Guild Wars 2

The Ranger has far too many traits that require combat mode to work.

Traits that require the pet to be in combat mode:
Malicious Training (Marksmanship II).
Pet’s Prowess (Skirmishing I)
Expertise Training (Wilderness Survival V)
Concentration Training (Nature Magic II)
Compassion Training (Beastmastery IV)

Traits that require the Ranger to be in combat mode:
Spotter (Marksman VII)
Tail Wind (Skirmishing 5 points)
Furious Grip (Skirmishing 10 points)
Companion’s Defense (Wilderness Survival 15 points)
Mighty Swap (Beastmastery VI)

For pet traits, they will never work if the pet is kept in “Avoid Combat”-mode. They will also never work if combat is initiated with an F2(special) skill.

For Ranger traits, they’re already limited by an internal cooldown or endurance regeneration. None can be used to initiate combat with.

Almost all of these except Concentration Training Tail Wind and Companions Defense only have a use when in combat anyway. For Tail Wind its obvious why its combat only Concentration Training has an easy workaround as long as enemies are around and for Companions Defense i kinda agree