Guild Wars 2

SB is interesting because it actually has decent applied damage through bleeds if you’re able to cc your target. secondly, concussive shot got a massive buff and it’s a super important skill now. 2s daze/stun on a low CD can net easy kills. SB works best with canines, but this is nothing new.

the following builds are meant to exert a huge amount of soft and hard CC, as well as bleed/poison condi pressure. survivability is more than decent in condi meta. there are two types of builds: rabid core ranger, and merc druid. i like running rabid on core because u have access to Protective Ward, which helps with the low HP pool. Merc works on druid because we have celestial and more CC. both types of builds use s/d/SB for the evade spam and needed mobility. u can try running sb/axe/d, but u have no mobility so you’d have to make it up elsewhere.

i dont like running SoS on either, because when i die, it’s always from condis.

this one is more team-oriented. it eats other druids, and revs for breakfast. ancient seeds to maximize immobs. the amount of CC you bring is absolutely bonkers.

http://gw2skills.net/editor/?vNAQNAV8YnEqAtsgVsCmrAUtgFHBDOpGVzqNfrYVHgJAM5qcFotC-TZRAQBA4BAYgjAQELD0hLCQP2fAA

this is a relatively viable core ranger spec. i find it better for soloq, druid is more team-dependent.

http://gw2skills.net/editor/?vNAQNAV8YjEqQLLWyCmrAVLGcEq+bj1OgDgJvy9PvXH9C0WB-TZxBwAfLDc5iAcb/BAHBAHPAAA

burn variant

http://gw2skills.net/editor/?vNAQNAV8fjEqQLLWyCurAVLGcEK/z71RnDgJvy7vNW7gC0WB-TZhAwAw2fAwBBgzVAYyDAgcZAA

let me know what you think, and how these can be improved.

Venom sigil to leeching sigil is all I can see.

On shortbow switch out geomancy for torment. Cover condition with duration matching cd. I guess that only applies to the rabid build though.

Interesting. My core ranger bleed build is a LOT squishier than yours, using Vipers amulet and Beastmastery in place of Nature Magic. Then using Companion’s Might and Sharpened Edges to turn my pet into a bleed machine. Then Mad King Runes to work with Entangle.

I’ve not had any trouble surviving, but that can very easily be attributed to my opponents just not thinking to focus me down in team fights because they assume I’m a druid or something. I do win most of my 1v1s, and if I don’t my opponent usually goes down right after the stomp.

Been using a spider for the immob and poison field and bristleback for bleed application, but I’ve been considering the use of birds for Taunt spam.

But misty, we all have to agree these are solo q builds right?

SB will never work in a competitive AG or ESL match.

StickerHappy.8052:

SB will never work in a competitive AG or ESL match.

Not with that attitude

Ghotistyx.6942:

StickerHappy.8052:

SB will never work in a competitive AG or ESL match.

Not with that attitude

Oh, isn’t it general consensus that SB is super underwhelming for top tier?

StickerHappy.8052:

But misty, we all have to agree these are solo q builds right?

SB will never work in a competitive AG or ESL match.

You spelled “Ranger” wrong.

StickerHappy.8052:

Ghotistyx.6942:

StickerHappy.8052:

SB will never work in a competitive AG or ESL match.

Not with that attitude

Oh, isn’t it general consensus that SB is super underwhelming for top tier?

u just never know. im just testing things thoroughly as i do every patch, and i noticed some efficiency in SB this time around. these are my attempts to make the new SB work. weird things become popular because they synergize with other elements in unforeseen ways. like right now, the condi and cc pressure are so insane that i just dont find the old druid builds too effective. they were weak against heavy cc and condi pressure before, but we didnt notice it due to the power meta.

s/d/sb synergize because of poison and bleed stacking, and chaining 3 evades while your condis tick on the target. this weapon combo is super old school, when cc’s werent spammed as much, so chaining evade frames made you god-like. i ran it with various power builds though.

concussive shot, previously somewhat irrelevant, is now a super strong offensive tool especially with AS. chaining evade frames combined with a few on-demand condi wipes from WK allows u to stay virtually condi-free for a while, instead of waiting on glyphs to pop. and u absolutely cant heal through the current condi pressure. in a sense, these builds are just an adaptation to the evolving meta. with a good team, the cc bleeder druid build i posted would be strong for locking fools down. the rabid variant is an attempt to make the core ranger relevant. it’s a bit tougher from the druid build, due to Protective Ward, so probably better for soloq.

Y’know Mistsim? You’ve convinced me to switch to Sw/D for my offhand set. I ran a similar druid build since awhile ago, but I think the sword changes mixed with the potential of Sw/D is a better pairing for the new SB.

The build looks pretty solid. For the druid build id actually change the glyph to another trap or muddy terrain. And then change verdent etching to natural stride. Better strafing potential and better if you are playing as a roamer.

Dunno if that would make the build any better but it seems like a pretty valid 2nd option.

FrownyClown.8402:

The build looks pretty solid. For the druid build id actually change the glyph to another trap or muddy terrain. And then change verdent etching to natural stride. Better strafing potential and better if you are playing as a roamer.

Dunno if that would make the build any better but it seems like a pretty valid 2nd option.

that’d give me the extra mobility and dps. for the price of less condi cleanse, one less stunbreak, and CC from AS and daze. it’s a decent alternative. im a bit nervous running with just one stunbreak and no invuln though.

FrownyClown.8402:

The build looks pretty solid. For the druid build id actually change the glyph to another trap or muddy terrain. And then change verdent etching to natural stride. Better strafing potential and better if you are playing as a roamer.

Dunno if that would make the build any better but it seems like a pretty valid 2nd option.

i am not a fan of his builds i kill them to easily. however his glyph is a good choice low cool down and it will hold and bleed anyone with his next attack giving him time to run or finish them off. i use that glyph on my cliric and condi build

trunks.5249:

FrownyClown.8402:

The build looks pretty solid. For the druid build id actually change the glyph to another trap or muddy terrain. And then change verdent etching to natural stride. Better strafing potential and better if you are playing as a roamer.

Dunno if that would make the build any better but it seems like a pretty valid 2nd option.

i am not a fan of his builds i kill them to easily. however his glyph is a good choice low cool down and it will hold and bleed anyone with his next attack giving him time to run or finish them off. i use that glyph on my cliric and condi build

huh, interesting seeing as literally no one is running these builds yet. at least, i havent seen a single ranger trying out SB, maybe because it’s so bad or seemingly bad. good luck with your clirics bro.

mistsim.2748:

trunks.5249:

FrownyClown.8402:

The build looks pretty solid. For the druid build id actually change the glyph to another trap or muddy terrain. And then change verdent etching to natural stride. Better strafing potential and better if you are playing as a roamer.

Dunno if that would make the build any better but it seems like a pretty valid 2nd option.

i am not a fan of his builds i kill them to easily. however his glyph is a good choice low cool down and it will hold and bleed anyone with his next attack giving him time to run or finish them off. i use that glyph on my cliric and condi build

huh, interesting seeing as literally no one is running these builds yet. at least, i havent seen a single ranger trying out SB, maybe because it’s so bad or seemingly bad. good luck with your clirics bro.

i am talking more about the short bow users.when it comes to my cliric build i am posting it and my codi build hoping for a sweet spot between them

Wanted to chime in and say I appreciate someone thinking outside the box. It’s been a long time since I have strayed from NM/BM/Druid due to the sheer strength of We Heal As One, Strength of the Pack, and Fortifying Bond. It’s refreshing to see a different perspective.

^thx man.

i just wanted to confirm real quick that im finding the rabid core spec much more effective in soloq, when it comes to making SB work anyway. i think the high toughness works so good with Protective Ward. u can go sharpening stone or QZ in the last utility slot. from the ideal angle, QZ will net you about 13 bleed stacks, whereas SS will net you 16 on a lower CD, but at the price of 1) not having a second stun break, and 2) no superspeed.

on a good team, or say u have a good theif friend with you, that concussive shot will net you a kill every single time. 2s daze/stun is huge. might also be interesting trying SB with staff on a typical druid build, instead of sword/dagger or whatever u guys are running these days.

the other thing ive done is swapped the hound for spider.

http://metabattle.com/wiki/Build:Druid_-_Poison_Master

Check out this build I posted to metabattle. It is nothing new but the patch did help out sword and shortbow a bit. The changes aren’t gamebreaking but anyone saying that 2 sec stun/daze instead of 1 sec makes no difference has not much PvP experience. The rest were just slight damage buffs.

Personally I think that druid is too strong at the moment and staff is just a great weapon that happens to fill astral force (which is what makes druid so strong) the fastest on top of it.

About shortbow being generally bad? I strongly disagree for a number of reasons:

• pretty much the only ranged weapon with a condition aspect which will always make it the go to ranged option if a condition build can be good
• enough utility to be usefull in PvP, namely the dodge on relatively low cooldown and the cc on #5, one might argue that stealth and a knockback like on longbow are even better utility but there are situations where the dodge beats stealth (like if you want to keep a point)

In the end a slight buff to the autoattack wouldn’t have hurt but the weapon can be viable with the right meta changes. I would rather say it sees little play because druid is so good and not because short bow as a weapon is bad.

^i tried that exact build back in October. at the time, the damage was decent but i couldnt survive. i want to love the build i really do but there are the issues i ran into while testing these days:

- one stun break is just not enough
- waiting around for the seeds to pop for the condi cleanse is super risky; the condi bombs are real; i feel super dependent on the instant cleanse from WK, but maybe that’s just me
- isn’t it super rough without any toughness? there are some pretty scary DD builds out there. not sure if the heals could make up for it. i do like the rune choice…wouldnt work any other way, as you mentioned in your comment

i’ll definitely try it out. how about going into NM instead of BM?

dont necessarily want to keep bumping, but i added a burning variant to the core build.

Hi mistsim, thanks for posting your builds. I find it always interesting to see some what other people do.

I have a question however: When I use the Skirmishing trait line and aim for a bleed build, I always use Sharpened Edges. Since there is no cool down on it and you hit rather fast with SB, I always imagine that is adds significant bleeds. I see that there is no sense in taking it, if you only have 4% preceision as in your first build. But in the second build you are close to 50%, so theoretically every second shot would add a bleed. Is the cd reduction on traps and the addition of cripple worth taking Trapper’s Expertise instead?

I really mean that as a question and not necessairely as a critique. I just went with my intuition…

Edit: Yeah, I just read Sharpened Edges again, and you have only a 66% chance on hit, so what does that make? About every third shot? … but still, isn’t it enough to be worth taking?

It’s admirable that they tried to buff SB, but it’s not really viable. The autoattack can stack a lot of bleeding(the highest in the game for an autoattack if I’m not mistaken) but it’s seriously hindered by the position constraint. Besides the stun, the SB skills are really subpar. They offer little utility and the overall damage is lower when comparing to LB.

I’d like to see the autoattack apply bleed when your target is disabled(crippled, chilled, stunned, dazed, launched, immobilized etc.) in addition to flanking.

Skill 2 is a weaker version of axe 2, on a higher cooldown. Greatly reducing the spread of the projectiles so you can stack more poison from a reasonable distance would help.

Skill 3 is meh, the only good thing being the cooldown. Maybe increase the evade to 3/4 and give it a bit more distance?

Skill 4 really needs a buff – there are way more powerful condi skills in the game, and this one requires you to use the buggy pet to do the damage. If your pet is dead, it’s useless.

Skill 5 is good, but it has no synergy with the weapon. It could’ve been on any range weapon in the game. It works well with ancient seeds though, giving you some nice kiting capabilities. If they made autoattack like I described above, both 4 and 5 would have synergy with the weapon.

It’s really nice of them for buffing SB, but it still needs work in order for it to be competitive.

lyriael.4375:

Edit: Yeah, I just read Sharpened Edges again, and you have only a 66% chance on hit, so what does that make? About every third shot? … but still, isn’t it enough to be worth taking?

sharpened edges is really cool with quickness, and u can proc a whole bunch of bleed stacks with poison volley, if they all crit and hit. with sharpening stone, u can insta-stack about 10 bleeds, which goes up to 20+ with quickness in a second or two. in this case u can just drop the trap, and go pure survival.

this bleed nuke isnt anything new i believe, but it’s situational. the big problem with SB in general is the insane amount of blocking, invuln and evading that’s in the game. so these projectiles often dont even hit. sadly, because of this, the game very much becomes about spamming abilities and about the builds that do it best.

but the really big thing that SB has going for it is the concussive shot buff actually. not so much the tiny buffs to white damage. it’s still very much a condi weapon, best augmented by rabid + procs.