Guild Wars 2

So here is either a minor or just my problem. Do not know what i am doing wrong. I am a lvl 33 Ranger. I have a lvl 29 bow, for some reason to me, getting any bow drops is like finding a needle in a hays stack. Seriously, i can get any other weapon but never/barely a bow. So here are my issues, I am using a Long Bow, when attacking with my bow, i did little damage, takes a good time to kill the mob. I pretty much start with the following Hunters Shot, then Rapid Fire, and auto Long Rage Shot. The other 2 are only when truly needed.

However, if I use my 2nd weapons, one handed sword lvl 31 green, 1 dagger lvl 30 blue. I can kill my mob in just seconds. I can truly get like 5 mobs at the same time and kill them all in no time with barely getting touch.

Why is this possible? how can i be a ranger but do more damager with my sword/dagger than my bow?

And what should i be working with when it comes to stats? Power? Vitality? healing? condition damage? Precision? any other just do not make sense for me. I do have more power and precision since i think it will be better for me. And the same for Traits.

Sorry for the long post. Just wanted to be clear.

Well you will want to be looking for a short bow, not a long bow. Short bow is the best weapon for a ranger. Also keep in mind your overall damage, which I am sure you know, is derived from not only weapon damage but overall stats, jewelry and build, so take alook at all of that as well
I would think, having played a ranger solely in beta that you will want shortbow-axe +warhorn setup. A more experience ranger please crrect me if I am wrong

shortbow -axe+ warhorn is very good… shortbow- 2h or shortbow- sword+warhorn works well too… All depends on your playstyle really.

I’m a level 32 ranger and run a short bow + a long bow. The short bow does much better with damage than the long bow. I have found the long bow is effective for knockbacks and the AOE ability but that is about it. With the long bow using something like bleed makes it a little better.

Vitality will help your increase your HP but power does increase your attack and precision will increase your crit.

My opinion would be to use a short bow or go with a axe or something as primary and switch to long bow when needed. I have noticed it is difficult to use the long bow as the primary especially when soloing.

I am a level 33 Ranger, mainly doing solo exploration, and have been using almost exclusively a Longbow as my main weapon. I have tried all the weapon combination and currently have a Shortbow in the second weapon slot. I carry around a greatsword, sword, horn, torch, axe and dagger, but rarely use them.

For the Longbow to be effective, you need to use it in conjunction with other things.
Here is my usual approach:
1- get within range of mob
2- set a trap (spike or viper)
3- fire Hunters Shot to place vulnerability condition and boost pet speed
4- send pet to attack
5- start rapid fire, if mob advances, kite so mob triggers trap
7- fire the push back shot and send pet to attack again.

Most mobs are dead by now, if not then repeat the cycle, using the trap you did not use the first time.

If I’m feeling good, I’ll pull a couple of mobs at once with an initial Barrage shot to get their attention, and draw them onto pre-set traps, then pick them off using the above.

Longbow is not a one-shot, insta-kill. You need to work though the cycle and use your pet and traps.

Wow i did not know there was such a different between short and long bow. I will search for a short bow. As said, i have not being lucky with bow drops. I think thru all my runs, i have had 5 bow drops.

Also, i should stop using my sword/dagger and switch to axe and warhorn? Ok, i will give it a try. I really did and still enjoy the whole sword/dagger experience. As said, with them i am able to kill multiple monsters at the same time with no worries. But i will search for a good Axe and Warhorn.

Also, i will check my build. What do you guy recommend when it comes to Traits. I have being working on Marksmanship and Wilderness Survival, and a few points on Skirmish and Beastmastery. I will also check my outfit/armor/jewelry.

bri.2359:

I am a level 33 Ranger, mainly doing solo exploration, and have been using almost exclusively a Longbow as my main weapon. I have tried all the weapon combination and currently have a Shortbow in the second weapon slot. I carry around a greatsword, sword, horn, torch, axe and dagger, but rarely use them.

For the Longbow to be effective, you need to use it in conjunction with other things.
Here is my usual approach:
1- get within range of mob
2- set a trap (spike or viper)
3- fire Hunters Shot to place vulnerability condition and boost pet speed
4- send pet to attack
5- start rapid fire, if mob advances, kite so mob triggers trap
7- fire the push back shot and send pet to attack again.

Most mobs are dead by now, if not then repeat the cycle, using the trap you did not use the first time.

If I’m feeling good, I’ll pull a couple of mobs at once with an initial Barrage shot to get their attention, and draw them onto pre-set traps, then pick them off using the above.

Longbow is not a one-shot, insta-kill. You need to work though the cycle and use your pet and traps.

Thats not a bad idea when it comes to traps. The only issues is that i have to either come in close or kite the mobs to tricker the trap. For that matter, i use them only when they come close to me, especially fire traps. Right after i use push back attack. and rapid fire to use the current fire to burn them.

bri.2359:

I am a level 33 Ranger, mainly doing solo exploration, and have been using almost exclusively a Longbow as my main weapon. I have tried all the weapon combination and currently have a Shortbow in the second weapon slot. I carry around a greatsword, sword, horn, torch, axe and dagger, but rarely use them.

For the Longbow to be effective, you need to use it in conjunction with other things.
Here is my usual approach:
1- get within range of mob
2- set a trap (spike or viper)
3- fire Hunters Shot to place vulnerability condition and boost pet speed
4- send pet to attack
5- start rapid fire, if mob advances, kite so mob triggers trap
7- fire the push back shot and send pet to attack again.

Most mobs are dead by now, if not then repeat the cycle, using the trap you did not use the first time.

If I’m feeling good, I’ll pull a couple of mobs at once with an initial Barrage shot to get their attention, and draw them onto pre-set traps, then pick them off using the above.

Longbow is not a one-shot, insta-kill. You need to work though the cycle and use your pet and traps.

I do the same thing, sometimes starting with the AoE. The problem is timers. If you are a level or 2 below the target, you can easily kill him using the above method but if 1 or 2 additional mobs join in during the fight, your timers are all on cool down and you end up with little DPS. I created other classes and I’m pretty sure none were able to use the long bow. At any rate, it seems like a special weapon for the ranger and like it should be more effective at DPS. I may switch out to a short bow after reading this thread. Also, I tend to use a great sword as my alt weapon because the movement while fighting is easily predicted. Never used a horn.

So..just my 2 cents.

A shortbow ranger is a very effective condition based player.
The condition you are going to focus on as a short-bow ranger is the “bleed” condition.

Unlike a “dot”(damage over time), conditions such as bleed can be stacked. The higher the number of stacks, the more the condition hurts.

Keeping these things in mind, you should focus on the following:
a) Gear : Ravaging or Rampager’s have been my fav for leveling due to condition modifiers on it
b) Runes/Sigils : Choose the ones that add/prolong conditions etc:
The ones I used were the following:
Runes : Rune of Afflicted
Sigils: Sigil of Agony
c) Pets : I have used a lynx (pounce, the 2nd (f2) ablility). However, I always run a bear with it for survivability.

Once again, these are very personal choices but have worked extremely well for me.
Here is the build that I used at lvl 30.
http://www.gw2builds.org/create/bwe_1/ranger#2.0.3.3-3.12.13.10.3-10.10.10.0.0-4.8.12
Here is the build that I used at lvl 50.
http://www.gw2builds.org/create/bwe_1/ranger#2.0.3.3-3.12.13.10.3-20.20.10.0.5-4.7.8.7.12

In dungeons you’ll have to change your skills to some more survival based skills, run a few signets for pet toughness etc…but in world pve you won’t need to.

I hope this helps.

~~Cheers~~
Mintyfresh

holy stuff, there is so much in regards to thus kinda games lol. it hurts my brain lol.

@Mintyfresh – Out of curiousity, why would you choose to have Sharpening Stone on your bars if you’re also running Keen Edge in the level 50 build? Does using both make a noticeable difference?

Also, is Entangle really better for leveling than Rampage as One? It seems like it would be more valuable in PvP than general leveling…

Kesali.9724:

@Mintyfresh – Out of curiousity, why would you choose to have Sharpening Stone on your bars if you’re also running Keen Edge in the level 50 build? Does using both make a noticeable difference?

Also, is Entangle really better for leveling than Rampage as One? It seems like it would be more valuable in PvP than general leveling…

Keen edge is used regardless of whether Sharpening stone is up or not if my life hits the 75% mark(so it’s cooldown independent).
Also, the reason I pick entanglement as opposed to rampage as one is due to the following:
a) It does bleed dmg(and I did go for a bleed heavy build)
b) It does Mass CC, and very effective CC, with multiple mobs on me, not only do they get cc’d, they also suffer dmg during that timeframe and have to beat the hell outta the roots to get out.

Hope the reasons made sense

~~Cheers~~
Mintyfresh

Also, just to clarify, I did take rampage as one also, just that I chose entanglement first.

I run with one of the two depending on the zones…anywhere where I see undead thralls in bigger numbers, I always switch to entanglement because for some odd reasons they whoop my a** no matter what zone I’m in and pets can’t keep aggro on them.

Yea pets cant keep aggro. And my da** bear picks up a fight with everyone even those who i am not fighting with. Stupid bears.