Thief - Power S/D Roamer

Twitch: Theonexandy

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.

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 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

• 强效超级磨刀石 or 罐装水果蛋糕, whichever is cheaper (note that the sharpening stone lasts twice as long).

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.

• 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.

• 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 / before jumping in. The bouncing attacks however aren't all that bad when it comes to clearing Mesmer clones.

• is strong in its own right. Being the only source of in the build, this grants access to which can help with interrupting important casts (heal, stomp, etc.) when 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

• being a spammable blast finisher has high value for your team when it comes to blasting fields for or healing (although they'll have to provide the fields).

  • Its chain skill is a solid cource of downed cleave, or even ranged burst if you pre-cast aimed at your feet, near the end of the animation and then detonate at your target.

• 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 d.

• Use on downed enemies especially if they are being revived - Poison decreases healing gained by 33% which affects resurrecting speed.

• is the #1 skill for moving around the map in general.

Utilities & elite

• 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.

• 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 . 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, away to safety, and then follow up with at the end of the animation in order to finish the target.

• 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.

  • Note: skills like or are able to interrupt Dagger Storm, so don't be completely careless.