Soulbeast Combos, Tricks and Guides.

[bigo.9037]

Hello fellow rangers.

I want to discuss and help the soulbeasts out there because I see them kinda often but most of them arent doing so well.. at least against me.Soulbeast is honestly completely underrated imo. We have so many combos that involve CC and burst dmg.I want to explain my own general combo, what the options are and how to learn to read your enemies so that you can pull off your combos more easily.First of all, I just want to say my build has a decent amount of healing power ( about 400 unbuffed ), 2500 power in beastmode, 58 % crit chance without fury, ~197% crit dmg.Im using longbow + greatsword and smokescale + rock gazelle.

So.. I mainly just want to inform you about tricks that can be very helpful so you can use them yourself in fights. They take a little while to sink in but it will be worth it in the end.

Nr1: GS skill #4. if you dont want to proc the counterattack skill for example if youre kiting a mesmer and his phantasms attack you.. but you dont want them to trigger the counterattack so you can keep blocking.. You can jump jump and jump over and over to prevent it from triggering the effect. The block will keep going if you jump at the right time ( although theres plenty of room for error, so this isnt something that takes long to learn).

Nr2: You can EXIT beastmode and cast pet skills while casting a beastmode skill. For example, if youre using worldly impact, or Smoke assault, you can exit beastmode in the middle of the casting and ALSO use pet skills while the beastmode skill is being casted. IN-fight example if youre quick on the keyboard: you are in beastmode with the smokescale. You use your heal skill to proc the Muddy Terrain trait, which immobilizes your enemy. he is immobilized, so you start casting worldly impact. As soon as you start casting wordly impact ( basically just pressing all the buttons in succession. as long as theres a tiiiny delay between each press, it will work ), you EXIT beastmode, swap pet so that you get the Rock Gazelle PLUS the quickness from beastmastery trait.. then press your F2 to make the Rock Gazelle use the knock up skill.I believe it is possible to pull all of this off within the casttime of worldly impact if your Rock Gazelle spawns at the right location and doesnt have to run towards your target.In conclusion, with this combo you will get a complete stunlock + high burst dmg combo. Only counter is invulnerability or blocks. They get immobilized, knocked up, and take big dmg.

Nr3:This one might be kinda obvious to those of us who have played ranger for a really long time.. If youre quick you can cast Longbow skill #3 while dodging. Need stealth, but your opponent is casting a skill that you NEED to dodge? just keep this in mind. This also works with Longbow skill #4. Ive found this very useful because i tend to have better reaction times than my opponents. For example, if i am fighting another ranger/ soulbeast etc., and he is casting Longbow #4, if i am quick enough i can manage to cast it as well, while managing to dodge his. Ofc, he can dodge mine as well but it still works pretty well. Most of the time the ranger is expecting his KB to work.. You can also just cast Longbow #3 as the casting of that skill is instant. so you will be guaranteed stealth unless he manages to dodge it after you cast.

Nr4: This is more of a thing to keep in mind about the mindgame of 1v1. If you use the smoke assault beastmode skill.. DO NOT always use the Knock down skill. DONT. People have started to expect it. its been this way for a long time.. but i still see most soulbeasts do this. its a bad idea. MUCH better is either stand still for half a second or so and react to your enemy after casting it, or blocking in case they are trying to attack you as soon as the cast is over. If the former is the case and they just want to dodge your KB, you can ( usually ) stand still and look at them wasting a precious dodge while you didnt even do anything. This usually happens because Smoke Assault is such a confusing skill. If someone is using it on you, it is hard to see where your opponent is. and some players arent able to keep track of when it will end. THEN..... after they waste their dodge.. you can simple use the KB immediately after.

Nr5: Stop using Smoke Assault as an offensive attack unless you KNOW for SURE that you already have the upperhand. Keep it as an evade. or a gap closer. gap closing vs mesmers, necros and other rangers can be a very good idea as well. but dont waste it. it is incredibly important to your rotation and can save your life.

WILL ADD MORE TO THIS LIST, FEEL FREE TO DO SO YOURSELF AS WELL.

EDIT: If you want I can try making a video about these tricks to make it easier to understand.

EDIT 2:

Nr 6: GS skill #3, you can skip the run-phase of this skill if you need the evade + leap finisher to occur without any delay.Example: You used the smokefield from your pet.. and you dont want to do the whole run as you might get interrupted mid-cast. The way this works is if you switch your target to something thats right next to you, or within about 300 unit range, GS skill #3 will skip the run, and only do the evade + leap.

EDIT 3:

NR 7: If youre using rock gazelle and youre in beastmode, you can untarget all players.. run in a straight line for 0.5 seconds.. retarget your enemy, and if you do it right you will still hit them with the daze. this is especially useful if youre being chased melee in a 1v1. why? cus if you kite and seemingly run away for just a second or so, and then run away with rock gazelle f2 for 0.5 sec as well, your opponent usually wont expect to get hit and wont be ready to dodge. its also just fun to do :)This trick obviously originated from warriors GS #5 skill. sadly dont see that many players use it anymore. but because our version dazes on hit, its much more useful to use this trick.

NR 8: Now this one.. Id like to call it my own. i havent seen anyone else do it yet. Basically.. if youre fighting someone with stealth who is going to deal melee dmg to you.. ( thieves, sometimes mesmers, other rangers ) You can use rock gazelle f2 in beastmode in their general direction if youre confident enough, and at the right time. if you manage to hit them in stealth they will be dazed ( remember, ANYONE getting hit throughout the whole f2 animation gets dazed, not just the last strike ) and hopefully their stealth will be over by the time the daze is. IF the situation is perfect and their stealth ends way before the daze does, you could even use trick NR 7 as a combo with this.

[singinggecko.5736]

I'm actually kind of embarrassed I didn't know the trick with GS 4. Counterattack proccing on phantasms has gotten me killed more than I'd like to admit. I wish there were more threads like this. Thank you!

[Asuna.6591]

Thanks for the thread and ideas in it ! I'll try to keep them in mind in my next roaming session. Keep the thread up !

[bigo.9037]

@singinggecko.5736 said:I'm actually kind of embarrassed I didn't know the trick with GS 4. Counterattack proccing on phantasms has gotten me killed more than I'd like to admit. I wish there were more threads like this. Thank you!

Yea i made this thread because i realized very few people were aware of these things. Youre welcome ^o^

[will de grijze jager.6594]

Damn it, don't give those tricks a way it is good that people don't know how good soulbeast is.

[shadowpass.4236]

@bigo.9037 said:

@singinggecko.5736 said:I'm actually kind of embarrassed I didn't know the trick with GS 4. Counterattack proccing on phantasms has gotten me killed more than I'd like to admit. I wish there were more threads like this. Thank you!

Yea i made this thread because i realized very few people were aware of these things. Youre welcome ^o^

Are you NA or EU?

Also, you did a fantastic job with this list. I'd definitely recommend it to people trying to improve their Soulbeast gameplay. :]

+1

[beatthedown.2651]

Probably pretty obvious points. I do use SB for solo roaming and it's pretty good tbh. You also have lot's of escapes thanks to beastmode.

LB 3 + beastmode = perma swiftness

Warhorn 5 + beastmode gives you a few seconds of being unblockable. I personally don't use it like that very often since I usually want to stack boons on my pet.

Snow owl is a lifesaver thanks to it's mobility beast mode skill and the heal. Perfect for roaming and also PvP since you almost never die. Other birds work too.

Beast mode skills with added mobility + LB are also perfect if your target tries to run away.

That condi removal signet is still a crappy option combined with Soulbeast. When will anet ever change it?

[InsaneQR.7412]

Good old standards stuff. I abused the first tipp actually while leveling and soloing champs in PvE.Its actually a shame that condi soulbeast is not a thing in PvP / is just plain out bluntly used in PvE because the specs current set up.

[Shadowcat.2680]

To add to saving smoke assault to use as an evade: the skill is also fantastic for staying on top on an opponent through their teleports. Mirages so often seem to expect three jaunts in a row to give them some breathing room, but smoke assault will keep a soulbeast right on top of the teleporting enemy, no matter how far they go, for the duration of smoke assault.

[bigo.9037]

@shadowpass.4236 said:

@bigo.9037 said:

@singinggecko.5736 said:I'm actually kind of embarrassed I didn't know the trick with GS 4. Counterattack proccing on phantasms has gotten me killed more than I'd like to admit. I wish there were more threads like this. Thank you!

Yea i made this thread because i realized very few people were aware of these things. Youre welcome ^o^

Are you NA or EU?

Also, you did a

fantastic

job with this list. I'd definitely recommend it to people trying to improve their Soulbeast gameplay. :]

+1

thanks man. I play on EU.

[Rap Tiger.1257]

great topic man, these tips help

[Prophet.1584]

if you have your smokescale on passive and use F1 Smoke Assault will be one of its opening attacks, you can then merge and Smoke Assault yourself, unmerge and your soulbeast will do another fairly quickly.

[bigo.9037]

PLease re-read the OP. Ive listed some more things that i think are worth reading.

[Zuko.7132]

for the longbow 4 dodge are you actually dodging while casting longbow 4? or cast longbow 4 and then dodge? Basically what is the button input and does it result in longbow 4 casting during the evade frame of the dodge?

[bigo.9037]

@Zuko.7132 said:for the longbow 4 dodge are you actually dodging while casting longbow 4? or cast longbow 4 and then dodge? Basically what is the button input and does it result in longbow 4 casting during the evade frame of the dodge?

you cast it before dodge. but you have to be really quick and you cant do that as a reactionary thing. I think I might have to delete that part about longbow 4 cus it honestly only works reliably with longbow 3.

[Zuko.7132]

@bigo.9037 said:

@Zuko.7132 said:for the longbow 4 dodge are you actually dodging while casting longbow 4? or cast longbow 4 and then dodge? Basically what is the button input and does it result in longbow 4 casting during the evade frame of the dodge?

you cast it before dodge. but you have to be really quick and you cant do that as a reactionary thing. I think I might have to delete that part about longbow 4 cus it honestly only works reliably with longbow 3.

i gotcha but it does cast the skill during the evade frame?

[bigo.9037]

@Zuko.7132 said:

@bigo.9037 said:

@Zuko.7132 said:for the longbow 4 dodge are you actually dodging while casting longbow 4? or cast longbow 4 and then dodge? Basically what is the button input and does it result in longbow 4 casting during the evade frame of the dodge?

you cast it before dodge. but you have to be really quick and you cant do that as a reactionary thing. I think I might have to delete that part about longbow 4 cus it honestly only works reliably with longbow 3.

i gotcha but it does cast the skill during the evade frame?

well the thing is lb #3 is instant cast so as long as you press that button 1ms before dodge you should receive stealth and maybe even mid-evade frame depending on the distance to your target.

[Zuko.7132]

@bigo.9037 said:

@Zuko.7132 said:

@bigo.9037 said:

@Zuko.7132 said:for the longbow 4 dodge are you actually dodging while casting longbow 4? or cast longbow 4 and then dodge? Basically what is the button input and does it result in longbow 4 casting during the evade frame of the dodge?

you cast it before dodge. but you have to be really quick and you cant do that as a reactionary thing. I think I might have to delete that part about longbow 4 cus it honestly only works reliably with longbow 3.

i gotcha but it does cast the skill during the evade frame?

well the thing is lb #3 is instant cast so as long as you press that button 1ms before dodge you should receive stealth and maybe even mid-evade frame depending on the distance to your target.

ah but not longbow 4 gotcha

[Brendan.1309]

@bigo.9037 Thanks again!You rock man!

[Dragonzhunter.8506]

@bigo.9037 , nice one!Another trick if you play with Smokescale and Owl (or any bird):After you use Smoke Cloud, swap pet to Owl, go into beastmode and use Swoop (F1). You will get an extra 2 sec of invisibility (total will be 5 sec of invisibility), due the fact Swoop does 2 blasts.

[whoknocks.4935]

Those tricks are so helpful :D thanks a lot.

Btw do you think there are other choices over longbow/greatsword?

Everyone keeps telling me that it's a noob stomper build, and against good players it's very easy to outplay, is it true?

Do you play other roaming builds and have other tips as well?

[Dragonzhunter.8506]

@"whoknocks.4935" said:Those tricks are so helpful :D thanks a lot.

Btw do you think there are other choices over longbow/greatsword?

Everyone keeps telling me that it's a noob stomper build, and against good players it's very easy to outplay, is it true?

Do you play other roaming builds and have other tips as well?

For Roaming in WvW this is the best build. For sPVP you have more good builds, due to the fact you should play like a team, many fights are on medium and melee range etc. I don't know who are those ppl (everyone), but when you are roaming and most of the fights are in open space, believe me, that LB is your best friend and GS is your second friend. Matter if it is or not a "noob stomper build" if you can do your job done ?! Did you ask a warrior to not use his passive defensive skills because are too op, or thief to not use his invisibility because it is too annoying? I don't think so ... Conclusion, we should use whatever we have to win the fights. Ofc if you want to play at limits, hardcore, challenging, you can choose to play a build with Shortbow and dagger+torch ... maybe then those "everyone" will be happy and they will congratulate you :D .

[bigo.9037]

@whoknocks.4935 said:Those tricks are so helpful :D thanks a lot.

Btw do you think there are other choices over longbow/greatsword?

Everyone keeps telling me that it's a noob stomper build, and against good players it's very easy to outplay, is it true?

Do you play other roaming builds and have other tips as well?

spvp weapons are different because ranger builds are all about sustain and holding a node. roaming is different because the objective of the build is to kill the enemy. sword, warhorn, daggers or axe are kinda bad at that in comparison to gs and lb.

every time I fight a ranger that uses 1 different weapon it usually doesn't go very well for them. sword/warhorn is popular.. but it's honestly pretty useless for solo roaming except for 1 extra blast finisher.

you have 1 more evade but you can't kill any players with warhorn 4 and auto attack alone. gs has stuns, evades, gap closer/openers, block and KB + higher dmg. not to mention really OP auto attack chain that includes a full 0.75s evade frame which is an entire dodge roll.

LB speaks for itself I think..

[whoknocks.4935]

@Dragonzhunter.8506 said:

@whoknocks.4935 said:Those tricks are so helpful :D thanks a lot.

Btw do you think there are other choices over longbow/greatsword?

Everyone keeps telling me that it's a noob stomper build, and against good players it's very easy to outplay, is it true?

Do you play other roaming builds and have other tips as well?

For Roaming in WvW this is the best build. For sPVP you have more good builds, due to the fact you should play like a team, many fights are on medium and melee range etc. I don't know who are those ppl (everyone), but when you are roaming and most of the fights are in open space, believe me, that LB is your best friend and GS is your second friend. Matter if it is or not a "noob stomper build" if you can do your job done ?! Did you ask a warrior to not use his passive defensive skills because are too op, or thief to not use his invisibility because it is too annoying? I don't think so ... Conclusion, we should use whatever we have to win the fights. Ofc if you want to play at limits, hardcore, challenging, you can choose to play a build with Shortbow and dagger+torch ... maybe then those "everyone" will be happy and they will congratulate you :D .

@bigo.9037 said:

@whoknocks.4935 said:Those tricks are so helpful :D thanks a lot.

Btw do you think there are other choices over longbow/greatsword?

Everyone keeps telling me that it's a noob stomper build, and against good players it's very easy to outplay, is it true?

Do you play other roaming builds and have other tips as well?

spvp weapons are different because ranger builds are all about sustain and holding a node. roaming is different because the objective of the build is to kill the enemy. sword, warhorn, daggers or axe are kinda bad at that in comparison to gs and lb.

every time I fight a ranger that uses 1 different weapon it usually doesn't go very well for them. sword/warhorn is popular.. but it's honestly pretty useless for solo roaming except for 1 extra blast finisher.

you have 1 more evade but you can't kill any players with warhorn 4 and auto attack alone. gs has stuns, evades, gap closer/openers, block and KB + higher dmg. not to mention really OP auto attack chain that includes a full 0.75s evade frame which is an entire dodge roll.

LB speaks for itself I think..

With noob stomper build i mean it's very effective on bad player, the ones who random attack into gs block, or the ones who didn't gap close when you are on longbow.

Everyone keeps reepating me that good players can outplay pretty easily lb + gs more than the other sets like axe axe or sword warhorn.

I tend to struggle a lot against good warriors a lot, and holosmiths too...

[bigo.9037]

@whoknocks.4935 said:

@Dragonzhunter.8506 said:

@whoknocks.4935 said:Those tricks are so helpful :D thanks a lot.

Btw do you think there are other choices over longbow/greatsword?

Everyone keeps telling me that it's a noob stomper build, and against good players it's very easy to outplay, is it true?

Do you play other roaming builds and have other tips as well?

For Roaming in WvW this is the best build. For sPVP you have more good builds, due to the fact you should play like a team, many fights are on medium and melee range etc. I don't know who are those ppl (everyone), but when you are roaming and most of the fights are in open space, believe me, that LB is your best friend and GS is your second friend. Matter if it is or not a "noob stomper build" if you can do your job done ?! Did you ask a warrior to not use his passive defensive skills because are too op, or thief to not use his invisibility because it is too annoying? I don't think so ... Conclusion, we should use whatever we have to win the fights. Ofc if you want to play at limits, hardcore, challenging, you can choose to play a build with Shortbow and dagger+torch ... maybe then those "everyone" will be happy and they will congratulate you :D .

@bigo.9037 said:

@whoknocks.4935 said:Those tricks are so helpful :D thanks a lot.

Btw do you think there are other choices over longbow/greatsword?

Everyone keeps telling me that it's a noob stomper build, and against good players it's very easy to outplay, is it true?

Do you play other roaming builds and have other tips as well?

spvp weapons are different because ranger builds are all about sustain and holding a node. roaming is different because the objective of the build is to kill the enemy. sword, warhorn, daggers or axe are kinda bad at that in comparison to gs and lb.

every time I fight a ranger that uses 1 different weapon it usually doesn't go very well for them. sword/warhorn is popular.. but it's honestly pretty useless for solo roaming except for 1 extra blast finisher.

you have 1 more evade but you can't kill any players with warhorn 4 and auto attack alone. gs has stuns, evades, gap closer/openers, block and KB + higher dmg. not to mention really OP auto attack chain that includes a full 0.75s evade frame which is an entire dodge roll.

LB speaks for itself I think..

With noob stomper build i mean it's very effective on bad player, the ones who random attack into gs block, or the ones who didn't gap close when you are on longbow.

Everyone keeps reepating me that good players can outplay pretty easily lb + gs more than the other sets like axe axe or sword warhorn.

I tend to struggle a lot against good warriors a lot, and holosmiths too...

by that metric you should have a lot of trouble playing as spellbreaker too cus their attacks are very telegraphed and not complex. I think this is more of an issue because the way you play. if you are new to ranger it's likely you have a very predictable rotation that other playerd can easily out-rotate.

with gs/lb you should have no problems fighting any warriors. the main problem with holo is that they get stab off your pet and are otherwise matched pretty evenly against soulbeast. losing to them is fairly normal in wvw as soulbeast. at least if they are good.

if you've ever played against some realllyyy good warriors you'll understand that even the most basic build you think is easy to understand and counter because it's simple can be extremely deadly in the hands of a player who uses it correctly.

gw2 is very much a mind game when it comes to 1v1.