Struggling with the ranger role

[Khayle Zerker.3675]

I am a returning player and I've dipped into a Soulbeast CONDI build with Dagger/Axe + Axe/Torch. Currently playing through Heart of Thorns and I must say that swapping from core ranger to CONDI Soulbeast has made open world one hell of a challenge. Maybe I'm just not dodging enough (although targeted ranged attacks are kinda undodgable) I feel incredibly squishy and I get downed all the time.

 

I really like the thought of having my pet tank and use ranged weapons, but it seems like viable builds are either standard core ranger, or Soulbeast condi/power builds where you are merged all the time and are squishy as hell! Should I just return to a core ranger build? Any tips on soulbeast or what I can do to increase survivability? (I have tried running more protective skills and traits but the whole soulbeast thing still feels too squishy when I lose my pet and I'm supposed to tank myself. Go glass cannon and dodge everything or have sub-par damage/sub-par defensive?)

 

I am lost lol!

[Mell.4873]

1 hour ago, Khayle Zerker.3675 said:

I am lost lol!

I think you discovered the uncomfortable truth that most Ranger mains ignore. Their response is Learn To Play but the reality is you either spend your time doing two things as Ranger.

• Avoid taking Damage
• Maximize your Damage

Most of the Ranger professions fall into a mix of these two playstyles. In terms of Soulbeast its far more on avoiding damage side, the best mix being Condition Soulbeast with Shortbow and Axe/Torch.

 

In terms of what you should do, I personally would drop Soulbeast outside a group setting and focus on either Core or Untamed(better Core).
If you are dead set on using Soulbeast then focus on Vipers and get a Shortbow (currently the best DPS to). If you want Power then Longbow and Greatsword but camping ranged will tank your damage unlike with Condition Soulbeast.

Ultimately If you don't want to be a wet noodle you need to play Untamed since the CC on Hammer plus the Cantrap Heal will make you invincible.

Edited October 12, 2022 by Mell.4873

[Khayle Zerker.3675]

36 minutes ago, Mell.4873 said:

I think you discovered the uncomfortable truth that most Ranger mains ignore. Their response is Learn To Play but the reality is you either spend your time doing two things as ranger.

• Avoid taking Damage
• Maximize your Damage

Most of the Ranger professions fall into a mix of these two playstyles. In terms of Soulbeast its far more on avoiding damage side, the best mix being Condition Soulbeast with Shortbow and Axe/Torch.

 

In terms of what you should do, I personally would drop Soulbeast outside a group setting and focus on either Core or Untamed(better Core).
If you are dead set on using Soulbeast then focus on Vipers and get a Shortbow (currently the best DPS to). If you want Power then Longbow and Greatsword but Camping Longbow will tank you damage unlike with Condition Soulbeast.

Ultimately If you don't want to be a wet noodle you need to play Untamed since the CC on Hammer plus the Cantrap Heal will make you invincible.

 

Yeah the uncomfortable truth is kinda dawning on me right now lol. This is the only character that I have played a decent amount on but Soulbeast feels awkward to me. The thing is that I love playing classes with lots of mobility but also be ranged.  The Druid/Ranger fantasy appeals to me a lot since I love to heal/support in group content. Sadly, core ranger feels lacking and I was hoping that Soulbeast would improve that. Yes I gain lots of damage but running around almost dying 24/7 feels like crap.

 

I'd try out Untamed once I have enough hero points, but maybe there's another profession with high mobility/survivability that has decent damage? Like Guardian's Willbender perhaps?

Edited October 12, 2022 by Khayle Zerker.3675

[mdjoker.7489]

This is eerily reminiscent of my own experience. I always kinda blamed it on my lack of skill and started a journey to making my solo build more and more defensive: Slotting in Wilderness Survival, using Shortbow, switching from Viper to Trailblazer, using more and more defensive traits/skills...

At some point I threw away even the Trailblazer gear and gave my toon full Celestial and I feel this has finally put it in a place where I'm pretty comfortable. It's still using a fairly defensive build and e.g. Dolyak Stance is essential. And it relies on ramping up damage as fast as I possibly can and keeping the pressure up. It doesn't kill too fast but with practice I can now reasonably survive many situations I previously couldn't.

That uncomfortable truth only dawned on me very recently when I started playing my first serious alt, which is currently a staff Mirage. It's not the fastest one to kill stuff, but even being new at it, I have such an easy time surviving situations where I might still struggle will my Soulbeast - which I have hundreds of hours more play time on.

[Mell.4873]

21 minutes ago, Khayle Zerker.3675 said:

Yeah the uncomfortable truth is kinda dawning on me right now lol. This is the only character that I have played a decent amount on but Soulbeast feels awkward to me. The thing is that I love playing classes with lots of mobility but also be ranged.  The Druid/Ranger fantasy appeals to me a lot since I love to heal/support in group content. Sadly, core ranger feels lacking and I was hoping that Soulbeast would improve that. Yes I gain lots of damage but running around almost dying 24/7 feels like crap.

 

I'd try out Untamed once I have enough hero points, but maybe there's another profession with high mobility/survivability that has decent damage? Like Guardian's Willbender perhaps?

I only really play Ranger and Mesmer but I know Necromancers have a lot of survivability with moderate mobility on Reaper.

But Ranger is the correct Elite since it does have the highest mobility/survivability mix, as reported by multiple Youtuber tutorials (I mean one of the traitlines is literally called Wilderness Survival).  Soulbeast over all is a really good for group content but can suffer a lot in solo play (like other professions).

The real trick to get any solo build is Self-Healing and Stun prevention. The two main way you will die is you cant maintain your health or you become CC extensively so you lose access your survival skills.
For Ranger the best healing method is:

• Healing Spring + Trapper's Expertise: Tones of healing and condition cleanse plus a long Regeneration with the trait
• Troll Unguent + Wilderness Knowledge: Good mobile healing and some Condition cleanse

The best stun prevention method is:

• Quickening Zephyr & Lightning Reflexes + Wilderness Knowledge: Amazing CC breaks
• Shared Anguish + Pack Alpha + Zephyr's Speed: A very strong Combo
• "Protect Me!" + Resounding Timbre: Group stun break

 

[Mell.4873]

24 minutes ago, mdjoker.7489 said:

That uncomfortable truth only dawned on me very recently when I started playing my first serious alt, which is currently a staff Mirage. It's not the fastest one to kill stuff, but even being new at it, I have such an easy time surviving situations where I might still struggle will my Soulbeast - which I have hundreds of hours more play time on.

I had the opposite experience I changed to Mirage because I could get more damage and survive just the same.

While Mesmer you have many tools to prevent damage, Ranger has very few rather you just need to survive though healing which can be hard for some Open World mechanics (even on Untamed).

Edited October 12, 2022 by Mell.4873

[Project exa.3204]

In PvE, if you're doing soulbeast condi, sharpening stones is basically a must. Wilderness survival is usually a must if you want to gain the extra cleanse + fury. If you're specced right you want to lean in as much to bleed as possible on others, going so far as to merge with a deadly pet like bristleback (for +5 bleeds on hit) or wolf (for leap interrupt + aoe bleed)

 

Below is a soulbeast build that basically abuses bleeds. This works really well in PvP as a one-shot, but in PvE it breezes through most things. The only thing you need to do is stay alive along enough to burst someone else with Warhorn #5 or deadly merge #F3 when stacked with proc condis.

 

[&DQQeNSElNy54AHgA6Ra9AL8AuQCWAbwALhaXAR0mKisAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA=]

-Eros of Ascalon

 

 

[RainbowTurtle.3542]

14 hours ago, Khayle Zerker.3675 said:

I am a returning player and I've dipped into a Soulbeast CONDI build with Dagger/Axe + Axe/Torch. Currently playing through Heart of Thorns and I must say that swapping from core ranger to CONDI Soulbeast has made open world one hell of a challenge. Maybe I'm just not dodging enough (although targeted ranged attacks are kinda undodgable) I feel incredibly squishy and I get downed all the time.

 

I really like the thought of having my pet tank and use ranged weapons, but it seems like viable builds are either standard core ranger, or Soulbeast condi/power builds where you are merged all the time and are squishy as hell! Should I just return to a core ranger build? Any tips on soulbeast or what I can do to increase survivability? (I have tried running more protective skills and traits but the whole soulbeast thing still feels too squishy when I lose my pet and I'm supposed to tank myself. Go glass cannon and dodge everything or have sub-par damage/sub-par defensive?)

 

I am lost lol!

So it depends on what you need.

 

Heart of Thorns is a huge step up in difficulty for open world content basically because people complained the game was too easy.

 

Condi soulbeast as a DPS build (NOT FOR OPEN WORLD) uses shortbow dagger/dagger.

 

I'd reccomend, for open world with soulbeast, the generic pew pew longbow build with eternal bond for your grandmaster trait. Make sure you have a defensive (Stout or supportive) pet in your second pet slot. With Eternal Bond traited, you can swap pets while merged, meaning you can take a highly defensive pet for moments when you need it and a highly offensive pet for moments when you don't need the bulk or defense. Brown bear is a supportive pet that has an invulnerability (defy pain) and the support skill Spiritual Reprieve for extra healing. Alternatively, the jacanranda is a supportive pet with 2 merged healing skills, and the blue moa has some defensive utility with Unflinching Fortitude as well as Harmonic Cry for healing and Frenzied Attack for offensive pressure. Your damaging pet of choice should be smokescale (my personal favorite, can use the f1 to activate Twice as Vicious which is a damage boost, f2 to close distances as it's a shadowstep and some hits, and the f3, worldly impact, is very strong) or rock gazelle (more CC, less flexibility. Charge makes you move in a straight line). Ranger overall is about dodging defense and avoiding damage rather than damage reduction and healing/shrugging it off.

 

Ranger can fill just about every role in instanced content. Druid is an amazing healer (albeit with less than ideal boon access), soulbeast fits in both power and condi DPS roles, and untamed is effectively a dev oversight 🙂

[Jonas.2079]

You could try out a condi shortbow soulbeast. Viper/trailblazer/celestial should be pretty good. You're ranged,  have some lifesteal with Predator's cunning, evade on SB3, some CC too. You could sacrifice some damage compared to the meta build and pick Eternal Bond + Shared Anguish for even more healing, more beast skills, and stability. Dolyak stance for even more stab and damage reduction. It's also pretty nice to have a Torch in the off set for open world, for a bit of burst/Aoe damage. I've been messing around with sword/torch lately, and while the damage it bad on sword , the "dash in, bonfire, dash out, swap to shortbow" works pretty well in open world. Sword also gives you a lot of evades and mobility to get out of danger. 

With that being said, I've been getting by fine in Open World mostly running full berzerker gear with some combination of LB/GS/AxeAxe. If you are struggling to stay alive, i would reccomend you to work on your positioning and try to burst down mobs even harder than you have been - berzerker is very much "kill them before they kill you". Also, don't be afraid to unmerge in a pinch! If you are looking to solo champs etc. you might want something more sustainy than full Zerker though. 

[Axelteas.7192]

Soulbeast is not the problem. The problem is that HoT maps are specially agressive and hostile towards the player, you cannot walk relaxed like in core Tyria.

[Ashen.2907]

Shortbow plus vipers nest, traited for life steal on poison application, plus spike trap does wonders for survivability in the open world.

[Khayle Zerker.3675]

18 hours ago, Project exa.3204 said:

In PvE, if you're doing soulbeast condi, sharpening stones is basically a must. Wilderness survival is usually a must if you want to gain the extra cleanse + fury. If you're specced right you want to lean in as much to bleed as possible on others, going so far as to merge with a deadly pet like bristleback (for +5 bleeds on hit) or wolf (for leap interrupt + aoe bleed)

 

Below is a soulbeast build that basically abuses bleeds. This works really well in PvP as a one-shot, but in PvE it breezes through most things. The only thing you need to do is stay alive along enough to burst someone else with Warhorn #5 or deadly merge #F3 when stacked with proc condis.

 

[&DQQeNSElNy54AHgA6Ra9AL8AuQCWAbwALhaXAR0mKisAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA=]

-Eros of Ascalon

 

 

Thanks for the tips! Btw how do I use your copied code? It's for metabattle right? I can't find anywhere to apply it to find your build.

[Project exa.3204]

3 minutes ago, Khayle Zerker.3675 said:

Thanks for the tips! Btw how do I use your copied code? It's for metabattle right? I can't find anywhere to apply it to find your build.

 

The code came from my build template in GW2--you'd just need to copy that code -> then paste it in a chat. I usually /whisper to myself and paste the code, but it would work with any other chats as well. Good luck!

 

-Eros of Ascalon

[Mell.4873]

Ultimately its how you play, Soulbeast iconic mechanic is "Sic em" + Stances. This creates a setup and payoff playstyle which works wonders in group content when you can time it with exposure windows.

For Open World if anything interrupts that playstyle you will lose most if not all your DPS. Conditions escape the paradigm so it is much more consistent but suffers a lack of Power damage which excels in OW. There is really no best Soulbeast rather can you make X work, Sometimes Condition damage is to slow while power is to reliant on setup.

Edited October 13, 2022 by Mell.4873

[kharmin.7683]

12 hours ago, Mell.4873 said:

For Open World if anything interrupts that playstyle you will lose most if not all your DPS. Conditions escape the paradigm so it much more consistent but suffers a lack of Power damage which excels in OW. There is really no best Soulbeast rather can you make X work, Sometimes Condition damage is to slow and while power is to reliant on setup.

I noticed this but couldn't put a finger on exactly why (I'm just too casual to really dig into it).  Thanks for the detail.  This is also why I went back to core ranger from SB.

[Mell.4873]

6 hours ago, kharmin.7683 said:

I noticed this but couldn't put a finger on exactly why (I'm just too casual to really dig into it).  Thanks for the detail.  This is also why I went back to core ranger from SB.

The real Ranger to play is Untamed, the entire kit lends itself to being more flexible than core Ranger. It obviously has a learning curve but camping player-Unleashed for Power and pet-Unleashed for Condition is the best combo.
The ability to switch fills the Open World niche of needing extra power damage to clear Ads and then extra defense on bosses.

[Khayle Zerker.3675]

I think I might've cracked the code on what works for me with Soulbeast!

I do have a core ranger condition build (reliant on bleeds) with viper gear and krait runes, it kinda worked when I had my pets tank and could swap them.

This is my current SB build: [&DQQhNSAvNx55AHgA+hasATQWvwDpFpYB7QDtAC4lKxkAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA=]

I followed a youtube guide but made my own changes to it.

 

In this build you sacrifice damage for survivability. I went with Trailblazer gear and Undead runes instead (for toughness/vitality while still increasing condition output) The focus is on poison damage instead of bleeds, where I have several sources for healing. From poison (predator's cunning), when gaining protection (from dodgerolls + moa stance), when using commands, Eternal Bond - Heal when using a merged skill, and "Natural Healing" - Pet heals at intervals but I'm merged so I get healed. Yes I sacrifice a good amount of damage but I'm still capable of killing things decently fast enough and, the great part: I don't die easily. Dead people can't deal damage anyway. Wilderness Survival and Beast Mastery are my traitlines but if I feel comfortable in the future I might go skirmishing instead.

Weapons are Dagger/Dagger + Shortbow. Where I lack in AOE, I have the Smokescale for good aoe damage and some on the shortbow. This combo also fits my playstyle perfectly because you get so much mobility and swiftness with this setup + stability sources. Smokescale gap-closer, dagger 3 gapcloser, dagger 4 evade and a shortbow when I need to pull back and play ranged. If things go haywire I can unmerge my pet and have it tank!

 

I realize that HoS is a "difficult" expansion and I actually finished it an hour ago, was way shorter than I thought. I will finish a few masteries that's almost capped and finally move onto 2nd expansion to unlock more mounts. Hyperfocusing on map/masteries completion was a mistake so I've moved on for now. Can't wait to tame a Jacaranda for a defensive pet when merged, I am glad I persevered even though my first hours in HoS was a demotivating hellscape.

My only uncertainty is if I should add Sic'em (command, so I also get healing from traits) since it's perfect for SB and instead maybe remove one of the stances.

Edited October 14, 2022 by Khayle Zerker.3675

[Zyreva.1078]

5 hours ago, Khayle Zerker.3675 said:

This is my current SB build: [&DQQhNSAvNx55AHgA+hasATQWvwDpFpYB7QDtAC4lKxkAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA=]

This build link only works ingame, for posting builds here it is better to use http://en.gw2skills.net/editor/

5 hours ago, Khayle Zerker.3675 said:

In this build you sacrifice damage for survivability. I went with Trailblazer gear and Undead runes instead (for toughness/vitality while still increasing condition output) [...]Wilderness Survival and Beast Mastery are my traitlines but if I feel comfortable in the future I might go skirmishing instead.

Undead runes are a bit overkill. The more toughness you already have, the less noticeable adding even more becomes. And while it doesn't matter much against trash mobs, in longer fights the extra condition duration from runes like krait (yes, even in a poison focused build you still have a lot of bleeding) or afflicted are a significant dps increase. Also cele offers more dmg AND sustain than trailblazer, and is generally the best option for a tanky open world/solo build. But tb is fine too, no need to worry about having to get new gear right away.

5 hours ago, Khayle Zerker.3675 said:

Weapons are Dagger/Dagger + Shortbow. Where I lack in AOE, I have the Smokescale for good aoe damage and some on the shortbow.

Smokescale does not offer you good aoe dmg. It isn't even a good dps pet in power builds, in a full condi build it's dmg is garbage. I'd rather go for a combination of a deadly and a versatile pet. Canines (mobility + cc), pig (cc), and spider (aoe poison + immob) are the best for a combination of utility and dmg. For better aoe dmg you can use traps (Viper's Nest in particular is great for aoe dmg and sustain) and axe/torch instead of sb.

5 hours ago, Khayle Zerker.3675 said:

Can't wait to tame a Jacaranda for a defensive pet when merged,

Do you really need even more healing? Because that's the only thing jacaranda will offer you. Keep in mind, there is no such thing as too much dmg, while more healing than neccessary is a waste.

5 hours ago, Khayle Zerker.3675 said:

I am glad I persevered even though my first hours in HoS was a demotivating hellscape.

Sounds like a pretty immersive jungle experience 😛

5 hours ago, Khayle Zerker.3675 said:

My only uncertainty is if I should add Sic'em (command, so I also get healing from traits) since it's perfect for SB and instead maybe remove one of the stances.

It does not increase condition dmg and is therefore fairly useless for condi builds (especially trailblazer which has zero power stats). You'll get much more value out of viper's nest or vulture stance.

Edited October 14, 2022 by UmbraNoctis.1907

[nucklepuckk.1805]

Ranger, in all forms, has next to no issues with open world content. If you're struggling you've either got the wrong stats on your gear or a bad trait/ability layout, or both. I recommend spending an afternoon browsing https://metabattle.com/wiki/Ranger. Should help you out.

[InsaneQR.7412]

Few questions: which traits are you running and which utility skills?

Also: which gear?

Gear wise go full viper if possible or sinister as a start if you are not that far with crafting or gold. Also try to invest in madjing runes. Paired with one wolf pack you nuke mob hoardes in seconds.

Traits i sincerely recommend that you beastmastery for the additional stats you gain just by being merged with your pet. Then i have to mention that you can still use your pet to tank because you can still unmerge and command it to keep foes occupied.

Beastmastery take the trait that grants might, then natural recovery (this is a really good sustainy trait) and probably axe mastery for bonus damage.

Then if you really struggle with survivability DO NOT take skirmishing. Take wilderness survival. Because you gain prot on dodge and a health regen effect when having prot you gain lots of recovery. This stacks with regen. Child of earth , bonus condi damage and wilderness knowledge will give some damage and keeps condi off of you.

Soulbeast: if you play condi, take heals on poison application. Rest is up to you.

For skills:  WhaO is one of the best ranger heals with a short cooldown. Otherwise bear stance is also solid and cures even more condis over time.

Vulture stance: this is not only damage but also heals you

Dolyak stance: if you dont take this skill for surviving i cant help you. Its probably the best skill available across all ranger specs. It ignores movement impairing skills, goves stab, breaks stun and reduces damage taken that stacks with prot.

Moa Stance: Protection and regen is why you usee this. Prot reduces damage and heals you overtime due to rugged growth in wilderness survival, regen heals you over time as well. Fury and bonus boon duration si just gravy on top.

Quickening zephyr: Stunbreaks and cleanses condis when traited.

Elite take OWP or entangle. There is not much competition.

I am pretty sure with this load out you should be in the clear for oPvE. For instances PvE you would just need to swap some skills and traits for pure damage and thats it.

I hope that helped. Cheers.

[Khayle Zerker.3675]

8 hours ago, nucklepuckk.1805 said:

Ranger, in all forms, has next to no issues with open world content. If you're struggling you've either got the wrong stats on your gear or a bad trait/ability layout, or both. I recommend spending an afternoon browsing https://metabattle.com/wiki/Ranger. Should help you out.

 

I've browsed metabattle a lot already and people here and other places are saying that CONDI Soubleast is very squishy and unforgiving with mistakes when it comes to open world (which I've personally experienced, hence this post). But I don't have that much gold or other currencies left to buy gear and runes.

 

9 hours ago, UmbraNoctis.1907 said:

This build link only works ingame, for posting builds here it is better to use http://en.gw2skills.net/editor/

Undead runes are a bit overkill. The more toughness you already have, the less noticeable adding even more becomes. And while it doesn't matter much against trash mobs, in longer fights the extra condition duration from runes like krait (yes, even in a poison focused build you still have a lot of bleeding) or afflicted are a significant dps increase. Also cele offers more dmg AND sustain than trailblazer, and is generally the best option for a tanky open world/solo build. But tb is fine too, no need to worry about having to get new gear right away.

Smokescale does not offer you good aoe dmg. It isn't even a good dps pet in power builds, in a full condi build it's dmg is garbage. I'd rather go for a combination of a deadly and a versatile pet. Canines (mobility + cc), pig (cc), and spider (aoe poison + immob) are the best for a combination of utility and dmg. For better aoe dmg you can use traps (Viper's Nest in particular is great for aoe dmg and sustain) and axe/torch instead of sb.

Do you really need even more healing? Because that's the only thing jacaranda will offer you. Keep in mind, there is no such thing as too much dmg, while more healing than neccessary is a waste.

Sounds like a pretty immersive jungle experience 😛

It does not increase condition dmg and is therefore fairly useless for condi builds (especially trailblazer which has zero power stats). You'll get much more value out of viper's nest or vulture stance.

 

Accessories and Weapons don't have any available set from the build, but I run complete orange gear with a stat combination of usually power, vitality, and condition damage. Anything I can get my hands on that's not over my tiny budget.

http://gw2skills.net/editor/?PO1AUhjlZweYSsIGKeqXvPvSeUaA-zRJUkhfE0PAA-e

 

Thanks for the suggestion with pets!

 

4 hours ago, InsaneQR.7412 said:

Few questions: which traits are you running and which utility skills?

Also: which gear?

Gear wise go full viper if possible or sinister as a start if you are not that far with crafting or gold. Also try to invest in madjing runes. Paired with one wolf pack you nuke mob hoardes in seconds.

Traits i sincerely recommend that you beastmastery for the additional stats you gain just by being merged with your pet. Then i have to mention that you can still use your pet to tank because you can still unmerge and command it to keep foes occupied.

Beastmastery take the trait that grants might, then natural recovery (this is a really good sustainy trait) and probably axe mastery for bonus damage.

Then if you really struggle with survivability DO NOT take skirmishing. Take wilderness survival. Because you gain prot on dodge and a health regen effect when having prot you gain lots of recovery. This stacks with regen. Child of earth , bonus condi damage and wilderness knowledge will give some damage and keeps condi off of you.

Soulbeast: if you play condi, take heals on poison application. Rest is up to you.

For skills:  WhaO is one of the best ranger heals with a short cooldown. Otherwise bear stance is also solid and cures even more condis over time.

Vulture stance: this is not only damage but also heals you

Dolyak stance: if you dont take this skill for surviving i cant help you. Its probably the best skill available across all ranger specs. It ignores movement impairing skills, goves stab, breaks stun and reduces damage taken that stacks with prot.

Moa Stance: Protection and regen is why you usee this. Prot reduces damage and heals you overtime due to rugged growth in wilderness survival, regen heals you over time as well. Fury and bonus boon duration si just gravy on top.

Quickening zephyr: Stunbreaks and cleanses condis when traited.

Elite take OWP or entangle. There is not much competition.

I am pretty sure with this load out you should be in the clear for oPvE. For instances PvE you would just need to swap some skills and traits for pure damage and thats it.

I hope that helped. Cheers.

http://gw2skills.net/editor/?PO1AUhjlZweYSsIGKeqXvPvSeUaA-zRJUkhfE0PAA-e

Trailblazer gear and undead runes. Soulbeast, Beast Mastery and Wilderness Survival. Anything but this setup makes me feel like crap in open world where the tiniest mistake will get me downed/outright killed. That's why I've started using Dolyak Stance at least.

 

This setup you're suggesting is great for damage output, but this is incredibly glass-cannon oriented and has been what screws me over, even when going wilderness survival over skirmishing. A few dodgerolls with protection and healing doesn't save me from ranged mobs who just autolock on you and chips away at my health. I have a question though: Is it worth going viper gear/krait runes without the Skirmishing traitline? Because Skirmishing does so much for CONDI Soubleast with 33% stronger bleeds and better bleed application.

[eldrevo.1746]

From the OP's post I feel like the main issue is not the build but rather getting a raid-optimized PVE build with little sustain and utility, and then of course getting your k*tten kicked in the open world.

That axe dagger build is good when you have a support with you, but if you're solo then you have to a) be good enough to avoid all damage or b) adjust the build to have some extra utility to it.

The utility can come in many ways. Getting a well-rounded weapon set (shortbow), getting tanky gear (trailblazer, celestial), getting different traits and utilities for boons, sustain and CC, the list goes on. Guild Wars 2 is great at providing you a lot of options so you can craft a build to your own wants and needs, and in open world there is no meta to dictate what you can or can not try 🙂

[Andy.5981]

I've got two Soulbeasts. One is the metabattle wvw Sic em Roamer build, which I use for both WvW roaming and Open world maps (mainly because I cannot be bothered swapping stuff/stats around when moving from game modes). It doesn't have a problem staying alive or killing stuff solo in any open world/living story map.

This is the build page

https://metabattle.com/wiki/Build:Soulbeast_-_Sic_'Em_Roamer

The other is Lord Hizens condition build, for open world maps. Again no issues killing stuff or staying alive.

This is the link to the build

http://en.gw2skills.net/editor/?POwAgi%2FlZweYRMJGKeqXfP3REH-zRJYkRLfZkZK0bBo3BIctwbh3PN-e

Best advice I can give in HoT zones is watch what is happening under your feet. Those area effect circles from enemies can soon add up and can cause problems. Don't think you can stand there and facetank stuff - move.

You have mobility, a good range of weapons offering close up and range damage, the ability to merge and unmerge from pets, you can hold an enemy in a spot with an unmerged pet giving you the ability to move and give yourself some space from it and hit with ranged weapon, then when the pet dies, merge and unmerge and repeat.

The Lord Hizen build is a lot of fun.

Edited October 14, 2022 by Andy.5981

[Khayle Zerker.3675]

28 minutes ago, eldrevo.1746 said:

From the OP's post I feel like the main issue is not the build but rather getting a raid-optimized PVE build with little sustain and utility, and then of course getting your k*tten kicked in the open world.

That axe dagger build is good when you have a support with you, but if you're solo then you have to a) be good enough to avoid all damage or b) adjust the build to have some extra utility to it.

The utility can come in many ways. Getting a well-rounded weapon set (shortbow), getting tanky gear (trailblazer, celestial), getting different traits and utilities for boons, sustain and CC, the list goes on. Guild Wars 2 is great at providing you a lot of options so you can craft a build to your own wants and needs, and in open world there is no meta to dictate what you can or can not try 🙂

 

10 minutes ago, Andy.5981 said:

I've got two Soulbeasts. One is the metabattle wvw Sic em Roamer build, which I use for both WvW roaming and Open world maps (mainly because I cannot be bothered swapping stuff/stats around when moving from game modes). It doesn't have a problem staying alive or killing stuff solo in any open world/living story map.

This is the build page

https://metabattle.com/wiki/Build:Soulbeast_-_Sic_'Em_Roamer

The other is Lord Hizens condition build, for open world maps. Again no issues killing stuff or staying alive.

This is the link to the build

http://en.gw2skills.net/editor/?POwAgi%2FlZweYRMJGKeqXfP3REH-zRJYkRLfZkZK0bBo3BIctwbh3PN-e

Best advice I can give in HoT zones is watch what is happening under your feet. Those area effect circles from enemies can soon add up and can cause problems. Don't think you can stand there and facetank stuff - move.

You have mobility, a good range of weapons offering close up and range damage, the ability to merge and unmerge from pets, you can hold an enemy in a spot with an unmerged pet giving you the ability to move and give yourself some space from it and hit with ranged weapon, then when the pet dies, merge and unmerge and repeat.

The Lord Hizen build is a lot of fun.

 

Eldrevo's suggestions are what Lord Hizen uses, and I've followed his build in open world as my current iteration of soulbeast. Maybe I could swap up the Undead runes and fill in Krait/Mad King runes like others have suggested. I don't feel comfortable going Viper gear yet (not that I can afford it anyway, which is why I previously used Shiro gear.

 

Maybe I'll go axe/torch instead of shortbow but I'll keep dagger/dagger. Theorycrafting is a lot of fun and I like to optimize, but my brain feels kinda fried from overload right now lol! Do you use longbow only in situations where you can't be melee? I've heard that GS/LB builds feels boring to play.

[kharmin.7683]

10 minutes ago, Khayle Zerker.3675 said:

Do you use longbow only in situations where you can't be melee? I've heard that GS/LB builds feels boring to play.

What is boring or fun is highly subjective.  Try them and see how they work for you.  🙂