Guild Wars 2

I tried in the warrior forum and got a fairly detailed post but the writer made it seem extremely subpar, I would love to make an archer that isnt reliant on a pet(*so not a ranger) are there any builds that focus on the shortbow for wvw that function well in a group environment?

Iv seen thieves use sb as a main weapon but not in a archer type way. They steal (with sleight of hand) and shotgun down the opponent point blank.
On my Condi p/d, I used sb allot and worked well dropping 1vx while still staying alive, I had some apothecary but even then I didn’t use it in a archer style.

What Splatter Paw said really. Thieves’ ranged options are limited to 900 range to balance their melee capability, so when you use shortbow it’s more of a close range skirmish type weapon than a long range weapon if you see what I mean. That’s not to say it isn’t good, I almost always use it for the utility it brings, but the range and the way cluster bomb works do mean you have to get up close and personal to get the most out of it.

I have a ranger on a longbow build for when I want to troll people coming out of bay etc, 2.5k auto attacks at close to 2k range is amazing it you position yourself right, and that’s with knights gear. Honestly if you want an archer type it’s the closest you’ll get in this game. Sorry :/

Shotzo.6209:

I tried in the warrior forum and got a fairly detailed post but the writer made it seem extremely subpar, I would love to make an archer that isnt reliant on a pet(*so not a ranger) are there any builds that focus on the shortbow for wvw that function well in a group environment?

You’d be best off just trying to build the Ranger to be less reliant on the pet. You can even get ones which don’t attract much attention, like a Raven or Hawk.