Guild Wars 2

Hi, I want to start PvP with my ranger. I read the sticky above on New to PvP? It helps a bit, but I am unsure about positioning. I want to play a condi/tank ranger to start. What should be my role? Is there still a Hot Join? Is it pretty much required to have TS and a mic?

Fight side points and plus one fights.
Yes.
No.

Hi Benjamin. Thanks for the reply. What are side points and plus one fights?

Side points are Far and Home. Plus one fights are fights that your team has an extra player (you). Check out metabattle.com for builds once you learn them experiment and see what you like to play.

hotjoin is cancer, play it some to get a feel for the maps, but realize you can just abuse spectating to give everyone a free win through autobalance. move to unranked asap.

Thanks Zoso and insanemaniac. I’ve watched some learn PvP videos by Wooden Potatoes, so I can see the downsides to Hot Join, for sure. I do need to learn the maps though, so gonna have to bite the bullet for a bit on that.

As a condi/tank ranger, do I want to stay on a point and defend it once I have it (assuming a lot there!), or go between Home and Far? If I see a teammate going down do I stay put or go help them? I guess I’m just unsure if I should be roaming or defending point? Also, once I get into soloQ I just want to understand what my teammates would expect of me so I don’t tick people off too badly!

https://forum-en.gw2archive.eu/forum/game/pvp/How-to-make-a-difference-in-Solo-Q-s/first#post4662000

Link can help you out a bit.

Zoso.8279:

https://forum-en.gw2archive.eu/forum/game/pvp/How-to-make-a-difference-in-Solo-Q-s/first#post4662000

Link can help you out a bit.

That’s great Zoso! Thanks!

I play a condi ranger and mainly rotate between home and far. Rangers are pretty prone to cc dmg so mid isn’t a place you want to fight in unless its needed. The most important things to remember is know when to fight and when to disengage. trying to 2v1 or 3v1 is a useless waste and gives the other team more points. Don’t fight off a point. If its a 1v1 and u down your enemy and they are off point, cleave them out with your ranged attack since it takes longer to cleave them then stomp them thus keeping them off the battleground longer. That’s something that comes with time, knowing when you can cleave vs stomp. Your toughest opponents are generally guards and mesmers. Guards have so much condi clear its hard to take them down. A shatter Mesmer will melt you in seconds if they are good. Sadly, rangers do not offer a lot when it comes to team support like a bunker guard or the like. Spirit rangers offer the most team support in the class but it still pales in comparison to a bunker guard.
Being an effective condi ranger is knowing how to stack bleeds which is positioning. Learning to kite effectively will allow you to stack your condi’s while staying alive. I run sb and s/d mainly because of the melee evades you get along with the poisons. Shortbow is great for bleeds but its positional. You need to be flanking to stack them.
The best advice is to just practice. Get into unranked matches and learn by trial and error.
Find a build that best suits your playstyle and learn it inside out. That way you will learn your strengths and weaknesses. Metabattle offers some decent condi builds which I have used but tweaked them to suit my playstyle. Remember, just because its a meta build doesn’t make you good. Find what works for you, practice, learn basic map rotations, LOS in each map so where you know you can be effective. Hope this helps and GL.

Awesome advice Androlan! It’s great to get the perspective of a condi ranger. I must say I’m having a hard time with the sword but I can see it’s usefulness is disengaging. I made a post about a week ago in the ranger forum and got some advice on builds. As far as that goes now I guess I will just need to experiment a bit. I just didn’t want to go full glass as I don’t have enough experience with the class yet.

Glad I could help. I did want to mention, use signet of the hunt vs stone. The passive movement speed increase is great for moving fast from home to far. You sacrifice some armor with the loss of signet of stone but the speed makes up for it. If your build is right, you should have about 8 condi cleanse which is great vs necro’s or other condi builds.
As for weapon choice, I avoid the axe just because I don’t like its playstyle but its a personal preference. IMO, you need a ranged weapon, ie shortbow and melee weapons, ie sword/dagger but again, its preference. If your on point and a warrior or whatever closes the gap on you, you need good melee weapons because its too hard to kite them especially on maps where some areas don’t have a ton of room to kite. IF you have any other questions, feel free to pm me here or in game. Glad to help

Great! Thanks again. I really appreciate the help. I’ll add you to my friends list in game in case I have questions