Guild Wars 2

Hi
I juste bought the game and installing it.

I m attracted by the Charr Ranger but I am not sure it will fit to my game style.

I usually play support character on MMOs (buffer, debuffer, healer …). My funniest experience was back to vanilla/BC WoW with my enhancement shaman. At this time this spec was a true hybrid, half DPS half boon provider, with even some healing and tanking abilities. A part of the rotation consisted to provide boons to my party and it was for me very rewarding to see my warrior mates dealing big damage thanks to me.

Do you think I can know again this experience with a ranger ? Would I be useful for my group (outdoor, dunegons, fractal, pvp …) as a support ?
If not, with another class ?

I made a build if you want to see what I have in mind :

http://gw2skills.net/editor/?vNIQNBHhF6kHRoZFsVFwXFgoFMUIU8A0uPwv7zQA4t+s/DV8xO-e

Thank you

I’m sorry to tell you there is no holy trinity in this game and will never be

I really think the Revenant will make a great support class.

Manu.6078:

I’m sorry to tell you there is no holy trinity in this game and will never be

Don’t understand why you are telling there is no holy trinity. Are talking about the tank/dps/heal trinity ? Yes I know.
I saw that arenanet has stated that this trinity was replaced by the dps/control/support one.
So I assume we can make a more support oriented character, and by that I am speaking about a half dps / half boon provider like those hybrid DPS we could find on vanilla WoW.

Or I am totally wrong ? Or you didnt read my post ?

BlazeQ.1095:

I really think the Revenant will make a great support class.

Rev is gonna be in a worse place then Necros unless its gets some big changes.

Scipion.7548:

Manu.6078:

I’m sorry to tell you there is no holy trinity in this game and will never be

Don’t understand why you are telling there is no holy trinity. Are talking about the tank/dps/heal trinity ? Yes I know.
I saw that arenanet has stated that this trinity was replaced by the dps/control/support one.
So I assume we can make a more support oriented character, and by that I am speaking about a half dps / half boon provider like those hybrid DPS we could find on vanilla WoW.

Or I am totally wrong ? Or you didnt read my post ?

It has been replaced by dps/control/support. But in this you have to realize that the trinity isn’t one where you fill one of those roles specifically. You are going to be doing all three of those at once.

You don’t really make a hybrid per say. Although depending on skill level you might need to add more toughness, healing or vitality to gear. Once you can read the attacks of the mobs and know when to dodge or when to use the correct defensive skills you won’t be taking as much damage. So at that point its like “Ok, I am wearing full clerics but I am not getting hit all that much, how much is the extra healing/toughness really helping?” At this point it might be time to start swapping into more offensive gear stats like Beserker or Sinister.

For example I play a Guardian. My guardian wears fully beserker gear.

My gear allows for me to provide DPS
However my Traits and my utility skills allow for me to support my team.

In some fights I use skills like Wall of Reflection or Shield of the Avenger to protect us from missile attacks.

In other other fights I use Stability or Aegis to prevent damage to my party. Example being the boss at the end of CoF path one. When the large Circle appears I pop ageis and my team is able to keep up with the DPS and not waste time dodging.

All classes bring a bit of this. The best being Guardian, Warrior, Elementalist and Thief, for various reasons. They allow for easy buffs (boons) and debuffs (vulnerability etc)

Rangers are decent enough, mostly used for Spotter and Frost spirit. They can do great condition damage since the recent changes as well. Mesmer is similar to guardian and can fill many of its roles nicely as well. But its timing takes a bit longer to master.

Necro has become slightly more useful in Dungeons, but still is hampered by its history and not always welcomed by pugs.

If you want something that is known for support, your probably gonna be looking at guardian. Guardian has alot of tools that primarily are used to keep other party members from taking damage. (Blinds, blocks, reflects, regen etc)

I hoped that helped a bit.

Talyn.3295:

…
Rangers are decent enough, mostly used for Spotter and Frost spirit. They can do great condition damage since the recent changes as well. Mesmer is similar to guardian and can fill many of its roles nicely as well. But its timing takes a bit longer to master.

Necro has become slightly more useful in Dungeons, but still is hampered by its history and not always welcomed by pugs.

If you want something that is known for support, your probably gonna be looking at guardian. Guardian has alot of tools that primarily are used to keep other party members from taking damage. (Blinds, blocks, reflects, regen etc)

I hoped that helped a bit.

Thank you for your advise. It helped me.
I also saw that guardian has good support tools, however I am more used to play the “savage magic guy” than the “light magic knight”, which is why I wanted the ranger (and above all the druid in the next xpac).
Maybe I will try the two.

Is the ranger welcomed in dungeon and other group content ?

If you have good APM and good understanding on combo, go elementalist, ice bow/FGS, fire+blast for might stack, water+blast for heal, you can also aoe cleansing quite often when trait water.

If you want lazy support, go warrior, banner(s)empower alliesphalanx, just equip greatsword and have enough precision to proc phalanx.

Ranger is more along the same line as warrior, with a bit better on cleansing/heal(use healing spring, don’t use water spirit), but weaker on dps boost department.

Scipion.7548:

Talyn.3295:

…
Rangers are decent enough, mostly used for Spotter and Frost spirit. They can do great condition damage since the recent changes as well. Mesmer is similar to guardian and can fill many of its roles nicely as well. But its timing takes a bit longer to master.

Necro has become slightly more useful in Dungeons, but still is hampered by its history and not always welcomed by pugs.

If you want something that is known for support, your probably gonna be looking at guardian. Guardian has alot of tools that primarily are used to keep other party members from taking damage. (Blinds, blocks, reflects, regen etc)

I hoped that helped a bit.

Thank you for your advise. It helped me.
I also saw that guardian has good support tools, however I am more used to play the “savage magic guy” than the “light magic knight”, which is why I wanted the ranger (and above all the druid in the next xpac).
Maybe I will try the two.

Is the ranger welcomed in dungeon and other group content ?

It really depends. Dungeons are really the only “group” content we have outside of like Spvp. WvW Roaming a power ranger with a long bow is deadly

In Dungeons the Ranger is a great class. Sadly it has a bad reputation. Mostly due to players not understanding how to play it. Many players got used to running with a Tank bear pet and a long bow in open world, then took this same approach to dungeons. It doesn’t work so well there.

So as a result many pugs like to kick rangers without giving them a chance. However if played right a ranger is great. I think you will find most experienced groups know this and are happy to welcome a well played ranger into their group.

We don’t know what druid is going to get in the expansion yet. So its possible you will get exactly what you are looking for. I will keep my fingers crossed for you.

I can safely say there are many support options…

Water elemetalist (healer)
Guardian (DPS, or CC or whatever you can think of tbh)
Shout heal warrior can work but is generally a WvW build
Mesmer finds utility in Timewarp and feedbacks or invisibility
Thieves are better in invisibility then mesmers.
Engineers have most if not all combo fields and a lot of blasts. but mastering it can be a bit tricky
Rangers have a lot of acces to swiftness and regens..
Necro tends to lack a bit though I persoally like a transfusion build… you could pick up some regens.

Scipion.7548:

Hi
I juste bought the game and installing it.

I m attracted by the Charr Ranger but I am not sure it will fit to my game style.

I usually play support character on MMOs (buffer, debuffer, healer …). My funniest experience was back to vanilla/BC WoW with my enhancement shaman. At this time this spec was a true hybrid, half DPS half boon provider, with even some healing and tanking abilities. A part of the rotation consisted to provide boons to my party and it was for me very rewarding to see my warrior mates dealing big damage thanks to me.

Do you think I can know again this experience with a ranger ? Would I be useful for my group (outdoor, dunegons, fractal, pvp …) as a support ?
If not, with another class ?

I made a build if you want to see what I have in mind :

http://gw2skills.net/editor/?vNIQNBHhF6kHRoZFsVFwXFgoFMUIU8A0uPwv7zQA4t+s/DV8xO-e

Thank you

Hi

Sorry but ranger is lackluster in what you describe as your playstyle. the professions that provide best support in this game are primarily Guardian and Elementalist. While every profession can provide some sort of support, these 2 just excel at it.

Below them are Engineers and Mesmers, with the remainder of professions after that, ranger is unfortunately near the bottom of the list.

there are some that in in certain situations in certain game modes will do just as well, for example cleansing shout warriors, well necros, etc. but they are equal only in those situations. In overall game play, across all the game modes, its

guard
Ele
Mesmer
Engi

in that order.

PaxTheGreatOne.9472:

I can safely say there are many support options…

Water elemetalist (healer)
Guardian (DPS, or CC or whatever you can think of tbh)
Shout heal warrior can work but is generally a WvW build
Mesmer finds utility in Timewarp and feedbacks or invisibility
Thieves are better in invisibility then mesmers.
Engineers have most if not all combo fields and a lot of blasts. but mastering it can be a bit tricky
Rangers have a lot of acces to swiftness and regens..
Necro tends to lack a bit though I persoally like a transfusion build… you could pick up some regens.

don’t forget to add the Allies Aid Search and rescue traited with timber + pet swap quickness for a super fast res , the super speed also effects pet for a very fast Response time and its possible in any build type as long as you trait for beastmastery .

best support there is , pet swap > pet f2 fear > start res > pet super speeds to the downed player > 1. you continue to super res , 2. let pet res while you continue to Attack.

alot of people still see this combo as a oversight or underestimate it.