Soulbeast - DPS Soulbeast
The community gave this build a rating, making it second-tier: Good
Focused on: Direct damage and Crowd control
Designed for: WvW Zerg
Difficulty:
Normal
This build was last updated on October 14, 2025 and is up to date for the August 19, 2025 patch.
Overview
A high burst damage melee build with optional party support.
Skill Bar
Weapon 1:
Hammer
Weapon 2:
Weapon 3:
Mace
Weapon 4:
Mace
Healing skill: Bear Stance
Utility skill 1: Dolyak Stance
Utility skill 2: Storm Spirit
Utility skill 3: Signet of the Wild
Elite skill: One Wolf Pack
Pet 1: Sky-Chak Striker
Pet 2: Smokescale
Important!
- Make sure to swap your hammer skills by right clicking on them while out of combat
- Use Unleashed Wild Swing, Unleashed Overbearing Smash, Savage Shock Wave and Unleashed Thump
- Unleashed Savage Shock Wave is slightly more damage, but not generally worth the loss in utility
Variants
- Pets
- River Drake/Reef Drake with Eternal Bond
- Weapons
- Hammer ⇒ Spear - Easier to use utility compared to Hammer and faster burst, but less overall damage
- Hammer ⇒ Sword/Axe - Sword/Axe is much easier to play than Hammer but with less utility. The damage output is very similar, especially in short fights.
- Hammer ⇒ Longbow Longbow is generally worse than other options, but very helpful for clearing siege
- Utilities
- Muddy Terrain
- Frost Trap
- Elite
- Entangle
- Spirit of Nature
Specializations
Skirmishing: Mid, Mid, Bot
Beastmastery: Mid, Top, Bot
Soulbeast: Mid, Mid, Bot
- Variants
- Eternal Bond - Higher burst but less DPS
- Leader of the Pack - excellent group utility at the cost of damage
Template Code
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Equipment
Rune: 6 Superior Rune of the Scholar
Infusion 1: 18 Mighty WvW Infusion
Infusion 2:
Relic: Relic of the Thief
Weapon 1:
Hammer
Weapon 2:
Sigil 1: Superior Sigil of Bloodlust
Sigil 2: Superior Sigil of Energy
Weapon 3:
Mace
Weapon 4:
Mace
Sigil 3: Superior Sigil of Hydromancy
Sigil 4: Superior Sigil of Energy
Main stats: Marauder
Accessory 1 stats: Dragon
Ring 1 stats: Dragon
Ring 2 stats: Dragon
Variants
- Stats
- The given setup aims for maximum Effective Health
- You can swap Marauder's to Demolisher's to make healing more efficient in exchange for increasing your chance to be spiked from 100%
Consumables
- Peppercorn-Crusted Sous-Vide Steak
- Superior Sharpening Stone
Usage
Quick Guide
- Soulbeast is a melee DPS with multiple high burst combos
- Spike at range with Spit Goop ⇒ Electrocute (soulbeast)
- In melee prioritize resetting your Mace/Mace with
Nature's Strength - Use Hammer during downtime on Mace/Mace
Surviving
- This build has moderate passive defense
- This build has moderate mobility skill access
- This build has low active defenses
Defensive Skill List 
- Dolyak Stance - Stunbreak and clears
Immobilize - Unleashed Thump - Movement
- Bear Stance - Condition Clear
- Be careful using the movement from Unleashed Thump. Don't aim directly into the enemy group and make sure to drop your target before casting these skills
- A Lock Autotarget keybind can be used to quickly drop your target
Priorities
- High
- Burst Damage
- Moderate
- Damage
- Low
- CC
Detailed Explanations
Burst Damage
- Ranged combo
- Spit Goop
- Electrocute (soulbeast)
- Storm Spirit
- With this cast order, both Spit Goop and Electrocute (soulbeast) will land at almost the same time at 900 range, increasing burst
- If you aren't in range for Storm Spirit or your group has moved into melee range and you can use 'Mace/Mace then ignore it
- Mace/Mace combo
- Spit Goop
- Electrocute (soulbeast)
- Storm Spirit
- Flourish
- Wild Strikes
- Thistleguard
- Oaken Cudgel
- Worldly Impact
- Repeat from #4 to #6
- Exclude any/all of the first three steps if you're in range to use Mace/Mace skills
- Hammer combo
- Unleashed Thump
- Savage Shock Wave - optional, if CC is needed
- Unleashed Overbearing Smash
- Unleashed Wild Swing
- Only use Unleashed Thump if you won't put yourself out of position with the movement
- Since Mace/Mace is your priority in melee, you'll normally use your Hammer after that combo
Damage
Skill Priority - Mace/Mace 
- Flourish
- Wild Strikes
- Thistleguard
- Oaken Cudgel - only for
Nature's Strength - Worldly Impact
- Spit Goop
- Electrocute (soulbeast)
- Storm Spirit
Skill Priority - Hammer 
- Spit Goop
- Electrocute (soulbeast)
- Unleashed Thump
- Unleashed Overbearing Smash
- Worldly Impact
- Savage Shock Wave
- Unleashed Wild Swing
- Storm Spirit
- Start fights on Hammer
- Swap to Mace/Mace as soon as you're going to be in melee for an extended time
- Storm Spirit should be cast as your group reaches melee, before you can hit with melee skills
- Mace
- In mace prioritize Flourish first, both to increase burst via its second hit and to ensure the lowest CD skill will be up faster if any hits are missed and
Nature's Strength isn't procced through the first rotation. - Make sure all of your mace skills land for
Nature's Strength stacks
- Your mace cooldowns reset on reaching 5 stacks of
Nature's Strength. Flourish, Thistleguard and Wild Strikes will get 4 of your stacks, you have three options to get the last:
- Oaken Cudgel - While this skill deals no damage, it is the fastest way by far to get the final stack of
Nature's Strength - Cultivate - Your final auto chain also gives a stack of
Nature's Strength - Flourish - Waiting for Flourish to come off cooldown is your last resort to stack the final
Nature's Strength - If you miss landing 2 skills for
Nature's Strength, just swap out of maces and try again next time instead of waiting any longer
- Oaken Cudgel - While this skill deals no damage, it is the fastest way by far to get the final stack of
- Your mace cooldowns reset on reaching 5 stacks of
- Be careful with the forced movement from Oaken Cudgel
- Don't aim directly into the enemy group and make sure to drop your target before casting these skills
- A Lock Autotarget keybind can be used to quickly drop your target
- Don't aim directly into the enemy group and make sure to drop your target before casting these skills
- Hammer
- In hammer prioritize Savage Shock Wave for the
Immobilize to help CC the enemy - Make sure not to cancel the follow-up swing of Unleashed Overbearing Smash, it has the majority of its damage and rips boons
- Unleashed Thump hits hard, but is very hard to use due to forced movement. It is not worth casting if you'll miss more than 2 autos while getting back in position afterwards
- Be careful with the forced movement from Unleashed Thump
- Don't aim directly into the enemy group and make sure to drop your target before casting these skills
- A Lock Autotarget keybind can be used to quickly drop your target
- Don't aim directly into the enemy group and make sure to drop your target before casting these skills
Spear Usage 
- Be on spear to engage then swap to Mace/Mace
- Use Warclaw's Engage ⇒ Mongoose's Frenzy/Wolf's Onslaught
- Use your charges of Panther's Prowl for Spider's Web if you need CC or Wolf's Onslaught for damage
- Owl's Flight can be used for ranged spikes, but is very inconsistent
Sword/Axe Usage 
- Prioritize Whirling Defense whenever it is possible to do so
- Be careful with the forced movement from Serpent's Strike and Pounce, only use them for damage when the enemy group is moving defensively
CC
List of CC Skills 
- Savage Shock Wave -
Immobilize - Storm Spirit -
Daze - Oaken Cudgel -
Stun - Wild Strikes -
Daze - Signet of the Wild -
Immobilize - Entangle (optional) -
Immobilize
- Use your CC when:
- Your group calls a spike such as Wells (Well of Corruption)
- On top of enemy downs (while alive enemies are on top of them)
- Enemy groups move defensively while your group is pushing
Ratings
02/20/2025: I use Hammer/Spear.
Big melee damage, big ranged spike damage, team support with Dolyak Stance and Bear Stance. It's good.
This build fits very well into setups with small numbers. Depending on the situation, it can exceed the dps of warriors or holosmiths, but requires close range. Its support, namely the immob-counter, stability share and mobile passive ticking cleanse with leader of the pack is a massive boost for small groups, while still fulfilling a dps role. In addition, its stuns and immob are also very valuable. Depending on the enemy, roots, spirit or wolf stance are good picks for the elite. Wolf stance has great synergy to holosmiths, especially with grenades.
Great build, but should be running Leader of the Pack if using OWP.
A strong Non Meta DPS. I love playing around this build. Recommended to play Leader of the Pack for Stance sharing. Can also play Eternal Bond with Sky Chak and Reef Drake for more utilities and dps.
Comments
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