Barbed Arrows [cDPS]

The purpose of writing this guide is to provide a no-weapon swap method to play a ranged PVE soulbeast while easily hitting the 70% benchmark with minimal effort. This build is low cognition, has few repetitions but has a relatively moderate APM. The skills do not require specific timing and having extra hard CC in the build allows flexible upkeep of Twice as Vicious, which has a rather tight timing on other builds. This is inspired by the Guild Wars 1 skill Barbed Arrows.

The juvenile bee does decent condition damage with a very decent extra 300 points of CC.

Gearing and Consumables

Equipment

Weapon Swap

Weapon swap is optional

1. Dagger/Dagger
2. Dagger/Torch

Infusions

•  Malign Infusion OR
•  Mighty +5 Agony Infusion

Optimised Viper's Loadout GW2Skills Link

Relic

•  Relic of the Fractal (standard)
•  Relic of Thorns (situational)

• It is not possible to bench  Relic of Thorns due to the conditions required to trigger it at the golem.
  
•  Relic of the Blightbringer has been considered but remains a much weaker version as there is a hidden ICD, preventing Poison Volley from proccing multiple times.

Food

•  Cilantro and Cured Meat Flatbread
•  Koi Cake(budget alternative)

• The difference between using this and standard condition food is minimal.
  

Utility

•  Toxic Tuning Crystal

Pets

1. The Janthiri Bee is competitive in damage and provides ready access CC, making it the default best option for raiding.
2. The Wallow provides a poison field, decent healing and condition cleanses which is good in open world.
3. Other options include the Bristleback, Jungle Spider, Jaguar, Warthog and Black Widow.

Build

Condi DPS\

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Rotation and Utilities

DPS Rotation

Stay merged at all times.

1. Early Precast - Spike Trap and stack dodges.
2. Pre-battle - One Wolf Pack + Sharpening Stone + Vulture Stance + Sharpen Spines (if using Bristleback)
3. General Rotation - Use all non-healing skills on cooldown except F1

Crowd Control

1. You have decent CC by just using Concussion Shot (Shortbow 4)
2. You have many other CC skills littered in your weapon/pet/utility kit including the ones used to upkeep Twice as Vicious (see below).
3. You can precast Sharpening Stone for additional CC just before the CC phase of an encounter.

Sustainability

1. You may opt to take Healing Spring for better condi cleanse
2. Quick Shot (Shortbow 3) is an evade that does a step back. This is useful for bosses with pull mechanics.
3. If you need an extra heal, you may swap your pet to the Wallow for Spiritual Reprieve

Optimisation

Twice as Vicious

1. Spread out Sharpening Stone, Primal Cry and Concussion Shot to maximise Twice as Vicious uptime.
2. Use your other pet CC skills if your coverage is falling such as Bumble.

Dodging

1. Where dodging is necessary, you may delay Quick Shot after the dodge to have better uptime of Light on your Feet.
2. Bumble can also refresh Light on your Feet.

Benchmark

The build is benched with ascended gear and infusions, skipping Quick Shot (Shortbow 3) to avoid forced movement.