2H Crossbow Open World & Mists PvP Build
Strengths
- High Burst Damage
- Good Sustain
Weaknesses
- Difficult to pull off correctly
- Relatively easy to counter
- Low Mobility
Overview
This 2H 
Elder's Crossbow build focuses on high burst damage being delivered in quick bursts while sustaining quite well against one or multiple enemies. You can use this build in both solo PVP (like mists or open world) but can also use it for ganking in a group as it offers great dismounting potential and the damage of your 
Snipe Shot is greatly appreciated by any ganking group.
Equipment
Elder's Cryptcandle could be cheaper while providing roughly the same IP as an 8.0.
Usage
Elder's Crossbow
Explosive Bolt — This is your main damaging ability with a nice medium range that delivers high AOE damage to anyone hit by it. Through the use of 
Well-Prepared, it is constantly reset every 4th time you use any ability.
Sunder Shot — Try to always use this first before using your Snipe Shot as it decreases enemy defenses by a lot. Keep in mind however that the higher the HP of your target, the bigger the defense cut. If you play in a group, this is normally preferred and even in solo play the ability to shred enemy defense so easily is great to have.
Another option would be using 
Caltrops, especially against certain enemies like 
Elder's Dual Swords or other enemies with high mobility, this not only slows them but also increases your own movement speed for a short while.
Snipe Shot — This is your main damage. It tracks a target regardless of their movement and fires a high damage shot. You need to keep in mind that any damage invulnerability can entirely counter this but the low cooldown makes up for it!
Well-Prepared — Due to the low cooldowns on Explosive Bolt and Caltrops, you get to use abilities often which procs this passive very often and makes it an obvious choice for the build but even with Sunder Shot its good.
Elder's Cleric Robe
Everlasting Spirit — While it takes good timing, Everlasting Spirit is a great defensive ability to help you mitigate a lot of burst damage. Use this against auto-attacks or dot damage in order to activate the shield granting you immunity for a few seconds. It is perfect to use against skills like 
Death Curse and even 
Exploding Shot or other abilities you can anticipate. Keep in mind that it also works on Snipe Shot so you can be countered by a well timed Everlasting Spirit
Aggression — This is your only good choice as it increases your flat damage and is perfect for the build.
Elder's Guardian Helmet
Emergency Shield — Use this ability to provide yourself with a shield depending on your current HP. You get a bigger shield when your HP is under 40% so it's preferred to use this when you passed that threshold. Keep in mind that this also clears all the debuffs from yourself and it should always be used against 
Vile Curse stacks or other dot effects like the ones coming from 
Rending Spin or other variations.
Toughness — This defensive option is preferred over 
Authority as the 5% CC duration increase doesn't do much for Caltrops.
Elder's Soldier Boots
Rejuvenating Sprint — This will give you a bit of HP regen on a low cooldown and the 
Elder's Soldier Boots are a very popular choice to begin with as they also offer the option to use 
Wanderlust for longer chases.
Another good option would be using 
Elder's Guardian Boots as they do essentially what you do with your 
Major Gigantify Potion, increasing your HP for a short while, enough to counter high burst damage.
Toughness — This defensive option is preferred over Authority as the 5% CC duration increase doesn't do much for Caltrops.
Elder's Keeper Cape
Berserk — Because you will often enough take damage that will bring you lower than 70%, this cape will proc on its own and help with delivering even higher damage with your Snipe Shot.
Rotations
- With this rotation you want to start off by using Explosive Bolt and ticking down the enemy HP, testing their kiting skills before using Sunder Shot to increase your damage and possibly force out defensives. Once your HP goes below 70% and Berserk activates, cast your File:Sniper Shot.webpSniper Shot for high damage before going back to Explosive Bolt.
Consumables
Major Gigantify Potion — Use this potion to block out high burst damage and essentially negate enemy damage by increasing your HP for a short bit of time.
Beef Stew — This is the best food to use as it improves your overall damage. Always try to use an 8.2 or 8.1 version as it as it offers great value for minimum price. You can also use 
Pork Omelette for the lower CDs and quicker cast time, especially if you are solo-ing.
