Guild Wars 2

Hello fellow GW2 fans! I am have a bit of a problem deciding between Guardian and Ranger. I have played all classes, mostly in hotjoin PvP and these two have been my favorites. However when it comes to PvE I want ONE character to focus and maybe someday an alt but normally I do not enjoy playing alts.

I will list some questions and as well some things I enjoy about each and hopefully those of you well versed in either profession can help me out.. ^^

Guardian:

I really enjoy the fact that they can wade into the thick of battle and not only survive but be very useful at the same time. Not many professions can withstand prolonged engagements without either dying or having to back out, for the guardian this is a non issue unless you spec very very glass cannon.

While the damage pales compared to many other professions it is still pretty good and as well they bring a ton of support while doing, again this is nice and a fair trade off.

So I enjoy the hybrid nature of support and dps while being able to handle yourself in full on battles without the need to flee or simply get blown up. I enjoy their versatility and the fact that they do not rely on very specific combos or abilities to function.

What I dislike is the damage while still good and more so considering what else they bring also feels lacking at times when compared to other professions. I also worry that in more structured play or hard dungeon runs you would be regulated to a more purely support or defensive role rather then the hybrid style I enjoy in hotjoin pvp.

How does the guardian do in;

Structured PvP?
What is their main role or job identity in structured pvp?

Dungeons?
What is their main role or job identity in a dungeon run?

WvWvW?
How do they perform there with their more limited range options? How do the compared to other lvl 80s in full exotic gear? Goes damage pull ahead of mitigation and support which is often the case once you reach top end?

The Ranger:

I enjoy the overall theme of the ranger and their ability to be highly effective as an archer or a melee fighter. Like the guardian I find that a melee ranger is one of the few professions that can really do well in a full on battle and still put out very respectable damage. I enjoy the acrobatics of their melee options as well.

Pets are a mixed bag for me….

I like having them and the variety of them and look forward to new ones in the future and their various abilities they bring.

I dislike that so many classes also have pets, Thieves can have 3 or 4 thief pets, mesmers have tons of phantasms and illusions, ele’s have their elemental pets, necros have a variety of pets, guardians have spirit weapon pets. I feel that is cheapens the whole pet idea and mechanic when most professions have them. Sure a rangers is a bit different as it is a companion but when you get down to brass tax they are similar, to much so.

I also dislike some of the responsiveness issues. Im OK with ranger pets being a large portion of ranger damage but not when they suffer from many issues that I as a player do not suffer from. Example would be today using a wolf pet and using it’s F2, a fear, and having the enemy simply run off a bit and ruining my entire skill. This is due to long cast animations and the pets being rooted during them, very easy to counter them. SO if rangers have less damage and gain that damage and utility from their pet, they why on earth should a ranger suffer so badly due to them being clunky?

How is the ranger in;

PvE Dungeons?
What is their main purpose or role?
From what I understand the pets are nearly worthless which bothers me since again so much of the ranger is built around them….how does this work out?

Structured PvP?
What is their main purpose or role?

What I have gotten from playing the ranger is that while fun and versatile they have a bit of an identity crisis which worries me.

TO recap?

I like the guardians support and survival but worry about what area they get forced into specializing when it comes to more structured play. I also am at times a bit dissapointed with the more minimal damage output.

I like the rangers theme, acrobatics and versatility. I do however question what the real point is of the profession and with that lack of identity I have perceived where do they fit into more structured play? I also have some issues with pets and pet mechanics.

Thanks!@

My first character was a Ranger. I’ve only done PvE with it. When I hit AC and did, or rather, attempted, a few runs, I just got bored of my ranger.

I then reroll’d a Guardian. I’ve had A LOT more fun on my second playthrough(1-45) than on my first one(Ranger). Completed a couple of AC Explore run. I really like guardian’s style. Deleted my guardian so I could change of Order(so I could easily get the set I want, even if it’s rare only, while I farm for exotic ones) and I’ve still had a blast on my 3rd playthrough(1-48).

I really like guardian a lot in PvE. I have yet to try PvP on it.

Went to WvW 2 days ago on my ranger to get monthly achievement. It was a lot funner than playing it in PvE.

That’s my experience. Everyone has different preferences, so even if people tells you they like x profession better than y in a certain environment, you might not.

From the way you described both professions I get a feeling you will enjoy the guardian more. If the damage is a problem aim for +power but don’t expect to do more damage than, lets say, a warrior. I say this because of the obvious reason of the guardian being dps/support and the warrior being all, hard dps. Plus, for any reason you would like to start PvPing, you can bet the guardian will do great.
My main is a guardian and I really enjoy playing on my ranger alt just as much as I enjoy my guardian.
Both are great professions, all matters on your play style.

Sadpandas.7489:

I really enjoy the fact that they can wade into the thick of battle and not only survive but be very useful at the same time. Not many professions can withstand prolonged engagements without either dying or having to back out

Sorry I didn’t get to the end of your text, but judging by the above assumption, you should go with Ranger.

I like the guardians support and survival but worry about what area they get forced into specializing when it comes to more structured play. I also am at times a bit dissapointed with the more minimal damage output.

I like the rangers theme, acrobatics and versatility. I do however question what the real point is of the profession and with that lack of identity I have perceived where do they fit into more structured play? I also have some issues with pets and pet mechanics.

I play a Guardian, and my friend plays a Ranger. We group up quite often and know each others playstyles quite well. We compliment each other in many different ways including Boons, Conditions, ranged damage, and melee damage.

One thing I noted about your post was that you believe rangers to be more acrobatic than Guardian. This is false. While soloing, yes maybe … but in a group the Guardian must be significantly more mobile than the Ranger. Melee is a dangerous place to be in this game unless you are on your toes.

As far as overall damage is concerned. We have tried a few different builds together, when we matched up as a 2 man DPS team it seemed I was out damaging him by quite a lot when I stacked condition damage and played a Burn spec. Also as far as being pigeonholed into a specific role as a Guardian, this is just not true, and if you are with a group that expects you to “tank” just because you are a Guardian, then you are better off without them. This game has so many options on how to control mobs, unless you WANT to tank, you don’t have too. In fact Necromancers have more mob control than Guardians do!

Go ranger. they own in PVP and easy to level in PVE.

Guards are easy to level in PVE and suck at PVP.

What the guardian does for you depends on how you build it. It’s capable of a bunch of different options, including the ability to do high dps, survive attacks that would down others, and actively support armies on the battlefield. It typically can’t do all of those at once, however.

Spawn.7014:

Guards are easy to level in PVE and suck at PVP.

I don’t know from where you got this understanding of these professions. Guardians are amazing in PvP. In WvWvW and especially sPvP the guardian performs very well. Not to mention, the guardian is so well in sPvP, it’s the profession almost all teams want and have.

HeatSeeker.9735:

Spawn.7014:

Guards are easy to level in PVE and suck at PVP.

I don’t know from where you got this understanding of these professions. Guardians are amazing in PvP. In WvWvW and especially sPvP the guardian performs very well. Not to mention, the guardian is so well in sPvP, it’s the profession almost all teams want and have.

I think it is obvious where he got that understanding lol. Played a match and lost on his first attempt.

I’m not high level AT ALL but guardian is a blast even at low levels. MUCH better than the ele I got to lvl 80 before finding out how broken they are.

As you may know currently Guardians have pretty limited damaging range skills atm. This could be fixed in the possible future. I also feel that Guardians are quite versatile as even for example with my dps pvp build, I am still able to support pretty well.

In dungeons I have found that most people simply go ranged and just dish out damage from afar. Me playing Guardian means that I am pretty much usually up pretty close to the mobs and this does mean that I often get hit hard.

Both classes can burst pretty well and Rangers can support with a few of their awesome Warhorn skills that I’ve seen around. I don’t really know much about Rangers but from a pvp poi, I know that when played right, they can burst very well while staying afar from targets while their pretty awesome pets tank off.

Guardians on the other hand can also gain great burst, at least with the build I have, and I do seem to do quite viable damage in PVP. Support wise you have many skills that can mostly block attacks, stop enemies from advancing towards you and a lot of heals and hp regen.

Personally I’ve never really been a fan of having pets nor am I really a Ranger kind of person and out of the two I would choose a Guardian. I’ve always been more of a Pally kinda player anyways.

Both classes perform pretty well do and I guess for soloing, both classes are completely doable. My Guardian is 80 and it seems to be doing quite nicely in the world of Tyria

Concluding, I guess from my point of view, if you’re more into support though you can still do decent damge, defin go the Guardian route. If however you are more centered towards doing damage with minor support having pets, Ranger is your way.
I hoped I helped a little.