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Solo PvE - Can I swap from LB to SB?


Cynosure.9316

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I've been a mostly solo player thus far (aside from large meta events) trying to get my way through all the stories/etc. I ran LB + axe/warhorn until I hit 80 and went Druid as I wanted to participate in some more group activities/fractals/dungeons/etc. I stopped playing the game for a bit, came back, and decided to wrap up my HoT and PoF story lines as I have been all over the place.

I switched from Druid to Soulbeast in hopes of having more solo power/damage and now run LB + dagger/warhorn. However, I only have like the middle line of specialization skills from hero points unlocked thus far for Soulbeast (currently running around PoF trying to get more).

It has been mentioned to me a lot that I should make the switch from LB to SB (and power to condition damage). I can't tell by looking at it on paper if this will be as viable a solo PvE build for me or if this is more of a group/meta DPS build. I would like to hang onto my ability to solo well (I'm even managing in HoT though it is difficult at times with champions that have crazy break bars and stuff).

The seemingly only way for me to try it out would be to invest the time/resources into buying new gear, new runes, etc. and actually testing it out. I may still do all that, but was hoping I could get some opinions before doing so.

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I would say stick with power soulbeast. Condition soulbeast or just condition ranger is general has always been very gimmicky to me. The shortbow which is the only two handed ranged weapon has 900 range compared to the longbow's 1,500. The gimmicky part comes from you having to shoot enemies from the side or the back to make your conditions effective.

And it's not just conditions, Concussion Shot (shortbow 5) can either daze or stun targets depending on your position and it has a much longer cooldown which is 25 seconds. Compare that to Point Blank Shot's (longbow 4) cooldown which is 15 seconds. If you're having trouble getting hero points in PoF, try using the longbow instead of running greatsword or any other melee weapon, use the bear pet to tank damage and you just deal damage from range. It's an incredibly safe build, but if you really are struggling getting hero points in PoF, this should do the trick.

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Thanks for the input! That all makes sense. =)

I'm not really struggling in PoF open world at all. The adds are really annoying (i.e., almost never-ending at some times); but I've been able to take up to like 5 adds + a veteran hydra at the same time. HoT has been my main trouble spot so maybe I will try the bearbow combo when I head back there.

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  • 2 weeks later...

I'm fairly new but I've switched a couple times between a condi build with a SB + other stuff and power builds with LB and weapons.

My impressions...It's easier to get good damage with a LB and you don't have to worry about your positioning. However, it doesn't have strong utility outside of its damage dealers. It's interrupt/cc ability (point blank shot) can annoy others by knocking targets away from others unexpectedly. The stealth shot seemed meh to me because it doesn't work with sic 'em, but it can sometimes get monsters to switch from attacking you to something else.

SB has huge kiting utility. SB 5 is an interrupt that doesn't annoy other players, plus SB 3 and SB 4 allows you slow down opponents and evade. Unfortunately, your positioning matters and if your pet can't hold monsters attention allowing you to position correctly, your damage sucks. This means if monsters do focus on you, while you have great kiting utility to handle it, you will have terrible damage.

Which do I like better? Don't know. I'm leaning towards LB

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A reddit user had somewhat similar questions.I edited his build to this : http://en.gw2skills.net/editor/?vNAQNAV4fnE8Cd8il8CO8Cs8iFDBLv62dDvNdgUXVjJAM6KdTIF-jByBQBxUJ4FuIAMd/BA8AA2nuhFq+jFOCAbU5HpAMTZF-eAnd today i was curious how well it does so i made a small preview video you can check out here :

Maybe it helps to answer you questions regarding the damage, sustain etc.
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My main Ranger is a glass LB Archer so call me bias but LB all the way :D

Shortbow is an ok weapon as well for condition/hybrid builds although I mostly see it as a backup or support weapon.Ranger doesn't really have a particularly good default mainhand condi weapon.. Axe and Sword are usable but Soulbeast's mainhand Dagger is the only really useful condi weapon on Ranger imo.I dunno how good a pure condi Ranger is but I've had some fun running Hybrid soulbeasts.

I prefer the LB play personally though, it's very easy to stay alive when you're sniping foes from afar ^^Some criticize LB's dps and belittle it for it's single target damage but if you learn how to position yourself well and take advantage of piercing arrows you can do some significant damage to multiple enemies all at once, potentially even bursting down a small group in seconds which is very satisfying ^^

When you're rarely right in the thick of combat you don't have to worry about taking damage so much or having high health which means you can invest in just pure damage with a LB Ranger and not worry about being too squishy since other people and your pet will typically be taking the aggro away from you, and you'll likely be far enough away to remain safe while still contributing to the fight.And if you do end up to focus of a monsters attention.. well you got that hand skill 3 stealth on hand to break it ^^

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I'd say stick with LB if you can since LB is purely power based and doesn't take a lot of consideration to positioning outside of distance. SB tends to vary in terms of damage output due to positioning and maintaining conditions so damage varies drastically depending on position and condition duration.

And considering Sic' Em on Soulbeast is the best thing that Ranger has going for it right now if you're in Beast mode, you get more damage out of LB than you would SB since SB relies mostly on condition and wouldn't get as much out of Sic' Em as LB would.

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@Teratus.2859 said:Some criticize LB's dps and belittle it for it's single target damage but if you learn how to position yourself well and take advantage of piercing arrows you can do some significant damage to multiple enemies all at once, potentially even bursting down a small group in seconds which is very satisfying ^^

My wife is gearing up a Ranger so I joined her on my LB Soulbeast to help get HP and pets. Recently I took her to TD to get the Smokescale, and help her complete the Nuhoch pre-event chain that spawns the Juvenile Smokescale.

That serious of encounters alone reinforced to me why I (now) vehemently hate LB ranger (which was my first max level character, but now sits idle). I could have taken any of my other LV 80 characters, most of whom I have about half the playing time on, and had a much easier time: Power Core Guardian / Power Quickbrand, Power Herald, Condi Mirage, Power Scourge (WvW build), Power Daredevil, Hybrid Scrapper, Power Core Warrior - all of whom have far far better cleave and AoE capability than a Soulbeast with LB.

That is why I feel the LB's only effective use is in a pvp capacity; in PvE it is likely the worst weapon, maybe tied with Rifle. And maybe that's by design, I don't know, but for me, as I don't PvP on my Ranger, she will remain a mule hereafter unless I make the choice to go either Condi SB or Druid.

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@Turkeyspit.3965 said:

@Teratus.2859 said:Some criticize LB's dps and belittle it for it's single target damage but if you learn how to position yourself well and take advantage of piercing arrows you can do some significant damage to multiple enemies all at once, potentially even bursting down a small group in seconds which is very satisfying ^^

My wife is gearing up a Ranger so I joined her on my LB Soulbeast to help get HP and pets. Recently I took her to TD to get the Smokescale, and help her complete the Nuhoch pre-event chain that spawns the Juvenile Smokescale.

That serious of encounters alone reinforced to me why I (now) vehemently hate LB ranger (which was my first max level character, but now sits idle). I could have taken any of my other LV 80 characters, most of whom I have about half the playing time on, and had a much easier time: Power Core Guardian / Power Quickbrand, Power Herald, Condi Mirage, Power Scourge (WvW build), Power Daredevil, Hybrid Scrapper, Power Core Warrior - all of whom have far far better cleave and AoE capability than a Soulbeast with LB.

That is why I feel the LB's only effective use is in a pvp capacity; in PvE it is likely the worst weapon, maybe tied with Rifle. And maybe that's by design, I don't know, but for me, as I don't PvP on my Ranger, she will remain a mule hereafter unless I make the choice to go either Condi SB or Druid.

I've never run a LB Soulbeast myself but it's entirely down to preference.

I've been running a full Zerker LB core Ranger since the day my first character hit level 80 several years ago, had to modify my build over the years and many of them were spent running Spirits but recently swapped to signets.I've never had any of the common problems such as HoT being too hard etc despite never using an elite spec on it.I ran core LB ranger through all the expansion and Living world content without difficulty, few raids, soloed dungeons with it as well as many of the various champs and even bounty's with it.It's not for everyone but personally I love it for what it can do when you know how to play with positioning and aggro manipulation.Sure LB cannot compete with the DPS of other weapons and classes etc but it doesn't need to when you can manipulate the enemy/enemies into ignoring you while you blast their health down.

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I'd say, if you have the resources to do it, do it. I played my Ranger with a longbow as well, but the only thing i remember is, that it was absolutely boring.Even a core Axe/Torch trapper is more fun than longbow. But, expect a different playstyle. It's not just standing at 1200 range and watching auto attacks. And hitting #4 on occasion, just to annoy other players.

And seriously, you don't really have to rely on attacking from the side, or the back, to deal proper damage with a shortbow. There are plenty abilities, which aren't affected by that. Or, it's only two attacks which are affected by that damage wise. Crossfire (your auto attack), and Poison Volley. So, if you hit them from the side, or the back, good. It's a nice bonus. If not, meh.. it's not so bad, cause there are lots of other things happening. Then again, if you enjoy watching auto attacks, yeah.. maybe not so good.And i'd say that getting around a foe at close range is easier than holding your max range.

For me, condition Soulbeast is the most fun i had with a ranger so far.

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  • 3 weeks later...

@Turkeyspit.3965 said:

My wife is gearing up a Ranger so I joined her on my LB Soulbeast to help get HP and pets. Recently I took her to TD to get the Smokescale, and help her complete the Nuhoch pre-event chain that spawns the Juvenile Smokescale.

That serious of encounters alone reinforced to me why I (now) vehemently hate LB ranger (which was my first max level character, but now sits idle). I could have taken any of my other LV 80 characters, most of whom I have about half the playing time on, and had a much easier time: Power Core Guardian / Power Quickbrand, Power Herald, Condi Mirage, Power Scourge (WvW build), Power Daredevil, Hybrid Scrapper, Power Core Warrior - all of whom have far far better cleave and AoE capability than a Soulbeast with LB.

That is why I feel the LB's only effective use is in a pvp capacity; in PvE it is likely the worst weapon, maybe tied with Rifle. And maybe that's by design, I don't know, but for me, as I don't PvP on my Ranger, she will remain a mule hereafter unless I make the choice to go either Condi SB or Druid.

Eh. I run longbow in full glass for PvE, and I absolutely melt mobs (including groups of HoT mobs). I generally kill one beefier target before any mobs manage to close to melee range. I swap to greatsword after that kill, swoop in while sic'em and one wolf pack are still active, then maul/worldly impact everything else to death.

OP, stick with longbow, but lose the mainhand dagger. Why use a (terrible) condition weapon when running a power build?

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