Pvp sniper builds

[bluff.8962]

New ranger here. Why is beast mastery favored over marksmanship in pvp?

[Krispera.5087]

For SBeast : Beastly Warden, Stats boost, Pet skills Reduction and Movement Speed.

For Druid : Resounding Timbre, Natural Healing and Beastly Warden or Zephyr Speed.

 

I believe lots of people (simple observation) in PvP still use the Marksmanship + Beastmastery + Elite Spec. I don't see the Staff + Sw/Wh variant (meta) that often, because it's so boring and passive. I do see Shoutbow that use WS for the poison trait and WK clears (Uses Zephyr Speed instead of Beastly Warden in BM). At that point, it's up to your playstyle and what you prefer.

 

MM is not to easily pass over either. It has Clarion Bond that works well with Beastly Warden. It has Stoneform, but 2 secs (PvP) it's meh at best. You can then reduce your signet cooldown with Brutish Seals and get your LB trait.

 

SBeast will work better for a true sniper build, but with the new trinket, I think Druid can be an effective damager and healer with Avatar amulet.

[santso.9201]

Yeah, condi clear on petswap is so good :3

[Za Shaloc.3908]

On Soulbeast, I tend to like to run Nature Magic when using LB/Sw-Wh and Beastmastery when running LB/GS. Wilderness Survival is a necessity in most scenarios, and the synergy with traited Wilderness Knowledge and Zephyr's Speed is just so damn good. That condi clear can be such a lifesaver and the engage, burst, and disengage potential from the quickness/superspeed it brings is awesome. If you are using any shouts, having the reduced CD is really nice, as well as the swiftness and regen. I have been getting back into Beastmastery to practice my hand at Greatsword some more, and I really like the traitline, especially with the increased stats while in Beastmode. Also, having lower cooldowns on pet swap and your pet's F2 is super helpful; it feels like a lot less of a commitment when swapping pets. Overall, it just synergizes really well with Soulbeast.

 

I personally ham not a fan of Marksmanship. I never really take it in any PvP/WvW scenario because I feel like I don't get as much as I do out of other lines:

-I dislike that the minor traits are all geared towards Opening Strike.

-I don't care much about a potential reduced cooldown from Brutish Seals because a) SoR is weird as fuck for Soulbeast and b) I tend to view SoS as a "one-use-per-fight" sort of skill. The CD is still high and you shouldn't have to rely on two Signets of Stone to win a fight. I'm sure Stoneform is nice but I hate the existence of passive invuln procs, so I wouldn't want to take it on principle anyway.

-I can get enough swiftness from traited WHaO to not feel the need for Clarion Bond.

The Grandmasters are nice, but not enough to carry the rest of the traitline for me to consider taking.

 

Long story short, I suppose Beastmastery just feels more versatile and well-rounded than Marksmanship. Also, from my experience I tend to have an easier time fighting against Marksmanship Rangers than I do others. They usually don't give me as much trouble. Keep in mind, everything I said here is just my opinion.