Soulbeast - Condition Skirmisher
The community gave this build a rating, making it top-tier: Great
Focused on: Condition damage
Designed for: Open World and Open World General
Expansions required: 
Difficulty:
Normal
This build was last updated on August 21, 2023 and is up to date for the October 8, 2024 patch.
Overview
A strong condition based build for ranger in open world build which can swap from DPS to defensive variants. This build can do well in almost all areas of open world and can even solo group events or strong bosses.
Template Code
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Skill Bar
Axe/Torch
Dagger/Axe
Utility
Pets
Warthog - +condition damage, provides crowd control
Smokescale - the strongest power option; comes with a strong evade
Bristleback - best condi pet for ranged DPS
Murellow - great defensive option
Jacaranda - the strongest defensive pet when unmerged, provides significant healing when merged
Eagle - provides excellent mobility
Weapon Variants
Generally, it is recommended to only replace Set 2, and keep Dagger/Torch.
- Dagger (offhand) - Provides additional poison damage and a low-cooldown evade.
- Shortbow - A strong ranged option that deals good hybrid damaged.
Skill Variants
, , and are core to this build, replace them only if absolutely necessary.
- - high cleave damage
- - condi clear
- - stability spam
- - powerful defensive skill
- - low cooldown, high damage trap
- - strong single-target strike damage buff; use only with the
Viper variant - - 6 seconds of invulnerability; can be used with other i-frame sources for a ~13 second invuln period
Specializations
- - extends stance durations and shares stance effects; use if taking multiple stances or if playing with a group
Survialist Variant
Wilderness Survival can replace either Beastmastery or Skimishing depending on the need and offers higher defenses and more poison damage. This variant should be taken over Beastmastery if using 
Trailblazer gear.
- - useful in high pressure situations where 75%+ hp is hard to maintain.
Equipment
This set uses gear similar to Build:Soulbeast_-_Condi_DPS, making it excellent for general PVE.
Head
Viper
Viper
Shoulders
Viper
Viper
Chest
Viper
Viper
Hands
Viper
Viper
Legs
Viper
Viper
Feet
Viper
Viper
Backpiece
Viper
Viper
Accessory
Viper
Viper
Accessory
Viper
Viper
Amulet
Viper
Viper
Ring
Viper
Viper
Ring
Viper
Viper
Axe
Viper
Viper
Torch
Viper
Viper
Sigil
Sigil
Dagger
Viper
Viper
Axe
Viper
Viper
Sigil
Sigil
Rune
x6
x6
Variant Equipment
- Trailblazer,
Celestial - trades a small amount of damage for a large amount of EHP. This is an extremely efficient set, but is a luxury as it isn't useful for anything other than solo play or open world farming. - - much higher burst damage at the cost of peak DPS.
- - budget DPS
Consumables
Budget consumables are acceptable for use in open world.
DPS
- Prioritize Flatbread Ascended food.
- /
- /
Defense
Farming
- Prioritize Flatbread Ascended food.
- /
- (and variants)
Usage
Damage
General Tips
- This build's damage relies heavily on
Bleeding application. - Try not to interrupt the autoattack chain.
- If using Shortbow: Flanking enemies is important with this build, as shortbow skills deal significantly more damage when hitting from the back or the side. Dodge through enemies before unloading burst to proc
- Use traps and stances off cooldown.
- If crowd control isn't important, use for a damage increase.
Dagger Mainhand
With dagger mainhand, use often to proc 
Quickness. Do not interrupt AA chains and use off cooldown.
Shortbow
Spam and off cooldown while auto-attacking. Use to proc .
Dagger Offhand
This offhand is more geared towards defense. Use off cooldown, but save for the evade.
Axe Offhand
Use to proc , then use .
- It should be noted that is a whirl finisher. As such, it will produce significant amounts of Bolts when performed in a combo field. The easiest way to do this is to combo it with or , but feel free to get creative here.
Torch Offhand
Use everything off cooldown, unless saving 's cooldown to match that of .
Defense
- This build has an enormous amount of endurance regeneration and a wide number of evades.
- There is a significant amount of passive healing from and .
- Be sure to take utilities that match the situation. Stances like can change the nature of an encounter.
Crowd Control
Video Examples
- Dire Variant vs Chak Lobber
- This is a good example of just how effective the build can be even with very cheap gear. While the kill wasn't fast by any means, the Dire variant of the build had plenty of damage and sustain to take on one of the stronger champion mobs.
- Cele Soulbeast vs Razorwing
- Cele Soulbeast vs Bristlebacks
Ratings
Dynamic build with solid survivability. The gameplay is not as easy as with a power dps build - however, dodging around, flanking, and watching conditions tick down the enemy's health faster and faster is way more fun than mauling with a greatsword over and over. Really makes you *feel* that you are playing a medium-armor skirmisher class.
A great solo build that's perfectly capable of switching between high-burst, high DPS kits and slow-burn attrition for dealing with harder stuff. Really appreciate the simplicity of stances and the considerable sustain the build offers.
I didn't like how this build plays so much at first--to me, greatsword feels better than dagger/torch, and the traps took a little getting used to--but it's so capable and flexible that it has really won me over.
Capable: it's not as bursty as a power Soulbeast, but it's much tougher. Once you get your conditions ticking it does quite nice sustained damage, while with a mix of farmed ascended Trailblazer trinkets, cheap exotic Dire armor, and cheap Runes of the Lich, I have 25k health and 3k armor. In addition, you get free healing from applying poison or dodge rolling, which you can do often due to increased endurance recovery. There are also multiple ways that good play boosts both damage and defense.
Flexible: like any Ranger. You can pick your pet to fit your needs, switch between good melee and ranged weapons mid-fight, and switch between having your pet tank for you (not often necessary with this build) or not mid-fight as well.
My very first ranger build in open world roaming, and imo it's a lot better than the boring longbow-press-the-same-skill over and over. This build just does pretty much everything better than the longbow/gs counterpart: more survival, AOE, and sustain if u choose to run dolyak stance along w/ bear stance. one of the most fun ranger builds out there that i kept coming back even though I am nowhere near being a ranger main. 10/10 on fun factor
I really like this build, never wanna use another on my soulbeast. :)
I do not have any difficulties staying alive while walking around in the open world, even if huge mobs attacks. I enjoy working with all the different conditions. Also the possibility to change between ranged or melee with just a weapon swap is so helpful in some situations (e.g. events).
Don't overlook Condi Trapper! This build surpasses Longbow Power Ranger in one important area--AOE! You'll hardly break a sweat with pocket raptors. You have tools to deal with most enemies in almost any situation. Reflect projectiles? Use your dagger and torch. AOEs against you? Skirmish from range with your shortbow. Need stability? Use the Dolyak stance. I use the warthog for CC and DPS and the Jacaranda for extra heals and Condi cleanse. It's unlike any other Ranger class I've ever played, it's fun, tanky (especially with Carrion gear) and puts out incredible DPS. Can't recommend this enough.
As a Ranger Main for 3 years now i can tell you that Condi Ranger is much more Fun and better than the regular Power build with a GS and Bow in Open World. There are some tweaks you can do here and there depending on your playstyle but other than that Great Build 10/10 - IGN :)
Excellent damage potential that, despite requiring a little spool up, is sure to pack a wallop in most cases while being able to dip in and out by laying devastating AoEs down and falling back to safety with your shortbow. Is a breath of fresh air to anyone tired of playing power ranger builds and, like those power ranger builds, can solo the toughest of foes in the open world for the most part if you manage your pets well enough. I personally prefer to use brown bear instead of boar because of the utility it gives, and I rarely swap off of Lynx if damage is what I need. This adds decent condition clear and survivability to the build, on top of the tankiness you get from Carrion gear.
This build has good survivability and AoE damage, making it a solid and straightforward choice for soloing open world content.
Excellent AoE damage with - it might not quite burst them down, but in extended fights it will more than likely pull ahead of other Ranger builds while having a lot of sustain via Predator's Cunning and Wilderness Survival minor traits, with the option of taking a supportive pet for even more sustain if the situation needs it.
This build is excellent for open world. The aoe damage basically kills most enemies immediately and you're survivable enough to last stronger enemies. I've used the budget version and it's also solid.
Comments
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