Guild Wars 2

although it has some problems soulbeast is still fun to play and here is a vid of my gameplay with it in wvw.

build used:
full mara with monk rune for the boon duration (protection)
and 4 captains trinckets

zerk lb with sigil of energy and bloodlust sigil
zerk gs with sigil of energy and sigil of air

traits:
Wilderness survival 232
skirmishing 211
soulbeast 323
unstopable union for 4s of unblockable attacks when entering beastmode which is vey usefull
essense of speed for the boon duration
and opportunity survival for the dps buff

rest of the utility skills are the same as in the vid.

i think that soulbeast has aot of potential, it just needs beastmode pet skills buff/fix
and nerf cd on stances with a change of some traits to help more in survivability

I hope u enjoy the vid and thanks
and make sure to tell me what u think of soulbeast. please try not to be negative

Nice video !
SoulBeast is fun to play for sure.

Just need to be polished in the right way.

Fix couple of bugs, change some traits and give dagger better purpose and it would be awesome.

I personally feel that Beastmode should have less CD. ( and maybe the so debated pet swap ? not sure… )

But otherwise great class, feels rewarding to play.

I am confident you could have beaten all your opponents on core ranger as well. Soulbeast certainly is more fun than core ranger though, because using gs and maul (buffing itself) is worth using over sword auto attacks in terms of dps.

Erzian.5218:

I am confident you could have beaten all your opponents on core ranger as well. Soulbeast certainly is more fun than core ranger though, because using gs and maul (buffing itself) is worth using over sword auto attacks in terms of dps.

Yeah because Elite specs shouldn’t be a “buffed” core class, it should only change it gameplay wise.

I think SB is a cool design and got tons of potential, I really hope beast skills will get polished.

Hahaha glad you have used many forum post titles in your introduction (including mine), hope anet will read them all xD

Anyway. Nice gameplay as always, but let’s be honest, roaming is where the ranger has always been good (and druid aswell). I’m 100% sure you could kill those ppl with core ranger or druid aswell.
I think the majority of the people got frustrated because,let’s be honest, the class has a lot of bugs/clunky mechanics. Most of the old traits/skills can not work without a pet and a lot of the new utilities/traits were bugged or useless. Of course anet is going to fix everything. Personally, i got surprised on how well Spellbreaker, Scourge, Weaver and Holo are made. They are almost a finished product. Numbers need adjustments, yes, but overall the class mechanic works. Soulbeast is faaaaar away to be a finished product and PoF will be released in a month that’s why people got mad.

Maul is strong right now. Which may or may not last. It might last for a few months till the sales for the expansion go down.

So yes, you could make those work.

But the master traits still all require a specific build and beastmode still needs to be able to swap pets and trigger pet swap traits.

I’d also say beastmode needs pet F2 to really sell me on this elite spec.

If the only fun thing SB has is to hit scrubs with 30k mauls, i’m sorry but i think druid is simply better. And is not like druid is the best designed class in this game either.

Either way don’t get all hyped with this as i think is not going to last in it’s current form.

I really wish people would understand the way Maul is operating right now isn’t healthy gameplay and obviously will get nerfed.

Does that mean I support other classes being able to do the same thing? Absolutely not.

This is not what I wanted for ranger and I know alot of people like it this way but I don’t personally.

I want a high skill ceiling class not a gimmick full of bugs that allow the ranger to over-perform temporarily only to get a bad rep then be nerfed into the ground again most of which OVER NERF the ranger allowing it under-perform in generally every area.

This is almost what happened with Druid, luckily , Druid ended up making it out alive because CA is a good concept overall and they didn’t want to bust druid for PvE raiding but most importantly druid has really good trait synergy.

Druid allows you to go into marks/skirmishing without taking AS MUCH as a hit in survivability as if you were to pair it with soulbeast and allows you to have the group support while also being able to go into more defensive wide specs.

Soulbeast doesn’t do any of this. It attempts to mask that lack of trait synergy by trying to introduce melded utility with your pet, most of which underperform and forces you into an even narrow path not only in trait setups but pet archetype choices. I guess the pet choices though are nothing new for us as HoT pets have been the truly only consistent thing since it came out with Bristleback, Smokescale and Electric Wyvern’s CC capability.

There is a lot of polishing to be done with Soulbeast before it can even compete with Core / Druid specs… I’m all for introducing a new playstyle in that they’re all different so you have an option, but right now aside from WvW roaming and doing un-ranked just to mess around – Soulbeast has no place just from what they gave us this past weekend.

Erzian.5218:

I am confident you could have beaten all your opponents on core ranger as well. Soulbeast certainly is more fun than core ranger though, because using gs and maul (buffing itself) is worth using over sword auto attacks in terms of dps.

yes i could have beaten all of these guys on core and more easier on druid, but soulbeast is fun with its crits and its style. at the start anet made a ranger, with hot they gave us druid for more survivability and support and with pof anet gives us an unfinished product which is the soulbeast as a POWER SPEC IM PRETTY SURE they know that it has alot of bugs that need to be fixed ( they even said in the guildchat that tech wise it was one of the complicated specs to develop) , there is a separate team working on each spec, this is not the final form ( they got 1 month to discuss the community problems with the soulbeast and listen to us through forums) i at least hope that they help soulbeast grow in each aspect in the game. for example in wvw they can buff the stances to make it a good zerger that can support its allies and itself, in pvp they *should redo some traits to help it with the survivability and I personally want this ( to be able to change pets while in beastmode) and buff/fix them as well
all we need to do is give them our feedback and how can they improve it..

I tend to agree, you play well enough (above average, very much so) that it wouldn’t matter. Soulbeast did nothing for you.

You used what you are comfortable with. Long bow and great sword.

Looking at it in this light it is nothing more than a “its cool” video like you have in your title, a sports reel and/or music video. Nothing wrong with that at all but nothing that you played over the weekend will carry over upon the launch of the expansion. Not to be a negative Nancy, but change is coming at least from what I tested over the weekend.

Apologies if this sounded snarky or like the video is dog poo, it isn’t. I enjoyed it. In the end I didn’t see anything that I may have missed during my play that says this is a must have.

ZhouX.8742:

I really wish people would understand the way Maul is operating right now isn’t healthy gameplay and obviously will get nerfed.

Does that mean I support other classes being able to do the same thing? Absolutely not.

This is not what I wanted for ranger and I know alot of people like it this way but I don’t personally.

I want a high skill ceiling class not a gimmick full of bugs that allow the ranger to over-perform temporarily only to get a bad rep then be nerfed into the ground again most of which OVER NERF the ranger allowing it under-perform in generally every area.

This is almost what happened with Druid, luckily , Druid ended up making it out alive because CA is a good concept overall and they didn’t want to bust druid for PvE raiding but most importantly druid has really good trait synergy.

Druid allows you to go into marks/skirmishing without taking AS MUCH as a hit in survivability as if you were to pair it with soulbeast and allows you to have the group support while also being able to go into more defensive wide specs.

Soulbeast doesn’t do any of this. It attempts to mask that lack of trait synergy by trying to introduce melded utility with your pet, most of which underperform and forces you into an even narrow path not only in trait setups but pet archetype choices. I guess the pet choices though are nothing new for us as HoT pets have been the truly only consistent thing since it came out with Bristleback, Smokescale and Electric Wyvern’s CC capability.

There is a lot of polishing to be done with Soulbeast before it can even compete with Core / Druid specs… I’m all for introducing a new playstyle in that they’re all different so you have an option, but right now aside from WvW roaming and doing un-ranked just to mess around – Soulbeast has no place just from what they gave us this past weekend.

It should not get nerfed, it should get fiixed. The maul consuming it’s own AoO is a bug, it should be applied to the next attack. This way is both balanced and beneficial.

I watched 20 seconds of this, and I don’t need to watch any more. as I suspected, LB power Soulbeast will be absolutely kittening insane. I’d play Soulbeast just for them Worldly Impact bombs. good job. cant wait for PoF.

I’m waiting for people to figure out that you can get very similar numbers to this with sic em and axe 4, but it also has a self included knockdown to set up a free beastmode impact. shhhhhhhhhhhhh

Crapgame.6519:

I tend to agree, you play well enough (above average, very much so) that it wouldn’t matter. Soulbeast did nothing for you.

True statement here. Our OP friend is simply just that, “OP.” It’s not the build that makes him amazing, he’s just a great player.

As proof, I tried out a SB and to my surprise, I still suck! So clearly, the build isn’t what makes the class amazing, it’s likely the player.

Of course, now I’m depressed…

kiritsugu emeya.3962:

although it has some problems soulbeast is still fun to play and here is a vid of my gameplay with it in wvw.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Po4F7l73oaU

build used:
full mara with monk rune for the boon duration (protection)
and 4 captains trinckets

zerk lb with sigil of energy and bloodlust sigil
zerk gs with sigil of energy and sigil of air

traits:
Wilderness survival 232
skirmishing 211
soulbeast 323
unstopable union for 4s of unblockable attacks when entering beastmode which is vey usefull
essense of speed for the boon duration
and opportunity survival for the dps buff

rest of the utility skills are the same as in the vid.

i think that soulbeast has aot of potential, it just needs beastmode pet skills buff/fix
and nerf cd on stances with a change of some traits to help more in survivability

I hope u enjoy the vid and thanks
and make sure to tell me what u think of soulbeast. please try not to be negative

Hey man its dew. Anyways It was cool but they video is misleading a little.
I think the concept is good, the merging is a nice touch but I still have mixed feelings. The video would’ve been better if you used the dagger and use some of the stances to show the actual effects.
All your video has shown is that the stances are not viable as well as dagger just by looking at your bar and weapon set. The only reason “Soulbeast” was working was the two core traits, survival utilities, signet, and LB/GS. Also shows the over looked damage from maul on skill 2 as merged as well as the players you faced are beta testing.
So, you’re basically playing core ranger but using the “Soulbeast” for the little extra skill option for burst vs beta players and it’s not “Soulbeast” making the build. But if you did use the daggers and one or 2 stances (bear stance and dolyak stance if it worked) and won 8/10 I wouldn’t say a thing. So yeah you did make it work to a certain extent.
Not trying to bash you and your a good dam ranger. But try to be more realistic. I get it you trying to sugarcoat it but lets be real, I mean you did admit it has issues, it’s bad as it stands at the moment on survivability if you choose dagger and used some of the utilities and the traits don’t help the “Soulbeast” a whole lot specially mid and master tree.
New pets are neat but I hate the fact you cant use the pets special F2 skills as merged don’t make sense to me but whatever.
Like I said I don’t mean to bash.

See you in-game cuz
Dew Bryan

SeranusGaming.7362:

Crapgame.6519:

I tend to agree, you play well enough (above average, very much so) that it wouldn’t matter. Soulbeast did nothing for you.

True statement here. Our OP friend is simply just that, “OP.” It’s not the build that makes him amazing, he’s just a great player.

As proof, I tried out a SB and to my surprise, I still suck! So clearly, the build isn’t what makes the class amazing, it’s likely the player.

Of course, now I’m depressed…

No offense but, I have no idea what your definition of great is for someone who spent 95% of the video camping Smokescale Beastmode.

1 soul beast in mechanics and pet combo is hella fun, while I only got to play it for a few, I really felt it was a mix of warrior, ele, gaurd vitures.
2 nd dagger is pretty week and the utilities and traits do feel pretty underwelming.

3 kirit is a very good ranger dueled him and have had him on my team in plat in pvp dudes mechanical skill makes me feel slow (granted I play with a controller but ole boy just knows how and when to counter and burst)

Tight video man, between my few hours on soulbeast and your video I’m hyped as kitten

StickerHappy.8052:

SeranusGaming.7362:

Crapgame.6519:

I tend to agree, you play well enough (above average, very much so) that it wouldn’t matter. Soulbeast did nothing for you.

True statement here. Our OP friend is simply just that, “OP.” It’s not the build that makes him amazing, he’s just a great player.

As proof, I tried out a SB and to my surprise, I still suck! So clearly, the build isn’t what makes the class amazing, it’s likely the player.

Of course, now I’m depressed…

No offense but, I have no idea what your definition of great is for someone who spent 95% of the video camping Smokescale Beastmode.

In fairness, the 10s CD, inability to swap pets in beastmode and pets coming back with no boons from beastmode kinda encourage that though.

Black Scoutsman.5830:

I’m waiting for people to figure out that you can get very similar numbers to this with sic em and axe 4, but it also has a self included knockdown to set up a free beastmode impact. shhhhhhhhhhhhh

Been 2 shotting thieves/eles with PoS and Intelligence Sigil for 5 years.

reply to you guys, my final thoughts, and feedback:

yes I stayed in beast mode for the buff that I gain when I merge with my pet (fer and power)
causing these ez bursts.
yes, I didn’t use dagger, because it offers nothing other than useless skills and bad dmg.
yes, I haven’t use the stances because they are bugged. and in my opinion, i don’t like them.

now what i think anet should do to help soulbeast get out from its depressing state is:

-replace the useless traits
-shorten the CD on the stances ( maybe by using a trait that buffs stances and reducing the
recharge
-increase the dmg on the dagger and make the attacks much faster
- make a new option in beastmode where players can swap pets(f4) while in beast mode,
instead getting out of beast mode swap pets, wait for 10s and then re enter beast mode
again just to use the f1 2 3 skills
- or add a new set of bar skills when entering beastmode(like cele avatar on druid) with aoe
skills that can help in zerg fights through healing, condi cleanse giving us that survivability that
we need on soulbeast and some dmg skills for pvp,
- please make the smokescale ability evadable, buff the beastmode skills,
and fix the bugs with the beast mastery trait line

with that, i personally think it would be enough to help soulbeast become a great
spec with its gamestyle in each of the 3 game modes.

StickerHappy.8052:

SeranusGaming.7362:

Crapgame.6519:

I tend to agree, you play well enough (above average, very much so) that it wouldn’t matter. Soulbeast did nothing for you.

True statement here. Our OP friend is simply just that, “OP.” It’s not the build that makes him amazing, he’s just a great player.

As proof, I tried out a SB and to my surprise, I still suck! So clearly, the build isn’t what makes the class amazing, it’s likely the player.

Of course, now I’m depressed…

No offense but, I have no idea what your definition of great is for someone who spent 95% of the video camping Smokescale Beastmode.

Good, great, if you will, is good situation awareness, key binding, position, know animations, etc. You know how it is. Those players are usually good no matter what class they play.

Just my opinion anyway.

Time will tell how they balance the numbers, and they for sure need balancing. But I hope they leave may as it is in beast mode and nerf sic em a little

kiritsugu emeya.3962:

reply to you guys, my final thoughts, and feedback:

yes I stayed in beast mode for the buff that I gain when I merge with my pet (fer and power)
causing these ez bursts.
yes, I didn’t use dagger, because it offers nothing other than useless skills and bad dmg.
yes, I haven’t use the stances because they are bugged. and in my opinion, i don’t like them.

now what i think anet should do to help soulbeast get out from its depressing state is:

-replace the useless traits
-shorten the CD on the stances ( maybe by using a trait that buffs stances and reducing the
recharge
-increase the dmg on the dagger and make the attacks much faster
- make a new option in beastmode where players can swap pets(f4) while in beast mode,
instead getting out of beast mode swap pets, wait for 10s and then re enter beast mode
again just to use the f1 2 3 skills
- or add a new set of bar skills when entering beastmode(like cele avatar on druid) with aoe
skills that can help in zerg fights through healing, condi cleanse giving us that survivability that
we need on soulbeast and some dmg skills for pvp,
- please make the smokescale ability evadable, buff the beastmode skills,
and fix the bugs with the beast mastery trait line

with that, i personally think it would be enough to help soulbeast become a great
spec with its gamestyle in each of the 3 game modes.

Dont forget that MH dagger needs a evade stat buff on skill 3 for survivability, if they have to remove quickness that’s fine we have that in the minor trait tree to compensate in"Soulbeast". Other than that you point out the issues I have.

~Dew Bryan

kiritsugu emeya.3962:

Erzian.5218:

I am confident you could have beaten all your opponents on core ranger as well. Soulbeast certainly is more fun than core ranger though, because using gs and maul (buffing itself) is worth using over sword auto attacks in terms of dps.

yes i could have beaten all of these guys on core and more easier on druid, but soulbeast is fun with its crits and its style. at the start anet made a ranger, with hot they gave us druid for more survivability and support and with pof anet gives us an unfinished product which is the soulbeast as a POWER SPEC IM PRETTY SURE they know that it has alot of bugs that need to be fixed ( they even said in the guildchat that tech wise it was one of the complicated specs to develop) , there is a separate team working on each spec, this is not the final form ( they got 1 month to discuss the community problems with the soulbeast and listen to us through forums) i at least hope that they help soulbeast grow in each aspect in the game. for example in wvw they can buff the stances to make it a good zerger that can support its allies and itself, in pvp they *should redo some traits to help it with the survivability and I personally want this ( to be able to change pets while in beastmode) and buff/fix them as well
all we need to do is give them our feedback and how can they improve it..

You made Soulbeast’s style look so attractive in your video.
A friend once told me Tarcis was the Meta for warriors in PvP.
Whatever he played became the meta.
And to me your video gave me the same vibes.
I almost instant changed camp from Scourge to Soulbeast.
The only thing holding me back is the longbow used in your video as I have a personal dislike for longbow in general.

I wonder if other weapons would be viable as a roamer with GS instead of LB?

EremiteAngel.9765:

…I wonder if other weapons would be viable as a roamer with GS instead of LB?

Check out Wizzo and PotatoVeg on YT.

kiritsugu emeya.3962:

although it has some problems soulbeast is still fun to play and here is a vid of my gameplay with it in wvw.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Po4F7l73oaU

build used:
full mara with monk rune for the boon duration (protection)
and 4 captains trinckets

zerk lb with sigil of energy and bloodlust sigil
zerk gs with sigil of energy and sigil of air

traits:
Wilderness survival 232
skirmishing 211
soulbeast 323
unstopable union for 4s of unblockable attacks when entering beastmode which is vey usefull
essense of speed for the boon duration
and opportunity survival for the dps buff

rest of the utility skills are the same as in the vid.

i think that soulbeast has aot of potential, it just needs beastmode pet skills buff/fix
and nerf cd on stances with a change of some traits to help more in survivability

I hope u enjoy the vid and thanks
and make sure to tell me what u think of soulbeast. please try not to be negative

Great vid, thanks for showing that. Awesome fights.