Guild Wars 2

SlayerUK.5029:

Also have you got any tips for Battle of Khylo, I find this map to be where I am least effective.

sorry, i missed this question. khylo should be your best map. i can tell you what i do but im not sure if im correct. im still actually learning spvp because i only recently left my wvw bubble.

i go straight for far and see if i can kill whatever is there. i have to be honest, i own typical hambows and spirit rangers. necro is very doable just be careful not to get fear-locked on your way up the ramp. most engies will die, zerker rifle and bubble turrets can make things difficult sometimes but these are cheese. so most typical specs you should be able to take down 1v1. it’s the cheese tanky condi specs that will give you trouble. i also saw this silly cleric staff ele the other day and i couldnt burst him down.

if youre taking too long, move on to treb. after that support clocktower from the ledges. send your drake + barrage with Qz to burst down whatever is on there. if youre comfortable taking down the people on far point, keep pressure there.

also remember, if theyre sending someone after you, youre doing your job well. good teams will sic their roamer on you for sure. good thieves and engies most likely so just be ready.

My only problem with the build in places like WvW is that Longbow, even with consistent hits, does not hit for much on most targets. Maybe its my build itself thats the problem, but im only seeing 1.8-2.2k and very rarely 2.6ks

Loyo.8526:

My only problem with the build in places like WvW is that Longbow, even with consistent hits, does not hit for much on most targets. Maybe its my build itself thats the problem, but im only seeing 1.8-2.2k and very rarely 2.6ks

1.8-2.2k every shot is freaking fantastic for tPvp. that kitten adds up fast. and add to the fact that noone ever sees it coming because if you position yourself right you are firing through the flashy flashy of the battle on the point. think about it. 3 shots is 50% of an ele on the far side of the battles health. Thats a big deal.

Loyo.8526:

My only problem with the build in places like WvW is that Longbow, even with consistent hits, does not hit for much on most targets. Maybe its my build itself thats the problem, but im only seeing 1.8-2.2k and very rarely 2.6ks

Those are autoattacks. 1500+ range autoattacks, that are hard to avoid with Read the Wind.

It honestly sounds to me, like if I have to evaluate your opinion, that it isn’t that your problem with the weapon is that damage output you mentioned, but that there isn’t a better way to damage than those numbers, and that the weapon skills don’t really hit for higher (or much higher in total) than the autoattack.

Maybe I’m projecting, so tell me if I’m wrong. I see in your sig that you have a mesmer, so I would ask you if you end up wishing that the longbow, damage wise alone, functioned more like the mesmer greatsword (one of the best weapons you can compare ranger longbow to).

Because if that is the case, I would be more than agreeable that would could use cooldown skills on the longbow that result in bigger hits than we do now. Point Blank Shot could stand to do 50% more damage imo, but that’s without bringing up any of the millions of suggestions I’ve discussed to death elsewhere since launch, and heavily since December.

Thats a problem with nearly every single attack for every single weapon: the auto attack does more damage. Makes the class very boring to play when you have 1 attack and 4 utility skills for every weapon :/

@jcbroe.4329 I actually never actively thought about how it compares to mesmer GS, but if i did, then its comparable outside the high flying damage of + cripple of the phantasm. Mesmer gs does have its CD related damage sources that I wish to see more on ranger’s ranged weaponry.

@Black Scoutsman.5830 Yes, In sPvP It feel fine most cases and I dont feel that bad. I guess just the regen and the fact that most are walking away shrugging off damage in WvW is one the depressing factor in this. Im still playing around with it, however, and I havent found sigil choices yet. currently just using air+ Force.

sadly we still depend on the pet for burst. i would say qz is a must for this build. few things that ranger brings and gs mesmer doesnt: wolf fear, aoe immobilizes and cripple on point which are game changing (less relevant in wvw), superior mobility hands down, and sustained dps is much higher

For Kyhlo. Use your treb, you can engage on them the moment they exit the tunnel in your wall giving you like 7s of free casting which = win. If you cannot win you can swoop from treb to the wall and go where needed. If killing enemy treb you can no scope barrage and auto attack their treb from the wall same as engis do, keeping you safe. If you want though, you can also just go for their treb guy, if you can’t win bail from treb to the top of the wall with swoop and then go decap far. Once your treb is gone, hopefully your team can hold mid/home and you can just sit on the top of the tower and just pew pew anyone trying to get to a node and do significant damage before they get where they are headed.

jcbroe.4329:

Loyo.8526:

My only problem with the build in places like WvW is that Longbow, even with consistent hits, does not hit for much on most targets. Maybe its my build itself thats the problem, but im only seeing 1.8-2.2k and very rarely 2.6ks

Those are autoattacks. 1500+ range autoattacks, that are hard to avoid with Read the Wind.

It honestly sounds to me, like if I have to evaluate your opinion, that it isn’t that your problem with the weapon is that damage output you mentioned, but that there isn’t a better way to damage than those numbers, and that the weapon skills don’t really hit for higher (or much higher in total) than the autoattack.

Maybe I’m projecting, so tell me if I’m wrong. I see in your sig that you have a mesmer, so I would ask you if you end up wishing that the longbow, damage wise alone, functioned more like the mesmer greatsword (one of the best weapons you can compare ranger longbow to).

Because if that is the case, I would be more than agreeable that would could use cooldown skills on the longbow that result in bigger hits than we do now. Point Blank Shot could stand to do 50% more damage imo, but that’s without bringing up any of the millions of suggestions I’ve discussed to death elsewhere since launch, and heavily since December.

Depends on the class you compare it to.

Like my thief does 3k damage autos at a way faster speed, and range is so irrelevant seeing as it can close 2400 range in literally .78 seconds. Every class in the game except for some guardians and some mesmers have incredible means of closing such gaps extremely quickly. 1500 range is nothing in the scheme of things, and the damage that the ranger can deal through his entire skill rotation – including the auto, is pitiful.

Unfortunately, 30%+ increases in damage will never happen until ANet allows for players to choose to play without the pet. Currently, the ranger actually has fair DPS values with the pet included, so they can’t justify damage buffs from the ranger alone, especially with skills like RoA causing some havoc.

most specs actually have no way to close this distance without giving up all of their escapes and mobility, i.e. blink, RTL. and why are you assuming im gonna sit still and do nothing instead of dictating range? getting humped by a lone thief is part of the job description, it’s actually expected. this is why i have GS. in addition to multiple stun breakers, fear, etc. if i really feel like it, i can LR and swoop for 2100 range just the same, followed by a knockback and invis.

also, 30% increase in damage? what rubbish are you suggesting, it’s not needed and no one who has a clue asked for it.

DeceiverX.8361:

jcbroe.4329:

Loyo.8526:

My only problem with the build in places like WvW is that Longbow, even with consistent hits, does not hit for much on most targets. Maybe its my build itself thats the problem, but im only seeing 1.8-2.2k and very rarely 2.6ks

Those are autoattacks. 1500+ range autoattacks, that are hard to avoid with Read the Wind.

It honestly sounds to me, like if I have to evaluate your opinion, that it isn’t that your problem with the weapon is that damage output you mentioned, but that there isn’t a better way to damage than those numbers, and that the weapon skills don’t really hit for higher (or much higher in total) than the autoattack.

Maybe I’m projecting, so tell me if I’m wrong. I see in your sig that you have a mesmer, so I would ask you if you end up wishing that the longbow, damage wise alone, functioned more like the mesmer greatsword (one of the best weapons you can compare ranger longbow to).

Because if that is the case, I would be more than agreeable that would could use cooldown skills on the longbow that result in bigger hits than we do now. Point Blank Shot could stand to do 50% more damage imo, but that’s without bringing up any of the millions of suggestions I’ve discussed to death elsewhere since launch, and heavily since December.

Depends on the class you compare it to.

Like my thief does 3k damage autos at a way faster speed, and range is so irrelevant seeing as it can close 2400 range in literally .78 seconds. Every class in the game except for some guardians and some mesmers have incredible means of closing such gaps extremely quickly. 1500 range is nothing in the scheme of things, and the damage that the ranger can deal through his entire skill rotation – including the auto, is pitiful.

Unfortunately, 30%+ increases in damage will never happen until ANet allows for players to choose to play without the pet. Currently, the ranger actually has fair DPS values with the pet included, so they can’t justify damage buffs from the ranger alone, especially with skills like RoA causing some havoc.

It isn’t the gap closing. That wasn’t the point I was trying to make. It’s that you don’t have to dedicate your position for melee range. Sure, you might be able to gap close into the back lines of a group/zerg and do more damage to the squishies there, but the only class that can truthfully reliably escape if the group collapses on them is a thief. Maybe a mesmer if they take far reaching manipulations and still have their cooldowns to use, but if they gap closed in, then chances are they don’t have much escape left outside of stealth if they are using that setup, which won’t save them from a smart group of players.

Rangers don’t have to make the decision to dedicate their “safer” ranged position. They can poke safely from their own back lines, and function much more like a single target damage version of a staff ele when they are played this way.

My guild group, for instance, plays with 2 thieves. I brought up the fact that ranger could replace one of our thieves since the main goal of our thieves is being a back line harasser and rangers can perform the same role (our thieves run with our backline groups, so its us mesmers, thieves, and some of our eles in the same group) but bring an AoE immobilize that right now our group doesn’t really have and could be really useful based on the way my guild likes to play.

After assessing the build, my leader came to the conclusion that the ranger would be a good choice for the role, but then went on to say “but you’d have to find a ranger that doesn’t suck to play it, or a mesmer to replace you.”

It’s an anecdote, but it goes to show that when you start teaching people about the ranger class, they actually realize that we can do more useful things than they realize, and that a lot of the time, the way a percentage of the population plays rangers has given people a bad perception of what the class is actually capable of.

After playing some more I have to say this is really fun and I am enjoying a viable direct dmg ranger so much. I hope Arenanet watches this thread and encarves the existance of Power Ranger in their minds so that this stays healthy part of the meta for a long long time.

Also consider that Entangle is still bugged right now and only removes 1 condition/doesn’t give the full fury. I hope for a fix rather soon. Also on my wishlist would be merging Piercing Arrows into Read the Wind to also be able to pick Spotter but guess this wont happen any time soon.

yeah, make sure to report the Entangle bugs guys.

Combining eagle eye and piercing arrows would be nice, drop he extra 5% from eagle eye if needed to accomplish this. Or adding piercing arrows to RTW would also be a good idea as suggested above. We would then have a free master trait definition that could be filled with a new master trait that maybe provides different weapon benefit for non bow users?

You can no longer maximise bow since in the power line we have 2 master and 1 grandmaster traits now that you need to maximise bow and yet only 2 slots to fill. I know that its good to make choices but I should be able to trait to maximize a single weapon and then my trade offs are things like lack of defence or other weapon bonuses etc.

Ye I mean there is no reason to dissect traits for a weapon that much (even if it is both bows or harpoon gun).

• + range, + damage
• - cooldowns (in Skirmishing)
• + velocity
• + piercing

Especially since it is all Master slots and 1 Grandmaster. If it atleast was partially Adept.

All you need is PA and rtw. EE is a nice bonus but totally unnecessary. Personally I feel rtw is necessary if you wanna use the lb for damage.

mistsim.2748:

All you need is PA and rtw. EE is a nice bonus but totally unnecessary. Personally I feel rtw is necessary if you wanna use the lb for damage.

I’m sure Eagle Eye isn’t all that needed in PvP. It sure is helpful in WvW though. Piercing Arrows? Very little reason to use the trait.

See, I consider piercing arrows to be mandatory and don’t like RtW. In Wvw, you need your arrow to hit the target you’ve selected. The only way to do that with so many people involved is with Piercing Arrows.

If all you do is roam and duel it’s less important because there’s less stuff in the way. But when you’re playing longbow as a back line class who’s only mission in life is to attack the opposing teams back line glass cannons, you need every arrow to hit.

RtW isn’t needed because 9 times out of 10, the opponent won’t see where the arrows are coming from anyway. Only time I’d consider using RtW is in sPvP where I’m trying to 1500+ range an opponent running toward me or something silly like that.

But by that same token, I’m not a fan of EE either kitten damage and the extra range is meh in the grand scheme of things so I’m either running RtW or SotBM.

Atherakhia.4086:

See, I consider piercing arrows to be mandatory and don’t like RtW. In Wvw, you need your arrow to hit the target you’ve selected. The only way to do that with so many people involved is with Piercing Arrows.

If all you do is roam and duel it’s less important because there’s less stuff in the way. But when you’re playing longbow as a back line class who’s only mission in life is to attack the opposing teams back line glass cannons, you need every arrow to hit.

RtW isn’t needed because 9 times out of 10, the opponent won’t see where the arrows are coming from anyway. Only time I’d consider using RtW is in sPvP where I’m trying to 1500+ range an opponent running toward me or something silly like that.

But by that same token, I’m not a fan of EE either kitten damage and the extra range is meh in the grand scheme of things so I’m either running RtW or SotBM.

I mostly roam but do fall into ZvZ at times depending on the map. In your scenario about sniping GC classes in the back lines …I do that also, but off to the side so i have a direct line to them. Allows me to get a little closer. I wouldn’t know any other way to attack them.

I do the same, but fights tend to be very mobile. Especially with my guild since we run counter hammer train. Relying on my target to stay out in the open and for me to remain safely off to the side is never a possibility. Piercing Arrows is needed to account for the highly mobile method in which zergs collide on my server. Especially when doing GvZ.

Atherakhia.4086:

I do the same, but fights tend to be very mobile. Especially with my guild since we run counter hammer train. Relying on my target to stay out in the open and for me to remain safely off to the side is never a possibility. Piercing Arrows is needed to account for the highly mobile method in which zergs collide on my server. Especially when doing GvZ.

Makes sense. I am by myself, so I am not part of the ebb and flow of zerg fights.

Lb arrows can get side stepped at like 900, maybe even 600. Rtw is absolutely necessary if you’re using it for damage to attack people who aren’t afk.

I’ve never had them side step more than one arrow out of like a dozen unless they’re actively looking at me and intentionally trying to avoid them which is rarely happening in WvW outside of roaming. It’s hardly worth a 30pt trait in that 1 in 12 chance I missed imo.

But like I said, I would say that EE isn’t that remarkable of a trait either and I do use RtW or SotBM from time to time. But the majority of time it’s SotBM (or EE to be honest).

If you want to truly optimize your build, you want to calculate how much damage you gain from Spotter versus Eagle Eye in regards to the critical damage chart. Piercing Arrows is a hard take for me personally, especially for 1 reason alone in WvW; retaliation. I’d much rather play the part of picking off the back lines than doing almost 1k damage per attack to myself because I’m hitting multiple targets with retal on them.

Now, in other game modes, like PvE, any sort of cleave or AoE capability is a welcome addition. PvP is small scale enough where you can win by positioning. WvW imo is always where the trait debate is at full force. Eagle Eye is incredible for what it does, especially when you manual your autoattack to hit targets at 1500 range (went a little more glass, was autoattacking for 2.5k crits before air and fire procs). I would probably run with Piercing Arrows if a played a different role, and Spotter if I had more that 50% critical damage and precision (there are a bunch of other ratios of crit damage and precision where adding precision adds more than 5% additional damage).

Again, there is a lot of it that is just knowing how to play. I could honestly probably go full glass in WvW and be fine in dueling and zerg fights. The only reason I don’t is because I know WvW is the environment where a thief I won’t be able to react to is going to come up behind me and 2 shot me me at any given time, and I don’t like being so glass that I can only win in fights I’m ready for.

People just need to figure out how to make the build work for them.

My comments were in regard to WvW only about combining eagle eye, piercing arrows in RTW into some two trait combination master and grand master so a longbow specialist can slot all three at the same time.

Spotter I would class as one of those non weapon trade offs you might be forced to make so you do not fully specialise but my point is as it stands right now I cannot take all bow focussed traits together.

I know the arguments about eagle eye, piercing arrows and RTW with regard to WvW Z vs Z, asset defence and offence and small man stuff. The fact is they are all very useful in 1 or all of these WvW activities depending on how you decide to utilise them within WvW centric team play. Using piercing arrows into a blob with skill 4 on a LB can be quite something for example. As Jcbroe says alot of it comes down to knowing how to play and also knowing how to optimise your role to the benefit of the team. When I am running backline I am not just picking off their backliners. There is alot more I can do with muddy terrain, barrage and predators instinct etc etc beyond that niche role and I can do those things just as effectively as other classes if I play smartly. Its nice to not feel so neutered as a class now.

Anyway, my suggestion was really to the key elements of those three traits, namely arrow speed, piercing effect and increased range into 2 traits so I can have all three benefits if I so choose

jcbroe.4329:

It isn’t the gap closing. That wasn’t the point I was trying to make. It’s that you don’t have to dedicate your position for melee range. Sure, you might be able to gap close into the back lines of a group/zerg and do more damage to the squishies there, but the only class that can truthfully reliably escape if the group collapses on them is a thief. Maybe a mesmer if they take far reaching manipulations and still have their cooldowns to use, but if they gap closed in, then chances are they don’t have much escape left outside of stealth if they are using that setup, which won’t save them from a smart group of players.

Rangers don’t have to make the decision to dedicate their “safer” ranged position. They can poke safely from their own back lines, and function much more like a single target damage version of a staff ele when they are played this way.

My guild group, for instance, plays with 2 thieves. I brought up the fact that ranger could replace one of our thieves since the main goal of our thieves is being a back line harasser and rangers can perform the same role (our thieves run with our backline groups, so its us mesmers, thieves, and some of our eles in the same group) but bring an AoE immobilize that right now our group doesn’t really have and could be really useful based on the way my guild likes to play.

After assessing the build, my leader came to the conclusion that the ranger would be a good choice for the role, but then went on to say “but you’d have to find a ranger that doesn’t suck to play it, or a mesmer to replace you.”

It’s an anecdote, but it goes to show that when you start teaching people about the ranger class, they actually realize that we can do more useful things than they realize, and that a lot of the time, the way a percentage of the population plays rangers has given people a bad perception of what the class is actually capable of.

That’s under the assumption your back line is safe. Good zergs don’t let this happen. Our commanders are now actually telling back-liners to get in the blob now and push forward to get past the heavies (gaining stability from our own) which try and do the same thing so that they don’t get caught up in it. A lot of fights end up backwards of what they start from; back lines end up aggressing onto other back lines while the heavies end up duking it out trying to scramble to get there in time for the sweep. Simply, the faster you can traverse this gap and take out their back line before they have the chance to traverse, the better the entire fight goes. Rangers simply lack the mobility and overall capacity to dispatch players fast enough to succeed in this environment. The only thing they can really offer is longbow #4 to maybe perhaps prevent some of the squishies without stability from traversing and knocking them back into either the heavy brawl or their own DPS players.

The issue is that a thief is a much more capable back line player, just because it can dispatch players so much faster. Rangers can deal some damage, but a lot of blobs are going to prevent you from actually taking down players without additional fire.

Mind you, this is coming from someone who has mained ranged classes for over a decade in MMO’s/RPG’s in general (always my first character/go-to class), and also has two ascended 80 rangers (yep, I made a second one for on-demand character/build switches before this new patch), and I assure you that I’m not some meta-following onlooker who inherently thinks rangers are bad because other people said so.

A good thief can actually out-pace a longbow attack towards a given target and land his full burst before the arrow even hits without RtW. With RtW, it’s about the same. That same thief can also move to anther target or retreat just as easily while also providing better aggressive support to his back line via TotC upon initiation and move around as necessary without being cornered or punished by an enemy’s aggressive front line hammertrain/static field from afar.

Simply, the pet in these kinds of situations is more inhibitory than anything. It dies, and your sustained damage and utility effects are often too low to kill good players.

@DeceiverX.8361;

I agree that the class isn’t where it should be as far as competing for a unique role.

I just don’t agree with some people’s impression that the class is useless. Pressure builds were an actual thing in Guild Wars 1, where certain builds just sustained damage, and trained down targets, harassing them. Those build would usually have a fairly slow time to kill in comparison to a spike damage setup, but could keep the pressure on in order to force position and the use of cooldowns, or allow a team to transition to that pressure player’s target if that target allowed themselves to get too low and spike them down really quickly.

Granted that a lot has changed between that game and this, and for whatever reason, people seem to think if you can’t 100-0 somebody, then your build isn’t strong enough, and the value of constant pressure has been totally lost.

That being said, again, I don’t feel we are in a perfect spot. Weapons like the shortbow and longbow being autoattack weapons for damage is poor design, and Rapid Fire and it’s effectiveness (lack thereof) is the most frustrating thing to me in the whole world. Rangers block stances, which made us effective midliners or even frontliners in GW1 were removed, and interrupt builds, which were our competitive staple build, have been completely removed in the effective iteration and replaced with only Moment of Clarity, which is the saddest thing I think I’ve ever experienced in the entire time I’ve been playing videogames.

Particularly, we need to be able to bring more to a team composition on our power builds. Most people ask for more burst, but I’d also like to see boon removal options to make us competitive with thieves and mesmers (not in efficiency, but in general team role comparisons since they can both remove boons too), as well as maybe some more utility options outside of spirits that do something for our team (which to me involves an entire shout rework and/or an update to the effectiveness of traps).

But these are all things I’ve discussed to death, and even though I like where we have been put with the patch and I’m excited for how we currently play, I know that it isn’t the ultimate placement of where I’d like to see the class.

I just don’t always include my negative evaluations because I think that they’ve been beaten to death, and that people tend to start to believe that rangers are useless when truthfully the terminology should be more so that “we do nothing special.”

Still havent gotten round to trying this… But I have to say when it comes to backline harrasment / ganking I still think mesmer is the best choice.

I’ve tried it as a LB ranger, I’ve watched my guild theives try do it in GvGs, but having done it as a mesmer nothing compares. You can go in pretty much full zerker, have huge piercing DPS at 1200 range with the GS, easily matching the rangers LB, you can be nearly as hard to catch as a thief is and you dont struggle with the need for melee range to burst, meaning your target cant just disappear into their zerg for protection, and you can still dedicate your elite and 1-2 utilities to glamour support (albeit untraited, but still good).

Still… I need to try with these new traits. I dont think they will have changed much though in terms of ZvZ / GvG play though.. They look like they have more impact on small scale play and duelling.

As I’ve been running glass canon ranger with long bow + gs as defensive sidearm for 100s of pvp games way back, I felt like I just had to give 30/0/10/30 a spin.
First off, it is a wonderful build. Been running mine with Sigil of battle on gs + Runes of Strength for some time, but I switched to runes of the traveler+sigil of renewal(when I switch to gs, it’s typically, cause I’m having an opponent right in my face, so the heal is pretty much never wasted)
I still don’t feel like my setup is optimal(gotta test sigil of leeching, sigil of hydromancy, etc), but I feel comfortable with the rest of it. It’s a longbow+gs ranger, so it’s always fun to mess around with, but rtw just gives it some extra spice.
Back in the days, when I played most of my longbow ranger games, I found that it was great to have those big numbers against scrubs, who just stand there channeling meteor without switching to earth for mag aura or guys, who simply stood there, duking it out with my ally in the cap point… On the other hand, against opponent, who played the cap point well and danced around, it merely caused them some inconvenience. You stood there like a fool with your big canon, not hitting jack, till your ally finally managed to land a stun of some sorts.
With the new trait, your ally in the cap point can be a sand bag, it doesn’t matter as long, as he doesn’t die within like 2 secs. You will harass the opponent out of the ring simply by constantly hitting him. You will have a slightly smaller canon, but that canon WILL hit.
About SotF: It’s in a nice spot, where it doesn’t outperform the alternatives, but rather gives some niche in between. While spending the points in skirmishing would give you a higher crit damage, the fury uptime still makes up for some of the lost damage. While bond removes more condis on paper, with SotF, you can selectively clear conditions by choosing when to use it.

I’ve never considered a 30/30/10 build to be viable and that much still hasn’t changed. There is no reason to go 30 in skirmishing.
Back then, I mainly played 30/25/15, as having that protection uptime from constant dodges is far stronger than spending a trait point just for the stats tacked onto whichever useless trait you choose to take. I sometimes even went with 30/20/20, when I felt more like smashing faces in melee than sniping, but I never considered 30/30 to be a thing. It’s simply not efficient. Usually, if you make a high investment for damage and drop your last defense for even more damage, it’s because that extra damage is fully worth it. I simply don’t see the tiny bonuses from whichever you choose as your last trait being worth more than easy access to protection.

@jcbroe:

The class isn’t so much useless as it is out-performed in what it’s designed to do by other classes either building for its niches, and that its niche is rather insignificant. It’s not inherently “useless” because it can perform well-enough where it can be needed, but simply, other classes can achieve better results in most situations.

The problem with sustained raw damage, particularly in GW2, is that is simply doesn’t work. Healing is too easy to come by and there are many ways to actively prevent it to the point where pressure classes aren’t so much a threat as they are merely an annoyance. Classes which can 100-0 people in between their heals, or before they can even get them off are simply better. As someone mentioned in the ranger CDI, the “sustained damage dealer” model simply doesn’t work because the game in its entirety, even including condition builds, is about burst damage. This is particularly why so many power/precision rangers run GS – maul gives one the best chance of killing targets. I mean, poison can deal 10k damage, but are you ever actually afraid of dying from poison damage if you’re at full health? With two stacks of bleeding? Those just aren’t worth blowing a precious cleanse on, which is why condition builds work; they’re only countered by high-cooldown utilities which people may or may not run, and application is often very easy.

I actually think Rapid Fire is one of the longbow’s better skills – much more so than barrage – for it has stealth tracking and is near impossible to juke. I’m not at all against a damage increase, though, for the ranger frankly NEEDS a burst skill on its kit.

Barrage simply needs a total rework, ranging from its damage to the lack of mobility to retaliation’s potency to it being easy to dodge, and so on. Perhaps boon removal could be applied here to help fix this, as AOE boon removal on a pulse, even with low damage, could provide incredible utility where we’re at our worst currently – in zergs.

Or, we need a means of locking down targets better. It gives me a bitter taste in my mouth that frequently I find myself incapable of pursuing warriors despite having 1500 range just because we lack the chasing potential via gap closing or hard CC outside of the short-duration KB on #4.

I’d like to see the option of removable pets, though, anyways. In some instances, their mere existence as targetable objects or being incapable of taking cover behind obstacles to prevent vision just makes combat more difficult. That, and if compensated for in damage, the class’s archer role could be much more viable, and would even possibly allow for the sustained damage model to work in GvG/WvW as then the pet wouldn’t just be dead weight causing a forced lack in DPS which can be out-healed.

“- Keen Edge is your best choice in Marks mostly because of the extra fury”

What do you mean by this? Extra fury?

EDIT: Ah nevermind, I just got it. The new grandmaster trait triggers when you use keen edge in marks. Cool

Also, wouldn’t using runes of the traveler, and changing signet of the hunt with another survival skill make more sense? QZ, LR, and MT are all great utilities.

I have been running this build in WvW:
http://gw2skills.net/editor/?fNAQJATRjEqUyaLLGsQ1ag+ga9CEAjdrfw9VMwpNA-T1SDwA9Ui94IAMTVlDXAgnKPS8AAlgvUrg3+Dg0FAwEnkDBApAeaZE-w

and during the night time i change to a bow with air and ice, use a ghosp pepper popper for chill on crit and use oil instead of a sharpening stone.
Personally i am loving it as people can no longer run away from me like they used to nor side step.

Because opening strike always crits and with the two sigils you have like a 36% chance for your first long range shot to hot for between 5 and 6k which usually causes people to go on the defesive. If people close in i’ll either use point black and lightning reflexes followed by rapid fire for a bit more damage before i stealth and swoop away.

Pets are a difficult choice and i havent found anything which sits very well yet so any ideas anyone?

The only downside is theives since they can close extremely quickly!

The best part about this build is the amount of QQ and whispers i get from people when they die from me at that range or people getting upset they left me on the edge of a team fight pewpewing away.

mikdepadua.8376:

“- Keen Edge is your best choice in Marks mostly because of the extra fury”

What do you mean by this? Extra fury?

EDIT: Ah nevermind, I just got it. The new grandmaster trait triggers when you use keen edge in marks. Cool

Also, wouldn’t using runes of the traveler, and changing signet of the hunt with another survival skill make more sense? QZ, LR, and MT are all great utilities.

It really depends, if he wants to be able to roam better and have better all around mobility, no he’d wanna keep SoTH, if he wants more actual utility, then you’d be right.

PS: If you’ve got a “bursty” pet like a drake, bird, maybe even canine IE anything with a big hit attack you can clearly see, SotH can give you quite a large damage boost too.

Here’s my version of the build, I have great fun in wvw with it. Have no trouble downing people from afar, and run away if got focused.

Link: http://gw2skills.net/editor/?fNAQJATRjEqUwaJLusw1agAha9AEAbdrbw9+mDh9B/q9A-TFzDwAMOCAsVa04QA8b/RJWhLAgaTBAM5wVJYTlBHeAAtU/xjuAA-w

@mistsim: thanks for sharing this build with us.

Durzlla.6295:

mikdepadua.8376:

“- Keen Edge is your best choice in Marks mostly because of the extra fury”

What do you mean by this? Extra fury?

EDIT: Ah nevermind, I just got it. The new grandmaster trait triggers when you use keen edge in marks. Cool

Also, wouldn’t using runes of the traveler, and changing signet of the hunt with another survival skill make more sense? QZ, LR, and MT are all great utilities.

It really depends, if he wants to be able to roam better and have better all around mobility, no he’d wanna keep SoTH, if he wants more actual utility, then you’d be right.

PS: If you’ve got a “bursty” pet like a drake, bird, maybe even canine IE anything with a big hit attack you can clearly see, SotH can give you quite a large damage boost too.

Not to mention that on top of this, there are better rune choices than Traveler’s Runes, especially for a build that can’t afford to put any traits into the Skirmishing line, that allow you to stack precision and critical damage much better than Traveler’s, and are therefore better for DPS.

And that’s on top of what Durz is saying here.

Great build. I actually came up with basically the same trait setup as this when the new trait patch dropped, and have been using it quite successfully in wvw, spvp and to some success tpvp. Then I came across this and im glad someone had the same idea.

My build only differs in a few minor aspects. Same trait point distribution, however instead of keen edge i took steady focus.

I tested keen edge today, I did not think of using this at the time of coming up with the build, and while its very smart using it to benefit from additional fury and an extra condi cleanse, its not on demand, and only happens once in the fight, at an uncontrollable arbritrary time. The condi damage from the bleeds is negligible. I personally preffer having the extra 10% damage basically all of the time, however i suppose this comes down to personal prefference.

I have a condi build i theorycrafted that I will post tonight that benefits much greater from keen edge and the Survival of the fittest bonus which is also an extremely effective build. Its slightly more defensive than this build, but allows for more close quaters fighting than this longbow build depending on your playstyle.

Anyway, i digress… back to the LB build…

I took runes of the ranger to stack more ferocity/precision, and the 7% damage buff when pet is alive. have also tried my scholar set, however pack runes look like a good alternative also.

TU is a bigger overall heal, however I preffer running spring due to the immediate heal plus the condi cleanse and the water field is great in a group situation, or solo, you can cast it and GS swoop through it for an additional 1.5k heal.

Sigils slightly differ too, but yours are completely fine. Im just hell bent on maxing out crit chance and raw damage, so i took force & accuracy on lb and energy/bloodlust on GS.

For pets I also took wolf for control, but took jaguar over drake for burst.

The general idea of this build and this trait setup is quite effective, and is a great build for someone wanting to use longbow for damage in wvw or spvp. Gear and minor tweaks can be done depending on personal prefference, but this is generally a very solid power build for LB.

updated build after 8 month hiatus for all the newer players! power rangers are no longer a laughing matter.

True , Ps RTW = more over all hits Passively = more dps because it hits more often (its not a real damage buff) just a Palcebo effect of the arrow speed and attack speed.

Predators onslaught + predators instinct = a great overall buff in RF and Barrage burst damage . Sick the pet on them use its f2 (a snow wolf/drake hound or F2 leap cat snow leapord , chill bird , f2 immobo spider ect)

pet f2> a CC skill? muddy terrain ? for AoE cripple while one target is slowed won’t need RTW here your main target is chilled+crippled> PBS push him back > Auto > barrage > RF

the rotation of skills is different but offers more Burst per hit at the risk of having to CC the target first.

soon enough after a while using RTW with a CC set up you’ll notice its not all needed and predators onslaught can be just as good or better.