Guild Wars 2

how are they in wvw? lots of mixed feedback. I feet that if i were to ever play a ranged class itd be a ranger because they can switch to GS if someone gets close. So just wanted some more feedback outside of just my server.

I run a S/D + SB ranger. I’m only level 20 atm but feel very confident even roaming solo in WvW. They are a solid class.

read and ask on their forums.. better venue

Adaneshade.2409:

I run a S/D + SB ranger. I’m only level 20 atm but feel very confident even roaming solo in WvW. They are a solid class.

Lolzers in my trousers.

Ranger is a bad class to start out on. It’s lacking self-synergy, and it’s an uphill battle all the way.

But if you like pain, go for it.

Speaking as an 80 ranger with 150+ skill points from wvw and an 80 thief with 50+ skill points.

Rangers are good for soloing camps.

My main is a ranger and I use it primarily for WvW. Built into survivability using a LB and S/T for the offset melee. Don’t know why people have so much pain playing this class….unless they want the FOTM instawin class, then I can see the problem.

Setch.2398:

Rangers are good for soloing camps.

Oh my god yes. I have to pull daisies out my butt to get a camp on my thief, but on a ranger it’s a cake walk.

Kincaidia.3192:

Adaneshade.2409:

I run a S/D + SB ranger. I’m only level 20 atm but feel very confident even roaming solo in WvW. They are a solid class.

Lolzers in my trousers.

Ranger is a bad class to start out on. It’s lacking self-synergy, and it’s an uphill battle all the way.

But if you like pain, go for it.

Speaking as an 80 ranger with 150+ skill points from wvw and an 80 thief with 50+ skill points.

I also have a thief with over 1000 current hours played on it. A s/d ranger will give any thief a run for their money if played properly. The highly evasive nature of the build causes a ton of initiative wasting for the thief. Don’t build glass cannon, stack toughness, condition damage, and vitality. Currently the only class I’ve not beaten in 1v1 vs 80s on a regular basis is mesmers.

I still find it hard to believe you could roam around freely with lvl 20 ranger, without all the significant traits and high level runes/armor.

To OP, i say don’t believe anything until you see proof or you play the class yourself

i play ranger as a support role in wvw. sb for quick damage output (although not much) and lb for aoe (the only skill useful when using lb compared to sb). just dun get in a 1v1 situation, especially with thief… will go badly. stand behind the zerg to give support fire… will get lots of badges 2800 badges with 11k kill so far.

solo camp is easily achieveable… but takes a long long time to kite.

Believe what you wish…. There are plenty who would vouch for the accuracy of my claims.

Adaneshade.2409:

Believe what you wish…. There are plenty who would vouch for the accuracy of my claims.

I started wvw at level 2 on my ranger with a friend who was also starting a ranger. Once you get 2 pets (and are good a pet swapping) you are good to go.

Setch.2398:

Adaneshade.2409:

Believe what you wish…. There are plenty who would vouch for the accuracy of my claims.

I started wvw at level 2 on my ranger with a friend who was also starting a ranger. Once you get 2 pets (and are good a pet swapping) you are good to go.

Yup. Some people just want to play lazy. Sure you gotta work for your kills as an upleveled anything in WvW. But the fact that I’ve leveled from leaving the starter area (level 2) to my current level 20 as a solo roamer proves that it isn’t as far-fetched as some would have you believe. One player not being able to hack it doesn’t mean the rest can’t.

Adaneshade.2409:

Kincaidia.3192:

Adaneshade.2409:

I run a S/D + SB ranger. I’m only level 20 atm but feel very confident even roaming solo in WvW. They are a solid class.

Lolzers in my trousers.

Ranger is a bad class to start out on. It’s lacking self-synergy, and it’s an uphill battle all the way.

But if you like pain, go for it.

Speaking as an 80 ranger with 150+ skill points from wvw and an 80 thief with 50+ skill points.

I also have a thief with over 1000 current hours played on it. A s/d ranger will give any thief a run for their money if played properly. The highly evasive nature of the build causes a ton of initiative wasting for the thief. Don’t build glass cannon, stack toughness, condition damage, and vitality. Currently the only class I’ve not beaten in 1v1 vs 80s on a regular basis is mesmers.

You can’t expect people to believe this hogwash, now do you?

I have roughly 7000 kills as a Thief, with roughly 50 deaths (AS A GLASS CANON), and 5000 kills as a Ranger with rhoughly 200 deaths (BUNKER BEASTMASTERY BUILD). I also sport a 80 Warrior, and 80 Guardian.

You could not kill any of my 80 toons, let alone killing the ones with regen, while I was afk. A GOOD Thief doesn’t die, let alone to a Ranger of all classes. <laughs>

The nerve of some people. Honesty is a virtue, not something to be feared.

Overall I have found it a better class to play than my big old Guardian. It’ll be interesting to see how I develop her to 80. Nothing but fun so far…

Oh I should add that my Ranger is my intended WvW main, but right now she is only mid-forties, so I am still experimenting. Fun fun so far! Also I am running with LB/SB/Axe War Horn. I haven’t even tried a GS yet. Mainly I switch between LB/SB. If I want to get in peoples faces and swing away< I’ll take my Guardian to do it.

ghtchill.7613:

Overall I have found it a better class to play than my big old Guardian. It’ll be interesting to see how I develop her to 80. Nothing but fun so far…

I’m not sure it is better, but the Ranger is a lot funner than the Guardian. With the nerfs to the Guardian, it has become the least favorite of my toons.

It shouldn’t be your first class to try out in wvw. Once you learn how the game mechanics work on another character Ranger is a much smoother ride…and glass cannon rangers are the easiest kills in the game, get some toughness.

jkctmc.8754:

Adaneshade.2409:

Kincaidia.3192:

Adaneshade.2409:

I run a S/D + SB ranger. I’m only level 20 atm but feel very confident even roaming solo in WvW. They are a solid class.

Lolzers in my trousers.

Ranger is a bad class to start out on. It’s lacking self-synergy, and it’s an uphill battle all the way.

But if you like pain, go for it.

Speaking as an 80 ranger with 150+ skill points from wvw and an 80 thief with 50+ skill points.

I also have a thief with over 1000 current hours played on it. A s/d ranger will give any thief a run for their money if played properly. The highly evasive nature of the build causes a ton of initiative wasting for the thief. Don’t build glass cannon, stack toughness, condition damage, and vitality. Currently the only class I’ve not beaten in 1v1 vs 80s on a regular basis is mesmers.

You can’t expect people to believe this hogwash, now do you?

I have roughly 7000 kills as a Thief, with roughly 50 deaths, and 5000 kills as a Ranger with rhoughly 200 deaths. I also sport a 80 Warrior, and 80 Guardian.

You could not kill any of my 80 toons, let alone killing the ones with regen, while I was afk. A GOOD Thief doesn’t die, let alone to a Ranger of all classes. <laughs>

The nerve of some people. Honesty is a virtue, not something to be feared.

Ok, keep fighting baddies with glass cannon builds who use nothing but shortbow. I’m sure you will continue to farm kills. It’s painfully obvious you’ve never fought a ranger with a dueling build….. As for the afk bit, most laughable thing I’ve read in these forums to date.

Oh, and for the record, I never claimed to win every fight vs 80. Only stated that I do regularly kill players at that level. At some point skill differential supercedes the level difference.

Adaneshade.2409:

jkctmc.8754:

Adaneshade.2409:

Kincaidia.3192:

Adaneshade.2409:

I run a S/D + SB ranger. I’m only level 20 atm but feel very confident even roaming solo in WvW. They are a solid class.

Lolzers in my trousers.

Ranger is a bad class to start out on. It’s lacking self-synergy, and it’s an uphill battle all the way.

But if you like pain, go for it.

Speaking as an 80 ranger with 150+ skill points from wvw and an 80 thief with 50+ skill points.

I also have a thief with over 1000 current hours played on it. A s/d ranger will give any thief a run for their money if played properly. The highly evasive nature of the build causes a ton of initiative wasting for the thief. Don’t build glass cannon, stack toughness, condition damage, and vitality. Currently the only class I’ve not beaten in 1v1 vs 80s on a regular basis is mesmers.

You can’t expect people to believe this hogwash, now do you?

I have roughly 7000 kills as a Thief, with roughly 50 deaths, and 5000 kills as a Ranger with rhoughly 200 deaths. I also sport a 80 Warrior, and 80 Guardian.

You could not kill any of my 80 toons, let alone killing the ones with regen, while I was afk. A GOOD Thief doesn’t die, let alone to a Ranger of all classes. <laughs>

The nerve of some people. Honesty is a virtue, not something to be feared.

Ok, keep fighting baddies with glass cannon builds who use nothing but shortbow. I’m sure you will continue to farm kills. It’s painfully obvious you’ve never fought a ranger with a dueling build….. As for the afk bit, most laughable thing I’ve read in these forums to date.

Oh, and for the record, I never claimed to win every fight vs 80. Only stated that I do regularly kill players at that level. At some point skill differential supercedes the level difference.

You say I’m killing baddies, yet indicate you’re killing good players at level 20? Seriously?

Quit embarassing yourself.

The Ranger, and Necromancer needs buffs. To say otherwise proves a bias, probably towards your Thief. If you really do have a Theif with 1000 hours played, you and I both know both these classes are free kills for us.

Aside from that, there is a reason you have 1000 hours played as a Thief, and your Ranger is only level 20.

The difference between you, and me, is I have over 300 hours played on a Ranger, and have leveled 4 toons to 80, fully gearing them out in exotics. Unlike FOTM players, I want a balanced game.

jkctmc.8754:

ghtchill.7613:

Overall I have found it a better class to play than my big old Guardian. It’ll be interesting to see how I develop her to 80. Nothing but fun so far…

I’m not sure it is better, but the Ranger is a lot funner than the Guardian. With the nerfs to the Guardian, it has become the least favorite of my toons.

You’re right, bad wording. It is more fun though, definitely.I still play my Guardian as it was my first 80 in this game. I had an 80 hunter in WOW, which was not my main, but the mechanics are not at all alien to me. I sure miss that handy ice block thingy though…that was way handy.

Yeah, the reason for this is I just rolled ranger last week.
Don’t assume to know my motives. I agree that there are builds on several classes that need to be nerfed, especially on the thief.

As for FoTM, I’ve never been that. I’m willing to bet you’re a bullkitten cookie-cutter build on your thief (backstab or P/D amirite?). While I’ve taken the time to actually develop a tank build with S/D that’s not el-cheapo and actually takes some skill to play. (hence the 1k+ hours)

Adaneshade.2409:

Yeah, the reason for this is I just rolled ranger last week.
Don’t assume to know my motives. I agree that there are builds on several classes that need to be nerfed, especially on the thief.

As for FoTM, I’ve never been that. I’m willing to bet you’re a bullkitten cookie-cutter build on your thief (backstab or P/D amirite?). While I’ve taken the time to actually develop a tank build with S/D that’s not el-cheapo and actually takes some skill to play. (hence the 1k+ hours)

Actually, my first build on my Thief was Sword+Pistol defense build, that made my Guardian defense build look like a chump, once I realized there was no cooldown to the Omnom Pie, and 66% chance to life steal on crit was HUGE, once you utilized Devorer Venom, on top of Pistol Whip, getting healed from your food, and Signet of Malice. To make it even better, I could go into a 40 man zerg, steal from a Warrior, and stay full health with Dagger Storm, followed by Whirling Axes, creating enough havoc and chaos so that my team could clean house – and get away.

Now I run Sword+Dagger, changing my gear out for better damage. Sword #2 ability is the Thiefs best stun breaker, and I couldn’t use any other weapon set because of it.

How is your cookie cutter build?

I don’t like nerfs, and would never support a nerf to the Thief class. Nerfs cause for confusion, and forces people to relearn their class. I’d rather see the Ranger, and the Necromancer buffed instead.

Well, I can agree to a point with buffing certain builds for ranger. My argument is that rangers do have other options that work really well. We are just forced into melee builds (particularly S/D) to be really successful in 1v1 vs these thieves. My point to the OP is to not give up on the ranger until he tries a melee build.

Adaneshade.2409:

Believe what you wish…. There are plenty who would vouch for the accuracy of my claims.

How can people vouch for what you do solo?

I run GS + Axe/Warhorn. Our GS is pretty good for being a tanky bruiser, though it does fairly low damage. Our best assets is our ability to quickness revive people (with 2 second quickness on pet swap and QZ we have the most quickness in the game) with stability from Rampage As One and invuln from Signet of Stone and Healing Spring. Healing Spring is one of the most powerful WvW abilities when coupled with lots of blast finishers. A group with 2 Rangers and a few blast finisher classes like shortbow thieves and you can easily hold back zergs 3 or 4 times your size.

Ranger is in bad shape though. If you can pair with an Elementalist have them drop conjured weapons, which don’t suffer from the scaling and low damage issues of our weapons (because we’re designed around a pet that has zero scaling and is suppose to do 50% of our damage) and wreck people. The Lightning Hammer will blast your healing spring every 3rd autoattack (coupled with quickness you can pump out 15k in AoE heals in about 10 seconds) and the Fiery Greatsword is a great damage weapon that let’s you easily rush into groups with Signet of Stone and quickly get out with it’s double charging abilities. These weapons also scale very well with Rampage As One.

I can vouch our melee builds (and wolf pets) do amazing against thieves. Even managed some 2v1s against them. They usually wind up running away when they get low and are nearly impossible to chase.

AIMonster.8236:

I can vouch our melee builds (and wolf pets) do amazing against thieves. Even managed some 2v1s against them. They usually wind up running away when they get low and are nearly impossible to chase.

Sure, rangers are a great class. But the idea that this guy is solo roaming at level 20 is a bit hard to swallow.

I also take issue with the idea that you have to use a melee build to be good. It depends on what you’re doing, and what role you fill in a group.

Raincrow.1840:

Adaneshade.2409:

Believe what you wish…. There are plenty who would vouch for the accuracy of my claims.

How can people vouch for what you do solo?

Dueling in WvW, and they get a kick out of watching me solo vs people when roaming. Adds insult to injury when you lose to an upscaled in 1v1, and one on what’s considered a weak class at that.

Anyone from the [iRez] guild on Maguuma will be more than happy to back me up on this.

Open wide, it’s a big, scary pill….. :-P

Girls girls..you’re both pretty.

rangers are not weak as many people believe… at least not 1v1. I’d say its one of the stronger classes.

I “bomb” with my my melee ranger, damage isn’t great … I leave that bit to proper dps classes.

most people thinking 1vs1 is WvWvW but it is not.

WvWvW is masszerg, keep defense and keep attack.

comparing my ele with my ranger, it is like day and night.
my ele can dish out 10 times more overall damage/support than my ranger in the same situation/time.

As someone who has 5 level 80’s and wvw’s a lot, I’d say rangers are sub par overall. You will have less of an impact in a medium/large battle then pretty much any other class.

That said, a full glass cannon ranger in berserkers can be fun if you play smart. They do amazing dps on large groups, you just have to be careful not to kill yourself on all the retaliation/confusion/reflection, and not get caught by a thief or hammer warrior…

A full healing or evasion tank build is just garbage for large scale wvw. You can heal ok, but your dps sucks, and you really have nothing else to contribute other then having Lol fun with guard.

so then what class compares to an ele in ranged aoe?

Zaknafein.9576:

so then what class compares to an ele in ranged aoe?

Grenade Engi!?

i’m playing 5 * 80 in WvWvW as casual player (ele, warrior, engi, guardian, ranger)
Ranking them by usefullness in WvWvW it’s like (subjective grading):
1. ele
2. warrior
3. engi
4. guardian
5. ranger

I can vouch for adaneshade, I’ve dueled with and against him many times. On both his thief and ranger and I have seen him solo level 80’s on his ranger (not me though luckily, I’d feel terrible losing to anything but his annoying kitten S/D bunker thief, which I’ve beaten before as my ranger) I’ve always thought rangers would make a very good dueling class, especially the fast pacing and dodges a s/d ranger brings to fights, once we get a buff to a closer level to the norm I think we’ll be a much more feared class.

jkctmc.8754:

Adaneshade.2409:

jkctmc.8754:

Adaneshade.2409:

Kincaidia.3192:

Adaneshade.2409:

I run a S/D + SB ranger. I’m only level 20 atm but feel very confident even roaming solo in WvW. They are a solid class.

Lolzers in my trousers.

Ranger is a bad class to start out on. It’s lacking self-synergy, and it’s an uphill battle all the way.

But if you like pain, go for it.

Speaking as an 80 ranger with 150+ skill points from wvw and an 80 thief with 50+ skill points.

I also have a thief with over 1000 current hours played on it. A s/d ranger will give any thief a run for their money if played properly. The highly evasive nature of the build causes a ton of initiative wasting for the thief. Don’t build glass cannon, stack toughness, condition damage, and vitality. Currently the only class I’ve not beaten in 1v1 vs 80s on a regular basis is mesmers.

You can’t expect people to believe this hogwash, now do you?

I have roughly 7000 kills as a Thief, with roughly 50 deaths, and 5000 kills as a Ranger with rhoughly 200 deaths. I also sport a 80 Warrior, and 80 Guardian.

You could not kill any of my 80 toons, let alone killing the ones with regen, while I was afk. A GOOD Thief doesn’t die, let alone to a Ranger of all classes. <laughs>

The nerve of some people. Honesty is a virtue, not something to be feared.

Ok, keep fighting baddies with glass cannon builds who use nothing but shortbow. I’m sure you will continue to farm kills. It’s painfully obvious you’ve never fought a ranger with a dueling build….. As for the afk bit, most laughable thing I’ve read in these forums to date.

Oh, and for the record, I never claimed to win every fight vs 80. Only stated that I do regularly kill players at that level. At some point skill differential supercedes the level difference.

You say I’m killing baddies, yet indicate you’re killing good players at level 20? Seriously?

Quit embarassing yourself.

The Ranger, and Necromancer needs buffs. To say otherwise proves a bias, probably towards your Thief. If you really do have a Theif with 1000 hours played, you and I both know both these classes are free kills for us.

Aside from that, there is a reason you have 1000 hours played as a Thief, and your Ranger is only level 20.

The difference between you, and me, is I have over 300 hours played on a Ranger, and have leveled 4 toons to 80, fully gearing them out in exotics. Unlike FOTM players, I want a balanced game.

300+ is bit little to even really have a say on rangers…………

Kincaidia.3192:

Setch.2398:

Rangers are good for soloing camps.

Oh my god yes. I have to pull daisies out my butt to get a camp on my thief, but on a ranger it’s a cake walk.

lol, run throwing cluster bombs, and if they hit you, stealth, it is really easy…..

I’m an engineer which usually makes getting kills a hassle, but I’m always stomping rangers in WvW and I don’t even have a great explanation as to why. Whenever I’m about to get an easy-cheesy stomp on somebody it’s always a ranger, they’re often under-geared and look like they’re wearing peasant cloth.

With so many people playing rangers they’re like the generic fodder class. I love it.

Zaknafein.9576:

how are they in wvw? lots of mixed feedback. I feet that if i were to ever play a ranged class itd be a ranger because they can switch to GS if someone gets close. So just wanted some more feedback outside of just my server.

Mesmer does more ranged damage, more close range damage, has more survivability, more utility, and doesn’t rely on a bad AI pet to contribute 25% of their damage. Ranger is only moderately effective when played very defensively, and even then, they’re just food when targeted by two players because of the lack of solid escape options like stealth, invulnerability, blink.

There’s a reason why Thief/mesmer/ele is most of the WvW population.

Pinko.2076:

Zaknafein.9576:

how are they in wvw? lots of mixed feedback. I feet that if i were to ever play a ranged class itd be a ranger because they can switch to GS if someone gets close. So just wanted some more feedback outside of just my server.

Mesmer does more ranged damage, more close range damage, has more survivability, more utility, and doesn’t rely on a bad AI pet to contribute 25% of their damage. Ranger is only moderately effective when played very defensively, and even then, they’re just food when targeted by two players because of the lack of solid escape options like stealth, invulnerability, blink.

There’s a reason why Thief/mesmer/ele is most of the WvW population.

25%? Anet said 40% of our damage……

Zaknafein.9576:

how are they in wvw? lots of mixed feedback. I feet that if i were to ever play a ranged class itd be a ranger because they can switch to GS if someone gets close. So just wanted some more feedback outside of just my server.

Ive found some real nice Ranger with the 1500 range trait snipping from high hills, pretty good damage and conditions stack.

wtf is up with rangers being able to send their pets up onto the walls now? Even without LOS. i thought stuff like that was supposed to be fixed…

Longtomsilver.8031:

most people thinking 1vs1 is WvWvW but it is not.

WvWvW is masszerg, keep defense and keep attack.

comparing my ele with my ranger, it is like day and night.
my ele can dish out 10 times more overall damage/support than my ranger in the same situation/time.

Maybe the way YOU play WvW is. There are those of use more interested in experimental builds and solo play than being a zergling, though.

Oh, and even in group play, dps is not everything; but I understand that’s a typical mistake made by PvErs in PvP metas.

Ranger are just the worst WvW class.

0 use for them in a group or in a bus. Any other class will have more synergy with the team.
Ranger have a solid single DPS, problem is, you got to get celerity to have a real burst, so that’s one utility slot down for a 4 s burst every minute. Beside single DPS is nothing , you need good AoE in WvW, and ranger only got one, with 24s CD.
Elem will deal and CC more, mesmer have far more utility, necro deal more and more utiliy two.
Pet are just useless most of time.

You can 1v1 pretty well but you don’t have any good escape skill so you can’t roam solo like D/D ele or rogue.

Result: nothing good to do with it. You can still got some fun out of it, but if you’re looking for any kind of optimisation, ranger is not the class to go with.

Keep in mind i have a 450 skill point ranger with 30k+ kill, so i know what i’m talking about.

Zaknafein.9576:

how are they in wvw? lots of mixed feedback. I feet that if i were to ever play a ranged class itd be a ranger because they can switch to GS if someone gets close. So just wanted some more feedback outside of just my server.

Don’t want to talk you out of ranger, it has it’s charms but is a bit underpowered imo, even my staff ele doesn’t have problems at all with them when support spec’d and that tells a lot (all though I’ve learned to counter most/all classes, ranger is one of the easiest opponents to meet).
BUT the engineer (depending on spec) has better survivability, versatility and has also options to be played ranged, mid ranged and melee with weapon kit swaps not having any cooldowns in combat.

I like mine. I am a glass cannon, so I have to keep in mind to stay away from damage while dealing it…. and I do a fairly good job at it…

My theory is there is no reasonable reason to play a ranger in a manner that isn’t a glass cannon. Because other classes cover the other options you have as a ranger much better.

I played an ele for my first couple hundred hours and got so bored of it I tried Ranger out. I have never went back. The build I made up works great and requires skill to kill people 1v1. I never liked wiki builds in GW1 and always made counter builds to make wiki nubs cry. So that is why i like ranger. The most fun is because Rangers are like bug zappers, we attract a lot of attention because most rangers are bad and easy to kill.

The several hundred guardians and thieves I’ve left laying on the ground thinking WTF just happened is what makes it fun. If a ranger ever damage spikes the life out of your guardian or kills you while your invisible you know it was one that knew what they were doing. If you ever run across me and you see me /bow after you die then you will know.

WvW is made for Rangers, I can push back frontlines on zergs with one Barrage while standing safely behind my frontline players. When you die to a barrage and look at your combat screen and see 10 hits on you for 1500 each followed by 10 more in 1.5seconds that add up to 12k you think to yourself, what just happened I lost 27k health.

Thieves are a joke now, especially since almost all of them run the same style setup. Once you get that figured out they aren’t a threat anymore unless in groups.

If you search hard enough you realize that rangers can continue attacking thieves when they can’t see or target them if you use the right skills.

Setch.2398:

Rangers are good for soloing camps.

So long as no-one else happens by, certainly.

I have seen a ranger build that didn’t just drop like a stone when I attacked it. Once. But I still don’t fancy its chances against a glass cannon thief.