Guild Wars 2

So I normally run a tanky condition build with dual pistols and I find them just perfect for using their abilities between kit swaps and quite versatile in outnumbered situations and I have grown quite comfortable with them, but i’m looking for a more power based build which brings my attention to the rifle.

So the rifle has some pretty nice skills on it, but i’m really not entirely sure that it stacks up against some power weapons on other professions, and when I test it out I feel as if i’m lacking something that helps me go toe to toe with other professions. Do I really need to go more glassy in order to get more kick out of it, or are there just specific combos that I need to practice to make it shine?

Rifle only really shines as a power dps weapon if you spec properly for it. I’d recommend a static discharge build like this:

http://gw2skills.net/editor/?fcAQFAUl0pyUX8SyF17IyoHkWntZgekX+1I+pAbB-TkAg0Ecp4yxlhLJXWuGUcoA

The Rifle by itself is lackluster dps, but when you add Static Discharge and some utilities that synergize with it, you can pump out impressive burst damage, and have some good control (immobilize, knock back, pull, cripple) as well.

This build works well in spvp assuming you’re good at positioning yourself behind your allies so that you’re not on the front line. If you want more survivability you can swap out the 10 points in exposives to put 10 points in alchemy for protection injection, and you can change the grandmaster trait in Tools to Armor Mods for the Aegis on crit (which is helpful against backstab theives).

Soul

Don’t think of rifle as a main dmg source but a control weapon, it excels at setting up combos!

1. Does great dmg and pierces at good distance
2. Simply… amazing for setting up combos… one of he funniest ones is Big old bomb and then net them and drop bombs at their feet lol
3. This is best used at the end of your rotation as a burst skill
4. Love this skill, the fast cast time makes it extremely easy to interrupt skills, you can easily control the position of your enemy, even on down state and it disables them for a long time…
5. Mobility or burst, this skill is good at both. Specially if you land both

some combos I enjoy are..

• Net shot, nade/bomb them.
• Magnet pull + Jumpshot; Both hits will land
• Magbet pull + Overcharged(on opposite direction); move enemies 1,800+ and place them wherever you want, even around corners

Next lvl ones..

• Net shot + sharpel granade + (Sigil of Geomancer) + Blunderbuss; 10-13 bleeds in less than 1s
• Big ol’ Bomb + Net shot(on the direction u want then to get knocked back) + any DSP.. free dmg, panic, long disable and send then flying on the direction you want(u can also position yourself where he’ll land and take advantage of the KD)

This may sound a little strange but I just use a rifle with my condition HGH build. As a set up weapon I can not get PP pr PS to do what I can do with a rifle. Net shot and Over charged shot simply synergize well with nades. All the CC you can pack out when done correctly will allow you to control a target nigh endlessly. Blunderbuss is actually an OK source of bleeding (not better than pistol however). Direct damage with an HGH build is marginal but it does have some burst to it which is nice.

I tested that static discharge build in the mists a little, in a way this was the damage I was looking for, however I feel as if I give up many utilities to achieve it since i’m used to using at least two kits, it was quite funny to play however so I might consider this at some point.

I suppose I can’t expect to have much damage while maintaining some tankiness without giving up utility, still I like the suggestions so far.

My only real problem with rifles is the loss of other utility. I REALLY wanted to use it in my condition build for the control since I was getting plenty of better condition applies with traits and EG (OS + BoB is rage inducing in PvP), but found I missed this too much:

1.) Two sigils easily adds enough utility or just raw performance that I would have a hard time giving it up.

2.) Shield gives you another blast finisher which is super handy for chaining with something like super potion, napalm, or HT for stacking ret, might, or healing respectively (not to mention Toss U or R, or a mesmer pal for CA).

3.) P #3, while not great 1v1 per se, is a no casting time blind and confusion. Super handy.

That said, I have seen devastating SD builds with the rifle, but it feels like that might be it’s singular purpose.

I am eager to see what the “all classes, all weapons” brings to the table for us.

I had the same problem as the OP. Loved the pistol from day 1 and only recently tied to love the rifle. Here’s what to do:

Make a rifle/Static Discharge build. I use MedKit, Goggles, ToolKit, Rocket Boots.
You will dish out great spike damage, drop 3-4 conditions on your target, stack vulnerability, and your rifle will shine a fairly hard hitting autoattack at range. Also, it lets you control the fight with lotsa movement (a leap, knockback, and immob). You’ll be relying on your SD spike for the majority of your damage and won’t be in a kit (unless you need a gearshield or magnet) so you’ll be able to utilize the strength of the rifle. Have fun.

I use the rifle in 2 ways depending on my mood. First is the standard sd type build but I go for more of an extended cc combo sit-ups with toolkit, ram, net turret and accelerant packed turrets. In this case I see upwards 28k worth of burst if the opponent does not have a stun breaker. Bt the payoff is that I’m made of paper… Wch I don’t mind cause I like to live life on the edge and death is of no consequence in this game.

The other setup is similar to theguy. Use it in my 100% duration build. Magnet pull, pry bar, ovecharged shot, net shot, nades, tool belt net before the immobilize leaves, more nades, drop net turret before immobilize leaves, more nades, magnet pull again, overcharge shot, net shot, more nades…..and on and on and and on and on. Until the opponent is a pile of ash. Wl that is the perfect scenario anyway but you see the rifle allows you to control the enemy here.

I don’t know if I have helped you like the rifle more but once you are comfortable with it it allows more not necessarily a better style of play but a different one. One that your opponent will not see coming in some cases like a rifle with a contrition build.

I wold also like to add that in a 100% duration build the rifle can also lay down some serious conditions, just remember that with sitting duck I get 10 sec cripple, 16 sec of 5 stacks of vulnerability and 4 sec immobilize all on a 8 sec cd. Nt to mention the burning and bleeding from traits all while doing the ccing. These conditions while not damaging in nature are excellent for masking more important conditions applied by the nades.

google.3709:

Don’t think of rifle as a main dmg source but a control weapon, it excels at setting up combos!

1. Does great dmg and pierces at good distance
2. Simply… amazing for setting up combos… one of he funniest ones is Big old bomb and then net them and drop bombs at their feet lol
3. This is best used at the end of your rotation as a burst skill
4. Love this skill, the fast cast time makes it extremely easy to interrupt skills, you can easily control the position of your enemy, even on down state and it disables them for a long time…
5. Mobility or burst, this skill is good at both. Specially if you land both

some combos I enjoy are..

• Net shot, nade/bomb them.
• Magnet pull + Jumpshot; Both hits will land
• Magbet pull + Overcharged(on opposite direction); move enemies 1,800+ and place them wherever you want, even around corners

Next lvl ones..

• Net shot + sharpel granade + (Sigil of Geomancer) + Blunderbuss; 10-13 bleeds in less than 1s
• Big ol’ Bomb + Net shot(on the direction u want then to get knocked back) + any DSP.. free dmg, panic, long disable and send then flying on the direction you want(u can also position yourself where he’ll land and take advantage of the KD)

another really fun thing to do with BoB and rifle is, drop BoB then net shot target, jump shot just past him to get the damage and the right position and then overcharge shot into BoB, Juggling FTW, its a little harder to setup but because its a lil faster then waiting on bob to blow up it can really catch people off guard and deal massive damage

Something that has been overlooked in this discussion. You should always carry a rifle regardless of if you use it in combat. Jump Shot is OP for tackling jumping puzzles. XD

And there you have it yet another awesome reason to like rifles. OOC possibilites.

digitalruse.9085:

Something that has been overlooked in this discussion. You should always carry a rifle regardless of if you use it in combat. Jump Shot is OP for tackling jumping puzzles. XD

Not even joking Jump Shot is one of the best skills in the game. Like warrior sword 2 with more control but double the CD. That plus rocket boots…. smh /nods aggressively /sheds a tear of joy /THUMBS UP!

Griffonrook Run last part of bomb run completely skipped by using RB at the stairs.

Lets not forget CoF path 2 skip, WvW jump puzzles, and terrain kiting in general.

The jumpshot change does make it feel more fluid to use I admit, I always cringed before when i’d be stuck in mid air for a second before landing and that really killed it for me. As for static discharge, is it really important to have the medkit as part of the set up since I would really miss healing turret blast shenanigans, and the errant blinds make me feel as if I need goggles so that my burst isn’t negated so much.

As for HGH i’m not really fond of elixirs myself and really enjoy combo field/finisher synergy, so it seems SD is the way to go. How viable is it for dungeons and general pve, and how is it at wvw roaming?

Smoke bomb + Jump shot = Stealth = trollface.