Guild Wars 2

Hi everyone, I want to create a ranged dps.

So my question is, what ranged class is currently the best to use for aoe/single target?

Any tips would be of great help!

Thanks in advance

It’s kind of a futile effort to hunt for these things. Balance ought to exist, so you are not going to get the best of something without losing something else. Plus you can make any class perform any role you want so the choice remains at “how you wanna do it”. Different class, different mechanics.

For example, for ranged AoE my most favourite is scepter-dagger Necro (that’s the only one I like for this, really)…
For melee AoE it’s definitely d/d Ele (because I like it as a whole), with second being GS Guardian (not for the aoe damage but for the pull in GS #5)

For single targeting, a thief could easily excel, but he has to be in melee and give his all, to do it. Since you want ranged, a sniper build for warrior would suit your nicely. But a sniper can’t be a multi target killing machine. See where I m getting?!

^Disregard.

If what you’re looking for is pure DPS, currently the best ranged DPS is found on Elementalist I believe. Both AoE (Staff) and Single Target (Scepter/Dagger).

Reaperwolf.5346:

Hi everyone, I want to create a ranged dps.

So my question is, what ranged class is currently the best to use for aoe/single target?

It’s the one that will be nerfed in the next patch.

It’s futile to make a character based on “what has the highest DPS in the game?”. It will change within a couple months at most. It’s this kind of reasoning that leads us to the hundred “OMG my profession is now useless!” whining after a profession has even the smallest of nerfs; people should play the professions they want to play, not the one they think is the most powerful at this moment.

My ele hits for 2k aoe with staff. That’s a nice 8-10k dps if hitting 5 mobs. Full zerker though, so I run with cantrips to save my kitten. Scepter/dag hits pretty hard in a burst. My mesmer hits like a truck with zerk shatter build. I’ve heard warriors can deal some sick damage with rifle, and rangers just got a sweet buff to their longbow by getting a guaranteed crit every 9 seconds with a ranged stealth and constant 15 stacks of vuln.

Just load up on full zerkers, equip a 1200 range weapon, and go to town. Many classes can do it.

from what i read you want to build a dps class that tells me you are not referring to PvP.

Warrior can be built as single target DPS for WWW (killshot longest range onehsot people) and is the actual the best dps melee (aoe also) for PvE.

Ele has the lowest base damage around professions, and is living with gimmick and stuff that gets constantly nerfed or changed.

In PvE is not one of the godly classes that are requested for istances and stuff.
While in WWW his dps role is non existent for many reasons but is relegated to sit in staff spamming CC and support.

In PvP ele has one of the best ranged burst…..that are likely to be “reviewed” soon.

2-8000 damage is really low damage when warriors can hit stuff for 20-35.000.

Xenon.4537:

My ele hits for 2k aoe with staff. That’s a nice 8-10k dps if hitting 5 mobs. Full zerker though, so I run with cantrips to save my kitten. Scepter/dag hits pretty hard in a burst. My mesmer hits like a truck with zerk shatter build. I’ve heard warriors can deal some sick damage with rifle, and rangers just got a sweet buff to their longbow by getting a guaranteed crit every 9 seconds with a ranged stealth and constant 15 stacks of vuln.

Just load up on full zerkers, equip a 1200 range weapon, and go to town. Many classes can do it.

And thus another cookie-cutter zerker is born. Just don’t roll a warrior, for the love of christ.

The best single AOE skill is, according to the wiki, Smite, a guardian skill.

Fror.2163:

The best single AOE skill is, according to the wiki, Smite, a guardian skill.

It’s the best SINGLE TARGET AoE skill. Each of those 15 hits only hit one target. Pretty sure a dev already mentioned guardian scepter is the strongest ranged single target dps, if smite actually hits reliably.

Fror.2163:

The best single AOE skill is, according to the wiki, Smite, a guardian skill.

‘’Relative to the channel and recharge time, this is the most powerful single skill in the game if all hits connect.’’ Its true! Scepter guardian for ranged aoe anytime!

Ranger and the longbow. Build for power and crit ignore pet tree completely.

Make a thread to ask a question and no one bats an eye.

Let someone introduce an argument and everyone loses their mind!

If you’re talking purley DPS then I suppose a staff Elementalist is a good bet.

My personal favorite for AOE is my longbow ranger with traps set to ground target (from traits). I use the extended range for longbow from traits as well. You get way better range and the Area of effect is huge compared to Ele.

Plus you are so much sturdier. The extended longbow range leaves may mobs dead before they can ever reach you. Often times I can hit more stationary bosses and be completely out of their range. Meaning, they don’t hit me at all. Like Worms or Bosses in a zerg.

Grenade-based engineer is pretty outstanding at AoE range. It’s extremely hard to use against non-predictable moving targets (ie, don’t try to duel with it) but has amazing damage output. If you go the condition damage route, I currently stack 12-18 bleeds on the target, depending on how much they move and how much attention I’m paying to rotations vs. positioning. It does equally high white damage when specced properly, and stacks 20 vuln easily with just autoattacks, regardless of damage type.

While the grenade kit is the optimal damage kit, engineers also have many other options: glass-cannon builds exist for rifle, dual pistols, and the flamethrower.

Grenadier engineer.

Prepare for the spam.

Mostly I would agree with some posters, play what you enjoy, odds are, some random update will change the DPS equation. A short time ago my ranger was in pretty good shape, with shortbow and enhanced pet damage. But, as in all games, somebody in in charged looked and screamed “WHO DID THIS TO RANGERS” and we got “fixed”.

Past couple of updates, eh, not so much. Longbow killing is like annoying things to death. But, they die. I’ll still play mine. IMO, for pve its a better at melee than ranged now.

Teofa Tsavo.9863:

Mostly I would agree with some posters, play what you enjoy, odds are, some random update will change the DPS equation. A short time ago my ranger was in pretty good shape, with shortbow and enhanced pet damage. But, as in all games, somebody in in charged looked and screamed “WHO DID THIS TO RANGERS” and we got “fixed”.

Past couple of updates, eh, not so much. Longbow killing is like annoying things to death. But, they die. I’ll still play mine. IMO, for pve its a better at melee than ranged now.

Lol at annoying them to death. That was very funny.

Seriosly though, If you go glass cannon (or just stack power & toughness like I do) + an heavy boosts to your condition damage + traps you might then might find the longbow a delightful weapon.

By the time they make it through Barrage, I can have a large mob nearly dead. You will rarely get hit if you keep mobile either. It’s awsome in a Zerg.

Oh yeah, I don’t mess with the pet traits. My 2 bears are sturdy enough under normal circumstances they even oftem hold up long enough against bosses for me to switch them out without a problem..

Necro? They can hit for like 7K+ damage with autoattack, are usefull in zergs and can build some of the strongest tanks in the game.

Dawdler.8521:

Necro? They can hit for like 7K+ damage with autoattack,

….7K+ with auto attack? A NECRO ?

What in the world were you drinking or smoking and where can I get some of that…?

Not even in WvW, with full berserker, full +crit damage food, 25 might stacks, on an upscaled with 25 stacks of vulnerability.

MAYBE with all of the above mentioned conditions while using Lich Form, an elite skill. On actual auto-attacks? Not ever.

You can make a sniper build with a warrior, 9-11000 damage 1500 range auto-crit, and that’s without food. With food you can get up to a 23000 damage auto-crit. You will however melt like a candle on the surface of the sun if anybody ever gets close to you.

Conncept.7638:

You can make a sniper build with a warrior, 9-11000 damage 1500 range auto-crit, and that’s without food. With food you can get up to a 23000 damage auto-crit. You will however melt like a candle on the surface of the sun if anybody ever gets close to you.

Question: did you mean 2,300 auto crit?

Anyway, please go into deatail on how you do this. If you’re hitting for that much damage, not much is going to get near you anyway. Just avoid large groups.

ProxyDamage.9826:

Dawdler.8521:

Necro? They can hit for like 7K+ damage with autoattack,

….7K+ with auto attack? A NECRO ?

What in the world were you drinking or smoking and where can I get some of that…?

Not even in WvW, with full berserker, full +crit damage food, 25 might stacks, on an upscaled with 25 stacks of vulnerability.

MAYBE with all of the above mentioned conditions while using Lich Form, an elite skill. On actual auto-attacks? Not ever.

I don’t play a necro so I was in no position to interject. It sounds a little unbelievable to me though. Even his strongest attack hitting for 7,000 seems high to me. Like I said, I can’t say with any certainty.

If its true, it’s time for people to play necros.

SHM.7628:

Conncept.7638:

You can make a sniper build with a warrior, 9-11000 damage 1500 range auto-crit, and that’s without food. With food you can get up to a 23000 damage auto-crit. You will however melt like a candle on the surface of the sun if anybody ever gets close to you.

Question: did you mean 2,300 auto crit?

Anyway, please go into deatail on how you do this. If you’re hitting for that much damage, not much is going to get near you anyway. Just avoid large groups.

Nope, 23000 is the max I’ve seen against a low armor opponent, usually ends up being around 19,000 though, and obviously it will be less the more armor the target has, and that is with food. Here’s a video, not the best one I’ve found but it’ll do.

Now this guy doesn’t but you can use the sigils of intelligence for the auto-crit, have one rifle with a sigil of accuracy, and a second with a sigil of intelligence. Use the first for general combat and switch to the second for the kill shot.

SHM.7628:

Conncept.7638:

You can make a sniper build with a warrior, 9-11000 damage 1500 range auto-crit, and that’s without food. With food you can get up to a 23000 damage auto-crit. You will however melt like a candle on the surface of the sun if anybody ever gets close to you.

Question: did you mean 2,300 auto crit?

Anyway, please go into deatail on how you do this. If you’re hitting for that much damage, not much is going to get near you anyway. Just avoid large groups.

I think when they say ‘auto-crit’ they mean 100% crit chance on kill shot (by using sigil of intelligence for example). Not hitting for 23k damage on an auto attack that crits.

CobaltSixty.1542:

SHM.7628:

Conncept.7638:

You can make a sniper build with a warrior, 9-11000 damage 1500 range auto-crit, and that’s without food. With food you can get up to a 23000 damage auto-crit. You will however melt like a candle on the surface of the sun if anybody ever gets close to you.

Question: did you mean 2,300 auto crit?

Anyway, please go into deatail on how you do this. If you’re hitting for that much damage, not much is going to get near you anyway. Just avoid large groups.

I think when they say ‘auto-crit’ they mean 100% crit chance on kill shot (by using sigil of intelligence for example). Not hitting for 23k damage on an auto attack that crits.

Well yeah, I called it a sniper build for a reason. Sniper’s Motto: One shot, one kill. You put everything you have in to one ‘kill-shot’, which is the 20000ish damage auto-crit. After that your sustained damage is good, but if you want sustained ranged DPS there are better (and especially less risky) builds.

If your going to go ranger…just remember…do not get hit, cause if you do, its GG and back to a wp for you!!