Guild Wars 2

Yes, it is still possible. You’ll hit around 1.2k crits with a 30/30/0/0/0 build using full ascended berserker trinkets.

Mea.5491:

o_o Nice. Thank you. I’ll switch to Shortbow at 80, then. I love that weapon but GS and traps are better for lvling atm.

Just beware of the big trade off in survival with running a 30/30 on skirmishing/marksmanship.

voidberg.8613:

Yes, it is still possible. You’ll hit around 1.2k crits with a 30/30/0/0/0 build using full ascended berserker trinkets.

It should be noted however that Ascended gear is NOT actually vastly better than Exotics. In many cases there’s only a 3 point difference in their dual-stat totals/coefficients (except for one of the utility amulets with MF%’s and the MF mechanic itself meanwhile will never see an end to the debate on how effective it actually IS).

Basically you just have to measure what a Laurel is worth to you, versus how little or how much you play daily & thus could afford all Ruby/Equisites or even the Scholar Rune for armor too (which I only tend to MAKE, not use, b/c they’re fetching ~3.75_G on average which is frankly rekittened)

If you’re doing open world PvE just run the main hand sword. It’s the highest DPS weapon the ranger has and killing things in open world PvE before they kill you shouldn’t be a problem.

Longbow is only useful at max range.
As soon as the mob gets to half of max range your damage sucks compared to pretty much everything.

Also, Shortbowdamage is pretty bad too. Sword does about 2-3 times the damage
(my first auto-attack hit does about 2.2 – 2.4k, the last in the chain up to 3k)

note: I don’t want to discourage you from playing SB, play whatever is most fun for you. Just maybe take a look at other weapons and maybe you’ll find a new love ^^

I personally prefer SB too; I like being able to keep my distance while still putting out damage at a good (not slow) pace.

I was also wondering what the best SB build is, so thanks for putting up that video and getting confirmation that that is still applicable.