Guild Wars 2

If you are considering GW2 and/or have the same play style as I do, then this post may be of benefit to you.

I am a casual player. I rarely do dungeons or fractals, I do not raid and for the most part, I play solo. I enjoy helping other players, I like to do events and occasional grouping. I do the PvE dailies most days and like to work on various achievements at my own pace. I chose a Ranger/Druid because of the flexibility and survivability the class offers. I almost never die and I keep a lot of other people from dying as well.

I am not a min-maxxer nor do I care to have the very best items. I will upgrade if the benefit is significant and the cost is not prohibitive. With the spec and gear that I have, I can freely roam the entire PvE world without fear of dying. I can kill packs of enemies with ease and many champions can be soloed. Some champions wipe the floor with me.

I have all the permanent gathering tools because I enjoy farming as I play. I also have the 5 shared inventory slots so I can keep those 3 tools, my home portal stone and my Copper-Fed Salvager handy. Since I have a level 80 of every class (and 2 guardians), having these items in the shared inventory slots is very nice… and profitable.

My play style has allowed me to have 100% map completion, 100% story completion and 2 legendary weapons that I crafted myself (The Dreamer and The Bifrost). I am level 500 on 4 crafting professions and 400+ on the rest of them across my various characters. My ranger is Leatherworker and Huntsman, both level 500. I do not play the Trading Post at all. I simply sell what I don’t need for 2c less than the current lowest bid. I salvage everything up to and including rares, and sell or bank the results.

My bank slots have been expanded to stacks of 1000 and most slots are full. This allows me to sell off huge quantities of items when the prices rise. This also has allowed me to have thousands in gold. I do splurge from time to time but I would rather have the funds handy in case I decide to get another legendary and have to buy the precursor… again.

Anyway, if you like to play solo and want a character than can handle everything the PvE world can throw at you, start a ranger then switch to druid when you can. If you are like me, you will have a blast in GW2. If you start new, I suggest a bear and cat for your pets (use cat all the time and bear in case cat is about to die) then get the Smokescale and Bristleback when you can.

My character name is Jerry and I am on Stormbluff Isle server. Say Hi if you see me.

I have attached a link to my current build for those who want to see what works for me. If you pros out there see something I could easily improve, please let me know.

http://gw2skills.net/editor/?vNAQJAWTjUqQDLWxC+sAXLWyEM4baPNo2ksCAvsnJXq6xVi0PD-TxDBQBnSHwK0QoRlBS4CAKBniSkUoJAK7PcFlQpS9Hso04Bm4YwDKAAHShWoBpBHBgAAIAsxNuxQKgVkZB-e

same gear, different traits/skills.

http://gw2skills.net/editor/?vNAQJAWTnUqA1siVsAuCCctglEB7JAksedOluj1NAuq2V/qlI9zA-TxDBQBtQDyK0QMFlIA4QKcKdAaUZwVUClK1fkwFAUCygHUQK0EAl9HegJuGcEAwiSjAAIAsxNuxQKgVkZB-e

NM>WS unless your playing condi, you shouldnt need those defensive traits very much at all but more dps ends fights faster. your gear is a bit of a mish-mash of stats, it’s better to focus in on how you want to do your dps(or healing now) and gear yourself that way.

This build looks rather comfortable and active.

But I was almost sure you’d be using Marksmanship Traitline for lead the wind and easier tagging. I can see why you decided for BM over it, though.

Prophet.1584:

same gear, different traits/skills.

http://gw2skills.net/editor/?vNAQJAWTnUqA1siVsAuCCctglEB7JAksedOluj1NAuq2V/qlI9zA-TxDBQBtQDyK0QMFlIA4QKcKdAaUZwVUClK1fkwFAUCygHUQK0EAl9HegJuGcEAwiSjAAIAsxNuxQKgVkZB-e

NM>WS unless your playing condi, you shouldnt need those defensive traits very much at all but more dps ends fights faster. your gear is a bit of a mish-mash of stats, it’s better to focus in on how you want to do your dps(or healing now) and gear yourself that way.

If you read thoroughly you’ll see he’s using that build for soloing champions, too. Having a pet with 50% bonus damage reduction is off the charts compared to NM.

“I am a casual player. I rarely do dungeons or fractals, I do not raid and for the most part, I play solo. I enjoy helping other players, I like to do events and occasional grouping. I do the PvE dailies most days and like to work on various achievements at my own pace. I chose a Ranger/Druid because of the flexibility and survivability the class offers. I almost never die and I keep a lot of other people from dying as well.”

About the only difference between you and me, is I do some W vs W. Mainly for dailies so I can get the badges of honor. That being camp captures, guard killer, and such. Things I can solo.

I have other lvl 80’s, but my ranger is by far my favorite. My build is different than yours but I too rarely die. I can take on large mobs and solo some champions.
I am no pro by any means, but like you my build fits my play style and needs.

Below is my build…. I know some, maybe even most will say this is a junk build, but it works for me and I’m happy with it…….although having said that, anyone feel free to offer suggestions to make it better. As I said I’m no pro and not very good with quick fingers, so keep that in mind.

http://gw2skills.net/editor/?vNEQNAW3XlEqgGWYFLwmFQwGLFC2TCI3FAg7qj10KzAodl6uQ6wgA-TBDFABdoBR5DCAlq8AwFAAN1Bmb/B/UCalyv80MIwTAYDNEaoDIAACQYz2MwNv5Pv5QvZpAITkF-e

Just wanted to say that it’s great to see other people who play as I do. Currently have 3 accounts with 16 80’s (3 druids). I started online with Meridian 59’s open world pvp back in the 90’s so enjoy WvW and have played some variety of ranger/hunter/druid in many games since then. Thanks for sharing!

Nice build options! I’m using the CondiBleed build from Kazi https://forum-en.gw2archive.eu/forum/professions/ranger/PvE-WvW-Bleed-druid right now and it works like a charm for my lazy, unoptimised playstayle. I’ll try the other options at one point as well with my crappy non-exotic zerker pieces.

This is what i use for open world, pure glass zerker w/ smokescale cuz really for open world its rare that you actually have to adjust for the mobs. You can pretty much pewpew everything to death. If i actually do need to go defensive I just weaponswap to greatsword. Wilderness survival for condi cleanse and fury. Signet of the hunt cuz i live life in the fast lane.

http://gw2skills.net/editor/?vNAQJATRjEqQJL2yCGsAXLG2DqeG6hhYv9A4s5BOgHhSk+ZA-TBDBABA8EFSwEDU7PkiGi80FEwlA4MlgOrBBH1fwS5hRKxY4AFEA4A43fDA+93fz3SBwiOL-e

It looks like we have the same play style. Do you know of any crafting guilds? I’m in a guild currently, but I find I’m always off stuffing my pockets with rocks while they’re doing fractals.

I’ve been doing a few boss trains to try out the support of Druid. I really enjoy the new find and rescue. I’ll select it only for events as it’s not particularly useful when I’m on a low population map.

I have Staff and Longbow. I love the mobility I get with staff, combined with gliding I can harvest an area much faster than I was previously.

I just wish that people were more aware of the druids skills. I have so many people dodge out of the way of my seeds because they look like an attack.