Soul beast Tune up

1)So the best thing about Soulbeast is the merge/unmerge mechainc, in PvP its amazing due to the 2 awesome traits fresh reniforcemtn and unstoppible union Merging/unmerging is amazing . However in PVE its just merge and forget about your pets as un-merging is a dps loss. And the disparity between these two styles of play makes newer ranger players feel its clunky and unintuitive, (I have a pet why does it hurt me to use it)

My suggestion is that the trait Live fast (fury and quickness after using a beast skill) be removed and replaced with idk

Residual Power : Keep soulbeast (buffs?) for 10 secs upon un-merging (I say 10 seconds so that you have time to swap and incorporate the pet into your dps rotation)

This trait would serve as training wheels in PvP and WvW and in PvE actually encourage rangers not to camp soul-beast for and to utilize their pets.

2)Dagger rework/buff

In continuing with this focos on the merge/unmerge mechanic dagger could use a tune up also. I personally feel greatsword is our real elite spec weapon as it it has amazing synergy playing around with the beast mode interaction between the CCs and the MOC buff. Its a real shame that our elite spec weapon does not reflect this (lol at twice as vicious) at all out side of of some extra poison. (shout out to the dead eye rework and Swagger.1459's post about backstab for making me think about this)

Due to the fact is has no utlity compared to other ranger weapons, I suggest that the skill 2 would be changed to a block unmerged and a daze merged (keep the condis the same) this make Dagger MH a very situation oriented weapon, un-megred its defensive and merged its offensive.

Id also suggest that the auto chain be given the same treatment, maybe that merge/unmegred wouldn't interrupt the auto-chain flow so that you can work that into some interesting rotations.

For skill 3 Id have it so merged you gain fury, un-merged you gain quicknes

whaday think? I just love the feel the class in pvp, but man in pve does it feel boring.

I'd just change Twice as Vicious to what you suggest (Residual Power) where Beastmode stat bonuses remain briefly after exiting Beastmode. I'll take that over the current Twice as Vicious. Fits better as a minor trait so it can by default promote entering and exiting Beastmode. Not to mention, if Berserker can have Always Angry, then it wouldn't be too far-fetched for Soulbeast to have a similar trait.

@Wondrouswall.7169 said:I'd just change Twice as Vicious to what you suggest (Residual Power) where Beastmode stat bonuses remain briefly after exiting Beastmode. I'll take that over the current Twice as Vicious. Fits better as a minor trait so it can by default promote entering and exiting Beastmode. Not to mention, if Berserker can have Always Angry, then it wouldn't be too far-fetched for Soulbeast to have a similar trait.

Fair enough I'm just trying to make live fast fit in the theme of the other adept traits. Thought it would be to OP if combined with 1 of the other 2

i dunno i like the fury and quickness as i never keep my pet in all the time infact i only pull pet in when i wanna deal big damage or need healing from the bear and insta put it out again.for me its good as its.

Agree, new expac, new spec, new weapon? JK, dagger been dead since pof launch. It's fun for hitting somewurms in pve but for any kind of pvp/wvw, dagger is just never ever worth it, maybe if dagger 3 was an evade it'd be more viable but even then its still meh. I mean, compare the utility and shit warriors have on their dagger, then look at soulbeast dagger and its just shit dmg with trashy condies which will never do the job.Dear Anet, please rework it so I can use the weapon I once used-to-be excited about getting for my ranger.

Well i put just the stuff in of my own old thread to keep this discussion going and give some input of my own.

Soulbeast:Mechanic:Beastmode has great versatility in its uses. Atm its swap in and out mechanic is most often used in PvP/WvW because the beastmode provides better burst but outside beastmode you have more utility. In PvE on the other hand you lose a lot of dmg when leaving beastmode this does especially fit all condition soulbeast builds.So i will provide trait suggestions which offer different playstyles, including a trait that will offer faster reswapping into beastmode or keeping the bonusses from archetypes while outside Bmode etc.I will not make stuff baseline here just to keep the spec as active as it is now and make the GM choices more interesting.ArchetypesI want to distinct them more from each other. Atm there are 3 different archetypes that have vitality and i am not very fond of that.I will change 2 Archetypes so they 1. fit better into their role and 2. are now more distinguished between eachother. the F3 abbilities are good IMO and do not need any change except 1.Versatile Pets: Do give increased Boon-Duration and Condi-Duration. Both have the same value/give the same percentage, which will be a bit lower as the current concentration bonus for balance reasons, but not much. So there is no clear winner and this archetype can be used for condi and power builds alike. Both benefit from boonduration because of longer buff duration and power builds will benefit from longer cripple, chill etc duration if they use marksmanship and condi builds have obvious benefits from condi duration.Supportive Pets:Increased healing power and decreased condi duration on self.

Stout Pets F3: Unflinching Fortitude: This skill should be instant. It has the effect similar to stone signet and dolyak stance and both of them are instant. For a "oh kitten button" this is a must.

Traits:Here comes the total overhaul part.The traits have 3 distinct lines.

1. Defensive competitive
2. Swapbeast-Selfbuff
3. Condition-Stances

The columns themself all have similar functions except the GMs which will change the gameplay completely.The Minors are here to give Sbeast just a useful buff for every build and the benefits of using the F skills.

Minors:Adept: Elevated BondMaster: Fresh ReinforcementGM: Furious Strength (Now gives 10% bonus dmg and 10% condi duration)Increased dmg of furious strength to benefit power builds and the condi duration to give Soulbeasts more room with gear.All these traits could be used in all builds thus fitting minors.

Competitive Line:

Adept:Unstoppable Union:Break stun and gain unblockable for a short duration next time you enter or leave beastmode.Unblockable duration is now 3s instead of 4s because of higher access.This trait is now a buff that will be consumed by pressing F5 and then gives said benefits. After an ICD it will reappear.(I dont know if this is necessary, but i put it in just to be sure. I think the idea of a consumable buff seems rather elegant and gives track of the ICD. You can give me feedback on this.)

Master:Second Skin:Protection reduces incoming condition uration. Gain protection when gaining unblockable.This has just overall usage with signets, WH and unstoppable union. Even some uses in Hybrid competitive builds with WS.

GM:Eternal Bond: Swapping Pets resets the CD on Beastmode.This would provide more fluid rotations especially in competitive modes.It will also solve the petswap in beastmode problem in a way.Main reason why i put an ICD on UU.

Selfbuff Line:

Adept:Fresh Reinforcements:When entering beastmode copy the boons of your pet to you, when leaving copy your boons to your pet.Just make it work both ways, otherwise not a big change.

Master:Essence of Speed:While affected by quickness your pet gains its archetype bonus. You gain 40% additional archetype bonus while under the effects of quickness.(push the numbers guys it sounds strong but its reasonable).This is just to give it a straight out bonus to all of the players which have high quickness uptime or playing group content. It benefits all kind if builds.

GM:Twice as Vicious:Retain the archetype bonus from your last pet you merged with for a short duration after leaving beastmode.Duration: 10sSo if played right you always gain the stat bonus, which would benefit swap heavy builds.

Stance-Condi Line:

Adept:Predators Cunning:Gain lesser Vulture Stance when entering or leaving beastmode.Duration: 4sDuration can be increased by GM-Trait.This is just to provide nice condi dmg and selfbuff everytime you swap modes. Clever play leads to a steady stream if might and condi dmg.

Master:Opressive Superiority:Steal health when you apply poison. Gain increased dmg and condi duration against foes with a lesser health percentage than you.This just straight up plays into eachother. Apply poison reduces heal of target, gives you health and you gain increased dmg and duration if you have a higher health percentage.

GM:Leader of the Pack:Stances Have higher duration.Stances are shared with allies.This one just stays as is. I did not mention the shortened duration for allies, but idc if this stays or not.

Stances:Stances are not bad in concept but are lacking in their execution. Some just need tweaks, others are good as they are and 1 particular is just straight out bad and needs a rework.Overall change i make on stances is: Your pet automatically gains the unique buffs of the stance but not the boons (except you have NM). These bonusses will not be transfered to the soulbeast though when merging with the pet. (This would just lead to unbalanced stuff)

Bear Stance:This stance has good utility but its base heal is lacking and its condi cleanse does only come gradually.I will speed up the condi remove, i will not touch the heal per condition but increase the base heal a bit.Increase the base heal for 10%. This will give a base heal of 5.5K. Just to give it a better use for better overall play quality.The Intervall of condition removal has been changed. It will now only remove one condition per pulse but it will pulse every half a second instead of every second.This will not change the potential heal but will accelerate the condition removal, so they have less time to tick.

Dolyak Stance:Good Stance i like it.Increase the duration for PvE only would be neat though (but this is more a desired wish than an ernest suggestion)

Moa Stance:It is a good stance but it kinda gives inconsistent amounts of boons and it has a longer duration than even the elite.I will bring all effects up to 8s ,but will reduce the overall duration of Moa stance down to 8s from 10s.So protection is now 8s instead of 3s, fury is 8s instead of 6s, swiftness is 8s instead of 6s and regen stays at 8s.Together with the increased Boon duration of the stance these will last actual 10.5s .Overall duration maybe adjusted in competitive modes.

Griffon Stance:This is the main culprit here that is basically worth to totally redesign.I want to keep the evasion and endurance part and i give it a matching boon in addition to that.New Effect: Gain endurance and evade attacks for a short duration. After the duration you gain vigor.Griffon stance has an ammunition mechanic and has 2 charges.30s to recharge a charge. (Maybe lower in PvE)Evade Duration is 2s. Endurance gain is

50. (This skill maybe really strong in competitive play so i hope 50 endurance is not to much)It is now an active evasion tool that gives you endurance for more evasion and after the evade frame, in addition to that you can use that to party mitigate dmg with the GM.

One Wolf Pack:(Personal Taste Note: I would call it Alpha Wolf Stance actually. Just sounds better, but this is also more a desire wish than an ernest suggestion.)I like this stance and i like how it works.

Dagger:Dagger itself is a solid dmg weapon but it has its flaws.Dagger 2 is a great dmg tool but it does not bring any utility with it and its hardly distinguishable from the AADagger 3 is decent but there are more so often situation where you just die mid air because you can be hit during the animationMy changes:Double Arc: Improve animation so it is better distinguishable from the AA. Additionally id say that the base attack should apply heavy poison instead of heavy bleeds. And the pets attacks interupt enemy attacks the next two hits.This is mainly to give it some tactical use and better synergy with predators cunning.Instinctive Engage: During the leap you now evade attacks. Just some QoL/Improvement to use it as an aggressive tool even during enemy attacks.END

Many things are actual ideas of wondrouswall, i changed some and kept some.

Live Fast triggers Remorseless before the impact of Worldly Impact though.

I'm not saying that up against the other traits it competes with that it isn't the obvious target, but it at least is strong build synergy with the right build.

If anything, all of the Major traits and Eternal Bond need a pass.

• Second Skin, added effect: gain Protection when entering Beastmode.
• Essence of Speed, replace extending boon duration with: striking a foe while under the effect of Quickness removes a boon from that foe. ICD.
• Predator's Cunning, changed: Striking a poisoned foe steals health from that foe. When entering Beastmode, your first few attacks cause Poison.
• Eternal Bond, changed: Lose all boons when leaving Beastmode. Remove a condition for each boon lost in this way.

Dagger and Stances still need full passes on top of this. Leader of the Pack is weak because stances are weak. Oppressive Superiority is fine, but boring. I'd rework it for the sake of reworking it, but it doesn't necessarily need it.

@InsaneQR.7412 said:

Many things are actual ideas of wondrouswall, i changed some and keot some.

Ya but you two have some fantastic ideas, id wish thed take a look at some, although I really wish dagger would have some interplay with beast mode, as of right now GS feels way more of a elite spec weapon with soul beast, either you hit like a truck or your pet hits like a truck, and with twice as vicous one of the daggers could use some kind of cc,

also i thought of the block simply because dagger wants us to be on the inside and it has not tools to let us to beable to do that

@"jcbroe.4329" said:Live Fast triggers Remorseless before the impact of Worldly Impact though.

 had it worked before/during the channel there would be tons of synergy with the beast mastery line, unfortantly they cast after you hit thus it's only used for pve were you stay merged anyways and hey quickness and fury wont hurt after you cast.I'm arguing that compared to the other two pics its lame, and just cant compete with them for pvp builds and in pve its a **DPS** loss if you unmerge, yes elivated buff needs a rework but Id say wonderuswall's suggestion about pet swap resetting BM is fantastic.

@Eleazar.9478 said:

@"jcbroe.4329" said:Live Fast triggers Remorseless before the impact of Worldly Impact though.

 had it worked before/during the channel there would be tons of synergy with the beast mastery line, unfortantly they cast after you hit thus it's only used for pve were you stay merged anyways and hey quickness and fury wont hurt after you cast.I'm arguing that compared to the other two pics its lame, and just cant compete with them for pvp builds and in pve its a **DPS** loss if you unmerge, yes elivated buff needs a rework but Id say wonderuswall's suggestion about pet swap resetting BM is fantastic.

No I know and am in full agreement.

I'm really only pointing it out because variations of the "1 shot" build rely on the current interation of Live Fast, whereas no viable build I know of is "leaning" on any of the Master or even GM traits to be effective.

Fresh Reinforcement and Unstoppable Union are really just incredible traits in general, compared to most other traits in the game.

I just find it a shame that even with a Live Fast improvement, Soulbeast would still be brought down by the rest of the traits being barely impactful in the traitline.

@"InsaneQR.7412" said:Well i put just the stuff in of my own old thread to keep this discussion going and give some input of my own.

Soulbeast:Mechanic:Beastmode has great versatility in its uses. Atm its swap in and out mechanic is most often used in PvP/WvW because the beastmode provides better burst but outside beastmode you have more utility. In PvE on the other hand you lose a lot of dmg when leaving beastmode this does especially fit all condition soulbeast builds.So i will provide trait suggestions which offer different playstyles, including a trait that will offer faster reswapping into beastmode or keeping the bonusses from archetypes while outside Bmode etc.I will not make stuff baseline here just to keep the spec as active as it is now and make the GM choices more interesting.ArchetypesI want to distinct them more from each other. Atm there are 3 different archetypes that have vitality and i am not very fond of that.I will change 2 Archetypes so they 1. fit better into their role and 2. are now more distinguished between eachother. the F3 abbilities are good IMO and do not need any change except 1.Versatile Pets: Do give increased Boon-Duration and Condi-Duration. Both have the same value/give the same percentage, which will be a bit lower as the current concentration bonus for balance reasons, but not much. So there is no clear winner and this archetype can be used for condi and power builds alike. Both benefit from boonduration because of longer buff duration and power builds will benefit from longer cripple, chill etc duration if they use marksmanship and condi builds have obvious benefits from condi duration.Supportive Pets:Increased healing power and decreased condi duration on self.

Stout Pets F3: Unflinching Fortitude: This skill should be instant. It has the effect similar to stone signet and dolyak stance and both of them are instant. For a "oh kitten button" this is a must.

Traits:Here comes the total overhaul part.The traits have 3 distinct lines.

1. Defensive competitive
2. Swapbeast-Selfbuff
3. Condition-Stances

The columns themself all have similar functions except the GMs which will change the gameplay completely.The Minors are here to give Sbeast just a useful buff for every build and the benefits of using the F skills.

Minors:Adept: Elevated BondMaster: Fresh ReinforcementGM: Furious Strength (Now gives 10% bonus dmg and 10% condi duration)Increased dmg of furious strength to benefit power builds and the condi duration to give Soulbeasts more room with gear.All these traits could be used in all builds thus fitting minors.

Competitive Line:

Adept:Unstoppable Union:Break stun and gain unblockable for a short duration next time you enter or leave beastmode.Unblockable duration is now 3s instead of 4s because of higher access.This trait is now a buff that will be consumed by pressing F5 and then gives said benefits. After an ICD it will reappear.(I dont know if this is necessary, but i put it in just to be sure. I think the idea of a consumable buff seems rather elegant and gives track of the ICD. You can give me feedback on this.)

Master:Second Skin:Protection reduces incoming condition uration. Gain protection when gaining unblockable.This has just overall usage with signets, WH and unstoppable union. Even some uses in Hybrid competitive builds with WS.

GM:Eternal Bond: Swapping Pets resets the CD on Beastmode.This would provide more fluid rotations especially in competitive modes.It will also solve the petswap in beastmode problem in a way.Main reason why i put an ICD on UU.

Selfbuff Line:

Adept:Fresh Reinforcements:When entering beastmode copy the boons of your pet to you, when leaving copy your boons to your pet.Just make it work both ways, otherwise not a big change.

Master:Essence of Speed:While affected by quickness your pet gains its archetype bonus. You gain 40% additional archetype bonus while under the effects of quickness.(push the numbers guys it sounds strong but its reasonable).This is just to give it a straight out bonus to all of the players which have high quickness uptime or playing group content. It benefits all kind if builds.

GM:Twice as Vicious:Retain the archetype bonus from your last pet you merged with for a short duration after leaving beastmode.Duration: 10sSo if played right you always gain the stat bonus, which would benefit swap heavy builds.

Stance-Condi Line:

Adept:Predators Cunning:Gain lesser Vulture Stance when entering or leaving beastmode.Duration: 4sDuration can be increased by GM-Trait.This is just to provide nice condi dmg and selfbuff everytime you swap modes. Clever play leads to a steady stream if might and condi dmg.

Master:Opressive Superiority:Steal health when you apply poison. Gain increased dmg and condi duration against foes with a lesser health percentage than you.This just straight up plays into eachother. Apply poison reduces heal of target, gives you health and you gain increased dmg and duration if you have a higher health percentage.

GM:Leader of the Pack:Stances Have higher duration.Stances are shared with allies.This one just stays as is. I did not mention the shortened duration for allies, but idc if this stays or not.

Stances:Stances are not bad in concept but are lacking in their execution. Some just need tweaks, others are good as they are and 1 particular is just straight out bad and needs a rework.Overall change i make on stances is: Your pet automatically gains the unique buffs of the stance but not the boons (except you have NM). These bonusses will not be transfered to the soulbeast though when merging with the pet. (This would just lead to unbalanced stuff)

Bear Stance:This stance has good utility but its base heal is lacking and its condi cleanse does only come gradually.I will speed up the condi remove, i will not touch the heal per condition but increase the base heal a bit.Increase the base heal for 10%. This will give a base heal of 5.5K. Just to give it a better use for better overall play quality.The Intervall of condition removal has been changed. It will now only remove one condition per pulse but it will pulse every half a second instead of every second.This will not change the potential heal but will accelerate the condition removal, so they have less time to tick.

Dolyak Stance:Good Stance i like it.Increase the duration for PvE only would be neat though (but this is more a desired wish than an ernest suggestion)

Moa Stance:It is a good stance but it kinda gives inconsistent amounts of boons and it has a longer duration than even the elite.I will bring all effects up to 8s ,but will reduce the overall duration of Moa stance down to 8s from 10s.So protection is now 8s instead of 3s, fury is 8s instead of 6s, swiftness is 8s instead of 6s and regen stays at 8s.Together with the increased Boon duration of the stance these will last actual 10.5s .Overall duration maybe adjusted in competitive modes.

Griffon Stance:This is the main culprit here that is basically worth to totally redesign.I want to keep the evasion and endurance part and i give it a matching boon in addition to that.New Effect: Gain endurance and evade attacks for a short duration. After the duration you gain vigor.Griffon stance has an ammunition mechanic and has 2 charges.30s to recharge a charge. (Maybe lower in PvE)Evade Duration is 2s. Endurance gain is

50. (This skill maybe really strong in competitive play so i hope 50 endurance is not to much)It is now an active evasion tool that gives you endurance for more evasion and after the evade frame, in addition to that you can use that to party mitigate dmg with the GM.

One Wolf Pack:(Personal Taste Note: I would call it Alpha Wolf Stance actually. Just sounds better, but this is also more a desire wish than an ernest suggestion.)I like this stance and i like how it works.

Dagger:Dagger itself is a solid dmg weapon but it has its flaws.Dagger 2 is a great dmg tool but it does not bring any utility with it and its hardly distinguishable from the AADagger 3 is decent but there are more so often situation where you just die mid air because you can be hit during the animationMy changes:Double Arc: Improve animation so it is better distinguishable from the AA. Additionally id say that the base attack should apply heavy poison instead of heavy bleeds. And the pets attacks interupt enemy attacks the next two hits.This is mainly to give it some tactical use and better synergy with predators cunning.Instinctive Engage: During the leap you now evade attacks. Just some QoL/Improvement to use it as an aggressive tool even during enemy attacks.END

Many things are actual ideas of wondrouswall, i changed some and keot some.

Just gotta say that you and Wondrouswall consistently have some of the best ranger suggestions out there. Love seeing your ideas.