The community gave this build a rating, making it second-tier: Good
Focused on: Strike damage and Mobility
Designed for: WvW Roaming
Difficulty: Normal
This build was last updated on May 15, 2025 and is up to date for the June 2, 2026 patch.
Overview
A Power Sword/Dagger WvW roaming build for core Thief. This mix of evasions, boon stealing and unblockable damage makes for a strong skirmisher that seeks to win a battle of attrition. Usable by F2P players as well.
Skill Bar
顺手牵羊Stolen skill
Skill Bar Variants
Utility
For the optional slot there are two similar options. Both breaks stun and generates initiative:
-
敏捷纹章 - good passive bonus and extra cleansing/evasion on active. -
渗透纹章 - primarily used to chase down targets. If you need to break stun with it and don't want to remain right next to your opponent, you can use NPCs and other players as targets to teleport to. -
毒蝎钩索 - a ranged pull on short CD, good at closing gaps, interrupting skills and setting up combos like 
隐秘突袭 ⇒ 
战术打击 without spending initiative.
Template Code
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Variants
刺客奖赏 is an equally viable option for the last slot, offering significantly higher healing to help you out in longer fights in exchange for having less initiative to spend.
Equipment
Equipment Variants
Relics
烟花古物 - a fine substitute if you can't get Relic of the Claw, but you'll have lower uptime on the damage boost.
Sigils
-
超级嗜血法印 over 
超级洁净法印 - if you can afford to give up some sustain, this sigil provides a damage boost to both sets. -
超级鲜血法印 over 
超级迅敏法印 - the life steal makes you a bit more durable while also adding some extra damage, but you'll lose a burst window after Steal by dropping Celerity.
Consumables
Food
-
芫荽柠檬真空烹调肉排 - great stats and armor ignoring damage procs that also heal you. -
碗装甜辣冬南瓜汤 - burst damage if you don't have ascended cooking. -
巨龙甜甜圈片 or 
怪异莓幽灵 - crit chance bump with armor ignoring damage procs which also heal. -
碗装欧尔松露鲜肉煲 - mainly a defensive food that provides more frequent access to dodging.
Utility
Usage
General
-
Dodge if you need
迅捷 while roaming. -
The many dodges and evasions on weapon sets provide decent survivability for an otherwise very squishy profession.
Steal
-
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).
- Thanks to
欺诈平衡 however you can use this skill a bit more freely compared to other thief builds.
- Thanks to
-
Steal's most important function is the instant boonstrip that prioritizes
稳固, which goes off before the 
晕眩 does, resulting in an instant interrupt. It's also a strong combo piece as an instant teleport that can be used in the middle of casting hard hitting abilities can make it easier to land those skills. -
顺手牵羊 procs
克达之爪古物 (or Relic of Fireworks, depending on your relic choice), creating a burst window for you.
Sword/Dagger
The main set of the build
-
Most of the damage will come from a combination of autoattacks and the
侧翼打击 chain. -
渗透暗袭 is an excellent skill for initiating fights or just closing gaps.
暗影回归 provides minor cleansing and an escape route.
-
Don't spam
侧翼打击 mindlessly. You will become easily predictible and locked in an animation while your enemy can set up burst. Find a balance between your autoattacks and flanking strike. Both this skill and its chain 
侧翼突袭 are unblockable. Larcenous Strike will be your main source of burst damage. -
匕首之舞 is merely a filler for ranged poking in case going into melee range would be too dangerous and Short bow is on CD, or if you want to get rid of 
圣盾 / 
目盲 before jumping in. The bouncing attacks however aren't all that bad when it comes to clearing Mesmer clones. -
隐秘突袭 is strong in its own right. Being the only source of
潜行 in the build, this grants access to 战术打击 which can help with interrupting important casts (heal, stomp, etc.) when 顺手牵羊 is on cooldown, and the stealth in general can help you lose aggro for a short while or even leave the fight entirely without being chased. The damage itself is quite good both on CnD and Tactical Strike, which means chaining these 2 could act as a burst combo as well. With Steal added to the mix in the middle of casting CnD this combo becomes less obvious and harder to avoid.- This could be used on AI (clones, pets, minions) if all you need is stealth not the damage, as AI won't dodge it therefore the odds of getting a successful CnD off becomes higher.
Short bow
Utility weapon
-
集束炸弹 being a spammable blast finisher has high value for your team when it comes to blasting fields for 潜行 or healing (although they'll have to provide the fields). -
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 Immobilize Immobilized. -
Use
窒息瓦斯 on downed enemies especially if they are being revived - Poison decreases healing gained by 33% which affects resurrecting speed. -
渗透暗箭 is the #1 skill for moving around the map in general.
Utilities & elite
-
敏捷纹章 is your best souce of cleansing, as it instantly removes 3 conditions. In addition to that, this also gives 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 active 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.
-
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
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