Need some tips on shortbow daredevil

[Cragga the Eighty Third.60]

First, I am very casual.

My little asura goblin loves his slingshot. And ALL my other thieves are P/P so far. But I am not having much luck either keeping him alive or doing significant damage: it's hard to dodge while aiming AoEs.

 

Can anyone suggest builds and tactics which will give this guy reasonable survivability and DPS? Not looking for raid-quality powers here, just want to PVE comfortably and have fun with him. Maybe a little WVW. He's in Orr at the moment, wondering how the heck he will ever survive the HoT or PoF mobs.

 


 

[ASP.8093]

I use rifle + shortbow a lot on Deadeye in PvE. Shortbow is basically 90% Cluster Bomb spam (Mark a target first so you can keep your initiative up with M7).

 

Best way to practice is Pocket Raptors.

[DeanBB.4268]

I remember a WvW dual shortbow build, but searching the forums didn't reveal it. I thought I had saved the build, but don't see it now in my stash. Maybe I saw it on you-tube? It used daredevil if I remember correctly. Does that ring any bells with anyone else?

[kash.9213]

Start with a basic build that makes senses, maybe something off of Metabattle.com.

- Sometimes letting the auto attack bounce keep going and ramp up is the only thing that makes sense at the moment, but that bounce is sneaky dangerous especially with more targets.

- If it won't displace some part of your build too much, you can have some secondary mods going off of Interrupts, like Draining Sigil, to compound Choking Gas. A lot of the time I'm hitting a team comp on a wall from the ground or in a choke point. Or I'm trying to stop a revive or something and might as well see if I can down some more faster and in pve helps to clear trash or adds.

- Play Shortbow with movement in mind similar to Staff, Disabling Shot being in the usual Evade slot is handy and it's great for peeling in or out of stuff along with SB 5. Sometimes I'll Dis Shot a couple of times to drag someone out of their positioning, like evading back right out of Rangers range so they come forward a bit, then I'll SB 5 bound on top of them or as close as I can to be in reach again for another short port to them.

- Infiltrators Arrow is great all around but the Initiative adds up.

- I like to combo and carry a dodge through it sometimes for a more secure port or Bound dodge to catch someone from distance. Since you can ground target and pan camera and move at the same time you can run one way but Inf Arrorw+dodge/bound behind or on top of someone you're kiting unexpectedly. (when you're squad is being chased you can launch Choking Gas being your teams trail while still running forward that way)

- Inf Arrow counts as a Shadowstep, which isn't a huge deal but makes it an option for something like the SA trait Shadow Savior.

- just something dumb but you can carry a jump from some ground topography that has enough rise between start and landing and your Glider will open for a second. I like the way the Ghost glider looks and sounds after an Inf Arrow.

[DeanBB.4268]

@"Cragga the Eighty Third.6015"

 

Are you already Daredevil or core thief? (said daredevil in title, but only to Orr in the text) Are you built for power or conditions? Do you have access to expansion armors? (viper, trailblazer) Ascended trinkets via Season 3, etc? In other words, are there limitations to what you could build?

[Zhaid Zhem.6508]

You can do a double shortbow build :+1:

http://gw2skills.net/editor/?PagAUVlRwoYLsLGJO2WdNPA-zRJYmRBrMiMBysAMYA-e7

It is not as effective as before, because schocking gas only daze/interupt once, but it works great against pack of mobs : you spam #4 and dodge and weapon swap etc.

 

For power, unless you want to tag a lot of mobs in group events, just don't use it: you have better option to disengage.

[Cragga the Eighty Third.60]

> @"DeanBB.4268" said:

> @"Cragga the Eighty Third.6015"

>

> Are you already Daredevil or core thief? (said daredevil in title, but only to Orr in the text) Are you built for power or conditions? Do you have access to expansion armors? (viper, trailblazer) Ascended trinkets via Season 3, etc? In other words, are there limitations to what you could build?

 

Already daredevil, and no limits: I have all expansions and Living World seasons. I would have to check whether I went for power or condition, but could change.

 

I boosted him up and spent my proofs of heroics from my very occasional forays into WVW to get him the hero points he needed, roughly based on a meta build I looked at. My original idea was that this would be the character I used when I WVW, replacing my previous glass cannon scourge which wasn't working out for me (yeah, I know, L2P problems) but this one seems almost as vulnerable and complicated with even less power, so I'm back to doing my occasional WVW with my semi-tanky axe druid main or occasionally my GS dragonhunter. The problem with using my main is that her bags are already packed full of detritus from PVE stuff, and I would prefer to have all the WVW junk permanently on someone else. I haven't found a build I find fun and reasonably easy to play yet, though. I'm usually a roamer, so working on finding a stand-alone option.

[DeanBB.4268]

I just take my PvE builds into WvW since I'm not looking to fight anyone, just flip camps, etc. @"Zhaid Zhem.6508" 's build looks about like what I remember -- all Dire, all condition damage. Could work in Trailblazers to max condi duration.

 

That same-ish build in PvE, I'd be tempted to use Torment and Bleed/earth sigils for more condi's, or simply Malice and Bursting.

 

Does anyone know if bouncing shortbow hits count as Flanking? Frailty with its 2-second cooldown could be interesting.

[PeerlessArch.6547]

> @"Zhaid Zhem.6508" said:

> You can do a double shortbow build :+1:

> http://gw2skills.net/editor/?PagAUVlRwoYLsLGJO2WdNPA-zRJYmRBrMiMBysAMYA-e7

> It is not as effective as before, because schocking gas only daze/interupt once, but it works great against pack of mobs : you spam #4 and dodge and weapon swap etc.

>

> For power, unless you want to tag a lot of mobs in group events, just don't use it: you have better option to disengage.

 

Mmmm, the days of SB/SB builds before choking gas nerf and exploiting Sigil of Absorption for constant boon steal. B)

[Cragga the Eighty Third.60]

Thanks for all the input and suggestions! Decided to change over to Condi, went from Zerker/Eagle to Viper/Thorns, and mobs are dropping a whole lot faster. Still squishy-ish, I will probably add some toughness and vitality in accessories. Getting up the nerve to change my alternate weapon from pistols to daggers.

[Opopanax.1803]

> @"Cragga the Eighty Third.6015" said:

> Thanks for all the input and suggestions! Decided to change over to Condi, went from Zerker/Eagle to Viper/Thorns, and mobs are dropping a whole lot faster. Still squishy-ish, I will probably add some toughness and vitality in accessories. Getting up the nerve to change my alternate weapon from pistols to daggers.

 

I have a full dire, rune thorns, sigil agony SB + pistol/dagger. Run traits Deadly Arts 3,2,1; Shadow Arts 3,2,1; DD 3,3,1

 

Condi Damage sits at 2000! With full poison duration. Have fun!