Guild Wars 2

A bit of background. I have played most of the MMORPGs at near hardcore level. I’ve got 3.8k hours with GW2, not sure how much but a lot on several accounts in GW1, 6k in WOW, also a lot Diablo, Tera, SWTOR, RIFT, WildStar, etc. GW2 is by far the best from what I’ve experienced. However I’ve got small peeve. I always prefered to play or role-play the archer type adventurer as opposite to caster or warrior, but not the beast master one (I like the pets in general, but the GW2 implementation is very poor compared to what I’ve experienced with other games and specificaly I don’t like it). In WoW it would translate in Marksman hunter for example. Also I like non-too-human races. Based on these prefferences I created at launch and mained until now norn ranger, which seemed to fit the bill. However with HoT I finally gave up the hope that there will be some possibility to play without pet and on another hand the norns turned to be just big humans with useless elite, where I expected something in the line of Beorn-like shapeshifting giants, which turn in bears when fight.

So the question is, does the Dragon Hunter has that adventurer/archer/hunter feeling for role-playing? And how Sylvary and Charr fit in this fantazy? I have both combinations to lvl 80, but haven’t played much on them and can’t get the feeling. My impression is that char fits better as warrior, because the guardians have more magical feeling in general and the chars are too beastly to be magical on first sight. FOr sylvary haven’t found any specific feeling, they seem to be too human-like, but I may be wrong.

So, can the DH fit in the shoes of the ranger expectatios and what are the justifications for char to be one? Thoughts?

It fits perfectly for a Charr, at least my guardian thinks so. Being a Guardian is a matter of ideology, after all, and while Charrs might have their own ways, nobody could claim that they don’t have their own ideas and ideals.

On the “magical feeling”, the two points:
1. My Charr actually doesn’t feel too magical. Neither the Greatsword nor the Bow seem much more magical than some other classes weapons to me, and for shouts the same is true.
2. Historically speaking the Charr never rejected magic and their “beastly” manner definitely is not in the way. Formerly their magic was wielded by their shamans. The only thing you should not expect a Charr to really like is religion. Anything which is considered to be granted by a god or anything like that they will reject. But as long as the Guardian acts on his own power and is not declared to be some kind or Paladin, it works well for the Charr.

I like my Asura DH-Guardian…

She is small so there is a reason using traps to getting down a mighty foe like a dragon. Also Asuras have affinity for mechanic so the traps are quiet obvious choices.

The “Personal Shield Generator” on F3 and the “Mechanical Chains” on F1 are also fit into the Asura DH theme perfectly. The only exception is the “Wing” but practically this is the only ability what needs “Divine” explanation.

The longbow itself fits perfectly. Small wielder who wanna take small risk

As secondary weapons I do not like the GS. It just does not fit into the theme at all. That spinning attack casting magical projectiles is for an elementalist and not for a DH.

I think the Hammer is the way to go for an Asura DH RP character. Sword also make some sense but it needs finesse and that is not a must-have skill you need to hunt down dragons a size of a small town.

However a Charr DH would be absolutely perfect with Longbow + GS… If the traps and the precise shots failed it’s time to go all in! An a huge greatsword is what you need.

Happy Guardin’!

I played a Charr ranger for a little while and it always felt a little bit off, due to the industrial and war focus culture.

I would recommend Sylvari. The guardian is suppose to be “devoted fighters who protect their allies and smite their enemies by drawing from the power of their virtues. True guardians are brilliant tacticians and selfless defenders who know when to sacrifice their own defenses to empower their allies to achieve victory.” Which I think fits fairly well with the communal and bonded nature of the Sylvari.

But more importantly, you wont be accessing your Dragon Hunter trait line until 80. Which is when you are turning to Heart of Thorns content and it makes thematic sense for a Sylvari Guardian; who after watching his people get corrupted by Mordemoth, decides to rededicate his life to that of a Dragon Hunter, in order to slay the Elder Dragon and save his people.

Personally I play a Norn Guardian and as a DH I look rather ridiculous holding my toy-sized bow and using Wings of Resolve to bunny hop around.

Rangers would be a better choice to put in a “archer” role.

They have both longbow and shortbow (shortbow is more fun imo)
They also have traps, swords, torches and warhorns, even dagers, Leather armor that can also look “bulky” and “soldiery” with some more plate metal on them as well.

Dragon hunters can go with the archer role…but honestly the whole guardian/dragon hunter resonates with magic.
It has heavy armor ,something “standard” archers dont go with normally, it only uses longbow and its skills arent “physical” but more magical. Even the traps are very magical.

As for race (speaking about ranger profession now) this is how i look at them:

Sylvari has a more nature like feel to it, can be close to nature spirits, and some specific pets. They also have 4 “sylvari” armor sets that can also be mixed around if you wish to have 1 armor set for each different type of build.

Charr has some very good medium ranger/archer cultural armor. The Charr archer would be more into a soldier like archer. Their pets should be more vicious and bulky, like a drake, or a devourer. Some of their racial skills offer even more of that “soldier/legion” feel.

Norn rangers have feel more like hunters. Just look into the norn hunter lore and youll see what i mean.

1 more note to know is that charr and norn offer the tallest and largest character model. Meaning their weapons will also be visually enhanced

PS: Some time ago i made a decision to make a very tall norn guardian with the following roleplay/challenge:
-Will only play in shiverpeak zones from lvl 1-80, and have only 1 life
-The goal is to get to lvl 80 and kill the claw of jormag
-At that time my norn will become a dragon hunter (both thematically and mechanically)
-The next goal of my character is to forge a weapon strong enough to break jormags tooth held in the great lodge in hoelbrak.
-The weapon i need to forge wont be a legendary weapon, but instead spirit weapons (the one my guardian can summon)
-I will prove to everyone of my legend i will show off the ghostly forger back piece i get from crafting all the spirit weapons

Charr have been fighting against blue-white fire themed enemies for a century or more now with all the reclamation of the Foefire areas.

All Guardian/DH fx are blue-white fire.

Seems like the Charr Guardians have learned to harvest the energies wielded by their enemies .

If you wear any sort of techno-looking backpack you can think of your DH as a feline Ghostbuster who have a long tradition of using traps . Light is green: trap is clean!!