Guild Wars 2

Preface: Like many of the other rangers players, I originally thought the ranger was awesome. I was one of the first hundred or so players to 80 on my server, and crafted a full set of zerker gear asap. I felt very strong in WvW, absolutely decimating upscaled people with what I thought were big crits.

As time went on, I started to see my advantage dwindle, and was getting torn apart by mesmers, warriors, and thieves. A guild mate of mine showed me the numbers his full zerker warrior were putting out and I couldn’t believe it. At around 200 hours played, I started to lose all faith in the ranger as a class, the bugs became too much to overcome, and I pretty much quit the game.

A couple months ago, I returned and actually started to learn that this class is more complicated than originally thought. I got into SPVP, and tested tons of builds. I also started solo roaming WvW battlegrounds, and doing fractals and dungeons regularly. I also sub onto a fairly competitive tourney team and we have done quite well.

So hours 0-100 = Ranger is OP, hellz yeah.
100-200 = WTF, ranger is the weakest class, so many bugs, we suck.
200-300 = Maybe one of these builds can do something
300+ = Ok, this class needs work, but there are some seriously nice builds

No idea how many hours I have now, quite a few, and now I am working on some new builds and play testing them quite vigorously. Here are a couple I have been working on.

Build 1: 0/30/30/10/0 My condition damage/trap build (this is getting nerfed today I think)

Skirmishing: IV, VIII, XI
Wilderness Survival: III, IX, XII
Nature Magic: III

Gear set: Carrion or max condition damage. Full undeath runes.
Weapons: Sword/Dagger, Shortbow
Skills: Frost Trap, Spike Trap, Viper Trap (Flame trap instead of frost for pve sometimes)
Pets: Drakehound/Wolf pvp; Bear, Lightning Drake pve (needed something to hurt environmental targets, and the blast finisher is nice).

Rationale: This is a fairly standard build. I didn’t need the quickness, so opted for the increased regen duration. The viper trap + sword 3/4 equates to 100% poison uptime, which reduces enemy healing. The goal of this build was attrition and annoyance, with constant slows, a lot of dodges and vigor, and general survival. My role in this build in Spvp was home point defense, and with the poisons was decent at clearing out bunker built guardians, as you could re-apply poisons and bury them as fast as they can remove conditions. I’ve been cussed at more times using this defending a point than any other build.

In PVE, the traps are excellent CC (as they are unblockable and work on bosses) and the AOE damage is nice. Combined with the longbow 5 + 3 traps, you could put out nice AOE damage, or kite a boss all day long.

Personal experience in this build: 1v1 this build shines. You will stand a solid chance against just about any class in the game, and certain classes will become a joke. Glass cannon warrors and thieves are laughable, and only the best of thieves will beat you 1v1. Some of the toughest fights I had using this build were against a very good D/D mentalist, and a shortbow thief (alternate was pistol dagger I believe). Both of these classes were able to kite me while staying outside the range of traps and pets, and the attrition battle went to them, though they were both lengthy fights.

Build 2 0/0/10/30/30 – The live until my pet does something build (0/10/0/30/30 for PVE)

Wilderness Survival: IV
Nature Magic: III, V, XII
Beastmastery: I, IV, XII

Gear: Clerics Gear with full dwayna runes (this gives 100% regen uptime), or soldier gear (what I am using).
Weapons: Sword/Dagger, Greatsword for PVP; axe/horn + whatever for PVE
Skills: Zephyr, Sic Em, and Wild Signet for PVE; muddy terrain, Lightning Reflexes, Protect me for PVP
Pets: Dual Cats for PVE (I like stealth + fury cats), Dual Ravens for PVP

Rationale: I am testing this build due to the upcoming trap nerf. This build is actually surprising, in that it is incredibly defensive, yet the pet still does nice damage (you just have to slow your target). Between the healing and endless regen + protect me, you will survive and distract a large number of enemies for a good while. Sword #2 + GS#3 give probably the most mobility in the game, and they are both blast finishers (another 1k healing minimum through your water field). In sPVP, I was able to tank and hold 5+ people for over 45 seconds (not trying to get away, just distracting). Your personal damage output is a bit pathetic, but the pet can hit very hard.

In PVE, it does take some micromanagement and knowing the encounters. The nice thing is the pets (anyone that crits a lot such as cats) are able to heal themselves through a lot of AOE in combination with your water field. You won’t be doing any speed runs, but you also will almost never die. You have to pretend that the pets health bar is yours (you will barely have to watch yours). Remember that any boon you get is also applied to the pet, so just sitting in your water field will keep constant regen on the pet. You will have decent single target damage in combination with the pet, but your AOE damage is paltry (axe bounces only). Fractals are hell with agony, and there is nothing you can do about it for the pets (c’mon ANET).

Personal Experience: The synergy this provides with the pet is very impressive. If AI were better, this would be borderline OP. In PVP, you have to remember that you are essentially 1 person split into 2 entities (and one of them is slightly kitten . If you down someone, switch your pet onto the downed target, and play stay alive. This build can and will win 2v1 and 3v1 situations. A tip that I have learned is to make yourself the primary target by hurling yourself into the enemy first. You want to make them focus you, and NOT the pet. Since this can provide 100% regen uptime, and boons on you are also on your pet, this build is probably the single largest amount of healing you can apply to the pet. The sheer number of evades, blocks, and dodges you have with this build will make you one of the most annoying targets in the game to kill, and even when low, if you know how to use your blast finishers properly, you will get back a nice chunk of health. Unfortunately, fights will take a while, because if they manage to avoid the pet damage (via stealth or killing, cc’ing the pet), you will end up fighting for a very long time.

Build 3: 0/10/30/30/0 – Ranger Bunker, ie: the most boring build on earth. A PVP only build.

Skirmishing: IV
Wilderness Survival: IV, VIII, XII
Nature Magic: III, V, XII

Gear: Soldiers or Clerics
Weapons: Sword/Dagger, Greatsword (or shortbow)
Skills: Lightning Reflexes, Muddy Terrain, Signet of Renewal.
Pets: Dog, Wolf

This build is BORING. You don’t do damage, and you don’t die. I’d rate this as a huge troll build. It is fairly useless in PVE, as you have some of the lowest damage in the game. From an SPVP perspective, it is a quintessential bunker build. The build is setup to chain as many evades and dodges as possible while maintaining high regen and vigor uptimes. I tried this build before I switched to relying on the pet more, and while it can be entertaining being nigh unkillable 1v1, you will sooner have the enemy die of old age than really bring enough damage to the table to make it worthwhile.