Why a map completion build with such little access to swiftness? Even if it’s just double bird so that you can F1 on critters you pass by to get the buff, that’s still good swiftness. It’s also much better kill speed than burrs.
Personally this is what I did map completion with (most of the time.) I didn’t include gear choices, but a mix of Zerker and Knight stat gear is what I used and it works well. (Warning: Swiftness overkill!)
You are correct that using Storm Spirit to proc swiftness slows you down if your goal is to avoid combat. I usually only use it when combat isn’t really avoidable. Helps me take down an enemy or two and get back out of combat faster, plus the active ability combined with a River Drake F2 makes for a nasty chunk of damage.
Signet of the Hunt IS slower than swiftness by 8%, which is why I prefer just speccing more swiftness as opposed to relying on SotH. You could run Sword/Horn and Greatsword and actually have insane out of combat speed, but no ranged attacks.
You could run Sword/Horn and Greatsword and actually have insane out of combat speed, but no ranged attacks.
Use axe/horn instead of sword/horn, that way you get your ranged attack back, axe have the same range of the SB, and for single target DPS you swap to the GS.
Charter Vanguard [CV] – HoD Bardy Belzebuson – Ranger Sir Belzebu – Herald
(and the other 8 elite specs maxed too)
I think you’ve taken the completely wrong approach. Most of map completion is tedious, not dangerous. Go 100% max damage at the expense of everything else except perhaps movement speed. With that in mind I would use the dungeon meta build as a base. Remorseless for the initial 3 enemy 1-hit kill mauls is probably the best route. Master’s Bond is another option, although I often find my pet doesn’t get a single hit in before an enemy dies.
No matter what route you go, DEFINITELY lose the bear. It just offers you absolutely nothing at all. Take a damage pet so you can chew through the trash faster. Some people might pick a drake, I’d take a jungle stalker or possibly eagle. You don’t need the CC from a snow owl.
No way in hell I would ever use anything other than melee for killing trash. MH axe or bows are just painfully slow.
Obviously full berserker’s is the best for PvE.
Also wanted to point out that there is no need for your condi removal and stun protection, etc. Your build almost looks like a WvW build rather than slaughtering AI idiocy build.
i have to aggree with fluffball, I think that you are over thinking this a bit to much. map completion is time consuming not difficult, so anything that you can do to speed things up is a plus.
through signet of the hunt on to our meta build and you are about covered. fall trait is also hand for traveling across country to you next objective.
Another nice thing to do with your new sword is use it to move around the map (super important for map completion obviously!) Hit the about face button, hit 2, while you’re jumping use the mouse to orient towards the original forward direction. When you land, press forward and your character will auto-orient. Now press 2 again and you’ve lept forward twice. Combo that with swoop and possibly lightning reflexes and you’ll be getting to those points of interest in no time.
Or just walk there and use whatever weapon floats your boat, since map completion can be quite relaxing.
You can get 100% swiftness uptime with traited shouts (Nature’s Voice + “Guard”) and WH, so no need for SotH. The sequence Fluffball described is probably the best you’re going to get, just remember to spam your shout.
Rangers aren’t as fast as warriors, but they’re really good at getting around.
