Soulbeast - Condition Trapper SB Roamer


The community gave this build a rating, making it top-tier: Great

Focused on: Direct damage and Mobility

Designed for: WvW Roaming

Difficulty:
TBD
This build was last updated on February 12, 2022 and is up to date for the March 19, 2024 patch.

Overview

A well rounded Soulbeast WvW roaming build with good damage, mobility, CC and sustain. While designed primarily for 1v1s, the build can also hold its ground in smaller group fights and has no trouble soloing camps and other objectives roamers tend to go for.


Skill Bar

Hawk
Wolf
Axe/Dagger
Shortbow
Utility


Skill Bar Variants

Utility

Viable choices for the 3rd utility slot:

  • - if you're running a more defensive version of the build with this is an excellent short CD stun break with useful boons and great cleansing.
  • - adds a new condition to the build, has great damage and even shorter CD than Viper's Nest which means it synergizes better with the rune.
  • - on-demand evasion and improved endurance regen/superspeed on low CD is never bad.
  • - constant passive healing and a mass cleanse when used.
  • - better uptime on important defensive boons, which also translates to more healing (potentially even more than what the signet provides).


Weapons

  • Main hand Dagger over Axe - if you find yourself facing enemies with lots of anti-projectile you could try swapping out Axe for a Dagger to have a melee set.


Pets

  • 24px Juvenile Alpine Wolf over Hawk - a more defensive Beastmode kit and some extra CC, worth considering if you're playing with at least 2 utility traps.


Template Code

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Specializations

Variants

  • If you're struggling with incoming conditions take and . With proper use of , and a bit of practice this shouldn't be necessary though.


Equipment

Head
Trailblazer
Shoulders
Trailblazer
Chest
Trailblazer
Hands
Trailblazer
Legs
Trailblazer
Feet
Trailblazer
Backpiece
Trailblazer
Accessory
Apothecary
Accessory
Apothecary
Amulet
Apothecary
Ring
Apothecary
Ring
Apothecary
Axe
Trailblazer
Dagger
Trailblazer
Sigil
Sigil
Shortbow
Trailblazer
Sigil
Sigil
Rune
x6
Infusion
x18

A full set of Celestial Celestial gear also works just fine.


Consumables

Food

There are several viable options:

  • - this food offers passive damage mitigation and a general stat boost.
  • - keeps the 10% mitigation of the Oyster Soup, but focuses only on your offensive stats.
  • - great defensive option with and synergy.
    • Budget version:


Utility

  • - optimal but expensive.
    • Budget version: - comes from Canned Food Crates, way easier to get and barely weaker.
  • - if you're playing with Celestial gear, use this.


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 Hawk is the pet you'll be using in combat.
    • 24px Juvenile Wolf is only used to avoid getting stomped while downed, as Soulbeasts can still swap pets in the downed state. Wolf has 2 CCs - 1 right after you swap to this pet, and another on the F2 ability (which you're also able to use even if the UI isn't there).
    • 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).
  • Melding with a dead pet and then exiting Beastmode instantly revives them.


General

  • makes your toolkit way more flexible by significantly reducing the CD of the first skill you use after swapping weapons, allowing you to better adapt to situations. There are a lot of ways to use this trait, here are a few ideas:
    • On short bow you should either open with for burst damage (this is the most common), if you need sustain (evade attacks), or if you want more CC.
    • On axe/dagger use it on for both pressure and some damage mitigation from Weakness Weakness, or for extra sustain from the evasion.
  • Usually you should merge with your pet whenever it comes off CD for the Vigor Vigor, cleansing and Protection Protection from . Don't idle in Beastmode too long, use whatever Beast ability isn't on CD and then exit.


Mobility

  • Maintain permanent Swiftness Swiftness with and .
    • Turn around before using Quick Shot in order to move "forward".
  • Close the gap with .


Damage

  • Both of your weapon sets are great at dealing damage.
  • is one of your burst skills and should be used on CD. Due to the cone shape of the volley it's best used in point-blank range, right in melee to ensure that all the arrows hit the target. The same goes for on axe.
  • On bow spam as much as you can between bursts, ideally from behind. Many short bow skills have increased effectiveness when striking from behind or the sides.
  • If you're using for the damage and not the evasion, you should first make sure your target is crippled. has the benefit of allowing you to use as the first skill after swapping weapons for synergy, while still getting the most damage out of it.
  • (Hawk F2) is a spammable source of Bleeding Bleeding and Poison Poison from . Use it on CD.


Sustain

  • Every stance in the build is defensive by nature and can be shared with allies, which you should aim to do whenever possible.
  • The build doesn't have a lot of means to deal with conditions, limited mainly to and while (if taken) serves as the panic button.
  • is your last resort against both condition pressure and CC. Try not to touch this skill if you can solve things in some other way. The passive is also valuable enough to be worth maintaining.
    • If your pet is in range, the signet will transfer all your conditions to them. If you are merged, you'll gain Resistance Resistance instead. Keep in mind that the condition transfer can kill your pet (that's not a real concern on Soulbeast though).
  • If damage is starting to overwhelm you and you are out of CDs, just run away with and wait a little before reengaging.
    • Make sure you don't have a target selected before using this skill to disengage! Also disable auto-targeting in the settings menu if you haven't already.
  • Dodging applies Protection Protection, which also heals thanks to the trait .
  • Applying Poison Poison steals some health from the target, damaging them and healing you.
  • grants Protection Protection and as has no cast time, this can be used even while CC'd in order to survive enemy burst.


Related Builds


Ratings

This build has a rating of 5 stars based on 3 votes.
Log in or register to rate this build.
5 stars
Ramsey25 gave this build 5 stars • February 2024
A very strong roaming wvw build. Has the ability to sustain, kite, and kill. When played by a well experienced player, it's god tier.
5 stars
Hanz gave this build 5 stars • March 2023
Surprised how well this still holds up with all the cele specs around. Tons of evasion, great flexibility, good defensive boons, excellent healing. Condition bursts can be a problem while the heal is on CD, but just play defensively and use the sigils/stance and you'll manage. Damage's very good in 1v1s, the build's capable of some real scary bursts. Mobility's as good as it gets without teleports. There's even stealth access which is the strongest mechanic in WvW roaming. That said, some cele specs with Antitoxin runes might counter it so it isn't perfect.
5 stars
Ikyro gave this build 5 stars • September 2021
This the dirties roaming ranger build, and quite possible in the top 5 best roaming builds in the game. If you just go through your defensive rotation, you can survive in 1vX and get kills in the process. You have excellent protection uptime, disengages, stunbreaks, tons of i-frames, stealth and superspeed, and consistent condi pressure. You can gtfo whenever you want, stay for as long as you want then leave, condi burst anyone u want. In my opinion this is the best roaming build on the ranger by far. I played a d/d version without Trapper runes for a while, but this is on another level.

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