Guild Wars 2

Hello all.

I play GW2 on and off and keep meaning to really give it the full commitment. My main is a max level ranger. So one of the things that has caused me to slow down a play less is that it seems that other players are a bit less than excited to have a ranger in their groups.

For instance, finding a Fractal group was difficult at best. I’d get a lot of replies, “sorry, we are hoping for a warrior/guardian/or whatever”. Even more often, I’d get a “hold on, let me check” then after a few min, “sorry, we are full”. I started thinking the internal question was “Do we want a ranger along?” with the reply, “Let’s wait a min to see if anyone else responds”.

Reading in the Ranger forum, there is a lot of QQing. Most forums are filled with QQing anyway – yet the ranger seems to have the most disgruntled players. Very odd with the GW2 released stats showing Rangers as the second most popular class – however I am thinking that is just how many were created, not actually played on an on going basis…

Anyway. Before I get back into GW2 and start the grind for legendary gear, I’m curious if it would just be better to leave the ranger behind and work on another profession. I don’t want to spend hours getting all tricked out only to have a class that’s not really wanted around by others. If it is the case, one day Rangers might be buffed – but MMOs can take years to address classes that have broken mechanics.

Would it be all right if we talked in-game? This is a pretty long-winded subject and I have some questions I’d like to ask.

This is similar to my problem. I want to roll a ranger but all the hate I’ve been seeing just doesn’t sit well.

Leviathan.7459:

This is similar to my problem. I want to roll a ranger but all the hate I’ve been seeing just doesn’t sit well.

Its not hate…

Its just players being realistic.

Rangers are great if you just do open world PvE and sPvP.

But everywhere else the pet mechanic of the Ranger becomes a negative. Your pet simply melts (including when you swap pets) vs bosses or foes with AoE attacks or in WvW. Also, your pet can aggro foes you just want or need to avoid, rather than fight. For example in fractals there is a spot where if you have a Ranger with you, the best method of doing it is have all Rangers/pets stand in a corner like ‘naughty’ little children, well the grown up classes complete that part.

When it comes to endgame content, all too often Rangers are a liability, rather than a help. Obviously a decent Ranger can still complete such content but it is made more difficult.

My guild runs dungeons with rangers all the time. But we’re a casual guild. If you’re speed clearing, you probably don’t want a ranger along. If you’re just hanging out and having a good time, rangers are perfectly fine.

To be clear, my guild doesn’t care if it takes 15 or 20 minutes longer to do a dungeon as long as everyone is having fun.

So if you’re having more fun with a ranger, bring a ranger.

tldr; join a guild with like minded people and you won’t have to delete with people who tell you how to play.

My main (and only level 80) character is a ranger. I’ve been playing her since launch and haven’t had a problem.

Admittedly I mainly do open-world PvE and when I do dungeons I’m most likely to form my own group and specify that I’m looking for people who haven’t done it before or aren’t confident of getting into a group and we’re going to do it at whatever pace we need to, without skipping. Or I’ll do it with my guild and again we’re not looking to speed clear or anything, just finish it.

But I’d be doing that no matter what profession I was playing, so to me it doesn’t make a difference if hardcore speed clear groups or high-end Fractal players don’t want rangers.

Meglobob.8620:

But everywhere else the pet mechanic of the Ranger becomes a negative. Your pet simply melts (including when you swap pets) vs bosses or foes with AoE attacks or in WvW. Also, your pet can aggro foes you just want or need to avoid, rather than fight. For example in fractals there is a spot where if you have a Ranger with you, the best method of doing it is have all Rangers/pets stand in a corner like ‘naughty’ little children, well the grown up classes complete that part.

Pets don’t attack anything unless the ranger attacks it first or it attacks the ranger and they don’t draw aggro (they used to, but it was changed a while ago). And if you don’t want the pet involved in the fight at all you could switch it to passive and then continue as if it’s not there.

I’ve actually been seeing Ranger becoming slightly more popular in dungeons because of Spotter and Frost Spirit. Can also get decent damage going with Sword/Warhorn or Axe and Cat/Bird pets

Rangers are actually fine, it’s just that 99.9% of rangers are wrongbow/bear camping bads.

Learn to use the class properly and you’ll help reduce the stigma that rangers have gotten.

Rangers are great, it’s just that so many people have played the class poorly, and now it has reflected back onto the community.

1. Pets
Problem with the class: Pets die too quickly in WvW AOE spam and are constantly 1 shot in dungeons due to their inability to dodge roll.

Problem with the players: Instead of being on top of the pet, commanding it to their side or sending it to attack, many rangers will either
A) Have the pet go through dungeons dead.
B) Have the pet accidentally attack and train a group of mobs onto the party and wipe.
C) Get a tanky, but extremely low DPS bear to auto attack throughout the entire dungeon.
D) Forgets to switch out pets before they die, therefore missing out on some additional DPS.
E) Some bosses require kiting to certain areas to be able to damage them (AC ghost skelk), ranger forgets the pet has aggro and lets the boss and pet duke it out for 5 minutes while the boss heals. Never presses F3.

2. Weapons

Problems with the class: Not every weapon is as good as the next. The preferred longbow doesn’t deal out nearly as much damage as a sword/torch.

Problems with the players: Most people equip a longbow and stand 1,500 units away from their party to avoid being hit inside dungeons. This typically leads to lazy behavior such as:
A) Forgetting how to dodge roll. When a 1 shot AOE happens to come their way, they die instantly because they’re so used to just standing in 1 spot being safe.
B) Not reviving other downed players because they’re not paying attention or don’t want to chance going down themselves.
C) Some bosses require players to kite them in certain places. If the ranger is uncooperative and stands in the back, immobile, while the boss switches aggro between the ranger and another player, it can make for a very bad time.
D) Refuses to change weapons. Will never equip anything other than longbow even if it’s a close-quarters fight.

Those are just some of the things I have seen rangers do. I main a ranger myself and I love the class, but a lot of people can’t, don’t, and won’t stay on top of their pets and can’t, don’t and won’t switch weapons.

I have to admit I’ve sometimes been guilty of sticking with my longbow when I know I’d be more effective with my other set (which happens to be sword/torch), but only in open-world PvE and only when it’s something like an invasion event where things are moving so quickly I don’t want to be stuck with a melee set while waiting to swap.

But I don’t understand doing that in dungeons. For one thing being able to swap weapons is one of the things that makes combat in this game fun. Sticking with just one weapon, and especially sticking to max range away from your group sounds both stupid and boring.

I don’t get that “camp with LB” mindset, tbh. Ranger S/D is one of the sexiest weapon combos in game … why not use it? Hell, the only real problem with it, is the AA self-root. As for pets, I typically run Jaguar for stealth-kill/Bleeds, and swap the secondary to fit what I’m stuck fighting. Drakes aren’t bad for “tank” needs, and at least do more direct damage than Bears.

Lvl 80 Ranger here, All i do is open world pve. I don’t like dungeons in mmo’s and will never have the Ascended gear. I’M fine in my all exotic gear and having a blast still playing. Got the game at launch and haven’t even started a new character because i like my Ranger so much. I now a lot of people qq about how bad we are in everything, so i solo only and don’t get into the how bad we suck stuff on the boards. I like playing my Ranger and love my pets. I play this game to have fun and not worry about the numbers.

No, lots of people aren’t QQing about how bad rangers are, they’re QQing about rangers who sit back with longbow and bear pet and do nothing to help their party.

Another level 80 ranger player here, using Longbow for ranged situations (mostly zergs and champs, the lag alone would kill me if i got closer), Sword/Dagger for up close and personal (including small groups) and Speargun for aquatic adventures (Piranhas are just cool).

It’s true that sometimes I do forget to dodge and/or F3 my pet out of harm’s way, most of the time however it is because I am distracted reviving people. Ranger pets can be quite squishy and that is a design flaw because I can lose half my damage output in one hit, but, more often than not, my pet (usually Wolf/Owl and Shark/Jelly) is keeping me alive far longer than I’d otherwise be.