Guild Wars 2

So I recently started looking into builds because the way I was playing before was just all over the place. I came across condition rangers with shortbow, axe/warhorn (although some say axe/axe is better, I’m not sure) and of course traps as your utility skills and entangle as your elite. I absolutely love this build, especially with that trait that makes traps have ground targeting (not to mention enabling fast ground targeting, it’s just amazing).

But now I’m reading some comments saying that if you’re a condition ranger, to use some berserker armor? I’m currently using full CoF armor (I’m not in game right now, but its the very first medium armor set with the 3% crit stat) with superior runes of the undead. My shortbow has what I think is called sigil of earth (crits do bleed damage).

Am I doing something wrong? I will say ever since doing this build, I get hit pretty kitten hard. Also, this is for PvE, since I never really do anything PvP

Ff you’re going for conditions i would go for a full set of either carrion or rampager gear. Condition rangers tend to focus less on critical damage and more on critical chance/ condition duration and also some power. Since i’m what i like to call a “weapon based” condition ranger, i dont usually use traps aside from entangle, and even then i sometimes use RaO. My utilities are sharpening stone, signet of stone (for added toughness when in those medium to close quarter skirmishes), and quickening zeyphr. I mainly use axe/dagger (dagger because it has a bleed+cripple and posion+dodge for abilities) but sometimes i switch out dagger for warhorn. My alt weapon is a shortbow as i think it is a must use for all condition rangers, because it is extremely easy to stack bleeds on targets if your positioning is correct, especially in boss battles when you can get behind them easily. The shortbow is also fairly fast so it is good for medium to close quarter skirmishes and quick battles. For traits right now i’m 25/25/20/0/0. I have yet to try the torch but i hear it is good for conditions so i may experiment with it in the future.

oh and also for sigils, on my axe i have superior sigil of earth, while on my dagger and warhorn i have superior sigil of accuracy. I can’t remember my SB’s sigil at the moment but i think it might be superior sigil of agony. For my armour i run two different sets of runes: 3/6 runes of lyssa and 3/6 runes of krait, lyssa for precs and 7% condition duration (10% depending on if you’re using superior or major) and krait for condition damage and 15% bleed duration.

What is the difference between Carrion and Rampager armor? And what do these two specifically have that makes it ideal for condition builds?

Just make sure that when you stack condition duration you obtain a full second with it.

What I mean:

30% condition duration extends Crossfire’s duration to 3.9 seconds, which is rounded off to 4 seconds when displayed in game – this is still only 3 seconds of bleed.

One needs another 4% duration in order to hit the extra second.

The best stat distribution and maximized DPS for a condition based ranger is to go

20/30/15/0/5
with
5 piece armor slotted with the Superior Rune of the Afflicted which gives condition damage and 15% bleed and poison duration(total of 35% extended bleed and poison duration, which bumps Crossfire’s bleed duration to 4 seconds).

Take Flame Trap, Viper’s Nest and Spike Trap as your Utility Skills, as each cast of the traps is worth 3-5 Crossfires on a single target at least.

I use half Rampagers and half Carrion to balance between offense and survivability. My dps is high enough that I pull aggro 10 seconds into the fight without fail between setting high-damaging traps and applying copious bleeds.

Tip: My Flame Trap does 608 burn damage per second over 7 seconds, with 129 damage per second pulsing over 3 seconds. That’s 4643 damage on a single target, and can hit up to 5 targets. Definitely better than just spamming Crossfire.

I actually have been using a mix of knight’s armor and rabid armor. Mostly because I didn’t feel like transmuting the last two pieces of my dungeon set. I’ve also been experimenting with runes of the adventurer. The 50% endurance when you use a healing skill has been a life saver. Accessories are carrion, with rampager weapons.

Currently, I’m hovering around 1000 condition damage. It’s not optimal by any stretch, but it works for me.

I am curious if there is an optimal mix of knight’s and rabid armors that would maximize condition damage while minimizing the loss of +power. Right now my only rabid pieces are pants and boots.

OMGoodness Pikafan, your 20/30/15/0/5 is the same allocation I use.

But my line up is as follows (I mainly main dungeons):
6 Superior Rune of Grenth, which increase freeze duration and freeze chance and condition damage.

I use Spike Trap, Frozen Trap, Muddy Terrain and Entangle. As you can see control is very important to me in dungeons. In PvE, I replace Spike Trap with Flame Trap, and Muddy Terrain for QZ, Entangle wirh Rampage As One.

Like Pikafan, I use half Rampagers and half Carrion, to get best dps and health increase balance.

My Weapons are SB (main), Axe/Horn or LB (as alt).

Pets are: Brown Bear & Black Widow.

For build to work, always switch your pet, as soon as swap recharge is up. Also do not let pet die, so put on passive and know when to let pet attack and when to let pet retreat.

Also swap weapons often, main-ing more on SB, to get the swap buffs.

Sometimes I use 20/30/5/0/15, for more quickness due to the reduced pet swapping timing. But I like the ability to regen endurance (aka dodge) way to much. Since in dungeons the ability to dodge properly saves your live alot of times. And the 2sec dodge shield for pets and you, is a life saver.

Does it matter which half of Rampager/ Carrion you use? As in, I can have Rampager helm, shoulders, and chest, and the rest is Carrion or vice-versa? And again, what do these armors have that make them ideal for condition builds?

Carrion:
Power, Condition, Vit

Rampager:
Precision , Condition, Power (fixed :P)
The allocation is up to you.

More HP = survive longer but, precision is important to Condition builds, so lean more towards more Precision.

gadenp.7586:

Rampager:
Precision , Condition, Toughness

Rampager’s is power precision condition.

Also, I’d say Axe/Torch is better. Warhorn for running around, torch for burning and fire field.

ShinraGuardian.8053:

gadenp.7586:

Rampager:
Precision , Condition, Toughness

Rampager’s is power precision condition.

Also, I’d say Axe/Torch is better. Warhorn for running around, torch for burning and fire field.

Your right. Darn it mixed them up

Axe/Torch means you either lose out on Warhorn, or Shortbow, both of which are overall better than Torch.

Pikafan.3792:

Axe/Torch means you either lose out on Warhorn, or Shortbow, both of which are overall better than Torch.

Do you say that because of the buffs?

Torch brings the longest lasting fire combo field I can think of (8 seconds), that is pretty big when traited for off-hand skills, and a skill that does the equivalent of 7 stacks of bleed for 6 seconds on a 15 second cooldown. From 900 range untraited.

Quite hefty damage output there if you ask me.

I honestly, can’t see why a condition ranger would ever pick the warhorn over the torch.

Warhorn grants fury, might, and swiftness to yourself and nearby allies.

Torch is a close range AOE weapon that set a fire around you, burning foes.

Warhorn is just mediocre.
Fury is nice, too bad power specs are bad.
1 stack of might means nothing.
Swiftness is nice, but not worth an offhander.
The bird-pecking ability is on a long’ish CD and does non-condition dmg.

Dagger, now that’s competitive.

gadenp.7586:

Warhorn grants fury, might, and swiftness to yourself and nearby allies.

Torch is a close range AOE weapon that set a fire around you, burning foes.

That’s like saying the warhorn just summons a flock of birds to peck at people.
You are clearly and pointedly forgetting the best part of the weapon.
The torch toss that burns for 6~ seconds at a 900 range.

This is no political debate, there is no winning or losing so no need to twist facts.

garethh.3518:

gadenp.7586:

Warhorn grants fury, might, and swiftness to yourself and nearby allies.

Torch is a close range AOE weapon that set a fire around you, burning foes.

That’s like saying the warhorn just summons a flock of birds to peck at people.
You are clearly and pointedly forgetting the best part of the weapon.
The torch toss that burns for 6~ seconds at a 900 range.

This is no political debate, there is no winning or losing so no need to twist facts.

Sorry garethh how is this political? I just listed down both weapons 2nd skills. I did not promote any one over the other.

Rangers have few sources of Swiftness to begin with, that’s why the Warhorn is way better than the Torch in both PvE and PvP. If you want burning, take Flame Trap, Piercing Arrows and swap to a Shortbow and use Projectile Finishers.

Torch may put out the numbers, but at the expense of nullifying any sort of utility you might have had not using it.

gadenp.7586:

garethh.3518:

gadenp.7586:

Warhorn grants fury, might, and swiftness to yourself and nearby allies.

Torch is a close range AOE weapon that set a fire around you, burning foes.

That’s like saying the warhorn just summons a flock of birds to peck at people.
You are clearly and pointedly forgetting the best part of the weapon.
The torch toss that burns for 6~ seconds at a 900 range.

This is no political debate, there is no winning or losing so no need to twist facts.

Sorry garethh how is this political? I just listed down both weapons 2nd skills. I did not promote any one over the other.

He’s just angry that his favourite spec is not as good as he thought it was.

So for armor, I have the option of using Carrion/Rampager with superior runes of the afflicted. What about weapons? Like I said, I use shortbow and axe/warhorn. My shortbow has superior sigil of earth, but my warhorn and axe don’t have anything (well, except for superior sigil of luck)

If you plan to swap weapons often, to get the swap buff, as part of your playstyle.

Get those Sigils that grant a boon On Weapon Swap. Here is the list of Sigils. http://wiki.guildwars2.com/wiki/Sigil

I like Sigil of Battle, which grants 2~3 might on swap.

Else use Sigils that suit your build. On critical hit or Condition Duration Sigils, to me, work well with Rangers.

I feel really odd that I can answer your entire post about my post… with my post…

Anyways, running torch or dagger tends to be far better than warhorn for condition builds since warhorn does little to nothing in combat (when it comes to a condition spec).
Swiftness is nice, but you can just swap to it out of combat for the buff.

Carrion/rabid are the most common (debatably best) amulets I see for condi specs in PvP.
In PvE it could be a lil different.

Pikafan.3792:

He’s just angry that his favourite spec is not as good as he thought it was.

Oh really now?
Last I checked I was rolling people with my ranger left and right and was giving advice since some weapons for rangers are complete traps (the bad kind) that only take your spec and so you downhill…
But pff, what do I know about my intentions…
><

Well what I’ve been messing around with, weapon wise, is run with the sword/warhorn and axe/torch. And mind you I’ve been map clearing so this might be only good for PVE. I love being able to use warhorns 5 ability and get around quickly, use the 4 ability to initiate the fight. I’ll then swap weapons, use torch 4 ability. (This is all while from a distance.) The mob might be down at this point already, but if not, once I get closer ill lay down my fire trap and spike trap. Use the axes 2 to put on a few bleeds, and then it’s 3 to slow it down. Then I’ll swap weapons and finish them with the sword. That may seem a bit tedious, but I’ve found it to work pretty well for my condition build.

I am running all rampager gear at the moment. I might try some carrion, not sure. I think eventually I will just have multiple sets depending on what I want to do. I was also thinking of speccing just a bit of crit damage as well to bring it up, maybe try to find a nice compromise of both crit damage and condition damage.

By the way, I’m using eagle and owl as pets. So they are also taking down the mob as I am closing in on it. If I remember I will usually try to send in my eagle with its F2 ability. And almost every time I remember to initiate an attack with the eagle I get a swiftness buff.

As you can see there’s a lot of ways to do a condition build. It seems very hard to nail down that one best way to do something.

garethh.3518:

Pikafan.3792:

He’s just angry that his favourite spec is not as good as he thought it was.

Oh really now?
Last I checked I was rolling people with my ranger left and right and was giving advice since some weapons for rangers are complete traps (the bad kind) that only take your spec and so you downhill…
But pff, what do I know about my intentions…
><

Yeap, definitely really mad.

@text in bold

OP is asking for advice in PvE. Not PvP. Builds that work in PvP generally do not translate well into PvE. In PvE, swiftness, fury and might >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> just plain damage.

Flame Trap is more than sufficient for the condition ranger(is far better than Bonfire at any rate).

Shortbow/Axe+Warhorn is still the most optimal way to go.

Bonfire lets you thrown down a fire field without being next to your target. Flame trap is generally better, if triggered, but they both have uses. What I usually do is lure them to the trap, then when it expires throw down the bonfire.

The thrown torch is great though, and usually what I open with.

I run an all-in Condition Build. Traps, Longbow for wall-work and Axe/Warhorn for ground work. In long-duration asset-based defensive fights from the walls down, I will go out of combat before getting up and swap the horn for torch. Weapon switching allows you to throw the torch down to the ground – 1200 range when offhand is traited – and also do the bonfire at your feet for switching back to Longbow and a nice burning Rapid Fire.

For down up to the walls, Longbow traited for range and the Warhorn for the ranged attack and mobility. With traited ranged traps, you can actually place them so they are triggered by people on the walls…stack Flame Trap, Viper’s Nest and Spike trap along with a well-timed Barrage, and you will kill people on the walls from the ground. Very effective.

For gear, I’m full-on Carrion. Gives me a bit more than my minimum preferred levels of 20k HP, 1400 Condition Damage and 30/30 Crit Change/Damage. Undead Runes, sigils are Earth (bleed on crit) on the Longbow, with Earth again on the Axe and Hydromancy on the Warhorn…this freezes nearby foes for 3 seconds when you switch to it in combat – this works very well with the practical usage of Warhorn, for escapes when things get too hot, or for getting out after you’ve dropped your Entangle.

Torch has Sigil of Smoldering – increases burning duration by 10%.

I prefer Condition Damage of Duration, simply because conditions are often removed, and you get more out of it with higher damage ticks. Entangle at my level is listed at over 20k damage…unfortunately it is broken at the moment. Use a pet that does poison, preferably an AoE, or Shortbow – this allows you to effectively keep a target poisoned indefinitely, due to the duration stacking. This is important less for the damage and more for the healing debuff.

Condition builds can be very effective, depending on your playstyle. A trap build is very useful in WvW, the traps can be used as alarms, giving you a warning when you have incoming to an area you are working in etc. A Trapper Ranger is a good support character in large battles, as each trap which does a combo field buffs everyone else’s damage as well.

Anthrage.2519:

I run an all-in Condition Build. Traps, Longbow for wall-work and Axe/Warhorn for ground work. In long-duration asset-based defensive fights from the walls down, I will go out of combat before getting up and swap the horn for torch. Weapon switching allows you to throw the torch down to the ground – 1200 range when offhand is traited – and also do the bonfire at your feet for switching back to Longbow and a nice burning Rapid Fire.

For down up to the walls, Longbow traited for range and the Warhorn for the ranged attack and mobility. With traited ranged traps, you can actually place them so they are triggered by people on the walls…stack Flame Trap, Viper’s Nest and Spike trap along with a well-timed Barrage, and you will kill people on the walls from the ground. Very effective.

For gear, I’m full-on Carrion. Gives me a bit more than my minimum preferred levels of 20k HP, 1400 Condition Damage and 30/30 Crit Change/Damage. Undead Runes, sigils are Earth (bleed on crit) on the Longbow, with Earth again on the Axe and Hydromancy on the Warhorn…this freezes nearby foes for 3 seconds when you switch to it in combat – this works very well with the practical usage of Warhorn, for escapes when things get too hot, or for getting out after you’ve dropped your Entangle.

Torch has Sigil of Smoldering – increases burning duration by 10%.

I prefer Condition Damage of Duration, simply because conditions are often removed, and you get more out of it with higher damage ticks. Entangle at my level is listed at over 20k damage…unfortunately it is broken at the moment. Use a pet that does poison, preferably an AoE, or Shortbow – this allows you to effectively keep a target poisoned indefinitely, due to the duration stacking. This is important less for the damage and more for the healing debuff.

Condition builds can be very effective, depending on your playstyle. A trap build is very useful in WvW, the traps can be used as alarms, giving you a warning when you have incoming to an area you are working in etc. A Trapper Ranger is a good support character in large battles, as each trap which does a combo field buffs everyone else’s damage as well.

Runes of the Undead hm? I took a look at the Afflicted runes, those are very nice

I personally run axe/torch and sword/dagger with healing spring, fire/viper/spike traps and entangle or RaO.

The beauty of axe/torch is the fire combo field, and that the axe has projectile finishers… so that even at range, it can apply burning to your attacks. It is also an amazing field in group settings. Axe applies a good chunk of bleed too. I find sword/dagger is a useful offset, because it has bleeds and poisons, but also because it doubles as a defensive set with evades for sticky situations.

The traps are fairly self explainitory, they apply conditions in an aoe, and are just generally awesome. Healing spring is wonderful in group setting, not only does it apply regeneration ao, cleanse aoe, and provide a very handy water field…it can also be traited to provide vigor! Go go more dodges.

Entangle is very handy when aoe control is required, but in many situations I prefer RaO, as it can get you to a 25 stack of might in a quickness… and at 25 stacks.. your conditions are going to be ticking for record numbers, and just be wreaking face.

I personally don’t like the idea of sacrificing condition damage for precision, and opt to not use rampager for that reason. Carron or Rabid preferably are going to net you far higher dps with a full on condition setup like I use. Because keep in mind, you are buffing burning, by a large amount with condition damage, poison by a decent amount, and while bleeds are very low in coefficient…. the more you stack the more your condition damage increases your bleed stack dps. Because you have all three rolling on your target, condition damage is just so amazing it is really difficult to pass on.

I am working on a set of 6-piece rabid armor from dungeon tokens, and 5 trinkets all carrion, and carrion weapons. This should give me good power/vit, and give decent toughness/prec for procing sigil of earth and sharpened edges trait. Unsure of runes.

plan on using these traits:
http://www.guildhead.com/skill-calc#mcom0zcz0oMmwmMRahMGxG9MVRMRqck

open to constructive feedback, have not played condition ranger yet.

drakken one comment on your build you have taken the increased range of long bow and blah blah underwater weapon, this does not affect your short bow. i suggest swapping it to piercing arrows as this will work with both long and short bow if you ever decide to switch to the long bow for different circumstances

Psychrome.9281:

drakken one comment on your build you have taken the increased range of long bow and blah blah underwater weapon, this does not affect your short bow. i suggest swapping it to piercing arrows as this will work with both long and short bow if you ever decide to switch to the long bow for different circumstances

i do not know why it saved “eagle eye” as a trait, it SHOULD have been “piercing arrows” to begin with.

ZeroArmada.9426:

Anthrage.2519:

Runes of the Undead hm? I took a look at the Afflicted runes, those are very nice

If going torch offhand and considering flame trap a case can also be made for elementatlist runes. +20% duration fire/frost in a power(165)/condition(57) rune. Gives up about 50 damage a large tick on a flame trap in exhange for another large tick plus adds to your power direct damage which isn’t unimportant to condition builds as that flows to your pets damage as well as your weapons damage.

frost flame is more of a small group skirmish focus whereas undead and associated traps more of a 1v1 IMHO. Dropping a bonfire in the area of a warrior for example results in some nice blast finishers. and 66% snare plus 66% CD increase over 6 seconds is a significant performance decrease across multiple targets if focusing on a team activity. Weak vs say a thief steal/backstab 1v1 however. Of course standing inside a bonfire on a flame trap is a bit of a deterrent.

Arrys.7145:

Gives up about 50 damage a large tick on a flame trap in exhange for another large tick plus adds to your power direct damage which isn’t unimportant to condition builds as that flows to your pets damage as well as your weapons damage.

Are you suggesting that your power attribute increases your pet’s damage? Because it does not.

Isaac.6041:

Any particular reason for the axe?

Please let us know your trait allocations and skillbar setup….

For groundwork, I prefer Axe over sword etc due to it’s ranged nature (900 units) and bleed, which work well with the ranged traps (600 units). Bleeds stack in intensity, and with the weapon bleed, trap bleed, trait-opened sharpening stone and a pet bleed – to say nothing of Entangle when used – the overall effect is quite good.

I slot Flame Trap, Viper’s Nest and Spike Trap, left to right – in order of cooldown time – and use Heal as One for healing. My Trait setup is:

20 Marksmenship – Keen Edge and Eagle Eye
30 Skirmishing – Sharpened Edges, Trapper’s Expertise and Trap Potency
20 Wilderness Survival – Soften the Fall and Off-Hand Training

For wallwork I go with the Longbow (traited to 1500 range), and if the circumstances call and allow for it, I switch my skills to Muddy Terrain, Sharpening Stone and Quickening Zephyr. The latter two combined with Rapid Shot tend to result in assured killshots, while the former is useful for putting down in front of the gate to increase the effectiveness of Arrow Cart fire.

Again from walls, for Elite, if solo I tend to switch to Rampage as One – if with a group of people in a stack or if I’m operating siege I use Spirit it of Nature. In such a case I also switch to Healing Spring and make sure I have a heal-capable pet up, the Fern Hound or a Moa.

I find with the Ranger, it is more important than with most other classes to modify your loadout based on what you are doing. Some people do not consider doing this, as you need to be out of combat to do so, but generally – especially when going from the ground, entering a fortification, up to a position on the walls, you will go out of combat naturally and be able to make the necessary changes.

The same holds true for pets – using your pet’s F2 ability, where it works mind you, is very important. In many cases it will dovetail well with one of your own abilities – using those synergies will help you get more out of your build than otherwise. This is especially true for a condition build.

If anyone is interested in seeing how these things play out in combat, let me know and I’ll record and post something. This build is negatively impacted by some of the bugs we Rangers face – Entangle for example does not take one’s condition damage number into account – but I feel it is still effective in combat, especially group combat in WvW. Your traps will significantly reduce the time it takes to kill groups of guards at camps or doors, and are very good for killing yaks/sentries.

Traps are also much appreciated when dealing with those stealthers preventing you from capping.

One last note – when using the traps as alarms for chokepoints when you want to know if someone has come into an area you are working in, do not use the Flame Trap. Unlike the other traps, it will time out and disappear, needing to be replaced.

Why is chill trap is overlooked .It may not have a damage out put but I can get 5 sec from trap and 12 sec from short bow combo . That’s 17 tics of chill 66% movement and skill use . Having the offense reduce by 2/3 for that long is crazy.

I use it as well sometimes, but find it is more situational than the others. Pairing this with the healing reduction of Viper’s Nest with ranged traps is great for stack-busting.