Guild Wars 2

Hello everyone,

I am still fairly new to Guild Wars 2. I have a level 29 Sylvari Ranger, a level 15 Asura Engineer, and a level 33 Charr Guardian. I enjoy all 3 of them. That said, I am looking to take a character to 80 (I haven’t got a level 80 character as of yet). The problem is, I can’t decide what type of character I want that to be.

I keep hearing a lot of people complaining that Ranger is all sorts of terribad in end game content and PvP/WvW. However at the moment my Ranger is becoming easily my favorite character due to the ranged component.

What I want is a character that excels at ranged combat, but which isn’t all that horrible at end game content, PvP, or WvW. A character who would be welcome in Dungeons and Fractals. But who can do solo PvE just as easily.

If that makes any kind of sense? Truth be told I am unsure whether what I want even really exists in the game.

Any suggestions would be welcome.

Just play what you enjoy. Unless you’re super competitive, or a super serious farmer, a class you enjoy is going to be a lot more fun in the long run that whatever happens to be popular at the moment. Plus, if you’re a fan of the core mechanics, rather than just a statistical advantage, your experience isn’t going to get turned upside down by some unexpected nerf or new content.

I can’t speak much for dungeons or fractals, since I usually do them on my main, but my Ranger alt has never had any real trouble with soloing PvE, much less big group events in PvE.

You can use everything to solo in PvE.

Ranger is very viable in PvP and WvW.

They are looked down upon in dungoens. They can do well if you play a sword/x ranger with frost spirit and spotter trait, with high dps pets like jaguar and birds, and micro-manage your pet well. Rangers are looked down upon because there are so many bad people playing this profession, they rock double bear/bow and provide little to the party.

Guardian will be most PUG friendly for dungeons. I think all of your 3 listed are good in PvP/WvW

My recommendation would be to play an Elementalist. The class features a good amount of melee(D/D), medium(Scepter) and long range(Staff) combat. The class is one of the most versatile in the game as you can adapt to any situation with relative ease.
They are in demand for WvW due to all the utility (CC, Heals, Water fields, Static Fields, Reflecting Auras etc.) they bring.
I don’t like doing FoTM personally but ive never had anyone complain about having an elementalist in the party. Also having one in certain dungeons (Ex: Frost bow on Burrows in Ascalonian Catacombs) can make things a breeze.
In sPVP you won’t see many elementalists or at least many good ones, since the D/D meta died out most people stay away from them. I personally still enjoy playing Ele in spvp and there are still viable builds.
The elementalist is not an easy class to learn to play compared to lets say a Guardian or a Ranger and if you decide to make one expect your face in the dirt a few times. But once you learn to play one and play one well it’s a lot of fun

Ranger gets a bad rep, in part because of it’s limitations in team composition.

Having said that it makes a good roaming class and ultimately it comes down to you. I’ve seen some amazing rangers in PvP and WvW.

As a sterotype a ranger than runs only a signet build using only s/b, l/b and no idea of other weapon sets would my definition of a bad ranger.

Ultimately it comes down to what you enjoy using and I don’t think anyone would kick you from a group just because your a ranger.

A good ranger is better than a bad warrior.

SoPP, I assume you mean “As a stereotype, a ranger that runs only a signet build using only Shortbow/Longbow and who has no idea of other weapon sets would be my definition of a bad ranger”?

I currently working on a Longbow/Greatsword build with my Ranger that uses the slotskills; Healing Spring, Quickening Zephyr, Signet of the Wild, Signet of Stone, and either the Elites Rampage as One, Entangle, or Take Root depending on the situation I find myself in.

I would be using a 30/20/20/0/0 Traits Build with the following Trait Abilities:

Marksmanship: I; Steady Focus, X; Eagle Eye, XI; Signet of the Beastmaster
Skrimishing: II; Sharpened Edges, X; Quick Draw
Wilderness Survival: IV; Vigorous Renewal, VIII; Oakheart Salve

That is after discussing staying with Ranger with my Guild and listening to all of your opinions. Now, I am unsure if a Signet Build using Longbow and Greatsword is optimal, but it is the style of combat that I feel most comfortable with atm. I also feel that I am comfortable enough with the Ranger that if the need arises I could comfortably switch to a different weapon set and slot skill set up if I wanted to at a later date and given some time to practice with it, could probably do fairly well. But while leveling I figure that this build is probably the build that I will feel the most comfortable with.

Any thoughts?

Just play what you enjoy. In any case I’ll do a recap on classes I have experience with:

Warrior is just like King Conan. You passionately crush into the frey and hack around. It features good Offensive support with wee bit broken Defense mechanisms. It’s as Vanilla as it gets :P.

Guardian is an interesting class. Anyhow he is a Defense specialist with the propagation of Aegis, Resolve etc. Tho I find him a bit weak at DPS side, I don’t mind that seeing how that actually fits his design. A class for those that like group wide Defensive manouveres.

Engineer is a zoning specialist and one of the most versatile classes. Unexpectedly resilient to boot. Take him if you like static gameplay and planning in advance and/or like Turrets/bombs etc.

Ranger is a very fun class to play. With the downgrade of Spirits unbound down to master lvl, they’ll get pretty versatile. I love him beyond any measure(use sharpening stone, pull them into a fire trap and launch a volley with a LB). Good for solo to boot(some pets tank for you if you manage them properly!). What’s not to like(hmm…Sword 1 >.<)

Thief is fun and VERY resilient when you don’t run the usual zerk nonsense. I am using Heavy swiftness/vigour/mobility build and there is nothing that can kill me. I have that many dodges(RfI, WD, Sig of Ag, 30 Acrobatics, Runes of speed, … LOVE IT). Use it with Sword/x for ultimate awesomeness. Can’t wait to get better init regen!

Necro, when played correctly, flatout refuses to die and puts an astounding amount of damage at the same time. Mostly through condis and debuffs, but still. One of my favourites.

Ele is a piano player’s class( ). Nah jk. It is good, but too squishy for me and that hinders me from playing it even when I love the concept(and two elements to boot-three if you count Arcane as an element). It is also pretty different between which weapon you use. Daggers require good reflexes and an even better build. Sceptre/Focus basically requires other players. Staff requires a tactical mind. I don’t really know what to think of him tbh.

Mesmer-no idea. It seems strange, but on a rather tantalising way. I think that I’ll like it seeing how I loved GW 1 mes.

And remember my words(I’ll write in caps so you never ever forget this):

THIS IS YOUR GAME. YOUR TIME. YOUR MONEY SPENT. NEVER AND I MEAN NEVER LET SOMEONE DICTATE YOUR PLAYSTYLE. EVERY CLASS IS VIABLE AS LONG AS YOU ARE HAVING FUN. AND THAT SHOULD BE THE POINT OF EVERY GAME. TO HAVE FUN IN YOUR OWN, PERSONALISED WAY.

Never forget the caps’d truth…

Todays underpowered class will be overpowered the next patch. Don’t let balance scare you from a class.