designed for: PvP Conquest
Expansions required: Heart of Thorns builds
Difficulty: Hard
This build was last updated on June 05, 2026 and is up to date for the June 2, 2026 patch.
Overview
D/P Thief is a PvP build that's an asset to the team not only because of its pressure, but also due to the utility it brings to the table - most notably the top tier mobility and the AoE 
潜行. The build focuses on decapping unguarded enemy points and outnumbering fights before quickly moving on to the next one - in short, its role is map control. One of the harder builds to play.
Skill Bar
顺手牵羊Stolen skill
Skill Variants
Utility
The only utility that shouldn't be replaced is 
暗影疾步. There are many great options for the other slots, including:
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阻碍匕首 - adds more burst to the build and the Immobilize Immobilize could be used to set up kills. -
暗影传送门 - exceptionally strong map control tool that's great for getting decaps or cutting down on time you spend roaming between fights. -
强横防御 - short CD stun break with a block, and the CC on the chain skill could help you set up kills.
Elite
石蜥毒液 - better setup for coordinated burst, can even be shared with allies.
Template Code
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Variants
逃生坚忍 - this trait is great for dealing with condition pressure, but kind of forces you to run 
战士符文 as you'll need the extra vitality.
Specialization Variants
Shadow Arts over Deadly Arts offers better sustain (especially against conditions) but lowers your damage:
Equipment
Equipment Variants
Relics
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独行侠古物 - lower burst potential but more consistency. -
克达之爪古物 - slightly lower damage boost, but potentially much higher uptime especially if you can land a 
爆头射击 every now and then.
Runes
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全息师符文 - very similar to Vampirism, slightly lower HP for a bit higher crit chance. Higher risk/reward option. -
战士符文 - more beginner-friendly option with higher HP.
Sigils
Usage
General
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Stack AoE
潜行 for your team before fights using the 
火药喷射 + 
集束炸弹 combo. -
The thief's role is to almost constantly keep moving.
神行无阻 and 
渗透暗箭 make this build incredibly mobile. Decap unguarded capture points, +1 fights (rotate to outnumber the enemy team on a point, quickly ending the fight and then move on), provide AoE stealth for your team, interrupt foes with stability by landing 顺手牵羊, and gank targets in teamfights. -
In larger fights camp short bow and stay in range until an opening shows, then pressure the target with D/P.
Steal
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顺手牵羊 is the most powerful tool in a thief's kit and should not be wasted! Do not start fights with steal, keep it for the right moment (mainly to interupt important skills such as heals or elites).
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Among other things stealing refills endurance, grants initiative, and provides a variety of boons for you and your team. Its most important function however is the instant boonstrip that prioritizes
稳固, which goes off before the 
晕眩 does, resulting in an instant interrupt. -
Steal procs the damage bonus of
烟花古物, creating a burst window for you.
Dagger/Pistol
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背刺 is the best burst skill in the build but comboing 潜行 can be quite costly. Try to hit enemies from behind or the side for extra damage. -
Autoattacks combined
暗影投射 are the primary source of sustained damage on this set.- It's worth noting that the build is rather squishy by default, so most of the time you won't be able to spam autoattacks in melee for long. The
目盲 from 暗影投射 may buy some time for some quick hits without the fear of getting deleted in melee. - Standing in 火药喷射 briefly allows you to go toe-to-toe with other melee builds while auto spamming.
- It's worth noting that the build is rather squishy by default, so most of the time you won't be able to spam autoattacks in melee for long. The
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钻心 (HS) is seldom used to deal damage. It's mainly just a tool for comboing stealth by performing a Leap finisher in 火药喷射 (BP), and sometimes adds an extra bit of mobility. Other than that it may be useful for finishing targets below 25% HP who are just out of melee range. -
暗影投射 will be your main gapcloser on this set. There are a couple of things to note about this one:
- Shadow Shot has 2 parts: first one is an unblockable teleport/blind, while the second part deals damage. If you're in 潜行 and don't want to lose it, it's possible to cancel the 2nd part of the skill by using stow weapon immediately after the 目盲 is applied (you should definitely set up a bind for it if you haven't already). This even lets you follow up with 背刺 if the stealth wasn't broken.
- Because of its unblockable part you can use this skill once on blocking targets to ensure that you stay one step ahead of them as 目盲 makes it harder for them to counterpressure you after the block is over.
- Shadow Shot has 2 parts: first one is an unblockable teleport/blind, while the second part deals damage. If you're in
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爆头射击 is a quick interrupt. Other than that it can be combined with 火药喷射 for an interrupting + blinding attack, effectively shutting down the skill they are currently using, and the next one as well.
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火药喷射 will be your primary source of stealth - combo it with 钻心 for self stealthing or short bow's 集束炸弹 for AoE stealth. Another use includes dropping it on downed enemies in order to blind their interrupt skills - making stomping easier - or comboing it with 顺手牵羊 for a near-instant long range 目盲.
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It's possible to burst someone from range, even without line of sight with the following combo:
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火药喷射
- 钻心 in Black Powder for stealth
- 顺手牵羊 in the middle of the Heartseeker
- 背刺 from behind or the side
Short bow
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技巧射击 is a fine option for ranged poking in case going into melee range would be too dangerous. The bouncing projectiles provide decent cleave in teamfights and excel at removing Mesmer clones. -
集束炸弹 being a spammable blast finisher has high value for your team when it comes to blasting fields for AoE 潜行.
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致残射击 provides cheap and spammable evasion in case you're being focused by the enemy team and your defensive skills are on CD. Remains usable even while 
定身, but it's somewhat expensive. -
Use
窒息瓦斯 on downed enemies especially if they are being revived - Poison decreases healing received by 33% which affects resurrection speed, and the initial strike even interrupts foes. -
渗透暗箭 is the #1 skill for moving around the map in general, cuts down on travel time between capture points drastically.
Utilities
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敏捷纹章 (if taken) is your best souce of cleansing, as it instantly removes 3 conditions. In addition to that, this also refills an entire dodge roll's worth of endurance which can be used as a last resort option for squeezing out more dodges when you're out of endurance and don't have time to heal. Keep in mind that the condition cleansing portion of this skill is AoE! Try to use it near allies whenever possible. -
暗影疾步 is easily the most versatile and one of the strongest skills in the build. It has 2 parts:
- The first half is a stun break and teleport, which already has countless applications. A few applications include teleport to safety while pressured, extending your reach in combat, or using the instant mobility boost to decap enemy points before using the 2nd part of the skill to leave just as fast.
- The second half is called
暗影回归. This skill becomes available for 10 seconds after using Shadowstep, and cures 3 conditions in addition to breaking stun again before returning you to your starting location. - These can also be combined to safe stomp targets: begin stomping, 暗影疾步 away to safety, and then follow up with 暗影回归 at the end of the animation in order to finish the target.
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致盲药粉 is fairly simple. This is your second stun breaker, and another source of stealth. As a Blast finisher you can combo it with 火药喷射 for AoE stealth. Just like Signet of Agility, this is a skill you can use to your allies' benefit by sharing its effect with them.- If you want to be greedy and use this offensively, the instant cast time and 0 initiative cost makes this quite good at quickly stealthing up for a 背刺 burst.
- If you want to be greedy and use this offensively, the instant cast time and 0 initiative cost makes this quite good at quickly stealthing up for a
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匕首风暴 is both a defensive and offensive elite. The rather lengthy evade frame with increased movement speed makes it an excellent panic button when you're being focused by the enemy team. On the other hand the skill deals heavy AoE damage whilst evading, which makes it great for pressuring melee targets in general with next to no risk.
Top Streamers
Related Builds
- Daredevil - SA D/P Roamer - WvW version of the build.