Guild Wars 2

I’ve been playing quite a bit since launch, my main being a ranger. However, after all this time I still haven’t been able to find a class I am really comfortable with. In every mmo since EQ1 I’ve played straight forward ranged dps classes. In this game however, there always seems to be some kind of compromise or drawback I don’t like.

Rangers main issues; I don’t want to depend on pets, especially ones that are borderline useless in pvp (low health, pathing issues, slow attack animations). Plus arrows can be dodged easily, unlike rifles. You also need to be flanking to do damage, which is difficult in a 1on1 situation.

I tried the warrior, and while it seems to have way higher burst then a Ranger, their sustained damage does not seem to be viable as a pure ranged class.

I tried Engineer rifle, and I am not really sure this is even a ranged option as pretty much only the auto-attack has any range worth mentioning. (Grenades are fun, but I doubt they are viable in sPvP..?)

Elementalists are interesting, but the damage seems subpar in every build I tried. The ackward mechanic of constantly having to change attunement also annoyed me somewhat. Possible L2P issue admittedly, but unimpressive so far at least.

Anyone?

Something makes me think any profession you try will be below average performance.

They’re all “viable”… though I have my own personal preferences.

you can’t really play a ranger successfully on pure range in this game and you have to rely on your pet…sure, he doesn’t help you that much in PvP-situations, other than supporting maybe (Heal, Buffs etc)
but a smart choice of pets is awesome in 1on1 situations (cave-spider stuns, for instance)
tho, there are almost none of such situations…
most people choos the bear in WvWvW…it seems to have the highest defense

sure, longbow arrows are easy to dodge, but got superior range (up to 1500) and your enemy can’t dodge them endlessly (2 times and he have to regain endurance w/o buffs/skills)
and to keep that range, i got a sword as secondary weapon to dodge attacks and get range with skill 2 as well as increase my critical chance with my offhand-horn
also equipped the skill “lightning reflexes”…it removes any kind of stun, damages a little and let you dodge a huge step backwards as well as it buffs you with faster endurance regeneration

maxed traits on Damage and Crit and the rest goes either to toughness/vitality, or to your pet-stats

i do about 50% dmg on range, about 5% with my sword/horn DoT, 20% with conditions, such as bleeding and the rest is dealt by my pet
i’ll try it with 10 on beastmastery soon

but it really seems that the ranger is not designed to do ranged damage only…not in GW2, which handles alot things different than other mmo’s

TL;DR
no, i can’t see any viable pure ranged dps build in this game other than by elementalists (or warriors, maybe…)

Mesmer is perfectly viable for range with Greatsword. You don’t need Illusions or shattering in order to dish out strong damage, though they’re great as a supplement. Once you learn the class and get a good build going, your DPS will be pretty huge for just range, though it’s single target primarily.

Dual pistol thief ? too short a range for PvP or WvW maybe ?

A lot of people seem to be throwing around the word “viable” of late, especially in relation to Rangers, but I don’t think many seem to know it’s meaning: “capable of working successfully”.

LB/SB Ranger is not only viable it is effective… Assuming, of course, that you make use of all of the skills from both bows and don’t just press #1 on the SB and go to make coffee.

Sokar Rostau.7316:

A lot of people seem to be throwing around the word “viable” of late, especially in relation to Rangers, but I don’t think many seem to know it’s meaning: “capable of working successfully”.

LB/SB Ranger is not only viable it is effective… Assuming, of course, that you make use of all of the skills from both bows and don’t just press #1 on the SB and go to make coffee.

Except that you can’t hit moving targets. If any target is not coming right at you or running away from you, then your bow attacks will miss. It get’s worse if you and the target is moving.

Ranger is quite frankly a big joke and they suck at ranged weapons.

I use LB/SB with range at 1500 and find it most enjoyable.

Ranger is currently the class that kills a target the quickest with the least effort and danger.

If it wasn’t, all bots would be another class.

pandemos.3497:

They’re all “viable”… though I have my own personal preferences.

I am sure they are all viable.. I just haven’t found any pure ranged, no-pets builds yet that seem good enough for sPvP. Hopefully there is one (or several) that someone here can point out for me.

mulch.2586:

Something makes me think any profession you try will be below average performance.

That’s incredibly helpful and insightful! Thank you! Something makes me think you’re a clueless douchébag.

wauwi.9162:

your enemy can’t dodge them endlessly (2 times and he have to regain endurance w/o buffs/skills)

That’s the thing, they don’t have to use the evade skill at all. A gentle tapping of “a” and “d” to strafe back and forth a little bit is sufficient to evade nearly 100% of a rangers attack if the distance is more then 600-700ish. Unlike a rifles attack, which can not be dodged in this manner at all. In my opinion this seems pretty broken.

Arius.7031:

Mesmer is perfectly viable for range with Greatsword. You don’t need Illusions or shattering in order to dish out strong damage

Thanks, I’ll look into that. I did try a phantasm based dmg build a little while, which seemed decent. Still not to fond of the whole “pet” thing, but I’ll give a greatsword build a go.

Sokar Rostau.7316:

A lot of people seem to be throwing around the word “viable” of late, especially in relation to Rangers, but I don’t think many seem to know it’s meaning: “capable of working successfully”.

LB/SB Ranger is not only viable it is effective…

This is what I have been playing lately, and while I agree it’s likely a good WvW setup, I am still not convinced it’s viable (and yes I know what it means) in a competetive sPvP setting.

I think for ranged Warrior is the better choice, or perhaps Mesmer, I sure enjoy playing one (LB/SB ranger since day one)