Guild Wars 2

I have a level 55 Ranger and a 63 Necromancer and for the life of me I can’t choose which one to play. I sometimes play neither and roll a different character for a week and stop, then end up deleting it. I have read some discouraging things on the forums about both Necromancers and Rangers, that they both are good at everything but great at nothing.

I am also concerned when I read that nobody wants Rangers or Necromancers for dungs. I enjoy playing WvW so any advice on the pros and cons end-game would be helpful, thanks.

Play whatever the hell you want, screw the haters. Neither are bad enough in any of the game modes to force you to re-roll.

Bhawb is right. Whatever is said both can be very good if played right and the game is not about being the best damage dealer in a zerg but having the mokittenn while playing.
I like them both.. when it comes to wvw i could imagine the ranger is more fun because of his long range and better mobility

Hah i can’t write most I fun because it has S I T I F I U in it xD
Would never realised that if it wasn’t changed to mokittenn

Back to topic: Play whatever you want, you can’t do anything wrong with any professions.

For group play the best thing you can do is find a guild with cool people and do things together, what that dose is gets you groups to everything!

If you want to play solo and roam in WvW flipping camps and hunting down other roamers then ranger is one of the kings of doing that.

both are viable in range and melee, both are decent and complex enough.

It’s a game in the end so play whatever rocks your both, despite it’s shortcoming the Necro has some potential in PvE if used well, above all if you enjoy it go for it. I can tell you one thing, that is the Necro taught me how to be very intricate with builds

If you do plan on running dungeons. People are far more tolerant of necro’s then they are of rangers.

As others have said, find a guild that isn’t composed of jerks and play it for fun. All classes bring something different to the table due to their different play style and class mechanics.

I’ve taken both my ranger and my necro on loads of dungeon runs and contrary to popular belief they have survived just fine and pulled their own share.

Don’t pay attention to the current meta of uber l33t damages l33t sauce crowd of omg it can’t takes an extra 5 minutes because you don’t haz warrior slashy slashy.

The groups that take anybody will be far more friendly than any l33t speed run crew that kicks you if you round a corner 3 seconds to slow and “ruin” their run.

DaisyRogers.6837:

As others have said, find a guild that isn’t composed of jerks and play it for fun. All classes bring something different to the table due to their different play style and class mechanics.

I’ve taken both my ranger and my necro on loads of dungeon runs and contrary to popular belief they have survived just fine and pulled their own share.

Don’t pay attention to the current meta of uber l33t damages l33t sauce crowd of omg it can’t takes an extra 5 minutes because you don’t haz warrior slashy slashy.

The groups that take anybody will be far more friendly than any l33t speed run crew that kicks you if you round a corner 3 seconds to slow and “ruin” their run.

The reason noone wants a ranger is because its like playing with a group of 4. Rangers in full beserker do terrible damage. Yeah sure they can survive but they really are a hindrance. Pets cause problems on jade maw and lupi in arah. Plus they cause aggro problems aswell.

Ranger and Necro are my two favorite professions thematically, but Ranger just fails to deliver in having a fun playstyle. The weapon skills for Ranger feel clunky compares to other professions and the pet leaves much to be desired IMO. But definitely give both a try before deciding for yourself.

spoj.9672:

DaisyRogers.6837:

As others have said, find a guild that isn’t composed of jerks and play it for fun. All classes bring something different to the table due to their different play style and class mechanics.

I’ve taken both my ranger and my necro on loads of dungeon runs and contrary to popular belief they have survived just fine and pulled their own share.

Don’t pay attention to the current meta of uber l33t damages l33t sauce crowd of omg it can’t takes an extra 5 minutes because you don’t haz warrior slashy slashy.

The groups that take anybody will be far more friendly than any l33t speed run crew that kicks you if you round a corner 3 seconds to slow and “ruin” their run.

The reason noone wants a ranger is because its like playing with a group of 4. Rangers in full beserker do terrible damage. Yeah sure they can survive but they really are a hindrance. Pets cause problems on jade maw and lupi in arah. Plus they cause aggro problems aswell.

spoj.9672:

The reason noone wants a ranger is because its like playing with a group of 4. Rangers in full beserker do terrible damage. Yeah sure they can survive but they really are a hindrance. Pets cause problems on jade maw and lupi in arah. Plus they cause aggro problems aswell.

You know, I haven’t really seen this. Granted, I’ve only been playing my ranger for about a month, but I don’t find rangers to be as terrible as people say they are. One thing though, which I notice a lot of other rangers don’t do, is I stay the hell away from the bows. I find both bows as weapon sets to be terribly designed. They both do garbage damage and have some really wonky stipulations (less damage up close, must be flanking to apply bleeds) associated with them to make them work. This, of course, is probably why people have that perception of rangers. Most rangers ignore their melee aspect and try to be the traditional “Legolas” bow specialist that the ranger class usually mimics. The axe, when traited specifically for it, does some pretty ridiculous burst damage with Axe 4 and the axe auto vastly out damages both bows as a ranged weapon.

Sword does some pretty good sustained damage and greatsword has good mobility and defensive capabilities, with good burst options. A lot of rangers also try to play the game ignoring the pet entirely, which you can’t do as rangers have been balanced around having this mechanic. The pet does require a lot of finesse to keep it alive, but it does add substantial DPS to your arsenal.

Ranger and Necro are my two favorite professions thematically, but Ranger just fails to deliver in having a fun playstyle. The weapon skills for Ranger feel clunky compares to other professions and the pet leaves much to be desired IMO. But definitely give both a try before deciding for yourself.

And I also can’t help but agree with the weapons feel clunky part. Especially sword auto which locks you into place, preventing you from being able to dodge. Both bows also feel incredibly weak to me. I feel shortbow needs the omph longbow has, but longbow needs the speed shortbow has. Quite the conundrum.

Kravick.4906:

spoj.9672:

The reason noone wants a ranger is because its like playing with a group of 4. Rangers in full beserker do terrible damage. Yeah sure they can survive but they really are a hindrance. Pets cause problems on jade maw and lupi in arah. Plus they cause aggro problems aswell.

You know, I haven’t really seen this. Granted, I’ve only been playing my ranger for about a month, but I don’t find rangers to be as terrible as people say they are. One thing though, which I notice a lot of other rangers don’t do, is I stay the hell away from the bows. I find both bows as weapon set to be terrible and do garbage damage. This, of course, is probably why people have that perception of rangers. The axe, when traited specifically for it, does some pretty ridiculous burst damage with Axe 4 and the axe auto vastly out damages both bows as a ranged weapon.

Sword does some pretty good sustained damage and greatsword has good mobility and defensive capabilities, with good burst options. A lot of rangers also try to play the game ignoring the pet entirely, which you can’t do as rangers have been balanced around having this mechanic. The pet does require a lot of finesse to keep it alive, but it does add substantial DPS to your arsenal.

Ranger and Necro are my two favorite professions thematically, but Ranger just fails to deliver in having a fun playstyle. The weapon skills for Ranger feel clunky compares to other professions and the pet leaves much to be desired IMO. But definitely give both a try before deciding for yourself.

And I also can’t help but agree with the weapons feel clunky part. Especially sword auto which locks you into place, preventing you from being able to dodge. Both bows also feel incredibly weak to me. I feel shortbow needs the omph Longbow has, but Longbow needs the speed shortbow has. Quite the conundrum.

Couple of my guildmates mained rangers to begin with. Now that they have other classes at 80 they all said they cant believe how kitten ranger damage is in beserker gear compared to other classes. Bows obviously are terrible because all ranged weapons do less damage than melee. But their other options arent great either. Another guild mate obsolutely hated running coe with us on his ranger because he was using the sword so we could stack melee on alpha, problem was he couldnt dodge the aoe’s because of the auto attack. They really are the worst class for pve unless you plan on using them for gathering ore nodes. Warrior longbow beats ranger melee. Would of thought rangers should get best damage on bows.

^^

spoj.9672:

Couple of my guildmates mained rangers to begin with. Now that they have other classes at 80 they all said they cant believe how kitten ranger damage is in beserker gear compared to other classes. Bows obviously are terrible because all ranged weapons do less damage than melee. But their other options arent great either. Another guild mate obsolutely hated running coe with us on his ranger because he was using the sword so we could stack melee on alpha, problem was he couldnt dodge the aoe’s because of the auto attack. They really are the worst class for pve unless you plan on using them for gathering ore nodes. Warrior longbow beats ranger melee. Would of thought rangers should get best damage on bows.

Aww, yeah!

That guy was pretty funny. Bows suck. :/

Keep in mind I have multiple 80s as well. I have a thief, warrior, necro, engineer, and ranger all at 80. No one else is going to do the level of damage warriors can in full zerker, but warriors are the easiest face roll class I have ever played. They’re boring as kitten and CoF speed runs make me fall asleep when playing a warrior. However, I find that my ranger in full zerker to be a lot more survivable (troll unguent is OP as balls), with the damage not being so bad as people make it out to be if you keep your pet alive and use the right pets. Using a melee pet on Kholer and CoF P1 boss is dumb. They’ll just get ripped to shreds. Should be using a devourer or spider on them. I also don’t use bears. They do next to no damage. If I need something tanky I’ll use a drake. A lot of people also don’t use their heal to keep their pet alive and only save it for when they need it themselves. I also find that most rangers in general have poor awareness of their pets. They let their pets die instead of swapping it out (keeps the CD low) before they go down. Every time you swap your pet, they come back with full life. Remember, your pet is basically half your damage. Keep it alive, and you will easily do comparable damage to everyone else except thieves and warriors.

As far as CoE goes, yeah, don’t use sword in those kinds of encounters. Greatsword or axe all the way. Greatsword block is godmode in CoE. It will block ALL OF THE RINGS as long as you’re not standing next to an NPC.

I rolled a ranger early in the game when it came out. Was fun to level as I was figuring the game itself out. But at 80 it has been really lacking for me in damage, survivability and group support. I rerolled a guardian and love it using knights gear and berserker trinkets. It has been the best for me in dungeons and fractals. I got my dungeon master title with the guardian, and enjoyed it immensely. As far as a necro, they seem really cool and I would like to try one, but my opinion is that a ranger is diluted at best right now. It may be that I just lack the skill to fully optimize it, but if you are deciding from the 2, you may want to try a necro. Just my opinion, also see what your friends that roll necro’s say. Also, I have run lots of Arah runs with necros and they do very well.