How much better is core thief S/D than deadeye? Any tips for my build appreciated :)

Hello,So I’m playing dead eye with same traits as core s/d meta thief but with a focus on applying boons to myself, so instead I use the dead eye trait line instead of acrobatics, specifically:

• The dead eye trait that gives bonus damage per boon
• The dead eye trait that grants swiftness when using dead eyes mark, which means I get 5 boons when I use dead eyes mark
• The sigil that increases damage per boon along with the sigil that steals a boon when you interrupt
• The cantrip that breaks stun and refreshes dead eyes mark, so I can keep boons up consistently
• I use the rifle instead of shortbow too

It seems to be working really well as a Roamer but it is super squishy against condis, has little to / no access to swiftness and burns through initiative quickly but the damage is far superior.

Where s/d thief core is the meta just wondering how much better the core thief actually is than other thief builds like mine?

Also if you’re playing thief or are curious about trying one out and like dead eye in spvp, give this a try it’s fun.

buff teef all is vain

@bluri.2653 said:buff teef all is vain

cluster bomb buff be happy :-P

@bluri.2653 said:buff teef all is vain

This made me sad

Without having tried your build, just from a theoretical standpoint:

It sounds like you shift your role away from a very quick +1 role and decapper to something... like a rev/core guard? Slower, but more damage. The problem is, that it is probably vastly overshadowed by other damage-oriented +1 builds - not only due to burst, but also team utility, survival capabilities and stuff.

Also, steal has a completely different use this way: Instead of interrupting important skills - which is incredibly helpful, since it goes through stab and aegis -, you have to use it for damage.

So it won't be meta - the new role is better filled with rev - and the mobility is behind core thief. But if you like it, play it and have fun! :smile:

€: Also, don't be mad about comments like those, it's a forum still. Sad, indeed, but true. :tongue:

@Megametzler.5729 said:Without having tried your build

Yeah you’re right, the way it plays is like your describing it. I’m a lot slower and struggle to decap constitently as I do on core thief.It is fun and I like the dead eye aura effects on my character so much!!

Thanks for your insights, I’m probably going to stick with core or try out a new class like rev or spell breaker ultimately :)

@glennypenny.9625 said:

@Megametzler.5729 said:Without having tried your build

As a old theif player that switched to rev, rev is a blast

@glennypenny.9625 said:

@Megametzler.5729 said:Without having tried your build

I would totally recommend playing Rev. It's super fun to play and very strong.

I've been playing so much Rev lately that I'm starting to look like Leonardo DiCaprio in RL.

@Sampson.2403 said:I've been playing so much Rev lately that I'm starting to look like Leonardo DiCaprio in RL.

When I tried Rev before I found the different legends a bit complicated to grasp but I’ll try again and see if I can do better this time around.

I mean, I’ve been playing this game for over 5 years you think I’d have mastered it by now..

And there’s definitely worse people to look like! Hahaha

Yeah the energy/CD took a bit getting used to and learning which legends etc for each situation took a bit.there are good vids on the legends on utube guides,usual mix of shiro,glint and jalis lol. Once u get used to managing skills and their energy consumption and cd's it becomes a blast to play. To me almost every skill feels impactful and rewarding when used at the right time which is the feeling I lost these days when playing theif.

@glennypenny.9625 said:

@"Sampson.2403" said:I've been playing so much Rev lately that I'm starting to look like Leonardo DiCaprio in RL.

Yeah Rev was really weird to learn. It took me like 250 ranked games to get back into platinum division. But I usually play pretty buzzed and half retarted.

Forgive my rambling here but ill just kinda barf out what i think might be some helpful advice from my recent 'learning to play Rev experience':

Here's the thing with Rev energy management and cooldowns. Don't think of them as two seperate resources. Instead, start to familiarize yourself with combinations.

For example, a common opener I do starting in Shiro is: Phase Trav -> Deathstrike or Shackling wave and I activate impossible odds right before one of those burst skills land then turn it off soon after.

From doing this thousands of times i know that, resource wise, i am pretty much depleted until I swap legends or wait for some energy to build back up. I am not really looking at energy bar here, i know in advance what follow up combo is possible and am now i am just waiting to see how my target will react after getting decked in the face by my OH sword.

Same thing defense wise, you know before you even get in the situation that if, for example, you're going to use riposting shadows then you're going to be low on energy and you have specific follow up defensive combinations available like dodge, staff 3/5, dodge again...maybe save the legend swap into glint as a stun breaker for the inevitable boulder thats about to be thrown into your face. It just depends.

When I play Rev well i always feel like i am never really surprised about what my enemy is going to do and i think that's how you need to approach the playstyle. You need to have a lot of situational awareness to play it well. You need to look for gank opportunities. You need to be in the action when you can be effective and kiting or rotating when you can't be effective.

Get familiar with cooldown / energy spending combinations and you willl never find yourself "being surprised" that you're out of energy.

Try and make a lot of your plays around quickness from phase traverse or the sigil on your sword. Swapping legends procs the sigil of your current weapon set if its off cooldown so i like to phase traverse with my two swords, then once the quickness wears off, if its a good next option, ill flip that kitten into glint mode and ill proc a new dosage of quickness and sometimee ill f2 that kitten twice to increase the quickness if it makes sense.

Bait dodges with facet of chaos by cancelling it mid cast. Same thing with shackling wave. The 2nd par5 of F2 in shiro form is good to kill mesmer clones or to remove boons.

Aye i could go on and on, i enjoy talking about Rev, and i am sure Jay Action or Bryvanent or any other hot shot will step in and tell me im doing it all wrong but hey, until then, Heed my advice friend and I hope you enjoy the class!

Ur a good guy Sampson. +1 for helpful post.

^ :+1:I’m gonna roll a new rev and see how I do. The only sad thing is I have no heavy armour to look super cool

I play a warrior/spellbreaker and i hate running into you guys until I get ahold of one of you then it's over but I'm new and learning the dos and fonts of pvp still!

Core thief is somewhat carried by Daggerstorm resets. S/D Thief essentially becomes the top duelist in the game when it gets lucky.

DE is just cheesy, but not actually that strong and is countered by an aware team.

I think DE can replace acro for a SD build quite well. It plays very similar, you have less dodges/endurance but WAY more initiative, so you can make up the evades with sword 3 and use sword 2 tele more often so you don't need to dodge quite as much. Mercy replaces swindler's equilibrium for steal reset. Improvisation is excellent with DE, you get access to a lot of stealths without investing in additional traits or utilities, which makes up for having to slot your steal reset on mercy vs just having it traited imo. You have perma swift, just not auto applied on dodge so mobility is basically the same as the core build. I prefer it in teamfight because of the excellent Initiative restoration. Choking gas spam is very stronk.

Oh and talk about daggerstorm spam... Improvisation + Payback and with Mercy slotted... It's gross.

@glennypenny.9625 said:^ :+1:I’m gonna roll a new rev and see how I do. The only sad thing is I have no heavy armour to look super cool

That's the right answer really lol. As much fun as I have on thi I feel like rev can do everything better right now.

@kodesh.2851 said:I think DE can replace acro for a SD build quite well.

It seems fairly good with mercy like you said and if you can about face and know the spacing of rifle 4 you’re more mobile than most classes!

@glennypenny.9625 said:

@kodesh.2851 said:I think DE can replace acro for a SD build quite well.

True! and shortbow is definately an option depending on comp. I like sbow when I see lots of scrappers and guards and wars and things that like to spam block. Rifle when it's a more squishy team. Very flexible build actually, DA, Trickery, DE. Most of the weapon sets are pretty decent with it, pistol whip and unload spam are scary with mercy to reset initiative/steal and all the quickness from Be quick or be Killed. Maleficent Seven is pretty awesome with Sword/Dagger/sbow, by the time you've used up your initiative with sword2/3 or sbow 4 on your mark, you hit 7 malice and get it all back.

@kodesh.2851 said:Maleficent Seven is pretty awesome with Sword/Dagger/sbow, by the time you've used up your initiative with sword2/3 or sbow 4 on your mark, you hit 7 malice and get it all back.

I haven’t tried this trait out yet, my only concern would be the consistency of getting full malice for stealth as that’s so helpful! But trying short bow sounds good, I have the inquest mark 2 rifle skin that I’m quite attached to lol!

I haven’t tried this trait out yet, my only concern would be the consistency of getting full malice for stealth as that’s so helpful! But trying short bow sounds good, I have the inquest mark 2 rifle skin that I’m quite attached to lol!

Ahh that's the nice thing, you can still stealth at 5 malice, even when you have 7 max from maleficent seven :) It's still a touch choice though, the burst on be quick or be killed is hard to pass up.