Qadim Kite Deadeye

May 2023

Introduction

Deadeye is the most common class for kiting on Qadim. Its high range and the spammable nature of Thief’s weapon skills makes it excellent at dealing with the Lava Elementals. Additionally, it brings utility for the team with portals and if executed well, even deals great damage to the boss during burn phases. The idea behind the Deadeye rotation relies on getting to maximum Malice stacks to gain boons and Initiative with Maleficent Seven, then using Stealth to consume all the Malice with Malicious Death's Judgment then repeating the process.

Build Fundamentals

You want to always Kneel, both when kiting and when DPS-ing the boss. Only un-kneel when moving in-between phases.

Deadeye's Mark Three Round Burst deals enough damage to instantly kill a Lava Elemental. Killing an enemy refreshes the cooldown of Deadeye's Mark because of the Renewing Gaze trait, allowing you to repeat this process for all the incoming elementals. This also synergizes with the Mug trait, which will grant you a sizeable heal each time you cast Deadeye's Mark.

As a kiter, you need to position yourself well and avoid Qadim’s Flame Wave attack (see the kiting section of the Qadim guide for an in depth explanation of his attack pattern). The sustain from Mug will be enough to keep you healthy through the damage from his Flame Slashes.

During the boss phase make sure you Deadeye's Mark Qadim before starting the loop, otherwise you will not get any Malice from your attacks. Also make sure to disable your autoattack while on Rifle, as it might accidentally fire when you are stealthed and reveal you before you are able to consume your Malice with Malicious Death's Judgment.

Use Prepare Shadow Portal to portal your subgroup back to the boss after killing a Pyre Guardian, and to portal them across the jumping puzzle in the final phase.

Build Specifics

Use Assassin's Signet towards the end of each boss phase. Always try to fit two Death's Judgments within every activation of the signet.

If group DPS is low, you will eventually run out of Stealth sources during the boss phase. There is not much you can do about this; fill with auto attacks until your Stealth skills come back off cooldown. You can sporadically use Three Round Burst as well, just make sure to keep your Initiative close to full!

Alternatives

Skills

Depending on how many Pyre Guardians your squad are electing to kill and how many Mesmers are in the squad, you may not need Prepare Shadow Portal if the Mesmer(s) handle it instead. In this case, you can replace Prepare Shadow Portal for a DPS increase.

• If group DPS is decent (and you are not running out of stealth sources during boss phases) you can take Shadow Flare.
• If group DPS is lacking, you can take Mercy to extend your rotation and give yourself an additional instance of stealth.

If you are taking Shadow Flare, use it between step 2 and 3 of the loop whenever it’s available. Pair it with Assassin's Signet to maximize damage.

Note: Using Shadow Flare requires you to be fast and comfortable with your rotation. If you are too slow, Shadow Flare will reveal you and prevent you from using Malicious Death's Judgment. If you are inexperienced with Deadeye, you can take Mercy instead.

If you are taking Mercy, use it when Deadeye's Mark is on a long cooldown and you’ve already used the Stolen Skill (F2). Before activating Mercy, make sure you have a high number of Malice stacks; the Initiative gained from this skill depends on how much Malice you have. Use Three Round Burst between 2-5 times depending on how much time you need to fill, then activate Mercy and resume the loop.

Traits

If you are struggling to stay alive while kiting, you can replace No Quarter with Invigorating Precision. As mentioned above, Mug provides enough healing to keep you healthy on its own but if you are still learning this build or the role in general, Invigorating Precision can give you some extra leeway when kiting. Keep in mind however that giving up No Quarter represents a sizeable DPS loss during the boss phases.