Soulbeast - Sic 'Em Sniper
The community gave this build a rating, making it second-tier: Good
Focused on: Direct damage and Control
Designed for: PvP Conquest
Difficulty:
TBD
This build was last updated on April 14, 2022 and is up to date for the October 8, 2024 patch.
Overview
A Soulbeast power build for PvP focusing on high burst damage and mobility.
Skill Bar
Longbow
Greatsword
Utility
Slot Changes
Heal
Elite
- - some extra Stability should CC be a problem.
Template Code
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Specializations
Equipment
Longbow
Sigil
Sigil
Greatsword
Sigil
Sigil
Rune
Amulet
Equipment Variants
Sigils
Longbow
- - gives a chance to remove Stability and CC the target.
Usage
Elite specialization basics
- Soulbeast allows Rangers to meld with their pet, becoming one. This is done through which has a 10s CD.
- Pet swapping is disabled while in combat.
- 24px Juvenile Smokescale is the pet you'll be using in combat.
- 24px Juvenile Siamoth is your non-combat pet. What that means is you'll only use this pet for one thing: , grabbing either a or one of the
Stealth consumables for a better opener. Use Forage between fights so you may start the next encounter with a free consumable. Swap back to your other pet as soon as possible. - Traits related to swapping pets now activate upon entering/leaving .
- Pet related traits and skills such as continue to function even while merged, but this time you'll be the one who benefits from them, not the pet (although sometimes the effects are lessened).
- IMPORTANT: skills that affect your pet like have to be used after merging if you wish to benefit from them, already active skill effects will be lost just like when swapping pets.
- If taken used while in Beastmode will grant you
Might on each hit you land. -especially against multiple targets- can quickly build up 25 stacks of Might which is best used on (Longbow), (Greatsword), or (Beastmode).
- Merging with the pet is usually kept for delivering burst damage but has a few other applications as well, like the instant evasion through Smokescale's 24px Smoke Assault. You can also meld with dead pets and then exit the form to instantly revive them.
General
- Dodging applies
Protection, which also heals thanks to the trait . If taken, reduces the condition damage you take by 20% while affected by this boon.
- Survival skills cure 2 conditions and grant Fury. can cleanse 4, because it triggers another Survival skill from .
- Greatsword and Rock Gazelle's beast mode allow for great mobility and disengaging/kiting. Beastmode in general grants a flat 30% movement speed boost on its own via .
- has many uses.
- It can be used offensively for the Quickness, most notably to boost , , or Greatsword autos for downed cleave.
- Defensively by keeping your pet swap ready in case you need to cleanse 2 conditions.
- Alternatively the
Superspeed can help you escape damage or chase down targets while on Greatsword.
- 24px Juvenile Smokescale's F2 is a useful combo field:
- Use in Beastmode while roaming between capture points if you lack
Swiftness.
Doing damage
- grants Attack of Opportunity to you while melded, this is best used for boosting 's damage.
Longbow burst combo example:
- Make sure you have
Fury by the time you'll unload your Longbow skills. - Elite-dependent Use before the burst.
- Get Quickness from either or .
- for some extra stats.
- Elite-dependent if you have it.
- which boosts the Soulbeast's own damage if used in Beastmode.
- to increase the chance of landing your burst and to proc .
- for damage.
- Make sure you have
Greatsword burst combo example:
- your target for CC and to refresh Maul.
- again.
- to make the most of Maul's Attack of Opportunity buff which in Beastmode applies to the Soulbeast and not the pet.
Top Streamers
Related Builds
- Ranger - Power Survival - core PvP version, usable by F2P players.
- Sic 'Em Roamer - the WvW Roaming version of the build.
Ratings
Currently played with maces and spear or sword/axe warhorn. smokescale and Jaguar pets. A lot of these older builds are still very viable they just need a few updates to be competitive in the current meta.
Longbow is outclassed by several other weapons right now but that isn't stopping people from playing this and doing relatively well even in 2024. All it takes is 1 burst to 100-0 someone with the right setup, but at higher ratings people won't fall for that twice. Kind of a one trick, the melee focused version of Soulbeast proves to be more consistent, but if you're playing Ranger for the bows this is certainly a good pick for you.
For wvw it's a 5 but in pvp the lack of open terrain is a problem. This build can still destroy anyone it catches offguard at least but the burst is all it has going for it. Sic em counters thieves but if they +1 you and know what they're doing they can destroy you too. Could use a sustain buff or two, or go the other direction and add back unblockable attacks to SLB traits.
nice build for average ranger who wants to have fun, but is only really relevant for higher teir players that can take advantage of the whole kit. in the ideal meta its like a thief but with a bigger kit and hence insanely powerful, but in this one it really is not that highly functional. Might be great teir among the 'best' players, who are the ones recommending it but the average players actually struggle and maybe do themselves harm on this compared to ezier builds like power survival
Nice and Fun build, but is too weak against conditions and bunker builds if u are protecting a node, its like a thief with lower mov but more survival for 1v1, 100% recomended for g+, not recomended for p1-p2 (Atleast ur team has a bunker comp without movility)
Having a lot of fun with this build right now. I replaced the berserker amulet with Marauder, more survivability and more interesting fights as a result, normally still ending in a win. Also I took the runes of speed which is a good move with Marauder. Simply put this build ticks all the boxes right now, I'm struggling to find a down side. It does everything I need it to, 5 stars.
Viable max to gold after that I falls rapidly down. Made my version of SB and it's much better especially plat+. I am casual player and got last 2 with this 1600+ http://en.gw2skills.net/editor/?POwAceFlFw6YesHGKeSX+P7Sk+DA-z5gfIZKFiWB0xIQDDA
Damage is still enough for low ranks - and thats about it. After the nerfs it hits the ceiling rather harshly in more competitive play.
By far one of the most enjoyable ranger builds for solo/duoQ ranked. High amount of stunbreaks, works great in the current CC heavy meta, unparalleled range and single target burst dps with longbow, above average sustain with heals,resistance and superior condition cleanse, absolutely amazing mobility which enables decapping/capping around the map rather quickly, little bit of team support with spiritual reprieve, melee combat feels fluid and GS overall has insane utility and the burst dps from maul is nothing to joke about. The only shortcoming I see is the build's inability to cope with outnumbers, but given the amount of disengage potential that can be mitigated rather well.Rather low skill floor, but appropriately high skill ceiling that potentially prevents the class from being abused. Overall, a build that is a veritable jack of all trades in the sense it can teamfight, 1v1 and create decap pressure.
This build is probably the Soulbeast build that has the highest skill ceiling.
The great combination of both defensive and offensive utilities carries into a game with when played well, the same capacities to bunker a point as a Boonbeast, while having more damage output and higher burst damage at the expense of some durability. Can 2v1, excels in 1v1s, decent pressure in team fights (paired with Barrage and Smokescale merge each tick can hit for up to 1.5k rather easily), you can kite very well, have decent condition management and a great heal to pair it with. I would suggest Siamoth instead of Owl, but that's really out for personal preference. "Protect Me!" can also save you a lot more than you think, you can take that instead of Dolyak Stance or Lightning Reflexes to counter-chain your opponent!
In this power crept meta (while I'm writing this review), this build is a solid pick if you want to invest your time in learning a class and have results for the efforts you put into it!
Great for roaming around the map looking to snipe down enemies. Best ranged damage, strong melee combos and has great mobility as well.
I have been playing Holosmith since PoF released back in September, and recently got bored of it. Additionally, I really started to feel the nerfs once the March balance patch released. Now, I'm not bashing Holosmith or anything, because it's still great, but I wanted something fresh for a change.
I don't like playing support builds so I decided to see what options I had as a DPS'er. Thief is not my style. Spellbreaker is too easy. Mesmer? Too fotm. Weaver? Lol. Ranger? Never played it before and it seemed interesting.
I have no idea why Soulbeast gets such a bad rap in the PvP community. This build is quite possibly the highest single target DPS build I have yet played in PvP, with superb range to boot. And the squishiness that I have seen critiqued often while browsing the forums is just not there. Troll Unguent heals well. Protection uptime is fine and heals you. Signet of Stone negates counter burst. You have great mobility and kiting potential with permanent swiftness, Gazelle pet, and the Greatsword. And to top it off, unblockables and plenty of condition clearing.
I think this build is just a great all-arounder with excellent, unblockable burst, and I'm having way more fun with it than I ever did with Holosmith, and my win rate is mostly the same. The only con I've really come to dislike is the lack of AoE damage compared to Holosmith, but again, that single target damage is just nasty. Cheers to whoever posted the build.
I was wrong about biks build, i definately believe unblockables are incredibly good alternative in combatting tons of blocks the current meta has and should still deserve more love, However beastmastery is so much more versertaile then markmanship, this build is clearly taking the cake for best soulbeast build available in a more balanced manner. there is so much u can do even without sic em.
This is a great build that i like to use with either Druid or Soulbeast due to power and mobility. Since GS buff on dec 12, this build has been really great against many opponents and also you can easily get 10k damage with this build. Personally i like using Berserker with soldier runes for more damage and condi clense. I also recommend that instead of quickening zephir and sicem, this build can be much more than a sniper if you add toughness and more condi clense to it. For heal skill, troll is the middle ground option for good heals and condi clense If you need more condi clense, go with bear stance, more heals go with "we heal as one." Signet of stone for me is a must to avoid heavy bursts. And depending on the team composition, i go with either protect me, signet of renewal, or dolyak stance to emphasize on movement. Also it is better to have a defensive pet with you. preferably bear because if you need quick condi clear, you swap to bear (2 condi clear, quickness and stunbreaker) then you activates its ability (2 condi clear) after that merge (stun breaker) then us its endure pain or healing skill. It is a very good burst heal in dire situations and it is a good defense against condi. For the attack pet thats up to you. Either smokescale (more burst) or gazelle (more mobility) as they can do alot of damage and can land you a good 10-15k burst. With that set up IMO, the build is a versetile build that can focus on anything it wants to do.
Tested this today for several ranked matches and the build turned out to be surprisingly effective at sniping down important targets from great range. This was especially true for hunting down Necros trying to capture points. The range from the longbow is also great for helping out team mates in close 1-vs-1s happening not on points, thus being very good at gaining important points from killing opponents throughout a match.
Although I do love my Jacaranda, Gazelle is needed here for the roaming speed as you definitely want a lot of mobility to keep your range and for optimizing shooting angles.
Comments
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