Guild Wars 2

As topic says, how do you maximize the performance of SB in PVE?
Here’s the build I currently used.

http://gw2skills.net/editor/?vNQQJAVWnEqAlsgVsCusAUtgFDBDurOWTrNdgTQLgJAsuKdlMluA-ThCEABwpDIhnAgc7PUwhA4F1fE+CAAimAUVC2jyPAM/BA-e

High critical for more bleed. Permanent 33% speed bonus. Lots of condi cleanse and break stun. 45% bleed duration.
Mainly use #1 #2 #4 and Hawk f2 for sustain damage output, #5 and GoU for additional bleed and Immobilize. Entangle+Ruin of the Mad King for AoE direct and condition damage spike.

I have run this build for a while. It has high mobility and survivability, useful cc and sustain damage output in most situation.

But there’s still some problems,

1. I don’t know which side weapon to use. I don’t like ax and torch, so the staff seems to be the better option. I did tried sword/dagger, but you all know how awkward that weapon is. Is wielding two short bow to trigger the fury on weapon swap a good option?

2. I currently use full rampager’s because they’re cheap and easy to get. Should I go for Viper’s in the future? Or there are better options?

I’ve tried to make some various builds, but can’t come out anything good. I know short bow is one of the worst weapon in PVE right now, but I really love it and I’ll keep using it.

So, any suggestions?

If i were asked to come up with something on the spot i’d run something like this.

http://gw2skills.net/editor/?vNQQJAVWnEqAlsgNrA2sCUtgFDBDurOWTrNdgUXLgJAM6KdlMlzA-TBSAQBRU9nLpEkCHCgAqLYCPBAAcBA+iyves/ApAWUuF-e

Really though shortbow isnt that great of a weapon as you always have to be behind the target and in melee range to make it viable. On top of that it does not really scale well because bleeding is a pretty low scaling damage condition. Burning is really where the damage is at. Personally i don’t like axe torch either. so condi isn’t really an option for me pve wise.

I personally wonder if lb would be a better condi weapon solely because rapid fire and barage would allow you to apply bleed via crits faster, and more frequently if you took quick draw over LoYF

As for the second weapon set I totally see what you mean there really isnt any condition options aside from axe and torch, or axe dagger. Which at that point you might as well run the standard burn build. I think staff is the right choice here because sharpened edges has no icd and you can crit multiple times in one second with staff thus applying mutliple bleeds per second. Its also a good weapon to use while you reposition your self for shortbow to be behind the target.

Vipers is well worth it for any condi build. The important thing is to have max condi duration as close to 100% without wasting duration.

Lastly you only need about 60% crit chance, furry and positioning should give you an additional 30% crit chance which is basically permanent uptime.

Eval.2371:

If i were asked to come up with something on the spot i’d run something like this.

…

Omg… I didn’t realize Hidden Barb boost bleed damage. I thought it increase your damage done while suffer from bleeding. I feel so kittening dumb now.

OK back to the topic. It seems I forgot to mention I play solo 90% of the time. Is it possible to get permanent fury while solo? And what’s the pro’s and con’s between Sigil of Air/Sigil of Strength? Is it because bleeding doesn’t scale well so Sigil of Strength isn’t worth it?
And what is the GoE for? For team dps boost or does it boost condition damage as well?

Eval.2371:

I personally wonder if lb would be a better condi weapon solely because rapid fire and barage would allow you to apply bleed via crits faster, and more frequently if you took quick draw over LoYF

I wondered the same and it’s easier and safer to put condition from LB than SB. Only difference in condition is SB AA from sides get bleed. If you think about it… Barrage is the only way for us to put AoE condition from range. Add Sharpening Stone to it with Sharpened Edge, LB suddenly became a more interesting and reliable condition weapon than SB.

Also, RF put Vulnerability, which is good for either power or condi players. SB ? None. I don’t feel SB as a pure condi weapon, but more of a bad jack of all trade. Actually, I like power SB more than condi SB.

Doughnuthole.2403:

It seems I forgot to mention I play solo 90% of the time. Is it possible to get permanent fury while solo? And what’s the pro’s and con’s between Sigil of Air/Sigil of Strength? Is it because bleeding doesn’t scale well so Sigil of Strength isn’t worth it?
And what is the GoE for? For team dps boost or does it boost condition damage as well?

If you solo, I don’t find condition useful in open PvE. Bleeding is not a very damaging condition and the ramp time takes too long on SB in comparison to other classes weapon.

Is it possible to get perma fury ? Yes. How : Call of the Wild, Furious Grip, Wilderness Knowledge, Red Moa.

If you were to power SB, Air+Fire would be good to add more punch to SB AA. Since you’re an hybrid condi SB, why not Sigil of Blight, Torment or Earth instead of Air ? Air + Strenght is fine for hybrid.

IMO, if you want to go Viper or hybrid ranger, playing traps with A/T is better.

When I play SB in open PVE, I do something like that http://gw2skills.net/editor/?vNAQJAVRjEqQJL2yCOsAXLGyEqvGWgJuT2A4A4jtY/7MO6jXRA-TxRBABecBAi4RAclyvA3fAgjAAlq/YmSQA-e.

I can switch to :
- Druid for more heal, Glyphs and Ancient Seeds
- Nature Magic for boon sharing with the pet.
- Marksmanship to get Call of the Wild on swap with damage buff.

https://forum-en.gw2archive.eu/forum/professions/ranger/PvE-WvW-Bleed-druid/

Doughnuthole.2403:

Eval.2371:

If i were asked to come up with something on the spot i’d run something like this.

…

Omg… I didn’t realize Hidden Barb boost bleed damage. I thought it increase your damage done while suffer from bleeding. I feel so kittening dumb now.

OK back to the topic. It seems I forgot to mention I play solo 90% of the time. Is it possible to get permanent fury while solo? And what’s the pro’s and con’s between Sigil of Air/Sigil of Strength? Is it because bleeding doesn’t scale well so Sigil of Strength isn’t worth it?
And what is the GoE for? For team dps boost or does it boost condition damage as well?

Oh solo…

Furry is possible to have 100% uptime. some one else posted how up above.
Air sigils because at 2k power it will be roughly 2k (air sigil has a 1.1 coefficient) additional damage every three seconds. Frankly it would add more damage.

Sigil of strength wont have high might upkeep and your not running SoTP so the might you do gain, I don’t think would out dps the air sigil procs. Might does scale with bleed as each might add 30 power and condition damage at most you’ll see 8 might which is only 240 additional stats but the scaling on shortbow coefficient wise is terrible, you might see an additional 30-50 damage per hit and the same for bleeds.

Earth sigils would get you around 1k bleed damage over the entire duration. They could be an alternative. However you would only get around 1188 dmg. Edit I would like to add that these are more than likely a better choice in HoT and fractal content as mobs have higher toughness.

GoE for groups, you could also run frost spirit. For solo play I would run either spike trap, GoA or sharpened edges.

Again I just made that build above on the fly. There is obviously some holes in it and not to many people test and report back what works that isn’t “meta”

@Krispera power shortbow is very low damage due to the low cofficents. I think when it comes to power ranged we can both agree that LB is a way better option both in terms of range and dps.

I totally agree with your thoughts on hybrid lb though. Another point is that it could use volley to apply bleed to multiple targets. The only down sides I see with running LB over SB is no poison application and no bleed on auto attack(aside from crit).

Using staff for sustain and Perice and LB for burst and volley for area control. Another option could be SB LB and lose the healing from staff. Frankly though at this point is just stipulation until some tests and posts the numbers.

@Tragic I totally agree that build would most likely be the best combo with shortbow. However OP wanted to move away from axe and torch.

i really appriciate those build i gonna try them all and deiced with suit me well cant wait till idone make my twighlight

Eval.2371:

@Tragic I totally agree that build would most likely be the best combo with shortbow. However OP wanted to move away from axe and torch.

What can I say…
… It’s most basically like wanting money but staying away from work.

He’s not going to get anywhere with it.

@Krispera
Wow, I’ve never thought about using a SB on zerk build. I’ve planned to get a set of berserker gear recently. And about the bleeding on LB. Sometimes I would grab a LB when doing world boss. I do notice that you can get decent amount of bleeding from those three skills combined.
I’ll give these options a shot and see how they’ll do.

@Eval
Thanks a lot for the math part. I was having a hard time deciding sigil. I tried to do some calculation but can’t come out any clear answer due to lack of knowledge about game mechanism.
It doesn’t matter that the build came out on a fly or not, since there aren’t any PvE short bow build out there. Your analysis are very valuable (to me).

@Tragic
About the A/T, I totally aware that they’re the superior option now. I just hope that I can push the weapon I love to the limit. I don’t know, maybe it’s some kind of passion. If I’m going to use A/T in first place I won’t even bother to open this thread. Thanks for your concern.

I really appreciate you guy’s replies. Asking for different suggestions seems to be the right decision. Hope I can make short bow viable with my build and skill one day.
People can dream, right?

Tragic Positive.9356:

Eval.2371:

@Tragic I totally agree that build would most likely be the best combo with shortbow. However OP wanted to move away from axe and torch.

What can I say…
… It’s most basically like wanting money but staying away from work.

He’s not going to get anywhere with it.

eh, mabye not competitively, there still is no harm in maximizing a particular set up even if it is sub par.

This is the build that I have been running. I am having a lot of fun with it. I am still working on my gear so I just use what ever drops for me. I mostly solo and run around for map completion and collecting mats.

http://gw2skills.net/editor/?vNEQNAV3fjEqQNLWuCmsAVLG+Dq91zgAo73aYH4HI23gKmqA-e

If you’re interested in poison base condi Druid, this is what i’m experimenting on. SB is not only good for bleed but also in stacking poison at close range.
http://gw2skills.net/editor/?vNQQJAVVnEqAlsgdrAGsCUtgFDBDurOWTrNdgUXVjJAsuaAp8isw2C-TByBQBRSJo0U+tsLAAAOCAMTXgB3fAaq/YhHBAA-e

I used 2 SB here in combination with Quick Draw and pets with poison combo field to ramp up poison really quickly (around 12-13 in an instant). It’s not the best build or anything, but it’s really fun playing.

Eval.2371:

Tragic Positive.9356:

Eval.2371:

@Tragic I totally agree that build would most likely be the best combo with shortbow. However OP wanted to move away from axe and torch.

What can I say…
… It’s most basically like wanting money but staying away from work.

He’s not going to get anywhere with it.

eh, mabye not competitively, there still is no harm in maximizing a particular set up even if it is sub par.

That’s why I posted a build that does exactly that.
I’m sorry, but no one will ever make me acknowledge a 24/7 camping of 1 weapon without swapping it at all.

The link I posted uses the shortbow.

@ice wizard
How many vulnerability can you get when using this build? Wonder if it works with Lb/Sb.

@Luche Lenardon
Hmm, the idea looks interesting. I have to rework my runes and sigils to make it work though.
The asura race skill Radiation Field is a poison field too, maybe they can make a good combo?

@Eval
About the Sigil of Air vs Strength, although the SoA is a great DPS boost, it’s flat and will be affect by toughness. The might from SoS can benefit every damage I done, but it’ll become worthless when someone can provide you 25 stack of might.
I would agree that sigil of air will be (a lot) better in dungeon. But which one would be better at somewhere like SW and HoT zone?

Tragic Positive.9356:

That’s why I posted a build that does exactly that.
I’m sorry, but no one will ever make me acknowledge a 24/7 camping of 1 weapon without swapping it at all.

The link I posted uses the shortbow.

I really have no idea why you would argue over this.
I’m not going to use this build in the raid bro. I can and I will change my build when needed. I just want to enjoy the weapon I love when I play alone. And this is important to me since I play by myself 90% of the time. We can’t talk about a weapon build because that weapon is bad at DPSing? How does that make this topic invalid?
Before you call me a filthy casual scrub, I did get top tier gear and in TERA and every achievement in Bloodborne. Is that hardcore enough for you? I just don’t seek that kind of stuff in GW2.
Isn’t “play what you want” part of the charm of GW2? Maginobi have failed at this part over time. I don’t want Guild Wars 2 to walk on the same path.

@Doughnuthole

If you wanted to play what you want – you wouldn’t have visited forum asking for help. You could have just played a tanky shortbow build just like the few players who do and community likes them very much (/s).

You asked for a best Shortbow Build. I gave you one. You didn’t like it (for whichever reason). Getting top gear in other games makes no difference at that matter.
I was a class leader in the Realm’s best guild for 3 years in WoW and I’m not throwing it at people’s faces.

It’s the same as it always is.
If you want to role-play. Just role-play. Go to open world PvE and play whatever you like. Your contribution will be like 1/200 anyways. Among all those players it’s hardly noticeable.

Last note:
Take X/Warhorn. It’s the only weapon you don’t hate, and goes well with your stats. Procs sharpening edges for a nice amount of damage.

@Tragic Positive

“Never say that something is impossible because there are still people who do not know it’s impossible and are making it happen even as we speak.”
This was what you said.

Yeah, I might have been overreacted. And the title isn’t quite right either. My apologies for that. It’s just a little frustrating that someone just jump out and say this isn’t going anywhere. It doesn’t mean it need no tweak even if I’m just “playing what I like”. I didn’t expect any magically super power build. I know there isn’t any. If I just want to play something easy and powerful I would have rerolled a revenant long time ago.
I think this argument can stop right here. It’s meaningless.

My goal here is to find out the best short bow build which don’t use ax or torch. I didn’t say the build you post is bad or anything.
And, besides, I don’t hate sword at all. Or, you can say, I actually like it. It’s just that I don’t know how to use it. (Spamming #1 don’t count.) People say if you want to use ranger sword you’d better not use auto targeting. But dagger skill would be very hard to land that way. Maybe you have some good advice?

@Doughnuthole

Yea, that’s indeed what I said. But the idea was that everything you really want to make happen is possible, I didn’t really mean it that everything you don’t like can be “cheated on” and left out. For efficiency it’s unfortunately the A/T variant with Shortbow.

Well, let’s see. If you are fine with sword – I’d definitely suggest using the Warhorn. For sword use – it’s best to turn off auto-attack on #1 (not sure if that’s what you meant by auto-targeting). It’s uncomfortable to spam it manually but makes it much easier to break the chain and stay alive or simply react in a way it’s needed.

Warhorn might actually be of the best choices for the stats you took if you are using sharpened edges. If you actually open up with Warhorn #5 > #4, then swap to Shortbow and go for the Zephyr spike – you’ll end up with a really powerful Bomb right there.

Another variation is a Power Condi hybrid using Longbow/Shortbow. But it wouldn’t meet much of the reasons why Longbow works even with hybrid stats. Longbow does the job especially because of the Finisher Projectiles through fire field.
It might, however, still work. It was suggested already so I didn’t really go into details with this alternative.

@Tragic Positive
The warhorn part sounds great! Maybe I can even combine it with Entangle + Runes of the Mad king.
And about the longbow, does it work with fire trap? I suppose the finisher projectile mainly comes form rapid fire through any fire field, and it won’t need a long lasting fire field to get the job done.

What I mean without auto targeting is to select the target manually. If you use sword #1 chain without a target it will go through any enemy on “kick” and “pounce”. But I find it a bit unpractical in PVE situation. Although you get high mobility, the mob’s attack will still land on you anyway. Not to mention the DPS loss. Or I just need more practice?

Doughnuthole.2403:

@Tragic Positive
The warhorn part sounds great! Maybe I can even combine it with Entangle + Runes of the Mad king.
And about the longbow, does it work with fire trap? I suppose the finisher projectile mainly comes form rapid fire through any fire field, and it won’t need a long lasting fire field to get the job done.

Yep, it does work with Fire Trap. You can get a whole #2 + #3/#4 off so it basically results in roughly 4 seconds of burning with a heavy Power damage spike.
About the warhorn + mad king set – yes that one is definitely fun to play. I can recommend it.

About the sword targeting – you might get used to action camera. Even though I never really needed to jump around with sword for mobility. I always used Hornet+Monarch for escaping and getting into combat just to make use of Sword AA chain is not really efficient. Attacking random mobs randomly jumping around is not a good thing, either.
I don’t think you really need to turn off auto-targeting. If you really want to learn with sword – learn with action camera. That one is a completely different league when it comes to sword tricks.