When someone uses the word ‘Meta’, a kitten dies. Don’t do it.
GS + ? ...Changing it up
For WvW I also roam around on my own just capping camps, road points (w/e they are called, I honestly don’t know) and neutrals. I find axe/horn is often better for camps because it has un-traited AoE potential, but SB works just fine obviously. I’ve used axe/horn with the same builds and it works quite well. I hate dagger and axe off-hand though (others seem to like them so… meh).
Axe definitely lacks some of the control and mobility the SB provides (horn 5 does help a bit here). It also does worse single target damage but is better in crowds (better than itself, not necessarily shortbow), situations with 2 targets it will outdamage shortbow on a single target though.
As far as anti-thief goes the benefit of axe/horn over shortbow is that the damage is much more heavily loaded onto single skill activations. If you hit a thief at point-blank with Split Blade you get 5 stacks of bleeding NOW so if they stealth you got it all off. Same thing with the birds on horn. You just have to catch them for a second and it all hits unless they LoS.
I tend to actually switch back and forth between SB and Axe/Horn based on what I feel like using that day. Generally I prefer SB for the disengage that 3 provides. Just being able to push 3 and either close the distance or create distance depending on GS or SB just suits me better. Also, Poison.
I’m running a bunker build with Axe/Horn primary and Greatsword secondary.
Believe it or not, but I am doing far better with the Axe/Horn than with either Shortbow or Longbow or Axe with any other off-hand.
Axe/Horn combo seems to be doing about as much damage as I do with my Shortbow, which is peculiar. On top of that, the Axe is a god-send against multiple opponents, mesmers, and the occasional thief or charr who summons NPC allies.
The 900 range limit doesn’t mean jack unless you’re assaulting or defending a keep, in which case it might be proper to temporarily switch your Axe/Horn for a Shortbow or Longbow. Other than that, Axe/Warhorn all the way.
Tried Axe/WH for the day. Damage is fine, and like you said, probably better than SB. The problem is in WvW I ended up getting NPC adds into my fights because of the AOE.
I do like that WH frees up a slot for me so I can add QZ instead of SotH
When someone uses the word ‘Meta’, a kitten dies. Don’t do it.
Tried Axe/WH for the day. Damage is fine, and like you said, probably better than SB. The problem is in WvW I ended up getting NPC adds into my fights because of the AOE.
I do like that WH frees up a slot for me so I can add QZ instead of SotH
Actually with some practice you can abuse the NPC adds. A single NPC can increase your damage against your actual target because of the bounce your target gets hit twice.
Another tactic which works if you run a tanky build (I run full clerics) is to intentionally aggro everything you can against squishier targets like thieves. Neutral NPCs can and will aggro on to the other guy and the added pressure can really mess them up. If you can catch the mobs and the player in an AoE snare like Frost Trap they will often drop aggro on you and go after the guy they can hit easily.
It can also mess up their targeting and I’ve also gotten a lot of rallies off those random mobs I aggroed because my pet can usually finish them off easily (30 in BM), though the other guy can get a rally too if he’s smart. You do have to learn what you can handle obviously as well as how to control mobs a bit.
I do agree though that sometimes it’s a really big problem. I’ve learned how to make it work to my advantage or avoid the problems most of the time though.
Tried Axe/WH for the day. Damage is fine, and like you said, probably better than SB. The problem is in WvW I ended up getting NPC adds into my fights because of the AOE.
I do like that WH frees up a slot for me so I can add QZ instead of SotH
Actually with some practice you can abuse the NPC adds. A single NPC can increase your damage against your actual target because of the bounce your target gets hit twice.
Another tactic which works if you run a tanky build (I run full clerics) is to intentionally aggro everything you can against squishier targets like thieves. Neutral NPCs can and will aggro on to the other guy and the added pressure can really mess them up. If you can catch the mobs and the player in an AoE snare like Frost Trap they will often drop aggro on you and go after the guy they can hit easily.
It can also mess up their targeting and I’ve also gotten a lot of rallies off those random mobs I aggroed because my pet can usually finish them off easily (30 in BM), though the other guy can get a rally too if he’s smart. You do have to learn what you can handle obviously as well as how to control mobs a bit.
I do agree though that sometimes it’s a really big problem. I’ve learned how to make it work to my advantage or avoid the problems most of the time though.
Interesting. A couple of questions though since I am fairly new and still learning.
1. Rally of a mob ? So if you are downed, and kill an NPC with pet before the enemy stomps you, you will rally and revive ?
2. Richochet will hit my target, then the NPC, then the target again as compared to the target only one time if alone ?
3. Most things i have been trying to fine tune is to target Thiefs. I am not sure if adding nPCs help my cause, especially since many times Thiefs strategy is to add NPCs to the mix because they can stealth and lose aggro. I will test it more, but I can’t see an NPC being hit by my axe ever changing targets back to the enemy.
4. NPCs causing the enemy targeting problems may be true, but if it comes down to a targeting contest…I lose. I have a very hard time with it during the heat of a battle.
When someone uses the word ‘Meta’, a kitten dies. Don’t do it.
Interesting. A couple of questions though since I am fairly new and still learning.
1. Rally of a mob ? So if you are downed, and kill an NPC with pet before the enemy stomps you, you will rally and revive ?
2. Richochet will hit my target, then the NPC, then the target again as compared to the target only one time if alone ?
3. Most things i have been trying to fine tune is to target Thiefs. I am not sure if adding nPCs help my cause, especially since many times Thiefs strategy is to add NPCs to the mix because they can stealth and lose aggro. I will test it more, but I can’t see an NPC being hit by my axe ever changing targets back to the enemy.
4. NPCs causing the enemy targeting problems may be true, but if it comes down to a targeting contest…I lose. I have a very hard time with it during the heat of a battle.
1) Yes
2) Ricochet will hit up to 3 times but only if more than one target is available. If there’s only one target it hits once. If 2 are available it will hit your primary target (call it X) then bounce to the other target (call it Y) then back to X. So X will get hit twice and Y once. If 3 targets are available it might got X → Y → Z or it might go X → Y → X depending on proximity and possibly other stuff. I’ve never quite figured out exactly how it picks targets in 3+ enemy situations.
3) That is a fair point. Extra mob aggro tends to work best against mesmers and elementalists I’ve found. Enlisting a bunch of random mobs to bust clones and phantasms for you is fun but dangerous.
4) Might not be worth it for you then. I admit I still have targeting issues as well. Often caused by right-clicking…
WvWvW I travel with GS and axe/horn. 0/0/30/10/30 like you. axe can be a little lack luster in 1v1 but most of my damage comes from pets anyways. The horn 4 though hits like a truck and I like to drop that when people start to flee. Takes them down every time.
Good survivability and flexibility in roaming to hit people who don’t want to fight upclose or attempt to book it.
I carry a LB in my pack to swap with GS when I wind up in the zerg.