Guild Wars 2

Hi, I’m Saizo Sol. I’ve recently been trying to find a solid Trap build for SPvP so far I’ve come up with nice mix which seems to be working rather well.

I make plenty of mistakes and I’ll make sure to improve
This build isn’t for everyone, it fits my style

Video Link 2 - http://youtu.be/23wyL53IDvE

Video Link 1 - http://youtu.be/Wi7vDGBbkzI

Build Link - http://gw2skills.net/editor/?fMAQRAnY8fjAVx11VuVs2Bi2DNZeMxewfH9IXBUdwvaP-TwAgyCpIATBmDMDYSwsgN8Y5xeh5CA

Build Back Down:
– Great balance between Power Damage, Condition Damage, Critical Chance and Critical Damage. The base damage from a axe already hits rather hard and with decent amount of critical chance and critical damage you can really stack up the damage from your offhand’s and auto attack, now you combo that with your condition damage. Also great part is your weapon swap geomancy sigil’s not only do they add bleeds they also add base damage. So combo’ed well you can do some really massive spikes. Also Traps have nice pulse base damage which Carrion with critical chance/damage really combo’s off well.

- How my tank works, I have great mix between traited vigor upkeep and weapon dodges, there is large amount of immobilize going around so you need hard dodges on both weapon sets, now I’ve taken Carrion/Rabid – Forge to help level out my toughness and vitality, I have great protection upkeep to make up for loss of toughness. I was running healing spring but the heal is just to small to help. TU is your best option and also gives you better vigor upkeep.

- Pet’s, I’ve finally settled with Wolf/Lighting Drake, reason being you can do some great combo’s with both pets. Also your going to need that Lightning Drake to break some tanks.

So, change the build how you see fit, but so far this has been best option for me. You can’t counter everything so invest in what you can do well.

Hope you enjoy.

Before you comment running the build down at-least understand the build

Not able to watch the vid quite yet (work), but you say you have high crit yet you’re using carrion, is your high crit coming from high fury uptime? Because it looks like it’s only about 20%.

Durzlla.6295:

Not able to watch the vid quite yet (work), but you say you have high crit yet you’re using carrion, is your high crit coming from high fury uptime? Because it looks like it’s only about 20%.

22% critical chance + fury on weapon swap, also you have RoA. It works really well, the amount of critical’s you get is rather high its almost 50/50 chance due to using Axe which hits 3 target’s, also your traps pulse and your geomancy is aoe as well. So your always getting 3 base hits and with 50/50 chance your always getting critical hits.

You need to change your pet to a cat or dog. Also you need to turn on fast casting in the interface. Try to save your dodge rolls and drop the axe for a shortbow till it’s fixed.

aussieheals.6843:

You need to change your pet to a cat or dog. Also you need to turn on fast casting in the interface. Try to save your dodge rolls and drop the axe for a shortbow till it’s fixed.

Uh…. What’s wrong with the axe?

aussieheals.6843:

You need to change your pet to a cat or dog. Also you need to turn on fast casting in the interface. Try to save your dodge rolls and drop the axe for a shortbow till it’s fixed.

Wolf/River Drake is a very staple pet selection for the PvP environment. Fast Casting is a preference and not mandatory, as not everybody uses the same gaming setup, and everybody has a different comfort level. And Axe/Dagger is a much more effective weaponset than a shortbow at the cost of not being able to mindlessly pew pew at range.

While I can see the reasoning that leads you to make these suggestions, saying any option is better than another option between the way Sol is playing and what you are suggesting he changes wouldn’t be justified.

Anywho, great vid Sol, I may have to steal this setup, even though it is much less forgiving than what my preference usually is (still looks to have better survival ability than the standard bomb/nade engi build though).

I’ve been looking to transition back towards a trap focused build, and your gearing selection is probably the best that it’s going to be for the current metagame.

Hey, answer everyone.

@aussieheals.6843, I do have fast casting on, there are two options one shows you placement while casting, I found it more effective.

Cat’s are useless, any burst pet is. I’ve tried to use them already, but the meta is to burst/condition heavy they just melt to Engi’s extremely fast. Also Drake is our best pet, extremely tanky, AoE Weakness, Blast Finisher and there F2 well makes every other F2 look bad, you should try it some time.

SB is a bad weapon for my build, you should of tested that before saying something. For starters I can stack more bleeds then a SB can. I have better dodge upkeep. I have way better base damage, I have more then just bleed/poison. Also if you haven’t noticed the meta is Warrior heavy, and you can cover you Weakness from Axe #3 and almost keep it perma on them. It’s the best way to counter there adren regen which counter there condition remove and damage, you should already know that.

Half time when I dodge I’m trying to predict there movement it’s a bad habit but we all do it no one can play perfect (also you should know being Aussie Lag hurts at times), its hard with so much AoE and more then 80% of the time you can’t see single thing there doing thanks to over the top effects and size of there char.

My biggest problem is holding out on using my NR and then using it when I have nothing on me or using it at wrong time, I’m so used to having HS + Spirit to remove condition’s when I use NR I’ve been clicking the skill even know I have it hotkey’ed to my mouse. Just bad habits.

@Durzlla.6295, Nothing Axe is a meta weapon thanks to our #3 on axe. More ranger’s need to click onto the fact it really wrecks warriors.

@jcbroe.4329 Wolf/Drake is by far out best option in this current meta, if you watch my Video in the 2nd fight, it was thanks to F2 from drake I won that fight followed with pet swap into wolf.

Axe/Dagger is one of the best condition setups you can get with Flame Trap, SB is only good with Spirit Ranger. Axe/Dagger – Sword/Torch just require’s more skill, 10 second weapon swap with Geomancy the base damage + bleeds is far more effective then your few bleeds your going to get from a SB, now add in your Axe skills + dagger and your getting more bleed’s per 10 seconds then SB can even hope of applying.

So far, Necro’s seem to hurt me. I’ve been recording every single Solo Que to see where I’m messing up and what I need to do vs other classes.

Vs Warrior I can now beat with avg 5k HP left, if I get good spike early I destroy them rather fast. I learn’t a cool trick when they got into Berserker Stance, I spam Auto attack on Sword.

Vs Engineer, well I’ve found only build that can stop me is AR with Carrion/Forge due to fact they have large HP pool. Other then that as long I don’t play dumb I will beat them, your Avg Engineer is running Nades/Toolkit, so I can trap right throw there block’s, its even better when I face Engineer running Pistol/Shield with Toolkit, I can almost say I will always beat them even with there supply drop. First 10 seconds of battle I drop them so fast It puts them on back foot, so all I need todo is time my RoA/Trolls around that window and I can charge them down rather fast, I recorded some games lastnite and got into 1v1 vs some high ranking Engineer’s setup to push points, I beat them hands down (The fights will be in my next video). Wasn’t that they sucked it was sheer power/condition damage coming out of my build.

Now Necro’s are different story they are 50/50 all depends on there build, if they stack Corrupt Boon I can almost say I’m good as dead, if there MM aslong I out smart there Pet’s I will win, if they have Spite I have to watch for the cast or I’m good as dead. I was running NR but honestly amount of time I would use NR to remove big kitten stack condition’s just to get Spite or Corrupted I gave up, I figured go more damage and focus on what I can do rather then trying to be counter to everything.

Other then that, isn’t much I can’t beat 1v1, Warriors/Necro/Engi are only classes that give me run for my money, aslong you play smart and don’t get stupidly outplayed I feel you will always win.

Trap’s will become the new backpoint meta, I’m making it a mission to bring them back.

Now in terms of my build vs Rabid, I deal more damage have a better tank. Only problem I’m faced with is swiftness.

Durzlla.6295:

aussieheals.6843:

You need to change your pet to a cat or dog. Also you need to turn on fast casting in the interface. Try to save your dodge rolls and drop the axe for a shortbow till it’s fixed.

Uh…. What’s wrong with the axe?

Clunky, spilt axe doesn’t about face and it could use a slight raw damage increase

jcbroe.4329:

aussieheals.6843:

You need to change your pet to a cat or dog. Also you need to turn on fast casting in the interface. Try to save your dodge rolls and drop the axe for a shortbow till it’s fixed.

Wolf/River Drake is a very staple pet selection for the PvP environment. Fast Casting is a preference and not mandatory, as not everybody uses the same gaming setup, and everybody has a different comfort level. And Axe/Dagger is a much more effective weaponset than a shortbow at the cost of not being able to mindlessly pew pew at range.

In theory the drake is a great pet! But in practicality any skilled opponent knows that all you need to do is go behind a river drake to avoid all damage & it has an uncontrollable blast finisher? yew! As for the shortbow it is a means of staying out of the cluster kitten and avoiding random condis on you. Its a defensive measure with very good interrupt and can stack bleeds better than anything in this game IF you position yourself properly. Take a situation where you take 1-2 immobilizes for example, he’s left with 1 dagger skill whereas the bow will about face and be able to avoid for longer + interrupt.

jcbroe.4329:

While I can see the reasoning that leads you to make these suggestions, saying any option is better than another option between the way Sol is playing and what you are suggesting he changes wouldn’t be justified.

Anywho, great vid Sol, I may have to steal this setup, even though it is much less forgiving than what my preference usually is (still looks to have better survival ability than the standard bomb/nade engi build though).

Yea good vid mate +1

aussieheals.6843:

Durzlla.6295:

aussieheals.6843:

You need to change your pet to a cat or dog. Also you need to turn on fast casting in the interface. Try to save your dodge rolls and drop the axe for a shortbow till it’s fixed.

Uh…. What’s wrong with the axe?

Clunky, spilt axe doesn’t about face and it could use a slight raw damage increase

Why would axe need to about face when no other ranged attack does? Also split axe gives a 100% uptime on 5 stacks of bleeding, it doesn’t really need a damage buff….

@Sol, your trapper build is very similar to the one I was messing around with a while ago, I used Axe/Dagger and Sword/Torch too but I used entangle over RaO (don’t really use this elite for some reason, I need to do that more…) and I brought a frost trap instead of the sig, was getting some really good results from it , but I gotta say necro screws me over whenever I use ANY condi build…. But hey, what are you gonna do vs the master of condis? It’s like going up against a mes with a boon reliant build.

Durzlla.6295:

aussieheals.6843:

Durzlla.6295:

aussieheals.6843:

You need to change your pet to a cat or dog. Also you need to turn on fast casting in the interface. Try to save your dodge rolls and drop the axe for a shortbow till it’s fixed.

Uh…. What’s wrong with the axe?

Clunky, spilt axe doesn’t about face and it could use a slight raw damage increase

Why would axe need to about face when no other ranged attack does? Also split axe gives a 100% uptime on 5 stacks of bleeding, it doesn’t really need a damage buff….

@Sol, your trapper build is very similar to the one I was messing around with a while ago, I used Axe/Dagger and Sword/Torch too but I used entangle over RaO (don’t really use this elite for some reason, I need to do that more…) and I brought a frost trap instead of the sig, was getting some really good results from it , but I gotta say necro screws me over whenever I use ANY condi build…. But hey, what are you gonna do vs the master of condis? It’s like going up against a mes with a boon reliant build.

Yeah RoA is only way I can beat Necros and Warriors, like I don’t always need it vs them but sure does help vs there Fears and Stuns. I used to run Entangle but I’m so sick watching everyone just walk out of it and Warriors can 1 shot the roots.

Axe is really good weapon, if you land #5 from dagger as you land your Spike trap, there almost sitting still, land your #2 on Axe then weapon swap that can be done within seconds its one hell of burst.

Hey we should talk trap ranger some time I really enjoy playing it, and it does require some level of skill which is great.

Ive always wondered why traps dont feel like “traps”..
You make an trap to ambush some unsuspected foes..You wait invisible while they step on it and when they do, you attack…….Thats what traps are actually, not something that you throw on the ground to aoe ppl…

Imagine a hunter carrying the traps, reaching in 600 range from his target and throw em in their feet….

What the kitten anet?
Rename em at least, this shows that you didnt actually had a concept about the Ranger class….You just mixed some skills and traits to fill a class slot…..

Nice video btw

as much as i like your videos, you were pretty lucky not to get cc’ed or condibursted ;-)
But nice video

Dardamaniac.1295:

Ive always wondered why traps dont feel like “traps”..
You make an trap to ambush some unsuspected foes..You wait invisible while they step on it and when they do, you attack…….Thats what traps are actually, not something that you throw on the ground to aoe ppl…

Imagine a hunter carrying the traps, reaching in 600 range from his target and throw em in their feet….

What the kitten anet?
Rename em at least, this shows that you didnt actually had a concept about the Ranger class….You just mixed some skills and traits to fill a class slot…..

Nice video btw

Uh…. you kinda don’t throw them unless you take a trait, a trait which should be split from the traps have increased range trait imo because i’d like to have larger radius traps without having to throw them…

So, I’ve been recording every single game I play. You going to LOL at my new video, just stupid kitten where I should of died but pulled it out of the hat and won.

@ Dardamaniac.1295, I kinda pulled off the ambush on some unsuspecting foe, it was classic he went from 100-0 in seconds I didn’t even take 1 drop of damage.

@ Aeri.5738, your telling me. Honestly only happened a few time’s where I’ve been immobilized chained then condition burst. Think I’m one lucky son of a ranger.

Durzlla.6295:

aussieheals.6843:

Durzlla.6295:

aussieheals.6843:

You need to change your pet to a cat or dog. Also you need to turn on fast casting in the interface. Try to save your dodge rolls and drop the axe for a shortbow till it’s fixed.

Uh…. What’s wrong with the axe?

Clunky, spilt axe doesn’t about face and it could use a slight raw damage increase

Why would axe need to about face when no other ranged attack does? Also split axe gives a 100% uptime on 5 stacks of bleeding, it doesn’t really need a damage buff….

http://wiki.guildwars2.com/wiki/Poison_Volley

When I’ve been using the build I’ve found that the one spec that can consistently 1v1 against me is D/P trickery thieves. When played well (knowing when to stealth, steal, black powder, etc), they can consistently remove Protection and through blinds can avoid a lot of damage being thrown out at them because of it.

That’s outside of the bad matchup against Necros. Their condition output is astronomical compared to what only Empathic Bond (or EB + SoR) feels like it can deal with, but the real killer is how much damage Terror does. That’s the nail in the coffin right there, and without RaO up (and hoping they either aren’t running Corrupt or don’t use it on you/you dodge it), I think that the necro should probably always win the engagement, assuming equal skill.

Just wanted to say nice build again though lol. I mean, maybe it’s just because I’ve played everything else for so long, but coming back to traps after not playing since the first few months of the game in PvP (I run them in WvW but it isn’t the same environment), maybe I’m just a better player than people I’m up against, but I really feel like the ranger still has the capability to “condition overload” classes, and it feels terrific to play as.

Yeah lately vs Necros I’ve been having it not so bad I’ve learnt a few tricks, biggest thing I found was you need to drop 3x traps the pull range on them once they hit your traps you have a window to use ur wolf then fear, follow with 3x traps again it should break them to the point where you have the upper hand also apply weakness to them it’s one skill I’ve found works well against them.

My next video has a lot of 1v1 vs Necros I used my bait tactic and just rush them, one fight I just finish killing guard DPS 1v1 far and Necro came in I pulled back after trapping RoA the rushed him while finishing the guard.

Try removing NR an run 3x traps the damage is so much better, biggest problem running NR it kills your pet removing your condition remove hurts allot.

Theif’s are still a pain, I’ve faced so many lately they hurt if I don’t dodge allot, but just make them work for it and soon as they do that’s your window, it’s the best way to get them I learnt this dueling wvw theirs and I’m talking some of the best in the game.

Once I get this new video done i plan to slow it down explain a few things along the way.

What is the reasoning behind the vitality → power trait?

I’d think that more protection or sharpened edges would prove stronger than some extra power.

Ryan.9387:

What is the reasoning behind the vitality -> power trait?

I’d think that more protection or sharpened edges would prove stronger than some extra power.

It’s something Radom I’ve come to like, trust me I know but look at the build its different it works so why not I say.

Like in video I have I hit a ranger for 900 then it Bounces hits spirit then hits him 4 1200 that’s got a little todo with why, how I see it is if it works why not, also I have decent protection, and I want that extra HP over 10% duration as it does nothing even know u get 100 more power, I’m still getting it with my trait

Question you need to ask yourself does it really matter what trait. I would love to see half the top team ranger’s copy and paste this build and be good at it. That’s right almost every single top team ranger for ages all suck at the class and only play FOTM builds.

Sol.4310:

I would love to see half the top team ranger’s copy and paste this build and be good at it. That’s right almost every single top team ranger for ages all suck at the class and only play FOTM builds.

Won’t happen. The build is very selfish, which is why you probably find it fun in sPvP. It doesn’t promote team play or offer your team anything which is what tPvP is about. You may have some success in it playing homepoint in soloqueue, but you won’t go far with it.

River Drake is really only good with longbow barrage or storm spirit for AoE burst. You should change it to a bird if you want more pet damage uptime on mobile enemies, a boar if you want more CC(forage is amazing and the boar has a 3 second knockdown), or a black widow/jungle spider(they are really good about using their AoE poison) for the on demand, ranged immobilize—and they have two of them. The Drake doesn’t offer you anything as a condi/trap build. It’s not like you’re trying to use their blast finisher for healing spring or anything. More CC on your target = more reliable traps, less damage taken, save weapon evades.

nice try but alot of ur choices dont make sence.

Actually, every single one of the choices makes sense. I’m not really sure what people aren’t getting about the build, I’m starting to wonder if I’m the only other person who has played it besides Sol lol.

The only person with a legit question is Ryan. To offer a 3rd opinion, the Vitality → Power option combines some sustained damage you would have with 10 in power for II with 1k more vitality and boon duration. I can see the protection being just as legitimately useful, I’d say one is just a damage option and one is a defense option.

I don’t really see how I can argue one way or the other, and also, I didn’t make the build, so I’m sure Sol has more experience behind his answers than I do, since I’ve only been playing with the build since the first time he posted it (a few weeks ago I believe).

jcbroe.4329:

Actually, every single one of the choices makes sense. I’m not really sure what people aren’t getting about the build, I’m starting to wonder if I’m the only other person who has played it besides Sol lol.

No, you and this guy aren’t the only people who have played around with trap ranger. There are a lot of sub optimal choices made, but if his argument is that’s what he’s comfortable with, then there’s really no debate to be had.

I don’t think it’s a very strong build. It’s one dimensional, the weapon sigils aren’t very good(two stacking condi sigils? Why not a sigil of earth, fire, lightning… something to take advantage of your crit chance), and it lacks survivability in comparison to a lot of other builds minus glass.

There are better builds for trap rangers, in my opinion. They may not do as much “burst” damage, but this isn’t PvE, it’s not all about burst damage. =P

I like your build Sol. I switched a few things to tailor to my playstyle. I switched out Primal Reflexes with Sharpened Edges for the bleeds on crit. And for those that haven’t noticed, there is no internal CD with Sharpened Edges. Trap ticks, and Sigil of Intel on LB with Barrage and Rapid Shot create a lot of bleeds on your targets. I also switched out Vipers Nest for Signet of Stone for three reasons: less traps to throw = more DPS from LB, the poison from Vipers Nest is redundant since I am applying it with Serpent Strike, Stalkers Strike and Poison Gas also Sig of Stone provides more defense, not much but enough to warrant a spot.

I also switched Off-Hand Training with Martial Mastery to get the reduced CD on Sword main hand for dodges. The Dagger off hand already has an extremely low CD’s on their skills. I’m using Sigil of Bloodlust instead of Corruption to get my Attack up to 3000. I think 1227 condi damage is enough imo.

My version of the Build

And last, I chose LB because I like to throw traps at my enemy stealthed…like a boss!

@Shinoobi.1259, The build is designed for home point and far point pusher. It’s not a selfish build as no one is around to get anything from me. If I wanted to be in the team fight I would take Rabid/Undead SB Spirit build and press 1 and close my eyes.

I’ve been playing this build in Team Que as well, it’s working extremely effective at backpoints, its made Engineer’s no long viable at backpoint as they can’t stop me. Only class still having a problem with is Warriors, they can be 50/50 if I don’t play smart.

Pet’s – Not sure how many time’s I need to say this but I’ve test many pets, if you want to run glass pets with NO INVESTMENT into BM then sure go ahead and watch how fast they die. By the sounds of it you don’t understand why I use Lightning Drake. But hey I only have almost 100% up-time on fire fields so that blast finished from the drake is useless. You know birds and pigs are so great at clearning supply drops from engineers with all there AoE and how well they can tank. Mean while the AoE Drake is useless LOL.
I love it how birds and pigs even cat’s stack weakness so they combo with my #3 Axe, oh wait they don’t but you didn’t know that cause you haven’t even tried to understand.

Sigil’s – The only real worthwhile Sigil to run on first weapon setup is %5 Critical Chance, other then that its waste of time. How stupid do you have to be to stack a On Critical Sigil with a On Swap Sigil, when your weapon swapping every 10 seconds. But you would of know that if you tried the build.

@tan.9240 That’s fine the build isn’t designed to please everyone.

@jcbroe.4329 I don’t think many will take the time to give the build a good run but that’s fine. The Power Trait I’m still testing, let’s have a good think about it does it really matter if you get extra 5 seconds of protection ever 30 seconds with you already have Dodge Protection and Forge. It’s same with the Stun Breaker trait, I would rather have more vigor up keep then a passively random Stun Breaker which is on 90 seconds CD.

I say let them argue, I love getting wasted and telling people where to shove it.

@ItIsFinished.9462, I like the changes you made, not much of fan of Signet of Stone but that’s just me we all have our own flovers.

I’ve often wondered how Bloodlust would go with my build extra Power would be rather nice. I’ll be giving this a try for sure.

Viper’s Nest was something that came late into current build I’m running, I ran heap of test vs current Meta Warriors, biggest problem I found was my Dagger/Sword Poison was decent but they could remove it rather effectively which really gave me the kittens, so I took Vipers Nest and the damage boost really showed.

But once again its up to play style your best at, I love in your face burst you down fast damage while others like sitting back and playing different tactics.

This could be a nice variant:

http://gw2skills.net/editor/?fMAQRAnY8fjAVx11VuVs2Bi2DNZeMxeYIH9IXB/fwvaP-TwAAzCpIYSxkjJDTSmsMNqYVxeh5CA

Less vitality
Slightly less protection
Less power

More bleed on crit
25% movement speed
Swiftness
More toughness

Sube Dai.8496:

This could be a nice variant:

http://gw2skills.net/editor/?fMAQRAnY8fjAVx11VuVs2Bi2DNZeMxeYIH9IXB/fwvaP-TwAAzCpIYSxkjJDTSmsMNqYVxeh5CA

Less vitality
Slightly less protection
Less power

More bleed on crit
25% movement speed
Swiftness
More toughness

Yeah that’s decent, the lack of protection is made up from the higher toughness pool, and the swiftness is really helpful.

Only thing I would do different is run Geomancy Sigils your only going to land 3 bleeds with Earth Sigils within the 10 seconds window when you swap weapon.

You could even try dropping the Rabid Jewel and replace it with Carrion Jewel, give you 45% critical Chance, with 18,482 Vitality.

Other then that, the build does work. I tried making it work with SB but I found I can get better damage out of the Axe/Dagger – Sword/Torch combo.

http://gw2skills.net/editor/?fMAQRAnY8fjAVx11VuVs2Bi2DNZeMxeYIH9IXB/fwvaP-TwAAzCuIYSxkjJDTSmsMN8Y5xehJBA

Almost same as what you posted, I changed the Sigil’s and Jewel. But I could see this build being rather effective. It’s shame on how much power you lose but, almost 600 Power.

I don’t know what to say other than stay free, then, I guess.

Just gonna add a 4th opinion on the vitality trait, i tried it without before i tried it with and i gotta say i prefer having it over not. The added vitality (i went into marks instead of NM) was very nice and i liked that it actually gave me a good chunk of power too.

Also… what’s wrong with selfish builds in tPvP? This isn’t a game that’s all about team fights, most fights tend to only be 1v1 or 2v2 so if you don’t bring anything for the team fights it doesn’t really matter so long as you aren’t really there… And with a home point defender or a far point assaulter, or hell even a roaming build you aren’t going to be bringing team support because that’s not your roles job. You’ll have some control which will help secure kills, but that’s about it.

Sol.4310:

 It’s shame on how much power you lose but, almost 600 Power.

Yeah your basically trading the power for extra bleeds and movement speed.

@Sol;

That’s exactly what I like about the build, it really does compete with Engi very well. I’d say between the engi meta build and this build, the difference is really only the benefits of grenade kit that engi gets, versus this ranger build being able to outdamage a single opponent and apply the same conditions at a faster pace with better survivability against current meta builds than what engi has (engis have less condi removal and have to burn a heal to get it, for those that don’t know), while being able to break through Automated Response and the ever so rare unicorn Diamond Skin ele (lol, just lol).

And hey, when the spirit build first made its way into being the meta build, there were a lot of naysayers, including myself. I hated the playstyle (still do) and I didn’t think it was going to give people as much of an issue as it does, which I still find surprising even to this day. But it stuck around since like March/April 2012, and is still considered a top meta build going into January 2014 here, and unlike the Spirit Build, I see the immediate potential and results with this build versus the current meta and the way people play.

Have you tested this build in wvw as well? I use the same trait setup but I use dire armor with undead rune instead so it’s more conditions heavy. I am just wondering if I should invest in rampager armor as suggested.

So I went back to traps and used mostly this setup, which preformed excellent. I made a couple changes though which are more personal preference based.

1) S/D A/T, I don’t like the other way to arrange them.
2) I brought Protection when dmg >10% trait instead of 7% Vit → Power.

I just went Settler’s Amulet/Carrion Jewel for the lols and wow, bunker all day. Given that it’s Solo Q, but still.

Oh definitely. I just felt like running it as a pseudo bunker because reasons lol. Though I do have to say, I find it incredible the difference in survivability between spirit/bunk and trap/bunk even though the builds hardly perform different functions. Like, the difference is what, 2k health and 20% more boon duration? Along with some “artificial” survival by damage absorbed by spirits and a blind from sun spirit?

But wow, the difference.

Back to this threads setup to melt people. Offense is the best defense in this case.

My phone is running the spelling of everything. Deleted my other post because of the auto – incorrect.

Really solid trap ranger build for the current meta. I’v been playing trapper since beta and really enjoy the playstyle of it. If people want to try and do something different i would really suggest to try this build out. I made a few changes to my likely but other then that i really enjoy the raw damage to help against AR engis and to help taking down petting zoos a little more efficiently. Trap rangers always been beasts at 1v1s(if you position yourself well and land your spike a good amount of the time) besides going against necros since they have a lot of counters and a good theif would always be a pain. Warriors have been given so much in few past months they to have become a more challenging opponent then before.

Good job Sol always enjoy your posts and videos.

Hey, great o see everyone finding some fun with the build. Even better everyone coming up with there own version.

I’ll have new video up soon I’ve been away with work and not had chance to upload, over the weekend I’ll make some replays as there some great info and change’s to builds players have been making.

Also on a side note I’ve tested many different versions of this build, also many are still wondering why that weird trait in NM to be honest I’m still asking the same question, but after watching replay’s of my latest video I’ve not posted which will be soon, I can really say I think it’s making its mark.

Righto time for some sleep.

New Video! Finally got around to uploading it hope you all enjoy.

Many thanks for the two videos, Sol~!! Enjoyed both of them very much. Excellent music, too, by the way. Good stuff.

Great build. How well do you do against PU mes?

@Deaddark.5701 Cheer’s Mate, hopefully I’ll have time this week to record some new footage.

@kiwituatara.6053, vs PU Mesmer I think the build would go rather well seen as the condition burst + AoE from Geomancy + Axe will eat his clones up. I’ve faced few clone spamming Mesmer in Que but they didn’t really both me.

I’m currently working on 2 versions of this build, one is mainly for team fights other is for holding home and de-capping far. Build’s are almost the same but minor change’s to sigils and traits and healing skill.

Hey man, good video’s

Do you use the same build in WvW? Would you be so kind and share how you(’d) run a trapper build for WvW?

Cond overload can work well vs pu mesmers, get them on the defensive right away. Have to be careful with traps and axe though, you don’t want to keep applying clone death conditions to yourself. Its funny, pu is the 1 Mesmer build I feel comfortable fighting on my trapper. The other Mesmer builds just destroy it though (stealth burst/stealth burst =dead ranger, even with settlers amulet)

Interesting stuff. You have inspired me to tinker with traps a bit more .

(I like the offhand dagger/trap synergy)

@Nalar.6523, never tried it in WvW, I used to run traps only in WvW and they worked back then so I don’t see why they won’t know with all different armor’s and trinkets you can get now.

@dylan.5409, it’s funny I find fighting shatter Mesmers easy but when I face PU I hate it. I think my problem is I’m so used to fighting Shatter when I fight PU i try to use same tactics and they just don’t work as well.

@Nike.2631, Yeah traps are allot of fun but also allot harder, there are some really strong counters currently in the game. Main one being Necro’s, lastnight in Solo Que I met a Necro that ran Spite/Corrupt/Transfer Conditions. I could get him extremely low but whoa he had some insane damage. He would Spite me then I would pop my elite to stop any Fear Chains and then he Corrupt me at this point I loaded him with conditions he would xfer them right back onto me. It was extremely painful.

dylan.5409:

Cond overload can work well vs pu mesmers, get them on the defensive right away. Have to be careful with traps and axe though, you don’t want to keep applying clone death conditions to yourself. Its funny, pu is the 1 Mesmer build I feel comfortable fighting on my trapper. The other Mesmer builds just destroy it though (stealth burst/stealth burst =dead ranger, even with settlers amulet)

No, sadly the build still isnt the solution against PU mesmers. The traps are too big and clones pre-set them off. What does this mean?

-You get spammed by clone-death conditions
-Your utility skills did 0 dmg.
-Your utility skills are on cooldown.

And so you use your heal, and all your evades while waiting for the cooldowns. And this cycle goes on for a while until the mesmer outdps your evades and dodges, which can be quite swift.

@kiwituatara
Traps have 600 range clone death is 250 aprrox. Traps also affect 3 targets which can be a problem but they also pulse 3 times (why ? while all other aoe is 5 the hell?) . So with a bit of luck you can load up the Mesmer quickly, getting them on the defensive early. If I manage to stay on the real Mesmer and keep pressure up then I have an easier time with pu than with shatter or phantasm. Lets face it trapper rangers are not optimal builds, really squishy with less conditions than a necro or engineer but at least when fighting a pu condition mesmer your not dead in under 5 seconds, which gives some time to consider positioning and even resets.