Guild Wars 2

Has anyone tried a shortbow condition damage build or does the shortbow simply just work much better as a crit/power build? I’m asking mainly just PvP wise.

Thanks in advance for all the tips!

Well let’s think for a moment about what we got.

1. Auto-Attacks can Crit, but don’t have any Condition Damage component.
2. Cluster bomb has both Crit-able damage (up front) and a Bleed component.
3. Disabling Shot only has Crit-able up-front damage.
4. Choking Gas is exclusively Condition Damage. However it’s a Poison and thus not stackable.
5. Infiltrator’s Arrow is utility.

In PvP AoE damage is rarely as useful as single-target damage. Even in WvW I’m having a hard time imagining a scenario where a Condition build would be more beneficial than Crit/Power.

Not really. However, I still keep it with me with my condition build (in PvE and PvP) to escape situations with the 5 ability. It’s still usable as a condition damage dealer, but barely.
In PvE, you can get close to the mass of enemies and spam the 2 button, making the bomb explode just as it shoots, and shoot another one.

I have tried crit/power and condition builds for Shortbow, and in my view crit/power works a lot better.

I think it depends on the situation. At keeps and against a very zergy landscape, I would prefer condition damage. It’s true you can’t stack poison, but spreading it is a very good tactic to stop people exiting the damage area.

In other situations, crit/power is probably better.

It’s worth thinking about condition duration as well, though. It works well for upping damage from the condition component, and also means people stay crippled longer when you are using your bow to escape (one of its two main uses for most thieves I would think).

Shortbow is better off with burst damage over condition damage.

It can’t stack bleeds (the #1 source of damage for condition builds) and poison only stacks duration. Poison also has a side effect of -33% heal effectiveness, which is good no matter what way you’re built. If you have 15 points in the Power line, it also applies weakness. You could get high stacks of bleeds, but you’d drain all of your initiative very fast and it would require you be in very close distance (a distance where you might as well just use Death Blossom if you want Bleed). Cluster Bomb also requires you detonate it and hit with 3 of the detonated explosions in order to get your three bleed stacks. Otherwise, it’s one stack.

Your auto attack is also good damage with a glass cannon build whereas with a condition build it’s simply a way to place poison on with the combo field/finisher. Three attacks scale off damage, while two scale off condition damage. One of the condition abilities can be used for more than just actual condition damage (especially since poison doesn’t really hit very hard in terms of condition damage), while the other has more outright damage than it does bleed.

If you want a ranged condition build, you’re better off with P/D. If you want an AoE condition build, you’re better off with D/D.

If I were building to be primarily Shortbow, I wouldn’t go Condition. Since I’m mainly D/D though, with SB as my side weapon, the conditions it’s capable of are still quite good. It helps to have the traits that have bonus effects on poisons. I also have an Earth Sigil on it, which can proc bleeds off of regular crit attacks, and Spider Venom, which can drop poison doses via the auto-attack. Poison doesn’t stack for effect, but it does stack in duration, so applying multiple sources of Poison can be quite useful.

don’t theorycraft it wont work pls, instead why don’t you try it out?

shortbow + caltrops = 25 stacks of bleeds fast and consistently

0/0/20/20/30
3 krait 3 other rune with +15% bleed duration

immobilize arrow when stealth, caltrop + #2 spam. If they try to heal steal to daze

2-2-2-2-2 used to be heartseeker OP, but in future it’ll be clusterbomb OP

that said I don’t like it because its hard to steal npc on forest without heartseeker+mug combo i get with dagger pistol. Thats not to say condi shortbow isn’t really powerful though

If you were going 3/3 armour, why wouldn’t you go 2/2/2 and get an extra +15% bleed duration? It’s krait/centaur/affliction I believe.

It works with both condition and crit/power builds. Travel speed of Cluster bomb needs to increased though, too slow atm.

Cluster Bomb may be better used as a spammable combo finisher. If you burst it, however, it won’t combo.

Cribbage.2056:

If you were going 3/3 armour, why wouldn’t you go 2/2/2 and get an extra +15% bleed duration? It’s krait/centaur/affliction I believe.

Extra 15% is beneficial but, condition removal is readily available, so extra dmg should be better (110 condition dmg).

Cribbage.2056:

If you were going 3/3 armour, why wouldn’t you go 2/2/2 and get an extra +15% bleed duration? It’s krait/centaur/affliction I believe.

I can already get up to 25 stacks quickly on one target, why is more duration necessary? More damage is necessary