Guild Wars 2

I’m almost embarrassed to make this thread but I’m now at a complete loss on how to deal with this problem. I run a bunker build on my D/D Ele and though I’m still fairly new to being a level 80, I tend to hold my own most of the time. That is, unless I run into a SB/GS Ranger with half a brain.

Last night, one of these Rangers personally wiped out 3 of us as we were trying to run him down in such a way that we looked like complete fools. I’ve never been killed so fast! What made it worse was that he took us all out and then found the time to run back and drop the stomp. Pathetic isn’t it? Even though I love my Ele, this almost made me go back and start working on my Ranger again.

The other point of concern is that I’ve seen this class/build just tear through one of our roaming groups like we weren’t even a threat. In normal PvP, I never had much concern about Rangers but in WvW, I just about /crapmypants whenever I see one now.

Any suggestions?

well first i suggest you to go spvp with your ranger and take a close look at the traits and skils , and maybe watch some youtube videos of them to understand the playstyle…

second..i also get the feeling that gs arngers do more dmg then “normal” rangers, but i still don´t have a problem fighting them , in my opionion ranger is the weakest class in wvw in small combat (5man group or lower) , i always targer ranger first in a group.. they srsly need a buff..

i dont know what you did wrong so taht you died to that ranger , maybe you have to less experience in d/d or did some vital mistakes..who knows..
i can just say , play lnger ele , d/d or s/d , normaly rangers sould not be a problem

I play necro as main group spec tho, but I have the same situation twice with GS ranger.
He stun me, then root me next second I drop dead. It was so fast. My marks are like tickles xD

Sekai.2987:

they srsly need a buff..

Ahem…

GS/SB tanky rangers are the new fotm in sPvP pugs.

There is no smart way to play it. You will have to clean a lot and try not to heal under poison debuff.
In S/F you can outlast him because of multiple condition cleanse, ranged protection and binds but with D/D or Staff he should kill you just spamming stuff. If you have the luck to fight against an actually skilled one you dont stand a chance, no matter how good you are.

Besides, Sekai is right, you should create a ranger and play the spec to check what to dodge and what are the weak spots. Even tho you may probably end up just playing the character because its awesome

innocent ouarior.1954:

Besides, Sekai is right, you should create a ranger and play the spec to check what to dodge and what are the weak spots. Even tho you may probably end up just playing the character because its awesome

That’s actually what I started doing last night. My Ranger is only level 16 right now but just for the heck of it, I took him into WvW to get a feel for the class. At this level though, he doesn’t have a great deal of abilities yet so other than respect for the SB speed, I have a great deal more to learn.

As for my Ele, I never really played much with the S/F or S/D but I’ve heard they do rather well. My Ele was my my instant favorite character as their mobility and, at the time, uniqueness, made them a good choice. Today though, it feels like half my team are D/D Eles. /sigh

Play him in sPvP, its a fast class to learn.

innocent ouarior.1954:

Sekai.2987:

they srsly need a buff..

There is no smart way to play it. You will have to clean a lot and try not to heal under poison debuff.
In S/F you can outlast him because of multiple condition cleanse, ranged protection and binds but with D/D or Staff he should kill you just spamming stuff. If you have the luck to fight against an actually skilled one you dont stand a chance, no matter how good you are.

I disagree. There are smart ways to play vs them (LOS while healing/waiting for cds, walk through their avatar while they shoot to minimize their dps, kite when they switch to GS, etc.). Don’t just go in and expect to face-tank them.

I duel vs this type of ranger regularly and, while it is a heavy pressure match, I have yet to lose one with my D/D elementalist.

This matchup is decided by skill and proper terrain usage, in my opinion. I agree that it is not easy, though.

rolos.7491:

This matchup is decided by skill and proper terrain usage, in my opinion. I agree that it is not easy, though.

That makes me feel a bit better then as I’m still really learning the class outside of leveling and basic PvE. I’ve found that this type of Ranger and some Mesmers remain my most difficult target to defeat.

I did have a 15+ minute battle against a Guardian last night that was really fun though neither of us could kill the other.

As people have been saying above, this is one of those unforgiving fights where the outcome depends on the skills of the players. If the ranger is a better player, the fight swings heavily into their favor. Same for the ele, since both builds and classes are really great, but a slight skill gap will show by a mile and any mistakes will really hurt you.

The way to beat this is REALLY careful space management. First off, go into your options screen and turn off the Melee Target Assist option, it’s one of the checkmarks. This will let you run through your targets and break LOS and their attacks. This should always be off when playing ele. Something else to note is that unless you have a gap making skill fast (so lightning flash/rtl or burning speed after some soft cc) you shouldn’t be running from the ranger when he has his SB out. Gives them free damage from bleeds, and if they’re decent they’ll pop quickness and really punish you.

So. When he has his GS out you need to kite him and keep him in medium range. This is honestly the most awkward part of a lot fights vs. melee classes because its so hard to judge, since you really want to be JUST past their max auto range. With practice this becomes much easier though, and is also gravy against warriors and dps spec guardians. So the goal here is to keep him crippled, chilled, immob’d, kd’d, stunned and to keep laying into him with your pbaoe’s and autos to burn him down. Try to save kd’s for when he’s using his heal, for this this you just have to know the animation and be ready for it. Most will use either Healing Spring or Troll Unguent, at least in my experience. Troll is a straight Heal over Time, and so might be used earlier than you’d expect a heal to go off, simply to take advantage of having it’s full effect and letting the cd run down to use again later in the fight. Healing Spring is a burst heal to start, and then a field that applies regen. This will be used later than Troll’s since you don’t want to waste the burst, plus the regen picks you up fast. Bottom line is you have to interrupt these as often as possible.

When he’s in shortbow you abuse running through his model, and blow him up. Strafe in and out of him, wait to go through again until he starts turning to face you otherwise you’ll just end up back in front of him and give him free hits, you want your character model to be half inside him, half outside his back. Again takes practice, but you’ll know when you get it, and incoming dps will drop. If your burning speed is up you can let him gain a bit of distance to get the full effect of the skill, they also might relax a little because they think you’re slipping, which is good for you, take every opportunity for easy dps.

All in all tough fight, if not the hardest.

I think the build my buddy runs is even more frustrating. Its a Sb/ sword torch build. Its based off a Wvw build made to 1 v many. Trust me it works for good players. Very frustrating to fight as a dd ele bunker. He had lots of heals and a couple bursts. Im sure its a L2p on my part but its a tough build to fight. Lots of cc which sucks for dd ele.

What i found out with my thief tho is its susceptible to burst. I won 2/3 with thief. I am much bstter with ele than thief so its puzzling me.

Dont feel bad if u run into a tough matchup. Usually theres a counter. Also you have to be open to changing your play or habits. In the end it makes u better.

Pizzel.8470:

I think the build my buddy runs is even more frustrating. Its a Sb/ sword torch build. Its based off a Wvw build made to 1 v many. Trust me it works for good players. Very frustrating to fight as a dd ele bunker. He had lots of heals and a couple bursts. Im sure its a L2p on my part but its a tough build to fight. Lots of cc which sucks for dd ele.

What i found out with my thief tho is its susceptible to burst. I won 2/3 with thief. I am much bstter with ele than thief so its puzzling me.

Dont feel bad if u run into a tough matchup. Usually theres a counter. Also you have to be open to changing your play or habits. In the end it makes u better.

Is this just the tPvP derived trap build? Or did they switch utilities?

In wvw most rangers are like staff ele’s. Built to “pew pew” from range as a glass cannon.

In sPvP rangers have learned that build doesn’t work and they go with the perma protection from evades and such.

Trap build also very popular in spvp.

I was fighting a really good SB/GS ranger yesterday in WvW. We Dueled several times; It was very difficult each time, but I was able to kill him consistently with my S/D ele. You just have to spec for your condi removal, and make sure you use them appropriately.

I have a hybrid build, so that helped me deal him enough damage to take him down – meanwhile it was pretty tricky to stay alive at the same time. Smart dodging and trap avoidance is key. Also, rather than use your mobility to create gaps, always use them to close gaps instead. Lastly, never turn your back to him!

I have no problems with them running D/D. The better ones make me sweat a bit though.

I wouldn’t know about staff. I don’t solo or small man with that weapon out.

FinalPatriot, I think when you have more hours under your belt as an 80 D/D you won’t have much issues with Rangers, no matter, what their spec. I couldn’t even tell you when the last time I actually died to a Ranger in 1v1 in WvW…and that is with many hours of solo roaming in T1.

I think Rangers are in need of some love by Anet.

covenn.7165:

I wouldn’t know about staff. I don’t solo or small man with that weapon out.

People actually roam with staff??!

Boottspurr.9184:

I was fighting a really good SB/GS ranger yesterday in WvW. We Dueled several times; It was very difficult each time, but I was able to kill him consistently with my S/D ele. You just have to spec for your condi removal, and make sure you use them appropriately.

WvW and Spvp is very different, especially from ranger.
Ranger in Spvp has higher dmg and defence than WvW.
Other class (include elementalist) is nerf in Spvp. Ranger dmg is more or less the same .
Killing a ranger in WvW is nothing, any class should be able to do it.
That why most ranger in WvW are ranger shooter that stay with zerg.

KOK.2650:

WvW and Spvp is very different, especially from ranger.
Ranger in Spvp has higher dmg and defence than WvW.
Other class (include elementalist) is nerf in Spvp. Ranger dmg is more or less the same .
Killing a ranger in WvW is nothing, any class should be able to do it.
That why most ranger in WvW are ranger shooter that stay with zerg.

Would you mind explaining this?

paleeshi.1924:

KOK.2650:

WvW and Spvp is very different, especially from ranger.
Ranger in Spvp has higher dmg and defence than WvW.
Other class (include elementalist) is nerf in Spvp. Ranger dmg is more or less the same .
Killing a ranger in WvW is nothing, any class should be able to do it.
That why most ranger in WvW are ranger shooter that stay with zerg.

Would you mind explaining this?

“PvP only” they actually mean sPvP/tPvP, and those changes do not effect WvW. These are only examples, but there are a lot more.

•Cluster Shot: This skill’s damage is reduced by 15% in PvP.

•Cloak and Dagger: This skill’s damage has been reduced by 33% in PvP only.

•Shield of Judgment: This skill’s protection duration has been set to 3 seconds from 5 seconds in PvP only.

•Selfless Daring: This trait had an efficiency with healing power that was reserved for healing skills only and has now been reduced to its intended level. Heal scaling has been reduced by 50% in PvP only.

•Healing Ripple: This skill’s scaling with healing power has been reduced by 50% in PvP only, as it had scaling that’s normally reserved for main healing skills. The maximum number of targets has also been reduced from infinite to 5.

Note: You can test it yourself if you don’t believe me.
Most of these update are nerf to skill in PVP (NOT WvW). And as far as I know, ranger skill is not there.

KOK.2650:

paleeshi.1924:

KOK.2650:

WvW and Spvp is very different, especially from ranger.
Ranger in Spvp has higher dmg and defence than WvW.
Other class (include elementalist) is nerf in Spvp. Ranger dmg is more or less the same .
Killing a ranger in WvW is nothing, any class should be able to do it.
That why most ranger in WvW are ranger shooter that stay with zerg.

Would you mind explaining this?

“PvP only” they actually mean sPvP/tPvP, and those changes do not effect WvW. These are only examples, but there are a lot more.

•Cluster Shot: This skill’s damage is reduced by 15% in PvP.

•Cloak and Dagger: This skill’s damage has been reduced by 33% in PvP only.

•Shield of Judgment: This skill’s protection duration has been set to 3 seconds from 5 seconds in PvP only.

•Selfless Daring: This trait had an efficiency with healing power that was reserved for healing skills only and has now been reduced to its intended level. Heal scaling has been reduced by 50% in PvP only.

•Healing Ripple: This skill’s scaling with healing power has been reduced by 50% in PvP only, as it had scaling that’s normally reserved for main healing skills. The maximum number of targets has also been reduced from infinite to 5.

Note: You can test it yourself if you don’t believe me.

I know what it means.
I didn’t say I didn’t believe you and I’m well aware of those reductions in spvp. But what you said that rangers have damage and defense reduction in pvp. None of those examples you’ve mentioned has anything to do with rangers. What I was asking you more precisely, what kind of reduction does RANGERS have in spvp compared to PvE? I didn’t ask you about the other classes.

Maybe I wrote wrongly, but I basically mean ranger dmg is more or less the same for spvp and WvW(PvE). However other classes are nerf in PVP.
That include elementalist. For example: Heal for elementalist (Healing ripple) in lower.
(there is a lot more , i just don’t bother to list them)
WvW by the way is PVE to the developer.

@KOK: K, I see now what you were trying to say in your previous post.

One quite funny thing that happened in WvW yesterday.. There was a ranger running around outside our Keep among the ruins.. There were 5 people chasing, all level 80 (except me being level 7 thief so I feel I can be excused xD).. And no one could catch him. I had to laugh at how he successfully trolled us :P I gave up chasing him after about 5 min since the others obviously weren’t able to catch and kill him. :P

Fuzzion.2504:

covenn.7165:

I wouldn’t know about staff. I don’t solo or small man with that weapon out.

People actually roam with staff??!

Judging by the sheer amount of people complaining about how weak staff is, I have to assume they do.

covenn.7165:

Fuzzion.2504:

covenn.7165:

I wouldn’t know about staff. I don’t solo or small man with that weapon out.

People actually roam with staff??!

Judging by the sheer amount of people complaining about how weak staff is, I have to assume they do.

Aye. I think the only time you catch a staffer is when his running to meet zerg mates

paleeshi.1924:

@KOK: K, I see now what you were trying to say in your previous post.

One quite funny thing that happened in WvW yesterday.. There was a ranger running around outside our Keep among the ruins.. There were 5 people chasing, all level 80 (except me being level 7 thief so I feel I can be excused xD).. And no one could catch him. I had to laugh at how he successfully trolled us :P I gave up chasing him after about 5 min since the others obviously weren’t able to catch and kill him. :P

That’s always fun as a ranger. I’ve gotten away from groups of 15+ people starting in melee range. With all the evades and gs swoop, we can be pretty slippery.

Rangers countered eles in gw1. Although not as pronounced in gw2, they do still counter eles esp D/D ones.

Fuzzion.2504:

covenn.7165:

Fuzzion.2504:

covenn.7165:

I wouldn’t know about staff. I don’t solo or small man with that weapon out.

People actually roam with staff??!

Judging by the sheer amount of people complaining about how weak staff is, I have to assume they do.

Aye. I think the only time you catch a staffer is when his running to meet zerg mates

Or if they’re desperate for ranged combat.

Chaosky.5276:

Fuzzion.2504:

covenn.7165:

Fuzzion.2504:

covenn.7165:

I wouldn’t know about staff. I don’t solo or small man with that weapon out.

People actually roam with staff??!

Judging by the sheer amount of people complaining about how weak staff is, I have to assume they do.

Aye. I think the only time you catch a staffer is when his running to meet zerg mates

Or if they’re desperate for ranged combat.

Staff can be pretty good for small-scale wvw if you manage to kite and have some high ground to force melee disconnects. Though I generally much prefer D/D.

You’re getting popped by a Glass Cannon Ranger with the Signets (Signet of the Hunt + Signet of the Wild) they then will Maul you

I’ve hit people for 10k with this setup, it however is complete kitten against anyone who knows how to play so I generally don’t run it.

a group of 3 though should have zero trouble killing this setup..as it has really no survivability to speak of.

I got a bit of a laugh from this thread having just dropped a SB/GS ranger for a D/D ele.

paleeshi.1924:

@KOK: K, I see now what you were trying to say in your previous post.

One quite funny thing that happened in WvW yesterday.. There was a ranger running around outside our Keep among the ruins.. There were 5 people chasing, all level 80 (except me being level 7 thief so I feel I can be excused xD).. And no one could catch him. I had to laugh at how he successfully trolled us :P I gave up chasing him after about 5 min since the others obviously weren’t able to catch and kill him. :P

I loved doing things like that with my ranger.

Its about the only entertaining thing you can do with a ranger besides blowing up people who are not paying attention.

A little off topic, but just off my first few hours in WvW as a D/D ele. What a mess of skills to manage, its going to take me some time to get use to this.