Build:Thief - Core Power Thief

The community gave this build a rating, making it second-tier: Good

Focused on: Strike damage

Designed for: Open World, Open World General and Open World Core

Difficulty:

TBD

This build was last updated on February 15, 2022 and is up to date for the March 19, 2024 patch.

Overview

A solid core thief build that can be used in most areas of open world. This build is ideal for playing by yourself or with a small group but thanks to its high mobility and the nature of Trick Shot it can perform very well in zergs.

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Skill Bar

Sword/Pistol

Shortbow

Utility

Weapon Variants

• Dagger (mainhand) - high mobility if paired with pistol, higher DPS if paired with Dagger (offhand)
• Dagger (offhand) - can provide extra evades and Stealth via Cloak and Dagger; pair with Dagger (mainhand) for high DPS, or with Sword for spammable evades and boonrip.
• Pistol (mainhand) - grants access to Unload if paired with Pistol (offhand); very high burst damage

Skill Variants

• Withdraw - instant heal + evade
• Hide in Shadows - stealth
• Shadowstep - alternative stun break + condi cleanse.
• Roll for Initiative - reliable stun break
• Tripwire - cc
• Shadow Refuge - to escape from enemies or stealth past them.
• Thieves Guild - high burst on a long cooldown
• Basilisk Venom - strong crowd control if there are allies nearby.

Specializations

• No Quarter is a massive damage boost but at the cost of most of your sustain.
• Sundering Shade / Even the Odds - use if taking daggers

Acrobatics Variant

This variant provides additional defense in the form of extra dodges through Feline Grace and sustain from Assassin's Reward.

Equipment

Ascended gear and stat infusions are not required; you can use exotic gear with the same stats.

Standard Equipment

This set uses gear similar to Build:Daredevil_-_Power_DPS, making it an excellent option for general PVE.

Head
Berserker

Shoulders
Berserker

Chest
Berserker

Hands
Berserker

Legs
Berserker

Feet
Berserker

Backpiece
Berserker

Accessory
Berserker

Accessory
Berserker

Amulet
Berserker

Ring
Berserker

Ring
Berserker

Sword
Berserker

Pistol
Berserker

Sigil

Sigil

Shortbow
Berserker

Sigil

Sigil

Rune
x6

Variant Equipment

Gear

• Knight - defensive trinkets
• Marauder - trades some damage for higher DPS

Runes

• Rune of Superior Rune of Infiltration - budget DPS
• Rune of Superior Rune of Vampirism - defense

Sigils

• Sigil of Superior Sigil of Air - budget DPS
• Sigil of Superior Sigil of Energy - Strong defensive sigil that allows for more dodges.

Tagging
Equip your shortbow with Sigil of Superior Sigil of Fire and Sigil of Superior Sigil of Frenzy for an excellent tagging build.

Consumables

Food

• Any ascended food is superior to any other food you could use. Steak for power, flatbread for conditions. Budget versions of these foods exist and are acceptable.
• - farming
• , - DPS
• - defense

Utility

• (and variants) - farming
• , - dps

Usage

• This build is very easy to play. Spam Pistol Whip as your main source of damage and defense. It evades for a long duration and deals decent damage while also healing you from Assassin's Reward and stacking Lead Attacks.
• Against groups of trash mobs, use Black Powder followed by two full auto-attack chains. Repeat until dead.
• Use Smoke Screen to destroy projectiles and blind enemies.
• Use Basilisk Venom for CC, especially when near other players so they can also gain its benefits.
• Shortbow gives you excellent ranged tagging potential, mobility, and even some CC.
  • Use Infiltrator's Arrow to get around quickly. This skill can take some effort to use, but having your abilities set to Ground Target with Range Indicator (quickcast) can be a good help.

Blasting

A lot of new thieves are unaware how potent their Combo Blast potential is.

What is Blasting?

Blasting allows you to use a skill which is a Blast Finisher inside a Combo Field to produce an effect. There are lots of combinations, but the two most relevant for thief are Fire Fields and Smoke Fields.

• When Blasted, Fire Fields grant Might to the blaster and nearby allies. Might is a massive damage increase!
• Smoke Fields grant the blaster and nearby allies stacking Stealth duration. This means you can help your party bypass some encounters entirely.

How to Blast

Some classes have a lot of different ways to blast, but most of them don't match thief's blasting potential. Thief blasts through the use of Cluster Bomb on Shortbow.

• Aim the Cluster Bomb into the combo field and release it. Some combo fields are tricky to hit; if the skill doesn't land just right it may not grant the bonus.
  • To get the maximum potential, you need to blast quickly. However, Cluster Bomb has a second set of damage that the thief can activate by using the skill while a charge is still in the air.
  • In order to blast quickly, you must wait for the existing charge to explode before using Cluster Bomb again. If you re-activate it before it lands, it will not blast.

This method can take a bit of getting used to due to the small delay on Cluster Bomb's landing. Practice using the skill in fields to get it down just right.

Thief Combo Fields

The most reliable combo fields for thief to use are Smoke Screen and Black Powder. By using these, you can stealth up to five people, including yourself. This stealth has a maximum duration, so it's a good idea to stack it and then move, finding a spot to stack again before the existing stealth runs off.

In a good party, the thief will only need to use a few blasts; the party will contribute some of their own. Five blasts is sufficient for max stealth, so a common tactic is to use Black Powder with a few blasts from the thief and a few blasts from the party to very rapidly stealth before moving to a new area and repeating the process.

• Note that you must have Autotarget turned off in the settings to do this efficiently.