Guild Wars 2

Hey!

I like to play a ranger, but i don’t know if it would be good.

Many people tell me, that ranger is under powerd, the pet dies in dungeons and the dmg is very low, bows are useless and Ranger is only good in meele.

Is that right?

If it is so, what’s about guardian? Is guardian better than ranger?

Pls help me! Its a hard choise!

That depends. Are you talking about PvP? Open-world PvE? Dungeons? WvW?

The Ranger profession is one of the red-haired stepchildren of GW2. I played a hunter as my main in WoW and thought the Ranger would be a natural, but poor pet AI and low overall damage changed my mind. It is a completely viable profession for solo play in PvE so if that is your only concern, go for it. But, I would not recommend it.

Is Guardian better than Ranger? Absolutely, yes. It’s funny as I wouldn’t make a statement like that about classes in just about any other game I’ve played, but can make it here in GW2. But, Guardian is primarily melee and ranger is primarily conceived of as ranged (though it can melee). If Guardian appeals to you then go Guardian as it is a universally good class across the game.

I prefer my ranger to my guard. It is all up to you to decide.

My buddy is a ranger and he kicks more kitten than any other guardian I’ve met. If you like Ranger, play ranger

I like to be good in Pvp and Pve. Dungeons arent important for me.

Rangers are very, very good at open world PvE and s/tPvP (I have a over 70% win record with my Ranger), however other classes are better at endgame content such as dungeons, fractals, bosses and WvW.

The pet mechanic is what really lets the Ranger down, especially as the Rangers overall damage is purposely reduced because of the pet.

Ranged is very interesting, the Ranger is NOT the best with ranged weapons. Just compare Warrior with a Rifle/Longbow vs a Ranger with a Longbow/shortbow. I would always choose the Warrior, its a no brainer under the current meta.

Sodeni.6041:

I like to be good in Pvp and Pve. Dungeons arent important for me.

We faceroll all PvE content save for dungeons, region bosses, and the Temples of Orr (which all require teams, which we tend to suck in). PvP…as a warning, PvP is only really capture mode (which sucks), so while you WILL do well in it due to the Ranger’s bunkery nature, the mode will get boring fast.

Others professions are better, if you like open world, wvw, or spvp you should pick ranger if you like it the most because it doesn’t really matter what profession you are. But any type of really structured team play, guardian would be your best choice since rangers lack in support and damage especially when ranged.

I love my ranger, I use it for all open world events because longbow is so fun. But when I do dungeons I use my warrior because it contributes so much more, and pets are such a liability in dungeons especially if you don’t micro manage them every second.

That means ranger = boring, bad in pve, dungeons, wvw zergs and ranged bader than a warrior with riffle? Omg, why do people play ranger then

Because the class is fun as hell due to its survivability and rather unique abilities. We just need the devs to give us more love, possibly through way of a spirit overhaul, pet overhaul, or some other things.

Heh. My ranger is getting tons of play right now – I find the class leaves some of the more popular choices IN THE DUST when it comes to tagging things and collecting loot in a zerg. Different tools for different tasks.

I don’t find them boring or bad in PvE, WvW, or Zergs. But like any DPS build, you have to actually work at it to perform up to it’s actual potential.

They’re a solid class in open world PvE, but in a lot of content that is designed to be difficult, ranger pets tend to suffer, and ranger damage suffers as a result.

Don’t believe the hype. Ranger has its problems like any other class but a good player can make do. Take it from a years long Ranger.

Rangers are great farmers, just ask the all the bots. For dungeons, they are meh. If I get one in my group, I wont kick him but I sure in hell wish I would have had anything else join except him. Like others have said, their dmg is subpar, their pets are a liability that usually brings in extra mobs and they pretty much have nothing to really offer other than healing spring which it seems most rangers sit on the other side of the room and pewpew and drop the spring on themselves which brings me back to my point…they really contribute nothing.

They are great for open world though and for ease of leveling but if you want to do dungeons, save yourself the headaches and roll something else unless you really love the ranger. And this is coming from someone who played ranger from headstart and switched to guard.

I’d say classes are rather imbalanced between PvP and PvE at the moment. I’d take a guard over a ranger in a party anyday, but rangers are absolutely brutal to fight in PvP.

From all the bleeds and roots, to having to fight 2 targets at once, ranger are just a pain to deal with in a fight.

After 1100 hrs I’ve pretty much retired my Ranger until the pet is fixed and given a perma-stow option. Right now it is a meat missile. There’s not enough options to manage it like required to make up for the lack of AI (it isnt going to dodge out of an AoE circle). John Sharp said we aren’t going to get that control because it scares away new players to the class. Well, that’s a big middle finger to anyone who isn’t new to the class. To make pets half decent and not die instantly you have to put 30 pts into BM and other trait lines have to be geared to the pet meaning your pet is the primary damage dealer and you’re there for support. I don’t understand why they the class ranger when it is clearly a Beastmaster. Would have saved a lot of grief had they named it correctly. So, now that my guardian is geared up, lvl 80, all maps open it is now my main. Not as fun as my Ranger to fight with but at least I don’t have to deal with bad AI.

I think it’s a personal preference. I’ve loved Rangers since GW1, but for now, I put my main on the shelf till it gets a revamp in the future. It’s still my favorite go to profession to play for new content (PvE) and any PvP – but for the more challenging content – I reach for alts.
All in all though… I’d say: make it!

Sodeni.6041:

I like to play a ranger, but i don’t know if it would be good.

The only way to find out is to roll one, kick it around for a few levels and see if it fits – if it doesn’t…roll something else.
People’s opinions vary on ’what’s best’ so no-one can tell you what’s best…for you.

The major problem a lot of players coming to GW2 have is that in GW2, the ranger is not particularly a ranged class. If you come in expecting to shoot your bow and rock damage, you AREN’T going to be successful.

Rangers are melee for the most part, that CAN retreat to range and deal decent (not awesome) damage when things get too hot in the kitchen.

Sounds a bit glib, but the ‘best’ class is the one that you enjoy playing. You’re the one who’s going to have to live with it, after all.
Personally, I quite like my ranger but just can’t play an elementalist for more than a few minutes without wanting to chuck my mouse out of the window.

Rangers require a pet to do their total potential damage. If for any reason the pet isn’t hitting a target, you’re doing 40% less damage than any other class with the same spec would be.

Sadly, the pets have, at absolute best, a 50% hit rate. So, as a universal truth, the ranger won’t do the damage that any other class can. If you can live with that, and the fact that when new ascended gear comes out the ranger is going to be even weaker when compared to other classes, knock yourself out!

The theme/flavour of the ranger is hands down the most fun in the game – it’s the execution that sucks.

Imo ranger has following issue: Longbow/SB are fun but to single target, SB bleed application (especially duration) could use a little boost or add conditions on skill 2-5.

Longbow nice but to single target. Damage ok with berserker but to low with PVT set, it should be (minimum damage, while not increase damage for crit damage builds.

Sword is nice but gimmicky, the root on 1 is weird, and will sometimes teleport you over the place. It should be improved. Damage with power builds should be increased. One of the 3ple chain should do a bleed, so it supports conditions builds. Nr 2 definitely needs improvement, it reacts to slow (slower then dodge, so it rarely acts as a dodge, making you still take full hp. The second comeback skill, should be somehow improved. It’s to easy to see it coming, or just to ignore it, since it’s not treatening. 3 is sort of ok, but could use improvement a bit. (animation).

Axe after cast is to long. Otherwise this weapon is very interesting. Base damage could be increased a bit.

Offhand axe 4 is very nice. 5 is to gimmicky. For a skill nr 5 is simply doesn’t cut it. Especially the root is bad. No matter how good they make this even afte retaliation addition, the root makes the skill sort of bad.

Torch is good, but should be like necro marks base = 180 radius, improved (trait) = 240 radius. 120 radius on nr 5 skill is a joke. nr 4 is ok.

Dagger offhand is ok imo. Only problem is that both 1h mainhands have their own problems making it hard to even put a spot free (by using them) to put an offhand like this on your bar.

Greatsword, auto attack damage to low. I understand the ‘ranger has pet to damage, and it’s evasive attack so it must be balanced’, but this damage is just waaaay to low. takes ages to kill something with it. 2 is ok, but misses an ‘active’ element, like combo finisher. A whirl (even though animation wise blast is better fit – but would be op) finisher would be nice.

Overall the weapons are to much single target focused. Other profs have weapon skills that are almost spammable and hit 5 targets. Only a trap build can make up for it but then you loose survival utility skills (stunbreak, signets etc). To few/to few stunbreak skills. Perhaps one of the shouts should give stability, to make a shout build more interesting.

The elites all have their moment that they could be very usefull. Problem is cooldowns (especially spirit), and not able to combine them. The stability on the rampage is nice, but still to long cd compared to others, and you use most of your offensive /defensive elite capabilities by it (spirit/entangle). It’s always a big sacrafice imo. But cooldowns are biggest issue. Fix em. Spirits should have -20% cd trait for instance.

Pets die to fast to aoe’s. And there’s to few mechanics to give us control over the pet to safe them.

Still a fun class, but one with issue’s.

Traits could use a overhaul too, and condition removal needs to be improved.

Ranger is only bad in PvE if you range with it.

Go in to melee and be that 0.1% of competent players and people will admire and respect you for breaking the mould.

Meglobob.8620:

Ranged is very interesting, the Ranger is NOT the best with ranged weapons. Just compare Warrior with a Rifle/Longbow vs a Ranger with a Longbow/shortbow. I would always choose the Warrior, its a no brainer under the current meta.

Ranger longbow has 1500 range and autoattack deals 317 damage at max range.
Warrior longbow has 1200 range and autoattack deals 212 damage.

I’ll take any class other than a ranger in dungeons/fractal any day.

Anet has this thing for making pet AIs as dumb as a box of rocks so all classes with pets seem to have the same issues, they run into enemies when they shouldn’t, stand there when they should be fighting, or generally don’t do enough damage to actually have a concern to use them. All pets in my experience in this game have been like that, Turrets, Ranger pets, Summons, guess which classes this affects the most in everything important including esports, dungeons, and group world events? yeah.

That’s why when they posted the aniversary % numbers of which class was played the most, some of us were asking to post which ones per which category, WvW, PVP, or PVE to show that in PVE it hurts the most.

I have all classes and I find that the only real usefulness for ranger is like taking quick shots at the golem world boss at far range etc. But then my engi can do that too. I’ve only taken my ranger into TA since quick long range can help there. Otherwise my ranger sits and collects dust. My first real mmo ranger was in early EQ1, seemed more ranger like than here. This is more of a pet class like a tamer no matter how you cut it. I pretty much stick to spiders as mobile net turrets that stick more to range. They seem a little less annoying anyway.

Huge knock-backs are just flat out mean to melee players. Like last night I started dagger storm with my thief and here along comes a ranger to blow the target far away seemingly for the fun of griefing reasons. Happens a lot actually. Especially annoying when on my warrior.

Bottom tier.

ANet didn’t clearly define the role or function of the class. It’s like they cut their coefficients by 25% and gave them a pet the day before the game launched. That’s how poorly thought out the class is.

I mostly WvW… you know when a class is awful when you can count the number of times you’ve hear a commander call out the class to do something. Never heard a commander ask the Ranger to do anything. The closest I’ve heard it come is ‘put water field on door’. That’s it.

GW2 probably has the absolute worst implementation of the ranger class I’ve ever seen in any MMO.

Zenith.6403:

Meglobob.8620:

Ranged is very interesting, the Ranger is NOT the best with ranged weapons. Just compare Warrior with a Rifle/Longbow vs a Ranger with a Longbow/shortbow. I would always choose the Warrior, its a no brainer under the current meta.

Ranger longbow has 1500 range and autoattack deals 317 damage at max range.
Warrior longbow has 1200 range and autoattack deals 212 damage.

That’s true but how often is your target at max range? Hardly ever? 20% of the time and I am being generous, at the other ranges Warriors win.

Also the Warrior longbow as 2 AoE attacks vs Ranger longbow’s 1.

You did see in the PAX tournament that the Warrior took the Rangers completely apart with the longbow…right?

Sodeni.6041:

That means ranger = boring, bad in pve, dungeons, wvw zergs and ranged bader than a warrior with riffle? Omg, why do people play ranger then

A berserker ranger with a longbow should outdamage a berserker warrior with a rifle, provided the ranger can stay at long range from his/her target (this is due to the arbitrary limitation on longbow damage based on range). Warrior rifle damage is at least partially based on bleeds, and power/crit do nothing for condition damage.

What warriors do better is buff their own and team damage. To get anything close to the buffs warriors get without really trying, rangers have to devote a lot of their build.

Rangers have a bad rep in dungeons because the dungeon meta is based around players staying close together to take advantage of short range AoE buffs, healing and defenses, whereas longbow mechanics force the ranger to stand well away from the others (who are in melee) in order to get more damage out of the bow. This means that the ranger is not benefiting from others skills, nor are his buffs benefiting them.

Ranger melee damage is significantly better with main hand sword, but main hand sword’s main attack locks the character into an attack animation. Using this attack as an auto-attack may mean that you will be unable to dodge when you need to. Disabling auto-attack helps somewhat with this issue, but not enough.

tigirius.9014:

That’s why when they posted the aniversary % numbers of which class was played the most, some of us were asking to post which ones per which category, WvW, PVP, or PVE to show that in PVE it hurts the most.

I don’t recall it being most played, I don’t think they said that …or anything really. I think if they did it by /age (hours played on class) rather than rolled, it would look much different. Everyone starts with five slots, chances are most have a ranger (mine is in #7), though dusty they may be compared to warriors, guards, thieves and even mesmers. Not to mention they are the most favored class for botting.

Every profession is viable for all content in the game. However, if you rank said professions Ranger would be at the bottom, or near the bottom because the pet mechanic is the worst of all the class mechanics.

If you ranked players on this forum from competent to has no idea what they’re talking about, you’d be at the latter end with almost everyone else on the forum.

Rangers are fine, it’s bow camping bads who are the problem.

colesy.8490:

If you ranked players on this forum from competent to has no idea what they’re talking about, you’d be at the latter end with almost everyone else on the forum.

Rangers are fine, it’s bow camping bads who are the problem.

uh-huh, because most of us who have lvl80 rangers among other classes (or all) know nothing. Rangers rrrock! heh

colesy.8490:

If you ranked players on this forum from competent to has no idea what they’re talking about, you’d be at the latter end with almost everyone else on the forum.

Rangers are fine, it’s bow camping bads who are the problem.

Well, there’s a bit of dissonance (some of it that is deserved, and some that isn’t) that is at the heart of THAT particular problem.

Nearly every “fantasy” based MMO has an “archer-type” class that fights from range, and at first glance, it seems like the Ranger falls right into it. At the surface, it looks just like WoW’s Hunter class. Even the class description by Arena.net labeled rangers unparalleled masters of the bow.

But the actual class itself DOESN’T fit the archetype much at all. Rangers really are a melee class. Their best damage, much like all the other non-spellcasting classes, is done up close. In theory, they are a little bit versatile than the other physical damage classes when it comes to ranged options, but Rangers are still an inside/outside class rather than the reverse.

uh-huh, because most of us who have lvl80 rangers among other classes (or all) know nothing. Rangers rrrock! heh

If you have a level 80 ranger and still think they’re bad, you’re playing it wrong.

Traited frost spirit, spotter and a main-hand sword in a dungeon will boost your own and your group’s DPS, and the sword does good damage as well. But I’m guessing you’re just a wrongbow/bear camper? Do you even run full berserker?

Do not bother. We have a single powerful build right now and i will let you guess what will happen to it in 2-3 patches. After spirit rangers are nerfed you will be left spamming your Longbow hitting target once with every 5 attacks.

chemiclord.3978:

But the actual class itself DOESN’T fit the archetype much at all. Rangers really are a melee class. Their best damage, much like all the other non-spellcasting classes, is done up close. In theory, they are a little bit versatile than the other physical damage classes when it comes to ranged options, but Rangers are still an inside/outside class rather than the reverse.

Yet you hardly ever see a ranger pull out a blade in high-end content. Yes, while leveling, but in final build it’s just not the norm at all. More often you will see a warrior back off and unload from ranged though, at least until recovered.

Everyone has different preferences as to class. Unlike most I prefer different professions in different situations. As to the ranger being best that depends on how you play the game. I have all the professions available and use them all.

Rangers are good In PvE but all classes can be used there. Against champions and world bosses their weaker armor makes long range attack a big advantage. The pet is a useful tank against normal foes and veterans but tends to die quickly against higher ones.

They are useful in WvW but their pet is still weak due to the AI. Then the Necro’s minions are even worse. In both cases the GW1 versions were better. Their ranged attacks and ability to use speed is a bonus but most of their ranged skills are single target.

Yet you hardly ever see a ranger pull out a blade in high-end content. Yes, while leveling, but in final build it’s just not the norm at all. More often you will see a warrior back off and unload from ranged though, at least until recovered.

The reason you hardly ever se a ranger pull out a blade in high-end content is because almost all rangers are bad. I’m not even trying to be a scumbag in saying this, the ranger class just draws a disproportionate number of bads because they think they can camp range, whereas people know guardians and warriors are heavy melee classes and play accordingly most of the time. Little do most people also know that a ranger is better in melee.

Rangers are good In PvE but all classes can be used there. Against champions and world bosses their weaker armor makes long range attack a big advantage.

Full glass mesmer here going full melee on champions and world bosses. Most of the time if you range in this game, it’s out of sheer laziness. Open world PvE is more excusable, but it’s unacceptable in dungeons.

colesy.8490:

Full glass mesmer here going full melee on champions and world bosses. Most of the time if you range in this game, it’s out of sheer laziness. Open world PvE is more excusable, but it’s unacceptable in dungeons.

I tend to range more in large zerg groups, simply because I like seeing what I’m doing. In small group/dungeon formats… get in there or go home, ranger.

colesy.8490:

uh-huh, because most of us who have lvl80 rangers among other classes (or all) know nothing. Rangers rrrock! heh

If you have a level 80 ranger and still think they’re bad, you’re playing it wrong.

Traited frost spirit, spotter and a main-hand sword in a dungeon will boost your own and your group’s DPS, and the sword does good damage as well. But I’m guessing you’re just a wrongbow/bear camper? Do you even run full berserker?

Like I said, I use a spider and not a bear. SB is far better because I can get in range of group buffs. The only reason to pull out a LB is to build quick stacks or solo like most rangers seem to do, or use the LB to grief other players. There are far better classes that deal the sword, and that I don’t need to keep reviving.

World PvE: Good, just like every other class since generic PvE is terribly easy; you tend to die less due to most gibs being melee ranged.
PvE dungeons: Pretty much on the bottom unless you’re good with GS/Sword meleeing.
sPvP: Definitely above average with spirit build, else only good in hotjoin.
WvW: Bad zerg cohesion, bad solo ability.

It’s a question looking for a very subjective answer.

I have my most fun in game playing my rangers…

,however what I find fun and what you do may be totaly different. My best answer to you is to find your own answer by playing one. If you start disliking it delete it, if not keep playing it. It’s that simple.

Red Falcon.8257:

World PvE: Good, just like every other class since generic PvE is terribly easy; you tend to die less due to most gibs being melee ranged.
PvE dungeons: Pretty much on the bottom unless you’re good with GS/Sword meleeing.
sPvP: Definitely above average with spirit build, else only good in hotjoin.
WvW: Bad zerg cohesion, bad solo ability.

extremely wrong on the last two. Spirit rangers aren’t just good but in the top and saying they’re only good for hotjoin is plain funny… Same thing for solo roaming, spirit rangers are extremely effective for 1v1’s and have very good mobility. Outside spirits there’s nothing worth mentioning since BM overnerf.

Compare the dps and survivability to other classes yourself. Fanboys will tell you that the Ranger is fine as is, and people that have played the Ranger class since GW1 will tell you that it sucks. I can tell you from personal experience, because I’ve played GW1, that the Ranger class has sucked and will continue to suck for the rest of GW2’s career.

But you don’t have to take other people’s opinion on it. Just compare for yourself.

Outside of professional level players, any class will perform roughly equally well. Yes, pro-level players can push DPS to the max and find a true optimal class, but outside of them, you’ll be fine. And no offense intended, but chances are you aren’t a pro player.

Galtrix.7369:

Compare the dps and survivability to other classes yourself. Fanboys will tell you that the Ranger is fine as is, and people that have played the Ranger class since GW1 will tell you that it sucks. I can tell you from personal experience, because I’ve played GW1, that the Ranger class has sucked and will continue to suck for the rest of GW2’s career.

But you don’t have to take other people’s opinion on it. Just compare for yourself.

Funny, because I’ve played Ranger since GW1 and think it’s… I dunno if I’d say “fine”, as there are many mechanics that at least need some attention (like Pet AI), but I hang in there with the big damage dealers just fine, thank you very much.

tl;dr version: Your claim is incorrect, because Ranger certainly doesn’t suck.

chemiclord.3978:

Galtrix.7369:

Compare the dps and survivability to other classes yourself. Fanboys will tell you that the Ranger is fine as is, and people that have played the Ranger class since GW1 will tell you that it sucks. I can tell you from personal experience, because I’ve played GW1, that the Ranger class has sucked and will continue to suck for the rest of GW2’s career.

But you don’t have to take other people’s opinion on it. Just compare for yourself.

Funny, because I’ve played Ranger since GW1 and think it’s… I dunno if I’d say “fine”, as there are many mechanics that at least need some attention (like Pet AI), but I hang in there with the big damage dealers just fine, thank you very much.

tl;dr version: Your claim is incorrect, because Ranger certainly doesn’t suck.

Is it the Ranger doesn’t suck or everyone you grouped with sucked which made you have a inflated opinion of your own abilities?

Fact of the matter is that a Ranger was in the group for the CoF speed clear which currently holds the top time. It’s a really simple question. If the Ranger was so good, why didn’t the group drop one of their Thieves in favor of a second Ranger? It’s not like the Thief brought any utility to the group. The Thief is the only class in the game to provide less utility than a Ranger.

The class is bottom tier. If the class lived up to your opinion of it, more people would have taken notice of it. Rangers would be called out in WvW to provide something useful. Berserker Warriors wouldn’t be the only class wanted in triplicate in groups. The class would have had another option than always the Bunker/Regen build with condis in sPvP.

This is still an MMO and word travels quick. If the Ranger was good it would have a better reputation in this game than it does. There’s just so very much wrong with the class and so very little effort has been done to improve it I’m honestly curious if they removed the class tomorrow if anyone but the actual Ranger players would notice.