Guild Wars 2

cant find a good build, so what is good for wvw. wanne use the longbow. doing some 1v1s etc and small group battles.

Protip – don’t use longbow unless picking-off from afar amongst the safety of a zerg.

1v1s you have several options depending on your build.

sword/dagger and GS: great especially for DPS serker builds, but also for condition-based builds.

GS/Shortbow: Can work well for DPS builds – cripple from afar then swoop in with GS

General consensus though is that sword gives the best DPS. Combine it with a dagger to cripple your enemy and provide some extra condition damage, or combine it with warhorn for that might and crit chance boost. Many different choices.

Yeah… guy asks for LB build and you tell him to use melee weapon.

LB in WvW: https://forum-en.gw2archive.eu/forum/professions/ranger/My-ranger-movie/first#post2012815

Terkov.4138:

Yeah… guy asks for LB build and you tell him to use melee weapon. Not to mention zerker gear in zerg fights lol.

LB in WvW: https://forum-en.gw2archive.eu/forum/professions/ranger/My-ranger-movie/first#post2012815

If you’ll read what I said, I was advising him not to use it unless in a zerg. Longbow is no good 1v1 unless you’re a really capable player.

Greatsword/Longbow can be pretty beastly with the right setup. I use 2/3 knight’s gear, 1/3 zerker, run 30/30/10/0/0. Signet setup with Signet of the Wild, Signet of the Hunt and Signet of Stone and spec Moment of Clarity for interrupts in Skirmishing.

Bryzy.2719:

Terkov.4138:

Yeah… guy asks for LB build and you tell him to use melee weapon. Not to mention zerker gear in zerg fights lol.

LB in WvW: https://forum-en.gw2archive.eu/forum/professions/ranger/My-ranger-movie/first#post2012815

If you’ll read what I said, I was advising him not to use it unless in a zerg. Longbow is no good 1v1 unless you’re a really capable player.

Well, yes and no. I mean, yeah, LB has a clunky “feel” right now but it’s a good weapon. Just hunter’s shot, barrage, and point blank shot are reason enough to select it. Durzlla does well with a condition (carrion) LB build using sun spirit. There’s sevral ways you can go.

Longbow is great. I use it with my greatsword. Just don’t sit in longbow since the autoattack is slow. Swap to it for the other skills as you see fit. Rapid fire is actually a good burst skill with quickness.

0/10/30/0/30 Lb/Gs is what I use. Dominates 1 on 1s and handles small skirmishes very well.

I’m double bow spec and solo for the most part and though LB1 is lacking the other skills are quite useful and fill some interesting situation use.

LB is pretty good in large battles with piercing arrows on, getting a pointblank shot off into a zerg is hilarious, but in 1v1 or small skirmishes, you are going to find yourself dealing sub-par damage with the range penalty on #1.

LB can be done 1v1 im sure, might take some practice and good timing. If I ran LB in wvw for 1v1 or 1v2 fights I would run GS/LB myself and shoot from afar and then melee, swoop out then swap to LB again to use its cool downs, then GS again and repeat.

I have faced a few lb rangers and ill just let you know that gs/sb simply dominates vs lb. with the sb you have way more control over the fight. For Zergs or tower defense/sieges I would choose lb, but skirmish fights I just don’t think a lb/gs would ever have a chance. Unless the opponent is drunk or screws up.

So no lb for roaming ewwwwwwwww

Chopps.5047:

Durzlla does well with a condition (carrion) LB build using sun spirit. There’s sevral ways you can go.

Please don’t try to spread that again…

The initial thread detailing the performance (and by that I mean lack thereof) of that build was plenty long enough.

Longbow is for zerging. It’s such a poor choice for a dueling weapon given how well the shortbow fulfills that roll.

I’ve had some success with a Longbow BM power cleric set.

30/0/10/0/30
Full clerics with feline pets, taking the traits that increase a pets condition damage and duration. Sigils of Hydromancy on the weapons to help keep the pet on your enemy.

You can buy a set of green armor to test it for under a gold.

The key to LB is to learn to use it and swop to SB while skills cool down, and make sure you can maintain a gap between you and the enemy (clue: use pets that chill!).

You can run a berserker build and learn positioning and it can be really fun- it’s not easy, it doesn’t really have any burst damage, shots miss a lot, pets are still fairly useless and you can’t stealth trap like a thief can, but it’s still better to play an honest toon than a thief that exploits a broken mechanic.

What’s sad is that thief can actually be quite good in a zerg with a bow- most of their skills do better damage than a full zerk ranger and they can disappear too!

oke, i hear good and bad things of a LB ranger :o whats the best for 1v1 longb or shortbow. gone make the best 1v1 build. with lb or sb

Pwnzor.5682:

oke, i hear good and bad things of a LB ranger :o whats the best for 1v1 longb or shortbow. gone make the best 1v1 build. with lb or sb

Definitely shortbow, longbow is simply terrible for 1v1 and don’t let anyone tell you otherwise. It’s a decent weapon for PvE, a great weapon for zerging, and an awful weapon for 1v1s. The reason is very simple, in a 1v1 your opponent will always close the gap on you and the longbow does pathetically low damage at short range, due to the way the LB1 skill functions.

than igot an other problem :p cant diside between kudzu and dreamer :s like then both but i like 1vX builds so yea..

Pwnzor.5682:

than igot an other problem :p cant diside between kudzu and dreamer :s like then both but i like 1vX builds so yea..

If you do a lot of 1vX then I’d go for Dreamer, if you like them both. Shortbow is probably the most all-round useful weapon rangers have anyway, you’ll always be able to show off your Dreamer

Yeah, if you are going mainly for 1v1, SB will be better than LB.

Terkov.4138:

Yeah, if you are going mainly for 1v1, SB will be better than LB.

^^^^ I’ll dog pile on and agree, LB in 1v1 is not good (awesome for large groups and tower/keep sieges however, so keep one on hand!). It’s way too slow and the inverse range penalty is horrible. I always swap to GS when in melee range, and with high toughness, it actually makes a really big difference with my survival, but again, it’s not a terrific 1v1 weapon. If 1v1 is your goal, and you want to use a bow, SB + S/D can be a very effective setup when mixed with lots of points in Skirmishing and WS to improve your traps.

Good hunting!

Ugh longbow is NOT terrible for 1v1. PM me in game so we can battle and I will prove this to you

Yeah, it’s not “terrible” (I even made 20+ min video – on 2nd page now). I run with it all the time, but it IS worse than SB. That’s fact. There are situations when it can be more useful (enemy who doesn’t bother to get closer for example), but generally SB is better 1v1 weapon, just like LB is better when defending tower.

I just wonder which one is better for organized zerg vs zerg… atm I’m running with LB, but we are clsoing distance too quick and we are too mobile to make use of 1. or 5. Also, 1. and 2. are too slow to hit enemies when I pass them. Usually I end up swinging my GS >.>

Ralk.7106:

Chopps.5047:

Durzlla does well with a condition (carrion) LB build using sun spirit. There’s sevral ways you can go.

Please don’t try to spread that again…

The initial thread detailing the performance (and by that I mean lack thereof) of that build was plenty long enough.

Longbow is for zerging. It’s such a poor choice for a dueling weapon given how well the shortbow fulfills that roll.

Spread what? Sebrent and others came in to correct some misconceptions I had about procing and durations and other things after which it degenerated. I’ve moved on and the fact remains that sun spirit is a great way to add condition damage to longbow. Regarding any hurt feelings—it was a long time ago and I just don’t care.

I play by experience and light—LIGHT—theorycrafting. I have full sets of berserker, carrion, rabid, apothecary, celestial, soldier’s, cleric’s, rampagers, and shamans and I’m working on knights. I have play-tested many builds and the longbow/sun spirit on really is good, just not my preferred style of play. Remember, OP wanted LB (I am partial to swords). If you haven’t tested it, I suggest doing so. I also use spirits in dungeons. Go ahead, call me a noob, but they work.

Closing distance got you worried?

Barrage on self. Pet swap to wolf for knock down when enemy is in range. Rapid fire. Thats a lot of damage. Alternatively you can use enrangle instead of a knock down.

Time LB 4 to interupt their heal.

Then you swap to GS to finish them with 3+5+2

Trick with LB. Dont rely on the 1 skill.

Currently im loving my lb/sb. I know that people here seem to like melee builds better, but i have been playing rangers/hunters since baulder’s gate 2 so i like my bows.

Anyway im running a zerker build with 30MM 25SM and 15WS. Note: if you do this you basically say that your not doing melee till you respec at least 20 in WS.

On MM im running signet time reduction, arrows peircing, and Signet actives(stone is awesome in pvp.)

on Skirmish i went up to 25 because i wanted the extra precision and crit dammage. The benchmark that you need to get to for a zerker build is 50% crit dammage(200% total, starts at 150% base and character sheet just displays amount above 150%), once you get there precision becomes a better stat then power. I also take the applying might to pet when you crit.

I dont go all the way up skirmish because i like the minor trait in WS that gives you and your pet protection when you dodge.

For skills im running QZ altho thinking about switching it out for signent of the wild for more stability and burst dammage when combined with activating hunt, my Signent of cheating at jumping puzzles, i mean of the hunt. Signet of stone for the 6 second invulnerability. For my elete skill i have been messing around with the sylvari druid of awesome rooting, but for the zerker build i normally run around with rampage as one.

at 50% bonis crit dammage, a 1% crit chance is a 1% dammage increase. so the active fury from rampage as one increases your dammage by more then 20%, because it also gives your pet more might and because of other on hit effects that can happen.

Edit: This was supposed to be no more then 4 or 5 lines.

KensaiZen.3740:

Closing distance got you worried?

Barrage on self. Pet swap to wolf for knock down when enemy is in range. Rapid fire. Thats a lot of damage. Alternatively you can use enrangle instead of a knock down.

Time LB 4 to interupt their heal.

Then you swap to GS to finish them with 3+5+2

Trick with LB. Dont rely on the 1 skill.

I’m not sure to who is this answer, but if to me:
I know. I run with LB for like 1,5k h now. It was with me in 30+ fotm runs, all story and explo modes, 19 ranks in spvp, whole lvling, and all the time in WvW. The problem is, it doesn’t work like that in organized zerg. You can’t stop even for 1 sec, not to mention 2,5 sec barrage cast. 1. and 2. take too long, so I can’t hit enemies when I’m running past them. I’m left only with 3. and 4. – great skills, but not enough. Generally, I can’t imagine ANY ranged weapon work in such charge, one can fire only 2-3 arrows before it becomes melee meatgrinder.
Still, I’m just starting to run in organized zergs/GvG, so I hope I’m wrong and I’ll just learn to use LB.

To make sth clear: I have piercing arrows, increased range and sigil of fire

@edit:
LB in small fights: https://forum-en.gw2archive.eu/forum/professions/ranger/My-ranger-movie/first#post2012815

KensaiZen.3740:

Closing distance got you worried?

Barrage on self. Pet swap to wolf for knock down when enemy is in range. Rapid fire. Thats a lot of damage. Alternatively you can use enrangle instead of a knock down.

Time LB 4 to interupt their heal.

Then you swap to GS to finish them with 3+5+2

Trick with LB. Dont rely on the 1 skill.

I do the barrage at my feet (pet swap Quickened) all the time. It’s a valid tactic, perhaps not intended use but effective none the less. Since it lasts a little bit once deployed you can dodge through it to snare enemy off you.

If LB1 is fixed I see no reason why a full Archer isn’t viable. I mean even with it’s deficiencies I don’t recall EVER losing to another Ranger in a straight 1v1 since I went heal bunker..

I run it despite its limitations and have a blast with it.

Longbow has a 1 skill? Never used it.

check out the compilation thread, there are quite a number of wvw builds that go GS/LB in there

KensaiZen.3740:

Closing distance got you worried?

Barrage on self. Pet swap to wolf for knock down when enemy is in range. Rapid fire. Thats a lot of damage. Alternatively you can use enrangle instead of a knock down.

Time LB 4 to interupt their heal.

Then you swap to GS to finish them with 3+5+2

Trick with LB. Dont rely on the 1 skill.

You’ll just get knocked out of your barrage, or range hit from just outside the red circle. The best case scenario is that they close the gap on you and eat two or three seconds of short range LB while they wait for your barrage to end. Doesn’t seem like that great of a tactic to me, I’d rather wait to land a snare or a wolf knockdown and then barrage on my opponent’s head with quickness.

Any half decent player will block, retaliate, or dodge your rapid fire by the way. Longbow is just terrible on anyone that is actually paying attention to you.

jubskie.3152:

check out the compilation thread, there are quite a number of wvw builds that go GS/LB in there

Yeah but none of those people are roaming. I run GS/LB myself, but it’s for zerging. The OP said he wanted to know what was better between SB and LB for 1v1

Daemon.4295:

jubskie.3152:

check out the compilation thread, there are quite a number of wvw builds that go GS/LB in there

Yeah but none of those people are roaming. I run GS/LB myself, but it’s for zerging. The OP said he wanted to know what was better between SB and LB for 1v1

Hybrid BeastMaster (GS/SB) – build guide - Very mobile WvW build designed to be versatile.

EDIT: You can change the SB to LB, with no changes to the build. The playstyle would change a bit of course. After which, do something like this:

Skirmish With a Longbow - LB/GS vid designed for 1v1 fights in WvW

I really would not main the longbow. The auto attack is just so bad, it’s painful. (and not in the ‘to your enemies’ way)

In my opinion the longbow has two selling points, Barrage and Rapid Fire. Barrage is essential in wvw zergfights, when the commander calls for aoe in a specific place or just in general on blobs, and Rapid Fire is a channel which will track through stealth against thieves and such when you are soloing/small groups, but even -still- I’d take shortbow over longbow in that situation.

Honestly I’d want to know the reason you want to use longbow. Prove everyone wrong, be different, or just don’t like the way tiny bows look on your character? If it’s the last one (which it was for me) you can always pick up the Ebonhawke shortbow skin, it’s the size of a longbow, and black and gold, very stylish <3

But really you do not want to be involved with that horrible LB auto attack. We’re all warning you.